# Marine tank advice, help please!



## Tommy123 (Sep 19, 2008)

Hi,
I've been looking into getting some fish, and would love to get into the world of marine. I only ever kept fish when I was like 3, they were two goldfish. 
I'm on a budget because of my age, 12 years old. So I'm looking at a £400 budget(ish) I wouldn't like to go much more, but if I really have to I will. 

In the tank I want mainly fish, I was thinking a pair of common clowns, and a yellow tang? And some live rock. The tank would probaly be something like a D-D nano cube.Would it be big enough for what I want?
Now this is where I'm stuck on filters, skimmers, lighting and all that...
I was looking at external filters; are these the way to go, or internal? 
I don't really know what a skimmer is, I've heard there optional? What do they do, and do I need one?
Also, on some nano's, they come with lighting, don't they?

Any help is greatly appreciated, if you could also post links to items, thatd be great!

Thanks for reading,
Tom:2thumb:


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## lovespids (May 10, 2010)

*Tank*

Hi 
What you need to do is buy the biggest tank that you can afford ,just add a couple of damsels and wait for a few weeks before adding anything else,when you do start adding others do it very very slowly ,like 1 every 5 to 6 weeks that way your tank will have become more established,if you try and rush marine you will end up losing a lot of fish and money and to be honest its more fun looking around to see what you can get have you had a look on Aquarist.co.uk - Aquarist Resources and Information.This website is for sale! lots of bargains!!
If you are making it into a reef tank then there are some fish that you wont be able to keep as they will eat your corals


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## Tommy123 (Sep 19, 2008)

lovespids said:


> Hi
> What you need to do is buy the biggest tank that you can afford ,just add a couple of damsels and wait for a few weeks before adding anything else,when you do start adding others do it very very slowly ,like 1 every 5 to 6 weeks that way your tank will have become more established,if you try and rush marine you will end up losing a lot of fish and money and to be honest its more fun looking around to see what you can get have you had a look on Aquarist.co.uk - Aquarist Resources and Information.This website is for sale! lots of bargains!!
> If you are making it into a reef tank then there are some fish that you wont be able to keep as they will eat your corals


Hi,
First of all thanks for the reply.

I think the d-d nano cube is the right size for me, I don't want to go to big, otherwise the price will obviously increase, because of the amount of live rock needed, and the price of the tank.

Unfortunetly the link doesn't work, it just comes up with a list of websites. For now, I'm just sticking with fish, and live rock.

Cheers,
Tom:2thumb:


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## The Herp (Apr 10, 2010)

lovespids said:


> Hi
> What you need to do is buy the biggest tank that you can afford ,just add a couple of damsels and wait for a few weeks before adding anything else,when you do start adding others do it very very slowly ,like 1 every 5 to 6 weeks that way your tank will have become more established,if you try and rush marine you will end up losing a lot of fish and money and to be honest its more fun looking around to see what you can get have you had a look on Aquarist.co.uk - Aquarist Resources and Information.This website is for sale! lots of bargains!!
> If you are making it into a reef tank then there are some fish that you wont be able to keep as they will eat your corals


sorry to but in but this advice seems a bit wrong to me.

Once you have chosen your tank, whatever the size, fill it with standard water first of alll just to check for leaks. Then empty it if the tank holds the water ok.

After this add your live rock and salt water (made up from RO water and special salt from the shop. Place in any substrate at this point also.

Let the tank settle and the cycling process now begins. make sure you have your filters etc in and sorted. for a couple of weeks test the water for nitrate, ammonia and other things as they will spike throughout the first few weeks. you may also get algae blooms but this is nothing to worry about and is part of the proccess 

then once the tank is stable think about adding some CUC (clean up crew). i would suggest about 10 snails (of various species), a few hermits and a cleaner shrimp.

a few weeks later, if all goes to plan, the tank wil be cycled and ready for the addition of fish :2thumb:

hope this helps : victory:


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## Herp breeder (Jan 8, 2009)

in nano tanks your be better off focusing on gobies, soft corals and blennys or possibly one pair of clowns with possibly a anenome but if you go for one have to have the tank setup for at least 6 months . As far as i know it will be too small for a pair of clowns and yellow tang


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## dan51 (Sep 26, 2008)

Hi there  glad to see you have taken an interest in saltwater, and as for budgets, dont worry, a reef can be done on a budget, (im 16 and have also had to keep to a tight budget)First of all im afraid i have to agree as above, unfortunatly a yellow tang is a bit big for a nano, i would suggest a 250L tank for one  but there are plenty of fish that can be kept in nano's, clowns, gobies, cardinals, firefish, dottybacks and chalk bass just to name a few, please please do not get damsels, sure they are colourful and small but they are really agressive little beggars and will get territorial. Now as for setting the tank up, i would check for leaks, then fill with salted RO, then put in your live rock and sand, then leave, you will have to test for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, etc and once everything is in line (post your results up here and we can check them for you if you wish) ad clean up crew, red legged hermits, shrimp, snails, maybe a coral, etc. Then when you think all has been well for a period of time (usually a couple of weeks) then you can add your first fish. Now, because you are on a budget, things will have to go slow, make sure you have all your equipment first, some people say you need filters, but your rock acts as the filter so as long as you have 1KG for every 10 litres, a filter won't be needed and would actually hinder the filtration process, as the bacterial in the rock is different to that in the filter, and as a result, nitrates can increase, but you will need powerheads to push water through the rock so that it can be filterd. A list of essential equipment would be:

Tank (D-D is a good brand)
Lights (aim to have 1W of light per Litre of water in the tank for successfull coral growth, D-D tanks usually come with sufficiant lighting built in)
Live Rock
Powerheads (would recomend the koralia nano Charterhouse Aquatics: Hydor Koralia NANO 1600 Circulation Pump
Skimmer (optional, will go into more detail later)
heater
hydrometer/refractometer (lets you measure the salt level)
Steady supply of RO water (you can get this at your local fish shop, or you can buy an RO unit for your sink)

Now let me explain the function of the protein skimmer, the skimmer uses really fine blubbles to remove solid protein from the tank before it is brocken down into ammonia, this allows water levels to be maintained much easier, also water changes are not as essential (without a skimmer weekly 20% water changes will be needed, with a skimmer a 30% water change every 3 weeks would be enough, depending on stocking levels, just work out what works best for you) You do not need a skimmer, however i would GREATLY recomend one (especially the TMC nano skimmer TMC: Aquarium Products - V2Skim 120 Nano Skimmer, you could even start without one and get one further down the line if you wish, water changes arnt too bad in a nano tank.

Also im sure you will want to keep corals, there are many species of coral that a beginner can keep, basicly just any soft coral, example species include:

ricordeas
mushrooms
xenia
kenya tree
toadstool
green star polyps
zoas
button polyps

Then when you have gained experiance in these you can move onto stony corals (these are harder as calcium, magnesium and KH levels have to be maintained)

Here is a link of my tank set up, the thread shows the nano, then i upgraded:

http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/fish-keeping/346733-dans-marine.html

If you have any more questions (im sure you will have lol) then post a thread or pm me, and good luck!!

Hope this extensivly long post helped you a bit lol

Dan


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## exotic reptile housing (Jul 12, 2007)

ultimatereef.com ....... research research research and more research, do not do any thing untill you really no what to do.....

ohhh and a bit more research.:2thumb:


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## HABU (Mar 21, 2007)

learn water chemistry inside and out and it'll save you much heartache...

Saltwater Aquarium Advice water chemistry


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## Row'n'Bud (Jun 13, 2010)

As above, forget about the tang for a nano and if you want a nem for your clowns look for a tank bred bubble tip nem, lots around on the marine forums and are a great starter nem....
Been reef keeping for many years now and can recomend the d&d nano as a great little starter tank !!


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## Herp breeder (Jan 8, 2009)

Row'n'Bud said:


> As above, forget about the tang for a nano and if you want a nem for your clowns look for a tank bred bubble tip nem, lots around on the marine forums and are a great starter nem....
> Been reef keeping for many years now and can recomend the d&d nano as a great little starter tank !!


just thought i would add something hope you dont mind dont put a nem in till tank is at least 6 months old they like a established tank and also remember with nems they get big and may walk so wouldnt be able to keep many if any others corals in there my bit of info there
(think this is right if not please correct me :lol2


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## Row'n'Bud (Jun 13, 2010)

definately good advice for the nems there, however........
tank split nems, especially bubble tips are quite hardy and can be risked earlier. Known as a rule bender on the big marine forums here, lol, and have successfully kept 2 bta's in a 30" tank from day one here. If introduced early they can find their preferred spot in the tank and other corals can then be placed around them, leaving at least 6" aorund them for their movement and growth.
This is the tank with 2 bta's in it....










these will soon have to be moved to a larger tank now unless I can persuade them to split to control their size, may even take out the scalpel and frag them soon :2thumb:


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## Herp breeder (Jan 8, 2009)

Row'n'Bud said:


> definately good advice for the nems there, however........
> tank split nems, especially bubble tips are quite hardy and can be risked earlier. Known as a rule bender on the big marine forums here, lol, and have successfully kept 2 bta's in a 30" tank from day one here. If introduced early they can find their preferred spot in the tank and other corals can then be placed around them, leaving at least 6" aorund them for their movement and growth.
> This is the tank with 2 bta's in it....
> 
> ...


nice tank what lighting you got?:2thumb:


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## Row'n'Bud (Jun 13, 2010)

I run a 150 watt 14K BLV halide and 2 x iquatics marine actinics on there....only set up about 3 months now and starting to fill up nicely to the point of needing thinned out a bit already, lol....


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## Tommy123 (Sep 19, 2008)

Hey all, and thanks for the replies. I'm sorry I haven't posted, but I've been to france as a school trip and just got home. I will tomorrow, reply individually because I'm so tired, but thank you all for your replies, and they look great.
Oh, and plus, when I went to france I went to an aquarium and saw some amazing marines, I have some pictures which I will also get some up tomorrow.
Thanks again, and I'll be sure to post tommorrow.


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## Tommy123 (Sep 19, 2008)

The Herp said:


> sorry to but in but this advice seems a bit wrong to me.
> 
> Once you have chosen your tank, whatever the size, fill it with standard water first of alll just to check for leaks. Then empty it if the tank holds the water ok.
> 
> ...


Very helpful, thanks. I did forget to mention the clean up crew:bash: I was look and some snails, crabs, and cleaner shrimp like you said. I'm pretty much all aware of the things that can happen in the cycling progess, such as algae blooms etc. 
Cheers for the advice.



Herp breeder said:


> in nano tanks your be better off focusing on gobies, soft corals and blennys or possibly one pair of clowns with possibly a anenome but if you go for one have to have the tank setup for at least 6 months . As far as i know it will be too small for a pair of clowns and yellow tang


Yes, been reading around other forums, and on here that it's too small for a tang, but suitable for a pair of clowns. I'll probaly be going for a pair of clowns (not sure which ones at the moment) live rock, sand(not live), some corals, and a clean up crew for now.



dan51 said:


> Hi there  glad to see you have taken an interest in saltwater, and as for budgets, dont worry, a reef can be done on a budget, (im 16 and have also had to keep to a tight budget)First of all im afraid i have to agree as above, unfortunatly a yellow tang is a bit big for a nano, i would suggest a 250L tank for one  but there are plenty of fish that can be kept in nano's, clowns, gobies, cardinals, firefish, dottybacks and chalk bass just to name a few, please please do not get damsels, sure they are colourful and small but they are really agressive little beggars and will get territorial. Now as for setting the tank up, i would check for leaks, then fill with salted RO, then put in your live rock and sand, then leave, you will have to test for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, etc and once everything is in line (post your results up here and we can check them for you if you wish) ad clean up crew, red legged hermits, shrimp, snails, maybe a coral, etc. Then when you think all has been well for a period of time (usually a couple of weeks) then you can add your first fish. Now, because you are on a budget, things will have to go slow, make sure you have all your equipment first, some people say you need filters, but your rock acts as the filter so as long as you have 1KG for every 10 litres, a filter won't be needed and would actually hinder the filtration process, as the bacterial in the rock is different to that in the filter, and as a result, nitrates can increase, but you will need powerheads to push water through the rock so that it can be filterd. A list of essential equipment would be:
> I'm going to leave out the tank, and in the previous part of this post it states what I'll be having in my tank. I'm thinking you get the water from the local fish shop? I'm going to go for 10kg of live rock, in a 90 litre tank which should be fine. I may also add a filter just incase, say I did add a filter, would it be better internal, or external? I will be taking things quite slowly, as I don't want to rush it, then it all turns on me.
> Tank (D-D is a good brand)
> Lights (aim to have 1W of light per Litre of water in the tank for successfull coral growth, D-D tanks usually come with sufficiant lighting built in)
> ...


Relpyed in red to various parts.
I've now just added up all the costs, and I think I'm looking at £400 (ish) which is about my budget, so I should be able to do it.



exotic reptile housing said:


> ultimatereef.com ....... research research research and more research, do not do any thing untill you really no what to do.....
> 
> ohhh and a bit more research.:2thumb:


Yes, I'll sure be doing alot of research.



HABU said:


> learn water chemistry inside and out and it'll save you much heartache...
> 
> Saltwater Aquarium Advice water chemistry


 Thanks for the link, it is an absolutely brilliant read, and makes a lot more sense now.


Row'n'Bud said:


> As above, forget about the tang for a nano and if you want a nem for your clowns look for a tank bred bubble tip nem, lots around on the marine forums and are a great starter nem....
> Been reef keeping for many years now and can recomend the d&d nano as a great little starter tank !!


Cheers for the advice, I've heard a lot of good things about the tanks, hence why I chose it.


Thank you all for helping me, but theres still a lot more to come, all for now.
Cheers:2thumb:


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## Tommy123 (Sep 19, 2008)

I know I'm bringing this back up, but I wondered if anyone could help me decide which tank to go for? 
Thanks.


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## dan51 (Sep 26, 2008)

The interpet river reefs are good tanks  the 94L would be a good starter size.


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## reptile_man_08 (Jan 14, 2008)

Get a giant frogfish, antennarius commerson.Grow to 12" and only need a 55gal min.


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## Tommy123 (Sep 19, 2008)

dan51 said:


> The interpet river reefs are good tanks  the 94L would be a good starter size.


Yes, I've looked into these, it's just the price is too much for me, and when I search on ebay(because I think it may be cheaper), there all too far away, or too much money. If there was one that I could pick it up, and it was a good price, I'd strike at it.



reptile_man_08 said:


> Get a giant frogfish, antennarius commerson.Grow to 12" and only need a 55gal min.
> image


Wow, I bet there amazing in real life, however I couldn't get one, because I'm getting a nano which is only up to 30 gallons.


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## piehunter (Jul 10, 2007)

OP: I am also looking at setting up a nano reef.

I have found a lot of useful information on this website: Nano-Reef.com - The source for nano reef aquarium information

There are some good articles as well as a forum.

Hope this helps


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## Tommy123 (Sep 19, 2008)

piehunter said:


> OP: I am also looking at setting up a nano reef.
> 
> I have found a lot of useful information on this website: Nano-Reef.com - The source for nano reef aquarium information
> 
> ...


Thanks for tha some really intresting reads there.:2thumb:


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## beccaA! (Apr 8, 2010)

I thought i would ask my question in here rather than start a new thread when there is already one up.

I'm interested in starting a Marine tank, but i'm not sure it right for me. I have had a tropical tank a few years back but the fish have now gone into my mam new huge tank. I'm really tempted to do marine, but it can easily be so expensive, i'm scared that if it goes wrong its a lot of money down the drain.

How easy would you guys with marine say, it is keeping a marine tank?

Thanks in advance.


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## dan51 (Sep 26, 2008)

beccaA! said:


> How easy would you guys with marine say, it is keeping a marine tank?
> 
> Thanks in advance.


I dont want to sound big-headed, but i found it easy, easier than tropical actually, i couldnt keep any of the plants alive, and weekly water changed turned into a chore, with marine you have more leeway with water changes.


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## beccaA! (Apr 8, 2010)

Cool, Thanks =]


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## Tommy123 (Sep 19, 2008)

Thats intresting, I was considering a tropical first, thanks for posting.


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## shortyshazz (Mar 21, 2009)

As mentioned have alook on ultimatereef.com it has everything to do with the reef tank all the info u will ever need.


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## dan51 (Sep 26, 2008)

Also another good place is Ocean Wonders Fish Keepers Forum they are smaller but the advice is top knotch


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## Tommy123 (Sep 19, 2008)

I'm registered on ultimate reef, and it's a great forum. I will have a look at ocean wonders.
Oh and I'm hopfully buying a red sea max 130d tonight, how much would you expect to pay? It's a 130d tank with 130 stand (only the front door design is different) all the stock skimmers etc, used.


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## Tommy123 (Sep 19, 2008)

Just bought a 130d tank with 130 stand for £210


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