# want to start a marine tank



## hexem (May 14, 2009)

Hi all,

Utter noob to fish keeping, but would really fancy a try on setting up a tank, iv'e seen and heard good thing's about the following. - Kent Marine Bioreef 94L LED Starter Kit

Anyone else had one of these tank's and recommend to a beginner ? I plan on starting out slow, getting the tank started with 2-3 inches of live sand and enough live rock to start cycling the tank for a few weeks or however long it takes.

I'd like to get a Red Mandarin as my first fish also, i understand not the easiest to keep but any issues on this?

cheers : victory:

any tips welcome!


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## AshMashMash (Oct 28, 2007)

Those starter kits are good for first time keepers as far as I hear  You'll want to upgrade and/or modify it pretty soon though!:lol2:

As you say, keep it slow, cycle properly, and read, read, READ. 

However, no, a mandarin is _not_ a good starter fish. It needs a large mature tank to feed off - the 94L tank, even when 6months mature, would not provide enough food for it unfortunately.


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## hexem (May 14, 2009)

Good to hear, think i'll order one up, bit limited on space so the size is good for me! 

Shame on them being hard to keep, but will find other species to start off with. :no1:


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## Moogloo (Mar 15, 2010)

I have a Kent Marine BioReef. 

Good tank, it has its quirks... like the whole filter needs siphoning out once a month... so make sure you have space to open lid right up fully so you can reach down the back filtration panel.

Takes a lot of fussing and fiddling to get it just right.... but once settled... its so easy to keep! 

I really like it! Though i would never put a mandarin in there  Tanks tall but not long, doesnt give the mandarin enough space... and they do get surprisingly big! Males especially!

In my tank i have 2 common clowns (though first choice was one black and one orange commons), 2 Sailfin Blennies (look em up!! they are great fish to sneak into the tank when its got the stated 4-5 fish), Royal Gramma and a Yellow Watchman Goby.

I wouldnt normally advise putting a sifting goby in that size tank but i got him paired with a tiger pistol shrimp and it works really well.

Few things i would say...

Buy Rowaphos to put in the first compartment with the heater or you will end up with serious algae (tanks got good lights on it!). One smaller 100g put will do the tank exactly 4 times with each pouch lasting 4-6 weeks.

Next... buy the white wool filter pads from an LFS thats sold in sheets for ponds. The protein skimmer chucks through loads of tiny fine bubbles, bit of a design flaw as they have no bubblestop like big protein skimmers have. The wool pad needs replacing every week so makes sense to buy sheets of it. I also found you can stop microbubbles by putting some wool pad to the right of the protein skimmer down next to the gap for the next chamber... to stop the bubbles going through. (its actually quite important because the microbubbles can cause embolism and kill fish and corals).

Think small fish 

Percula Clown Fish
Ocellaris (Common) Clowns
Black Perculas
Orange (or Pink) Skunk Clowns

Royal Gramma
Chalk Bass
Tobacco Bass
Blue or Yellow Assessors

Tailspot Blenny
Sailfin Blenny
BiColour Blenny
Smiths Blenny
Canary Blenny

Hectors Goby
Rainford Goby
Clown Goby
Blue Neon Goby
Twin Spot Goby
Trimma Gobies (several species)
Wheelers Shrimp Goby

Bangaii Cardinal
Pyjama Cardinal
Longspine Cardinal

Firefish (Magnifica, Decora or Helfrichs if you are feeling flush)
Possum Wrasse (several species)
McCoskers Flasher Wrasse
Lubbock Flasher Wrasse
Yellow Fin Flasher Wrasse
Filamented Flasher Wrasse

There are loads of others but thats a good list to be basing your stocking on. You'd be looking at 4-5 fish as a stock list and if a year down the line you think you could get away with something tiny... then so be in.

How many fish will depend on which species you go for, like if you go for Trimma Gobies, i'd probably have 2-3 Trimma gobies for one normal sized fish like a clown. Simply because they are so tiny. But they do fill up a needed space hopping about in the tank!

For me, i used my sailfin blennies!

I would also avoid putting any dottyback or damsel in there purely because they will be nasty aggressive in the tank and towards other fish. It is possible.. but not worth the risk of having to strip the tank right down to get it back out again!

Again with angels, people do put dwarf angels in tanks that small.. personally i think the tank is too small and the wrong shape, most of them arent reef safe and the smaller their tank, the more true that is. If you did go for one.. you would have to think carefully about other fish... i would stick to something like a Keyhole Angel, Midnight Angel or a Whitetail Angel, the most boring coloured dwarf angels but also the most likely to be coral safe and not so murderous.

All Tangs and Butterflies and Triggers are 100% no go.

Also, on top of the fish, you have your inverts... Inverts are great fun, turbo snails, cerith snails (i have a cool one with bright pink body!), nassarius snails to sift the sand (tanks not big enough for sand sifter starfish really), hermit crabs, mithrax crab (only one, get territorially aggressive and kill each other), cleaner shrimp, fire shrimp and so on..

Personally, I would aim for something like:

1 Shrimp (cleaner or fire shrimp)
1 mithrax crab (eats algae!)
4 Blue Leg Hermit or Red Leg Hermits (be carefull when you buy red legs that they dont have hairy legs! Safer to stay with blues and personally in that sized tank id only buy one species as they might kill each other)
4-5 Turbo Snails
6-8 Nassarius Snails
1 Cerith Snail

And then there is corals... all soft corals really, lighting is good but personally im not convinced its good enough long term for a lot of the hammer or torch corals. Stay safe with zoas and mushrooms (both come in ever shape, size and colour under the sun) and more could be thought about later. Jasmine polyps, palm polyps, xenia and so on.

Its just so long as you remember it isnt all about the fish, so having few fish doesnt mean much, watching the shrimp and crabs and snails and corals is just as interesting!

Ummm... god im tired after writing all that now... lol. If you have any questions, you can feel free to ask! I know there is another member on here called Sam who has had the Kent tanks set up a lot longer than me.

EDIT: Forgot to say, i would advise using eggcrate too! Most shops that sell marines do sell/can get it. If you put in on the bottom of the tank and then add the rock and then the sand around the rock, the rock sits firmly on the plastic eggcrate and not the glass bottom of the tank, its a lot more stable and if anything digs in the sand, it wont bring your rock crashing down through the front glass. 

Its ok if you have only a little liverock but i have loads stacked right to the top of the tank and id never dare do that without the eggcrate supporting it and stopping it slipping.

I only needed two small bags of coral sand. About 5-6 Kilos i think... average small sized bag of it... too thick and its a nightmare to clean!


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## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

Moogloo said:


> I have a Kent Marine BioReef.
> 
> Good tank, it has its quirks... like the whole filter needs siphoning out once a month... so make sure you have space to open lid right up fully so you can reach down the back filtration panel.
> 
> ...


one exception to the 'no dottybacks' rule, is the orchid dottyback. i've kept them in nano tanks & found them to be like royal grammas in temperament.


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## hexem (May 14, 2009)

Moogloo fantastic write up :notworthy: plenty for me to think about there and will point anyone starting a nano reef to read it!

Regarding water changes, should these be done during the cycle of the tank or only once the fish are in, and is tap water safe to use or should it be treated before hand? (i guess there are mixed reviews on this)


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## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

hexem said:


> Moogloo fantastic write up :notworthy: plenty for me to think about there and will point anyone starting a nano reef to read it!
> 
> Regarding water changes, should these be done during the cycle of the tank or only once the fish are in, and is tap water safe to use or should it be treated before hand? (i guess there are mixed reviews on this)


it's best to use RO water, but if you use tap water you will need to dechlorinate it BEFORE you add the salt. the dechlorinator won't work otherwise.


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## AshMashMash (Oct 28, 2007)

hexem said:


> Regarding water changes, should these be done during the cycle of the tank or only once the fish are in,


No, water changes should only be done once the cycle is complete else you are diluting the food for the bacteria. The only exception to this would be if you accidentally started a mini cycle _while_ you had living creatures in there (live rock doesn't count) and needed yo maintain toxin levels lower. 

Basically you either have a high/fast ammonia/nitrite peak without water changes, or a low/long peak, if you did water changes. 

As for water - use RO, without exception. I know one or two people use tap water, but you're only setting your self up to have potential algae problems if you do. With a 94L you can just buy it from the shop - £2.50 for 25L for me.


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## hexem (May 14, 2009)

Great thanks, there are a few LFS near me so getting RO water should be no problem, just need to get some refill containers!

Finally ordered up the tank / salt / hydrometer / and 2m sheet filter wool...thinking about using live rock rubble in one of the chambers as replacement for bio balls, anyone else do this?


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## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

hexem said:


> Great thanks, there are a few LFS near me so getting RO water should be no problem, just need to get some refill containers!
> 
> Finally ordered up the tank / salt / hydrometer / and 2m sheet filter wool...thinking about using live rock rubble in one of the chambers as replacement for bio balls, anyone else do this?


yeah, some people do that. some even leave the bio ball chamber empty, as the live rock in the main tank area will provide all the filtration.


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## hexem (May 14, 2009)

Long story short, my tank arrived broken, shattered glass in top right hand corner in the return pump chamber, and a bit of a crack in skimmer chamber.

Got a full refund and now have the tank and equipment still, I'm thinking about doing a repair here...glass silicone sealed either side of the tank where the shatter and crack are, anyone else think this will work?

using the following silicone 
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HA6-RTV-MARINE-SILICONE-AQUARIUM-WATER-TANK-SEALANT-/320613273105?pt=UK_Crafts_Cardmaking_Scrapbooking_Glue_Tape_EH&var=&hash=item76bf83e05c

Here's the damage, rest of the tank is fine!


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## AshMashMash (Oct 28, 2007)

Not worth it in the slightest imo... it'll leak in the end then you're up poo-creak.


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## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

AshMashMash said:


> Not worth it in the slightest imo... it'll leak in the end then you're up poo-creak.


yeah. unless he takes it to a professional tank restorer, such as seabray or clearseal. or order a new one from the original supplier, & explain why better packaging will be required.


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