# marine tank help!!!



## beastluke (Sep 27, 2008)

hi all i have latley emptied a 4 foot, 40 gallon tank and was thinking in setting up a salt water marine tank. as this is my 1st marine build could you brainyacks list all the things i will need bar the tank and what each function does. like when you need the tank to cycle, why do people put dead crab and shrimp in it?

well all help is welcome and also does anyone have spare equipment for sale?


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## beastluke (Sep 27, 2008)

*....*

would have thought on a sight like this there would be atleast 1 person who noes there s**t about marine tanks


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## exotic reptile housing (Jul 12, 2007)

now then luke, keeping marine is easyir than ever before.. but... there is a lot of factors to look into... firstly equipment you need a quality protein skimmer, this takes the crap out of the tank you need good quality lighting and turnover with the use of powerheads, good live rock is defo the key to a good tank... as for the cycle stage people adding crab/shrimp this is to just start the cycle off as the crab decays it produces ammonia which is turned to nitrite then nitrate, this is the nitrogen cycle, however adding liverock will start a cycle on its own with die off on the rock producing the ammonia/nitrite, to find out more about it take a look on ultimatereef.com there is plenty of help on there


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## owlbassboy (Jun 26, 2008)

mate have a look on Reef Face - Reef and Marine Fish Keeping Forum (Powered by Invision Power Board) lots of friendly faces to help out


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## Adam98150 (Jan 12, 2009)

beastluke said:


> hi all i have latley emptied a 4 foot, 40 gallon tank and was thinking in setting up a salt water marine tank. as this is my 1st marine build could you brainyacks list all the things i will need bar the tank and what each function does. like when you need the tank to cycle, why do people put dead crab and shrimp in it?
> 
> well all help is welcome and also does anyone have spare equipment for sale?


Are you wanting top keep corals? If so you need good quality lighting, and pretty low nitrates.

LEDS, T5 Tubes, Power Compacts, and/or Metal Halides should do the job. A 150W lamp will do for most softies, but you may need a 250W for hard corals etc.

Deltec seem to produce some good quality skimmers, as stated they pull protein based matter from the water i believe (food and so forth). It is not essential if you do regular water changes.

You will need a couple of powerheads, for water movement. Tunze Nanostream's and Hydor Koralia's are regarded as some of the best to use.

In a tank of that size I'd go for around 20KG of live rock minimum, although it would look a lot more aesthetically appealing if 30 - 40KG was used. This filters your water, and breaks down the ammonia produced by fish waste and excess food. Don't direct your powerheads at the live rock, only around it.

Don't skimp on your choice of heater, Fluval Tronics i can personally vouch for. A 200W heater should suffice.
: victory:


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## Caz (May 24, 2007)

Google the 'berlin' method of marine fish keeping.
You'll need:
RO water (never tap water) Don't buy water - buy an RO unit that plumbs under the sink.
Salt (SG 1.025)
Hydrometer
Skimmer - the bigger the better - mce600 would be ideal
20 x the volume in litres water turnover per hour so a couple of 2000lph
pumps minimum - you're aiming for random flow.
Lights as per what you want to keep - T8's or T5's for fish/soft corals, Halides for LPS/SPS corals.
Some sort of phosphate remover - Rowaphos or Ultiphos.
A good range of Marine test kits.
Live Rock. At least 20 kgs. This is your 'filter.' It holds bacteria which is essential in the marine cycle.
Heater (25c is ideal)
Provision for toping up the tank with RO water daily to keep perameters stable as the water evaporates.

A glass hole saw so you can have a sump would be ideal!

Salted water in, up to temperature. Rock in - scape it well with lots of gaps between it so you get a good random flow through/round it. Resist the temptation to pile it in a heap! Pumps on, rowaphos used in a reactor or a bag in flow. Sit back and test until NO2 NO3 NH3 PO4 all hit ZERO.
Test every few days from now on.

Skimmer on. (You wont skim out much crap cause there's not a lot in there!)

Add some 'clean up crew' (a few turbo snails/hermit crabs etc)

Wait a couple of weeks. Test for DKH (4-6) & Calcium (420ppm)

Add some soft coral perhaps. Test regularly for DKH & Calcium. If you are lightly stocked with soft coral and crustations then you will probably maintain these with your regular water changes.

Perhaps a small fish or two. Research these well! Lots are unsuitable for your size tank inc' popular Yellow Tangs which require a large straight swimming space. Mandarin Dragonets are another good example and can only be kept long term in a tank with enugh copods (a small shrimp like crustation) for them to eat. A small, young or sumpless tank will never produce enough to sustain one for more than a few months and it will slowly but surely starve to death.

Weekly 10% salty water changes.
Wait at least 6 months before it is considered 'mature.'
Wait 12 months before it will be stable.

Best advise is 'SLOWLY.' :lol2:

Have fun.
Join this Marine Fish Uk - Home (Powered by Invision Power Board)


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## beastluke (Sep 27, 2008)

*hi*

are there any threads with go along pictures(im a kenescetic learner) because i dont understannd this sump milarkey


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## Caz (May 24, 2007)

Join the forum i mentioned above - there is a sump section with pics.
A sump is basically a tank under your display tank to hide equipment/extra water volume/ extra filtration. They can be as simple or complex as you like!


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## paddy (Oct 3, 2008)

hi luke i have everything you need to run a marine tankas i bought a job lot off a friend who had it running for 2 months lol
drop me a message if your interested in buying it all 
no stupid prices all good to go straight in to your tank over £400 - £450 worth of kit all fro £150 ono
cheers 
paddy


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## owlbassboy (Jun 26, 2008)

no one actually uses marine fish uk anymore do they i thought it had closed lol theres never many online. Reef Face - Reef and Marine Fish Keeping Forum (Powered by Invision Power Board) are a lot more active


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## AshMashMash (Oct 28, 2007)

beastluke said:


> would have thought on a sight like this there would be atleast 1 person who noes there s**t about marine tanks


In _1_ hour? Dont get your knickers in a twist...


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## Renfield (May 20, 2008)

The best site for marines I would say is " Ultimate Reef " there will be loads of photos to guide you on there


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## Love_snakes (Aug 12, 2007)

Before anyone can give you hard and fast advice we need to know what you want from your tank. A few pretty fish and simple set up? to a whole reef set up? etc


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## Caz (May 24, 2007)

owlbassboy said:


> no one actually uses marine fish uk anymore do they i thought it had closed lol theres never many online. Reef Face - Reef and Marine Fish Keeping Forum (Powered by Invision Power Board) are a lot more active


MFUK is a good FRIENDLY site and you always get a quick reply.
UR is good but newbies are sometimes lost in the vastness of info.
Keep it simple is my moto. There really isn't much 'equipment' you'll need.


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## oakwell (Feb 16, 2009)

www.reefcorals.co.uk

all the help you will need on here


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## beastluke (Sep 27, 2008)

well i was thinking lion fish but what can go in with them
also what do mandarin dragonets eat


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## Caz (May 24, 2007)

mandarin dragonets eat copods. They are NOT suitable for small tanks/tanks without refugiums or new tanks as although new tanks have a copod 'bloom' they will not produce enough to sustain one for long. It will starve eventually. Even IF you manage to get them eating frozen mysis etc they don't do well on these diets and survive for long.

Lion fish will eat virtually anything they can get in their mouth and can be tricky to get feeding to start with. They also create a lot of waste.

HTH.


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## owlbassboy (Jun 26, 2008)

Caz said:


> MFUK is a good FRIENDLY site and you always get a quick reply.
> UR is good but newbies are sometimes lost in the vastness of info.
> Keep it simple is my moto. There really isn't much 'equipment' you'll need.


no on ur newbs can quite often get a very hard time for asking a simple question that an "expert" thinks you should know


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## Renfield (May 20, 2008)

On UR will be all the info he/she needs by searching, they don't even have to ask a thing 

But then that's the beauty of the Net they could go and research all of the sites and pick up tips from them all


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## owlbassboy (Jun 26, 2008)

Renfield said:


> On UR will be all the info he/she needs by searching, they don't even have to ask a thing
> 
> But then that's the beauty of the Net they could go and research all of the sites and pick up tips from them all


yeh but the point on a forum is to ask for help and get loads of advice


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## Renfield (May 20, 2008)

AshMashMash said:


> In _1_ hour? Dont get your knickers in a twist...


 
There's quite a few on here that do tho Ash, Sometimes it's easier not to answer as even pointing people in a direction to answer their questions appears to provoke a negative reaction.


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