Anybody on here keep Saltwater Fish?

[Safety_James]

Just wondered as im just starting the whole marine thing and have bought a small set up and recently got it installed, just got to be patient now before i can start adding coral and fish..

Has anybody got one up and running? Any advise.. strange question i know!!

Starting off farily small however once i get to grips with it as its not as easy as tropical fish ill move onto a bigger tank..

At the moment its only a 65L all in one marine tank, with protein skimmer, uv steriliser, filtration and tidal pumps built in and it seems to be going ok. Been running for 24 hours and now the mixed R/O salted water is gradually begining to clear..

Had a small shock this morning when i went to purchase some live rock for it from Swallow Aquatics, only

[mike-payne]

yeah i have a reef tank... 130L tank so a Nano reef.
But still very engaging and fascinating.

[fezza]

I've got a 700L reef tank, a few corals (mainly leathers/polyps), a lovely rose tip anemone, and several fish including tangs, angel, foxface and my favourite - a porcupine puffer.

If you need any help/advice just give me a shout mate.

It can be tiresome and occasionally heartbreaking but it is soo worth it in the end.

[Safety_James]

Ahh so im not the only one which is a relief.. I should have gone for something like a 130L one to start with as apparently its easier to start off on a larger tank but the cost involved is quite high as it is..

700L - Thats enormous, have you got any pictures... How on earth do you keep that thing ticking over..

Main concern right now is making sure its up to temperature, (Whats a reccomended temperature?) and that the salt water is the correct level, need to get some form of Hydrometer..

Whats the best way to introduce nice corals and simple life to the rocks in a small set up?!

Thanks

[fezza]

Ahh so im not the only one which is a relief.. I should have gone for something like a 130L one to start with as apparently its easier to start off on a larger tank but the cost involved is quite high as it is..

700L - Thats enormous, have you got any pictures... How on earth do you keep that thing ticking over..

Main concern right now is making sure its up to temperature, (Whats a reccomended temperature?) and that the salt water is the correct level, need to get some form of Hydrometer..

Whats the best way to introduce nice corals and simple life to the rocks in a small set up?!

Thanks

I've put a couple of old pics for you below, really should take some new ones - all the corals have grown and you see far less rock now.

I started with a 400L corner tank and a nano and to be honest, the 400L was easier to keep than the nano, just much more time consuming! Your size is a great starting point but just make sure you do your research on fish size... otherwise you'll be upgrading very soon!

Have you already put the rock in? I usually put my temperature to 25ish degrees and the salinity to around 1.24 - good for corals and fish alike.

If your water is already around that then hopefully you wont have had alot of die off on the rock, therefore you will only have to wait a couple of weeks before introducing your first fish! I would wait until you have a fish alive in there for a month or so before adding corals if i am honest. Any thoughts on stocking yet?

Heres the pics... (sorry for quality of some!)















changed a Huge amount from this one now...



P.S. there is about

[Safety_James]

Thats a seriously large set up there what a fantastic collection, you must be really chuffed!

Ive been debating weather to start on marine fish for a while now and after a lot of conversations with the guys at Swallow Aquatics in East Harling i decided to bite the bullit and try it hence starting off small rather than over kill..

Once ive mastered successfully keeping the small tank then the missus will allow a larger tank in the living area..

When i got it home on Friday i put the living sand in it and the R/O water in and let it all run for 24 hours.. temperature was set to 25'c so im glad i got that bit right. The instructions in the box were terrible so ive done a bit of research too.

Then today i added the live rock, the guys at Swallow said it was ok to do this.. now its just the waiting game. Got all the water chemistry testers from the tropical tank to check ph, nitrate & nitrite aswell.

As for stock, i would like a pair of clown fish, not sure if i want the common clowns or a pair of black clown fish.. third fish would probably be a purple tang.. i would like a regal blue tang but i heard they aren't that good with clown fish in a small tank...? On top of that a hermit crab of some sorts..

[ScoobieWRX]

That 700L tank looks fab. I've got some scuba gear...mind if i dive in and take some pics. Reminds me of Fiji

What a cracking and unusual hobby...nice one!!

[fezza]

Thats a seriously large set up there what a fantastic collection, you must be really chuffed!

Ive been debating weather to start on marine fish for a while now and after a lot of conversations with the guys at Swallow Aquatics in East Harling i decided to bite the bullit and try it hence starting off small rather than over kill..

Once ive mastered successfully keeping the small tank then the missus will allow a larger tank in the living area..

When i got it home on Friday i put the living sand in it and the R/O water in and let it all run for 24 hours.. temperature was set to 25'c so im glad i got that bit right. The instructions in the box were terrible so ive done a bit of research too.

Then today i added the live rock, the guys at Swallow said it was ok to do this.. now its just the waiting game. Got all the water chemistry testers from the tropical tank to check ph, nitrate & nitrite aswell.

As for stock, i would like a pair of clown fish, not sure if i want the common clowns or a pair of black clown fish.. third fish would probably be a purple tang.. i would like a regal blue tang but i heard they aren't that good with clown fish in a small tank...? On top of that a hermit crab of some sorts..

Sounds good to me... a couple of questions/pointers though...

Have you added salt to the RO water? The living creatures/bacteria on the rock wont be too happy if they are just in RO water for too long.

A pair of common clowns or percula clowns would be stunning in that tank. As for the tangs, personally i'd forget them - i have a regal, scopas, yellow and lipstick in mine, and in my opinion even my 700 litres tank is too small for them and is being upgraded to a 2000L tank next year. A purple tang can get to about 6 inches in length and needs looooads of swimming space otherwise it will die very quickly =O( Plus they are about

[fezza]

That 700L tank looks fab. I've got some scuba gear...mind if i dive in and take some pics. Reminds me of Fiji

What a cracking and unusual hobby...nice one!!

When the 2000L tank arrives next year you can come and dive in it and place my corals for me =O)

Cheers for the comments.

[RX7]

Wow guys what an interesting thread !!
I used to keep tropical fish when I lived at home with my folks and we used to have the usual angelfish, guppys, gouramis etc but I also managed to get a freshwater crayfish which skulked around the bottom. The fish disappeared from time to time and we suspected the crayfish was to blame but it was so cool watching. My mum also got to watch it shed the skin but it died not long after :-( Apparently thats when they are at their weakest.

But I've always loved the saltwater aquariums, your plan sounds good Rob to start with as it can get very very expensive !! I cant imagine what a 2000l tank looks like !! That 700l one looks huge !

Keep us posted mate, there is just something relaxing about watching fish !!

2000l !! I am still in shock, are you going to sell tickets Fezza