we have got a 68L tank will this be big enough before i even start? unsure and how many fish can we have in this size tank?
If it is we already have a an inside fluval filter and a thermometer. What else do i need. We want to keep clown fish etc.


WE were told at the local aquactic place that we needed: salt, external filter, hydrometer, sand or similiar and live rock or coral ( and fish )

BUt i wanted to make sure with the specialists on this place if this was right as we didnt want to be ripped off.

Yeah can be expensive aswell and i think more complicated as well but when you get it right your ok..


I think best person to ask is Pleccy mybe you could PM him .

My brother had one years ago i know he had to do certain things like if we wanted a new fish he had to wait for a while and add things ect ect and this and that in it..

But all worth it when you get it going.. Good Luck!

__________________


R.I.P ...Mesha xx Never Forget you xx
I will be back! i need to fight the BIG "C" atm!

thansk i'll pm that person then, thanks

Hi,

Your aquatic store has given you some good advice in terms of the basic equipment needed, however I'd dump the external filter and substitute this for a protein skimmer and two power heads. The live rock will provide biological filtration. Standard biological filter media in power-filters is a no-go as it will soon turn into a nutrient factory.

Water circulation in the aquarium is vital to supply the bacteria on the live rock with oxygen, without they'll turn anaerobic and die, the total water circulation should be around 15-20 times the total volume of the aquarium. For example if you have a 70 litre aquarium then you'll need something that can punch out between 1050 and 1400 litres per hour.

If you want to keep corals then you'll probably need to upgrade your lighting, as ordinary freshwater tubes won't be suitable as they don't have the right intensity or colour temperature. Some more info on your current lighting would be useful and would allow me to give you some recommendations for upgrading it.

As for extras you'll need salt (choose a good quality reef-grade brand), test kits (for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, phosphate, calcium and KH), a heater, food, calcium additive (optional but required for corals if you intend to keep them) and some chemical filtration media (carbon and/or D&D rowaphos is good). Instead of a hydrometer I would choose a refractometer, they are slightly more expensive however they are far more accurate than hydrometers.

Finally if you do intend to keep corals then you'll need to do something about your tapwater, as it is likely to contain high levels of nitrate, phopshate and TDS. Nutrient-rich tapwater is a prime cause for failure, as it fuels nuisance algae and diatoms.

95% of marine fishkeepers use reverse osmosis nowadays due to it's purity, as the process of reverse osmsosis removes around 99.9% of anything and everything from the tapwater. You can either purchase your own unit and make your own RO water or you can buy it in 10, 15 and 25 litre containers from aquatic stores, the latter option is probably easier for a lot of fishkeepers. All you have to do after is heat the water to the correct temperature and add salt to re-mineralize it and bring it up to the correct specific gravity (this is the measure used for salinity).

If you can provide a few more details on the tank including the lighting spec then I'd be happy to give you some more advice for choosing equipment.

It does seem a bit tricky however the secret is to get the right equipment and keep the water parameters within acceptable limits.

My sister has had marine fish for a few years now. You have to make sure the salt level is exactly right which can be tricky. She had two gorgeous sea horses but they died.

Hello
I have been keeping fish for over 15 years i started with goldfish and thn 2 years later turned to marine fish .
I now have 2 6,2,2ft tanks and love every minute of it BUT appart from the large costs of running a marine tank there is also alot to read up on before hand as a poorley set up tank can lead to later problems which can result in more expence later down the line .
If you do have any persific questions you would like to ask feel free to send me a pm ill gladley help all i can .

pleccy's advice is really good - i too would strongly advise having a protein skimmer they take out alot of the problems - they are quite noisy thou - I used to buy my Ro water from LFS - however getting the right salt gravity was a nightmare at first - I had a second tank in garage just to prepare the water in - live rock made things easier too - in the end it became too much for me and I gave up on marines and went back to tropicals - having said that they are very beautiful fish - and i loved to watch my cleaner shrimps - there is always something new to be seen in a marine tank with live rock in

water test before the water change/ Post your results when you have them, and we'll see if we can help further.

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