what equipment is needed for a marine tank?

[xmikebrock]

what equipment is needed for a marine tank?

[marksrush]

If you're talking about a FOWLR tank (fish only with live rock) you'll need:
1) tank, with hood and lights, and possibly a stand
2) filtration system, with either hang-on-back filters or a canister filter
3) heater and thermometer
4) substrate, usually aragonite or crushed coral - or marine sand if you prefer
5) live rock, and lots of it
6) water conditioner for removing chlorine and chloramines
7) test kit for checking water parameters
marine salt, and lots of it
9) 5 gallon bucket(s) for water changes and mixing up your salt water
10) if you're in a hurry, some Bio-Spira to speed up the cycle process - although the live rock will help establish the tank on its own

If you're really going all-out, you might want to consider a protein skimmer and a sump. You may also want to add an airstone to help out with aeration and water movement, or a power head, which is probably the better solution.

[puffertt77]

Hey xmikebrock

I recently set up my first Marine tank and a fish only with live rock set up is the easiest (reef tanks are a lot more work!), being a FOWLR tank you don't have to spend huge ammounts on special lighting either (as you have no corals etc). Just basic lighting is needed just like you would get on a freshwater tank.

When I set mine up Pufferpunk advised me not to get external filters or bio balls for a sump as they create a lot of Nitrate in the water

Instead just get yourself a good quality protein skimmer (rated higher than your tank size if possible) and plenty of decent live rock (I think it's 2lbs of LR per gallon of water in the tank). I also got Live Sand which said on the packet that it would instantly cycle my tank, it seems to have worked for me but I've been told since that you'd be better off buying normal sand and putting the money towards more Live Rock (as Live Rock is the main thing in the tank that is going to get rid of all your Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrates).

Live Rock is very expensive but you can sometimes get it cheap on Ebay and probably Craigeslist also. You might be better off buying a Marine tank from someone that already has all the Live Rock and equiptment with it, although it may seem a lot to shell out in one hit it'll actually work out a lot cheaper than buying it all seperatly yourself (Especially the Live Rock!). I joined a Marine/Reef forum which had members from my area and then posted a thread asking if anyone had some live rock for sale. Lot's of people are either downgrading their tank to a smaller tank or are giving up the hobby so there's some good deals to be had if you're lucky. The other good thing about getting Live Rock from someone that's had it in their tank for years is that you don't have to wait for it to cure, you should look to buy it with lots of life on it, preferably the rock should have purple/pink growth all over it. From what I've seen LFS don't sell LR with as much life on it as you'd get from someone whos' had it in their tank for years, plus a LFS is so much more expensive (in England 1kg of LR is £15!, I managed to get mine for £3.25p per KG and it was much bettrer quiality rock!). By doing this I never had to cycle my tank, my Ammonia and Nitrites have been 0 for over a month now and all is looking good.

Hope that helps you out

If any of the Marine pro's have seen any errors in my advise please correct me

[Pufferpunk]

Agreed--forget external filters--get a GOOD skimmer. Best to buy a reef ready tank where you can plumb in a sump for all your equipment. If you're not keeping corals (nit recommended with a porc) then regular flourescent lighting is ok.

Check at: http://www.reefcentral.com for a local reef club near you or on Craigslist for folks sellling tanks, sand, live rock & any other equipment you're looking for. There is also a Used Equipment forum at RC for stuff.

[xmikebrock]

thanks guys for all of your help

so, do i RELE need to get the live rock?
im not too crazy about how it looks, could i set up something else instead?

[taureandragon76]

Live rock is a necessity for any saltwater tank, it is the biofilter of the system.

[puffertt77]

thanks guys for all of your help

so, do i RELE need to get the live rock?
im not too crazy about how it looks, could i set up something else instead?

Yes LR is a must!

If you don't like the look of LR (I'm not so keen myself) you can put it all in a sump. A sump is basically another tank which sits below the main tank. You have an overflow box in the main tank which has a pipe running from it into the left hand side of the sump. The water travels down the tube into the sump where it comes into contact with the LR and then is pumped back up into the tank (that's a very basic example of how it works). You can also have your heater and Protein skimmer in the sump, this means that you're free to do what ever you want with the main tank like adding dead coral etc. To be honest though you may want to put a small amount of rock in the main tank just to create a few caves and hide outs for your puffer (Dogface puffers love to have little hideaways to sit in). You could probably also create some caves out of slate etc, so long as there's something in there to make it intresting for the puffer to explore otherwise they'll get bored very quickly and pace the glass. It's so much more fun watching a puffer curiously exploring their tank than just seeing them in a big empty space with nothing to do.

What puffer are you thinking of getting by the way?

I'd recommend the Porcupine puffer as they are very entertaining and interactive. They need a minimum tank size of 120usG which is a 4ftx2ftx2ft tank. Also by having the Sump this will give you more water to dialout the bioload put out by the puffer

[xmikebrock]

i already have 2 gsps lol
thanks for the help i appreciate it

and i definitely wound have caves and stuff for it to do, i was just wondering if there was a way to avoid the LR

[Pufferpunk]

Sure there is--just be prepared to do 50% weekly water changes which will cost you alot of $alt.

[Josh88]

You really don't need to spend the dough on LR.
Buy 25% LR and the rest can be dead dry base,
it may take time for it to color up and become live but it will be much cheaper.
By law in Hawaii I can't harvest LR so I took Coraline scrapings,LS from a reef and 8 months later it's turning out pretty nicely.

A Protein skimmer is great,if your are on a tight budget(like I am ) a refugarium/part of your sump can hold cheato(don't use anything else, caulerpa can be terrible) it'll work on the cheap not like a skimmer but for being ultra cheap it works well.

My only worrying thought would be detritus accumulation for the LR if you keep it in your sump,
maybe something that eats detritus like hermits ???
I've never owned a sump or a FOWLER so I'm not sure,although I have had 3 reef setups but I'm still learning..

[xmikebrock]

im rele confused, i researched some stuff

ok, i got this tank with pretty much everything needed, not eerything tho

so, i have 2 power heads, with enough of the water flow, coming from the power heads

and if i used the LR

the LR would actually be used as a filter?

[puffertt77]

im rele confused, i researched some stuff

ok, i got this tank with pretty much everything needed, not eerything tho

so, i have 2 power heads, with enough of the water flow, coming from the power heads

and if i used the LR

the LR would actually be used as a filter?

Yeah that's right, the LR will take all the nasty chemicals out of the water ie the ammonia, nitrites and nitrates

I had trouble getting my head round the fact that the LR did the main filtering of the water when I first found out that's what it does. I kept asking PP about getting a external hob filter and Bio balls for a sump and she explained to me that LR is the way to go. Don't forget it's best if you get a good Skimmer aswell

[Pufferpunk]

Please do not double post questions. I'm locking your other one.

[xmikebrock]

ok, sry

wont happen again =)


alright, so instead of using live rock
would i be able to use an under gravel filter, because its pretty doing the same job right?

i just want the inside of the tank to be as simple as possible (i will have things for my fish to do tho)

[Pufferpunk]

It's ok, I forgive you but next time you get a spanking!

You cannot use an UGF for a SW tank,. Nevermind that the sand will fall right through the holes... It's a whole different ball game with marine tanks. Please read some of those articles in the link I gave you. They explain a lot about SW filtration.