Midnight Tboy
Aquarium Advice Newbie
Hey there,
I've just been hunting more information and have come across this site.
This is the deal.....I've only dabbled with fish in the past with a small tank and coldwater fish...now I have caught the bug bigtime and reading up wherever I can the last few days on the net and I'm on the verge of purchasing a tank. http://www.aquaone.com.au/curvedgla...r620_ar980).htm the AR980 215l model at the bottom is the tank that I'm expecting I'll probably buy as it seems best value and with built in features etc (price including stand £310 here). That tank comes with a built in wet/dry trickle filter in the hood.
At first, obviously only previously knowing about coldfish, the idea was to go for tropical fish, however I saw the beauty of marine fish and reefs etc and was fascinated and I'm pretty sure that this is the path that I want to go down, I have the devotion to do so, however I don't have the budget (this time next year we'll be millionaires Rodney) to stretch to thousands of pounds worth of high tech equipment.
Anyways, to get to the nitty gritty....now I like the idea of starting a living reef inside the tank, however I think that I may be better off starting with Fish Only and adding that later when I know I can look after them well enough.
Now when I was speaking to a salesman earlier today (in a garden center rather than a dedicated fish store), he seemed to indicate that for saltwater fish I would HAVE to have a big powerfilter (that he showed me which was stored taking half the cabinet underneath one of the tanks there), I can't remember the name of that type to be honest - he indicated around £80 would be the cost. Also he said a protein skimmer would be an essential item too.
Upon reading through some information, and its now getting late, just turning 4am , on http://saltaquarium.about.com/ , I seem to get the impression that firstly a trickle filter system is more than adequate for a saltwater setup? would the built in one be powerful/suitable enough or are the trickle filter systems they refer to of a different design and thereby much more powerful to a built in one?
Secondly, with a tank of that size, to get me started I'm thinking of (whilst still waiting for the tank to cycle etc) a fish only setup, maybe 2-4 clownfish and something else that takes my fancy, or some form of shrimp or snails. At that point, would a protein skimmer be essential? or would it only become more essential at a later date when I was to add more fish, or living rock? Ideally if I could hold off buying a skimmer, then I'm more likely to go ahead with the option for affordability.
Lastly, if I was to buy a skimmer, does it connect into the tank seperately, or would it somehow have to interface with my built in trickle filter? Obviously if having to interface it somehow by way of cutting holes around would defeat the purpose of buying a nice tank with the filter systems built in.
hope you guys/girls can help, I'm getting eager to even get the tank ordered so I can wait the cycling time (handily while I'm away on holiday )
cheers,
Tuck
I've just been hunting more information and have come across this site.
This is the deal.....I've only dabbled with fish in the past with a small tank and coldwater fish...now I have caught the bug bigtime and reading up wherever I can the last few days on the net and I'm on the verge of purchasing a tank. http://www.aquaone.com.au/curvedgla...r620_ar980).htm the AR980 215l model at the bottom is the tank that I'm expecting I'll probably buy as it seems best value and with built in features etc (price including stand £310 here). That tank comes with a built in wet/dry trickle filter in the hood.
At first, obviously only previously knowing about coldfish, the idea was to go for tropical fish, however I saw the beauty of marine fish and reefs etc and was fascinated and I'm pretty sure that this is the path that I want to go down, I have the devotion to do so, however I don't have the budget (this time next year we'll be millionaires Rodney) to stretch to thousands of pounds worth of high tech equipment.
Anyways, to get to the nitty gritty....now I like the idea of starting a living reef inside the tank, however I think that I may be better off starting with Fish Only and adding that later when I know I can look after them well enough.
Now when I was speaking to a salesman earlier today (in a garden center rather than a dedicated fish store), he seemed to indicate that for saltwater fish I would HAVE to have a big powerfilter (that he showed me which was stored taking half the cabinet underneath one of the tanks there), I can't remember the name of that type to be honest - he indicated around £80 would be the cost. Also he said a protein skimmer would be an essential item too.
Upon reading through some information, and its now getting late, just turning 4am , on http://saltaquarium.about.com/ , I seem to get the impression that firstly a trickle filter system is more than adequate for a saltwater setup? would the built in one be powerful/suitable enough or are the trickle filter systems they refer to of a different design and thereby much more powerful to a built in one?
Secondly, with a tank of that size, to get me started I'm thinking of (whilst still waiting for the tank to cycle etc) a fish only setup, maybe 2-4 clownfish and something else that takes my fancy, or some form of shrimp or snails. At that point, would a protein skimmer be essential? or would it only become more essential at a later date when I was to add more fish, or living rock? Ideally if I could hold off buying a skimmer, then I'm more likely to go ahead with the option for affordability.
Lastly, if I was to buy a skimmer, does it connect into the tank seperately, or would it somehow have to interface with my built in trickle filter? Obviously if having to interface it somehow by way of cutting holes around would defeat the purpose of buying a nice tank with the filter systems built in.
hope you guys/girls can help, I'm getting eager to even get the tank ordered so I can wait the cycling time (handily while I'm away on holiday )
cheers,
Tuck
