Meditteranean aquarium Need Help

[Piga]

Hi everybody,
i am Stefanos from Greece, Rhodes island. I decide to make an aquarium (meditteranean species) i love sea and spearfishing, diving and it is very easy for me to collect any fish or plant. I know very well the character and the habits for most of them but i know very little about the equipment that i nedd for that kind of aquirium (most people buying fresh water and tropical salt water fish from petshops).

Anyway i have an 80gallos (300litr) tank i know that i need to buy:
1. filter
2. protein skimmer
3. light (according to the species)
4. chiller (the main problem is the temperature i need 64-66F (18-19C) and that a chillers is expensive )

Can you informe me what else equipment i will need and what do you recommend on the types of equipment?

Thank you for your time
Stefanos

 

[Dr.Nate]

Welcome Stefanos!

Well, I can help you some anyway, and then hopefully others will chime in, too....

First of all, I have a feeling your biggest issue is going to be keeping the fish you want in an 80 gallon tank. You shouldn't really have more than about 16 inches of fish in there total (and that's full grown).

1. filter--you can get by with no filter if you have a really good protien skimmer
2. as for a protein skimmer, I would highly recommend an ASM brand--I have one and it is great. Others on here will also recommend CPR bac pak (for Hang on)
3. Lighting in your case is not an issue unless you plan on having corals--in which case it depends on the type of corals you want as to the lighting that you need.
4. Yes, chillers are expensive, and I don't have one and have no clue about them--sorry.

The are a ton of other things you might want, too. It would be higly helpful to read all of the articles on this site about getting started--fishless cycling, etc.

HTH

 

[Dr.Nate]

oh yeah....

the ASM skimmers are massive and unless you have a sump you won't want one.....

 

[jaiden]

You should think about how you are going to get water. normally we recommend a RODI filter and salt mix. You use the RODI by itself for topoffs because evaporation removes pure water only, and should be replaced by pure water. otherwise, toxins build up.

However if you have easy access to clean natrual salt water, you may be able to maintain your tank with water changes. Depending on how much evaporation you have, you may still need a RODI just for topoffs. When you gather NSW, be sure you're not getting it from close to land, and collect it from underwater rather than from the surface.

 

[Piga]

sea its 5 mins from my house so that would not be the broblem

 

[jaiden]

If only we could all be so lucky. It's snowing where I live today.

If you can't get a RODI filter, distilled water will work too. In a pinch, you can use very clean fresh water with no chlorine in it. This will still build up toxins, but if you're changing 10% of the water every week you will probably be safe.