pondering starting a marine aquarium

[gazjeffery]

well i have a 200l clearseal aquarium standing empty I would like to set this up and have some marine fish.

could anyone recommend the type of equipment to use, I dont mind how much it will cost, as long as its reasonable.....ish and reliable

The only thing that i already have is the tank so all input is helpful.

thanks!!

 

[darb2]

Things that are definite
patience
A good book (conscientious marine aquarist by Rob Fenner)
heater
lighting (pc lights are good, but mh are stronger, and will alow you to keep more
ph (10-15x tank volume / hour)
substrate (cc has to be vacuumed regularly, and can trap waste so I reccomend sand)
live rock
filter I would reccomend a sump. It is much easier to maintain the system with a sump, and it hides equipment under the stand.
Skimmer Not a place to skimp
PATIENCE
Test kits (ammonia, nitrite nitrate, ph ) for starters
hydromerter
Then other things like nets, a scraper for the glass clean dedicated fish buckets, some where to mix new sw
And the last is patience

 

[gazjeffery]

Thanks for the list......

do you recomend a particular make????? there must be some which are better than others???

 

[Atari]

Since you said you don't mind costs, I would definitely go with handheld meters over test kits for pH, and a refractometer instead of a hydrometer.

You'll also need a RO/DI unit to filter water and a TDS meter to check it.

I prefer Salifert test kits over all others, with Seachem a close second.

Brands for all the other stuff will depend on if you mean Manchester UK or USA?

 

[gazjeffery]

im in manchester england.....

thanks for the advice on the test kits Atari

cost isnt really to much of an issue, as long as its not amazingly expensive lol. I know that price doesnt always reflect reliability but i also know that if you pay peanuts then you get monkeys

 

[malkore]

Heh, well I'll say that this saltwater tank has been pretty close to amazingly expensive. The live rock alone can be wicked expensive. Add a good skimmer and strong lighting, adn that puts live rock cost to shame.

 

[Atari]

LR is definitely the killer here in UK.. you're looking at £200 for the bare minimum for that size tank (if you want to go reef you could easily double that number). The best LR around is from STM. Of course you don't have to go that route and could just buy cheap tufa rock and then use some kind of external filtration like Eheim. I think you'll be much happier with the LR though.

The lighting is purely dependant on budget and what you intend to keep in the aquarium. If you just want some fish then you don't have to spend much at all. But if you think you might want to go full reef in the future then you should look at T-5 or MH units. My preference for brands is Arcadia and AquaMedic.

Skimmer-wise we don't have access to the legendary AquaC Remora here but we do have Deltec and they make great products. The Prizm Pro Deluxe would also be a decent choice for a 200l tank.

Maxijet are my favourite powerheads.

VisiTherm for heating.

Other little bits and pieces I don't think it really matters what brand you get. I'm sure I forgot some stuff so just ask.

EDIT: Oh yeah.. I use Kent salt and am very happy with it!