New to marine aquariums looking for advice

[Rob55]

Hi all

I am in the UK and looking to start a marine aquarium, i have had gold and tropical fish in the past but never salt water. My goal is to end up with a coral and fish set-up, i have found a local dealer and have been told i need the following equipment to start:

· A tank- i am looking at a large cube tank 155ltrs
· Sump
· pipe + fittings
· G216 Skimmer
· Laguna 2200 pump
· 100watt heater
· live rock
· TMC aquabeam twin packs x2
· refractometer
· live sand
· twin korallia 4400kit
My other concern is location, the place i want to put the tank is in my lounge in a chimney alcove. My concern is that i have a log burning stove in the fireplace and believe the room may have a range of temperatures; the alcove is not in direct sunlight so the sun should not affect the tank.

I am sure there will be a list of other questions that will come after these

thanks

Rob

 

[moog24]

It doesn't really matter where the tank is located so long as it's not subject to temperature swings and no direct sun light. If the rise and fall of the temp you should be fine. Not to high or low tho. And you'll most definitely need all that and you might as well get master test kits as well.

 

[Bectan01]

Your shopping list looks good - I would add a ro-di unit to the list if you plan a reef tank, tap water will only lead to a world of algae pain down the road also check out liveaquaria.com and choose fish according to your tank size (which works out about 40 gallons I think. You can select tank size and reef safe and read about their care and compatibility...

 

[Macscale]

Yeah the list is good.
As for the Master Test Kits mentioned earlier, they aren't really ideal for a reef tank. They are good for the cycle though. I'd invest in a quality brand like: Red Sea, Salifert, Hannah Checkers etc.

+1 on an RODI unit, very important.

Also, I believe the TMC lights you posted are T5? Well, just know LED is a great way to go and will save money in the end evade of bulb costs on T5.