New to marine need help!

[spindragon1]

Hi all, i am desperately seeking help with a New marine setup. I don't want to go big as i have large tropical tanks for many years and i understand the maintenance can be very time consuming for larger tanks, also the space i have for this New setup in my lounge with limited space. I am hoping to convert an interpet 64l tank into a small marine setup with a few colourful fish likes of goby, mandarin, clowns etc.

i have an old canister filter e150l that used to run my 4ft tropical and it works fine so rather than use the interpet CF2 filter which might be inadequate, i could use my canister filter then add a protein skimmer to filter surface. My question is what do i need to get started?

I was told today i would need 6kg of live rock 1kg per 10litre this seems like it might be overkill especially when i watched a youtube video with a setup using dry rock in a 107l setup and only one piece of liverock. (fish in cycled)

I also would like to know what should i have in my canister filter at the minute in uses various sponges and bio balls for bacteria i know i need to replace these as they are old and ran tropical tank but not sure what i need to have in the filter. Again i was told today to just put crushed live rock in there and that would be fine however i am not too sure.

The way i look at it... A 64l tank with 5kg of live rock and 1kg of rock in my filter would take up a lot of space surely this then impacts on the amount of water in the tank and i think this would then impact on the amount of fish per litre/gallon rule.

Basically i am very confused right now, one person says one thing, another something else then another something entirely different. surely there's a tried and tested way to run/setup a basic marine tank with fish that doesn't break the bank ( 6kg of live rock costs around £250 from the todays visited aquatics centre in can be cheaper online so i recently discovered ). I know i can't have corals just yet as my tank lights are probably not good enough, if the marine "fish only" setup works, i may venture into better lighting and powerhead to have corals down the line.

any help would be great!

Thanks for reading
S

 

[Formulator]

You don’t need a canister filter in marine. Your rock is the biofilter, which is why you were told you need a specific amount for your tank. Skimmer pulls all the organic waste out of the water like a mechanical filter. It has nothing to do with the “surface” as you suggested. You can use the canister if you really want to, but I wouldn’t put bioballs in there. You could run floss and carbon. But if you will have a skimmer I really think it’s unnecessary.

250 euros for 6kg is absolutely absurd and I don’t know who in their right mind would pay that amount. In the US it is about $4 per pound for the generic live rock at most LFS. You use it to aquascape the display, not in your canister. Look around at the build threads on here to get an idea. It does not subtract from any fish per liter rules and is actually essential for your fish health to have plenty of caves and crevices to hide in. Stressed fish get sick.

 

[Dread Pirate Dave]

I'm guessing that 64l = about 16 gallons of tank? What are the actual dimensions?

For a fish only tank with live rock I would put it in the tank only. I would skip the canister filter completely and use a hang on protein skimmer + wave maker to give the tank some flow.

I have kept a pair of clown fish in a 20 gallon tank with live rock for 20+ years with just a power head and heater. But I also changed out 5 gallons of water every week. (sometimes every two weeks if I was slacking) lol

 

[alanr3]

I run as little rock in the main display and put the rest in my sump for filtration as well as a skimmer. I’d say go with the general rule of thumb as others say and just allocate according to your aesthetics

 

[spindragon1]

Thanks for all the info I appreciate it so my take from it is:-

Liverock = yes 6kg as suggested but buy from a cheaper source and use in tank generating caves etc.
Protein skimmer = yes
Heater = yes
Power head wave maker = yes for flow
Sand or coral bottom = yes
Mechanical filter (not huge issue but worth having) = reuse CF2 with sponge and carbon filtration or use canister filter with sponges.
RO water filter = yes (or buy water)
Salt for water = yes
Various water testing equipment = yes

Thanks again, I will build some shopping lists and check for pricing.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

This is a good introductory read.

The Supreme Guide To Setting Up A Saltwater Reef Aquarium

The Supreme Guide To Setting Up A Saltwater Reef Aquarium This article was sponsored by @MarineDepot at www.marinedepot.com. Introduction The marine environment is one of the most complex systems on the planet. The aquarium you are about to set up is only a tiny sliver of the vast ocean...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[spindragon1]

Thanks Mr. Mojo I believe i was reading that after my initial post the other day.

Thanks for the link.