4 Ft Marine Setup

[Pearsondesign]

hi guys

ok, so you all asked for it (ok, not all but some lol)

so here is my journal for setting up my marine 4ft tank

first off, here is the empty tank next to my old vision 180

luckily i had saltwater already mixed and filtering for 2 weeks in my breeding rack tanks, so i had enough water in the vision and the spares to fill this new one right up, and with about 40 litres spare
heres the tanks that were premixing water

my basic idea for this new tank is to have a FOWLR setup, incorporating a red toothed trigger

a large black and white clown

and a pyjama cardinal. i dont have any pics of him on his own, mainly cos he bores me to tears anytime i look at him lol

i am looking to add a snowflake moray, some kind of bright angel, maybe a flame or a lemon peel and some other larger fish, but not decided yet.

So then, first off i had to get the tank in place, then transfer the existing mixed water from back room to new tank.
this took me a few hours due to the premixed water not being warm enough, so i had to fill it up and heat it before continuing.
once it was up to temp i started syphoning the existing water in the vision 180 over to the new tank.
I then added the external filter, heres the current filter, i will be adding another larger eheim pro 4 as soon as the parts i need arrive.

then the next step was to move over the small amount of live rock that i had already

i then added the powerheads to the tank, making sure that there were no wires under the water level so the trigger cant chew them up
once it was all in place, i syphoned the remaining water over and then the fish. this was easier than expected as the trigger decided to wedge himself in a piece of rock so i didnt have to catch him. the pyjama cardinal was also fairly easy, but the clown was a nightmare!
he kept jumping out the water and the net, took me about 15 minutes to actually get him, plus i had to remove more water until it was almost empty just to make it easier to catch him

once the fish were in, i added the lights and the hood. current lighting consists of 2 2ft T5 marine blues, a 2ft marine white and a full length freshwater bulb. ill be changing these for full length T5 marine whites and keeping the smaller marine blues aswell for night time effect

Once all this was done, i moved the vision 180 to the back room, and tidied up the corner and room.

And finally, here is the tank setup as it will be until i get money for more live rock and more fish

a side shot, showing the full length of the tank

and a shot from night time with just the blue lights on

thats all for now, ill be adding more to this as and when i can afford to do it, so pics will be appearing over the next few weeks

comments welcomed

i wasnt sure how to do a journal so if this is laid out wrong then im sorry, but you get the idea

thanks for looking guys

Edd

 

[indir-emir]

Looking good mate

Good to see you started it, go my persuasion skills eh?

Keep the updates coming.

 

[seffieuk]

Great start to your journel

What background are you goin gto have, black or blue?

Seffie x

 

[Pearsondesign]

you know, ive never had backgrounds on any of my tanks

was thinking about blue or black, but i kinda like it clear, then the algae grows over it and makes it look natural eventually

 

[seffieuk]

Black is better for hiding things like wires

Seffie x

 

[Pearsondesign]

yeah true
the wires wont be visible once i get it all setup properly. they will all be taped down the right side, near the wall, then you wont see them
its just my speaker cable at the moment thats behind the tank, i can move that or put it on the wall above, not sure yet

oooh, also, decided on getting a proper foxface for this tank too, i have a bicolour/hawaiian one in my reef tank but id like a proper yellow one too

also, what other fish would you reccomend for this tank then?

 

[simonas]

I enjoyed this so far.
Looking good, I love the trigger I have always wanted to keep one

I shall be following this one with interest

 

[Pearsondesign]

thankyou

ive decided to go with the snowflake moray, simply because i think it will be a really nice set piece in my room. as long as it doesnt just hide all the time lol
because of this im only allowing myself 1 or 2 more fish in this tank.
was thinking of a large (4-5 inch) foxface and an angel of some kind.

also, on a side note, the vision 180 is for sale, complete with stand, lights, bulbs, upgraded jewell powerhead, filter box and media.
only looking for around the £200 mark, and considering these go for almost £600 in the shops, i think its a good deal this tank is only about 9 months old and only used for marine.
i am open to offers of course but looking for cash only, as i need it to pay for bills
unless someone wants to give me £150 cash and some live rock or coral frags for my reef tank or a fish

cheers

 

[simonas]

oh I;m jealous!!

the snowflakes are gorgeous and cheap enough to buy as well

I also like I think its the zebra moray

I'm looking forward to pics!!

 

[Pearsondesign]

cheers

i know i definately want an eel, but im still 50/50 on which to get. obviously i dont want one that will get huge, because id like to keep this tank setup for as long as possible really.

what would you suggest? you seem to know a lot more than i do about marines, so it would be good to hear some thoughts
is this what you mean?

id love one of these, but they are nasty and get big

now this one,

the yellow headed moray, gets upto 32 inches full grown. are eels like snakes, whereas they dont need a huge tank because they spend most of the time hidden or free swimming? in a 48 inch tank it would still have plenty of swimming space because of the way they swim and are shaped.

the snowflakes get upto 39 inches you see, so i dont want to have it for 6 months then have to move it to new tank or rehome it. if it takes a few years to readh cull size then thats fine

 

[simonas]

I believe Morays are like snakes in that respect. I;ve kept bracksih morays and they are ace fish, looking superb when they move about. I would have thought a snowflake would be fine in your tank but then I am not talking from experience

 

[Pearsondesign]

ok, thankyou
ill look into it more. one of the shops near me has a couple coming in this weekend so im going to go have a look, you never know i might get one then and there

 

[Pearsondesign]

ok, change of plan again

sorry, im rubbish at planning lol

anyways, decided against tghe eel as it wouldnt be the best thing for a nice show tank in my living room.

so, went with this little fella

and also this little guy

also got a lot more rock to make it look nicer and provide more hiding holes for them all.

 

[seffieuk]

Erhhhhhh, that looks like a volitan to me, which require a tank of 75 gallons and at least an 18 inch turn around and there is another problem, you have Rosie the Trigger in there Triggers are known to bite Volitans between the spines

Seffie x

 

[Pearsondesign]

yeah, id heard that too, but so far they have left each other alone.

the lion is still small so has loads of space, im using him as an excuse to get a larger tank when needed
but shh, its a secret lol