Considering A Big Marine Set Up

[calsonic]

im considering switching over two marines but im trying to work out what equipment id would need how much it will cost and how i would set it up but before i really think about the nitty gritty how much do you think a 6ftx2x2ft basic setup would cost just for the equipment and the tank owh and will salt water ruin a laminat floor a lot quicker than normal water

cheers scott

 

[bae1994]

in my oppinion theres no real way to give an estimate its basicly about shopping around i went into 1 lfs and a small nano with no skimmer was in excess of 200 pounds and then went to another less than 3 miles away and one with a built in protien skimmer was 130 with a stand. i dont know about the floor but in cost wise if you want a lot of live rock you can have very basic filteration and let the live rock do the work worth looking into.

 

[calsonic]

would a budget of £4500-5000 be reasonable to get good equipment and the tank im thinking of having a 5ft sump i already have the uv and im hoping i can transfer a lot of my frsh water knolege over if i decide to go for it and convince my parrents

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Yeah with that kind of budget you would be fine (at least in terms of equipment, livestock might well take it over but wont be all in one go).

Most expensive bit is going to be the lighting and the Liverock. For both I would recommend looking on aquatic sites for people breakign down their tanks as it will work out a LOT cheaper.

When I priced up a 5X2X2 tank (with all brand new equipment) about 7 months ago it was going to cost around £2500-3000. Could do it for half that though if you are patient and get second hand stuff.

 

[calsonic]

if i am going to do it id rather use new stuff than buy someone elses trouble

 

[Ludwig Venter]

I am extremely tempted, but even with experience from the early 1970's, do not feel myself suitably qualified to move into the marine field.... those are the specialists...

 

[ben1987]

i dont think you will see much change for 5 grand.
My little bit would be to future proof as much as possible. Dont buy cheap now and think il upgrade later when i want corals or whatever. You will lose loads of money and its addictive you always want to add something to your tank. I spend as much time looking at corals as i do my fish so dont skimt on the lighting imo

 

[calsonic]

i was going to set aside at least £1500 on aqua ray lighting and i already have a vectron 2 600 uv

 

[Sanj]

I am extremely tempted, but even with experience from the early 1970's, do not feel myself suitably qualified to move into the marine field.... those are the specialists...

Things have changed so much since then, technology and understanding of how to keep reefs and marine fish has come on leaps and bounds. I have seen so many people surprised when they set up a marine aquarium nowadays finding it not nearly as difficult as they had thought. Dont let your experiances of 30 years ago put you off.

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Yeah it really isnt that difficult to keep a basic marine tank. I find it a lot less work then my planted tank ever was. As long as you set it all up right it really is as simple as doing a water change every week/2 weeks and topping the tank up with RO when needed. You can of course get a lot more complicated if you want to depending on what you keep but I'm really happy with my tank and its easy to keep livestock Really is not much more difficult than a FW tank (and SO much more fun ).

With regards to buying second hand stuff I completely see where you coming from and I was the same when I first got into it. If there is not much difference in price between buying new and buying second hand then you might as well go new. However when you look at buying liverock from a LFS for £11 a KG compared to buying it from someone who has broken down their tank for £2 per KG you can save a hell of a lot of money (like over £300 if you get 40kg of it). Buying a tank I would still be worried about getting a second hand one but everything else I buy from now on I plan to try and get second hand.

The thing with this hobby is that a lot of people take it up then after a few months either get bored and sell it all or end up upgrading so there is a lot of good quality second hand kit floating around out there

 

[ben1987]

i was going to set aside at least £1500 on aqua ray lighting and i already have a vectron 2 600 uv

i would be more inclined to go with halides on a depth of 2'

 

[calsonic]

my lfs shop said that the aqua rays are just as good as halides at that depth but cheeper to run and i wouldnt require a chiller

 

[ben1987]

Yeah every shop that deals with tmc says that. They are good because the bulbs last ages and they are cheap to run. But they do get quite hot and are not as bright as halides.

 

[calsonic]

with the budget i would have if i decided to do it i could afford to put 22 in the hood but to be honnest i dont want to spend a fortune on running lights when i could be spending the money running another set up

 

[rabbut]

You could put 3 250W metal halides with twin atinics over that tank in a new unit for half the price of the 22 TMC Aquarays, and they should way out-perform the Aquarays. Keep the haildes a foot of the water with plenty of air arround them (i.e. not in a hood, a foot off the water surface, or in a hood with lots of cooling fans) and they won't heat the water enough to justify a chiller either I'd surgest, having now seen these running, that 22 won't be enough...