New To The Hobby - Looking For Some Advice!

[djl08]

firstly i'd like to say hi to everyone and any help/advice i receive is much appreciated.

I'm not a 'fish keeper' as of yet but i am very interested in becoming one. it may seem a bit naive but i would like to jump straight in at the deep end and start with tropical marine fish, the one species that really catches my eye are common clownfish, aka Amphiprion ocellaris. i visited my LFS today and i couldnt take my eyes off them, they seem so energetic.
Anyway, what i would like to know is, is what im planning to buy sufficient for a couple of these wonderful fish plus a few other colourful marine fish (open to suggestions).

im planning on buying a Fuval roma 125 aquarium. im starting off with a big tank because ive heard that the larger the volume the less sensitive the water is to change. im also thinking of getting a teratech 700 external filter to go with the tank.

ive read of the need for protein filters and so on so i would be greatful for any recommendations.

thanks for taking the time to read me post and let me take the opportunity to thank you in advance for your replies.

 

[waterdrop]

Welcome!

You'll need to post over in the marine section. The "New to the Hobby" section is mostly freshwater.

 

[ALEXF]

Welcome to the forum, and waterdrop is right. Good Luck.

 

[jacko9901]

personally i wouldnt go for marines until you are more experianced. maybe wait for a year or 2 until you have more experiance in fish.

 

[rabbut]

With marines, the most common way of doing things is the Berlin maethod, somethimes with varients. This is where you have a protien skimmer to remove organics, lots of flow about 10-20 thimes turn over, and live rock to do the filtration. The Exturnal filter will not be needed, and if not used correclty may become a nitrate factory in this type of system as they do not complete the nitrogen cycle.
Though I am not a marine keeper myself, I do maintain the marine systems at work, so I understand the basics of keeping them You will need test kits and about 1kg of live rock to every 10l of water. Live rock arround me is about £12 per kilo, so in a 125l tank, you are looking at £150 in rock alone. Add to that £40 for the water pumps and I'm not sure of air-driven skimmer costs, but motorised skimmers will set you back about £100 in Ebay, for a decent one.
You need to use RO water idealy for filling the tank. Round me it's £1 per gallon for salted RO, so thats another £25 for water, or you can get your own unit for £100-200 depending on the speed you want to make your own water. Thats £400-500 before you buy the tank, in upgrade equipment alone. For that you don't yet have a tank or livestock.
Livestock is obviously more expencive than other parts of the hobby, and any marine fish is unforgiving of "newbie errors" I.E ammonia or nitrite in the water for whatever reason. With the costs break-down you can see the reason for some members advising you to get some experience elswhere first. Granted marine can be done more cheaply, but the cheaper systems are high-maintanance usualy.

If you are deturnined to go this route, do lots of research, as they are harder to set-up correctly, and a poorly set-up tank will be hard to maitain.

All the best
Rabbut