Taking The Saltwater Plunge!

[rabbut]

If Mandarines are planned, you probibly want FOWLR realy...

So you are talking as Truckasorus's list above, with the modifications that he says for FOWLR set-up's. You will still need the Marine Salt though, I'm shure him listing it as not needed was a typing error

 

[BigC]

Well Lud good to see ya, you ready for this, say goodbye to you savings, time to tell porkies to the wife on your spending habits. LOL
And so it begins....
Well Ludwig, how you wanna go about this.
Tell me a little about your situation and what your Local aquarist shop has for sale as far as marine electrical equipment goes.
What size of tank have you got in mind.
Can you get hold of Live Rock easily.

Initial shopping list should be.

Tank
Heater/stat (maybe, as I dont know much about your climate)
Couple of large powerheads
1x bucket of synthetic salt
Coral Sand (amount to suit size of tank)
Refractometer
Thermometer
Liverock (Kgs to suit volume of tank) but not needed until your ready to go. (can be expensive)
RO unit. (If you cant get hold of one let me know, I'll sort something out)
Buckets and a small powerhead (for salt mixing)
Saltwater Test kits for
Ammonia
Nitrite
Nitrate
pH
Magnesium
Alkalinity KH
Calcium

Thats it for now but please do a little research surrounding availability of equipment and livestock at you local shop.
Any questions just ask away
Regards
BigC

 

[Trod]

Hi and to the salty side.

As for a mandarin, I have to disagree with Truck ( Sorry) I have one, my tank is around 6 months old and I've had it for around a month. I add copepods once a week and its doing fine, (it does eat brine shrimp too) if you definately want one I would say Live Rock is a must so its a FOWLR set you are looking at You can easily start your own pod culture, but we'll let you set tank up first before we go there

 

[Truck]

i think with tank bred specimens it doesnt matter so much as some will take other foods

 

[SkiFletch]

How handy with tools and DIY projects are you Ludwig? If a Mandarin in a 3' tank is your goal, you might want to consider constructing an over-tank refugium to help supply the pods it will need. I know xxBarneyxx has some experience doing this first hand, I only know the theory . The idea is if you have a refugium which gravity feeds to your display tank, you can culture pods there (and grow macro algae to help with nutrient export). Conversely you could also look into culturing your own pods with a grow table if you wanted that route.

Do you live near enough an LFS to check out some mandarins to see if they're eating frozen?

 

[Ludwig Venter]

Having second thoughts on this one.... Had the opportunity to stop over at a pet shop at the weekend, & they have a starter kit for a standard 4ft marine setup at R 7,500... (790 $.... or 540 Pounds).... without the chemicals included.......

I dunno how this relates to global prices,..... and there were Trigger fish of some sort at R1,750 (185$) each!!.... Geez!!!!.... I work for Anglo American.... I don't own it....

(can I start a marine setup in a goldfish bowl)???

 

[Ludwig Venter]

Having second thoughts on this one.... Had the opportunity to stop over at a pet shop at the weekend, & they have a starter kit for a standard 4ft marine setup at R 7,500... (790 $.... or 540 Pounds).... without the chemicals included.......

I dunno how this relates to global prices,..... and there were Trigger fish of some sort at R1,750 (185$) each!!.... Geez!!!!.... I work for Anglo American.... I don't own it....

(can I start a marine setup in a goldfish bowl)???

I forgot to add, that the lights are also not included in the above prices.

 

[Truck]

i would build your own setup as it can be a lot cheaper!!

 

[Ludwig Venter]

i would build your own setup as it can be a lot cheaper!!

Just wondering.... How does this relate to prices elsewhere??

 

[Truck]

i would build your own setup as it can be a lot cheaper!!

Just wondering.... How does this relate to prices elsewhere??

well my LFS sells a 120 litre tank, which is fully salt water compatible but it doesnt come with salt, decent lighting a skimmer. or sand or power heads, you get the picture. but i would source all of your stuff 2nd hand, its a lot more to buy it all together, than spending that bit of extra time, to bag a bargain and get some more knowledge drilled into your head