Can anyone advise me on reef/marine tanks?

[stripeyknickersspottysocks]

Ideally in very simple terms as my head is spinning after trying to do some reseach online.

I currently have a 3ft tropical tank, the plan is that when the remaining fish die it will be scrubbed out and transformed into a marine tank .

I'd like a few fish, some shrimps and I've seen some pretty coral in the LFS.

So is a 3ft tank big enough?

What sort of filter do I need? I currently have some sort of Fluval internal filter and hate it, every time I pick it up to clean the sponges loads of shit falls out of it into the water before I have chance to get it out of the tank.

Can I use the same heater I have now?

Do I need special marine lights? I read something about needing a stronger light during the day and a blue light at night, is that true?

Do I need a skimmer? What do they do?

Do you have to add more salt to the tank fairly often? If so how do you manage this as I read that you can't add salt straight into the tank. Instead you have to add it to heated water in a bucket and keep it there for 48 hours before adding tothe tank. But after 48 hours the water would be too cold to add?

Do you really have to use reverse osmosis water for all water changes?

Do I need live sand and live rock? If I get these will these be enough to cycle my tank?

I read that filter sponges in a marine tank should be washed in tap water - is that right? Total opposite to what I do with my tropical tank as using tap water is a big no no.

Is it a lot harder than a tropical tank?

I'll be honest I haven't measured any nitrites/nitrates or anything else for about 3 years! From what I read marine fish are a bit more delicate and wouldn't cope with such a slap dash attitude. What do you need to do on a weekly basis for testing?

Yes it is harder than a tropical tank, and a lot more expensive hence why I don't have one but I have tinkered about with my mate's marine tank a fair bit so I'll try and answer a few questions

Yes you really have to use RO water every time (with added marine minerals). Marine fish and inverts are very very picky about water quality. You'd have to test for ammonia, nitrIte, nitrAte and pH as well as salinity (you need a hydrometer for this).

Filtration is a bit different to freshwater, it depends on whether you are going for live rock or fish only. Most people now use the Berlin method of filtration, basically you use live rock as the filtration and use extra powerheads to increase flow of water around the tank. If you use bio filtration in your filter I think you end up with high nitrates which is not such a big deal to freshwater fish but no good for marines.

Opinions vary on whether you need a skimmer, my mate doesn't have one on her tank but I know a few other people that do- maybe it depends on what fish you are going to keep, I dunno.

You will need special lighting if you're going to keep corals. Hope you're not too worried about your electricity bill

Can't see a problem with using the same heater, unless you have used any copper based meds while it was in the tank.

That's about the limit of my expertise I'm afraid, once I found out how much money and effort it took to run a reef tank I got put off for life You might be better off asking here- www.fishkeeping.co.uk/

A 3 ft tank would probably be big enough - but bear in mind that the larger the tank, the easier it is to keep the environment stable, and as has already been pointed out that is vital for these set ups.

I used to have 3 tropical tanks and for a long time hankered after swapping the largest (over 4ft) into a marine tank, but after researching it and looking at prices of the kit/stock I changed my mind. Marine tanks are very much more labour intensive and have much narrower tolerances in terms of the water quality, but obviously are very beautiful if you have the time and resources to get it right.

I just went and got some freshwater shrimps instead......

Ooh, there are some cracking freshwater shrimps you can get, and crabs and crayfish too what have you got Sam?

Thanks for the advice.

I've taken the plunge and just bought a 2nd hand tank. Decided I needed a new tank.

I've gone for a 130 litre nano tank so hopefully set up costs for live rock, etc won't be as much. The whole tank with heaters, skimmer, power heads and loads of other stuff was a good price.

I know I'm going to have to work extra hard to keep the water paramateres good with a small tank. I'm not going to put loads of stock in though, would like lots of coral, some shrimpy things, couple of clown fish and 3 or 4 other small fish.

Ooh, how exciting! good luck with it all, you are clearly a less lazy fishkeeper than I am

That sounds like it would be overstocked to me though, marine tanks have to be ridiculously understocked to keep water quality good enough for the fish. You could have a pair of clowns and then a little goby or blenny, there are some pretty small species available.

OK, will definetly take advice from a local fish shop before buying fish. Don't want to be overstocked. I've founda fab forum called ultimatereef so think they will be very useful on advice as well.

I'm very excited.

Noooo, never take advice from a shop! 9 times out of 10 they are rubbish, there is no legal requirement for the staff to have any training at all. Do your own research and plenty of it. UR is a good forum, I know a few people that use it and the mods on there really know their stuff.

I'm very lucky that I have an excellent LFS, owned and run by someone who's crazy about fish. Runs the whole set up from a big garage in his garden and is more interested in healthy fish, good set ups than a sale.