newbie

[jellydot72]

Hello everyone here,

Iam a newbie to marine setup. I have been keeping planted tank and now got interested in keeping one marine tank. But I know too little about this area. Can anyone help me? I saw some very small set up at a place in Marine Parade area (near the Popular Book shop).

Thank you
Jelly

[jellydot72]

Hello everyone here,

Iam a newbie to marine setup. I have been keeping planted tank and now got interested in keeping one marine tank. But I know too little about this area. Can anyone help me? I saw some very small set up at a place in Marine Parade area (near the Popular Book shop).

Thank you
Jelly

[jellydot72]

Hello everyone here,

Iam a newbie to marine setup. I have been keeping planted tank and now got interested in keeping one marine tank. But I know too little about this area. Can anyone help me? I saw some very small set up at a place in Marine Parade area (near the Popular Book shop).

Thank you
Jelly

[jellydot72]

Hello everyone here,

Iam a newbie to marine setup. I have been keeping planted tank and now got interested in keeping one marine tank. But I know too little about this area. Can anyone help me? I saw some very small set up at a place in Marine Parade area (near the Popular Book shop).

Thank you
Jelly

[kelstorm]

what do u want to know.. u can try reading up on the FAQ forum first for some ideas.. and i would suggest u get a book to know what u are heading for first.. if not, very difficult for me to help u.. coz i dun know what u want to know... be specific and we can channel our answers better...

[ZeRoC00l]

I'm a newbie too. And I live near Marine Parade too. [can meet to trade info easily [] ]

Are you talking abt the flowerist / marine shop? The boss quite friendly and definately helpful.

But some of his methods of setting up a marine tank kinda ??????

Decide on the size of yr tank [pico / nano / 2feet]

Decide what you wana keep

Then the experts here can help you have a clearer pict on what / how to do/get

Cheers

[jellydot72]

Hi,

Arr....sorly I did not mention what i really want. O.K here it is:

1.Tank size not bigger than 2ft ( I understand that the buffer thingie is important but budget and also worried if I decided later to return to the 'rebel side of the force'
[] )

2. Love to see those colorful fleshy and soft type coral (temp. ?)

3. Like to have clown fishes and lovely looking creatures (not E.T[:0] )

4. Fair amount of maintenace

5. Prefer neat set up and not clustering ( me not a DIY person, I buay hiaw )

6. Thinking of sump system with protein skimmer in them but no idea how (only know this will at least increases the water qty for buffering)

7. Chiller really need one?

8. Lightings - blue and daylight

9. Budget of $500 or lesser (pardon me

I guess that's all I can think of at this moment

I have read the FAQ and it really helps.
Thanks to all in advance

Jelly

[DragonGoby]

----------------
On 11/10/2002 11:31:37 PM

Hi,

Arr....sorly I did not mention what i really want. O.K here it is:

1.Tank size not bigger than 2ft ( I understand that the buffer thingie is important but budget and also worried if I decided later to return to the 'rebel side of the force'
[] )

2. Love to see those colorful fleshy and soft type coral (temp. ?)

3. Like to have clown fishes and lovely looking creatures (not E.T[:0] )

4. Fair amount of maintenace

5. Prefer neat set up and not clustering ( me not a DIY person, I buay hiaw )

6. Thinking of sump system with protein skimmer in them but no idea how (only know this will at least increases the water qty for buffering)

7. Chiller really need one?

8. Lightings - blue and daylight

9. Budget of $500 or lesser (pardon me

I guess that's all I can think of at this moment

I have read the FAQ and it really helps.
Thanks to all in advance

Jelly
----------------

Hie,

Haha, you're going to get bitten by the dark marine bug! I'll just add in my 2c's worth:

1) I think 2' would be OK - perhaps you might want to buy the tall type made by Ocean Free, which cost me $30 a month ago. (Seriously, all thanks to luo han, fish tanks are getting cheaper)

2) Soft corals are a good beginner's choice - temp should be below 30C at any rate, so unless you place your tank in direct sunlight outdoors, chances are that you won't have to bother about chillers and all since indoor tank temp should hover around 28-29C.

3) Clown fishes are nice stuff to put in your tank, they are really fun. But do go slow, don't add too much livestock at once. One of the most entertaining things in this hobby is to buy new stuff (and end up with a hole in the pocket), so you don't want to take all the fun out by reaching your maximum stocking capacity too soon.

4) With a protein skimmer, maintenance should be quite manageable. Normally, every 2 days I top up with 2 x 1Litre containers of fresh water. Every 2 weeks do a 10% water change and empty skimmer collection cup.

5) If you're going with a sump you can hide the sump inside the tank's cabinet, or anything else. Also depends on the type of filtration you're going for - for the Berlin method (quite hard now, live rock is missing from the market!) you'll probably only need to be concerned with placement of the protein skimmer. For other filtration methods you might have to find somewhere, maybe a cainet, to place the filtration module into.

6) For a sump, basically water flows from the top (main display) tank into the sump either via gravity or siphon. The gravity method involves drilling a hole at the base of your main tank etc etc - I think others can advise you on this, since I use the siphon method, which is DIY (ah, I see you running away from it liao!), rather high maintenance and also dangerous in case the siphon fails. Protein skimmer you can get a cheap Orca brand type ($40 + cost of air pump) which will fit inside the sump.

7) No, it's not strictly necessary unless you're keeping stuff like hard corals.

For soft corals you'll need at least a few flourescent bulb's worth of light. I'm using PC lighting x 4, which is nice for a 4-foot tank, so I think you can get 2 x PC lights in a hood at around $70.

OK, I think this is where I can help till. Have fun!

Regards,
hONG yEE

[jellydot72]

Hi,

thank you for all the wonderful advise. One more thing to ask for now. Can anyone recommend me a good marine LFS to go?

Thanks
Jelly

[kelstorm]

[1.Tank size not bigger than 2ft ( I understand that the buffer thingie is important but budget and also worried if I decided later to return to the 'rebel side of the force'
[] )
in this case, i would rather u get a book first.. know what u are getting yourself into first.. if not, pls read the Aquatic FAQ to find out more on it.. especially the nitrogen cycle and how much fishes or what fishes u want to put inside.. basically, those FAQs are just the brief points.. u find more info with books... coz it is not possible for me to write out everything. Also, a note of precaution, 2ft tank is very violatile and sensitive to water parameters changes.. i think i had mentioned it b4

4. Fair amount of maintenace
wat u mean by that?

5. Prefer neat set up and not clustering ( me not a DIY person, I buay hiaw )
basically, no 2 marine tanks are the same even though they may have the same equipment and amt of LR... it is how u gonna stack and use them...thus, this, i cant really help u there.. unless u know what and where u want to place or get for the tank

6. Thinking of sump system with protein skimmer in them but no idea how (only know this will at least increases the water qty for buffering)
to use sump, which is often below the main tank.. u are able to create a filtration system that will take care of your system. and some wastes can only be removed by protein skimmers.. as the filtration media are not capable of doing that.. protein skimmers removes protein whether useful or useless ones.. thus, we have to do additives such as trace elements. the sea does it by the foams that u see in the waters. alternatively, u can use a canister filter such as Eheim 2227/9.. or other Eheim models that support the marine keeping..just remember this.. the most expensive and impt of your setup is the filtration system...if u pay peanuts, u get monkeys.

7. Chiller really need one?
can consider doing this.. take a thermometer and place it near the place where u gonng place the tank.. then take note of the readings... with that, u be able to know the rough guide of what is the temp ard the place u gonna put your tank.... and if your temp is above 29.. dun have to keep corals.. coz they wun survive long.. alternatively, u can use fans to cool the water

8. Lightings - blue and daylight
if u are only having fishes and LR.. then basic lightings of between 8500kelvins 9500kelvins will do.. if not, u need to know what corals u gonna keep(read the temp section to decide what coral to keep) and consider whether can your lights support the coral.. pls take note, the more lights u put, the hotter it becomes.. thus, temp will rise...

9. Budget of $500 or lesser (pardon me
should be ok.. but be prepared to exceed that amt by a bit..


1) I think 2' would be OK - perhaps you might want to buy the tall type made by Ocean Free, which cost me $30 a month ago. (Seriously, all thanks to luo han, fish tanks are getting cheaper)
what is the thickness of the tank? generally, the weight supported by marine is usually more than that of freshwater with exception of cichlids.. but then again, they are lake fishes.. pretty close to the seas

2) Soft corals are a good beginner's choice - temp should be below 30C at any rate, so unless you place your tank in direct sunlight outdoors, chances are that you won't have to bother about chillers and all since indoor tank temp should hover around 28-29C.
agree..abt the temp part...soft corals such as mushrooms are the easiest to start with..dun really recommend anything else though..

3) Clown fishes are nice stuff to put in your tank, they are really fun. But do go slow, don't add too much livestock at once.
agree.. and u risk having your system crashed on u and u have to restart.. they cost money.. patience is the key to this game....

One of the most entertaining things in this hobby is to buy new stuff (and end up with a hole in the pocket), so you don't want to take all the fun out by reachi

[ZeRoC00l]

In our East area: Katong

REborn - Paya Labar

Reef Aqurius - Koon seng Road

Kwangs - ????

Flowerist cum marine fish shop - Marine Parade

[jellydot72]

Hi all,

Thank you for all those great advise. I think they make more sense than any LFS suggestion. Normally they will say 'can ....can...one' cannot blame too partly because of doing a biz.

When you say Katong and those places....any land mark or where exactly it is? Katong is rather big area or do you mean the name of the LFS is 'Katong' ? Pai say, me staying east but only been to the LFS at Marine parade which you mentioned florist cum reef tanks shop. (that's where the interest all started) Another one I always visit for planted tank thingie is MR. Fish at Joo Chiat area. I guess Koon Seng Rd or Lane is near there right?[]

I visit Aquatechnic occasionally but always got turn off because of the $ of owning a reef tank []not until I got to the LFS at Marine Parade (florist cum reef tank shop)

Actually regret of selling my RA 680 chiller away when I move house and shut down my 3ft planted tank. Could have convert it to a reef tank. Now I am left with a 2ft tank running with a RA 200 chiller.

I can feel the force of the dark side ---thinking of shifting the RA 200 chiller for use with a reef tank[:0]

Jelly

[ZeRoC00l]

Just PM me when you're free. I can take you on all the marine shop in Katong area on bicycle. Can cover all in a day, all very close.

[eprouve]

----------------
On 11/13/2002 9:37:44 PM

Just PM me when you're free. I can take you on all the marine shop in Katong area on bicycle. Can cover all in a day, all very close.
----------------

Other than Rainbow... all the other Marine fish shops are in Katong? That's really sad... too far for me! I just got interested and am on the verge of turning to the dark side...

I was at Rainbow today and saw those beautiful marine eels... blue and yellow ones. So beautiful! But they cost $88 each [:0] So now, I'm thinking of tearing apart my new 1.5 ft planted tank and convert it to a marine tank with LRs the eel and some clowns.

Got some questions though:

That guy at rainbow said something like requiring a filter that hangs on the outside which cost $50... is this sufficient for a small 1.5ft tank and is a protein skimmer absolutely necessary? Their 2 ft display tanks don't have a skimmer either. Their marine gravel cost $12 per kg (can lonestar gravel be used instead?) and their LRs cost $15 per kg... are these reasonable prices to pay for such things?

Also, what is the smallest chiller size and where can I get them and how much is the cost?

Finally the lights... Will 2 x 18W PLs do the trick for a 1.5ft tank of capacity 28-30 litres? Or is blue and white marine lights absolutely necessary?

[eprouve]

One more thing... I read Kelstorm's post on something about the glass of the tank needing to be at least 10mm thick. My small 1.5 ft tank's glass is only about 6mm. Is this safe, considering it is only about 28 litres including gravel?

[ZeRoC00l]

Regarding rainbow.... search this forum... got an article on them...

I just stated the marine shops in Katong area... Since jellydot72 stays ard here....

I'm still a student... quite impossible to go to most of the farms...

There are lots of farms and shops in Sg... just accesibiliy is kinda out for ppl without car [ME!! [] ]

And for a small tank, glass thickness can be smaller... They have uge tanks [enough for a mermaid!!]

My tank is a 2.5 feet, with 6 mm glass too... no $$$ for a nice deep and wide tank []

[jellydot72]

Hi

the smallest chiller in my knowledge is the TECO micro. It is good for up to 120 liters of water but I would recommend you keep it at no more than 80 liters idea will be 60 liters. Why? heh heh heh. Through the experience of having two chiller you bet I am rather sure. Many factors involve here lah. For example, the room temp, the rate of water flowing through the chiller and also the distance of the connection, thickness of tank, amt and type of lights use, the filter use....etc

Cost for this small thingie goes at $900 plus it was about $700 plus until the euro dollar thing started. This is a Italian product. only a footprint of about 20cm by 10cm by 15cm ht. It does not run on compressor but peltier (some cooling plate) I am eyeing this for a long time since before it launch and regretted I did not get it before the price went up. You can view it at Aquatechnic. It is the coolest looking piece of equipment that you will want to be shown next to your tank!

BTW, me about to fall into the dark side......' Luke ...use the force...' still planning for a 2ft but must wait for gov to dish out the ERS shares heh heh heh[]


My 2 cents

Alan Tan

[kelstorm]

One more thing... I read Kelstorm's post on something about the glass of the tank needing to be at least 10mm thick. My small 1.5 ft tank's glass is only about 6mm. Is this safe, considering it is only about 28 litres including gravel?
----------------
that 10mm thickness is only for 3ft and above. sorry for misleading u...

[ZeRoC00l]

My 2.5 feet tank has only 5mm glass walls..

But safer to go for thicker ones, as mine just temporary cos trying out marine for the first time.

will upgrade to a proper tank once I am successful in marine reef

No problem yet. But I dun have so much sand, My 7" DSB is in my slump [a huge plastic box]