Marine aquarium-ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh help

Have chance of a six foot complete marine setup-due to owner dying, have done tropical fish for years and understand water quality and testing etc-but would like some guidance.

The set up is local to me and I plan to collect it including existing water etc.
I'm aware of water requirements, poisonous inhabitants etc.

What worries me is
1) not getting out of my depth
2)how much this lot is liable to cost to run
3)that dismantling and refilling tank with same water I'm not going to cause cycling or shutting down system to transport and getting unpleasant issues.
4)any special considerations with livestock transport.


Going to look tomorrow before committing myself

Biggest buckets you can get and loads of oxygen during transport for the fish and corals, save as much water from the tank as you can, Ideally have the largest spare tank you have set up at home and fill it with water from the 6 foot tanks befor moving anything living. Also, take a couple of the external filters and run them via an inverter so they keep filtering the water while you transport, this keep the bacteria in the filters, and the fish alive make the journey as quickley as possible and keep the water temp stable ( dont have the cars heaters on full for examlple... Take photos of what coral was where and how the lighting was set up and make sure you set them up as closely as possible to their original positions.. get a couple of cars/vans involved so you can get it all done quickly... when if comes to sea water solutions for water changes make it in the largest quantities you can, its much easier to get the salininty etc spot on that way.. running costs aren't much more that a big tropical tank.. when it all set up test water constantly for the first 3/4 weeks.. a dead coral of fish can cause havok.. have fun

I've a lwb high top van, I'm thinking six people to move this lot and some serious containers.
I've a transcube-water not the issue and it's <2miles

Hear the photo idea, I agree
thanks

i used to have a 5ft marine tank setup for many years,but my workload got to much and i didnt trust anyone else to maintain the tank and feed the tanks inhabitants.

i think the best rule of thumb with a marine setup is to think of it that you are keeping and looking after the water,get this right and you stand a good chance of your stock staying healthy and most of all alive..

the biggest skimmer you can get is a must,but on a tank of this size you are gonna need a good size unit which will more than likely be very noisy,or they were when i had them.

with water changes i used r/o water make sure its at the same temp as your existing water so you can get the salinity right.

if you have the time to spend looking after a marine setup they are very rewarding.

i learnt the hard way and now i always buy the best i can afford from day one,you will only end up replacing the lesser model in the long run..

good luck

6 foot long 25 inches high and 2.5 ft front to back=monster. can fit in my place and may found option of some expert assistance during transition period.

All I can say is holy **** seeing it

wiltshire landyman said:

i used to have a 5ft marine tank setup for many years,but my workload got to much and i didnt trust anyone else to maintain the tank and feed the tanks inhabitants.

i think the best rule of thumb with a marine setup is to think of it that you are keeping and looking after the water,get this right and you stand a good chance of your stock staying healthy and most of all alive..

the biggest skimmer you can get is a must,but on a tank of this size you are gonna need a good size unit which will more than likely be very noisy,or they were when i had them.

with water changes i used r/o water make sure its at the same temp as your existing water so you can get the salinity right.

if you have the time to spend looking after a marine setup they are very rewarding.

i learnt the hard way and now i always buy the best i can afford from day one,you will only end up replacing the lesser model in the long run..

good luck

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Wow Wilts, you had all the kit and caboodle!!

I had a 5x2x2 tank, housing coral, inverts and fish. I had reverse undergravel filtration via 2 eheim ext filters and a UV. I never bothered with a protein skimmer, and had no problems in over 4 years of having the tank runnning. I always used conditioned tap water too (left overnight before use)

I suppose I used a billy basic set up, never tested the water, but did regular water changes, and had no problems. Odd how people take different approaches to marines!!

stick with tropical theyre far easier !

Somethink to think about, Marine fish keeping morally/ethically a problem as 98% are wild caught

treestump said:

Somethink to think about, Marine fish keeping morally/ethically a problem as 98% are wild caught

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Not a problem, I think may have found someone more capable than me.

treestump said:

Somethink to think about, Marine fish keeping morally/ethically a problem as 98% are wild caught

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bla bla bla bla bla bla

Bloody ell a sheep with a speech defect

wiltshire landyman said:

bla bla bla bla bla bla

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BenNE said:

Wow Wilts, you had all the kit and caboodle!!

I had a 5x2x2 tank, housing coral, inverts and fish. I had reverse undergravel filtration via 2 eheim ext filters and a UV. I never bothered with a protein skimmer, and had no problems in over 4 years of having the tank runnning. I always used conditioned tap water too (left overnight before use)

I suppose I used a billy basic set up, never tested the water, but did regular water changes, and had no problems. Odd how people take different approaches to marines!!

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as ya say different people approach things differently..
me personally i had 2 eheim external canister filters that were hooge..
i dont personally like underground filtration.
i had a uv sterliser on each external filter,large skimmer that was very effective and removed one cup of brown sludge every week.
2 large metal halide lamps hung from the ceiling,imo a must for marines especially if keeping corals/inverts etc.
also had 4 internal heads for water movement connected to a timer to produce a wave effect,took ages to get the timing right.

i now have a small 4ft tank housing large cichlids..

whos the most eagle eyed and can spot summit ?

wiltshire landyman said:

as ya say different people approach things differently..
me personally i had 2 eheim external canister filters that were hooge..
i dont personally like underground filtration.
i had a uv sterliser on each external filter,large skimmer that was very effective and removed one cup of brown sludge every week.
2 large metal halide lamps hung from the ceiling,imo a must for marines especially if keeping corals/inverts etc.
also had 4 internal heads for water movement connected to a timer to produce a wave effect,took ages to get the timing right.

i now have a small 4ft tank housing large cichlids..

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Eheims really are the dogs dangley bits - mine were fooking mahoosive too!!
I never used any bio filtration in the canisters, which is why I used reverse UG. I dont like having biofiltration in confined space as micribial crashes can nicely kill the entire tanks stock.
Never had halides, never had any problems, but have to admit, my corals were somewhat slow growing!!

Now the idea of the wave sounds quite good, couldnt be fecked to set it up myself, but good none the less!!

wiltshire landyman said:

whos the most eagle eyed and can spot summit ?

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landyzone open on a browser reflected in the tannin stained water?

i had five tropical tanks at my peak, my favourite was predeomintantly plecs/cats.

i used to spend most saturdays tending to the tanks, and it did give me imense pleasure. funny how i miss getting covered in fish ****e!!!

the cream of the plecs (a 12 inch common) used to feed from my hand and loved to be handled. sadly my life got buyier and i had to give them up but i would certainly take up a new tank when i get more time!!

I don´t know about transporting/keeping the fish but if you get them I've got just the vehicle for you....

Check this out!

Cheers

good that

don't bother with external canister filters on a system like that, all it will do is feed nitrite into the main tank...i used to look after 60 odd tanks 20 of them being marine/invert tanks and have a 5x2x2 marine/coral tank myself.

as people have posted take as much of the original tank water as you can with you, if you don't take enough you'll have what is called "die off" it's where the eco system is broken down due to too much new water.

the bigger the tank the easier it is to care for...but you'll have a heart attack with the difference in price with tropical and marine equipment.

a sump filtration system is the way to go with a big system 4 foot or above with live rock in it, live sand, and some calerpia (removes toxins) it will look after itself, and make sure you have plenty of water movement in the main tank itself, as any non moving water can cause "dead spots" (no water movement) make sure you check the silinity everyday, and you'll be fine. it should look after itself as long as the eco system is working ok

go here for the best info a guy with the username frunkster is the best guy to talk to in regards to setting up, he's a great guy, and it's a very friendly forum

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