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Hello,

A couple of months ago I set up a tropical freshwater aquarium which was my first experience with fish keeping...

My place of work found out & have donated me a tank they don't want, all I have to do is get it home.

It measures apoximatly (seen it but not measured)6 feet long 3 feet high 2 feet depth.

Having spend my last month on this site & in my lfs i now have the challenge of what to do with it.

I want to do a reef tank as like natural things & my lfs has starfish & florecent slugs etc so i have a few (proably daft questions).

does a reef tank have to be salt water?
is so where do i begin? equipment etc? order of filling?
what fish could i put in it?

All help apreciated.

thanks guys...

anita/justice.

a reef tank is saltwater. the first thing is to get equipment. if you want a reef your going to want metal halide lighting.

should have mentioned no lid to this tank at present....

i went to the calulators WOW about 220 uk galons !!!! i think i'll use the hosepipe rather than a bucket !!!

How much money are you willing to spend. This will be a VERY expensive project for you, keep that in mind.

In my very small 75 gallon I probably have over $1,500 invested, maybe more. For a tank your size, expect to spend several times that minium.

If I may make a suggestion, this is going to cost a lot, the lighting for a reef will cost a fortune. Start off with a fish only or a FOWLR tank, lower lighting required. Then over time upgrade the system. That way you can get your feet wet, so to speek, then move up to corals.



Dan

I do realise this will cost some money, my plan was to fin out what kind of lights, pumps, heaters, filters etc I need & start building up slowley.

Then find out how to do the water chose between sand/gravel etc maybe put that in & leave it a while,

then find out about corals, live rock etc & put the minimum in that will live & look after them, building up to eventally puting some fish in.

I'm quite happy for this not to be completed until easter.

any advice is apreciated.

That sized tank will set you back A LOT of money I'm afraid. As suggested earlier, I'd go for a fish-only tank to begin with. My 5ftx2ftx2ft fish-only cost 2000 to set up. That was including the tank that you are getting free but.... its going to cost more than that for a 6ft reef.

Personally, I'd use a sump system for your filtration but this would mean that the tank must be drilled. It will add more water to your system without taking up too much space, will house most of the equipment you use - therefore creating more space in the display tank and allowing for a 'realistic look'. In my sump, I have a wet and Dry filter (I use Aqua-Medic Reef 500), protein skimmer(built in to the Reef 500), heaters and obviously a return pump,with a UV steriliser and then powerheads in main tank for circulation. Not essential for fish only but a calcium and nitrate reductor will prove very beneficial in a reef set-up.

Stocking must be done gradually and your tank won't be fully mature for atleast twelve months. Patience really is the key. Live rock is essential for a reef but costs a fortune, especially in the amounts you need. Initial fish should include any hardy (and I'd suggest cheap) fish, such as chromis, damsels (although they are very aggressive) and clowns.

You don't need to drill the tank for a sump. You can use an over flow box.



Dan

How does the overflow box work dthurs?

[span class="edited"][Edited by 2004-07-30 00:02][/span]

It's just a box on the back of the tank with a siphon.



Dan

How do you stop it syphoning if the return breaks? Sorry for my ignorance but I have a large tank that I want to use but I won't have marines without a sump - this would be a way for me to use my spare tanks. Your help is appreciated.

The level in the overflow box will not go over the level of the tank. So if the return stops, the siphon will stop.



Dan

Cheers dthurs for your help. My wife isn't too happy though - no excuse not to set up my 6ftx2ftx2ft now.

Good luck setting it up. I have several pictures on my site of my tank set up. Feel free to take a look.



Dan