Hi to everyone

Amoré

Amoré

Joined
26 Feb 2010
Posts
481
Reaction score
6
Location
Pretoria
Hi everyone,

My name is Amoré, I live in Pretoria, I've been a fish keeper for a couple of years (almost 10) and now I want to start my dream tank - A MARINE TANK

I have a 300 litre tank and I would appreciate any help regarding this because I want to make a great success of it.

Thanks to anyone who might have suggestions and tips...

Regards,
Amoré :)
 
Welcome to MASA Amore, glad you joined the best forum to learn from. Read through the threads and don't be shy to ask.
Also go through the link in my signature - you'll find excellent info there on how to start a marine tank ;)

Keep us updated :wave2:
 
Hi and welcome, chat to other succesful reefers before you make any commitment and read all the interesting adventures on the forum.
 
Welcome Amore
 
A VERY WARM WELCOME to MASA, Amore'! Great to have you on-board!

Please a look around MASA. Have a look at other similar sized tanks, and try and determine your goal-tank. Then, once you have got something in mind, then we can all try and assist you in obtaining your goal.

Please just remember - even though basics are very much similar in marines, than in keeping freshwater tropical fish, there are some HUGE learning curves that you will have to go through - and a LOT LOT of PATIENCE is required....
 
Thanks to everyone for the messages of welcome. I’m so glad I have found you guys!!

Well first of all, the tank I have was a tropical tank, so I have the tank and the filters, 2 internal and an external, but I don't know if I may use the filters that I had in the tank before.

The reason for the new tank is that I got married recently and the tank was at my parents house, the fish all died because my mom overfed them, but I won’t say that too loud, I have had most of those fish for around 5 or 6 years, so I was very sad when they died...
Well I’m trying to do as much research as possible before I start anything; I want a reef tank not fish only tank.
The guy at my local petshop is helping me a lot; he is not a shark at least...
I have washed my tank with saltwater, and I filled the tank with water and put about 5kg’s of salt in and its running like that now, until tomorrow. So all I need to know now is about the filters, can I use them again? The petshop guy said it’s safe to use them, but I just want to make sure.

Thanks to everyone for the help!!!!

Oh...
@ mnd123: the shortcut for the thingy on the e is: Alt130 on your keyboard! (Just a bit of useless info, but now you know :) )
@ Tobes: Thanks for the info; I will read through it carefully a little later.
@ D-Man: Thanks for the offer; I am definitely going to take you up on it.
@ Jacquesb: Thanks, I am planning on taking it slowly, but I want to get the tank ready and everything sorted as quick as possible, going to wait a while before I put the fish in though, that’s another thing I was wondering about, I have been told to let the finished tank run for 3 to 4 weeks, is that correct?
 
Hi Amore'....

I would rather say that you should look at 4 to 6 weeks, for the cycle period. One of the 1st things you get (after getting the tank setup), would be your 3 basic test kits - ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. Then - for that 4 to 6 weeks period, you monitor your levels (ammonia/nitrite/nitrate), and until the ammonia/nitrite stays 0 (zero) for quite a long while, and nitrate shows as low as possible - then you can start at getting your 1st fish.

Regarding the current filters - NO. Not as such. They can only possibly be used for putting phosphate remover material, zeolite, and activated carbon in. Not as actual filtration.........

You should start investigating (if you want to convert your existing tank) for a conversion to a sump system.

If you are going for a whole new tank - then ensure that you get a tank with a sump - where you can put all your filtration equipment in..... ie. put a DSB in (Deep Sand Bed). Put some macro algae in (sea plants) - ie chaetomorpha....

You should DEFINITELY try and look at getting a decent skimmer. One that is possibly rated for double the volume of your tank water......

Then - you can be assured to be successful.

Look - you can do it differently, I know. As there are many ways to skin a cat.

BUT, unfortunately, after 5 and somewhat years, I have been there - done that - gone through the "stages of making mistakes"...... so - I would rather you do it right the 1st time.....
 
See my answers in red :)

Amoré said:
Thanks to everyone for the messages of welcome. I’m so glad I have found you guys!!

Well first of all, the tank I have was a tropical tank, so I have the tank and the filters, 2 internal and an external, but I don't know if I may use the filters that I had in the tank before. What filters are they?

The reason for the new tank is that I got married recently and the tank was at my parents house, the fish all died because my mom overfed them, but I won’t say that too loud, I have had most of those fish for around 5 or 6 years, so I was very sad when they died... Sorry about this :(
 Well I’m trying to do as much research as possible before I start anything; I want a reef tank not fish only tank. Reeftanks need good lights to keep certain corals, please research what type corals you whant to keep and buy your lights and flow pumps accordingly. You can use T5's for a tank shallower than 600, if deeper and you want to keep SPS corals, you'll need metal halides
The guy at my local petshop is helping me a lot; he is not a shark at least... Ask us first before buying something, some petshops will sell you stuff you don't need - at a good price, so he won't be a shark :whistling:
I have washed my tank with saltwater, and I filled the tank with water and put about 5kg’s of salt in and its running like that now, until tomorrow. What water did you use? I hope you used reverse osmosis water and NOT tapwater - even if you use declorinator and other chemicals "to make it safe", tapwater will give you endless problems with nuisance algae.

So all I need to know now is about the filters, can I use them again? The petshop guy said it’s safe to use them, but I just want to make sure. Did you ever treat the fish in the tank with copper medicine? If yes, copper is exstremely toxic to invertebrates and gets taken up by the silicone. Is the silicone blue in colour?

Thanks to everyone for the help!!!!

Oh...
@ mnd123: the shortcut for the thingy on the e is: Alt130 on your keyboard! (Just a bit of useless info, but now you know :) )
@ Tobes: Thanks for the info; I will read through it carefully a little later. The sooner the better as this will help you a lot to understand what to and what not to ;)
@ D-Man: Thanks for the offer; I am definitely going to take you up on it.
@ Jacquesb: Thanks, I am planning on taking it slowly, but I want to get the tank ready and everything sorted as quick as possible, going to wait a while before I put the fish in though, that’s another thing I was wondering about, I have been told to let the finished tank run for 3 to 4 weeks, is that correct?
Click to expand...
 
Hi Amoré, and a belated WELCOME from me as well :)

Jacques and Tobes have given you some very good advise :thumbup:

The guy at my local petshop is helping me a lot; he is not a shark at least...
Click to expand...

Perhaps not, but he still wants to become rich... Check EVERYTHING he tells you with us here before you part with your money.

Enjoy the hobby - and remember that only bad things happen quickly in a marine tank, everything good takes time...

Hennie
 
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