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Joined: Aug 2005
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neilmcc Offline OP
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I have a aqua one ar620t tropical tank and looking at converting to marine has anyone ideas what I need to get to do this

Cheers Neil

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best thing you could do mate is to pop into andys aquatics and ask to speak to damian...he will put you straight on whats what. tell him jabber sent you


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neilmcc Offline OP
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Ok cheers mate

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I'm sorry to say this, but the fact that you don't know what is involved in the conversion process, suggest to me that at this point, you are not ready to go marine.

They require a mixture of deep pockets, attention to detail, great care, and a LOT of time. A marine tank is more a professional game whereas tropical is amateur in comparison. Once cycled, a tropical tank and its inhabitants can be very forgiving, a marine tank on the other-hand not so. Marine fish are also have notoriously strong personalities, which is not good for keeping a peaceful tank; they can change after months or even years of being fine, and before you know it, you have a second (expensive) setup just because your tang has suddenly taken a disliking to your blue angel etc...

You wipe out tropical stock (putting emotional attachments aside here), you are talking usually >£100 worth of stock. A single marine fish can cost more than £50. So if you have a decent setup with plenty of coral, urchins etc, you can be talking hundreds, or potentially thousands of pounds. Remember, practically everything is alive in a marine environment not just the fish, and this is key to sustaining a healthy eco-system.

Building up a marine eco-system is a very labour intensive and expensive task, and not for the amateur fishkeeper.

A good place to start would be the internet; I'd spend a LOT of time reading up on pretty much everything you can, no matter who you speak to or what you read, different opinions and findings will cause you no end of confusion; but you most certainly need to grasp the basics before even considering taking on a marine setup (and the basics would include what equipment/process would be required etc). I prefer the internet as opposed to books, because you are usually able to grasp a "majority opinion" on most subjects, and the people who post on them are generally fishkeepers, who have experience of what they're talking about; they're not there to sell you something or to bullshit you.

Also, take andys aquatics advice with a pinch of salt, they rarely give out good advice with tropical fish, nevermind marine. Their own tropical tanks are constantly under treatment, yet they are all running off a centralised sump, not very good for people buying fish and potentially introducing bad bacteria into their tanks?? On top of which, their staff are very geared to selling you something, so they will likely make out that it is very easy/simple to change over to marine, in the hope that you buy all your gear from them - shop around in any event, as things are far far cheaper online.

Remember, it needs to be done correctly, and you need to know what you're letting yourself in for prior to starting it; you could end up burdening yourself with a hobby that soon becomes a chore, and more importantly, (feel free to mock me lol) every fishkeeper must remember, that these fish and other inhabitants of the tank, are little people, with feelings and who feel pain etc, it's not fair to give them anything but the best possible conditions and setup to give them the best chance of a happy and content life.

If you do decide it however, good luck, and please post photo's of the development, would be fantastic to see.

smile

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Smartchild
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Originally Posted by MattLFC

Remember, it needs to be done correctly, and you need to know what you're letting yourself in for prior to starting it; you could end up burdening yourself with a hobby that soon becomes a chore


totally agree with matt here. i went from loving my tropical to start with then ending up with 3 (breeding them) then it becamse a chore. but as for the andy's aquatics thing it depends on who you ask in there really. as jabber pointed out damien is quite clued up. in freshwater and marine but you wanna grab angie if its your info your after. she's the blonde girl. she was a marine biologist for years travelled the world and knows her fish.

as for marine conversion. i'd suggest ALOT of research. i had freshwater for months and was enjoying the breeding of different species and stuff and all along was looking into marines and it is alot to take in mate. and expensive. really expensive. your tank is what about 130L ? you will need a minimum of 13 kg of live rock which is gunna cost you 130 quid before you start anythin. and that live rock is going to have to be added in 2-3 stages so you don't get alot of die off and screw the water more. each time wating for the levels to go back to normal. then you need to add any corals (not cheap) that you like and wait for the levels to return to normal after them. then you need add a couble of cleaner shrimps (£15) and hermit crabs (you would need a few to notice em in your tank. all add up). as they don't produce alot of waste but put enough in and they will. then add fish a few at a time which aint cheap. think a clown is about £30. can't remember though.

i made a biorb into a marine for the girlfriend though. not as tricky to look after everything in a biorb after it had fully matiured it was waterchanged once fortnightly(have to do it once weekly for a while 1st though)and the levels were spot on all the time. cost about 200 in the end but i bought the biorb marine conversion kit which was 80 or 90 quid i think. but later realised you don't need it its a complete scam. you only need the £5 filter that fitsd in it and its better to use real live rock than their fake stuff. i had 2 clown fish in there (have to be percula clowns as other clowns grow to big) and a scarlett skunk cleaner shrimp and about 10 hermits. and 3kg of live rock. but even that method needs research mate. and i'd suggest starting the tank with used marine tank water if possible. andy's aquatics sell big 25l containers and poulton pets and aquatics will give you there tank water instead of buying readymixed salt water. (which i'd recommend for water changes as you don't have to mix yourself. its like 2.50 for 25L)
but really mate do alot of research into it all or you literaly may aswell be handing all the money to out to people on here lol. it will be wasted money. but good luck an let us know what you decide mate.


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this is similar to mine but we had real live rock and a few hardy coral's. and shrimp and snails. biorb 30 clowns


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