50 replies to this topic

[golden_dase]

Hi fishfolks!

I've decided to start a new thread regarding my 5ft "low budget" setup because the other threads have become "messy". lol
I hope the committee doesn't mind?

Below i shall outline the complete set-up and also associated costs per item. This is to give "interested fishkeepers" an idea of how much it will "roughly" cost to set up a marine tank. Please bear in mind that there are no rights and wrongs of setting up a tank. I tend to do what I think works best for me, and so far i'm done well...

The "Hardware":
5ft x 18" x 18" tank and pine stand: $500 - Aquarium City
2 Eheim Canister filters: 2217 $250, 2213 $153 - Aquarium City
300w Jagaer Heater: $65 - Aquarium City
3 Tube T5 LO 5ft reflector with 2x white and 1 Actinic tube: $190 - Aquotix
2x top-mount "trickle filters": $25 each - Age of Aquariums
3x 800L p/h OTTO powerheads: $25 each - Malaga Aquarium
25kg of CIM Limesand: $25 - Malaga Aquarium
About 10kg of Limestone: $3per kilo - Aquarium City

The "Marine Stuff":
15kg of Liverock: $18 per kilo or $150 for 10kg - Perth Aquarium & Display Centre
10kg of Seachem Marine Salt: I forgot how much... i think it was $60?? - Midland Pets (Aaron, can you please confirm? cheers!)
Different "soft corals": From $30 to $65 - Manta Marine, SeaView
1x Bubbletip Anemone: $60 - Manta Marine
2x Tomato Clown: $65 pair - Perth Aquarium & Display Centre
4x Blue-Green Chromis: $10 to $12 each - SeaView
1x Scopas Tang: umm... i think it was $48 - Manta Marine
1x Coral Beauty: ~ $50 - SeaView
2x Scooter Blennies: $38 each - Manta Marine
1x Bi-colour Blenny: ~$40 - Manta Marine
1x Sea Urchin: I forgot how much... i think about $40?? - Perth Aquarium
Various snails and hermit crabs: some free, but they're about $2 to $10 each.

Ok.. the reason why i called this a "low cost basic set-up" is i am aware some people have spare tanks and might have been thinking of setting up marine? Well, in regards to low cost marine.. mine is just that! I dont have sump, i have a skimmer but have never used it, i dont run expensive MH lighting, and none of my fish are over $70. So with a little imagination and some "homework/research", you too could have a decent marine tank!

Ok.. filtration: My Eheims are using PURELY mechanical media which I change/wash every 3 weeks! MY liverock and top-mount trickles are doing the biolfiltering.

Anyways, I hope this gives people on the forum an idea of the costs involved in a "basic" marine set up if you decide to take the marine path! Also, this set up has only been going for a month...

Pics:
Full Shot of Tank:
[attachment=356:full_shot.JPG]

Tomato clown and Bubbletip Anemone:
[attachment=357:clown.JPG]

Scooter Blenny:
[attachment=358:Scooter.JPG]


Have fun!

By the way guys, comments are most welcome, however please dont mention sumps, MH, MASA etc.. i have the tank the way i like it, and all animals are healthy etc.....

Cheers!
Kevin.

[golden_dase]

More pics for your viewing pleasure!

My sea urchin:
[attachment=359:Sea_Urchin.JPG]

One of my soft corals:
[attachment=360:Soft_Coral.JPG]

One of the top mount trickle filters:
[attachment=361:trickle.JPG]

By the way, I didnt want to "stack" liverock all the way to the surface... i want my fish to have heaps of swimming space... especially the 4 chromis and scopas tang!

Bye for now..

[VietDragon]

wahahah nice bro
im gonna steal ur tank one day when ur not lookin..

[golden_dase]

More pics!

Scopas Tang, Coral Beauty, Tomato Clown, Sea Urchin in a group shot! LOL

[attachment=362:fish.JPG]


Some of the corals/liverock:

[attachment=363:left_shot.JPG]

Thats it for now..

A big thanks to Dazzabozza for his great advice during my set-up... here's a beer for ya! Cheers mate!!

Cheers!
Kevin.

[dazzabozza]

Lookin really good Kev! Not too cramped or over stocked. Fish are all looking nice n healthy.

A couple of things to look into a bit more or consider (and a possible learning experience for others) -

Sea urchins - great lil creatures and a good addition to your cleanup crew. Only things to watch out for is their "nuke" factor in case they were to die and they'll also munch on your pink coraline algae which most people like the look of.

The pebble like filter media I dunno wot it is but best to make sure it doesn't have any water softening attributes to it.

Do u feed your corals anything at the moment?

What are your levels like? (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, salinty, PH, hardness, calcium etc)


Dazza

[golden_dase]

"name='dazzabozza' date='Jun 8 2008, 07:24 PM' post='93480']
Lookin really good Kev! Not too cramped or over stocked. Fish are all looking nice n healthy"
Thanks, all coz of your great and helpful advice!

"A couple of things to look into a bit more or consider (and a possible learning experience for others) -
Sea urchins - great lil creatures and a good addition to your cleanup crew. Only things to watch out for is their "nuke" factor in case they were to die and they'll also munch on your pink coraline algae which most people like the look of."
I bought it on impulse... LOL! and its very healthy at the moment, always "cleaning up", and there's enough coralline algae in there to feed 3 of them continously!
Also, i've kept urchins in the past, and when they start to "weaken", some of their spines will "fall off"... thats a sign of dying... as soon as that happens, out of the tank it goes!


"The pebble like filter media I dunno wot it is but best to make sure it doesn't have any water softening attributes to it."
The filter media in the "trickle" is made up of Eheim Substrat PRO and also Zeolite.


"Do u feed your corals anything at the moment?"
Nope.. any ideas?


"What are your levels like? (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, salinty, PH, hardness, calcium etc)"
PH and salinity is good. ammonia and other levels are just a bit under "perfect", meaning they're within range. calcium? i dont have a test kit for it...yet.

By the way, I've tried to add a copperband butterflyfish to the tank...but the scopas tang and coral beauty chases it unstop all over the tank!

Cheers!
Kevin

[dazzabozza]

Best to get rid of the Zeolite as its a water softner. The Eheim stuff is fine as its pH & KH neutral. With all my marine tanks maintaining a high PH and hardness level has been the biggest challenge.

As far as feeding your corals go.... I dose my tank with Seachem Reef Iodide and NutraPlus liquid food (try Vebas) once to twice a week. For soft corals those 2 products seem to do the job just fine.

With calcium it'll be a good idea to get a test kit for the long run. If there's a deficiency it could stunt the growth of your coral and they'll die off eventually. If you're topping up with unfiltered tap water (phosphates and algae can be a prob though) and do fairly regular water changes (mine are 3-4 weeks) your calcium levels will prob okay.

Dazza

[golden_dase]

Thanks for that! Now everyone should know why I come to you for advice! You're a walking fish encyclopedia! LOL

Regarding zeolite, i also use reef PH buffer when necessary when i do my measurements a few times a week.

With water changes, i use "cured tap water", meaning i put tapwater in a container, add salt to desired levels, then filter/aerate it for about 2-3 weeks, then put it into the main tank(on-going process). I very rarely do top ups due to the fact that my tank is almost completely covered. only intake tubes and hoses along the back corners of the tank, so therefore evaporation is very minimal. Ever since setting up the tank, i've done 2 water changes.

Regarding the algae, i scrape algae off the front glass every 2 days or so... and when i sit back, the tang and his mate the coral beauty comes and pecks the scraped algae off the substrate near the front of the glass..2 mins later, the blennies join in! lol

Cheers!
Kevin.

[Tucunare]

Hi Kev
Some other fish you might like to add to your list that are not to demanding are

Fairy wrasse $30 (upto 4)
six line wrasse $25
TalbotsDamsels $9 (possibly6)
Yellow tail Blue Damsels $9 (again maybe 6)
Goldline Cardinals $10 (maybe 4)
Pygama Cardinals $20
Bangai Cardinals $35
Decora Gobies $45 (4)
Firetail Gobies $35 (4)
Yellow coral Gobie $20
Soaring Hawkfish $30
Royal Dottyback $25

all these stay pretty small so a group of 10 would go ok in there.
however as far as more feature fish go

Foxface $45
Blueface Angel $180
Lipstick tang $30-$50 Goldens $70-$80
Gold shoulder tang $45

all these are about the easiest of a few species out there but the list you could have is endless and really only relies on how much time and effort you have to put into the more demanding type species
Hope that answers your pm

[golden_dase]

Thanks for that Steve!

I will google the species and see how they look like and will pm you a list of fish i want to buy from you!

Do you have a store front? or do you just home deliver stuff?

By the way, NO WAY am I gonna keep anymore yellow-tail blue damsels.. i had 2 of them and they dug holes all over my tank! they're in a 2fter hospital tank now... gonna give them to a friend.. LOL

P.S: your prices look pretty good.. should've got some fish from you at the start...

Cheers and thanks heaps!
Kevin

[churchy]

Kev also try Oceanarium they have their own website , very good.


Andrew

[dragonkeeper]

Kevin
There was a calcium test in one of the test kits you got from me.

[golden_dase]

Kevin
There was a calcium test in one of the test kits you got from me.

Really? I better go have a look then... LOL

And Andrew, thanks for the site mate!

Cheers!
Kevin.

[golden_dase]

Ok.. more pics.





Cheers.
Kevin

[dazzabozza]

The scopas tang is purrrrdy

[golden_dase]

The scopas tang is purrrrdy

Whats purrrrdy mean? haha!

The Scopas Tang is one of my favourite aquarium fish!

[dazzabozza]

Try saying it out loud....

purrrrdy = pretty

[golden_dase]

Try saying it out loud....

purrrrdy = pretty

"oh..."! lol

BTW Dazza, I have some small "white flower" lookalike stuff growing out of one of the liverock... whats that?? any idea?

pix:
[attachment=385:DSC00104.JPG]

Cheers!
Kevin.

[dazzabozza]

I've kept one before but can't remember the name. Bought it from AAA so perhaps Sam could tell us???

[Tucunare]

its from the family tubiporidae and from the looks of it its the sp tubipora musica or to make things simple star polyps, grows well and speads fast