New Setup

Hi Guys

Basically, I would like some info. I've been keeping marine fish for just about a year now and I love it, but, it does seem to cost me a fortune stocking a new tank and keeping it running.

Are tropical fish any cheaper to keep? Please consider setup and running costs. I have a 300L tank just sitting around, so please throw in some guesswork as to what it would take to start up. I haven't done any research yet on what I'd like to keep, so some suggestions would go a long way too.

I know its difficult to comment when even I don't know what I want, so apologies for that.

 

well it depends on your filter options, the lighting and of course the fish. but in general terms it is MUCH cheaper than marines

 

What would my filter options be? The tank has 3 built in partitions. 1st lets water in through an inlet at the bottom, this then overflows into the 2nd partition which then again lets water into the 3rd through a bottom inlet. I can bypass these if there is a better way of doing it.

Also, from what I have read, the lighting required is a lot less than on the marine tank?

 

that tank sounds like a sump with those compartments and not a display tank. do you have any photos of it?

 

I don't have on me... still at work bhaaa... basically the main tank is 1.5m, with about a 15 - 20cm section on the side with the 3 compartments I explained

 

sounds like an internal box filter, kinda like a internal sumpp if u will, have only heard good things about these kinda filters (if setup correctly i am sure)

 

that sounds like the old style of tanks that had a built in filtwr on one of the sides of the tank
inside the first chamber you can place the heater, and some carbon inside bags
in the second you can place a whole lot of filter floss, and in the last you can place some ceramic rings with a return pump back to the tank
if the return pump is around 2000L per hour on your size tank then the filtration will be on par with a pretty decent canister filter, if not better considering the ease of maintenance and capacity than can be much more than a normal canister filter
just keep the filter floss clean to avoid a build up of gunk, and replace the carbon regularly

 

It is like an internal sump. Sorry guys... lol... late in the day... brain isn't quite functioning like it should...

 

Hi HellRaiser

Sorry, you touched on another point I wanted to ask. With Marine's the flow rate had to be pretty high. How many times should the water turn over with a tropical setup?

 

Just enough for the filter really

 

well, 1000L per hour for such a filter would be the minimum, and 2000L per hour the maximum.. its just for the filtration in this filter to function properly
this will be the only flow you need in the tank for a freshwater setup, no additional pumps inside the display area will be required
have you also decided if it will be fish only, or a planted tank?
do you want big fish like oscars or malawis, or small ones like tetras and danios?
also, a species tank, or a comunity tank consisting of a variety of compatible fish?

 

betwen 3 to 5 times per hour. depending on the stock levels and the plants in the tank

 

yup, as henk stated, the turnuver can be big if its a heavly stocked tank with lots of fish producing wastes
the turnover means the return pump's rating against the tank volume, so if its a 300L tank, a turn over of 4 would require a pump of 1200L per hour, but also take into consideration the loss of flow on the pump due to head height of the exit and length of the pipe connected to it, and the loss in water volume due to substrate and tank decor displacing some water

 

I think a planted tank would look great, but to be honest I haven't read enough about either one to fully decide one or the other. Gimme another couple days to do some research, and then I can give you guys more info. Thanks for the awesome help thus far guys. Will probably be a community tank with smaller fish.

 

the planted route if decided on can be a very goof way to set up a comunity tank, making the setup look very natural and aiding alot in natural filtration of fish wastes.. and if you then decide on a comunity tank of small fish that are plant friendly id strongly sugest going the natural planted way, do a google on diana walstads natural setup technique (there are a few links on another forum but dont know if im alowed to post a link to that forum here...)
in a well established natural planted setup maintenance also goes down alot, with once a month water changes and virtualy no algae on the glass and tank itself, and fish tend to breed quite easily in these setups too

 

Thanks HellRaiser, I will definitely check it out.

 

Hi Delilah

Yes I have an RO unit at home for the marines so I'll be using that for the tropicals too.

 

Its 1500x450x450

 

Your possibilities for a loose biotope are almost endless in that size tank!

African non-lake: Big school of Congo Tetras, a few pairs of Kribs, African Butterfly Cichlids, African Glass Catfish, Butterfly Fish, Synodontis, Climbing perch, elephant nose etc.
African lake: Malawi or Tanganyikan cichlids
South American non-discus: Dwarf Cichlids like Rams, Bolivian Rams, big school of tetras, big school of Corydoras, Ottocinclus.
Asian river: Barbs, loaches, Glass Catfish, Red Tail Shark, Siamese Algae eaters etc.
Asian still water: Gouramies etc
Rainbow tank: All the different rainbow fish you can find.


Even a very nice community tank will look awesome!

 

Thanks for all the ideas! Gives me some work to do to check up on all these and see what I would prefer.