• Creating a sea in a 375-liter tank.

  • Jesse3979

Good day, dear aquarists. I struggled for a long time with choosing fish for a freshwater aquarium (Tanganyika or Malawi) until I realized that only the sea would calm my soul. Hence, a number of questions have arisen. The questions of a dilettante, so don't laugh and don't knock me down too hard. I have the following available: A set-up 375-liter freshwater tank. An Atman external filter, 1000 l/h. Decorated with stones (sandstone). I want to create a marine aquarium, initially as simple and error-resistant as possible (as far as that applies to the sea). From the information I've read on the forum, I understand that a reef is very complicated. I would gratefully accept your advice related to my tank. What equipment do I need to buy? Which fish are the most resilient to mistakes? What do the fish eat? Where do I even begin? What substrate is best to use? Are the stones from my freshwater tank suitable? How many live rocks are needed for this volume? What else can I put in the tank besides fish? What literature do you recommend and where can I buy/download it? What kind of light and how much? In general, I have a ton of questions. If someone could provide their ICQ or phone number to chat in real-time and patiently listen to stupid questions, I would be extremely grateful

Joseph6461

Try to answer in general terms: 1. Mixing pumps (you can simply take internal filters, but it's a matter of taste). I think a total capacity of 4000 l/h (including your filter) will be sufficient. + Protein skimmer + hydrometer 2. Clownfish, chromis, damselfishes, wrasses, and so on. There are many hardy fish, it's better to consult directly with the aquarium store. 3. Approximately the same as freshwater. 4. Buy salt and a hydrometer and start the aquarium. While the filter is maturing, you'll have time to buy the rest of the equipment. 5. Whichever you like more, there are no strict rules here. It is believed that corald that coral sand is the best, but whether this is true or not, I don't know. 6. Quite. 7. I think around 20 kg. 8. Many things: shrimp, fish, corals, algae, anemones, urchins, sponges,... 9. The literature on the sea is poor. It's better to use the forum archives. In my opinion, the best marine forum is reefcentral.com 10. If it's a reef aquarium, metal halide is the best. In principle, you can also use fluorescent, but if you plan to keep corals or anemones, there may be problems. If the aquarium is only for fish, regular fluorescent lamps will

Bridget

It is also advisable to think about where to get desalinated water for preparing water and for topping up the evaporated water. And be sure to buy a cooler, otherwise the filamentous algae will not let you live peacefully.

Erin

Thank you for the answers. Should the aquarium maturation occur with live rocks or without? How important is light during maturation? What does desalinated water mean? What is caulerpa? Can tap water be used for topping up and preparation?

Cynthia

Without stones, the stones are added after the nitrites drop. Light is not important, caulerpa is a type of algae, tap water cannot be used, distilled or reverse osmosis filtered water is needed (desalinated).

Thomas

In general, if you have a sufficient amount of rock—at least 10% of the aquarium's volume—you can do without external biofilters, as live rock serves as an ideal biofilter. As for starting the aquarium, it is done with live rocks, since with a sufficient quantity, the spike in nitrites is very short-lived. Naturally, live rock also requires good lighting so that its light-loving inhabitants do not perish.

Tracey

In short, here is a rough scheme for a hassle-free aquarium: - live rocks should be at least 10% of the aquarium volume - strong lighting, preferably metal halide or T5 fluorescent tubes - a good protein skimmer - a refugium PS It's even better to make the protein skimmer yourself. Although it's currently unrealistic to buy a Venturi tube here, in Moscow, Beckett injectors are freely available, and skimmers based on them are the most effective today. Schematics can be found online. The cost of the injector is about $20-30, plus you need a pump with a capacity of 4000-4500 liters per hour, plus acrylic tubing and small plastic plumbing parts. It's a very effective solution.

Jeanne

The minimum for fluorescent lamps is at least 1 watt per liter, preferably 1.5-2.