Just starting out.

[Greg]

My son spotted some marine fish at our local garden centre,it;s their latest drag you through the door eye catcher.He has not stopped bugging me,so I;ve caved in.I was not prepared for the expense,and my flexible freind got a shock,and that was just buying the tank.121/41/55 cm,approx 240 litres.We just plan to keep 6or7 fish,and maybe a couple of cleaner shrimp. The tank comes with an internal filter and heater.I would like to keep the cost down,so what is the bare minium amount of extra stuff I need to cycle the tank? Hopefully we will start with just a couple of clown fish when the tank has finished cycling.Thanks for all the help,I am certainly going to need it.

 

[Chris]

Welcome Greg! The exact same thing happened to all of us, except we were the kid. :)

You will need a few basic things if you are going to keep a fish only tank.

1. A protein skimmer, cleans the fish poop out of the water and helps to oxygenate the tank.
2. A good test kit to make sure your water is in the correct parameters.
3. Your heater and filter are fine, hopefully the tank also came with a light.

I also threw a power head in my tank to give some current for the fish, its my version of a fish treadmill. :bounce:

Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

[Greg]

Thanks very much for the quick response. In answer to your question yes the tank comes with two lights,the tank is a Juwel Rio 240. www.juwel-aquarium.com,having looked around the forums I see the red sea prism is the
protein skimmer to go for.I also have a couple of small power heads to put in,
and I suppose I will need some coral sand for the bottom of the tank, I estimate 20 kilos or so.I am hoping cycling the tank will introduce live bacteria and I won;t need to use live sand, as and when we will introduce some live rock. We have also bought a book called THE BOOK OF THE MARINE
AQUARIUM BY NICK DARKEN. I hope this is a good book, what do you guys think.Oliver would like to know why the book says that synapta maculata or
worm cucumber is an unsuitable aquarium subject?, with no explanation,as he would like one.Yes we will need to get some test kits,can you recommend a
reliable make.

 

[Apestyler]

Thanks very much for the quick response. In answer to your question yes the tank comes with two lights,the tank is a Juwel Rio 240. www.juwel-aquarium.com,having looked around the forums I see the red sea prism is the
protein skimmer to go for.I also have a couple of small power heads to put in,
and I suppose I will need some coral sand for the bottom of the tank, I estimate 20 kilos or so.I am hoping cycling the tank will introduce live bacteria and I won;t need to use live sand, as and when we will introduce some live rock. We have also bought a book called THE BOOK OF THE MARINE
AQUARIUM BY NICK DARKEN. I hope this is a good book, what do you guys think.Oliver would like to know why the book says that synapta maculata or
worm cucumber is an unsuitable aquarium subject?, with no explanation,as he would like one.Yes we will need to get some test kits,can you recommend a
reliable make.

I've got the same book as yourself, it has some decent advice aswell as good starter fish.

 

[NGuay]

One of the things about the worm cucumber and almost all other cucumbers for that matter is that they are toxic and secret poisonous membranes when they are injured or they die. So if a fish begins going after it's tentacles you've got trouble.

 

[jhnrb]

Sea cucumbers. these are animals that may in a defensive reaction, or, in response to severe stress, expel part of their internal organs through the anus. the ejected visdera are sloughed, and if the animal had been in prior good health and the eviscerating stress is removed, the animal will grow a new set of internal organs. if this happens in a well aireated or well skimmed aquarium, and the eviscerated guts are removed from the tank, generally nothing drastic will occur. on the other hand if the eviscerating cucumber is of the wrong species, some of the animals may be poisoned and die. Some tropical bottom feeding sea cucumber species have defensive structures called cubierian tubules or cuvierian organs. if these animals are stressed, they may expel these tubules from the anus during a partial eviscreation. the cuvierian tubules are sticky and in some species, contain a vertebrate specific toxin called. holothurin. I HAVE KEPT CUCUMBERS IN ALL OF MY SYSTEMS FOR YEARS AND HAVE LOST A FEW WITHOUT A PROBLEM, HOWEVER, I DO NOT RECOMMEND THEM IN ANYTHING LESS THAN A 5O GAL SET UP WITH A DEEP SAND BED WELL ESTABLISHED AND ALL PUMP INTAKES AND HEATERS ARE INSTALLED SO CONTACT CANNOT OCCUR. hope something here helps. ( INITIALLY I WOULD PASS ON THIS ITEM. READ UP WELL BEFORE PURCHASE OF ONE OF THESE AND STAY AWAY FROM THE SEA APPLES).