I'd be delighted for you guys to join the journey to my first marine tank!
The story so far. I've kept a freshwater tank for more than 20 years, using a Tropiquarium 68 throughout. I fell in love with the hobby after a visit to the London Aquarium. I've kept a variety of community fish, for example, corydoras (albino and bronze), blind cavefish (a particular favourite of mine), Angelfish (white and black), bristlenoses (of course!) and many varieties of tetra. Nothing too complicated. Still love the tank, but it's looking tired these day. The Trop is no longer in production and spare parts are hard or impossible to find.
So I decided to replace the tank. But never got round to it, life took over big time, so here we are with a lightly planted tank with unfixable electronics containing 6 tetras, a blind cavefish and my wonderful (and very active!) Bristlenose.
We moved house recently, and my wife suggested we install a marine tank! Challenge accepted. I began some serious research and quickly discovered it's a very different ballgame to the freshwater variety. For example, the tank will contain a mix of corals, fish and invertebrates. The chemical and salt balance is critical, as is water flow. The equipment is complex (at least to me!), although maintenance seems to be more straightforward than a freshwater tank. Lighting is more complex, and expensive, and the look of the tank - a sort of bluish shade - differs considerably from the "clean" white light of a freshwater tank. There are probably other big issues I haven't discovered yet, the research continues. I have a couple of books, and YouTube is packed with great resources.
We’re having some works done to the house, and a spot for the new tank has been chosen, it’ll be very much on display, so I need to get it right! All being well, probably in the new year, I’ll be installing the tank for the initial cycle. Can’t wait!
I’ll keep you guys in the loop. All suggestions and advice will be gratefully received 😊