Tropical Fish Forum

Think Fish Tropical Fish Forum => Welcome to our Tropical Fishkeeping Forum - Please Read => Topic started by: foxhound on June 26, 2014, 04:46:56 PM

Title: Hello
Post by: foxhound on June 26, 2014, 04:46:56 PM
Hi, I'm new to the forum. My name is Mark

I've been out of the hobby for 8 years and just starting to dabble my toe in the water again.

So here is a little about me: moved to Northern Ireland from Hertfordshire around 8 years ago so I had to sell all my aquariums before i moved, I just couldn't move them the 500 odd miles in the back of a van or the tanks so they had to go  :'(
i did have  a small tank with a couple of goldfish in in my kitchen that started me on the road to to bigger and bolder set-ups around 11 years ago it was a rescue as the tank was in an office that my wife friend worked in and they were just going to throw it out and thats where the bug started. not long after that i started to get more ambitious.
My second Tank was a Trigon 350 with a mix and match of tetras guppies lots of plants and it was nice but it still wasn't enough so i went to my LFS and purchased a large custom made 5x3x2 foot tank a couple of big Fluval external filters and it sat there in my dinning room for 3 weeks all empty and sad while i pondered about what i was going to do with it.
The wife wanted to put black moors in it and was not sold on the idea and then it came to me MARINE!!!! why not I thought got goldfish, got tropical lets go nuts.
And so it started buying the bits and bobs over a few months skimmers metal halide lights you know the drill "Sorry dear we cant go out tonight for dinner, there's not enough cash" while hiding another gadget or bag of live sand in the garage waiting for here to go out. Well the day arrived to put the tank together fill it and start cycling the tank it was a mad dash to my LFS to get the Live Rock i had been buying and getting them to keep out the back for when I was ready for it and the wife thought it was a bargain to get all the rock we got for £50 ( i think she knew deep down inside but let me have my moment)

now I am looking to get back into the hobby but this time i'm doing it my way by building a custom tank to my requirements with the kit i want and all the whistles and bells i always wanted.

Feel free to give me a shout to discus my project(s) and i am always open to free advice or ideas.  ;D
Title: Re: Hello
Post by: ColinB on June 26, 2014, 05:43:55 PM
Hello Mark, and welcome to the forum. That sounds really impressive...... we like piccies. Hint, hint! :))
Title: Re: Hello
Post by: foxhound on June 26, 2014, 09:32:33 PM
Well I need to work out if I'm going old school and use glass or go acrylic. I have drawn out a couple of plans one will hols just over 200 litres (60x60x60cm) the other will hold about 330Litres (70x55x60cm) the larger of the 2 will give me an option to add a sump the smaller one will hold a filtration system in the back using weirs and mechanical filtration but both will give me the option to go marine at any stage as there will be room to put skimmers in (by the way.
I may be antiquated but I see a marine fish only tank as a tropical marine and would be part of this forum, as soon as you add corals you cross over to marine reef and that would not be in keeping with the majority of this forum.

so the big question is what would any one advise glass, acrylic or polycarbonate for the tank?

And Colin once the build starts there will be vids and pics for all to feast their eyes on  :cheers:
Title: Re: Hello
Post by: Sue on June 27, 2014, 10:59:36 AM
foxhound, I'm afraid you'll not find anyone currently on the forum who knows anything about marine fish. And I haven't found any articles on the subject either. Similarly, there is very little on coldwater fish, fresh or salt. We deal almost exclusively with tropical freshwater. iIdon't even know of anyone who has Rift Lake cichlids  ???
Title: Re: Hello
Post by: foxhound on June 27, 2014, 12:18:20 PM
Thanks Sue,
Well the reason i'm on here is i am coming back to the hobby after a long break and going back to the tropical fish but i have had experience of the marine fish as well. i know a lot has changed in the last 8 years so joining forums like this will help bring me up to speed :)

i am now deciding on what to put in my tank (once i build it) so suggestions would be nice and welcome, i am tempted to go discus setup or even a red belly piranha setup just to be different but still not sure on what to do.

As for the tank i plan to build... i have been talking to suppliers and manufacturers of acrylic and none of them seem to want to put their name to their products and salt water so it has helped to make my mind up and i will be making a freshwater tropical tank.
Title: Re: Hello
Post by: dbaggie on June 28, 2014, 10:04:31 AM
Hi foxhound - I think either of your sizing possibilities will be too small for the piranhas as they require pretty huge tanks. Discus are one of the tropical fish types which do specifically benefit from decent height and yours would be taller than most standard aquariums and also deeper. However, discus are supposed to need about 4ft, and probably 3ft minimum, tank length so I'm not sure whether the taller/deeper dimensions would sufficiently compensate. I haven't personally kept discus though so I'm sure someone else could better advise  :)