ok so ive had many saltwater tanks in the past and failed. But ive been studying on them for about a year now. So ive decided to give it another shot. so heres what im planning to get a berlin skimmer for 30 bucks.(probably cheap) a 12 dollar whisper pump. A 15 dollar whisper filter. 25 gallons of intsant ocean salt. for 10 dollars.(shold i get real ocean water?) live sand in a package for 18 dollars. A nano live rock package for 40 dollars. And a light for my corals. and a zoo med coral light.(15 watts 18 length.) all intotal its about 120 dollars.) do u guys think they are cheap products for a 10 gallon? Please give me some advice on what kinds of products r good.

Im decided to do a fish liverock and coral tank. Wht kind of fish do u think i should get? i know since its only a 10 gallon i cant fit much. and itll be really hard to clean. Do u think i should get a 40 gallon mybe? How long do u guys think itll take my tank to cycle? maybe 3 to 6 weeks. Should i buy a testing kit or take it to petco to test it for me?

Hi there and welcome to koko's I wont help you with your marines as it's not an area that I have much knowledge in. I just wanted to let you know, when you reply to a post, make sure it's not old/ out of date, we try not to bring up posts that are more than a couple of months old (although sometimes we all make mistakes and bring one up, we try to avoid it )

sorry it wont happen again. im new and everything and i dont really know much yet.

Always if you can, get the biggest tank you could, because it will be more stable. Unstable parameter will stress your tankmates.
Depend on location, you might need a heater and a chiller to keep your temp just right...

For nano tank, skimmer might not be necessary, just remember to do weekly water change and skim the water then.
Unless you know for sure the ocean water is coming from a clean source, then it is ok. Otherwise, making your salt water is always a better option.
Lighting wise will always depended on exactly what coral you intend to keep. T5 or power compact lighting is better for corals, again depends on coral. I would
have prefer 2 tube of T5 with 10,000k color together with another actinic blue t5.
Oh btw, bigger tank means bigger and better lighting as well.

Cycle time? try 3 months.......more if your live rock is uncured type...
You will need a test kit for Ammonia, nitrite and nitrate initially.
Once your ammonia and nitrite hits zero on your test kit, you can buy cleaner crew for your tank (snails, cleaner shrimp etc)
After that preferly you can wait at least a month more to make sure your ammonia and nitrite stay zero then you can start
buying fishes.

Nitrate is preferly remain below 20 ppm, do water changes to keep it down (after you f
nished cycling the tank)
Other test kits you might need, kH, calcium, magnesium, po4 tester.
You should get your own test kit and test it as well else where just to make sure result are accurate.

fishes for nano tank, you can try goby, or if you really want, one clownfish only...

Products, hmm, my place dont have half the product available you might have over there, but everyone is recommending
Saliferts for test kit though...

Unless you are experienced in keeping marine fish sucessfully I would avoid small tanks. Bigger is better when it comes to marine fish. Nano tanks are best avoided

ok i bought a 100 gallon. with a really good skimmer.(AROUND 200 DOLLARS) A REALLY GOOD FILTER. AND REALLY GOOD LIGHTS FOR CORALS(AROUND 200 DOLLARS) .i got fiji live rock. i dont remember how many pounds but i think around 80 pounds.
the fish im mostly gettin r tangs and clowns. ill probably buy angels too. im gonna get some corals to. porbably soft corals.

Hi Marinefishexpert

while i am not an expert in marine fish. I have been researching into setting up a tank i would like to point you need more live rock around 100pounds it is generally 1 pound per gallon. Remember to do a fishless cycle using some ammonia as no salt water fish can survive cycling. What are using as a substrate?

ALSO TALKING LIKE THIS on a forum is considered yelling so please do not post all words in capitol case

You can actually use the live rock to perform the cycling as there will be some die-off on the live rock
by the time it get to you.

The question is whether to perform a soft cycling or a hard cycling for your new tank.
Since you didnt mentioned it, I suppose you are going for bare bottom tank ?

hun marine tanks dont cycle like that at all, they dont need to cycle like goldfish or tropicals do, no ammonia needed. :DThe other thing Im worried about w your tank is that tangs to like to nibble on coral, clown fish wont.

well that is stupid the marine forum i visited said if you set up a marine tank cycle with ammonia and then add live rock. i will see if i can find the site i only visited it once as my hard drive blew up and i am on my mum's computer now thanks for the advice koko

It is actually another way to cycle to ensure all the good and bad stuff on the live rock survived.
Main idea is that you will add all the substrate you want into the aquarium and then a bit of live sand
and ammonia to kick start the cycling.
Then add anymore live sand you have and cycle again.
Now add a portion of live rock and cycle.
Add more live rock and cycle. (repeat until all live rock is in)
Except the initial stage, you will always keep ammonia and nitrite level below unsafe level by water changing.
Finally, after finished cycling for a month or so, add fish or coral slowly over a period of time.

Time taken is about half year to a year before you have fishes or coral in your tank.

Not many people will have the patience to run all these steps. I also have no idea how well it will work on saving your live rocks critters. But it is another way to do it.
You do need live rock or live sand to kick start the process quickly then dumping ammonia into a empty tank....

WOW, I guess i just had the patience with my tank. I never jump started it, I used live sand and live rock for my nano tank (which is now a 45gal) and just kept testing it every week, until things got into place and added my cleaner crew first, then the mushrooms, when the tank was about 3 months old got my first fish

Hmmmmmmmmmm..... Well, Interesting.... I would start by saying that once you have decided what type of substrate you are using and added the live rock... 1-2 lbs per gallon of water... I would press it as close to the 2 lbs as possible....then move forward..

The live rock will take care of the cycle...I have never in 25 years of setting up marine tanks added anything to jump start a reef tank...now if you are setting up a swim only tank....fish only...then that is different.... take your time nothing that happens fast in reef keeping is good!!!!