newbie's first marine tank

[Sarah]

Hi all,

I've decided to keeping a marine fish tank. totally no experience in this because i only use to keep freshwater fish.

I've gotten quotes from various supplier, the estimated cost for a 3 X 2 X 2 full system tank with a full height cabinet ranges from 3-4k.

however, these packages does not comes with a chiller.

How are the prices? am i being carroted?

I want to keep corals so i guess chiller is essential?? but i dont plan on stocking too heavily on it as i'm still a newbie, so im looking at like just a few maybe 2-3 soft corals .

anyway, one of the supplier quoted me 3k with no chiller, but i noticed his tanks has those soft corals im planing to keep. he explained that those are anemone and i have to hand feed them.

actually what is the main difference between soft corals and anemone? i still have to feed the corals right?

and it's a bit difficult for me to understand why does soft corals need a chiller but a tank with anemone do not.

Hope somebody can enlighten me.

(originally posted at DIY forum, realized it is more appropriate here)

[tks 13]

Read up about anemone. They need chilled water too

[ASHWIN]

Welcome To The Salthy world!.. Firstly corals need cool water anemone or not..is best to have as our tropical weather is warm and humid..yes corals do well with feedings..anemones are carnivorous "some" tho..so its good to feed and Keep temp around 25-27 degress.max warmth around 29degress..ok difference between corals and anemone..hmm..anemones are cniderians like jellyfish. They are are all fleshy and can sting. Coral is a member of the poriforas and are single celled organisms living in colonies. They have hard calcium rich shells and they cant sting unlike anemones..Thats about it.. Hope It helped!

[domvonn]

Hi Sarah , as long as it's marine , a chiller is recommended. Best to have a sump filtration ,skimmer is a must .

[Saeight Abdul Rahman]

Hey Sarah. Im a newbie as u as well. Only in the game for a few months. Started my 2ft cube with a hailea chiller, bm nac 3.5 skimmer, skimz FR, T5 lighting, jebao wavemaker and thats about it for a basic setup! And i think chiller is essential for corals unless u wanna go for fish only tank den a fan will do.

[kraken]

Rule of Thumb of temperature requirements:

31-32 deg for FOWLR

28-30 deg for fish with LPS

27/28 deg and below for fish with LPS n SPS

these are rough guides, however, you need to pay extra attention to the species of Livestock you are going to buy.

try to follow as close as possible to their natural habitat conditions, chances of survival are higher

[james72]

$3k-$4k for a 3ft tank without any support equipment definitely smell like carrot. Unless you are talking acrylic tank, then its dirt cheap. Have a chat with N30 tank maker and see if he can give you a better price if not at throw in return pumps or wave makers or lights. Oh ya and if you are getting a arctica chiller, go for 1/4hp and bigger. Dont make same mistake like me that run hard on 1/5hp and waste electricity. Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

[youdontnowm]

3-4K got comes with any equipment ??

Sent from my GT-N7105 using Tapatalk

[Sonicsound]

you ask the supplier to give you a detail quotation.

[Snoopyhamburger]

Having a chiller is best. When I had my old 5 gal,I didn't have a chiller,but I did use a cooling fan. The water evaporates dang fast and water was not cool enough for corals. Just get one,and welcome!