J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Used to have one and I loved it and we are getting rid of the Piano (anyone fancy a cheap Piano ?) as the kids cant be arsed learning anymore so will have some space in the living room once things get moved around a bit, I do fancy another tank but something niggles me, I just think they are a bit tacky or it is bacuse I have usually seen them in trampy houses and not done right, id it possible to make a tank look really nice and classy.

Any tips,
Avoiding that photographic background seems key !

Quite fancy trying marine, was pretty disciplined and succesful with my tropical tank but realise Marine is a whole different ball game

bootsy

alot of work/time getting it right

deano

Fish tanks go well with Artex walls, pine tongue and groove chimney features and corner bars with chrome horses head ice buckets.

Lee247

They always remind me of a visit to the dentists I go every 6 months and they don't work, I still quiver at the check up

The Snug Rhino

small trop tanks look tacky, large ones look better if done VERY well but then its a lot of work for something pretty bland.

marine fish is NOTHING like trop fish - its like saying you drive quickly to work so fancy having a go at F1.

My first marine tank was a simple 4ft tank - cost about £6-7k to get it up and running and about 2hrs a day for the first 6 months.

Sonic'

You can get lots of different types of backing now that isnt photographic, but most of it is costly but does look good

you do need backing of some sorts tho (unless you go for a centre of the room feature), as you dont want to see your wallpaper through the tank, and you need somewhere to hide cables etc behind

Marine is much nicer, but more expensive and much harder to keep (more work involved)

Whats the Piano like ?

The Snug Rhino

if you must get one paint the back of the tank.....backings on tanks went out with stone cladding.

unclebuck

So did the Smug Rhino

or so we were told....

logiclee

Depends how much time effort and money you want to put into it and keep putting into it.

There have been a few fish threads on NSL if you want to do a search.

I have a decent sized tank in the house and a large koi pond in the garden and the upkeep and effort would put most people off.
Also remember you will need someone to look after them while you are away or you can trust an auto feeder and hope nothing goes wrong which can be an expensive mistake.
After the storms and power cuts of the late 90's I lost many fish even though I tried to freshen the water and heat it by other means. I know have a stanby generator set up.

A power cut or similar can wipe an entire £7k marine/tropical setup out within 48 hours.

As for backings, some of the stick on backings are very good now but many firms like Jewel offer textured internal units for the back of the tank.

Cheers
Lee

David Lock

But don't overlook the basic question - are you interested in fish?

I have always been fascinated and so a tank is a real pleasure and, like Lee, I have a decent outside pond and it's a pleasure to sit with a beer on a warm evening and wait for the Koi to come up and wait for their food.

If you just want a tank as an item of furniture then I would forget it. I have a curved front Juwel but in a large kitchen with tiled floor but I'd hesitate to have it in the lounge as maintenance would be much more of a pain. dl

red_dog104

I have a marine corner tank. Easy to look after and I don't think it's tacky! I bought my fish first, it's a Dog faced Puffer, then had to have the tank made for him! It's pricey to start with but costs us nothing now!

Also have a Bi-Orb with cold water fish in and a marine tank with Terrepins in. Maybe I'm just a tramp!!

Sonic'

I too have a pond with 3 large golden orfe (anyone know how big these actually grow ?) 34 shubunkins and a lovely Ghost Koi

Maintenance on the pond is a mare really, but it is nice to watch the fish at feeding time

In my jewel tank, Im just starting to get my clown loach to eat out of my hand and next will be trying to get the ghost knife fish to do the same

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

The Piano is an ancient upright, a bit scruffy but plays ok, maybe I should turn it into a fish tank.

Seven grand sounds a bit much for a fish tank, might give that a miss

bohnjegley

yeah a bit naff. Tend only to be see in dodgy Chinese restaurants

Patt@firstime

I keep marines.

Soooo much work but soooo worth it - look stunning.

red_dog104

Mine cost £1000 in total to start up but then I had to buy the fish! It's only expensive if you go OTT!!!!

Patt@firstime

Not quite true - a powercut won't damage any equipment unless you mean a tank has £7k worth of stock in it

Plus there are measures you can take to combat a powercut i.e. blankets/generator etc etc

logiclee

Yep a friend lost his entire stock of marine fish, living rock, corals etc.

As I said I now have a generator but that doesn't help if you go away for a long weekend leaving the tank with an autofeeder and something trips the rcd.

Before I had the generator I lost power for 2 days and kept most of my fish alive with small water changes and hot water bottles.

Cheers
Lee

Freak

get a shark tank

^Qwerty^

I've got a 120l tank with some fish if your interested? Moving it (with fish) will be the most difficult part, cos I ain't going to flush them.

3 Silver Dollers
1 Clown Loach
4 Neon's
1 blind Cat Fish (I think it's blind)
1 fish that looks like a Humbug complete with sharp bits on it's fins
1 or two others.

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Qwerty, not sure what I am doing just yet but will bear that in mind, how much are you looking for, pm me.

Luminous

iTrader: (3)

OK, I have been reading this thread with a little interest. You see, I also quite like fish, but in the way that most small children do. The wiggle in the water and reasonably relaxing to watch.

So just what is a marine tank, and just how can it be so much work??

Light, heat, food, occasional cleaning? But someone was on about a few hours a day Just what are you doing? Going for a swim with them to make sure your face does not scare them when you look at them from outside the tank?

Patt@firstime

lol where do I start

Head over to UltimateReef.com and ask away...

Sonic'

Just don't go any of those forums asking about keeping a 'nemo' fish

Bakerman

Dont understand this mare thing ............
Have a number of tropical tanks and a 5k gallon pond and all I do is a 10% water change every 10days or so in the 100l tropical. The other smaller tanks (one orb and one ube) are a bucket change every 8weeks.

As for the pond (15Koi/2 sterlet/2 golden orfe/2 tench/10goldfish and lots of frogs/tadpoles) do nothing other than through food in, OK i have a good filter/pump/uv running but requires no maintenace (maybe a clean once a year). Absolute doddle, if you find your pond filter needs cleaning more than say a handful of times a year it aint big enough.

If it turns out something is a pain to keep you either aint doing it right or you have far too fussy fish. Always always buy the gear that is excessive for the tank you run and it makes it sooo much easier.

To summarise,

pond 1hr annually
100l tropical, 10mins every 10days
ube/orb 10mins every 8weeks

If you can keep a tropical you can keep a marine, it aint much more difficult.

Luminous

iTrader: (3)

Loads up:
Sump Photos - UltimateReef.com

*and runs off screaming*

All that time, all that money, and still no turbo

Luminous

iTrader: (3)

Maybe I will ask about Nemo fish tomorrow, but I guess I will get the same response as when I went to some **** musican site to discuss tuning issues with my air guitar

OllyK

Depends if you're happy losing £50 plus fish on a regular basis or not. Marines are far more susceptible to poor water qaulity and temperature than freshwater fish, the ocean is very stable and doesn't change much, conditions in rivers changes frequently and often significantly.

Sonic'

The only reason my pond is a mare, is because it suffers from a lot of algae growth and spends most of the time failry cloudy, Ive upgraded the pump and filtration system, and tried barley, blanket weed killer, and all other manner of expensive 'treatment' all to very little or no avail

I had a fountain pump and triple lights, and this needed constant maintenance as it used to get clogged up quite quickly

i do need a new UV lamp now that you have mentioned it

The 3 fish tanks I have are a doddle

Steve

red_dog104

I have a huge Dog Face Puffer (called Rufus) in my tank with some damsels, a Lemon Peel Tang and a couple of others. Water was so low in the sump as I'd run out of RO water that in desperation I filled up with tap water and hoped for the best! Fish are absolutely fine! No stress, no white spot, no nothing!!!!! Saved me a fortune! Love my fish to bits. Marine tanks really aren't that hard work!!