Help! Need advice to setup 5ft Simple Marine Tank

[ultrakiasu]

I am a angler, and always fish at Bedok Jetty.

Occasionally, I would land some nice coral grouper (老鼠班）

[ultrakiasu]

(Accidentally send before finished my post)

I would love to keep my catch as pet. Currently in 2ft tank with marine salt and filled with distilled bottle water.

How do I turn my current 5x2x2 ft empty tank to a marine tank using tapwater?

How to I de-chlorinate the tap water?
Is there any other cheaper alternative for distilled water?
How much is those distilled water used in those office water dispenser?
Delivery to home address?

[yapck138]

Originally Posted by ultrakiasu

(Accidentally send before finished my post)

I would love to keep my catch as pet. Currently in 2ft tank with marine salt and filled with distilled bottle water.

How do I turn my current 5x2x2 ft empty tank to a marine tank using tapwater?

How to I de-chlorinate the tap water?
Is there any other cheaper alternative for distilled water?
How much is those distilled water used in those office water dispenser?
Delivery to home address?

You can go to the local fish shop and buy anti-chlorine.
Follow the instruction.
Don't forget to mix salt after that and a hydrometer to test the salinity level.

[Royston]

For a 5x2x2ft tank it is better to buy from the following marine LFS as they do home delivery:

1)Irwana 6583 3536
2)Pacific aka "Ah Beng" 6585 0235
3)New Trio Fisheries aka LCK201 8448 2260 Steve
4)OceanSing 8482 2670

I suggest you buy a refractometer to check the salinity & ready a pail for RO/DI water & of course salt too. Our famous "SEA" aquarium also buy water from one of the big players up there

[KaLiB]

I'm concerned about the 5x2x2 that you are using, how thick is the glass? If it was made for freshwater, it could be on the thin side for saltwater. Does the tank come with a sump? Its usually advisable to have a sump tank(to hide filter media & install protein skimmer) and overflow for marine tanks(remove organics on the surface which would appear as a layer of oil).

If you have no plans for corals, IMO, our local tapwater is alright for fish setups. Tapwater can be de-chlorinated with anti-chlorine/chloramine from LFS for marine use(Some are made ONLY for freshwater, so its important that you check before purchase). I'm using Nutrafin Aquaplus, so far so good. You can make artificial saltwater from a combination of tapwater and artificial salt mix.

Do you know exactly what kind of coral grouper or its the polka dot grouper(老鼠班)? Groupers can produce quite heavy bioload on the system and can get very big, depending on the specie and could potentially outgrow your 5x2x2. I would advise getting a good protein skimmer to help control dissolved organics(and ultimately your nitrates).

I've kept groupers before and you could require a sandbed depending on the grouper specie. I noticed for species like orange spotted grouper and hinds, they dig holes in the sand below the rockwork to make a hiding place. You would need to have a secure rockwork, preferably using epoxy to secure the rockwork to prevent unwanted avalanches.

Most important, you must INVEST in a good protein skimmer... it is a must.
A oversize skimmer might be a good idea as 5x2x2 is very big tank.

Your glass tank thickness ideally shld be 12mm thick. 10mm im not so sure.
If no sump tank then you might wanna consider a external canister filter..

Just my 2 cents..