any one else got one?had my orca 450t nano about a month now,just put first 2 fish in yesterday a couple of clown fish joining the 3 hermits and 3 turbo snails,going to get some coral next week i think,loving marine tanks much more interesting than tropical fish,everthing costs a bomb though so just adding everthing one thing at a time which is prob the best thing to do.think im going to have to start saving up now for a big tank,the mrs has allready said the cupboard in the corner can be ripped out and a tank can go there.

I've got a 30" cube with a closed loop and a remote sump in the garage. Had it for three years now, so the fish collection is coming along.

It's bloody expensive though, not just the kit but the daily running costs as well. You need to figure this in if you decide to go for a bigger tank in the future.

My last calculation showed that the tank cost me around £80 per month in electricity alone!

I've had reef and just fish only marine set-ups and what advise I can give is read, read, read as much as you can. There are many many way of setting tanks up but they all come down to the same thing – keeping the water good. If that's done then all your livestock will thrive. It is the most expensive fishkeeping species to set up and technology has really made it so much easier. Lighting as well as filtration and water treatment is miles away from when I first started. Best of luck and they truly are amazing things to look at but remember to stick to the stocking levels and all will be ok.

One of my lodgers is into fish and I therefore now have a 24 gallon nano cube in the lounge. It's the first marin tank he has done but it seems to be going well. Been up for about 6 months now and slowly stocking it as finances allow and to ensure everything stays in balance. coral mostly is the aim, there's some frog spawn coral for the 2 clowns to nestle in, 3 types of zoas, 3 or 4 tpe of mushroom and another pink coral. Also a royal grumma (Sp?). Getting the 'janitor' staff right took a while and until that was right various types of algae were a problem. The tank is really good at looking after itself though now, with just a 10% water change every couple of weeks to keep the salt levels all tip top. The tank has a protein skimmer, a shed load of sand sifting snails (although most are tiny little ones) a sand sifting star fish (infinitely better at cleaning th sand than the sand sifiting snails) a couple fo turbo snails, a cleaner shrimp, a green legged crab (doing a wonderful job of eating the bubble algae which were a problem) 3 red hermits and 3 blue hermits. Apstasia are still a small problem though, but are being kept in control through regular 'zapping' with some goo bought from the shop. The lodger did buy a peppermint shrimp which is supposed to eat them, but it died 🙁

It is nice and relaxing to look at so I'm quit pleased to have it in the lounge but I'm amazed at the cost! well over a grand has been spent so far! Okay that icludes the tank and a RO filter to make water but wow it costs a lot! 30 quid upwards for a small piece of coral for example.

If any of you are south london based I'm sur my lodger would be interested in swapping/buying coral frags if you want to.

My last calculation showed that the tank cost me around £80 per month in electricity alone!

Seriously? what electrical devices have you got for your tank that use up that much leccy?

My household bill is about £30 a month for everything including a 220 ltr and a 50 ltr tropical tank.

Always wanted to try a marine tank – had no idea that the running costs were that much.

The biggest costs are heating and lighting. Because the sump is in the garage it costs a bit to heat in the winter, despite being pretty well lagged.

The 400 watt halide lights are on for eight hours a day, which also eats up a bit of electricity, and there are also four big pumps running 24/7.

But the biggest problem is that I live in Norn Irn, where NIE have a monopoly on electricity supply, so there's no opportunity to chase the cheapest rates with other companies.

Even if I was on the mainland, the running costs would still be expensive – a lot more expensive than the equivalent size tank with tropicals.

Sounds like an interesting set-up wheelz – you got any pictures?

I haven't got photos of the complete set-up, as I've never got round to taking any.

This is the main tank though, about two months after I set it up. It was designed to pretty much run itself, as I work away a lot and I'm gone for about a week at a time.

thats a nice looking tank you have there.