The Home Marine Aquarium

A Journey into the Wonders of the Marine Aquarium Hobby

Getting Started
The ocean is a vast and amazing place. Now more than ever before it is easier to bring a piece of it home. Through advancing technology and better knowledge of marine species, we now have the opportunity to enjoy this hobby more than ever before.

Preparing a Tank
There are several things that you will need to think about before you start your tank. 1. Size - How much room do I have? Make sure that you have enough room for the tank and all the equipment needed for the marine aquarium 2. Lighting Think about the type of corals and fish you are wanting in your tank. For example; soft corals dont need as intense of lighting as hard corals, such as SPS and LPS. Better to buy lighting to fit future needs now, than having to repurchase them later.

3. Fish There are many different types of fish species for the home aquarium. There are some that are very hardy and great for the beginner, while there are some that have very specific needs. Research the fish and make sure that you can provide the care it needs before purchase. 4. Water This is one of the most important elements. Tap water is NOT ok for marine tanks. Water that is purified through the RO/DI process is perfect for saltwater.

5. Salt Your choice of salt is important also. All salts are not equal. Study up on the different types of salts available. Some salts are ok for a FOWLR (Fish Only With Live Rock), while others are geared towards reef tanks. These salts usually have higher calcium levels along with other trace elements. 6. Skimmer Skimmers will remove dissolved solids and proteins from your tank. This helps keep nitrates down. You want a skimmer capable of at least a more gallon capacity than your tank. 7. Pumps Depending on the goal for your tank you will need to have very high water flow to low currents. Make sure to have pumps capable of fulfilling your needs.

8. Chemicals Two of the most important parameters

for your water is calcium and alkalinity. There are options from dosing manually all the way up to reactors, dosing pumps and computer controllers. This is also reliant on you. If you can devote the time to the manual dosing, great! If you cant, look into using a reactor and dosing pumps. There are commercially produced products (Kents Part A and B) to homemade (Randys 1 and 2 part calcium and alk). Research EVERYTHING before putting things in your tank. If done correctly, the rewards of just these two simple items can make a significant difference.

9. Filtration There are TONS of different options for

filtration. People have been successful from just using a HOB (Hang On Back) filter, to sophisticated mechanical and biology filtration. This again is based on needs. There are positives and negatives to every one of them. Research and chose carefully. I have found its better to plan ahead. For an example, in my NanoCube I have a mechanical sponge and filter floss for filtration, as well as biological. In my larger tank, I am using pure biological filtration.

10. Sump Choosing whether to run a sump or not can be decided by a variety of factors. Could be room, expense, design, etc. Sumps work great to hide equipment, have a refugium or to provide living space for smaller creatures safe from predators in your main tank. Again, this is purely up to you and what your needs are for your marine tank. 11. Inhabitants Before buying any equipment, it should be decided what your are wanting from your marine aquarium. Is it going to be a FOWLR, a predatory tank, reef tank or maybe a tank to hold a specific species such as a Mantis Shrimp.

12. Refugium Refugium can serve a few different purposes. It can hold live rock rubble, mud or sand. All three of those serve as a means of biological filtration. It can be used as a sanctuary for creatures otherwise eaten by tank inhabitants. The most common use is to grow macro algae. Macro algae is used to consume nitrates and phosphates from your water. The two most common type of macro algae used are cheato, caulerpa. If given the right conditions algae can grow extremely fast and out competing other nuisance algae from your tank.

Fish That are Great for Beginners

There are quite a few different species of fish that are great for beginners and can deal with the varying parameters that accompany the beginners tank. Some of those types are: 1. Damsels 2. Blennies 3. Clownfish 4. Wrasses 5. Cardinals 6. Chromis