Setting up a Marine Aquarium

Marine fish are, in our opinion, the most beautiful creatures on this planet. We are fortunate to be able to appreciate this beauty without fear of debilitating the reefs, thanks to an increasingly responsible sustainable marine trade, supplemented by captive-breeding programs. The latter is a subject close to our own hearts, having successfully reared the first Percula clown fishes in captivity in the UK in the 1970's. However, beauty comes at a price, these stunning creatures are more complex to keep in captivity than freshwater fish and so require investment in additional equipment….but we are confident you will find that they are well worth the effort.

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Marine fish are more sensitive to changes in water chemistry and so require a larger aquarium. The smallest size you should consider is 100 litres (approx. 25 galls.), however the more space you can afford to give them, the better.

There are many specialised filtration systems available to the marine hobbyist. Discuss the options with your aquatic retailer to choose the best pieces for your set-up. Place the tank on a strong, flat surface like an aquarium stand. N.B. Interspace some polystyrene sheeting between tank and stand. Wash any coral sand / gravel thoroughly and place it on the bottom of the tank. Now fill the tank with seawater you have made using reverse osmosis (R.O.) water and Waterlife’s Ultramarine sea salt. When filled, connect the filtration and start the water circulating. Connect the combined heater / thermostat(s) and leave the system running for six hours. Connect the lighting for the aquarium and leave this switched on continually until the filter-bed has matured. Now you can add the decorations. NB. Don't use rocks with metallic / highly coloured veins, as these may leach toxic chemicals into the aquarium.
Adjust the specific gravity (S.G.), or salt level, of the seawater to 1.021 -1.023 at 24 - 25°C (75 - 78°F) (depending on the native region of your intended livestock) using a SeAquariums SeaDrometer.

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Maturing a filter system

1. Add SeAquariums BioMature, carefully following the instructions.
2. Use a Nitrite Test Kit daily. Within a few days of starting to add BioMature, the nitrite test sample will start to register nitrite. When this reaches 10 ppm, stop adding BioMature, as enough bacterial nutrients of all types have been provided.
3. Now add a seawater dose of Waterlife's BacterLife, which contains a blend of essential nitrifying and sludge digesting bacteria. Using BacterLife on daily basis will speed the rate of filter maturation.
4. Continue to test the nitrite levels daily, until you get a zero reading. Now the system is almost bacterially mature. To ensure bacterial maturation is complete, carry out another test 24 hours later. If you still cannot detect ANY nitrites your system is ready to receive livestock.
5. From now on, only add BacterLife once a week to keep the filter stable. DO NOT USE BIOMATURE once your system houses livestock.
   

NB. It is important to use a Waterlife Nitrite Test Kit
as it accurately records nitrite levels up to 20 ppm.

1. High oxygen levels (i.e. fierce SeaMist - wooden airstone diffusion with a Waterlife Ghost air pump)
2. High turnover rate through the filter bed
3. Temperature of 24 / 25°C (76° / 78° F)
4. pH range of 8.1 - 8.3
5. Minimal organic matter in seawater, by using properly cured rock/shells and high grade, clean coral-sand.
6. An adequate depth of filtration media if using an under-gravel filter.

Test the water with a seawater pH test kit, before adding livestock to your system. This is essential, as the process of maturing the filter may have lowered the pH, as far as 7.7 - 7.9. You can rectify this by using Waterlife's 8.3 Buffer. If you are going to keep invertebrates, test for nitrates and adjust the nitrate level to zero again by partial water changes using R.O. water and Ultramarine sea salt.
Add Waterlife's Carbon Excel (carbon sachet) to your filter. This is an efficient method of removing large molecule organics. NB. De-gas carbon first with boiling water.

Fish only system:

Create a wish-list using a good reference book and take it to your local marine shop and ask him to rule out any inappropriate species and re-arrange your list from the shy, delicate species, through to the more aggressive species. This is the order in which to purchase your fish, 1 or 2 every 2 - 3 weeks. NB. Don't exceed the stocking ratio of 2.5 cm (1 inch) of fish per 18 litres (4 gallons) of seawater in the first 12 months for fish / invertebrate aquaria. After this initial period, never exceed 2.5 cm (1 inch) of fish to 9 litres (2 gallons) of water in a fish only system.

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Introducing new fish:

1. Turn off the tank's lighting.
2. Take at least 30 mins. to acclimatise the new fish(es) to the tank water, floating the bag on the surface changing small amounts of bag-water for tank-water over this time.
3. Re-arrange the rocks after introducing the newcomer(s) or better still add new rocks to create new territory.
4. Carry out a light feed to distract attention from the newcomer(s).
5. Add a single dose of Waterlife's Cuprazin as disease preventitive. NB. If the system will later contain invertebrates as well as fishes, use Octozin not Cuprazin. Use Carbon Excel to remove 4 days after treatment.
6. Add a double dose of BacterLife to cope with the increased biological load.

Fish/Invertebrate community system:

1. Introduce living rock and don't make any further additions for 2 weeks.
2. As with fish, don't overload your system, it should take several months to stock the tank.
3. Allow at least 20 mins. to acclimatise the invertebrates (as above).
4. Introduce the fish using exactly the same method as above, but remembering to :
   a) Tell your dealer that you already have an invertebrate collection so he can eliminate certain fish
   b) Use Octozin not Cuprazin for treatment.

If you want to create a complete sea aquarium (i.e.: fishes - invertebrates and macro algae), sustain the fertility of the seawater using Vitazin and SeaGreen. Expanding plankton populations rapidly deplete the fertility of the seawater. Unless it is maintained, the seawater will quickly become infertile, plankton populations will decline and filter-feeders such as sponges, tunicates, the bivalve molluscs (e.g. Clams, scallops, etc), tubeworms, etc., will begin to die of starvation.
Add SeaGreen algal and phytoplankton fertilizing solution to the system at the same time as BioMature when maturing an invert aquaria. This does two things. Firstly, by promoting the development of green algae within the system, the maturing process is helped. Secondly, it generates large populations of unicellular phytoplankton, which form the base of the food chain in the sea and helps provide the principal food source for the many filter-feeding invertebrates.
Once you start to stock the aquarium with live corals, use SeAquariums' InvertFood to supplement their diet. It is recommended that you switch off filtration for a short time whilst they feed or use a pipette to deliver the food close to the invertebrate.

1. It is vital to test for ammonia and nitrite levels weekly using your Waterlife test kits, to ensure that your feeding regime isn't too generous. Sloppy feeding is one cause of high ammonia / nitrite.
2. It is equally important to use the Waterlife Nitrate Test Kit at least once a week. High levels of nitrate can stunt coral growth in a mixed system. Reduce nitrate by changing 25% of tank's water and replacing with R.O. water and Ultramarine sea salt.
3. pH testing will highlight falling pH. Healthy seawater should have a pH value of 8.1 - 8.3. This can be maintained by the addition of 8.3 Buffer.
4. dKH is a measure of carbonate and bi-carbonate in water. Low levels of these compounds are another indication of an imminent pH collapse. Ideally reef levels should be maintained between 8° and 15 ° dKH with 8.3 Buffer.
5. Test for essential calcium with a SeAquariums' Calcium Test Kit and maintain calcium levels with SeAquariums' RepliCa++. A calcium content of 400 - 420 ppm is ideal and you should try to keep in this region at all times. NB.Some heavily stocked aquaria with high numbers of hard corals may benefit from calcium levels of 500 ppm. Fish and invertebrates remove calcium from the water to maintain healthy teeth and skeletons.
6. Add SeAquariums' Strontium Booster to provide instantly available levels of this element required for healthy development and growth of macro algae, clams and other invertebrates.
7. Add SeAquariums' Iodine Booster to replace losses caused by protein skimming, biological uptake, algae removal etc. It helps corals recover from bleaching, light shock, improving colour pigmentation and maintaining good growth.

Seawater creatures need certain elements for growth and repair and so remove them from the water. Therefore the number of inhabitants affects the rate of major depletion in the system.

1. Top up evaporation losses with freshwater. Remember that salt does not evaporate - only water!
2. Partial water change between 10 - 25% of the water in your system. Never change more than " as the resulting pH shift will endanger the health of the entire aquarium. Small regular water changes using R.O. water to lower dissolved organics in the aquarium as well as keeping nitrate down. The Ultramarine 25 litres (approx. 5 gallons) pack is ideally suitable for small partial water changes.
3. All livestock in a marine system extract vital trace elements from Ultramarine seawater i.e. gold, silver, uranium, vanadium, strontium, boron, magnesium, molybdenum, phosphates, silicon, etc. Replace them with Waterlife's SeaTrace with added molybdenum (to help filtration bacteria.)

Various parasites:
Brookynella, Chilodenella,
Cryptobia, Gyrodactylus,
Dactylogyrus, or Trichodina sp.

Cuprazin and then followed by a course of Sterazin

Do not use Cuprazin in aquaria containing inverts, live-rock, macro-algae, Sharks, Rays or Harlequin Tuskfish. Use a hospital aquarium instead.

Use Vitazin to boost vitamins whilst treating

Safe with inverts.
Avoid tablets falling on corals.

Treat newly imported Angels & Clowns as a preventive measure.

Use Vitazin as a support treatment.

For fish only systems.

Check water quality.

Severe bacterial symptoms which prove untreatable may be as a result of a parasite or a viral infection.

Use Vitazin to boost vitamins whilst treating

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Contact us for a FREE information pack
including Disease diagnosis chart:

Waterlife Research Ind. Ltd.
Bath Road, Longford, Middlesex UB7 OED
Tel: 01753 685696 Fax: 01753 685437
email: info@waterlife.co.uk