Our impact on reefs

Unfortunately no matter what we do we will always have an impact on our environment, from global warming caused by emission, litter people drop or that end's up in our sea's or accidental damage caused by divers. Our food chain also has effect's our reefs some fishing techniques brakes corals and other valuable breeding/nursery areas for smaller fish which eventually help feed bigger predators up at the top of the chain.

But there are things that the people who live around and work on the Caribbean's Mesoamerica Reef are trying to do to help protect the second largest reef in the world.

The Mesoamerican Reef

fish humor

What's on TV

In between my research and current tank maintenance I like to take some time out to watch some TV for inspiration and also watch some video clips on you tube for more information on what other people are doing, how they do upgrades things like that. I thought I'd share some of my favourite fish related shows and Youtube channels.

Lets start with the TV shows: more for entertainment than learning something.

Tanked on Discovery Animal Plant, this might just be where I started saying to the family I want a marine aquarium. The tanks that Bret and Wade produce are stunning a bit like Orange county choppers where they do a lot of themed tanks. Their large installs can be seen in some amazing public places but they have made some as well as private installs.

Fish Tank Kings NAT GEO Wild, another great show amazing looking tanks they also do large public and private installations this team has a resident Marine Biologist Francis who is also a spokes person for Fluval.


River monsters Jeremy Wade this show has me hooked in many ways. Jeremy Wade follows up stories how fish are involved with the deaths of people on the river he thens fish's to find these river monsters. It's really gripping TV and the range of fish he catch's is amazing and terrifying.

Youtube Channels.

Please do not use these as your only source of information and my journey is really to give those about to take the step them selfs an idea of what to look for and hopefully encourage you to take the plunge. Use multiple sources, talk to your LFS and if you are lucky enough to have a local marine aquarium group talk to them you never know they may even help get you started. Also see my post of what I'm reading for books.

Mr Saltwater Tank TV a very helpful channel Mark share a wealth of knowledge tips and Product reiews. He also shares videos of his clients builds including a 6500 gallon outdoor saltwater pond and his own own home install. The Friday tips are worth a watch also.

Bulk Reef Supply.com  Another great channel much like Mr Saltwater Tank covering DIY projects, how tons and product reviews.

I subscribe to both of the above channels and find the advice pretty much is the same.

Getting the space ready early

This week has been a productive one, I have moved a very large movie collection from the spot where y new aquarium is to go. I have built 3 shelving units to house the collection and painted the area is preparation for for the big day. This is still a while away, I'm half way to my budget so far but there's a few things I didn't take into account which I will now need to look into.

So the first issue is the floor, the house sits on a slope and when they built the house the floor isn't completely level. This is a pretty minor issue I can shim the stand to level it not a problem I just need to add this to the check list when I start setting it up.

The second issue is a bit more pressing its the amount of electrical output sockets in the room. I can run an extension lead from a near by but I want to keep the area tidy with as few cables as possible. so the plan will been to get an electrician to install a new socket (preferably one with a waterproof cover) this will have its own fuse on the breaker box. This will leave the aquarium on its own circuit in the event something else in the house trips the sockets out.

Parrot fish (Pretty sure you can't teach these to speak)

So it's time for another fish profile again, this is a fish I won't be adding to my tank this beautiful fish gets a bit too big for my tank and they also are know to eat hard corals.

Type:

Fish

Diet:

Omnivore

Average life span in the wild:

Up to 7 years

Size:

1 to 4 ft (30 to 120 cm)

Group name:

School

Did you know?

Some male parrot fish maintain harems of females. If the dominant male dies, one of the females will change gender and color and become the dominant male a process called sequential hermaphroditism.

Size relative to a tea cup:

Its diet which consists primarily of algae extracted from chunks of coral ripped from a reef. The coral is pulverized with grinding teeth in the fishes’ throats in order to get to the algae-filled polyps inside. 

The parrot fish can’t metabolise this coral so it ‘throws it overboard’ in the form of grains.  The existence of this species of fish is essential to the survival of the coral as it acts as a ‘natural cleaner’ of parasites, etc. that grow on it, so without the help of the parrot fish the coral would die. If you find yourself near one of these fish you will find them munching and making crunching sounds with every bite.

Another reason is that they need to do this constantly in order to keep their beaks clean and that they (the beaks) don’t grow too much.  We’re talking about an insatiable fish that spends the whole day eating and ‘discharging’ without a break and that’s why just one parrot fish can produce 100 kg of white sand every year!!  Thinking about this then, to those of us who adore paradisiacal beaches, it’s obviously important that there is an abundance of the parrot fish.

So next time time your laying on a white sand beach just think that sand came from a fish's bum haha only kidding only a small amount is produced this way.

Do fish have personalities

This is debated subject, I mean how can something that spends it time swimming around have a personality? Cat's, Dog's Parrots do that makes sense right? well I use to sit in this camp until I got my first fish. My change in though was very slow, this little bug eyed orange thing I brought home from the fair grew on me and showed fish don't just swim around.

It all started just over a year a go, won a fish at the fun fair and brought this little character home and put him in a fish bowl by the tv. At first i just dumped food in the bowl changed the water took not much notice of what my fish was up too. But that soon changed one evening, I was sat next to the tank and I noticed Rasputin spent more time the tv side of the bowel when the cricket was on. I thought this was very odd not something had even noticed before. I changed channels found something else and he swam off, Did my fish just swim off because I stopped watching the cricket? Its quite possible, I know he doesn't under stand what he is watching but like to think he became a bit of a telly addict in the months he bowl was close to the tv. What else does he like to watch? not just the cricket, He loves Tanked and DR who.

I later saw that his TV viewing wasn't the only little quirk he had, after a few weeks of living in the bowl I upgraded his home to a 30litre tank. This meant his new home was big enough for a new ornament so I treated the tank to a Cyberman head. Now Rasputin wasn't to happy about the new addition for two weeks he sat at the back of the tank never swimming in front the the face of the Cyberman head, I had to feed the grumpy so and so at the back of the tank. after a few weeks he got use to the Cyberman head and took to sleeping inside.

So why do I see my fish having personalities? It's not just the tv' watching the sulking at the back of the tank its the little things. The way they great me and no one else with a little excited swim dance when I get home, it's the moving the gravel from from one end of the tank to the other to make a pile in one corner no matter how many time's I level it out.

I know this could just be behaviour brought on by the fact I'm the primary feeder but I like to think these little fish have their own little personalities and I hope my move from fresh water to marine brings me a new set of characters traits.

The missing post

So I had planned to make this a weekly post on a Friday however the last couple of weeks have got away from, Work and family commitments have made finding time for the blog a little difficult but I didn't want to leave my readers with out a post for too long.

Although I haven't made a post here I have still been working on my ultimate goal to have a marine fish tank. The more I research the more I get doubts on some of my idea's of the set up I'm looking for. Should I slow down the cycle process by using dry rock to avoid pests? Which live sand do I go for? These are a few dilemmas I have encountered but as I reach the point of resolving these I will share with you my conclusions.

My next step is to put down the books and step away from the web for a few days let the information sink in. Chances are my idea's are correct, the pro's out way the con's and I'm just over thinking things.

In the mean time I'll focus on my fresh water tank's there is a lot of little jobs I need to do on these before I set up the marine tank.  Next week I'll give an over view of my current maintenance program and once the marine tank is set up the new process.

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Pufferfish an odd ball with spikes

To break my blog up a bit and so you don't have get lots of boring budgets, cleaning adverts for shops I've visited I thought I add a little fishy profile. I start of with the fish I'm not going to keep in my tank these will be the fish seen as non reef friendly or will get to big for my aquarium, I'll then add profiles for the fish I have purchased.

So here's the first one.
  

Common Name:	Puffer Fish
Scientific Name:	Tetraodontidae
Origin:	Equator
Diet:	Omnivore
Size (L):	17cm - 60cm (7in - 24in)
Water Type:	Fresh, Brackish, Salt
Optimum pH Level:	5.7 - 6.4
Life Span:	4 - 8 years
Conservation Status:	Least Concern

There are around 120 known species of puffer fish, the second most poisonous creature on the planet after the Golden Poison Frog. The puffer fish is found in tropical waters worldwide, but they rarely go into the cooler waters.

Biologists think puffer fish, also known as blow fish, developed their famous “inflatability” because their slow, somewhat clumsy swimming style makes them vulnerable to predators. In lieu of escape, puffer fish use their highly elastic stomachs and the ability to quickly ingest huge amounts of water (and even air when necessary) to turn themselves into a virtually inedible ball several times their normal size. Some species also have spines on their skin to make them even less palatable.

If a fisherman catches a puffer fish, they will never touch the spikes as they are highly toxic to humans and animals.

Although there are a number of animals that prey on the puffer fish, these predators often meet with a nasty end. When the puffer fish is threatened it inflates it's body with air exposing the long, sharp, toxic spikes which normally intimidates the predator into retreating. If however, an animal does manage to eat the puffer fish, it will often be poisoned by the toxins in the spikes or the toxin that is released from the organs of the puffer fish when it dies.

Despite the toxins in the puffer fish, some animals such as sharks are able to eat the puffer fish without becoming harmed. It is important also to know that not all species of puffer fish are actually poisonous and these species are preyed upon by larger fish, sharks and also humans.

Despite the puffer fish having such a deadly toxin, there are some species of puffer fish whose meat is eaten in Japan and Korea as a local delicacy. Special chefs are trained to cut the fish so that the fish does not poison the consumer. Other species of puffer fish produce and release a toxin into their organs when they die to harm the thing that ate them.

Emmy award-winning filmmaker John Downer was filming the upcoming two-part miniseries Dolphins: Spy in the Pod when he noticed that bottle nose dolphins would gently chew on a puffer fish and then pass it to another dolphin in the pod. He noticed that after chewing on the puffer fish, the dolphins would look very tranquil and dazed. Then it hit him: these dolphins were getting high on the nerve toxin released by the puffer fish.

If his prior knowledge of puffer fish toxin wasn’t an indication of what these dolphins were doing, their subsequent behaviour was a dead giveaway. They spent a great deal of time observing their own reflection on the water’s surface and acting very strange in general.

Downer’s crew was able to get this inside look through creative spy cameras, similar to what has been used for many of his other documentary miniseries. Underwater shots were taken with fish-shaped cameras while above water shots were taken with a camera that looks like a inconspicuous sea turtle. With the dolphins surrounded by cameras that looked like normal, everyday sea creatures, they were more relaxed and exhibited behaviour that may not have been captured with traditional filming techniques.

The smallest species of puffer fish in the world is the dwarf puffer fish (also known as the pea puffer fish and the pygmy puffer fish). The dwarf puffer fish is tiny growing to just an inch in length, which is a few centimetres. Despite the fact that the dwarf puffer fish is related to larger species of puffer fish, the dwarf puffer fish is not found in the sea but in just one river in India.

One amazing little puffer fish has been found to be capable of creating elaborately designed 'crop circles' at the bottom of the ocean as part of an elaborate mating ritual. The behaviour was first documented by a photographer named Yoji Ookata who later returned with a film crew from the Japanese nature show NHK which later aired an episode about the fish.

Even as articles bounced around the web it was still difficult to imagine how a tiny fish could create such a large design in the sand, even when staring directly at photographic evidence. Finally, video has emerged that shows just how the little guy delicately traverses the sand in a rotating criss-cross pattern to create a sort of sub aquatic Spirograph. The textured sand sculpture not only attracts mates but also serves as protection when the fish pair and lays eggs.

Reef Farming

Our reefs are some of the most amazingly beautiful places and also one of our most sensitive ecosystems as well. Changes in temperature, fishing, pollution, our own interest in have reefs in our homes and public spaces have all taken its toll on the reefs of the world.

Recently while searching for corals I found a company in the Uk called Reef Works who work on an one what I would call ethical reef keeping policy by farming corals to reduce our impact on our existing reefs. They have a very interesting process on farming corals which if you want to read more on this can be found here.

"At Reefworks, if a species of coral cannot be grown in a sustainable and viable manner it will not be used. It is for this reason that you will not find certain genera at Reefworks. We do not buy in corals, frag them up and sell them and then buy in another colony to produce more frags. The key for us is to be self sustainable and to produce healthy vibrant coloured corals that have had no negative impact on natural reefs."   

They are also involved in Mariculture more information on this can be found here.

So when your in your LFS then next time ask them about how they source their corals.

change of plans

So earlier in my blog I mentioned a trip to a not so local fish shop to me called Reef Dreams although I though at the time this was only going to be the place where I went to pick out the coral's for my aquarium well this has sort of changed.

Originally my plan was to purchase a Fluval m90 sea a couple of upgraded parts as it slotted nicely into the spot currently taken up by my gold fish tank but while looking around the shop the shop keeper showed me the Clearseal 900. Initially when looked I though great perfect size got home measured it up and the spot was too small I sat down a little dejected. The weeks have passed, I look at the spot the leaflet detailing the the package taunting me.  I scratched my head trying to work out a way I can get the bigger tank and then it hit me with a small change to the room and some new furniture to house the DVD collection.

Here's the new kit list:

Clearseal 900 (180 litres) + sump (75 litres) total of 255 litres which is just short of double the volume of the fluvial.
Ocean Life Over flow System
Jebao 3000 return pump
200w heater although Im tempeted to have 2 100w's incase one fails not so drastic drop in temp
bubble magnus c3.5 skimmer
tmc v2 illumenair 900 this the only thing from my original plan still left
d-d media reactor
v2 power pump for media reactor
tmc v2 auto top up
2 Jebao  wp25 powerbeads with twin controller

Live Rock

Not the kind that lots of enjoy singing a long to or lost our hearing to as a result of standing too close to a speaker stack. No this is an important part of part of the Berlin Filtration system and the back bone to the look of the reef. Now I could have gone fish only set up a bit of sand at the bottom maybe a couple of ornaments but I feel with marine tanks the more natural look is a more interesting option.

So what is live rock? In the simplest terms its reef rock taken from the sea which includes a lot of beneficial bacteria, coral and sponge polyps and some other little critters who hitch hike their way when transported.  The things is there is no such thing as a free lunch and with the good you get the bad thinks like Aiptasia SP , Mantis Shrimp (Stomatopods) and Valonia sp. aka Bubble Algae. Most of these can be treated with products purchased from the LFS or captured in traps or controlled with the reefs natural maintenance team or clean up crew as they are known. From everything I have been reading I feel that the benefits out weigh the risk but I recommend doing some reading and making this decision your self. 

Below is a video of a Mantis shrimp hunting a crab

Alternative options to live rock are erie or dead rock this over time will become live and and has the benefit of not introducing the pest as above but will take longer to cycle your tank.

If your purchasing your live rock from you LFS they normally put the rock through a process call curing, this clears the debris of dead or dying sponges/corals. If they do not sure the rock This process will take about 2-4 weeks to complete. To properly cure your rock you must have lots of water flow around and through the rock and a good skimmer to remove the dislodged material. The water flow can be created with a larger external pump so that it's flow is directed over and through the rock or can be accomplished with several power heads or other submersible pumps. What ever you use, be sure to have more flow than you think you need and occasionally use a powerhead or turkey baster to "blow" around all exposed surfaces of the rock.
more information on this process can be found here.

Now your rock is cured whats next? Well then its time to add this to your sump if your running one and to the display area of your tank to create your Aquascape.


Thank you for taking time to read my blog if your enjoying what you have read so far please leave a comment.

Exploring new not so local fish shops (LFS)

Sorry for the late post this week has been one of those weeks.

I took some time out to visit Reef dreams in Winchester and Lynchford Aquatics  in Farnborough and wow what can I say about these shop's I though I'd start with and overview of Reef dreams.

Reef Dreams

So I arrived on a Wednesday  which I found out from the shop owner is the one day a week they don't actually open as they restock and do maintenance, but he was very friendly said as long as I took care when moving around the shop it was ok.

We got chatting about my plans to set up a Fluval M-90 tank as a reef tank but he suggested a  solution that requires a sump at this point my plans went into a spin. They have a 90cm kit which would have been a bit more than my original budget but this wouldn't have been a problem its just a couple of inch's to big for the space I have.

Walking around the rest of the shop I was blown away by the choices of coral's he was very happy to show off what the coral's look like under different lighting conditions, I now know where I need to go when I start this stage of my tank. The selection of other live stock was small but a great selection and honest advice on what to have for the size tank. To be honest I think this shop really deals with much larger set ups but was so friendly someone looking to set up a reef with no experience would not feel intimidated.

Lynchford aquatics

Another super shop they had a Seneye reef on a one of their tanks nice range of fish some would have been nice but not really reef safe (I'll go into this in my live stoke research post) but they had all the things I needed for an algae issue Im currently experiencing in my large tropical tank.

How I imagine my aquarium to look in a couple of year

MTS (Multi Tank Syndrome)

In my introduction I mentioned I have MTS or Multi Tank Syndrome its not something people truly understand until it hits them. So what is it? Well in simplest terms its when you start off with just one small aquarium and before you know it you working out places you can fit a bigger one your looking after more and more tanks.

We have a little on going joke in the family with my mum who luckily has a great sense of humour about knocking walls down replacing certain items of furniture just to ft another new or much large tank into the house. We’ve even talked to the local fish shop about writing a receipt for a 1000 litre aquarium and stand. But saying that she did draw the line at 3 aquariums (i did sneak a small one in to make it 4) and she has put her foot down which I’m glad of as I would end up with loads to look after.
After a lot of convincing I have finally got the go a head for a larger aquarium but its at the cost of my current 60 litre cold water one, which is really difficult for me to do as this is where I cut my teeth.

Here is a view of my current set up

Filtration

When it comes to any form of Aquarium one of the most important parts I think is the filtration well apart from the tank it self with marine even more so as many invertebrates and corals require very clean water to survive. The options out there can be confusing, canisters, hang on, internal and built in filters. Well all of these will have on of if not all three of the following types of filtration process included they just deliver these in there own way. 

Filtration types.

Mechanical:

This is usual the first stage offer by the use of sponges or foam pads. These catch the big bits of waste    things like left over food decade plants. With my current canister filters on my large cold water and tropical tanks I have three level of this filtration a coarse for the big bits, dense fine foam for the bits that are miss by the coarse then finally a very fine/polishing layer. I try create the cleanest water before it reaches the next stage which is the Chemical filtration in my canister filer however for my marine set up this will be different as I will be using the Berlin System which I will explain later.

Chemical filtration

Chemical filtration refers to any filtering substance that is designed to change the chemical composition of the water, but most often refers to the use of activated carbon or other cleaning resins. Activated carbon pulls dissolved organics from the water by adsorbing them.

There are also other products that fall under the heading of chemical filtration. Products like ammonia chips, designed to remove ammonia from the water. People who have excess nitratesmight use ammonia chips to slow nitrate production. Nitrates are not considered harmful in general, but an excess of nitrates is undesirable, particularly in salt water aquariums where nitrates must be kept very low.

Biological

This is is formed by bacteria with in the tank on sponges in the filter and if your using a canister from a ceramic or ceramic based media. This stage converts Ammonia through nitrite and nitrates then to nitrogen this is called the Nitrogen Cycle.

As the bacteria builds up on the sponges if you are using mechanical filters it is very important to only rinse these in waste water from your water changes as part of your maintenance if you use tap water or new reverse osmosis water to clean these sponges you can remove this layer and undo all the hard work of setting up the tank.

Berlin System

So I mentioned at the beginning that the set up I'm going to using the the Berlin System this this offers the best of the mechanical filtration through the use of a protein skimmer and Biological filtration through the use of Live rock and Live sand.

So what is a protein skimmer? its a form of mechanical filtration that only effectively works in marine aquariums by creating very tiny bubbles rising up a tube collecting pro tines as they rise. As the bubbles

reach the top of the tube the bubbles form a foam which then overflows in the a collection cup which is clean as part of your tank maintenance.

Proteins include ammonia, so an effective protein skimmer can also remove some ammonia before it breaks down in into Nitrites and Nitrate's both of which are unwanted in marine aquariums. The mechanical process helps alleviate some of the burden of the biological filtration provided live rock and sand with in the aquarium.

Tip when selecting a protein skimmer find one that can deal with twice the volume of your Aquarium and offers the best performance. With this in mind I may include extra funds for and upgrade for the one included in the kit I found.

Live rock this is a bit of a confusing concept to understand as we view rock not as a living thing but usually as a building material. Well Live rock is pieces of dead coral skeletons which have been harvested from coral reef areas. In the wild, live rock harbours both flora and fauna as well as beneficial (biological) bacteria. In an aquarium, if properly cured, live rock will continue to house both flora, fauna and bacteria.

Curing is the process of containing harvested live rock and allowing the dead and dying biological material which did not survive collection and shipping to decay. The dead material is then removed, leaving the surviving biological material on the rock. The curing process produces a great amount of toxins (ammonia, nitrite and nitrate) which are harmful to saltwater aquariums and their occupants. Thankfully your LFS or live rock supplier will normally do this for you. If this process is done correctly your live rock should over time come back to life with corals and invertebrates and the beneficial bacteria which helps with the bio logical.

Live sand, or LS is natural reef coral sand that is collected live from the ocean, or non-living coral sand that is cultured to make it live. What makes it live is the microscopic biological bacteria that grows on it, and the many tiny crustaceans and other micro and macro-organisms that reside in it. Live sand can serve as the main base for biological filtration in a saltwater aquarium, while the organisms help consume organic matter in the sand bed. Some of the organisms provide a natural food source for many aquarium inhabitants as well.
From reading about the Berlin system and users who have had these systems up and running for sometime 10 years or more with out major rebuilds actually improve rather than deteriorate as time passes.

  
I hope this has helped with little understanding on filtration if you would like more information I recommend The New Marine Aquarium by Michael S. Paletta.

What I'm currently reading

I thought for a quick post this week I'd share what I'm reading there is a lot of books out there some better than other but the two I have are Aquarium Manual by Haynes & The New Marine Aquarium Step-By-Step Setup & Stocking Guide by Michael S. Paletta.

I've had the Haynes book for a while and it has been a help with getting set up helping with cycling the tanks I have but it ttys to cram too much into one book so it isn't able to be so detailed. I remember walking around Jumble sales as a kid where someone always had a copy of a Haynes manual for something like a Mk2 Escort or Renault 5 and loved the exploded diagrams but this isn't one of these classic although helpful I would say its better to purchase a dedicated book for marine aquariums. 

 The New Marine Aquarium Step-By-Step Setup & Stocking Guide is my favourite, not the biggest book but packed full of info. Using a mix of up to date and traditional this book covers all the basic point. The bit I love most about this book is its helpful check lists from parts required, maintenance to the set up process. Book even covers stocking guides for different sizes so you don't run the risk of over stocking your aquarium which is usually the mistake people encounter.

Thank you for taking time to read my blog 

My budget

Well its been a bit of a search for me trying to find an aquarium I liked, I wanted a a rectangular one with the filter on the back with a nice look something a bit modern an sleek and bot is there a large choice depending on what you want to spend. So I now I think have found the right one for me its the Fluval Reef M-90 Premium from the sites I have checked for price it is about what I wanted to spend with the bonus if including a lot of the hardware I need and they are selling this with a stand so no extra cost there.

M-90 Premium

Description below taken from Fluval Aquatics web site
Designed with clean lines and a contemporary finish, the Fluval Reef aquarium comes equipped with everything you’ll need to recreate a successful marine reef enviroment , including Fluval’s widely popular Marine & Reef Performance LED. This high-efficiency light features 6 unique LED band widths with essential actinic blue wavelengths for full spectrum coverage that will drive photosynthetic activity and coral growth, while also offering an accurate viewing experience. The 102 L (27 US gal) aquarium includes an integrated rear compartment (34L  or 9 US gal)  that discreetly houses a Fluval Sea Protein Skimmer, in addition to an integrated drain valve with drain hose that will permit convenient water changes by connecting to a simple valve system. This will allow the user to change up-to 20% of aquarium water volume without exposing sensitive corals to air. The glass aquarium features a unique frosted rim frame that keeps unsightly water lines out of view. The aquarium also comes equipped with a compact and submersible M-series heater and effective CP Circulation Pump.

so far from my list this tank ticks off the Tank with stand, Powerhead, Heater, Light, Protein Skimmer, and a pump to get the water back from the filter and all for £600.  Next is adding 1kg of live rock per 10 litres (maybe a bit more) roughly £150 and  another £26 in live sand.
why use Seneye to monitor your aquarium?


Im going to make my life a bit easier by purchasing water with the salt already added my local in 25 litre tanks which works out to another £45 to get started.

in addition to the above I will get a tank monitor as reading test kits can not only be difficult at times they can be hit and miss you can get some very expensive ones there are also people out there using a Raspberry Pi setup but I have been pulled towards the Seneye reef.

Why the Seneye reef?

We buy a fish tank to hold water, then a heater or chiller to keep the temperature constant, filters to keep the fish from becoming poisoned, along with lights for illumination and plant growth. Then we spend a fortune on fish, coral, plants and décor which we become very attached to. The next step is to cross our fingers and hope for the best or spend half our lives testing and checking is all okay. There is an alternative, let seneye protect your loved ones.

http://www.seneye.com/why.html

And the grand total is over £1000 before live stock thankfully I'm in no real rush I can't move the cold water tank for a few months so I have enough time to save up.  

Im going to need a bigger tank

Planning makes all the difference

The one think I learnt after setting up my first cold water aquarium is that nothing is as easy as it seems. You think its just a case of walking into the shop getting your aquarium grabbing the fish and going home and setting up. Sorry but no its not as easy as that, a good aquatic store won’t let you just just do this and any that do have only one thing in mind, that's taking you money as you will be back when the fish you just purchased turn belly up.

So why does planning help with this? its simply that you will be prepared for the work a head and the costs, at this stage I will go though what to budget for and locating a tank.

There is going to be one person who is going to be your best friend over the time you have any sort of aquarium and that's your Local fish shop (LFS) staff. The reason I bring this up there is only so much you can learn but the staff in you LFS will be a great source of support, advise and even getting you started in many cases. So before you start find your local one I’m fortunate to have one within 5 miles of my town its a Maidenhead Aquatic’s store but there are a couple in my area but this one is my personal choice.

Once you have found your store one that is able to supply the fish and equipment you need ,some will only supply tropical free water or cold water. You then need to work our how much space you have

 this will be determined by the location of the tank (see below for advice on locating) and decide what type of aquarium you want. With tropical marine you have three options fish only, Fish with live rock and reef. On the hardware side I’m going to focus on reef tanks but will out line the pro and cons of the three options in another post. The three hard packages I’m going to cover are Nano reef no fish, Nano reef with fish and High-tech reef aquarium for stony corals each of these have their own hardware requirements.

 Nano reef no fish.

This is possible the simpler option of the three as with out fish you are able to use an aquarium of smaller volume as you are only going to stock invertebrates likes shrimp, crab’s, snails and coral polyps. The up side of this will be these are ideal for desktops small rooms or strong shelf's, without fish to feed with out having  protein skimmer (I’ll go into specifics on hardware in there own little blog). Below is a list of required hardware but this is based on the tanks bio logical filtration being felt with by live rock and live sand (I’ll explain more about this in its own post)

Tank (your LFS should be able to recommend a tank that fits what you want to do)

Powerhead (for flow, offering ten times volume turnover per hour)

heater (a must in the UK but some countries you may get away with out one ask your LFS if in doubt)

Compact light (in marine spectrum and offering 1w per litre of water)

Test kits (your LFS will help you get the right ones to keep your tank in best health and advise how to read them)

Hydrometer (for measuring salt content)

Live rock (1kg per 10 litres 2kg is best)

reef sand or live sand (LFS can advise how much you will need for your tank)

Thermometer, cheap stick on one that looks like a strip is ok but the can look un sightly but I suggest getting a digital one where the reading can be seen from the outside like this one digital thermometer

     

Nano reef with fish (the option I’m working to)

So this is where things get a little more interesting and you need to take more more into account. The first thing is that when you add fish into the equation you need to think of their welfare, fish require enough space to exercise and a volume of ware that is stable enough to cope with their waste. This is the same with any animal, if you have a dog regular walks and clearing up their mess is important for their health and applies to fish also. Its recommended that a tank for 45 litres or more is used for a reef with fish but remember some fish require more space as they will grow larger so consulting with your LFS on stocking levels is key. In addition to a large volume tank you will need some nutrient removal system like a protein skimmer so this is the main difference. this can be scaled up to any size tank containing soft corals ad is the basis of the Berlin system which I’ll explain in my post on filtration.

There are a couple of things you could add these are purely options although these may be things I add or you decide to add your self

UV (optional, but useful for controlling marine white spot in surgeonfish)

External Filter (optional for packing with chemical media suck as phosphate removal media or carbon media) Remove all biological media as this filtration will be done by the live rock.

High-Tec Reef for stony coral’s

Im not going to go into this option to in to much detail as at the moment my depth of knowledge isn’t great but as a basic over view this where things get very technical and the list of required equipment get a lot longer and more expensive.

Many of the corals in this type of tank require special intense lighting, strong flow of water, are the least tolerant of high levels of nutrients and and temperatures.

 

so here is the list that you will want a small truck for.

Tank

large flow pump

wave maker

High-powered metal Halide lighting

test kits

refractomter (more accurate than Hydrometer)

Protein skimmer

uv

sump

refuguim 

calcium reactor

co2 system

chiller

phosphate reactor

automatic top-up system 

reverse osmosis unit (RO unit) for topping up or making salt water for changes 

Although would be nice for all three set ups your LFS can supply this normally in 25 litre jerry cans and this is the option, I will be going to use as they should be able to get the salt levels right making my life a bit easier.

Selecting location of the aquarium there are a few things you should keep in mince. It should be away from heat sources like radiators, where temperatures can fluctuate like kitchens or in direct sunlight. I would also recommend making sure that there are enough plug sockets where you want the tank and that its not to far from somewhere you can dispose of the waste water. Remember with setting up and water changes that a 10 litres of water will weigh around 10kg a flight of stairs or a long walk to the bathroom/drain in the garden may be more of a work out than you really want.

So what does my budget look like so far? Well you'll have to have a read of my next post

Intro

I thought i’d start a blog about my journey through setting up a marine aquarium. I hope over the next weeks and months I can share my challenges and advice I pick up through the process.

But before I go into the process of getting started a little about my self and why I'm diving into a marine aquarium. I’ve always been fascinated by fish and trips to local aquariums as a child just made my love for aquariums stronger. 

In 2013 I was at local funfair and won a gold fish, he (I named him Rasputin) came home and I said if he survives the first 2 weeks I would treat him to some decorations and plants for his bowl. At the time I knew very little about fish keeping I knew a fish bowl is wrong to keep him in but I didn’t know why. After a bit of research its size and lack of filtration, well after a few months of nearly losing my fish to fin rot, upgrades to larger tanks I took the plunge into tropical. This is the point I think all things went down hill and I got a bad case of MTS (Multi Tank Syndrome) and anyone who is reading this who owns more than one aquarium will understand this illness at the time of writing this my living room has the following in descending order of my love:

120 litre mixed tropical tank. 

Although this is my dad he pays for food and live stock I'm the one that get the maintenance jobs lugging buckets so see this as part of my collect.

19 litre small breeding tank. 

After setting up my first fully planted tank (more on this tank in a moment) is was forced in to a situation where I need to set up a breeding tank. My Crown tail Siamese Fighting Fish (Crown tail Betta) decided to blow a bubble nest. Being interested in a seeing if I can get them to breed I got him two females unfortunately one died but they went on to provide me with a small batch of fry which are currently growing in this tank. 

30 litre full planted tank.

This was my first challenge to my self after setting up the cold water tank I wanted a fully planted tank and my original plan was to change the 60 litre cold water tank to a bigger planted tank but my local fish shop (LFS) made me think about going straight to saltwater so this has changed.

60 litre cold water.

This is currently my gold fish tank although and I'm having to give up to move to salt water. We have limited space for tanks in the house but  want to get the tank I’ve wanted since a child I need to make sacrifices. I’ll be sad to see this go, my gold are a such characters waiting for me to come home and always great me with what I call the feed me wiggle. Ive worked hard on this from nursing a fish back from a complete loss of tail fin which I'm told is very difficult, developing an understanding of how filters work and livestock management. But it won’t be long before my fish out grow the tank and I don’t really have space for a bigger one my thoughts are only for the best for my live stock.

Rasputin the day he moved into his 30 litre tank 6 months before moving up to the 60 litre

So my reason set up a marine tank? I think its the same of everyone’s watching finding Nemo too much and the fact the bright colours always look inviting. Yes tropical fish have bright colours and a well planted tank can be as fulfilling as a marine tank but I think three tropical is enough.

thank you for taking time to read my intro and I hope you continue to read my blog as I share with you my first attempt.