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Before you even consider buying and setting up a marine aquarium there are few things you should be aware of. First of all this is not a cheap hobby, you will have to invest in many items of equipment before getting to a stage where your tank is inhabitable, and then the fish will only further add to the cost. The second thing you will need is a lot of patience - a couple of weeks, even a month can go by before there is even a single fish swimming around. Once the fish start living in the tank the water quality will need frequent monitoring, and more time must be devoted to feeding them as they are pickier than freshwater fish. If you are still interested, we can get down to business. There are generally three types of marine aquaria, depending on their overall purpose: • FO – fish only tanks, that often showcase large or aggressive marine fish species, and tend to rely mostly on mechanical and chemical filtration. • FOWLR – fish only tanks with live rock, that use live rock, a material composed of coral skeletons harboring beneficial nitrogen waste metabolizing bacteria, for the benefits of more natural biological filtration. • Reef aquaria – tanks with fish as well as live corals and other invertebrates, using more or less the same methods as FOWLR tanks for biological filtration. Another way we can divide these aquariums is by temperature: • Tropical marine – the most common type, includes both reef tanks and fish only tanks; the temperature is kept between 24 to 28 °C (75 to 82 °F). • Temperate marine (coldwater marine) - with temperatures ranging around 10 to 24 °C (50 to 75 °F) this is a less common type, they are generally more difficult to maintain, not as aesthetically pleasing as the tropical tanks because most fish tend to be grayish or have very dull coloration, excluding fish like cowfish and blennies, but they may have colorful sea anemones. Having decided on the type of aquarium we wish to maintain, we can now move to picking the right components specific to the type. What we need to concern ourselves now are the various methods of filtration, lighting, heating and water testing. For instance, there are several types of lighting products that use different technologies (like fluorescent, metal halide, LED), and we have to consider additional factors like wattage and color temperature. The temperature must be kept at adequate level, so heating, or cooling may be required depending on our ambient temperature (and it may change significantly through the seasons). Of great concern also are establishing a proper nitrogen cycle and acclimation of the fish. Don’t be scared by the scientific terminology, it’s actually just some basic bio-chemistry. It simply means that it will take a little bit of time for the water in your tank to “age”, and that the fish should be introduced to it gradually – starting of with tougher species to “test the waters” before adding more fragile fish with specific needs. The nitrogen cycle basically follows these steps: • Introduction of decomposing material – such as live rock or a dead shrimp, which results in accumulation of ammonia (NH3), a substance highly toxic to marine life • Bacteria start to form – they proceed to consume the ammonia, turning it into nitrate (NO3-), a little less toxic but not by much • Nitrate levels spike causing more bacteria to form – these bacteria will now consume the nitrate (NO3-) and turn it into nitrite (NO2-) • Nitrite levels spike causing diatoms to appear – once the diatoms (a major group of algae) appear they will completely cover the live rocks and even the glass and floor of the tank, consuming the nitrite • Nitrite levels drop to zero – at this point the diatoms start to starve themselves out, marine life can now safely be introduced (creatures that like to “clean” the tank like hermit crab, so they can consume the leftover algae) After the initial group of “cleaning creatures” have done their job and our tank has regained its former glow, we can now proceed to choose the specific marine life we wish to proudly display. Let’s say that we have a special fondness for corals – we like the deep colors, the tropical theme goes well with our other decorations, or we simply have that adventurous pirate spirit burning inside of us. First of all, for beginners and people on a bit of tight budget it is better to start of with a smaller project. A popular option is Nano Reef Tank, an excellent space-safer, easy on the wallet, usually equipped with the basic gadgets described earlier, but still a very beautiful display if executed correctly. A good and readily available option is the Yasha Nano Reef Tank, but my suggestion is to shop around at your local pet stores (preferably stores dealing exclusively with aquatic life) – the staff will be knowledgeable on the subject and more than happy to answer your questions and recommend equipment. Bare in mind that this sort of compact aquarium will be mostly reserved for corals, accommodating perhaps just a few fish to liven up the tank. The shopping part will be the easiest, and once you carefully select the corals and fish for your envisioned reef, you should start slowly setting up the tank (bearing in mind the above mentioned steps of the nitrogen cycle) in a desired location. This is by no stretch of imagination a chemistry or zoology textbook, but a mere guideline, a few reference points for the potential hobbyist, so I advise that you look up additional information either on the internet or in the recommended literature for these fields. You could check out web stores that have video galleries with a lot of useful information, and there are whole channels on Youtube dedicated to this topic. Author Bio: Ivan Dimitrijevic has a strong background in Social Media Marketing and Blogging. Among other things, he has interests in classic fish tanks, marine aquariums and reef tanks, such as Yasha Nano reef tank, garden ponds related supplies and equipment and more.
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