Firstly we recommend that you have successfully maintained a Tropical Freshwater Aquarium for at least one year before attempting a Marine Aquarium.

Choosing Tank size:

It is recommended that you start your first marine aquarium with at least a 150 Litre 3ft aquarium. Smaller aquariums are lot more prone to problems if not detected immediately. The Jebo range of aquariums, which include filter and lights, are good for marine setups and the R380 unit is good for a hospital aquarium.

Filtration: Aerobic/Anaerobic

Trickle filters are biological filters that have their filter material exposed to the air, which gives you aerobic bacteria thru the water falling down onto the bio balls creating more oxygen. Two phases exist in the trickle filters: water and air. These two environments in contact assure that the oxygen supply of the bacteria that are colonizing the filter media is sufficient. The water is replenished with oxygen and returns to the aquarium enriched. This is by far the best biological filtration but it comes at a cost so therefore is more logical to be used on large aquariums i.e. (5ftx2ftx2ft).
Canister filters work much the same as a trickle filter but have poor oxygen supply but use more anaerobic bacteria. All the aerobic bacteria metabolism must come from the surrounding water. The Fluval 404 canister three-chamber design makes it one of the most suitable for marine systems.

Heating:

In tropical seas the temperature stays constant at around 25c.

Salt Water:

Synthetic sea salt can be put straight into a new marine aquarium. After that you will need to calculate the amount of salt required to do your monthly changes. If you have a 300 litres aquarium do a 10% monthly water change so the amount of salt required will be 30 litres at 1kg of salt.

Salinity/Specific Gravity:

Place your hydrometer into your tank and directly read off a scale found on the stem of the hydrometer. Specific gravity is also temperature dependant. At 25c the specific gravity of your tank should be 1.022.

Setting Up

We strongly recommend that when starting a marine aquarium you allow between 4 to 6 weeks for the biological filtration before putting the fish you want in it.
After the water and salt is added wait 24-48 hours before putting live rock in at which point you can add Amtrite Down to start the biological nitrogen cycle. You can also put in freshwater Mollies or hardy damselfish to help the process along.
Regular Ammonia and Nitrite checks should be performed until the levels have peaked and gone down at which point you can start slowly adding your fish.
The nitrogen cycle starts in the initial period after setting up a tank. Ammonia is the first nitrogenous product to build up in the aquarium until at which point they are then transformed into nitrites by the bacteria (Nitrosomonas). Nitrites are then converted to nitrates by a strain of aerobic bacteria (Nitrobacter). Nitrate is generally not broken down in the aquarium and is only removed when doing regular water changes.
Once your aquarium is ready for fish the ammonia and nitrite levels should always remain at undetectable levels.

Testing Water

In order to maintain the water within the correct parameters, it is vital that you perform weekly test on your aquarium.
• The salinity/Specific gravity at 25c should be 1.022.
• PH should range from 8.2 and 8.4
• Ammonia 0 ppm
• Nitrite 0 ppm
• Nitrate 0 ppm
• Phosphate 0 ppm

PH should always stay above 8.1 Coral sand helps maintain high PH
Ammonia is dangerous above 1.2 ppm. Change 20% of water or add Amtrite Down to drop ammonia levels.
Nitrite is dangerous above 0.3ppm. Change 20% of water or add Amtrite Down to drop Nitrite levels.
Nitrates are dangerous above 110ppm Change 25% of water or add Algone XP to contain nitrate levels.
Phosphates are dangerous above 1.0ppm Change 20% of water or add Algone XP to contain phosphate levels

Algae growth

If your nitrate levels are to high the most visible indication is the proliferation of undesirable algae.
Another source of algae is poor lighting. To combat algae blooms you can use Algone XP that helps control nitrate levels or do more constant water changes.
Also other environmental factors for excess algae growth are placing your aquarium next to windows, skylights etc that receive too much direct sunlight. By placing your aquarium away from direct sunlight will help keep the algae under control and also keep the temperature from rising to dangerous levels.