| ng up a salt water aquarium just entails a little | | | | the water parameters and other aquarium |
| effort and more knowledge on how it works. | | | | equipment on your set-up. Aside from this, you |
| There are also factors you need to consider | | | | need to do aquarium maintenance at least once a |
| before you set up one. | | | | week or once a month. |
| Starting a saltwater aquarium is not so difficult. It | | | | Setting up a saltwater aquarium is very |
| only needs effort and knowledge in order to have | | | | expensive. You will get overwhelmed with the |
| a saltwater set-up. | | | | prices of those listed equipments. You will realize |
| Before starting to set up an aquarium with salt | | | | that freshwater aquarium set up is even cheaper. |
| water, it is better to plan first. Research the | | | | It also takes time to set it up. It takes 4 to 8 |
| different system designs you can choose from as | | | | weeks before you can safely add new marine |
| well as the needed equipment supplies. Learn | | | | fish to your aquarium. |
| essential factors before buying anything like: | | | | Aquarium Size and Location |
| • Selecting the tank style | | | | Before deciding to buy an aquarium, know the |
| • Type of material | | | | kind of saltwater fish you want first. Learn about |
| • The best size, location, way to display | | | | the different types of marine fish through |
| the aquarium | | | | research. There are marine fishes that grow up |
| • Pieces of equipment needed to run it | | | | to a few inches only. Others can grow up to 18 |
| and | | | | inches. Knowing this will help you decide about the |
| • Others | | | | size of the aquarium you will buy. Be aware that a |
| Once you consider the system, put them all | | | | smaller tank will give more challenge. It will force |
| together and set it up. | | | | you to maintain and test the water more |
| In setting up your saltwater aquarium, you will | | | | frequently. |
| need the following equipments: | | | | Place your aquarium in a place where light and |
| • Aquarium | | | | temperature won’t affect the tank. Place |
| • Aquarium Photo Background or Painted | | | | it also on a stand that will hold its weight. |
| background | | | | Remember that the total weight of the full |
| • Aquarium substrate like live sand or | | | | aquarium is 10 pounds per gallon of water. |
| crushed coral | | | | Example: A 70-gallon tank will weigh about 700 |
| • Live Rock | | | | pounds when filled with water alone. |
| • Saltwater mix | | | | Aquarium and Equipment |
| • Saltwater Hydrometer or refractometer | | | | This time you can decide on the filtration type |
| • Aquarium filter | | | | you want to use. You can also decide on the |
| • Replacement filter media such as filter | | | | protein skimmer type. An under gravel filter is not |
| floss and activated carbon | | | | recommended. It is not needed and it will cause |
| • 2 or 3 Multiple Powerheads | | | | you headaches. It is better to use live rock as |
| • Heater | | | | biological filter. For the mechanical and chemical |
| • Protein Skimmer | | | | filtration, you only need a modest filter. |
| • Saltwater test kits | | | | The next most important piece of equipment is a |
| • Saltwater fish food | | | | protein skimmer. Here are lists of skimmers: |
| • Aquarium vacuum | | | | • AquaC Remora Protein Skimmer |
| • Fish net | | | | • Tunze Nano Protein Skimmer |
| • Rubber gloves | | | | • Red Sea Prizm Protein Skimmer |
| • Aquarium Glass Scrubber or Algae | | | | • Fission Nano Protein Skimmer |
| Scraper | | | | • Visi-Jet PS Protein Skimmer |
| • 2 clean unused 5-gallon buckets | | | | You need to buy a proficient heater also for your |
| • Aquarium Thermometer | | | | aquarium, allowing it to fit. |
| • Brush with plastic bristles | | | | Then, get 1 to 2 pounds of live rocks for each |
| • Quarantine Tank | | | | gallon of water. Place this inside the aquarium. |
| • Power Strip | | | | As a rule, ½ to about 1 pound of sand for |
| • Reverse Osmosis or RO/Deionization | | | | each gallon of water is needed. Sandboxes or |
| filter | | | | playground sands are inappropriate. They might |
| You need to work hard to become successful in | | | | possess unknown particles that can be harmful to |
| setting-up a saltwater aquarium. You need to feed | | | | your fish. Make use of live sand, aragonite-based |
| your saltwater fish also. You also need to monitor | | | | sand or crushed coral. |