Steps to Setting up A New Reef Aquarium

There are several steps to setting up a new reef aquarium. Make sure that you read through all of these steps before beginning. You may find that you must begin later steps in the series so that when you get to them, the components needed will be ready. While the exact procedure may vary somewhat, the following guide is a good procedure for beginning new reef aquariums:

1. First, assuming you have already purchased the components that are necessary for a reef aquarium, you should set up the filter system (usually a sump box or trickle filter), maintaining a salinity of about 1.022 at 78 Fahrenheit. ***Note - Circulate the water through the filter section only, not the aquarium!
   
2. Establish the biological filter by introducing a source of ammonia or nitrite. This is usually done using ammonium chloride or sodium nitrite.
   
3. Once the ammonia and nitrite levels have dropped to 0 ppm, and 0 to 2 ppm, respectively, change the water in the filtering system, and fill the aquarium. At this point, you should have a bare aquarium and an established biological filter.
   
4. Now, build the basic reef structure using cleaned rock, free of all dead growth. If your rock is not already cleaned, you must clean and cure it by placing it in a filtered aquarium, without light, for about two weeks, before adding it to the tank. Remember that you must leave sufficient open space within the reef structure so that water can flow through it. Make sure to include one or two pieces of live rock, in addition to the cleaned rock, which have coralline algal growth. This will provide the seed to the reef tank.
   
5. Water should be circulated through the new reef system, without light, for three to four weeks. Add the protein skimmer to the aquarium, and clean the mechanical filter daily to remove nutrients. In addition, remove detritus from the rock, and the bottom of the tank.
   
6. After some time, detritus growth will stop, and the ammonia and nitrite levels should be zero. At this point you should preform a large water change, removing as much water as possible. To be safe, use water which has been stored in darkness for several days to avoid introducing nutrients to the tank.
   
7. Wait a day, and check the calcium level in the tank. If it is low, bring it up to around 420 ppm.
   
8. Once the calcium level of the aquarium is established, lighting can then be introduced. Try to gradually increase the number of hours of remove detritus from the rock, and the bottom of the tank.
   
9. After some time, detritus growth will stop, and the ammonia and
   The copyright of the article Steps to Setting up A New Reef Aquarium in Aquariums is owned by Winston Vaughan Schoenfeld. Permission to republish Steps to Setting up A New Reef Aquarium in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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