How to compete in Marine aquarium competitions!

Firstly you will need a two foot aquarium or a three foot aquarium.

Next you need to work out if you want it to be a heavy tank or a light tank.

The lighter tank will be 12 inches front to back by 12 inches high and the heavy one will be obviously larger.

Try to put the tanks heater in a hidden spot.

You should design your competition tank with a small compartment on its back where you can place a circulating pump in it as well as the heater.

For comps you are best to use an under gravel, canister filter or by other external filtration, these are best suited for short term showing.

If using an external, make sure the shell grit as your substrate is clean and free and of any life old or new.

Wash it in tap water and leave it in the sun for several weeks to makes sure it is neutral.

If you are going with the canister or other external means than mature it on a tank with no dead coral, shell grit or live rock in there, except only for some very hardy fish and they will be over fed for the filters maturing.

Have the filter running on the tank in different ways that may affect the way you install it at the showing.

Before you introduce your tank life do a substantial water change and buff the water a while before life goes in.

Any inverts that you may be showing put them in a tank of a quarantine style with weak lighting to acclimatise them to the shows equally weak lighting.

The fish you are going to use for showing, when you catch them or buy them, trim their fins to very neat with scissors, leaving the fish in some wet material while neatening their fins to avoid body damage, in time you have achieved full grown perfect fins on the fish.

Have a quarantine tank set up with continual treatment in the water to keep any and all parasites at bay on your fish readying them for showing.
Once the tank has been installed at the show, start your filter on the tank and PH buff your water.

No less than 24 hours before judging of your tanks fish specimens make sure all tank inhabitants are in and acclimatising.

No less than 48 hours before judging have all marine algae being used in the tank and PH buff the tank each and every day form when life goes in the tank.
Never use fresh food at shows, use only dried food and only the bare minimum as well during their stay there.

Make sure the tank is and can be toped up with neutralized water to allow for evaporation.

Once the tank is finished present your photocopy of the page you have researched your fishes size and photo of it and write down which page and which book it came from.

If these are not adhered to you willl only win by accident.

Now the fish has to act as if it is happy there,good colour,good fins,good body and full size for its species.

Now you are ready to compete and have your fish alive afterwards.