starting my first marine tank

A friend of mine in the states has seen some posts from one of your members and said i should ask your group or club,is it a club?,he sent me a link to this forum. What i should do to get my first marine aquarium up and running.
Garry,my friend in the states,he always had trouble with his,especialy in the first four to five months.
He said you were local to brisbane as i am,so i am asking what should you do to get it right,or at least close to it.
i am getting the lights in a couple of weeks and will be ready to start?soon.
Any help would be great.

Hey latzlover.
What are you going to use as your biological filter, live rock or an external bio filter assisted by live rock, the second is far better.
There should be an anaerobic part to your filtration as well, don’t just really on live rock, you can make your own nitrate reactor, or buy one.
You need to at least have a test kit to test your nitrite levels while your tank cycles as the amonia is of no cocern if your nitrites are doing there bit..
It is up to you as to whether you want to get test kits for other substances, depending on how you bio filter you water and what life you intend to have..
I really depends on the type of filter medium,( medium means the live rock or shell grit or bio balls anything where your biological creatures will develop and live in and on) and the area in which you house the medium also dictates as to if you need to test for nitrate down the track as well.
If you intend on having delicate reef species and don’t have a good calcium reactor then it may be an idea to get a calcium test,hardness and PH test kits as well.
If you don’t have this idea already we can show you a dry section that will pretty much control your co2,though a couple of the guys would use a skimmer or two.
Except for the dry section and the aerobic and anaerobic environment, this is all further down the track, so let’s see if you are doing the start up naturally or the other from the shop.
If I were you I would not use a canister filter unless the water that goes into it is seriously preflitered, (passed through or over several layers of or a bag style of wadding, filter wool) that type of thing.
Does that latzlover mean what i think it means,the clown?

How did you guess that my forum name meant a clown???
I have an external sump to use that came with the tank.It has a sand filter and some bio cubes.It has two corner exits that can be filled with filter wool.The corner glasses have a gap for a pump in each box.The tank is 1.2Lx.460x.460.Garry has made it pretty clear as to what the things do.I ahve had a freshwater tank and i am realy looking forward to having a marine tank,but i am a lttle nervous about doing it properly.
So you say this natural way is the best way.what is the easiest way to get my tank to do well?Does my tank sound like i can get it to look great?There is another thing it came with,it's called a chiller.Is that needed?

we get latezonatus out off bris.
Thats why he guessed it.
just a litttle extra to say about your set up.
i would get a full test kit set to start with and use a skimmer for sure!
There is a way you can use a skimmer for your prefilter.
the rest of what is said is the right thing to do.

Yeh we do find a few around here of the amphiprion latezonatus.
that chiller will come in handy in time.
marine tanks are easy,if done remembering there needs to be a healthy marine tank there in later years as well.
i mean you have to look a the long term picture and the way marines are done these days that is not really acheived by most.
The natural way is overall far better and more educational than any other way of starting your tank and fool proof as well.
the problem with the way most start tanks now is that it is a small start and based only on live rock and a skimmer.
OK,these two you should have in your system,but do not start your tank just realying on them!
The tank and filter you have discribed sound good,we will discuse flow in your tank as soon as possible as well.

I will try to make the natural way as clear as possible!
Now you have to get some ammonia going to begin this part of the nitrite cycle.
You need some fresh sea water to do the natural way , not the whole tank, just a couple of buckets to mix in, that will have some naturally occurring bio life forms in the water and the other way as well!

Don’t let this start up water that you got from the ocean sit still for to long, just a few hours or so!
You can use shop bought start up ammonia, but there is a better, smellier way, to get a far better start to your tank.

There is a not widely realised action or actions within the development of ammonia and nitrites in an aquarium.

To some degree there are many different ammonias and the same with produced nitrites, (this is on an extremely micro level, so the actions of this are not seen or able to be tested with out some very expensive testing, as we had a little of this done years ago), this is apparent in the early days of the aquarium when the life seems to be suffering(white spot,Ph fluctuations, bad algae) and all test parameters seem good.

What needs to be remembered is that for each ammonia and each nitrite produced there has to have been a mutation in the standard bacteria to convert it.
So if you can use as many different types of waste and dead life forms that may exist in the ocean, you get a far more stable result in your bio creatures and their diversity.
What you need to achieve is a strong start, once only, to your biological system, than you avoid those little cycles that people let happen, here and there.
do you grasp it so far?

Ok what do i need to do it.Get started that is.

This is mainly if you are with in driving distance of the ocean.

A natural way to start an aquarium is to use, some dead fish or carcasses from the boat ramp or fish co op, or just buy a little amount of bait fish and marinara mix from coles or where ever, than get some life forms from the oceans low tide mark, like crabs,algae,marine plants,cunjivoe,any life forms you can find, than let them die. Don’t do this to anything nice, if you can avoid it.

After a couple of days fill a tub of at least 40 litres with natural sea water, put in a couple of air stones for a lot of bubbles during this action,(By the way this can all be done in your shed or where ever ,away from your house)it will stink.


Place all the dead tissue into the tube or whatever you are using.


During this time you need to have your biological area ready with the water flow through it that you want.

Nothing should be in your tank at all. Only a little natural salt water, with you’re made up salt water to fill your tank and filter, if you did not do a total natural salt water start.

You must have at least a few buckets of natural salt water for this to work quickly, though it will still work with made up water, just a few days slower.

You wait for around five to six days with the dead tissue in the tub or whatever, than run your water through some material to get out all the particles.

Pour the amonia rich water into your tank, after you take out the same amount of water you are putting in.

Test the nitrite and when it is getting right up there, give any of us a pm and you can get some very mature shell grit or there about and your tank will fire up big time.

Sorry about the lack of scientific terms,we are very relaxed here,plus it is easier and quicker to understand.

Place all the dead tissue into the tube or whatever you are using.

This sounds discusting and weird and for some reason it makes sense?
I will start all this tomorrrow,can i realy on some advice quickly if i don't understand what is going on??????

We will make sure one of us at least checks the forum each night early.

The way this will work will suprise you and keep suprising you for weeks after.

It was the way this was always done in the past.

Some things from the past are good and some things are outdated!

I got most of the stuff i need from coles for the start and it is realy smelly after only 1 and bit days.I am going to test the amonia levels tomorrow.

It is up to you,with the test kits. This way of starting your aquarium is totaly fool proof so don't waste your tests until you need them and make sure you leave your test kits in the fridge.They last longer that way.

Just after 5 or 6 days,clean the water that smells of any particles with a clean towl or any clean material you pour it through,than pour it in your tank after you take out the same amount of water to adjust,than pm one of us and you can come and get some matured media.The tank water will cloud over for the first 1 to 3 days(turns milky white,thats the amonia )of the matured media being in there than the nitrite will go through the roof than a couple of days will finish all that.Once you put in the milky water than you can start testing if you like.
Do not have your skimmer on from just before when you put in the milky water,not until the nitrites have gone and that will not be long,just days.
PH buff your water while it is milky.

guys i just tested the drum water again and the amonia has gone off the scale.
the strange thing is the smell is nearly gone.Whats that about??i thought you said it will smell.

we should keep this on the forum latz so you can refer to it,not just texting on the phone.
just follow the directions and you will be fine.

ok i put that discusting water in my lovely clean tank and the water has gone cloudy.
I will test the tank this afternoon,as i tested it beofre i put that water in anf the parameters were very good.
The water looks so milky now!!

You did say to keep the stuff out of the drum?

What would we do without I phones.
Yes you should keep the rubbish from your drum frozen,for the next phase.
When you get the bio active media off lg this arvo,it won't be long,two days and the cloudyness is gone and few days after that the nitrites will be gone.
Than you put in all the live rock you want have.
start the whole thing over again in your drum,(now) to make more amonia.
Than two days or so after the live rock is in,do the same with amonia active water.
The (exact) same again.
Make sure your live rock design is what you want,do not move your live rock once it is bio active,if possible!!!
Keep testing right through each day and maybe keep a record of it to reflect on.
The testing results will amaze you and you will learn from it.
i've got to get back to work,they don't like long breaks.

It's working really well guys and thank you so much liquidg for the shell grit.
The amonia is gone and the nitrites have peaked.just waiting for them to come down now.

I checked the nitrites this morning and they are gone?????I didn't think this would work so fast.the live rock is in and i think i did a good job compared to the pictures you guys showed me about designing the reef set up.I just cleaned the next lot for the amonia and put it in before work.I made a sought of dry section with a bucket for the time being as told and i still haven't used the skimmer,i am useing the wadding in both spots to keep it clean,whats next?i will be home from work around six.This is great,thank you!

Glad to hear it.
You will get a great result and a very strong one as well.
It's worth going to a little trouble to get far better results in each and every stage of the early days of a marine aquarium.
Let us know when the next lot of nitrites are gone and it is up to you if you want to do a little more to achieve more failsafe.

just got home from work and the milky amonia is gone,now thats fast.tested the nitrites and they are not as high this time,this is going really well.my mate in the states is amazed as.thanks guys,i can really see a very bright light at the end of the tunnel.

the nitrites are showing nearly 0 now,what to do?

OK,you can turn on your skimmer if you like now.
you need to now do a major water change and keep an eye on your PH as the live rock will take a while to settle down and is still making your bio area stronger as a result.
the filter wools and ph are very important now,though your dry section will keep pretty good PH.
If you want to you can start adding the corals you want,excluding the very delicates for now after the first big water change.
Is that anaerobic and algae environment finished being built yet?
Now there is a way to cheat as we have been so far and that is to build up the filter in relation to how many fish it is ready for.
Liquidg has three starting tubs for this,he might loan you one.
All they are is a tub from bunnings or bigW or similar,you use a soldering iron to put a hole in the top of it and put in a ninety degree pvc pipe.
You sit it beside your sump and hang the ninety degree over flow into the sump and pump the water from your sump to it and over flow back in to it.
You have some very tough fish,like bream or whatever living in the tub(no live rock or similar)just a couple of bits of pvc pipe for them to hide while there waste enables your bio area to develope for a lot of fish without them being in your tank.
It's all about making sense!

I just got a message from my mate,he has been watching what you guys say.He can't believe he hasn't herd of the tub idea,or any other forum he has been on,has not known of that.He said it sounds like a quarratine thing but it isn't?he said he wishes he knew about these ways before.I am taking the kids and my dad down to jacobs well tomorrow to do some fishing for this tub thing.What else should i put in there and when can i put some nice fish into my display tank?(I am so stoked.)!!!!