Introduction
Keeping a marine aquarium can be a hugely rewarding experience. However, it can also be a costly nightmare if undertaken 'on the cheap' or under bad advisement.
This leaflet should guide you in the right direction, but it is not a step by step 'how to' instruction manual. Please ask questions and read as many books as you can BEFORE you part with your hard earned cash. Your tank is your hobby, but we are always here to help. Nick Dakin's The Interpet Questions & Answers Manual of the Marine Aquarium is essential reading for any budding hobbyist and is available online at calicoaquatics.co.uk for £16.49.
One last thing; Your new set up might run like a dream from day one, or it might cause you more than your fair share of problems. Either way, it is important to remember that keeping marine fish is not an easy option - if you're looking for one of those, save your money and buy a hamster!
Reef or Fish Only?
Do you want to keep a reef or a fish only aquarium? Reef aquariums are home to fish, hard & soft corals, invertebrates (e.g. snails, crabs & shrimps) and echinoderms (e.g. starfish, feather worms & urchins). Fish only aquariums, as the name suggests, are home to fish only.
Both types of aquarium have advantages and disadvantages when it comes to stocking & filtration.
In a reef aquarium, you can keep corals, inverts and echinoderms as long as the fish you choose will not eat them.
In a fish only aquarium, you will be able to keep a wider range of fish, but not corals, inverts or echinoderms because they will (more often than not) be eaten.
There are a few exceptions to these rules. For example, you may want to keep a few large critters (inverts) in a fish only system because they clean up old food, waste and unwanted algae.
The Basics Of A Calico Reef Set Up
The display tank sits on top of a cabinet designed specifically for marine use. A hood or a pelmet will sit on top of the display tank to house the lighting unit. The cabinet will contain all of your equipment as well as a secondary, smaller tank called a sump. The whole aquarium is filtered using living rock, a protein skimmer and a deep sand bed (in your sump).
Living rock is placed in the main display tank at the rate of half a kilo per gallon of water. Living rock has a number of important functions:
1) It acts as the main biological filter for the aquarium.
2) Corals will grow on the rock face.
3) Herbivorous fish will graze on the rock, as they do in the ocean.
4) It will provide a home for smaller aquarium inhabitants including crabs & shrimps.
The sump tank underneath the main aquarium also has a number of functions:
1) The deep sand bed acts as a secondary biological filter and if lit, can also be home to starfish, crabs, snails & caulerpa.
2) The sump tank will provide a secondary, temporary home for fish that can not live in the main aquarium. This is particularly useful if two or more fish are fighting.
3) All necessary equipment can be hidden neatly in the sump, so when your cabinet doors are closed, all you see is the beautiful display aquarium.
4) In the unlikely event of a power failure, the sump will hold the drained aquarium water, acting as a flood defence.
5) The sump will increase the volume of water in your aquarium, increasing the stability of your water chemistry.
A glass weir in the back corner of the display tank protects the down pipe from being damaged by rocks or livestock. As all of the pipe work is inside the tank, the cabinet can then be placed flush against a wall.