10 tips to set up nano reef aquarium

Julian shares his top ten tips on how to set up the reef aquarium with proper aqua spacing at home.

Equipments necessary in order to have a saltwater aquarium in which all the fish will thrive.

1) First identify a place to keep marine aquarium. The place shouldn’t be very busy, noisy and the temperature of the place should not fluctuate too much.

2) Select an aquarium that helps to keep track of fish due to clear visibility & provides a unique visual effect capturing emotion and serenity within a contemporary setting. You also need to consider the ease of movement of aquarium.\

Take large aquarium because the water chemistry will be easier to maintain over time. I prefer Fluval Edge Aquarium because It’s made of quality glass tank with modern look. However this model isn’t ideal for heavily planted aquarium and complex aquascape due to a small opening to the tank at the top.

3) When selecting a lighting system for a reef aquarium, the main factors to consider are:

Light intensity - A splash shield is recommended for all metal halide lamps. A ventilated lighting system with a splash shield would allow the metal halide bulbs to be safely placed as close as possible to the water surface with minimal heat transfer. Spectrum - Photosynthetic invertebrates should be kept under lamps rated at or near the Kelvin temperature where the invertebrate was collected. Shallow water species should be kept under 10000K lamps while deep water species would prefer 20000K lighting. Longer photoperiods will not compensate for incorrect light spectrum or intensity.

Tank Inhabitants - actinic supplementation should be used with 10K metal halide lighting but is not necessary with 20K. You may select separate 120 watt aquarium coral reef LED dimmable grow light. It has separate plugs and switches for blue and white light along with separate dimmer knobs for Blue and white. Corals like my frogspawn, hammer, plate, and brain coral look spectacular under these lights.

4) I recommend to set up aquarium with instant Ocean Sea Salt and change 25% of water every week. It’s fast dissolving & nitrate and phosphate-free. The critical point the new saltwater and the tank’s water need to be matched as closely as possible to avoid to avoid pH changes that can arise from the different environmental conditions in different rooms. API Saltwater Master Test Kit is very useful for testing high range pH, ammonia, nitrite,nitrate, tray & rack. Tests water 4 ways to protect marine fish from dangerous water conditions. API Saltwater Master Test Kit is very useful for you.

5) Filtration is one of the most important aspects for setting up a saltwater aquarium. The aquarium water should be filtered and sterilized at the same time. For this purpose, you can consider ozone filtration and protein skimmer. Filtration should be performed in such a way that some useful bacteria and microbes are retained in the water. Protein skimmers clean the organic debris before they get converted into plant nutrients.

On a smaller tank (less than 40 gallons) regular weekly water changes can be used in place of a skimmer.

Mostly I use live rock crumbles or products such as SeaChem Matrix which is even more effective, in place of ceramic bio media, plastic bio balls, bio stars, or similar for DE-nitrification as these other filter medium only provide aerobic bio filtration, thus creating high nitrates.

When live rock crumbles and/or Matrix (often volcanic rock can be substituted, although not as effective) are used this can avoid the “nitrate factory” aspect that these filters have been labeled with. The use of Purigen can further help with Nitrate & Phosphate Control.

6) Temperature is another criterion that should be maintained carefully in a saltwater aquarium. Majority of the marine fish are active between 75 to 80 degrees F. Accordingly, you can set the temperature of the heater. Closely monitor the thermometer level for any change in the temperature inside the saltwater aquarium.

7) Speaking about the substrate, use one pound of gravel per gallon of water that the aquarium holds. Vacuum clean the gravel before adding in the aquarium. Once the substrate is added, place the decorative live plants by inserting their lower portion on the substrate.

8) Marine fish are more expensive than the freshwater aquarium fish. There are wide varieties of saltwater aquarium fish and invertebrates to choose from. Nevertheless, the criteria for selection of aquarium inhabitants should not be solely on the appearance and color of the fish. Rather they should be selected after understanding their basic requirements in terms of food and environmental conditions.

Some of the spectacular saltwater fish varieties are angelfish, tangs, gobies, clownfish, butterflyfish, dragonfish, rays.

If you want exotic and poisonous fish, you can consider leaf fish, lionfish, scorpionfish and rockfish.
While pairing them, ensure that the fish requirements are matching. You can also introduce coral reefs or other live rocks in the saltwater aquarium. Before adding these inhabitants, allow to stabilize the temperature, light, and water chemistry in the aquarium.

9) There are many sub types of the reef aquarium systems, such as a cold water aquarium, but in all types of reef aquarium setups, energetic water circulation is what is necessary. Always remember that reef organisms are stimulated with heavily circulated water flow. Also, heavy water movements also diffuse and distributes oxygen and other materials like waste. So, it is always necessary to maintain good water circulation for a healthy and quality aquarium.

10) Live Rock is the basis on which the fish tank will be called reef aquarium. Use calcareous rocks or sand as it meliorates the life of the reef aquarium, physically as well as chemically. Water pH gets buffered by this calcareous matter and hence, the water becomes more nutrient free (this is the normal biological process).

One can decide to add almost any reef organism into the aquarium. People popularly add octopus, sponges, mantis shrimp and several kinds of fish to their aquariums. Breeds like fire corals, fire-worms and mantis shrimp are the most desirable reef organisms. Always remember that the live rock and sand are an inevitable part of a living reef aquarium setup.

Tips for Frogspawn Coral Care

Experts put this coral in the list of species which are moderately difficult to care for, mainly owing to their requirements. The frogspawn will only thrive well if the necessary conditions are provided to facilitate its growth. It will grow well in water with pH level ranging between 8.1-8.4 and hardness of 8° to 12° dH. In order to facilitate proper growth you will have to make sure that the temperature in its habitat ranges between 75°F-82°F. You will also have to make sure that the aquarium in which you house this species has moderate to high lighting and moderate flow of water.

You need to take note of the fact that the frogspawn species is quite aggressive when it comes to interaction with other coral types. The frogspawn species has an amazing ability of extending its lengthy sweeper tentacles as far as six inches beyond its base. In this process, it can also sting other coral species in the reef aquarium which are within its reach. That being said, you have to take special precautions when it comes frogspawn coral placement. Ideally, you should make sure that you leave enough space between the frogspawn and other species of corals in your reef aquarium to make sure that they don't harm each other.


Having a saltwater aquarium is a great hobby. Aquariums are the second most popular hobby, behind photography, in the United States today. The hobby of having an aquarium can easily be turned into a business when you retire or as a second job. So if you enjoy the hobby of having an aquarium and you turn it into a business, you will never work again.

You can set up an aquarium design company that specializes in integrating bespoke aquariums into modern interiors and modern lifestyles.

If you are new, you should consult