by Jeff Parsons

Created on: January 16, 2008   Last Updated: September 04, 2009

Reef tanks showcase a fascinating display of astonishingly vibrant corals, anemones and sea urchins, and other exotic, delicate invertebrates like starfish and shrimp. Many reef tanks also feature the colorful riot of beautiful marine fish. This magnificent display of nature can be all yours. It's as easy as setting up your tank, and then, patiently monitoring and maintaining the water chemistry. In a nutshell, your tank starts it's evolution this way: add clean water, set the temperature and salinity, add several invertebrates, wait for the nitrogen cycle to stabilize, and, then, as desired, add more invertebrates and some fish. The key part is the water: making it clean and keeping it that way without any drastic changes. It's not as complicated as it sounds. Just read on and see for yourself.

Water Quality...

In the sea, a healthy coral reef is constantly refreshed by the cleansing tidal flows. The pristine, stable and invigorating environment that protects marine life also makes them sensitive to change, thus, controlling the water quality in your reef tank, a smaller microcosm of the sea, is vital to success.

To simulate the sea's refreshing effect, about 20% of the old tank water must be removed on a weekly basis and replaced with new water. The least expensive water source is your tap. Tap water contains impurities and contaminants, such as chlorine, phosphate and copper, but they can be removed by using a reverse osmosis/ distilled water filter attached to your tap. Water flows from your tap, gets cleansed by the filter and split into two streams: wastewater and pure water. The pure water has zero ppm (parts per million) of pollutants.

This pure water change routine is the preferred method for replenishing your water's trace elements and reducing accumulated toxins (primarily nitrates). Water quality can also be maintained by the usage of chemical testing kits and additive supplements.

Temperature...

The temperature range should be 75-83F (79F desired). Maintaining the temperature stabilizes the tank's salinity and ongoing biochemical reactions.

Salinity...

Salinity, or the amount of salt in the water, is often measured using a hydrometer that has a unitless specific gravity (SG) scale. SG is the relative density of saltwater versus pure water, so, the saltwater SG is greater than one because saltwater is denser than pure water. The SG should be 1.020-1.030 (1.026 desired). Water evaporating from the tank will slowly increase the SG, but the greatest

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