How to Set Up a Salt Water Aquarium
- 1). Determine placement of your tank. Remember windows and heater vents can seriously affect your tank. Thus, it is important to place the tank away from theses spots. Make sure you are completely happy with the location of the tank because once you fill it with water, you will be unable to move it. A 55-gallon tank weighs about 550 pounds when filled.
- 2). Wash out the fish tank with plain water only. Position the stand in the pre-determined place and check that the stand is level. Put the tank on the stand. Recheck that the tank is level.
If you are using a background, affix it to the back of the tank. Install filters, a heater and a protein skimmer in the tank. Make sure all the cords can reach the power strip and hang neatly. Do not plug anything in yet. - 3). Using the 5 gallon bucket, pour in the saltwater mix and follow the manufacture's directions for preparing the salt mix solution. After the salt water mix is full-incorporated, test with the hydrometer; when the reading is 1.021 add the saltwater to the tank.
After water is added to the tank, turn on all the heaters, pumps and skimmers and let the water circulate for several days. - 4). Wait several days before preparing the tank for the addition of the sand. Remove several gallons of water from the tank to adjust for the water displacement caused by the addition of the sand. Turn off the power to the tank.
Mix 2 gallons of fresh saltwater with sand in the bucket. Let the sand settle in the bucket. Siphon off any crud that rises to the top of the bucket after the sand has settled. Using the ladle or cup slowly add the sand to the tank. - 5). Let the tank settle for a few days, measuring the water salinity & pH of your tank every couple of days.
Before adding fish be sure the temperature is between 75 to 85 degrees F and the pH is 8.0 to 8.4. The salinity should be around 1.020 to 1.024. - 6). Prep the fish before adding them to the tank. When you bring your fish home add him to the 5-gallon bucket along with 1 cup of water from the tank. Add another cup of water every 10 minutes for an hour. After an hour, your fish should be ready for introduction into the tank.
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