Before Hand – About a month or so ago, I used to always visit The Giant Pet Store, who, I thought where very good and knowledgeable on marine and reef life, so I enquired about how to change my Juwel vision 180 from a tropical set-up to a marine, the man told me, it would be very expensive and extremely hard to do and keep running as I had no experience. I decided I needed to research the whole topic, so I went to the largest library in Norwich, The Forum, and borrowed 6 books on marine fish and invertebrates, and also how to set-up a new marine aquarium, I read these books thoroughly and learnt so much, and where all the normal mistakes are made, also knowing in advance what type of fish I will be able to stock! So now all I had to be able to do is afford it, as the man said it would be very expensive.
A few days later on, from first taking out these books, My mum came across a newspaper advert in the paper quoting ‘ Free Marine Set-up Prize Draw’ and also the picture associated with it was very interesting, it was Hellesdon Barn Aquatics. I went there that day and was extremely impressed about the knowledge all the staff had, over the ones of Giant Pet Store, and also their prices where much cheaper, I asked a man named Ben, he had previously been working at the Giant Pet Store as I had noticed him from both places, I asked him what it would take to change my tank to marine, I gave him my tank specifications and he told me all of the stuff I would need there and then, I later on asked him if it would be very hard, like the other man had told me, Ben said it would not be very hard at all, The list of equipment I would need was
Deltec MCE 300 - £139.99
Aragonite substrate - £16.99
200 Litres R/O Salted Water – 25p a litre (£50)
Seio 1100 - £36.99
20kg Live rock - £12.50kg (£250)
Total - £493.97
This was a very expensive price being as I was only 14 and my birthday and Christmas where at least 10 months away so we went away to think about it!
My Lucky Day
Today I went round my mates house who was into marine aquariums as well and already had a Juwel vision 350, and now bought a 700 Litre marine set-up with sump and metal halide luminaire over 600w of lighting! He was setting it up over that weekend so I decided to sleep over for the next 2 days whilst it was all set-up this would also help me with knowing how to set up mine if it ever came to it! After this weekend of helping and finding out he gave me the 48” 4xT5 Luminaire and 2 Maxi Jet Power Heads!
Day 1
I had finally persuaded my mum to go halves on the total price with me meaning I would be paying about £250 which seemed more reasonable, I had cleaned out my tank 1 week before and already had it in position witch access for power, and also space to make changes to the protein skimmer and filter/heater and over head luminaire if need. We went to Hellesdon Barn Aquatics and as it was near the end of the day, they had only got 50 litres of water and I needed to collect the other 150 tomorrow, I still purchased the Deltec MCE 300 for £120 Aragonite for £16 all of the water for £50 RowaPhos for £18 RowaCarbon for £8 and left with 2 containers of water. I first added the Aragonite substrate and then 50 litres of water, then installed the protein skimmer (Deltec MCE 300) the water turned extremely cloudy and with no filtration or water movement as the tank was not full enough, was not showing any signs of clearing by the morning!
Day 2
The tank had barely cleared as I expected with vision of about 5cm. Later on I returned to Hellesdon barn aquatics and collected my other 150 litres of synthetic sea water as well as purchasing a refractometer to measure the S.G and also bought PH, Nitrate and Nitrite Test kits to enable myself to see where my tank was on the ammonia cycle. When I returned home I added all of the rest of the water and I was extremely cloudy, but I now knew that I would soon be starting my protein skimmer and power heads. I returned to the shop to return the water containers as they needed them quickly and also enquired how to start my protein skimmer as I was ensure on how to start it correctly, if you ever need to start a Deltec MCE 300 the method I chose worked perfectly, Note. Use Guide at own will, I will not be held responsible.
1. Add aquarium water into the skimmer until it exits the skimmer
2. Close air valve
3. Turn on the protein skimmer
4. Add water to the skimmer again quickly until there is a constant flow in the inlet pipe and outlet
5. Replace the lid and collection cup 6. Your Deltec MCE 300 protein skimmer should now be running efficiently
After I had got my skimmer running I turned on the power heads and decided to add the RowaPhos and RowaCarbon to my filter box inside my tank (standard Juwel) I first added the RowaCarbon to the filter sock it came with and ran boiling water over it in the sink to activate the carbon, then placed in my filter box, after this I placed my RowaPhos in a separate filter bag and placed straight into my filter box.
Day 3
My tank was looking a little cloudy but extremely cleaner than the night before I had estimated that the tank would be clear by midday and arranged to travel to Hellesdon barn aquatics to purchase some live rock, I maintained my tanks temperature at a 75°F constant. I got to the shop and found they had no Tonga Branch Live Rock left and only small pieces of Fiji Live Rock so I decided not to purchase, then remembered that the Giant Pet Store sold live rock so I went there and had a look and was amazed by how much there was, at least 80kg of Fiji, Indonesian and Eco Friendly Rock and 4 pieces of Tonga Brach. All of these Types where selling at £14.00kg or if purchasing over 10kg £11.00kg! This live rock was also at least a month old so already cured fully, I decided to purchase from here and bought just under 20kg of Fiji Live rock and 3 pieces of Tonga Branch Live Rock to make it up to 20kg for decoration solely. When I returned home I added the live rock to my tank which was at 75.9°F which was still acceptable and made 2 mounds of live rock at each end of the tank creating as many caves as possible and still water movement around the rock as well, I managed to hide the filter box and one power head but not restricting any actions! I also added the little shells and rock bits to the tank for substrate decoration and personally thought looked very good. The water turned slightly cloudy but cleared again very quickly and now will be crystal clear by tomorrow morning hopefully
Day 1 Photos
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