There are a few important things which need to be considered prior to starting off on this exciting project.

The first is whether you can devote at least a couple of hours a week to perform the required maintenance of the system.

If you can then that’s great.

If not then you have two options really - one is to get someone else to perform the maintenance on your behalf, the other is to find another hobby. That may sound a bit harsh but if you cannot find the time to provide the required maintenance and care for these live animals then you should not take up this hobby.

You need to have a think about what you want from this aquarium and where you can possibly see it going in the future. I would recommend visiting as many fish shops as you possibly can in your area and have a look at their equipment, check out their marine aquariums etc.

There are two methods you can follow - “the first is choosing what you want to keep in your aquarium (but not yet buying any livestock) and then purchasing the aquarium and required accessories based upon your selection. The other way is to select your aquarium and equipment first and then choose your aquarium inhabitants based upon your aquarium/equipment choice.

Consider purchasing a couple of magazines and have a look at the articles they publish. There is a lot of useful information to be gained from reading magazines. You will find mail order companies where you can consider purchasing your equipment. Of course there are various outlets on the internet and also local marine shops.

One of the biggest things that you need to consider when thinking about the future of your aquarium is whether you would like to introduce live rock or invertebrates.

If the answer to this is either yes or even a maybe then you need to be aware that you will never be able to utilise a copper based disease treatment product in your fish only aquarium. The use of a copper based product in an aquarium which either has or will have any of this livestock in will kill them.

There is also equipment which if you decide to move towards a reef aquarium in the future may become a non requirement.

Therefore it is very good to have an idea as to where you see this aquarium going in the future - no matter how far in the future this may be.

In this guide we will concentrate upon the setting up of a marine fish only system which is going to remain that way.

One thing that I must stress is that you must be open-minded. There are so many people with so many opinions in relation to this hobby. Listen to everyone and then make up your own mind. There are many ways in which a marine aquarium can run successfully - who cares what you use, or who makes it as long as it works, is reliable, and the life we are attempting to keep is thriving. What is the point of having lots of high tech equipment if your livestock is struggling?

The same goes with this guide. Read everything in it - digest it all - implement all of it, some of it or even none of it - I don’t mind - I want you to have a successful home aquarium. It doesn’t matter what you use to achieve it as long as you achieve it.

This hobby is not about the equipment we have but about the livestock we keep in good health for a lengthy period.

Unfortunately there are some people who have had success with a certain aspect of the system - tank filtration for example, therefore that must be the only way to do it and they will do anything they can to tell you that your setup is wrong as it is not the same as theirs etc.

Then you get the other type of aquarist who is more interested in owning all the top named items for the aquarium rather than the actual livestock itself. They do anything in their power to ‘bah humbug’ every other tank that does not have the same equipment and that it is destined to fail etc. If this happens to you simply ask them how the inhabitants of their tank are doing.

Of course I am not saying that everyone is like this (they are a small minority) - there are lots of aquarists in the world who are exceptionally knowledgeable and will do anything they can to help you.

As said I am very open-minded when it comes to all aspects of marine keeping. I have my own personal preferences for what I would use in my own aquarium, however I have seen many successful aquariums using all sorts of techniques and strategies.

If it works well - stick with it and use it.

If it doesn’t work well - change or modify it.

Simple advice!

Now that’s off my chest let’s get on shall we?

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