How To Keep Marine Fish? – Marine Fish Care Tips For Beginners

People in general, think that keeping marine fish is a difficult task. In some cases, this may be true, that marine fish care is difficult because saltwater fish need a bit more time, work, and equipment in comparison to freshwater fish.

But freshwater fish also need the same sort of attention and care, especially, if one wants to breed them or keep delicate fish. On the other hand, there are several marine fish species that are easier to handle once you are able to understand the correct way of maintaining the saltwater aquarium and establishing a stable environment.

The Basic Parameters of Marine Fish Care

Marine fish are more sensitive to variations in their surroundings. The basic parameters for a marine fish tank are pH, salinity, nitrate, and temperature. At the time of the cycling process, nitrate and ammonia can be a problem. These elements are the same as is in the freshwater tanks, only the degree of intensity differs largely.

For keeping marine fish one should be vigilant toward the pH of the water, and it should not fluctuate more than 0.2 each day. Most marine life likes pH ranging in-between 8.0 to 8.4. So, it should never drop below 8.0. Other critical parameters such as nitrites, salinity, and temperature, should be around 20 ppm, 1.022, and between 75F to 80F respectively.

 

The Basic Components for Marine Fish Care

The basic components for marine fish care are synthetic sea salts, filters, lighting, decorations, and test kits. One of the most important items for a saltwater aquarium is the size of the tank, the bigger the better. Larger tanks provide more stability and room for mistakes to be rectified; anyway, tanks should never be less than 20 gallons.

Usually, fish enjoy long, wide tanks; the greater surface area assists in better gas exchange. Another thing that must be kept in mind is that the tank should never be overcrowded. Saltwater livestock should be much lower than the freshwater fish tank. Always use a good substrate such as crushed coral, marine sand, or dolomite.

I use these gadgets for my living room features a saltwater tank.

3-MarineLand Penguin 360 Power Filter

These are awesome Aquarium filters – A canister or in-tank filter is ten times more work and messy. These filters are far superior to anything except canister systems BUT in some ways, better than canister filters due to ease of maintenance.

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4-Orbit Marine LED Aquarium Light

Huge difference! – Even though glass tops, the lighting at half depth is more than sufficient to grow zoanthid (food by light) corals. The fact that the lighting can be adjusted to almost to infinity to adjust for unique tank needs (coral species) is also a major plus. The sunrise and sunset are very nice features. Especially when adding fish to avoid light shock. I have live rock in my system and measured the intensity using a LUX meter at various depths.

For the cost of replacement bulbs (for those that don’t know, metal halide bulbs should be replaced yearly as they lose spectrum with use), I was able to buy 2 of these LED bars. 

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For fish tank decorations, you should start with a design theme, click the images below to see more inspiration

Setting Up  

The first step for marine fish care is setting up a tank in the appropriate place and position. Make sure that the stand is equal from all directions; you can usually do this with Styrofoam under the tank. Next, install the filtration, either inside the tank or outside, according to the type of filter. Add substrate after rinsing it with plain water and then arrange the decorations.

Now the tank is ready for adding saltwater. This can be done in a few ways either by ready mixing the synthetic sea salt with reverse osmosis water or from a purifying unit. But it is advisable to place a plate on the substrate before pouring water into it. Then let the tank become stable for about two days and keep testing until the test shows positive readings, before adding livestock.

Aquarium Filtration      

Fish kept in the tank are confined to a very small amount of water. So contaminants such as scraps of uneaten food or ammonia released from fish’s gills, and feces raise the toxic level of the water very soon. Keeping marine fish in such a condition is harmful to the proper development of the fish.

Regular change of water can help to contain contamination but may be impractical due to the size and frequency of water changes required. The best way of tackling this problem is by installing the best aquarium filtration you can afford.

Selecting a Saltwater Fish      

Keeping marine fish is usually more expensive than freshwater fish. So it is very important to get them home alive and maintain their longevity. There are few tips for marine fish care that you can follow to make this process easy.

Never purchase a sick fish, always look for a healthy and vivacious fish in the store, and check it. So if you found any irregular patches, spots, or wounds on the body do not buy. Torn fins are not a problem, they will heal up soon. But other symptoms may kill the fish or even infect other fish of the aquarium.

General Notes

Experienced aquarists suggest that one should always keep a quarantine tank, particularly for saltwater fish. Sick fish needs isolated treatment, because medications or copper etc. may contaminate the fish tank. This could be detrimental to the health of other fish.

Remember source water is also necessary for saltwater tanks. Tap water contains chlorinates and chlorine which has harmful effects on marine fish. It also helps in the massive growth of algae. Keeping marine fish needs some extra precautions, but this helps to keep the tank full of lively inhabitants.

 

Further Reading

• Everything You Need To Know About Aquatic Filtration: FAQs on Pumps, Protein Concentration And Dangers (2023)
• Aquarium Plant: Grow Echinodorus osiris “Melon Sword” In Your Fish Tank
• Protomelas Taeniolatus “Red Empress” Photos
• Water Changes Of Saltwater Aquarium Maintenance
• Learn More About Fish: All About Lamprologus Brevis
• How To Tell If Fish Are Happy And Healthy In New Tank? (2023 FAQ Part 5)
• So You Want To Start An Aquarium?
• Learn How To Care For Freshwater Turtles FAQ-3 (2023)

Below are the few amazing products that will enhance your Aquarium