Fit Filtration User Guide

Installing the system
System maintenance
Protein Skimmer maintenance
Reef Clean system
General Maintenance
Stocking levels

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Our systemised aquariums are designed for very low maintenance and, in order to gain the best possible use of your system, we recommend that the instructions in this guide are followed. So giving you excellent water conditions and near trouble free maintenance.

Installing the system

We recommend using the best purified water (R/O) when filling your tank and for all future water changes and top ups. When initially setting up you can start with a basic brand of marine salt (it is not advisable at this stage to use a calcium enriched salt brand as this will cause an unnecessary brown algae bloom) as your tank is in the very early stages of maturation.

When the system is filled with r/o water and the desired temperature of 75°F as been reached, you can start to add the salt you must aim for a specified gravity of 1.023-1.024, we recommend that you use a refractometer for accuracy, leave the tank for a couple of days for the temperature and salinity to stabilise and you can then add your live rock (we recommend that you purchase the best that you can afford, the ideal weight of rock is between 1lb and 2lbs per gallon of tank water), you should now have in your possession a good quality ammonia test kit, a nitrate test kit and a nitrite test kit.

After a couple of days you can add a quality phosphate remover to the system this will help to arrest further algae blooms as most nuisance algaes feed off of excess phosphate, you will now be looking for an ammonia spike with your test kit, you should test every day for ammonia and nitrite, (both these readings will steadily increase as the days pass) and you will eventually reach a point where the ammonia peaks, at this point it will start to drop eventually reaching 0, the nitrite reading will fall in line with the ammonia and should read 0 if it is reading .1ppm or lower then you should perform a 5% water change with pre-salted R/O water which will further aid the reduction in nitrite.

The cycle which takes place in a reef tank ( mouse over for detail ).

Whilst all of the above is being monitored do not forget to switch your lighting on for about 6 hours per day, this will aid any life forms that are still alive on your living rock to re grow, if you do not add any lighting there is a strong possibility that you can increase your maturation process because of further die off on the live rock, we do not recommend using un-cured live rock to mature your tank as this is a lengthy process and it would also involve doing a virtual complete water change at the end of the it.

As the aquarium becomes more established you can increase the lighting duration up to a maximum of 10 hours per day, this would ideally consist of 8 hours of metal halide lighting and 10 hours of T5 or actinic lighting, (actinic's or T5 lighting should come on 1 hour before the metal halides and stay on for 1 hour after they have gone off), in our opinion this is the ideal period for reef life forms.

When all the parameters are right you can then start to think about putting some active life forms in the aquarium, at this stage you can add some hermit crabs (Mexican red legs) if you decide to mix red leg and blue leg hermit crabs they will require the addition of "spare" shells, this is because as they grow they will occasionally swap to a bigger shell if they outgrow their current home. If shells are at a premium the two species will fight. You can also add brittle starfish, turbo snails and serpent starfish all these are considered clean up crews, and they will devour any detritus in your system, they keep the aquarium clean and help to maintain good water conditions.

Feeding the clean up crew is not necessary as there is enough food on the live rock for them and the snails help to keep the algae in check, at this point you can start to think about adding some fish to the system, this must be done on a very gradual process so as to not overload the biological filtration in the tank, as the live rock matures you may start to get higher algae growths these will need to be grazed upon and you might consider adding a fish such as an algae blenny, later you could also add a member of the tang family to help. Fish additions in general should be dictated by the stage the aquarium is at. For example, if there is a bloom in the growth of higher algae, these can be controlled by the addition of grazers. If however the sandbed requires disturbing, to ensure cleanliness, you may wish to add gobies or sand sifting star fish. Other additions to your new system would be corals (both soft and hard), always ask for advice about the lighting/tank positioning and water movement requirements of each piece that you buy, there are a couple of corals that do have specific feeding requirements but on the whole most of them feed on the fish waste.

All of the above should give you a balanced aquarium with healthy livestock, we can of course advise and supply all of your requirements and pride ourselves on having a very good knowledge of all of the equipment available to marine reef keepers, both in its operation and products which we have found to be the most reliable and effective.

SYSTEM MAINTENANCE

The marine reef aquarium is a very harsh environment for all electrical equipment, particularly water pumps, in order to maintain corals in good condition and encourage growth we need to create strong water currents. Fit filtration reef systems are designed to turn the aquarium water over at least 20 times per hour to create the necessary turbulence, within a few weeks the impeller in the water pumps will be covered in calcium deposits and waste matter, this will cause the pump to run at a slower rate than normal (making it less effective), we recommend that you take the pumps out of the aquarium every 10-12 weeks and clean the impellers of any deposits to optimise their performance. The protein skimmer air inlet will also need regular attention to prevent if from blocking with dust particles, this would restrict the amount of air that the pump could inject into the skimmer, resulting in a noticeable lack of gunk in the sediment cup. All electrical equipment should be checked and cleaned every 12 weeks, it is advisable to fit a safety earth probe in the tank (316 stainless steel or titanium) somewhere in the aquarium, if in doubt please ask for advise. We also recommend the use of safety plugs directly at the mains in case of any electrical outages in the tank.

PROTEIN SKIMMER MAINTENANCE

Fit Filtration systems come with the latest Pin wheel Protein skimmer to remove the excess waste from your aquarium, each one is fitted with a tap to regulate the amount of air that is injected into the skimmer, ideally the waste product that collects in the cup at the top of the skimmer column should be dark brown/green in colour and quite a thick consistency, if the waste is any lighter and watery reduce the amount of air by closing off the tap slightly, if the collection cup is relatively dry of waste then you have gone too far and you will need to slightly increase the air flow. Please note as mentioned in the maintenance section the air tap will need regular cleaning to make sure that it does not block (every 8/10 weeks) also the water pump that is built into the skimmer will need regular maintenance to make sure that the performance is always at its peak, this should be removed and stripped down and washed under a hot tap every 8/10 weeks.

REEF CLEAN SYSTEM MAINTENANCE

Our unique Reef Clean System is the ultimate addition to the aquarium, creating strong water currents at the base of the aquarium via a water pump fitted in a separate chamber which includes its own pre-filter. Extra pumps can be fitted if wished into this chamber enabling the hobbyist to create even more current in the aquarium without the need for extra pumps to be on show, this chamber can process up to 2000 gallons per hour. Glass racking is also installed in the main aquarium usually built off the internal boxes in the back corners of the aquarium, this racking greatly assists in creating features, overhanging pieces of live rock and caves in the main tank, pieces of rock can be drilled and attached to the shelving with cable ties and cemented together with milliput or one of the other commercial aquarium cements, this will leave the outflows from the system to fully circulate around the live rock aiding the biological filtration, the other added bonus is that you do not need as much live rock to create a very impressive display.

GENRAL MAINTENANCE

We supply our tanks with pre-filter material which is cut to size, please wash this before you use it (in the washing machine on a hot wash, but with no soap powder), we can supply you with spare filter pads on request, we recommend that you change the pre-filter at least twice a week. The Protein skimmer collection cup will need emptying and washing with tap water at least twice a week, cleaning the skimmer daily will achieve a higher redox in your tank which will mean that you are achieving cleaner water conditions. A 5% weekly water change with R/O water which is ideally left to aerate in your bucket for a couple of days and then add the salt to match the salinity and temperature of the aquarium ideally you should leave it 24 hours after adding the salt before introducing any new water into the tank, this will keep your system in tip top condition helping to dilute any nasties that you might have accumulated.

Stocking Levels

As a general rule of thumb you should stock at a rate of 4" of fish for every 10 gallons of water, this is what would be considered by many to be an adequately stocked aquarium, this might then entail doing larger water changes (maybe 10% weekly) to keep nitrates etc. in check.

Ideal Reef aquarium water parameters

Temperature 24 -25 °C
Salinity 1.023-1.025
Phosphate 0-0.3
Nitrate 10ppm or below
Calcium 400-420ppm
Dkh 8.00-11.00
Magnesium 1350-1400
Strontium 10-15mg/L
Iodine 0.06mg/L
Organics Low

We recommend the use of quality test kits, along with the continuous use of a good phosphate remover, which should be renewed when readings are at .03 on the scale, a small fluidised reactor is ideal for this purpose. It is good practice to also apply a good quality activated carbon in a high flow area of the system for 3 days only once a month, this helps to keep organics low and also aids water clarity.