Marine Starter Setup

There has been many advances in the marine hobby and it has certainly come long way, it  is now possible to keep marine fish and even corals in small aquarium like the Fluval Sea Evo. The key factors that affect how many fish you add include the age of the tank, maturity of the filter, the type and size of the filter, if it has a protein skimmer running and of course the eventual size of the fish themselves. Let’s start with the aquarium itself.

Many marine fish are territorial and need a little patch of the ocean to call home. 

That means that the aquarium that is long and wide is better than one which is tall and thin if you want to mix several marine fish together. 

Also one with a or a large hang-on filter will be better than one with a small internal filter which is really better suited to small freshwater fish

So the bigger the filter and the more mechanical, biological and chemical media the better.

Next is how long that tank has been set up for. As good as new filters are they are sterile, so need to be seeded with the right strains of live beneficial bacteria like ATM COLONY which will then go on to convert fish waste into less harmful substances with instant cycle. No marine fish or invertebrate is tolerant of ammonia so the tank must be ready for their addition. 

Add a protein skimmer

Protein skimmers are useful in marine tanks as the fine bubbles inject more oxygen into the water as well as removing organic waste before the filter has to convert it. So generally speaking a fish only or reef aquarium will be capable of holding more fish if it runs a protein skimmer. 

Complete Marine Starter Setup

What fish should I buy for my Fluval Sea Evo 52 litre marine tank?

Stick to fish of three 5-7cm or less, and those that don’t need to swim constantly or across a large area. Tank bred clownfish are an excellent choice, as are Gobies, Firefish, and Royal Gramma. You could keep a pair of clowns, a Yellow Goby, a Firefish and a Royal Gramma in a 52 liter Fluval Sea Evo marine tank and as a general rule stick to a maximum of five small fish in a tank of that size.  

Or go nano and set up a tank just for Gobies, of which there are hundreds of species, many of which are tiny yet colorful and interesting to watch as they go about their lives. What about a shrimp and goby pair, where a small substrate dwelling goby like a Yasha Goby or Dracula goby pairs up with an almost blind Pistol shrimp, which will go about building them a den to retreat into? 

Or for maximum effect and minimal stress and impact on the environment just add one pair of Nemo’s – tank bred Amphiprion ocellaris or Percula, and keep them on their own. 

There are many new species of Tank Bred Clownfish to suite every one’s desires visit https://www.marineworldaquatics.co.uk/collections/clownfish.