- 1). Soak the new sand in old aquarium water from one to two weeks to remove potential toxins.
- 2). Drain the sand.
- 3). Install the protein skimmer, which is basically a column of bubbles that helps remove organic compounds before they break down.
- 4). Put the live rock in the middle of the aquarium. Live rock, a limestone rock embedded with remains of coral and other sea creatures, comes naturally from the ocean and can be purchased in a marine aquarium shop.
- 5). Add sand around the live rock up to the required depth. Be sure most of the live rock is above the surface of the sand.
- 6). Add new marine water to the aquarium.
- 7). Seed the sand bed with reef grunge, a mixture of sand, coral rubble and the like that's available at some aquarium supply stores or from a friend's healthy sand bed system.
- 8). Run the aquarium at least two weeks.
- 9). Test the water to ensure appropriate nitrogen levels.
- 10
Add fish.
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