sera guide - Marine aquariums

8.1 The first days – “The activation phase” Many small animals and almost certainly some beautiful algae species have entered your aquarium with the live rock chunks. They will become visible soon. However, it is possible that some of the animals growing on the rocks (e.g. sponges) do not survive. If an invertebrate obviously does not survive, remove it as to prevent too strong water pol- lution. You must in any case add bacteria cul- tures from sera marin bio reefclear that break down pollutants. 36 8. Watch your aquarium come to life Switch on the light for 8 – 10 hours per day. If you wish to automatize the light switching you should get a timer that you can program accordingly. You can feed the small organisms with a small amount of sera marin coraliquid for the first time after about 2 weeks. In this ac- tivation phase no other animals should be added during the first 2 weeks. You should replace approx. a third of the wa- ter each week during the first 3 months with matured marine water (always ensure correct salinity!). Enhanced algae growth taking place during the first few weeks is perfectly normal. Usually, a slight cover of red algae appearing brown and slimy comes first, which is replaced by green algae after a few weeks. The green algae indicate that you can now add the first organisms. You can care-