Part 1: Foundations
- 1How to ThinkHow to work through any problem: observe before you conclude, tell symptoms from causes, check the facts, rule causes out, change one thing at a time, put first things first, and check your fix worked.
- 2SafetyThe seven hazards around every aquarium: electricity, skin infections, stings and spines, toxic corals, chemicals, lifting and wet floors, and keeping other people safe.
- 3Aquarium FundamentalsWhat a closed system is, the types of aquarium system, the groups of reef life and their names, photosynthesis, symbiosis and zooxanthellae, calcifiers, feeding, and knowing what normal looks like.
Part 2: Water
- 4Source Water and PurificationWhy the water source matters, what tap water and other sources carry, how an RO/DI unit works stage by stage, measuring TDS, finding which stage failed, storing purified water, and top-off water.
- 5Making and Managing Salt WaterWhat salinity is, the livable range, what changes salinity and how to find why it drifted, measuring it, making and matching new salt water, and how temperature changes through the day and the year.
- 6Core Water ChemistryUnits, what's in seawater, reading test results against normal ranges and call limits, pH and CO2, alkalinity, calcium and magnesium, the nitrogen chain, nitrate and phosphate, oxygen and ORP, organics, and how the numbers connect.
- 7Testing and MeasurementHow numbers go wrong, accuracy and precision, detection limits, sampling, test kits, photometers, calibration, salinity tools, probes, automated testers, lab tests, confirming strange numbers, testing routines and trends.
- 8Biological Filtration and Microbial EcologyDecomposers and nitrifiers, how bacteria match their food, cycling, oxygen zones, rock, sand and bio media, what kills the filter, blooms, how new systems mature, the microbiome, bottled bacteria, probiotics, PSB and carbon dosing.
- 9Cycling and System MaturationCycled versus mature, ways to start a system, fishless cycling, curing rock, die-off, microfauna, when to add the first animals, stocking slowly, readiness for sensitive animals, and recovering after a crash.
Part 3: Systems and equipment
- 10Site Selection and InstallationWeight and the floor, the stand and level, power, water, drains and air, the room, indoor CO2, salt creep and corrosion, noise and vibration, room to work, spills and leaks, earthquakes and other hazards, running cables, hoses and pipes, and storage.
- 11Construction and MaterialsGlass and acrylic, glass types and clarity, seams and seals, rimmed, rimless, braced and custom tanks, plastics and metals in salt water, curing, ozone, UV, heat and chemicals, used equipment, previously medicated tanks, and warning signs.
- 12Layout and PlumbingThe display and sump loop, which level moves, overflows, siphons, drain designs, setting the drain valve, drain-down, pipe standards, pump curves and head, fittings, valves, manifolds and leak testing.
- 13Water Movement and PumpsWhy water moves, turnover, turbulence, colliding flows and pulses, standing waves, pulse and DC pump programming, every major type of flow and wave pump, closed loops and manifolds, placing pumps, reducing detritus, and pump cleaning and repair.
- 14Temperature ManagementWhere heat comes from, heater types and sizing, safe placement, controllers and probes, redundancy, heaters stuck on and failed off, chillers, fans, heatwave plans and checking thermometers.
- 15Mechanical FiltrationWhy particles must leave the system, micron ratings, where mechanical filtration sits, filter socks, fleece rollers, floss, foam, canisters and micron cartridges, low-micron filtration against parasites, bypass and overflow, and choosing a method.