Berlin Method

The Berlin-based system is a way to be operated with the reef aquariums. In contrast to the previously usual, decorated with dead corals pure fish aquariums that contain no or only a few invertebrates, the Berlin system allows the aquarium maintenance of hard corals. It was developed by the aquarist Peter Wilkens and a group of marine aquariums from Berlin.

For Berlin system includes the following components:

• An aquarium with surface skimmer and lower basins. Many harmful substances accumulate on the water surface. The water falls through a tube that goes down to the water surface, in a in the aquarium cabinet exploiting Knitting second smaller pool, passes through different chambers in which more technical devices such as skimmer and calcium reactor are, and is finally pumped by a pump back into the aquarium.
• The most important device in the lower basin is the protein skimmer. It is used to remove toxic protein compounds. When properly adjusted so that about 80 to 95 percent of all proteins are removed from the water before they are biodegraded.
• Living Stones: It is natural, porous limestone from coral reefs, which is broken out and sent moist (by air). Living Stones were built of stone corals and contain a wide variety of organisms such as coralline algae, worms, snails and tiny crustaceans. However, is important, especially the bacteria. In the outer regions of the stones on which, by the slow hindurchdiffundierende aquarium water oxygen is still present, ammonia, ammonium and nitrite is reduced ( nitrification). Inside the stones, prevail in the oxygen-poor conditions, nitrate is broken (denitrification ). The living stones serve as a biological filter. Since they are very expensive, I set up the aquarium today only one-third with a live rock, the rest is decorated with a different porous limestone. Is sufficiently porous so it is also colonized by bacteria in the course of time, and then functions as a survivor stone.
• An occasional filtering through activated charcoal. It removes phenols and yellow substances that are formed by the metabolism of the bacteria.
• A strong lighting with mercury vapor lamps (HQI ), optionally with blue T5 or T8 lamps ( T8 which is actually already outdated ) combined, or a pure lighting with modern T5 lamps.
• A strong movement of water, can be used for the additional side of the feed pump of the sub- tank circulation pumps. The aquarium water should be completely circulated at least ten times an hour. The flow is necessary so that the water diffuses through the living rocks, and thus the metabolic products of the sessile corals are removed.
• Calcium by adding lime water or a calcium reactor. Corals and other calcareous skeleton possessing an animals consume the dissolved calcium in the water. It must therefore be supplied later again. It should have a calcium content of approximately 420 mg / l are sought.
• In addition, trace elements such as strontium, magnesium and iodine added.

In Berlin system is little ground will be used.

It is today the most widely used system for the keeping of tropical marine animals. There are also, among others, still the Jaubert system, the sludge filtering system and the deep sand Cond