Saltwater Aquarium Advice

Did you know there are actually quite a few popular marine invertebrates, that should NOT be kept in your reef tank???

The majority of invertebrates that should be avoided for marine aquariums are heterotrophic; that is they cannot manufacture their food and are not partly or mostly photosynthetic (can manufacture food from light so are autotropic) like many marine inverts we keep. A specialised feeding regime is required to keep these species alive and is very difficult to provide. This usually means culturing the organisms they eat (like zooplankton, rotifers, copepods) and target feeding them

Other invertebrates to be avoided have extremely short life spans or are quite toxic to you and their tank mates.

Think twice about getting the following marine invertebrates:

1. Jellyfish: Jellyfish are cool, there’s no question about it, but they need to be kept suspended in the water column so require a specialised circular water flow system called a Kreisel.

2. Sponges (Porifera): most sponges are heterotrophic (but there are a few photosynthetic sponges around which can be ok for marine tanks) so require specialised feeding, filtering out of the water plankton and bacteria. Sponges often don’t do well in aquariums because they need a lot of silicates in the water. Many sponges can also release toxins into the water.

3. Sea Apples (Pseudocolochirus species): these weird and extremely colourful invertebrates are prone to dieing because they do not receive enough food. Unfortunately when they die they will kill everything else in the tank with the toxins it releases, not a good sort of apple…

4. Octopuses and Cuttlefish (Cephalopods): Even though these are very cool creatures to keep they mostly only live 1 year, will eat most of your tank, octopuses are difficult to house because they can usually escape the tank not matter what you do to stop them!

5. Nudibranchs and Sea slugs: These invertebrates live short lifes and many have species specific dietary requirements (for example only eating one kind of algae or animal). Add to the equation that many release metabolites when they die that will screw up your water quality.

6. Sea Pens (Cavernularia species): Sea Pens are also heterotrophic and require a specific diet fed to them, they also require about half their body length of substrate to busy into, which usually means about 20 cm of substrate beneath them, can you provide that?

7. Large hermit crabs (Dardanus species): Active, hungry and destructive these hermit crabs will happily knock things over, rip up corals/inverts/sleeping fish and mess the tank up; not a good look.

8. Carpet anemones: these often do not do well in captivity. Any anemone has the potential to roam around the tank, climbing over corals to get to a good position they like. Some species will enter into toxic stinging matches with (mostly) soft corals.

9. Heterotrophic corals: stunning coloured corals like Sun corals (Tubastrea species), Carnation/Strawberry/Cauliflower corals (Stereonephthya, Scleronephthya, Dendronephthya, Siphonogorgia species), Lace corals (Stylaster and Distichopora species) have no photosynthetic zooanthellae so must be target fed plankton correctly and often. Unfortunately this means most waste away and eventually die in home aquariums. Some also have specific water quality requirements, which are hard to meet. Many also require extreme water movement to be happy as well.

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10. Goniopora coral species: This is one of the most important species but is one of the shortest lived. Most don’t last a year in captivity. These popular corals do have zooanthellae but just don’t last in aquariums without wasting away within the year, it is thought that maybe they have specialised supplementary feeding requirements of specific plankton in the wild.

All the above examples of species to avoid in saltwater aquariums of course have exceptions to the rule; generally this success is a result of really optimising the tank environment to suit the particular species. I have Facebook friends who have successfully kept a tank load of Moorish Idols.

So if you really have you heart set on one of the above, don’t let me put you off, do your homework and go for it! I would love to know how you get on too. This hobby is always changing and improving, 30 years ago they didn’t think corals would ever survive long in captivity!

For more useful info go to www.SaltwaterAquariumAdvice.com (or click on “Home” above) to see how we can enhance your saltwater aquarium experience.

Saltwater Aquarium Advice

Flatworms covering corals in saltwater aquariums can be a real pain, especially when they multiply to near epidemic proportions or start feasting on your favourite Acropora specimen…

Most flatworms are actually beneficial to your tanks eco-system. But, there are 2 main groups of flatworms that you do not want in your aquarium…

The first group are commonly known as the brown rust flatworms namely those from the genus Convolutriloba sp. and Waminoa sp. They are brown/rust in colour and have a red dot at one end.

Convolutriloba species Grow and live on most surfaces and Waminoa species live on corals only. Neither of these flatworms are actually predators of corals, the problem with them is that populations of these flatworms can grow exponentially and sometimes literally take over the aquarium.

Sometimes their numbers can be so many that they begin to affect the amount of light that reaches the coral, it is also recently been proved that these flatworms compete with the corals for their planktonic food. Basically, the brown rust flatworms if left to multiply to great enough numbers can starve corals to death.

The second group are the Acropora eating flatworms (unknown species), these are predators to Acropora species of corals. Unlike the brown rust flatworms they will do rapid physical damage to Acropora corals by devouring the soft tissue.
They are hard to spot because they are white and small, often they can be identified by the pattern of damage on the coral tissue (which can be easily mistaken for rapid tissue necrosis) and by golden coloured eggs laid usually at the base of the coral.

To successfully battle this pest you should quarantine infected corals immediately and remove as many adults and eggs as you can. In some circumstances it may be necessary to frag a healthy section of coral to save the entire coral.

So, how do you get rid of pest flatworms?

1. Manual removal: of adults and eggs, once again this done in quarantine with tweezers or a toothpick is the best way, putting the coral back into the display tank after it has been flatworm free for at least a few weeks. You can often also siphon the flatworms off the coral using some small diameter tubing like airline tubing a syringe can work in the same way.

2. Biological controls: the beautiful Blue Velvet Nudibranch (Chelidonura varians) is an excellent predator of flatworms, indeed the best around but this creature may starve when all the flatworms have been eradicated. The most effective fish are the 6 line Wrasse (Pseudocheilinus hexataenia), Melanarus Wrasse and Yellow Wrasse . People often recommend Dragonets, but many times this fish will have no interest in the flatworms.

3. Freshwater dip: This technique is very good at destroying the small flatworms, which “pop” from the osmotic pressure, however it can be harmful for more sensitive corals, but the harm can be minimised by dipping for a very short amount of time. If you want to do this, dip for 5-10 seconds in freshwater (chlorine free) which is the same pH and temperature as the tank water to reduce stress on the coral.

4. Preventative dip: The best method of avoiding pest flatworm outbreaks is a preventative dip in an iodine-based solution like Lugols solution before you introduce your new coral or frag to the display tank. This is the first thing any sewrious coral keeper should do when they get their coral home.

5. Chemical treatments: There are a number of chemical treatments available like Levamisole hydrochloride, sold as Levisole™ and other broad spectrum deworming agents that can effectively kill flatworms in your tank, but the problem is effects to beneficial worms. Aternatively Salifert’s Flatworm Exit™ is a widely used flatworm eradicator and has a number of good reports. The real problem with chemical treatments is pollution produced by the mass die off. Dying flatworms can release toxins into the tank that have been known to kill other marine life and you also have the problem of removing all the bodies before they decay and throw out your water quality. Using a lot of saltwater to dilute the chemical effects out after the initial treatment and siphoning up dead flatworms immediately can help a lot. Only use as a last resort and use very good chemical (activated carbon) and physical filtration as well as big water changes if you go down this path, it also greatly minimises and damage to other organisms do this in a quarantine tank if you can.

Follow these simple guidelines and unwanted flatworms will soon be a thing of the past in your reef aquarium!

For more useful info go to www.SaltwaterAquariumAdvice.com (or click on “Home” above) to see how we can enhance your saltwater aquarium experience.

Saltwater Aquarium Advice

Hey saltwater aquarium fans,

Compared to saltwater aquarium fishes coral problems can be much more difficult to identify and diagnose. Even in the wild not much is known about coral diseases, what causes them and how to cure them.

As luck would have it (or not) most coral problems are caused by poor water quality that will most likely go away by themselves when conditions are made more favourable.

The most common issue is excess nitrates and/or phosphates (and more rarely ammonia or nitrites; although these should not be present in an established aquarium with a decent biological filter set-up) fluctuating parameters also cause corals distress. Other parameters to check immediately are temperature and pH.

Poor water quality will cause stress, which can be a causative agent of disease too. This is another reason a detailed water quality analysis should be carried out as soon as you witness any coral problems.

The other main factor that causes coral problems is inappropriate lighting. This will be from either aging bulbs putting out the wrong spectrum of light (the spectrum slowly changes as they age) or a new coral placed in an area where they get not enough or too much light.

A new coral can be positioned toward the bottom of its light “range” and be gradually moved up, staying in each position for several days to a week. Take a photo at each position, at the end the photo will tell you which position the coral is most expanded in; this will be your perfect placement!

Poor and/or fluctuating water quality and wrong lighting are the most common causes of stress; other common coral stressors are incompatible tank mates, starvation, physical damage and poor water flow.

So remember if you have a diseased coral in your marine aquarium the first thing you should do is check and remedy your water parameters before treating the symptoms!

For more useful info go to www.SaltwaterAquariumAdvice.com (or click on “Home” above) to see how we can enhance your saltwater aquarium experience.

Saltwater Aquarium Advice

Hey saltwater aquarium fans,

Anemones in saltwater tanks really do look amazing with their often dazzling colours; especially if they are hosted by a Clownfish. There is not much in the animal kingdom that I consider cooler or more beautiful than a Clownfish/anemone symbiotic relationship.

Many saltwater aquarium newcomers buy a Clownfish then rush off and get an anemone for it, this often does not end well…

The truth is that anemones are not for beginners. Why, you say? Keep reading:

1. They require pristine water conditions, stable temperature, pH and low nutrient levels (nitrates etc).

2. They need good quality lighting (usually intense lighting), because most species’ tentacles contain symbiotic algae which need to photosynthesize, this in turn feeds the anemone much of its energy requirements.

3. Anemones need moderate multi-directional water movement to truly thrive, this brings them their non-photosynthetic food (mostly in nature, anemones are easy to target feed) and stimulates them, so they fully extend their tentacles and look pretty.

4. Anemones can also cause problems by going “walk-about” when they do not like their local conditions (which is why you should place them carefully in a suitable spot by lodging their foot into a hole), they can trample all over corals and sting them while moving around and also generally piss annoy you by not staying put.

5. If anemones are placed with and get too close to some soft corals the corals may release chemical toxins into the water which can damage all saltwater aquarium inhabitants not only the anemone!

6. Anemones can easily outcompete corals and multiply by binary fission (splitting in 2 or more) which in some species can lead to a plague of anemones smashing your corals, which is not cool. Excellent water quality and abundant food will induce your anemone to fragment.

7. Anemones get very stressed and are often easily damaged by collection and being placed into different tanks. The best thing you can do is too select a completely undamaged specimen (a careful physical examination is in order here) with good colouration for that species. Avoid buying a bleached (white) anemone as all the zooanthellae have been expelled, the anemone will probably die.

8. They should also not be placed with very small fish, as your pretty little fish may end up as an expensive snack!

So these are all the risks/down sides that you need to be aware of before you decide whether an anemone is right for your saltwater aquarium.

The best thing you can do is thoroughly research what species of anemone you want for your tank and make sure you can meet all its requirements and ensure it will be compatible with the rest of your saltwater tank pets. It pays to mention here to only purchase the anemone species that are commonly kept in saltwater aquariums as many other species simply do not survive for long in captivity. A sad fact is that only 5% of all saltwater aquarium anemones live past 2 years.

If you target feed (using turkey baster or similar) your anemone a supplement of chopped up shellfish/prawn/fish weekly this will help ensure it remains in optimal health. Anemones hosted by Clownfish actually get fed fragments of food by their host (and by host droppings), so you do not need to feed these anemones.

If you want your Clownfish to host your anemone, make sure you get the right genus! That is; Entacmaea, Heteractis, Stiochodactyla, Macrodactyla & Cryptodendrum. Be aware however that Clownfish do not need an anemone to do well in a saltwater aquarium.

Probably the most ideal set-up for anemone keeping would be a tank optimised to the anemones requirements where there are no or few corals.

For more useful info go to www.SaltwaterAquariumAdvice.com (or click on “Home” above) to see how we can enhance your saltwater aquarium experience.

Saltwater Aquarium Advice

Hey saltwater aquarium fans,

The mammoth topic of todays blog is moving your saltwater aquarium, everyone will have to do this at some stage; best case scenario is a few metres worst case scenario is a few hundred miles!

So if you really have to do this and you arent just being finicky about the position of your tank relative to the TV lets begin!

Moving is very stressful for marine life most of all corals, but there are some things you can do to reduce the likelihood of fatalities.

The first step is some forward planning by you:

Choose the exact new location for the tank, set up what you can already.

Make sure you dont feed your marine life the day before or the day of the move as this will result in excess fouling of transport water.

Ensure the aquariums water is clean before the day of the move by doing a series of partial water changes on the days leading up to it.

Make sure you have the entire day of the move off (start early!) and get your hands on some (clean, residue-free) containers to transport your marine life, rocks, sand, invertebrates, water. Plastic chillers or ice chests are great because they’re insulated so resist changes in temperature better which will make things more bearable for your stressed marine life. Buckets are great for live rock/sand and water. Every container needs to be light enough to move with one or two people.

If you are super organised a great idea is to set up bare-bones quarantine tanks before the day of the move with fish separated from corals, live rock, each other etc.

If you are moving a long way having extra water prepared for water changes and top offs enroute, these can be a lifesaver. You will also need pre-prepared water for water changes and acclimation once you get to your destination. Water for the tank at the new destination should be prepared beforehand and have parameters as close as possible to what was in the tank before (temp, pH, salinity).

Start by taking out fish and inverts seperating them and putting them in containers half full of water from the tank. Start as early in the day as possible and seperate the marine life from each other as much as you can (each coral should ALWAYS be by itself) putting compatible species together if you need to, use battery powered pumps if you can get them, especially for the bigger livestock containers. Next grab the Live Rock, Live rock needs to stay wet, you can even pack it in damp newspaper for short journeys.

Take out and save as much water as you can before it gets too cloudy by you disturbing the tank, use containers with lids! Next scoop out the substrate and drain it put it into a plastic bag or container (live sand should stay moist). Get rid of all the rest of the mucky-by-now water.

Right now is a great time to say add some ammonia neutraliser to the water of each container, accumulated ammonia burns the skin of marine life and builds up in their systems which can be fatal even days later. This and temperature shock are the biggest moving day killers.

You will want to secure all the smaller containers in big ones if you can making sure your fish and inverts are experiencing as little movement as possible. Keeping them in the dark also reduces stress.

Next the tank itself will need to be carried to the vehicle (use friends), secured and the sides protected from any bangs (a broken tank during your move is really the last thing you need), all the gear can be carefully put into a bucket, take care to wrap the glass stuff. Filter media should stay wet to keep the bacteria alive.

Once you get to your new destination as smoothly and quickly as possible, get the marine life inside ASAP and do a partial water change for each container (using old tank water you saved), then begin acclimating using the new tank water drip by drip.

Now get busy getting the live rock submerged in new water and set up the aquarium (if its not a new tank, in this case you would have done it before) rinse the equipment in the old tank water and put the remainder with the new water to be put in the tank.

Keep the lights of for the rest of the day and dont feed untill the next day.

Go and grab a beer because you sure have earned it!

For more useful info go to www.SaltwaterAquariumAdvice.com (or click on “Home” above) to see how we can enhance your saltwater aquarium experience.

Saltwater Aquarium Advice

Hi saltwater aquarium fans,

Today I want to talk about a problem affecting a number of my Facebook friends and fans (thanks for the idea guys!).

If you have nasty slime growing in your saltwater aquarium rockwork or substrate which colouring ranges from black to blue, purple, red and even green; chances are you have a cyanobacteria outbreak…

Cyanobacteria is a photosynthetic lifeform placed by science somewhere between plants and bacteria. It thrives on nutrients primarily nitrates and phosphates but also uses silica from the water. It is a common pest algae in saltwater systems. People get confused about identifying it because of the different colours, but if it looks like slime it will almost certainly be cyanobacteria.

When saltwater aquariums are cycling pest algae can naturally grow then in a few days or a week disappear again as part of the changing life cycle in an ecosystem with changing nutrient levels. When your slime sticks around over a few weeks and is spreading; then you have problems.

You have two options; treat the symptoms (the algae itself) or treat the cause. Treating the symptoms will get rid of the algae but not stop it coming back, but if you are smart enough to discover and treat the cause then you have every chance of not seeing its ugly face ever again!

Causes of Slime algae:

1. Excess nutrients: this is the main reason you will see slime algae. Your system has too much dissolved organics in the form of nitrates (the end product of the nitrogen cycle) and phosphates (organic compound usually in the water from unfiltered water source/additives/food). These levels can gradually creep up in the water from many sources such as:

- overfeeding.

-dead/decaying marine life somewhere in the tank.

- using unfiltered tap water instead of RO/DI water.

- adding too much/poor quality additives to the water.

- unwanted phosphates in the water from additives/food/materials (eg some brands of activated carbon)

- too much bioload for the frequency/volume of water changes you are currently doing.

Its important to remember that if you have a large outbreak you can get a negative reading for nitrates because the algae is using the nitrates as quick as they are being produced!

2. Inappropriate lighting: cyanobacteria thrives on light in the red spectrum and can sometimes appear when bulbs are aging (causing the light spectrum to change) or there is too much light or sunlight hitting the tank.

3. Too much heat: sometimes part of the cause of pest algae especially slime algae is excess heat, if the tank is consistently over 80′F or if the temperature fluctuates a lot slime algae can thrive.

4. Low water movement: slime algae LOVES it when water movement is low and will mostly thrive in “dead spots” of very low water movement in the tank. The total volume of your tank should be turned over at least 10 times per hour.

The main reason for your slime algae is most probably excess nutrients but lighting, excessive heat and too little water movement may play a contributing role.

Getting rid of the algae itself is pretty easy and should be done (preferably after you find out where the cause lies) by syphoning and sucking out the algae from the substrate or rock using a python or hose replacing the algae water with brand new pristine stuff you have made up beforehand.

The cause of your pest algae outbreak is likely to be too much nutrients, where are these coming from? You need to systematically go through every thing that goes into your water from the water source itself to food, additives, phosphate containing filter media, partially clogged skimmer/pumps/powerheads, not doing enough water changes,the expired filter on your RO unit…the list goes on and every marine aquarium owner will have a different list to go through. These nutrients are coming from somewhere and to cure your problem for good you need to rule them all out one by one using some good old detective work. As every potential cause is tested you need to either test the water for nutrient levels or wait to see if your algae goes away and stays away to find the underlying cause!

Curing your red slime outbreak:

After you have figured out the causes for your red slime you can quickly get rid of the existing stuff by:

1. Doing more regular partial water changes and changing bigger volumes (like 10 or 15% at a time every few days).

2. Adding a protein skimmer to help get rid of the dissolved organic waste.

3. Get an RO unit instead of using nasty tap water.

4. Introduce some macro-algae species to your tank to outcompete the red slime for nutrients.

5. Feed less food (you should only feed what your pets can eat in one or two minutes).

6. Add more live rock or live sand; naturally reducing dissolved organics.

7. If you detect excess phosphates in your water read the labels of everything you add to the tank and replace products/media/additives containing phosphates or add a product such as Phosban or use a phosphate reactor.

8. Clean your substrate more thoroughly getting out all the settled detritus.

9. Increase water movement; you can never have too much multi-directional water movement!

10. Change your bulbs if they need replacing; every manufacturer will have a recommendation for this.

11. Employ the help of a secondary heater or chiller to keep the water temperature more stable or lower it.

So, there is a whole lot of things you can do to wipe out your slimy enemy; but you really need to find out the cause of your algae outbreak (even though it can be annoying!) to stop it from ever coming back. Sure it takes a bit more work, but if you make the effort to do this you have beaten the slime!

For more useful info go to www.SaltwaterAquariumAdvice.com (or click on “Home” above) to see how we can enhance your saltwater aquarium experience.

Saltwater Aquarium Advice

Happy New Year saltwater aquarium fans!

May 2011 be the best year yet for you and your saltwater aquarium.

Check out our new award from onlinebiology.com:

Many marine aquarists panic when they spot a disease outbreak in their tank and immediately run out to the LFS and grab some newfangled “reef safe” medication that is supposed to be the magic bullet against Ich or velvet or whatever…

Please, take a deep breath and consider these points BEFORE you medicate:

1. Correct Identification:

Before you medicate your fish you need to be SURE what the disease is as you may only get one chance to get it right and incorrect medication can and does kill fish and invertebrates.

2. Establish the cause:

You really need to figure out why your fish have the disease to nip the cause in the bud! The most common causes are transport stress and incorrect acclimation procedures and “new tank syndrome” if your aquarium has just been set up which means it hasn’t been cycled long enough and this is causing chemical stress.

3. Reduce the chance of disease by 90% - Quarantine!:

You need a quarantine tank! Think; (a) quiet, stress free place for new arrivals to acclimate and (b) perfect environment to separate and medicate sick marine life effectively. Two awesome reasons to get one!

4. Can biological control species help you?

Consider “cleaner” species such as Gobies (especially the Neon) and Shrimp (Skunk cleaner shrimp are excellent), these guys will happily pick off parasites from your fish and are natural biological control agents.

5. Follow directions!:

To effectively medicate read the label first (obvious I know, but so many people don’t) and ensure medication will have no bad side effects on you other pets (another reason a quarantine tank is a good idea!) especially corals and the like. Finally remove any chemical filtration such as carbon to effectively douse your sick friend with the medicine without the media pulling it out of the water.

6. Dont believe the hype:

If a pet shop employee tries to talk you into a new, natural completely reef safe medication that seems too good to be true it probably is! Every year millions of dollars are wasted on new “magic bullet” medications that dont work or arent reef safe which means many millions more are wasted on replacement fish.

If you have a marine Ich (Cryptocaryon) or marine velvet (Amyloodinium) outbreak, the ONLY EFFECTIVE medication is a copper solution that IS NOT reef safe (so you need a quarantine tank). Believe me millions of dollars are wasted every year by people that believe the hype about “reef safe” alternatives.

Good luck!
For more useful info go to www.SaltwaterAquariumAdvice.com (or click on “Home” above) to see how we can enhance your saltwater aquarium experience.

Saltwater Aquarium Advice

Reef aquariums, which by definition are saltwater aquariums with the focus on colourful corals and other invertebrates rather than fish, have been steadily gaining in popularity in the last few decades. Its not hard to see why, they look amazing!

Mini-reefs are a bad idea for inexperienced beginners!

Many aquarium stores now sell ready-to-go mini reef aquariums packed with coral, ready for you to take home. Sadly a lot of people fall in love with the alien shapes and array of colours and take them home having no real idea how to care for them properly. A thriving reef tank is another kettle of fish (excuse the pun ;)) entirely to a freshwater aquarium with fish only to look after.

Coral reefs demand pristine water quality, moderate to strong water movement, appropriate spectrum, powerful (usually) lighting and nutrients such as calcium to keep the reef building organisms in peak health. Corals and other non-moving invertebrates are very intolerant of nitrates and phosphates produced by fish excrement and uneaten food, you have to do a lot of partial water changes and clean up well, especially with a small tank size.

How is a reef aquarium different from a saltwater aquarium?

A reef aquarium traditionally is based around corals and features other compatible non-moving and/or moving invertebrates and usually a couple of reef-safe fish (but now the reef purists don’t bother with these!), usually Live Rock and a protein skimmer is employed and a host of other equipment like dosers and meters are optional extras. Once I began to dabble in reefs the addiction soon overcame me, now an aquarium without corals now looks incomplete to me!

Reasons why keeping a reef aquarium may not be as easy as the aquarium shop guy tells you….

Reef keeping can be a complete minefield for the novice (and the under-educated expert as well) and these are the reasons why:

1. Invertebrate compatibility can be tricky to figure out which corals (for example) are compatible with what fish and what sessile (non-moving) invertebrate and also what motile (moving) invertebrate. Many marine organisms feed on corals and corals may react to each other with chemical warfare, many corals cannot be placed with other species because they release toxins into the water or deploy nasty stinging tentacles. Often it can be easier to re-create a particular reef biotope for example using all Indonesian reef crest inhabitants because in these situations you know all the organisms will already be compatible because they have evolved together.
2. Necessity for pristine water quality all the time; reef building organisms are more difficult to keep happy than fish; they come from very stable, nutrient poor ocean environments and this is what we will need to recreate to keep them thriving. Nitrates and Phosphates must be kept to an absolute minimum (undetectable levels are ideal) and water movement needs to be moderate to strong. Not only this but calcium needs to be added to the water, the alkalinity needs to be kept high as do various other trace elements such as iodine, strontium, iron.
3. Too many reefers believe that it is possible to have a reef aquarium using second rate, bargain bin equipment. This will ultimately lead to massive problems in the long run as this stuff just isn’t up to the job and needs upgrading, fails or needs to be replaced putting your expensive marine life at unnecessary risk. For example I know of a number of “reefers” who wiped out their entire tanks with disease just because they didn’t want to spend money on a small basic quarantine tank. If you want an awesome reef aquarium you should be prepared to spend some money on decent equipment that actually works well, it will pay itself back in the long run.
4. Not enough time; a reef aquarium is a delicate piece of art that requires a certain amount of upkeep from its owner, as the water quality needs to be consistently good, you will get very good at partial water changes, dosing your tank and testing water parameters and making adjustments if needs be. Reef building organisms can swiftly deteriorate if they are neglected for too long, all this upkeep takes a bit of time and if you don’t have the time to learn about the organisms within and carry out the maintenance required, a reef aquarium is not for you.
5. A lack of knowledge is a recipe for disaster with a reef aquarium; other than the compatibility and the care requirements there is still a fair amount to learn in regards to keeping a thriving reef especially in regards to providing pristine water quality and addition of elements necessary for good coral reef growth. Many people still go to the fish store and buy something because it was just “so pretty” then realise they have no idea what it is and how to care for it correctly but by then its too late and it has died. Do not rely on your fish store/pet shop for vital information, you need to get reading or get on the Internet seeking reputable sources of reef aquarium information.
6. A mini reef aquarium system crash; as I said earlier with the increasing popularity of the mini aquarium (less than 40 gallons) there has been a huge interest in setting up mini reefs. The problem with using an aquarium this small to house corals and other invertebrates is the tiny water volume. A smaller volume has much less buffering capacity than a large tank to protect its inhabitants from fluctuations in temperature, pH, and nitrate, which are the common culprits to wipe out a reef. In my opinion get the biggest aquarium you can afford and unless you completely know what you are doing stay away from the mini reefs.

If you have ticked off the warning list above, researched your invertebrates well and really have taken the time to learn all about what it takes to make a reef aquarium thrive, plus have got some good quality equipment, you really are giving yourself the best chance to succeed!

For more useful info go to www.SaltwaterAquariumAdvice.com (or click on “Home” above) to see how we can enhance your saltwater aquarium experience.

Saltwater Aquarium Advice

Hey saltwater aquarium fans,

The most problems that occur in any saltwater tank happen to the marine creatures themselves; fish, invertebrates and especially corals.

These problems will show themselves as changes in appearance and behaviour of your pets. Your marine life itself is the most important indicator of what is going on in your aquarium.

When this happens most people (hopefully not you readers!) fly into a panic, ask some pet shop guy what the problem is instead of researching it themselves. This can easily result in an incorrect diagnosis as usually the pet shop dude is just guessing and/or the symptoms are just being described instead of the guy (or girl) taking a look for themselves.

Incorrect diagnosis usually causes more deaths than the disease itself! Marine diseases like marine velvet are quick acting, you usually only get 1 chance to get it right before the poor fish is stricken.

The best chance you have to combat disease is to stop it occurring in the first place, if you are paying attention yes, I have said this many times before!

Lets look at how we do this:

1. Learn about the species before you buy, especially in terms of the environment and diet it requires. Remember that environmental stress caused by sub-optimal conditions is the number one cause of disease and healthy marine life rarely gets diseased.
2. Learn how to carefully select the perfect example of the species you want. Don’t rush it and be patient; shop around if you have to. Make sure you observe it eat (a few times is better) and if it is new to the store give it a couple of weeks to see how it adapts to the stresses of captive life and of its capture which is the single most stressful time of a marine fishes life!
3. Maintain optimal water quality at all times. Having a stable, pristine environment is key to ward off disease.
4. Quarantine all new additions to your aquarium for around 2 weeks. This greatly reduces stress and will give any potential disease the chance to show itself before your new addition is added to its other tank mates. Additionally a sick fish immediately removed to a quarantine tank will minimise spread of the disease to other marine life and enable that fish/invertebrate to be medicated in a stress free environment where treatments cannot adversely affect other individuals (for example the some Ich medications contain copper which kills corals and other invertebrates), this procedure will maximise chances of speedy recovery.
5. Learn how to acclimate your marine life correctly; and by this I mean emptying the bag with your new pet into a bucket or small plastic aquarium, then adding aquarium water drop by drop using thin tubing and clamp over an hour or so until the fish is swimming in 90% aquarium water and has been gradually acclimatised to its new homes’ specific gravity, temperature and pH.
6. You need to know the correct way to carry out medication and dips/baths for your marine life. Dips are an important technique for medicating (methylene blue works well and is harmless) and getting rid of potential parasites that will literally swell up and burst from the osmotic shock of the freshwater! A freshwater bath should be done in 80% fresh water and 20% aquarium water adjusted to the temperature and pH of the aquarium using sodium bicarbonate. If rapid breathing or distress occurs put the fish back into the aquarium. Never leave the fish in there longer than 10 minutes. Dips are an excellent precaution for new livestock as part of the quarantine process.
7. Last but not least, avoid at all costs putting pathogenic organisms into your aquariums by using the above methods especially quarantine and freshwater dips for your new additions.

So as you can see problems with your saltwater aquarium can be kept to an absolute minimum just by being informed and not taking shortcuts. A lot of marine aquarists make a lot of mistakes because they don’t know any better, if you adhere to my rules there will be very little need for trouble-shooting because there will be no trouble!

For more useful info go to www.SaltwaterAquariumAdvice.com (or click on “Home” above) to see how we can enhance your saltwater aquarium experience.

Saltwater Aquarium Advice

Hey, saltwater aquarium fans!

Before I get started on my rant about saltwater tank troubleshooting, I want to share with you some news, this blog won an award! Check it out:

From time to time every saltwater aquarium owner can come up against problems. But, if you have the right knowledge and have done everything as you should problems should be kept to an absolute minimum or even never occur at all.

Many of the problems that commonly occur in saltwater aquariums can easily be prevented with some straightforward precautionary measures. I consider the following to be the nine golden rules to a trouble-free marine aquarium:

1. Regular scheduled maintenance of your aquarium; especially including regular partial water changes, removal of algae, water quality testing and adjusting parameters as necessary.

2. Understanding marine life compatibility and choosing species that will get along together.

3. Knowing how to choose the right fish or invertebrate and how to spot sick, unhealthy ones.

4. Correct stocking levels for your aquarium set-up. Your aquarium should not be too crowded, If in doubt under stock!

5. Setting up the aquarium correctly with good quality, appropriate equipment that will easily handle your marine life’s requirements and filtration that will be able to deal with their waste adequately.

6. Enough water movement in your aquarium. You want copious multi-directional flow (especially in reef aquariums) from strategically placed powerheads not directly aimed at any sessile invertebrate.

7. Fantastic quality water that is well oxygenated and appropriately lit for your marine life.

8. Providing a good quality, well balanced diet for your marine pets paying special attention to their individual requirements (by this I mean giving plant matter to herbivores and flesh to carnivores).

9. Providing an underwater environment with the minimum of stresses to your marine life (such as excessive heat, vibration, chemicals).

For more detailed information on any of the above read please check out my resources: saltwater aquarium knowledge base

If you have all these bases covered you are giving yourself the best possible chance of success, which also means minimal money spent, stress and time on your behalf which we can all agree is a good thing.

For more useful info go to www.SaltwaterAquariumAdvice.com (or click on “Home” above) to see how we can enhance your saltwater aquarium experience.

Saltwater Aquarium Advice