Saltwater Aquarium Advice

Outstanding water quality doesn’t have to be a big chore in saltwater aquarium systems, there are many tricks up an enlightened aquarists’ sleeve to ensure pristine water conditions (and so thriving marine life) for a minimum of effort.

This is always going to ensure your marine life is kept as healthy as possible (as well as a good varied diet and minimal stressors) and is especially important for the good health of corals and other invertebrates which as more sensitive to water chemistry than marine fish.

So allow me to let you in on a couple of the strategies I use to make my life and the lives of my marine pets easier…

1. A high volume, rapid turnover protein skimmer: These devices have been hailed by many experts (I’m gonna count myself here too!) as being the single best thing you can do for your water quality bar none! The brutal efficiency of a modern, high powered skimmer of pulling dissolved organic waste (about to mineralise into toxic ammonia) out of the water column in the form of a daily cup of smelly, viscous , brown sludge will astound the uninitiated! Get one now!

2. Regular partial water changes: A simple replacement of tank water with recently made up saltwater (of the same temp., pH, specific gravity) in the order of 15-20% per fortnight will not only get rid of built up nitrates, phosphates and other undesirable chemicals it will replenish vital trace elements, improve water clarity and increases the oxygen content and buffering capacity of the water (which if you dont know makes the aquarium water more stable and resistant to such things as pH shift which is bad!). Water changes also reduce the chance of algal blooms by reducing nutrient levels.

3. Addition of Live Rock and/or macro-algae species: Most aquarists know Live Rock/Sand contains beneficial bacteria blah blah blah, but biological filtration aside the encrusting algae and tiny crustaceans etc that grow on the Live rock breakdown and utilise organic waste in the water in the form of uneaten food (taken up by the myriad of tiny scavengers) and nitrates and phosphates (mopped up by the photosynthesizing algae). Macro-algae species, which are essentially any non-pest algae species such as Caulerpa takecontaminating nitrates and phosphates out of the water which they use for growth. The bonus here is that they add oxygen back , look natural in an aquarium and effectively outcompete pest algae species which plague the tanks  many novice aquarists. Adding Live rock, live sand and marine plants is a dead easy way of improving water quality and making your aquarium look cooler!

4. Plopping in some marine scavenger species: Read my post on saltwater aquarium clean-up crews which act like little tank janitors and you will see how useful these guys are. Some invertebrate and fish species will be completely happy feeding off detritus and uneaten (and some pre-eaten, eewwww!) food. This list includes quite a few crab species and sand sifting Gobies to name a few. Cleaning doesnt get much more fun than getting cool looking marine oddities to do it for you!

5. Feeding less is actually more: What I mean by this is that feeding less in your aquarium is more beneficial than overfeeding, especially for water quality. Uneaten food is a major source of toxic waste in the form of ammonia and nitrites that your beneficial bacteria then have to work harder (and multiply more) to try to deal with, uneaten food is a major source of fatal shifts in water quality. Only feed as much as your pets can eat in a few minutes any more than that is a dangerous waste of money and effort. Remember in the wild your pets dont have constant food supplies and have to work for their meals, overeating like in us humans can cause lethargy and a lack of natural behaviours, your fish probably need to eat a lot less than you think…

There are 5 top tips to improve water quality by not really doing much at all. For more saltwater aquarium information and some top notch aquarium products check out my resources for you at www.SaltwaterAquarium Advice.com
Saltwater Aquarium Advice

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ust to make things confusing, in my last blog post I mentioned that New Tank Syndrome can happen to older tanks as well (when their beneficial bacterial populations get physically or chemically damaged), well with established tanks you can also get Old Tank Syndrome! This is a phoenominon usually noticed by reef aquarium owners where sometimes the novelty has worn off and aquarium keeping looses its lustre (how can this be true!), which means than instead of staying right on top of all the water parameters, people can become a bit lazy and things start gradually slipping.

This Old Tank Syndrome manifests itself as corals just not growing as well as they used to or new marine life getting very stressed or dying when dealing with your display tanks water; your existing fish will be just surviving in the water as they have got used to the gradual negative changes over time.

So the cause of Old Tank Sydrome is a gradual drop in water quality over time due to neglect. The primary things that are usually neglected are regular partial water changes and general maintanence and cleaning leading to an accumulation of  undesirable chemicals in your closed system. Mainly this would be nitrate and phosphates increasing and pH slowly slipping down at the same time as the buffer ions are used up in the water. Some aquariums have heavily buffered water and this situation is more dangerous as all the buffering ions gradually get used up by the hydrogen ions produced in the nitrogen cycle after all the buffer ions are used up the pH can crash fast which is dangerous for your marine life.

So basically you cannot underestimate the good that regular partial water changes and vacuming up debris can do for your aquarium.

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Today I thought I would write a post on one of the most common problems that saltwater hobbiests face; that annoying green stuff growing on surfaces that can eventually take over the tank if left unchecked. As we all know algae can be the bane of marine aquarists lives, making even the brightest most colourful saltwater aquarium look dirty and unclean.

There are many different types of algae and many reasons why it is invading your tank. Algae is a plant and therefore thrives especially in tanks where there is not a lot of competition for nutrients (such as high phosphates and nitrates) such as a fish only set-up.

Algae removal is a very hot topic with marine aquarists, I am asked all the time on www.Saltwater-Aquarium-Advice.com the best way to battle this nuisance organism. So ive decided to put together some hints and tips to help you to rid your marine aquarium of algae forever!

1. Light levels:One good way to combat algae is to reduce the amount of light (the photoperiod) in your aquarium (unless you keep corals or other organisms that need light for healthy growth), for example if your aquarium can do without light for an hour or two you would be surprised by how much this can reduce algal growth.

2. Reduce Phosphate levels: High levels of Phosphates are often the main cause of an algal invasion, commonly their levels will be undetectable when tested for because the algae uses the phosphates straight away at such a fast rate. To combat high phosphate levels conduct partial water changes more regularly, you can also purchase a phosphate removal chemical such as Phosban. An important note here is to put phosphate remover into top up/water change water before it gets to the algae in the rest of the aquarium. Keeping a handle on water chemistry levels (regular testing people!) will help prevent algae outbreaks.

3. Purchase other marine plants: As I mentioned earlier, algae often colonises aquariums because of the high levels of nutrients and low levels of competition. Therefore another good strategy is to get some marine plants in to help mop up excess nutrients and make it harder for the algae to establish, they also look awesome in marine aquariums too!

4. Use RO or distilled water: If you are having algae problems another thing I would suggest is to use only reverse osmosis or distilled waters as these have been treated in such a way that removes phosphates, nitrates and other algal growth promoting ions from the water. In my experience this would be the first place to start if you are having algae problems.

5. Reduce feeding levels: Just by feeding carefully and making sure everything in the tank is eating properly you will be able to cut back on feedings, because uneaten food decays and becomes nutrients for algal growth.

6. Conduct more regular water changes:just by doing simple water changes regularly the levels of nutrients for algae in the water column will be greatly reduced, always remember to try and flush any detritus that has settled onto rocks etc out with a powerhead or turkey baster and suck it out of the tank, this strategy also greatly protects corals and other sessile invertebrates from disease caused by decaying matter on coral tissue. A really good quality skimmer will also greatly help to remove organic matter from your tank.

7. Helper invertebrates: Another great strategy is to purchase some invertebrates that feed off algae for your aquarium. Turbo snails, Emerald crabs, blue legged Hermit crabs and Sea Hares are all good choices. And its really fun to watch them smash all that horrible algae! I would suggest purchasing a number of some of the above, so you have an effective little algae battling team!

8. Algae eating fish:A fish or two of an algae eating species can also greatly reduce the incidence of algae in your aquarium. Tangs are the most popular algae eating fish, but here are some others: Angelfish, Batfish, Blennies, Butterflyfish, Clownfish, Damselfish….. the list goes on. The important thing to remember here is to select species that are compatible with the rest of your tank, also be wary of some algae eating species that may also snack on corals.

9. Manual algae removal: Dont be afraid to get your (clean) hands wet and rip out as much algae as you can, this can be quite effective especially with Hair algae. Ensure that you remove all strands or it will just grow back quickly.

10. Research your problem algae:As a scientist you may have noticed that I play the “research” card pretty often! This is because conducting your own research is invaluble to increase your knowledge and make you more successful as a marine aquarist. There are always people that have experienced what you are going through, so find out what they did. In this particular instance you should (through research) identify what your problem algae is and what effective ways there are to deal with it.

I hope this post is helpful to you in terms of battling problem algae in your marine aquarium.

Tiny Saltwater aquariums are all the rage these days. So I thought this post could be about all the ins and outs of owning a small marine aquarium. You can get mini, micro, nano and pico marine aquariums in decreasing volume which range from 40 gallons to 5 gallons or less. Many people see the small size to mean cheapness and ease of care, but beware these tiny tanks can be the fastest way to kill off your marine life if you are not careful.

Limited space can be a huge issue for those thinking about setting up a saltwater aquarium, so its only natural that people gravitate toward smaller set ups that are suitable for apartments or dorm rooms. But for novice marine aquarists a large sized aquarium really is a much better choice in my opinion, the reason for this is a large water volume gives you much more buffering capacity thus room for error in terms of deteriorating water quality, you also will have way more options when it comes to stocking your tank and generally your marine life will be happier because they dont have to co-exist in such close quarters, which is especially helpful if they dont get on all that well.

The reason these tiny tanks are so popular is because they take up a lot less room than full sized items, they also require less maintainence and usually cost less to set up and equip. Some reefers I know also have one as an auxillary tank for growing out coral frags or as a quarantine tank. They also mostly come as complete set ups so are “plug and play” , and easily upgradable which is of huge appeal. It is also possible to have compact high power filtration,pump systems and lights which allows you to keep a range of marine life easily.

However there is a down side to owning a small marine aquarium too; first of all the cost per gallon of water is usually the same as a larger set-up although the final set up costs are lower, you need to weigh this up with the lack of freedom you will have compared to the freedom of stocking a larger tank.

After the initial planning and extensive research (if you have read a few of my posts you will know I am all about the research!), the maintainance can take as little as 5 minutes a day and is a lot less daunting than a bigger tank, but does need cleaning more often. Following a regular maintainance schedule is the best thing you can do to keep your tiny aquarium healthy.

By far the biggest issue with small aquariums is the very short amount of time it can take for your water quality to become toxic because of the small water volume, this and the ability for the temperature to change rapidly can kill your marine pets in hours. Careful monitoring must be done daily to weekly and you must change 25-50% of the water every week.

You will have to be especially careful while going through the start up biological cycling (even more so if you are a novice), this is dangerous phase in bigger aquariums because of the cyclic ammonium, nitrite and nitrate levels causing toxicity to marine life. This is magnified greatly in a smaller system so  having any marine life kicking around at this time is pretty silly.

The next most potentually lethal thing to be aware of with your small aquariums is stocking levels and species compatibility. It is so easy to overload the system and cause it to crash, so move very slowly and do not put too much marine life in. Introduce a few fish at a time over a few weeks (or better still months) you will need restraint and patience here. You should go for small fish and 1 or 2 showy ones, bottom cleaners will also fit well in the mix.

Species compatibility is especially important here; quite a few reef safe fish from larger aquariums will not go well in small ones because of the close proximity. So once again go for smaller fish that are peaceful; Clownfish and Gobies are always popular choices in small aquariums.

For more information on keeping thriving marine life in optimal set ups check out my best selling publication: www.Saltwater-Aquarium-Advice.com

The whole team at www.SaltwaterAquariumAdvice.com would like to wish everyone an extremely happy and safe new years.

One of the major keys to success in owning that saltwater aquarium of your dreams is choosing the right fish, that are happy, healthy and will give you years of joy.

People contact me all the time through www.Saltwater-Aquarium-Advice.com asking what are the key elements to choosing healthy marine life? So I thought it was about time that I put up a post about this topic.

First of all people, you must realise its crucial to choose only happy, healthy marine life for your tank, because if you dont know how to do this the consequences could be massive. For example; expensive vet bills, the heart break of losing your precious pets, the chance of spreading infection to your current tank inhabitants, lost money and time…. the list goes on.

Well, im here to make sure that you dont have to go through this, so lets cut to the chase; how do you choose the right specimen for your saltwater aquarium?

1. Research what you want online, or through books. Find out their exact requirements (i.e. diet, habitat, hardiness etc) and decide whether this fits in with your current set up and existing pets. A new species must be compatible with everything you currently have.

2. Choose a reputable marine fish stockist, they must be professional, have a good reputation and most importantly have all their marine life collected from sustainable sources or farmed, for the sake of preserving our oceans ask them where they got their fish and if its not legitimate dont buy from them!

3. Go to the tank that contains your ideal candidate, and study it. Watch how they behave, swim and breath looking for anything abnormal. Study their skin, look for parasites, signs of disease (spots and discoluration) and physical damage. Your ideal fish should be alert, active and look healthy with vibrant colours.

4. Next; ask the store person to feed the fish (or if this has recently been done, come back at feeding time) you want to observe that the fish eats actively and is alert and compeditive with the other fish in getting food. They should also have a good appetite and eat heartily.

5. Another tip is to never purchase a fish that is brand new to the store, give it a few weeks of being in the captive environment to ensure it adjusts well, is not stressed and has not been damaged during collection. This amount of time will also reveal whether or not the fish has a disease.

6. Once you have researched, observed and chosen your fish ask the store owner if they offer a guarantee on the fish (always pays to ask). And most importantly of all people; when you get the fish home ensure you quarantine it, this will halt spread of disease from the new fish into the main tank and gradually acclimatize the fish to your specific conditions.

To find out more about all aspects of how to keep thriving marine life and saltwater aquarium set up go to www.Saltwater-Aquarium-Advice.comand see what my ebook has to offer.

Every marine aquarist should be aware that a lot of unlawful harvesting of corals, fish and invertebrates goes on in our seas. For example Fiji’s amazing coral reefs are only just starting to recover from being constantly blown up with dynamite for coral fragment harvesting. Thankfully this practise has now been outlawed.

As another example; I am getting quite a few emails from my site www.saltwater-aquarium-advice.com  from people wanting to sell me fish, corals etc from places like Indonesia, and you can bet that most of these creatures are from illegal sources. The good news is that a lot of governments have started to step up, in terms of keeping these destructive pratices in check.

So what can you as the environmentally concious salwater aquarist do to help save our oceans:

1. Always enquire as to where the particular species of marine fish, coral or invertebrate is from when you purchase. Only purchase marine creatures that are harvested sustainably (may require a bit of research on your part) i.e farmed, corals grown from fragments etc.

2. Only purchase marine creatures that are not endangered species, i.e. where the wild stocks are being harvested at a sustainable level. Once again this will take a little of your own research, but if the demand for these species drops off, then wild stocks can recover and not be hunted to extinction.

3. Learn how to propagate your own corals, and find others that do the same. Then you can swap species, and even make money selling cuttings! my ebook tells you exactly how to go about this on www.Saltwater-Aquarium-Advice.com many marine aquarium owners around the world are already joining this effort, and if you know what you are doing this can be very simple.

4. Learn how to breed your own marine fish, once again my ebook tells you how to go about this. This can be a very satisfying hobby, and is another chance for you to sell a few and make your aquarium self funding, which cant be a bad thing!

5. Get proactive with ocean conservation; if you are witness to any dodgy happenings, report them. And vote for policy makers who share our passion for conserving our amazing marine life.

As it is swiftly approaching summer here in Australia, heaps of people have been asking me what to do if your aqaurium gets too hot. Too hot is above 80′F (26.6′ Celcius), above which damage will occur.

This is a pretty bad situation, as a scientist I know only too well that excessive heat causes proteins to denature in organisms. In lay mans terms what this means that all creatures are made up of proteins right? So too much heat causes problems in the proteins doing what they are supposed too (think of what happens when you fry an egg, which is all protein) and they cannot function correctly and once this happens it is irreversible. So essentially once your marine life gets too hot it can be fatal.

So now that we have established too much heat is a bad thing, what can you do about it?

1. Draw curtains and blinds in the room the aquarium is in (if you dont have them get some), also open windows/turn on airconditioning.

2. if the lights arent neccessary (no corals or marine plants) try turning them off as these produce heat, or reverse the cycle so the lights come on at night when its cooler.

3. You can also vent air across the surface of the water with a small fan etc. Just be careful here and make sure the fan is firmly attached and cannot fall in the water.

4. The most important thing to mention is getting a good quality, reliable thermometer, and checking it regularly to get a feeling for the normal temperature fluctuations in your marine tank. if you catch a problem early you can prevent it before its too late.

Australian scientists have recently realised that with the incidence of global warming, not only will coral reefs be negatively affected by rising water temperatures, reef inhabiting fish life will also face extinction. This is because the fish life has evolved in parallel with the coral and the numerous fish species would not be able to survive without the coral.