Saltwater Aquarium Advice

Stocking your saltwater aquarium is one of the most exciting times for a marine hobbyist. Introducing new additions to your colourful marine aquarium to watch and wonder over is awesome fun. For everything to go to plan and your new pets to thrive means that you will need to take things very seriously here in regards to compatibility, stocking levels and choosing healthy specimens.

Incorrect stocking of marine aquariums is a very common mistake; this usually arises from people moving too fast, picking unhealthy specimens and not doing enough research on their desired pets leading to compatibility issues. This can lead to stress in your aquarium (mostly the new inhabitants) and even death. Stocking a marine aquarium is the biggest variable to success in the set up process, if you do it wrong it can make the whole exercise a disaster, but if you do this right and take your time marine aquarium ownership will be smooth sailing for you. Any thoughtless purchases at this point can bring compatibility issues later which can be very hard to solve.

The best place to start with stocking is to make a saltwater aquarium plan, really know what it is you want in terms of marine life. Start with one or two “must have” species that will be the focal point of your aquarium. This is especially a good idea for small to medium aquariums, with larger aquariums you would go for a type of fish you want such as Tangs, Butterflyfish or Angels. Once you decide on your favourite fish, find out their exact requirements and set up the aquarium and choose other marine life centred around your tank “stars”. This keeps stocking very simple and as long as no one fish will compete closely with your favourites for a specific food type that is not readily available you are onto a winning strategy.

Adding invertebrates to the mixture can make things slightly trickier; if you have a fish only with live rock (FOWLR) set up try to use hardier invertebrate species (such as those commonly associated with live rock) that can tolerate a bit more nitrate in the water. This will make your life easier trying to cater to Invertebrate water quality needs.

As I have mentioned before the key to answering the compatibility question is diligent research on your chosen species in regard to behaviour/temperament, diet, size, preferred water conditions (light and water circulation) and growth rates, but ultimately fish have very individual personalities like us people, so it can be common for individuals of the same species to behave slightly differently.  Another factor that affects compatibility is the size of your tank and how much rockwork there is, generally the bigger the tank is and the more likely that fish can get out of the line of each others site for a while the better they will get on. A good way to ensure new additions settle in well is to rearrange the aquarium (and the residents established territories) when someone new is added, also keeping a light on at night seems to take the focus off the newcomer and can greatly help with any bullying.

Keeping fish well fed will keep them happy too; a hungry fish is a grumpy fish. When adding new fish to an established aquarium a great strategy is to put about 500mL of display aquarium water into the quarantine tank and visa versa so the newbies and the established fish can become familiar with the scent of each other before they meet. Another good idea is to put the quarantine tank next to the display tank so the fish can see each other.

This brings me to stocking levels; as a general rule of thumb a fish only aquarium should aim for less than 8 inches (20cm) of total fish length (nose to base of tail, not counting tail fin rays) per 22 gallons (100L) of water. A FOWLR set up with a few invertebrates should have a bit less fish at 6 inches (15cm) per 22 gallons (100L). Finally a reef set up should have no more than 4 inches (10cm) per 22 gallons (100L) this is because of the very low tolerances of corals and other invertebrates for slow nitrate build up in the water. The above estimates allows for room for error, but I warn you if these limits are exceeded by much the bioload will put too much strain on your biological filtration system and all it will take is one lost, dead fish or a bunch of uneaten food over a few days to cause the system to completely crash. When in doubt under-stock; this allows room for error and also takes into consideration your growing marine life.

When stocking your aquarium start with the more hardy, less aggressive fish first. This will give your aquarium water valuable time to stabilise after cycling before more sensitive species are introduced and will also help keep more aggressive, territorial species under control if they are not the first additions. Take the addition of fish very slowly waiting a month or so before adding one or two more, this gives the biological filtration system time to adjust to increasing waste levels.

The final aspect of stocking to get right is choosing healthy specimens, this can be very easy to do with careful visual inspections of the fish you intend to buy, checking every part of the fish for parasites, disease or other damage. Make sure the aquarium it is housed in is healthy and clean also. Pay attention to the fish’s behaviour to make sure it is acting normally. The golden rule here is to watch it eat (more than once if you can) make sure it has a good appetite, is alert and competitive with the other fish for food. The final thing you want to avoid is a brand new fish into the store; give it a week or so to see how it adjusts to captive life and copes with the stress of being removed from the reef environment. It is worth a mention again that where possible buy captive reared marine life, as they are much hardier and happier than their wild-caught relatives. Captive bred species also reduces pressure on species harvested from reef ecosystems, which should be very important to any marine life lover.

So the keys to successful marine life stocking are research, planning and lots of patience. Carefully planned out and executed saltwater aquarium stocking will provide years of happiness for marine life and marine aquarists alike.

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We all know keeping your marine aquarium clean can sometimes be a chore, but it is a small price to pay for having a pristine display tank that wows everyone that walks in the room. But, there is an easier way; enlisting the help of a few particular species of invertebrates ,plants and fish to do the job for you! A lot of people contact me via www.Saltwater-Aquarium-Advice.com asking about marine tank janitors, heres’ what I tell them:

Marine tank janitors are a selection of beneficial marine organisms basically feed on algae, detritus and any uneaten food left in the aquarium, additionally marine plants mop up nitrates and phosphate (biological waste products of excretion). This assortment of helpful invertebrates, fish and plant life are literally the janitors or clean up crew of a marine aquarium. If you own a reef tank having these guys around is a no brainer as long as they get along with your corals and invertebrates, if you have a fish only set up just do a bit of research first and make sure none of your fish species will feast on your clean up crew (always research fish, coral and invertebrate species compatibility before adding in new tank inhabitants).

So your clean up crew will generally be made up of  a combination of crabs, snails, shrimp, sea cucumbers, Starfish, marine plants and sand sifting Gobies and Blennies. A number of these species are more sutiable for newbies such as Cleaner shrimp, crabs, Gobies and starfish.

If you have a sandy substrate, sand sifting species such as the Gobies (for example; 2 spot Goby, Sleeper Goby, Watchman Goby) and sea cucumbers such as the black or Tiger tail will do an excellent job of plowing through the sand looking for detritus. This is very beneficial to keep your tank looking clean and the nitrate/nitrite levels down and  efficiently aerates the sand.

Species which will keep the rocks and glass free of algae and detritus are herbivorous Blennies and Tangs (including my personal favourite the blue regal Tang, as these species eat a vegetarian diet they are perfect for reef aquariums), hermit crabs such as dwarf and electric species and snails such as the hugely popular Astrea and Turbo snail. Snails and hermit crabs are quite small so will not rearrange the aquarium or require much care, however Tangs can grow quite large and need additional feeding so make sure you have enough space.

Hermit crabs such as the blue legged and red legged species are perfect for algae control because they are small so do not cause too much of a disturbance in the tank and can fit into tiny gaps for better algae predation. In terms of true crabs, the Emerald Green Crab is the best selection for a reef aquarium because they are so reef safe and so got at controlling algae.

It is my hope that you will now be armed with some background information to help you select a clean up crew for your own marine aquarium. These guys can really be a savvy marine aquarists’ best friends!

For more information on maintaining marine aquariums and keeping optimally happy, healthy marine life; check out my best selling publication “Ultimate Secrets To Saltwater Aquarium Fish and Invertebrates”

Seeing as my marine aquarium passion is based on the marine life itself, I thought it was time I started to do some posts on popular marine pets!

The Clownfish has got to be the most popular marine aquarium inhabitant worldwide, mostly thanks to the Disney movie “Finding Nemo”.  Other than this they are cute and pretty easy to care for and require little space. The Clownfish is a type of Damselfish, they are very colorful with coloring that ranges from yellow,maroon and even black to shades of orange. The most common coloration found is a bright orange intermingled with white stripes or patches (such as Nemo!).

Clownfish and anemonefish are from the subfamily Amphiprioninae in the family Pomacentridae. There are about twenty eight species in total, one in the genus Premnas while the remaining are in the genus Amphiprion. They are native to the Indian and Pacific oceans.

The one thing that characterises all species is the symbiotic relationship they have with their host anemones. It is currently thought than when these fish are embryos lying on the reef surface, they become “addicted” to the scent of a particular anemone then when they hatch they go to settle in that anemone and spend their entire lives defending it from other fish and are always close to it, retreating inside the deadly (to other fish!) tentacles when danger lurks.

It is thought that the Clownfish are resistant to the Anemones stinging cells because of the mucus their bodies secrete, another theory is resistance to the potent poison has come from many years of co-evolution with the Anemone’s. The Clownfish chase off would-be anemone-munchers, feed off undigested food particles and dead tentacles which otherwise could rot and damage the invertebrate and fertilise the anemone with their droppings. In return the anemone provides life-long shelter and protection. The Clownfish generally forms a partnership with the anemone species Heteractis magnifica, Stichodactyla gigantean and S. mertensii.

Another little known Clownfish fact is that they are all born as males and can change sex if required in their social group. The social group consists of 1 breeding pair and immature or non sexually active males. If something happens to the breeding female the dominant male will change sex and replace her!

The hardy Clownfish require little space in the aquarium environment, if their host anemone is present they may rarely venture more than a few inches from it for their entire lives (which can be for a number of years). If their preferred host species is not available Clownfish will commonly settle in soft corals or large polyped stony corals, the problem with this is that the coral may sometimes die and the Clownfishs’ skin may become irritated by the coral as the clownfish is constantly swimming around its host.

The Clownfish is one of the first marine fish to be successfully captive bred, which is awesome as it takes pressure of the reef environment to constantly supply Clownfish to home aquarists. You should always seek out captive bred Clownfish for this reason, additionally captive bred fish are a lot less stressed out, are used to humans and aquarium food and are more resistant to disease. Clownfish are social creatures and are best kept in pairs although a few species (like the Maroon Clownfish for example) can be aggressive to each other. They should be kept in aquariums 40 litres or more.

Basically Clownfish are hardy, fun and interesting fish to keep and will require minimal effort from their owners. If you can get a host anemone for them as they will be most happy, although these anemones can be hard to care for. Clownfish are peaceful but can be territorial (especially with their hosts) I advise you not to mix species as this can lead to a lot of fights.

To learn more expert tips about keeping thriving marine aquariums full of happy healthy marine life check out my best selling ebook “Ultimate Secrets To Saltwater Aquarium Fish and Invertebrates”