Saltwater Aquarium Advice

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”

Imagine if you could have your saltwater aquarium paying its way in your house, or even making a nice little profit? Sound good? This is entirely possible and I have actually utilised  a few different strategies over my years as a marine hobbiest to do this.

With a bit of careful planning and some specialised research on your behalf you could actually be doing this in no time. There are some strategies you can even do in your display tank.

One pretty easy strategy even helps conserve our oceans while giving you income. The method im talking about is “fragging” or fragmenting corals. So to do this you would need a dedicated reef tank set up with the water moment and lighting requirements your target corals need to absolutely thrive and grow quickly. You would need to learn everything that the corals (choose one or 2 to concentrate on to start with, remember different species corals from the same family usually have very similar growth requirements) need to thrive to optomise this and avoid any potentual problems that may arise from incorrect environmental conditions, because as we all know unless you have the right information there are potentually a few things that can go wrong with corals.

Next, simply grow a few fine specimens then carefully frag them and grow the cuttings out taking care to provide optimal conditions, which is really easy if your tank is focused on that particular coral species. Once the cuttings become established and begin to branch nicely, find new owners by advertising on forums, your local fish store, newspaper. You can even swap you frags for new corals you want to grow up. Once you have streamlined the growing conditions and have a system up and running, you would be amazed at how much business comes your way.

To find out exactly what steps you need to take to do this and a whole lot of other ways to make your aquarium make money and thrive, check out my best selling ebook “Ultimate Secrets To Saltwater Aquarium Fish and Invertebrates”

As an avid marine aquarist, I have watched over the years as reef aquariums grow massively in popularity.  These days nano reefs and pico reefs are very popular as people are drawn toward smaller size (and perceived lower cost) of these tiny reef set ups. Typically nano reefs are less than 30 gallons (140L) in volume and pico reefs are super tiny at 5 gallons or less.

A reef aquarium is defined as a marine aquarium with the focus on corals and invertebrates rather than fish.  The key component of a reef aquarium is live rock used to “landscape” the tank and also as a primary mean of biological filtration.  As reef aquariums focus on the corals and other marine invertebrates the aim here is to truly make them look as if a slab of the native reef has been removed from the ocean and is now growing in your own home! Its also really fun to set up biotope reefs, for example I have done a Pacific island reef set up and seen another Caribbean one done.

One thing about reef aquariums versus fish-only or fish and live rock (FOWLR) is that water quality and vigorous water movement become much more of a must have here because of the corals requirements to thrive. Additionally, marine creature selection becomes a lot more important in reef set ups because of compatibility issues with fish, corals and other marine invertebrates making the situation a lot more difficult to balance. If you dont know what you are doing you can easily make expensive mistakes here, check out my best selling ebook “Ultimate Secrets to Saltwater Aquarium Fish and Invertebrates” for easy steps to selecting marine species correctly the first time and everything else you could possibly want to knowing about owning a thriving reef aquarium.

Lighting is a major component of a good reef aquarium set up, this is so important because of the corals ability to photosynthesize to produce their food, Therefore the conditions of the tropical sun in real reef habitats will need to be effectively mimicked.  The most common lighting choices for reefers are: metal halide, T5, compact fluorescent or VHO (very high output) bulbs. Most reefers aim for 5-8 watts of light ouput per gallon of water. The key to a thriving reef environment is to choose your lighting to complement the requirements of the corals you want, then place the corals in the aquarium in their preferred proximity to the lights in the water column and in the appropriate water turbulence region. This may sound easier said than done but a little research and careful planning on you part will make the difference between a spectacular reef and a failure.

Never underestimate the water movement conditions your corals require. Water movement is vital to corals because it brings them their food (when the lights are off the coral polyps begin snatching plankton from the water, no coral relies solely on photosynthesis and some are entirely carnivorous), enables corals to respirate (brings O2 and takes away CO2), keeps them cool (important under hot lights), assists them in shedding protective tissue and finally rinses detritus and debris from the coral that would otherwise rot and potentially cause infection. Water movement can be easily regulated with the clever use of powerheads.

So, even though reef tanks sound complex believe me when I say they are extremely rewarding. A little careful research, planning and preparation on your part can result in a stunning reef that will be your pride and joy for years to come.

As we all know corals can be challenging to keep at times, often things go wrong and you have no idea why. Because they are sedentary organisms they often do not display obvious symptoms, which can make diagnosing what’s wrong difficult.

Very little is still known today about coral diseases but stress is the number one killer of corals in marine aquariums. Corals need to be handled carefully at all times and there can often be many stressors in the tank that can eventually lead to illness or death; for example physical stress like predation, pathogens, environmental stress (sub standard water parameters are often the leading culprit) and nutritional deficiency are all common.

A common problem with corals is bleaching/fading; this is when there is a mass expulsion of zooanthellae (symbiotic algal cells contained in coral tissues that provide food for the corals) because of stress. This phenomenon is also occurring in the oceans of the world today because of temperature stress caused by global warming. In your marine tank there is a whole lot of potential causes of this stress-related illness. The first place to start would be to check all the potential causes of stress one by one untill the cause can be established. As stress is the number one killer of corals (and disease symptoms are often actually caused by stress as opposed to disease causing organisms) all ailments should be worked through (not just bleaching!) in this fashion before you ring the vet or medicate.  So you will need to check these things:

1. Temperature stress (usually the most common cause).

2. Physical stress; this can be damage caused by collection/handling and also predation by fishes/invertebrates.

3. Chemical stress; all water parameters need to be checked here, also think about what has been added to the water recently. The most common water parameters that cause bleaching in corals are alkalinity (pH), nitrates and phosphates.

4. Lighting stress; perhaps the bulbs are too new or old, if they have just been replaced try moving them up a few inches, if they are old they may need to be replaced due to losing intensity with age.

5. Water movement: poor water movement will deprive a coral of its non- photosynthetic food source (plankton) and also cause detritus that settles on the coral to stay put, this will start to decay and possibly become a source of infection and algal growth (a powerhead or turkey baster can remove this). Corals need high water movement to truly thrive.

6. Parasites and predation: this could be snails, fish, coral spiders and everything else that enjoys a coral snack. Often many invertebrate parasites are active at night, so get your hands on a red light to check for them.

The good news is that corals can recover over time if stress is kept to a minimum and the are well fed.

When it comes to disease and parasites, there are a number of effective treatments such as freshwater dips and antibiotics. You much ensure that all treatments are conducted in a quaratene tank, to avoid harming the other inhabitants and water quality of your display tank.

For more information about coral and invertebrate ailments, disease, symptoms and treatments see “Ultimate Secrets To Saltwater Aquarium Fish and Invertebrates”