Aquarium Maintenance
Whatever we have it needs looking after. A car needs to be serviced at regular intervals to keep it in top running condition. A house needs painting from time to time to maintain its value and appearance. A garden has to be weeded and hoed to maintain its attractiveness and fitness for purpose.
It’s the same with marine aquariums, they too require maintenance. Fail to regularly maintain the aquarium and the results will appear, such as unsightly invasions by algae, fish that are lethargic and maybe often sick, corals that are not close to their full splendor. The whole aquarium is affected and the living picture is not particularly inspiring, more an advertisement on ‘why not to have a marine aquarium’, or better ‘how not to do it’.
There is more than one type of marine aquarium and the types have one thing in common, apart from salt water that is. They all require maintenance. When the aquarist decided to take up the hobby part of his or her considerations involved maintenance, how long it could take and if the time could be regularly spared. If the aquarium is in existence then it follows that the answer was ‘yes’, assuming of course that the question about maintenance was asked.
Maintenance doesn’t usually take that long and is normally required once or twice a week. Different aquarists have different routines according to demand and the available time. All maintenance does not have to be done in one go, though usually most of it can be and then one or two odd jobs at another time. What is required is organization and this comes with a little experience. This experience arrives quite quickly as it is soon realized that a certain job would be better done with another, or major maintenance could be split into two making the job, or time management, easier.
All marine aquariums of whatever type have common requirements, for example cleaning the viewing glasses. The viewing glasses will soon advertise the fact that they aren’t being cleaned. Failure to carry out other routine maintenance is more subtle, over time environmental quality deteriorates and symptoms of this take time to appear. There are several maintenance examples which are common to all aquarium types.
Specific maintenance tasks could depend on the type of aquarium. Some aquariums have more support equipment than others and this equipment requires attention. A lot of it could be simple topping up of media and/or adjustment of flow rates and similar. These additional tasks are not particularly time consuming.
Maintaining the marine aquarium is not just about cleaning viewing glasses and the rest. It is also about ensuring that the system continues to work as a whole as it was designed. As time passes, corals and fish grow and this could actually be detrimental to the aquarium. This sounds a little silly but is correct nevertheless. The aquarist needs to know the system functions and be ready to correct any deficiency that might arise. Deficiencies do not necessarily mean the complete failure of a piece of equipment. There could be reasons that over time cause a piece of equipment to operate less efficiently. The aquarist needs to know what peak efficiency for the equipment means in order to spot anything amiss. Equipment is anything that is attached to or is in the aquarium that contributes to the welfare of the livestock. As said, different type aquariums have differing equipment and each piece of it is important.
Failure to carry out required maintenance will result in an aquarium that is not as beautiful as it could be. It could appear fine for quite a while but a slow decline sets in. Once living creatures are introduced to an aquarium their life actions cause a reduction in quality and this has to be counteracted. There is a basic way to do this which is simple. Some aquarists might argue that they have equipment in place which prevents quality reduction. This is to an extent correct; some equipment is designed to directly influence quality. However, none are capable of preventing the gradual reduction in overall quality; they slow it down and are better described as quality aids. There are signals that the aquarist could spot that warn of impending problems and noticing these is part of maintenance.
However, knowing what to do and what to look out for is gained by experience. Experience is one thing missing when a novice is setting up and then running an aquarium, and running an aquarium includes the maintenance element. It is very advantageous for the aquarist to know from the start what warnings could appear within the aquarium, and what to do about them. Fortunately there is information about that could help inexperienced aquarists. Unfortunately it could also be confusing as different opinions are often expressed which are of little help to someone who basically is asking ‘What do I do?’ There is information available about maintenance that runs from the very simple to the more complicated.
Maintenance is sometimes viewed as a chore. Really it should be seen as just part of the hobby and enjoyed. There is great enjoyment when watching the livestock and maintenance is supporting this as it has an impact on the welfare of the livestock. If the environment is of high quality, it follows that the livestock should be healthier thus continuing the enjoyment of the aquarist.
There is another aspect to maintenance as well and this reflects the setting up process. If the aquarium has been put together well this will be reflected in ongoing maintenance – there will be less of it. For example, if the aquarist has not obtained all of the necessary equipment, or has obtained equipment that is inadequate and cannot support the aquarium properly, then it will show in quality deterioration of one sort or another. This deterioration might just be the accumulation of excess detritus, or it could be something more serious. If there is this type of shortfall, the aquarist is going to have a larger maintenance job because of it.
Beautiful aquariums of course don’t just happen. They are carefully designed and built, then correctly stocked. They are also properly maintained.
If you are interested in purchasing maintenance related items then we recommend either using your local fish shop or on online aquarium store like Drs Foster Smith or That Fish Place.