When To Replace Your Aquarium Lights

There is only one thing that is a little more important than lighting with a marine aquarium and that is water quality. Lighting is only really important though when light demanding life is kept, such as in a reef aquarium.

If the system is fish only then lighting is important but nowhere near as much. Fish need to be able to see and the aquarist wishes to see them. That’s it. Of course, it is still desirable to have a dawn/dusk effect using at least two fluorescents, usually blue and white, with electric timers so that something approximating the increase and decrease of light at the beginning and end of the day can be provided. When should the fluorescent tubes be changed? If a tube is seen to be flickering then it needs changing. If the aquarist thinks the light has diminished it probably has, so get a replacement tube. If the ends of the tube(s) are blackened then it is getting old and could do with changing.

The reef system is a different matter. Here, lighting is usually fluorescent tubes, metal halide or a mixture of the two. As corals are being kept, be they soft or hard types, or a mixture, the lighting needs to provide the correct spectrum and intensity. When the lights are new they will do, but as time progresses the lights reduce in intensity and the spectrum can shift, both undesirable. The only way to correct these problems is to renew the light source.

When to renew is the subject of argument among experienced aquarists and particularly among very keen ones. Some argue that fluorescents should be changed as frequently as every 3 months and metal halide bulbs every 9 months. However, the guidelines for changing tubes and bulbs are more generous than that.

In the case of fluorescent tubes the point when flickering and blackened ends arises as previously mentioned should never be reached. The tubes should be changed well before that. The guideline is 12 months maximum from the date of first use. There isn’t a problem in changing the tubes more regularly than this of course and will not do any harm at all. I change my fluorescent tube array every 9 months.

Metal halide bulbs could be changed after a maximum 24 months from date of first use. This seems a long period and many aquarists, to be on the safe side, change more frequently. I do not use metal halide, but if I did I would probably change every 12 months. The expense is not too high. Changing the bulbs varies with different aquarists, some change at either 9, 12, 18 or 24 months! Just be safe by changing regularly at a shorter interval than recommended.

The recommendations for the expected life of a bulb, particularly metal halide, are usually available from the manufacturer. This is often given in hours so that varying lighting ‘time on’ periods can be accommodated. Once the recommended hours are known it is a simple matter to divide this by the daily running time so that life expectancy can be seen.

All aspects of marine aquarium husbandry require attention from time to time. It is essential to pay heed to one of the major ones, lighting. The use of a note book is recommended to remind the aquarist when a lighting change is due, and the notebook is useful for many other memory aids.

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Very Good, Yes, Very Good

The holiday my wife and I have just had that is. This time as I said before going, we went to Virginia. Flew into Richmond and stayed at a place called the Powhatton Plantation.

While in the area we visited all the historic places such as York Town where English rule more or less ended following the surrender of the English general Cornwallis to General Washington, and James Town where English rule began when a landing was made in 1907 (I’m generally into history and soak up dates like a sponge does water). A really good day was spent at Williamsburg looking at historical buildings, all well restored and maintained.

Arguably the best day of all was when we visited Washington DC. What a great place to spend leisure time at. A visit was of course made to the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, the White House, the Congress, and the Smithsonian Museums. The latter were far too large for a proper look to be made unfortunately. Much more was seen. As said, great.

Anyway, holiday over, another tick on the map and a whole load of new memories.

Peter’s done some good blogs while I was away. He’s also done a good caretaking job on my reef aquarium, all the corals are fine and the fish are out and about in good colour. The glass isn’t too bad for algae, a quick run over with the magnet scraper will sort that out. The RO (reverse osmosis) water I left for Peter to use for top-ups hasn’t gone down much. That’s because I always put cover glasses on when away to reduce evaporation – they’ll be taken off again now. Anyway, many thanks to Peter.

I like the link to EBay that’s now on the website. Hopefully it will be very useful. Along with the Marketplace and the sponsor’s sites that are accessible, there’s a lot of choice. I also notice that the forum is coming back into use now that Peter has fixed the problem that arose previously. I cannot guarantee that I’m correct – but definitely suspect I will be – I reckon the website is unique in what is offered overall.

My brain is still slightly ‘on holiday’ (my wife would probably say it’s always that way) but I’m nearly back to normal, whatever normal actually is.

Glad to say ‘hello’ once again.

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How Does Aqua Compare Work?

We have had a few emails recently asking what Aqua Compare is, how it can benefit them and how it works.

Basically Aqua Compare is a price comparison site designed especially for aquarists. The majority of price comparison sites are aimed at a very wide market and whilst some of these do have aquarium related products in them there do not normally appear to be that many. Aqua Compare is loaded with products only in relation to aquariums and from this the software behind the scenes is able to see which stores any products are sold by.

At times the product may only be sold by one store however in other occasions several stores may sell the items. This is where Aqua Compare is useful as you can identify where you can purchase it the cheapest from.

This leads me to another question which came in via email. The products listed on the site sometimes do not display a store when the store actually does sell this relevant item. For the software to be able to identify which product(s) to add store prices to the item name must be exact.

For example if the product is called ‘Aqua Medic Protein Skimmer’ on Aqua Compare however on the store it is called Aquamedic Protein Skimmer’ then the software will not see this as the same item and therefore the store will not be added. Effectively the software looks for an exact match in the product name area.

This has posed to be a bit of a challenge as various sites do list items on their sites in different ways and for this reason there are times when duplicate entries are seen. This is to try and accomodate as many stores as possible for price comparison reasons.

More stores are continuously being added to Aqua Compare therefore over time you should be able to compare prices for many more stores and many more products. Store prices and products are going to be checked on a monthly basis so that new products are added and the prices are up to date.

I hope that Aqua Compare will become an area which people will use and find beneficial. Nowadays with the current financial climate if you can save money by ‘comparing’ prices then it has to be worthwhile.

Aqua Compare | The Aquarists Price Comparison Site

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Thank You To Our Sponsors

This is just a quick note to say thank you to the sponsors of Aquarists Online. Without these sponsors then the costs of hosting may be little to much to cope with!

Both John and I heartily recommend that you check out our sponsors websites for any of your aquarium requirements – they all have some very good prices.

Marine Depot

Salty Supply

Global Aquaria

Once again thanks.

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Why Is Water Movement So Important In A Home Aquarium

Let’s take a quick look at the ocean – it is a vast area which is exceptionally dynamic. The animals which live in the ocean, some of which make it to our aquariums are used to the action of the water movement.

The secret of a successful marine aquarium other than research and patience is optimum water quality, adequate lighting and water movement.

Water movement is not something which is appreciated by marine aquarists but is normally something which is provided as it is believed that it needs to be provided. To appreciate the important of water movement it is important to understand its role in nature, understand the requirements of the animals and then finally work out the best way to provide the required water movement.

Water movement’s role in nature is for many things. It allows for gas exchange, the provision of dissolved oxygen, the provision of food to animals, the removal of waste, the exchange of nutrients between filtration methods (In the wild this could be between the reef itself and grass beds/mangroves etc).

Water movement within the home aquarium has a simple term which is simply ‘turnover’ which is also classified as the amount of water which is moved around the aquarium per hour. There is a standard minimum turnover for a reef aquarium which is 10 times per hour. Therefore if you have an aquarium which is 100 gallons then you will need to ‘turnover’ the aquarium water 1000gph.

It is not as simple as purchasing the correct amount of water pumps, powerheads, wavemakers to facilitate the correct amount of turnover. There will be some fine tuning required in order to provide the correct types of currents to the animals in the aquarium. This is especially true when corals are being kept as their water movement requirements are higher than that of fish. Corals unlike fish do not have the ability to be able to walk around the aquarium in search of the ultimate spot. Some anemones do have this ability and move around the aquarium looking for the perfect location. Unfortunately quite often this is round the rear of the tank out of sight!

I shall have to get a little bit scientific here in order to explain why corals require strong water currents. Hopefully it will not get confusing. When water flows around a coral its viscosity increases due to friction. At the water/coral interface the water is at its highest viscosity – basically the water becomes really thick and due to this a stagnant area of water is evident around the coral. When this happens the coral literally poisons itself due to the inability for diffusion to occur. Obviously this is not something that we want to happen and the correct amount and type of water movement needs to be implemented. We cannot just point an outlet from a powerhead directly at a coral as this will not be appreciated and could again kill the coral.

Whilst fish do not have the same requirement for strong water movement as corals do there are a lot of fish who respond better when kept in an aquarium with strong water currents. Feeding time is more natural and the fish continuously move themselves around to be in the correct flow pattern where both essential oxygen and food is provided.

Another area to consider is the filtration itself. If live rock is used then enough water movement needs to be provided to allow the water to be able to move over, around and into the rockwork so that the bacteria can do its job. If not enough water movement is provided there will be areas in the aquarium where the water is not moving and stagnant. These areas effectively become bad and are not being processed by the filtration. Live rock can only process the water which passes over it therefore if the water is not moved to the filtration area then quite simply it will not get processed and before long the water quality will begin to suffer. From here the slippery slope begins.

One area which is often forgotten about is the air interface – the surface of the water. If flow water movement is provided then the low oxygen areas in the water will stay near the bottom of the aquarium and the oxygen rich areas near the top will stay near the top. For the air/water exchange to work effectively the surface of the water needs to be broken. This can be achieved in many ways – it can be achieved using a spray bar, a small powerhead pointing up to the surface of the water or can with enough water movement in the aquarium be created all on it’s own.

What we need to achieve is a lot of water movement in the aquarium using what is called a wide flow. The output from a powerhead is a thin flow and whilst powerful is damaging. The flow itself does not want to be laminar in pattern i.e. all in one direction instead it needs to be chaotic/turbulent.

Looking at the corals in the wild we can see that they sway in all directions as the water currents move them around. If you have ever been scuba diving or even snorkelling on/over a reef then you will appreciate how water movement in nature works.

Another type of flow which is very popular is what is called surge flow where the water flow in a back and forward type of action. There are various devices available which assist in the creation of this type of flow and also various do it yourself plans available however personally I believe that even this type of flow needs to be broken up so that is becomes turbulent.

I am a firm believer in trying to emulate nature as much as possible in the home aquarium and water movement is no exception. Quite often in the wild the water currents reduce due to the lack of wind at the waters surface. Again this is relatively easy to achieve with a light sensor which either reduces the speed of the pump or turns it off altogether.

The aquascaping in the aquarium will also have an impact on the flow in the aquarium. When the water flow hits or passes over the rocks then friction will occur and this will effectively reduce the amount of flow in the aquarium. The same can be said for corals especially hard corals as they grow larger. As they grow the flow in the aquarium will change and will need to be periodically reviewed. Due to the rocks and corals in the aquarium there will be areas of the aquarium where the water flow is significantly different. This is not too much of a problem as long as corals are placed in locations which are suitable for their requirements – both water movement and lighting. It is imperative however to ensure that there are no areas of stagnant water as this will create problems further down the road.

When planning the water movement in the aquarium there are normally two factors which are taken into consideration. The first one is the requirements of the animals in the aquarium and the second one is cost.

Powerheads are normally the aquarists first choice as they are cheap to purchase and can create good flow within the aquarium with careful positioning. As already stated we need to be careful to ensure that the flow is not pointed directly at a coral as damage can occur.

Wider pumps are available which have a much wider outlet and instead of an impellor have a propeller type device and this creates a strong yet soft flow if that makes sense which therefore means that flow can be provided which is much more beneficial to the corals in the aquarium. Care still needs to be taken with placement so that no damage is caused to the corals however the flow created is much more natural.

There are various other methods which can be utilised. Wavemaker devices can be implemented to create random flow. These can be automated devices which switch pumps on and off to create a random flow. Again care does need to be taken with these are powerheads/pumps are not created to be turned on and off all the time and damage can occur to the powerheads/pumps. Other wavemaker devices are also obtainable which are similar in design to those of wavemaker devices in swimming pools.

Another option which is my personal favourite is the implementation of what is called closed loop. This is where the pumps are located outside of the aquarium and flow is directed into the relevant areas of the aquarium using pipework.

It is my opinion that water movement is one of the six important factors of a successful home aquarium.

These are:

Planning, patience, research, water quality, lighting and water movement.

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What To Look For When Purchasing A New Fish

The purchase of a new fish be this your very first one or a new one to an existing aquarium already stocked with fish can be a very exciting time. Due to the excitement this can often result in impulse purchases.

Everyone is tempted to purchase on impulse and it is one of the hardest things to come to terms with. You go into the fish shop and in the display aquariums are some exceptionally beautiful fish swimming around all saying ‘buy me, buy me!’

This is a temptation however which needs to be resisted at all times. If you are presented with this opportunity try to take a step back and if it is a fish that you would like then ask the store to hold it for you whilst you check your aquarium and research it’s requirements. You can always go back and purchase it later.

It is very important in my opinion to have an idea as to what you are going to stock in the aquarium. All the fish in the aquarium need to get on with each other. Quite probably a lot of the fish in the aquarium will be from different areas of the world and in nature they would never see each other. The last thing you want to happen in the aquarium is for ant type of fighting or territorial behaviour to start. You want an aquarium where all the fish live in harmony with each other.

Prior to going to the fish store to purchase a fish it is imperative that you check all the water parameters to ensure that they are ok.

Once at the fish store however how are you going to tell a good fish from a bad one.

Actually thinking about it the word bad is probably not the correct one to use here – a better way to say it would be a fish which is in better condition than another fish.

Colouration

Colour is actually quite a hard one to use to base your decision on but it is a good starting point.Looking at is the colour of the fish in relation to other fish which are the same may show that the fish has been collected correctly, handled properly, acclimatised to the aquarium correctly and is settled in the stores display aquarium.

It does need to be noted however that the colour of the same species of fish can vary in their natural appearance so although colour is a good general indication of the overall health of the animal there are others which need to be taken into consideration.

Swimming

How is the fish moving?

Of course all fish have different swimming patterns and this does need to be taken into consideration. What we are looking for in this area is that the fish is able to hold position in the aquarium with minimal effort and does not appear to be irritated or alarmed in any way. This is dependant upon the fish but swimming with the head facing down for example may be an indication of an issue with the swimbladder.

As said all fish have different swimming patterns and it will take time for you to understand what is good, what is bad and what is natural.

The Eyes

When looking to the eyes of a fish they should be both clear and bright. There should not be any cloudiness to the eyes or any type of growth, There are quite a few eye problems which can be encountered in fish. The majority of these can be treated however I personally would not purchase on which requires treatment unless it was treated in the store first and I could inspect it further before deciding to make a purchase.

Another area to look for is where the eyes appear to protruding from the fish’s head.

The Fins

The fins on the fish should be clear and show no form of speckling or cloudiness. There are various infections, normally parasitic which become obvious when inspecting the fins of the fish.

The fins should not be damaged in any way. This is not normally due to infection but is due to fighting, netting or scratching. Whilst damaged fins do heal quickly there are prone to infection and if the fish is placed under the stress of being captured then this risk increases.

The Body

Inspecting the body of a fish tells us a lot about the overall health of a fish. Obviously fish of different species have different shapes and it may be surprising to hear that fish from the same species can also have different shapes. For example captive bred fish. Captive bred fish sometimes are shaped differently to that of their counterparts in the wild.

The main reason the fish’s body is inspected is so we can see if it has been feeding correctly. Fish who have not been feeding correctly are normally quite thing when you look down their sides from the front. Their body appears to look pinched which in turn makes their head look larger than their body.

It can also sometimes mean that there is underlying problem with infection or stress. Whilst thin fish can be fattened up this does take time, care and patience and I would not recommend that the beginner take this task on until more experience is gained.

Breathing

On some occasions fish display small symptoms in relation to problems, infections etc. Their bodies may look ok, their fins intact, the eyes clear and the fish is moving correctly however the fish could be breathing heavily. This can be seen by watching the gills of the fish. If they are beating fast then there may be an underlying problem. This does not mean that there is a problem but it should raise concern as you simply do not know if the fish is poorly or not.

Feeding

One of the most useful things to do and unfortunately one of the least done things is watching the fish feed. Even fish that may be poorly may feed well but if a fish shows no desire to feed then realistically it should not be purchased. Fish when feeding are opportunistic and rarely turn a meal down.

There are some fish which are hard to feed or have a strict diet. It is of my opinion that these types of fish are not suitable for the beginner and should be investigated when more experience is gained.

There are also some fish which are healthy in all areas but simply refuse to feed. In the end unfortunately these fish are going to die and although you may try everything you can to get them to feed ultimately this will often end in dissapointment. There is also another concern with this is that when you are trying to get a fish to feed you will probably introduce more food than you would normally and then your water quality will suffer ultimately putting your other corals, fish etc at risk.

Therefore it is essential that you ask the dealer to feed the fish in front of you. Don’t stand to close to the aquarium when this is performed. Stand back and watch the fish feeding. You will know very quickly if it is going to feed or not. The fish should be enthusiastic about the food offered and dash around the aquarium looking for food to consume.

Closure

So there we go – an article which details what to look out for when purchasing fish. This is an area, among many which a lot of aquarists do not do and a lot of fish die plus a lot of aquarists are upset, dis-heartened etc because of it. It does not take long to do and the ultimate long health of the fish will be better plus your enjoyment looking after it.

Also remember that when the fish is purchased it should be captured correctly by the store owner, bagged correctly and then once taken home it should be both acclimatised and quarantined correctly.

On another matter a lot of people are now purchasing fish online as well as other animals for the aquarium. This article does not cover this however a while ago we created a short guide detailing what to do when purchasing fish online. This is a PDF document and can be downloaded from the link below:

http://www.aquaristsonline.com/PurchOnline.pdf

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First Introduction – Fish Or Invertebrate

The majority of aquarists decide that the first introduction to their aquariums should be a fish yet does it need to be this way.

I fully understand why this happens and perhaps this is due to historic reasons where aquarists used hardy fish to assist in the cycling of their aquariums. Something which I am glad to say is not done anymore. Perhaps it is the movement and colour of the fish which draws the eye. There are many reasons as to why people choose a fish as the first inhabitant of their aquarium. It uis of course not up to me to sway their decision in any way but perhaps people believe that a fish has to be the first introduction.

On another note if the aquarium is a fish only aquarium then the aquarists will of course be introducing a fish first!

For the aquarist with a reef aquarium however there is another choice especially when live rock is used as the filtration but it does not matter what filtration is employed. Live rock even when matured correctly is not very sterile and therefore may carry opportunistic parasites. When a fish is caught in the dealers it is put under immense stress due to the catching, the bagging, the transport etc. When the fish is introduced to the aquarium its immune system may be lower than normal and in a reef tank filtered via live rock it may become prey to opportunistic parasites.

I appreciate that the above can happen at any time in the aquariums life however at the very start the aquarist is learning and if a fish is lost at the very start then this is sad for obvious reasons however the aquarist’s confidence in the aquarium and his/her own abilities and may give up the hobby.
There are certain fish which are more resilient than others however a lot of these fish – damselfish for example can become problematic later due to the aggressive nature and it is very hard to remove a fish from an aquarium with live rock in it!

Another method at the very start instead of fish is introducing hardy invertebrates.

By introducing hardy invertebrates first the aquarist will gain experience in acclimatisation techniques as well as stocking techniques. At the very start when the aquarist’s knowledge is low for want of a better word it is probably fair to say that a fair amount of tinkering will be employed. What I mean by this is that the aquarists hands will be in the aquarium a lot moving various corals around as well as the relevant water movement devices until they are satisfied that the conditions provided in the aquarium are suitable for the aquarium inhabitants.

If the decision is made to introduce invertebrates prior to fish then the aquarium, as with fish must be ready for the introduction of them. By this I mean that the nitrogen cycle has completed, there are no large algae outbreaks evident or they are under control and the water conditions are maintained in accordance with the recommended levels. For examples nitrates should be low as should phosphate levels. More than that the water conditions should not just be maintained they should be stable.

With the aquarist deciding to introduce invertebrates in the first instance the equipment purchased and installed should be capable of support the life in the aquarium. For example the lighting needs to be correct. This may sound basic but I hear of a lot of people trying to keep corals under lighting which to be honest is just not suitable for them.

At this point – actually a lot earlier the aquarist should know what corals, fish etc that they want to keep and should have based their purchases around this decision. At this point in the aquariums life you would not be looking at introducing an SPS coral like acropora etc as the aquarium is simply not ready for it.

At this point the corals you will be interested in purchasing are the ones which are not too expensive and do not have the colour of the majority of SPS corals. This is not to say that these corals are dull and colourless as they are far from it but when you compare prices you will see what I mean!

Speaking of purchase again I recommend that you build a relationship with a local dealer, another hobbyist or an online area (like Aquarists Online hint hint…) where you can go and ask advice as to what is suitable etc. Building a relationship with others is important as you can use their experience, their knowledge to your advantage o=plus you can learn a lot about the hobby and will hopefully not make expensive mistakes.

When selecting corals you are looking for corals which are suitable for the beginner. When looking you will probably see some exceptionally colourful species. I would probably stay away from these as there are some species which do not contain zooanthellae and require feeding for them to thrive. A good example of this is the sun coral. There are also other colourful ones which are probably for more advanced aquarists or aquarists who have had stable aquariums for a long period of time.

You have to remember that the aquarium is new and the water, rockwork, sand, glass, equipment etc all needs to age. You can always come back to these more colourful corals when your confidence has grown by maintaining a reef aquarium for a number of years.

In my opinion the list below details what I believe to be good ‘starter corals’ and are suitable for first introduction.

• Button Polyps
• Xenia
• Mushrooms
• Leather Corals
• Star Polyps

This does not mean that you should not introduce fish. I personally think that an aquarium with just corals in and no fish lacks movement however I think that perhaps more aquarists should introduce invertebrates prior to introducing fish to gain both confidence in themselves as well as giving the aquarium time to settle.

This of course also does not mean that you will not get problems when introducing fish at a later stage. You might but just remember to acclimatise them properly and use a quarantine tank.

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