Signing Off Until 2009!

Well it’s that time of year again and hasn’t the year gone fast? December has certainly flown by. It seems like just a couple of seconds ago that young Joshua started opening his advent calendar!

It’s been a great year for Aquarists Online. We have implemented a lot of new features to the site and both John and I are really pleased with how the site is progressing. We pledge to continue next year posting articles on a daily basis and hope that you will stay with us as we grow - well we hope we continue to grow anyway!

More merchants will be added to Aqua Compare and looking at the statistics of the site it is being used by a lot of people. The social area and the forum are both quiet but hopefully they will pick up and more people will start to use them. There is also something new that we will be announcing in the new year but I’m afraid you will have to wait until then to find out what it is.

If there is anything that you feel would be a beneficial addition to the site or there is any information you would like us to start writing about then please let us know and we will do all we can to provide it.

Until the new year we are going to be having a break from blogging so there will be no new articles posted to the site until then.

So wherever you are in the world both John and I would like to say thank you for visiting Aquarists Online - we hope you enjoy the site because we enjoy running it and we both hope that you have……

A Fantastic Christmas

And

A Super New Year

All The Very Best

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Building Your own Calcium Reactor

Those aquarists that own a fish only system are not overly concerned with calcium levels as it is mainly the captive reef where the level needs monitoring.

Even an aquarist with a reef aquarium could be able to maintain a sufficient calcium presence by the use of commercially produced additives or even by routine seawater changes. The former options would usually apply to small aquariums and perhaps those containing soft corals only.

The larger aquarium, particularly one that houses SPS (small polyp stony) corals, is more than likely to find that routine seawater changes do not maintain a high enough calcium level. The use of commercial additives will maintain the level but the ongoing cost is likely to be prohibitive. So what’s to be done?

There are ways to automate the provision of calcium, and one of these is the calcium reactor. This works on a simple principle, and that is that if calcium rich media is placed in a chamber where the pH is low (slightly acidic) then the media will dissolve.

In the calcium reactor aquarium seawater is slowly moved through a chamber by a pump. Inside this chamber is the media. Also fed into the chamber is carbon dioxide, which reduces the pH causing the media to slowly dissolve. The seawater is then re-directed to the aquarium carrying with it the additional calcium.

The device needs to be a little more complicated as the carbon dioxide has to be fed into the chamber at a fairly precise rate which requires a control valve. Also, the output from the device, the seawater returning to the aquarium, needs to be controlled. These controls are necessary so that in the first place the media dissolves to a sufficient extent, and secondly so that the aquarist has control over the speed of delivery of the enriched seawater. This allows more precise control over the level of calcium in the aquarium seawater.

The trouble is, a good reliable calcium reactor is not a cheap device. (Is anything I hear someone cry?) If the aquarist is not sure of his/her DIY skills then the device is still worth the price as it saves time and labour with additives, in the long term probably costs less than using additives, and affords a better way of continuously feeding calcium to the aquarium to maintain the selected level.

If the aquarist is reasonably good at DIY, or knows of someone who is and who is willing to undertake projects out of interest, then a home built device is a definite possibility.

The link provided gives good detail on material requirements and procedures with lists, instructions and pictures. There are even suggestions where the materials could be sourced. If DIY is being considered, do not be initially put off by what appears to be fairly complicated - when studied for a while it isn’t.

http://www.personal.psu.edu/sbj4/aquarium/articles/DIYCalciumReactor.htm

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Tags: Aquarium Maintenance, Calcium Reactor, Care, DIY, Equipment, Water Quality

It’s All Done. That’s It Then

It can take quite a time setting up a marine aquarium system. There’s the initial thought of ‘What do I want to keep, a captive reef or fish only?’ and that’s the easy decision.

Then questions arise such as finding a suitable location for the aquarium, how big will the aquarium be, does it need a sump, what about lighting, what about heating, what about filtration, what about a protein skimmer?  And more. It is then realized that deciding what type of system to keep was definitely the easy bit!

Setting up the system will have been easier for those who have a wallet fat enough to purchase a ‘plug and play’ aquarium. Fair enough, though they too have a few problems on occasion when the system is in operation. Overall the systems are good, but there does need to be a protein skimmer upgrade here and there, or the seawater circulation boosted occasionally.

My own preference has always been to set up a system from individual components, I find it more interesting and enjoyable, and the system then becomes ‘mine’ - a good job really, the price of the ready-made systems of interest would have been too expensive.

Anyway, after much research, checking and obtaining advice the job is done. The aquarium stands there full of seawater with a biological filter ready to be prepared.

So off it goes again: research into fish, corals, maybe a shrimp or two, hermit crabs and the like. This takes a while as stocking needs to be done slowly, but again eventually it is done.

The aquarist now has a learning period, for example how often does the aquarium need calcium or an alkalinity boost? What is the evaporation rate? Is the pH at the right level and stable? Is the presence of ammonia and nitrite permanently undetectable? How fast does nitrate rise? Is enough seawater being changed weekly? Is the skimmer operating properly, along with the rest of the equipment? Are the livestock healthy? Is feeding being done properly, or is it overfeeding? You get the idea.

Before too long the aquarist knows it all, the nitrate trends, the efficiency of the bio-filter, the feeding requirements of the livestock, the efficiency of the skimmer and the rest.

Time to relax more and enjoy the view. Routine maintenance doesn’t take long once needs are fully known and some efficiency experience has been gained.

All being well, the fish will display their true wonderful colours as will the corals. The fish only system or captive reef will show the full potential. The aquarist can indeed be proud of the success and has earned the enjoyment.

Will this success last? Well, why not, provided interest doesn’t diminish and routine maintenance is completed. There is a potential problem in this success though.

The first danger is that the aquarist doesn’t notice a reduction in seawater flow from a sump or filters caused by the slow choking of delivery pipes with deposits, or a reduction in seawater circulation because of inlet blocking on the powerheads and other similar occurrences.

If routine maintenance is done properly, as has been envisaged, then this may well be picked up.

There is a second danger from success, and that can be from the natural growth of livestock. In a fish only system the bio-load is likely to be at its maximum from the start. It shouldn’t be theoretically, as growth should be taken into account. However, often it isn’t and the aquarist purchases as many beautiful fish as the stocking formula will permit. No problem there, but what of growth? First of all, larger fish will eat more and the overall metabolism will place a greater load on the biological filter. Can the bio-filter cope? Let’s hope so! Then larger fish could decide that they want larger quarters. The ones available are already occupied, so aggression increases. Smaller and/or more timid fish could fear to come out into open water and the stress could be dangerous to their health. In this scenario the aquarist will need to make new decisions but in reverse this time - which fish could go?

In the captive reef there are less fish but growth of the fish can still occur. Hopefully aggression over a lack of accommodation will not become a problem as there is a full reef and, as said, less fish. However, though there are less fish - the aquarist again stuck to the recommended formula - it is possible the reef could become ‘overloaded’ relative to seawater quality. It is much less likely that the bio-filter will fail to cope, particularly if live rock was used to construct the reef.

Considering the captive reef again and seawater flow. This has already been mentioned in relation to equipment and seawater delivery. Corals also grow, and can grow to a large size. They then are capable of altering seawater flow. Corals that require strong flow may receive a much weaker one, or a coral that requires moderate flow may receive weak or no flow at all. The corals will start to lose their spectacular appearance, not instantly but slowly. Polyp extension could be less. Eventually it will be noticed. What is needed is careful pruning to ensure that flow rates remain at optimum levels everywhere. Pruning will give the aquarist the opportunity to grow on new corals from the parts removed (called ‘fragging’). Whether ‘fragging’ is done or not, the pruning products could go to another aquarist or a retailer. Pruning corals can achieve another purpose, and that is to reduce the shadow that one coral has thrown over another because of growth.

These potential dangers are not bothersome though. They are easily dealt with and only require the aquarist to look critically at the reef or fish only display and note the various situations. The aquarium is being looked at in entirety and in detail anyway, that’s where so much pleasure is derived, so noting an overgrown coral or a growing fish isn’t really anything extra.

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Tags: Aquarium Maintenance, aquarium-livestock, Care, Coral Propagation, Equipment, Water Quality

How Should I Go About Choosing A Heater For My Reef Tank?

Most marine systems are set up to house tropical livestock, which means that attention has to be given to maintaining a moderately high seawater temperature. The recommended temperature is 75 to 80 deg F, though some experienced aquarists run at a higher level to increase the metabolism of all the livestock. The novice should not do this but stick to the recommended levels.

Heating the seawater is straightforward nowadays, as a unit called a heater/stat is commonly available. These take the form of a longish tube with a thermostat at the top end and a heater unit at the lower end. They are available from local retailers and online and the price is very reasonable.

Aquarium heaters used to be the source of a few problems in the past with sticking contacts in the thermostats or general failure. Nowadays they are more reliable though the danger of a sticking thermostat is still present. There are ways of reducing the risk but obtaining the heater unit is the first consideration.

The heater/stat is available in several wattages (W) and the size of the aquarium, or rather the net total gallonage of the aquarium which includes any sump, dictates the heating need. The usual guideline is to allow 2 watts per gallon of seawater for a normally heated room. If the room is unheated then the wattage is doubled. So keeping things simple, a 50 gallon system in a heated room would require 100W, and in an unheated room 200W. These wattages are not based on a formula that must be rigidly followed, what is required is that the heating is known to be fully capable for all possible demands. Wattages that are a little higher - within reason - should not be harmful.

It may be thought that buying a bigger heater, say 400w in a heated room, would be better as that capacity will not face any problems ever. However, it is not a good idea. If the thermostat contact sticks in the ‘on’ position then the seawater will heat up more quickly, possibly meaning that the aquarist doesn’t notice the excessive temperature problem until it is too late.

Once the heating requirement is known there isn’t anything to stop the aquarist purchasing a heater/stat of the correct wattage (if the wattage doesn’t match the net gallonage the next heater up should be chosen). Again remembering that though modern heaters are much more reliable than they used to be potential problems have not been totally eliminated, so it is best to obtain two heater/stats. They should not individually equal the full heating requirement of the system, but half of it. In other words, if 200W is required then obtain two heater/stats at 100W each. This will help to prevent a problem with one of the thermostat contacts sticking ‘on’ or ‘off’: if one sticks in the ‘on’ position then the other will turn off when the design temperature has been reached slowing down the temperature climb, or if it sticks in the ‘off’ position then the other heater will prevent the seawater cooling too quickly. Hopefully the aquarist will notice the problem in the extra time the system affords.

With two heater/stats the temperature setting on each should be the same. Many heater/stats are set at 75 deg F before they leave the factory so if the aquarist requires a higher temperature then the devices will require adjustment. This brings up another point: when purchase is being considered ensure any temperature adjustment is easily accomplished. There are heater/stats nowadays that display the temperature setting on a clear scale and an easy to use adjustment knob is at the top of the unit.

There isn’t an absolute requirement that two heating units are used, but for the reasonable extra financial outlay it is worthwhile.

Finally, before parting with hard cash find out what the temperature variance of the heater/stat is. The temperature variance is the difference between when the heater turns off and when it turns on again - in other words the sensitivity of the thermostat. A variance of 1.5 deg F is good but manufacturer’s products vary.

Really that is all there is to consider when obtaining heater/stats, but I’ll just mention one other thing. I should point out that though this is generally desirable for accuracy and dependability there isn’t an absolute requirement.

Some aquarists when setting up a system decide to employ an exterior electronic controller. They can of course be retro-fitted. The controller usually takes the form of a small box perhaps 4″ square or so. There is a mains electricity connection, and a socket from which the electricity for the heaters is supplied. In addition, there is a small temperature probe that goes in the seawater. Temperature is set usually by means of a small knob, and the heaters are shown to be active or not by an indicator light. If two heater/stats are in use, they should both be connected to the controller (ensure the power handling capacity - wattage - that the controller can handle is not exceeded). Once the design temperature for the seawater has been set on the controller, the temperature setting on the heater/stats should be 2 deg F higher. This means that the heater stats are always in the ‘on’ position. Some electronic controllers pulse electricity through the heaters, reacting to the probe readings. If the seawater is trying to cool, the pulses are longer (so the heaters apply heat for longer), if it starting to warm up too much the pulses shorten. It is reported that as the heater coils are always warm, not going from cold to hot and back again the heating coils last longer. These electronic units could control temperature to +/- .5 deg F. It sounds as though they could be an expensive item, but they aren’t.

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Tags: aquarium controller, aquarium equipment. aquarium heater, Aquarium Maintenance, aquarium-temperature, Care

The Most Replaced Marine Equipment

I need to point out straight away that I do not have any supporting statistics for what is to follow, so I’ll use the word ‘probably’.

There are parts of a marine set-up that are essential. One, and the most important, is the biological filter without which there would be failure. Then of course there are heaters, without which, for a tropical system anyway, there would also be failure. These are not the ones that are regularly replaced; arguably the protein skimmer takes this role.

Why this should be is uncertain. Most aquarists including novices, who have taken advice and done some research, realize the importance of the skimmer. It is important for the removal of dissolved organic substances (DOCS). It is, after the biological filter, arguably the most valuable seawater quality enhancement equipment available. There is a considerable array of skimmers to be had from different manufacturers and in different forms and they are easy to obtain.

So if the need for a skimmer is understood why should this piece of equipment be the most replaced? There is a hint in that sentence with the word ‘replaced’, meaning that the aquarist has, a while after setting up the system, decided to obtain a new skimmer. Why would anyone replace equipment when it is still functioning? This would normally occur because the original does not perform as desired and an improvement is required.

Another clue is that time has elapsed before replacement occurs. Time is the requirement for experience. It is improbable that many experienced aquarists replace skimmers - this action may have occurred earlier.

So it is the new aquarist who often employs an inadequate skimmer. Note the word ‘often’, as many to their credit carry out adequate research and consider sensible advice.

It may be that when a system is being set-up there is a budget. The financial demands of constructing a system are not small and the budget may be strained. The price of a skimmer can seem very high when the cost is compared to the actual article - how could that cost so much? It is known that a skimmer is needed and a package is seen that states the device can handle X gallons. The price seems very reasonable. The retailer advises ‘Yes that will do’ and the skimmer is purchased.

Or maybe on a similar theme the novice aquarist is researching and sees two or more skimmers that claim to function equally, but one is considerably cheaper than the others. Well, it’s a skimmer isn’t it; the others must be overpriced so being sensible the cheaper one is bought.

When a newly set-up system is being stocked it is done slowly. There is little live stock in the aquarium for a while and the skimmer has little to do. The aquarist gets used to there being little scum in the collection cup and comes to regard it as normal. It is only much later when comparisons are made with a colleagues system and the scum being collected is noticed, or when evidence of organics is noted in the aquarium, that real doubts arise. Then, after checking the skimmer is working properly, it is replaced with surprising results. The original unit is consigned to the garage to gather dust.

How should a skimmer be chosen? Price is always a factor to consider, of course, but price is controlled to an extent by competition and by shopping around. There are a few other points on the check list.

Perhaps the best skimmer type for a novice to obtain is a ‘venturi’ and it is likely these are the ones most bought. A well designed model of this type has a very acceptable performance. Before even considering purchase, the aquarist must know the net gallonage of his/her system because the skimmer has to handle this gallonage. Note this is the full system which includes any sump. If the aquarist cannot work out the net gallonage then take the given gross capacity of the aquarium and combine that with any sump.

If the skimmer can be seen working all the better. If not, has a colleague got one? If not, once the skimmer is decided do not purchase it but seek opinion on a busy internet forum.

The skimmer will be either a hang-on or stand alone model. The aquarium set-up will decide which is required. The skimmer must be capable of processing at least the gallonage it has to handle. This is where problems can still occur - manufacturers can sometimes overstate the performance of their product. To counteract this possibility, try and over buy, that is, obtain a skimmer that will handle twice the capacity of the aquarium system. It will not do any harm if the skimmer capability given originally is accurate.

A well known and respected marine equipment manufacturer stated that there are three things that really matter with a skimmer: air intake, water flow, and air intake.

A check of air intake and flow can be made visually to an extent. When the skimmer can be seen running, the chamber where the bubbles accumulate should be a milky white colour, indicating that the air intake is adequate and many tiny bubbles are being created. There shouldn’t be many bubbles, if any, returning to the aquarium. In the throat of the skimmer, the bubbles should be rising before they burst (if loaded with organics they will continue to rise).

Purchasing an adequate skimmer in the first place can be expensive, but worth it as it will no doubt be cheaper than the cost of the original and its replacement. The aquarium will be better too, seawater quality will be kept at a higher level and the livestock will show it.

There’ll also be a bit more space in the garage to store something else.

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Tags: aquarium, Aquarium Maintenance, Care, Equipment, marine-aquarium, saltwater-aquarium

The Constituents Of Seawater

The seas and oceans cover the majority of the planet surface. Within those seas the wild reefs have grown and all of their needs are met, be that calcium or whatever. The life on the wild reef has had a very long time to adapt to the sea, which is considered to be stable.

Some of these life forms end up in the home marine aquarium. With the natural seas being so stable it follows that for success the conditions on the wild reef should be duplicated as near as possible, and conditions provided that successfully permit life to function and be healthy.

Seawater quality is the number one on the list of ‘must haves’ for success so it follows that the seawater used should be as close as possible in make-up to the natural kind. In much earlier days aquarists would obtain some constituents – not all of them by any means – from a chemist and mix up a brew. Livestock existed in this fairly well for a while but trouble usually appeared. Nowadays there are many high quality dry salt mixes available which the manufacturers state equals the natural type. Be that as it may, the appearance of these dry salt mixes has brought the successful maintenance of a marine system within the reach of every aspiring aquarist provided the interest in the hobby is maintained and the requisite maintenance is done.

Seawater is a mix of many things, some of them present in major amounts, others in trace amounts, and more with a very tiny presence. So for the benefit of anyone interested there follows a list of the make-up of seawater. There is clearly no requirement of any kind for an aquarist to know them but as said it may be of interest. It could also be of use for aquarists who wish to maintain natural levels of important parts such as calcium etc.

Major Elements. (All measurements in mg/l)

Chlorine	18880
Sodium	10770
Magnesium	1290
Sulphur	884
Calcium	412.1
Potassium	399
Bromine	67.3
Carbon	28
Nitrogen	15
Strontium	7.9
Boron	4.5
Silicon	2
Fluorine	1.3

Trace Elements. (All measurements in ug/l)

Lithium	180
Rubidium	120
Iodine	60
Phosphorus	60
Molybdenum	10
Zinc	4.9
Argon	4.3
Arsenic	3.7
Uranium	3.2
Vanadium	2.5
Aluminium	2
Barium	2
Iron	2
Nickel	1.7
Titanium	1
Copper	0.5
Cesium	0.4
Chromium	0.3
Antimony	0.24
Manganese	0.2
Krypton	0.2
Selenium	0.2
Neon	0.12
Cadmium	0.1
Wolfram	0.1
Cobalt	0.05
Germanium	0.05
Xenon	0.05
Silver	0.04
Gallium	0.03
Lead	0.03
Zirconium	0.03
Bismuth	0.02
Mercury	0.02
Niobium	0.01
Thallium	0.01
Thorium	0.01
Tin	0.01
Hafnium	0.007
Helium	0.0068
Beryllium	0.0056
Gold	0.004
Rhenium	0.004
Lanthanum	0.003
Neodymium	0.003
Tantalum	0.003
Yttrium	0.0013
Cerium	0.001
Dysprosium	0.0009
Erbium	0.0008
Ytterbium	0.0008
Gadolinium	0.0007
Praseodymium	0.0006
Scandium	0.0006
Holmium	0.0002
Lutetium	0.0002
Thorium	0.0002
Indium	0.0001
Terbium	0.0001
Samarium	0.00005
Europium	0.00001
Radium	0. 00000007
Protactinium	0. 00000005
Radon	0. 000000000006

Constituents with a tiny presence.

Technetium

Ruthenium

Rhodium

Palladium

Osmium

Iridium

Platinum

Astatine

Francium

Actinium

(Reference: ‘Baensch Marine Atlas’. Helmut Debelius & Hans A. Baensch)

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Tags: Aquarium Maintenance, aquarium salt, Aquarium Water, Care, Equipment, Water Quality

How To Determine What Aquarium Lighting You Need

When the decision has been made that keeping a marine aquarium is for you the next decisions are what animals you want to keep and what equipment you will need to use.

One of these decisions is what type of lighting you should use above your aquarium.

It is my opinion that realistically there are two options available to guide you towards your decision:

1. Choose lighting which is appropriate for the animals which you hope to keep
2. Choose animals which are suitable for the lighting you have made the decision to purchase

Some people think that this is a strange way to decide however to me it makes perfect sense (but then in my head various things make perfect sense!)

Basically you can go out and purchase some lighting which is relevant to your budget and then design the remainder of your aquarium and livestock purchases around this lighting or you can design your aquarium system including the lighting around the livestock you want to keep.

For example if you have purchased a second hand aquarium system and this aquarium comes with T5/T8 fluorescent lighting and is 18 inches deep from top to bottom then realistically you are looking at either a fish only aquarium or a reef tank with soft corals and perhaps some long polyp stony (LPS) corals.

Another example following this trend would be purchasing a complete aquarium kit from your local fish shop where the lighting is included. In this example metal halide lighting is provided and the aquarium is 24 inches deep from top to bottom. In this example you could again keep a fish only aquarium or a reef tank with either soft corals, long polyp stony (LPS) corals, short polyp stony (SPS) corals or a mixture.

In the second example above if the decision was made to keep a fish only aquarium then the lighting will be overkill as a fish only aquarium does not need intense lighting for the welfare of the aquarium inhabitants. On the same scale if SPS corals were decided upon then other items will also be required to ensure that the aquarium is suitable. Strong water circulation springs to mind.

If lighting is being chosen based upon the aquarium inhabitants which in my opinion is a better way then the following can be used as a guideline:

• Fish Only - T8 Fluorescent Lighting
• Soft Corals - T5/Power Compact Lighting
• Hard Corals - Metal Halide/ LED Lighting

The above is definitely not set in stone as there are other variables which need to be taken into consideration the most important of which is the depth of the aquarium from top to bottom however this is normally only the case when corals are being kept.

If a fish only aquarium is your aquarium of choice then effectively all you need to do is provide lighting so that the fish can see and a dusk/dawn cycle can be created. This allows for the fish to be confident in its home as well as allowing you to see it.

When corals are being kept they require, dependent upon the species of coral strong lighting. Coral use the lighting as an energy source which allows the coral to thrive and grow as long as its other requirements are met for example calcium and water movement to name just a couple.

If you have an aquarium which is 30 inches deep then you will require stronger lighting than if you had an aquarium which is 18 inches deep.

The reason for this is the actual power of the lighting. Lighting power is measured in wattage - the higher the wattage the stronger the lighting will be.

If you had an aquarium which was 18 inches deep then quite probably a 150 watt metal halide would suffice to provide adequate lighting for hard corals to be maintained.

On the other hand if you had an aquarium which was 30 inches deep then a 250 watt unit or perhaps even a 400 watt unit would suffice to provide adequate lighting for hard corals to be maintained.

Wattage power in lighting is important as we want to ensure that the light unit has enough power to punch the light right to the bottom of the aquarium without losing colour. The deeper the light has to penetrate into water the quicker the colour from the spectrum is lost.

It is feasible that hard corals could be maintained in an aquarium that was 30 inches deep with a 150 watt metal halide unit however the corals would have to be placed in the top third of the aquarium.

Aquarium lighting is quite a complex subject especially when it comes to discussing the colour spectrum therefore I am not going to go into this in this post. Effectively at this point you want to try and push as much of the light right to the bottom of the aquarium.

One thing you do not want to do is allow light to not go into the aquarium. By this I mean allowing the light to go over the top of the aquarium into the surrounding room or allow it to be ineffective light due to a badly designed reflector.

Reflectors are used to direct as much light as possible from the bulb down into the aquarium. There are some designs which due to their design reflect a lot of the light back into the bulb itself rather than down into the aquarium which therefore means wasted light. A good reflector will reflect light around the bulb and down into the aquarium. The majority of good quality aquarium lighting units nowadays come with good quality reflectors but it is something you should be aware of.

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Tags: aquarium, Aquarium Lighting, Aquarium Maintenance, Care, Equipment

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