Mixing Saltwater

Saltwater is going to be mixed many times from the very creation of the aquarium way into the future. It is my opinion that a lot of people make this into something which takes more time than it actually needs to be.

All you need to do is spend a bit more time when performing the first water change to make it a lot easier in the future.

Both John and myself recommend the use of reverse osmosis water be this purchased from the local fish shop or created in the aquarists own home therefore when purchasing the salt mix it is imperative that one be purchased which has been specifically manufactured to be used with reverse osmosis water.

The net gallonage of the aquarium should be known from when the aquarium was initially filled with water therefore it is relatively simple to work out how much water will need to be removed from the aquarium for a 10% water change to be performed. In this example we will pretend that the net gallonage of the aquarium is 100 gallons therefore a 10% water change would be 10 gallons. This figure should be noted down for future use.

It should be remembered that fresh newly created reverse osmosis water should be used and it should be heated up to the same temperature of the display aquarium prior to adding any salt.

Having purchased the sea salt it is fairly straight forward to ‘guess’ the amount required to meet the intended specific gravity of the aquarium by looking at the suggestions/recommendations of the manufacturer.

When measuring it is recommended that you actually measure slightly less than you believe you require. Once you have measured the salt do not add it to the water weigh it first and make a note of the reading.

Add the salt to the water and give it a really good stir using a device such as a clean wooden spoon to initially mix it in. Add either an air pump or a small powerhead and leave it alone for 8-12 hours. This will allow the salt to fully mix into the water.

After this time measure the specific gravity with a hydrometer or other measuring device such as a refractometer.

At this point you will have one of three scenarios:

1. The specific gravity reading is to low. Measure out a little more salt and make a note of the weight. Add this salt to the mixing device and allow more time for the salt to mix and then test the specific gravity again. If more salt is needed then proceed as before ensuring that any new salt measured it weighed and recorded. Once the specific gravity reading is correct then simply add all the salt weights together for future use and record this information.
2. The spcific gravity reading is to high. Add some more reverse osmosis water to the mix noting the amount added for future use. Give the water time to warm up and then test again. If the reading is still to high then add some more water and record how much was added. Once the reading is correct then add the amount of water together and record this information.
3. The specific gravity reading is correct.

Taking your time on your first water change will allow you to identify how much salt you need to add to the required amount of water. When new water changes are to be performed you can create the correct amount of reverse osmosis water and weigh out exactly the correct amount of salt required.

It needs to be noted that using this method although does save you considerable time when mixing saltwater does not mean that you should not test the specific gravity each time. It is recommended that you continue to test each and every time you create new salt water and always ensure that you keep your measuring device clean.

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Tags: Aquarium Maintenance, aquarium salt, Aquarium Water, Care, Water Quality, water-change

Hands In The Aquarium - We All Do It

Whatever aquarium type it might be, fish only or reef, large or nano, aquarists put their hands into the seawater.

Maybe a rock is out of place and needs to be adjusted, or a coral is crowded and needs to be moved. Perhaps the aquarist is having a war with aiptasia anemones and is in the middle of one of the skirmishes. Or perhaps a life form of some description is being removed.

Care is always needed, though for the most part all is usually well.

Click on the link below and have a read of one aquarist’s experience with what seemed to be innocent…

http://www.fishforums.net/content-page/79056/pagination/page/0/

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Tags: Aquarium Maintenance, Care, marine-aquarium, reef-tank, saltwater-aquarium

Aquarium Care Is Important

There is a common saying which goes ‘good things take time yet bad things happen quickly’.

This is a saying which is very true in the aquarium hobby.

An important aspect of the aquarium hobby is performing the correct care and maintenance. This aspect is also quite often the first part which aquarists start to slip on.

At first they are very passionate about caring for the aquarium and its inhabitants, however over time for various reasons they start to slip on what was once a strict regime.

Not all aquarists are like this, there are many, many people who are exceptionally diligent in this area.

Failure to perform the correct care will at first appear not be impacting the aquarium however behind the scenes thing may slowly be starting to decline. Aquarium equipment may slowly start to fail, lighting may become inefficient, the protein skimmer may not be as efficient, the various filtration areas may not function to the best of their ability and many more areas which at first you will not notice.

Over time this will slowly start to get worse and it could happen at a pace where you may not notice it. Perhaps not even until something goes drastically wrong for example nitrate readings rapidly increasing, coral colour loss, equipment failure and perhaps even fish/coral loss.

At this point the aquarist faces a decision point. These are sort the aquarium out and return it to its former glory or give up on the hobby.

A lot of people actually do choose option number two. In my opinion this is down to one of two things. The first being that they liked the idea of keeping colourful corals and fish and do not like the idea of having to look after them. The second is a lack of knowledge as to what they need to maintain and why.

I personally believe that a lot of people head down this path as they enter the ‘I’ll do it later’ area i.e. they put off various aspects until the week after. Again this could be down to various reasons, however let’s face it how many of these people actually do perform it later. Some will I’m sure however also I am sure that a lot of people wont.

From this point the decline begins.

Caring for an aquarium in my opinion is not that hard work as long as you know why you are doing these tasks and how it is beneficial to the aquarium environment.

Effectively this does depend upon what stage your aquarium is at. If the aquarium is new then there will be some aspects which you will perform now but will not perform later when the aquarium is more mature. Some examples of these tests are ammonia and nitrite water tests. Once the nitrogen cycle has completed then you will not need to perform these tests unless you believe that there may be problems in the aquarium system.

Later when the aquarium is more mature there are various areas which you will need to test and check on a regular basis.

These are various water tests to ensure that the water parameters are the best that they can be, the protein skimmer will need to be emptied and cleaned, various equipment like the water pumps, heaters etc will need to be checked for failures, the glass will need to be cleaned and the fish/corals will need to be visually observed.

To be honest if you set yourself a regime and allocate a little bit of time per week then it does not interfere with your social life and you can be happy in the knowledge that your little aquatic world is in the best condition it can be.

I set myself an hour on a Sunday evening when Josh has gone to bed. Sometime I do it earlier in the day before he has gone to be if he wants to help me do it.

In this time I first check all the water parameters and record the results, after this I clean the glass followed by a visual check of all the required equipment. If my little notepad states that I need to either replace or check an item which is only done every so often then this is completed - this could be lighting, calcium reactor media, activated carbon etc. Once this is done I then empty the skimmer and give it a really good clean.

Once all of this is done then I sit back and quietly watch the fish and the corals. I check each fish one at a time and ensure that they appear to be well fed and have no visible damage. I then move onto the corals and give them a good check. As a final point of inspection I check for any ‘clean up crew’ which may have become stuck or is upside down.

Once everything is done then I simply sit back and enjoy my little slice of the ocean.

For me I find the care of my aquarium quite easy. The reason for this is that I do not skip things. I have a weekly plan which I follow and if everything is acceptable then it does not take long at all. I know that if I skip any then problems are going to occur and I will regret it later - something I don’t want to happen.

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

Cloud Cover - Should We Simulate It

I am one of those types of aquarists who believe that we should try and emulate nature in as many ways as possible. This statement does not mean that I believe that we should not utilise technology at all as I believe we should. After all the technology available makes it easier for us and makes it better for the livestock we keep in our aquariums.

There are areas however where I feel that we can utilise technology to be able to simulate nature.

One of these areas is cloud cover.

In the wild the majority, if not all areas do not have beautiful blue skies every single days. There are days where there is partial cloud cover, other days when there is total cloud cover and other days when there are storms.

Life on the reef is not always sunny yet in our aquariums they are.

The majority of aquariums utilise lighting which is on for a certain period of time and then off for a certain period of time.

But what about the cloud cover, what about the thunderstorms?

As said most aquariums have lights installed above the aquariums with a few pumps creating water flow in the aquarium. The lights provide bright blue sky and the pumps create flow which is chaotic but still rhythmic.

It is of my opinion that the water pumps should occasionally be moved so that the water flow becomes different. Perhaps at times other pumps should be added occasionally so that the water becomes chaotic for a time.

It is also my opinion that we should be creating cloud cover above our aquariums. There are some lighting manufacturers which allow for this in their design and the lighting dims and brighten to simulate cloud cover.

I think that there could be another way, trickier but perhaps cheaper. Basically this entails a motor which moves a device in between the light and the water at varying speeds to simulate clouds moving between the sun and the water. This device could be turned off when not required and could even be made to have a variable speed or perhaps a random motion.

Just an idea - whether it is viable or not I don’t know.

Will simulating cloud over assist in the welfare of our livestock. That is an answer I do not know yet if we do not try we will not advance. For all we know our corals could certainly start growing at twice the rate, we may see more coral spawning etc.

On the other hand we may see no difference or at worst our corals could grow slower!

If you have any experience in this area then I would love to hear about it.

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

Algae - It Makes A Lot Of People Give Up

Thousands upon thousands of potential aquarists make the decision to start a saltwater aquarium, be these fish only or reef aquariums all around the world. Unfortunately a lot of these aquarists ultimately give up in this amazing hobby.

There are many reasons as to why people give up. This could be personal finances, time, knowledge and many more, however a prime candidate unfortunately is algae.

Algae in the aquarium can look nice however in time this once ‘nice looking’ algae can turn into a pest and make the aquarium look unsightly. Before long the algae starts to cover the rocks, the sand, the glass and more. Every effort is made by the aquarist to clean this up perhaps by manually removing it, performing water changes, checking the water parameters, researching the possible causes etc however once one algae bloom is sorted before long another one may appear.

I appreciate that at this time the aquarist may become disheartened. I know I have been through this stage and can honestly say that algae blooms are a pain.

When people look into starting a saltwater aquarium they imagine an aquarium full of corals and fish which are so striking in colour and movement that the appearance of this unsightly algae is new to them. It is not what they wanted and try as they might it simply will not go away.

First to come may be a slight brown dusting of algae initially over the sand, second may come what looks like slime over the sand, perhaps the rock, after this long hair like algae may appear on the rocks and glass. Later algae which look like balls may appear!

It’s no wonder why aquarists consider giving up when the dream of a spotless saltwater aquarium is suddenly flawed with dirty looking algae!

Each of these different aspects of algae feed upon a different type of nutrient in the water. The trick to understanding how to clear the aquarium of the nuisance algae is to understand what it is feeding upon.

This is where the hard part starts. The reason for this is that since the algae is feeding upon a certain nutrient or nutrients in the water then a water test may not how this parameter as being a problem. A good example of this is phosphate. Phosphate is a common food for problematic algae however when a water test is performed the result is ok. This could be because the algae does not feed upon this type of nutrient or it could be that the algae has removed enough from the water for it not to show up on a water test!

The best thing to do if you encounter an algae bloom is determine what type of nutrient the algae is feeding upon and then remove its food source. For example if you have algae which is long and wavy then this is probably hair algae. Hair algae likes to feed upon nitrate and phosphate. In this example the best thing to do is attempt to reduce the nitrate in the aquarium by checking your feeding regime and increasing the amount of water changes performed to dilute the nitrate in the water column. To reduce/remove the phosphate levels it would be beneficial to introduce an element of phosphate remover for example a product like Rowaphos.

If you remove the food that the algae feeds upon then the algae bloom itself will reduce.

At the start of an aquariums life you need to remember that everything in the aquarium is new. All the pumps/powerheads will probably not have been submersed in water before, the sealant is new, the sand will be straight from the bag, the water will be sterile etc etc. From some of these certain elements may become evident in the water. A prime example of this is silicates from the sand - the slight brown dusting you see over the glass and sand is quite often caused by this. This aspect of algae quite often feeds upon silicates and will exist until its food source is exhausted.

I have seen aquariums entirely coated in this type of aquarium simply clear up overnight purely because the food source has gone.

In this example the silicates from the sand becomes exhausted and therefore the brown dusting disappears perhaps never to be seen again. In other areas if the aquarists is not diligent and does not perform the correct care and maintenance post identifying the food source then the algae blood can and perhaps will re-occur. There is no point in locating a problem, resolving it simply to allow it to raise its ugly head again.

The majority of aquariums when started do go through various algae blooms. This is the aquariums ways of becoming settled. Within time if the aquarist is patient and performs the correct care and maintenance then the blooms will slowly subside - hopefully never to appear again.

For all you new aquarists and the aquarists who are currently attempting to deal with an algae bloom I and many other aquarists understand what you are going through right now. The two things I can say is be patient and identify the bloom you are having issues with, identify its food source and eliminate it.

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Tags: Algae, Aquarium Maintenance, Care, Equipment, nitrate, phosphate

Buffering Seawater

Marine livestock are used to very stable conditions. Much of this livestock comes from the wild reefs and there are literally cubic miles of seas and oceans to act as a sump. True, reefs can have problems created by mankind, such as industrial and agricultural run-off etc. This pollution has occurred over the short term, reef life has become used to very stable conditions over a very long period.

There are increasing numbers of locally produced corals and fish. These demonstrate a little more flexibility when faced with varying conditions because they have grown in an aquarium. Nevertheless, stability is a need for success with all livestock from whatever source.

The seawater is the area where this stability is of major concern, particularly in reef aquariums. In a fish only system the basic parameters need to be monitored, and in a reef a good few more. One of these is the buffering capacity of the seawater.

There isn’t any mumbo-jumbo on its way, the subject is straightforward and of importance to the reef aquarist.

A very quick look at pH first. pH is the measurement of acidity/alkalinity, and uses a scale of 0 to 14 (0 is acid and 14 is alkaline). Neutral is 7. Aquarium seawater can be between 8.0 and 8.4, with 8.2 or 8.3 often quoted as ‘perfect.’ So it can be seen that the seawater is on the alkaline side.

Life in the aquarium through its normal functions, feeding and the breaking down of dead algae etc puts pressure on the pH. This pressure continuously attempts to move the pH towards the acidic side of the scale. If the pressure has an effect on the seawater the pH will begin to drop. The pH will remain stable, at least for a time, because of the buffering capacity of the seawater. This ‘buffering capacity’ is also known as alkalinity and carbonate hardness. What happens is that the acids produced are negated by the ‘bases’, these are mainly bicarbonates and carbonates. Thus the pH remains stable.

The buffering capacity is finite. One way of boosting it is to complete regular seawater changes, though this in itself will not guarantee a continuing stable level. Sometimes it is necessary to engage supplements which are available from commercial sources. Supplementation should not be undertaken until it is certain the aquarium needs it. A slight fall in the level throughout a week or a fortnight which is repetitive is not a problem; this can be seen by the use of test kits. If the aquarist is having problems maintaining a steady pH or a proper level of calcium for example, scrutiny of the buffering capacity is in order. (Calcium should be in the area of 400 to 450 parts per million.)

In the aquarium it is considered beneficial to maintain the alkalinity a little above natural seawater levels because of the limited gallonage available. The level can be measured in meq/l or dKH. Any one is fine and the test kit will advise which scale is being used. They come to the same thing.

The levels recommended are 2.5 to 4 meq/l, which equates to 7 to 11 dKH. As said there isn’t a need to worry about the measurements, just go with what the test kit offers. Try and use a good test kit - questions on forums or to other local aquarists should produce recommendations.

The needs of a particular reef aquarium will soon be known and maintaining alkalinity becomes quite simple. Desirable algae, corals, snails etc will all benefit.

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Tags: Aquarium Maintenance, Aquarium Water, aquarium-additives, Care, saltwater-aquarium, Water Quality

Brine Shrimp - Should You Use Them In A Salt Water Aquarium

Feeding the livestock in a marine system is of very great importance. All living things need food to obtain energy and remain healthy. Without an adequate food supply - adequate in both quantity and quality - livestock will soon start to have problems.

Brine shrimp have been in use for many years. They can be obtained frozen and live and, though I haven’t seen any for a while, they are also available dry.

One of the tricks that can be employed when a new fish is reluctant to eat is to use brine shrimp. When they go into the aquarium the other resident fish chase them with gusto and often the new fish will become involved in this and take a few. If the new fish is on its own a brine shrimp or two dancing in the current is hard to ignore.

I would guess that the majority of aquarists use the frozen type. These come in a flat pack which is divided into segments, each segment is broken free as required. The segments can be cut down into smaller amounts according to need. Before the food is introduced it needs to be defrosted and this process should be done in seawater or a little reverse osmosis water. The food should be allowed to defrost on its own without the assistance of a microwave or similar. Some aquarists rinse the defrosted food before use.

The best frozen shrimps to use are those that are ‘enriched’. Brine shrimp is not particularly rich though it probably provides good roughage. Some aquarists insist on a product that has been irradiated, which means that there will not be any disease causing dangers present.

Live brine shrimp are usually purchased from a local store by the bag. The shrimp are definitely fresh and the storekeeper should be able to state their origin and if they have been enriched. Some aquarists are concerned about the possibility of disease. I used live shrimp for two years or so from a local store and never had a problem. I ceased using them as the supply to the storekeeper dried up. At that point I switched to frozen.

Brine shrimp are available dried. I did try them once and found them not to be particularly worthwhile for the simple reason that they had to be pre-soaked for quite a time or they would float around on the surface - once soaked they did sink but the fish were not overly enthusiastic. As said I haven’t seen the dried variety available for a good while. I also wondered about the nutritional value. Without any evidence I always had the feeling that this was poor.

Producing live brine shrimp at home is easy. All it needs is a suitable container with vigorous water movement, a convenient location and a supply of eggs. The eggs have become much more expensive (or they have in my area) and it may be found that the frozen variety is more economical. There are brine shrimp hatching kits available commercially, and these come with full instructions which are straight forward. Just don’t put too many eggs in like I once did: there’ll be so many brine shrimp they’ll need feeding themselves before they can be used. Using tiny newly hatched shrimp is good for corals and fish.

Brine shrimp are not a complete food in themselves, more of a supplement. There isn’t a reason why an aquarist couldn’t use them every day, but it would be better to use them along with other ‘supplements’, a good example is mysis shrimp. A fully nutritional food such as marine flake and the like should be the base diet. In addition attention must be given to the dietary requirements of livestock. Surgeon fish for example will usually eat brine shrimp without problem, but they need more nutrition as mentioned plus a good supply of suitable algae.

Brine shrimp is an excellent part of the marine aquarist’s food store. Stored and used properly it will add dietary variety and the fish seem to enjoy chasing it down.

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Tags: aquarium food, Aquarium Maintenance, aquarium-livestock, Care, invertebrate, marine-fish

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