Can You Build A Fish Tank From Plywood?

Aquariums get more expensive as they get bigger. Well, there’s a pretty obvious statement to start with! However for the aquarist who is not keen to meet the price of a large aquarium but is able to deal with the cost of everything else there is a way around the problem. It doesn’t have to be a large aquarium really, any size applies, but the cost of smaller commercial glass or acrylic tanks makes the need to ‘get the tools out’ diminish considerably.

The way around the cost is for the aquarist to make the tank using plywood. It stands to reason the aquarist, or a DIY competent friend, should be reasonably good at cutting a straight line. The use of power tools is a great help.

The job is not as daunting as it could appear. Also, the end product is not going to look like a box that doesn’t leak with some water in plus fish. Ok, for the comedian at the back - yes the livestock can be seen as the tank has a glass front!

The first item required is a plan and once again the internet comes to the rescue. The plan here is for a 140 gallon tank, but these dimensions could be reduced or increased if ratios are kept accurate.

Here’s the link:

http://cichlid-forum.com/article/diy_plywood_aquarium.php

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Tags: acrylic-aquarium, aquarium, DIY, Equipment, glass-aquarium

Aquarium Software To Assist You With Your Aquarium Maintenance

Maintaining the aquarium is an important aspect to this hobby. Fail to properly maintain the aquarium and ultimately it will quickly start to decline ending in livestock which is either unhappy or ultimately near to or at death.

Both John and I are both strong believers in having a proper aquarium maintenance regime and also recording the relevant details so that trends can be identified and potential problems identified prior to them becoming serious.

Personally I record the relevant information in a notepad when I am taking the relevant readings and transpose them into Microsoft Excel. From the records maintained and recorded throughout the month/year I am able to graph them and also perform other calculations.

I also record other information such as dates when fish and corals were purchased, when equipment was purchased, when certain aspects of equipment are to be replaced and also how much electricity I am using.

A lot of aquarists do not record any information at all. They simply take the readings and if they are ok forget about them until next time. If a reading is incorrect then they probably attempt to rectify the solution until the reading is correct and then again forget about them.

At the moment I am attempting to find a developer to assist me in the creation of an online maintenance/logging system. If we do go down this route then we are hoping to add this to Aquarists Online Social as a free service for all of our visitors to use. Hopefully this software will do everything I currently do in Excel but with a bucket-load more functionality. This is something which we are researching and not something which we are definitely going to be doing but I believe that there is a huge gap for an online multi-user aquarium management, recording and tracking system. Perhaps there is one out there in the vast world of the internet but so far I have not been able to locate one.

I believe that this is a tool which could and should be used by a lot of aquarists. Not just saltwater aquarists but also our coldwater and freshwater friends.

There are quite a few aquarium maintenance software tools currently available on the internet so I thought I would make a list of some of them so you could decide for yourself if you wanted to use such a tool or not.

It needs to be noted that some of these are free and some of these have a charge associated against them.

Aquariogest
Aquarix
Doctor Aquarium
Micro Marine Software
Aquarium Lab
My Aquarium Log
Aquarium Instruments
Automated Aquarium Systems
Aqua Log
ReefCon Pro
Tank Keeper
Aquarium Fish 2.0
AquaTrax
Maquarium
Tcquarium

There are probably others which are also available. If you know of one which is not listed then please either contact us so that we can add it or leave a comment below.

If you do not decide to use software to assist you with recording various aspects of your aquarium then I hope that you will at least choose to utilise at least a notepad.

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Tags: aquarium, Aquarium Maintenance, aquarium-software, Care, Equipment, water-parameters

Is This A Courageous Aquarist?

There are a few ‘be careful with this’ and ‘avoid doing that’ in the marine hobby. Some are born of experience, occasionally painful, and others of practicality.

Most marine aquarists are aware of the mantis shrimp. They come in two models, the ‘clubbers’ who bash their victims and the ‘spearers’ who, well, spear them. They can also grow large - I believe the biggest ones can grow to 40″ (circa 101.5 cm).

Have a look at the video that has been uploaded in the Social/Forum area (just go to the area and then click on Videos). There are two about mantis shrimps, the one relevant here is “Watch Those Fingers”…

This is a sizeable mantis being handled in a very carefree fashion. The mantis is incredibly tolerant! Maybe the aquarist has had it a long time and knows exactly what the shrimp will do…he hopes!

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Tags: aquarium, aquarium-livestock, mantis shrimp

Fish Identification

There are so many fish available for the marine aquarium. What could the aquarist do to be sure of the identity of a fish and therefore be sure it is the one for the aquarium?

The aquarist may have a ‘possible’ list and wish to reduce it to ensure there isn’t any overstocking and still be sure the fish are the ones really wanted. Maybe a new fish is being contemplated to add to existing stock and a check needs to be made.

The trouble is that many aquarists, and retailers too for that matter, use common names rather than the ‘proper’ Latin ones. Common names can lead to confusion, which could lead to the wrong fish, particularly if an order is being placed to obtain a fish unseen.

Out of the ‘possible’ list compatible fish with a good mix of colours and shapes are required. Or perhaps one fish is required for the collection. Whatever, the internet is a wonderful source of information and so it is in this case.

Following is a link to an identification database:

http://www.amonline.net.au/fishes/fishfacts/index.htm

Having got to the website the aquarist can choose to search for the fish by species, by common name, or by type. If the common name or species is not known, then type of fish can be used. If the common name is known clearly that should be used. The fish can be seen and confirmed - or not - to be the one required. If it is the one, note the common name and also note the Latin name given. When ordering, the Latin name and common name should about guarantee the correct fish. If buying a fish already seen, a visual check will confirm the choice.

The fish list is alphabetical and a great number of fish are present so the list is long. Most of us aquarists can safely ignore the sharks and the obvious ‘not for me’ fish so it is not as difficult as it could seem. If a common name such as ‘Emperor Angel’ for example is known, scroll to the E’s and click on that.

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Tags: aquarium, aquarium-fish, aquarium-livestock, marine-fish, reef-fish, reef-tank

Acclimatising New Corals And Fish The Correct Way

The purpose of acclimatisation is simple - the water that the animal is packaged in may have a different temperature, pH and salinity than that of your aquarium. Aquatic life (especially corals and invertebrates) are very sensitive to minor changes in water parameters therefore acclimatisation is a requirement for success.

There are two ways which are recommended to acclimatise your new purchase to your aquarium. Neither of these should be rushed and should both be performed with the aquarium lights off. The lights should also remain off for a further 6 to 12 hours after the animal has been introduced to the quarantine tank, or the main display tank, whichever you are using.

Floating Bag Method

Before you commence ensure that the lights on your aquarium are turned off. Also ensure that the lights in the room where you will be unpacking the animal are turned down to a minimum. Bright lights will cause excessive stress to the animal.

• Float the bag whilst it is still sealed in the aquarium for a minimum of 15 minutes. Do not open the bag at this stage. This allows the water in the bag to slowly adjust to the temperature of your aquarium.
• Once a minimum of 15 minutes has passed open the bag as near to the top as possible and either attach this to the side of the aquarium, or create an air pocket in the top of the bag so that the bag will float.
• Once the bag is open add half an egg cup of your aquarium water to the bag and wait 5 - 10 minutes.
• After 5 - 10 minutes again add half an egg cup of your aquarium water to the bag and wait another 5 - 10 minutes.
• Continue with this process until the bag is full.
• Once the bag is full remove the bag from the water and discard at least half of the water from the bag.
• Re-float the bag in the water and repeat the steps of adding half an egg cup of your aquarium water to the bag again until the bag is full (Remember to wait 5 - 10 minutes between each water addition)
• Once the bag is full capture the fish using a proper aquatic net and release into the aquarium. Corals can be removed from the bag and placed in the aquarium. When some corals are touched they could produce a great deal of slime - this is nothing to worry about and is perfectly normal. However do not introduce any of the water into the aquarium. Invertebrates need to be released into the aquarium under the water.
• You should never allow them to be out of the water in air. To release invertebrates lower the bag into the aquarium and tease the animal out of the bag. Some of the water will escape into the aquarium, however attempt to keep this to a minimum.
• Discard the water in the shipping bag - never introduce the water from the shipping bag into your aquarium.

Leave the aquarium lights off for at least 6 - 12 hours after the introduction to allow your new purchases to become acclimatised to their new home.

Drip Method

The drip method of acclimatisation is normally used for more sensitive inhabitants, however more and more fish keepers are using this method for all livestock.

Before you commence with this method ensure that the lights on your aquarium are turned off. Also ensure that the lights in the room where you will be unpacking the fish are also turned down to a minimum. Bright lights will cause excessive stress to the fish.

• Float the bag whilst it is still sealed in the aquarium for a minimum of 15 minutes. Do not open the bag at this stage. This allows the water in the bag to slowly adjust to the temperature of your aquarium.
• Remove the bag from the aquarium and very carefully empty the contents of the bag into a marine safe receptacle (do not use too big a receptacle). Ensure that the animal is fully submerged. If the animal is an invertebrate do not allow it to come into contact with the air - they must remain submerged at all times.
• You will need to use some airline so that you can set up a drip line from your main aquarium to the receptacle.
• In your aquarium secure the airline tubing so that it cannot fall out. On the other end (the end which is in the receptacle) add an airline control valve (this will allow you to regulate the flow of water).
• With the tubing in your aquarium submerged and the other end in the bucket start the siphon by gently sucking on the airline tube. This will start the siphon and water will start to pass from your main aquarium to the bucket. As soon as water begins to flow adjust the valve so that you are getting between 2 to 5 drops per second.
• Now wait until the water in the receptacle doubles the initial amount, pause the siphon using the control valve, discard half of the water from the receptacle and start the siphon again using the control valve.
• Wait until the water doubles again and then stop or break the siphon. You are now ready to introduce your animal to the aquarium.
• If the animal is a fish then capture the fish using a proper aquatic net and release into the aquarium.
• If the animal is a coral then you can simply lift it out of the receptacle and place it into the aquarium.
• If the animal is an invertebrate then you will need to capture it under water and keep it under water until it is introduced into the aquarium. Try to retain as little as possible of the receptacle water when doing the transfer.
• Discard the water from the receptacle - never introduce the water into your aquarium (apart from that necessary for invertebrates).
• Leave the aquarium lights off for at least 6 - 12 hours after the introduction.

Remember that it is very important to be patient. The acclimatisation period should take as long as needed.

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Tags: aquarium, Aquarium Maintenance, aquarium-livestock, Care, Corals, Fish, Invertebrates

Record Your Parameters

Once the aquarium is up and running then the aquarist should stand back and admire it. This relaxing period is well deserved, after all a lot of time has been spent in planning and obtaining equipment never mind the cost of it all.

When the aquarium is there in total the aquarist is naturally excited. The beautiful fish and/or corals can be mesmerizing. Time passes easily and not just watching the aquarium. Time just passes and seemingly very quickly. In our busy lives one day can blur into the next and so it is with weeks.

Once livestock are in the seawater changes will occur. Bacteria, the foundation of the Nitrogen Cycle are converting wastes. The protein skimmer starts to get busy as dissolved organic matter starts to appear in the seawater. The seawater is going to deteriorate in quality over time, perhaps slowly or perhaps quite quickly. This seawater quality is the number one requirement for success. So what to do?

The first answer, and the correct one, is to be sure and do routine seawater changes. This will dilute unwanted substances and ‘freshen up’ the seawater. Is this enough?

The initial guideline for the amount of seawater to change is 10% weekly. This guideline is intended for new hobbyists who have to start somewhere, and indeed is for anyone as the baseline. As time goes on the aquarist can check if the change amount is insufficient.

This knowledge is obtained by the weekly testing of seawater parameters in the early life of the aquarium (though the testing regime could be modified later it doesn’t stop). Certain tests should be completed routinely once a week at least, such as specific gravity (SG), ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. A further test that is worthwhile is phosphate. In a reef system additional tests could be carried out, for example calcium. These tests will indicate the state of the seawater. Ammonia and nitrite should remain undetectable, but there could be a slow rise in nitrate and phosphate, which is certainly undesirable as they are nuisance algae nutrients. In a reef system calcium is important and this will decline according to livestock demand.

Is the aquarist going to remember all the results of the tests? I don’t think so. The tests take time and to make them really worthwhile they can be used to determine trends. For this they need to be written down.

As said, testing takes time and it is hardly any effort to write down the results. As the weeks pass the aquarist could be reassured that the biological filter is working well as there is never any ammonia or nitrite reading. The rate of nitrate and/or phosphate increase, or lack of it, could help in determining if the amount of seawater being changed is sufficient - or perhaps if the feeding is being overdone. For the reef aquarist, testing the example calcium can determine the amount that is demanded weekly by the corals and enable the aquarist to arrange dosing correctly.

To make the recording of test results really easy why not obtain a small notebook, such as a small lined notebook that children use in schools. Draw columns on the page and head them with the test name, for example ammonia, phosphate, calcium etc. Leave a blank column on the left side so that a date can be inserted for each row of test results.

It will not take a scientist to work out the trends that will be shown. Increases and decreases week by week will be clear. Over a period this will enable the aquarist to take appropriate action such as increasing the seawater change amount, increasing or decreasing the calcium dose etc.

As said seawater quality is the number one requisite for success. The only real way that the aquarist can determine the quality is by testing. Logging the test results is a big move towards easier seawater quality maintenance and at the same time requires hardly any additional time or work.

To assist you we have created some simple maintenance charts which you can download and use if you so desire. These are:

General Notes (Word Document)

Maintenance Chart (PDF)

Reminder Chart (Word Document)

Test Chart (Word Document)

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Tags: aquarium, aquarium maintenance. aquarium care, Water Quality, water-testing

Don’t Let Your Power Cables Become A Spaghetti Junction

Whatever type of marine aquarium is owned there is one thing that it needs and that is electricity. The aquarium is usually placed close to a power outlet so that connection is easier.

Lots of equipment is available for the aquarium. For all types of system there is lighting, pumps for seawater movement, and a protein skimmer. If a sump is used there will be a return pump. On a reef there will possibly be a calcium reactor and the like. Maybe the system has auto top-up, supplementation using a peristaltic pump etc.

All of these devices need connecting safely and securely to the electricity supply.

What often happens is the aquarist connects a device up and then moves on to the next one. As progress is made more and more cables hang down the back of the aquarium crossing over each other or passing in between others. In the future this could mean difficulties.

Equipment can fail and when this occurs the first action is to disconnect the offending device from the mains supply. Which plug is it? Usually there is a row of plugs often connected to a multi-plug bar. There’s nothing basically wrong with this but there needs to be some identification of individual plug functions. This is easily accomplished by using white gloss paint and a child’s paintbrush or sticking on securely a label indicating the function, either by numbers or abbreviation. These are simple, how about ‘S’ for skimmer for example.

Before the devices are even connected, could the number of plugs be reduced? ‘Same function’ devices could give this opportunity, such as multi actinic fluorescent lights, powerhead circulators and similar. It is unlikely that the power rating for the plug will be exceeded as most aquarium devices are low powered. A watch must be kept for this and all devices have a power rating given in watts (W). Examples of devices where wattage is going to be higher are heaters and metal halide lighting.

Clearly if the devices are supplied with plugs of the sealed variety which are already wired up then the above is not an option. If it is legal in the aquarist’s area and if the aquarist is competent, then even sealed plugs can be removed and re-wired with new plugs to permit multi use. Competence and legality have been mentioned, the law must not be broken and competence is a must with electricity as incorrectly used it is dangerous or even lethal. Don’t take chances and/or assume ‘it will be ok.’

Another way of connecting devices is to use ‘cable tidies.’ These allow several devices to be connected. Ensure that the model has sufficient connections plus a couple to spare and be careful to follow any instructions.

The wires hanging down the back of the aquarium could be untidy and give the aquarist a problem in the future. Even if there is identification on the plugs, when an attempt is made to pull the wire through so that the attached device can be removed, the plug could become snagged with other wires. This occurs where wires behind the aquarium are interwoven and/or twisted with others and it is very easy for this to occur in the connecting up stage.

It would be reasonably simple to wrap adhesive tape around groups of wires and this would certainly tidy things up. It would not solve the problem though as the need to withdraw a particular cable would remain difficult. It is better to either keep cables individual or keep them in groups where multi connection through a plug has been done. The wires could be held together with purpose made twist cords, or even string fastened in a bow so it is easy to undo.

To achieve neat wiring it is necessary to put any group wiring in and fasten it together immediately. Any single cables should be carefully placed so that they do not run under and over other cables which will permit them to be withdrawn if required. When any new or replacement device is fitted, the cable must be clear of entanglement.

The attention given to the stocked aquarium is high, and rightly so. Paying attention to simple matters such as tidy wiring (perhaps it could be termed logical wiring) and device accessibility should one require removal is a positive action during the connection process.

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

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