If Seawater Tests Are Fine But…

We are often going on about the quality of seawater and we believe quite rightly so. Seawater quality is the number one priority, no matter what type of aquarium it could be, fish only, coral only, or mixed reef.

Of course, even if seawater quality is correct there could still be problems. Fish need to receive the correct nutrition, and there needs to be a general lack of stress. There are more. However, as said, seawater quality is the number one and regular tests should be made.

Though it doesn’t affect a fish only aquarium anywhere near as much, lighting is number two on the list. This applies to a reef system whether corals only or mixed. This high priority for lighting is because of the needs of the corals. Within most corals are zooxanthallae, single celled algae which are essential to the corals’ wellbeing.

So there’s a problem with the corals? Seawater tests indicate nothing wrong? What could it be?

The link is to a text supplied by aquaristsonline.com which could be of interest in the above context.

http://www.thereeftank.com/blog/look-after-the-lighting/

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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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Equipment – The Refractometer

The refractometer is a very useful tool in the aquarists arsenal.

It is a very accurate device which is used to measure the amount of salt in the water i.e. the specific gravity.

A tool which is quite often used is the hydrometer however one of the downfalls of the hydrometers it that it must be regularly cleaned. Failure to do so means that false readings may be obtained. What quite often happens is that a reading is taken and then the water is simply poured back into the aquarium and the hydrometer (swing needle type in this example) is then placed back on the shelf ready for its next use.

What happens in this example is that the water dries however a small amount of salt is left behind. This salt is not visible to the naked eye however it is enough to make the needle heavy and therefore give you a false reading. Over time the readings get worse as the needle gets heavier and heavier and unknown to you the specific gravity in the aquarium is totally wrong.

With the refractometer readings are much more accurate. There still is maintenance to be performed which is basically where the refractometer is calibrated however this does not need to be done to the same type of frequency as of the hydrometer.

So how easy are they to use?

Very easy actually. Basically a small sample of water is taken, normally one to two drops of water. This is then placed onto the prism glass where it can be viewed through the eyepiece.

What happens when the water is placed onto the prism glass is that light is passed through the water. This light then bends and is focused on a scale which can be read through the eyepiece.

The scale is normally very easy to read but this does depend upon the manufacturer chosen.

In my opinion a refractometer is a fantastic purchase for the serious aquarist. They are very easy to use and allow for stability to be maintained which is one thing we aim for.

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Fish Diseases

When we become sick we are able to tell other people where it hurts, what is wrong etc. Fish however do not have that ability therefore it is up to the aquarist to attempt to identify potential problems as soon as possible and provide the relevant treatment as and when it is required to do so.

As both myself and John state again and again – stability, patience and research is the aquarists key to success. If this is performed then the risk of disease is reduced. It is not removed altogether but is reduced.

Marine fish of every type are said to carry some type of disease or other as the majority of animals do. All it takes is something to trigger it.

The most common trigger for diseases is stress. Stress is quite often un-noticed by the inexperienced aquarist. Unbeknown to them a disease is starting to show itself. If not identified and diagnosed quickly enough then this could cause trouble in the aquarium as well as distress to the fish in question.

What happens is that when the fish is placed under stress the immune system of the fish weakens therefore the fishes susceptibility to disease increases.

The majority of home aquariums have a low pathogen count present – normally the immune system of the fish will prevent these pathogens from causing problems.

However when the immune system is weakened the risk increases. There are various ways in which stress can be placed upon the fish:

• General water quality is not good enough
• Fluctuation in parameters, heat etc
• Bullying and/or territory protection from other tank inhabitants
• Overstocking
• The aquarium in which the fish are kept is too small for the fishes needs
• Limited hiding places
• Reduced oxygen in the water
• Incorrect feeding techniques
• Shock

When the fish is caught in the ocean and is transported to the shop via the dealer we of course have no control over that but hopefully the fish will be placed under as minimal amount of stress as possible.

We do have control over the stress caused to the fish from the moment a decision is made to purchase it.

From this point forward we have the ability to be able to reduce the amount of stress the fish is placed under. We can ensure that it is transported correctly, quarantined correctly, acclimatised correctly, is not with incompatible fish in the aquarium etc.

There is a keyword in the above sentence which I believe is very important and that is the word quarantine. It surprises me to this day how few people actually use a quarantine tank on their aquarium.

Once the fish is in the display aquarium it should be monitored closely especially during the first few weeks to ensure that it is not being bullied, feeding well, active etc however during your regular maintenance you should ensure that you check each and every fish in the aquarium. If you spot a problem early enough then it is much easier to deal with.

When you study your fish’s actions from arrival you will quickly see what is normal and what is not.

When observing your fish watch carefully for the following:

• Fish not feeding
• Fish scratching against the substrate and/or decor
• A normally active fish is subdued
• A normally subdued fish is active
• Fish not swimming correctly
• Fish at the water surface gasping
• Visible marks on the body of the fish

Of course you can perform all of this and still get a disease in the aquarium however as said looking after the aquarium correctly, choosing and caring for fish correctly will reduce the possibility of an outbreak.

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My Diminutive Algae Scrubber

I had my glass aquarium built for me with a few additions inside. At the left end is a small triangular area which contains four pumps and also the intakes for canister filters, an anti-phosphate filter, a denitrator (not now in use), and a protein skimmer.

The skimmer is a hang-on type which fitted except that the outlet, which flows down a flat surface, was not long enough. Anyway, the supplied flat plate outlet wouldn’t go down into the aquarium as the side-strap got in the way.

“Hmm” I thought, engaging super Do It Yourself brain cell.

After doing a few measurements I went to the LFS and had some bits of glass cut to act as barriers to seawater. When these were supplied I siliconed them into place on the side brace on each side of the skimmer outlet and also behind it.

Then I obtained some rigid plastic and cut a piece of the correct length to reach the seawater after bending over the side strap. Easily done, however I was left with a length of straight plastic when I needed a bent one.

A piece of cardboard was obtained and bent to the angle required. Then I got my blow torch out (normally used for plumbing) and carefully heated the plastic at the bend point, with the plastic over the edge of a piece of thin metal. This was the part where I thought the plastic would be ruined. But no, keeping the flame of the burner away from the plastic I managed to bend it correctly. Now it was cup of coffee time – very pleased.

The old plate outlet was cut off leaving only a fairly short flat piece close to the skimmer, and the new plate was then glued to the remaining part. When the glue was fully set, the skimmer was switched on and everything worked, with the returning seawater going into the aquarium silently.

I realized that this run of seawater over the flat plate would be a good air/water interchange and so be useful in ensuring a good oxygen level. The original need though was just to get the seawater back into the aquarium properly and quietly.

The return plate sits close to the bank of fluorescent tubes, and what I hadn’t considered was algae. This began to develop on the plate and I managed to keep the plate clean for quite a while as part of normal maintenance.

I noticed that the algae developing was not the green and hairy stuff but much darker, wiry and short. So I stopped cleaning it to see what developed.

The algae developed all over the slope of the plate and as said was the short dark wiry type often called turf algae. I kept a very close eye on it but it didn’t get out of control. In fact, once it had got to 1/4″ or thereabouts it didn’t get any longer. There wasn’t any die-back either. The alga hasn’t entered the aquarium area at all.

The photo I’ve taken is rather ‘blue’ probably because it was taken directly beneath the fluorescent tubes which include actinic types.

The aquarium has been running for a bit over six years and the skimmer the same. There has never been a problem generated by the algae on the skimmer return plate.

I do seawater tests for nitrate and phosphate, and these are usually done monthly. The tests indicate zero, though of course with hobby test kits it is better to say ‘undetected’ as the kits are not of a scientific standard. The algae on the skimmer outlet plate must be finding nutrients of some sort to survive, so perhaps there is a very low presence of nitrate and/or phosphate. The seawater flow is clearly to its liking and there must be a high oxygen presence.

Algae scrubbers are a well known method of nutrient control. The modern type is the sump which is planted with Caulerpa macro algae. They are bigger than my little algae covered plate!

I never intended to have an ‘algae scrubber’, but have now got one of sorts. It is very small but nevertheless will be doing something towards maintaining seawater quality.

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Algae – Nothing Wrong With It!

Certain types of algae invasion are most definitely unwelcome. Finding green filamentous algae waving in the currents is not a good sight, particularly as it could spread rapidly. Brown, or more correctly diatom algae is another bothersome arrival, but this one is likely to disappear once the supply of silicic acid is exhausted. Another very unwelcome alga that could make an appearance in the aquarium is cyanobacteria, the horrible smear algae as it is often called. It forms a thin dark coloured blanket and creeps across surfaces.

Algae don’t have to be unwelcome though. A reef aquarium where the aquarist is reasonably diligent about calcium and alkalinity levels could develop some very decorative types. The ones I’m thinking of are encrusting mainly, appearing in colour shades of pink, sometimes brownish red, brown and various greens. They cover rocks and the back glass and give a really natural look.

In my aquarium I permit the encrusting algae to cover the back glass and the left hand viewing glass (that end is near a wall). I’ve taken a photo of the left hand end (I offer my apologies if necessary for the quality which is the best I can manage with the pocket camera owned). Anyway, it hopefully demonstrates the point.

I don’t have a lot of encrusting algae on the rocks or if I did it wouldn’t be seen. This is simply because there isn’t much rock surface visible, hardly any at all. Everything is covered with coral growth or another type of algae. There is clear evidence of pink coralline.

The other algae mentioned took me a fair amount of time to identify when it first appeared. I was a little puzzled before realizing it was in fact algae as I wondered if it was a plating coral. How could a plating coral survive and be healthy with light levels as available? I realized it wasn’t coral when I touched it as it is fairly stiff but bendable. I don’t know if there are any common names but the proper name for it is Peyssonnelia caulifera.

The colour is a reddish brown and it takes the form of mainly horizontal plates, one growing above the other. It spreads at low speed and can cover quite a lot of available space. It is an alga so is this spreading habit a problem? No, it isn’t, and this is because if a plate appears where it isn’t wanted it is very easily removed. Holding the plate between the fingers and giving a gentle tug breaks the plate free in its entirety when it can be removed from the aquarium. I have found the need to remove it from between button polyps and as said it isn’t a problem – really friendly algae.

It looks good and ‘reefy’ (I think it does anyway) between corals and adds attractiveness overall.

I’m not sure how I managed to get the stuff in my aquarium. It wasn’t knowingly imported so must have arrived on a coral rock (I didn’t use live rock at first, the inert rock used is now live though). A bit of good luck. I note that it grows the most lower down in the aquarium which is 2 ft deep and lit by a bank of fluorescents. There is some growth higher on the aquarium glass side and back but not as much. I assume the alga prefers low light levels and this is supported when some went into Peter’s aquarium. His system has metal halides and the algae didn’t like this and disappeared rapidly. I doubt it had anything to do with seawater quality as in both aquariums this is high. Hardly a scientific test but an indicator perhaps. Because the algae is a plate shape seawater currents should not be too high or the algae could be damaged or break free.

I’ve included a photo, again taken by my unprofessional hand. It doesn’t do justice to the algae but hopefully demonstrates the effect.

If Mother Nature wants to give me any more ‘freebies’ that are attractive and friendly then I’m not complaining.

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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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