by Saltwater Smarts | May 25, 2016 | Corals, Funny, Reef, Science, Tanks
Recently, the folks in my area got enamored with the topic of “nano‐bubbles” for the reef tank. Being a curious engineer and avid tinkerer of tanks, I jumped right in to test it for myself.So what are nano‐bubbles and what is the concept being prescribed? Well, there are many sources online that talk about the benefits of nano‐bubbles in various applications, from water and food processing to cleaning applications such as wastewater treatment. But with respect to our hobby, one site, Elegant Corals LLC, had been promoting the benefits of running “micro‐scrubbing bubbles” in the reef tank for some time. You can check out their Facebook page for the claimed benefits. Process The basic process, in short, is to produce the smallest bubbles possible and inject them into the main tank via the return pump. Wooden airstones are placed just before the inlet of the sump return pump, and the amount of bubbles is controlled by adjusting the distance from the airstone to the inlet. by Saltwater Smarts | Apr 19, 2016 | Corals, Fish, Reef, Science
The marine aquarium hobby is second only to the US military when it comes to the number of acronyms its members throw around. (Quite fittingly, this past Monday was the 27th anniversary of my DOE. Shortly after that date, I entered BMT as an A1C and did lots of PC under the direction of a TI before going on to AIT where I got an LOR for violating the UCMJ in advance of my PCS.) For today’s post, I’d like to address a somewhat common hobby acronym mentioned in an email I received from one of our readers. He quite succinctly queried, “What the heck does ‘PE’ stand for? I see it used in online forums a lot.”The acronym “PE” has the distinction of representing two terms in our hobby. If you read it in the context of a discussion on foods and feeding, the acronym likely refers to Piscine Energetics, a company headquartered in British Columbia that supplies PE Mysis®, a popular brand of Mysis relicta, among other products. But in hobby parlance, “PE” can also stand for “polyp extension,” which is exactly what it sounds like—the degree to which a coral extends its polyps. Why does this matter by Saltwater Smarts | Apr 13, 2016 | Corals, Equipment, Fish, Reef, Science
It’s best to have a plan in place BEFORE the power goes out, rather than rushing around to put together a solution after the factQuestionI set up a 60-gallon saltwater aquarium in my home last fall, and with my area being very prone to severe weather in spring, I have some questions about aquariums during power outages. Specifically, I’d like to know: How long can an aquarium go without power before you have to do something about it? In other words, if the electricity goes out and I just leave the tank alone waiting for it to come back on, how long can the fish and corals survive? Which aquarium systems should be given top priority during a power outage? Am I correct in assuming temperature control, lighting, and aeration? What materials/equipment do you recommend I keep on hand in case of a power outage? by Saltwater Smarts | Apr 9, 2016 | Equipment, Fish, Invertebrates, Reef, Science
Smaller fish, such as Blue-Green Chromis (Chromis viridis), are most likely to be affected by chronic elevated dissolved gas levels in your aquariumIf you’re like most marine aquarium hobbyists, you probably don’t give a great deal of thought to the levels of dissolved gases in your system beyond making sure you’re providing good aeration and circulation. But under certain circumstances, these levels can get out of whack to the detriment of marine livestock. Jay Hemdal, Curator of Fishes and Invertebrates for the Toledo Zoo, explains how in the following excerpt from his book The Salt Smart Guide to Preventing, Diagnosing, and Treating Diseases of Marine Fishes.Dissolved gases All aquarists are aware that their aquariums require a minimum concentration of dissolved oxygen in the water for their fish to survive. Many aquarists are also aware that if gases are dissolved in too great an amount, supersaturation can occur, causing serious health problems in their animals. Due to a lack of appropriate test equipment, most home aquarists can do little about measuring for potential problems with dissolved gas levels. There are four basic concerns regarding the level of dissolved gases in aquarium water: acute supersaturation, chronic supersaturation, low dissolved oxygen tension, and high carbon dioxide tension. by Saltwater Smarts | Mar 22, 2016 | Corals, Events, Fish, Opinion, Reef, Science, Tanks
In a few years, my reef will turn 50 years old. I believe I’ve avoided old tank syndrome by using the procedures outlined in this article.Old Tank Syndrome, or OTS, is something we have been hearing about since the hobby started, and I am not quite sure exactly what it means. Is it due to parameters, loss of diversity, lack of interest, diseases, metal accumulation, global warming, locusts, or all of the above? I think it is much simpler than “all of the above,” but some of those things are probably on the list of causes—especially locusts. It’s about bacteriaIn my opinion, OTS has to do with bacteria, or lack of it. Bacteria really run our tanks, and we are just there so the bacteria have something to make fun of. Without bacteria, our tanks would crash in less than a day.
