by Saltwater Smarts | Mar 10, 2016 | Corals, Fish, Reef, Science
RO/DI treatment is a hedge against tap water which typically has impurities that can cause issues in our aquariumsQuestionI’ve been keeping saltwater aquariums for five years, and in all that time I’ve never used RO/DI water for top offs or mixing up clean salt water. I just use tap water treated with a dechlorinator / dechloraminator, and I’ve never had any problems. Could it be that people are exaggerating the benefits of using RO/DI?” – Submitted by Lee H. Answer Though you may have gotten by using only a dechlorinator/dechloraminator to treat your water thus far, you may not always be so lucky. I’m a strong proponent of using RO/DI-treated (or otherwise purified) source water in any marine aquarium system for several reasons. Here are just a few: Water treatment protocols are for people Municipalities aren’t (nor should they be) worried about providing water that’s safe for sustaining sensitive marine organisms. Their only concern is ensuring that the water is safe for people to drink, bathe in, etc. by Saltwater Smarts | Mar 4, 2016 | Corals, Fish, Reef, Science, Tanks
Your senses play as important a role in maintaining your aquarium as test kits and monitoring devicesWe marine aquarists depend heavily on store-bought test kits and devices for monitoring water quality and parameters (like the FishBit monitor we discussed here recently), but we’re actually born with some of the best tools available for figuring out what’s going on with our tanks—our innate human senses. With the possible exception of taste (I’d recommend observing the general admonition that you shouldn’t put your tongue on anything related to your aquarium), our senses can tell us quite a bit about the health and well-being of our systems—if we pay them heed, that is. Here are some examples of how:Sight Obviously, our eyes give us the most comprehensive information about our tanks, so we’ll start there. They reassure us that our livestock is healthy and behaving normally, getting enough to eat, and interacting peacefully; that there’s ample water movement in the system (evidenced by swaying corals, particulates kept in suspension, etc.); that the lighting system is fully functional with no burned out bulbs/tubes/LEDs; and so forth. But sight isn’t the only sense that’s helpful to the marine aquarium hobbyist. There’s also… Hearing Unusual or louder-than-normal sounds often indicate that something is wrong in an aquarium system. For example, a rattling sound coming from a submersible pump or HOB filter could indicate a broken or cracked impeller. by Saltwater Smarts | Feb 29, 2016 | Fish, Invertebrates, Reef, Science
When you realize the salinity in your aquarium is off, making slow adjustments is importantSaltwater Smarts visitor Andrew had the following question about our post titled “5 Tips for Maintaining Stable Salinity in a Saltwater Tank.” Since we get similar questions quite frequently, we thought it might be helpful to elaborate on our response in today’s post: QuestionThis article says, when doing a water change, make sure the salinity is the same as [that of] the dirty water. My question is, what if the salinity in the tank is a little high or low?” – Submitted by Andrew Answer If the salinity (hereafter expressed as specific gravity) in your tank is slightly off, you can adjust it up or down in a variety of ways. Let’s look at each scenario separately, keeping in mind that each remedy may need to be repeated several times to restore the desired level: If you need to raise your specific gravity, your options are to: Dissolve a small amount of sea salt in aquarium water (e.g., in a cup or beaker) and drip the mixture slowly into your sump or a high-flow area of the tank. This is best done in several doses over the course of a few hours or even a day or more, depending on how far the level must be raised. When performing water changes, replace the dirty water that you remove with clean salt water mixed to a slightly higher-than-normal specific gravity. Top off water lost to evaporation with salt water rather than fresh water until the desired specific gravity is reached. If you need to lower your specific gravity: Remove small amounts of salt water and replace them with equal volumes of purified fresh water. During water changes, mix your replacement water to a slightly lower-than-normal specific gravity. by Saltwater Smarts | Feb 27, 2016 | Corals, Equipment, Fish, Invertebrates, Reef, Science, Tanks
A recent shot of Paul B’s 40+ year old reef aquariumMany marine fish can survive in captivity for decades, and many corals and other sessile invertebrates can hang in there, well, who knows how long. In any case, maintaining a marine aquarium “for the long term” can mean an awfully long time. Just ask Paul B, author of The Avant Garde Marine Aquarist. His current tank has been up and running with much of the same livestock since somewhere around the Second Battle of Bull Run (being a New Yorker, Paul presumably wouldn’t have called it Second Manassas). My style of aquarium keeping also leans toward the long-term, so I thought I’d dedicate today’s post to what I consider the pros and cons of this approach (versus keeping specimens for relatively brief periods and frequently changing up your livestock) for those whose hobby experience doesn’t yet span decades:Pros: You gain a new respect for the growth potential of specimens—and thus the benefits of spacious housing. For example, reading that fish species X can reach Y inches/centimeters in maximum length doesn’t compare to actually seeing the genuine article fully grown and swimming around in your tank alongside a bunch of other fully grown specimens. by Saltwater Smarts | Feb 9, 2016 | Fish, Reef, Science
Large bruisers, such as Miniatus grouper (Cephalopholis miniatus), are best wrangled without the use of a netMoving a marine fish from one tank to another is a straightforward process. You grab a fish net of appropriate size, scoop out the specimen, and release it in its new home. At most, you might have to work with two nets, using the second net to gently herd the fish into the first. Easy peasy, right? Ah, but don’t reach for that ubiquitous green net just yet! For some fish, transfer by net isn’t an ideal alternative. Here are five fish types that are best moved using different means:Type 1: Spiny/spiky and venomous Fish sporting venomous spines, such as lionfishes, scorpionfishes, and rabbitfishes, should never be transferred by net for two very good reasons
