I’m going into my content creation cave over the next couple of weeks, and want to make sure I come out with the most relevant and valuable information. So take a few moments (two minutes) to answer the survey questions.
With all the information and opinions there are out there on how to go about keeping your saltwater aquarium, I could go into detail on any one of them. But I would rather help you out with the information you need help with the most.
And if you think I left something out of my survey, please go ahead and post a comment. What was that movie quote “Help me … help you”?
This is really cool. I was in the middle of doing the final checkout at the Ocean Explorium (where I am Curator) and there – right in front of my eyes was this pair of Bangai Cardinal fish right in the act of their mating dance.
Please leave a comment and tell me what kind of videos you would like to see (showing/explaining different filtration equipment, interesting animal interactions, how to install/layout filtration equipment, etc.).
We’ve had 8 seahorses in our 150g seahorse exhibit now for 5 months and now they are having a new batch of babies every month (sometimes more often). I thought I would share our experience as we grow them up. I’ve kept seahorses a few times before, but this is the first time I ever tried to breed and rear them.
The species of seahorse we are exhibiting here is Hippocampus erectus, which is local to the New England coast and can be found in backwaters and marshes. The ones we have came from 2 locations. Four were from the New Englan Aquarium, and the other four were from Pro Aquatix (a tropical fish/coral breeder in Florida).
We are now growing out batch #3. The first batch was a dud, as often the case where a seahorses first brood is less robust than later broods. I kind of think of this as the first time parent syndrome. The second batch we were not ready for them – and even though we fed them newly-hatched brine shrimp (not enriched), most of the babies were not large enough to eat the brine, and those that were would ingest air at the surface and then later die.
So now we are on our 3rd batch, which just hatched 3 days ago. We now have rotifers being cultured (about 1/4 the size of brineshrimp nauplii), and this batch of seahorses is the largest one yet. They still tend to congregate at the surface, so we are experimenting with different approaches to preventing this air-ingestion problem. Once we have that licked, I think we are going to be awash in baby seahorses.
Please leave a comment below and let us know if you are interested in the detailed methods we are using to breed these seahorses. If we get enough responses then we will go ahead and provide the detailed procedures for you. Also, let us know if you have experience in breeding seahorses.
There are all kinds of algae problems an aquarist can experience in keeping saltwater aquariums, particularly with reef tanks. But none of them can be as nightmarish as Bryopsis.
Unlike most other algae, such as hair algae or cyanobacteria, Bryopsis does not respond to most removal methods. Even a normal algae problem can be extremely frustrating or even lead to someone giving up and shutting down their tank. But that doesn’t have to happen. There is a solution and I’m going to share it with you here in just a moment.
Typically, most algae problems such as hair algae or cyanobacteria, can be solved with a combination of:
- elevated pH
- increased water circulation
- removal of phosphates and nitrates
- removal of detritus, and
- addition of algae grazers (tangs, hermit crabs, snails, emerald crabs, urchins, sea hares, etc.)
- manual removal by humans (i.e. plucking, scrubbing, siphoning, etc.)
But Bryopsis is different, as it does not respond to these methods. Actually, it can often grow even more because of such methods (especially manual removal, which can feed asexual reproduction via fragmentation). And even biological controls such as adding grazing invertebrates and tangs is not only not very effective with Bryopsis, but it can be expensive (them critters ain’t cheap).
I wish I could say it was my idea – far from it. In fact, I have been dealing with a bout of Bryopsis recently in our 950-gallon saltwater reef exhibit at the Ocean Explorium, where I am Curator. And I was researching solutions to my problem when I cam across this solution. Here’s the link.
It explains the whole process in fair detail, with photos of results, showing the Bryopsis dying off and disappearing as a result of the treatment. I’ve also done more research on this method (thank you google) and it has actually been widely used with consistent successful results. And yet, it is a mostly unknown method.
Most people who get cursed with a Bryopsis algae outbreak, work like crazy for long periods of time, getting very frustrated, and still not even make a dent in the problem. Bryopsis algae outbreaks are usually caused by a new addition, where the algae comes in as a hitch hiker on a new coral or piece of live rock, or even a snail shell. So I’m glad I found it and even more glad to share it with you. Please be sure and share it with your friends too.
The method uses increased Magnesium levels for three months (1600ppm compared to the normal 1300ppm), to bring the Bryopsis to its threshold for binding Magnesium. This causes the Magnesium to then perform as an enzyme inhibitor, making the Bryopsis shut down and die off. Once this happens, the grazers in your saltwater aquarium will clean up the remains.
Point of caution: Be sure not to raise the Magnesium level by more than 100ppm per day.
Please post a comment here on the blog to share your feedback, or to tell your story if you are having any problems or frustrations with your saltwater aquarium. We would love to help you out in any way we can.
Forget aquariums for a moment. YOU HAVE TO WATCH THIS VIDEO! Today’s post is about saving lives and making a difference in the world. After you watch this video, please share this video on your facebook pages and tweet about it in Twitter, and post it on your blogs.
It is one of the most incredible inventions I have ever seen, and IS the solution to ending the worldwide problem of the need for safe drinking water – especially in areas of abject poverty and refugee camps where the problem is worst. Just imagine how a nation can be transformed when its people are no longer parralized with disease, when they no longer have to spend the bulk of their day gathering water and food.
Imagine what your life would be like if you had to spend most of your day gathering water, which is loaded with pathogens that cause you to get sick. So, what little time you have left from gathering water, you spend fighting water-born disease. If our nation lived like this, we wouldn’t be free to work, to invent, to become educated, to be of service to others. Basically our ability to be productive in society would be severely diminished. Thus, this issue of not having practical access to safe drinking water is crippling the world’s impoverished nations.
What if this problem no longer existed? What if it were solved permanently? Think about it.
As the Curator of the Ocean Explorium (New Bedford, MA), I am responsible for multiple marine aquarium exhibits. Two weeks ago, I got one of those phone calls no one wants to get.
It was the weekend and I was enjoying my time off. As I listened to the aquarist describe the problem, her frustration was high.One of our aquarium exhibits was up to almost 90 degrees F! It was the sea scallop exhibit (normally at 58 degrees F).
The aquarist had just completed a water change AND she did complete the “check out” procedure we always do when leaving for the day. And then she went home. But … during the “check out” process, instead of looking at the temperature controller to confirm that the chiller was on, she looked at the power plug (which she had unplugged during the water change). The only problem was that the plug wasn’t plugged all the way in, thus, the chiller was not on and the tank overheated to 90F (instead of 58F).
Saltwater aquariums, and all aquariums for that matter, are subject to inherent vulnerabilities, which, if not addressed and accounted for, may lead to the demise of your aquarium’s inhabitants. So what are these inherent vulnerabilities?
Well, before I get into it, let’s just say they are simpler than you may think. You might be thinking of the 100 things that can go wrong in a saltwater aquarium. Because, lets’ face it. Keeping saltwater fish and/or reeftanks involves solving a lot of problems. After all, there is nothing like a big problem to help you really learn your lesson and improve your skills of problem solving. At the end of this post, I’ll tell you a brief story of one recent nightmare that was a perfect example of not doing a proper “check out”, and how it would have caught the issue and prevented the loss of animals.
But first, back to the mistake of only focussing on problem solving. Even if you only focus on becoming great at problem solving, you will waste a lot of time dealing with problems that could have and should have been prevented. So now you’re thinking you should be focused on the prevention of problems … and you’d be right.
So what is my big secret to how to prevent over 90% of the inherent problems that come with keeping saltwater fish and reef aquariums?
When I tell you my secret solution, you’re going to say to yourself “that’s obvious” or “that’s so simple”. And again, you’d be right. So here it is.
My secret to preventing over 90% of all problems that are inherent with saltwater aquarium keeping is … “check in …. and check out”.
See, I told you it was going to sound simple and obvious. Most problems that occur in keeping saltwater aquariums are preventable … by far. If you want to see consistent problems, floods, broken equipment and loss of valuable saltwater fish or corals, then watch what happens when you don’t do a proper “check in” and “check out”.
And the key to doing a proper “check in” and “check out” is to turn it into a written recipe or procedure that you go over EVERY SINGLE TIME you work on your tank(s). The key here is that it be written out as a check list, SO THAT YOU DON’T FORGET ANYTHING. In fact, because you’ve written it out (post it on the wall in your fish room or on the cabinet door under your tank, etc.), now you no longer have to worry about forgetting any of the key steps in this process.
This whole ‘forgetting things’ is usually the biggest source of nightmares, accidents, leaks/floods, and problems in saltwater aquarium keeping. In my aquarium consulting business, we service large, high-end saltwater aquariums (typically costing over $50,000), so you can imagine how important it is to prevent problems. When we come to service a client’s tank, the first thing we do is go through our “check in” process. We use a simple written check list for this, and you’d be surprised how many items are on the list (it’s over 25).
But the great thing about having this list is that you don’t miss anything, and you don’t have to think. You just go down the list and check them off. Save your thinking for problem solving. Yes … that’s right. Even after you adopt a strict and consistent routine of doing a thorough “check in” and “check out”, you will still have problems to solve … just A LOT LESS of them … a lot less. I mean, even in the story I told at the begging of this post, a problem still occurred even though we were using a “check out” procedure … it just wasn’t followed correctly. This is where the human error part of the equation comes into play. We humans make mistakes and when we’re in a rush we take short cuts … which is one of the rules of proper “check in” and “check out” – no short cuts. Always follow the procedure.
So you’re probably wondering if we lost any animals with that big of a temperature spike. The answer is yes. We lost four scallops, but it took them a few days until the effects of the temperature spike to do them in.
Stay tuned for more, in upcoming posts, as I’ll go into detail on how to do a proper and thorough “check in” and “check out”, and exactly what to “check” for. Meanwhile, go to www.saltwateraquariumsecrets.com and sign up so that you don’t miss anything. Also, you can click on the orange RSS button at the top of this page to be notified whenever we post new material here on the blog.
Go now to www.saltwateraquariumsecrets.com to get more tips and secrets on how to actually enjoy this wonderful hobby. Look over our shoulder as we take you behind the scenes of public aquariums and custom saltwater aquariums.
Is there any one area with your aquarium where you are stuck, I
mean, you can’t seem to move forward?
I want to know, so that I can help you.
Just type in your question (reply/comment on this post) and I’ll do my best to get it answered
and help you move forward.
There are few things that are as frustrating as being stuck. Sometimes the thing that gets you unstuck is a simple confirmation that you are going in the right direction.
Or another one, is not taking the next step for fear of making a mistake or “doing it the wrong way”, or “is what I am about to do to my tank actually going to work?”
From algae problems to filtration or lighting equipment issues, we all get stuck sometimes and for me … it has always made a difference when I asked for help.
So let us know where we can help? Go ahead and go to the bottom of this post and click on comments and type your question or dilemma. Whatever it is, we can help you get over your obstacle.
Go now to the bottom of this post and click on “Leave a reply”.
Sincerely,
Warren Gibbons
P.S. If you would like access to our years of experience in designing, installing, and maintaining large-scale public aquarium style aquarium exhibits, then go now to www.saltwateraquariumsecrets.com
and sign up to receive our help and insight that has enabled us to consistently build and successfully maintain exhibits that cost well over $100,000 to install.
Frank asks another good question on hiding the intake to his canister filer. Here’s the question with my response below.
The in-take for the cannister loops over the back of the tank, can I have it loop into the corner overflow to hide it?
Thanks,
Frank
Yes, you can do that (clever idea), with a couple of caviats.
1) Make sure that, when the system is on, your corner overflow chamber has at least 12″ of water in it, for the canister intake to pull from; and that no bubbles are getting sucked into the canister intake, as this can lead to supersaturation in the tank (giving your fish the benz).
2) Make sure, that your feed sends water directly back to the tank (not the sump).
Frank asked the following question about heaters and plumbing. Here is his question with my response below:
I am in the process of changing to an 80 gal tank from a 55 gal. I have most of the equipment but I have not delt with a new heater. What is your opinion of in-line heaters vs. submersibe? Should I have an extra submersible regardless of which way I go?
Also, my pumps, chiller, U.V. sterilizer are set up for 3/4″ OD tubing, but the sump return and feed would have to be adjusted down. Should I adjust the sump to 3/4″ OD, or size all the other connections up to 1″?
Hope this makes sense to you.
Thanks you, Frank for your question. Congratulations on upgrading to an 80 gallon. As for heaters, the submersible titanium heaters are the simplest option. They are very cheap now, and reliable too. Won Brothers makes them, and we have used them for years without one single failure. I would recommend against glass heaters, as they can break easily. In line heaters can be great, but they are inherrantly more complicated and thus quality is very important. The inline heaters we use are pretty pricey, and are for larger systems (larger budgets). But for an 80 gallon tank I do not have an inline heater I can recommend, and recommend a submersible titanium heater (Won Brothers).
The idea of choosing two heaters to “be on the safe side” is not uncommon, although not necessary. One heater is sufficient. The more important issue is whether your tank is a fish-only tank or a reef tank. With most aquariums, the main challenge is overheating, whereby heaters rarely turn on. However you still do need a heater, so that your temperature is stable. A yoyoing temperature is recipe for problems (sick fish, disease, etc.). If you do choose to go with two heaters, you can set one for a lower temperature than the other (by 2 degrees), so this way it will truly function as a backup in the event the other heater fails to turn on.
For your plumbing, it sounds like you are setup for a typical configuration, with a 3/4″ feed and a 1″ overflow (gravity return).
So for your 3/4″ feed, simply plumb your pump, chiller, U.V. with 3/4″ plumbing/tubing. And if needed, just bush down at the appliance (if any of your filters/appliances have different size plumbing). When I say “bush down” I mean use a reducing bushing.
As for your return (gravity overflow back to the sump), you will want a larger pipe diameter than your feed, preferably about twice the surface area. So a 1″ return is fine. Ideally you would want to be 1″ all the way from your tank back to the sump.
Perhaps I should do a video on this as plumbing can be a bit confusing for most people in the beginning.
Here is a short video of a nicely done custom fish room for a large custom saltwater aquarium. Enjoy!
If you’d like to learn more about how to have kick butt aquariums like this one, with custom fish room and all, click here www.saltwateraquariumsecrets.com.
