Pellet fish foods have come a long way from years past.  They are now a smorgasbord of amazing nutrition that can really shore up the foundation of your aquarium diet.   While most pellets for saltwater aquariums are sinking pellets, you may find some out there that are floating (which I don’t recommend).  The reason for this is that most saltwater aquariums today have overflow boxes (a.k.a. skimmer boxes) where the surface water is skimmed and sent back to a sump.  Floating pellets would only end up getting sucked into the overflow and then go uneaten, and break down in your system, adding to pollution (increased nitrates, phosphates, and suppressed pH and alkalinity).  So, to recap, you want to go with a sinking pellet. 

One of the best pellet brands we have come to love is the New Life Spectrum pellets, in both small and large pellet sizes.  I have a friend who loves it so much, that in some aquariums it is all he feeds.  Now, I don’t agree with this, feeding only one kind of food, but the point is that he has gotten such amazing benefits from it.    We have been using this one for years and just love it.  I could hardly believe it when a colleague of mine told me that his Bartlet’s Anthias were eating New Life Spectrum pellets.  That says a lot.  I want the fish to be able to eat the pellets as soon as they are added to the aquarium, so often we will soak them for a few minutes to soften them up.

Ocean Nutrition also has some great pelleted foods, as does Hikari.  The Hikari product we have used a lot is their “S” pellet (for small).  This is great for any newly arrived captive-raised fishes (i.e. clownfishes, pseudochromis/dottybacks) who are accustomed to being fed small pellets and will at first ignore anything that doesn’t look like a small pellet (1 mm) and sinks quickly.  In other words, at first, all they are interested in eating are very small pellets. 

One big caution with feeding pellet foods, is that they are very easy to over feed.  The moment the can is opened you want to be very deliberate and move slowly so as not to spill them either.    Uneaten pellets can end up settling into your substrate/sand where they will break down and add to pollution in your aquarium (increased nitrates and phosphates, suppressed pH and alkalinity too).  Of course, this happens with any food the is overfed, not just pellets.  So, remember that less more often is better than more less often.  How’s that for a tongue twister.

We also like to offer a larger pellet for bigger fishes.  This way we have two different sizes of pellets, providing more diversity and better suited to ensuring that everyone (fishes) gets a pellet that is just right sized for them to readily eat. 

Medicated pellets are also available for when you have a sick fish, or one that needs rehabilitation.  New Life Spectrum makes a medicated pellet in case you wanted a brand to look for.

I like to think of pellet foods as an all-in-one vitamin food, because there are so many different ingredients that go into them.

Happy Fishes,

Warren Gibbons
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One of the most important foods you can provide your saltwater aquarium is frozen foods, and the fresher the better.  Believe it or not, I am shocked at how often I come across a fellow hobbyist whose saltwater fish are only fed dry flakes and pellet food. Yes there have been big advances in these diets, but again, diversity is king.  So make sure frozen foods are a part of your saltwater fish’s diet.

FROZEN

As for frozen foods, there are many different kinds. We typically use fresh frozen foods as a preference over gels.  Although I have experienced great results with gel foods too, we just prefer the fresh-frozen.  A nice thing about the gels is that they are very convenient and most of them are made up of many different kinds of fresh frozen foods. 

One important thing to note about all frozen foods is that they need to be rinsed before feeding them into your aquarium.  The reason for this is, that when you thaw out even our top favorite brand of frozen food, there is yucky off-colored syrup left behind that will pollute your water quality.  So, what we recommend is to thaw out your frozen food, and then pour it through find net, such as a brine shrimp net, and then rinse it under tap water, and voila it’s ready to feed.

The frozen foods we like to use are mysis shrimp and enriched adult brine shrimp.  And then especially for new arrivals, we also feed “cyclopeeze” to help kickstart their appetite (only for the first week).

MYSIS

As for the mysis, our favorite brand is Piscine Energetics.  Their mysis are large and you get more mysis than water in the packets (some other brands have a lot of water once thawed = lower value).  And they are extremely fresh and you get whole mysis, not bits and chunks.  Also, this is the major brand that is preferred by most of the curators at public aquariums.  You can visit their site at http://www.mysis.com.

ENRICHED ADULT BRINE SHRIMP

Adult brine shrimp is one of the most widely fed frozen foods for saltwater aquariums. It’s cheap and fish gobble it up.  And yet, by itself, it is not very nutritious.  But when you gut-load them with HUFAs (i.e. omega 3 fatty acids, etc.) or spirulina algae, they are fantastic.  The brand we currently use is San Francisco Bay Brand (http://www.sfbb.com/frozen.asp#).  I’m not sure if this is still the case, but when I originally was seeking a manufacturer who enriched their adult brine shrimp, San Francisco Bay Brand was the only one we could find, and they now have two types of enriched brine:  Omega 3 and the spirulina enriched. Both are fantastic.

GEL FOODS

While we have not focused on using gel foods as part of our feeding regimen, we have clients who do and the results they get with their fish are just as good.  One of the pros to using gel foods is that they typically come in cube form in foil packets. This makes feeding and portioning easy.  On the con side to using gel foods, it is more difficult to rinse them if they are made with a gel binder, and thus all that soup goes into your tank adding to pollution and can degrade water quality.  But overall, they are a great way to go.  Two of the brands we have experience with are Ocean Nutrition and San Francisco Bay Brand.  Of course there are many others.

Our next post will cover pellet foods and how to feed which foods in which order. Believe it or not, the sequence in which you feed these different food types does matter. 

Happy Fishes,

Warren Gibbons,

Gibbons Aquaria, Inc.

P.S. If you are enjoying what you are reading here and would like more  in-depth information on how to finally make your saltwater aquarium actually work, go to www.saltwateraquariumsecrets.com and sign up for our free newsletter.

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When it comes to diet, fish are not much different than people in the sense that they also need a diverse diet in order to be vital and healthy and thus resist disease.

Today I am going to introduce you to some of the basics we use to make up a diverse diet.  And by no means is this the ONLY way, rather it is simply one way, one that has worked very well for us.  This diet is part of what helps us have very, very few fish losses.  In fact, I know we are far below the industry average, even for professional aquarium maintenance service companies.

So, I like to “chunk” things down into the big picture points first and then we can dive into the details.

Overall, there are four categories of foods we use. They are as follows:

1) flake

2) frozen

3) pellets

4) gels

FLAKES

Today, we’ll start with flake foods.  We like to use primarily two types of flakes for every saltwater aquarium.  They are spirulina flake food and nori (a.k.a. sea weed).

By far, the best food you can get into a fish is NORI. If you are familiar with sushi, this is the stuff they wrap the maki rolls in.  Some people also call it seaweed.  It is amazingly potent and nutritious.  If you can get a fish to eat one food, this is it (of course fish still need other foods too).  Just know that this stuff is amazing.  It has great healing characteristics, and fish that eat it have fantastically brilliant colors.  I can’t say enough good things about it.  There are many kinds out there, including different colors (green, brown, purple, red).  The brands we use are “Sea Veggies” by Two Little Fishies, and “Seaweed Selects”, by Ocean Nutrition.  Both are great.  If your budget is tight, you can also purchase it from your local health food store.  When feeding nori, we like to let it soak in aquairum water for 3-5 minutes to soften up and then we break it up into smaller bits as it is added to the aquarium.  Some people like to attach it to a “lettuce clip” and let the fish graze on it (this works too).  Notice that lettuce is not on our diet.  I don’t get why even public aquariums feed lettuce, which is a land-based food, to saltwater tropical fish when you can give them a far better choice at roughly the same cost.  I do not recommend lettuce.

As for the spirulina flake food, we like two brands, but I know that there are many others out there just as good, maybe even better.  We use Ocean Star International (OSI) brand spirulina flake.  It is nice a dark, thus well-concentrated, and has a high content of spirulina algae.  This seems to be a magic food for fish that will eat it (as is the nori – more on that in a moment).  Spirulina flake is great for tangs and angels especially, and any other fish that will eat it. It is particularly good with creating vibrant colors, a strong mucous layer, as well as giving the fish excellent healing ability for small wounds and abrasions (from aggression with other fish, etc.).

On our next post, we will cover frozen foods.  What foods are you feeding?  Do you have any favorites?  Post a reply and let us know.

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I carried my first reef tank around with me EMPTY for five years before I set it up.  Obsession can drive you and can be a good thing, but it can also stop you from taking action out of the need for perfection.

From one move to the next move, each time we moved it came with me . . . empty.  My dream tank that would someday actually get setup when the conditions were just right.  This was a 125 gallon glass tank with two overflows.  I saw it in my local pet store and drooled over it until I couldn’t take it any more.  So I finally came in and bought it.  It was probably the only thing I had bought from this store I had been visiting for the last year, other than magazines.  I would come in to the store to see what new amazing critters they had, talk their ear off with 50 questions and then leave.  I was especially obsessed with saltwater reef aquariums.

So now I had my big tank at home.  What now?  I decided to build a stand . . . an “uber” stand.  This thing was bomber – a work of art.  But the tank still sat empty.  My wife would say “in the meantime, why don’t we just set it up as a freshwater tank until you are ready for the reef?”  I wouldn’t have it.  After all, this was my saltwater reef tank … my empty saltwater reef tank.

So now I had my tank sitting on a stand.  But I couldn’t bring myself to set it up yet and get it running, mostly because of two reasons:

1)      I didn’t want to set it up until I had everything perfect (analysis paralysis – mistake).  This included not wanting to have to break it down when I moved.  So it sat there.

2)      I had bought too big of a tank for my budget.  I had no idea what it was going to cost (when I was done – the total cost) to get my tank completely setup.  There were pumps, filters, reactors, live rock, corals, fishes, a chiller, UV, and on and on.  The funniest part is I didn’t even know that I needed all this stuff when I bought the tank. I just KNEW I was going to do it . . . some day.  So it sat there … empty.

At this point most of what I had learned about keeping reef tanks was not from doing it but from reading and reading and reading and speaking w/ experts, a lot of experts.  On the other hand I did have a background in fisheries biology and aquaculture and many other jobs in the world of fish.  I even worked for a lobbying firm on Capital Hill in Washington DC called The Sport Fishing Institute.  Yes, I had experience w/ freshwater aquariums, but somehow my passion and obsession for saltwater reef tanks was so strong that I didn’t want to build a tank until I could do it in a very big and amazing way.  I was being stopped by my need to “get it right” and to avoid mistakes (as if that were even possible).  It makes me laugh now as I write this post.

In my case, this 125 gallon reef ready tank didn’t even see water in it for 5 years, and by the time it did, it was actually used as a holding tank in my aquarium consulting business.  Can you believe it?  In fact, my first reef tank was 800-gallons, for a customer.  And it was very successful and still is to this day.

In my 15 years in the world of all things aquarium, my biggest lessons have come from my biggest blunders.  The phrase “fail often and fail fast” comes to mind.    So don’t be afraid to get your first tank up and going.  Just do it.

I would have been much better off buying a smaller saltwater tank (even a used one) so that I could actually get it completely up and running and get hands-on experience by taking action and doing it . . . and yes, making mistakes too. 

So just remember that we learn best and most deeply when we make mistakes and screw up.  And if you are doing it right, you will make mistakes, even some big ones.  So accept it and be grateful for it and don’t let it stop you from taking action.  Some future posts will focus on some of these big mistakes so stay tuned.

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I got a call today from a local hobbyist with a very common, and completely preventable, problem with his 55-gallon saltwater aquarium.   The reason he was calling was he had a parasite outbreak in his tank and his Carribean Blue Tang was not doing well.  Of course, I helped him out with a battle plan to resolve the problem with his sick fish.  But more importantly, I taught him why it happened, what to do about it to resolve it, and MOST IMPORTANT how to prevent it in the future.

Unfortunately, this is one of the most common occurences with keeping saltwater aquariums and tropical fish, and yet it is very preventable.

The reality is that EVERY saltwater aquarium (and freshwater aquarium) has parasites and/or disease.  Yes, I said every saltwater aquarium.   When I used to work at The New England Aquarium (www.neaq.org), they were very strict about putting almost every new fish through a copper quarantine, and even after all that effort, some exhibits would have parasite or disease outbreaks.  So even a public aquarium such as the New England Aquarium who takes fantastic care of their animals can have disease outbreaks. 

The important thing to get is that we want to create ideal conditions so as not to even trigger an outbreak in the first place.  And it is important that your aquarium setup to minimize that outbreak and prevent from killing your fish.  Yes it is possible to prevent fish losses due to parasites.

The keys to preventing fish losses from parasites are as follows:

- put all new fish arrivals through an observational quarantine for 14-21 days.  The life cycle of most parasites is 14-21 days, so if you hold them at least this long you can catch a problem before putting the animal into the exhibit tank.  We prefer not to copper during this observational period.  You may of course choose to do so, it’s just that I have found it to be more stress on the fish than necessary.  Why medicate healthy animals?  Again, while the observational quarantine is ideal, I understand that not everyone has the time/money/space for an additional aquarium.  Just know that it can make a big difference if you can afford it.

- minimize stress (consitent and stable conditions, sufficient hiding places; good water quality; diverse diet; minimal changes)

- consistency and stability (in diet, temperature, water quality)

- minimize frequency and severity of changes to the tank – it’s not that you can’t add fish or change your aquarium around, but simply to realize that the more you change their environment – then the less stable it is – and this instability/inconsistency creates stress

- Oversized Ultraviolet Sterilizer filter - the key is that it be oversized.  An undersized UV sterilizer is a waste of money, and an oversized UV sterilizer will only help and cannot cause any problems.  Keep an eye out for future posts on what an ultraviolet sterilizer is and why it is so important, and how to use them.  This is a big one – don’t make the mistake of skimping on a U.V. sterilizer.  They pay for themselves in preventing disease outbreaks and have other benefits too.

- Cooler temperature – ideally 76F – Lower temperatures have been shown to help minimize the frequency and severity of disease outbreaks.

- Lower salinity 22-28 ppt – Low salinities do not work for reef aquariums – only use for fish-only saltwater aquariums.

- Strong water movement/circulation – There are two aspects of water movement to consider – the first is the amount of turbulence in the aquarium itself – the second is “system turnover”, as in how many times the aquarium’s entire volume is cycled through the sump (if you have one) and other filters (i.e. biofilter, protein skimmer, UV sterilizer, etc.). 3

These are some of the primary issues that can prevent and at least significantly reduce the frequency and severety of disease/parasite outbreaks in your saltwater aquarium. 

In upcoming posts, I plan on covering each one in more detail.  They are that important.

Please leave a comment on your experience with preventing disease in your saltwater aquarium. 

Until next time ….

Happy fishes,

Warren Gibbons

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How would you like to avoid all of the frustration, wasted money and problems of having a saltwater aquarium?  What if you had access to interviews with aquarium experts, product manufacturers and other aquarium professionals?  Do you think this would be of help to you in creating the aquarium you’ve dreamed of?  How would you like to benefit from the years of experience of a professional aquarium design/installation/maintenance company? 

My name is Warren Gibbons, and I have been in the aquarium industry for over 15 years and am going to be offering my experience to help you, including tips, insight, design and installation secrets as well as access to the systems we use for designing, installing and maintaining large custom professional reef tanks and fish-only tanks that cost over $100,000 (no that’s not a typo).  And I will be connecting you with other experts in the aquarium world.  And the idea is to help set you up to help prevent the majority of problems that can happen with a saltwater aquarium.  And It is the thorough design that prevents problems that is one of our main talents.  So keep your eyes open and please tell us what you think, what you have learned by posting a comment on this blog.  See you soon

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