How many times has this phenomenon happened to you? You come home and your tank is full of air bubbles, coming in from your main system pump. The sump is low and now you have to top it off with freshwater to replace what has evaporated away.
Believe it or not, if this is allowed to go on for prolonged period of time, then your fish can get the bends. That’s right, it’s called supersaturation. And if it goes on for more than a few hours (depending on how bad it is) your fish can develop bubbles under their skin in their fins and on their bodies, and particularly in their eyes. If it goes unchecked for just one day, it can even kill your fish.
The way to prevent it is to automate your evaporation replacement, so that you don’t have to REMEMBER to do it. One of the things I have learned is that the more you can eliminate your aquariums need for you to REMEMBER to do certain tasks, the fewer problems you’ll have, and the longer your animals will live.
Our preferred approach to automating evaporation replacement (a.k.a. top-off), is to use a dosing pump that runs 24/7 and pumps at the same rate of evaporation. This is the simplest approach. It doesn’t require the use of float valves or float switches. And if the dosing pump breaks, then you are simply back to the old way of needing to do manual top-off – until the pump is repaired/replaced.
And using a dosing pump will also save you time, which you can spend enjoying your aquarium.
If you want to learn more tips like this and to get access to our recommended products and fine-tuned methodologies, just go to www.saltwateraquariumsecrets.com.
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.
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
Gibbons Aquaria, Inc. (GAI) was founded in 1995 by President and owner, Warren M. Gibbons. Mr. Gibbons is an experienced aquarist, fisheries biologist, aquaculture and fisheries management professional since graduating from University of Maryland (College Park) in 1985.
Gibbons Aquaria is a direct byproduct of Warren’s eleven years in the fields of marine biology, aquaculture and fisheries management, four of which were at the New England Aquarium (Boston, MA) where he managed the New England Aquarium’s Jellyfish Breeding Laboratory.
From the very beginning Gibbons had a consuming passion for saltwater ecosystem aquariums. For years, he spent practically every waking moment thinking about what it takes to create a thriving and stunningly beautiful saltwater reef tank. This was his passion, and in 1994, his dream job had come true.
At the New England Aquarium (NEAq), he maintained his passion for saltwater ecosystems by consuming every book, periodical and bit of information he could get his hands on. He attended every conference he could find (national and international) where he met with authors and gurus in the aquarium field and developed a wide network of colleagues and experts who, now, are his peers. At the New England Aquarium, he was known among his colleagues as the “go-to person” for anything pertaining to keeping live corals – and state-of-the-art filtration methods and technology of any kind. Warren was a hardcore fish nerd and proud of it.
Gibbons Aquaria’s first project came when a local family called the NEAq to find someone to install a reef tank in there home. Warren was asked if he was interested in taking on the task. He had built these aquariums a thousand times in his head and on paper and knew exactly what to do.
Within a few weeks, the family had a beautiful, thriving coral reef ecosystem aquarium in their living room. They were thrilled and so was Warren. Gibbons was in business and the word of his success was out.
Shortly afterwards, Warren was contacted by a local seafood restaurant chain to redesign and renovate 2 aquariums. The first was a 12′ 700-gallon saltwater coral ecosystem aquarium and the second, a 600-gallon freshwater flooded Amazon rainforest display. The owner was frustrated with his existing service company and asked Gibbons to identify and then fix the problem. In addition, he was asked to takeover the maintenance responsibility.
The saltwater aquarium was the first to be renovated. Within two months of design, preparation and renovation, the 700-gallon saltwater coral reef ecosystem aquarium was operating flawlessly and teeming with life. The response was dramatic and immediate. The restaurant had been inundated with complements about their aquariums. Gibbons’ customer was thrilled as people were coming into the restaurant just to see the aquariums they had heard about. Due to the uniqueness of the aquarium displays which were created and the high volume of foot traffic, the phone began to ring.
By the end of 1996 Gibbons was in business as GAI, and working at the New England Aquarium where he had been promoted to manage the Jellyfish Breeding Laboratory. The New England Aquarium’s special exhibit JELLIES was a smash hit and other public aquarium institutions were developing their own jellyfish aquarium displays. For the duration of the exhibit, he ran “Jelly Camp” – a program he designed to train husbandry staff from other public aquarium institutions around the country and the world to breed, maintain and display many species of jellyfish. This program allowed him to continue developing a wide network of contacts in the public aquarium field.
One of those contacts was building OCEANARIO DE LISBOA in Lisbon, Portugal at the WORLD EXPO ’98. They soon hired Gibbons to redesign two of their jellyfish exhibits, plus a 5,000-gallon living coral reef ecosystem aquarium, and to design a jellyfish breeding laboratory. GAI was growing, and by the fall of 1997, Gibbons decided it was time to focus 100% on GAI.
Gibbons Aquaria continued creating and installing commercial and residential Marine Ecosystems. Additionally, Warren undertook consulting contracts for public aquariums the following year for the Newport Aquarium (Newport, Kentucky) to design an entire gallery of jellyfish exhibits, and for the New England Aquarium to design and install life support for their seasonal satellite aquarium in Newport, Rhode Island. Once again, Gibbons was chosen to provide the feasibility design for the Cape Verde Aquarium’s 60,000-gallon living coral reef display.
The rapid growth of GAI was helped with additional staff. The first to join the GAI team was Gibbons’ former supervisor from the New England Aquarium. Later another aquarist from the New England Aquarium and a very accomplished professional aquarist from Sea World Australia joined the team. Gibbons Aquaria grew because it distinguished itself as a company that is able to deliver state-of-the-art, museum quality custom aquarium displays.
