Everyone seems to know someone who had a bad experience keeping an aquarium.
The reason for this is that that person was misguided by someone who really
didn't know the basics themselves.
Equipment and information are the two most important requirements for
success. The hobby changes with time just as the computer or appliance
industries do. Recently we've gone back to simpler more natural methods with
very little equipment. Getting up to date with these methods and not getting
to technical is the key.
First
you must decide which type of salt water aquarium you want. The most simple
and least expensive is what we call a fish only aquarium. Several large fish
in an aquarium creates a stunning effect with lots of color and movement.
The higher end lighting required for many invertebrates is not necessary
when keeping only fish. Because the waste produced by fish is not tolerated
well by invertebrates these aquariums also require less maintenance.
An
invertebrate aquarium has only a few small fish but many beautiful anemones,
corals, shrimp and other very interesting and colorful animals and plants.
These aquariums are low maintenance and simple due to the good water quality
easily achieved by the small number of fish.
The
third and most involved type is the reef aquarium. Considered the pinnacle
of the hobby the objective is to maintain excellent water quality for
invertebrates and corals while having a large number of exotic fish.
Once
you have decided which type of aquarium best suites you then its time to
determine which size. You have many options and if you don't find a standard
then have one custom made to meet your creative needs. In choosing an
aquarium remembers the longer and wider you go the better. However the
taller you go the more difficulty you will encounter.
Consider these factors then come on in.
At
Exotic Aquatic we take great pride in having only friendly expert advisers
on staff to help you every step of the way.
In the aquarium fish industry there
are no certifications required to work in a fish store. The information you
receive is going to be based on that persons experience and there for, as
well meaning as that person may be, you may still get incomplete or just
plain wrong information. At Exotic Aquatic our employees are rigorously
trained and they all have extensive personal experience.
There are a lot of factors that will
affect the quality of your fish. The majority of salt water fish are being
shipped to us from the south Pacific. This means that the little fish has
taken a long ride on an airplane spending up to 2 days in a bag. When the
fish arrive at the pet store the water they are in is not even close to what
it was when they left. If the fish is not slowly and gently returned to
normal conditions (6-10 hours) the odds greatly increase that it will die
from pH shock in about a week. You can be sure that not all stores go to the
lengths Exotic Aquatic does to ensure the health of your fish.
Many fish are captured by using a
chemical that briefly tranquilizes them and then brought to the surface. If
deep water fish are brought to the surface to quickly or a non approved
tranquilizer is used then these fish may appear fine for up to a month and
then suddenly die with seemingly no explanation. At Exotic Aquatic we know
how the fish are collected and which ones are sensitive to these chemicals.
There are many beautiful fish that don’t survive in captivity and should not
be imported.
Some stores may have parasites in
there aquariums that can be carried to your fish tank. If even one fish
looks sick don’t buy even a healthy looking one that is sharing the same
water. Obviously dead fish and unclean looking aquariums are a good warning
sign. Due to our extensive education and experience you need not fear
unnecessarily contaminating your aquarium.
In dealing with living animals it
is impossible to guarantee their survival. Our first priority is customer
satisfaction; therefore we will do anything with in reason to keep our
customers happy. Please contact us at the first sign of trouble and bring in
a water sample as soon as possible. If you do lose a fish freeze it
until you are able to bring it in along with a water sample.
The extra steps taken by
Exotic Aquatic to facilitate healthier fish
·Optimal feeding with consideration to individual requirements
·Gentle slow acclimation upon arrival
·Careful determination of tank mates to reduce stress
·Weekly water changes, protein skimming, temperature control, &
U.V. sterilization
·Providing the best physical and psychological conditions
possible
·Provide ample hiding places in holding tanks
·Over 24 years of experience
A fish’s behavior and durability
can be predicted in general terms however there are always exceptions to the
rule based on these variables:
The simple way:Turn off the aquarium lights and float the
bag containing the fish unopened in the aquarium for 10 minutes. Then open
the bag and role it down like a sleeve to allow the bag to float, add ½ cup
of the aquarium water to the bag every ten minutes for half an hour to an
hour or until the water volume has tripled then test the Salinity (salt
level) if it is the same as your aquarium the fish is ready for its new
home.
Alternate method:
1. Put the fish with all
the bag water in a bucket or container of sufficient size for the fish to be
reasonably covered with the water.
2. Set the bucket on the floor next to the aquarium you will be placing the
fish into and cover.
3. Using some plastic air line tubing and an air valve, set up and run a
siphon drip line from the aquarium you will be placing the fish into, to the
bucket.
4. Start a siphon and allow the tank water to drip into the bucket, using
the air valve to adjust the drip rate. Keep the drip fairly fast (just a
little slower than running).
If your fish has been
in the bag for an extended period of time i.e. hours,
then
introducing water to fast
can change the water parameters too quickly and shock it. Slow the drip to
once a second and add a commercial ammonia remover at double strength
(I recommend Prime by
SeaChem).When the water dripped into the bucket equals about three times the
volume of the bag water you started with, test the pH, salinity and
temperature of the water in the bucket to see if they match your tank water.
If they match, you are done. If not, continue to drip until the parameters
match. If the bucket's water level is getting to high, you may remove water
from the bucket.
Saltwater Fish Acclimation Tips
If the fish has been in the bag for a long time never place an air stone
into the bucket when acclimating. This will increase the pH of the water too
quickly and may expose your new arrival to lethal levels of ammonia.
It doesn't hurt to add an ammonia destroyer such as Prime or AmQuel to the
bag water in the bucket prior to starting the procedure, as ammonia build up
may still occur while the fish is acclimating.
Turn aquarium lights off prior to introducing the fish to there new home and
leave them off for the rest of the day.
This is probably
the most widely held misconception in the hobby. We are all supposed to grow
to our adult size. However, if you put me in a box and don’t feed me well
you will affect my growth.
Is it ok to
just feed my fish flake food?
On the reef there
is an infinite variety of foods and therefore nutrients. Mix it up - frozen
foods, prepared foods, high quality pellets, and live food.
Why don’t my
fish thrive?
I have customers
who ask “why do my fish die after a couple months” or “why isn’t it
growing”. Well in some cases people are slowly starving there fish to
death. If a fish is under nourished it will be weak, more susceptible to
illness, and unable to grow.
Can I kill my
fish by over feeding?
Fish are not
stupid they will not eat themselves to death; however, because we have put
them in an artificial environment we can kill them with poor water quality.
Be sure that all fish food is eaten and none is falling to the bottom to
rot.
Problem: the more
fish food the more fish waste. Solution: more frequent water changes.
How often do
I feed my Blue Tang and Panther Grouper?
In nature tangs
graze on algae and other foods all day long and therefore should be fed
until full at least 2-3 times a day, this is achieved by offering several
small portions during a feeding rather than one large serving. Groupers and
Lion fish will eat a fish almost there own size and then lay around
digesting for a couple days, so they should be fed only 3-4 times a week.
Why does my
fish stay in the corner of the aquarium?
1. On the reef
there is an abundance of hiding places for the fish. If hiding places are
not provided in the aquarium the fish is under constant stress and
does not behave naturally.
The safer your
fish feels the less it will hide.
2. Another factor
is what we call dither fish, this is the natural abundance of other fish on
the reef. If your fish is alone or in the company of very few free swimming
fish it may feel
The basis of all
healthy aquariums is what we call biological filtration.
This is the
presence of good nitrifying bacteria that breaks down raw fish waste
(ammonia) and converts it into a less toxic form of waste (nitrates).
Because the fish are being fed they are producing waste. The nitrogen
cycle begins as the microscopic good bacteria starts to populate the
aquarium clinging to all surface areas and breaking down this waste.
It
takes an average of 4 weeks for a fresh water aquarium to complete this
process of bacteria growth and about 6 weeks for a salt water aquarium.
Because water conditions are at there worst during this time before bacteria
population is complete it is important to start with hardy fish that can
endure these conditions and never over feed or over populate the new
aquarium.
There
is a company marketing a living culture of these bacteria which takes 1-5
days to balance the aquarium instead of weeks. It is refrigerated and has a
limited shelf life before it expires. This product must be introduced at the
same time as fish. There are many other products that can be found on the
pet store shelf that claim to cycle an aquarium but may not be as effective.
Once
the nitrifying bacteria is established in the aquarium ammonia should never
be present again. Only killing of the good bacteria by extensive cleaning of
to many surfaces or adding excessive waste would result in an ammonia bloom.
The most important part of maintaining the health of your little
ecosystem is to dilute the always rising nitrate level by changing 1/3 of
the aquarium water every 3-4 weeks. Even better one can create more pristine
and consistent water conditions by doing weekly 10% water changes.
If you have ever
kept fish you have probably heard of Ich. Ich is a small tick like parasite
that looks like a salt granule. This common parasite is always present in
aquariums. When fish are under stress it is possible for them to “catch”
Ich. This is similar to when you are stressed, your immune system is
weakened and you may catch a cold.
So why is the
fish stressed?
Temperature flux - a daily change
of temperature of 3 degrees or more will cause problems for many fish
especially marine fish. Check your temperature first thing in the
morning and again just before turning out the lights and compare the
difference. Set an aquarium heater at the higher temperature if
necessary.
Inappropriate pH - Salt water
fish need to be maintained at 8.2-8.3. Most fresh water fish are happy with
a neutral pH of 7.0, however, Discus and rummy nose tetras prefer soft
acidic water with a pH around 6.0. African cichlids like hard water with a
high pH 7.8-8.2. Gold fish and live bearers such as sword tails, platys,
guppies, and mollies do well in a pH around 7.5.
High waste levels – Any ammonia or nitrite will
cause stress on fish, it can literally burn them. Also high nitrates
sustained over time will wear fish down and weakens there immune system.
Psychological stress – even subtle domination among
tank mates is enough to cause too much stress. Your fish can see you as well
as you see them, therefore, there behavior changes when you enter the room
making it difficult to catch a bully in the act.
Passive slower moving fish will suffer being housed with
fast voracious fish even if they are not directly picked on.
So before you dump medicine in you aquarium try to figure
out why your little friend got Ich in the first place and correct that
problem first, and then if necessary medicate.
A natural way to inhibit Ich’s reproduction in marine
aquariums is to lower the salinity - -density. Adding aquarium salt to a
fresh water tank will have the same benefits.
Some fish are more susceptible to Ich than others, for
example many Tangs seem to have less resistance to Ich than other fish.
Oodidium (or Marine Velvet) is a
parasite that begins in the fish’s gills and then spreads over the body.
This parasite is not visible to the naked eye until it is pretty well
advanced so early detection is crucial. The first sign is rapid or labored
breathing; as it advances symptoms include flicking of the fins and
scratching on the bottom and against rocks. Finally the fish appears cloudy
especially on the eyes and fins. There are so many parasites on the gills by
now that the fish may be gasping at the surface or swimming into the current
trying to get more oxygen. Before the fish's death the parasites have grown
enough to be barely visible tiny white spots, the fish looks pale and
velvety over the entire body hence the name Marine Velvet.
This parasite is so dangerous
because each parasite lays hundreds of eggs, therefore major infestation
can occur in no time. Some people lose all there fish relatively quickly
but to further complicate things some fish are naturally resistant to this
parasite and do not succumb to it. This can make diagnosis difficult for the
novice.
The resistant fish looks and
behaves normal but each time a new fish is introduced to the tank it may die
surprisingly fast, even within a day or two.
Treatment: First the aquarium must
be a stable (temperature & pH) and healthy environment (waste levels in
check). Fish should be fed well to keep up there strength, a garlic
supplement may be added to food to enhance appetite and potentially
inhibit parasites. Copper is the most effective medication and generally
shows surprisingly quick results (I recommend Cuprimine, it seems to
be easier to remove after treatment than some other brands). Unfortunately
if you have invertebrates like corals, anemones, starfish, shrimp, etc.
copper is not an option. If infection is diagnosed very early “reef safe”
medication may be effective. When treatment is not an option the only thing
to do is starve the parasites out by not adding new fish for a minimum of
one to two months. In an effort to avoid this whole problem observe the fish
at the store several minutes for symptoms before buying it and find a
knowledgeable trust worthy fish expert to guide you.
Flukes are a widely unrecognized
problem. If you notice your fish slowly loosing weight and occasionally
scratching against objects it may have flukes. Flukes are a small virtually
invisible leech like parasite that is 1/8” or smaller. If a fish is infected
and a fluke attaches to the lens of its eye the eye will become irritated
and become cloudy. Flukes are not uncommon, especially in the summer, but
the good news is once identified they are easy to treat with a reef safe
medication called praziquantil. As a preventative measure I recommend
treating aquariums that have had fish added. Just to be safe.
Brittle star
fish, queen conchs, emerald green crabs, blue leg hermit crabs, scarlet red
leg hermit crabs, sand sifting star fish, fighting conchs, algae eating
snails, medusa worms, sea cucumbers, and horseshoe crabs.
We’re talking about reef scavengers who feed on detritus,
bacteria, algae, and all other biological waste. These fascinating creatures
prevent such waste from polluting the aquarium and literally choking the
reef. These animals are generally hardy and long lived and there benefits to
the reef aquarium are immense. By processing the organic waste, which would
otherwise settle and rot in your substrate, the detritivores can help
maintain chemical balance within the tank.
These animals are for the most part self-sufficient in the
home aquarium, scavenging on the uneaten bits of fish food and waste that
have fallen to the tanks bottom. A new or very clean tank may not provide
enough nutrients, in which case some food should be added about once a week
but be careful not to over feed the tank.
On the whole, these animals are hardy and do well even with
the beginning hobbyist. Avoid drastic changes in pH and salinity-density
by acclimating to new tanks appropriately. Enjoy your “clean-up crew” as
they work for you!
Phosphates (PO4) are
inevitable in all aquariums, it comes from fish food and fish waste.
Elevated PO4 levels encourage excess algae growth and harm corals and
anemones.
It is recommended that a PO4 removing media be used before PO4 levels become
high.
Phosphate removal media is like a sponge, once it has absorbed all it can
hold it's done and has to be replaced.
If phosphates are high and you have good water flow through the media it
will be full very quickly and have to be replaced. A Phosban Reactor is the
most efficient method to achieve this. The only way to know when to replace
it is to test your PO4 level once it is not going down anymore then
it needs to be replaced.
The media replacement directions on the bottle are often based on an
aquarium with a low PO4 level. Liquid PO4 removal products are also
available. These bind PO4 allowing it to be captured by filter pads.
