The key to maintaining a healthy saltwater aquarium is to strike the right balance in the salinity of your tank water. Maintaining proper water quality in your tank is essential but many aquarium hobbyists overlook one important aspect - pH. Fungal spores are present in all aquariums but, if you are not careful, they can become a problem in the saltwater tank. Water quality is extremely important in maintaining a saltwater tank. Dealing with Hard Water in the Saltwater Tank. When it comes to maintaining a healthy saltwater tank, water quality is extremely important.
In this article you will receive an overview of what mantis shrimp are, how they can impact your saltwater aquarium, and how to remove them properly. Cultivating a thriving reef tank can be a challenge with all of the requirements you must meet. Maintenance Schedule for Reef Tanks. Maintaining a reef tank can be a challenge but as long as you keep up with your routine maintenance tasks, you should have no problem.
Learn what "not" to do when starting out with your saltwater fish or reef tank. Saltwater and Reef Tank Cycling. Cultivating a thriving saltwater tank can be a challenge but it is also incredibly rewarding. Maintaining Your Saltwater Tank. Kalkwasser for the Marine Tank. Maintaining proper calcium levels is an important part of keeping your marine tank healthy.
Keeping corals in a saltwater aquarium can be challenging but these low-light species are perfect for beginners. With more than 2, different species of coral out there, how do you choose the right option for your tank?
Types of Coral for Reef Tanks. Stocking a reef tank can be a challenge because there are so many different types of coral to choose from. Building a beautiful saltwater tank landscape out of rock is a challenge but with some helpful tips you can make it work.
What is a Nano Reef? Whether you are looking for a new challenge as a saltwater aquarium enthusiast or you are trying your hand at a reef tank for the first time, a nano reef is a great way to go. How to Care for Marine Blue Sponges. If you want to keep your saltwater or reef tank healthy, you need to learn the basics of feeding corals.
Set-up Guide for a Reef Tank. If you have ever considered starting a reef tank, read this setup guide to make sure you start your reef tank off right. Reef Aquariums.
Cultivating a reef tank is an exciting but challenging task - learn more about choosing the right size for your reef tank. Bristle Worms in the Marine Tank. Dealing with pests is an inescapable part of cultivating a marine tank. Recommended Species for Nano Tanks. Cultivating a nano tank can be an exciting challenge but unless you choose the right fish for your tank, you may be in trouble.
UV Sterilizers for Reef Aquariums. A UV sterilizer is a valuable piece of equipment to add to your reef tank or fish-only saltwater aquarium. Tips for Lighting a Reef Tank. When it comes to maintaining a thriving reef tank the type of lighting system you choose is incredibly important.
Saltwater Aquarium Lighting and Heating. Saltwater Aquarium Filtration. The type of filtration system you choose for your saltwater aquarium is incredibly important. Foam Build-up on Saltwater Tank Surface. Wavemakers for Saltwater Tanks. If you want to keep your saltwater tank healthy, you need to consider the ideal level of water flow.
What is an Aquarium Sump? If you are new to the aquarium hobby you may not be familiar with the term "sump". What is Protein Skimming? Learn about protein skimming, why it's important, and which aquarists should use it.
Common Problems with Heating in Saltwater Tanks. Maintaining a stable water temperature in your saltwater tank is important for the health and well-being of your fish. Reverse Osmosis for the Saltwater Tank. If you want to keep a healthy and thriving saltwater tank, you need to start with high-quality water. Tips for Feeding Saltwater Aquarium Fish.
What you feed your fish will determine whether or not their reach their full potential. How to Raise Brine Shrimp. Brine shrimp are an excellent source of protein for aquarium fish and they are very easy to raise at home.
Tips for Getting Fussy Fish to Eat. Feeding saltwater aquarium fish can be tricky, especially when your fish refuse to eat. Nutritional Needs of Saltwater Aquarium Fish. In order to keep your saltwater aquarium fish healthy you need to understand and meet their basic nutritional needs.
Live Foods for Marine Fish. Top Commercial Foods for Saltwater Fish. What you feed your saltwater aquarium fish will play a major role in determining their health and vitality. Common Saltwater Aquarium Fish Diseases. If this is a brand new tank with no inhabitants in it yet, the rocks can be cured in your main display tank.
If your tank is already established with fish and corals in it then you will need a separate tank. The larger the water volume the better. Important notes: Do not light your live rocks with full spectrum or full intensity lighting during the curing process as this may cause an algae bloom.
Light them with either actinic lighting or natural lighting by having them in a room that gets ample indirect sunlight. If using actinic lighting, the photo-period should be no more then hours per day. If you notice any sponges on your rocks, it is recommended to remove them, as they rarely survive. The curing process can be quite a smelly endeavor, you might want to give a little warning to your significant other, otherwise, you may be sleeping with your rocks for a few nights!
Remember not all Live Rock needs to be cured, if you purchased aquacultured Live Rock harvested in the U. It pays to do your research first, and avoid the hassle of curing entirely. For more information on curing, visit our Live Rock Curing Guide. There is a negative stigma attached to the words Live Rock Hitchhikers, but the majority of all the hitchhikers that will come on live rock will be good and with only very few exceptions are there some bad or questionable hitchhikers.
Lets first dive into the good ones. There is no better method of increasing the biodiversity and life of any aquarium than to introduce Live Rock into your closed system. The organisms living on and within these rocks are a natural sampling of what is found on the coral reefs and all play some small role in the overall quality of your system.
Some of the many beneficial hitchhikers include filter feeders, worms, starfish, invertebrates and even corals will hitchhike in on your new Live Rock.
The old school of thought is that all hitchhikers were bad, but hobbyists have come to realize that there is a great benefit to nearly all the extras that come with live rock and the hobby has now shifted its focus on trying to replicate the diversity that one would find on a coral reef in the wild. Just as we once thought that all sharks were bad, we have finally realized that every creature is needed in proper proportions in order for an ecosystem as a whole to succeed.
The Hyper-Salinity and Hypo-salinity Bath — Some websites state that you can submerge your new Live Rock in a bucket filled with salt water with a specific gravity of 1. After a minute, hitchhikers including mantis shrimp, bristle worms, and gorilla crabs will quickly have retreated out of the rock and will be in the bottom of the bucket.
While this does work to a degree, your doing way more harm than good here. You also may start the tank to cycle again from all the die off as a result of this method. This method is much like blowing up a building to catch a mouse that lives there. Be very wary of anyone or any company that is dishing out this advice. Bait Traps — In our experience if there is something really driving you crazy the best method of removal is targeted removal, not a blanket removal chemical that stresses or kills everything.
Introduction of a natural Predator — You can also go the natural method and introduce that pests natural predator into your tank. Both a Melanurus Wrasse and 6-Line Wrasse will basically eat any pests that they come across. In the wild, there is always balance. You should always strive to create equilibrium in your saltwater aquarium.
Many times the culprit of how something got out of control in your tank is due to overfeeding or poor husbandry. If you want to reduce the population of any particular species, simply reduce their source of growth. For every 1 lb of Live Rock purchased we deposit 10 lbs of new reef material into the ocean. To date, we have created over 43, sq ft. Click here to read more about Heart Reef, Miami. ARC Reef is a state and federally licensed aquaculture facility, working to bring positive change for our coral reefs.
We are strong proponents of sustainable aquaculture and the elimination of wild harvested reef products. Score one for the good guys! Great information, the BEST guide that I have found on live rock, although I wish I had found this before setting up my fish tank already. Lot of good info. Nice Live Rock too. Looking to buy some this summer. Doing a seahorse only tank. Great guide on live rock. Excellent customer service also.
I contacted you in the past to inquire on my next purchase and was more than impressed with all the helpful advise and knowledge that your staff has about aquarium setups and the hobby. LOVE my live rocks by the way.
Amazing customer service, you can tell they literally love helping people and have passion for what they do. The rocks look even better 4 months later and I would buy them again in a heartbeat. Wonderful customer service and excellent articles. Your species guide is one of the most comprehensive that I have seen, it made identifying critters from your live rock very easy. It all looks beautiful in my tank. I like this blog, thank you for sharing useful information with us!
By the way, I want to order live rock for my aquarium, I think that my fish will be happy with such a gift. Live Rock — The Ultimate Guide. What is Live Rock? Benefits and Purpose of Live Rock in your Aquarium Live Rock serves many beneficial functions to the aquarium hobbyist, the most significant of which is its role as the biological filtration for your tank.
On first pass, the small filter feeders and cleanup crews such as emerald crabs, spaghetti worms and other invertebrates living on and within the Live Rock consume the uneaten food portions and fish waste.
As the waste particles have now gotten smaller they will convert to ammonia, nitrite, and phosphate. Live Rock will actively facilitate the conversion of these toxic chemicals into less harmful products such as nitrate. Next, these nitrates can be quickly assimilated by the different algae and nitrifying bacteria both aerobic and anaerobic contained within the rocks.
If you have more waste in your tank than your Live Rock can keep up with, you may need to do periodic water changes or acquire more Live Rock. Introduction of Life and Diversity Live Rock contains a diverse ecosystem of life and is often the only manner in which to introduce such a vast array of species into a closed system such as your aquarium.
Habitat for Your Fish and Corals Live Rock serves as a habitat and home to nearly all of the marine life in your tank. It acts as the cement which binds the reef materials into a sturdy structure. It out-competes other nuisance algae like hair algae, green algae, diatoms, and matt algae in a normal reef environment with proper water chemistry.
It looks attractive and gives coloring to your aquarium. Live Rock Changing Colors When you first place Live Rock into a new aquarium, the Coralline Algae may darken a bit due to the stress of being transported and the shock of new water chemistry. Types of Live Rock There are many types of Live Rock available for the saltwater aquarium hobbyist some are wild collected and other types are farm raised or aqua-cultured. Fiji Live Rock : The most common type available.
Tonga Branch Live Rock : Very dense which reduces the variety of life that can live within it. Pukani Live Rock : This is a fairly new type of live rock that comes from Fiji. Excellent seed choices include worms, copepods, amphipods, algae-eating snails and sea cucumbers. Scraped coralline algae can be spread for a faster overgrowth and water movement can help it flourish.
Attractively coloured, coralline algae normally indicate that a system is mature. They can also be seeded to the system, even without natural live rocks. Just scrape from any hard structure and sprinkle over the rocks. Amphipods are among organisms that can be introduced with artificial live rock and they help control undesirable algae.
Coralline algae need various types of elements and compounds in order to thrive. Many are introduced through water changes, but they need to be maintained to promote coralline algae growth and reproduction. We add certain elements to try to help coralline algae, including iodine. Normally we use potassium iodide solution as iodine is needed by both algae and invertebrates, but an excess could be undesirable in closed systems.
Calcium helps and the best way to dose is via kalkwasser mix calcium carbonate. Other additives include calcium chloride and calcium reactors kalk or CO2. Corals with hard skeletons and bivalves also use calcium. In systems without such invertebrates, calcium additions are often unnecessary for coralline algae growth.
If the calcium rate drops in any coralline algae-only system add small amounts. Strontium is important and, together with calcium and magnesium, can be added as strontium chloride. It is replaced with water changes in high enough rates for coralline algae and coral growth when natural water or quality artificial salt mix is used. The usefulness of other additives to help coralline algae is still speculative.
Some include vitamins B1, B12 and C, trace elements and amino acids, but should be applied with caution. This proves that calcareous materials and concrete are successful. Artificial rocks need no maintenance. Once mature, presenting no danger with pH fluctuation in a saltwater environment, they will act as regular natural live rock.
How to set up for an artificial live rock tank. Start by mixing one part of cement to two or three parts of coral sand. Next, get more coral sand and pour it into the tub to use as a mould. Make the holes on the rock, using sand between the concrete layers.
You could also add salt to make the rock more porous. Make a rough rock shape from the cement mix and then cover with more coral sand. Spray with water immediately after finishing and spray again over the next 24 hours to make sure the mix is well bonded.
After hours carefully remove the rock from the sand and rinse off the excess with water. The calcium hydroxide in the cement will cause a high pH.
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