Marine Aquarium

Aquarium Information Source

Marine Aquarium

Page 2

Aquarium Lighting
    Aquarium lighting usually receives a great deal of attention where freshwater aquaria are concerned. However, when it comes to marine aquaria, this subject is often given no more than superficial treatment. Perhaps the fact that few, if any marine plants are cultivated by most hobbyists has something to do with this.
    Indeed, if the tank is to contain just fish, and if the aquarist dislikes seeing algal growth on the rocks and sides of the aquarium, then reduced light intensities will serve both aims satisfactorily. However, it must be stressed that those fish which like/require/prefer algae in their diet must have this (or an equivalent) otherwise provided. Aquarian Vegetable Diet is an ideal source of high-quality vegetable food.
    There are two main forms of "marine" lighting: tungsten and fluorescent. Recently high-pressure mercury vapour lights have also become available. Each of these has its own advantages/disadvantages and the aquarist must weigh these up before coming to a final conclusion.
    Tungsten bulbs are cheap but hot and do not enhance the appearance of the fish as much as fluorescent tubes do. They do, however, produce light relatively rich in "red" wavelengths which are beneficial to the growth of green seaweeds.
    Fluorescent tubes exist in a number of types, each emitting its own range of wavelengths from brilliant white to deep purple. If red or brown algae are being cultivated, then those tubes emitting light close to the blue end of the spectrum will be found more suitable.
    Mercury bulbs produce light of high intensity and are, therefore, particularly suitable for deep tanks or for those where good algal growth is essential. These bulbs are, however, expensive to install but are long-lasting and relatively cheap to run.

    Assuming that the lights will be switched on for an average of 14 hours per day the following table may be used as a rough guide for fluorescent tube illumination. With marine aquaria, some experimentation is almost always necessary in order to establish adequate lighting levels to suit individual aquaria.

Approximate total wattage:
Tank Dimensions. For viewing only. For algal growth
24x12x12                   30w                      60w
36x15x12                   40w                      90w
48x15x12                   60w                     120w
60x18x18                 140w                     220w
72x18x18                 160w                     270w

Wherever possible, the above wattages should be divided equally among several tubes, for evenness of distribution. This also allows for combinations of tubes emitting different types of light.

Other Aquarium Requirements
In addition to the items mentioned in the previous sections, there are several other "musts":
Nets, replacement heater/stats (wired up and ready to use at a moment's notice), thermometers, algae scrapers, siphon tubes, "spot" cleaners, e.g. aquarium vacuum, long forceps (for removing objects, dead fish, etc.), plastic buckets (for water changes), glass jars (for equilibrating temperatures prior to introduction), spare diaphragms (for aerators), etc. will all make life easier.
A selection of test kits, to include Water Hardness, pH and Specific Gravity should also be considered essential.

Foods and Feeding
    Good quality commercially prepared foods, such as Aquarian, contain very little moisture and very high levels of nutrients. Therefore, a little of this food goes a long way. Some aquarists overlook this fundamental point and overfeed their fish. The results are, invariably disastrous.
    Food should be consumed within a few minutes. If uneaten flakes can still be seen after, say ten minutes, then the fish have definitely been overfed. It is worth noting that it is far more difficult to underfeed than overfeed, so it is best to start off with very small feeds and increase these gradually until an optimum level is reached. Two small feeds per day should be sufficient.
    Some marine fish can be a bit awkward at first but we have found at Aquarian (in laboratory controlled trials) that flake food is readily taken as long as it has been prepared from all-fresh ingredients, such as whole fish, minced beef or liver, or (even) rabbit. Aquarian Marine Flake contains four all-fresh ingredient flakes, plus a black vitamin and mineral flake and a green seaweed flake. Most of the other flaked foods in the Aquarian range are also avidly taken by tropical marine fish and Aquarian Vegetable Diet should be considered essential for all those marine species which require algae as part of their food. Aquarian Pacific Shrimp is a particularly good food to offer all marine fish are a regular treat.
     Live foods (with two exceptions) are best kept out of the marine aquarium because of the risks of introducing pathogenic organisms; also most of the commoner types of live food are fresh-water in origin and die very quickly with awkward consequences.
    The two safe ones are Brine Shrimp (newly-hatched or adult) and chopped, clean, earthworms. Even earthworms need to be treated with caution, with all uneaten bits being removed after a short time. .

Filling and Stocking the Aquarium
    Synthetic salt mixes carry full instructions on mixing and these must be followed to the letter to avoid problems later on.
    Before placing any water (pre-mixed or otherwise) in the aquarium, the undergravel filter with its air-lifts, plus the coral sand and shell mixture/layers must be in place. At this stage, no electrical equipment is either installed on switched on.
    If the salts are going to be mixed with the water inside the aquarium (instead of in a plastic bucket or other container), then it is best to do this after half the water has been added. Once the tank is half full, the complete salt complement is put in and the tank is then filled to within an inch or so from the top. At this point, the heater/stat is placed into position and switched on, along with the aerator and undergravel filter (power filtration is unnecessary at this early stage).
    The aquarium can now be left with all systems running for about 24 hours by which time, the salts will have dissolved completely. Specific Gravity is then checked and altered if necessary by addition of more salt (to raise the S.G..) or by the replacement of some of the aquarium water with tap water (to lower the S. G. ).
    Although the tank may be balanced in terms of temperature, pH, hardness and S.G., it is far too raw at this stage to accommodate any fish. The maturing process may be speeded up considerably by the addition of special water treatments that have been developed specifically for this purpose and by leaving the lights on all the time. Over the next fortnight or so, the Nitrite level should first increase well beyond the tolerance limit of most fish and then drop to around zero. When this is achieved (and assuming that pH is between 8.0 and 8.3), conditions should be suitable for the first fish to be introduced. Power filtration and/or "charcoal" (chemical filtration) can now be put into operation. Saltwater holds considerably less oxygen than freshwater. This, added to the high sensitivity of marine fish to environmental conditions, means that only relatively low numbers of fish can be kept in tropical marine aquaria. One other factor to bear in mind is that it takes anything up to six months for a marine aquarium to mature fully. Therefore, until this happens, the stocking density should be kept to around 50 percent.

APPROXIMATE RECOMMENDED STOCKING LEVELS
No. of fish approx. 2" long:
Surface Dimensions(inches)     New tank    Established tank
24x12                                           3                      6       (This size nor recommended for beginners)
36x12                                           4                      9
48x12                                           6                     12
60x18                                          11                    22
72x18                                          14                    28

When introducing fish, temperatures must be equilibrated by floating the bag in the tank for about fifteen minutes. If at all possible, debagging should occur in subdued light and no food should be offered for at least several hours.

Quarantine and Diseases
A new tank with its collection of fishes will inevitably act as a quarantine tank. However, later additions should be kept for at least a fortnight in isolation in a separate tank, until all risk of disease has passed. The expense involved in setting up this tank will more than pay for itself in a very short time.
Even when precautions are taken, fish may succumb to disease from time to time, but it must be stressed that, despite the distressing effects that diseases can have, most are easy to prevent through proper water management, reasonable stocking, etc. In addition, marine fish are generally quite resistant to disease and outbreaks should, therefore, be infrequent.

Routine Maintenance
Every aquarist soon develops a maintenance regime suited to his/her circumstances, such as time availability numbers and sizes of aquaria, numbers, sizes and types of fish, etc. However, every programme should include the following:-
Daily
Check on temperature; state of health of fish; feed fish in the morning and early evening; switch tank lights off ten minutes before room lights.
Weekly/fortnightly
Check specific gravity pH, hardness and nitrite levels; check heater/stats for leakage; check on supplies of food and remedies; top up tank with tap water if necessary Every three to four weeks Clean out box, power and sponge filters; clean cover glass, scrape algae off sides of tank if necessary; check aerator and lighting equipment.
Every four to six weeks Gently stir topmost layer of coral sand or gravel; allow mulm to settle and then remove with siphon tube; carry out a 20-25% water change; prepare the new water 24 hours in advance, aerate it vigorously and check all parameters before adding to main tank.

A note about fish
The tropical marine hobby is expanding very quickly. As it does so, more and more exotic species become available. Often, little is known about their ease/difficulty of maintenance in aquaria. If one is starting up as a marine aquarist, it is, therefore, advisable to steer clear of difficult, unknown and expensive species. There is enough colour and interest among the tried-and-tested ones to provide both great enjoyment and realistic challenges for months, or even years.

Marine Aquarium

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