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Water Quality Management :
The only way for you to know how good, or bad, the water quality really is, is by testing it on a regular basis, and keeping notes of the results in a diary. Testing, and keeping records, is an absolute must in a basic reef aquarium, because you cannot rely on instrumentation to monitor conditions for you.
Additionally, by keeping records you will be able to build up a history of how your tank "behaves", so to speak. Any deviation in water quality parameters will then become more obvious, as you will be able to refer to previous readings of a particular item, compound, or state that you are testing for.
We suggest that you acquire the following tests :
- ammonia - nitrite
- nitrate (low range)
- phosphate (low range)
- dissolved oxygen (in mg/l)
- residual ozone (if you are using an ozonizer)
- carbonate hardness
- iron (if you keep macro-algae and fertilize)
- pH
- and a real accurate thermometer.
There are many other tests still, such as silicate, and high range nitrate and phosphate, copper, carbon dioxide, amongst others, but I personally feel you do not need those in a basic reef tank.
Perform tests on a regular schedule, and keep notes. Some tests you may want to perform more often than others. Dissolved oxygen, pH and carbonate hardness are but three. Other tests you may only want to perform once a week. The key is however to "make" the tests and, again, keep records so you have something to look back at to detemine how your tank is doing this time, versus the last time you tested. It is unreasonable to expect that you will remember what the dissolved oxygen levels, for instance, were the last time you tested.
Of course, testing has one other major advantage : you learn all there is to know about your tank. You would be surprised how helpful that will be, when someday something goes awry.
When your tank does not look good, and you need to determine what to do, to bring it back to its usual shape, you will need not only to have the tests available, but know how to interpret the results. You will also need to know where the tank is different, test-wise, when it looks out of shape. If you have no notes to refer to, such will not be possible, or to say the least, extremely hard to do. That, then, brings about more problems because you will not know how to react, because you basically do not know what to react to. Such puts you in a situation where the tank controls "you" and not vice-versa. You should never let that happen. You should be the one in control.
Time and time again I get phone calls that make it evident that the Hobbyist has no clue what any of the values that are normally measured are, or were , when the tank looked good. That makes it practically impossible for me to help them. Indeed, what do I go by, to recommend a cure ? Stating, for instance, my fish have "ich", is only the result of some tank water chemistry disorder. The problem lies elsewhere. The fish became infected with ich, because they were stressed. The key is, then, to determine where the stress came from, and to do that, one needs water quality parameters to make a diagnosis and suggestions.
There is one test that needs to be performed that has not been mentioned yet : salinity, or specific gravity. There are several ways to do so. A good hydrometer, or a salinometer, or a special salinity test (for example the one sold by Lamotte Chemicals). Most hobbyists use a hydrometer, and that is perfectly fine, as long as it is a unit that has been calibrated for aquarium use, temperature-wise. Many are calibrated for 59 degrees Fahrenheit and not 75-76, the temperature at which you normally run your tank, or should anyway. In this respect you may wish to refer to Martin Moe's first book : The Marine Aquarium Handbook, beginner to breeder, for a chart that indicates the adjustments to be made at various temperatures.
Where do you get all these tests ? Companies such as Route 4 Marine Technology, my own company, and some others, offer an array of tests. The key is to get the right ones. When, for instance, I indicated that you should get the "low range", I suggest you do. A high range test is of little value in a reef tank. You can also get tests from the companies that make them, e.g. LaMotte, Chemetrics, Ecological Labs, Hach, etc. but they usually only sell lots, not single tests, and may get more money for their tests than if you went through say, Route 4 Marine Tech, or one of their many distributors.
For each of the measurements (tests) suggested, there are, obviously ideal, acceptable, and non acceptable levels. Many authors differ in opinion on what those various numbers should be. I can give you the ones that I usually recommend, and have found to be safe. You may wish to check some other sources, if you want a second opinion.
I have found, over time, that for many parameters it is difficult to differentiate between ideal and acceptable, so I will only list one number, or a range in parts per million, or milligrams per liter :
- Ammonia 0.00 ppm - Nitrite 0.00 to 0.1 ppm maximum - Nitrate 1.00 ppm N-NO3 maximum - Nitrate 5.00 ppm as NO3 - Dissolved 02 saturation or higher, usually >7mg/l - Phosphate 0.1 to 0.2 ppm total PO4 - Copper 0.00 ppm (except for traces in the salt) - Iron 0.1 to 0.5 ppm maximum - Residual 03 none detectable with O-tolidine tests - Carbonate Hardness of 5.35-6.45 meq/lor as some express it 15 to 18 dKH (German degrees) - Calcium Hardness of 60-80 ppm - pH 8.0 to 8.3 - Spec.Grav. 1.022to1.025, preferably the latter - Temperature 75 to 76 Fahrenheit - Redox pot. 350-390 mv in the tank itself A recent article in Marine Reef gives a much more detailed review (Vol 2 Nr 22) - Conductivity Around 51000 to 53000 microsiemens - TDS total dissolved solids 460-470 ppm
Keep in mind that in your small reef tank you may not be measuring several of these, since you will not be using instruments, or at least not automation instrumentation such as "controllers". They are just given as a reference, because some Hobbyists use so-called pen-type meters.
With the risk of being accused of repeating myself, test on a regular basis, and keep notes. Add a comment or two about the animals, respectively invertebrates in the tank, how they looked, and very import- antly: the time of day, and how long after feeding time that you perorm- ed these tests. Adding food will affect many tests; you should,as a result, not test within 4 hours of feeding. Best is to always test at the same time of day, or if you test more than once, to also match those times, as many tests are affected by the rate of metabolism of the animals.
Water quality management includes the addition of a number of water additives, i.e. trace elements, vitamins, KSM, Iodine, and others discussed elsewhere in the book. This is an important part of good tank husbandry. You should set up a regular schedule for yourself to do so, based on the conclusions you have drawn for your tank, from the material you have read about these additives in this and other books.
Often you just "look" at your tank. From time to time, however, you should consider this a detailed visual inspection. Not only will you learn a lot about your aquarium, i.e. what small animal life is in it, but it may pinpoint actions you have to take. For example, you may notice dead algae underneath some rocks, something you would not see if you just looked briefly at the aquarium.
Inspect your aquarium at night too, not just during the day. Again, you will notice animal life that you normally do not see during the day; you will learn how some of the animals, and invertebrates, that you keep look after the lights are out, and you may, again, find that you need to take some action, i.e. you may see bristle worms which you will have to try to remove somehow.
Of course, anytime something is wrong with the tank, you will have to take corrective action to bring the tank back to its normal shape. The latter really means bringing the water chemistry back to where it should be, at least in 99 percent of the cases. What to do in each situation is not part of this book, but there are many other ones, and of course Marine Reef, our Newsletter, that give advice for many types of actions that you may need and want to undertake.
You could also call or talk to your local Pet Shop, the local Aquarium Society, or call someone whose opinion you respect, especially after you have exhausted all other avenues. Many volumes could be writt- en about what to do when something go wrong in a reef tank, and still each situation would be unique, because each tank is different. The filtration differs, the animal population is not the same, one tank has macro-algae, another one not, some tanks have lots of invertebrates, others do not, one is well taken care of, another one not, etc.
Feeding is also part of good husbandry. Feeding a Reef Aquarium is however quite more complex than feeding a fish-only tank, because of the difference in the nature of the animals kept.
There are so many different manufacturers of fish foods nowadays that it is easy to get confused. One thing is clear however : I said "fish" food not reef tank food. In the reef tank food area the choice boils down to very few. Those who have taken the time to develop foods specifically designed for corals and invertebrates that need extra nutrition, besides what they can gather from the photosynthesis of their symbiotic algae, the Zooxanthellae. One such company is Coralife, which offers not only excellent liquid food varieties, but also frozen ones. I can highly recommend their foods, and use them myself in addition to the ones made by my own company (Reef Smack Melange).
Feeding is a process that is complex, insomuch as each type of animal you keep may have different requirements. This makes it nec- essary to feed highly complex and complete forms of food. This also makes it hard for me to recommend what, and how often, you should feed the lifeforms that you may be keeping in your tank, in this short book. It is, however, one of the main topics of my book: Advanced Reef Keeping II, also published by Aardvark Press. The best advice I can give you is to buy a food developed for the reef aquarium, not some fancy food in a fancy container, that is really meant for fish, and follow the manufacturers instructions, keeping in mind that they are usually conservative. On the other hand, do not over-feed either, as that increases the amount of organic load that your filters will have to deal with, and may, as a result, affect your water quality.
Although, technically speaking, not part of husbandry, it is important to be very careful when adding new lifeforms to your tank, especially fish. Make sure that the stock you get is "clean", meaning free of parasites. How is this done ? By placing the fish in a so-called hospital tank for a few days and observing it. Or by treating the fish with medication and using the drip method. Add the fish to your tank only after you have dripped water from the tank into a bucket, where you have placed the fish, and some medicine, for about 45 minutes. Much more on this subject is found in Marine Reef and Advanced Reef Keeping II.
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