Most devices display specific gravity as well as salinity, and are usually calibrated for use with marine aquarium temperature water. SeaWater Hydrometer, by Red Sea 3. Ph Level: pH level is the measurement of the hydrogen-ion concentration of the water.
The ideal pH for a marine aquarium is 8. Excess fish food and waste, biological filtration, tap water, the decay of algae, bacteria and other organic compounds all contribute to the decline of pH levels in the marine aquarium. The aquarist must monitor and adjust the pH of their aquarium to maintain the correct levels. Since extreme fluctuations cause stress to the fish and invertebrates, the exact pH level maintained is less important than the stability of the pH.
Aqua Dreams uses and recommends several buffers and test kits to build and maintain the pH level in the marine aquarium. It is highly recommended to add pH buffer into the top-off fresh water that is added to replace water lost to evaporation. This procedure will help eliminate pH swings due to adding large volumes of tap-water with a relatively lower pH into a high-pH marine aquarium. Temperature: The ideal temperature for a marine tropical fish aquarium is degrees Fahrenheit.
The ideal temperature for a reef aquarium is degrees Fahrenheit. Maintaining a stable temperature is of the utmost importance, since the incorrect temperature or temperature fluctuations can cause stress to the inhabitants of the aquarium, and can lead to disease and algae outbreaks.
We recommend using a high-quality submersible heater with approximately watts per gallon of tank capacity. In addition, use only water with the correct temperature for all water changes and top-offs, especially during winter months when tap water can run extremely cold. Even just a few gallons of top-off water that is the incorrect temperature can cause the temperature in the aquarium to drop. Be sure to purchase a reliable thermometer and secure adequate circulation to assure a uniform temperature.
TANK - Ok, this one's obvious! Choose a tank that is low and long for best success. Extremely deep, narrow, or odd shaped tanks such as hexagons, are not ideal saltwater aquariums. Choose a tank with the largest surface area possible. Remember, the tank itself is one of the smaller expenses of a marine aquarium, so don't sell yourself short.
The larger the tank, the more stable the environment that can be created. Small marine aquariums require a lot of attention and put greater limits on the selection of fish and invertebrates that may be maintained. Shorter aquariums allow a greater intensity of light to penetrate the water for the animals that require it, where tall tanks create much more of a lighting challenge and expense. Next the hobbyist should consider lighting. Prior to choosing a lighting system for your aquarium, you must ask yourself a few questions.
Are you planning a fish-only tank, or a tank that will house live rock, coral, anemones and other invertebrates? We use and recommend T5, high-output fluorescent lighting, T5 refers to the diameter of the bulb, which is very thin, powerful, and bright.
Although it is possible to change the color spectrum of a standard fluorescent lamp, changing or increasing the intensity of the lamp with a standard fixture is not possible- so consider T5 High Output fixtures. Only choose a standard fluorescent light if you dont plan to keep photosynthetic animals.
If you plan to keep a reef-type aquarium which houses photosynthetic animals such as corals, a lighting system with greater intensity power compact, T5'S, metal halide, LED's must be purchased that can achieve the intensity needed for these animals to thrive. Aqua Dreams can help the consumer choose the correct lighting system for your aquarium type.
Beware of the common beginners mistake: Do NOT purchase sea anemones, corals, tridacna clams, etc, unless you have the lighting intensity to support them. These animals obtain most of their nourishment through photosynthesis occurring within a symbiotic algae living in the coral tissue, and will perish in your aquarium without the proper lighting intensity. Even a 20 gallon tank can weigh lbs once it is full of water, sand, and rock, so plan accordingly. Do not place a filled aquarium on an entertainment center or near any television or other electrical equipment.
The only corals that are not thrilled is the pink Stereonephthya and the Blastomussa. This is to be expected since the pink Stereonephthya is from the high latitudes of Japan and the Blastomussa is from deeper waters, both of which are adapted to lower temperature environments. They show their displeasure by not expanding their tissues fully, or sometimes downright retracting to a high degree. Thankfully I noticed and correlated these early warning signs and counteracted the warming of the day with more ventilation from fans, and reducing the overall light intensity.
The ocean is one of the most stable habitats on Earth, particularly in regard to temperature. Captive saltwater fish need an environment that's just as stable -- tropical saltwater fish in particular.
Otherwise, the stress caused by improper temperature will lead to disease. The majority of saltwater fish and inverts, or arthropods, you will see in a pet shop hail from the tropics. Tropical saltwater fish and inverts thrive in water that's 75 to 77 degrees Fahrenheit, about 24 to 25 degrees Celsius. Saltwater species can fare well in slightly cooler temperatures, as low as 72 Fahrenheit or However, the upper range of 77 degrees Fahrenheit is much harder for such species to adapt to.
Additionally, hydrometers -- the best tool for measuring salinity, function best in this range. Some cold-water species have begun to find their way into aquariums. My purpose is not to tell the aquarist what to do in his or her own tank—I leave it to the aquarist to decide if my recommendations seem like a good fit—but rather to develop the criteria upon which individual aquarists can make their own decisions about what to do with their tanks.
Further, I do not intend these articles as the last word on the subject. Indeed they decidedly should not be the last word since our understanding of temperature effects on diverse aspects of reef organism physiology and reef aquarium husbandry continue to expand. Rather, I hope that these ideas will prove useful to the average aquarist and encourage careful, critical evaluation of not only how by why each of us elects a particular regime for our tanks.
It is quite common amongst aquarists when discussing all sorts of aspects of reef tank husbandry to defer to Mother Nature. The clear assumption here is that whatever is natural—normal, as it were—is probably also ideal. Let us consider this assumption for a moment. The cold snap that wrecked havoc on some Floridean reefs this winter was perfectly natural.
Extreme low tides, Crown-of-thorns starfish predation, tsunamis, and myriad other seriously damaging phenomenon are all natural on coral reefs. If a sufficient number of coral, invertebrate, and fish larvae settle and survive on damaged Floridean reefs then they will ultimately recover from natural disturbances, as they have repeatedly over the last several thousand years.
If not then those reefs will eventually collapse, just as countless fossil reefs within the Florida reef tract have. What Floridean reefs experience is not necessarily the ideal situation for many of the organisms that live there, but rather the conditions are simply good enough for long enough to allow some reef development before everything gets knocked back again.
Make no mistake though, Florida is full of reefs that were once spectacular and are now long dead. The one thing we can say about the conditions that Mother Nature provides is that they seem to work well enough, even if they are not ideal. When there is no clear benefit from providing conditions different from those provided in nature it is my suggestion that it is probably best to mimic nature as closely as we can simply because we know that should more-or-less work.
Sometimes there are indeed good reasons to avoid mimicking nature in captivity though. The temperature on a coral reef is not constant, nor is the range of temperatures experienced the same on different reefs. Defining what typical coral reef temperatures are, therefore, is difficult, and perhaps not entirely meaningful.
What is typical for one reef may be decidedly hot or cold for a different reef in a different region. These temperature data are measured with the Pathfinder satellite and are monitored as part of the Coral Bleaching Virtual Station program. In Figure 1 the temperature data are plotted for Sombrero Reef, a well-developed reef about mid-way up the Florida Keys. Both high and low extremes can prove stressful to corals and other reef organisms. Figure 1. Climatological average temperature black and recorded temperature for the year red.
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