Your First Marine Aquarium by John H. Tullock

1. Your First Marine Aquarium by John H. Tullock Learning, Understanding, and Caring for the Marine Aquarium

2. Tullock’s 5 Rules for a successful marine aquarium • Keep it simple • Keep it roomy • Keep it stable • Keep it clean • Keep it natural

3. Coral Reef Environment • Chemical conditions: salt and other ions (p.12) • Biological conditions: complex web of ecological reactions • Physical conditions: temperature, light, photoperiod, currents, structure, substrate • This will be discussed in greater detail later in the powerpoint

4. What is a coral reef? www.reefcheck.org www.theartgallery.com.au www.opwall.com www.visibleearth.nasa.gov www.ksl.stanford.edu

5. Coral reefs around the world http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/kits/corals/media/supp_coral05a.html

6. Coral reefs are some of the most diverse and productive ecosystems on Earth.

7. What is a coral? Most corals are made up of hundreds to hundreds of thousands of individual coral polyps like these. Courtesy of NOAA Ocean Service

8. Symbiodinium (zooxanthellae) are found in the gastrodermal layer of tissue in the coral at densities greater than 1 million per square inch. Porites astreoides Symbiodinium photo by S. R. Santos

9. Symbiodinium have symbiotic relationships with marine invertebrates Jellyfish Corals Giant Clams Anemones Dan Thornhill

10. Should people take corals from reefs for our tanks?

11. American Marinelife Dealers Association • Oceans Reefs and Aquariums (ORA) • Sun Pet LTD • Premier Aquatics

12. Coral Reef Environment • Chemical conditions: salt and other ions (p.12) • Biological conditions: complex web of ecological reactions • Physical conditions: temperature, light, photoperiod, currents, structure, substrate

13. Mini Reef Aquariums • What is a mini reef? • Aquarium containing many of the fish, corals and invertebrates, that can be found on coral reefs. • Teeming with life, (even the rocks and sand that are used is called “live rock” and “live sand” because of the organisms found on it) • Coral skeletons and rocks are functional, not for decoration

14. Reef Aquariums • 1. Filtered water - reverse osmosis or de-ionized • 2. Reef aquarium filtration – attempt to control nitrates through: • filtration like protein skimmers and denitrification filters, • addition of live rock • more constant and larger water changes. • limit phosphates, phosban reactor if necessary.

15. Reef Aquariums • 3. Lighting • Intense to simulate sunlight in the tropics (metal halide bulbs). • Spectrum is also bluer to simulate conditions at lower ocean depths (T5 - actinic lights). • 4. Chemical Monitoring and Maintenance: • Temperature, salinity, pH, nitrate, ammonium, calcium, strontium, iodine, carbonate hardness, and trace elements. • 5. Strong water currents are necessary in a reef environment to bring nutrients to many of the filter feeding organisms and to carry away their waste.

16. Tullock’s Features of “Natural Aquariums” • Ample quantities of live rock and live sand • High intensity, broad-spectrum lighting, and a natural photoperiod • Protein skimming (removal of organic waste) • Maintaining physical and chemical conditions similar to the ocean (a continuous supply of inorganic ions) • Replicate the physical characteristics: substrate, currents, structure • Attention to community and social relationships

17. Different Styles of Aquariums • FOWLR • Berlin • Monaco or Jaubert

18. Fish-Only-With-Live-Rock (FOWLR) • FOWLR = Fish Only + Live Rock • Live Rock: • Best form of natural biological filtration for the saltwater aquarium. • Called live rock b/c many creatures and organisms living on the inside and on the surface of the rock • Take a good look! • Good rock (Fiji rock), can be expensive and may even be the most expensive part of setting up a FOWLR tank. • A rule of thumb for setting up a tank with live rock is 1 to 2 pounds per aquarium gallon • Live rock sells for about $10+ per pound, so a 55 gallon tank would need approximately 82.5 lbs (using 1.5 pounds/gallon) or around $820 to get started.

19. Berlin Style Aquariums • Invented in Germany. • Original Berlin System is still the preferred filtration system of many reef tank purists • Consists of: • Live Rock • Protein Skimmer • Metal Halide Lighting

20. Berlin Style Pros • As with any filtration system, Berlin Filters have their own advantages and disadvantages. • Pros: • Simple and inexpensive. • Limited equipment requirement. • Low maintenance. • Uncluttered, "natural" look. • Natural Nitrate Reduction

21. Berlin Style Cons • Cons: • Limited tank occupant capacity. • Don’t want too much waste!

22. Choosing a Dealer • Sunpet • Premier Aquatics • Marine Depot • Oceans Reefs & Aquariums Quarantine/Reputation/Captive propagated fish/ price/mail order

23. Tullock’s Rules for obtaining healthy fish and corals • Know your dealer • Know which fish/coral come from what areas of the world • Be aware of problems with fish/corals from certain areas • Learn to recognize the signs of poor health • Don’t only shop for price

24. Who Lives with Whom? • Size and disposition • Temperment • Fish and Invertebrates • Ex: clownfish, damselfish (groups or solitary)

25. Classification • Amphiprion ocellaris • Lysmata wurdemanni • Tridacna sp. • Trachyphyllia geoffroyi • Montipora digitata • Symbiodinium microadriaticum

26. What is Live Rock? • The rock itself is NOT alive. • Micro- and macroscopic marine life that live on and inside it make it live. • Rock is calcium carbonate skeletons of long dead corals or other calcareous organisms.

27. Cured Live Rock? • Cure - the process of conditioning or cycling live rock (LR) for use in a saltwater aquarium. • Cured means that it is live rock that has already been conditioned and is stable to use right away in an aquarium with minimal concerns.

28. Live Sand • Natural reef coral sand that is collected live from the ocean, or non-living coral sand that is cultured to make it live (full of living organisms). • Microscopic biological bacteria grows on it • Tiny crustaceans and other micro and macro-organisms that reside in it. • Can serve as the main base for biological filtration in a saltwater aquarium – the organisms living in sand consume organic matter

29. Our Equipment List Most important – get to know your tanks. Let’s make our list! 1. Tanks 2. Sumps

30. Marine Aquarium other stuff… • 74-78°F (IDEAL = 77°F) or 24-26°C • Ground Fault Circuit Interupter Outlet (GFCI) • Support of the system • RODI water – reverse osmosis deionized water

31. Basic Life Support System • Heater location and size • Pumps and powerheads: magnetic drive systems (importance of water movement • Protein skimmers • Lighting (what kind of animals do you plan on keeping?)

32. Biological vs. Mechanical Filtration: Protein Skimming • The air bubbles inside the skimmer's body strip the water of undesirable waste by-products. • Ever blow bubbles as a kid? Remember all the rainbow colors on them? Just as the soap clung to the giant bubbles you were creating so too, does all the junk and other organic gunk in your aquarium water. Those pretty rainbow colors were the light refracting off the soap film...you could actually see it! In our skimmers, the bubbles are microscopic and the results can only be "seen" after they burst and deposit their "films" into the collection cup! • It’s all about surface tension.

33. Lighting • Aquarists are most interested in the visible portion of the spectrum that ranges from 380 nm to 780 nm • White light contains all the wavelengths from 380nm to 780 nm.

34. Lighting • When white light passes through a prism, it disperses into the wavelength groups that comprise the visible color spectrum. The light exits the prism in bands of colored light, starting with violet (400 nm) and continuing - as the wavelength gets larger - with blue (460 nm), green (520 nm), yellow (580 nm), orange (620 nm) and red (680 nm). Certain wavelengths are important to hobbyists wishing to maintain certain plants or corals.

35. More Lighting Terms • Color Number 
This is more correctly called color temperature and refers to the absolute temperature in degrees Kelvin (K) of the light produced. This matters when trying to simulate the color of natural sunlight, which is about 5000K. • Lumens 
A lumen is a measure of light intensity. It is the radiant energy from the visible portion of the light spectrum hitting a given area (typically a square meter) when the surface is the unit distance (in this case, 1 meter) from the light source. It is a way, in some cases, to compare one light source to another. • Lux 
Lux is a measure of illumination: the illumination from all light sources hitting a surface from a distance of 1 meter. It is equal to lumens per square meter.

36. Photosynthesis in Aquariums • Wavelength • Important in context of lamp (bulb) descriptions, such as full spectrum or peak wavelength. These terms • Refer to the wavelength output of a particular lamp. • Actinic lights = 420 nm = blue. • important for coral growth because during photosynthesis, chlorophyll a absorbs light near this wavelength.

37. Metal Halide Lights • Produce a very intense light and have various color temperatures. • Usually combined with T5 lamps which enhance photosynthesis. • Can get very hot, which usually means you'll need to run a small fan to blow air across the lamps to take heat away from the aquarium water • Likely add a chiller also

38. Reef Aquarium Lighting Basics • To have a successful reef aquarium, adequate light is necessary. • Reef tanks typically contain soft and hard corals that harbor Symbiodinium (symbiotic algae), which must thrive in order for the coral to live. • To do this, they need a combination of one actinic lamp and one or two daylight lamps for each 30 gallons of water.

39. Reef Janitors • http://www.reeftopia.com/index.html

40. Coral Reef Zonation • Zonation within a reef is typically determined by: • light intensity** received, which is dependent of the depth and turbidity of the water; • position relative to the open ocean or river mouths; deep ocean currents; and • localized water currents. Each of these parameters interact to give the final conditions that are characteristic of that zone.

41. Corals in the Aquarium • if a coral is found on the reef rock rim, then it is exposed to high light intensity and strong wave surges. To keep such a coral health and happy in an aquarium under similar conditions then intense lighting and devices that cause surges throughout the tank are required. On the other hand if it is found on the reef slope, then it is exposed to low light levels, very few surges and strong currents. Such a coral requires lower lighting levels and more constant water currents to be kept in an aquarium.

42. Corals of the Shallow Seas • The dominant species present are: 
Alcyonaceans: Lemnalia, Lobophytum, Nephthea, Sarcophyton, Sinularia, and Xenia. 
 • Scleractinians: Acropora, Goniastrea, Favia, Favites, Leptoseria, Lobophyllia, Plerogyra, Pocillopora, Porites, Millepora, and Stylophora. 
 • Zoanthidea: Palythoa.

43. Caring for Your Aquarium • “Test, then tweak” • Evaporation • Making seawater • Water changes • Reverse Osmosis FW source: benefits and drawbacks of RO water

44. How to test Salinity • Refractometer vs. Hydrometer

45. Specific Gravity or Salinity • Specific Gravity -noun ･abbreviation - SG > The ratio of the mass of a solid or liquid to the mass of an equal volume of distilled water at 4°C (39°F) or of a gas to an equal volume of air or hydrogen under prescribed conditions of temperature and pressure, calculated by using a hydrometer. Example - The measurement of the saline level or salt content in water.

46. How often to test? • By testing the basic water parameters and various chemical elements such as ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and other testable parameters regularly, it tells you what is happening in your system at all times. It also helps you diagnose any potential problem that may be arising, which allows you to prevent it from advancing or taking hold in the first place.

47. Reef Tank Test Kit Recommendation Chart • http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/waterquality/l/bltkitchartreef.htm

48. Feeding? • Frozen mysis shrimp, brine shrimp, rotifers, dried algae strips for the herbivores

49. Nitrogen Cycle

50. Record Keeping • Date • Tests performed and results • Temperature, specific gravity, alkalinity,pH • Amount of water changed • Species and size of fish or invertebrates added • Incidents of death or disease, treatments and results • Pertinent comments or observations