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Your First Marine Aquarium ( Part 3) by John H. Tullock

Your First Marine Aquarium ( Part 3) by John H. Tullock. Learning, Understanding, and Caring for the Marine Aquarium. Marine Aquarium Temperature and other issues. 72-78 F or 24-26 C Ground Fault Circuit Interupter Outlet (GFCI) Support of the system (stand, racks).

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Your First Marine Aquarium ( Part 3) by John H. Tullock

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  1. Your First Marine Aquarium (Part 3)by John H. Tullock Learning, Understanding, and Caring for the Marine Aquarium

  2. Marine Aquarium Temperature and other issues • 72-78 F or 24-26 C • Ground Fault Circuit Interupter Outlet (GFCI) • Support of the system (stand, racks)

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

  4. Biological vs. Mechanical Filtration: Protein Skimming • Air bubbles inside the skimmer's body strip the water of undesirable waste by-products. • How do the bubbles do it? • 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 organic waste in the aquarium water. We don’t see colors like you did on the soap bubbles, but see the waste in the collection cup after the bubbles pop.

  5. How do Protein Skimmers work? • Waste treatment – • 1. Inject high volumes of air bubbles into waste water. • 2. Create high surface tension as bubbles and waste are forced to the surface of water. • 3. Clean water! 3reef.com

  6. Lighting • Mimic sunlight • Visible or white light spectrum from ~ 380 to 780 nm out of the spectral range of about 300 to 3,000 nm. • UV (low wavelengths) - important for disinfection in reef tanks and ponds (UV sterilizers) • Not used in our tanks

  7. More Lighting Terms • Color Number(Color Temperature) • Refers to the absolute temperature in degrees Kelvin (K) of the light produced. This matters when trying to simulate the color of natural sunlight, about 5000K. • Lumens • Measure of light intensity. It is the radiant energy from the visible portion of the light spectrum hitting a given area (1 m2) when the surface is the unit distance (1 m) from the light source. • Lux • Measure of illumination: the illumination from all light sources hitting a surface from a distance of 1 meter. • Lux = Lumens/m2

  8. Wavelength of Light for Photosynthesis • Full spectrum or peak wavelength lamps. • “Wavelength” refers to output of a particular lamp or bulb. • Actinic lights - 420 nm. • Blue light important for coral growth because during photosynthesis, chlorophyll a absorbs light near this wavelength.

  9. Visible Light Spectrum • Violet (400 nm) • Blue (460 nm) • Green (520 nm) • Yellow (580 nm) • Orange (620 nm) • Red (680 nm) • [Far red (700 nm)]

  10. Metal Halide Lights • BENEFITS • Produce intense light good for photosynthesis • Various wavelengths • Possible to purchase metal halide lamps with fluorescents • DRAWBACKS • Less efficient than fluorescent tubes and • Can get very hot (need to keep heat away from aquarium water with a fan or add a chiller)

  11. Power Compact Lighting • Compact flourescent lamps • Straight tube bent in half • Higher concentration of light energy in a smaller space than standard-length tubes • VHO (Very-High-Output) so can deliver the right amount of lumens at the desired color temperature

  12. Reef Aquarium Lighting Basics • Adequate light is absolutely required. • Reef tanks typically contain soft and hard corals that harbor Symbiodinium sp. (zooxanthellae) • Need the correct amount of light (intensity) at the right wavelength (peak absorption) for photosynthesis. • Actinic lights provide a concentrated light wavelength that promotes photosynthesis • Reef tank should have a combination of one actinic lamp and one or two daylight lamps (brighter) for each 30 gallons of water.

  13. Reef Janitors Brittle star Bumblebee Snail http://www.reeftopia.com/index.html Cerith sp. Snails Blue Legged hermit crab Red Legged hermit crab Peppermint Shrimp Elysia crispata Mexican Turbo Grazers

  14. Coral Reef Zonation • Zonation determined by: • Light intensity - dependent of the depth and turbidity of the water • Position relative to the open ocean or river mouths; • Ocean currents • Keep these factors in mind when placing corals in tanks!!!

  15. Corals in the Aquarium • Keep Corals in a tank environment that closely mimics its natural location on the reef • Reef rock rim – high light intensity and strong wave surges. • Need intense lighting and devices that cause surges throughout the tank • Reef slope – low light levels, very few surges and strong currents. • Need lower lighting levels and more constant water currents

  16. Corals of the Shallow Seas • Alcyonaceans: Lemnalia, Lobophytum, Nephthea, Sarcophyton, Sinularia, and Xenia • Scleractinians: Acropora, Goniastrea, Favia, Favites, Leptoseris, Lobophyllia, Plerogyra, Pocillopora, Porites, Millepora, and Stylophora • Zoanthidea: Palythoa

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

  18. How to test Salinity • Refractometer vs. Hydrometer

  19. Specific Gravity or Salinity • Specific Gravity - noun ･abbreviation - SG • The ratio of the density of a material to the density of distilled water. Density of water in SI units is 1000 kg/m3 • Specific gravity of pure RO-DI water is 1.000 at 4°C • As temperature of water increases, specific gravity decreases (slightly at temperatures we deal with) • Density of seawater varies with temperature and salinity of water. Good estimate is 1025 kg/m3, so its specific gravity is 1.025. • 34.5 ppt – parts per thousand – average salinity of ocean

  20. How often to test? • REGULARLY! • Daily – salinity, temperature • Weekly – ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and other testable parameters regularly, * You know what is happening in your system at all times. * 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.

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

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

  23. Algae in refugium uses nitrates Least Toxic Nitrobacter TOXIC at 0.5 ppm

  24. 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

  25. Trouble Shooting Convolutriloba spp. (flatworm) Aiptasia sp. (anemone)

  26. More Troubleshooting • Excessive algae • Phosphate: from foods, tap water • Lighting: age of bulbs (intensity deminishes: triggers algae) • Power failure • Nutrition related problems: types of food used • Toxicity of animals

  27. How to Tweak and Going Further • P. 86-87 • Information: • Books, periodicals • On-line sources: • www.aquariacentral.com • www.fishbase.org • http://www.advancedaquarist.com/

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