Seeding Base Rock

There is no question that this hobby we've chosen can consume a significant amount of our time, not to mention our money!  The group at Tampa Bay Aquatics is committed to using any cost saving measure we can as long as it doesn't compromise the well being of our livestock.  One of the many expensive parts of starting a new reef or fish only with live rock tank is the addition of the live rock.

 Though we fully understand why some make the choice to have artificial reefs, none of us are particularly fond of them or the look (they also tend to be expensive).  Therefore in all of our new systems, with live rock typically retailing from $4.00 to $9.00 a pound, we'd be looking at a fairly large investment for just the rock.  Base rock, however, typically retails for $1.50 to $3.00 a pound.  As such, we are all supporters of creating your own live rock by seeding base rock.  

Not only will you save a fair amount of money, another benefit is that you'll be able to have a much more custom look to your rock arrangement and can be more artistic with your design.  It's much easier to bring home a box of base rock and take it outside and start chiseling away to create the exact look you want where as with the live rock, you're stuck with what you can find.

As the question was recently posed by a new hobbyist, we'll take this opportunity to mention that you cannot simply add any rocks you find interesting from your back yard or the local park in your tank.  The specifics as to why are beyond the scope of this article and will be discussed at a later time, along with a tutorial on how to actually create safe, do it yourself, man-made rock.

In almost all of our new environments, we start with a couple of good pieces of live rock either purchased from a retailer or borrowed from one of our other tanks, and fill the rest with base rock.  With a little patience, the microscopic life from your live rocks will start to migrate and the bleached out plain white rocks will be teaming with new life at a fraction of the cost.

Pond Hobbyists

We would like to extend a sincere thank you to our early visitors.  While we've had a fair amount of discussion about marine environments, the aim of Tampa Bay Aquatics is to be a comprehensive resource for all aquatic hobbyists.  While we continue to build content, we would like to welcome ideas and submissions from those with an interest in or experience building ponds or water gardens.  We would especially like to see, and perhaps feature photos of your creations.  Please feel free to contact us at TampaAquatics@gmail.com.  We look forward to hearing from you!

Amanda's Updates

Progress!  Amanda’s tank is coming along nicely with the addition of live rock, and two damsel fish (the anemone was a 1 day temporary resident Aunt Sue was moving to another environment).  Once the kalkwasser trouble was resolved, the tank settled and cleared beautifully.  Once cleared up, it was obvious how poor the stock lighted hood that came with her tank kit was.  She purchased a new, inexpensive, much brighter LED light for just under $50.  While it made a significant difference to the visibility and beauty of the tank, it is only appropriate for a FOWLR (fish only with live rock) tank.  As Amanda intends to add corals at a later time, we would have advised spending the money now on reef appropriate lighting.  Even though it is a significantly higher expense, she’ll need to spend it at some point and she’ll be out the $50 on the light she bought now as she’ll have no use for it.  Hopefully they can make use of a site like Craigslist and re-coup some of the money when it is no longer needed.  Luckily, she won’t have to spend quite as much on a smaller light for a tank of this size than most of us do for our larger reef systems.  She’ll soon send detailed pictures of her fish.  Because of their popularity, we’ll be adding them as our first two “Spotlight Species”, a series where we’ll discuss individual aquatic species, from fish to inverts, in depth.  Check back soon for these additions.  As you can see, she's made quite a lot of progress since day 1!

Florida Aquarium Partners With National Aquarium of Cuba

 

Another relevant and exciting article from an August issue of the Tampa Bay Times.  It discusses groundbreaking cooperation between the United States’ Florida Aquarium, and the National Aquarium of Cuba to protect the world’s coral reefs.   Hopefully the Florida Aquarium's aquaculture research combined with the great work being done at the National Aquarium of Cuba will result in a strong further understanding of our reef ecosystems and how to prevent further damage to these "underwater rainforests."  Click HERE to read the article.  Click HERE to visit the Florida Aquarium website.  Click HERE to visit the National Aquarium of Cuba.  

Coral Bleaching

I recently read this article about Florida's coral reefs by Chelsea Harvey of the Washington Post that was picked up by the Tampa Bay Times.  She discusses this being a particularly bad year for coral bleaching due to rising ocean temperatures and a disease outbreak that is affecting the state's Atlantic barrier reefs.  There is a good summary of what happens during bleaching and how the reefs are disrupted.  Some of the threatened corals are over 400 years old.  Click HERE to read the article.  

Some coral along the Florida reef is afflicted with "white plague disease." A widespread bleaching event on the Florida reef tract has left coral vulnerable to disease. [Photo by Brian Walker via Washington Post]

Tampa Bay Aquatics would love the opportunity to feature your original photographs of Florida's reef ecosystems, or any US marine environments (full credit to the photographer).  If you have something to share, please submit to TampaAquatics@gmail.com.

Kalkwasser

Kalkwasser (German for “lime water”) or kalk, is a calcium hydroxide solution that is a beneficial additive in reef environments.  It adds buffering capacity to the water neutralizing acids and maintaining a high pH and adds calcium to the benefit of corals.  It is very cost effective and easy to use.  From any online pet supply retailer, one can buy a supply that will last months if not a year, depending on tank size, for around $12.  It is beneficial to use kalkwasser every time evaporated 

water is replaced.  It comes in powder form and a small amount is added to freshwater.  Similar to making a protein powder shake at home, the kalkwasser powder won’t dissolve into the water just by stirring.  It helps if you are able to shake the mixture for about 30 seconds in a container before adding to your tank or sump. 

The benefits and use of kalkwasser were described to Amanda and her parents.  They had a misunderstanding and thought they should use kalkwasser not just when replacing evaporated water, but when replacing ANY water; e.g. a water change.  They mixed their replacement water properly, but then added the designated amount of kalkwasser to the solution before adding it to the tank.  This resulted in a large quantity of undissolved kalkwasser making the tank extremely cloudy.  Luckily there wasn’t any livestock in the tank, and the water parameters haven’t been effected negatively.  The plan to slowly resolve the problem and salvage the water and sand that was already in the tank was to turn off the filtration for short periods, allow the kalkwasser to settle, then siphon it out from the bottom.  This was done about five times total with a great result.  This is a good lesson learned for all.  For more detailed information about kalkwasser, read an excellent article HERE at reefkeeping.com.

Saltwater Aquarium pH- Post 4

Most saltwater fish and inverts require pH to be higher than freshwater species.  In general, most saltwater tanks are kept at a pH of between 7.8 and 8.4, with reef environments being between 8.2 and 8.5. The reason for the different pH requirement is just simply because it is how these organisms thrive in their natural environment.  Just as a polar bear doesn’t live in the rainforest, clownfish don’t live in lakes.  The pH of the ocean is usually between 7.5 and 8.5 (ocean pH varies based on depth and ocean acidification- we will discuss this in depth later as we have a keen interest in the

conservation of our ocean resources).  In a reef environment with corals, the target pH is on the high end of the spectrum.  Corals make use of the trace elements in the water to thrive.  By using them, they are removing them from the water and reducing the buffering capacity.  Therefore it’s a little more complicated to maintain the right balance of minerals and necessary to maintain a higher pH in a reef tank.  Luckily the products available that we’ll most likely need anyway, will keep our environments right where they need to be.  In keeping with the “keep it simple” theme of this series, if you start with the right water quality, use the right salt mixture, and have the appropriate filtration and aeration, odds are your pH will be right where it should be.  We’ll soon discuss what to do if you have a pH problem. 

Freshwater Aquarium pH- Post 3

The next step is to pinpoint the ideal pH for your environment in order for you to create the necessary conditions to achieve it.  The ideal pH will vary greatly depending on what types of plants and animals you plan to keep.  It is important to know each species requirements before choosing to put them in the same environment.  One can’t expect a species that needs a pH of 6.5 to live with a species that needs a pH of 8 without one or the other being stressed and unhealthy.

Freshwater animals can naturally tolerate much wider fluctuations in water conditions than saltwater animals can, including pH.  This is because their environment in the wild naturally fluctuates significantly more than the ocean does.  The average freshwater fish that we are most likely to choose for our tanks do well with a fairly broad range between 6.5 and 7.5, making pH much easier to manage and less of a concern than in more sensitive saltwater or reef environments.  Some experienced aquarists will even tell you not to bother worrying about or affecting change on pH in a freshwater aquarium at all as long as you are keeping up on its regular maintenance.  Keep in mind though that pH is often a cause and effect of other aquarium conditions.   Though many freshwater fish aren’t particularly effected by fluctuations in pH, it is still beneficial to monitor it. 

To begin, we recommend testing the pH of your water source to see if your water is exceptionally acidic or basic.  This will give you an idea of what fish you might want to keep, or what you will need to do to change the pH if you want to keep fish that require parameters outside of your range.  This isn’t particularly common and most likely it is true that your pH will be just fine.  We try, thought, to always remember that just because our fish are alive, swimming, eating, etc., doesn’t mean that their environment is correct and that they aren’t living in conditions that is stressful to their health.  We recommend striving for perfection and making an effort to maintain the ideal pH for each species.

There are some notable varieties of fish that are especially fragile or have uncommon pH

requirements; namely, discus and cichlids.  Discus require a pH lower than many aquarium fish and cichlids are the opposite.

If you find that you need additives to maintain the right pH for your tank, you’ll need to add them every time you do a water change.  Remember, consistency is key.  Even though our freshwater fish can tolerate fluctuations much better than their saltwater counterparts, it will still improve their health to keep conditions consistent.  If you have specific questions regarding pH, please feel free to contact us.  Our group of experts will be more than happy to help, or have a discussion.  

Nano Reef- Day 3

Today is day three with water in the tank.  Day two looked much the same as day one.  This morning Amanda turned off the filter to allow faster settling, then did a small water change and used that opportunity to clean out the mechanical filter and siphon out some of the cloudy water.  The water change was needed as 100% of the water came from a tank that was due for a change anyway.  Below is a picture of the tank during the water change, next to the shot from day 1.  As you can see, it's cleared up quite a bit.

Yesterday Amanda bought some API test strips, water conditioner, and her own small siphon, spending a total of $40.95.  She's already at just under $100 and has only a small percentage of everything she is going to need to turn this into a complete reef environment.  We'll continue to include every cost along the way as an example to any aspiring aquarist of what to realistically expect to spend.   

Water in the New Nano Reef

We have some updates from Amanda's project tank this week.  She made a couple of purchases and learned some lessons.  She spent some time with her aunt and a friend learning how to properly mix aquarium water.  It's going to take some time before she has a solid understanding of the entire process, but she's made an excellent start.

She also spent some time online looking at others' nano tank set ups to see what she might want hers to look like in the future.  She chose a solid black background for the tank so that the corals she plans to add in the future will stand out.  For substrate she opted for live sand.  She'd normally have to spend about $15-$20 on sand if she discount shopped online.  Because the quantity she needed was so small, we gave her what she needed to start, as well as the small section of background.

She also added water to the tank and learned how there is definitely no instant gratification when starting a new tank, especially when using sand.  As you can see from the photo, it isn't much to look at.

Fortunately, Amanda isn't going to have to experience the long wait time of cycling her tank; another benefit of the small size of her tank.  She seeded her tank with an established filter bed and water from another large established tank.  So far all of the water parameters look good, though she's going to wait to add her first livestock until she's 100% sure it will remain stable.  

Great Barrier Reef

Always wanted to scuba dive in the great barrier reef?  Check out this link Great Barrier Reef.
It is one of the many places you wouldn't have guessed you can explore via google maps.  It kept me busy for a solid 15 minutes looking around and attempting to identify some of the species.

Aquatic Art

While I don’t have any artistic ability to speak of, I admire those that do and have an appreciation for art.  When I come across art that combines true talent with an interest of mine, it fascinates me.  Fascinating is the correct word I would use to describe the work of Singapore based artist  Keng Lye. Inspired by the incredible resin based sculptures on which are painted in layers with acrylic by the artist Riusuke Fukahori, Keng Lye creates aquatic art that is unbelievably lifelike and simply magical.

Rinne, 2011- Riusuke Fukahori

Three examples of Keng Lye's work are below.

 As soon as a piece is available,  I am definitely going to acquire one.  I think any aquatic hobbyist would be intrigued by this work and happy to be able to look at a piece in person.  To see and learn more, visit Keng Lye's gallery HERE and visit him on facebook HERE.  The gallery will be included on our recommended links page as well.  I hope you enjoy this work as much as I did.  Please feel free to share your feedback.  

Measuring pH- Post 2

Regularly monitoring the pH of your aquarium or pond water is just as important to the health of your fish as making sure it is at the correct temperature.  The numbers 1-14 are used to more easily represent and understand much bigger numbers.  Every number variance in the pH number means exponentially different amounts of acidity or alkalinity.  For example, a pH of 5 is ten times more acidic than a pH of 6 and a pH of 9 is ten times more alkaline than a pH of 8.  Therefore even small number variances mean much larger changes in the water chemistry.  Just as our fish shouldn’t be subjected to fast significant changes in temperature, salinity, and other water quality, we don’t want them to experience large fluctuations in pH either.  Fortunately, regularly monitoring pH is quite simple.  For less than $5 at almost any pet store or online retailer, you can purchase designated test kits for pH.  They are also included in most complete test kits that test for other water parameters as well.  They are typically in the form of strips that are exposed to a sample of your water, or a liquid that is added to a sample of your water, that you will then match the color of to a chart that indicates the pH.  Just simply follow the instructions, including all safety guidelines, and within minutes you’ll know your pH.  There are also electronic testers and monitors on the market.  While they are accurate and very easy to use and some can monitor continuously, alerting you of any changes, they can be costly.  Though they are great instruments, we recommend spending the money for one a little further down the line as you become more serious about aquatic hobbies.

Whichever method you choose, it is important to measure your pH at the same time each day.  For many reasons beyond the scope of this article, it is natural for the pH to have regular fluctuations from morning to night.  If you measure today at 6:00 p.m. and two days from now at 8:00 a.m., it may inaccurately seem as though you have a pH problem.  Also remember that electronic testers need to be calibrated, and test kits can go bad over time.

Now that you know what pH is and how to measure it, we’ll discuss what pH is right in general for different types of environments, and how to determine exactly what you want yours at.  

pH- Post 1

What is pH?

pH is a number that expresses whether a solution (in our case, our aquarium water) is more acidic or basic.  For our purposes it isn’t necessary to have a thorough understanding of the chemistry involved, just simply a basic knowledge of what it is, how to measure it, what is ideal for the type of environment we are creating, and how to achieve it.  Fortunately none of this is nearly as complicated as textbooks might make you feel. 

The numbers you’ll see expressing pH are between 1 and 14.  Pure water is neutral at pH 7.  If the number is higher than 7 then the water is more basic or alkaline and lower than 7 indicates acidity.  Our aquarium water is not pure water, but rather a solution of water and many other chemical compounds that are dissolved in the water.  The pH decreases if acids are dissolved and increases with bases.    

The “buffering capacity” is the ability of the water to neutralize acids and maintain a steady pH.  Acids are introduced into the water from fish, corals, decaying food, etc. so a good buffering capacity is important in keeping the water from becoming too acid and toxic to our fish.

Now that you have an idea of what pH is, next we'll discuss how to measure it.  

New Nano Reef- Tank Purchase

Yesterday the tank was purchased Petco.  Though many of us prefer to buy online or second hand when the opportunity presents itself, it was a good option for a young person to be able to see exactly what they were choosing, and to have the instant gratification fulfilled of being able to take it home right now!  Amanda chose a 13 gallon boxed aquarium kit by Aqueon.  It is what they call a

"widescreen" version with more viewing area on the front.  It measures 24L x16H x 9W.  The downside to the larger viewing surface, is the reduced surface area of the top.  It's not a significant factor as this tank isn't planned to hold much livestock anyway.  This was the winning option because it came with start up supplies and was on sale 25% off.  The purchase total including sales tax was $57.39 (bought with birthday money- fantastic in our opinion).  The kit includes the glass aquarium, an LED lighted hood, a submersible preset heater, a QuietFlow hang on back power filter, fish net, water conditioner and fish food (the conditioner and food will not be used).  None of us can speak from experience as to the quality or value of any of the equipment, so we'll just have to monitor and evaluate as time goes by.  These are certainly risks every aquarium hobbyist takes and we have every expectation that these items may be replaced or upgraded.  For example, the lighting in the hood will need upgrading in the future with the addition of corals (even for general lighting it is poor) and the preset heater may or may not be viable depending on the ideal temperature that we'll determine later based on livestock.

New Nano Reef Series

I'm excited that we are going to be working with the niece of Sue, one of our contributors, on setting up her first tank.  Amanda is 10 years old, has an interest in science, and intends to create a nano reef to use for an upcoming class science project, as well as future projects.  She will be making all of the choices and decisions on her own, with the guidance of our group to steer her clear of pitfalls.  I think we are all going to enjoy thinking like a kid again and will only benefit from learning more about what others, especially children, find interesting and attractive about fish tanks; particularly for those readers in retail or aquatic services.  For both Amanda's project, and our purposes, every step will be documented and shared on this site including purchases, costs, set up, livestock introductions, maintenance, etc.  Amanda is shouldering the cost 100% on her own and will therefore be creating her environment as cost effectively as possible.  It should be very interesting to new salt water hobbyists to see what work goes into a new aquarium, along with the costs.  Amanda's plan is to start simple with fish only/live rock using only what comes in an inexpensive boxed aquarium kit, and add features as she saves.

101 Series- Intro

While it absolutely isn’t necessary for every aquarium or pond hobbyist to be a master chemist or biologist, the amount of information that presents itself to someone looking to enter the hobby is undoubtedly overwhelming, and can make it appear so.  I distinctly remember my first attempt at a saltwater aquarium, over two decades ago.  I purchased an on-sale aquarium and two books.  The result was a tank that sat empty for months while I tried to make sense of text book language, and finally a set up tank that turned out to have…goldfish.  The information seemed so complicated that I was overwhelmed, and soon bored, and I gave up.  An important goal of Tampa Bay Aquatics is to provide support to beginners making it clear that aquariums and aquascapes can be quite easily managed by anyone.  In our 101 Series we will discuss a wide range of aquatic related topics in a novice friendly fashion making no assumptions about what one might already know.  

Hermit Crab Out of Shell- Video

We recently added a handful more blue leg hermit crabs to one of our reef tanks, along with some extra empty shells.  As usually happens, the group of crabs were battling over new shells.  We were lucky enough to catch a good shot on video of this guy after being kicked out of his shell, hanging out shell-less, then moving into his new house.  

Algae Control in the Reef Aquarium III-Green Algae Continued- Post 3

                

 When setting up a new reef environment, you will definitely encounter green filamentous algae of the order caulerpales including 45 genera and over 400 species.  They’ll typically begin to show up after a few weeks and thrive with good light and water flow.  If allowed to grow freely, they can easily cover the entire aquarium.  Aquarists used to think that this algae was a good sign of a healthy environment which we now

know is not correct; in fact the exact opposite is usually true.  Even though in small quantities they can be quite attractive, most aquarists believe that they should be avoided completely.  They thrive on nutrients that shouldn’t be present, can choke out corals, and when they die they release many compounds into the water that are toxic to fish and coral.  While they are present during the initial set up period, it is not

advisable to introduce any species that are particularly fragile, though it is the time to introduce herbivores that will help in its control.  Positioning the tank away from direct sunlight, adding kalkwasser during water changes (discussed later), keeping nutrient content as low as possible, and adding livestock that eat algae as a major food source are the best bets in controlling filamentous algae.  In the posts following the algae series we will discuss these types of livestock in depth.

Algae Control in the Reef Aquarium III-Green Algae Continued- Post 2

In the order dasycladales, there are several types that often appear on live rock but rarely last long. 

 In the order siphonocladales, there are two that are notable in reef aquariums; valonia and ventricaria.  These are the green “bubble algae.”  The bubble form isn’t because the algae produces air bubbles like others, but is the form of the algae itself.  

Some find these species unsightly, and others decorative and interesting.  The cause for concern is how quickly growing they are and how difficult they can be to eradicate.  They can easily outgrow neighboring corals.  Though not in all cases, they are also often found when there are too many nutrients in the environment which is a second cause for concern. 

Manual removal, and the deprivation of needed nutrients are the most effective methods of elimination as they are likely to resist being eradicated by herbivores.  There can be concern for rupturing them during removal, as they will release more spores into the environment causing further outbreak.  It is worth being careful to attempt avoiding rupture, but the risk is necessary as the spores will be released anyway if they aren’t removed at all.  After manual removal of the large vesicles, herbivores will help to prevent new growth.  

Algae Control in the Reef Aquarium III- Green Algae- Post 1

ulva

Chlorophyta, green algae, are the largest and most diverse group with approximately 15% of the over 7,000 known species being marine.  As such, we’ll mention only a small number of specific species.  Many types are a nuisance while some can be considered decorative and are purposefully cultivated.

enteromorpha

                     

Of the order ulotrichales, ulvas and enteromorphas commonly appear in the reef tank with live rock. While they are interesting looking and can thrive in a tank with biological filtration and little skimming, similarly to brown algae, they won’t be seen long other than during the break in period unless there are more nutrients than there should be in the tank environment.  

Algae Control in the Reef Aquarium II- Brown Algae Continued

Also of the Heterokontophyta, there is the class Phaeophycaea, multicellular brown algae including over 1500 species, almost all of which are marine.  They exist in a wide variety of sizes and forms.  Some species can grow to several meters.  While they are an interesting, sometimes beautiful, and important part of marine ecosystems (some are even harvested for human consumption) as they require substantial amounts of nutrients to thrive (iodine, nitrogen, phosphorus) they also shouldn’t be seen in a reef aquarium beyond the initial set up period.

Algae Control in the Reef Aquarium- I- Brown Algae

There are two classes of heterokontophyta that are often referred to as brown algae.  The first is class bacillariophycaea (the second, phaeophycaea will be discussed later.) These single celled diatoms are usually seen when a tank is first cycling within the first couple of weeks or so.  They reproduce extremely quickly; it is possible to thoroughly clean your aquarium in the morning only to find it completely covered again by night.  



This is a normal occurrence and not something to be particularly concerned about or frankly even bother with trying to control at first.  Luckily this fairly unattractive specimen can be easily managed and doesn’t usually last long after the initial cycling period.



The amount of silicates in your water (this can vary depending on the source of your water) will determine how much you will see.  The diatoms need to consume silicate in order to grow.  If you can avoid adding new silicates to the aquarium, the growth will discontinue and they will eventually disappear.  Kalkwasser (limewater) is a popular calcium supplement used to maintain a high pH in the reef tank.  Using this when replacing evaporated water can quickly control the growth of diatoms (more discussions about kalkwasser later.)  A large infestation of diatoms usually results in a large amount of waste being emitted into the water by the algae.  It isn’t advisable to introduce livestock into the environment until it is under control.  Common methods of filtration (protein skimming, carbon, ozone, etc.) will reduce their ability to reproduce and their waste.  While it’s likely to always find a certain amount of diatoms in any aquarium if you look for them, in small quantities they aren’t harmful.   

Series- Algae Control in the Reef Aquarium- Introduction

As several of our contributors are in the process of building new reef habitats, we'll begin with sharing related topics.  One of the more common encounters in a new aquarium environment is an unidentified or unwanted algae bloom.  Over the next week we'll discuss algae control related topics including cultivating beneficial algae. Over time this series will continue to develop in detail as algae and its control are among the most in depth and common reef discussions to be had, especially in reference to nuisance algae.  Additionally, not only are some algae beneficial, if not essential, they can significantly contribute to the natural feel in a well-designed reef.  Please check back for our first post and feel free to submit questions and comments.

Under Construction

Welcome to Tampa Bay Aquatics- an aquarium and pond hobbyist blog.  You'll find articles, information, ideas, and advice from both experienced aquatic hobbyists and expert biologists from accredited zoological institutions.  We appreciate your patience while we let this blog "cycle" before we add our new content.  We look forward to welcoming you soon.