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.