Patio Pond Shell- By Sara H.

After a fair amount of shopping both online and at hardware stores and garden centers, I found quite a few different places to start with my new patio pond.  Most of the retail options were a little more expensive than I was hoping for and I didn't want to completely build something from scratch.  I opted to start with a simple molded plastic pond liner and fountain pump.  It will be smaller than I originally anticipated, but I've decided to start small to be sure I'm comfortable with the maintenance.  If so, I plan to add another larger pond on the opposite end of my patio.  I purchased a MacCourt 20 gallon polyethylene liner from Lowe's for under $20.  I placed it on the patio against the building wall.  I plan to either creatively cover the shell or build it in with a retaining wall creating a raised planting bed around the pond.  I've still got some decisions to make regarding my next steps, but I'll post pictures soon.  

RO Unit Clearance

Pure water at home means significant cost savings and convenience for the aquarium hobbyists.  Though not a required expense to get started in the hobby, a reverse osmosis or RO unit is a great piece of equipment to invest in.  If you've considered this option but not yet made a purchase, Doctors Foster and Smith have a 200 gpd AquaFX Dolphin RO unit on clearance 34% off for only $153.13 found HERE.  While we don't currently own this model, based on the product details, this is a very good value and could be just the right opportunity for you to start taking advantage of having your own RO unit.  For more information about the use of an RO unit, check out Doctors Foster and Smith's FAQ page HERE.

New Patio Pond II

Choosing My Pond Type- By Sara H.

I've had some time to think about where to begin with my patio pond.  I originally planned to build the structure of the pond with pavers and liner (similar to pictured left), but found so many interesting options for prefabricated patio ponds.  I love this option (pictured right) by pond boss for sale on Amazon.com HERE.  I decided the look was a little more modern than I wanted.  Aquascape Inc. has many excellent options on their site.  I would like a look that is either more natural, or even a rustic container such as a livestock water trough or steel tub which was suggested by a follower.  I'm going to go with something simpler than building from scratch, but perhaps with a do it yourself element that won't be as costly as a pond purchased from a retailer.  I'll be shopping in the next two days.  I'm excited to get started and to share pictures.  Please visit us again soon.

New Patio Pond

Indoor/outdoor living is more popular now than ever, especially in Florida's climate.  Rare is the home that doesn't have some type of designated outdoor living space. Many people designate significant time and resources to making their outdoor spaces just as comfortable and aesthetically appealing as the inside.  In addition to staples such as comfortable outdoor furniture, pleasant landscaping, insect control, etc., aquascapes are a fantastic way to add interest to your outdoor design.  Even in an apartment or condo, often neglected patio space can be made much more inviting because of the ambient sound, aquatic foliage, and even animal life a patio pond adds.

Sara H. is one of our experienced marine aquarists that doesn't keep freshwater fish and has never had a pond.  She is planning a makeover for her condo's screened lanai and wants to include a water garden.  She's planning one very small table top container water garden, and a roughly 2x3x2 above ground water feature with aquatic plants, fish, and a small waterfall.  With the help of a Tampa Bay Aquatics' aquaculturist and suggestions from our readers, she plans to get started this weekend.  Please feel free to contact us at tampaaquatics@gmail.com and share your thoughts, tips, and pictures of your aquascapes. We look forward to hearing from you.  

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.  

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.  

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.