Reef conservation and implications

We all know how beautiful coral reefs are, many of us have seen them on the TV and few lucky enough will have visited one of the many around the world. This will of cause what will have made you to decide to keep these fantastic animals in your home.

Many of these have disappeared and even more are under threat. These include Climate change, Pollution, overfishing and other human activities. As hobbyist's it our responsibility we don't contribute to these threats.

Please Act responsibly. Many corals, fish and invertebrates come from the wild. many reefs around the world are productive so taking from them can be sustainable, provided it is correctly managed. You can help by finding ways helping conservation. Here are a few ideas to help you.

• 
  Use all resources for selecting livestock including, Books, Magazines, experience from other Reefers and on line Forums.
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  Learn about your upcoming purchases using the above resources.
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  Find out where your fish and corals come from.
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  Make sure the animals are certified and sustainable.
• 
  Find coral 'frags' from fellow reefers that come from their aquariums.

Some rules. All corals require an import license, some species are banned into the EU to help protect them.Looking for stock that is certified by the Marine Aquarium Council (MAC) This stock will have met all the above criteria and more. Other organisations inlude the Marine Conservation Society.

Now you need to be responsible in meeting your live-stocks needs and see many years of enjoyment from your livestock. Requirements include.

Correct water quality. Plenty of space.
Correct food and feeding regime.
Compatibility with other tank mates.
Lighting.
Flow.

Remember there is always something to learn. hobbyist's are learning new things all the time. This is one of the great things about this hobby

8 Unthought of Accessories reqiured for Reef Keeping

This article will aid you in the selection of some necessary items That you may not have considered to help keep a great looking reef aquarium. This excludes all the obvious hardware like pumps, skimmer, test kits and so on. You may well have some of these around the home, But I would recommend aquarium dedicated items to prevent contamination and unwanted problems.

1. 
   Algae scraper. This will allow you to keep the glass on the inside of the aquarium nice and clean, preventing you having to put your hands in and getting wet. Doing this regularly will ensure great viewing pleasure of your aquariums inhabitants.
2. 
   Turkey baster or similar. These are really cheap and can be found in many food utility shops. Not the most obvious choice of equipment, but these can be used for feeding corals and cleaning off live rock with a blast of Aquarium water every week or more.
3. 
   Small water Jug. These are really useful, I find these helpful with water changes and when adding additives to the aquarium. It is the cheapest method. There are other ways but these can get expensive and complicated to the new hobbyist.
4. 
   Food safe bucket bucket. This is needed for water changes and food safe comes highly recommended.
5. 
   Water siphon. Not essential but really helps drain water on water changes.
6. 
   Glass cleaner. As above but will keep the outside of the glass nice and clean for viewing pleasure.
7. 
   Scissors, Knife and cutters. These can be used for cutting "frags" of your corals that can then be traded with other reefers.
8. 
   Storage box or Container. Really useful for keeping test kits, additives and some of the above accessories.

You will be surprised how much these simple items will help you in this fascinating hobby.

Six thing to avoid as a new Reef Keeper

So what should you avoid when keeping a reef aquarium when new to this fascinating hobby?

Lack of knowledge. This is very important, you should learn as much as possible before even thinking about buying anything. Books are expensive, but there are many other Articles and Informative Forums on-line packed with information and help.

Hard corals. These should be avoided until a full understanding of water chemistry and a confidence in maintaining these levels are achieved. These corals require more intense lighting requirements and feeding. Compatibility also creates issues too. As above really, learn about water chemistry, then research your coral selection carefully.

Expensive unnecessary equipment. As a newbie to Reef Keeping it is totally unnecessary to purchase Computers, Reactors, Top up devices, and any other fancy items that may arise. I say this because as a new Reef Keeper you need to understand and manage a Reef Aquarium. Having fancy computers and reactors will create loads of confusion. The same can be said about Calcium Reactors and so on, with issues such as overdosing.

Fancy expensive fish. Please walk before you run. There are loads of reasonably priced fish available, many colorful and rewarding too. Imagine how upset you would be to loose a expensive fish and think of the impact on the environment. Conservation is key to this hobby.

Overstocking. Don't rush out and buy everything you see and like, you will overload your aquarium and most likely kill your new livestock. Do it slowly and stock fish according to your aquarium size.

Overfeeding. This is something many get wrong. By overfeeding you are creating your livestock to produce more waste, Resulting in higher nitrates. Feed small amounts only when required.

Things You Should Do Every Week As a Marine Hobbyist.

There are some really important things that need checking at least once a week and some not so important when keeping a Reef Aquarium. Lets start with the important checks and maintenance.

Feeding. Without any Food the Fish and Hard Corals wont stay alive for long. I would recommend setting out a feeding regime and sticking with it.

Water Chemistry. Checking water parameters weekly is a really good habit. Keeping them within the recommended amounts by adjusting them accordingly with Buffers and Additives. This will save loads of stress to your Aquariums inhabitants.

Inhabitants condition and health. By spending a few minutes having a really good luck into your aquarium per week can help determine problems and save outbreaks of Disease, Pests, and Algae. These can be early signals telling you that something is not quite right.

Equipment. Checking that all Heaters, Power-heads, Pumps, Skimmer and Computers are functioning properly. Maybe they are ready for routine servicing and cleaning. They may in the worst case need replacing.

Protein skimmer cup cleaning. This must be done at least once a week. If not you might as well just turn it off because it will not function as intended.

Water change. Many Hobbyists recommend a 10% water change every week. But if your biological load is low and parameters check out satisfactory you can do a 20% water change every three to four weeks.

The not so important maintenance includes

Cleaning the Aquarium glass. This is totally for you as the Hobbyist. What would be the point of keeping a Reef Aquarium if you can't see it's natural beauty.

Taking photos. This is a really good way to see the growth of your Aquarium Inhabitants as they grow and mature. Taking a few photos every month is all that is needed. You can show your Family, Friends and fellow Reefers your much loved Aquarium.

Checking and purchasing supplies. As you use your Buffers and Additives you will know when you are running low. What better time and opportunity to go to your Local Fish Shop and replace them. You can even treat your self to a new Coral, Fish or Invertebrate.

This sums up most of the maintenance and checks you should carry out regularly. You will find if you adopt these tips into your Reef housekeeping you should not go far wrong.

Understanding evaporation and top up

Many new Reef Keepers get confused and stuck when it comes to topping up water in their Reef Aquarium. It is really simple and easy to understand. It doesn't need to get confusing.

Evaporation happens continuously, many new hobbyists start by adding Freshly mixed saltwater then end up with a really high salinity. You have to think of your water as two elements, in fact it is. Salt and Reverse osmosis water. Salt cannot evaporate because it is a solid and solids don't evaporate. Therefore as the water evaporates, the salt remains in the Aquarium, which in turn increases your salinity. From this you should have worked out that Top up/RO water should be added.

If your Aquarium is left for a few days or more the salinity will rise rapidly, which is why it is important to top up daily if possible.

When carrying out a water change, because you are removing the mixed salt water your are removing both elements, salt and RO water. All that is required now is a fresh saltwater mix that has the correct salinity of about 1.025.

Hopefully this as helped you grasp this simple regime. This can now be taken a little further. Maybe your salinity is high or low, this again can be adjusted in just a simple method.

If it is high, just remove a few liters of saltwater and add some fresh RO water.
If it is low, just add the correct salinity water to the aquarium instead of RO water, Only a few liters at a time though then check Salinity until desired is reached.

Five common mistakes made by the new Reef Aquarist.

Many newcomers to this hobby make many mistakes, some fatal and expensive. This short article will highlight a few of these. From experience there is nothing worse than making a decision to purchase a Fish or Coral to find it will die in a short period of time.

So you have got your Aquarium home, out of the box and filled with saltwater. In all excitement you cant wait to get some fish, so you dash to your local fish shop and buy a pair of percula clown fish. A few days later your pair becomes one, or even worse you lose the pair.

Why? You haven't let your tank go through the Nitrogen cycle. You must do this and wait until Ammonia and nitrite are zero. Wait until Nitrates get to about 0.5ppm. Only then should you start adding livestock.

Stocking too much. We all want a tank full of wonderful colours and life, but you can only keep as many fish as your tank volume will allow. Although this does not apply with Corals and Invertebrates. You can stock as much as your tank will allow but taking into consideration space for your fish.

Stocking too fast. Going out and buying all your stock in one go, is not a good thing to do. It will put too much load on the biological filtration and could wipe about your newly purchased livestock in a matter of days or a couple of weeks. The best advice is to buy one fish per month. This will allow your filtration to deal with the extra load and create the De-nitrifying bacteria. This way you can spread the cost of creating that perfect Aquarium.

Acclimatising fish and corals. You can never spend too much time acclimatising your livestock. I would recommend at least 45 minutes maybe longer. Start by placing the bag in the aquarium let the temperature adjust first, then start adding a small amount of aquarium water to the bag at ten minute intervals. Remember your water parameters are going to be different to the water the livestock has come from. Now you can enjoy watching the Fish or Coral for many years to come.

Research, or lack of it! Don't just assume everything is compatible, it most likely is not. Some Fish eat Corals, some Corals eat Food, some Fish and Corals require different foods. Many Fish could outgrow your Aquarium. Many corals have stinging tentacles and will damage or destroy others. These are to name just a few of the variables, Make sure you can provide what your livestock need.

Money is no object! "I'm going to buy a five foot tank and fill it to the brim with fish and corals" Some people do have the money to do this. Please remember, and take into account the statements in this article. This is a selfish attitude, think of the conservation for these animals and the impact to the environment. Doing this is irresponsible, Please if you have the money, take it slow and enjoy this fascinating hobby.

Maintaining correct saltwater parameters

Many new hobbyist get confused and in a mess with water chemistry. It is one of the most important things to get right when keeping a Saltwater Aquarium. In this article I am going to explain what should be measured, and in the correct order to check.

Salinity has got to be the most important, for the simple reason with out it everything will die. You need to aim for a salinity of 1.025. I would recommend using a Refractometer. I would try and avoid using a swing arm hydrometer, these are inaccurate. The Refractometer will give really accurate results and compensate the reading with the temperature of the water, they are really simple to use. They can be a little pricey but they are worth every penny.

Ammonia, Nitrite and nitrate. Check these in this order. You will really only need to check for Ammonia and Nitrite on a newly established Aquarium. These will go to zero after the Nitrogen Cycle. Then you really only need to check for Nitrate. Nitrate is the end product of the Nitrogen cycle. It is recommended that Nitrates need to be kept below 0.5ppm although many reef inhabitants will tolerate a little more. The easiest way to keep nitrates low is keep up with routine water changes. It is not uncommon to be able to run a mature aquarium with zero nitrates.

Phosphates. If you have high phosphates present living corals will die. Small amounts will be tolerated by most corals. This is one of the easiest unwanted chemicals to get rid of. All that is needed is a product such as Rowaphos. This can be placed in a filter sock and hung in direct flow in your tank or sump. Although it is expensive it is very effective. This media will absorb the phosphates until it is full. Then it will need replacing. Checks for phosphates must be done with other routine water checks.

Magnesium, alkalinity, and calcium. I have put these together because they need to be checked in this order as they affect each other, and if not tested and rectified in this order you will cause big problems.

Magnesium helps keep the balance of Alkalinity and Calcium, without it you would find it very difficult to maintain Alkalinity and Calcium at the required level. You should aim to keep Magnesium at between 1300 and 1500ppm. Many Hobbyist aim for about 1350ppm, this is about the amount found in natural sea water.

Alkalinity or Carbonate hardness needs to be maintained between 7dKH and 10dKH. I would recommend aiming for at least 8 though. This can be increased using a buffer.
Calcium is needed to help Hard Corals build their skeleton, you should aim for 400ppm. Without this your Hard Corals cannot create a skeleton, like us we need calcium to give us strong bones and teeth. The same applies for Hard Corals and many Invertebrates in our Reef Aquariums. Additives can be used to increase Calcium.

PH. Many Hobbyist recommend checking this, but i have heard many hobbyists don't. PH changes constantly and is affected by Light, Oxygen, Magnesium, Alkalinity and Calcium, and so results can be different every time. If you are going to check PH, check it at the same time of day to get consistent results. All other parameters should be checked in the order above leaving PH until last.

A word on dosing. If your parameters are out and need adjusting, don't panic. I recommend adding additives in the order given in this article, but do it very slowly. Don't rush, read the instructions on your additives. If you go too far just do a water change and check. If it still still high carry out further water changes. Remember the Corals, Fish and Invertebrates are sensitive animals and quick intensive changes will destroy them.

There are many other parameters that can be checked and dosed, but these can get very confusing and difficult to check for. I will continue these Articles on my blog covering more of these parameters including Strontium, Iodine, Iodide and any other i am able to research.

Small aquarium versus Large aquarium.

We all want a stupidly big reef tank after starting reef keeping but what are the advantages and disadvantages of small and large reef tanks?



Cost.

The most obvious is cost, The larger tanks are more expensive and hobbyist have even gone to the extreme of Home extensions with a fish room full of equipment. If you have got it then go for it! many have not. Small reef tanks are reasonably priced and newcomers can come in at all levels.



Simplicity.

A small reef tank doesn't need all the fancy equipment and can be run easily provided good housekeeping is practised. But that said with fancy computers, reactors and sump. Everything can be run with very little fuss, in autopilot if you like, with weekly checks to make sure everything is running smoothly.



Stability.

Here is where larger reef tanks win. parameters are more stable and swings in water changes are minimum and happen in a much longer time. A slight problem with a small reef can send readings high really quickly.



Stocking levels.

If you want to stock really big and fancy specimens you are going to need a big Aquarium. It's not fair to stock a Yellow tang or similar type of fish in a 100 litre tank. The same applies for many types of fish all in one tank.



Space.

If you have a little space in your living room and don't know what to do with it then a Aquarium is a great addition, But don't plan on a huge aquarium it will be just too much impact.



Moving house

This is very important, what would be the point of creating a beautiful built in fish tank if you plan on moving, it will be costly, very time consuming and may even result in the loss of a sale of your property. Not everyone wants to buy and house with a aquarium the cant do nothing with.

Small tanks can be moved relatively easy but it is a timely job. I moved last year and it took me a day to move a simple 125 litre tank and livestock. It was very tiring but can be simply be done through planning and a little organisation. This could take weeks maybe a month are so with a really big Aquarium.





Viewing pleasure

A Small reef tank cant even compete with this. How nice would it be to have a six foot fish tank in your living room full of fish corals and invertebrate's? We all want the WOW factor.



Compatibility.

Will it fit through your front door, garden gate, can it be easily transported? you wont have these problems with a small aquarium.



There is nothing stopping you implementing all the technologies in a small reef tank as you progress. At least this way you will have it for the large Aquarium you are planning for the future.

How to keep Nitrates low in a Reef Aquarium.

The ultimate quest for the Marine Reef Keeper is keeping water parameters as close to natural sea water as possible. One of the main concerns for hobbyist is keeping Nitrates to a minimum, if not totally eradicating them.

You need to have a reasonable understanding of the nitrate cycle, here is a quick guide.
Fish produce waste very similar to us, this contains ammonia. Ammonia is then converted to nitrite by a bacteria known as Nitrosomonas. The Nitrite is then converted into nitrate by another bacteria called Nitrobacter. The final piece of the cycle where the nitrates are consumed by plants and algae and of cause your regular water changes.



The first and most important thing is regular small water changes. As a guide about 10% change weekly in a aquarium with a high biological load, highly stocked aquarium or high nitrates in the first place. If your aquarium as a small bio load and low nitrates it is recommended to do a 25% change every month to help replace depleted trace elements. This really is common knowledge and should be part of your reef keeping maintenance.



Using the correct amount of live rock is important as this is your natural filtration, and to go with this you need a good amount of flow so that your live rock and it's small filtering inhabitants can filter and work there de-nitrifying effects on your water. Flow should be a minimum of 24 times turn over off the total volume of your aquarium, bear this in mind though when positioning low flow loving corals.



Using the correct amount of sand, many argue too much will create what is known as a "nitrate factory" A Deep sand bed can cause problems if not full of de-nitrifying bacteria, this can take time to mature, it is recommended not to use sand, using a light misting, enough to cover the surface for aesthetic pleasure.

I find that if using sand at any depth, to not disturb it. Using a Syphon and vacuuming the substrate in my opinion shouldn't be done. This removes the de-niyryfying bacteria and releases nitrates. After employing this method, i have found reduced levels of nitrates.


Stocking correctly and slowly, By over stocking you are asking for trouble, i suppose you can keep on top with very regular water changes but what is the point could you live in a 3 by 2 cubicle? Taking it slowly is not only easier on the pocket it also allows the de-nitrifying bacteria time to cope with the biological load. Like a good wine, it matures with time.

Over feeding can contribute to high nitrates especially on newly set up aquariums. If the food is not getting consumed then there will be a bigger biological load on the aquarium.

Ways to save money in Reef Keeping

Becoming a Reef Hobbyist is quite an expensive hobby as discussed in previous articles, But there are many ways to doing things cheaper when on a tight budget.

Searches on the Internet for a specific item can result in massive savings.

Buying items second hand from other reefers on forums or from a local club will help considerably, even if the item is slightly damaged. DIY can soon sort these problems, for example a damaged cabinet or even the wrong finish that you don't like. Designing and building plays a real big part in this hobby and is a great way to gain achievement.

Swapping Equipment or Corals is a good way to get something you need or want, this works both ways. You never know what you might come across.

Buying frags and letting the frags grow into corals creates a real sense of achievement.

The next obvious option is fragging your corals and trading for other corals, equipment or livestock.

Using energy saving products like the new Led lighting from TMC can reduce energy consumption up to 50%. Many new products are on the way. I will be showing a keen interest in these products, I may even review them to help guide other reefers decisions.