Learn the Basics of Saltwater Aquarium in 10-Minutes
- Apr 12, 2021
- Anshika Mishra
- 430 0 0
There's a concept called the Pareto Principle that says that 80% of the result comes from 20% of the efforts. So, today you will be learning 80% of the saltwater aquarium in this article as described by Reef Dork. But do know, that it will only teach you the basics, mastering the hobby will take lots of research and effort. Foundations of the hobby are not as complicated as you might think and that is all you need to start.
Saltwater aquariums need four things to thrive:
- SALTWATER
- FOOD
- FILTRATION
- WATER MOVEMENT/FLOW
So, let's get each of that down, starting from the first one:
1. Saltwater
Water
If you are fortunate enough to live near an unpolluted source, you can use natural seawater straight from the ocean. But for the remaining 99% of us, you can simply buy manmade saltwater. You can get it mixed from your local fish store, or you can get salt and make the mixture at home with your own fresh water.
But, tap water contains various chemicals that are harmful to saltwater fishes and corals. So, unlike freshwater aquariums, you cannot use water from your home tap and you need to buy a special filter to remove the pollutants. A water filter can feel a little intimidating at first. So, for that reason, most of the new hobbyists buy pre-mixed water from their local fish shop instead, it is not expensive.
Salinity
The level of salt in the water needs to be consistent with the level of the ocean, which means you want to aim for a salinity of 35ppt which is equivalent to a specific gravity of 1.026.
You can get a manual or digital salinity test kit that is inexpensive and tests your salt level in just seconds. Testing is really important in a saltwater aquarium so you need to get used to that.
Heating
The fishing corals we keep live in warm water in the wild, so you will need to heat your saltwater to around 25-degrees Celsius or 77-degrees Fahrenheit. This temperature can be very easily achieved by a simple inexpensive heater.
Check Salt Level Constantly
The only step to think about here is keeping the salt level in your aquarium stable. The surface movement in a marine tank causes evaporation throughout the day, but it's the only freshwater that evaporates, leaving the salt behind which means that your water will become saltier and saltier throughout the day if left unchecked.
Countering that is actually simple, and all you need is a pump called an automatic top-off plus a small container with new freshwater. The pump haves a sense that kicks in when the freshwater evaporates and replenishes the water your aquarium has lost, all you need to do is fill up your freshwater container once a week.
2. Food
For your fish, you can either feed dried food in the form of pellets or flakes, or you can buy frozen food like the miniature shrimps for something a bit more substantial. Feeding fishes is one of the most fun parts of the hobby as it is when you get to interact with your wet pets, but it is really important not to overfeed as doing so will lead to things like undesirable algae growing in your tank. Furthermore, most of the fishes will be fine with just one small meal a day.
If you want to keep corals, you will need to feed them with light. Corals like plants are photosynthetic so they use energy from our aquarium lights to grow, and the great part of that is that the LED lights we use make corals glow with a beautiful fluorescence. It is a magical display of nature.
Nowadays it is possible to buy special food to directly feed your corals, but that is not necessary and they'll be just fine with light alone. As with fish food, too much light is a bad thing and can actually kill your corals. So, it is against best to start low and er on the side of caution.
Along with fishes and corals, you can also keep inverts like Shrimps and Urchins in the tank. They don't need any feeding as they scavenge on leftover fish food and even eat undesirable algae off your rock structure. So, they are pretty much self-sufficient.
3. Filteration
While fish waste is very unappealing stuff to us Hobbyist there is one thing in our aquarium that absolutely lives this stuff, algae. The main reason behind filtering the water is first to keep it clean, so our fish and corals stay healthy, but secondly to stop undesirable algae from growing and taking over.
Skimmer
There are numerous options for filters, but by far the most common type is a skimmer. Skimmers simply sit in your water and create tiny bubbles that rise inside the skimmer body. These bubbles trap the fish waste which gets pushed up to the top of the filter where it can easily be removed.
All you need to do is lift the collections cup once a month and pour the bad stuff away.
Water Changes
The second most common type of filtration is water changes. Simply replacing 10% of your tank's water once a week with new saltwater will help to stop fish waste from building up, and you can buy test kits to check the levels of two main pollutants you'll need to watch out for Nitrate & Phosphate.
Testing takes only a few minutes once or twice a week and will tell you if you follow the balance between feeding and filtration right. If the levels are too high you can reduce your feeding or increase your water changes, and if the levels are too low you can either feed more or add more fish.
Water changes also replenish minerals like calcium that your corals will slowly deplete over time. So, it is important to keep up with water changes even if you think your tank looks fine and has no sign of algae. Though too many of these chemicals are bad news, small amounts are actually required for a healthy aquarium.
You can test the levels at home in a few minutes and you are looking for nitrate of around 5ppm and phosphate or about 0.05ppm. Unlike with salinity though, the exact number isn't important as long as you are somewhere in the ballpark.
Rock and Sand
There are two other important types of filtration that you will add without even knowing why you are doing it. The rocks sn sand we use to create cool aquascape for our reef tanks will become home to the beneficial bacteria you need to turn harmful toxins like Ammonia that comes from fish waste into the much less harmful nitrate mentioned earlier.
Nitrogen Cycle
You add bacteria to your tank by starting Nitrogen Cycle quite simply you put a frozen prawn from your local supermarket into your tank. As that decays, it releases ammonia. Bacteria will then populate and feed on the ammonia, turning it into nitrite and eventually nitrate.
The first two stages of that cycle Ammonis and Nitrite are actually deadly to fish. So, you need to wait for a month or so for the bacteria population to buildup sufficiently before you add your first fish. Once the bacteria population has built up and your Ammonia in Nitrite test reads zero. You are ready to safely add your first fish.
Certain Types of Fish
One of the primary reasons we filter tanks is to stop algae, so eating fishes that eat algae will act as the final stage of your filtration as they'll effectively manually remove the algae for you. And not only algae eaters are great at keeping your tank clean, but they also happen to look awesome.
4. Flow
Oceans of the wild of course produce huge amounts of currents and waves. While you'd be forgiving for thinking something corals tolerate rather than require, the opposite is actually is true.
Water movement brings nutrition in the water to our corals, as well as oxygen, it also takes waste and debris away from the corals which gives them a healthy environment to grow. For corals that have stony skeletons called SPS and LPS, water movement also brings minerals like calcium that the stony corals need to make their skeletons.
You create flow by adding pumps called powerheads to your tank. Simply powerheads just turn constantly 24-hours a day. But the most advanced powerheads can vary their speed and flow pattern to recreate the turbulent ocean-like current our corals are used to in the wild.
Because of the flow of the function performs, it is important for the reef tank if not more important than light is, and flow will also affect the health and color of your corals. So, it's one area worth spending a bit of money on. On top of benefits in your corals, powerheads will create surface movement in your aquarium, which allows oxygen to enter your water and carbon dioxide to leave it, and it's that mechanism that provides water with enough oxygen to support your fish and all life in your tank.
So, these were the basics you need to get started with the saltwater aquarium. With time, you will learn and would be able to troubleshoot when things go wrong.
HAPPY REEFING!
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