Q.
I've always wanted a saltwater tank because they are so beautiful and
colorful, but I've been told they are so hard to maintain. Is this true?
A. I have
heard this over and over again, and probably will continue to hear it,
so long as people buy set-ups before having the knowledge to make the
right choices. Unfortunately, you are not going to find the right equipment
or answers from pet store chains that employ kids to sell multiple choice
filtration systems. The pet marts' goal is to sell as many fish as possible,
not to keep them alive. I'm not saying they would intentionally mislead
someone, but like you, they just don't know any better. Most of the
set-ups on their shelves implement outdated, 30 year-old ideas. The
only way you can make them work is to spend every waking hour doing
maintenance, cleaning, and water changes to try and save your fish's
life. Aquariums by the Sea has the knowledge to create a tank that can
minimize your maintenance and maximize your enjoyment.
Q.
Why do my fish keep dying?
A. I wish
I could answer this with one answer, but there are various answers depending
on your system. First, you should carefully study a fish prior to buying.
Sick fish have certain characteristics like hard breathing, scratching,
hiding or any type of scale, fin or gill disorder. Analyzing a fish's
eating habits prior to purchase is equally important. Another critical
factor to consider is how new fish will assimilate with your current
fish. If you purchase a sick or diseased fish it may affect the health
of the other fish in your aquarium. Endeavor to buy from reputable fish
and supply boutiques, and always maintain a healthy environment within
the aquarium. Just because your fish are alive and eating well, does
not guarantee that all is well inside the tank. You must change the
water regularly, use distilled or purified water and add the proper
amount of salt mix. Attempt to match the temperature, salinity, and
P.H. to your tank's environment. Insure that the proper chemical balance
is present, testing for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, P.H. and K.H. at
least once a week. There are plenty of excellent products on the market
that will monitor your tank and apply the appropriate chemicals.
Q.
How do I know whether I have the right type of life support system for
my tank?
A. There
are basic rules to follow when considering a life support system. Tank
dimensions are no longer the important parameters as they once were.
You can operate a 5-gallon or a 5,000-gallon tank with the same support
system, as long as you realize that changes occur much faster in small
tanks. Choose equipment based on the following rules:
1) Your
tank gallonage is going to determine the size of equipment that you
need. Gallonage calculations are discussed in step
2) You
will need a wet dry or sump large enough to handle the overflow of
your pre-filters during a shutdown or power outage in order to avoid
spillage onto your floor. You can calculate this by multiplying in
inches the length, width and depth of your tank's running water level
to the bottom of slots on pre-filters. Divide this number by 231,
and this will tell you how many gallons your wet dry or sump will
have to be. For example: 72" x 24" x 3" ¸ 231 = 22 1/2 gallons. So
I would recommend at least a 28 gallon wet dry or sump. Never depend
on check valves to keep from overflowing your sump.
3) Your
biological section of your wet dry (only on a fish tank) should be
large enough to handle fish load. On a reef tank your live rock should
be your only biological, 3 to 5 lb. per gallon of water depending
on the grade of live rock. Do not add additional biological to your
sump rather than trying to calculate how much biological for your
wet dry or it will weaken your live rock. If it's large enough to
handle overflow you have a large enough bio area for bio balls to
handle even load. Use only bio balls. Never use flos or D.L.S. rolls
because they retain the dirt from your system, and you cannot flush
them out with your fresh water or you will kill your biological, while
the retained dirt will build up nitrates and destroy your P.H. So
never use anything in your system that will retain dirt that you cannot
get to and clean out. Water changes will not even help because your
running clean water through the dirt and that will not lower the nitrate
levels or stabilize the P.H.
4) Pump
or Pumps: You have to have a large enough pump to turn your system
over a minim of 10 times per hour. Not to be confused with power heads
that only circulate your tank water around in circles, water must
leave your tank in pre-filters and run through your wet dry or sump
top to be processed and returned to your tank. Then you can feel secure
that your ammonia and nitrate has been removed and gaseous exchange
has taken place, returning oxygen to your tank.
Q.
How many fish can I put in my tank?
A. If you
have a good running system, you can put one inch of fish per gallon
of water. With an average or poorly running system the ratio should
be 1 inch of fish per 5-8 gallons of water. Just remember your biological
can increase and decrease along with your fish load. So, please add
your fish slowly and allow your biological to catch up with the load.
Q.
Can I put any kind of fish in my tank?
A. If you
know your fish and you know they will get along, then, yes. Fish need
plenty of home spaces because of their territorial nature, and, even
then, some fish will not get along with their own pair. For example,
Yellow Tangs do fine with three or more but will fight if there is a
pair. If it's a reef, you would not want to put coral eaters on your
reef like Angels, Butterflies, Triggers or Puffers. These fish spend
the whole day rubbing their teeth along the acrylic and leave small
half moon shaped scratches. So, know your fish before you make a choice.
Since the field is so vast,
I have answered
only the basics here. If you have any further questions please submit
them via our or give me a call. We're always glad to help.
