My Items

Dwarf neon rainbowfish are an excellent addition to community freshwater tropical aquariums. They are peaceful, colorful, and remain small enough to be happy in an aquarium of at least 50 gallons. They hail from Papua New Guinea and have a rich history and biology. The Mamberamo River Basin in Papua, Indonesia, is one of the most biodiverse regions in New Guinea. The Mamberamo River is the second-largest river in the world to be unfragmented by dams. It forms at the confluence of the Taritau and Tariku Rivers, meanders northward under dense forest canopy, past tribes of uncontacted peoples, and empties into the Pacific Ocean at the northern point of Cape Narwaku.  It is home to many aquatic species, including both freshwater and saltwater crocodiles, Crocodylus novaeguineae  and Crocodylus porosus.   It is in the river valley’s small tributaries and associated pools, where murky, muddy water hides small flashes of iridescent blue that would otherwise indicate the presence of Melanotaenia praecox , the Dwarf Neon Rainbowfish. The surrounding terrain is rugged and lacking in developed infrastructure which makes research in general, let alone traveling to collect rainbowfish, a big undertaking.  Momberano River Basin M. praecox  was first documented as part of Jonkheer W.C. Van Heurn’s collection from the Mamberamo River and its tributaries in Weber and De Beaufort’s 1922 “Fishes of the Indo-Australian Archipelago” (Weber and Beaufort, 1922). At the time, it was recorded as Rhombatractus praecox, and the preservation process   had stripped the specimens of the vivid colors that make Dwarf Neon Rainbowfish such an alluring addition to aquariums.  Renowned rainbowfish researcher Dr. Gerald Allen discovered live specimens in their full glory nearly 70 years later, in 1991, near Dabra and Iritoi (Allen, 1995). The following year, Heiko Bleher collected 13 specimens from the Uge Stream near Dabra (Smithsonian, 2014), and introduced them to the aquarium hobby. For years after, the vast majority of captive M. praecox  were descendants of this importation or, to a lesser extent, descendants of a small 2004 importation by Charles Nishihira. It wasn’t until 2008 that an expedition near the village of Pagai, headed by Johannes Graf and Gary Lange, yielded additional live M. praecox,  which were subsequently exported to Europe and lent their genetics to the known captive populations (Graf, 2012).   In recent years, it has become increasingly dangerous to travel to Papua for rainbowfish collection as a result of the ongoing violence associated with the Papua conflict between the Free Papua Movement ( Organisasi Papua Merdeka , OPM) and the Republic of Indonesia (Lange, 2025). The people of Papua also struggle with malaria and measures must be taken against infection such as anti-malaria medications and minimizing exposure to mosquitos. Description While several rainbowfish species can grow to lengths upwards of 8”, the Dwarf Neon Rainbowfish lives up to its name, growing between 2 - 3” max. This makes them a great addition to medium-sized planted aquariums. Like many species of rainbowfish, male M. praecox  tend to be deeper-bodied and more colorful, displaying the species’ full range of metallic blue iridescence on their scales. Their dorsal, anal, and caudal fins exhibit a bright, blood red coloration. Female M. praecox  tend to have slimmer, silvery bodies with less blue iridescence. Their dorsal, anal, and caudal fins range from red-orange to yellow and tend to have shorter rays. M. praecox is visually similar to Melanotaenia rubrivittata , but differs in that the males of M. praecox tend to have shorter snouts, deeper bodies, and lack the red horizontal striping observed in males of M. rubrivittata . M. rubrivittata is found in northwestern Papua in the Wapoga River system and was initially considered by G. Allen to be a localized variant of M. praecox ; however, subsequent genetic analyses have shown the two species to be genetically distinct (Allen et al . 201 5).  Habitat Northern New Guinea Lowland Rain and Freshwater Swamp Forest s Most accounts of M. praecox in the wild describe their habitat as warm (82.5- 86°F/28-30°C) water, both pools with low flow (if not entirely still) as well as streams that were swiftly flowing, stained brown by tannins, with a pH ranging from 6.6 - 8.0, lined with aquatic vegetation, and trickling over mud, gravel, and leaf litter (Graf, 2012). M. praecox  is likely widespread through the middle portion of the Maberambo River system, inhabiting small side pools and streams. It has been observed inhabiting biotopes alongside species such as Glossolepis multisquamata (Red Dragon “Mamberamo” Rainbowfish) and Allomogurnda nesolepis (Yellowbelly Gudgeon) ,  and adjacent to Chilatherina fasciata (Barred Rainbowfish) (Graf 2016). Aquarium Habitat In captivity, M. praecox  is hardy and adaptable to various parameters. It prefers a temperature range between 75°F and 80.5°F. Its pH should range between 6.5 and 7.5 but it prefers water on the softer, more acidic side (Lange, 2025).  While M. praecox  hails from some environments that are slow-flowing, most rainbowfish will benefit from ample amounts of dissolved oxygen. This can be accomplished by the addition of an airstone and by increasing agitation of the surface of the water. The blues and reds of Dwarf Neon Rainbowfish   are especially well contrasted by the green hues of a planted aquarium. Live plants tend to improve any aquarium by removing nitrates, increasing dissolved oxygen levels, outcompeting unsightly algae, and providing structure and hiding places for inhabitants.  M. praecox  is a shoaling species and should be kept in groups of at least 5 individuals. Larger groups are even more spectacular. While it is a smaller species of rainbowfish, its need for schoolmates makes it best suited for community aquariums 30 gallons and up, with a larger footprint being more important than the height of the tank. It is recommended that groups of M. praecox be kept in a sex ratio of 2 females to 1 male. This will both disperse dominance behaviors between males and mating behaviors between males and females, as well as increase the vibrance of males as they compete for the attention of a mate. While males can be observed engaging in an extent of sparring, M. praecox is an overall peaceful species and a fantastic addition to a community aquarium. Diet Dwarf Neon Rainbowfish are omnivorous and will readily accept most commercial diets. While they will eat most food items offered to them, it is important to feed them a variety of high quality food, both dry pellet or flake and frozen foods such as mysis shrimp, bloodworms, brine shrimp, copepods, krill, etc. Their diets can also be supplemented with live foods and fiber based formulations. Wild rainbowfish have been found to eat a variety of foods, including aquatic and terrestrial insects, small aquatic crustaceans, and small amounts of algae. This varied diet both in the wild and replicated in captivity will increase the brilliance of their coloration, increase their growth rate, and increase their breeding success. Breeding Breeding M.   praecox is a straightforward endeavor. Lab studies have reared eggs from M. praecox  in the following conditions: 6.83 - 7.13 pH, 7.93 - 9.63 mg/L dissolved oxygen, and a temperature of 81.6°F - 83°F (Radael et al. , 2013). Another study observed a fertilization rate of 92.93%, a hatch rate of 98.18%, a survival rate after 7 days of 89.45%, and a survival rate of 92-96% after 6 months. Of the hatched offspring, 42.58% were male (Said 2008). However, M. praecox will readily breed in most aquarium conditions within their preferred range of parameters.  In a community tank, eggs will likely be consumed by other inhabitants. The addition of a healthy population of java moss (or similar) or an artificial spawning mop can give the eggs and fry cover. Providing the adults with a high level of nutrition can increase egg and fry survival. A heavily planted aquarium will also help with fry success. To ensure the chances of egg survival, eggs can be relocated to a separate nursery tank after fertilization. Male rainbowfish will engage in some sparring for access to spawning sites and females, especially in the early morning. They can be seen flaring their fins in “flashing” displays and their already vibrant colors will further enhance as they pursue females. Female rainbowish become more vibrant during courtship as well. If courtship is successful, the rainbowfish pair will deposit fertilized eggs on aquatic plants or artificial medium, where they will adhere. At the temperatures in Said’s breeding trials (81.6°F - 83°F), eggs hatched 7-9 days after fertilization. G. Allen reports that hatching time was 10-12 days after fertilization at 79°F (Allen, 1995).  Research M. praecox is also emerging as a promising model for experimental biology. In 2024, a paper was published in Developmental Dynamics describing a procedure for genetic engineering in M. praecox . Researchers successfully removed a gene associated with the production of tyrosinase, a critical part of the production of melanin. The resulting embryos “lacked pigmentation over much of their body”. The same study was also able to successfully insert GFP (Green Fluorescent Protein, the gene that also gives green GloFish their photoreactive color) into the genome of M. praecox embryos (Miyamoto et al. 2024). GFP is used as an important tool for biological research. The success of genetic modification of the species combined with their natural ability to adapt to aquarium environments and ease of breeding makes M. praecox a great candidate for research alongside other well-known fish models such as Danio rerio (Zebrafish) and Poecillidae (livebearers). Threats to the Dwarf Neon Rainbowfish M. praecox  faces the same threats as other rainbowfish species on the island of New Guinea. Logging, mining, and clear cutting of rainforest associated with palm oil plantations threaten the native environment of rainbowfish. Indigenous activists from West Papua have challenged the Indonesian government and palm oil companies on the expansion of oil plantations, especially into traditional rainforests of tribes such as the Awyu and the Moi. (Al Jazeera, 2024). In the 1990s, the Indonesian government planned to build a megadam on the Mamberambo River that would turn the river valley into a reservoir. The plan did not come to fruition, but there are concerns of a renewal of the project in the future. M. praecox  is also threatened by various invasive species and pathogens spread by them. Luckily, given how adaptable and easy to breed they are, responsible aquaculture and genetic management of the species should keep M. praecox  common in aquariums for years to come. pH 6.5 to 7.5 Alkalinity 2.8 to 11.2 dKH General Hardness 5 to 15 dGH Preferred Lighting Low to Medium, plants can be used to diffuse higher levels of light Maximum Length 3 inches Tank Size 30+ US Gallons Disposition Non-aggressive to all species, may engage in light sparring with conspecifics Sources Cited Al Jazeera Staff (2024, May 28). Papuans head to Indonesian court to protect forests from palm oil. Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2024/5/28/papuans-head-to-indonesian-court-to-protect-forests-from-palm-oil Allen, Gerald R. Rainbowfishes: In Nature and the Aquarium . Tetra-Verlag ; Distributed in the U.S.A. by Tetra Second Nature, 1995.  Allen G.R., P.J. Unmack and R.K. Hadiaty (2015) Melanotaenia rubrivittata , A New Species of Rainbowfish (Melanotaeniidae) from Northwestern Papua Province, Indonesia. Fishes of Sahul 29(1): 846-859. Graf, Johannes. “Into the Wilds of West Papua in Search of the Neon Rainbowfish.” AMAZONAS , July 2012, pp. 46–52.  Graf, Johannes. “Melanotaenia Praecox ‘Pagai Village.’” Regenbogenfische , 12 Feb. 2016, regenbogenfische.com/species%20infos/Melanotaenia%20praecox%20Pagai.htm .  Kazuhide Miyamoto, Gembu Abe, Koji Tamura (2024) The dwarf neon rainbowfish Melanotaenia praecox , a small spiny‐rayed fish with potential as a new Acanthomorpha model fish: I. Fin ray ontogeny and postembryonic staging, Developmental Dynamics, 10.1002/dvdy.699, 253, 9, (829-845). Lange, Gary. Personal communication. 12 April 2025. Melanotaenia praecox. 01 Mar. 2000-25 Aug. 2014, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Washington D.C.. https://www.si.edu/object/melanotaenia-praecox:nmnhvz_5270997 Radael M.C., L.D. Cardoso, D.R. Andrade, D. Mattos, J.H. Motta, J.V. Manhães and M.V.Vidal (2013) Morphophysiological characterization of the embryonic development of Melanotaenia praecox  (Weber & de Beaufort, 1922). Zygote 22(4):1-7. Said D.S. (2008) Reproductive viability and growth of rainbowfish Melanotaenia praecox in controlled habitat. Limnotek 15(1) 31-39. Weber M. and L. F. de Beaufort. The fishes of the Indo-Australian Archipelago. IV. Heteromi, Solenichthyes, Synentognathi, Percesoces, Labyrinthici, Microcyprini.  E.J. Brill, Leiden, Netherland, 1922. Photos Boodleshire LLC 2025 Boodleshire LLC 2025 David Olson  Dir. of Conservation WW-F Hong Kong 2025 Sheil, Douglas, Manuel Boissière, Miriam van Heist, Ismail Rachman, Imam Basuki, Meilinda Wan, and Yoseph Watopa. 2021. "The Floodplain Forests of the Mamberamo Basin, Papua, Indonesia (Western New Guinea): Vegetation, Soils, and Local Use" Forests 12, no. 12: 1790. https://doi.org/10.3390/f12121790

Whether you're adding minerals back into RODI water for a freshwater water change, or mixing salt for a reef tank, mixing new water can be a time consuming and messy experience if you don’t have the right tools and equipment. With a small investment, and a little bit of easy plumbing, I can show you how to streamline your water change procedure and make water changes a breeze.  Mixing individual 5 gallon buckets is a nightmare. Even mixing all your water at once in a brute trash can is inefficient. I've been installing water change mixing stations in homes and businesses for years and I’ve settled on a setup I like quite a bit.  Now there is always room for improvement; and every system is a little different, but the idea behind the aquarium water change mixing station is pretty simple. In this article I’m going to cover the materials you’ll need, the plumbing you’ll install, where to set up your mixing station, and why this system is, in my opinion, better than carrying buckets.  Materials for Your Aquarium Water Change Mixing Station The mixing stations list of materials are as follows. Norwesco vertical liquid storage tank (sized to your needs) AC external pump Magnetic powerhead Inkbird or similar two-plug heater controller Titanium heating element Barbed ball valve Uniseal bulkhead Vinyl tubing PVC 90 degree street elbow (2) PVC Schedule 80 true union ball valve (3) PVC Tee fitting PVC female adapter (2) PVC 90 degree elbow (2) PVC reducer bushing PVC Male Adapter threaded Adjustable float valve Norwesco Vertical Liquid Storage Tank The container in which you store your new water for water changes must be sealed to prevent gas exchange which leads to drops in alkalinity in saltwater, and the introduction of organics, which can cause unwanted growth of bacteria and other microorganisms in the tank. It must also be made of a material that can hold saltwater or heavy mineralized freshwater without degrading. The container also needs access from the top via a sealable lid, and preferably a pre-drilled hole with a threaded bulkhead at the bottom for plumbing.  The Norwesco vertical liquid storage tanks meet all of these criteria. They come in multiple volumes and dimensions. For example, you can get a 100 gallon tank that measures 28 inches in diameter and 43 inches in height, or a 105 gallon tank that measures 23 inches in diameter and 63 inches in height. There are several options for most volumes to fit your space. Volumes range from 10 to 15,000 gallons.  Once you’ve chosen your storage vat size, take note of the threaded bulkhead size that comes pre-installed with the vat. This will help determine the size of your plumbing and AC pump.  I recommend 1 inch pipe, fittings, tubing, and inlet/outlet on the pump. This size ensures a fast and efficient flow of water. ¾ inch plumbing will also work if 1 inch is too large for a smaller system.   AC External Pump The AC pump is responsible for moving the water from the vat to the aquarium. It can also be used to mix the water within the vat, in addition to the powerhead. The size of the AC pump is determined by how far and how high the water must travel to the aquarium, and the size of plumbing you want to use.  If your vat is right next to the aquarium, a pump with around 750 to 1000 gallons per hour (GPH) and a head height of 10 to 15 feet is more than sufficient. If your vat is in the basement, and your running hose or pipe to the floor above, you’ll need a head height of about 45 feet and a GPH closer to 2000.  The size of plumbing you’ll be using (1” or ¾”) will also determine the size of the outlet of the AC external pump. You do not want water moving through a 1 inch pump outlet, just to be constricted to ¾ inches by the plumbing. Match your pump inlet/outlet size to the plumbing size you’ll be using.  Heating & Circulation Within the vat, you’ll attach a magnetic powerhead of between 600 and 1200 GPH depending on the diameter and volume of the vat, and what type of water you are mixing. For example, a 23 inch diameter vat at 105 gallons, mixing freshwater, needs a 700 GPH circulation powerhead. However, a 28 inch diameter vat at 120, gallons mixing saltwater, needs a 1200 GPH circulation powerhead.  Heater For vats over 100 gallons I recommend a 600 watt titanium heater. For vats under 100 gallons, you can use 400 watts. Vats under 40 gallons can use 200 watts. The heating element should be overpowered to ensure quick heating of the water.  Control of Heating and Circulation To control the heating and circulation I recommend a heater controller with two regular outlets. Plug the heater into one outlet and the powerhead into the other. When the heater is on, so is the powerhead. If you need to mix the water without heating it, or mix it more quickly, after you just added salt or minerals, you can use the AC external pump.  Some Norwesco vats come with a twist opening at the top of the lid which allows you to suspend the heater, the probes, and the powerhead cord. Other vats need a hole cut into the top so you can feed the cords through, then seal the hole with silicone. For saltwater mixing stations, it is vital there be no gaps for air to transfer as that will leach CO2 into the water and lower your alkalinity over time.  The heater and probes can be suspended from the top. Make sure the heating element does not touch the bottom of the vat. The powerhead can be attached via the magnet to the outside of the vat, just like you would install it in a normal aquarium.  Plumbing The plumbing for the mixing stations is designed to both allow the pump to circulate water from the bottom of the vat to the top to allow fast mixing, and to move water from the vat to the destination via hard or soft plumbing.  Order of plumbing parts (from bottom) PVC threaded x socket male adapter PVC reducer bushing PVC 90 degree elbow (street) Pipe PVC schedule 80 true union ball valve  Pipe PVC 90 degree elbow (street) PVC female adapter AC external pump PVC female adapter Pipe PVC Tee fitting PVC schedule 80 true union ball valve Barbed x threaded fitting (if using soft tubing)  Pipe PVC 90 degree elbow (street) PVC schedule 90 true union ball valve PVC 90 degree elbow street Uniseal bulkhead (optional) Following the photos, the order of plumbing listed above is from the bottom bulkhead to the top of the vat. the reducer bushing should be sufficient to reduce the pipe size from the diameter of the bulkhead in the vat to the diameter of the pump you'll be using. For example, a two inch bulkhead reduced to one inch pipe needs a two inch to one inch reducer busing. Choosing a Location for Your Mixing Station The aquarium water change mixing station can be located anywhere in your home or office. Ideally, it would be close enough to the sump or display tank, depending on which one you pull water from for water changes, to minimize the amount of pipe required to reach it. The station is fed via the RODI system and its tubing which is much easier to run over long distances. Therefore, the vat does not have to be placed directly next to the RODI system.  The location you choose for the mixing station will determine the size of pump you install. If your sump and RODI system are in the basement and the display is upstairs, then the pump only needs to run around 900 GPH to reach the sump a few feet away.  If your display and sump are upstairs, but the RODI is downstairs, you can decide to install the vat downstairs with a 40 foot head height pump and plumb the vat (soft or hard plumbing) upstairs to the display, or install the mixing station upstairs near the display and plumb the RODI tubing from downstairs.  You can even install the mixing station in a nearby room; it doesn't have to be next to the display. It comes down to whether you want the mixing station hidden or not and how much plumbing you feel comfortable installing.  Purpose The aquarium water change mixing station solves several problems. It makes water changes more convenient, cleaner, safer, and more efficient.  Adding salt once a month and performing several water changes from one batch saves time. The aquarium water change mixing station’s plumbing greatly reduces the chance of spills. Injuring yourself carrying buckets upstairs or pushing trash cans full of water across the living room is no longer a concern with this setup. Perhaps, most importantly, water changes can now take a matter of minutes instead of hours.  When water changes are easy to perform, we actually do them more often. Which directly translates to a healthier and cleaner aquarium.  Get started on your plans for a mixing station today. You can always contact us at Boodleshire Aquatics if you want any help.

Easily the most versatile type of filter, the aquarium sump allows for nearly endless customization, easy maintenance, and increased stability. An aquarium sump enables the aquarist to modify their filtration to meet their aquarium needs. The open design also allows for easy access to equipment and cleaning. Additionally, the sump provides a volume of water unoccupied by living organisms, creating a buffer which leads to a more stable aquarium system.  In its simplest form, an aquarium sump is a smaller tank made from acrylic or glass that fits underneath or near the main display tank.  Water flows into an overflow box located in the main display tank, then down a drain pipe and into the sump, where it then passes through various filtration stages before a pump returns it to the main display tank.  Aquarium Sump Design The fundamental design of an aquarium sump’s flow starts with the overflow’s weirs, positioned at the top of the overflow box, near the top of the display tank. As the water is pumped back into the display tank, it simultaneously flows through the overflow weirs and into the overflow then is gravity-fed into the sump.  Plumbing Redundancies A well-designed aquarium sump system incorporates redundancies to prevent flooding. There should be at least one standpipe in addition to the drain pipe in the overflow box. The drain pipe is the primary conduit for water flowing into the sump. If the drain pipe becomes clogged, the stand pipe will accept the overflow and safely divert water into the sump, preventing the main display from overflowing. The overflow box, standpipe, and proper positioning of the return outlets also prevent the main display tank from draining into and overflowing the sump incase of a power outage when the return pump fails to pump water out of the sump. The aquarium sump should normally run with enough empty volume to accommodate the amount of water that flows into it when the return pump is off, without overflowing.  Diversity in Design The total number of aquarium sump designs and setups are virtually limitless. Their versatility and customization even amongst pre-fabricated designs are expansive. Additionally, sumps can be designed and built by just about anyone.  The one factor that is consistent amongst all aquarium sump designs is the use of baffles. Baffles are dividers placed throughout the sump at varying heights. Their purpose is to separate the sump into multiple sections for filter media, equipment, and the return pump. More advanced sump designs include attachments in some of the sections to accommodate thermometers, water testing probes, heaters, and dosing tubes. Physical Filtration in Aquarium Sumps As the water passes into the overflow box and down the drain and stand pipes, it empties into the first compartment of the sump, where physical filter media are housed. The most common type of media is a filter sock or fleece roller.  Aquarium Filter Socks Aquarium filter socks are made of 50-200 micron felt or nylon in which water passes through, trapping solid particles. Filter socks will collect any solids smaller than their micron rating. These are particularly effective because water cannot bypass the socks unless they become clogged and the water flows over the top.  Filter socks can be loaded in succession of micron rating. This method filters out larger micron debris first, then smaller sized debris as the water cascades to the next sock in line. Not all sump setups have filter sock holders in succession though, some are grouped to intake water simultaneously rather than sequentially.  Filter socks are only effective if replaced every couple days. Otherwise, organic material trapped in the sock decays in the aquarium water and passes into the system anyway.  Aquarium Fleece Rollers A more effective alternative to the filter sock is the fleece roller. This device has a motor and a roll of fleece attached to a roller arm. The motor unwraps the roll as aquarium water passes through it. As the roll becomes soiled, it is unwrapped further as the soiled portion is coiled in the opposite end. As a result, no organic material which the fleece removes, touches the aquarium water, effectively removing organics permanently with no need to change the media every couple days.  Aquarium Floss Pads Another common form of physical media is a floss filter pad. These flat square pads lay underneath the intake and stand pipes as water flows through them. They are effective, but some water is allowed to pass over the pad. Additionally, the pads typically have a higher micron rating, allowing larger particles to pass through. Some pads are infused with carbon or other nutrient- adsorbing compounds.  Depending on the number of compartments, additional physical media can be placed throughout the sump. Some aquarists use foam blocks in-between the baffling right before the return pump chamber to prevent any sediment from the biological filter chamber or refugium from entering the return pump and damaging the impeller or flowing into the display tank. Foam blocks placed in this area also serve to remove microbubbles produced by the skimmer before they can enter the main display.  Chemical Filtration in Aquarium Sumps Due to the versatility of an aquarium sump, chemical filtration can be expanded to include more than just resins in mesh filter bags. Within the center chambers, reactors can be installed to maximize reaction time with media.  A reactor is a device that houses nearly any type of chemical filtration media, such as granular ferric oxide, (GFO), carbon, zeolites, bio-pellets, and others. The reactor is fed water from the aquarium then churns or tumbles the media inside its chamber. This increases the amount of time the media is in contact with the aquarium water, allowing for significantly higher rates of adsorption before the water is returned to the sump. Reactors can be fed water from a dedicated pump or a manifold plumbed into the  aquarium’s main return pump. The latter frees up room in the sump, produces less heat, and is one less electrical component to plug in.  The center chamber(s) can accommodate a protein skimmer. Some aquarium sumps will allow for flow control of the protein skimmer chamber allowing adjustment of the water level, which is crucial to maximize the efficiency of protein skimmers with an AC pump. Alternatively, you can use a skimmer stand to adjust the height of the protein skimmer. If your protein skimmer has a DC pump, the water level should still remain stable, but the DC pump has control over the efficiency as well.  Biological Smaller aquarium sumps may have a portion of the sump available to store some biological media. Larger sumps have an entire chamber designed for either biological media, or a refugium. In saltwater aquariums, live rock can be used as the biological media, due to its highly porous nature, in both the main display tank and the sump. Manufactured bio media can also be used in addition to live rock or as the primary bio media in freshwater or saltwater aquariums.  Refugia are excellent biofilters when outfitted with a refugium light and constructed in the correct way. Refugia grow macroalgae which is efficient at pulling nutrients from the water and house live rock. Refugia also create a safe haven to allow the reproduction of food microorganisms such as copepods and phytoplankton.  To accomplish all this, the refugium needs a layer of sand or mud, some live rock or other porous material, and a light. Adding a foam filter after the refugium chamber is recommended to prevent silt and debris from entering the main display.  Aquarium Sump Cleaning and Maintenance  Maintaining sumps is fairly straightforward. When performing regular water changes, rinse or replace any filter media as necessary. Be sure to unplug any heaters if they are exposed to air during maintenance.  Chemical filtration should be replaced as directed based on the bio-load of the aquarium. Empty and clean out the protein skimmer collection cup. Biological filtration should be left alone. Macroalgae in the refugium can be trimmed when it becomes overgrown and begins to shade itself. To clean the sump itself, scrape any precipitate or growth off the sides of the sump walls. Then use a short hose to siphon debris from the bottom of the sump. This is most effective when the return pump is off and the sump’s water volume is higher than normal as the gravity fed siphon will be much easier to start, have a higher flow, and allow more time for the removal of more debris.  Is an Aquarium Sump Right for Your System? Sumps are a great option for aquarium systems that require more than the bare minimum for physical, chemical, and biological filtration.  Sumps are extremely versatile, easy to maintain, allow for nearly limitless customization, and create more stable aquarium systems.  If you're a hobbyist who likes to tailor your system to your exact needs, a sump is a great choice.  Not all sumps need to be a separate tank plumbed from the main display. All-In-One aquariums include a smaller sump-like chamber in the back of the main display that functionally serves the same purpose as a sump, but with limited space.  Sumps may not be the best fit when you are limited on space, don’t have a pre-drilled tank with an overflow, or are using CO2 gas injection in a high-tech planted tank. In an open sump, CO2 will gas off quickly and it is difficult to achieve the necessary concentration required for high-demand plants. In this case, a canister filter with an inline diffuser is a better fit.   Feel free to contact us as Boodleshire Aquatics if you have any questions about designing your perfect aquarium sump.

Aquarium lighting is a crucial element of freshwater planted and saltwater reef aquariums. This million dollar industry produces some of the most advanced lighting options on the market for hobbyists and professionals.  What if you don’t have a high-tech planted freshwater or saltwater reef aquarium? What if you have an aquarium with no plants, coral, or photosynthetically demanding species?  Your light choices and preferences are important too. That’s why I have written about one of my favorite low-demand freshwater lighting options, The Fluval Aquasky 2.0 LED.  With dozens of aquarium lighting options available, choosing one in your budget with the features you need can be daunting at first. The Fluval Aquasky 2.0 LED has been a solid choice for programmability, quality of light, and budget. The only drawback I’ve found is the light's area of spread can be easily blocked by certain lid configurations.  Features As a maintenance company, I demand a light with two things, a timer and a dimmer. The timer is crucial as clients often forget to turn the light off and then algae growth becomes an issue. In the same vein, every aquarium is different, and without a dimmer, running a light at 100% intensity for 8 hours can also cause excessive algae growth.  Combined with the fact that no client wants their aquarium on for only a couple hours a day, finding the balance between intensity and duration to create an ideal environment for the aquarium, myself, and the client, involves a timer and a dimmer at the very least. This principle of intensity and duration applies to our home aquariums as well. The Fluval Aquasky 2.0 LED definitely comes with the basic timer and dimmer capabilities. With the app, you’ll have access to many more features as well.  FluvalSmart Mobile App The free mobile app Fluval provides for the control of their light makes it super simple to connect and control your light. Using Bluetooth connectivity, you can change the light’s programming manually, set a pre-loaded, automatic schedule, or use the “Pro” feature to individually customize each LED color for intensity, duration, dawn and dusk settings, moonlight options, and much more.  You may have to reconnect your light to the app each time you open the app, but compared to all the other apps I've used from AI to Mobius, FluvalSmart is quick and easy.  24-Hour Light Cycle Create a natural lighting cycle using the auto or pro mode with the 24-hour light cycle. At the times and duration you program, the Aquasky will ramp up from off or dim moonlight to your chosen intensity, then at the end of the light cycle, ramp back down to off or dim moonlight. This simulates dawn, mid-day, dusk, and night.  The real benefit of this feature is it automatically ramps your intensity between two points. This makes it super simple to program dawn and dusk settings. You don’t have to program a lighting schedule with dozens of points.  Weather Effects Like many programmable aquarium lights, the Fluval Aquasky 2.0 LED allows you to program weather effects. While it is technically more realistic to have the light dim a little when a cloud passes over, or allow the occasional thunderstorm to pass, I find it to be unnecessary. Unless you’re breeding fish or coral that require certain weather events to spawn, the weather effects are mostly for the consumer’s enjoyment.  Full Color Customization This feature is something I use a lot. I have a client with two aquariums in the same room. The aquarium on the left has bright orange and red barbs and livebearers. The aquarium on the right has blue neon tetras and discus.  The ability to bring up the red LEDs in the left tank and the blue and green LEDs in the right tank does make a visual difference on how the fish colors reflect the light and pop in their respective aquariums.  I recommend playing with your RGB levels if you have fish in that part of the color spectrum and see the difference. If you're able to notice it, consider this feature in the next light you buy.  Waterproof No aquarium light would be complete without the ability to resist damage when it inevitably is dropped in the aquarium. With a IP67 rating, the Aquasky will resist splashing and even a temporary submersion underwater.  Light Dispersion and Penetration The penetration of this light is more than enough for a standard 12-20” tall aquarium to receive plenty of light. They even boast a 120 degree dispersion of light from the unit. This wide illumination is super important on a light that is mounted so close to the tank.  In my experience, the light does lack a little in its dispersion. With tanks deeper than 18” you will need to mount it perfectly in the middle. This can be difficult if your glass top has an opaque acrylic hinge.  This is by no means a deal breaker. Fluval takes into consideration their recommended mounting height when they made the dispersion 120 degrees. However, it is a feature you may run into a problem with if your aquarium has a less than transparent cover.  Fluval Aquasky 2.0 LED Specs The Fluval Aquasky 2.0 LED ranges from 12W at 15-24” to 35W at 48-60”. Each model includes a number of white and RGB LEDs which are individually controllable within a color temperature range of 3000 - 25000K. Most of the specs are model dependent. Here is a chart that compares them.  Aquasky 2.0 12 W Aquasky 2.0 18 W Aquasky 2.0 27 W Aquasky 2.0 35 W 15-24" 24"-36" 36"-48" 48"-60" 36 LEDs 42 LEDs 63 LEDs 84 LEDs White (24) - RGB (12) White (28) - RGB (14) White (42) - RGB (21) White (56) - RGB (28) 800 Lumens 1250 Lumens 1850 Lumens 2400 Lumens PAR PAR PAR PAR 215 @ 3" 225 @ 3" 235 @ 3" 245 @ 3" 122 @ 6" 162 @ 6" 173 @ 6" 177 @ 6" 50 @ 12" 59 @ 12" 64 @ 12" 66 @ 12" 26 @ 18" 32 @ 18" 38 @ 18" 44 @ 18" Final Thoughts The Fluval Aquasky 2.0 LED is a perfect light for your low-intensity freshwater aquarium. I appreciate the easy to use app and simple, yet realistic programming functions, especially at its price point. For a budget friendly, yet capable light, consider this option.  I would not consider the Aquasky 2.0 for low-light planted aquariums. I would choose a light with a different LED spread. While the Aquasky is capable of lighting up your fish and décor, plants photosynthesize at specific wavelengths and plant-specific lights accommodate those needs better than the Aquasky 2.0. If you want to add live plants to your aquarium, Fluval does make a planted aquarium light as well.

Designing a new aquarium is an exhilarating experience. There are thousands of possibilities and so much to learn. Some aquarists prefer to pick out each and every piece of their new setup separately. The glass tank, the stand, the sump or filter, all the equipment, plumbing, and lighting may come from different companies, but they get exactly what they want.  Others choose to purchase a fully equipped package with an end goal in mind and don’t mind who made which piece of equipment. They are more concerned with the destination than the journey.  This article is for those of us somewhere in the middle. It's for the aquarists who enjoy some customization when choosing equipment, but rely on professionals to build the right tank, stand, filtration, and even lighting. You will find an ideal aquarium package for easy installation with brands such as Waterbox, Innovative Marine, and Fiji Cube.  These brands offer aquarium kits that include the tank, stand, plumbing, sump (filter) and sometimes even lighting. They still leave plenty of room for personalization and customization to create your ideal freshwater or saltwater aquarium setup.   This article was written without sponsorship from these brands, however, I will focus mainly on their features as they are the three main brands we offer for installation at Boodleshire Aquatics.  Before Buying a New Aquarium Package, Consider the Following for Easy Installation: The main aspects to consider when choosing an aquarium package are: The size of the aquarium Display volume vs. total volume Footprint Position of overflow Type of glass Plumbing  Size and layout of sump Stand material Lighting Choosing the Right Size and Shape of Aquarium Setup for Your Vision.  The first feature of your new aquarium to consider is the size and shape. Most brands that offer aquarium kits will list a total volume. This total volume is the sum of the volume of the display and the sump together. Therefore, if you want a 90 gallon display tank, the total volume, which includes the sump volume, will be more than 90 gallons.  For example, the Waterbox MarineX 90.3 has a display volume of 59.3 gallons, a sump volume of 31 gallons, equaling 90.3 gallons of total volume.  The shape of the aquarium is also important. Some models are perfect cubes, while others are shallow and long rectangles, and some are deep, front to back. The type of livestock you plan on keeping, and the overall aquascape you desire, will be one of the driving forces behind your decision on the footprint, or shape, of the aquarium.  Shallow, lagoon style aquariums are great for planted tanks, frag tanks, or shallow reef tanks. However, If you want larger fish, you’ll need a tank with plenty of depth, length and height.  Your desired equipment is another factor to consider when choosing the size and shape of your aquarium. If you want a rollermat, skimmer, bio-pellet reactor, refugium, calcium reactor, auto-top-off, doser, and a neptune controller to fit under the stand, a 40 gallon cube might not be large enough. You’ll have to include supplementary furniture next to the tank to house the extra equipment.  When determining the size and shape of your new aquarium setup, consider the location where it will stand, the livestock and aquascape design you want to include, and the type of equipment you want to install.  Deciding Overflow Placement for Your New Aquarium Setup.  Choosing between an overflow placed in the corner, on the sidewall, on the center back wall, or even externally, depends upon your tank placement, aquascape, and flow.  Aquarium Placement and Overflow  The tank placement should be considered when choosing overflow placement because what surrounds the tank can influence where you want the overflow to be. The goal is generally to keep as much of the four glass panes open for viewing as possible.  For example, if you want to place the aquarium in the corner of a room, the overflow can go anywhere along the back wall, or the adjacent corner wall and it won’t block your view of the inhabitants of your aquarium. Alternatively, if you want the tank to be in the center of a room with only one side against a wall, then a peninsula overflow against the side wall won’t block any potential viewing angles. No matter where you want your aquarium placed in your home or office, these aquarium kits provide an overflow option that will work.  Aquarium Overflow Placement to Optimize Flow and Habitat Once you decide where you want your tank, and which overflow options are best for viewing the tank in that location, you should then consider your aquascaping and flow.  Flow is an integral part of every aquarium. Reef aquariums require lots of flow (water movement within the display tank) while freshwater planted aquariums need less, but still need a steady and constant amount. Your flow layout is determined by where your returns are located (overflow placement) and by how your aquascape is designed (rocks, wood, plants, coral, etc)..  For example, with a center overflow, you will have to consider the amount of flow coming from the center of the tank when designing how high your aquascape goes, or what kinds of plants you want to place back there. Flow intensity can also be adjusted from the overflow by the return pump. However, you don’t want to settle for too low of a turn-over rate (how many times your tank's volume goes through your filter) just to accommodate for a poorly designed aquascape. Instead, design your aquascape with your turn-over flow rate in mind.  In addition to the flow coming from the overflow, most reef tanks, and many freshwater tanks, will also have additional circulation fans, wavemakers, or powerheads. The placement of these extra flow providers should be considered when designing your aquascape as well. They are more flexible in terms of location. For example, a peninsula overflow would benefit from a gyre type circulation fan on the opposite wall from the overflow, moving water near the surface. Additionally, you could add one or two smaller broad-angle circulation fans on the same wall, on either side of the overflow. When choosing your overflow position, consider viewing angles and tank placement, what your desired aquascape will look like, and how additional circulation fans will complement the flow provided by your overflow.  The Type and Quality of Aquarium Glass Does Matter Extra thick and extra clear glass are major benefits of choosing an aquarium kit from these brands.  Standard glass has a Visible Light Transmittance (VLT) of 83%. This is because impurities (mainly iron) in the glass allow less than 100% of available light through. These impurities also impede our ability to see through the glass, resulting in a loss of clarity.  Waterbox, Innovative Marine, and Fijicube all use “Ultra-Clear”, low-iron glass. This translates to 91% VLT. Which means a significantly better aquarium experience for you. Low-iron glass creates a better viewing experience, better photos, and a more seamless look, which allows the tank to truly disappear and the occupants to shine. Safety and structural integrity are also a feature of these aquarium kits. Thicker glass planes do result in a slightly heavier aquarium, but the benefits are beyond worth it. With extra bonding area for silicone, these tanks don’t have the corner silicone lines you’re used to, and create a stronger seal for a more robust tank. Combined with ultra-clear glass, your viewing experience is truly seamless.  Aquarium Kits and Plumbing One of the coolest features of the Waterbox, Fiji Cube, Innovative Marine, and similar companies’ aquarium kits is their plug-and-play plumbing schemes (plumbing layout). You don’t have to buy any extra parts, and there is no cutting of pipes or glue required.  The plumbing scheme is dependent upon the size and model of the aquarium, and the sump layout you choose. Smaller aquariums will have fewer stand pipes, returns, unions, and manifolds. While you can always modify the plumbing that comes with these kits, you can trust in the knowledge that these were designed with great care to include the best plumbing scheme for the model and size you have chosen.  Waterbox makes two models of aquariums that have very similar displays, but the main difference is in their plumbing and sump layout. The MarineX is very straightforward and sets you up for all the equipment you’ll need. The Infinia series includes a manifold on the return line and an expanded sump.  Choosing the Right Model Based on Sump Size and Layout.  When choosing a make and model of aquarium kit, and weighing options of sump layout and size, you should consider what equipment you will want to add underneath the stand. Do you need room next to the sump for dosers, controllers, CO2 canisters, and ATO reservoirs? Will you need more sump space for a refugium and reactors? Like with most questions in this hobby, the answer lies in what type and quantity of livestock you’re keeping.  Freshwater planted tanks, for example, will benefit from a closed filtration system so the CO2 gas does not escape. In this case, you will want a model that does not include a sump at all. Several brands offer options specifically designed for freshwater tanks and the canister filters they commonly utilize.  However, If you're not doing CO2 injection for a freshwater planted tank, don’t overlook a sump for your filtration. Fresh or salt, the sump is an extremely versatile filtration housing which allows for maximum customization.  If you're keeping fewer fish and some coral (salt) or plants (fresh), then consider a system with a smaller sump with extra space in the stand for an auto-top-off reservoir, calcium reactor, or other equipment that doesn’t need to be submerged.  If you're designing a larger fish only system with lots of livestock, or a densely packed coral reef aquarium, then you may want a setup with a larger sump to allow for more filtration, refugia, and submerged equipment like skimmers and reactors. These systems may still need an ATO reservoir, a doser, and aquarium controller. However, it's best to build them into an external cabinet or display (controllers can look really cool mounted outside the tank), rather than to compromise on sump square footage. Additionally, many pieces of equipment, like dosers and controllers, are mountable on the back inside of the stand or with special mounts on the inside of the stand doors.  The efficiency of the plumbing and sump design of these kits allows you to utilize every available piece of real estate in the stand. Considering the Aquarium Stand and its Material.   When deciding on a brand for your new aquarium kit, the stand is important. Most major brands, including Waterbox and Innovative Marine, use a hybrid aluminum frame with pvc laminated wood. This ensures maximum structural integrity, with a sleek modern finish.  Most brands will also include leveling feet, leveling mats under the tank, and multiple color options. The main differences will lie in the nuance of the aesthetics and door placement. Some brands offer side access on their larger models. Depending on the size of the aquarium, you may have anywhere between one and four doors on the front.  All three stands from the brands I’ve discussed will be safe and last a lifetime. However, you may want to consider the features and layout of each stand before you make your decision.  Should You Purchase the Aquarium Package with Lighting Included? The importance you place on any of the features we’ve discussed so far determines its priority in your decision making process. Lighting is no different.  If you're just starting out, and are not interested in all the different features and capabilities of every light, but still want a quality product, then you’ll probably take the recommendation of someone who you feel is knowledgeable. Another option is to choose the lighting that comes with the package.  If you choose the included lighting, you’ll automatically have a layout designed for your tank size and shape. Most major brands that offer kits have at least decent, if not independently desirable lights (meaning you would buy them to put on a different tank). However, the included lighting may not have all of the features and controllability you want.  If you are more particular about what features and benefits your lights offer, then I would do the research, or ask a veteran hobbyist, and choose a brand that fits your needs and livestock more perfectly.  Acquiring the Right Aquarium Package Now that you know what's available, you have a decision to make. Which aquarium package is right for you? Whether your gears are already spinning, or you're still stumped, Boodleshire Aquatics can help you realize your aquarium dream.  We offer full installation from ordering to fish acclimation, or piecemeal installation for the tricky parts like flow and PAR (light placement).  Visit our aquariums page to get started.

I use full tank antibiotic treatments as a last resort. My initial concern was that a full tank antibiotic treatment would wipe out too much of the beneficial bacteria and compromise the microbiome. A healthy microbiome in a reef aquarium is crucial to its health, balance, and beauty. Without a well balanced microbiome, algae and disease are allowed to grow unchecked.  The microbiome exists everywhere in the reef aquarium. It is present inside filter pipes, in the water column, on the rocks as a biofilm, and in between each and every coral polyp. The beneficial bacteria that helps make up the microbiome is paramount to coral health.  For these reasons, it's important to not compromise the microbiome unless the situation is dire. If 50% of your coral are infected with a bacterial pathogen, and individually dipping is not possible, a full tank antibiotic treatment might be required. I wanted to know, if I perform a full tank antibiotic treatment, will it not only help my coral, and reduce the pathogenic bacteria, but also not significantly compromise the beneficial microbiome? My results suggested they would.  I experimented with dosing the antibiotic ciprofloxacin as a full tank treatment in three of my client’s saltwater reef aquariums. I also experimented with it as a dip by itself and as part of a cocktail of antibiotics. This article will focus on the three in-tank treatments.  In each tank, I dosed 0.075 ml of ciprofloxacin per gallon, at a concentration of 10mg/ml of RODI water before the light came on, for 10 days in two tanks, and for six days in the third tank.  I tested the microbiome, using Aquabiomics, of two of the aquariums that received the treatment.  My results showed that ciprofloxacin did have incontrovertibly positive effects on the health of the infected and healthy corals, in some of the aquariums. The results also showed there was at least an average population and balance of the beneficial bacteria that make up a healthy microbiome after the treatment. I would recommend a full tank ciprofloxacin treatment if you have (1) a robust, diverse, and balanced beneficial microbiome, (2) a rampant pathogenic bacterial infection that has affected multiple corals and is spreading, and (3) individual dipping is impractical.  Introduction Types of Pathogenic Bacteria in Corals  Corals host bacterial communities that are phylogenetically distinct, more active and more abundant than the bacterial communities in the surrounding seawater (Tout, et.al ., 2015).  This means we can expect pathogenic and beneficial bacteria to be at a higher concentration within and next to coral polyps. This gives the bacteria a greater influence on the health of the coral, for better or worse.  In the past few years, the scientific community has increased their efforts to identify specific groups of bacteria that cause disease in corals. This could be due to recent anthropogenic (human caused) influences on the increased nutrient load in the coral reefs.  There is still relatively little known regarding which bacterial orders, families, and genera are pathogenic to corals. The few we are aware of include: Vibrionaceae Flavobacteriales Rhodobacterales Peptostreptococcales–Tissierellales (NOAA, 2023) In terms of the hobby, the best we can do is understand how these pathogens interact with healthy bacteria within the coral holobiont (the coral and the community of microorganisms that live amongst its tissue).  Armed with the knowledge of what pathogens we are dealing with, and how they live and affect the organisms around them, we can create a plan to eradicate them, or at least control their population to a natural level.  If we lose balance, and pathogenic bacteria are allowed to take over, this results in diseased corals, usually manifested as tissue necrosis. If multiple corals are infected and the entire aquarium is under threat, drastic measures may need to be taken.  Misdiagnosing Issues as Bacterial Infections A common practice, even amongst the most experienced reefers, is misdiagnosing the cause of poor coral health. I will not attempt to provide a guide on correctly diagnosing coral diseases. Be prepared to misdiagnose.  Often in the aquarium hobby, we falsely correlate and causate unrelated events. This leads to improper solutions to problems. Sprung et. al. 2002, suggested all health issues related to Catalaphyllia problems were the cause of pathogenic bacteria. However, there may also be evidence, albeit anecdotal, that this family is prone to starving in the hobby.  The reality is both the hobbyist and scientific community do not know enough about coral bacterial infections, trace element deficiency symptoms, and the effect of environmental changes to accurately diagnose coral diseases and health issues with perfect accuracy.  However, not all is lost. We do know enough to use a trial and error approach to diagnosing and curing coral health problems. For example, if a coral is losing tissue rapidly, you assume it's the worst case scenario due to the severity of the symptom. You then dip with antibiotics. If it recovers, great, if not, you move on to the next possible cause.  Taking all of this under consideration, you may decide a full tank treatment with ciprofloxacin is the best solution for your problem. Next, I'll detail exactly how I treated my client’s aquariums, and the results.  Materials and Methods The three subjects for this experiment are given the designations Aquarium A, B, and C.  Aquarium A is a 180 gallon mixed reef running 50% water changes every 14 days, alkalinity and liquid carbon dosing, skimmer, refugium light, and two Neptune Skies. Temp is 78.3, pH is 8.13, alkalinity is 8.22, calcium is 385, and magnesium is 1430. This aquarium had five Euphyllia and two Acanthastrea specimens that were succumbing to rapid tissue necrosis.  Aquarium B is a 116 gallon mixed reef running 30% water changes every 14 days, alkalinity and liquid carbon dosing, skimmer, and two AI Hydras. Temperature is 79.0, pH is 7.98, alkalinity is 8.0, calcium is 410, and magnesium is 1440. This aquarium had multiple Euphyllia with shrinking polyps that were pulled in for several weeks in a row. There were three cases of rapid tissue necrosis in this system as well.  Aquarium C is a 110 gallon mixed reef running 15% water changes every 7 days, alkalinity, liquid carbon, AB+ dosing, skimmer, full refugium with light, and two Radion XR15s. Temperature is 79.1, pH is 8.25, alkalinity is 9.35, calcium is 420, and magnesium is 1505. This aquarium had two specimens showing signs of tissue necrosis and two more with shrinking polyps for several days in a row.  I acquired 500 mg capsules of powdered ciprofloxacin from an online retailer. Some hobbyists have had success with acquiring antibiotics from their vet. This procedure works best with powdered capsules, not tablets.  Determining the concentration of the liquid solution and then how much to dose is the first step. Several articles online have suggested different doses. I read through several case studies and found the average of all of them to be 10mg of ciprofloxacin per 1 ml of RODI water. 500 mg of ciprofloxacin would prepare 50 ml of solution at this concentration.  I dosed each tank at 0.075 ml per gallon per day as the lights came on. I dosed for 10 days in aquariums A and B, and six days in aquarium C. I left the skimmer off for the entire duration of the dosing periods (10 days and 6 days).  If you need to double the solution volume to make dosing small tanks easier, without using more ciprofloxacin, be sure to adjust the dosage as well. For example, if you use 500 mg of ciprofloxacin per 100 ml of RODI water to get 100 ml of solution, also double the dosage per gallon from 0.075 ml per gallon to 0.15 ml per gallon.  On the morning of the 11th day for aquariums A and B, and the morning of the 7th day for aquarium C, I dosed 5 ml of Dr. Tim’s Eco Balance per 10 gallons of aquarium water volume. After 10 hours, I resumed the skimmer to normal function and schedule.  Aquariums A and B got a repeat dose of 5 ml of Dr. Tim’s Eco Balance per 10 gallons of aquarium water volume at 14 days. The skimmer was turned off before the dose and resumed to a normal schedule after 10 hours. Aquarium C got a repeat dose of Dr. Tims at the same concentration after seven days. The skimmer was also turned off before the dose and resumed to normal schedule after 10 hours.  Results Aquariums A and B showed marked improvement in coral polyp extension after the 10 day dosing period. One M. digittata  species did not show improvement and continued to die off in Aquarium B. Some specimens from Aquarium B did not return to full extension, but did improve overall.  Aquarium A exhibited by far the best results. Every coral recovered completely with full polyp extension and new growth after 2 months.  Aquarium C had the most middling results. Two specimens (an Echinophyllia and a Euphyllia ) stopped their tissue regression, but one other Euphyllia continued and a fourth was still not fully extended.  Table 1. visual and microbiome results. Aquarium A Aquarium B Aquarium C Tissue Necrosis Stopped Stopped 3/4 Croals Polyp Extension Full 3/4 of corals ½ Corals Overall Recovery A+ B D Aquabiomics Balance 54% 96% X Aquabiomics Diversity 47% 46% X Coral Pathogens None Detected None Detected X As for the effect on the microbiome, I only have data from aquariums A and B for after the treatment regimens. I do not have microbiome data on these systems from before the treatment.  However, the percentages are in relation to every other aquarium tested by Aquabiomics. This suggests some idea of how the microbiome was affected.  Aquarium A is in the middle of most aquariums tested with average balance and diversity. There were no coral pathogens detected after the treatment.  Aquarium B scored in the 96th percentile of aquariums tested for balance, but only 46% in diversity. There were also no coral pathogens detected.  Due to the emergency nature of full tank antibiotic treatments, it is difficult to have data from before and after a full tank treatment unless your microbiome is sampled and tested semi-regularly. If you're considering a full tank antibiotic treatment, send in a sample of your aquarium to be tested before you start the treatment.  Conclusion I suspect Aquarium B’s lesser recovery compared to A had to do with two factors. The first being misdiagnosis of the issues affecting the coral. Antibiotics were a viable solution to only some of the coral. The specimens which continued to degrade may not have been affected by a bacterial infection, but were suffering from a different issue that antibiotics could not solve.  The second factor may have been the consistency of the doses. My clients were responsible for dosing the aquariums each day. I am confident Aquarium A’s owner dosed correctly, as instructed. Aquarium B’s owner may have missed a dose.  I believe aquarium A’s corals were all suffering from a bacterial infection, which is why they all responded so positively to the antibiotics.  Six months ago, aquarium A could not keep a torch coral alive for more than a few weeks. They would rapidly succumb to tissue necrosis. As of the published date of this article, aquarium A’s corals are still going strong and three newly added torch corals are fully extended and could not be happier after being in the aquarium for nearly 2 months.  Aquarium C’s lack of recovery may have been due to misdiagnosis. However, I believe the six day dosing period versus the 10 days had a larger impact on their poor recovery.  In terms of the microbiome, with the limited data I have, I would say the microbiome was not significantly affected by the treatment long term. Corals did not relapse from a compromised microbiome.  It should be noted, the sample for the microbiome tests were taken after two half doses of Dr. Tim’s Eco Balance was added to each aquarium. The samples were taken 14 days after the second dose of Dr. Tim’s, totaling 42 days after the last dose of antibiotic was added.  I would recommend a full tank ciprofloxacin treatment under the following circumstances: You have massive die off or rapidly decaying tissue of multiple corals.  It is impractical to dip all the corals being affected separately.  You have correctly diagnosed the cause of the ailing corals as a bacterial infection.  You have a strong and established microbiome.  You have the ability to dose the proper concentration of antibiotic for the appropriate amount of time to ensure every pathogenic specimen is destroyed, thus preventing antibiotic resistant strains.  Experiment We have to be our own veterinarians when it comes to diagnosing and curing our aquarium’s health problems. Trial and error is a part of this process as is misdiagnosing. The key is to only use treatments which affect the entire system if you're confident there is sound science and low risk behind it.  Literature Cited NOAA. “Researchers Find Key Bacteria in Disease Outbreak”. March 28, 2023 by AOML Communications to Corals, Ocean Chemistry and Ecosystems, Publication Stories. https://www.aoml.noaa.gov/researchers-find-key-bacteria-in-disease-outbreak/#:~:text=Two%20other%20bacteria%20types%2C%20Rhodobacterales,progression%20of%20lesions%20on%20corals . Tout, J. et.al . “Chemotaxis by natural populations of coral reef bacteria”. The ISME Journal. 9:1764-1777. 2015.

Saltwater reef aquariums can be a more challenging experience than the typical freshwater tropical aquarium. However, they don’t have to be so difficult that they are impossible to enjoy, even for beginners. If the excitement and wonder of reef keeping sounds like a challenge you want to undertake, here is some insight into what difficulties lie ahead and how to overcome them.  The difficulty of keeping a saltwater reef aquarium is relative to three major factors: Your level of knowledge The types and number of organisms you plan to keep The size of the aquarium Fortunately, you can adjust the second and third factors to accommodate for factor one. As your knowledge increases, so can the complexity of your reef aquarium.  If you’re asking how difficult a saltwater reef aquarium is too keep, you're probably thinking about starting your first one. Let’s look at the components of saltwater reef aquariums that give them the reputation of being more difficult.  Initial Cost Chemical Relationships Biodiversity Maintenance Costs The modern saltwater reef aquarium can require more equipment, and therefore cost, than any other type of aquarium. I say “modern” and “can” because many successful reef aquariums are kept with minimal to no equipment. This however is not generally normal. Most reefers favor adding equipment to make their system easier to maintain and control.  The chemical reactions that occur within a saltwater environment are complicated. There are many facets of saltwater reefing chemistry. Without proper respect or understanding of how these relationships can affect your system, you will find reef keeping to be more difficult than it needs to be. You do not need to be a chemist, however, to keep a saltwater reef. You just need to be an eager learner with a healthy curiosity.  The biodiversity within the ocean is grander than any other ecosystem. Saltwater reef tanks have more biodiversity than most other types of aquariums. Understanding what organisms, micro and macro, live in your aquarium and how they will affect the ecosystem is crucial to keeping a successful saltwater reef aquarium.  The continued maintenance of a saltwater reef aquarium is generally more expensive than other types of aquariums. Regular water changes involve a salt mix, and depending on the complexity of your reef, a number of other products, additives, and media may need to be replaced or dosed on a regular basis.  Initial Cost of a Saltwater Reef Aquarium Most modern saltwater reef aquariums come with a higher   initial cost than freshwater, fish-only saltwater, or brackish aquariums. This is mainly due to the extra equipment required to properly maintain a reef aquarium.  High quality and intensity lights, a protein skimmer, and customizable filtration go a long way to ensure success with a reef aquarium. It is possible to build and maintain a saltwater reef aquarium without much equipment at all. However, a more advanced understanding of the chemistry and biology of the aquarium’s environment is usually required as well.  Berlin style saltwater aquariums, for example, rely heavily on the natural bacterial populations to maintain a balanced aquarium.  Generally, the equipment marketed to reef hobbyists is meant to increase the chance of success with our aquariums, and to make our lives easier. If the equipment you're buying doesn’t accomplish both of these things you should consider whether or not you actually need it.  There is not a single piece of equipment I would recommend “skimping” on, or going with the cheapest option. If you want to lower the initial cost, consider decreasing the size of the aquarium, or limit yourself to animals that have less expensive requirements.  For example, if a 90 gallon mixed coral reef turns out to be too much, starting with a 60 gallon soft coral tank and upgrading as you learn more is an excellent way to begin.  Chemical Relationships in a Saltwater Reef Aquarium The chemical reactions that occur within a saltwater reef aquarium are complex, and affect nearly every aspect of your tank and the life within it. This may sound daunting, but you don’t need to be a chemist to own a saltwater reef aquarium.  While the chemical relationships in saltwater are more complex and numerous than freshwater, the pre-made salt mix you buy does most of the work for you, at least at the beginning.  Performing regular water changes, testing for, and understanding the basic parameters  like pH, nitrate, phosphate, and alkalinity is the most chemistry you will do at first.  If you are enjoying the hobby, you will learn its chemistry quickly.  Perhaps the largest hurdle to owning a successful saltwater reef aquarium is the learning curve. There is an enormous amount of knowledge involved with this hobby. Thankfully you don’t need to know everything, or really that much at all, at least to begin.  What you do need is a mentor. The most successful beginner reef hobbyists are those who found another successful hobbyist and mimicked what they did. They don’t have to be local or in person, maybe it's someone online or with a YouTube channel.  Choose one person who has a successful tank, and just do what they did. An easy mistake you can make is cherry picking techniques, methods, and practices from multiple hobbyists. All aquariums are different. While many of them are successful, they did not take the same path to get there, and using methods from multiple setups can have disastrous effects. .  Biodiversity of a Saltwater Reef Aquarium Coral reefs have the highest biodiversity of any ecosystem on planet earth. When we try to replicate this environment in our home aquariums, we invite hundreds and eventually thousands of species to inhabit and interact with each other inside our artificial ecosystem.  These relationships and interactions become complicated quickly. The high biodiversity itself is not what makes saltwater reef keeping difficult. Not having the patience to allow these relationships and interactions to play out in their own time is what causes frustration in the modern reefer.  For example, when you start a new reef aquarium, there is a series of microbial and algal succession that must occur. Initial organisms like bacteria begin to grow in the tank. They compete with other organisms like algae, and begin to overtake the aquarium at various speeds. The first week you may have brown algae (diatoms) covering your rocks. Eventually, the diatoms may be replaced by another type of algae a few weeks later, then another type, and another after that. The succession of algae and bacteria as the tank ages is completely natural.  Eventually, the aquarium will balance, and your microbiome will establish. This leads to clean looking rock, sand, and glass, with only a minimal amount of algae growing, which your macro grazers like snails, urchins, and grazing fish like tangs and combtooth blennies, can take care of.  To make this natural process happen quickly, you can add living, sustainable, probiotic bacteria blends to your aquarium. This will jumpstart and speed up the succession process by growing your microbiome faster. A healthy microbiome means less algae and pathogenic bacteria.  Maintenance Costs of a Saltwater Reef Aquarium Saltwater reef aquariums are not cheap when done correctly. Maintenance costs scale with the amount of livestock in the tank. The more fish and coral you have the more supplements, food, and media you will need. Maintenance costs of a reef aquarium can come from the following:  salt mix dosing supplements frozen food coral and specialty food chemical media mechanical media testing new or upgraded equipment  When reef aquariums are full of fish and coral, they utilize resources in the tank quickly; sometimes faster than a water change can replenish them. In these cases, extra dosing of supplements in between water changes is necessary. One of the most expensive costs of maintaining a reef aquarium is the addition of the various supplements that must be replenished as they are consumed.  Growing fish and coral also need a quality and varied diet. Fish and coral feeding regimens can be as simple or complex as you want to make them, but scale in cost quickly.  Chemical and mechanical media are utilized depending on your bioload. A well balanced microbiome will prevent the use of expensive chemical media. There won’t be excessive nutrients to adsorb if your microbiome is established.  Testing frequently is important with reef aquariums. Most home tests are fairly inexpensive. However, it is good practice to send your water to a lab for an ICP-OES test every few months. These are more expensive than home tests, but are not used as frequently.  As your aquarium grows and you add more livestock, you will find yourself upgrading your equipment. Automated testers, larger protein skimmers, better lights, and media reactors are a few examples of possible upgrades. Depending on your initial budget, most of this equipment can be purchased initially and adjusted to your bioload as it grows. However, upgrading later to spread out the initial cost is also an option.  Patience  In my experience, the best way to make reef keeping easier is to have patience. Nothing in the saltwater aquarium environment should happen quickly, good or bad. Tank crashes and expensive solutions are usually a result of a lack of patience and trying to force or rush a solution to a problem. When in doubt, be deliberate, take your time, and heed the advice of a trusted mentor.

The regular and consistent water analysis of your aquarium is the most powerful tool for a healthy and beautiful aquarium. Nothing is more effective at forming an accurate picture of your aquarium’s health than accurately and precisely testing your water parameters. Water analysis is only effective if done correctly. To get the most out of water analysis you must: Test the same parameters consistently Test regularly Chase trends, not numbers Use accurate and precise testing equipment and techniques The Importance of Testing Aquarium Water Regularly and Consistently. One of the pillars of the scientific method is consistency. In terms of aquarium water analysis, this means testing the same parameters at the same intervals, on a regular basis. In order to identify trends and patterns, we need multiple data points over a consistent and regular period of time. It is not enough to simply perform the occasional nitrate, phosphate, or pH test. These tests are only useful if you have a data set, taken over time, to compare it to. For example, if you're trying to determine the rate of nitrate build up, you might test nitrates before every water change. Or maybe you test nitrates once a month. Whichever frequency, or regularity, you choose, being consistent and testing at the same time, every time, is key. Being consistent to the time of day can be important as well. Some parameters, like pH, can fluctuate up and down throughout the day. If you test in the morning one day, and in the evening on another, you will see a misrepresentation of the actual daily fluctuation. Aquarium Water Analysis Reveals Trends You’ve probably heard to not chase numbers when it comes to aquarium water analysis. Chasing numbers means picking an “ideal”, sometimes arbitrary, metric for a certain parameter and then constantly trying to hit that target “ideal” metric by altering the chemistry of your aquarium with additives, filtration, water changes, etc. Trying to chase a specific number can result in more harm than good, and oftentimes is an impossible feat. A more effective method is to keep your aquarium parameters within a safe range and only take action when you see your parameters trending outside of that range. Trending can be defined as a parameter moving in one direction over at least three different tests, or data points. One or two tests do not reveal a trend, you need at least three tests to determine a pattern or tend. More data is usually better if that data is accurate. For example, there is no difference in the health of your aquarium between a calcium reading of 420 and 400. That difference could also be a testing error. However, if you test at 420, then 400, then 380, that could suggest your calcium is trending down and action should be taken to correct it. Which Aquarium Water Test Kits are the Best? Aquarium water parameter test kits can be divided up into hobbyist, professional, and lab grade. Hobbyist grade test kits have a wider range of error and rely on methods like colorimetry. Professional test kits are more affordable versions of lab grade tests. They use many of the same methods, but without the scientific grade precision. Lab grade test kits are much more accurate and precise. They use methods like ICP-OES, titration, and spectrophotometry. There is nothing wrong with hobbyist grade test kits. Just be sure to know the range of error when using these kits. For example, Hanna’s calcium test kit has a standard error of plus or minus 15 ppm. If you test calcium twice and the readings are different, but within 15 ppm, your calcium concentration may not have actually changed. This is one of the reasons we chase trends, not numbers. If your budget allows for professional or lab grade test kits, they can be a powerful tool. Some of these kits are more trouble than the sometimes minor increase in accuracy or precision is worth. In these cases, it may be better to choose a less accurate kit that will be consistently used rather than a more accurate kit that just sits on the shelf. Lab grade testing can also be done in actual labs through several companies via the mail. Utilize these resources as often as you like, but at least a couple times a year. This way, you’ll never miss that build up or depletion of an element you can’t test for at home. What Aquarium Water Parameters Should I Test For? There are many parameters which should be kept track of to maintain a healthy aquarium. Not every parameter needs to be tested at the same time. In general, the faster a parameter is capable of changing, such as salinity, alkalinity, or pH, the more often it should be tested. Parameters like nitrate and phosphate can be tested less often. Below is a short description of the most common water parameters to test for. Temperature As one of the most variable parameters, temperature should be constantly monitored. Using a thermometer, adhesive thermal-meter, or temperature probe attached to a monitor, the temperature of your tank should always be readily available and easy to read. The air conditioner being turned up on a hot day, a window being left open, or a busted heater can quickly change the temperature of your aquarium. Having a constant readout prevents dangerous fluctuations. Salinity In saltwater aquariums, salinity can change quickly over the course of just a few days. Salinity can be affected by neglecting freshwater top offs or dosing alkalinity and calcium. You should test the salinity of the aquarium before every water change to determine the salinity to mix the new water to. New water should be tested before being added to the aquarium as well. Freshwater aquariums should not have measurable salinity levels. Sometimes, freshwater aquariums can benefit from the addition of some sodium chloride. In these cases, the part per thousand should still read below one. Equipment Testing salinity can be done with a hydrometer, refractometer, or digital tester. Floating, glass-stick hydrometers are the simplest, most accurate, precise, and never need to be calibrated. Microbubbles can alter the readings of the plastic-lever hydrometers. Handheld refractometers can be precise and accurate, but only if you test multiple times and use perfect technique. Temperature, light angle, and sample volume can affect a handheld refractometer's readings. They also need to be calibrated before each use. Benchtop refractometers are generally more precise than their handheld counterparts. My personal favorite is a digital conductivity tester. These devices are accurate and precise, easy to read, and only need to be calibrated every few weeks depending on frequency of use. Regardless of which is your favorite, it is best practice to measure salinity with multiple methods to be sure your readings are accurate. My favorite combination is a glass,-stick hydrometer and a digital tester. pH In both freshwater and saltwater aquariums, pH can fluctuate throughout the day. As CO2 levels rise and then fall, its relationship with alkalinity causes pH to fall at night and rise during the day. Saltwater Aquarium pH pH fluctuations are important to monitor in saltwater reef aquariums. You need to know what your lowest point and highest point during the 24 hour cycle is. The smaller the fluctuation from 8.3, the better. For example, 7.8 at night and 8.0 during the day is considered a wide fluctuation and is too low from the ideal 8.3. Whereas 8.1 at night and 8.3 during the day, is the same fluctuation, but is much closer to the ideal number of 8.3. Testing however many times is necessary to determine how much your reef tank fluctuates is important. Consider starting with a pH test each morning, afternoon, and evening. For fish-only saltwater tanks, just test before each water change to see if your pH is drastically off from diminished alkalinity. Freshwater Aquariums The pH in freshwater aquariums should be tested before each water change to determine if it has changed since the last water change. Freshwater planted tanks that use CO2 injection should have pH monitored weekly and exactly 24 hours after CO2 levels are adjusted. Equipment Liquid reagent test kits for pH testing are the most common and easy to use. However, they can be inaccurate if the exact, correct amount of reagent isn’t used. Test strips are quick and easy, but can be difficult to read and have a low degree of accuracy. A digital tester that uses liquid reagents can suffer from the same pitfalls as any other liquid reagent test kit. My favorite method for testing pH is a handheld digital probe. While they need to be calibrated fairly often, depending on usage, they are more accurate, precise, and trustworthy. Single junction probes are great for freshwater and double junction probes are perfect for saltwater. Like with any test, I recommend using two different types of testing kits or equipment when determining the initial accuracy of your equipment, especially if you are using kits or equipment that can’t be calibrated with a standard solution. After you're confident the method you have chosen is accurate and precise, then limit the confirmation testing to approximately once a month. Alkalinity Much like with pH, alkalinity also fluctuates throughout the day. In reef aquariums, alkalinity is used up by corals during the day and dips at night. In freshwater, alkalinity remains fairly constant, but can fluctuate slightly when animals, including the microbiome, respire and release CO2. Saltwater Aquariums Alkalinity can be measured in reef aquariums as often as multiple times a day, or only once before every water change. The goal is to minimize fluctuations in alkalinity as much as possible. If you measure weekly, you will be able to correct alkalinity after it's been dipping for a week. This could be quite a large dip. If you measure every hour, you can correct on a much more precise level and the alkalinity in the tank will never measurably dip. The best practice is somewhere in between these two extremes. If you have very little livestock in the aquarium, start by measuring alkalinity before each water change. As you add more corals, your alkalinity will begin to dip more than 1 point in a week. When this happens, it's time to start dosing an alkalinity buffer in between water changes to keep your alkalinity stable. Be sure to test your alkalinity before each dose if you're dosing manually. If you are dosing automatically, begin by testing consistently and regularly. Start by testing alkalinity (1) when your lights come on, (2) half way through your light cycle, (3) when your lights go off, and (4) half way through your night cycle (or as close to it as you can get). These readings will tell you how much your alkalinity changes throughout a 24 hour period. Use this data to adjust how much and when the buffer is dosed in order to shrink the fluctuations as much as possible (preferably within 2/10ths of a degree). Once you have a week of consistent data, and you're confident your alkalinity isn't fluctuating too much in a 24 hour period, then you can pull back on testing to between once daily and once weekly. Freshwater Aquariums Alkalinity only needs to be measured before each water change in freshwater systems where the alkalinity is stable. This reading will inform you of how much alkalinity buffer to add to the new water. If heavy feeding leads to high rates of decomposition and therefore large bacteria populations, testing alkalinity in between water changes may be necessary to determine if dosing is necessary. Equipment For freshwater systems, a basic titration kit is sufficient. For reef aquariums, I would suggest a liquid colorimeter test kit, or a quality titration test kit. There are also automatic water analyzers available in the reef hobby that will automatically test, via titration, alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium on a set schedule, multiple times a day. If one of these testers is in your budget and you are automatically dosing any of these testable parameters, I recommend getting one. Calcium & Magnesium Freshwater Known as general hardness (GH) in the freshwater aquarium, calcium and magnesium are used by plants and animals at a relatively low rate. Best practice is to test for these elements via a titration GH test kit before each water change to ensure new water has been treated appropriately. Saltwater In the reef aquarium, calcium and magnesium are highly important. Depending on how many corals you have, and whether or not you are dosing, it's a good idea to test for these elements, individually, at least once a week, or daily if you have many corals using lots of calcium and magnesium. Follow the same testing guidelines for alkalinity when testing calcium and magnesium. Like with alkalinity, corals will uptake less calcium and magnesium at night. The amount and timing of your dosages are important to monitor. Testing multiple times a day, at the same times initially, will give you an accurate and precise dosing schedule. Calcium and magnesium fluctuations do not affect coral growth as much as fluctuations in alkalinity. While these parameters should remain relatively stable, they do not need to be dialed in to the degree that alkalinity does. Equipment For freshwater, the basic 1-part liquid reagent test kits for general hardness (calcium and magnesium) are sufficient. For saltwater reef aquariums, I recommend either a liquid/powder colorimeter or a titration test kit for each element separately. Like with alkalinity, there are automatic water analyzers available that will take multiple readings per day. Ammonia & Nitrite Ammonia and nitrite are most associated with the nitrogen cycle. Most people don’t bother testing for these compounds after their tank is cycled. This is mostly true for nitrite. As the second stage in the nitrogen cycle, it is the shortest lived and is rarely measurable after the nitrifying microbiome is established. Ammonia on the other hand is a direct byproduct of fish waste, fish respiration, excess food, and even underperforming RODI filters. Some systems even have limited nitrifying bacteria and every time you feed, a measurable amount of ammonia is present. For these reasons, it's a good idea to test your ammonia/ammonium levels every month. If you have ammonia present, it's a good idea to look at how much habitat for nitrifying bacteria you have, if you're feeding too much, or if your RODI filter is letting ammonia or chloramines (which can read as ammonia) through the membranes and resins. Equipment In most cases, a 2-part liquid reagent test kit will suffice for ammonia and ammonium measurements. However, whenever I detect considerable ammonia or ammonium levels when I wasn’t expecting them, I always confirm with a higher quality liquid reagent kit that separately tests for total and free ammonia. Nitrate & Phosphate These two molecules are some of the most debated pieces of chemistry in both the fresh and saltwater hobby. Regardless of where you land on how much of each should be measurable, the principle behind their production, accumulation, and measurement is the same. Nitrate and phosphate are considered inorganic when they are free-floating in the water column. This is when they are measurable by our testing kits. Nitrate and phosphate are organic when they are attached to biological organisms (inside bacteria) or as part of other organic material (fish waste). Nitrogen (especially in the ammonia and ammonium form) and phosphorus are more biologically useful in that they are more easily absorbed by animals and plants than nitrate and phosphate. We can estimate the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus in the aquarium by measuring the nitrate and phosphate. The exact desired concentration of nitrate of phosphate is different for every hobbyist and every aquarium. However, measuring these nutrients at least once a month will prevent build up beyond undesired levels and allow you to notice trends, whether good or bad. Personally, I test for nitrate and phosphates at least once every two weeks, at most once a week, or once a month if I've been showing stable readings. Equipment For general readings with a desired accuracy less than 10 ppm for nitrate, I recommend a 2-part liquid test kit. For all phosphate readings, and nitrate readings with a desired accuracy less than 1 ppm, I recommend a powdered reagent colorimetric test kit, such as the Hanna checkers. Potassium, Iron and Other Trace Elements Freshwater In the freshwater aquarium, potassium and Iron are important elements for plant growth. If you have fast growing plants, getting a potassium and iron reading every month or two is not a bad idea. If you're not fertilizing a heavily planted or fast growing planted tank, you're definitely low on both of these elements. If you are dosing fertilizers, knowing how much to dose is important. Other trace elements in the freshwater aquarium are ideally replenished when new water is treated with a remineralizer, an all-in-one fertilizer, or trace fertilizer; and therefore don’t need to be tested. These include elements like molybdenum, zinc, nickel and others. Honestly, I would test for these elements if I could. However, a reliable, inexpensive test kit for these elements suspended in a liquid solution is not readily available. In lieu of testing, adding trace elements as directed, then adjusting based on visual analysis of deficiencies is best practice. Saltwater In the saltwater and reef aquariums, all these minor and trace elements are in the salt mix and are replenished to a degree with every water change. If you have growing corals and are dosing alkalinity and calcium, you're probably using trace elements at a rate faster than they can be replenished with a water change. If this is the case, it's a good idea to test for these micro and trace elements right before a water change using an “ICP-OES” lab-grade test. These should be done approximately every three to six months to check if you're deficient in minor or trace elements. They are also useful in determining if you have contaminants in the aquarium. Liquid reagent test kits for potassium and iron are available for freshwater and saltwater aquariums. Test kits for strontium are also readily available for saltwater. Lighting One of the most crucial elements of a saltwater reef or freshwater planted tank, light rarely gets measured the way it should. Knowing the intensity, spread, and quality of your photons will allow you to accurately and safely place corals and plants while avoiding too much or too little light in the tank; leading to bleaching or excessive algae growth. Accurately testing your light’s photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) can be costly; the tools to do it right can cost over $600. However, if you know someone with a submersible, lab-grade PAR meter, or a way to rent one, it is well worth it to measure your PAR and adjust your lights as necessary. If done correctly, you should only have to make this measurement once as you will rarely have to move or change your lights unless the aquarium or the aquascape changes. This may be an expensive measurement to make, but you should only have to make it once. Be sure to record your PAR readings as you make them across your tank. When you add new plants or coral, you will know the best place to put them per their requirements. Photosynthetically Useful Radiation (PUR) is just as important, if not more so, than PAR. PUR is essentially the intensity of the individual spectrums of light, not the intensity of all the spectrums together (PAR). PUR measures the quality of your light, what is actually photosynthetically useful vs just the quantity of photons (PAR). Corals, for example, love bluer light near the 420 nm range, while plants prefer a more intense red part of the spectrum. Unfortunately, there is no hobbyist-grade, readily available equipment as of yet that can test for PUR. The best practice is to research your animals and plants, know the spectrums they need, and adjust your light’s individual spectrum intensities to match that research. CO2 In freshwater high-tech planted aquariums, CO2 gas is injected directly into the aquarium. The rate at which this gas is injected is different for all aquariums. No matter the setup however, the parts per million (ppm) should be between 20 and 30. Once you achieve this concentration, you shouldn't have to re-measure CO2 again unless you adjust the CO2, or just want to confirm your injection rate every once in a while. There are two ways to measure CO2. The first is to take a KH measurement and a pH measurement then use this table to find your CO2 concentration. The only issue with this method is you can get false readings if there are any other factors besides pH or alkalinity (KH) that are affecting the CO2 concentration. For example, some shrimp salts and pH buffers will give you a high, false CO2 reading because they lower the pH without lowering the KH. The second way is to use a two part liquid test kit and measure the CO2 concentration directly. This method is the more reliable of the two, but requires another test kit, although they are fairly inexpensive. Visual Testing Testing kits and equipment are a vital tool to understanding our aquariums. They can also help us diagnose and track problems and solutions we may be experiencing. The easiest, and sometimes most reliable test we can perform, is a visual assessment. It is crucial to set aside all the kits and equipment and visually observe the aquarium regularly and consistently. Take additional time to deliberately observe problems you've been having, and the growth or recession, health, behavior, and color of your livestock. Note the algae growth, the flow, and amount of detritus build up. Go beyond just looking at your aquarium as a normal part of enjoying it. Make intentional observations, note them down, and relate them to the maintenance you have been performing. Experiment Every aquarium and aquarium hobbyist is different. There are a thousand ways to test your aquarium’s parameters correctly. Different regimens, schedules, and testing equipment work better for different hobbyists. In the beginning, don’t worry as much about being perfect, just be accurate, precise, and consistent.

Every aquarium is different, but for a majority of appropriately stocked aquariums, regular maintenance or cleaning, including a partial water change, should be done weekly or every two weeks. The more often you clean your aquarium, the less you have to do each time. Cleaning an aquarium on a regular schedule includes several activities: Testing the water Performing a partial water change and vacuuming the substrate Cleaning the filter and changing media Cleaning the glass, decor, and external equipment. For example, if you perform a partial water change every week, only a 10 percent water change may be necessary. However, if the aquarium is left for multiple weeks between cleanings, a 40 or even 50 percent water change may be necessary. This is assuming your aquarium is appropriately stocked, and not overloaded. How Often You Clean Your Aquarium Depends on the Amount of Livestock. There is no perfect answer that works for everyone when asked how often they should clean their aquarium. There is a relationship between the amount of livestock in the aquarium, the amount of organics they produce, and the efficiency and scale of the system’s filtration. Balancing this relationship results in an aquarium that should be cleaned every seven to fourteen days. If you have overpowered filtration and there is very little livestock, you will have to clean the aquarium less often. You might go 14 to 30 days before the media becomes soiled and the water’s nutrient levels approach unsafe levels. If your aquarium is overstocked and the filtration is lacking, then regular maintenance may need to be done every few days. The sections below will detail what signs to look for in your mechanical and chemical filtration, on your glass and décor, and in your water chemistry to know exactly how often you should be performing regular maintenance. Armed with this knowledge, you can also determine the appropriate amount of livestock you can safely house in your aquarium. How Often Should I Clean Aquarium Filtration? Mechanical Aquarium Filtration The filter media which removes large organic particles like fish food, waste, sloughed tissue, and other larger excretions is called the mechanical filtration. This media usually comes in the form of a foam or floss pad, cartridge, roller pad, or nylon or felt sock. Mechanical is the first stage of filtration. The best way to tell when it is time to clean or replace your mechanical filtration is visually. By simply examining the media it's fairly easy to tell if it has become soiled. Even if the flow through the media is still strong and undiminished, the organic waste the media is storing is constantly being leached into the aquarium as water passes through and the organics further break down. If the media appears dirty or soiled and the flow from your filter or sump has reduced significantly, it is definitely time to replace or at least clean or rinse the mechanical filtration. Chemical Aquarium Filtration The filter media in your reactors, the carbon in your filter cartridges and media bags, and other forms of media that specifically remove chemicals or elements from the water column are your chemical filtration. This media’s capacity to remove the desired chemicals diminishes as it adsorbs more and more of the chemical. Eventually, the pores, or in some cases, surface area of the media is “clogged” and will no longer function. With most media of this type, like carbon, granular ferric oxide, or zeolite, it is difficult to tell visually if the media is spent or used up. Testing for the chemicals you're trying to remove will give you the best idea if the filter media is still removing those chemicals. If your aquarium water is discolored, usually a yellow tint, and you add carbon to remove it, track the time it takes for the aquarium water to clear up then start to return to a yellow tint again. This will give you a rough visual estimate of when to replace your carbon. I should note, sometimes a yellow tint is tannins leaching from driftwood. Eventually, tannins will be completely leached out and no longer continue to discolor water. If you're trying to remove nitrates, phosphates, or ammonia, test the water before you add the media, then once a week after to see if the chemical starts to trend back up again; that's when you should replace the media. If you can’t easily test for the chemicals you're trying to remove, like heavy metals, most chemical media will have a manufacturer suggested frequency by which the media should be replaced. How Often Should I Clean My Aquarium Glass, Décor, and Equipment? Everyone has a threshold for cleanliness with their aquariums. Some of us allow a thin film of algae to grow over the glass before we take the magnet cleaner to it. Others wipe the inside of the glass every morning. In most cases, the amount of organic and chemical buildup on the glass, décor, and external equipment does not have a critical effect on the function of the aquarium; It's simply personal preference. In some cases though, salt creep, calcium, and carbonate precipitation can have a detrimental effect on electrical equipment and dosing tubing. In these cases, it is crucial to wipe down and clean up the equipment. How Often Should I do a Partial Water Change? How often to perform a water change is the big question. This answer is determined by two factors. How many nitrates and phosphates are in the water How many micro and trace elements have been used up When your tank is overstocked, the nitrates and phosphates build up fast and water changes should be done weekly. For most of us, a 20 to 30 percent water change every 7 to 14 days is appropriate. However, this schedule is extremely relative. If your aquarium is full of fish, live plants, or coral in saltwater tanks, there are multiple elements such as calcium, carbonates, magnesium, iron, potassium, and many other trace elements that are used up and absorbed by the livestock. With saltwater aquariums, many of these are replaced with new, freshly mixed saltwater. With freshwater systems, these elements are usually added separately and don’t rely as heavily on water changes to replace. Elevated Nutrients Nitrates and phosphates are two major elements we measure when deciding if organic nutrients are elevated enough to require a water change. This is because most organic material breaks down into various forms of nitrogen and phosphorus. The end result of the nitrogen cycle is nitrates (NO3) and Nitrogen (N). The end result of phosphorus binding in fresh and saltwater is phosphate (PO4-). In addition to elevated nitrate levels being toxic to fish, these nutrients can also contribute to unsightly algae growth when left unchecked. However many days after your last water change it took for your nitrates to rise above 20 ppm is a good schedule to perform water changes. There are some types of biological and chemical filtration that can reduce nitrates and phosphates, giving you a little more time before a water change needs to be done to reduce organic nutrients. But these filtration methods won’t help when it comes to replenishing elements and compounds used by the animals in your aquarium. Expended Macro, Micro, and Trace Elements Freshwater When I change the water in a freshwater aquarium, I start with pure RODI water. I then add back in calcium, magnesium, and carbonates as necessary for the specific aquarium. In a freshwater system, calcium and magnesium are not generally used up by the animals or plants. However, the carbonates can diminish if there is a strong microbiome. The elements which would need to be replaced regularly are normally the macro, micro, and trace elements used by plants. Nitrogen Phosphorous Potassium Iron Trace Elements These are normally added by dosing the aquarium as needed, usually right after a water change and then halfway before the next one (once or twice weekly). For freshwater aquariums, or planted ones at least, the new water does not normally replace all the other elements, just the calcium, magnesium, and carbonates, which were removed during the RODI filtering process. Water changes on planted tanks do help reset the fertilizer or macro, micro, and trace element levels as well. Saltwater Anytime a water change is performed on a saltwater tank, the new water is always mixed with a “salt mix”. This is a formulated mixture of around 80 or 85 percent sodium chloride and approximately 15 percent calcium, magnesium, carbonates, and other elements. Unlike freshwater aquariums, saltwater animals such as coral, utilize nearly all of these elements (except sodium chloride). In between water changes, all these vital elements are slowly decreasing as the organic nutrients (nitrates and phosphates) rise. Performing a partial water change not only reduces toxic organic nutrients, but also replenishes the vital elements at the same time. Some saltwater aquariums are stocked heavily enough where they need to add even more of these vital elements in between water changes. This is called dosing, similar to what freshwater plants require with their fertilizers. Partial Water Change as a Solution In many cases, but not all, a partial water change can help fix a problem or set your aquarium back on track. Oftentimes we experience a symptom of unhealthy livestock and don’t know exactly what is causing it. When in doubt, a series of small (10 percent) water changes every few days can help bring an ailing tank back to life. Every Aquarium is Different Over time, the optimal schedule for cleaning your aquarium will become apparent. Check for the following signs to determine your aquarium’s maintenance schedule. Is my mechanical filtration dirty, and slowing or clogging water flow from the filter? Is my aquarium water tinted yellow? Are the chemicals I’m trying to remove with chemical filtration trending upward again? Is the aquarium glass covered in algae? Is the equipment inside and outside of the aquarium forming salt creep or hard water stains? Are my nitrates above 20 ppm? Are the vital elements trending down below safe or useful levels? You may have only answered yes to one or just a few of these questions. You don’t need to perform all your maintenance duties simultaneously. Some aquariums need their filtration changed weekly and the water changed biweekly, while others may need everything done once a week. Every aquarium is different.

Stable water parameters are paramount to coral health, beauty, and growth. Stability is only one of many important factors that contribute to these conditions. After the nitrogen cycle is complete, and all water parameters are within their safe ranges , keeping them stable within those ranges is probably the most important contributor to stress free, healthy, beautiful, and growing coral. Obviously, light, flow, regular feedings, and space are equally as important in their own way. Those multifaceted factors will be discussed in a later article. Here and now, I’ll focus on the benefits of stable water parameters. Why are My Corals Not Growing? The reef aquarium can never be an exact replication of the reefs in the oceans. It's just not possible to perfectly replicate the near infinite elements of that massive ecosystem. Instead, we should strive to make our home aquaria sustainable, artificial ecosystems that mimic the natural reefs as much as is beneficial. The foundation on which we build that artificial ecosystem is stability of accurate water parameters. While we may never exactly match the light, nutrient flow, or grazing prowess of a natural reef, we can build a healthy system on one of the ocean’s most powerful and most easily reproducible characteristics, its stability. There are a million reasons why the corals in our aquariums may not be doing as well as we would like. From disease to improper environment and macro-pests, the specific reason or reasons why some of your animals may be experiencing difficulty are too numerous to delve into in this article, but I'll provide a few examples. Poor water condition Parameters outside of safe ranges Improper lighting Improper Flow Disease Macro-pests (irritation) Lack of Food Aggression While these examples can affect coral growth, my intention here is to discuss one of the major inhibitors of coral growth, unstable, or inconsistent water parameters. What is Stability? Stability is relative, even in this context. Some may consider a daily temperature fluctuation of two degrees Fahrenheit stable. Others classify anything outside of a half degree fluctuation as unacceptable. While half a degree is technically more stable than two degrees, it is more difficult to achieve, thereby making it impractical. Two degrees in temperature is also too wide of a fluctuation and in most cases one degree is just as achievable and more stable. My point is stability is not just about reducing the fluctuation. It's also about what is practical. If you can’t maintain a half degree stability with any consistency or reliability, then does it really qualify as stable? Stability is keeping a parameter from fluctuating outside of a given range in a practical method that results in consistency. Which Reef Aquarium Parameters are the Most Important to Keep Stable? The most important parameters to keep stable in the reef aquarium are: Temperature Salinity pH Alkalinity Calcium Magnesium Lighting Nutrients Flow Why Stability is Important for Increasing Coral Growth Most ecosystems in the ocean are stable. They have the same pH, temperature, alkalinity, macro, and micro element levels. They experience the same lighting, nutrient, and flow regimes daily. In the aquarium, we have seen many examples of the results of stability. Corals that have a stable environment don’t have to spend energy constantly adapting. This results in less stress, better health, immune systems, and ultimately faster growth. There are factors that are not stable as I defined it earlier, such as nutrient flow. The amount of nutrients, the form it comes in, and exactly when it comes can vary daily. However, the fact that at some point nutrients surge through a reef multiple times a day, every day, does remain consistent. When considering consistency and stability, sometimes we need to “zoom out” from a microscopic or minute by minute view to see how stability still applies, just on a larger scale. For example, temperature should be maintained constantly. Coral feedings and nutrient flow, on the other hand, achieve stability by occurring at the same time daily, not every few minutes like the switching on and off of a heating element. Although this is relative to your aquarium. Systems with lots of fast growing corals can be fed multiple times a day with massive nutrient export systems. Achieving Stability Achieving stability is all about knowing the acceptable and practical range you want to keep your given parameter within, and implementing the proper methods and technology to achieve that. The first aspect, knowing the acceptable and practical range, can be relative, like I mentioned earlier, but the key is to know what works with your tank. We’ll get into it with each parameter later, but some aquarists keep their alkalinity at 10, others at 7. Stability would not be keeping it between 7 and 10, but as close to whichever number you choose as is practically achievable. The second aspect, implementation, is extremely nuanced with several viable methods, each with their own advantages and disadvantages. I won’t go into detail on each one. I’ll simply list them so you can explore each one in more depth at your leisure. Playing the Long Game Once you have achieved a consistent and stable range of parameters you are happy with, the rate of coral growth won’t happen overnight. It may still take several months before your corals adapt to stable conditions and begin to grow faster. Don’t forget, stability is but one aspect of Increasing coral growth. Nutrient intake, lighting, flow, and many other factors play a large part in coral biology as well. Stable Water Parameters in the Reef Aquarium Temperature Keeping your temperature stable is probably easier than the other parameters, and just as important. You should strive to keep temperature fluctuation within 1 degree Fahrenheit. If this proves too difficult for your system, 1.5 degrees is still better than 1, but anything over 2 degrees of fluctuation can begin to stress more sensitive creatures. When performing water changes, try to heat up the new water to the aquarium temperature, especially when performing a water change larger than 10%. The easiest way to achieve temperature stability is by utilizing a controller for your heating element. Some heaters are efficient enough to keep temperatures stable using the built in thermostat. However, installing a heating element, attached to a separate controller with at least two temperature probes attached, is much more reliable and consistent. Two temperature probes allow for a more accurate reading of the aquarium's actual temperature. The controller gives more precise control over the on/off reaction times of the element. Choosing a controller that allows multiple elements to be installed also guarantees a more significant, and therefore consistent heat distribution throughout the system. Salinity Animals that live in aqueous environments are constantly undergoing osmosis and diffusion. This means, they are always balancing the concentration of water, and the solids dissolved in it, inside and outside of their tissues. If the concentration of the major dissolved solids (in this case salt) in the water is constantly changing, then the animals become stressed by spending too much energy trying to correct these changes in concentration. Additionally, water moves through the tissue via osmosis, which takes no metabolic energy, but can still significantly affect the concentration of other dissolved solids, causing stress on the animal. However, if the salinity is always the same, the animals can spend their energy on their immune system, growth, and other metabolic functions. There are many solids dissolved in seawater, but salinity is the measure of NaCl, sodium chloride, which makes up nearly 70% of seawater. Keeping salinity stable is far more important than alkalinity, calcium, magnesium, trace elements, and organics. Once your salinity is stable, then you can focus on the lesser concentrated solids in the water. Why Would Salinity Change? Salinity can change for many reasons. The most common and quickest to occur is evaporation of water from the tank, resulting in a rise in salinity. This is easy to offset by adding RODI, or non-salinized freshwater, back to the aquarium, at the same rate it evaporates. This can be done manually, by pouring freshwater into the aquarium from a storage container, which is sealed when not in use, or as you make it. Marking where the top of the water level should always be in your aquarium, allows you to refill to that mark consistently as the tank water evaporates. Another option is to install an automatic top off. This method, once installed, takes care of itself. Some versions still have a reservoir that needs to be refiled. Other versions hook directly up to the RODI system. The latter is not as safe as having a top off reservoir, because if the float valve, water sensor, and its backups fail, the RODI system will continue to feed water into the aquarium indefinitely. A reservoir will only dump the reservoir’s amount of water into the tank if it fails. Salinity can also change when the new water mixed for water changes is not accurate. When performing water changes, always recalibrate the tool you use to measure salinity. Measure the salinity of the aquarium and the new water. If your tank reads high, lower the salinity in the new water and vice versa. For example, if your tank is at 36 ppt and you want it at 35 ppt, and you are doing a 10% water change, then the new water needs to be at 26 ppt. If you're doing a 50% water change, then the new water should be mixed at 34 ppt to bring your tank to 35 ppt. That's just the math though. It is more practical and safer to adjust salinity slowly over several water changes. Another common way salinity can change is if you are dosing sodium bicarbonate or sodium carbonate with calcium chloride. As the animals use the bicarbonates or carbonates and the calcium, the sodium and the chloride combine into sodium chloride (salt), and raise the salinity. There are several ways to go about correcting this, the most common is the method from above. Measure the salinity of your aquarium before your water changes and mix the new water to the correct salinity to bring your aquarium back down to 35 ppt. If your salinity is climbing because you're dosing these two compounds, be sure to research the “Balling Method” for 2 part dosing. There is some interesting chemistry behind what happens to your trace elements and magnesium levels when you are 2 part dosing calcium chloride and carbonates and then correcting for the salinity change. If you don’t add trace elements back into the aquarium, then you will reduce them indefinitely. pH A stable pH helps stony corals maintain a strong, dense skeleton. There have been decades of multidisciplinary research and studies on pH stability in the ocean. pH is a standard metric used to measure ocean stability. In the reef aquarium, we are coming to realize maintaining a pH range of 7.8 to 8.3 throughout a 24 hour period is just the beginning. While 7.8 to 8.3 is the safe range, closing that gap to 8.25 plus or minus a tenth of a degree, or better yet, 8.3 for 24 hours, is exponentially better for coral health and growth. There is still much research left to be done concerning the relationship with pH and coral health in the reef aquarium. Although, what we have discovered recently suggests stable pH as close to 8.3 as possible has a much larger affect on coral health than we thought. pH stability is its own article. However, there are some easy ways to close the gap, all else being equal. First, if you have a refugium or plan to set one up, the photoperiod on your light should be the opposite of the display tank's light. Photosynthesizing macroalgae will absorb CO2 at night, preventing the pH from dropping significantly. Another common cause of low pH or pH instability is too much CO2 in the air around the tank. Running airline from the skimmer to the outside or opening a window can bring CO2 levels down. Stable alkalinity can also help with maintaining a stable pH. Alkalinity The capacity by which a body of water can maintain a stable pH through the neutralization of acids and bases is what we are measuring when we test for alkalinity. For most of us with a reef tank, this means the concentration of carbonates and bicarbonates in the water. Corals and other microfauna utilize carbonates as part of their biology. When they absorb carbonates from the water, their concentration lowers, thus lowering the alkalinity. Alkalinity can also lower when carbonates are combined into other compounds, such as with CO2 gas. The alkalinity is replenished with water changes and dosing carbonates and bicarbonates directly. The key to stable alkalinity is not to just replenish carbonates weekly or every couple weeks in one huge dose, like with a water change, but to add them at the same rate they are used as often as possible. Most of the aquariums I maintain receive a dose of sodium bicarbonates multiple times a day; usually a minimum of two. Aquariums with a relatively high population of stony corals can drop in alkalinity by as much as two or more degrees of carbonate hardness (dKH) in a week. That's nearly 0.3 degrees a day. By adding the appropriate amount of sodium bicarbonate to raise the alkalinity of the tank by 0.15 degrees twice a day, the most the tank will fluctuate is .15 degrees instead of two degrees. In terms of maintaining stability for coral health and growth this is an incredible difference. The easiest way to dose carbonates for consistent alkalinity is to use a dosing pump. These range from simple single headed pumps that can plug into mechanical or digital outlet timers to highly programmable multi-pump dosers. Whether you choose a simple single-headed doser, or a programmable apparatus with a built in computer, they are both means to the same end, stability. Calcium & Magnesium Without getting too much into the nuance of the chemical relationship between alkalinity, calcium and magnesium, the main take-away is calcium and magnesium can be dosed similarly to alkalinity. Corals utilize calcium and magnesium just like carbonates. The more often you replenish calcium and magnesium, the more consistent their concentrations will be. There are a couple things to consider when dosing these elements with carbonates. Briefly, I will mention that when dosing alkalinity and calcium, they should not be dosed at the exact same time. Also, the Balling Method, mentioned in the salinity section above, also applies here as the rise in salinity mentioned is a result of dosing sodium bicarbonate or sodium carbonate with calcium chloride and results in a trace element deficit over time. Light Recently, we have begun to discover that corals are capable of adapting the types and concentrations of their light sensitive pigments and chlorophyll. Even though corals are highly adaptive, this process is biologically expensive. Even if your lighting is not ideal, your corals may compensate over time. However, setting your lights to an appropriate intensity and spectrum for the livestock in your tank, and not altering it after, is paramount to stability. Use a trusted PAR meter and the spectrum information, or available settings, on your light to determine what is the best scheme for your setup. Find a fellow hobbyist with a similar and successful tank to yours with a working lighting scheme, or use the presets in the app if your light comes with one. Intensity and spectrum are both important. Nothing beats using a PAR meter to measure intensity. Spectrum is a little more difficult. All we really have is what the side of the box says or the adjustments available in the app if your light has one. The details on exactly what spectrum to favor is for another article. Suffice it to say, corals prefer a higher intensity around 420 nanometers (blue), but still require a lower intensity across the spectrum (white). Minor adjustments over the course of the life of the tank, even larger ones at the beginning are fine. The constant altering of your light's settings on a weekly or even monthly basis are what leads to instability and coral stress. Remember, even if your lights are not ideal, your corals will adapt. It is adapting constantly from frequent changes that can be detrimental to coral health and growth. Nutrients and Flow Stable nutrients (organic particulate matter) and flow work a little differently than the above parameters. Consistency in schedule is more important than constant stability. Unlike the parameters above, nutrients and flow should fluctuate over the course of a day. Stability is achieved by feeding the same time every day and by having the same flow patterns at the same time every day. For example, with flow, you may have a pulsating pattern at 20% for most of the day, then a feed mode at 7 pm, then a high nutrient pulse for 2 hours at midnight. Stability in flow means keeping this scheme or schedule of patterns the same every day. In the ocean, flow changes throughout the day, but the intensity and pattern is fairly consistent at the same times. The same is true for nutrients. Both fish and coral can anticipate feedings by the “time of day” or the light intensity if you feed at the same time everyday. Coral will extend feeding tentacles and are more receptive to incoming food particles. Slow and Steady Maintaining stability and consistency in water parameters is crucial to coral health, growth, and beauty. While achieving stability is important, any changes made in a reef tank must be done slowly. Unless it is an emergency, like extremely high temperature, salinity, or pH, altering your parameters to the range of numbers you want, then keeping them stable within that range should take time. Aquatic life is particularly subject to the environment it lives in. Changes in the concentration of elements and compounds in the water quickly and significantly impact the biology of aquatic organisms. Making these changes slowly, even if they are for the better, is important to reducing stress on the organisms.

When I design a reef aquarium, I think about three things: (1) What is in the best interest of the animals I’m keeping, (2) what looks the best, and (3) what is most convenient and easiest for me to work with and maintain. Whether it’s equipment, aquascaping, filtration, lighting, or the tank and stand itself, these three factors, in that order, are what I consider a priority. Sometimes they don’t mesh well. What is best for the animal may seem inefficient or difficult for me. For example, I may not find it convenient or cost effective to replace filter socks every couple days, but if that is what the animals require for their health, then I must oblige. More often than not, there is a method to maximizing animal health and happiness that also agrees with my convenience. For example, roller mats are available for those with high physical filtration needs, but can’t replace filter socks consistently. Within the scope of aquascaping, I favor a method that maximizes fish and coral health and happiness, and beauty and naturalism, while also efficiently providing convenience and ease of accessibility for me. The aquascaping design I discuss below utilizes Marco Rock to create elaborate, customizable structures which are built separately for ease of movement, relocation, and installation, but when placed together in the aquarium, look to be one entire structure. You can use many different types of rock, but for this article I’ll mainly discuss Marco Rock. Why Build Your Own Custom Aquascape? This design is referred to as Habitat Negative Space Aquascape (HNSA) and provides the following features:. Diverse offering of fish and invertebrate friendly habitats (caves, overhangs, burrows) Plenty of varying spaces for coral placement Customizable Strong and durable Realistic and natural Easily separated These features provide the following benefits Stress free, healthier, and happier fish and inverts Corals can be placed exactly where they will benefit from proper light, flow, and distance from neighbors Can build the scape to fit your tank, lighting, and flow perfectly Will not break or collapse when installing, moving, or rearranging Provides a natural and realistic aesthetic to any aquarium Easy to remove when catching difficult fish is necessary While most commonly used for reef tanks, this style can be adapted to nearly any aquarium. You just have to use the right rock and design the most natural and realistic aesthetic. A river aquascape won’t use the same design as a reef crest. How to build a Habitat Negative Space Aquascape The process of building a Habitat Negative Space Aquascape (HNSA) begins with knowing the dimensions of your tank. Begin by measuring the height, depth, and width of the tank. Next, you’ll need to construct a frame with these dimensions within with you will build the structure. This step is the most crucial. Building your structure without a frame that matches your tank’s dimensions will result in building an aquascape that is either too large or too small. The best frame is constructed by cutting and joining pvc tubing to make a 3d “frame” of the tank, then build your structure within the frame. An alternative is to cut a piece of cardboard with the same width and depth as the tank. Then apply a piece of tape at the correct height to the wall behind your workspace. Plan Ahead Once you have your frame or outline built, consider where your overflow boxes, returns, powerheads, and other equipment will be located. This build is completely customizable. You can build a structure that will allow for perfect flow by designing around your powerheads and returns. Also, keep in mind, with reef tanks, the rocks should not be taller than 50% the height of your tank for SPS corals, and no taller than 70% the height of your tank for LPS corals. This will allow room for them to grow. You can also build one section at 50%, another at 60% and a third at 70% total height, for example, if you plan on a mixed reef. Materials for a Mixed Reef Aquascape The next step is to gather your materials. For this article, I’ll be using Marco Rock as that is what I prefer. It is lightweight, clean, porous, and easy to chisel and shape. I find each piece, or section, of the overall structure to weigh approximately 15 to 20 pounds for medium tanks (50-120 gallons) and 20 to 40 pounds for larger tanks (120 + gallons). Cuts of Marco Rock There are two or three types of cuts of Marco Rock you’ll need for this scape. If you want your build to have a shelf or two, then you’ll need a piece of shelf rock. This is a shape that is nearly flat on both sides and works as a jutting shelf. Not all builds need this shape, I’ve only used it a couple times. The second type of cut is a foundation cut. This is a regular Marco boulder that has been machine cut perfectly in half so one side is perfectly flat and the other is the normal, irregular shape. These cuts are used as the foundation as they lay flat on the ground and they are very stable. You can purchase foundation cuts precut, or you can purchase boulders and cut them yourself using a diamond blade and table saw. I have not found a large enough saw to cleanly cut a medium sized Marco Rock in half without having to rotate the rock. However, it is cheaper to cut them yourself if you have a larger project. The third type of cut is the regular Marco boulder. These are not cut or shaped and come in many shapes and sizes. They are usually sold in a few different sizes or by weight. Unless you are designing a massive project, the medium sized 8-14” rocks work well. They’ll be broken up into smaller pieces later, so get larger pieces than you think you’ll need. In addition to the rock, you’ll need the following materials Extra thick super glue Insta-Set spray Two part epoxy adhesive (Seachem coral crete) General bonding glue (watery, liquid super glue) ⅝ chisel and hammer Wire mesh sieve or colander 1 ml syringe Per 20 pounds of structure, I recommend 2 to 3 ounces of extra thick super glue, 1 ounce of Insta-Set, 1 ounce of general bonding glue, and 16 ounces (4, 4 ounce sticks) of epoxy. Constructing the Hardscape After you have laid out the frame for your tank and gathered your materials, the next step is to start building the structure. Foundation Layer Begin by laying out your foundation rocks. These are the cuts with the flat bottom and normal, irregular top. Arrange these rocks in different combinations. Be sure to turn and rotate each one, move them back and forth, and change them up all together. Do this several times and you'll start to see which ones look good together and which pieces are the most solid. The general shape you're looking for can vary depending on the size of your tank, but generally, you want a wide, arching foundation so you can build overhangs from a single point and the foundation will support the weight. When you think you’ve got the right arrangement, leave it out and come back to it a couple times before gluing. You may find a few changes you want to make, and now is the time to make them. Gluing the Rocks When you’re ready to glue the foundation together, begin by applying the extra thick super glue along the top joints, where each rock joins together. Smooth out the glue with a wooden skewer or similar tool. Smoothing out the glue covers more of the rock surface around the joint. Then, spray the Insta-Set over the glue; just enough to wet the glue. It should crust over and hold within seconds. As you progress along the structure, applying glue, smoothing it, and spraying Insta-Set, do not move the piece. Even though the Insta-Set hardens the glue immediately, it is still soft in the center. The foundation rocks moving away from each other, even slightly, may compromise the structural integrity of the whole structure. Before you glue a rock to the rest of the already glued rocks, you can adjust it slightly to make sure it is a tight fit against the neighboring rock before gluing. Applying Epoxy After the top of each joint has been glued, let it sit for 24 hours. Next, apply the epoxy to each joint. After activating the epoxy by rubbing and folding the two parts together, shape it into a long strand, the length of the joint. Apply a strand to each joint and press the epoxy into the rock. The epoxy needs to make contact with as much rock as possible; use as much as you need for each joint. The epoxy should fill in as much space in the joint between rocks as possible. The epoxy sets within 5 minutes after mixing. Be sure to work fairly quickly when applying it. After you have applied and pressed the epoxy into the rock joints, stamp a pattern into the epoxy using a small piece of Marco Rock. This will blend the epoxy texture with the rock and it won’t look like smooth epoxy, but part of the rock itself. Later, we’ll deal with the difference in color as well. Let the epoxy cure for 24 hours and then carefully flip the entire structure over and repeat the gluing and epoxy process for the bottom of each joint. At this point, you should have glue and epoxy covering the top and bottom of each joint where the rocks connect. This portion of the build takes the longest as you must wait approximately 24 hours for the application of each stage of glue and epoxy to cure, approximately 96 hours total. Chiseling and Shaping Rocks Now that we have a solid foundation on which to build, it is time to shape the rocks that will be used to build the rest of the structure. Gather your regular Marco boulders, a ⅝ chisel, hammer, safety glasses, and a mat, tarp, or piece of cardboard on which to work. Examine the first piece of Marco Rock and look for any areas where a break would result in an interesting shape. If the rock is shaped fairly uniformly, then apply the chisel in the middle of the rock and simply split it in half. Continue to chisel the larger rocks into interesting and irregularly shaped smaller ones. The more irregular, twisted, and arching the better. Depending on the size of your tank, you’ll need pieces of rock that range in size from small to large. You can always glue two smaller rocks together to form an interesting shaped larger piece if you need. As you chisel away, you’ll get lots of very small pieces you did not intend to break off. Keep these as they will come in handy later. It is also crucial to keep any and all dust and particles that are collected by the mat or tarp. Sweep up the dust and smaller particles and save it for later. The Second Layer In my experience, the best way to proceed is to lay out as many of the newly chiseled rocks as you have room for and begin to orient different pieces on the foundation. The second layer should be open, with lots of larger spaces for fish to swim through and span the length of the foundation, allowing lots of space for the next layers to be attached. To accomplish this, I like to use more elongated pieces and orient them upright to create several columns. One of the benefits of this build is the structural integrity. This allows you to build far reaching overhangs which are unsupported under one side, but the foundation allows for the proper weight distribution to support them. Without proper weight distribution, you would have to forgo overhangs and use arches only. Overhangs are more natural, realistic, and downright cool in my opinion. They also provide the surface area on which to put corals and the cover for fish habitat without requiring two support rocks underneath. Having said this, don’t avoid arches all together, a few well placed arches can look good, I would just favor overhangs overall. When trying different rocks and orientations for your second layer, leave at least one of the terminal foundation rocks, if not both, with nothing built upon it. This piece or pieces will serve as a weight anchor, where your largest overhangs will be built above. If you put a secondary layer column on the terminal rocks, the whole build will appear too dense and everything will be an arch instead of overhangs. It is difficult to envision the entire build at this stage. The second layer is more about creating options moving forward than specific design features. By all means, choose cool rocks with interesting shapes to apply to the second layer. However, the priority should be to keep the second layer fairly open for larger fish to swim through, and to create several surfaces for the third layer to build upon. At this stage, whether or not there is a surface there at all is more important than the shape, size, or orientation. When you decide on the rocks and their placement for the second layer, apply glue to the joints just like with the foundation, wait 24 hours, and apply epoxy. Designing the Third Layer In terms of design, the third layer is the most important. The design of this layer determines how the overall structure is shaped. It is also the layer on which the rest of the structure is built upon. When I say layer, don’t picture horizontal layers like a cake. The term stages could be used synonymously with layers in this case. The third layer is such because it is built after the first two layers, but spatially, it can cover the entire structure. Some rocks on the third layer will be at the very top, others will swoop down near the foundation. Designing this layer is all about thinking ahead. You want to attach rocks in locations and orientations that will facilitate the overall shape you're aiming for. Building the Third Layer Gluing during this stage is a little trickier than the others. Some of the rocks will be overhanging and have to be held with one hand and glued with the other. To accomplish this, have your glue and Insta-Set uncapped and ready. Orient the rock where you want it, then apply a layer of glue to the top of the joint, smooth it out, and spray the Insta-Set. Hold for 10 seconds and let go. Apply a little more glue if necessary. Wait to epoxy any joints until after you’re finished building this layer; you may need to remove rocks. Also, epoxy will only be applied to the bottom of joints from this point on. Only glue a few rocks at a time. Take a few moments to step back and look at the structure from a distance. After you’ve done quite a bit of building, come back to it the next day, with fresh eyes. I also found setting the structure upon a turntable of some kind helps with seeing the structure from multiple angles. Keep the structure within the framed boundaries of the tank. When you're finished building and it's time to apply epoxy everywhere, the turntable is incredibly useful. Applying Epoxy After you are satisfied with the shape and build of the structure, it’s time to apply epoxy. The epoxy is responsible for a majority of the structural strength of the build. There is already epoxy applied to the foundation and second layers. The underside of each joint in the entire third layer requires the application of some epoxy. The amount depends on the open space in between the joined rocks. The super glue acts as a binding agent, the purpose of epoxy is to fill in the gaps and provide support where there is none. Anywhere there is empty space underneath, where two rocks are joined, apply some epoxy. Just like with before, apply the epoxy within a couple minutes after mixing, press into the gaps, and stamp it with a rock to create texture. Finishing Touches The final step is to cover the epoxy with Marco Rock dust. This will hide the epoxy’s color and result in a uniform and natural look. Begin by collecting all the dust and small particles you collected from chiseling, breaking up rocks, etc. Place a colander over a bucket and sift until nothing else falls through. Place a mesh sieve or colander, with smaller holes than the first, over a second bucket and pour the first bucket into it. Sift until only large particles remain in the sieve. If your mesh sieve is small enough, you’ll have only dust in the second bucket, if your dust is mixed with particles larger than a pinhead, sift it again through a smaller gauge sieve. You want a powdery, sandy, dusty mixture, not gravel. Next, take a piece of paper and shape a narrow cone tube with a tapered end. This will be your applicator. Dust goes in one end and can be applied with the narrow, tapered end. Then, use the 1 mL syringe and apply the general bonding glue (watery, liquid super glue) to a patch of epoxy until it is covered. Then apply some dust to the glue and press in with a nitrile gloved finger. Repeat these steps once or twice more until the epoxy is covered in dust. Move on to the next patch and repeat until all epoxy is covered. You can apply glue to multiple patches at a time if you work quickly enough, but I prefer to take it one at a time because I apply multiple “coats”. Once your glue and dust has dried, spray the structure with some pressurized air to remove excess dust. Installing in the Aquarium Now your structures are ready to add to your aquarium. If you're installing it to an existing aquarium, remove several gallons of water before adding the structure. If you're replacing existing rock with this structure in an established reef aquarium, only remove a portion of the old rock, not all of it. You’ll want bacteria, microfauna, and macrofauna to transfer to the new rock before the old rock is removed. These structures should be very stable. Orient them in your aquarium how you see fit. If you find some places lacking, add mini structures to supplement the larger one. If you find it is too dense, with sufficient pressure, you can remove individual pieces of rock until the shape is more to your liking. Experiment Don’t be afraid to experiment with the design. You can always break rock off and go back a few steps as you build. Take your time, stand back, and examine your build with fresh eyes periodically. The point of this style of aquascaping is to create sufficient habitat for all types and sizes of fish and invertebrates, while allowing ample surface area for corals, keep this in mind as you build and you can’t go wrong.

I recently had the privilege of building a 90 gallon fish-only saltwater aquarium setup from nearly scratch. I found that if you prepare, and perform the appropriate research, it is a relatively simple process. The client already had a 90 gallon tank, drilled with a 1” and a ¾” hole in the bottom with an off center overflow, and a 40 gallon breeder sump with 3 baffles installed. To complete this project I would need to (1) build a stand that could accommodate a 90 gallon aquarium with an 18 inch deep sump. There are no prefabricated aquarium stands for a 90 gallon tank that would fit an 18 inch sump underneath. Next, (2) I would need to design and configure the plumbing to achieve an intake, stand pipe, and return. This would require some extra thought, as there were only two holes drilled instead of the three required. Finally, (3) the remaining hardscape and equipment need to be laid out and installed. Planning and Designing the Aquarium System The key to successfully building a plumbed aquarium system with a sump from scratch is to focus on the planning stage. Nothing is more expensive than purchasing all your plumbing, equipment, and beginning to glue things together, only to discover your sump is too large, the skimmer is too tall, the return pump is too small, and you have twice as many gate valves and half as many unions as you need. As I go through each section, I’ll discuss how I accounted for everything I could think of during the planning stage. For example, when building the stand, I needed to account for where the holes in the tank were so I didn’t install a support right where the plumbing would go. Building a Frame Stand for a 90 Gallon Aquarium I chose the frame only design for this stand to expose the sump, plumbing, and components underneath. This system was installed in a school and every component acted as a teaching tool. I had never built a stand before. So the first thing I did was go online and search for videos, designs, and blueprints of homebuilt aquarium stands. At this stage I wasn’t concerned with any details. I wanted to familiarize myself with the process, gauge the level of difficulty, and estimate the number of tools and materials I would need with approximate cost. After I learned what a well-built, successful aquarium frame stand looks like, I began to dig a little deeper and learned about miter saws, the weight capacity of a 2x4, live vs. dead weight, and the importance of maintaining a level build throughout the whole process. When I was comfortable with the idea of building a stand myself, I started to look into specific plans and blueprints available online. I quickly came across one for a standard 75 gallon which has the same length and depth as a 90 gallon. The plans I settled on were detailed enough I felt comfortable using them to build my first frame stand without fear of missing any important details or materials. I altered two details from the original plan. I moved the cross brace locations in the top of the stand as it would have been directly under where the overflow was to sit and therefore block the plumbing. I also added and adjusted the positions of the cross braces on the bottom. Without plywood covering the bottom, the sump would need to be supported underneath by boards on all four sides, so I adjusted the cross braces so they would rest underneath the two sides of the sump. I then calculated the amount of 2x4s I would need, plus an extra board, and the number and type of screws. I then purchased a miter saw and table, and the materials. It took me about 6 hours to put the stand together. It came out level, minus a few places where I sanded down. At this point, I decided I wanted to finish it with a black exterior paint. After a quick sanding and two coats of paint, the stand was nearly finished. The last component was adhering a strip of ⅛ inch neoprene foam padding onto the top of the stand and the bottom portion where the sump would sit. This acted as a cushion and self-leveling pad. Simple Plumbing for a 90 Gallon Saltwater Aquarium I wanted the plumbing to be as simple as possible for this setup. I forwent manifolds and extra pathways for water changes and just stuck to three main sections. (1) the intake, (2) the stand pipe, and (3) the return. It should be noted, I designed the plumbing before I built the stand. I started by taking dozens of photos of the tank, sump, and overflow. Then I measured, remeasured, and measured again each and every part of the aquarium and sump. I took the normal length, width, and height measurements. I also considered the height of the top and bottom of the aquarium if it were on a 30” stand, and the distance between the top of the aquarium and the top of the sump if the sump was 3 inches (width of a 2x4) from the floor . I measured the length, width, and height of the overflow at the center and on the sides as it had a curved opening. I measured the distance between the overflow and the left and right side of the tank, the distance between the overflow and the cross brace, and even the distance between the pre-drilled holes and the back glass pane of the aquarium. Then I sat down with a whiteboard and used color-coded pens to draw (not to scale) a rough schematic of the plumbing. This drawing included what fittings would be used, their size, thread or slip, and their location. I had two schematics drawn up; they differed in the layout of the return outlets and their placement. One had them on either side of the aquarium and the other had them both coming out of the overflow. I decided to go with the second design as it would mean less 90 degree fittings (higher flow rate) and less materials. I returned to the design several times over the course of a week and followed the flow of water through the schematic and thought about how each section would affect the flow and how each fitting would impact the design. I wanted plenty of unions to facilitate disassembly if necessary. I also wanted a gate valve at the intake and the return to control overflow volume and flow rate respectively. I wanted to make sure threaded fittings were used where possible to ease any disassembly that might be required as well. After I was finally satisfied with the schematic and my materials list, I purchased everything and after it all arrived I double checked to make sure I had everything I needed. I ended up only having to purchase one more female slip x thread coupling; not too bad. When I arrived on site, I measured, cut, and assembled the plumbing according to the schematic without gluing or taping anything. When I was satisfied with the plumbing, I then disassembled and glued or taped each section ( intake, stand pipe, and return). When I was finished, I fastened the return section to the back of the stand for stability and was lucky enough to have everything align perfectly. The return pump was hard plumbed with no soft hosing and it required very little height adjustment after the fact. I waited 24 hours and began the leak test by filling the tank and sump with RODI water without any equipment installed except the return pump. I plugged the pump in and returned in another 24 hours with no leaks or issues of any kind. After the plumbing and aquarium had proven it could hold water without leaking it was time to install the rest of the equipment and add the gravel, rocks, and salt. 90 Gallon Saltwater Aquarium Hardscape As a fish only system, I didn’t want anything too complicated for the rock work. I wanted to create fish-centric habitats with plenty of open spaces to swim. I used approximately 95 lbs of various dry, live rock I had accumulated. I bleached the rock for a week, then rinsed in a RODI + Prime bath twice. Finally, I let it air dry under two commercial blowers to evaporate any remaining bleach or chlorine. The client also wanted a few pieces of fake coral and they were easy enough to come by. The dry, live rock I used also included several coral skeletons. After the leak test, I drained 80% of the RODI water into two 40 gallon Brute trash cans. I then mixed 100 gallons worth of salt in the cans while I layed down a layer of aragonite gravel and placed the rockwork. I used RODI water for the leak test so I could simply add salt and not have to drain out every drop of tap water. I then refilled the aquarium and began to install the equipment. 90 Gallon Saltwater Aquarium Equipment As a fish only system, the lighting requirements were very simple. I chose a 48” LED fixture with dimming capabilities and several color options. I placed a 300 watt heater in the sump and installed the skimmer in the middle chamber. For biological filtration, I added two large mesh bags full of Cermedia Spheres. The physical filtration is a single 4” filter sock nestled in an acrylic sock holder that fastens to the side of the sump. I intentionally lined up the sump, sock holder and intake tube. A refugium could be added later. Fish only systems arguably need more filtration than reefs because there are no higher organisms, other than bacteria, to absorb nitrates and phosphates. This type of system relies heavily on biological and chemical filtration to keep the water clean. Finished 90 Gallon Fish Only Setup And there you have it. The next steps are to begin cycling the aquarium and then start adding livestock when appropriate. I learned quite a bit from this process and enjoyed every step. To acquire new tools and learn new skills by doing and having something to show for all my effort is highly satisfying. It also helped that I kept the design of this system pretty simple. You can easily upgrade by adding extra plumbing, rolling mat filtration, auto-top-off chambers, dosing systems, etc. I hope this article provides some insight into the process of designing and building a simple saltwater aquarium. I also hope it relieves some of the inhibition in your ability to accomplish something like this and inspires you to build a system of your own.