Reef Builders -The Reef Aquarium Blog » Reef Articles

Wisconsin Northwoods’ “Little Bohemia” of marine life

Brian Blank — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:10:22 +0000

When we think of marine aquaculture and warehouse facilities we think about the typical havens like Southern California’s thriving wholesaler industry a stone’s throw from LAX. So it’s amazing to see Drs. Foster & Smith’s LiveAquaria, one of the top-notch facilities, in the heart of America’s Midwest a five-hour drive north of Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s largest city. This post was inspired by a recent article in NewsoftheNorth.net on LiveAquaria and it’s director Kevin Kohen.

Let me frame the story for you. Northern Wisconsin was heavily based in mining and logging over the years, in fact my grandparents both Finnish and German immigrants started their new lives in America in Northern Wisconsin as farmers and loggers. Over the years, the Northwoods (or “Up North” as they say there) became the place to escape the hustle and bustle of life with vacation homes abundant on the vast and beautiful lakes of the area. In fact, during the heyday of organized crime in the 1920s and 30s, Northern Wisconsin was home to hideouts of famous gangsters like John Dillinger and Al Capone. In Manitowish Waters, less than an hour from LiveAquaria Rhinelander facility, is a resort named Little Bohemia where John Dillinger and Baby Face Nelson narrowly escaped the FBI.

Back in 2002, Drs. Foster & Smith entered into the aquaculture and marine market acquiring Kohen’s Ohio-based LiveAquaria. In 2005 they opened their well-planned and cutting edge Rhinelander facility. To see the proof, just check out their state-of-the-art filtration and holding systems we brought you from the Reef Builders Live tour of the facility last summer.

A few key points Kohen brings up in the article shows just how the hobby is not a major threat to the coral reef ecosystems around the world but has done tremendous amounts for the understanding and knowledge of the coral reefs. Building a self-sustaining industry is one of the keys to the long-term health of the hobby.

“We’re trying to offset some of this wild harvest with desirable species of coral, grown in large quantities, to be able to supply the United States with captive grown coral,” says Kohen. Although LiveAquaria hopes to promote the demand for cultivated coral, it is not seeking to completely replace the wild harvest coral industry. “When done right, selective harvesting of wild coral can benefit the reef,” he adds. “Similar to the effect selective logging can have on the health of a forest. It’s a sustainable fishery when it’s done properly. It’s very controlled, it’s highly regulated, and it can even be beneficial to coral reefs. It also provides a trade for all these people that live in these remote regions have no other means to make an income, except for their resources.”

Photo courtesy of Jonathan Bloy

Kohen also views hobbyists as a thriving component of the science and research of corals. As we’ve seen over the years, the hobby and the goal of sustaining these fragile ecosystems in captivity has added greatly to the scientific body of knowledge. “The aquarium industry has helped the scientific community with an incredible number of discoveries,” said Kohen. “If you talk to some old scientist, they don’t believe corals can be kept alive in captivity. We’ve broken so many barriers as aquarists to help scientists and reef ecologists, and to discover new species of fish. It’s a win-win for aquarium people and the scientific community. Check out the gallery below for some pictures from the Reef Builders tour of the facility last summer.

Post from: Reef Builders

Wisconsin Northwoods’ “Little Bohemia” of marine life

Wisconsin Northwoods’ “Little Bohemia” of marine life

Even reef fish like a good massage

Christine Williams — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 20:15:12 +0000

Nothing beats a good spa treatment to erase the tension of a tough week at work—the manicure, pedicure, massage…the works. Reef fishes (and not just the females) know how to benefit from a little pampering at stations manned by cleaner wrasses—the wrasses set up shop in a particular spot on the reef (or your tank), and soon the other fish know where to go to get a little TLC. We have always looked at the cleaning function and mutualism—the “patron” gets cleaned of parasites and the cleaner gets a good meal—as the sole purpose of the transaction. But is that all that goes on?

It turns out the answer is decidedly no. In addition to nibbling off parasites, it was noted that cleaner wrasses “massage” their clients—gently stroking them with their fins. They seemed to give extra attention to piscivorous fish (that might make a meal of the wrasse), and even more attention when the client was hungry. So the massage seems to pacify the client fish and make it less likely the wrasse gets eaten.

When researchers tested this in aquaria, they found something even more surprising: fish which have gotten the full massage treatment are less likely to be aggressive to ALL the other fish in the tank. Aquaria were set up with an assortment of fish, plus or minus cleaner wrasses, and observed. To illustrate the experiment, it’s convenient to think of a closed aquarium like high school; you have your football jock/bullies (here they used slingjaw wrasses), your, er, fish geek targets (fang blennies and two-tone wrasses), and everyone else. In normal conditions the slingjaws will bully the blennies. This happens often in our aquaria when bigger or more aggressive species are mixed with peaceful community fish—the jocks beat up the geeks. But, in tanks with cleaner wrasse stations, the bullies attacked only half as often. One might think that this was simply because the bullies were too busy getting cleaned, but the calming effect lasted even when the cleaning stopped. In fact, it seemed the longer and more thorough the massage aspect, the more docile the client fish was rendered.

Can reefkeepers exploit this natural mutualism? It would appear so in tanks large enough to provide sufficient food for the cleaner wrasse. One of the largest contributors to disease susceptibility and increased mortality in fish is stress. Adding a cleaner wrasse would create a “safe haven” for fishes to visit, and the fishes that get serviced leave not only feeling clean and sexy, but less aggressive. This benefits even the fish that do not get cleaned as the general tank atmosphere would be more peaceful. This benefits the wrasse as well—relaxed fish which are not as concerned with avoiding predators spend more time at cleaning stations, this giving the cleaner wrasse a better meal.

Cheney, K.L., Bshary, R., and Grutter, A.S. 2008. Cleaner fish cause predators to reduce aggression toward bystanders at cleaning stations. Behavioral Ecology 19(5) pp 1063-1067.

Photo credit: Nick Hobgood

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Even reef fish like a good massage

Even reef fish like a good massage

Advanced Aquarist’s Magazine now in print at Amazon

Ryan Gripp — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 23:06:50 +0000

For those of you that like to hold things in your hands including among other things reef magazines you’ll be happy to know that the Advanced Aquarist’s magazine is now being published in print form from the kind folks over at reefs.org. “The available editions are 100% color paperbacks measuring 8″ x 10″ in size and come in two separate volumes: the 2007 Edition and the 2008 Edition, Book 1. The 2007 Edition is a compilation of the best articles from 2007 and the 2008 Edition, Book 1 is a complete compilation of the articles from the first six months of 2008.” You can grab a copy for $38.95 for the 2007 edition and the 2008 book 1 edition will set you back $31.95. You can hop on over to Amazon to purchase your own copy.

Post from: Reef Builders

Advanced Aquarist’s Magazine now in print at Amazon

Advanced Aquarist’s Magazine now in print at Amazon

Guide of SPS coral coloration (make them more vivid, bright)

Ryan Gripp — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 18:05:59 +0000

This guide endeavors to assist you with the ever popular SPS coral. This was written by member Shadowramy and it explains specific ideas and strategies in which you can do to affect the color of your corals. This assumes you have a more then basic understanding of water parameters in your tank. Click the read link to start reading about coloring in SPS corals.

In the past I have been asked a lot about coral colorization as well as wanted to satisfy my own curiosity about specific methods to achieving certain colors. Usually I am asked, “How do you get good colors?” Which I then ask, “What specific color are you looking to enhance?” Over the past several months I have really worked on “tweaking” colors and what is needed to get certain colors. I have done my own testing as well as seen a lot of others tanks and what they have done to achieve certain colors. I think I finally have a basic map for those who are interested.

Please note: I am assuming that you meet the minimum suggested standards to keeping SPS; strong lighting, calcium at the appropriate levels, strong skimming and live rock.

Yellows

Highly dependent on Nitrate and PO4 levels. Of course all SPS colors are highly dependent on lack of N and P so I wanted to start with probably the easiest color to get, yellow. Yellows are sort of you baseline; yellows will tell you a lot about what is going on in your tank, what is needed and what is overdosed. Nitrate and/or PO4 reduction is most important, either through technical means such as nitrate/phosphate reducers or biologically through DSB, Carbon dosing and/or water changes and fuges. Basically, if you want to do SPS, I would suggest starting with an acropora that is yellow. If you can get it to say yellow for several months, you should be ready for something else.

Greens

Greens would be the next easiest color to tweak. Most green coloration can be achieved through the addition of an Iron Concentrate (Kents is what I use, however Iron is Iron). You must be very careful with Iron because it is also an Algae accelerator; this is why it is so important for you to get your yellows colors first (your N and P will be lowered).

Additionally, I use my yellows as indicators for my greens and blues. You’ll notice a deficiancy if your greens are brown color or they are paling in color. I start off by dosing Iron at about 1 drop per 50 usg twice a week and take note of what happens, color changes, Algae growth, until my yellow acroporas display a green shimmer (it wont be a solid green but a shimmer of a green/yellow).

Please note, a sign of overdosing is a darkening of tissue, when this happens you have added too much iron or too much iron is being added. Another sign of overdosing is Algae growth, stop immediately and possibly do a water change if necessary. Like everything else reef, go slowly.

Blues and some purples

This is mainly for blues but I have found is can also have an effect on purples. The supplement for this is Potassium Iodide Concentrate or Lugol’s solution, ESV Potassium Iodide Concentrate will also work; don’t just get something that says Potassium because that is a little different. Dosing should be done when blue colors become less intense. Again, using yellow corals as indicators, stop dosing when yellow corals display a green shimmer.

Reds/Pinks and some Purples

Primarily for coloring reds and pinks in Montiporas, Pocilloporas, Birdsnest, other Stys and Seriatoporas. The supplement is Potassium (not potassium iodide). If you are using a high potassium salt mix such as Oceanic, Tropical Marine Pro and you are doing regular water changes, you are more than likely not going to need to supplement this much.

For dosing you can use your monitporas, especially caps as indicators. Supplementing is required when Montiporas display slower growth and appear washed out to grey appearance. Indicators on Stys and Pocs are when they look like they have been exposed to air. Polyps are completely withdrawn and colors are light. Other indicators of potassium deficiency is when the pinks turn into a light brown and when acroporas loose their color and get lighter and pale. A major potassium deficiency is seen when tissue is lost, mostly starting from the base opposed to spotting (patchy look). And overdose can lead to tip burning so don’t mistake tip burn for new growth. Tips burns will be white with no polyps.

Purples

Probably one of the hardest coloration of all acroporas from my experience since it is a combination of several variables.

First and foremost is water clarity, which means Carbon and/or filter socks. I have also had good result from biological filters such as using cryptic zones, which produce seasquirts, sponges and other filter feeding animals. Zeo Sponge Power, which can be used in any system, feeds sponges. Sponges are great because they can filter a mass amount of water for better water clarity.

From what I have noted, increased water clarify will first effect SPS tips but not the complete base. I have seen nana and valida with really nice purple tips but brown/tan/white bases. I have seen the same nana and valida in another’s tanks, which met all other parameters with a full purple from base to tip.

Second being lighting. From my observations of my own tank and others, purples seem to love 420-440nm range light spectrum, those found in actinics and 20K halides. Some of the best purples I have seen are in tanks that have 440nm blue actinics (ATI Blue+, Giessman Actinic) or 20K Halides (Radium, XM 20K).

Third, supplements such as Iodide and Potassium (see blues and Reds/Pinks). Again, make sure your greens are green and yellows are yellow. Your blue should be bright with depth. Iodide will also help if you have tip burn.

These are just my observations through testing and I am sure in the future other factors will be seen and added. Please feel free to comment with your own observations, data is very important to moving forward.

Author: Shadowramy

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Guide of SPS coral coloration (make them more vivid, bright)

Guide of SPS coral coloration (make them more vivid, bright)

Banggai Cardinalfish Pterapogon kaunderni saltwater fish profile

Ryan Gripp — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 19:45:22 +0000

The Banggai cardinalfish are one of the more popular saltwater fish for the aquarium hobby. It looks similar to the freshwater angelfish with its silver and black coloration. The bottom and top of the caudal peduncle have a black stripe that is white edged that goes to the tip of the caudal fin. The pelvic fin along with the anal fin are very similar to the two seperate dorsal fins, and almost seem to mirror the other.

This fish was discovered not that long ago in 1990 in the Banggai Islands of Sulawesi in Indonesida. These fish are easily bred in the home aquarium and in public aquariums. They will eat all meaty foods, including live brine shrimp plus fresh or frozen foods. These are peaceful fish and will only sometimes quarrel between themselves.

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Banggai Cardinalfish Pterapogon kaunderni saltwater fish profile

Banggai Cardinalfish Pterapogon kaunderni saltwater fish profile

Christmas Tree Worms (Spirobranchus giganteus) guide

Ryan Gripp — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 00:37:22 +0000

Christmas trees worms are a popular addition to the modern home aquarium. Sadly most die with a few short months, generally from an array of problems ranging from poor water quality or malnutrition. Christmas tree worms are not for a beginning aquarist, and should only be tempted by advanced aquarists.

Christmas Tree Worms
The Christmas tree worm, Spirobranchus giganteus, is a Christmas tree-shaped serpulid tube-dwelling worm with magnificent twin spirals of plumes used for feeding and respiration. This cone-shaped worm is one of the most widely recognized sedentary polychaete worms. They come in many colors including orange, yellow, blue, and white and, though they are small with an average 3.8 cm in span, the are easily spotted due to their shape, beauty, and color. The colorful plumes, or tentacles, are used for passive feeding on suspended food particles and plankton in the water. The plumes are also used for respiration. Though the plumes are visible, most of the worm is anchored in its burrow that it bores into a live calcareous coral. Christmas tree worms are very sensitive to disturbances and will rapidly retract into the burrow at the slightest touch or passing shadow. They typically re-emerge a minute later, very slowly, to test the water before fully extending their plumes.

If you have problems keeping SPS corals alive in your aquarium then you should steer clear of the christmas tree worms. They are filter feeders which require filter type foods such as live rotifers and brineshrimp nauplii.

Recommended Water parameters for keeping Christmas Tree Worms
PH: 8.2-8.3
Temperature: 77-79F
Ammonia: zero
Nitrite: zero
Nitrate: zero
Specific Gravity: 1.021-1.026
Dissolved Oxygen: 7-8 ppm
Calcium: 400-450 ppm
Phosphates: zero
KH: A natural seawater level of 7 dKH
Redox Potential: 350-400mv

Christmas Tree Worms Retracting on Reef Video

References:

1 Spirobranchus gigantea corniculatus (TSN 68304)
2. Spirobranchus gigantea gigantea (TSN 68305)
3. Dakin, N (1996) The Marine Aquarium Problem Solver, Keeping Invertebrates and saltwater fish
3. Christmas Tree Worm, Spirobranchus giganteus

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Christmas Tree Worms (Spirobranchus giganteus) guide

Christmas Tree Worms (Spirobranchus giganteus) guide

Beginners Guide to saltwater reef aquariums

Ryan Gripp — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 20:36:46 +0000

When I first saw a saltwater aquarium I don’t remember my age, but I will never forget the sight of that tank. If you are like me you want that in your home, business or wherever you are so that you may enjoy it at all times. It is interesting isn’t it? To sit and stare and look at a saltwater aquarium for hours, the fish, invertebrates and other creatures in their own little world. It just captures your attention, is relaxing, and needless to say, is an enjoyable way to reduce stress. This guide endeavors to assist you in reaching your goal of enjoying a piece of the saltwater world.

Part 1: Budget As with any new hobby, you would be wise to set a budget. Owning a saltwater aquarium is just such a hobby where a budget is an absolute must. A budget will let you know what you can and cannot afford. As with most who want to get into this hobby, we love to see those fancy 15 year reef projects and want the same result tomorrow. So you really have to ask yourself, can you afford all of the bells and whistles and losses which might certainly occur when starting out, or am I looking to just start with a barebones system to get up and going. Once you have set a budget, you can begin to move into the planning stages. Please for the sake of all aquatic life, don’t jump feet first into this without planning ahead. A good rule in setting a budget is to figure at least $25 per gallon. Yes that is correct. I am sure you are now feeling a little shock as the math is done and you are thinking, “it is just fish” as a lot of wives will say. But it is much more than that “honey”, it will “reduce stress”. It will help reduce stress, but getting started might create stress. Oh and if you are a do-it-yourself kind of person then you are already saving yourself money. If you are not the do-it-yourself kind of person, anything can be bought, and don’t worry, neither am I.

Part 2: Equipment When I had just turned sixteen, I, like the rest of the world wanted a car. Without a car, you can’t go anywhere in Texas. So I had to have the right equipment to do things. The same can be said about Saltwater Aquariums. Without the right equipment you have nothing. Here is a quick list of the things you need to have a basic saltwater aquarium.

Aquarium The aquarium is the single most important piece of equipment you will buy. Granted I may say that again on something else, but for the time being, it is very important. There are two types of aquariums, glass and acrylic. Acrylic tanks are stronger, lighter, and won’t be affected as much by your room temperature versus glass tanks. The drawback to acrylic tanks is that they scratch easily. This can be a very big drawback. I personally hate acrylic because of this fact. Glass tanks do not scratch as easily, but they are heavier and can crack and leak. Both have pros and cons. This is nothing more than personal preference. Picking one type of tank over the other will not make your tank look better, but it might make it last longer. Get the biggest one that you can afford as well as fit in the location that you want.

Why should you get the biggest one that you can afford? The bigger the total system volume, the more stable your aquarium is, which means less water changes, and less time spent by you in maintaining your new found hobby. I had a 55 gallon starting up and when I got my new 75 gallon it was much easier to maintain because the tank parameters were less affected by minor changes, thus making it more stable. A quick note about stands: be sure that your stand will be able to support your aquarium weight plus water. More importantly, make sure your floor will support the weight. This is especially important if this is a second floor or higher room and is not designed for the types of weight we are discussing here. Water is very heavy. At about 9 pounds per US gallon, this can add up very quickly! Consider a 75 gallon glass tank. Basic weight will be around 140 lbs and when you add water this becomes almost 900 lbs! Don’t forget that when adding any of the following two aspects (substrates and or live rock), will also in turn add additional weight as well.

Substrate Substrate is the next step when planning your saltwater aquarium. There are several different types to choose from, all of which are great for beginners, however, some as with most things are better. Since you are just starting out, you will want a regular sand bed, which is about 1 inch deep. Figure at least one pound of substrate per gallon. If you have a 90 gallon tank, that is 90 pounds total of substrate. You can pick between crushed coral which is commonly sold at national pet chains or live sand which can be purchased from online vendors or perhaps a local store may carry or be able to order it for you. Crushed coral is less expensive than live sand, but collects more detritus, which means more tank maintenance for you. Live sand is the best substrate you can pick, and is expensive, but it offers the most efficient substrate for your aquarium. What is live sand? Live sand is sand that has been taken directly from the ocean floor. There is also something called southdown playground sand, which is a subject for future discussion.

Live Rock Live rock is a huge investment for you aquarium but can be well worth it. Live rock is the single best way to improve your filtration of your aquarium which will make your water clearer your fish happier. It provides lots of area to attach corals including your invertebrates who will love the environment as well. Live rock acts as a natural biological filter. Figure at least 1 pound per gallon. You can max out at 2 pounds per gallon but that is again a personal preference. You can either get this from your local pet store or order from an online vendor. Some of the best rock I have found has been through online vendors.

Salt Mix Saltwater isn’t salt without the salt mix. If you thought that you would be just using table salt then you will be in for a big surprise. The natural ocean water contains more than just salt. It contains a host of other minerals that create proper water chemistry. Salt is measured in relative gravity and should be between 1.022 and 1.025. There are several brands that you can buy, however the key is that whichever one you decide to use, you need to stick with it. That is the most important aspect of this hobby: consistency.

Filtering or Filters If you bought live rock and live sand, the only thing you will need is a mechanical filter or something that catches free floating debris. You can buy an overflow for your aquarium and have that drain into a sump sock system, or a hang on the back filter. I really recommend the overflow system into the sump. The most important thing is water flow which I will get to a little later on.

Lighting Okay, we have reached the part where you want to know which animals to place inside your saltwater aquarium. Do you want to keep corals or fish only? I suggest that you plan on keeping corals from the start. Eventually you will be learning more and more that will make keeping corals easy and something that is nice to add to your aquatic world. It is important to consider this when speaking of lights because different types of coral have different light requirements. Soft corals will do fine under fluorescent, power compact, and Very High Output (VHO). Hard corals need Metal Halides or T5 fluorescent fixtures in order to survive. This is because a lot of hard corals can be compared to plants and thus they require TONS of light to survive.

Protein Skimmer A protein skimmer will increase the quality of your aquarium water and is a must have. I would not run a saltwater aquarium without one. When shopping for one, look for either a needle-wheel or a re-circulating design. Those are the best.

Water Temperature Saltwater Aquariums require a constant and stable temperature. This is achieved via a heater and/or chiller. If you live in a climate that is cold for most of the year a chiller may not be needed. I always recommend a heater since most aquariums are indoors and home air conditioning will affect the water temperature in your tank. There are a lot of horror stories about where a heater has gotten “stuck” and has literally cooked the livestock. Therefore it is extremely important to invest in a quality heater. If you did decide on Metal Halide Lighting, this will increase the temperature in your tank. If you are using such lighting, I would highly recommend a chiller or fans blowing across the aquarium to cool it down, otherwise your temperature will peek and your fish and corals will die. A good thermometer is also something that is very important to have. If you are able to afford one, a controller can be a great friend in maintaining the environment. The key to remember is that your water temp should be between 78-84F.

Water Flow Good water flow contributes to the success of a saltwater aquarium. In a reef aquarium, water flow should be at least 20x that of the size of the aquarium. If you had a 50 gallon aquarium, total water flow or gallons-per-hour (GPH) should be 1000GPH. Water flow can be achieved by power heads which are like mini pumps inside your aquarium. They easily stick on glass with suction cups, are adjustable, and most are inexpensive.

Test Kits & Precision Grade Hydrometer Water parameters tell you if you will have success in keeping a saltwater tank. Brands that I recommend are Seachem and Salifert. Those are the best you can buy. When you first start out, a 6 in 1 test kit is fine but you will eventually need to upgrade to a higher quality test kit that measures more precisely your levels. A hydrometer measures specific gravity of your aquarium. This is an absolute must have tool when keeping a successful salt water aquarium. One important thing to remember when purchasing a hydrometer is that precision grade hydrometers are much more accurate than refractometers. This can easily be seen in the prices alone. You can pick up a precision hydrometer for around $50 compared to a general hydrometer for around $9. This can make a very big difference in the success of your aquarium.

Quarantine Tank A quarantine tank is great for keeping new corals or fish in before they go into your main display tank, but is not something that you really want to avoid NEEDING. This is necessary when you need to treat an illness of fish or other invertebrates without treating the whole tank. Some medicines will kill other inhabitants in your aquarium. In order not to add stress to the treated fish or invertebrate, make sure that the water parameters in the quarantine tank are kept as close to your primary tank as possible. A 10 gallon is a perfect size tank for this. Another simple and viable option is to use a simple hang on filter as well.

Odds and Ends It is helpful if you make sure that you have a few 5 gallon buckets (to drain and mix new saltwater), a scraper (to clean the glass or acrylic), a fish net and a power strip to run your aquarium system.

Part 3: Setup of your new tank So you have purchased all of your equipment. This is not a throw it together process. Get used to the slow boring process of cycling your tank. It is painfully slow, but you will be glad you did it. You are going to learn a lot with this process and that is why it is so important.

It all comes together Choosing where your aquarium will sit is very important. This is going to be the tank’s home for possibly years especially because it is very heavy and very difficult to move after it is in place. It is very important not to have it by a major door or air duct with either hot or cold air flowing near it. This one point will help regulate the temperature. Here comes the fun part. You actually get to put everything together now. Place your stand in the location you chose earlier. Lift your aquarium up on top of the stand (get help from someone if you think you need it). Once this is done, you can now fill your aquarium up with tap water to test for leaks. Yes you need to do this, and yes I know this is a pain. You just don’t want to start adding salt right away. Always check for leaks, it will save you a headache later.

You can add a background if you want. There are basically two ways in which to do this. Either buy a pre-printed background or paint a background on the back of your tank. If you buy a pre-printed background pick either a straight black or blue background. Do not pick other designs because it only detracts from your live rock, sand and livestock. If you decide to paint, remember you are painting the outside of the glass or acrylic, not the inside. Make sure you give ample time for your paint to dry.

Adding your equipment is especially easy if you picked a sump design. You can place all of your equipment in your sump. If you didn’t, set up your equipment according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Make sure you use a drip loop on all cords as this will save shocking your fish and perhaps a electrical fire.

Bring on the water Your aquarium will only be as healthy as the water you put in it thus repeat this to yourself: Always use reverse osmosis/de-ionized (RO/DI) water. You can either go to the store and buy this water, or invest in a RO/DI filter and use that for your drinking water as well. This is the choice of most hobbyists since it is cheaper at like 5 cents per gallon. For the first time you can mix your salt that you purchased earlier in your 5 gallon buckets adding it to your tank. You want to shoot for a SG of about 1.024. if you bought any powerheads for your tank you can turn those on to help with mixing the water in your tank. Once the water is added and the SG is good, then you need to relax and sit back. We are going to let the tank sit for a bit.

Nitrogen Cycle Since we have the tank up and running, we can add fish right? No. We now have to go thru the Nitrogen Cycle. You should test your aquarium water every day until your ammonia reaches 0. At first it will read 0, but then will creep up. This may take a few weeks to get thru. You must wait until this process is complete before you add livestock. Now is the time to purchase live rock. Live rock as discussed earlier acts as a natural biological filter and speeds up the cycling time. You can place the rock in the tank and have your powerheads pointed towards the rock, this helps cure the rock and remove any dying organisms. You can remove any water with your gravel vacuum to siphon the debris, and then just make new water with your salt mix and add that back into your aquarium.

Adding Substrate Arranging the rock in a manner that you like is called aquascaping. You want to do this after the live rock has been cured. When you add your substrate your water will be cloudy, this is normal, it will eventually get stable again. At this point you need to make sure you have a reliable test kit that has at least ammonia, ph, nitrate and nitrate along with PH. If you are thinking reef you need to buy calcium, carbonate hardness, magnesium, phosphate. Temperature: 78°F-82°F Specific Gravity: 1.024 PH: 8.3 Ammonia: 0 Nitrite: 0 Nirate: 0 Carbonate Hardness 7-11 dKH

Adding livestock If you achieve these parameters then you can begin adding livestock! Congratualtions! You’ve come a long way. First, start with smaller livestock such as crabs and snails. If these do great for a few weeks then you can buy fish. Don’t forget to acclimate your new livestock (this is covered in another article)

Maintenance As with everything you buy, odds are that it requires maintenance. This is true with saltwater aquariums too. You need to do water changes at least 20% of your tanks volume, which for example: if you had a 100 gallon tank, 20% would be 20 gallons. You remove this old water, and mix fresh new water from RO/DI source water. You can either do this weekly or monthly. Whatever schedule you decide to keep, stick to it! The secret to keeping a successful saltwater aquarium is stable tank parameters. If something gets out of whack, seek advice on the forums to correct it.

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Beginners Guide to saltwater reef aquariums

Beginners Guide to saltwater reef aquariums

Artificial reef near Miami is a cemetery 45 feet down

Ryan Gripp — Wed, 14 May 2008 13:01:43 +0000

About 3 1/4 miles off the coast of Miami there lies a cemetery. It has enough for over 125,000 remains when all is said and done. Located about 45 feet down below the water’s surface. How does one end up down there? “The ashes are mixed with cement designed for underwater use and fitted into a mold, which a diver then places and secures into the reef. A copper and bronze plaque is installed with the person’s name, date of birth and death. There is also a line for a message.” The cost of placement starts at $995 (which isn’t bad) and can go as high as $6495 for those who want to be placed inside the base of a lion statue for all eternity.

Read

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Artificial reef near Miami is a cemetery 45 feet down

Artificial reef near Miami is a cemetery 45 feet down

Reef Ramblings: Clamming Around Part II: Spawning Tridacnids

Adam — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 23:55:42 +0000

Reef Ramblings: Clamming Around
Part II: Spawning Tridacnids
Adam Blundell M.S.

Introduction
In the previous article I covered the many reasons why hobbyists would be interested in keeping Tridacnid clams.To sum up that article, Tridacnids are a perfect animal for captive care. For the more advanced hobbyists, or at least the more adventurous hobbyists, Tridacnid clams are potentially wonderful animals to aquaculture, experiment, and study.

What Has Been Done
Clams have come a long way. I’m most surprised by this because I don’t personally see many constituents pushing for advancements with clams, yet much progress has been made. Today thousands of clams are aquacultured. Many of these farmed clams end in the food system, but many find their way in to the marine ornamental industry. This is fabulous! Clams today are farmed in huge outdoor ponds and reaceways. It would be safe to say that the high price hobbyists pay for clams (compared to the food industry) has pushed the market towards the ornamental industry.

What Is On The Horizon
Clam farming may soon become a home-based project. It is quite probable and possible that clams will become commonly cultured animals. Imagine trading baby clams like trading coral frags. Imagine attending a fish geek conference and seeing a hobbyist with a tradeshow booth… with hundreds of baby clams for sale.

A clam in a holding tank

Reasons to Culture Clams
1) It can be done.

We are currently seeing great success with thousands of clams being commercially raised.

2) It is easy.

A very simple procedure and protocol has already been developed for simple clam culture.

3) Market availability.

You can sell clams all day long. Despite huge commercial aquaculture facilities already in place, many clams are still collected from reefs. Any local pet store can provide evidence that clams are selling as fast as ever before.

4) Cost effective.

One could argue the cost of time involved, but in terms of cash flow clams are cheap. They need just a few things to grow from larvae to adults: light, saltwater, fish poop.

5) High fecundity.

One spawning can occur in about 15 minutes. For some clams this can produce up to 500 million eggs. Just for a reference that means a hobbyist could have more clam eggs in one day than there are people in the entire United States. If only 1% of those larvae made it to market size that would still be twice as many clams as people in my home state. And that is from just one clam, on one day.

6) Space feasibility.

To culture a few dozen clams you would need a 10 gallon tank and a window sill. Even the most novice of hobbyists can convince their wife’s to give them that much room.

Spawning Clams

Thankfully I didn’t have to figure this out. Trial and error overseas has developed a great system for spawning clams. Some variations exist and have been covered well by Ellis and colleagues (Ellis 1998). Shown here is the procedure I follow.

A large whiteboard displays the procedure used in the lab

Adam’s Preferred Method (for more details please contact the author)Husbandry Stage

1- Obtain and house large reproductive sized clams. This size varies among the species, but for starters we’re looking at 5” Crocea clams.

2- Provide healthy conditions (lighting and carbonate sources).

Spawning Stage

1- Mix 16mg of Serotonin (5’-hydroxytryptamine) into 20ml of filtered seawater from the clam holding tank.

2- Have all beakers, containers, pipettes, and syringes labeled and in order.

Weighing out chemicals to stimulate clam spawning

Injection Stage

1- Select injection site. This varies from scientist to scientist but I currently subscribe to the theory of injecting BELOW the excurrent siphon. This is done nearly straight up and down by piercing through the mantle tissue into the internal organs.

2- Once you feel the needle make its way into the muscle mass or organ tissue, inject 2ml of the serotonin mixture (many authors recommend only 1ml).

3- Carefully remove needle and allow clam time to open back up.

Injecting Serotonin

The process of stimulating clams to spawn in captivity

Collecting Gametes

1- About 10 minutes after injecting clams the clam will begin to expel sperm. This can be easily pulled out with a pipette or by scooping it out with a cup. The sperm mixture is a cloudy white mixture.

2- About 10 minutes after the release of sperm you may get eggs. Not all clams are old enough and healthy enough to produce and release eggs. This is where proper selection of broodstock is important.

3- Collect the eggs mass, which looks very similar to the sperm released, except you can sometimes see granules (eggs) if you look closely. It should be noted that while I haven’t seen it reported before we noticed a difference in buoyancy between the sperm and eggs. In our tests the sperm floated upward into the water column while the egg mass decended down towards the base of the clam.

Clam releasing sperm into the water column

Fertilization

1- Mix the collected eggs solution into filtered seawater. I like to mix up enough water with the eggs to create a solution that is 1L in volume. And now prepare the sperm mixture. I have no way to really quantify the sperm count but I’ll do my best. Take all of the collected sperm from one clam and mix it with filtered seawater (from the clam holding tank). Mix enough water to make 500ml. From this solution I recommend using 5ml total for the fertilization process. This number will surely change with further studies but appears to be a good starting place this early in the research. The sperm are mixed with the eggs. WARNING- too little sperm is never a problem, too much sperm causes numerous problems. When in doubt, use less sperm.

2- The eggs are reported to be viable for 15 minutes post release from various sources. For this reason using sperm and eggs from several clams can be challenging as you are racing against time.

3- Fertilization in marine invertebrates is often instantaneous. Far more control factors and recognition sites are present on sperm-egg combinations than are found in animals like humans, dogs, horses, fishes. However, it should be noted that Tridacnids appear to be a bit of an anomaly as their fertilization process does not quickly prevent polyspermy. In fact it is quite easy to “over fertilize” an egg in laboratory settings. I hypothesize that this may also happen in natural conditions and may contribute to their very low success rate.

Tridacnid sperm and eggs as seen through a microscope

Grow Out Stages

1- This will be reported in the next installment of this series.

Conclusion

While the process of rearing clams is still in its infancy, the process of spawning clams is now a reality. It is my hope that this article will help encourage a handful of hobbyists to take the plunge.

Finally I’d like to thank two of my great friends. Clam gurus James Fatherree and Shane Silcox have provided the key ingredient for my clam studies… enthusiasm. My thanks to the two of you.

Glam Guru- Shane Silcox

James Fatherree and Adam Blundell

Author Information

Adam Blundell M.S. is a hobbyist, lecturer, author, teacher, and research biologist. Adam works for the University of Utah in Pathology and in Marine Biology. He currently helps run the Wasatch Marine Aquarium Society, of which he is a former president. Adam is also the director of the Aquatic & Terrestrial Research Team, a group which bridges the gap between hobbyists and scientists. Adam can be reached by email on his author forum.

References and Suggested Readings

Ellis, S. (1998) “Spawning and Early Larval Rearing of Giant Clams (Bivalvia: Tridacnidae)”, Center for Tropical and Subtropical Aquaculture.

Fatherree, J. (2007) “Giant Clams in the Sea and the Aquarium”, Liquid Medium. Tampa FL, USA.

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Reef Ramblings: Clamming Around Part II: Spawning Tridacnids

Reef Ramblings: Clamming Around Part II: Spawning Tridacnids

Clamming Around Part I: The Basics of Tridacnidae

Adam — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 23:33:40 +0000

Introduction

Giant Clams are amazing. Let me just start by saying that. The members of the family Tridacnidae are also known as the Tridacnids or as the Giant Clams. These animals are truly amazing. Within the phylum Mollusca there are about 115,000 species on Earth, with 30,000 of them contained in the Bivalvia class (Bivalves). Of those 30,000 bivalves a whopping 8 belong to the Family Tridacnidae. It is safe to say that in the grand scheme of things they are certainly oddities. That isn’t to say they are rare in numbers of individuals, just odd from an evolutionary standpoint.

Tridacnids are amazing for several reasons. To me, the most underappreciated fact is that they are photosynthetic.Well, that is to say they contain zooxanthellae which are photosynthetic. I won’t go into zooxanthellae here because I’m sure the readers of this article are quite familiar with symbiosis systems from their experience with corals. And that is just my point!Zooxanthellae and corals go together like peanut butter and jam. Zooxanthellae and clams go together like peanut butter and ice cream; it isn’t that common but it works for a few. The fact that these moluscs have developed the ability to house zooxanthellae is truly unique. In fact clam guru James Fatherree has clearly stated that the zooxanthellae found in Tridacnids is able to produce all of the energy needed by these animals (Fatherree 2006). This makes them a perfect candidate for home aquaria… which we’ll get to later.

Understanding Tridacnid Physiology

What has a heart and kidneys but no brain?….. you guessed it, a Clam.
Clams “work” by letting water flow into their mantle cavity through an inhalant siphon and then out an exhalent siphon. While inside the mantle cavity the water passes by the gills and allowing for gas exchange and for nutrient collection.
How exactly does the water move through the clam? Well it is possible that a clam could use muscular contractions to push water (and indirectly pull water) into the tissue. This however is something I have not seen.Like many sponges it is thought that as water passes quickly over the top of the clam (near the exhalent siphon) it draws water from within the clam upward. As this water moves out of the clam the surrounding water would flow into the inhalant siphon to take its place. This may be working but it would seem that orientation would be important (meaning does the clam face forward, sideways or backwards to the direction of the current). According to Fatherree (personal communication in 2007) this orientation does not appear to be important in clam health and growth.Indeed many photos I’ve seen show up to a dozen clams all living right beside each other and all scattered about without any form of direction.

From Fatherree 2007: A) shell B) mantle cavity C) digestive organs D) heart E) kidneys

F) muscles G) anus H) exhalent siphon I) inhalent siphon J) gills

K) byssal organ and foot L) byssus

Clam Feeding

I can safely say that all clams eat.They eat phytoplankton and zooplankton.Anything small that passes into their inhalant siphon is fair game. However, that is (or at least can be) a very small portion of their energy intake. Clams house zooxanthellae and the zooxanthellae (remarkably) have the ability to meet all the energy requirements of a clam.Don’t believe me? Look it up (Fatherree 2007).

Clams grow to a maximum size that is fickle.Genetics certainly play a huge role in this.Some species of clams are just big (T. gigas) and some are just small (T. crocea). However within each species there is a great amount of variation. Please, don’t look at the maximum size a clam can reach and hope for that. It would be far better to look at the average size of a species, but even that is a guess. Many clams grow quickly in an effort to reach reproductive size. Once there, the need to grow takes a back seat to the need to reproduce. Think of this as clam libido kicking in.

Shown here is the clam bed kept in the home aquarium of clam expert Shane Silcox

Aquarium Husbandry
Clams are the ideal reef tank inhabitant. They are aquacultured, easy to keep, ship well, easy to feed, and non aggressive. Some aquarists also like the fact that clams are often quite beautiful. Here are some quick tips and thoughts regarding clams:

1- if you buy a large clam from a local pet store it is very possible that it has already reached its maximum size. For smaller clams they often grow quite quickly and require a lot of calcium and carbonate, so check those levels often.
2- clams need halides.
3- clams appear very different when viewed from above and not from the side.
4- cheap, environmentally friendly, and easy to keep

Basic clam husbandry is no different than most reef tanks. While it is possible to keep clams under “non metal halide” conditions it is a sure bet that metal halides will improve your chances of succeeding with clams. In fact many clams live for months under power compact bulbs yet the owner can’t see that the clam is slowly dieing.Get halides and do it right.
Feeding clams appears to be unnecessary. However detritus can be a great food source and some aquarists report phytoplankton as well. These filter feeders can certainly remove organics; they just may not need to.
And finally keep the water clean. Most reef aquarists are familiar with protein skimmers, water changes, and all that goes into keeping nutrient free clean water. This is also very important when keeping clams. Although quite tolerant of pollutants it is recommended the aquarium be kept as nutrient free as can be.

Shown here a pair of anemonefish hosting in a clam

Author Information
Adam Blundell M.S. is a hobbyist, lecturer, author, teacher, and research biologist.Adam works for the University of Utah’s School of Medicine in Pathology and in Marine Biology.He currently helps run the Wasatch Marine Aquarium Society, of which he is a former president.Adam is also the director of the Aquatic & Terrestrial Research Team, a group which bridges the gap between hobbyists and scientists.Adam can be reached by his author forum.

References and Suggested Readings
Fatherree, J. (2007) “Giant Clams in the Sea and the Aquarium”. Liquid Medium. Tampa, Florida. USA.

Norton, J.H., Jones, G. (1992) “The Giant Clam: An Anatomical and Histological Atlas”. ACTAR Monograph Series No 14 Canberra, Australia.

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Clamming Around Part I: The Basics of Tridacnidae

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