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At What Times Should The Lighting Be On Above The Refugium
2008-02-15 23:55:00
In the refugium we are attempting to grow macro algae. The reason for this is that as they grow they remove nutrients like nitrate and phosphate out of the water. (...)
More About: Lighting , Times

Painting An Aquarium Stand
2008-02-14 20:46:00
When I constructed my aquarium cabinet out of pine great pains were taken for strength and accuracy. An aquarium full of seawater, rocks and sand is very heavy. (...)
More About: Aquarium , Painting , Stand

Is A Curved Glass Aquarium A Good Idea?
2008-02-13 17:45:00
Some know the curved glass aquarium as ?bow fronted.? It is certainly different to a standard aquarium. The front pane bends outwards, making the front panel convex. (...)
More About: Aquarium , Idea , Glass , Good

Which Is Better - An Acrylic Or Glass Aquarium?
2008-02-11 13:21:00
The aquarist when listing the equipment required for a marine system obviously runs into the aquarium questions. These are, first, what size is it going to be, then what shape is it going to be? (...)
More About: Aquarium , Glass , Acrylic

Why Do We Do Partial Water Changes?
2008-01-26 22:55:00
For a fish only aquarium or reef aquarium to look at its best there is one area that needs constant and careful attention. That area is water quality. What is water quality? (...)
More About: Water

Closed Loop Circulation - How Hard Is It To Install
2008-01-24 23:19:00
Creating good water movement in the aquarium is required in order for the aquarium filtration (if live rock is used) to be both efficient and effective, for the correct oxygenation to occur and for the transport of both food and waste around the aquarium. (...)
More About: Hard , Loop , Closed

Have You Checked Out The Spacearium
2008-01-23 23:08:00
I’ve found a website on the internet which does quite a unique looking aquarium! (...)

Salt Water versus Fresh Water
2008-01-22 15:38:00
When an opinion was sought about which type of aquarium to keep, the intention wasnâ??t to pit one against the other in some sort of competition. (...)
More About: Water , Versus , Salt , Fresh

Should You Clean The Sand In Your Aquarium
2008-01-21 13:28:00
Keeping the aquarium clean is imperative to maintaining excellent water quality but should you clean the sand? Well this depends upon what type of sand bed you have implemented into your aquarium. (...)
More About: Aquarium , Clean , Sand

Marine Fish Identification
2008-01-11 21:38:00
The marine aquarist sometimes has a problem in identifying a marine fish. (...)
More About: Fish , Marine , Identification

As Well As Our Aquarium Forum We Have Also Revamped Our Aquarium News Area
2008-01-08 15:11:00
Over the Christmas period we merged our gallery with the forum and added lots of new features to turn the forum into more of a community area. (...)
More About: News , Aquarium , Forum , Area

Saltwater Fish Compatability
2008-01-06 21:34:00
A very big aspect to ensuring the well being of the fish within your care is to ensure that they get on well with each other plus any corals or invertebrates which are in the aquarium. (...)
More About: Fish

We Have Made Changes To The Forum And The Gallery
2008-01-04 22:32:00
For a while now the forum and the gallery have been running as two separate applications on the web server. This, for obvious reasons made it hard for us to administer and moderate. (...)
More About: Gallery , Forum , Made , The Gallery

Aquarium Maintenance Software
2007-12-19 02:35:00
Both John and I record our water parameters, maintenance activities etc in a little book which we complete after each water test, when items are due for replacement etc. Over time this gives us a very good representation as to what is happening in the aquarium, any trends which can be identified, trouble which can be potentially averted prior to it happening etc. This is the way we do it and a lot of other aquarists all over the world do it this way as well. Of course there are some people who do not record any information at all. The water is simply tested to check if everything is ok. If it is then it is simply forgotten about, if it isn’t then steps are hopefully put in place to locate and rectify the issue. As with anything there are other ways in which you can record the information. One of which is via the use of computer software. Microsoft Excel can be used for such a purpose or any other type of spreadsheet based software. I suppose that a word processor based applic...
More About: Software , Aquarium , Maintenance

Start Your Very Own Fish Only Aquarium
2007-12-18 16:26:00
The saltwater fish has to be the most colourful fish currently available to the aquarist. Now you can learn how to keep these colourful animals in your very own home and gaze upon them every single day.
More About: Aquarium , Fish , Start

Download A Reef Aquarium Seawater Test Chart, A Reminder Chart, And A Gener
2007-12-18 02:37:00
These aquarium maintenance charts are available for download and will hopefully assist in the methodical testing of the seawater, the timeous changing of lighting and filter medias, and also offer a means of keeping track of aquarium livestock additions. The Test Chart : this of course is very easily adaptable to a fish only system by using only the tests that are applicable. By using a test chart and testing routinely, the aquarist can see that the seawater parameters are stable. On the other hand, any trend, such as falling calcium levels, changing pH etc can be spotted. Trends often show up, allowing the aquarist to accurately calculate, for example, the amount of an additive that is required at intervals. If the aquarist wishes to test other parameters, or exclude some, this is simply arranged. It is recommended that in the early life of a reef system tests are carried out weekly. Once the tests have shown the system as stable, and the aquarist is aware of, for example, the c...
More About: Aquarium , Download , Reef

Learn Everything You Need To Know About Filtration
2007-12-17 22:24:00
Without having an effective filtration system your salt water aquarium can not perform at full efficiency and the livestock in your care may not thrive. Discover all the techniques which can be utilised within a salt water aquarium.
More About: Learn

Beginner Saltwater Aquarium Information
2007-12-16 23:44:00
Gaining the required information to start a saltwater aquarium can be both daunting and hard. Not any more.
More About: Information , Aquarium , Beginner , Twater

Glass Thickness And Why It Is Important
2007-12-16 03:09:00
There are many very competent DIY’ers about, doing all sorts of jobs from putting up a new shelf to building a house. The marine hobby is an excellent area for a spot of [tag-tec]aquarium DIY[/tag-tec]. Many aquarists have completed DIY projects very successfully. These projects might be a filter using acrylic tube, a protein skimmer, an aquarium lighting system etc. Some go a step further than that and design and build their own aquarium. Making your own aquarium must provide tremendous satisfaction. I say must because I have never done it. I know of those who have made aquariums out of solid non-glass materials. There are also those who have done it in glass. Building an aquarium in any material is difficult. Doing it with glass calls for a lot of confidence and a fair amount of expertise. The design must be correct taking into account the amount of water that will be contained, and the height and length of the aquarium. The joints must be siliconed correctly so that there ...
More About: Glass

Guideline Basic Seawater Parameters For The Reef Aquarium
2007-12-14 19:15:00
I thought a note on the [tag-ice]water parameters[/tag-ice] for seawater in a [tag-tec]reef aquarium[/tag-tec] might be useful, so here they are. Please note that these are guideline numbers (apart from toxic items such as ammonia) - I can hear aquarists saying that theirs is different and their reef is fantastic! Ammonia NH3 (toxic) Zero (undetectable) Nitrite NO2 (toxic) Zero (undetectable) Nitrate NO3 (nuisance algae nutrient) 10 ppm (parts per million) or less. As low as possible, better undetectable. Phosphate PO4 (nuisance algae nutrient) 0.03 ppm or less. Undetectable is probably best. High phosphate can interfere with hard coral function. pH (stable as possible) 8.2 to 8.4. (Note: the wider range of 8.0 to 8.4 is acceptable provided the measurement is stable. Some healthy reefs even run at 7.9.) Alkalinity (‘buffer’) (stable as possible) 3.0 to 4.0 meq/l. (Can also be measured in dKH, multiply meq/l by 2.8. Thus dKH would be 8.4 to 11.2. There isn’t a nee...
More About: Aquarium , Reef , Basic , Guideline

The Metal Halide Reflector - Are They All The Same
2007-12-14 02:10:00
Choosing aquarium lighting primarily depends upon what you hope to keep in your aquarium. If you are keeping a fish only aquarium then you can provide effective lighting using fluorescent tubes. If you are hoping to keep a reef tank then the corals you hope to keep as well as the depth of the aquarium will determine what lighting requirements you will need. The majority of soft corals do very well under fluorescent lighting (T5, T8 etc), however if you are serious about keeping a tank full of hard corals then probably metal halide is the best for you. LED lighting is another alternative however for this post will not be covered. No matter what type of lighting you choose to use there is one thing which you must be using. A reflector. So as the title says are all reflectors the same? Well yes and no. Yes in the sense that they all reflect light. No in the sense that they reflect light in different manners. Aquarium lighting can be quite expensive to run yet it is a necessity ...
More About: Metal , Reflector

My pH Is Too Low
2007-12-13 05:14:00
pH is one of the parameters that is important in a [tag-tec]marine aquarium[/tag-tec], and is therefore checked regularly. It could be that the pH is lower than the aquarist desires. There are a few things that can be checked and tried. This may raise the level sufficiently. The first move is to consider at what time of day the water test was undertaken. If this was shortly after the lighting turned on, the low reading may be because during the night there is a tendency in some systems for the pH to fall. Therefore carry out a further test say an hour before the lights turn off. The pH may well measure higher. If desired, algae (Caulerpa) can be planted below the display aquarium and lit on an opposite cycle to the display aquarium. This will help counter the pH drop. The seawater circulation should be checked. Gas exchange takes place at air/water interfaces, so if there is insufficient movement this gas exchange will not be efficient. With adequate design, the turbulent circulat...

Don't Forget About The Children
2007-12-12 01:49:00
Keeping and maintaining a saltwater aquarium be this fish only or a reef tank is a very rewarding hobby, however it is also a very educational one as well. I have personally owned or been involved with an aquarium of some type or other for as long back as I can remember. My father taught me everything I know about aquariums and I now have the privilege of being able to do the same with my son Joshua. I have had a saltwater aquarium since well before Josh was born. In his 'younger' years he was obviusly to young to understand what everything was yet he liked (or it looked like he did anyway) to be in front of he aquarium just watching it. Probably just the colours and the movement but it was nice to see. Now that he is a bit older he is starting to understand various aspects of the hobby and is starting to show a real interest. He knows the difference between different types of corals, he has named all the fish and he is always asking what this is for, what does that do etc. Th...
More About: Children

Small Aquarium, Large Aquarium - Which Do You Choose
2007-12-11 04:27:00
After the decision has been made that you want to keep a saltwater aquarium of your own then the researching phase begins. Part of this research is to ascertain what size aquarium you actually want to have. There are a lot of factors to be taken into consideration when choosing the size of the aquarium - one of these is the space available to you. There are a lot of places (and people) who state that you must choose the biggest aquarium which you can afford and fit in. This is true to a degree as the larger the aquarium the easier it is to maintain excellent water quality and the more room for expansion (and corals) you have in the future. There is a point which I in my opinion I believe is forgotten when choosing the aquarium size and that is that it is not the size of the display aquarium which is important - it is the volume of water in the entire system. A lot of people nowadays are starting to understand the importance of this and are actively implementing sumps as well as...
More About: Aquarium , Small , Choose , Large

Live Rock Rubble - What's That Then?
2007-12-10 03:10:00
Live rock as we know is excellent at filtration within the aquarium as well as looking very natural. [tag-tec]Live rock rubble[/tag-tec] is a term which is heard of again and again and quite often people don't really understand what it is and what it can be used for. So what is it? In the large containers either at the LFS or at the distributors where the live rock is cured prior to being made available for sale there are loads and loads of bits of live rock at the bottom of the containers. This comes from bits of rock either becoming loose and falling off, being knocked off during cleaning or some other method but over time there is quite a lot of rubble at the bottom of the container. A lot of LFS' throw this away however live rock rubble is very useful to the aquarist who has a deep sand bed. For a [tag-self]deep sand bed[/tag-self] to work it must to turned over and for the deep sand bed to be turned over it must have a lot of organisms continuously digging through the s...
More About: Rock , Live , Then

Breeding Salt Water Fish - Should You Try?
2007-12-09 03:14:00
The days when most of the fish for freshwater aquariums came from the wild has gone. This is good as it means the freshwater stocking industry is generally self sustaining, and wild stocks are mainly left intact. The fish are bred in large commercial breeding facilities and also by hobbyists. This situation cannot have come about overnight. There has to have been experimentation, failures, and much time. It got there though. I remember reading an article about the neon tetra and how excited and overjoyed the aquarist was when they first bred. The marine world moves back in time compared to freshwater. Aquarists and breeding facilities are working hard to breed more fish. There are successes and several fish are being bred commercially. Perhaps the best known of these is the clownfish. The best a marine aquarist can do, where there isn’t any interest in breeding, is to purchase home-grown fish when available if they are the livestock that is desired. This reduces pressures on th...
More About: Fish , Water , Salt , Breeding , Breed

Fish Euthanasia
2007-12-08 02:51:00
Not a pleasant subject, so why write about it? Only because many years ago I was faced with the problem of a very sick and obviously suffering fish and I couldn’t do anything about it, and couldn’t stand to see it go on. At the time those more experienced were unable to suggest the problem, but did advise on how the fish could be relieved of its misery. Thankfully I have never faced such a problem since and fingers crossed never will. The aquarist who does all the proper things may never need to consider the subject. I feel reasonably certain that the majority of marine aquarists have never had such an awful decision to make. The fish in question is in dire straits: it cannot breathe properly, swims in circles/upside down/up and down, bumps into things, doesn’t hide and colouration is faded. There can be several indicators. The aquarist is at a total loss to understand what the problem is, nothing fits the known diseases and ailments, and so what treatment can be given? The ...
More About: Fish , Euthanasia , Hana

What Additives Do You Use In Your Aquarium?
2007-11-22 19:12:00
Aquarists who run [tag-tec]fish only aquarium[/tag-tec] may not use additives at all. They are really only committed to routine water changes. Additives are mainly the domain of the reef aquarist. Even with a [tag-ice]reef aquarium[/tag-ice] the additives will depend on what livestock are being kept. Fish on the reef are the same as in the fish only system, they don’t need any. It is the corals, shrimps and certain types of algae etc that may need supplementary additives for their well being. I run a soft coral reef, which is now over five years old. Nitrate and phosphate levels are so low as to be immeasurable. The reef is pretty well stocked, not least by the growth and spread of many of the corals. It has much tiny life, and this also applies to the DSB ([tag-self]deep sand bed[/tag-self]). The corals and other life need food, of course, but certain requirements must be met for their continuing welfare, even though routine water changes are performed. As this system is ...
More About: Aquarium

Aiptasia, Majano Anemones And Joes Juice
2007-11-21 03:16:00
When your aquarium is running no doubt like I did you will stare into the aquarium for hours peering into the water in the hope of seeing something new growing out of the rock. You will see all sorts of things growing, however there are some things in the aquarium, which although alive are more a pest than a welcome addition. What I am talking about here is the dreaded [tag-tec]Aiptasia[/tag-tec] and the [tag-tec]Majano anemone[/tag-tec]. Quite a few people (as i did) see the first one and think to themselves "that looks nice - I've got an anemone" but before long you wish you had never seen them. You start out with a few and before long you will have a tank full of them! This is why they are a pest. They multiply that quickly that they end up everywhere. There are numerous ways to control them. You can use shrimps in the form of peppermint shrimps, fish in the form of the copperband butterfly (I would not recommend this option as they are very hard to keep due to their feedi...
More About: Juice , Anemone

How To Move An Aquarium
2007-11-13 23:35:00
Whatever the reason the need arose to move an aquarium, and the sump if there is one, it is an action aquarists would mostly prefer to avoid. Avoidance unfortunately is usually not an option. Some aquarists take the opportunity to start again. They sell the aquarium system in entirety, and use the money obtained towards a new one. A good idea maybe, but the move still needs to take place. The advantage is the buyer usually collects and the buyer has the headache of putting it all back together again. Other aquarists will set up a new system in the desired location dry, and then move the contents of the old system directly to the new home, which does make things somewhat easier. Then the old system is sold. The majority of aquarists are faced with the move and do not wish to sell their system. They sit head in hands and gaze at their beautiful reef, knowing that it is to be destroyed, or at least temporarily. There will be some problems with the move, it is inevitable. There are t...
More About: Aquarium , Move