Stirring the Salts

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macman7010

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Dec 28, 2002
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Fifteen years of keeping freshwater aquarium fish has taught me a lot. Not just about Fish Biology, and water chemistry, and aquatic parasites but also about organization, routine, and how to have a careful eye when judging new specimens. It has taught me about quarantining new fish, treating sick fish, and testing water through chemical means to make sure it is one hundred percent perfect for the fish who will soon occupy it. Over the years I have had Discus, African and South American Cichlids, and a variety of predatory fish including Oscars, Piranhas, Bischirs and Arowanas. They have all presented their own variety of differences and difficulties, although knock on wood I have been successful in keeping them all. So this year, after much delay and realizing that there was little in the world of freshwater fish that I had not at some time had swarming around in my aquarium, I decided to set up a marine tank. I read, researched online, read some more, talked to experts, and searched about the best and most efficient ways to set up a marine tank. I juggled the idea of invertabres, no invertabres, fish only with live rock (FOWLR), fish only, reef, coral, no coral, etc. After much consideration, and after a lot of debate with a variety of fish store owners I decided to set up a fifty five gallon fish only with live rock marine tank.

For those of you, who are like I was, freshwater only aquarium hobbyists let me first say that a marine tank is another world and much unlike the freshwater side of things. The only similarity that you will find is that many of the marketed filtration units and chemicals apply to both, aside from that those are the only similarities to be found. In addition I have found that the chemicals that are marked for both Fresh and Saltwater are far inferior to those designed specifically for marine. So I had my tank, and after installing an under gravel filter and dual power heads I moved on to include dual Aqua Clear 500 filters. After reading about the current and water requirements of marine fish I figured this set-up cycling about 1,000 gallons of water per hour would keep the water moving and clean at the same time. To start I cycled the water with Marine Bio Spira from Marineland Labs and added the typical water conditioners along with Oceanic Marine Salt. Once I hit a salinity of 1.022, a temperature of 78 degrees Fahrenheit, and a PH value of about 8.3 I added 20 pounds of pre-cured Fiji live rock. After that I let it stand a week and went shopping for my first tenant.

Mistake #1:

One day while browsing a local fish store I came upon the much popular Porcupine Puffer Fish. This fish can be found in just about any tropical sea world wide, and attains a maximum size of between 12 – 15 inches. In addition to that the Porcupine Puffer can inflate itself with both air and water to ward off predators. If you ever acquire one of these marvelous fish be sure to never allow it to inflate with air as the fish will struggle to deflate itself afterwards.

After a brief conversation with the store owners and being told the fish would reach a maximum length of 8 inches I picked one up. Since I knew my tank would be fish only the puffer’s love of shrimp and other invertabres did not bother me. Once acclimated I placed the puffer into my new tank and for about ten days everything was going well. The diet of frozen krill and Formula 1 was well accepted by the puffer and the water conditions seemed optimal.

Mistake #1:

I always say with freshwater to allow yourself one week between the introductions of new fish into a cycling aquarium. This typically gives the biological filter enough time to rebuild and recoup with the new arrivals. Foolishly I allowed this same principle to apply to my marine aquarium. So I added five more pounds of cured live rock and went searching for a new fish. I came across a marvelous Yellow Tang and after realizing this would make a suitable mate for my puffer decided to purchase him. Again for about one week to ten days all seemed well on the horizon.

Mistake #3:

I decided after two weeks of success to make my tank more of a community and went shopping for another addition to the tank. This time I spotted a Red Volitan Lionfish at a local fish shop and after a brief discussion with the owner decided to pick him up. Again, like before for about one week all seemed well.

Four weeks into the set-up things started going hay wire. First the Yellow Tang became infected with the marine version of Ich. I moved him to a separate tank and treated him with a mild copper solution for about ten days and returned him. I cleaned the display tank only to find that the Lionfish had now been affected. Again I administered copper and quarantine and in time the Lionfish was clear only to be struck with cloudy eyes. At this point I gave the Lionfish to a friend who owns a fish store for treatment and as an addition to his large in store display tank. The puffer by this point was covered in what turned out to be marine velvet. After treatment the puffer was given to the same friend for the same in store display.

Now my only healthy tenant was the Yellow Tang who appeared to be well. I added more live rock, cleaned the tank, re-cycled it with several products and added various invertabres. In addition to that I purchased a Coral Life compact lighting set to set off the finished tank. I upped the filtration with another Power Head and Quick Filter and buffered the water with some trace elements. Two weeks later all seemed well. I decided to drop the idea of raising large marine fish and decided some clownfish would make suitable tenants to the now Fish, Live Rock, and Invertabre tank. I acquired two Sebae Clownfish from a friend and started anew. Soon the clowns were covered in fungus and before they had been in my water a mere seven days they were dead. More and more losses mounting! My tank was turning into the beach at Normandy during the D-Day invasion.

So after another thorough cleaning, more cycling, more live rock and three weeks of waiting it out things seemed back on track, and still the tang was holding strong – Ever the vigilant soldier. During a nearby fish show I acquired a Pacific Blue Tang and added him to my tank. For about twelve days he was doing well until he came down with what appeared to be yet another case of marine ich. I quarantined him with high temperature and copper hoping for a quick recovery. No such luck, just one day after being diagnosed the tang was dead. Losing a Pacific Blue Tang is a terrible and disturbing thing to be brought upon any marine aquarist. By this point I was ready to call the keeping of marine fish a failure, yank down my tank and stick with the freshwater tropical fish I loved. Though I decided vigilance was the answer and looked further into the problems with my tank.

The Issues:

So what went wrong for me? After reading this it would be obvious that just about everything went wrong. First, I overstocked my aquarium way too quickly. While in freshwater set-ups a week can allow the regeneration of bacteria, in marine that will simply not do. At least two weeks to one month must be allowed in the process of adding fish pairs or single fish. This should give your bacteria filter a chance to regenerate before shocking it with excess waste.

1. Cycle time. I allowed my tank two weeks to cycle relying on commercial products like Cycle, Stability and others to make up the difference for me. This is a big mistake in a marine aquarium; one month of careful procedure must be given before any fish are added to the tank. Otherwise high nitrites and ammonia will spell disaster for you like it did me.

2. Parasite treatment and quarantine of new fish. In the marine aquarium it is simply vital that all new arrivals be given a standard two week quarantine period before release into your main tank. In my opinion marine parasites such as Ich, Velvet and others are simply stronger and more resilient then their freshwater counterparts. The best medicine for these fish killing monsters is prevention. Don’t allow them into your tank in the first place, and if you keep a fish only tank I recommend a light solution of copper all the time to kill off any possible strands. In addition to that I advocate freshwater baths for all new arrivals and treatment with a non-parasite/bacteria agent.

3. The fish themselves. We hobbyists must remember that unlike freshwater aquarium fish that are most times both born and raised in captivity marine fish are often wild caught right from their natural habitat. This means they are not used to consuming prepared foods and may already be hosts to a variety of parasites and negative bacteria. These fish are greatly stressed during capture and may have been gathered with the use of cyanide something I work to advocate against.

It is only fair to the fish that we make sure that are marine set-ups are totally mature and ready to handle them before we make that purchase. I recommend buying only captive bred fish (Many gobies, tangs, and clownfish are now captive bred). This will ensure that your fish is adjusted to a prepared fish food diet, and has been raised in a controlled facility without dangerous parasites present. In addition to that by only purchasing captive bred fish we are making a strong statement about the preservation of one of Mother Earth’s greatest assets – The Coral Reefs.

Conclusion:

Saltwater aquariums are beautiful and exciting for the hobbyist who wishes to start one. Though it must be remembered that saltwater tanks are far more expensive in electricity, mechanical equipment, and chemicals then a freshwater set up. Even the fish themselves seem to cost much more when looking at saltwater tanks, and that is not to mention the increasing cost of live rock.

If you plan to set up one of these truly unique tanks I would say research and patience must be your key, because as I learned success when attempting the creation of your own private reef does not come easy or without peril.
 
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