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Why does my tank need to cycle and how long will it take?
The cycling process is crucial to any marine tank set-up. The purpose to cycling a tank is to allow enough bacteria to build up to control the water parameters and complete the nitrogen cycle. The bacteria that builds up is denitrifying, which means that is will remove the nitrates and help control ammonia spikes in your water, which are usually the primary cause of fish death in a new tank. The nitrogen cycle takes about 3 weeks to begin and to make the water habitable, but we recommend that you wait at least a month before adding any fish. The tank really truly takes 6 months to build up enough bacteria to sustain a true “reef” set-up so be warned that putting fish into a newly-established tank is still risky. Keep in mind that the rules only apply to fish, you are able to add coral the day after! Safe reef-keeping takes time and we want you to love the hobby as much as we do, so please be patient.What are the best “beginner” fish?
There are many fish that are considered “hardy” and are strong enough to survive in a newly established tank, but please keep in mind that you should not add any fish to your tank for the first two-three weeks. Damsels are the most popular fish to be put into a new tank because they are colorful and hardy, but they can become aggressive after time so be cautious when adding them into a smaller or a peaceful tank. Another great option are chromis. Chromis are peaceful and active and they add personality and life to any new set-up. We strongly recommend adding a damsel or a chromis to the tank two weeks before adding any other fish to make sure that the cycling process is completed. They are beautiful additions to any aquarium and are extremely affordable!
What are the white spots that are developing on my fish?
This disease is called Ich (Ichthyophthiriasis) and can be easily identified by a display of white spots, black spots and odd fish behavior (such as scratching). The disease is caused by a parasite that burrows into the fish, which slowly infects it and causes skin irritation. The parasite is potentially fatal if left untreated. There are several common treatments and medications that are available (be cautious if you have a reef tank because anything containing copper will permanently damage your tank and coral). We first suggest that you raise the temperature of your tank to 80 degrees so that the parasite will fall off of the fish. Once the parasite falls off, you can introduce a medication or use a UV sterilizer to cleanse the water and kill it. A large water change is also recommended in order to take the parasite out of the water. In order to prevent Ich and sometimes to cure it, a garlic additive can be added to the food. Garlic actually boosts the immune systems of fish and frequent feeding while the fish is sick will also help to strengthen this fish and boost its tolerance to parasitic infections.
Do fish only grow up to the size of the tank that they are placed in?
No, this is a myth that is not applicable to any fish currently on the market. This myth developed because people noticed the fish’s growth was stunted if they were placed into a smaller tank, but that does not mean the fish will forever stay that size. The stunted growth is a sign that the fish is not healthy and oftentimes leads to death. A fish will continue to grow to its mature size regardless of the size tank that it is placed in. It is important to be aware of the mature size of your fish before you purchase it. The reason you cannot keep a large fish in a small aquarium is because the fish will not be able to get the nutrients it needs or have enough room to swim, which will eventually lead to its death.
How often do I need to do a water change?
The frequency of water changes all depend on the size of your tank, the amount that you feed and the amount of livestock in your tank. For a general guideline, small tanks (5-25 gallons) should have 5% of water changed every 1 ½ - 2 weeks, medium sized tanks (25-70 gallons) should have 10-15% of water changed every 3-4 weeks and large tanks (70+ gallons) should change 20% of the water every 3-4 weeks. It is always better to do small, frequent water changes as opposed to larger ones, because it will place the fish under less stress.
How do I set up a quarantine/hospital tank?
A quarantine tank is extremely simple to set up. All you need is a small (6-10 gallon) tank, a heater, a basic filter and water. The quarantine tank can be used to treat fish with medicine that is not reef safe, and also used to observe the health of new specimens before placing them into your main tank. It is important to carefully acclimate the fish into the quarantine tank to avoid stress, which will worsen the condition of a sick fish. We highly recommend keeping a quarantine tank because if a fish does happen to get sick, it is better to contain the disease so it doesn’t spread to your entire tank and its inhabitants.
What do I do about algae problems (red slime, bubble, green, brown, and hair algae)?
There are several causes of algae, but the most common causes are high phosphates and leaving the light on for too long. High phosphates are caused by over-feeding the tank and by anything that has died and is currently decomposing in your tank. Algae feed off of phosphates and propagate with high amounts of light.
Red slime algae comes in varying shades of purple and red and can identified by its “slime-like” appearance. To get rid of this particular type of algae, we suggest that you dose your tank with a red slime algae killer (available on our dry goods page), and then attempt to suction it out with a siphon. The algae can spread rapidly and cover and/or kill your coral which is why it is such a nuisance.
Bubble algae look like green bubbles or eggs. To remove bubble algae, we recommend that you purchase an emerald crab because it is their food of choice. The emerald crab will remove most to all of the bubble algae from your tank over time. If a crab is not an option, you can remove the bubbles individually but be cautious: if a bubble bursts, all of the spores are released and the problem will increase exponentially. Green and brown algae are the most common algae types to appear on the walls of your tank. These can be removed by frequent small water changes and less hours with the light on.
Hair algae can be removed in several ways. In small quantities, it can be removed by hand, and then water changes can be done to remove extra spores. Sea hares are also helpful in rapidly removing hair algae, but be cautious because frequently, the sea hare will starve to death once the hair algae is gone. Make sure that you stop over-feeding during any of these processes to avoid creating more phosphates.
How do I know if an anemone is dead?
Dead anemones are quite a nuisance to your tank and should be removed immediately, and followed by a water change. Anemones release toxins that can poison your entire tank after their death and have been known to cause massive problems in small-medium size tanks and even in larger-sized tanks if the anemone was big. There are two main signs that an anemone is dead: it has shrunk in size and is no longer adhesive to your rock, and it will appear that the anemone is turning inside out. Be cautious when assessing if your anemone is dead or not because sometimes after feeding, the anemone will shrink up and expel waste after a few hours to a few days.
To remove a dead anemone, use a large siphon to suck it out so that you avoid leaving any pieces behind. Anemones will decompose with touch and that will only further the amount of toxin being released into your water.
Why is my anemone releasing a brown substance out of its mouth?
There is nothing to worry about because the anemone is just releasing waste. The anemone only has one way in and one way out. The waste might be any shade of color from white to brown.
What are normal water parameters?
The quality of your water is extremely important, and we recommend that you check your water quality at least once a month. The water parameters should be:
Nitrates = 0
Nitrites = 0
pH = 8
Salinity= 1.021-1.024
If you notice that your water quality is not at the proper levels, there are several solutions. First, we suggest that you do a sizeable water change with GOOD new water (test it before putting it into your tank). The addition of water with proper levels should help to even out the problem, especially in emergency situations. If the water change does not work, there are several chemical options available.
Why won’t my fish eat?
Many times, fish that are recently added to the tank are stressed. The stress will cause the fish to not have an appetite but it should subside after a few days. If the fish still does not eat, we recommend that you add garlic to the food because it actually increases the fish’s appetite. Another possible issue is that the fish is not being fed the proper foods. There are some fish species (such as mandarin dragonets, seahorses, and scooter blennies) that typically only eat pods and others (such as tangs) that require vegetation to be healthy. Every species of fish varies and it is important to know what they eat (if you are unsure, check the quick facts associated with the fish under our fish category).
If a fish continues to not eat after an extended period of time, it may be a sign that the fish is stressed. Check your water conditions and make sure that all other livestock are healthy and there are no new diseases in the tank.
How to I prevent my fish from jumping into the overflow?
If you have an open overflow or even a rimless tank, we suggest that you put egg crate over the opening. Also, make sure that your water level is not too high because that will make it easier for the fish to jump over.
What should I feed my anemone?
Anemones are carnivorous so you can essentially feed them any sort of shrimp or fish. We recommend that you only feed anemones things that are the same size or smaller than their mouth so that they do not have to spend as much time digesting it. The most common things to feed to larger anemones are silversides and large krill, and smaller pieces can be fed to small anemones. You should feed the anemone once or twice a week to make sure that it stays healthy and continues to grow.
How to grow coralline algae and maintain it?
Coralline grows if calcium and magnesium levels are high. There are several products on the market such as Kent Marine Purple Tech that will introduce the necessary levels of calcium into your tank. These products typically take a few weeks to start showing results, but if you maintain the levels the growth should continue and thrive. Coralline algae adds a beautiful purple color to the rocks and anything else that it can cling to in a reef tank.
Why won’t my zoanthids open?
There are several reasons that a zoanthid may not open. If they are new, they may still be adjusting to their new environment. This adjustment may tank up to two weeks to fully take effect. Also, if the pH in the water is too high, the coral will not open. If the zoas still haven’t opened after the adjustment time, make sure you do a water test to find any underlying problems.
Acclimation
When you receive a new shipment of livestock, it is important to acclimate them slowly to prevent them from going into shock. When you first receive the bag, be sure that you open the box in dim lighting conditions and keep it so until the acclimation process has been completed. It is then safe to turn the room lights on, but we strongly suggest that the tank lights remain off (or on a moonlight setting) for 3-4 hours. It is also recommended that you place the corals into a coral dip to make sure that any bacteria that they may have acquired through their travels do not transfer into your tank, but it is not necessary.
Step 1: Acclimating for temperature.
Place the bag of coral (unopened) into the tank for about 15-20 to assure that the temperatures are even. Make sure that the tank lights remain off for this time period because they will overheat the specimen inside of the bag.
Step 2: Acclimating to the water.
Open the bag and leave it in the tank (so that the temperature does not change) and add about ½ of the bags content or your tank water into the bag. Wait for 15 minutes and then repeat this step until the bag is full. The animal can then be removed from the bag and placed into the water.
For a most careful approach: The bag should still be floated in the water, but instead of adding large quantities of water to the bag, slowly drip your tank water into the bag over a period of about 1-2 hours. This slower and more advanced approached to acclimation in useful for more delicate invertebrates and coral because it allows them to adjust to the water conditions over time, thus preventing shock.
Hard Coral
Behavior: Hard corals belong to the Subclass Hexocorallia and are “reef and are typically peaceful in the average reef tank. In the wild, there are roughly 360 species of coral that are considered “hard” and that is because of their skeleton which is made from calcium. The polyps on these corals typically have tentacles that are outreaching that may sting other coral if placed in close proximity. Some of the commonly seen hard corals in reefs are torch corals, frogspawn coral, hammerhead coral, plate coral, Duncan coral, candy cane coral and acan coral, but there are many other diverse types of hard coral that can be found. Common hard corals are relatively hardy under the right conditions, but this varies on the species. Hard corals can be relatively slow growing but add the desired look of a “natural reef” to many tanks.
Feeding: Hard corals are mostly photosynthetic. The corals use the zooxanthellae, a form of microscopic algae, which resides in their exoskeletons to feed. This symbiotic relationship that occurs within the corals is why it is so important to have strong lighting within the tank.
Tank Parameters: In order to induce growth, high lighting is required. The flow of the tank should be medium to strong and for best results the water should contain calcium and magnesium to help support the skeletal structure.
Soft Coral
Behavior: Soft corals are considered to be some of the most colorful and numerous reef cnidarians. They do not have an exoskeleton which gives them a much softer texture than their stony counterparts. The shapes seen in many of the soft corals are maintained by pieces of calcium inside of the body called sclerites. When a soft coral dies it does not leave any sort of skeleton behind and instead dissolves into the water. The most common types of soft corals are mushrooms, zoanthids, leathers, star polyps, pipe organ, xenia (amongst many others) and are relatively easy to care for. Soft corals are very easy to “frag” and are fast growing given the right conditions.
Feeding: Soft corals are often times mixotrophic, meaning that they have the ability to obtain food from many sources. This ability makes them ideal to keep in a reef tank because they can actually help to clear excess food from the water. The corals sift through the water to find their food but additional supplementation of bacterioplankton, nanoplanton, phytoplankton and sometimes zooplankton are helpful in assuring health of your coral colonies.
Tank Parameters: The corals do well under medium to heavy lighting. Certain species are prone to bleaching from heavy lighting or new lighting so careful acclimation is required. The corals do best under medium flow in a tank (especially the hardier species mentioned in the behavior section) but have been known to adapt to faster currents. If you notice that a coral is not opening fully, it is suggested that you move it to a lower part of your tank or to an area that has less flow.
Invertebrates
Behavior: Invertebrates are kept for various purposes: sometimes for food for other marine fish, other times aesthetic purposes, and most commonly, to clean the tanks. A typical “clean up crew” consists of turbo snails, hermit crabs, and cleaner shrimp and are recommended for most marine aquariums because they prevent excess food from polluting the water. In certain tanks that contain docile fish, such as seahorses and pipefish, it is not recommended to contain anything but snails in order to avoid bullying by the invertebrates. Invertebrates can be used to maintain an algae free tank (snails are usually the best for basic brown algae and one per every two gallons of water should control the problem quite nicely).
Feeding: Invertebrates are often scavengers, eating food left over from messy eaters, and therefore are reasonably easy to care for. It is recommended to make sure that they are eating and if it does not seem to be enough, frozen and live foods can be supplemented into their diets for the carnivores (i.e. crabs, shrimp, sea stars) and lettuce and vegetable pellets are a good supplement for the herbivores (i.e. sea hares, sea slugs, and snails.)
Tank Parameters: Water quality should be maintained at all times. Many invertebrates such as sea slugs, sea hares and snails are extremely sensitive to nitrate spikes. If an invertebrate dies, it is very important to remove them from the tank as soon as possible to avoid pollution that may affect your other inhabitants.
Anemones
Behavior: Sea anemones are aggressive towards other fish that are not “anemonefish” such as clownfish, which produce a slime that makes them immune to the sting. Anemones use a mixture of neurotoxins that is stored within their tentacles in order to paralyze their pray. Anemones should not be kept with docile fish or any soft of invertebrate that may do it harm. Anemones require strong lighting and a strong current. The most common species for sale are the bubble tip anemone (green and rose), long tipped anemone and the carpet anemone. All species are known to host clownfish, but some relationships will happen more naturally than others.
Feeding: Anemones are carnivorous and partially photosynthetic. If the lighting is strong and the anemone is being hosted by a clown fish, it is not necessary to feed them unless you desire growth. Anemones can be fed meaty pieces of shrimp and fish such as silversides if lighting is not adequate (the anemone should not be kept in poor lighting because it will have a very short lifespan) or if a clownfish is not supplying it with ample amounts of food.
Tank Parameters: Anemones require strong lighting and a strong current to promote growth and health. The water conditions should be stable and an anemone should not be placed in an immature tank. If an anemone dies in your tank, it is crucial to remove it immediately because the anemones release a toxin after death that can potentially kill your entire tank.