Article on reef tanks 101

One of the terms for this article that is found in the industry is test and tweak. This is the procedure I prefer over others. To follow this procedure you will test for important parameters on a weekly basis to start and then tweak the water conditions back into line if they read out of the optimal levels. always test same time of day for consistency of test results and use test kits that are not over a year old or are known to be good.

Temperature is critical and you will want to maintain a constant temperature with as little fluctuation as possible. Minor changes in temperature from day and night of say not more than 4 degrees in the most severe case can be tolerated by most animals we keep as long as the change is not sudden. I recommend a max 2 to 3 degree change in temperature if posssible. larger swings can be tolerated by some animals. Normally chilling is not a problem unless in the middle of a storm and with power failure. During this time you could cover the tank with blankets and wrap it to maintain as much heat as possible, however, when power is back on you will need to remove the insulation/ blanket right away.

Salinity will increase as water evaporates from the aquarium and will vary with ambient conditions of temperature, humidity, ventilation and other factors, so, is difficult to predict. As water evaporates the seawater in the tank becomes more salty. Weekly checks with a hydrometer should be done to insure the salinity does not rise abve 36%. (hydrometer calibration conversion subject of future article). Add distilled or RO water not sea water, to compensate for evaporaton and restore salinity to 35%. Makeup water should be added before the evaporation reaches 10% say max. 5% or you risk damage to some of the inhabitants due to a salinity that is too high or a change that is too large. Makeup should be done on the average continuously or at least every 2-3 days if evaporation is slow, and more frequent if evaporation is fast.

Nitrate tests are a good way to insure that inputs of food are balanced by the bacterial activities collectively known as biological filtration. A rise in nitrate ion level above the typical baseline for your aquarium, usually about 20mg/l for fish only and 5 mg/l reef call for an investigation into the source of the accumilation. Generally a water change can be performed to lower nitrates but investigation into the cause should be conducted and the cause corrected so as to keep the readings within acceptable limits.

Other tests that should be performed on a weekly basis initially are PH, and alkalinity. Since PH fluctuates during the day and night it is important to test the PH at the same time each day. an abnormal PH reading should be a warning to investigate the cause. Poor areation can cause the PH to fall and additon of too much limewater/Kalkwasser can cause the ph to rise. Alkalinity and calcium levels are maintained by the addition of chemical agents such as limewater, or other supplements. addition of limewater will help to stablize ph, alkalinity and calcium levels.( amounts and time to add subject of another article in future)

Chris,
You're doing a great job. Why not write a book. We've got the resources. I just got a digital camera (Sony Cybershot DSC-S60)and couldn't upload my pics to the site for some reason. I assume you're using JPEG format. If not, let me know. I want to help contribute.
Keep up the great site.
_Burney

Nice article JHNRB,
I hope you can tell us how to make the adjustments(tweaks) if our test readings are off. So many books and articles just read "make adjustments if necessary" and don't tell use how or what exactly to do. This would help the newbies.
Write on!
_Burney

absolutely tangboy. we will do our best to assist on questions as they develope, but, always remember that there is usually more than one way to get there, and the same correction may not have the same result in every system, that is what makes this hobby such an interesting and dynamic venture full of fun, successes, failures, and just plain enjoyment while getting educated on marine animals by on the job training. anyway we will try to contribute to any questions that arise. thanks for the feed back.

The other people mentioned most of the ideas that I had so I will just say that good water quality can't be stressed too much. It is the key to many possible problems in these type set ups.

I am currently using two Smart Lights on a 65 gallon tank and have seen growth in several of my soft corals. My questions are: are thes considered to be VHO lights and are they enough for Acropora or other hard corals of that type?

Ed