Hey guys. I have to write a certain kind of research paper and I thought what better than the hobby I just started and am obsessed with!!!!! I can do school work AND learn more about my favorite new obsession!!!!!! The thing is I need to do 3 interviews. I'm going to do one from an employee of the shed aquarium here in the city and I was thinking it would be cool to do the last two from experienced hobbiest. One that does it new school and another that does it ( or extensively knows) the old school way of saltwater
Help with paper
- Thread starter leon1972
- Start date
little_fish
Moderator
What is the topic you will be interviewing on?
little_fish
Moderator
interesting, but i highly doubt you are going to get a good answer from the Shedd guy, they dont do things the same way because they work on such a larger scale and from personal experience they do it as job not a hobby and that makes a huge difference. I would pick a more specific question relating to keeping fish if you want to interview him.
cpow88
Reefing newb
You may also want to go at off peak hours to maximize your chance of getting some decent 1 on 1 time. Also what subject is the paper for and what grade are you in? This info may help people know how specific the question should be and such.
little_fish
Moderator
I can do it by email if we get this done tonight
Thank you I sincerely appreciate it. Actually to make it easier I could just start a thread here and we could do a back and forth by post. That way it doesn't have to really interrupt your day too much. You could just check that as you check your usual posts. Does that sound better?
little_fish
Moderator
sure, lets just continue this thread
Ok. Cool. And again thanks. So I know the water is the life blood of a reef. Ammonia , nitrites and phosphates you want to be zero. Nitrates you want to be as low as possible and lower than 20. You want your ph to be right around 8.2 to 8.4 and your alkalinity to be between 2,4 to 2.8. You want to keep an eye on your calcium once you start a reef system and if it start getting too low between water chases you need to start doing calcium doses to between 350 and 450. You also want magnesium to be around 1350 but I don't know why. Why do I want magnesium in the tank? Do I have everything correct so far?am I missing anything I should be testing for in the water?
little_fish
Moderator
Nitrates should be at zero. Even a small amount of nitrates is enough to kill corals and inverts, it is a toxin to them. IMO its never acceptable to have nitrates.
Your pH can range from 7.8-8.5. Different reefs will be stable at different points and the pH will change throughout the day. As the algae and coral go through photosynthesis, they will remove CO2 from the water. At night, the CO2 is left in the water column where it can interact with the water to form carbonic acid, which lowers the pH. This is why you always need to test the pH at the same time of day.
The alkalinity should be between 8-10. And you shouldnt need to dose calcium unless you have a serious stony reef going. The best way to replenish all the essential ions is to do a water change. Its very easy to mess up dosing and overdoses can be deadly. And never ever ever dose something without testing for it.
Magnesium, along with calcium, alkalinity, iodine and other trace minerals are used to build the skeleton of the stony corals.
You should read for more of my thoughts on water chemistry: https://www.livingreefs.com/water-chemistry-t31270.html
Your pH can range from 7.8-8.5. Different reefs will be stable at different points and the pH will change throughout the day. As the algae and coral go through photosynthesis, they will remove CO2 from the water. At night, the CO2 is left in the water column where it can interact with the water to form carbonic acid, which lowers the pH. This is why you always need to test the pH at the same time of day.
The alkalinity should be between 8-10. And you shouldnt need to dose calcium unless you have a serious stony reef going. The best way to replenish all the essential ions is to do a water change. Its very easy to mess up dosing and overdoses can be deadly. And never ever ever dose something without testing for it.
Magnesium, along with calcium, alkalinity, iodine and other trace minerals are used to build the skeleton of the stony corals.
You should read for more of my thoughts on water chemistry: https://www.livingreefs.com/water-chemistry-t31270.html
little_fish
Moderator
Flow is important for two big reasons:
1. It removes waste from around corals and brings in new nutrients. Unlike mobile animals that can move to cleaner conditions with more food, the corals rely on the current to do this. SPS corals which grow in tight formations need more flow to bring food to all the polyps and to remove the wastes. Corals that rely more on filter feeding (such as softies) prefer the flow to be a bit gentler because the need time to filter out nutrients. SPS corals uses stinging cells to capture microscopic organisms, so they want as many of these organisms brought to them as possible. LPS coral are in the middle of the two, they also capture organism by the stinging cells but high flow will damage their tissues.
2. Gas exchange. Liquids dont hold a large amount of gasses, and seawater with all the other dissolved minerals and organics holds an even smaller amount of gas when compared with freshwater. So every molecule of CO2 produced by fish when they respire (yes, fish do respire. Respire doesnt mean to breath in and out, it means to break down sugars into CO2 and water) takes the place of the oxygen molecule that could be in the water. Now, desire for the world to be a equilibrium means that the CO2 molecules in the water want to leave because the concentration of CO2 in the water is higher than that of the surrounding air. Oxygen also wants to diffuse into the water because the concentration of oxygen in the water is less than that of the surrounding air. Which is good for us, because otherwise our fish and corals would just suffocate to death. Bad news is that it happens really slowly because a concentration gradient is developed in the water and at the gas/liquid interface. So the molecules dont "see" a big difference in the concentrations around them and there is little "motivation" for them to diffuse in/out of the water.
So where does flow come into this? Flow prevents this concentration gradient from developing, so the molecules have a greater driving force to move in/out of the water. The more flow, the more you can disrupt this concentration gradient and the more oxygen you can keep in the water and the more you will keep the CO2 out. More oxygen means happier fish and corals. Also having a powerhead pointing at the surface, making the surface ripple, will help move molecules. It basically makes it easier for them to move in and out.
You can test this for yourself. If you turn off the flow in your tank for a few days, you will see all the fish gathering at the very top of the aquarium because that is where the high concentration of oxygenated water is.
1. It removes waste from around corals and brings in new nutrients. Unlike mobile animals that can move to cleaner conditions with more food, the corals rely on the current to do this. SPS corals which grow in tight formations need more flow to bring food to all the polyps and to remove the wastes. Corals that rely more on filter feeding (such as softies) prefer the flow to be a bit gentler because the need time to filter out nutrients. SPS corals uses stinging cells to capture microscopic organisms, so they want as many of these organisms brought to them as possible. LPS coral are in the middle of the two, they also capture organism by the stinging cells but high flow will damage their tissues.
2. Gas exchange. Liquids dont hold a large amount of gasses, and seawater with all the other dissolved minerals and organics holds an even smaller amount of gas when compared with freshwater. So every molecule of CO2 produced by fish when they respire (yes, fish do respire. Respire doesnt mean to breath in and out, it means to break down sugars into CO2 and water) takes the place of the oxygen molecule that could be in the water. Now, desire for the world to be a equilibrium means that the CO2 molecules in the water want to leave because the concentration of CO2 in the water is higher than that of the surrounding air. Oxygen also wants to diffuse into the water because the concentration of oxygen in the water is less than that of the surrounding air. Which is good for us, because otherwise our fish and corals would just suffocate to death. Bad news is that it happens really slowly because a concentration gradient is developed in the water and at the gas/liquid interface. So the molecules dont "see" a big difference in the concentrations around them and there is little "motivation" for them to diffuse in/out of the water.
So where does flow come into this? Flow prevents this concentration gradient from developing, so the molecules have a greater driving force to move in/out of the water. The more flow, the more you can disrupt this concentration gradient and the more oxygen you can keep in the water and the more you will keep the CO2 out. More oxygen means happier fish and corals. Also having a powerhead pointing at the surface, making the surface ripple, will help move molecules. It basically makes it easier for them to move in and out.
You can test this for yourself. If you turn off the flow in your tank for a few days, you will see all the fish gathering at the very top of the aquarium because that is where the high concentration of oxygenated water is.
And if The jet pointing towards the top goes through the water flow circulating around the live rock at the bottom then the detritus and bad elements in the water will eventual get pushed through the filters and protein skimmer? Does me having one jet only have something to do with my nitrates at 20 and nitrites at.05 all the time probably? In your opinion what are the 3 most important things to a SUCCESFUL saltwater reef tank and why?
little_fish
Moderator
Having lots of flow will prevent the detritus from settling out so it can be removed by a water change or skimmer. It also prevents algae from growing because the spores cant settle out, and there isnt a food source for them to grow from.
And having high nitrates doesnt have anything to do with flow. You have high nitrates because you started with bad water. You cant put bad water in and expect to get good water out. Nitrates also come from over feeding, some types of foods, and fish poop.
And my 3 most important things to keeping a successful reef tank.
3. Go slow, this isnt a race
2. Dont assume you are going to be exception to rule, especially when you are first starting out. We are dealing with living creatures here, always respect that, especially because you removed these creatures from their natural habitat.
1. RESEARCH!!!! You wanting something will never make up for the fact you might not be able to provide it with a proper home. And there is lots of crap out there, so you dont want to waste your money on those things.
And having high nitrates doesnt have anything to do with flow. You have high nitrates because you started with bad water. You cant put bad water in and expect to get good water out. Nitrates also come from over feeding, some types of foods, and fish poop.
And my 3 most important things to keeping a successful reef tank.
3. Go slow, this isnt a race
2. Dont assume you are going to be exception to rule, especially when you are first starting out. We are dealing with living creatures here, always respect that, especially because you removed these creatures from their natural habitat.
1. RESEARCH!!!! You wanting something will never make up for the fact you might not be able to provide it with a proper home. And there is lots of crap out there, so you dont want to waste your money on those things.
Ok. I have two final questions. Is there anything you would add to what we have already talked about in regards to what it would take for a successful reef aquarium?
My current problem is phosphates, nitrates, and nitrites. It was recommended to me to buy a phosban reactor. As I have just started doing daily water changes with rodi water to replace tap water I am going to see if that and the new chaeto I now have in place of my sponge and fluvial filter fixes this first? What is your recommendation on the fix for this?
My current problem is phosphates, nitrates, and nitrites. It was recommended to me to buy a phosban reactor. As I have just started doing daily water changes with rodi water to replace tap water I am going to see if that and the new chaeto I now have in place of my sponge and fluvial filter fixes this first? What is your recommendation on the fix for this?
