Maintenance

WATER CHANGES Since most corals and most fish require good water quality, we perform 10% water changes weekly to achieve this. Deionized water should be used!  Never use tap water in a saltwater aquarium. Nitrates, phosphates and other dissolved solids can cause algae nightmares. Keep in mind that since Deionized water that you produce at home starts out as tap water, you will want to check with your city water source from time to time and become familiar with the chemicals that they use in your water and how those chemicals are processed through your RODI ( Reverse Osmosis/ Deionized ) unit. Some of the chemicals that are used may go straight through your system.  Well water, while better for use than some city supplied water sources, are still often full of dissolved organics. This water should also be deionized. PROTEIN SKIMMER A protein skimmer is a device that exports protein and other organic waste from water. For this reason, a protein skimmer is one of the most important pieces of filtration equipment for saltwater aquariums. Organic matter that is not removed from the aquarium will eventually break down into ammonia, nitrites and then nitrates. When a system’s nutrient level is high, that waste becomes a major life-support system for difficult- to-eradicate nuisances such as hair algae and slime algae. DOSING When decisions are made to keep corals and clams, other considerations become important. Because these animals rapidly deplete calcium, alkalinity, magnesium, strontium, iodide and other ions in change water,  supplemental dosing will become necessary at some point for proper growth and overall health. Ask us  what we dose and how we dose to keep our corals nice and healthy!. LIGHTING It is good to have an idea as to what you plan on keeping prior to buying your lights.  One reason is because some lights may limit your ability to keep some things that you'd planned on having in your aquarium. You have plenty of time to buy lights while cycling your aquarium.  You don't need them at all during this process so just take your time!  Old school but still some common lighting include VHO and compact florescent lighting. Depending on what you wanted to keep, these lights offered the limitations that were mentioned and were often used to supplement other forms of lighting.  T-5's and metal halide became the standard for keeping those more difficult to keep corals that required more light.  In recent years, companies like Ecotech Marine perfected aquarium lighting when they produced the Radion LED lights.  They are not only capable of supporting corals that have the greatest need for light, but they are very energy efficient in comparison to any of the other mentioned forms of light and do not require regular, expensive bulb replacements. COMPACT FLOURESCENT LIGHTS – fish only, softies, lps, zoanthids, some clams, limited sps. VHO LIGHTS – fish only, softies, lps, zoanthids, some clams, limited sps. T-5 LIGHTS – fish only, softies, lps, zoanthids, some clams, limited sps. METAL HALIDES – With the proper placement of corals and clams, there are otherwise no limits as to what you can keep with these lights! ( Still my personal favorite!! ) LED’s- With the proper placement of corals and clams, there are otherwise no limits as to what you can keep with these lights! SUMP/REFUGIUM A sump or refugium is a smaller aquarium that sits either to the side or below the aquarium. It is important for many uses.  First, it allows you to add more water volume to your system while acting as a biological filter. There is an old saying in saltwater that the solution to pollution is dilution.  Simply saying, the more water, the better. The refugium can also be used as a place of 'refuge' for smaller, more delicate animals that might otherwise be immediately harassed in the main display. In addition, it can be used to hide other equipment like heaters and protein skimmers that would otherwise be visible and unattractive in your aquarium. In most cases, people place different kinds of macro algae in their refugium.  While growing, it is believed that these macro algae utilize nitrates and phosphates to grow and therefore reduce the potential for high nitrates and phosphates in the system while providing places to hide for copepods and other micro fauna while they reproduce.