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Just wanted to take a moment and share with you that I have a guest article up over on the The Reef Tank’s community blog.  The article talks about frugal reef keeping and focusing on things you can do in the saltwater hobby to save yourself some money.  This is the very first guest article I’ve written for the saltwater community.  One of my goals for this blog in 2009 was to being contributing guest articles to other reputable and credible sites.

The Reef Tank is a community of reef hobbyists and consists of a phone gallery, forums, a price comparison guide, and most recently a community blog where saltwater enthusiasts such as myself can share articles with The Reef Tank community.

I’d like to thank Ava from The Reef Tank blog for the opportunity and I look forward to writing some more articles for this great blog.  Make sure you head over, check it out and leave a comment!

I’ve maintained a reef aquarium for about 2 years. I started off knowing little to nothing and through a great deal of trail and error (more error than trial I think).  Due to a number of helpful people, I’ve learned a great deal of the past 2 years.  Each time I learned something new, I tried to make note of it so I could share with it others to hopefully make their saltwater journey a little easier as well.

I recently joined Twitter and started looking around for people on there that share my passion and interest for the saltwater hobby. One person I ran across is Techy2011. She recently started a saltwater aquarium and was asking me if I had any tips for beginners. I told her I would write up an article sharing some the tips I’ve collected.

Tank Size

I’ve written on tank size before, but I generally recommend at least a 30 gallon for the beginner and preferably a 75 gallon. The larger the tank the less likely you’ll have issues. A 75 gallon is a good compromise as they are fairly basic to maintain and not too large that they require a great deal of maintenance or space. They are also very common, allowing you to find a very nice used one on Craigslist for around $100.00 or less.

With that being said, saltwater technology has come a long way in recent years and many smaller tanks (often called Nano tanks) are also available. These can also be great options if you want to get started, but are limited in the amount of space you have. I do highly recommend going larger though if you can.

Basic Equipment

Basic equipment that is required:

• A tank - I’d suggest glass for the beginner as it’s tougher and less expensive.
• A stand - You’ll need a stand or strong base to place the tank on. There are many commercial options available, but if you are reasonably talented with wood you can make your own. The important thing to remember is that water weighs 8 lbs per gallon. For a 75gallon tank you’re looking at 600lbs of water alone not counting the weight of the sand bed, the tank itself and live rock. I’m pretty sure my 75gallon tank weighs well over 1000lbs.
• Sand - While some people prefer a glass bottom tank, I prefer the natural look of a deep sand bed, not to mention it has significant benefits to the health of your system. Fine argonite sand is the best option. Don’t make the same mistake I did and use the larger argonite “gravel”, it just causes problems.
• Protein Skimmer - I’ve ran mechanical filtration only, then both a skimmer and mechanical and now just run a skimmer. In my experience, mechanical filtration (i.e. canister filters) are just nitrite producers and don’t offer a great deal of value in a reef tank. I run an AquaC Remora Pro and have found it to be an excellent skimmer of you aren’t running a sump (see below)
• Heaters - Keeping your water at a consistent temperature will go a long way to keeping your fish healthy and happy. I started off running one heater, but later switched to two. I did this as I found two heaters kept the temperature more consistent across the tank AND if one broke, the other served as a back-up. I recommend 5 watts per gallon and when going with two heaters, buy each one large enough to heat the whole tank in case one breaks. I prefer Jager heaters.
• Thermometer - A basic mercury or digital thermometer is perfectly fine for monitoring your temperature. They are both inexpensive and reliable. I prefer the digital as it keeps you from having one stuck on the side of the glass for floating around scaring your fish.
• Refractometer - I started off with a plastic hydrometer to measure my salt levels (specific gravity). After reading and talking to a number of experts, I quickly realized that these cheap little devices are very inaccurate. Maintaining the proper specific gravity in your tank (1.024 to 1.025) is a critical success factor. Refractometers are available for around $40 - $50 dollars and are well worth the money. I was shocked at how far off my cheap plastic hydrometer was.
• Lighting - I’ll touch on lighting below.
• Basic Test Kits - I’ll touch on test kits below as well.
• Powerheads - Water flow in your saltwater tank, especially in a reef tank is critical to the health of your corals. I currently use two Hydor Koralia 3 pumps. One on each side of the tank. I place the pumps so that that move water in a horizontal direction and high enough to cause small waves across the top of the water. The Vortech series of pumps are the best and on my wish list, but are a little out of my price range right now.
• Ground Probe - If you aren’t running a sump like me and have your heaters and power heads in your tank you are bound to get some stray voltage in your tank sooner or later. It happened to me about a year ago. I lost almost every snail I had along with two peppermint shrimp. Thanks to some friends, I bought a ground probe to keep this from happening again. This is a cheap device that may save you a great deal of money plus in the event of a large voltage leak it may save your life as well. Remember, saltwater is a very good conductor of electricity.

I mentioned a sump above. A sump is a smaller thank that lives outside of your regular tank. Most people install them below the tank hidden in the stand. A sump receives water from your tank and then pumps it back in. It provides a way of heating and filtering the water without having the equipment in your tank. It also provides flow thus removing the need from the power heads.

Sumps require that the tank either be drilled (so water can flow in or out of it) or require an overflow box. They also require purchasing a water pump to pump the water back up to your tank. The flow of this pump must match the flow of water coming out of the tank. They are a bit tricky, but can be well worth it. I currently don’t run a sump, but when I move to a larger tank in the next few years, I plan to have one in my basement below my saltwater tank.

Salt and Saltwater

Obviously it would be hard to have a saltwater aquarium without salt or saltwater. That’s pretty obvious right? Saltwater can either be purchased or made yourself. Purchasing saltwater for a large aquarium can become costly really quick. As a result, most hobbiests make their own.

There are many many different salt mixtures and each hobbiest has their own personal preference. I have had very successful results with Reef Crystals. Not only does Reef Crystals add salt, but also lots of required supplements along with adjusting the PH of your water. While I prefer Reef Crystals, most all salt mixes work just fine. Most just buy whichever brand is on sale.

What is far more critical is the water you use. The HUGE mistake I made when I first started out was using tap water. DO NOT under any circumstance use tap water. Water quality in a saltwater aquarium is critical to the success and health or your fish, live rock, and corals. Using anything other than RO/DI filtered water will put your tank at risk and most likely cause serious algae problems. Take it from me, been there, done that.

You can read about how I make and change my tank water in my article: Simple saltwater aquarium water changes.

Also remember, the water in your tank will evaporate but the salt won’t. The end result of this is that as the water evaporates your specific gravity will go up. Maintaining a consistent specific gravity is very important to the well being of your fish. As a result, you need to top your tank off with fresh (no salt) RO/DI water daily. Better yet, invest in an auto top off system to make the chore automatic.

I have the auto system on my list, but for now keep a 5 gallon bucket (with a cover on it) full of RO/DI water next to my tank. I check it in the morning and evening and top it off as necessary.

Cycling without fish

Cycling (also known as the nitrogen cycle) is a process that all new saltwater aquariums have to go through. Cycling is a biological process that stabilizes your aquarium and plays a critical role in keeping your reef system functioning properly.

The cycling process of an aquarium is a process in nature resulting in the birth of various types of nitrifying bacteria. Each new bacteria born consumes the previous one, and in turn gives birth to the next bacteria. The whole process starts with ammonia. About 10 days after the presence of Ammonia occurs, nitrifying bacteria that convert Ammonia to nitrite begin to appear and grow. Finally, the nitrate give birth to a third bacteria: nitrobactors. They grow on the surface of most everything in the tank and feed on oxygen and ammonia. Their waste product is Nitrates. You’ll know you cycling process is complete when you begin to

In general the nitrogen cycling process usually takes about 30 days, but there is no exact time frame for this process to complete its task, as each aquarium is different. Factors such as how many fish, other livestock, and organic matter is present in the tank can vary the completion time, one way or the other. Testing your aquarium water during cycling is very important, as this will tell you what phase the aquarium is in at any given time throughout the process.

Most people cycle their tank with fish. While this works, it’s really hard (and some believe) cruel to the fish. Ammonia is very toxic and literally burns the fish as the ammonia levels rise. Alternatively, I prefer to use uncooked shrimp. Visit the local grocery store and buy about 2-3 cocktail sized shrimp for each 50-gallons of water. Throw the shrimp into the tank (shell and all). Good water movement is critical at this point, so make sure you have those power heads we discussed earlier working away. Leave your protein skimmer off for now as well. Turn the protein skimmer on about 10-15 days after you’ve placed the shrimp in the tank.

Warning, your tank will smell. You’ll also notice brown diatom algae outbreaks and red-slime algae outbreaks as well. When I first cycled, the whole bottom of my tank was covered with brown diatom algae. This is all natural and part of the cycling process, so don’t panic. Red-slime algae can generally be removed by putting some strong flow over the area.

Remember, you tank must get worse to get better. Patience is the key. A typical cycle process takes 30-45 days. Don’t give into that urge to put fish or corals in until the cycle process is complete, they’ll most likely die. With saltwater aquariums, patience is key to success.

Don’t use glass covers

When I purchased by tank it came with glass covers. If yours has them or your local retailer is trying to sell them to you, just say no. Glass covers inhibit the gas/oxygen exchange that occurs at the top of the water. It also increases the temperature of your tank water, especially if you have high output lighting like Metal Halides.   Leave the top of the thank open. If you have fish that jump, buy plastic crating material available at your local hardware store and use it instead.

Test, test and test some more

Having proper water conditions is critical to the success of a saltwater aquarium. Testing your water often in the early months of your aquarium is very important. The following tests are recommend for reef tanks:

• PH - Target is 8.2 - I actually use a PH meter now instead of a liquid test, but either is fine.
• dKH - Measures the carbonate hardness of the water. Target is 12.
• Ca - Calcium. Target is 450-500
• Mg - Magnesium. Target is 1500
• NO3 - Nitrate. Target is zero, but less than 10 is fine. Zero is very very hard to get.
• PO - Phosphate. Target is zero. Phosphate is the primary food for algae, something you really want to avoid.

I use either Elos or Salifert test kits. Don’t skimp on cost here, as good quality test kits are worth the money spent. Avoid test strips as well, they just don’t work. I would test your tank weekly for the first few months. As your tank matures, you won’t need to test nearly as often. I generally only test once a month or so now and try my best to post my tests here on my blog.

Lighting

Lighting is way too big of a topic for me to fully cover here, but the type of lighting you will require is directly related to the type of tank and livestock you are going to house. For a simple fish only tank, common florescent lighting will be sufficient. For a reef tank though, much more sophisticated lighting is required. Marine Depot has a great write up on lighting.

Lighting is another area where you really don’t want to skimp on cost. I purchased a fixture from Aquatraders.com and while I’ve been pretty happy with mine thus far, my next unit will be one of far higher quality.

Ask questions

My last and final tip is to ask questions. Feel free to contact me or add a comment with any questions you may have. I’d also encourage you to participate in some of the online reefing forums. My favorite is 3Reef.com. There are tons of folks over there that are experts and can answer pretty much any question you might have.

How about you? What tips do you have for beginners in the hobby? Add a comment!

Photo by: Lisa Brewster

There comes a point in every hobbyists life when you’ll need to move your saltwater aquarium. This happened to me recently. I had to moved my tank a few hours away. Moving a saltwater aquarium is far more complex than moving a freshwater and significant care needs to be taken in order to avoid or minimize loss of fish, corals and other livestock.

I did great deal of research prior to moving my 75g tank including placing a post over on the 3reef forums to obtain advice from the folks over their that I’ve come to completely rely on. What follows below is the process I used to move my tank. There are many different ways and I am in no way guaranteeing my will work for you. Fortunately it was pretty successful for me. I only lost 2 corals and is purely my fault. You’ll see why below.

Equipment needed to move your saltwater aquarium

Here’s what you’ll need to move your saltwater tank, at least with my process:

• 5 Gallon buckets with lids
• Battery Air Pumps
• Submersible Heaters
• A large truck, SUV, or trailer - assuming you have a large tank

Obviously, you’ll need one bucket for each 5 gallons of water. You’ll need one battery powered pump for each 5 gallon bucket that will contain fish, corals or other livestock.

A few days before your move

Go ahead and get your supplies and equipment together. It’s better to have a few extra buckets than not enough. Also, consider whether you plan to remove your sand bed or leave it in the tank. For anything more than a 75 gallon tank, I would strongly advise removing your sand bed. The tank is heavy enough without the additional weight of the wet sand.

Here are just a few things to plan out and consider:

• Have some friends available to help you life the aquarium and stand. Trust me, it’s not worth the risk of trying to handle it yourself. One slip and well…you know the rest.
• Get plenty of batteries for your pumps. I ran mine for about 24 hours on a single set of batteries, but I had plenty of extras just in case.
• Write down (or print this article) so that you have everything all planned out step by step. Remember, the longer your fish are out of the tank the more at risk they are of not making it.
• Plan things out in advance. Think through how you are going to transport the fish, tank, lights, pumps, filters, skimmers, and buckets. I rented a U-haul trailer just to carry my tank and fish.
• Find or buy a few plastic containers to carry your equipment in. Boxes work well for dry goods, but you’ll want the plastic containers for any of your wet equipment.
• Packing supplies. I used bubble wrap and moving blankets to wrap my lights, filters, cooling fans, etc. to protect them when we move.

The day of the move

We had a moving company move us, but if you are moving yourself I would strongly advise that you get some friends and family to help you move. Your main job and focus should be on the aquarium. Before starting to actually disassemble the aquarium, go ahead and pack up all of your dry goods and anything not needed to keep the aquarium running.

You’ll want to wait until the very last minute to start the actual process of disassembling the aquarium. Make sure you have all of your supplies handy: buckets nearby, a siphon tube or pump, lots of towels and a helper. Once your ready, here’s the steps I did when I moved my tank:

1. Turn off all of your lights, unplug and remove them. I have an “all in one” light fixture, so I wrapped mine up in a moving blanket to protect them.
2. turn of your heater(s). Don’t remove them yet! Let them cool off for a bit before removing them. Place them in one of the plastic containers as well.
3. Turn off all of your filter equipment and pumps. Drain it and place it in one of the plastic storage containers.
4. Now you’ll start draining the water. If you have live rock, fill up your buckets half way then add live rock until the water is a few inches from the top.
5. Continuing this process until either all of the live rock is removed. If you don’t have live rock, once you get to about 6″ of water left, stop
6. With the live rock out of the way and a minimal amount of water, now’s time to catch the fish. Using a net, catch the fish and place them in a bucket of water. Be sure to place your fish based on their compatibility with other. I put my clowns and their anenome in one bucket, my other fish in another, and my inverts in a 3rd along with my corals. As soon as your fish, corals and inverts are in the buckets, hook up your battery powered air pumps. Also add the submersible heaters. Don’t turn them on yet though. Wait about 15 minutes.
7. Drain the remaining water. If you are going to remove the sand bed or substrate, go ahead and scoop it out into it’s own buckets.
8. Place lids on all of the buckets but the ones with your livestock. For those, cut or drill a hole in the lid for the airline to go through. Cut another hole to allow the air in the bucket to vent out as well. Trust me, I learned this one the hard way!
9. Now it’s time to load up. I’d recommend wrapping the aquarium with a blanket to protect it.

As I said, I rented a U-Haul trailer. I loaded the aquarium loaded with by sand bed into the trailer along with the stand. I then placed the buckets of water into the trailer as well along with my dry goods and the plastic containers. I put the fish up in my truck with me. It was a bit cool that day and I wanted to keep them as warm as possible. I also had my kids riding with me to keep an eye on them.

Setting your tank back up after moving

We closed on our new home at 10:00 the next morning. Overnight the fish and live stock stayed with me. We went straight from the closing to our new home where I immediately began setting up the tank. Here’s the steps I followed:

1. Set-up the stand and tank
2. Began adding water. This turned out to be a bit of a problem for me. It had gotten colder overnight than I had anticipated. In hindsight, I should have placed a portable heater in the trailer overnight to keep the water temperature in the bucket nice and warm. The water I was poring into the tank was about 40 degrees. I immediately placed all of the heaters I had in the tank, waited 15 minutes and turned them on as I continued to pour the water in. As soon as the water level was high enough, I installed my pumps, filter, and protein skimmer. The water was REALLY cloudy.
3. I also started adding the live rock while pouring in the water was well. With the cloudy water I couldn’t see to place it, so I just laid it in there.
4. Once all of the rock was in, I topped the tank off with the remaining water.
5. I then installed my lights and immediately turned on my Metal Halides to assist with warming up the water
6. Once the water was up to temperature and had cleared up some, I added my fish and other livestock to the tank.

Things I would do different next time

Overall the move went very well. I did have some die off, but as I said earlier due to a few mistakes I made. So let me overview those:

• I didn’t plan well for the overnight cool temperatures and as a result it took my water a good 4-5 hours to warm up. Fortunately I had the extra heaters, otherwise it would have been even longer than that. As a result of the cold temperatures, I had a bit of die off on my live rock. Not bad, but more than I wanted. I wanted zero!
• I placed my “hard corals” in a bucket of their own that wasn’t heated. As a result I lost both of them. I should have treated them just like the the rest of my livestock.
• To make the move easier, I kept my sand bed in the tank. I should have removed it and placed it in buckets and washed it before putting it back into the tank. The sand bed was filthy. While washing it out probably would have caused a small cycle, it would have been worth it.

The tanks doing great. I’ve had a bit of an algae bloom in the past few weeks, but I expected that with the bit of die off I had. My nitrates are up and feeding the algae. I’m doing frequent water changes until the levels come down.

Have you ever moved your tank? What process did you use? Did you have any die off?

Photo by: Marion Doss