Cleaner Fish Tank
How to maintain your saltwater fish tank aquarium
Over the course of the first 4 to 6 weeks your tank will demonstrate the typical cycling process. During this critical time, you should carefully watch the ammonia and nitrites in the tank. If the fish look stressed (darting around the tank, gasping for air, or not moving at all), a partial water change might be in order. If the fish look really bad, they may have to be moved to another tank or storage location until the toxicity of the tank is reduced. You should always keep salt mix and de-chlorinated water on hand for impromptu water changes.
Along with monitoring ammonia and nitrites, you should keep a careful eye on the pH (you should always watch the pH, not just during the cycling process). The pH will tend to fall over time and will need to be raised. The easiest way to raise the pH is through additions of sodium bicarbonate (i.e., baking soda). Fish supply stores also supply various products for this purpose. Mix a tablespoon or so of baking soda in a cup of de-chlorinated water and slowly add it to the tank. Slowly means over the course of an hour or two. Baking soda will cause a short term drop in the pH, but will bring the pH to 8.2 over time.
As time marches on, water will evaporate from the tank and need to be replenished. The water that evaporates is fresh water and needs to be replaced with fresh water. You should never use saltwater for makeup water (unless you want to increase the salinity of the tank).
As the tank matures, algae will start to grow (usually around week 2 or 3). Typically brown algae, otherwise known as diatoms, will be the first algae that show up in the tank. Brown algae will usually cover everything in the tank and need to be cleaned every week or so. With time green algae should overtake the diatoms and the brown algae will disappear all together. If it doesn’t, there might not be enough light for the green algae to out-compete the diatoms.
After the tank completes cycling, it will be time for your first major water change. Although the amount of water you change is really up to you, it should be a significant portion of the water. Something like 40 to 50%, with 100% of the water not being uncommon. When changing the water, the gravel should also be cleaned. There are many commercially available gravel cleaners on the market.
The chemistry of the change water should be as close to the tank’s water as possible. The pH should be within 0.2 and the temperature should be within 1-2 degrees. It is better to have the change water warmer than cooler (imagine the shock of a cold shower and you will know how your fish will react to cooler change water).
Saltwater fish need varied diets. Alternating between cut up shrimp and clam, flake food and frozen/live brine shrimp makes a good combination.
Keeping a quarantine tank is especially important for saltwater tanks. It can be very difficult to treat a sick fish when it is continually being harassed by healthier fish. Also, some medications, namely copper, will kill invertebrates. You should NEVER put copper into your main tank. Contrary to popular belief, you will never be able to get all of the copper out of the tank. Also, using copper in a tank which contains live rock will decimate the life forms populating the rock, as most of them are invertebrates.
The best water purifiers on the market are reverse osmosis units. These, coupled with de-ionizing resins, produce water which is 98% pure. If the price of a RO/DI combination is too much, then you can always use distilled water (not spring water). However, distilled water may have been stored in copper containers which will kill invertebrates.
About the Author
Sabra Fields is a student at Texas Tech University an independent business owner. She is a very involved seller on ebay and amazon.com. She is the owner and operator of powersellerprincess.com and has many other projects in the making.
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