http://www.marinefishforum.com/Articles Thu, 23 Feb 2012 03:16:38 +0000 43200 Manage articles http://www.marinefishforum.com/Articles/_/marine-articles/best-way-to-move-a-tank-explained-r78
Few Days Before The Tank Move.

-1. Prepare water at new place.
-2. Gather buckets, bags, elastic bands, nets, Poly boxes. Crates/boxes for fishy bits



The Day Of Tank Move.

1. Drain down 2/3rds , take out corals , rocks, fish, crabs snails,
2. drained down water into containers, Use some drain down water to bag the fish and livestock, all separately if long journey , a few to a bag if local, or keep fish in bucket.
3. drain down dregs into separate container or bucket and take with.
4. rock into poly box, covered in wet newspaper.
5. load up van.
6. drive slowly as not to bash anything about
7.position tank, Plunge rock into the now settled dregs bucket of tank water. this will remove any grunge released by the move.
8.put live rock in tank, pump in the 2/3rds you drained down, acclimate fish and coral and inverts, if long journey or put straight in if local. clean all equip bar 1 pump and reinstall everything as dis assembled.


ideally you would have made up at least 1/3 rd fresh water and have it sitting at new house. this should be ready to go straight in , best dripped in if its different parameters as fish and stock would of had enough of upset during the move.

iv moved my tanks and a fair few others in my time, and had a few casualties but for the most they've all moved nicely with no complaints, speed is the key really, in and out quick as poss.

i like the bucket method for moving fish if local, as you can keep heater and power head in until last minute and back in soon as they out the van.

time, do not be fooled by thinking its a quick job, iv had moves take from 45mins each side of the move on a 100l to several hours for a 400 litre tank.

allow plenty of time , you dont want to rush this but again speed is key , so quick as possible, while doing everything properly.

Best of luck with the move,

oh and do grab some pictures both sides of the move and share them here on the Forum.

GT ]]> Sun, 08 Jan 2012 19:44:44 +0000 8f85517967795eeef66c225f7883bdcb http://www.marinefishforum.com/Articles/_/marine-articles/buffering-your-aquarium-parameters-r77
Terms used.
Ca-Calcium
Mg-Magnisium
dKH-Alkalinity

Ideal Perams.
Fish only: dKH-7.0, Ca-385, Mg-1220
Soft Corals: dKH8.2, Ca-430, Mg-1280
LPS Corals: dKH-12.1, Ca-440, Mg-1310
SPS Corals: dKH-12.6, Ca-465, Mg-1390

When we add corals to our tanks they use many elements out of the water for growth with the main ones being Ca, Mg and HC03 which affects our dKH. Maintaining a good level of these 3 elements will help in keeping healthy corals which will grow and thrive. Once these elements are used by the corals, water changes alone is not enough to replenish the required amount, hence the need to buffer the water to replace these elements, the process is often referred to as 'balling'.
The fist thing to find out is how much of each element is being consumed on a daily or weekly basis. Once this is known, next is to choose a method of adding these elements back with is going to be the best and most cost effective method for you. A tank full of SPS will require daily buffering where as a soft or LPS corals tank can be done weekly.

Methods of buffering.
There are a few liquid buffers available on the market for coral growth these require you to perform water tests weekly and work out the requied dose of each element and slowly add the dosages to your water. These liquid forms are good for smaller tanks and weekly dosing, but will not be cost effective on a large heavily stocked systems due to the dosages required.
Next there are powers which which can be mixed in to 3 separate containers and the solution is added to the tank as and when required.
Another and probably the best application for large SPS tanks is to mix up your 3 solutions from the powders and run them through a doser. You work out how much your tank uses on a daily basis and set the 3 way doser up to add exactly the required amount over a specified period, ie 5ml of Ca over 16 hours. this method is expensive but the best as it maintains the requires parameters at all times.


For what its worth this is what i do, my system is 450-500l and has soft, LPS and one or 2 sps. After my weeklyish water change i allow my tank to settle for a few hours with the new water in then i do a full set of tests and manually buffer the required amount from 3 containers i have which contain the mixes from the powdered buffers. My corals look good and grow really well.]]> Tue, 03 Jan 2012 22:03:38 +0000 96da2f590cd7246bbde0051047b0d6f7 http://www.marinefishforum.com/Articles/_/marine-articles/nitrate-reduction-r76
There are Anaerobic bacteria that will remove Nitrates and Phosphates from saltwater provided there is a source of carbon available,
dosing NO3PO4-X provides this source. Overtime the more you dose the more established these bacteria become and you will notice your nitrate / phos levels start to drop to 0!!!!

Pros and Cons of using this method:
Pros Naturally you can reduce your phos and nitrate but you must continue dosing NO3PO4-X for the bacteria to thrive

Cons Dosing can take a while before you start to see your nitrates drop as the bacteria that remove them grow slower than other aerobic cycling bacteria. Which means you have to dose for a while (min. 2 Weeks) before you see results which could be expensive as NO3PO4-X is not cheap. Overdosing on a Carbon Source can be fatal to your tank as bacteria blooms will use up all the oxygen in your tank and potentially suffocate your fish!!

As with everything in life there are cheaper alternatives to NO3PO4-X that give the same results other forms of carbon dosing to feed these nitrate/phos removing bacteria:

Sugar Dosing, Distilled Vinegar Dosing or VODKA DOSING are all Carbon Sources, where NO3PO4-X is a branded form of Carbon Dosing just a special mix of Distilled Alcohol but costs £20 a bottle where as Vodka dosing would cost £5 a bottle.

Vodka Dosing is by far the most popular form of Carbon dosing where Vodka is used because of it purity and its cheap. Please Read more about Vodka / Carbon Dosing before you add anything like it to your tank if you do. Many things can go wrong if you dont know what your doing including suffocating your fish to death if you OD on Carbon / Vodka.

Written by Black Widow


We hope you've enjoyed reading this article ' Nitrate Reduction '

Have a suggestion or comment about the above Article ? Please leave your comments below.

If you have questions related to this article , please start a New Topic in the correct Forum section or Read another Article for Newbies]]> Wed, 07 Dec 2011 22:24:49 +0000 38af86134b65d0f10fe33d30dd76442e http://www.marinefishforum.com/Articles/_/marine-articles/a-day-working-with-fish-r75 A Day Working With Fish , By Nala , aka Princess Venom

Firstly, apologies for the lateness of this article. I was in a car accident recently and have been major busy sorting out insurance details, as well as being laid up in pain! But as promised, here is what it's like to work in a fish wholesalers...

What’s it like working for a marine fish wholesaler?

For the past 6 months or so, I have been working for a marine fish wholesaler. We import fish and invertebrates from abroad, and then sell to customers in the UK and other countries - acting as the ‘middleman’ between the fish collectors on the reefs, and the stores where hobbyists will visit to buy their fish.
Fish and inverts are displayed neatly on site, in our ‘fish warehouse’ where pet business owners are free to call in 5 days a week and browse our stock, selecting which fish they wish to purchase. We then invoice the fish, bag them up and the customer leaves happy (we hope!).

Dream job, you may think? I am the envy of many fellow fish keepers due to my occupation, but few people really understand what goes on behind the scenes, before your fish get to the shops. It’s not all about staring at beautiful tanks all day!
At my workplace, we have two groups of full time staff on shifts. We have an early and a late shift, with start and finish times dependant on how many orders, fish shipments and such we have on each day. Generally an early shift is 6am-4pm, and a late shift is 8am-6pm, but this can vary up to several hours either way, depending on how busy we are! Summertime tends to be a quiet time of year, but things really take off in the Winter months. Each group switches shifts weekly, so you will only do a week of each shift pattern at a time. Whilst this sounds like a good idea, it really wreaks havoc with your body clock. Just as your body is getting used to waking up at 6am, suddenly you have to be waking up at 4.30am the next week! However, on the plus side, navigating through London in the early hours of the morning is a breeze at 5 O’clock in the morning. But there’s still no feeling quite as dreary and miserable as automatically waking up at 4.30am on a Saturday morning, despite having the day off. Having previously worked in aquatic retail my whole life, it was suddenly a pleasuring shock to be given every weekend and bank holiday off. 6 months on and I still can’t get used to it!

Generally, my day would begin with clocking in at just before 6am/8am, and making my first cup of tea of the day. My workplace is powered by caffeine. We then check on the fish and inverts, removing any who may have died overnight. With thousands of fish on site, with many difficult to keep or feed species, we unfortunately do loose a few during the acclimatisation process. Any deceased fish are then recorded on a stock sheet.
Next, it is my job to check on any sick or deformed fish. Occasionally we get fish who are unwell, and so they have to be removed from sale and taken to the hospital tanks out in the quarantine room, where they can be observed and treated. Any seriously ill fish are put to sleep humanely with anaesthetic.
After collecting any sick fish, I inspect the hospital tanks to check the progress of the sick fish, and remove the ones which have recovered, and place them back on sale.
The next thing I attend to is the stock levels of inverts such as shrimp and crabs. We keep most inverts separately in small cups to avoid them damaging or eating each other. I check for empty cups and take them to the bleach trough for disinfecting and cleaning. I then replace them with nice clean shrimp-filled cups, ready for when we open to the customers.
Before we open to customers, we usually have several orders to prepare, ready to be couriered to stores later that day. The inverts are bagged and boxed the previous night, and the fish are bagged in the morning. Before we open at 7am, all orders are boxed up and ready for couriering. So, if there are a lot of orders, we start much earlier than 6am!
After 7am, we continue to prepare any invert and fish orders for later couriering, all depending on where in the world they are travelling to, and at which time they will be loaded onto a plane, as the livestock can only be sealed in their bags for a certain amount of time under OATA guidelines.

Then feeding time begins. With thousands of fish, we use a lot of food. I return from the freezer with an armload of frozen fish food and begin to defrost - giant krill and fish for the eels, puffers and triggers. Brineshrimp with Omega 3 or garlic, and mysis shrimp for everybody. Squid, sand eels, and fish for the sharks. Yes, sharks. As we supply aquariums with their livestock, we usually have several species of sharks in stock. Generally we have black tip reef sharks and various cat sharks, but we also sometimes have bonnet sharks, port jacksons, white tips, nurse sharks, epaulettes, Stegasomas and hound sharks. Usually, it is my job to ensure they are all feeding well, and are fed properly every few hours. They are kept in huge vats in a separate room, and are generally very greedy. Although you do usually end up getting drenched whilst feeding them, as they often get rather over excited and a feeding frenzy ensues, with water splashing everywhere, leaving you looking like you've been swimming in there with them!

After the first feeds of the day, we usually have time to clean some of the tanks. We keep the fish in small plain cube tanks, which make it neat and easy to display them for short periods until they are bought, and easy to keep them clean. A small ‘army’ of us spend an hour or two polishing up the tanks on a Monday morning, and then part-time staff will keep them clean through the week, with the full time staff lending a land during quieter times. More tea is usually made during this time...

Then the first of the shipments being to arrive from the airport. We can have as many as 150, or as few as 5 boxes per day. Generally we will have approximately 40-50 boxes of livestock per day, in 3-10 different shipments. Unpacking is done in the dark quarantine room into small holding tanks, to keep stress levels low for the fish. They are shipped in individual bags, so 200 green chromis, will be in 200 individual bags! After cutting each species out into the tanks, they are slowly drip acclimated into our system. We have two guys who are solely in charge of acclimation of the fish, which takes many hours - they often leave at 8 or 10pm at night.

Feeding happens again in-between unpacking the shipments from the airport. We aim to feed every fish 5 times per day, although some will take more, or less. Perhaps another tea-run?..

During the day, we also have customers call in from various fish stores to collect their own livestock. So in between feeding and unpacking, we also record, invoice, and pack their livestock ready for them to take back with them. Some shops will visit us weekly, others are monthly, and some very eager customers who visit multiple times a week! During this time, other jobs such as adding medication to the water, checking the water chemistry, changing the filter cartridges, or cleaning skimmers out in the filtration room and so on are carried out. The time we are open to the public is generally the time we have to carry out other tasks around the place, before the orders come in.

After we close, at 2pm, the preparation for the next day begins. We collect and pack all the inverts for any courier orders for the next day. This can be anything from 1-2, up to 10 or more. But generally we have about 5 or 6 at this time of year to prepare. As previously mentioned, the fish are added to the order in the morning, just before the box is sent. If you are on an early shift, this is usually the end of the day, at around 4pm.
The next 2 hours, on late shift, is for the cleaning up. Every tank is wiped down, and sprayed with fresh water, then wiped over. The floor is wiped and cleaned, and more dirty tanks are cleaned up. More food is put around for the fish, and boxes are put out ready for the next morning’s packing.
Again any casualties are removed from the tanks, and recorded, and the ill fish are checked again. Although, occasionally the evenings can just become a waiting game. Whilst there are staff employed to work even later in case of late shipments, occasionally you are required to stay and wait for large shipments which have been held at customs or on a delayed flight. It’s simply unavoidable. Generally, the cleaning up is done by 6pm, and we are ready to leave.

In conclusion, whilst there are plenty of beautiful fish and corals to look at, the job is hard work. 10 to 12 hours on your feet, doing fairly repetitive work. It’s quite unusual in that the majority of staff do not own fish at all. Some have owned marines previously, but it is only the minority which do keep marines at all. They claim it’s due to being fed up with fish - which is understandable. At the end of the day the last thing you want is to be coming home and fiddling with your own tank. Those of us who do keep fish, tend to have moved to keeping fish only, as opposed to a reef, simply for the ease of upkeep, which is a shame with so much choice and easy access to such a wide range of beautiful corals. But I love my job, and see myself as lucky to be working in such a fantastic place, where I am still learning a great deal, as well as working with wonderful people. It certainly takes a very special kind of person to work with so many fish!


All Credits For This Article Go To Nala, aka PrincessVenom

If You Have Questions related to this article please post in the Forums.]]> Thu, 01 Dec 2011 08:34:22 +0000 82161242827b703e6acf9c726942a1e4 http://www.marinefishforum.com/Articles/_/marine-articles/keeping-seahorses-the-basics-r74 Seahorses - The Basics by Nala aka PrincessVenom


For centuries the seahorse has been admired by many as a beautiful, mysterious sea monster. The Ancient Greeks and Phoenicians both referenced seahorses in their mythology as a part horse, part fish sea monster. In modern times, the seahorse has been a source of fascination for people due to it's peculiar and entrancing image of a miniature horse which lives underwater. Many people are attracted to their gentle nature, and their ability to seemingly 'float' around in their water, totally unlike a true fish at all.

Seahorses are a totally marine creature, although some do occasionally venture into brackish (a mixture of both marine and fresh waters) estuary water. Any seahorse being sold as a 'freshwater' seahorse is either not a true seahorse at all, or you are being misinformed about it's requirements.
There are approximately 40 species of seahorse currently known to science, under the genus Hippocampus, although only a handful are available to the hobby.

Commonly traded seahorses include:
H. reidi - Longsnout seahorse, or Brazilian seahorse
H. errectus - Lined seahorse
H. kuda - Common yellow seahorse, or Spotted seahorse
H. reidi sp. - Giant Brazilian seahorse, or Coloured Giant seahorse

Other seahorses occasionally available to the hobby include:

H. breviceps - Short snout seahorse
H. barbouri - Barbour’s seahorse
H. histrix - Thorny seahorse
H. bargibanti - Pygmy seahorse
Although these species are generally more expensive and harder to care for than the previously mentioned species.

All seahorses are currently protected species, which means that their capture and trade is heavily restricted. This is one reason that you should avoid wild caught specimens. Seahorses are now commonly captive bred by hobbyists, which provides a guilt-free alternative to wild caught, as well as being almost guaranteed parasite free, and reared on frozen foods. Since seahorses have been frequently captive bred, they have become much easier to keep. However, the ‘myth’ still remains that they are near impossible to keep. I aim to dispel this myth!

The two most common seahorses you are likely to come across, and are the most ideal species to begin with, are kuda and reidi.
These seahorses grow to approximately 6 to 10 inches, and are tropical species.
The biggest mistake people tend to make when keeping seahorses is to introduce them into unsuitable tanks with boisterous tank mates. The majority of other fishes will either bully and harass seahorses, or if they don’t cause them direct harm, will eat the majority of the food without giving the delicate feeders, such as the seahorses, a chance to feed. Seahorses don’t have the same the same digestive system as other fishes, and so need to feed almost constantly to survive. This becomes a problem when kept in ‘sterile’ tanks - ie, a tank with no other living micro-organisms for the seahorses to feed on when not being fed frozen foods. Living rock or ’Live Rock’ is the best way to introduce micro-organisms such as mysids, copepods and amphipods to the tank. This should be added at a rate of 1kg to each 10L of water. The live rock also provides a base for macro-algae to anchor themselves to. Algae is an essential part of keeping seahorses, as it allows them to attach themselves to something with their prehensile tails to rest. Simultaneously, it also encourages the reproduction of suitable small food items for the seahorses, and reduces undesirable nitrates in the water.

I have found that the easiest species of algae to keep in seahorse tanks, whilst using TMC LED lighting (x1 marine bar) is the red grape algae and red lettuce algae. Red algae typically need higher lighting levels than green algae, but are more tolerant of being moved, or changes in light, temperature and so on. Green algae is more ’fragile’ than red, and tends to bleach out, turning the water green with chlorophyll, then fall apart if it is not perfectly happy. These green algae are usually sold as feather calurpa, grape calurpa and cactus algae, although there are many different species, and most other species of tropical algae you can find would also be suitable. The only species I personally would avoid would be curly green ‘chateomorpha’ or ‘chat’ algae. This is because it tends to grow in tightly wound balls or knots, which seahorses could easily become tangled in and unable to free themselves.

The basics you will need to care for your seahorses is a tank of 60L for a pair, or larger. Ideally it should be taller than the standard tank, approximately twice the maximum height of the seahorse, or more. You will then need a water heater to heat the tank to a tropical temperature of approximately 25C or 77F. A thermometer should be used to check this, as the guides on the side of the heaters themselves are notoriously inaccurate! For example, I think mine is set at approximately 22C, yet the water reads at 26C on my digital thermometer. Had I set this at 25C and had it be equally as inaccurate, it would be way too hot for the seahorses at 29C and it is likely that they would die at this temperature. A heater guard is also worth considering, as seahorses can burn themselves if they choose to anchor on the heater itself.
The next items you will need is either a powerhead to cycle water around the living rock (Berlin method of filtration) or a filter, either internal, external or sump. I use an internal filter similar to the Juwel style of filter boxes. It is filled with biological media and then polywool to remove any debris in the water, topped with a power head. Die-hard reef keepers would be turning in their graves at this suggestion, but I work on the premise of using the large amounts of macro algae and a deep sand bed to process the nitrates produced by this method of filtration. You will then need a skimmer, something rated for double the tank volume.

Another major thing to consider when setting your tank up is a clean-up-crew. Seahorses are messy eaters, often requiring large amounts of food, a significant amount of which they may not eat. Having small hermit crabs, shrimps and starfish can solve any problems which may be caused by excess decaying food, as they will eat anything which the seahorses have left over. 1 crab per 10L of water is ideal as a maximum.

Decoration is the next step. I use a few chunks of live rock, combined with a deep sand bed made of very fine sugar sand, and then macro algae for the seahorses to anchor themselves on. As well as macro algae, I have included feather dusters and a few mushroom and zoanthid soft corals.
Corals are not ideal to use in a seahorse tank, due to the seahorses desire to anchor themselves to anything with a ‘branch’ type structure. Seahorses may be stung by the corals, or damage the corals themselves due to persistent anchorage on their appendages - resulting in lack of light to the polyps and inability to extend and feed, which could ultimately result in the death of the coral.
Other corals, such as catalaphyllia, trachyphyllia and anemones also run the risk of eating the slow moving seahorses. Again, these should be avoided for these reasons, along with the majority of other very large polyped corals- it’s better to be safe than sorry!
Unfortunately, another beauty which should be avoided is clams. Whilst small they are generally harmless, but as they grow, there is the risk of seahorses having their tails become trapped in the mantle as the clam ‘closes’. Depending on how tightly the clam has trapped the seahorses tail, amputation or infection resulting in death are a possibility.
Suitable corals for seahorse tanks include feather duster worms, soft plating leather corals such as toadstool, cabbage, carpet xenia, mushrooms and zoanthids. There are some suitable species of hard coral, but they should be introduced with care. These include goniopora, alveopora, montipora and other small polyped non-branching corals. Although, again, care should be taken when it comes to stinging polyps of corals and their effect on the seahorses.

Seahorses are by nature, gentle and fairly slow moving creatures. They are also delicate feeders. For this reason when it comes to stocking a seahorse tank, special care and consideration should be put into suitable tank mates for them. It has to be said that you cannot simply put a seahorse into an established saltwater community tank, as it is more than likely that they will be bullied and/or starve to death. Boisterous and greedy fish such as tangs, clowns, or triggerfish are likely to push seahorses out of the way when it comes to feeding time, leaving the seahorses stressed and frightened, as well as hungry!
The ideal tank mates for seahorses are smaller, quieter fishes. Mandarin fish make excellent tank mates, as long as there is plenty of liverock for them to graze on. The macro algae provides breeding ground for the copepods which they feed from, and they are no competition to the seahorses when it comes to mysis shrimp and so on.
Flasher wrasse are generally a gentle genus of wrasse, being fairly shy. But they are jumpers, so a lid or cover is essential. Be careful not to confuse them with the similar fairy wrasse - who are much more aggressive.
Small nano gobies such as blue lined cleaners, firecrackers, sailfins, and many of the shrimp gobies are also ideal. So long as your tank is covered, the purple, pink and orange fish fishes can also make good additions. Although, they are prone to trying to leap from uncovered tanks! Smaller blennies are also ideal, such as tailspot blennies, midas, striped, or bicolour. Personally, I keep a spotted mandarin, firefish, blue lined cleaner and a Christmas island goby in my seahorse tank.
Another perfect tank mate for seahorses is pipefish. Pipefish are closely related to seahorses, but with an elongated body. There are many different species, but the most commonly available ones are the striped, yellow striped, Jansen’s cleaner and dragon pipefish. Equally as shy as seahorses, they are no competition for food, and are not aggressive. The majority of pipefish do not posses a prehensile tail like seahorses, and so should be provided with an area of cover to hide in instead of an anchor point.

I feed my seahorses on frozen mysis shrimp and brine shrimp. If you have obtained your seahorses as captive bred, it is more than likely that this is what they will be feeding on also. However, if you have wild caught seahorses, you may require live brine shrimp or even live mysids to feed them. Generally every seahorse in the local fish shops will be of captive origin, and so feeding on frozen foods. Due to their lack of true digestive system, they must be fed at least twice per day, ideally up to 5 times a day if your filtration can handle it. I usually turn the flow off in my tank whilst feeding, to allow the seahorses a chance to browse the food and select their meals before turning the flow back on, and allowing it to ‘blow’ around the tank and feed the other fishes.
During feeding time is one of the times you may also hear your seahorses making noise! Seahorses are able to communicate with each other by creating, what sounds to the human ear, like a series of pops and clicks. I have noticed in my tank that this increases when food is put in, and there is a series of clicks and pops that come from the tank periodically. However, do not confuse this with mantis or pistol shrimps, which can pose a danger to your seahorse! If you suspect you have a mantis or pistol shrimp (which can be characterized by loss of small fishes, visual sightings, as well as frequent loud cracking noises coming from the tank) then you should remove the suspected 'den' or rock and rinse with fresh water to encourage the animal to come out. You can also set special traps to catch these pests if required!

That concludes my basic guide on seahorses!

All Credit For This Article Goes To Nala aka PrincessVenom


If You Have Questions Relating To This Article Please Post In The Forums.]]> Thu, 01 Dec 2011 08:33:39 +0000 bf8229696f7a3bb4700cfddef19fa23f