It is essential to plan ahead when choosing and buying your marine fish.
Before setting out to buy fish, you must have a pre-matured tank to accommodate it and a predetermined stocking plan. After all, there is absolutely no point in buying the most aggressive and territorial fish first, only to have it kill or injure every subsequent addition. Look for the healthiest fish possible, don't settle for second best or be tempted to take pity on a deformed specimen even though it might be cheaper.
A healthy fish should have clear eyes, intact fins, no marks, ulcers or wounds on the body or fins and it should have an alert temperament. ALWAYS ask to see the fish feeding. If it is not interested in food, don't buy it. If at all unsure, ask to reserve the fish by leaving a small deposit. if after a few days the fish has started feeding well and is otherwise healthy, go back and collect it.
The fish should be double bagged and If you are travelling a long distance, ask for some oxygen to pumped into the bag before it is sealed. Some dealers will do this anyway as a matter of course. Put the bag into an insulated box and use some form of packing to prevent the bag from rolling around. You could use screwed up newspapers or plastic bags filled with air. if the fish are packed properly, they should be fine for two to three hours, possibly longer.
When you arrive home, unpack the fish in a darkened room wherever possible. Turn off the aquarium lights to avoid stressing the fish and float the bag unopened in the aquarium for about ten minutes. After this time, the temperatures will have started to equalise and the bag can be opened. Roll down the top of the bag to form a collar and add a small amount of your aquarium water to it every few minutes rolling the collar up as necessary. After 20 - 30 minutes the fish should be acclimatised to your aquarium's water chemistry and temperature and can be released.
Over stocking and incompatibility are the main cause of fish losses.
With a little forward planning however, a harmonious mix of healthy tankmates can be achieved and disasters avoided. Great care must be exercised in this aspect of marine fishkeeping.
For a fish only set-up, a good rule of thumb would be to slowly build up to 1 inch of fish per 4 gallons of water over the first 6 months. during the following 6 months this can be carefully be increased to 1 inch of fish to 2 gallons of water maximum. Don't forget that these calculations should allow for the growth of the fish to full adult size.
Stocking should be carried out slowly to allow the biological filter to adjust to each increased load without stressing the new or existing fish. Be sure to make all calculations on the known nett volume of the tank after displacement of rocks and sand etc. have been accounted for.
Use the following to work out the nett capacity of your aquarium: NOTE Calculations are given in the form for keying into a calculator.
Measure the internal length, height and breadth in inches: -
Length x height x breadth divided by 1728 = cubic feet. Cubic feet x 6.23 = imperial gallons less 10 - 20% to allow for displacement of rocks, sand and freeboard of tank.
The position changes drastically for the mixed fish invert aquarium.
Owing to their high degree of sensitivity to fish waste, invertebrates must be kept in a tank with a much reduced fish population. A maximum of 1 inch of fish to every 6 gallons after 1 year must not be exceeded if the invertebrates are to thrive.
It is strongly recommended that newcomers to the marine fishkeeping hobby make a long term stocking plan in advance of buying any fish.
The plan should consist of a list of all intended purchases and their order of introduction. Shy and sensitive species should be introduced first, with the more aggressive and territorial ones coming later. In this way, the more delicate species have time to get established and cope with the more potentially aggressive specimens who will not have time to claim territories in advance.
It should be mentioned that the mix of temperaments in one set-up should never be that extreme.
It is the responsibility of all fishkeepers to supply the best food available and to feed the correct amounts to keep their fish fit and healthy Apart from overstocking, overfeeding is another one of the causes of fish losses. It can cause pollution when the filtration system is unable to cope. The result can be sudden death or a serious outbreak of disease. In general, feed no more than the fish can fully consume within 2-3 minutes (there is only a few exceptions) and remove any uneaten food immediately. Ideally feed twice a day, with two different types of food where possible.
Fish need a varied diet to provide all the nutrients, minerals and vitamins they need so vary the foods throughout the week.
Certain fish must have a particular type of food in their diet.
Tangs for example are mainly herbivores and require a large amount of algae and other green stuff. Blanched spinach and lettuce is an ideal food and can be sunk to the bottom by fixing to a small rock with a rubber band. This can be left for several hours for the fish to pick at as it will not start to pollute the tank for quite some time.
By far one of the easiest foods to use are of the frozen variety. They are reasonably priced, and easy to store, they have a good nutritional content and a good selection is available. when buying frozen food, ensure that it has been gamma irradiated which kills any bacteria that may have been present.
Live foods such as 'brine shrimp make a good alternative and can be fed with regularity.
Marine flake can also be used if your fish will accept it. Many fish can be weaned onto flake with a little effort. Commonly used foods include lancefish, squid, brine shrimp, mysis, cockle, mussel, lain, lobster eggs, shrimp/prawns and sponge.
You should try to ensure that there is enough water movement in the aquarium to keep the food in circulation and therefore the fish interested.
The key to successful marine fishkeeping is continuous high water quality through regular and proper maintenance. Regular water changes with good quality water form the backbone of proper maintenance. Because livestock continuously alter the physical composition of seawater by their biological processes, it is essential to renew and replenish various components by carrying out correctly proportioned water changes. In this way, potentially toxic compounds such as nitrates are kept at low levels and therefore under control.
Test kits are a vital part of the aquarists equipment. Using them is the only way to tell what state the water is in, you can't tell by just looking (unfortunately). From day one, every marine fishkeeper should possess a pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate test kit as well as a hydrometer for checking specific gravity. Other test kits such as dissolved oxygen and alkalinity reserve can prove useful but are not vital. Filtration and Maturation.
Good filtration is essential to the quality of the water and the well being of your fish.
Fish produce waste products which can kill them in the confines of an aquarium so must be neutralised very quickly. This is the purpose of the biological filter, whereby friendly bacteria are encouraged to live and multiply in a suitable filter bed. Here they can feed on the primary and most toxic fish waste, ammonia, converting it to the slightly less toxic nitrite and finally to nitrate.
The most popular form is the under gravel filter. In this case the tank water is drawn through a layer of coral sand and coral gravel where the bacteria live. The base of the aquarium is covered with filter plates, covered with a plastic mesh called a gravel tidy to prevent the layer of coral sand mixing with the gravel. The whole filter should be about 3 inches deep. The uplift can either be operated by an air pump and airstone, or by a powerhead.
The under gravel filter can also be run in reverse flow, whereby prefiltered water is pumped by means of a canister filter, down the uplift tube and up through the filter bed. The advantage of this method is that most of the solid waste can be filtered out before it can build up in the sand and gravel. Also the sand is far less prone to compaction. An extra circulation pump will, however, be vital if reverse-flow is used.
Whichever method of undergravel filtration is used, a flow rate through the filter bed should be no less than three times the tank's total volume per hour.
A canister filter is a very useful piece of equipment as it can house various filter media to treat and clean the water. Filter floss can be used to trap larger particles of waste mechanically. Marine grade carbon can treat the water in a chemical fashion by adsorbing many toxins that cannot be treated biologically.
Some people consider the protein skimmer essential to the marine aquarium. By removing certain waste products at an early stage, it allows the undergravel filter and carbon to work more efficiently. Certain proteins, fatty acids, and other unwanted compounds are drawn to the interface between air and water. By pumping millions of small bubbles into an enclosed tube, a vast surface area is created to which these compounds are attracted. As they build up, they form a foam which overflows into a collection cup and collapses into a brown coloured liquid which is then discarded.
It is essential that the biological filter bed is matured before any fish are introduced, so that a good population of bacteria is established in the filter.
Using a proprietary maturation fluid, ammonia and nitrite levels are allowed to reach very high levels. As the bacteria multiply and feed on these toxins, the level reduces. The progress can be monitored by using the test kits mentioned earlier. when ammonia and nitrite readings have dropped to zero, then the first fish can be introduced safely.
Most biological filters take between 21-28 days to mature, some take longer.
Heaterstats keep a plus or minus 2º F variation in accuracy and this is quite acceptable for most species.
Some solid state thermostats can be more accurate.
An alternative is the under tank heating mat with an external control unit. They have proved to be reliable and accurate but obviously cannot be fitted after the tank has been set up.
As a rough guide, allow 10 watts per gallon of water if the exact wattage is unavailable then go for the next wattage up.
Always keep a spare heaterstat, no heater lasts forever and failures often occur when the shops are shut.
The amount of light is not crucial in a fish only set-up and 2-4 tubes or 2 spot lamps should be ideal for most situations. Lights should be left on for 12-14 hours a day, any more would cause algae.
Spotlights come in two versions, metal halide and mercury vapour.
Mercury vapour, while cheaper than metal halides, give a yellow cast to the aquarium. Both are capable of punching light down to the bottom of deep aquaria and give a natural rippling effect. However, new bulbs can be expensive and need replacing every 6-12 months on light loving coral invertebrate Systems.
Spotlights run quite hot and may heat the tank to unacceptable levels during summer months.