Reef aquariums are a testament to the beauty and complexity of marine ecosystems. Yet, one fundamental difference sets them apart from
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Chemistry Control
You’re a few weeks into conditioning your brand new reef aquarium. You’ve been testing the water like crazy. The nitrifying bacteria you added are clearly established and working their magic, as the initially high ammonia, and then nitrite, levels are no longer within detectable range. Similarly, the wave of nitrates that followed the first activities of the nitrifiers has been curtailed by the denitrifying bacteria and macroalgae you added. Your tank is now positively “cycled.” So, can you put that master test kit away now? Hardly! In many respects, your time dealing with chemistry control is just revving up. As a matter of fact, you’re about to find that even more than a biologist or an engineer, a reef aquarist is a chemist. Once you start putting fish, corals, clams, etc. into the tank, it’s game-on. Nitrate or even ammonia can make reappearances. Phosphate and/or silicate may rise. Alkalinity and/or pH might drop. Important trace elements such as boron get depleted. Sure, you could just perform 50% water changes every couple of days. Right? Or, you could simply take control over your precious water assets. But you’re just taking swings in the dark if have no idea what your parameters are to begin with. This is why frequent testing (or, better yet, continuous monitoring) is critical. When many beginner aquarists think “chemistry control” they think “water filtration”. And that is definitely a huge factor, with regards to your make-up and top-off water as well as your aquarium system water. But “water treatment” is at least as important in the long term. When you think water treatment, think about restoring buffering capacity, replenishing essential trace elements, bioremediation with macroalgae, phytoplankton or bacteria, and so on. In this section, you will learn how to monitor water chemistry using various types of testing equipment and maintain tight chemistry control using certain chemicals, organisms, etc.
30 Posts
Calcium Supplementation
Stony corals can use elements in the water to build their skeletons. It is a fantastic process that develops exciting structures.
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Trophic Structure in the Reef Aquarium Part 4
Proper stocking procedure can have a huge long-term impact on the health of your aquarium system. That's why proper order of stocking
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Trophic Structure in the Reef Aquarium Part 3
It is so easy to get caught up envisaging about what our first, or next, reef tank will look like… and what will be in it... It is
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Trophic Structure in the Reef Aquarium Part 2
Part one of this series took a brief look at the different levels of the Food Pyramid. So, why does it so often look like a pyramid in
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Trophic Structure in the Reef Aquarium Part 1
Foods and feeding are a major concern of any serious aquarist. Perhaps on a daily basis, we throw all sorts of foods into our systems.
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Vitamin C and Aquarium Livestock Nutrition
When it comes to animal diets, there is not necessarily a close correlation between the normal amount of intake of certain components
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The Nitrogen Cycle: Part Three (Denitrifiers)
Perhaps it is a poor choice of words to say that ones tank “is cycled” in the past tense--as if the keeper no longer needs to monitor
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The Nitrogen Cycle: Part Two (Nitrite Oxidizers)
So, you’ve squirted some stuff in your home aquarium, waited a few weeks, watched the ammonia rise and fall, and now you know
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The Nitrogen Cycle: Part One (Ammonia Oxidizers)
The nitrogen cycle is as important to our aquaria as it is in global biogeochemical processes. Since it truly is a cycle, there is no
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Using the Aquarium Cycle Kit
One of the more fundamental tasks one must undertake when maintaining a saltwater aquarium is controlling nitrogenous waste. Most
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Do I Need a Protein Skimmer?
There are a lot of tough calls in reef aquarium keeping. While the focus of attention should be on creating the healthiest and most
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Upgrading to the ULTIMATE Ecopack
Pods. Phyto. At AlgaeBarn, these are the bread and butter of the reef aquarium diet. And for sure, these two items form the base of
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Upgrading to the ULTIMATE Refugium Starter Pack
You might be setting up a brand-new reef tank. Maybe you’re doing some upgrades to an existing aquarium. Either way, you’ll have a lot
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Natural Water Quality Management for Non-Photosynthetic Reef Aquaria
There was once a time when zooxanthellate corals (especially SPS corals) were considered impossible to keep in captivity. Then
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What Do I Need for a Saltwater Fish Tank?
Whether scouting for your first aquarium, or “graduating” from a freshwater aquarium, there is something about a saltwater aquarium
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Keeping a Coldwater Marine Aquarium
Marine aquarists have always had access to temperate species. In fact, in the days before improved packaging/shipping procedures
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4 Macroalgae for Beginners
Macroalgae are a great addition to any aquarium. They remove excess nutrients in the water column (such as phosphates and nitrates) and
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Corals in a Box of Water: Creating a Natural Reef Tank
We’ve come a long, long way in advancing natural marine aquarium keeping. Those of us who started out in the 80’s with barren
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Dosing Iodine in the Reef Aquarium
Reef aquarium hobbyists already have enough on their plates trying to keep levels of minerals such as calcium and magnesium levels up
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