How Can Keeping A Saltwater Aquarium Be Easy?

"How Can Keeping A Saltwater Aquarium Be Easy?"," And - yes - saltwater aquariums ARE inherently complicated. What if it were simple, easy and fun? What if it could be this way for you? Well, I am here to tell you it can be. In fact, if you are going to be both successful at saltwater aquariums AND have fun doing it, you must learn to keep it simple or simplify. Another way of saying it is that in order to prevent accumulation of bad stuff (nitrates, phosphates, organics, detritus, waste, etc. There are many ways to accomplish this, such as: water changes; activated carbon, protein skimmer, refugium w/ macro-algae, water changes, phosphate-removing media, etc. Stop and just stare at your tank regularly - few skills are more crucial to a successful saltwater aquarium than observation. And the good thing is it is really easy to do. You will learn more, discover more, prevent more problems and come up with more solutions by just getting quiet and still and just watching your tank. Learn as much as you can about the animals you are keeping and have a strong sense of wonder - Whether it is animals or filtration equipment, it is vitally important that you learn as much as you can about them. You will need to learn about their life history, ecology, husbandry requirements and compatibility with other potential tank mates. So read as much as you can (books, magazines, online forums, blogs), join a local saltwater aquarium hobby club, attend seminars, workshops and lectures, and above all be open-minded. Be willing for the other guy to know more than you, so that you can learn something new (this alone has taken me very far). Saltwater aquariums require consistent routine care, and if you skimp on your consistency or miss a day or a week here and there, it can come back to bite you. You must be regular and consistent with your saltwater aquarium maintenance routine. The bottom line is that saltwater aquariums need regular attention. To the degree that you focus on preventing problems with your saltwater aquarium, you will be more successful. , a high-end custom saltwater aquarium design/installation/management company. And to be frank, saltwater aquariums require good problem solving skills. The key is to prevent, minimize and respond to them so that they don't cause big problems for you. Or even if you notice in time that the pump has stopped working but you don't have a spare, you are in trouble. Minimize them when they do happen. Be like a boyscout and be prepared - Preventing problems is one thing (and it's absolutely huge), and being prepared for problems is different. An example of this would be to make sure system fails ""safe"" in the event of a power failure. Another example is to have your aquarium notify you of key life support failures when they happen by using a monitoring system (I love the Sensaphone 400 and Sensaphone 800). The opposite of this is like kids in school who just want the teacher to tell them what's going to be on the exam. In fact, this failed approach leads to more problems whereby you are mystified and confused, but now with even more problems that you don't understand. Here are some of the benefits of proper water circulation: helps keep detritus and other waste up in the water column so that it can be removed by filters; helps increase oxygen levels and reduce carbon dioxide, brings nutrients to corals and invertebrates, provides ideal respiration for all animals and plants, acts as a treadmill for fish to get exercise, allows for better density of coral skeletons, helps create more natural coral growth forms, increased coral growth rate, etc. Lighting: The proper quantity and quality of light - Simply put, you need enough of the right type of light. 5-4 watts of lighting per gallon of aquarium. So if we do the math: 4 watts x 70 gallons = 280 watts of lighting. Build it fail-safe - It is one thing for bad things to happen with your saltwater aquarium. This is what happens when you design and build your aquarium's life support system to fail safe. All of these can happen without any negative consequences to the tank and its inhabitants, because it was built to fail safe. Disease is always present, so use a ultraviolet sterilizer - Since there is always disease in every aquarium all the time, use an ultraviolet sterilizer (U. sterilizer) to help prevent an outbreak. But when stress levels increase in your aquarium (for whatever reason), disease can spread quickly and is difficult to get back under control once an outbreak occurs. Just like in humans, stress is accumulative - even for fish and corals and other invertebrates. LEARN MORE CLICK HERE