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Getting Started in Reef Keeping

by Mike Paletta

Getting started in keeping marine fish and invertebrates can be a very daunting task, especially if you are discoursed from doing so by misinformation. Many shops and individuals initially tell new hobbyists that keeping a successful marine tank, especially one containing corals and other invertebrates as well as fish is impossible and they should not even try. This may have been the case twenty years ago, but fortunately in the past decade or so keeping marine invertebrates and fish successfully over the long term has become much easier now that a better understanding of the biology of a marine system is fully understood. In addition, as long as a few things are done before getting started in the hobby the chances for success are greatly increased as well. The first step is to read as much as possible. There are now several good introductory books on the market including The New Marine Aquarium and The Conscientious Aquarist that lay out everything a new hobbyist needs to do and plan for in order to achieve success in the hobby. These books provide an excellent framework from which to start. The rules and general design laid out in these books should be followed by anyone getting started in the hobby. One of the ways by which new hobbyists get into trouble is by listening to too many sources of information and then try to incorporate all of these different opinions into their system. It is much better to follow a relatively simple plan to start with and then as success comes add to it.



In this regard it is also a good idea to try and find a mentor to help you along the way. This can be someone whose tank you have seen, someone you have met on the internet, or even someone whose work you have read. Most advanced hobbyists are willing to help new hobbyists as long as the new hobbyist shows a willingness to learn and put the time in to being successful. In terms of time, this is one of the other crucial aspects of reefkeeping that needs to be fully understood if success is to be achieved. First, the initial set up, curing and establishment of the tank is going to take a fair amount of time. So plan on spending a fair amount of time getting your tank established. Fortunately once a tank is set up successfully it really does not take that much time to maintain it, so keep this in mind. The other aspect of time that needs to be taken into account is that patience is absolutely essential in order to be successful. A number of years ago I made the statement that nothing good ever happens fast in a reef tank, only bad things happen fast. By this I mean that a tank will not be fully established with full-grown corals, a complete fish population and perfectly working equipment overnight. It will take at least a year for a tank to really be fully established and even then a tank will still be in its infancy.



The basic principles behind the establishment of a successful reef tank are actually quite simple: good water quality, proper lighting, strong water motion, and proper stocking. There are myriad ways to achieve these conditions, with no single way being perfect. For this reason there are many ways to set up a tank and be successful. The crucial thing is to find a methodology that is successful and follow it. Also most successful hobbyists are meticulous in terms of knowing the details of their tank and in following up quickly when things start to go even a little wrong. Patience and attention to detail are what separate very successful hobbyists from those that have constant problems so keep this in mind. Cost is also not necessarily the determining factor for success or failure. Setting up a reef tank is relatively expensive. However when done properly, over the long term the cost is manageable as it should not be necessary to have to replace fish, coral or live rock in that in a stable successful system these inhabitants can live happily for decades. The discussion below of what is necessary to get started with a reef tank is very simplistic and is only meant to provide a general idea of what is necessary to get started and hopefully demonstrate that the fundamentals behind this hobby are not really that daunting. . Hopefully it will convince you that it is not difficult and that starting a reef tank should be fun and not scary and that an advanced degree in chemistry is not needed. Right now reef tanks are the fastest growing segment of fishkeeping so this in itself should be evidence that things are getting easier and people are more successful in this hobby than ever.

Water Quality

One of the great breakthroughs in the keeping of marine organisms came when a better understanding of the nitrogen cycle came about almost 30 years ago. Prior to that saltwater systems were just looked at as being similar to freshwater systems except salt was added to the water. This fallacious reasoning caused hobbyists to start their tanks as they would a freshwater tank and as a result any new fish they added to the system would initially die. This death of fish added to a new tank came to be called “New Tank Syndrome”. Fortunately eventually it was realized that what was actually killing the fish was the ammonia that was being produced by the fish themselves, which was much more toxic in the high pH environment of a saltwater system. Over time through trial and error it was determined that if hardy fish were introduced slowly and they survived the initial high levels of ammonia, eventually a population of bacteria would become established that would convert this toxic form of ammonia into less toxic nitrite and eventually nitrate. This need for a good bacterial bed led to the use of undergravel filters, which were a cheap and easy method for establishing a biological bed. Unfortunately over time these filters clog or become filled with detritus underneath their plate and as a result a tank using them needs to be completely broken down. Approximately 15 years ago the concept of live rock was introduced as a locus for biological filtration. Live rock is not rock at all, but is the remains of dead coral skeletons that have become mineralized over time. These rocks provide a perfect surface for the bacteria that convert ammonia into nitrate. The use of live rock also eliminates the need for undergravel filters as well as fish to establish the bacterial bed.

All live rock is harvested from the ocean and shipped moist to the dealer. It is shipped this way to reduce the large freight cost that would occur if it were shipped in water. In this state it is "uncured" or "fresh". As a result of this moist shipping method many of the organisms present on the rock die off and as a result release a lot of organics into the water. Once this die off has ceased and the organisms and bacteria have become stabilized this rock is considered cured. Even though the rock may be cured in a wholesale facility, the stress of shipping it causes some die off so it will need to be cured again once it reaches its final destination. . .

Lighting

Unlike maintaining good water quality lighting is one of the most controversial aspects of the hobby. In the early years of the hobby, tanks were simply lighted with the single low wattage fluorescent tube that came with the hood. No thought was really given to using more light, as at that time the concept of keeping live corals and other inverts was not even considered. Then in the mid 1980s information and even m ore convincing, pictures from Europe began to arrive which demonstrated success in the maintenance of many marine invertebrates. One of the first things that stood out was the much stronger lighting that was used on these tanks. This improved lighting was the result of the aquarist’s understanding of the relationship between light and the coral having algae within their tissue. This symbiotic relationship is due to nutrients being at low levels in the ocean. As a result, the corals have evolved to utilize the only energy source that is readily available: sunlight. By having zooanxthellae within their tissues corals are able to convert their waste products into usable products due to their relationship with the zooanxthellae. That is, during respiration corals give off carbon dioxide and ammonia that is absorbed by the zooanxthellae. The zooanxthellae then utilize these compounds during photosynthesis and produce oxygen and carbohydrates as by-products, which the coral then consumes. For this reason it is crucial that proper lighting be provided for corals in a reef tank.

The amount of light striking a reef can almost never be replicated in the home aquarium. This light has been measured to be between 110,000 and 120,000 lux at the surface of the reef and 20,000-25,000 lux one meter below the surface. While it may seem that all that would needed to be done would be to add more bulbs to reach these values, space and heat limitations make this impossible. Fortunately, the adaptability of many corals has allowed them to be kept successfully in closed systems where light levels may be as much as an order of magnitude less than they are on the reef.

The desire to match intensities found on the reef has led to a school of thought that light intensity is the critical factor for keeping corals. However, it has also been demonstrated that red and orange light is quickly absorbed by seawater and that blue light passes through seawater best. For this reason, the idea that spectrum is more important has developed a following. In the early days of reef keeping, these two groups have evolved into one that utilizes metal halide lamps and another, which prefers fluorescent lamps. This dichotomy resulted because in the early days of the hobby only fluorescent lamps provided blue colored lamps, and only metal halide lamps could provide strong intensity. To further complicate the matters in the early 1990s small polyped stony corals began to be maintained in many reef tanks. The general consensus was that since these corals typically came from clear shallow water only metal halide lighting could be used to keep them alive.

Fortunately, today there are a wide variety of options available when it comes to lighting a reef tank. Having all of these options available may make it just as difficult to make a choice as it was in the past. First, it is my opinion that an attempt should be made to light a reef tank as strongly as possible relative to the space available and what is affordable. To put it into general terms, the goal is to get at least 4-5 watts/gallon of balanced light above a reef tank. The choice of which type of lighting to use is a function of the tank’s size, what is going to be kept and which type of light appeals to the owner. That is, for large tanks it is more cost effective to use metal halide lamps, while in smaller tanks it is more cost effective to use either very high output (VHO) power compact (PC) or the new T5 fluorescent lamps. However, even when getting down to choosing among the types of lighting, there are still more choices to be made. Therefore when choosing which type of lighting will be best and most appealing for your tank it may be a good idea to view similar sized tanks housing similar fish and corals to get an idea of what you like and what works. Even though looking at watts per gallon of light may provide a framework for how much light you need there is now even some question as to how valid this number is with the continued improvement in the efficiency of the lights available. Therefore this is one area where asking for help is usually a good idea.



Water Motion

The last area that is crucial for successfully setting a reef tank long term is also one that is often overlooked. That being good strong water movement. Proper water movement is important for a number of reasons. First, considering that the ocean is the furthest thing possible from a stagnant pool it is logical that the organisms present on the reef are accustomed to an environment with strong water movement. As a result they have developed physiologically to make use of the water moving around them. This is especially true of the sessile invertebrates such as corals and clams that we keep in our aquariums. These organisms have developed physiologically to make use of the currents bringing them such things as food, oxygen and nutrients as well as to carry away their waste products. This is why most corals grow perpendicular to the current. Several authors have reported that new growth of Acropora is often spindly relative to the growth of the old colony if the water movement around them is lowered. This has been the experience of many hobbyists in that when low water velocity flows across stony coral colonies the growth is either slower or more spindly relative to the original growth pattern. However if the flow is increased the corals may resume their original growth pattern and the speed of growth may also increase if all other factors remain the same. This increased flow not only increases the thickness of the new growth, but the previously spindly growth may thicken as well.

Another often-overlooked aspect of water movement is its effect on the fish’s health. If you look at the labels of many fish foods you will find that one of the largest components is fat. This is an important component in nature in that fat is quickly converted into energy. This is great for fish in the wild, as these fish are for the most part very active and require large amounts of energy. If however fish are placed in an environment where they don’t have to fight the current the result could be the development of fatty deposits that result in a shortened lifespan. Therefore strong water movement may also contribute to the fish’s health and longevity as well

While getting good water movement is highly desirable the means for doing so is still a little difficult to achieve. The best means at present is to use power heads. However, they should not be pointed directly at the corals, as their force will shear off the tissue from the coral. Instead they should be directed so that their flow is against that from other powerheads. In this way the flow they produce may be more random as it is in the ocean. Additionally electronic devices such as wavemakers can be used to further enhance the randomness of the flow. There are many other ways to achieve this as well, but for the most part using powerheads is a good way to initially provide good water movement.



Stocking Levels

The last aspect of starting a reef tank that is often not discussed is how many fish and invertebrates can be added. In the old days the rule was one inch of fish per 10 gallons of water. However due to improvements in technology and a better understanding of biology and fish behavior in general this rule is no longer valid. A tank established in the manner described above can biologically handle more of a fish and invertebrate load than was ever possible with tank utilizing an undergravel filter. Actually this system is so efficient that the fish limit per tank is now due to behavioral limitations due to the aggressive nature of many of the fish we keep. Having said this the rule for new hobbyists just starting out is to under stock the tank. If more hobbyists heeded this advice the level of success would be much greater. They reason whey you should under stock a tank when starting out is simple: it provides a much greater margin for error. Despite good intentions and the following of the rules of the hobby a new hobbyist will invariably make a mistake or two. In an under stocked tank these mistakes will be less likely to be fatal than they would if the tank is overstocked. Also when a tank is overstocked there is a much greater likelihood of encountering the number one problem of reefkeepers: an algae bloom that overgrows the tank. For these reasons stock the tank as lightly as possible for the first year until you gain experience, which in this hobby is priceless.

Hopefully the information provided above illustrates that getting into the hobby is easy and the concepts to be successful are actually quite simple. This hobby can be quite rewarding and provide a lifetime of enjoyment when done properly. So once again read as much as you can before getting started, plan well and be patient and your chances for success will be great.