your first marine aquarium by john h. tullock

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Your First Marine Aquarium by John H. Tullock Learning, Understanding, and Caring for the Marine Aquarium

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Your First Marine Aquarium by John H. Tullock. Learning, Understanding, and Caring for the Marine Aquarium. Tullock ’ s 5 Rules for a successful marine aquarium. Keep it simple Keep it roomy Keep it stable Keep it clean Keep it natural. Coral Reef Environment. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Page 1: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

Your First Marine Aquarium

by John H. Tullock

Learning, Understanding, and Caring for the Marine Aquarium

Page 2: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

Tullock’s 5 Rules for a successful marine aquarium

• Keep it simple• Keep it roomy• Keep it stable• Keep it clean• Keep it

natural

Page 3: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

Coral Reef Environment• Chemical conditions: salt and other ions (p.12)

• Biological conditions: complex web of ecological reactions

• Physical conditions: temperature, light, photoperiod, currents, structure, substrate

• This will be discussed in greater detail later in the powerpoint

Page 4: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

www.theartgallery.com.au

www.opwall.com

www.reefcheck.org

www.ksl.stanford.eduwww.visibleearth.nasa.gov

What is a coral reef?

Page 5: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/kits/corals/media/supp_coral05a.html

Coral reefs around the world

Page 6: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

Coral reefs are some of the most diverse and productive ecosystems on Earth.

Page 7: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

What is a coral?

Most corals are made up of hundreds to hundreds of thousands of individual coral polyps like these.

Courtesy of NOAA Ocean Service

Page 8: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

Porites astreoidesSymbiodinium photo by S. R. Santos

Symbiodinium (zooxanthellae) are found in the gastrodermal layer of tissue in the coral at densities greater than 1 million per square inch.

Page 9: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

Symbiodinium have symbiotic relationships with marine invertebrates

Corals

Giant ClamsAnemones

Jellyfish

Dan Thornhill

Page 10: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

Should people take corals from reefs

for our tanks?

Page 11: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

American Marinelife Dealers Association

• Oceans Reefs and Aquariums (ORA)

• Sun Pet LTD• Premier Aquatics

Page 12: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

Coral Reef Environment• Chemical conditions: salt and other ions (p.12)

• Biological conditions: complex web of ecological reactions

• Physical conditions: temperature, light, photoperiod, currents, structure, substrate

Page 13: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

Mini Reef Aquariums

• What is a mini reef?– Aquarium containing many of the fish, corals and

invertebrates, that can be found on coral reefs.

– Teeming with life, (even the rocks and sand that are used is called “live rock” and “live sand” because of the organisms found on it)

– Coral skeletons and rocks are functional, not for decoration

Page 14: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

Reef Aquariums

• 1. Filtered water - reverse osmosis or de-ionized

• 2. Reef aquarium filtration – attempt to control nitrates through: – filtration like protein skimmers and denitrification filters, – addition of live rock– more constant and larger water changes.– limit phosphates, phosban reactor if necessary.

Page 15: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

Reef Aquariums

• 3. Lighting – Intense to simulate sunlight in the tropics (metal halide bulbs). – Spectrum is also bluer to simulate conditions at lower ocean

depths (T5 - actinic lights).

• 4. Chemical Monitoring and Maintenance: – Temperature, salinity, pH, nitrate, ammonium, calcium,

strontium, iodine, carbonate hardness, and trace elements.

• 5. Strong water currents are necessary in a reef environment to bring nutrients to many of the filter feeding organisms and to carry away their waste.

Page 16: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

Tullock’s Features of “Natural Aquariums”

• Ample quantities of live rock and live sand• High intensity, broad-spectrum lighting, and a

natural photoperiod• Protein skimming (removal of organic waste)• Maintaining physical and chemical conditions similar

to the ocean (a continuous supply of inorganic ions)• Replicate the physical characteristics: substrate,

currents, structure• Attention to community and social relationships

Page 17: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

Different Styles of Aquariums

• FOWLR• Berlin • Monaco or Jaubert

Page 18: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

Fish-Only-With-Live-Rock (FOWLR)• FOWLR = Fish Only + Live Rock• Live Rock:

– Best form of natural biological filtration for the saltwater aquarium.

– Called live rock b/c many creatures and organisms living on the inside and on the surface of the rock

– Take a good look!– Good rock (Fiji rock), can be expensive and may even be the

most expensive part of setting up a FOWLR tank.– A rule of thumb for setting up a tank with live rock is 1 to 2

pounds per aquarium gallon– Live rock sells for about $10+ per pound, so a 55 gallon tank

would need approximately 82.5 lbs (using 1.5 pounds/gallon) or around $820 to get started.

Page 19: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

Berlin Style Aquariums

• Invented in Germany. • Original Berlin System is still the preferred

filtration system of many reef tank purists • Consists of:

– Live Rock– Protein Skimmer– Metal Halide Lighting

Page 20: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

Berlin Style Pros• As with any filtration system, Berlin Filters have their

own advantages and disadvantages.• Pros:

– Simple and inexpensive.– Limited equipment requirement.– Low maintenance.– Uncluttered, "natural" look.– Natural Nitrate Reduction

Page 21: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

Berlin Style Cons

• Cons:– Limited tank occupant capacity.

• Don’t want too much waste!

Page 22: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

Choosing a Dealer

• Sunpet • Premier Aquatics

• Marine Depot• Oceans Reefs &

Aquariums

Quarantine/Reputation/Captive propagated fish/price/mail order

Page 23: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

Tullock’s Rules for obtaining healthy fish and corals

• Know your dealer• Know which fish/coral come from what areas

of the world• Be aware of problems with fish/corals from

certain areas• Learn to recognize the signs of poor health• Don’t only shop for price

Page 24: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

Who Lives with Whom?

• Size and disposition• Temperment• Fish and Invertebrates• Ex: clownfish, damselfish (groups or solitary)

Page 25: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

Classification

• Amphiprion ocellaris• Lysmata wurdemanni• Tridacna sp.• Trachyphyllia geoffroyi• Montipora digitata• Symbiodinium microadriaticum

Page 26: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

What is Live Rock?

• The rock itself is NOT alive. • Micro- and macroscopic marine life that live

on and inside it make it live. • Rock is calcium carbonate skeletons of long

dead corals or other calcareous organisms.

Page 27: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

Cured Live Rock?

• Cure - the process of conditioning or cycling live rock (LR) for use in a saltwater aquarium.

• Cured means that it is live rock that has already been conditioned and is stable to use right away in an aquarium with minimal concerns.

Page 28: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

Live Sand

• Natural reef coral sand that is collected live from the ocean, or non-living coral sand that is cultured to make it live (full of living organisms).

• Microscopic biological bacteria grows on it• Tiny crustaceans and other micro and macro-

organisms that reside in it.• Can serve as the main base for biological filtration in

a saltwater aquarium – the organisms living in sand consume organic matter

Page 29: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

Our Equipment List

Most important – get to know your tanks. Let’s make our list!

1. Tanks

2. Sumps

Page 30: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

Marine Aquarium other stuff…

• 74-78°F (IDEAL = 77°F) or 24-26°C• Ground Fault Circuit Interupter Outlet (GFCI)• Support of the system• RODI water – reverse osmosis deionized water

Page 31: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

Basic Life Support System

• Heater location and size• Pumps and powerheads: magnetic drive

systems (importance of water movement• Protein skimmers• Lighting (what kind of animals do you plan on

keeping?)

Page 32: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

Biological vs. Mechanical Filtration: Protein Skimming

• The air bubbles inside the skimmer's body strip the water of undesirable waste by-products.

• Ever blow bubbles as a kid? Remember all the rainbow colors on them? Just as the soap clung to the giant bubbles you were creating so too, does all the junk and other organic gunk in your aquarium water. Those pretty rainbow colors were the light refracting off the soap film...you could actually see it! In our skimmers, the bubbles are microscopic and the results can only be "seen" after they burst and deposit their "films" into the collection cup!

• It’s all about surface tension.

Page 33: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

Lighting

• Aquarists are most interested in the visible portion of the spectrum that ranges from 380 nm to 780 nm

• White light contains all the wavelengths from 380nm to 780 nm.

Page 34: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

Lighting• When white light passes through a prism, it disperses into

the wavelength groups that comprise the visible color spectrum. The light exits the prism in bands of colored light, starting with violet (400 nm) and continuing - as the wavelength gets larger - with blue (460 nm), green (520 nm), yellow (580 nm), orange (620 nm) and red (680 nm). Certain wavelengths are important to hobbyists wishing to maintain certain plants or corals.

Page 35: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

More Lighting Terms• Color Number This is more correctly called color temperature

and refers to the absolute temperature in degrees Kelvin (K) of the light produced. This matters when trying to simulate the color of natural sunlight, which is about 5000K.

• Lumens A lumen is a measure of light intensity. It is the radiant energy from the visible portion of the light spectrum hitting a given area (typically a square meter) when the surface is the unit distance (in this case, 1 meter) from the light source. It is a way, in some cases, to compare one light source to another.

• Lux Lux is a measure of illumination: the illumination from all light sources hitting a surface from a distance of 1 meter. It is equal to lumens per square meter.

Page 36: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

Photosynthesis in Aquariums

• Wavelength – Important in context of lamp (bulb)

descriptions, such as full spectrum or peak wavelength. These terms

– Refer to the wavelength output of a particular lamp.

– Actinic lights = 420 nm = blue. • important for coral growth because during

photosynthesis, chlorophyll a absorbs light near this wavelength.

Page 37: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

Metal Halide Lights

• Produce a very intense light and have various color temperatures.

• Usually combined with T5 lamps which enhance photosynthesis.

• Can get very hot, which usually means you'll need to run a small fan to blow air across the lamps to take heat away from the aquarium water

• Likely add a chiller also

Page 38: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

Reef Aquarium Lighting Basics

• To have a successful reef aquarium, adequate light is necessary.

• Reef tanks typically contain soft and hard corals that harbor Symbiodinium (symbiotic algae), which must thrive in order for the coral to live.

• To do this, they need a combination of one actinic lamp and one or two daylight lamps for each 30 gallons of water.

Page 39: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

Reef Janitors» http://www.reeftopia.com/index.html

Page 40: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

Coral Reef Zonation

• Zonation within a reef is typically determined by:– light intensity** received, which is dependent

of the depth and turbidity of the water; – position relative to the open ocean or river

mouths; deep ocean currents; and – localized water currents. Each of these

parameters interact to give the final conditions that are characteristic of that zone.

Page 41: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

Corals in the Aquarium• if a coral is found on the reef rock rim, then it is

exposed to high light intensity and strong wave surges. To keep such a coral health and happy in an aquarium under similar conditions then intense lighting and devices that cause surges throughout the tank are required. On the other hand if it is found on the reef slope, then it is exposed to low light levels, very few surges and strong currents. Such a coral requires lower lighting levels and more constant water currents to be kept in an aquarium.

Page 42: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

Corals of the Shallow Seas

• The dominant species present are: Alcyonaceans: Lemnalia, Lobophytum, Nephthea, Sarcophyton, Sinularia, and Xenia.

• Scleractinians: Acropora, Goniastrea, Favia, Favites, Leptoseria, Lobophyllia, Plerogyra, Pocillopora, Porites, Millepora, and Stylophora.

• Zoanthidea: Palythoa.

Page 43: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

Caring for Your Aquarium

• “Test, then tweak”• Evaporation• Making seawater• Water changes• Reverse Osmosis FW source: benefits and

drawbacks of RO water

Page 44: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

How to test Salinity

• Refractometer vs. Hydrometer

Page 45: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

Specific Gravity or Salinity

• Specific Gravity - noun ・ abbreviation - SG > The ratio of the mass of a solid or liquid to the mass of an equal volume of distilled water at 4°C (39°F) or of a gas to an equal volume of air or hydrogen under prescribed conditions of temperature and pressure, calculated by using a hydrometer. Example - The measurement of the saline level or salt content in water.

Page 46: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

How often to test?

• By testing the basic water parameters and various chemical elements such as ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and other testable parameters regularly, it tells you what is happening in your system at all times. It also helps you diagnose any potential problem that may be arising, which allows you to prevent it from advancing or taking hold in the first place.

Page 47: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

Reef Tank Test Kit Recommendation Chart

• http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/waterquality/l/bltkitchartreef.htm

Page 48: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

Feeding?

• Frozen mysis shrimp, brine shrimp, rotifers, dried algae strips for the herbivores

Page 49: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

Nitrogen Cycle

Page 50: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

Record Keeping

• Date• Tests performed and results• Temperature, specific gravity, alkalinity, pH• Amount of water changed• Species and size of fish or invertebrates added• Incidents of death or disease, treatments and results• Pertinent comments or observations

Page 51: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

Trouble Shooting

• Aiptasia/flatworms• Who eats them?

Page 52: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

More Troubleshooting

• Excessive algae• Phosphate: from foods, tap water• Lighting: age of bulbs (intensity deminishes:

triggers algae)• Power failure• Nutrition related problems: types of food used• Toxicity of animals

Page 53: Your First Marine Aquarium  by John H.  Tullock

How to Tweak and Going Further

• P. 86-87• Information: • Books, periodicals• On-line sources:• BulkReefSupplyCom• www.aquariacentral.com• www.fishbase.org• http://www.advancedaquarist.com/