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July 2005 Edition Introduction: Introduction to July 2005 RHO By: Scott Zachow & Gene Schwartz Cover Photo: Genus Tridacna By: Gene Schwartz Task Review: Aquarium Maintenance By: Scott Zachow Update: Personal Online Aquarium Log Development Update By: Scott Zachow & Gene Schwartz Featured Member: Nano-Nano By: Samper

Genus Tridacna By: Gene Schwartz

Cover Photograph Genus Tridacna By: Gene Schwartz Photo by Gene Schwartz One of the most fascinating and incredibly beautiful creatures that I ever kept in aquaria has to be clams from the family Cardiacea (heart shaped mussels), particularly from the genus Tridacna. They have been called "Jewels of the Sea" by many and one look at the colorful mantles of T. crocea or T. maxima clams can explain why it is so and why they are so popular and kept by many aquarists. I personally find them to be pretty hardy animals and relatively easy to keep, providing that one would get familiar with their requirements and provide them with a suitable captive environment to live in. One source of good information about giant clams is the book by Daniel Knop, "Giant Clams". One of the very first requirements for keeping Tridacna clams successfully in captivity is proper illumination of the aquarium. Without going into much detail about various lighting schemes and various bulbs (given the scope of this short notation for the cover page), I would say that in my experience I've had the most success by utilizing metal halide bulbs in the full daylight spectrum in combination with some fluorescent actinic bulbs (VHO). It goes without saying that most of us, if not all, are trying very hard to maintain proper water parameters, i.e. closely matched to NSW. This usually means that we use all sorts of equipment and filtration methods to keep nitrogen and phosphate contents as low as possible. It is the very first requirement in keeping successful reef aquaria and today most of us are pretty successful at it. :-) However, one must understand that extremely low nitrogen and phosphate concentration in water is not all that good for the clams. According to Daniel Knop in his book "Giant Clams", sometimes seemingly inexplicable deaths or bleaching of mantles can possibly be attributed to low nitrogen levels. If you intend on keeping large population of clams in aquaria, together with some delicate stony or soft corals, it may be difficult to achieve a perfect balance. Tridacna clams house about ten times more symbiotic algae (zooxanthellae) than corals per surface area (C.Belda, pers.com. 1994). This raise in number of symbiotic algae is possible because clams have a specialized symbiont channel system in their mantles, this also raises the output of the photosynthesis but it also results in much higher nutritional demand. I am not trying to say that one has to have high concentration of NO3 or PO4 in the tank to successfully keep Tridacna clams, slightly higher levels of NO3 than are normally considered perfect for the coral reef aquarium would be enough to keep your clam happy. To put it in numbers, I think 3-5ppm of NO3 would be a pretty good target and won't turn your Acroporas into brown sticks. It does not mean that one should/would abandon their husbandry routine or forgo water changes in order to keep higher NO3 levels. It simply means that one should consider the possibility that large numbers of Tridacnas in an aquarium can strip it of nutrients pretty quickly. Photo by Scott Zachow Another difficult balance to achieve when trying to house clams and stony corals like Acropora species together is water movement. Lighting requirements are mostly similar for these animals but the water currents needed to keep them happy and healthy are very different. Turbulent water movement that is favored by most Acropora corals could be quite disturbing for the clams and can lead to their demise since they are unable to move to a better location on their own. Constructing some type of barriers to break up the currents in the tank and provide some shelter for the clams helped me alot in keeping clams and Acroporids together in the same tank. One thing that both these animals have in common is that the demand for calcium and carbonate are much the same and it was easy for me to satisfy by utilizing calcium reactor. Large number of clams and Acroporas in the same tank can raise the demand pretty high and it becomes very difficult to satisfy that demand after a while. So, one must consider carefully the number of clams for their aquarium and take into consideration equipment that one has for addition of calcium and carbonate. In conclusion, I must say that keeping Tridacna clams in my aquarium added certain challenges but it also added unbelievable beauty and a touch of exotic to it and I wouldn't think of keeping a reef aquarium without having these "jewels" in them. Gene Schwartz Back to Current Edition Table of Contents View Printable Version

Aquarium Maintenance By Scott Zachow

Task Review Aquarium Maintenance By: Scott Zachow A beautiful reef aquarium featured in the March Edition of RHO. With a some structured routine maintenance, any aquarium can display the same beauty. Picture by Eric and Sheila Ropke. Next to only cost, aquarium maintenance is a major reason more people don’t maintain their own marine aquarium. Think about it, while you converse with people that are interested in a marine aquarium but do not have one, the first thing they say is “don’t they cost a lot and take a lot of work to maintain?” The answer is undoubtedly “yes, they can cost a lot and do take some work, but they are not impossible”. The cost aspect is given, equipment is expensive, livestock is expensive, and necessities for continuous care are expensive. The maintenance aspect on the other hand, despite common belief, isn’t that difficult, although does require persistence and therefore a level of dedication. The single most important part of maintaining a marine aquarium is to perform certain types of maintenance at specific intervals to spread it out over days, weeks and even months. By spending a few minutes a day and an hour or so per week, the aquarist can prevent the necessity for spending an entire weekend every month maintaining your aquarium. Not only is it easier to maintain performing more frequent maintenance, it helps provide a more suitable environment for your livestock. Here we will detail maintenance that should be performed at different times with the goal of ultimately reducing the amount of time spent when less frequent maintenance is performed. Daily Maintenance There are many small things that should be done daily. These daily activities range from basic maintenance to system checks and will mostly help avoid a major catastrophe. The most important of these daily activities is to feed your livestock, not only daily but consider 2-3 times per day in smaller amounts. Feeding your livestock a mixed diet (several different nutritious foods) 2-3 times per day is much better than 1 larger meal every day or longer. Feeding your livestock 2-3 times per day shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes and for the healthier results, it well worth it. The next daily activity is to visually check your livestock. Outside of performing water tests with reliable kits and equipment, visual inspection of your tank is the best way to determine if everything is ok. Fish should be actively swimming and eating and corals (if any) should show good color and polyp extension/expansion is applicable. Anything that is out of the ordinary should elicit immediate response to investigate further. Usually, noting unordinary behaviors from livestock immediately will allow the aquarist to find the underlying cause of the problem and correcting it before permanent damage is caused. The stunning reef aquarium maintained by Steve Weast as featured in the November 2004 edition of RHO. A detailed maintenance routine is performed to keep this aquarium performing and looking top notch. Picture by Steve Weast. Most marine aquariums today have equipment that allows for easy checks of water parameters, most notably a thermometer. The temperature of the tank should be checked daily or more often as it can quickly become outside of normal ranges in the event of a heater failure. A temperature problem would typically be noted by the appearance of the livestock but the deficiency may be nominal and not cause immediate negative responses as where longer-term effects may be detrimental. For example livestock may appear fine at a temperature of 86F if only exposed for a short period of time (if the normal temperature is 80-82) however this long term increase may be problematic. Other water parameters that can be easily checked daily should be. pH, redox, salinity, calcium and more can be tested with electronic equipment on a continual basis. If you utilize this type of testing equipment you should take a quick check of them 1 or more times per day. Another task in the daily routine is equipment operation checks. Powerheads and other pumps are easy to verify, in fact it’s easier to know when they’re not running by the noise level of the tank. The operation of the protein skimmer should be checked as well. Skimmers have a couple of very important operators, the water flow and airflow. Check to ensure the pump and air source is functioning and also verify that the skimmer collection cup has ample room for skimmate and empty as necessary. For those that “wet skim”, that is prefer a very wet skimmate, the skimmer collection cup should be emptied daily. Adding fresh top off water to replace evaporation should be done daily. As water evaporates from the aquarium, the salinity increases and therefore top off water must be added to correct it daily. If any supplements are added to the tank, they are typically done daily to provide more consistent levels. It is important to note that a lot of the supplements on the market are not necessary. If you use them, you should test for them and not exceed Natural Sea Water levels. The total time needed to perform these daily maintenance activities shouldn’t be more than 20 minutes and that is if you perform these activities and checks more than once per day. The problems and heartache that they can prevent makes them very worthwhile. Weekly Maintenance Water changes are a very important part of marine aquarium husbandry. As aquarium water becomes aged and the overall nutrient level increases, the health of your livestock can decrease. Water changes are effective at reducing nutrients; I’m sure you’ve heard the say 'the solution to pollution is dilution' but they also reduce the yellowing compounds in the water and add important trace elements that help replenish the overall system. The livestock quickly uses up trace elements and the yellowing compounds in aged water can reduce the light intensity that penetrates the water column. Weekly water changes of 5-15% are very effective at maintaining clear, nutrient poor water. Performing smaller, more frequent water changes is more effective, and less shocking for the entire system. To monitor important aspects of the water, weekly water tests should be performed. If temperature and salinity aren’t monitored daily, these should be checked weekly. Additionally, Calcium, Alkalinity, pH, and Nitrate should be included. If the aquarium is new and in the cycling period, Ammonia and Nitrite should be included in these weekly tests to monitor the cycle for advancement and eventual completion. There are other test kits and equipment for water parameters such as Copper, Strontium, Iodide, Boron and many others that if purchased, should be used weekly. Some pieces of equipment should be cleaned weekly, especially the Protein Skimmer. Waste build up in the chambers of a protein skimmer can significantly reduce performance. The skimmer and pump should be removed and thoroughly cleaned for optimum performance. If the skimmer doesn’t have a thick coating of waste built up inside it, this can be pushed out to a bi-weekly maintenance item but should not be overlooked for much longer. The protein skimmer is an important, and expensive part of the marine aquarium and therefore should always be operating at maximum performance. To be sure of this, perform weekly or bi-weekly maintenance on your skimmer. A well performing beckett driven skimmer. The skimmate build-up on the walls of the riser tube is an indication that it is time to be cleaned. Photo Courtesy of Gene Schwartz. Some general tank cleaning should also be performed. This includes cleaning the glass from film algae that develops on the viewing panes, siphoning waste that builds up on rock work or bare bottom tanks while doing your water change, and cleaning out any filter media that is used. Mechanical filters often incorporate the use of carbon pads or other media that must be cleaned to prevent the build up of nutrients, which can lead to serious nutrient problems. Your weekly maintenance is a good time to adjust acclimating corals or rearrange things as needed. You may have just introduced a new stony coral that you placed on the bottom and now is a good time to start moving it slowly up the reef structure to its final spot. You can use your weekly maintenance time to prune macro algae from your refugium too. The weekly activities shouldn’t take much more than 1 hour of your time, depending on all that you do. Monthly Maintenance Monthly maintenance is your most time consuming and include the most intuitive activities. Before performing your water change, use a powerhead to blow off debris from your reef structure. When you blow it around, the livestock in your tank might enjoy the suspended particulate matter but the main reason is to try to remove it. Removing this detritus will go a long way in improving your water quality. If needed you can even use a toothbrush to more thoroughly clean off your structure. If there is any alga growing that you want to remove, attaching a toothbrush to your siphon hose makes the task a bit easier. Thorough equipment cleaning is essential as well. Weekly, your skimmer should be cleaned for optimum performance; the monthly maintenance should include cleaning all other critical equipment. All pumps and powerheads should be removed and cleaned. Sometimes you may even soak them in vinegar water to help remove the calcium deposits. Powerheads and pumps should be dismantled and cleaned to help extend their life and to keep them operating at maximum flow rates. Make sure to remove impellers and inspect them as well for wear and breakage and replace them as necessary. At a minimum this should be done monthly but if during your daily or weekly routines you note decreased performance, do it them. Other equipment cleaning is often overlooked. Light bulbs or lens covers should be cleaned monthly. Slat residue from splashing and creeping is a real intensity reducer when it comes to your lighting. Make sure to clean your bulbs and/or covers monthly to ensure optimum penetration. If the bulbs are due for replacement, this is the time to do this. Calcium Reactors should be checked at least monthly to ensure the bubble rate is consistent and that the CO2 tank has plenty of gas. If not, adjust and fill as needed. Monthly maintenance will take the most time, 2-4 hours on average. Take this opportunity to clean up your sump, pumps, and other equipment thoroughly. This is the time to do all of the things you wanted to do for the last month so get them done now. Also, take this time to bond with your fish. ;-) Maintenance Logging Logging your daily, weekly and monthly maintenance activities is more important and useful than you think. Whether you use a note book or one of the computer programs available, logging your test results, your maintenance activities and your livestock additions, growth and behavior can help you better understand your tanks specific husbandry needs and help you see at a glance what works and what doesn’t. Logging these activities will also help you determine the frequency needed for them. For instance if you clean your skimmer weekly and document is with detailed comments, you might learn that it is only needed bi-weekly. Same thing holds true for your pumps and other equipment, look for trends in your logs that help you dictate their specific maintenance needs. Logs are also a good place to store purchase information for equipment, cost and warranty and contact information. Computer programs and Reefland.com’s Personal Online Aquarium Log system also allow you to enter livestock additions and keep track of growth rates with pictures. Not only is it good to share this information with other hobbyist interested in species that you have, it’s rewarding to look back at old pictures and see how far the livestock has come. This type of documentation is a great way for us as hobbyist to learn more about captive requirements and behaviors of the precious marine life we keep and may help us move a step closer to becoming a more self-sustaining hobby. Summary Whether you follow this guide for your maintenance needs or use your own husbandry techniques, do not overlook them. Performing these activities will help make the hobby more enjoyable for you and your livestock! If you invest the money into your system, make sure to invest the time to keep it happy. Performing some daily, weekly and monthly maintenance activities will make your aquarium keeping more pleasant for you and your animals. Reef On! Scott Zachow Back to Current Edition Table of Contents View Printable Version

Featured Member - Nano-Nano By: Samper

Featured Member Nano-Nano - Samper Tank Size: 20 Gallon High Lighting: Lighting is provided by an Aqua Medic Ocean light pendent with an AB 250w DE 20k bulb. I will be changing to a Hamilton 14k very soon and hope to have better growth without any loss of color. Filtration: Approximately 40lbs of LR, mostly Fiji, in the display. 5-10lbs of Tonga branch rubble in the refugium which also contains both Chaetomorpha and Gracilarus macroalgae. Mechanical filtration is provided by a Red Sea Prizm. I skim as wet as I possibly can and I also run carbon 24/7 for added clarity. Circulation: I am currently running 3 Maxi Jet 1200's aimed in all directions including straight at the bare bottom. Other circulation is added by the returns from the skimmer, carbon filter and refugium. Current Fish: 1 Neocirrhites armatus (Flame Hawk) 1 Premnas biaculeatus (Gold Stripe Maroon Clown) Corals: Acropora millepora (green) Pocillopora damicornis Seriotopora hystrix – Birdsnest Montipora digitata – atleast 5 different color morphs Xenia sp. Favia sp. Caulastrea sp. Acanthastrea echinata – 2 different color morphs Herpolitha limax – This coral just split off a small piece, tissue has grown around the split and I have a baby on my hands. Fungia sp. – 3 colors Pavona clavus ORA tricolor Purple bonsai Actinodiscus discosoma Ricordia yuma – 3 colors Ricordia florida – 5 or so colors Zoanthids – 4 colors Parazoanthus – yellow polyps Platygyra sp. – Maze Brain Inverts: Asterina folium – I went from 3 to atleast 20 Ophioderma rubicundum – ruby brittle star Haliclona sp. – My favorite sponge due to it’s intense blue color Paraguristes cadenati Terebellids – Spaghetti worms Green Emerald Mithrax Crab A patriotic mix of red white and blue feather dusters Vermetid snails Cerith Snails Nerite Snails Nassarius Vibex Snails Blueleg Hermits Scarlet Reef Hermits Bristleworms Epicystis crucifer – (flower anemone) Stomatella varia – These critters multiply very rapidly and are an awesome addition to any cleanup crew. Rick I haven’t forgotten you buddy!! Mysis shrimp that appeared out of nowhere and are now living everywhere from the refugium to the skimmer. Good Snacks for the fish! There are plenty more from the last two categories that I haven’t identified yet. It’s embarrassing to say but I’m overstocked and will have to upgrade soon or there will be problems. Current Water Parameters: Specific Gravity 1.025 – 1.026 Temp 80 – 84 Degrees pH 8.1 - 8.45 Alk 10-12 dkH Calcium - 450 ppm NO3 – 0 Phosphate - 0 Mainenance Routine: I keep at least 5 gallons of ASW mixing at all times in a black bucket with a sealed lid. I change 2 gallons weekly after blowing off the LR and siphoning out whatever has settled on the bottom. The Chaetomorpha doesn't tumble in my small refugium so I flip it weekly giving it a good shake each time. Skimmer cup is emptied and cleaned weekly and the entire system is given a good wipe down and thorough inspection. Top off is all RO/DI with a 0 tds reading but I alternate 1 day of just H20 and the next day is a limewater drip. It works for me...carbon is changed weekly also. The fish are fed twice daily. The morning food is a small chunk I made myself by blending every kind of seafood I could find together along with a drop or two of Selcon and some minced garlic that I froze together. The second feeding is done in late evening right before the photoperiod ends. I feed either sweet water zooplankton, formula two pellets or formula one flakes. The corals are spot fed twice weekly with either Cyclop-Eeze or DT’s phytoplankton using the most magical tool ever...A turkey baster. Favorite Fish, Coral and Invert: As far as corals go I'm a huge Montipora digitata fan. I also love Zoanthids. Favorite fish I've ever owned would have to be my Neocirrhites armatus. They have the most awesome personality and intelligent eyes I've ever seen a fish have. I have a feeling if I had a larger system I might grow to love the Anthias and Angelfish. Favorite Invert would have to be my Ruby Brittle Star. I was advised not to purchase this animal due to the size of my system but I had to rescue it from the LFS I was working at or it would have perished very quickly. I still have it to this day and from time to time can even handle it during feedings. A while back it lost an arm but has since grown it back. That just goes to show how resilient some of the marine life can be. What Major Transitions Has This Tank Went Through: This system got off to a rough start. My buddy who introduced me to this hobby had no clue that the advice he was giving me was completely wrong. I was overpopulated before things even began to cycle. I had parasites, algae problems etc. etc. until I found Reefland.com. Looking back at my first couple 100 or so posts is pretty embarrassing. You guys helped me figure this out for the most part and are responsible for turning a stressful situation into the most beautiful thing I've ever had the luxury of caring for. Like most I went from a fish only to polyps/LPS and I have since grown to love SPS, which now dominate my reef. This system has survived 4 moves since March of 2004 due to my military service and will endure plenty more in the coming years. What Drives This Beautiful Aquarium: I'm a Pisces and have always loved the water. I grew up swimming and diving on Greers Ferry Lake in Arkansas and worked on the Little Red River as a dockhand/ Trout Guide for about 6 years. When I began scuba diving I remember sitting on the bottom for the first time busting mussels open to feed the fish and thinking about the underwater world that most people never get to experience. I've never been diving on an actual reef but the one I maintain is 1000X more interesting than any fresh water lake I’ve ever been in. One day I'll get my chance but until then my little piece of the reef will have to do. Future Plans: In addition to the 20 gallon I also maintain a 5 gallon prop tank and what will be a Mangrove. I will continue to maintain these and have plans to setup a 75 gallon within the year. My sister has taken interest and wants to start a seahorse tank so I will be researching that pretty heavily soon. I will continue to setup as many systems as possible until I either A. run out of room or B. Can't pay the bills. Eventually I would like to setup a Green House to propagate and would like to own a small shop. We'll see where life takes me. What's your favorite pass-time? At a very young age my dad brought me home a Kawasaki KX 60 dirtbike. I've been on a motorcycle every since but don't ride on dirt anymore. Today I ride a 2005 Kawasaki 636R. I've put every Japanese aftermarket race part on this bike that is out at this point in time. I'm running about 137 hp on a 410lb motorcycle and love every twist of the throttle. Tell us about your dream system: I'd love to have biotope tanks and wouldn’t mind setting up as many as I could possibly piece together from all over the world but that's easier said than done. I'd also love to have a system so big that I could scuba dive in it HAH! In your mind, what is ethical reefkeeping? This has all been said before but to me Ethical Reefkeeping means providing the best possible environment for the lives we bring into our homes. As hobbyists we have the advantage of being able to observe what goes on 24/7. I feel that we are responsible for sharing our observations and knowledge so that anyone who wants to maintain a reef can do it...we're doing a dang good job IMO. Somewhere in the future I'd like to see standards set as to what's considered aquacultured and what isn't cause there are too many different opinions on the subject. We need to keep accurate logs of our aquariums and of our observations. As hobbyists we also need to demand healthy specimens and good advice from wherever we purchase our animals and I feel that whenever possible Aquacultured/captive raised animals should be the first consideration. Any advice for others? Research, Research, Research. Don’t make impulse buys or there's a good chance you will waste your money and harm some beautiful creature. Get involved with your local reef clubs or on Boards like Reefland.com because the shop owners care about your money. The clubs and boards are where the caring and good advice can be found. If you would like to discuss this feature with Samper or to Congratulate him, please do so in this thread. Back to Current Edition Table of Contents View Printable Version

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