Are clownfish compatibile with blennies?

He is a simple matrix table showing the compatibility of marine fish.

Source: thereefshop

While ammonia is being converted by the species of nitrosomonas, nitrobacter is mainly responsible for converting nitrite into nitrate, which is the final stage three in the cycle. When we set up a new saltwater aquarium, the nitrogenous compounds will rise to high levels and this will enable the bacteria to form a colony of good bacteria and to start the conversion process (nitrogen cycle).
Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter are aerobic bacteria and need a constant flow of oxygen in order to survive and to perform their tasks.

Nitrite levels should be at an undetectable level at all times after the aquarium fully cycled which may take several months to complete. Nitrites are not as dangerous as ammonia, but still a highly toxic chemical, Nitrite causes fish stress at levels as low as 0.5 ppm. Levels exceeding 10-20 ppm are lethal over a period of time to fish. Immediate action is required if high nitrite levels persist after 7-10 days.

Nitrite interferes with the oxygen metabolism, it destroys the hemoglobin (oxygen carrying cells) of the fish, and aquatic livestock.
Detecting nitrites often means that the biological filter is not working properly, or the tank is overpopulated and the filter can not handle the load efficiently.

Ammonia is the biggest killer of fish in aquariums. Typically ammonia levels build up when you Nitrogen Cycle a new saltwater aquarium, but ammonia can build up when the fishes are to many for  the size of the aquarium and hence overloading.

Dead or decaying materials within the saltwater aquarium cannot be fully cleared away using aquarium filtration systems alone. Ammonia is formed when the excretion of fish in the tank, or any other waste material within the tank starts decaying and decomposing. Decayed food and any other decaying organic materials will increase the concentration of Ammonia within a tank. The exact toxicity of Ammonia will depended on several factors such as water salinity, pH, temperature etc. If the concentration of ammonia can be detected in your aquarium it is said to be too high for your fish.

Controlling Ammonia concentration within the tank can be achieved by cycling your tank. The nitrogen cycle aimis to create a colony of beneficial bacteria that will feed on the decomposing and decaying matter and will convert them into useful compounds. Bacteria called as Nitrosomonas consume the Ammonia that gets mixed in water and converts this into Nitrites and therefore we go to stage two in the nitrogen cycle. That is why it is necessary to cycle the tank before introducing fish in it. It is in the absence of such bacteria that the Ammonia levels start shooting up in a newly set up tank. These beneficial bacteria only need some organic matter and some time to make a colony.
Why Ammonia Posioning Happens?

Ammonia poisoning happens for two reasons:

1. Tank not cycled correctly- introducing a large number of fish into the new tank will cause the Ammonia concentration to increase . Thi is cause the fish will be producing waste and the beneficial bacteria is absent and hence cant be converted and the ammonia will increase until the fish start to die off or if the population of fish is too high for the aquarium size the fish produce too much waste for the beneficial bacteria to handle and it will lead to raise in concreation of ammonia.
2. Filter failure, lack of maintenance, over-feeding and use of medications- Sometimes over-enthusiastic beginners will also clean the biological filter media, thus killing the beneficial bacterial colony. When filters are being cleaned, it is important to keep the bacterial colony intact. After cleaning, the good bacteria will need time to recover and cope with the aquarium demands.

Symptoms of Ammonia Poisioning

Fish will show common symptoms if they have ammonia poisoning. The fish starts gasping for air and appear almost always at the surface of the water, or if the fish becomes very lethargic and spends a lot of time simply lying at the bottom of the tank, the fish may be showing signs of Ammonia over-dose. Or maybe the fish shows a red streaking on its fins or elsewhere on the body, this too could be indicative of high levels of Ammonia in the water. Loss of appetite is another common symptom. If the gills of the fish become red or purple, Ammonia levels need to be checked immediately.

How to Reduce Ammonia?

The best way to reduce Ammonia levels in a tank is through partial water changes. A new aquarium should always be cycled. Any new fish should be added slowly maybe only two at a time to ensure no overloading of the aquarium.  Proper maintenance of filters is also a must to keep Ammonia levels down.

The rabbit fish is a highly diverse family of brightly colored fish that can be found along coastal areas. It is apparent that some species of the rabbit fish, particularly the Siganidae family, have a high tolerance to saline since they can also be found in brackish waters. Other species of this fish have migrated into fresh water.

Rabbitfish are closely related to Surgeonfish, and are similarly shaped and equally colorful. They are grazers like Surgeonfish and Parrotfish, and help to keep the algae on rock surfaces down to only a millimeter or two in length. The dorsal, ventral, and anal spines of Rabbitfish are mildly venomous but extremely painful, which earned them their ironic Australian name of ‘Happy Moments’. With the exception of the Java Rabbitfish which can grown to over 50 cm a typical adult size is 25 to 30 cm (about 10 to 12 inches).

Rabbit Fish are poisonous and non-poisonous species and are very popular as aquarium specimens. One of the most popular of these is the yellow rabbit fish. This beautifully colored fish has a bright yellow body that is punctuated by a large black dot near the rear. Although it is wary of other fish in the tank it is very seldom known to attack.

Since the rabbit fish is closely related to the surgeonfish it is believed that their mating behaviors are much the same. The rabbit fish likely spawns in groups after which the eggs float on the waters surface until they have hatched.

Following a few simple procedures will help ensure that the tests will be performed as accurately as possible.

Now you shoud know cleaniness is of upmost importance,as you are collecting a small quantity of water, any small contamination will multiply the results no end.

When using and handling the water analysis test kits,read the instructions as many of the chemicals can be toxic to humans. Another beginners mistake is balancing the test kits liquid,etc on top of the tank,as one accident and all the chemical is in the water.

When testing the aquarium water, use one test kit at a time as you are bound to get mixed up after a while and recording them can be difficult.

To avoid confusion, do only one test at a time, record the results, and then proceed to the next test.  Do not hurry.  A complete set of test for the typical marine tank should take only about half an hour to carry out.

For more information on Marine Aquarium Water Chemistry or the Marine Aquarium Beginners Guide click here.

Recommended Water Testing Kits by Saltwater Aquarium Guide

For most purposes a highly accurate test kit is not necessary. For example ammonia, one needs to know only if it is present at all, not the precise amount, since any amount of this toxic compound is cause for concern.  But on the other endof the scale is copper, a small difference of 0.1 ppm can be significant indeed, the difference between treating disease and killing the marine fish.  It is important to understand that what is meant by accuracy depends upon which parameter one is trying to measure.

Accuracy, the degree to which a test result reflects the real state of the sample being tested, becomes ever so more expensive as the decimal places increases.  An instrument of test is accurate to +-10 units may cost only a fraction of the cost of a similar instrument that is accurate to +-0.1 units, representing a 100-fold increase in accuracy.  Choose a level of accuracy appropriate to the parameter.  A calcium test, for example, can vary by +-20 ppm without causing problems.

Precision refers to the smallest amount of difference a test or instrument will permit the observer to distinguish reliably.  The smaller the increment, the greater the precision and the higher the cost.  For example, to measure the difference between 0.01 and 0.02 mg/L of phosphate is more difficult that determining the difference between 12 and 24 mg/L.  however, since tiny amounts of phosphate can exert  dramatic effects, one needs the more precise test.

Which brand should be used? Easy-to-use test kits are sold at any aquarium shop.  As with any product, though, not all brands are created equal.  Some kits provide results that are almost suitable for serious laboratory work, while others are so inaccurate as to be practically useless.

For any given brand, the test results may not be equally satisfactory across the entire range kits offered.  The company that makes a great nitrate test kit may have a lousy pH kit, for example.  For this reason, you should avoid master test kit products that offer several kits in a single package.  .

Once you settle for a kit for a particular measurement, stick with it.  Changing brands will almost certainly mean that the numbers obtained will differ, making it impossible to compare results from the new kit with results previously determined with another kit.  Since spotting a changing trend in tank conditions is more important than knowing the precise value at the current moment, the importance of having consistent test results cannot be overemphasized.

For more information on Marine Aquarium Water Chemistry or the Marine Aquarium Beginners Guide click here.

Recommended Water Testing Kits by Saltwater Aquarium Guide

Nitrate is the waste by-product of nitrifying bacteria (nitrobacters), which develops as part of the nitrogen cycle and occur as the final stage and stages are ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. Nitrates are a key component to make an aquarium’s biological filtration system function and stay in balance.

Why Is Nitrate a Problem Element?

Nitrates are potentially dangerous due to its affects on the aquarium water chemistry and on the healthy environment for your fish while nitrates are accumulating. The higher the nitrate levels the higher and severe the consequences due to the stress on your fish and the favorable conditions for a serious algae outbreak

What Is an Acceptable Level for Nitrate?

The optimal amount of nitrate in any type of saltwater system is an negegible, but an acceptable range for fish-only tanks is from 10 to 40 ppm, sometimes with no ill effects. This is not recommended as extreme fish stress will occur at around 60 ppm. In reef systems aquariums even a minor level of nitrate can cause damage as well as death to delicate corals, anemones and other invertebrates, as well as some crustaceans. The acceptable range of nitrate for reef tanks is 0.25 ppm, but not more than 5 ppm.

Other Sources of Nitrate

Aquarium Water changes or topping up water from evaporation are ways to increase the nitrate levels in the saltwater aquarium. Ensure you use purified water and a brand of sea salt mix that may contain nitrates. Therefore filter tap water and use the correct sea salt mix.

How to Lower Nitrates

In order to control nitrate levels, there are a number of things you might consider including:

* Quality Saltwater Aquarium Filtration system
* Purchase aquatic species that eat algae, such as Surgeons, Tangs, Rabbitfish and Filefish.
* Change out about twenty-five percent of the water every seven to ten days.
* Put in plants
* Make sure your aquarium is large enough for the number of fish it contains.

For more information on Saltwater Aquariums click here to Saltwater Aquarium Guide

The Polychaeta or polychaetes are a class of annelid worms, generally marine. Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that bear many bristles, called chaetae, which are made of chitin. Indeed the polychaetes are sometimes referred to as bristle worms. More than 10,000 species are described in this class. Common representatives include the lugworm (Arenicola marina) and the sandworm or clam worm Nereis.  With over 10,000 speices of polychaete worms only a few are offered to aquarists, and these are normally fanworms, which have specialized feeding crowns to catch the particles from the water. Many species have been difficult to keep as aquarists do have difficulties in feeding them, but improvements in zooplankton and phytoplankton substitutes and additives have increased the chances ofsuccess.

Polychaetes have many  common other names such as: lugworms, clam worms, bristleworms, fire worms, palolo worms, sea mice, featherduster worms, etc., but all possess an array of bristles on their many leg-like parapodia — the name polychaete, in fact, means “many bristles”. The many common names reflect the wide array of body forms found in this group, unlike the earthworms and leeches which all have the same general appearance.

The delicate beauty of many polychaetes make them a favored subject for photography, and several are named after nymphs and goddesses of Greek myth, such as Nereis (the common “clam worm”) and Aphrodite (the “sea mouse”).

How Often?
Checking up or water analysis should be done on our marine aquarium on a weekly basis.

Therefore keeping track of changing water conditions in the marine tank means that we must periodically carry out water tests and keep a record of the results. Without keeping our result the new information form the next test becoe meaningless, the test equipment used must be sufficiently accurate for the purpose, and the actual testing must be done correctly. Shoddy equipment and / or sloppy technique will inevitably produce results that do not reflect actual conditions in the tank.

Such a situation is potentially more dangerous than ignoring test altogether. Hence means that bad data leads to bad results, quality and acurate testing will ensure the well-being of the tank’s inhabitants.

When doing water analaysis you will check for the variables as in the Marine Aquarium Water Quality Parameters.

For more information on Marine Aquarium Water Chemistry or the Marine Aquarium Beginners Guide click here.

Recommended Water Testing Kits by Saltwater Aquarium Guide

Each group of stony corals require slightly different conditions, for example small polyp stony corals (SPS) prefer strong aquarium lighting and water currents compared to large polyp corals (LPS). It understood that Large polyp corals are easier than smaller polyp corals but actually both require good,stable water conditions and maintenance to thrive.

The most common forms include conical and horn-shaped scleractinians. In a colonial Scleractinia, the repeated asexual division by the polyps causes the corallites to be interconnected, thus forming the colonies. There are also cases in which the adjacent colonies of the same species form a single colony by fusing.

Stony corals are colonies of individual animals. Each animal, called a polyp, lives in its own calcium carbonate skeleton called a corallite. Each successive generation of polyps living on the skeleton build up of the previous generations. This reef building abilty gives hard corals the label hermatypic.

All hard corals are to a greater or lesser extent predatory, catching food with their tentacles that are lined with stinging cells. However the majority of hard corals have also formed a symbiotic relationship (beneficial to both parties) with zooxanthellae, single-celled algae that live within their tissues. The algae carry out photosynthesis sharing the sugars and oxygen produced with the coral polyp. The coral returns the favour by providing protection, useful waste products like carbon dioxide and nitate plus simple minerals.

These corals with a symbiotic relationship make up the majority of hard corals and live close to the surface, where there is plenty of sunlight. The extra source of food enables them to grow faster, than hard corals that don’t have a symbiotic relationship (called ahermatypes) arguably making them the main reef builders of our oceans. This is why the term hermatypic is often used exclusively to describe hard corals containing zooxanthellae.

It should be noted that many other animals also produce calcium carbonate skeletons, including some soft corals.