Latest Poll
Loading ...
Choosing your Water Analysis Kit
We have discussed the water analysis and how often to test our aquarium water, Now we look at choosing your water analysis kit.
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
What are Nitrates?
What Is Nitrate?
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
Polychaete Worms
Marine aquarists setting up there tank with liverock to aid biological filtration will come across these polychaete worms by default as they are normally is attached to liverocks.
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”).
Water Analysis - How Often?
Proper marine aquarium management and maintenance requires periodic testing which is carried out by means of water analysis. This can be done by selecting good test kits and using them properly is an important skill for all of us. Two methods are chemical tests or we can use electronic instruments for fast, accurate assessments of water chemistry.
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
Stony Corals
Stony Corals, also known as Scleractinians or hard corals are the founders of any reef and get there name from there ability to secrete a calcium carbonate exoskeleton. There is 3,500 species documented and most of these contain zooxanthellae from which the stony corals gain most there nutrients.
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.
-
Order your Aquarium Guide Here
