A Cycled vs Mature Aquarium

Finally!

The long-awaited post about a cycled aquarium vs a mature aquarium!

To distinguish between the two we must go all the way to the beginning, the very first thing you do when you have your tank set up... At first you start out with nothing but the equipment. You have your tank, your filter, a light and hood/fixture, maybe a heater or chiller, your saltwater is all mixed up and you've filled your tank with it and some decorations perhaps. But it's not an aquarium yet, there's absolutely nothing in your tank that's alive yet!

The very moment that you put a living organism into your aquarium you begin the cycling process. But what is the cycling process?

Simply the cycling process occurs when a living organism produces Ammonia as a waste product, which could be from excretion or death and decomposition in the aquarium. The cycling process is the process in which bacteria forms to break the Ammonia (bad and harmful to aquaria) down to Nitrate (or even to Nitrogen gas - which then leaves the aquarium).

Two types of bacteria are needed to break down the Ammonia into Nitrate (a less harmful substance, but is still harmful in higher amounts - which is why we do water changes), the first type of bacteria breaks down the ammonia into Nitrite (which is not as harmful as ammonia, but even in small amounts adversely affects aquaria). A second type of bacteria develops and breaks down the Nitrite into Nitrate (which isn't as harmful until at higher quantities. These two types of bacteria are aerobic, meaning that they need oxygen to do their job in breaking down the Ammonia to Nitrate. This is why a filter is needed and perhaps an extra airpump or powerheads in the aquarium. The movement of the water - particularly at the surface - is what gets more oxygen into the aquarium for the bacteria to do it's job and protect your fish. (This is why power outages can be so damaging to your fish!)

There is the possibility for a third form of bacteria to form in your aquarium that breaks down the Nitrate to Nitrogen gas, which then floats to the surface and leaves the aquarium. However, maintaining a population of this form of bacteria is very complicated and involves delicacy. Even if you are able to get this form of bacteria to stay in your aquarium and you don't maintain high levels of Nitrates you will still have to do water changes anyways! You can't ever really get away from doing water changes, no matter how balanced your aquarium may come to be.

Imagine being in a 20' X 20' room with five other people. Then imagine that that room, it's atmosphere and all are closed off to the outside world. You still always have enough oxygen food and water. But you never get any new air or atmosphere. Now imagine being in that room with those people for a month straight. So for a month you don't get any new air/atmosphere. After even a week can you imagine what the air and atmosphere in the room would be like? Imagine it at a month?

This is what it is like for the fish in the aquarium but instead of air as their 'atmosphere' it's water. They would like to have a full gill of clean water as we would like a full lung of fresh water, so keep this in mind whenever you think about your fish! And do some water changes - maybe more frequently.

That's what cycling an aquarium is in a nutshell, and why water changes are so important. Next, I will describe what makes an aquarium 'mature'.

Jay Kahn

Mandarine Goby

gerona: My Saltwater Marine Aquarium 1:

"1 mandarin goby {US $25}"

Let me post another comment that I thought would be good for most people who are interested in keeping Mandarine Gobies!..

I saw that Air Milkay had this on his list of fish he had, and this comment is for people with newer tanks... or may not know much about the Mandarines

First off, Mandarines are very, VERY delicate fish. They are extremely difficult to keep happy in a tank without the right environment.

One of the most difficult things that makes them so hard to keep is their diet. They won't eat the fish food that you would buy! - if they do it's only a small amount but will never eat it as a staple! They will only eat the little inverts that are found living on 'live' rock and the such.

Because they only eat the little critters that live on the 'live' rock, Mandarines need to be in a tank with at least 60 lbs of 'live' rock each for an ample supply of food!!

Once you get enough 'live' rock it may take a little bit of time a month or a few for the live rock to be adequately cured and enough of a population of the little inverts to develop before getting a Mandarine Goby would be something you could consider - but not until that point... just work towards creating the right conditions first!

Because of these facts about the Mandarine's diet requirements and the fact that they are quite delicate animals, they don't make good fish to get within the first couple months of starting your saltwater aquarium, at least.

If you don't want to learn a tough lesson that will literally cost you $25 or whatever the price of a Mandarine Goby is in your area, you shouldn't get one until you have the environment and conditions they need - as described briefly above!

(Note: There are other factors to consider in getting a Mandarine Goby, but I have just explained some of the biggest issues that should deter you from making the wrong decision and what you really need to successfully keep a Mandarine - there are still some other details you need to check first: such as compatibility, water quality, tank size, etc... but this is not an ultimately inclusive list)

A Mandarine Goby should really only be introduced when your tank has matured!

And there is a huge difference between being cycled and matured... but that's a different post for a different time!...

So the next post will be about cycling and maturing your tank... which might even take a few posts to describe each and the difference!

Talk to you soon...

- Jay

Breeding Clownfish

By William Berg

Thanks to Disney's Motion Picture 'Finding Nemo', almost everybody is familiar with clownfish.

Clownfish, or Anemonefishes, from the family Pomacentridae, are one of the easiest tropical marine aquarium fish to breed. Clownfish regularly lay eggs in aquariums. They have quite large eggs and larvae, and since the larvae easily eat cultured live foods, raising them is somewhat simpler than it is with many other marine species.

You need to get a pair if you want to breed clownfish, and that's quite interesting - believe it or not, clownfish are all born as males! When they are adults, the largest and the most dominant fish of the group will undergo a sex change and become a female. The second largest usually becomes the breeding male, while all the other fish remain juveniles and gender-neutral. If the breeding female disappears, the breeding male will change to a female, and so on. Buying an established pair may be a reasonable way to go, but it is often better to have a group of juveniles growing up together. If you choose to buy a pair you should look for a pair that goes around together. Sometimes you can be lucky enough to get a pair already spawning. Anyhow, establishing an adult pair can be a little tricky; and you need to keep your eyes on them to make sure that the female doesn't kill the male.

The next thing is to set up the tank. The tank should be large enough, approximately 200 liters for the breeding pair. It is better to keep a pair alone in an aquarium when trying to spawn clownfish.

The aquarium should be furnished with a nice anemone, a few live rocks and other rocky substances with a vertical surface, a layer of coral sand on the bottom, bright lighting, good filtration, and a protein skimmer. Your clownfish should be stress free, which means no aggressive tank mates and good water quality. As for feeding, clownfish need a mixed diet of fresh raw seafood and vegetables. A good diet includes prawns, mussels, and squid. It is best to feed small bits at regular intervals.

Spanning can begin 1 to 12 months after the fish have settled into their new home. When the fish are ready to spawn, they become very aggressive. The male clownfish will dance up and down in front of the female (also known as "clownfish waggle"). They will also start to clean their selected rock by robustly biting it. The spawning itself usually occurs in the afternoon or early evening. Once the spawning is complete (within several hours) the male takes on responsibility for attending the eggs, whereas the female acts as protector of the eggs and supervisor of her male.

Spawning is likely to occur again at intervals of 12 to 18 days. The eggs should be left in the care of the parents and not removed, unless the parents are known to be egg eaters. At first the eggs are a bright orange colour, but after several days this diminishes and the eyes appear. Hatching usually takes from 6 to 15 days, depending on temperature.

The most critical stage of the fry is the first 10 days of their larvae span. If you can get your fry to survive this period the rest of their raising should be easier.

About The Author Article by William Berg writer for Aquatic Community with more then 20 years of aquarium experience. Find more of Williams articles about Piranhas or maybe something completely different like a Clown loach Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/

A Funeral for Nemo

Funeral for a fish 07/28/05:

"It was just a simple funeral for a fish, something I'd done several times before...

But Sunday night, when one of our new clownfish was wedged upside down under one of the rocks in our saltwater aquarium, it was tough. We'd only had the little fellow - a Nemo clone - for a few weeks. (And that's certainly not the way I expected to 'find Nemo.')

I scooped him up and did the duty: put him in a plastic cup, carried him to the bathroom and pushed the handle. A second later, he was swirling away forever.

This time, though, I'm pretty sure the pipe doesn't empty into the ocean."

It is really tought when your first clownfish, or a clownfish you've had for only a short time unexpectedly goes on you. Especially at a substantial cost that they typically go for, and the attachment you get to them - whether it be because of the movie "Finding Nemo" or anything else.

There is a small token in there for parents to keep in mind when getting fish with small children. All drains do NOT lead to the ocean, like the movie "Finding Nemo" popularized with young kids. They can't set their fish free or send it back to the ocean by flushing it down the toilet or otherwise. Please make sure your child understands this, or you might see your fish disapearing.

Jay

All About Spirulina

Spirulina as a Fish Food

Benefits to using Spirulina Algae as a fish food comes from the increased and more uniform growth rates when fed at the recommended .5-2.0% inclusion rate. Spirulina improves the intestinal flora in fish by the breakdown of otherwise indigestible feed components, thereby extracting more nutrition from the feed. The same beneficial flora or bacteria produce vitamins and displace harmful which is why fish fed Spirulina have less intestinal compaction, a slimmer abdomen, and are more resistant to infection. Spirulina stimulates the production on enzymes that transport fats within the fish s body. The fish utilized the fat to power growth instead of just storing it and becoming flabby.

Read All About Spirulina

What a great article that goes well in depth into the benefits of using spirulina as a fish food.

Highly recommended for balancing your fish's diets.

Jay