Nov132009

Reef Chemistry 101

By Glen | November 13, 2009 | Posted in Marine Aquarium | Tagged , , , | Comments (2)

I had a sample of the water from the aquarium tested at a fish store last weekend.  I was feeling pretty confident when I went in to the store.  I’ve tested a number of chemicals every week, and everything was looking great.  But, I wound up learning an important lesson about calcium.  So, I figure this is a good opportunity to review the chemicals in a saltwater aquarium.  This post is likely to get a wee bit technical, but it’s important information to maintain a safe, healthy environment for your fish and marine invertebrates.

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By Glen | Posted in Marine Aquarium | Tagged , , , | Comments (2)
Nov012009

Yet More Live Rock

By Glen | November 1, 2009 | Posted in Reef Aquarium | Tagged , , , , | Comments (3)

Okay…  Thursday I was thinking we would wait a few more weeks to get more live rocks.  But, my parents are in town, and Mrs Salty Geek and I decided to take them to a couple of fish stores.  We wound up leaving with a pile of live rock, and a few extras.  At this point I’m happy with the amount of live rock that’s in the aquarium.

Aquarium 11/01/2009

Aquarium 11/01/2009

This is the first post where I’m going to classify the aquarium as a marine reef aquarium.  That’s because the live rock actually came with a few specimens of coral.  The most visible is a few Red Mushrooms.

Red Mushrooms

Red Mushrooms

You might ask, “how the heck did you find live rock with coral on it?”  There are a few ways this is possible.  First, people who are breaking down reef aquariums will sometimes sell live rocks with coral already established.  Also, I’ve heard of stores purposely growing live rock with coral to increase the value.  But in this case, it was pure luck.

We went to our favorite fish store, Aquatic Gallery, only to find that it had moved!  Luckily, it hadn’t moved far.  When got to the new site, we explained that we were looking for live rock.  The normal bin of live rock we usually dig into hadn’t been moved yet, though.  They offered to sell us live rock from some of the display cases that were in the process of being moved.

Escargot

Escargot

Along with the coral, another guest managed to come along undetected: a large snail.  You can see him in the picture to the right.  This snail wasn’t 5 minutes in the water before Jacky, the Halloween Hermit Crab, noticed him.   Since this snail’s shell is larger than Jacky’s current home, she decided to try to shell jack this new shell, with the snail still in it! I had read that hermit crabs will sometimes take shells from live snails, but I didn’t expect it this time.  Jacky’s shell does seem a little small for her, but this one is much too big.

Since this new snail was a guest for such a short time, I broke up the fight.  I put the two of them in neutral corners and gave them the 10 count.  Since they weren’t able to find each other, I have to assume they called the first round a draw.

Of course, with a character like this, fighting the first few minutes in the aquarium, he has to have a name.  We’ve decided to call him “Escargot“.  You may think this is a cruel name for a snail, but I named our cat “Road Kill” years ago, and she doesn’t seem to mind.  I figured Escargot wouldn’t mind either.

This time I really do plan to wait at least a month before introducing more coral.  I need to make sure that none of the live rock or any other unexpected guests spike the Nitrogen levels.

By Glen | Posted in Reef Aquarium | Tagged , , , , | Comments (3)
Oct292009

More Live Rock

By Glen | October 29, 2009 | Posted in Marine Aquarium | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

We purchased more live rock a few weekends ago.  I fell like we’re getting close to enough.

Aquarium Oct 29, 2009

Aquarium Oct 29, 2009

You’ll notice a big gap in the middle of the aquarium.  I plan to add a table like rock to bridge the gap.  You can see that I have some rocks already there, ready to support it.  Chances are, the table rock won’t be able to go in without reorganizing a lot, but I can always dream…

Mrs SaltyGeek picked out one rock in particular that is very interesting, and demonstrates very well what live rock is.

Strange Looking Live Rock

Strange Looking Live Rock

From the very thin faces to the small dimples all over it, you can definitely tell that this is not a rock from your back yard.  This is actually a dead coral, from a reef.  This is what most live rock is, even though they normally look more like a rock.  This is also why they make such great bio filters.  These dead corals are very porous, and are filled with algae and bacteria, most of which helps with the process of breaking down ammonia.

We’ll let these new live rocks hang out for at least a few more weeks before adding more.  I don’t want to risk harming the fish or the cleaning crew.  If the aquarium had no live animals, I would be much more comfortable filling it up with rocks all at one time.  But even what you think is fully cured live rock can have living things in it that can die when introduced to a new environment, thereby creating a spike in ammonia levels.

By Glen | Posted in Marine Aquarium | Tagged , , | Comments (0)
Oct172009

Coralline Algae

By Glen | October 17, 2009 | Posted in Marine Aquarium | Tagged , | Comment (1)

Most algae is not that attractive, and is not very useful (unless you are a hermit crab).  Green algae makes your rocks and aquarium walls look like a Chia Pet.  Red slime algae looks nice, but it gets everywhere.  There is, however, one type of algae that aquarinists love to see: coralline algae.

Pink Coralline Algae on live rocks, pebbles, and shells

Pink Coralline Algae on live rocks, pebbles, and shells

The coralline algae in my aquarium is pink.  I understand it can also be purple, yellow, and a few other colors.  But the main difference between coralline and the more pesky algae is that coralline algae is hard.  Apparently coralline algae has a lot of calcium salts.  I had a couple of small spots appear on the front and side walls of the aquarium the other day.  It took some effort with my thumbnail to get it dislodged.

Pebble with coralline algae spots

Pebble with coralline algae spots

The photo above is one of the small pebbles, about 1 inch across.  You can see a number of pink spots on it, contrasted by a slight haze of green algae.

Why would coralline algae be welcomed in a marine aquarium?  Simply put, they consume nitrate.  Since nitrate is the third and last stage of the process of breaking down ammonium, this is a very welcome trait.  I check my chemical levels once every week.  For the last 4 weeks my levels of ammonium, nitrite, and nitrate, have all been zero.  I credit this to the increase in coralline algae in the aquarium.

By Glen | Posted in Marine Aquarium | Tagged , | Comment (1)
Oct062009

Changing Shells Again

By Glen | October 6, 2009 | Posted in Marine Aquarium | Comments (3)

When I got home from work yesterday, Jack had changed shells yet again. I’m beginning to wonder if we didn’t name him wrong. Shopping for two new outfits in two days, I’m guessing Jacky might have been a more appropriate name.

Jack models his new shell

Jack models his new shell

By Glen | Posted in Marine Aquarium | Comments (3)