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- Develop and sustain a functioning biological filter in your saltwater tank
- Control or eliminate unwanted organisms in your tank
- Recognize and address fish health and behavior problems
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Saltwater Aquarium Upkeep
If you set up your aquarium properly from the beginning and continue to maintain your water quality, equipment, and fish over time, you can prevent nearly every problem common to saltwater aquariums.
Taking good care of your aquarium includes maintaining suitable water quality for your fish through frequent water changes and tests, tank cycling (developing a mature biological filter to eliminate toxins in the tank), and regular maintenance tasks. You also need to help new fish adjust to the environment and protect other fish from any illnesses or parasites that new arrivals might carry.
How to Provide Suitable Water
A saltwater aquarium requires water that mimics the chemistry of natural seawater. You can achieve this by adding a commercially available salt mix to either purified or tap water and keeping a mixing tub in which to create and store your salt water.
Mixing Tub
Large plastic buckets, small garbage cans, plastic stock tanks, and spare aquariums all make suitable mixing tubs. Only containers made of glass or food-grade plastic are acceptable. Don’t use a metal container for a mixing tub. Your mixing tub will require both a submersible heater of the appropriate
wattage for the number of gallons (liters) your tub can contain (so you can add preheated water to your aquarium when performing water changes) and a powerhead, a small, submersible water pump that provides circulation and mixes the water.
Salt Mix
Ask your local retailer for advice before choosing a brand or type of salt mix. It’s possible for various salt mixes to differ in composition and in how closely they mimic natural seawater. Even two mixes with the same ingredient lists can differ in the quality of seawater they produce.
Never use table salt to make your own salt mix. Though table salt is a major component of seawater, many other components are necessary to produce a solution in which marine organisms can thrive. Purchase only a commercially made, high-quality salt mix from your local vendor.
Dechloraminator
If you plan to use tap water to make your artificial seawater, you must treat the water with a dechloraminator to remove chlorine and chloramines before adding it to the aquarium—unless your tap provides untreated well water. Don’t use a plain chlorine neutralizer, which removes chlorine but leaves ammonia in the water, as this is toxic to your fish. A dechloraminator neutralizes both chlorine and chloramines and leaves no ammonia in the water.
Hydrometer
Use a hydrometer to monitor the salinity (concentration of salt) in your tank. Abrupt changes in salinity disturb the internal chemistry of your fish, so maintain a specific gravity range (the ratio of your aquarium water’s density to that of pure water) of 1.017–1.030 at all times, and avoid drastic shifts in salt content. If you ever need to adjust your tank’s salinity to address a health issue, do so gradually over a period of an hour or longer.
How to Maintain Water Quality
Nothing matters more to the health of an aquarium fish than regular, proper water changes. Quality filters do an excellent job of purifying water in an aquarium, and protein skimmers help remove dissolved organic compounds from it, but changing the water regularly removes more impurities than either can properly eliminate.
Test your aquarium’s water quality at least once a week. It’s easy to monitor ammonia and nitrite levels, which should remain at zero at all times in your fish’s water. You can purchase a test kit that shows results categorized within ranges of “safe,” “concern,” and “danger.” If you ever get measurable levels of ammonia or nitrite in your water, perform a water change immediately to correct the situation, and step up your changing regimen so that it doesn’t happen again.
How to Change Your Water
To change your aquarium’s water, you first need to mix salt water at the proper salinity and temperature in your mixing tub.
- Fill the mixing tub with water, keeping track of how much water you put in.
- Turn on the powerhead to get the water circulating, and turn on the submersible heater to bring the water to the proper temperature to add to your aquarium.
- Add the amount of salt mix indicated by the manufacturer (usually 1/2 cup for each gallon [1/4 cup for each liter]).
- Wait at least a few hours for the salt to completely dissolve and for the water to be at the correct temperature. Then test the water with a hydrometer to make sure it’s at the correct salinity.
Once you’ve mixed your water, and it’s at the correct salinity, you’re ready to add it to your aquarium. You can perform water changes with a bucket and siphon hose as long as the bucket is made of food-safe plastic and isn’t used for anything other than the aquarium. Siphon the old water out of the tank and into the bucket (or a convenient drain or sink), and refill your aquarium by taking bucketfuls of water from your mixing tub to the tank or by using a fitting that attaches your siphon hose to the powerhead in your mixing tub. When you’re ready to refill the tank, hook the siphon hose to the powerhead and transfer the water in this manner.
Quality Concerns
Though many types of fish are relatively hardy, some can be sensitive to water qualities such as pH levels and hardness, in addition to chlorine and waste levels. You can determine these characteristics by purchasing test kits. Test strips that monitor pH levels are easy to read and understand, and many hardness test kits offer readings of “soft,” “moderate,” or “hard” on their scales. (The quantitative measurements of hardness are more difficult to assess.)
Tank Cycling
Cycling a tank simply refers to establishing a mature, functioning biofilter—a special bacterial colony growing in a medium through which the aquarium water passes. There are
two types of these bacteria. The first consumes ammonia in the tank, turning it into nitrite. (Ammonia is extremely toxic to fish, and nitrite is slightly less toxic.) The second type of bacteria converts the nitrite to much less harmful nitrate. The accumulated nitrate is then diluted whenever you perform a water change.
How to Cycle Your Tank
All you need to cycle your tank is a test kit that determines the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels in your aquarium water and a method of introducing ammonia into the tank. The proper protocol for cycling a tank consists of the
following steps:
- Set up your aquarium equipment and furnishings, but don’t add any fish yet. Provide a form of aeration in the tank—such as a powerhead or airstone—to make the water oxygen rich and more amenable to colonization by beneficial bacteria. (Protein skimmers also help oxygenate the water.) An additional surface area, such as live rock (rocks related to coral that are full of living organisms), and some form of biological filtration are also necessary.
- Begin the cycling process by introducing ammonia to the tank. You can do so by adding some fresh, frozen, or flake food just as you would if fish were present. The food will decompose and should produce enough ammonia to start the cycle. Another option is to add ammonia directly by dosing the tank with ammonium chloride (available at any chemical supply store).
- Use a test kit to measure ammonia and nitrite levels in the tank. At first, you’ll measure a spike in ammonia, but nitrite will be undetectable. As the first colonies of nitrifying bacteria (those that consume ammonia) establish themselves, the nitrite level will begin to climb as the ammonia level falls.
- At some point, the ammonia level in the tank will drop to zero. This indicates that the first type of bacteria has become established and is consuming all the ammonia in the tank. The nitrite level will continue to rise until the second type of bacteria (which consumes the nitrite) establishes itself.
- When the ammonia remains at zero, and the nitrite level begins to fall, nitrate will begin to accumulate. Check the nitrate level with a test kit, and continue to monitor ammonia and nitrite until both levels are at zero.
- At this point, you can begin adding fish to the tank, but do so gradually—a few at a time, once a week—until you’ve reached the amount of fish you want to keep. Adding fish too quickly can increase the bioload, and the filter may not yet be able to handle the increase without dangerous spikes in ammonia or nitrite. Test the water every day as you add fish, and never add more fish unless the ammonia and nitrite levels are both at zero.
- Once your aquarium is fully established, perform routine partial water changes to prevent nitrate from accumulating to harmful levels in the tank.
The development of a mature, functioning biofilter happens slowly—it takes six weeks or more—but the result is a clean, safe, healthy environment for your fish.
Cycling Shortcuts
There are several ways to speed up the tank cycling process, including using mature media (adding substrate or other media from an established tank) or an already matured filter (matured in a friend’s or willing retailer’s tank). No matter which method you use, continue to test the water regularly to determine whether ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels are progressing properly.
Quarantine and Acclimation
Whenever you bring home a new fish, and especially if you’re introducing a new fish into an existing aquarium, that fish must adjust to its new environment. All fish need to be acclimated to water that is different from that in which they’re used to swimming, and those added to an existing tank should be quarantined for several weeks beforehand. Without this period of adjustment, the fish could face serious consequences, ranging from social difficulties with new tankmates to death from the chemical shock of unfamiliar water conditions. Also, your new fish could be carrying an illness or parasite that could infect your other fish.
How to Quarantine Your Fish
When you acquire any type of fish to add to your existing aquarium, keep the fish by itself for a month after you bring it home, without sharing a water source with any other fish. During that time, any disease the fish might be carrying will likely manifest itself, and you can treat the fish to eliminate the infection.
Also, remember that fish don’t have to come into contact with one another to spread disease. Nets, hoses, or even your hands can transfer pathogens from one container to another. And keep in mind that even a properly acclimated fish can be so stressed by suddenly entering a new environment that the experience can kill it. After several weeks of quarantine, you can be certain that your new fish is healthy, has adapted to your water and food, and has recovered from the stress of transport and sale.
How to Acclimate Your Fish
The process of acclimating a new fish involves matching the conditions and chemistry of the water in which the fish has been swimming to the water in the tank in which it will live. Acclimation is absolutely necessary for all new fish. If the chemistry of the water in your aquarium is drastically different from that of the water in which the fish arrived, the chemical shock can kill the fish outright or weaken it so badly that it succumbs in a short while. The proper acclimation of a new fish not only keeps it from receiving these severe shocks but also prevents the introduction of any diseased organisms or unwanted chemicals into the aquarium.
The following method of acclimation takes a little time, but it is the safest and requires only a container and some airline tubing.
- Gently empty the bag in which your new fish arrived into a container that can hold several times the volume of the original water in the bag.
- Tie a loose knot in the length of airline tubing.
- Put one end of the tube into the aquarium, and suck on the other end to start a siphon.
- As soon as the water begins to flow through the tube, tighten the knot until the water is merely dripping slowly from the tubing into the container. (You want just a drop or two to escape per second.)
- When the volume of water in the container has doubled or tripled, stop the drip and test the water’s salinity and pH levels. If they differ from that of the water in your tank, continue the process, occasionally pausing to test the container water again. Once the chemistry of the aquarium and container water matches up, net the fish out of the container and release it into the tank. Dispose of the water in the container. Do not put it into your tank.
This method equalizes all water conditions, including temperature, between the aquarium and the water in which the new fish has been swimming. It takes a while, but it’s time and effort well spent. You can now safely add your fish to its new home.
Aquarium Maintenance
With any aquarium comes a certain amount of necessary maintenance tasks that you must perform on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis, depending on the task.
Daily Tasks
You’ll need to do the following on a daily basis:
- Wipe down the aquarium glass, both inside and outside. Do not use cleaning products because they can seriously harm your fish.
- Check the water level of the aquarium.
- Observe each inhabitant of the tank to see if any are behaving strangely or appear to have health problems.
- Check the thermometer to make sure that the water temperature is adequate.
- Check the filter to make sure it’s running properly and that a particularly rambunctious fish hasn’t damaged it.
- Examine the collection cup of your protein skimmer, and empty it out if it’s full.
- Remove all uneaten food from the aquarium.
Weekly Tasks
The weekly maintenance of your tank should consist of the following procedures:
- Perform a partial water change. (The more water you replace, the better.)
- If your tank has substrate, clean it thoroughly.
- Inspect filter cartridges to see if they need replacing.
- Inspect hoses and aquarium seams for leakage.
- Test the water quality to make sure that the pH, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels are acceptable.
Monthly Tasks
Perform the following tasks once every month:
- Perform a major water change—approximately 50–65% of the aquarium water or more.
- If your tank has substrate, clean it or replace it as needed.
- Service the filter thoroughly (not at the same time as the water change).
- Check all air hoses and connections.
| Text & Photos Copyright © 2007 TFH Publications, Inc. | Acknowledgments & Disclaimer |
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