September 2012 Newsletter

Spring is upon us, which means the temperature has started to rise. This means that the temperature of our tanks will also start to increase. So for those that don’t have chillers, it is time to get your fans out and start monitoring tank temperature. And those that do have chillers hope you all have had them serviced as requested last month.

Tank of the Month












Philip & Michelle Lewis.
Philip and Michelle are relatively new in the hobby, having only been involved for a couple of years. They have a 1.5 L tank, which the family really enjoys.

We assist them with their maintenance by calling on the tank weekly. But as they have really got involved, it certainly makes Euro Spirit Aquarium Management’s life much easier with the keen interest shown by them of their showpiece.
This can be seen in the photos.

Tank 1500 x 600 x 700
Sump 1200 x 400 x 400
Lights 1 x Ocean light ( 8 x 54wt T5 Tubes )
1 x Multi 1000 skimmer
1 x Auto top up unit
1 x Kalkstirer KS1000
2 x Sicce 3 Voyager Circulation pumps
1 x Phosphate Reactor
1 x Aqua medic Titan 500 Chiller
1 x 3500 Ocean Runner Return pump
90 kg Live Rock


Tip of the Month.

Chasing Water Parameters.

When running a Marine tank, far too many people are concerned at chasing water parameter numbers. I have found over the years, what works for you, does not necessarily work for me. And by this I mean that the water parameters given on websites, and in books regarding pH, alkalinity, nitrate, calcium, magnesium, and so on are only guidelines. Far too much emphasis is put on water parameters and people saying they must be this or that.
If your tank is looking good, don’t change what you are doing.


Fish of the Month.

Powder Brown Tang.


 
Acanthurus Japonicus is known under numerous common names in English, including Powder brown tang, Powder brown surgeonfish, Powder black surgeon, Japan surgeonfish, White-nose surgeonfish, and White-faced surgeonfish.
Geographical range, habitat and habits

The Powder brown tang is found in the Indo-West Pacific, from the Ryukyu Islands of Japan to the Philippines and the island Sulawesi in Indonesia. It can be encountered in the following countries: Indonesia, Japan, Palau, the Philippines, and Taiwan. The Powder brown tang inhabits clear lagoons and seaward reefs down to a depth of 20 meters. It prefers shallow exposed environments and forms small to large aggregations.
Size and Appearance.

The Powder brown tang has brown body and is adorned with a broad white band and a bright orange band. The white band stretches from the lower edge of the eye to the upper lip, while the orange band is located in the outer part of the soft portion of the dorsal fin. A wishbone-shaped yellow marking runs along the body. The caudal peduncle is yellow and the same colour is found on the base of the pectoral fins. Pectoral, anal and dorsal fins are dark brown with light blue highlights at the tips. On each side of the caudal peduncle you will find a single spine, the so called scalpel. This sharp spine is used for defense and to establish dominance. When the spine is not in use, the fish will keep it folded down inside groove.

The juvenile fish is light brown in the middle of the body and yellow at the top and bottom. The anal fin is yellow and dark brown, and the pectoral fin is adorned with a yellow dot. The face has white on it, but they are not as pronounced as the adult.

The Powder brown tang (Acanthurus Japonicus) can be easily confused with its close relative the Gold-rimmed tang (Acanthurus Nigricans) because they look very similar to each other. The Gold-rimmed tang has however only a patch of white under the eye, while the Powder brown tang has a white band that extends down to the lip.

Powder brown tang care
It is not recommended to house the Powder brown tang in an aquarium smaller than  285 liters. It needs plenty of space for swimming as well as suitable hiding spots. Use rocks and/or corals to create crevices. Include live rocks in the set-up and encourage natural algae growth.

The Powder brown tang is normally kept in peaceful community aquariums. Do not house it with other tangs, because they will most likely attack this peaceful and passive species. If you absolutely must keep it with tangs, chose one of the fairly peaceful species. Keeping more than one Powder brown tang is not recommended unless you have a huge and cleverly decorated aquarium.
The Powder brown tang is considered reef safe; it will normally leave both mobile and immobile invertebrates alone. It can however be a good idea to keep corals glued down because this large and powerful fish may accidentally overthrow them while swimming.

Keep the water temperature at 22-25 º C, the pH-value at 8.1-8, and the specific gravity at 1.020-1.025. Powerful water movement is strongly recommended. It is important to keep the oxygen level up.
The Powder brown tang is rather sensitive while it acclimatizes itself to a new home, but if you manage to keep it alive during this period it will normally become quite a sturdy aquarium inhabitant. It can be a finicky eater until it has grown accustomed to its new surroundings. You can find more info about feeding Powder brown tangs further down in this article.
Be careful when you handle your Powder brown tang, because the "scalpels” can inflict painful wounds. The pain may last for hours and there is a risk a swelling, discoloration and infection.

Feeding Powder brown tang
The Powder brown tang is primarily an herbivore that feeds on algae in the wild. It will however ingest tiny animals that live among the algae and it should therefore be given occasional servings of meaty foods in the aquarium.
Keep your Powder brown tang on varied diet. You can for instance combine spirulina flakes with fresh and dried marine algae and boiled vegetables such as broccoli, zucchini and carrots. Ideally include flakes or pellets rich in vitamin C in the diet. As mentioned above, you should also give your fish occasional servings for meaty foods, e.g. brine shrimp and Mysis shrimps.

The Powder brown tang is a continuous feeder that will spend most of its time grazing. It is therefore better to give it many small portions of food throughout the day instead of just one or two big servings. Ideally place a vegetable clip / clothes-pin in the aquarium and constantly keep a peace of noori or similar there for the fish to nibble at. Natural algae growth should be encouraged in the aquarium. You can even culture macro algae, e.g. chaetomorphia, in the aquarium.

As mentioned earlier, the Powder brown tang can be a picky eater when it is trying to acclimatize itself to a new home. During this period, it is best to offer it plenty of marine macro algae since this is what it would eat in the wild. It is always a good idea to wait until you have an aquarium with prolific natural algae growth before you get a Powder brown tang. Also include a lot of crevices in the set-up because this will make the fish feel safer and more inclined to leave its hiding spot to feed.


Coral of the Month.

Doughnut Coral.



COMMON NAMES:
Open Meat Coral, Doughnut Coral, Flat Brain Coral, Cat’s Eye Coral, Button Coral, Disk Coral, Owl Coral, Tooth Coral, Artichoke Coral, Saucer Coral, Australian Scoly
SCIENTIFIC NAME:
Scolymia Australis (Milne Edwards & Haime, 1849)
PHYLUM: Cnidaria (stony coral)
CLASS: Anthozoa
ORDER: Scleractinia
FAMILY: Mussidae
GENUS: Scolymia
RANGE: Australia (Great Barrier Reef and along southern coastline) – other locations in the Central Western Pacific are unproven
NATURAL ENVIRONMENT: These usually solitary free-living highly attractive saucer-shaped photosynthetic stony corals generally inhabit shallow fore reefs to deeper areas where they are often found on slopes in protected highly clear waters, sometimes under or near overhangs in surrounding areas. Colours include amazing combinations of fluorescent reds, orange and greens.
CAPTIVE CARE: These extremely colourful, large fleshy polyp corals always demand a high price. Since they are collected in areas having different levels of light intensity, some experimentation may be needed as to placement before deciding upon a permanent location in the aquarium. Nevertheless, a fairly bright area preferably lit with metal halides or strong fluorescent lamps should initially be chosen. The placement area should be flat, and large enough to safely contain the entire width of the polyp, which expands greatly during the day. Ledges are always problematic, therefore recommend placing it on the sandbed surface where it will be impacted with a gentle to moderate water flow. Strong flows will harm the animal. Even though not an aggressive species, be sure to provide enough space between it and its neighbours, as stings, even minor stings from aggressive corals, will cause it to shrink greatly, refuse offered foods, and waste away.

The specimen in the photo in my aquarium is fed once every three days. Once it senses food entering the aquarium, a ring of feeding tentacles is displayed and meaty foods such as pieces of fish or shrimp flesh and/or mysis are placed directly on the center of the polyp and then quickly engulfed. Also, occasionally, various pellet-like foods are used, as in live foods such as enriched live brine shrimp. But I must say, this species should not be overfed, especially pellet foods, as it will expel the soft excesses in a burst from the central mouth area. I’ve seen it do this twice – an odd happening because it seems to spit out the excess then look poorly for a day or two. And such behaviour does nothing to help maintain the surrounding water quality! I use freeze-dried krill, which is rubbed between my fingers in the aquarium water, to encourage many of my corals to put forth their feeding tentacles.
A moderate varied diet has put one additional 2.5cm growth on the width of this specimen in its first 4 months in my aquarium! Again, overfeeding does cause a day or two decline in the specimen’s overall condition, so be forewarned – feed in moderation.

This is a hardy, disease-resistant coral. Recommended water quality requirements are: Calcium 380-430mg/l, Alkalinity 2.5-3.0meq/l, pH 8.1-8.2, Specific gravity 1.025, Mg – approx. 1300mg/l (relate to specific gravity), Phosphate < .015mg/l, and a temperature range of 23-28°C.


Water Chemistry.



The importance of magnesium.
Often overlooked, magnesium plays a critical role in the chemical and biological processes in the Marine aquarium. Magnesium is a major element (as opposed to a trace element) and is the third most common element in seawater behind only Sodium and Chloride. Magnesium is an essential element to all organisms for biological functions, and is especially important to organisms that are skeleton building, as Magnesium is a key component of aragonite. Far too often, we find aquarists who are struggling to figure out what is causing issues in their reef aquarium, and Magnesium deficiencies end up being at fault. It is impossible to maintain ideal Calcium and Carbonate levels in salt water without maintaining Magnesium levels as well. Many folks struggle with keeping their Alkalinity and Calcium to appropriate levels in their marine aquariums, yet never test their Magnesium levels. At levels below natural sea water concentrations of Magnesium (1280-1350 ppm), Calcium and Carbonates will precipitate out with each other in inorganic forms, and dosing either will not achieve the proper results in a low Magnesium environment.

Sources of Magnesium
Quality salt mixes will provide natural seawater concentrations of Magnesium, when properly mixed. Many Calcium supplements will also provide some level of Magnesium as well, some intentionally, as some products will contain Magnesium as an "impurity” in the source of calcium carbonate used in processing. Magnesium is also released from the dissolution of media within Calcium reactors. Magnesium is also available as a stand-alone supplement, in both liquid and powdered forms. Concentrations of all these sources are highly dependent on the manufacturer’s processes, and the sources of Calcium and Magnesium used.

Dosing Magnesium
Test your water! Before dosing anything, you need to know where you’re starting. Maintaining magnesium levels is a balance between what you are adding, and what is being consumed. Every aquarium is different, and each will consume magnesium at its own individual rate, but you should try to maintain levels between 1250 ppm and 1350 ppm.

For those who are keeping fish only marine aquariums, routine water changes with a quality salt mixture is probably enough to keep Magnesium levels high enough. Chances are you will never have a problem; the element is used up very slowly, and is regularly replenished by the salt mix.

The beginner reef-keeper maintaining live rock and a mix of soft corals, zooanthids, mushrooms and maybe a few stony corals, will typically have a slightly higher magnesium demand than a fish-only tank. Water changes will probably not be enough to maintain ideal levels in these set-ups, but using products that are a combination of minerals usually do the trick and they’re easy to use. Products like Seachem Reef Complete, Kent Liquid Calcium Reactor, Brightwell Liquid Reef and Red Sea Reef Foundations ABC+ stand out among these products.

Advanced reef aquarists maintaining stony coral dominated aquariums, particularly fast growing SPS corals, will generally have a much higher Magnesium demand. Advanced reef aquarists also tend to be much more hands on with everything that goes into their aquariums, and stand-alone Magnesium supplements tend to be the method of choice. Products like Brightwell’s Magnesium and NeoMag, Seachem’s Reef Advantage Magnesium are popular for these aquarists.

Alternative uses for Magnesium
In recent years, elevated magnesium levels have been experimented with as a means of controlling nuisance algae. Bryopsis, for example is a very difficult algae to control once established in the aquarium. Many aquarists (myself included) have reported success in the eradication of this pest using Kent Marine’s Tech-M product to raise Magnesium levels upwards of 1800ppm in their aquariums. These levels are maintained for a period of several weeks, until the algae has died off, then allowed to fall back to normal levels. Some say that maintaining elevated levels indefinitely is safe, but I do not feel that this is a good idea. There isn’t much real data on the effects of elevated Magnesium levels for long term use, and there is the potential for toxic affects in the long term. Many aquarists have used this method on other nuisance algaes as well, but there is not definitive guide for what algae magnesium dosing will work on that I am aware of. This is not a magic bullet, so good, sound husbandry and water quality standards should always be employed.
Hope this clears up some confusion on Magnesium and magnesium dosing,



Equipment.

Ozoniser.



Aquarium filtration systems have improved greatly during the last ten years and the desire to achieve the best water quality encourages today’s fish-keepers to use high flow mechanical / biological filters, large foam fractioner (Protein skimmers), U.V. sterilizers and more. However even with the quality of today’s aquarium filtration, there are a few dissolved and fine organics components that tend to accumulate in an aquarium which the ordinary filtration systems fail to remove. Generally the only way to reduce them is by frequent water changes.

Conventional means of solids removal, such as sponge/ perlon floss filters and sand filters address the removal of coarse settleable and filterable solids, but not the removal of fine colloidal solids. Similarly, nitrifying bacteria in bio-filters remove dissolved ammonia and nitrite, but not all dissolved organic wastes. As an aquarium matures, the accumulation of dissolved organic colloidal solids increases. This organic build-up decreases the performance of the nitrifying bacteria that convert nitrite to nitrate, thus causing harming nitrite build-up. The biochemical oxygen demand also rises, so the oxygen levels decrease over time. These shifts in water parameters stress the aquarium inhabitants and may even cause mortality. To reduce the necessity of large water changes, that can change the systems chemical parameters (PH, salinity, alkalinity etc.), there is a very efficient alternative method of breaking down these organic wastes using a strong oxidizing agent, this method is "Ozonation”.

Ozone (O3) has been used, for a long time as a disinfectant and as an oxidizer that removes turbidity, algae, odour, colour and taste in the municipal drinking water supply. Applying ozone to fresh water, marine and reef aquariums will achieve the following properties:

•    Removal of Micronics solids (1-100 microns) by clumping them together to bigger dimension particles that can be removed by the protein skimmer or activated carbon.
•    Removal of complicated dissolved organics that cannot be handled by ordinary bio-filter. The ozone oxidizes them and breaks them to simple organics that are now available for degradation by heterotrophic bacteria.
•    Reduction of harmful ammonia (NH3-) and nitrite (NO2-) levels by oxidizing them to nitrate (NO3-).
•    Precipitation of metals, such as aluminium.
•    Algae control
•    Destruction of harmful inorganic components, such as sulphides.
•    Degradation of pesticides and detergents.
•    Bacterial disinfections & viral inactivation: 0.4 mg/L at a 4-minute contact time easily kill bacteria and inactivate 99% of viruses.

Ozone is a very unstable molecule that is formed when an Oxygen molecule (O2) bonds to a third oxygen atom by passing the oxygen through an electrical charge or U.V. light at the proper wavelength. Because of the loosely bound third atom, ozone exhibits a far greater oxidative potential compared to oxygen. The ozone reacts with organic molecules at unsaturated carbon bonds, which quickly decompose in water to form carbonyl components and hydrogen peroxide. In solution ozone has been shown taking to pathways as it decomposes and oxidizes materials. The first pathway is by direct reaction with molecular ozone and the second is by indirect action of the oxidized compound with radicals formed by the decomposition of ozone.


The advantages of ozone are:

•    Powerful oxidizing agent. Reduces BOD and COD levels.
•    Very rapid reaction time.
•    5 times more effective as a disinfectant for bacteria and viruses, than Cl2.
•    Requires short contact time.
•    Produces a complete reaction because of its short half-life (20-30 min.)
•    Leaves a beneficial oxygen residual

Production and utilization of ozone:
Most commercially available ozone generators use corona discharge to establish a strong electric field. Dried air or oxygen gas is fed through the electric field. Due to the electrical energy, a proportion of the oxygen molecules become excited, creating oxygen atoms that bind to other molecules to create ozone.

The feed gas must be dry and free from impurities. If a feed gas of air or low purity oxygen contains moisture, nitric acid is formed, which rapidly decomposes the produced ozone and is also highly corrosive.

The design of the ozone-to-water contact chamber is the most critical design element in using an ozone system. Since ozone in the carrier gas (air) is at relatively low concentration, mass transfer of the ozone from a gas into the water must be done at maximum efficiency. In marine and reef aquariums, we already have an efficient reactor vessel in which to utilize ozone, our protein skimmer. The protein skimmer materials must be highly resistant or inert to ozone. Use of improper materials can lead to erosion of the unit and cause leakage.

Ozone can be applied continuously, as a series of treatments, or as single batch treatment per day. The optimum rate for disinfection is highly variable and represents the sum of ozone demand from dissolved organics, colloidal solids, etc. The amount of ozone necessary is largely dependent on the background organic loading of the water to be treated. In pure water, residual concentration of 0.01-0.1 ppm for period of 15 seconds can be effective in reducing bacterial loads. In most of our aquarium systems 5-15 mg/hr/100 liters is sufficient amount to get proper disinfection. A more accurate rule is 1.5 mg for 1hr/day/ 1 gr of fish weight. If the purpose of the ozone is to treat the dissolved organic matter, the optimum rate should be according to daily feed rate. It is recommended 10 mg ozone per gram of fish food, to reduce accumulated organics.

The best method to monitor ozone input is by measuring the oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) with probes or by a Redox meter/controller. The term Redox potential refers to the electrons transfer from one substance to another that takes place in every chemical reaction. The substance that receives electrons is said to have been oxidized, while the one that loses electrons is said to have been reduced. In sea water, many of these so called ‘redox reactions’ occur simultaneously. Because of the constant exchange of electrons the amount of prevailing oxidative or reductive reaction can be measured as a voltage, by means of a platinum electrode and a volt meter. The higher the redox potential, the greater the oxidizing capacity of the water. In sea water the redox potential is between 350-400 mV. Redox potential values of between 300 and 350 mV are recommended as the desirable level, which indicate an oxygen rich environment with low dissolved organics. The redox potential can therefore be used as an indication of the quality of your Aquarium environment. Values below 200 mV indicate an accumulation of disolved organics and a low oxygen level.

As ozone is applied to aquarium water it will raise the oxygen level and break down organic wastes, i.e. sterilizing the water thus raising the redox potential. A too high redox potential is as undesirable as a low redox potential therefore it is advisable to keep the redox potential stable by applying ozone. When the redox potential is lower than the desired value, ozone should be applied and when the upper limit of the redox potential is reached the ozone should be turned off. This control can be achieved by combining a Redox controller to the ozone generator.

Red Sea manufactures a range of technically advanced ozonisers (The AquaZone) with 50, 100 and 200 mg/hr output. Red Sea also offers AquaZone PLUS which combines an Ozoniser and Redox controller. The following chart will help to determine the ozoniser suitable for each kind of system up to the maximum volume indicated.



Safety Precautions for using Ozone:

Ozonized air should be prevented from escaping into the room; it is advisable to install a carbon filter on your protein skimmer or ozone reactor where ozonized air escapes. Do not let the redox value of the aquarium water exceed 400 mV as harmful substances (commonly in the form of hypochloric and hypobromic acids) can be produced, which could damage sensitive organisms. The aquarium inhabitants should be protected from exposure to free ozone and /or oxidation products. The recommended method to remove any residual free ozone and any free oxidation products is by vigorous aeration followed by filtration through activated carbon. After this treatment the amount of residual ozone should be checked regularly – maximum 0.05mg per liter.

 
What's new in the marketplace.



A new exciting range of products Euro Spirit Aquarium Management should have in the next few weeks is going to make a big difference in the maintaining of your water quality.

The product we are going to discuss it is one of approximately 8.

Nitra-Gurad Bio-Cubes
BIO-Cubes are made from 100% biologically degradable polymers that effectively remove both nitrates and phosphates from both marine and freshwater systems. BIO-Cubes have a very high surface area and contains 400% more carbohydrates than any other brand, making it the best product of it’s kind in the world. Independent testing in real world scenarios, have proven BIO-Cubes to far outperform all other competing products. No other product of it’s kind can compare with the explosive performance that BIO-Cubes can offer. BIO-Cubes are very versatile and can be used in filter bags, fluidized reactors and denitrators. BIO-Cubes require no maintenance and require no feeding dosages making it the easiest and most convenient nitrate and phosphate removing product on the market. Nitra-Guard BIO-Cubes comes with a free filter bag with every jar, except 5lts.
 

•    The world’s fastest & most effective carbohydrate based nitrate remover.
•    More economical & effective than any other product of it’s kind in the world… nothing can compare.
•    Reduces 50ppm Nitrate to 0ppm within 1 to 2 weeks in Freshwater and Seawater.
•    Easy & convenient use, no daily feedings or dosings, just add as directed and enjoy 4 to 6 months Nitrate free water.
•    No more Deep Sand Bed Filters required which saves space, time and money.
•    100% natural, biological Nitrate removal, no chemicals or metals like iron or aluminium.
•    No effect on pH or alkalinity.
•    Massively reduces water changes.

Bacteria consume the high carbohydrate source found in the BIO-Cubes and form a biomass that absorbs nitrates and phosphates from the water in the aquarium. This biomass is then skimmed out with a protein skimmer or is consumed as a food source by corals and clams.

When culturing bacteria, 2 of the most important factors that will determine the size of the colony are surface area and food source. BIO-Cubes look like small open celled sponges giving the product a massive surface area. BIO-Cubes also has 400% more biologically available, insoluble polymer carbohydrates than any other product in the world. These 2 factors create conditions that are perfect for culturing and sustaining large bacteria colonies required to effectively remove phosphate and nitrate from aquariums. It is these 2 factors that have made Nitra-Guard BIO-Cubes the world’s best carbohydrate based nitrate removing media. Independent tests that were performed in real world scenarios revealed that BIO-Cubes had the ability to reduce nitrates from 60ppm down to 5ppm in under 2 weeks while competing products claim to only start working after 2 weeks!

The amount required will depend on stocking densities and amount of food added to the aquarium. For heavily stocked tanks, use 3ml to every 1lts of aquarium water and for aquariums with lighter stock loads, add 1ml to every 1lts of aquarium water. For best results, use Nitra-Guard BIO-Cubes in a denitrator reactor and commission the denitrator as specified by the manufacturer. If the BIO-Cubes are to be used in a filter bag or reactor, place them near the protein skimmer to assist in removing the nitrate and phosphate rich biomass faster. After 1 to 2 weeks, the bacteria colonies will become prolific enough to start lowering nitrate levels in your aquarium. If nitrate and phosphate levels in your aquarium are high, some cloudiness may occur which clears in a few days. Soak BIO-Cubes in freshwater for 24hrs before use.