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6. Miscellaneous mixed short Topics
Small Reef Aquarium Basics is by no means an encyclopedic work. I tried to cover as much of what I felt was necessary for the average Hobbyist to know, to set up a successful reef aquarium, without incurring huge expenditures. You may want to read up on some of the more basic topics in other books. I have recommended a few, and particularly like Martin Moe's : The Marine Aquarium Reference . There are a few topics, however, that I briefly want to address in these last pages :
You must try to keep the temperature of the reef tank stable The one I recommend is between 75and 77 F!. Whether that requires heaters, in your case, is something only you can decide. If the tank is in a cool, perhaps air-conditioned room, probably yes. Many Hobbyists find that their tanks run too warm. Adding a cooler is of course very expensive. You may have to try and determine why the tank runs so hot. Perhaps the pumps ? Or the lights, especially if no fan extracts the heat from the canopy. Usually the problem can be isolated and solved without having to resort to buying a chiller.
Refer to the many articles that appeared in magazines such as FAMA and Marine Reef, and other books. Doing it the right way is a very important part of ending up with a successful tank, and you should read up on this process before starting your aquarium. The more you know, the better off you, and your tank will be.
Although I do not advocate fancy controllers and instruments for the basic reef tank, there are some of you who will want to acquire some form of electronic control method over pH, and perhaps redox potential. That is of course fine . Buy instrumentation that was developed for the reef tank, not something that i s offered for sale but was originally made for industry, where "rough" rather than "precise" measurements are the norm. Lab equipment is of course great, but so will the price be. And if you do buy such equipment, the one thing to look for is the degree of accuracy it offers, e.g. in the case of a redox unit, how many millivolt, or what percentage of the scale. For example, a 1- of scale error on a meter that can show from -1999 to +1999 is 40 mv. Take heed. On a meter running from -999 to +999 the error is still 20 mv. Be aware that the reason certain instruments cost more is very simple: they are accurate, or should I say much more accurate. I know of only three companies that make such instruments specifically for the hobby : Sanders, Tunze and Thiel-Aqua-Tech, which has them manufactured in the USA.
Pen-type meters are all right, but be aware that they may not be all that accurate. If you can live with that, then buy as an educated consumer, knowing that the reading you get may be somewhat off. If you decide to get some form of instrument, the one I recommend you get first, is a redox potential meter, and buy a real good electrode, not general purpose types, so often advertised in magazines. You may even want to buy the electrode from someone else, e.g. a company such as Cole Parmer in Chicago, who offer a very wide variety of electrodes, controllers and meters. I personally use the Hach, refillable, liquid double junction electrodes, and have been extremely satisfied with them, but they are expensive, much more, for instance, than a Bradley James.
Instruments, especially controller type instruments, make one's life easier, and tank conditions very stable, but greatly add to the cost of the tank. And that is not what we had in mind when writing this book. If you want to know how to install such automated aquariums, you may want to read my other books.
Several companies offer pressure operated reactors for various purposes, e.g. oxygen, ozone, carbon dioxide, carbonate hardness, and so on. Although they definitely assist in maintaining a more stable environment, I do not consider them to be part of the small reef, rather, they are positioned somewhere between the basic and the automated reef.
If they are of interest to you, check into the products of companies such as Marine Technical Concepts, Route 4 Marine Tech, my own company, and several others that advertise in the magazines. But before you buy, read up on exactly what these units do, or can do for you.
Of particular interest to many Hobbyists who set up reef tanks is the so -called oxygen reactor, described at length in both my other books. Air is forced into a cylinder, usually tall, and mixed with water coming from the sump of the trickle filter, or main water return line to the aquarium. Because air contains oxygen (about 21 -) and because the process operates under over pressure -anywhere from 1 to 5 psi is not uncommon- this oxygen is forced into the water, and super oxygenates the aquarium's water. This type of reactor is beneficial only, if all other methods that you already use (filters, skimmers, ozone), do not result in oxygen saturation. If you already have high levels of dissolved oxygen there is no need, and no benefit, to install- such a reactor.
The ozone reactor operates on the same principle. Instead of air alone, a mixture of air and ozone are injected into the reactor. This forces the ozone into the water, which results in dissolved and non dissolved organic material being quickly oxidized, since ozone has a very higg oxidative power. This, in turn, results in the redox potential of the water in the tank being raised, meaning the tank's water has become purer, and the living environment for the tank's inhabitants better. Ozone reactors are trickier to adjust than oxygen types, but with a few trial and error settings most Hobbyists do not seem to have any problem s with them. Noteworthy about these reactors is that they greatly improve the water quality, but that it is better to operate them if you have some way of measuring the redox potential, and you must have a residual ozone test. Because they are so efficient, it is most important that you ensure that the water flowing out of an ozone reactor passes through activated carbon first, as this will remove residual ozone.
In a system that is not overloaded, ozone is usually not required to maintain a high water quality. It is my experience, however, that most Hobbyists overload their systems, and tax the filtration too much as a result, requiring them to install an ozonizer on the system as well. For a much more detailed look at ozone, refer to my two other books.
Many other devices are used on reef tanks, e.g. carbon dioxide injection, carbonate hardness reactors, tangential flow filters, special- ized resins, highly sophisticated dosing pumps, oxygen/peroxide/marble generators, and so on. I do not consider them part of the Small Reef, and have, as a result, not covered them.
No book can claim to be complete. Reef Systems are so intricate, that special situations always exist. I have attempted to give you my personal way of setting up a small reef, on a budget that is livable, but will still give a tank that you can be proud of.
Once you have a basic set-up, you can always build on what you already have, and add other devices that help in maintaining and/or improving the water quality. You can view this suggestion as a building block approach, and it is. If , however, you follow generally accepted recommendations on tank load, and do not tax your system by adding more and more animals, without regard for the filtration, you will, in my opinion, not need to add any other devices. All you may want to do, is to add some form of instrumentation that will make testing, and monitor- ing, a less time consuming task.
I hope you have enjoyed this third book of mine, and welcome any suggestions for additions in future editions. Advanced Reef Keeping Made Simple, and The Marine Fish and Invert Reef Aquarium, take a close look at more automated systems, and although you may not want to set up such a system, you may want to read the books anyway, just to learn more about tank technology. I highly recommend that you subscribe to our newsletter Marine Reef, as it will keep you up to date on the latest developments in the Reef Hobby.
Advanced Reef Keeping II, the book dealing with the animal life in the aquarium, may or may not be available when you read this, depen- ding on when you bought this one. Check with your dealer, or with us.
Good luck in your endeavors. Call Thiel-Aqua-Tech anytime you have questions that you cannot get resolved. We will try to help you, even if you are not using our equipment. And, please, share your knowledge with other Hobbyists.
[Albert J. Thiel requests that you make a $5.00 donation to the New Mexico School for the Visually Handicapped Children, 1900 North White Sands, Alamagordo, New Mexico 88310 (or other charitable group) if you download the entire book. This would be in lieu of the standard purchase price for this publication.]
(c) 1989,1990 Albert J. Thiel 2nd Printing. January 1990
To contact Albert J. Thiel About Albert J. Thiel
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