"Hey honey... I shout from amongst test viels full of easter egg colored water spread out on the kitchen table, would you say this is more of a purple brown or purple pink, or is it just purple. Maybe it's more of a violet?"
For the beginning aquarist and often times for the advanced aquarist, it is thought that the fate of all aquarium life as we know it could hang in the balance of a shade of pink, yellow or blue. Truth is, we put WAY to much stake in the shade of blue in a little vial. Now, don't get me wrong, if certain water perameters are way off normal ocean levels or spike irradically it could be devistating for an aquarium. In brief detail, I'll tell you what you really need to know for the basics of reef aquarium water chemistry.
Understand that your aquarium wants to be in balance and has more of a means to do so than you do. A reef aquarium, when innitially set up as an ecosystem will naturally settle into a balance that will likely be very sufficient at supporting sea life. We need to internalize the understanding (take a second on those last 3 words) of what's happening in our little microcosm we've established in the glass box in our home or office. Please refer to "microcosm" to get a full look at what it means to have an ecosystem aquarium. I think Mr. Newton said it best when he stated that every action has an equal and opposite algae outbreak, or wait... how'd that go? What I mean is, before you do anything to your tank, try to figure out what some unintended or secondary consiquences may be. For the sake of keeping this to blog form and not book form I'll leave out specifics but attempt to point out some problem perameters and maybe give a solution to what to do when, and how not to have your water chemistry get out of wack.
Nutrient import and export; You are what you eat and so is your tank. Unless you have a filtration system that REMOVES, not just traps organic debris those compounds will turn into algae food just like animal waste on land is used by us to grow plants. Remove organic waste with proper skimming, and water changes.
PH swings: A tank that is not MESSED with should not have too great of a PH swing other than a mild day/night swing due to oxygen and CO2 levels. Be very sure you need a buffer before you just go off-handedly putting it in your tank.
Calc & Alk: This is where it goes down hill, well besides problems with algaes. Usually after a person has a stable tank, they have feeding understood, they have a grasp on basic concepts of water chemistry, they go off and start screwing with calcium alkalinity and magnesium and what not. Though I don't have time for a full chemistry class, nor am I truly qualified to do so, I do know this; Calcareous algaes, coral & other organisms will deplete your calcium and alkalinity and it will need to be replenished by either a BALANCED two part solution and or large, regular water changes. Usually for a system well stocked with coral the average routine partial water change will not be enough. Know this though, our aquarium systems are as adaptable as we are. Think of your tank as one living organism with multiple systems combined in a balanced operation. If you find that your parameters are out of wack, please adjust them slowly and monitor changes as you go. I hope this has been helpful.
Best to you,
Call or text if you need help. I can come out if you'd like me just to check if you're doing everything right. It's what I do
Ben
AFD Tulsa
For the beginning aquarist and often times for the advanced aquarist, it is thought that the fate of all aquarium life as we know it could hang in the balance of a shade of pink, yellow or blue. Truth is, we put WAY to much stake in the shade of blue in a little vial. Now, don't get me wrong, if certain water perameters are way off normal ocean levels or spike irradically it could be devistating for an aquarium. In brief detail, I'll tell you what you really need to know for the basics of reef aquarium water chemistry.
Understand that your aquarium wants to be in balance and has more of a means to do so than you do. A reef aquarium, when innitially set up as an ecosystem will naturally settle into a balance that will likely be very sufficient at supporting sea life. We need to internalize the understanding (take a second on those last 3 words) of what's happening in our little microcosm we've established in the glass box in our home or office. Please refer to "microcosm" to get a full look at what it means to have an ecosystem aquarium. I think Mr. Newton said it best when he stated that every action has an equal and opposite algae outbreak, or wait... how'd that go? What I mean is, before you do anything to your tank, try to figure out what some unintended or secondary consiquences may be. For the sake of keeping this to blog form and not book form I'll leave out specifics but attempt to point out some problem perameters and maybe give a solution to what to do when, and how not to have your water chemistry get out of wack.
Nutrient import and export; You are what you eat and so is your tank. Unless you have a filtration system that REMOVES, not just traps organic debris those compounds will turn into algae food just like animal waste on land is used by us to grow plants. Remove organic waste with proper skimming, and water changes.
PH swings: A tank that is not MESSED with should not have too great of a PH swing other than a mild day/night swing due to oxygen and CO2 levels. Be very sure you need a buffer before you just go off-handedly putting it in your tank.
Calc & Alk: This is where it goes down hill, well besides problems with algaes. Usually after a person has a stable tank, they have feeding understood, they have a grasp on basic concepts of water chemistry, they go off and start screwing with calcium alkalinity and magnesium and what not. Though I don't have time for a full chemistry class, nor am I truly qualified to do so, I do know this; Calcareous algaes, coral & other organisms will deplete your calcium and alkalinity and it will need to be replenished by either a BALANCED two part solution and or large, regular water changes. Usually for a system well stocked with coral the average routine partial water change will not be enough. Know this though, our aquarium systems are as adaptable as we are. Think of your tank as one living organism with multiple systems combined in a balanced operation. If you find that your parameters are out of wack, please adjust them slowly and monitor changes as you go. I hope this has been helpful.
Best to you,
Call or text if you need help. I can come out if you'd like me just to check if you're doing everything right. It's what I do
Ben
AFD Tulsa
918.282.0158
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