Captive Marine Environments
We love our aquariums; we keep these because we are
human.
It makes us aware of the world around us.
Exposure to the living world fosters appreciation and
caretaking.
For the ones that are against zoos and keeping of wild
species consider these truths.
Humans only love what they know, and people do not
destroy what they love
Types of coral Reefs
• Fringing reefs, Barrier Reefs, and Atolls.
• Fringing reefs (Shore Reefs)
most common type.
• Barrier Reefs;
– Extensive reef complexes that parallel a shore, and are
separated by a lagoon.
– A lagoon is a wide band of water that lies between the
shore and the main area of reef development, and
contains some deep water areas.
– The Great Barrier Reef is the largest barrier reef 1200 plus
miles.
– It’s actually a very large complex consisting of many reefs
Types of coral Reefs
• Atolls;
– A atoll is a circular oceanic reef system
surrounding a large, and most often deep central
lagoon.
– Most are in mid ocean.
Coral Animals
Flowers of the sea
• Corals are sessile, meaning they attach to the ocean
bottom, or any site clean of algae.
• Corals have a unique partnership called symbiosis
that benefits the animal
• Corals are animals made up of tiny creatures called
polyps
• Each soft bodied polyp which are very thin, secrete a
hard outer skeleton of limestone, (calcium
carbonate), which then attaches onto a suitable site.
Coral Animals
Flowers of the sea
• Hard corals (LPS, SPS)
• These corals colony’s, live, die, and build up on
each other. The result, our beautiful coral reefs.
• Most corals contain algae called zooxanthellae.
• Which are plant like organisms living in the corals
tissues this microscopic life are protected and make
use of the corals metabolic waste products for
photosynthesis. The corals benefit, as algae
produce oxygen, supply’s organic products.
Marine Life & Environments
• More than 250,000 identified species
• Most life in sunlit surface waters (photic zone)
• Species success depends on ability to:
– Find Food
– Avoid Predation
– Reproduce
Pacific Rock
Artificial Live Rock
Live Rock
• The cornerstone of reef tanks and Fish Only With Live
Rock, (FOWLR). From the start in the 80’s when reef
tanks became popular, live rock was what brought us
over the hump, so to speak, of keeping reef animals
healthy and thriving, not just surviving.
• Live rock is old coral rock which has been colonized by all
different animals, worms, algae, macro algae, coralline,
etc. Over time it becomes live rock.
• Live rock has many functions, being the bio-filter, live
food source, cocepods, anapods, microscopic life, etc., as
well as being natural and nice to look at. With it you
make a reef.
Live Rock
• My way is, “Less is more”, because you want to
open spaces for fish to swim, not a wall of rock
against the back wall of the tank. I call these
“Fruit Stand Reefs”, everything is just piled on the
back. We want space all around the structure so
water can circulate everywhere so that there are
no dead spots, and fish can swim in the open
comfortably for us to view them. Given a set
amount is tough so I start with a little less and
build up from there.
Live Rock
• Live rock comes from many places. Some of which is
shipped via air but most is shipped by boat. There is a long
time in transit, up to a month sometimes.
• Getting live rock from aqua culturists is your best bet, short
shipping time direct from their site, tanked for a couple of
days, then sent direct to you. It is a short supply chain.
• Indo Pacific rock is collected, held for a while, and then
shipped to exporters, and then to importers, and then to
wholesalers and then to retailers, and then to you. It is a
long supply chain.
• Buying from Florida farmers, you get the best of both
worlds. tampabaysaltwater.com, floridaliverock.com.
Live Rock
• That being said, Pacific rock is more porous. Finding good,
high quality rock can be hard. It is more expensive, but you
get more “bang for your buck”. It costs more but you need to
use less. Again, do your homework.
• In addition, there is nothing wrong with mixing rocks from
different areas as it adds bio-diversity.
• Just to be aware, frequently you have the opportunity to get
rock from other hobbyists breaking down tanks. Be careful,
the dropout rate is high. If the rock has coralline growing, that
is a good sign.
• Live rock will absorb phosphate in tanks and it can leach back
into the water. I would stay away if you are not sure. Cheap is
not a good formula for success in reef tanks.
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Live Rock
Building the reef
The 5 “P”s.
Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance.
Like an artist’s pallet, putting together our reef is an
art in its self. Plan your structure around what you
visualize. Live rock comes in many shapes and sizes.
• The way we build it will determine the carrying
capacity of the tank.
• Build with caves and crevasses out into the water,
leaving open areas all around.
Live Rock
• The spaces, nooks, and crannies with the animals in mind
determines the carrying capacity, not the inches per gallon rule.
• Fish and inverts need real estate well thought out. Plan on
building their homes. A good built, solid structure makes all the
difference.
• Putting it all together there is two part epoxy putty, super glue
(gel), cable ties, etc.
• Substrates:
– Coral sand,
– live sand, (in bags),
– different grain sizes,
– What we want to keep might influence, what kind, and size.
Yellow Tang
(Zebrasoma flavescens)
Flame Angelfish
(Centropyge loricula)
Yellow Headed Jawfish
(Opistogathus aurifrons)
Blue Spotted Jawfish
(Opistogathus rosenblatti)
Water Flow
• The circulation of water in our tanks is one of
the most important factors for the health of our
animals. To me it is at the top of my list.
• Moving water brings oxygen to our animals and
replenishes the water that has been used, (so to
speak).
• We want the surface moving (ripping) when our
reef animals have good gas exchange. Their
growth is better as well as color.
Water Flow
• Some fish and inverts are (substrate bound).
Some are (Site specific). They need water to
come to them. Even bacteria will process
nutrients faster and more thoroughly.
• Good flow keeps things in suspension to be used
by our animals, (food – detritus), in addition, it
keeps detritus from settling in corners or on our
rocks where it builds up.
• How much water to move?
Powder Blue Tang
(Acanthurus leucoteron)
Kole Tang
(Ctenochactus strigosus)
Lighting
• The function of lights of course is to view our
tanks but the lights also drive the necessary
photosynthesis giving our plants and coral their
vital food source and shapes their behavior,
spawning, feeding, and so forth.
• We have lots of options, T5’s, power compacts,
metal halides, LED’s, plasma lighting.
Green star Polyps
(Briareum violacea)
Blue Mushrooms
(Actinodiscus sp.)
Brain Coral
(Open brain)
Brain Coral
(Maze)
Water Changes
• The Solution to Pollution is Dilution.
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It’s all about the water.
Water changes are the best filter in your tool kit.
There is known, rule of thumb about changes.
• What is the bio load, (light – heavy)
• Amount of food being fed daily.
• Whether you are using a skimmer or not.
• Using chemical media, polyfilters, chempure, etc.
• How many gallons in the system.
• I would, as a general guide line, change 25% or more per
month.
Water Changes
• Mixing salt water
• You will need a separate container just for mixing,
(part of your aquatic tool kit).
• 5 gallon bucket, plastic garbage can, Rubber Maid
or similar. The size depends on the amount of
water exchanged.
• Always add salt to the water. After a time or two you
will have the mix down and it will become second
nature.
Water Changes
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Make sure the salinity, temperature, PH, are all the same as
the water in the tank.
• Air pump or power head very important, aerate the water
for at least 24 hours for it to mix.
• To measure the salinity of the water we can use a
hydrometer, (plastic). Buy two.
• We need a heater as well. Also used once in the hobby, a
refractometer.
• You can move the water the old fashioned way by bucket
brigade, or as I do, use a good water pump that will lift water
5 or 6 feet into the tank from the container.
Water Changes
• Water change kit
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Buckets or food safe containers
Siphons, hoses,
Water pump
Air pump with stone,
Heater,
Towels.
Water Changes
• Natural or synthetic salt water.
• The use of natural seawater come with good and bad. It will
contain a multitude of organisms.
• Place the water in a dark place for a week or so for the
plankton to die off and settle to the bottom, then use it.
• You can use it right away but, in my opinion, unless you get it
from a real pristine area, or are getting plankton for a reason,
(breeding and raising food), it’s a waste of time. How much is
it worth to you?
• Salt-water mixes have come a long way from the past. All of
the major brands are good. Some have added ingredients
such as calcium / alkalinity. Some public aquariums use salt
mixes.
Water Changes
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What to use!
R.O. water
Iron Exchange Resins
Poly Filters, chemi pure.
Test Kits
• What to test for?
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Which to use?
Salifert
Elos
Sea Chem
• API 5-1 Dip strips
– Doing the tests correctly
• What we can test for.
– Nitrite, Nitrate, P.H., Alkainty (KH) Phospate, Calcium
Magnesium, Strontium, plus others’
Water Changes
• So change your water!
– Fish can’t do water changes there a fish
• Proper nutrition
Nutrition
• What to feed our fish? As we have always been told, you
are what you eat.
• We can give them the best, cleanest conditions possible,
but if we don’t meet there nutritional needs, the fish
cannot resist disease, they won't show their true colors,
or even be healthy enough to breed.
• So it’s a vast subject, again we do our research, read,
read, read. Nowadays, it is a giant smorgasbord of food
available.
Nutrition
• Variety is the spice of life. I always buy multiple types of foods in
small jars (containers) of three or four kinds of foods.
• We want marine fish food to be marine in origin. Today’s foods are
all very good, also we have vitamins, (Selcon, Vita chem, etc.) to
enhance our food for again we want to know the needs, carnivores,
omnivores, herbivores. Most fish are omnivores but in my opinion, I
feed greens to all because, in the wild they are preying on fish that
eat greens so they get it that way indirectly. So just feed high quality
foods. Get feedback from other aquarists.
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New Life Spectrum
Brine Shrimp Direct
New Life Era
Ken’s Fish
Hikari
Clown Triggerfish
(Balistoides conspicllum)
Picasso Triggerfish
(Rhinecanthus aculeatus)
Coral Beauty
(Centropyge bispinosa)
Hippo Tang
(Paracanthurus hepatus)
The Three O’s
•Over Feeding
•Over stocking
•Over crowding
Longfellow once said,
“Into each life a little rain must fall”
Hair Algae Blues
• Green hair algae;
• We all encounter this pesky algae at one time or another.
It is named for its furry, hair like or feathery appearance.
• Like most troublesome algae, hair algae thrive in captive
environments with high levels of dissolved nutrients,
Nitrate / phosphate, (fish poop).
So what to do?
• First off, there is an old saying in the reef hobby.
Nothing good happens fast in a reef tank. Prepare to
be patient!
• Feed and stock sparingly:
• Check your source water:
• Step up nutrient export:
• Ie., water changes:
• chemical media (polyfilters chemiepure,
• iron exchange resins etc.
• Herbivores for tank,
• snails,
• crabs,
• Fish,
Employ Macro Algae
• In freshwater aquariums, we use fast growing
plants to outcompete the algae for nutrients. In the
saltwater side we do the same. By using macro
algae that outcompete the lower forms of algae,
(micro algae) in the tank.
• Replace Aging Lights
– Be sure to replace your lamps on a regular schedule
Get Down on It
• Reach in, go to work, pick, pluck, siphon.
– Detecting ammonia, nitrite in the water?
– Animals not looking good or dying?
– Compatibility issues?
– Support equipment failure, heater, filter, etc.?
• Those are the things that require a fast response.
Gradual Problems Need Gradual Solutions
• Few problems develop overnight, (matter of time, weeks,
or months).
• Sudden Changes Can Be Stressful
– Problems related to water parameters such as;
specific gravity, temperature, calcium / alkalinity, P.H.,
– moving away from their desired values, should always
be corrected very slowly, as sudden changes can be
very stressful, even deadly, to our charges in the
aquarium.
• Extreme Measures Usually Treat Symptoms
– What a lot of people do is treat the symptom not the
problem.
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Some problems aren’t necessarily problems
at all!
• Bristleworms, are often viewed as nasty,
stinging, monsters.
– However, the vast majority of these guys are
harmless and actually beneficial consumers of
detritus.
• If your water is out of whack so to speak,
them, as well as other pesky pains in the butt,
can take control.
Bristleworms
Some Problems Resolve on their Own
• Newly introduced fish will hide for days or longer. Leave
the fish alone. If you move the rocks, you will just stress
them more. Unless the fish is getting bullied. The same
with corals. They might not expand for a couple of days.
Do research on care requirements, light, water flow, etc.
• You have to “Be the Fish”! What would you do ?
Hopefully you have nice neighbors and the welcome mat
comes out. That is why we have to do our research,
because we don’t want any harm to come to our
animals. The information is out there, but I have to tell
you, some of the fish haven’t read the books.
Equipment and Redundancy
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Life support
Having backups
Plan for the worst
Ground fault interrupters, very important
Using timers for lighting (duration)
Use two heaters
Don’t daisy chain, (6 packs)
Use drip loops
Avoiding electrical problems
What to do! (when not home) healthy livestock can go a week or
more with no ill effects. We prepare ahead, water changes, clean
skimmer, if using one. But, please do it 4 or 5 days before you go. So
if there’s changes, your to catch it, before you go.
Stocking the Tank
• Buying healthy animals.
• From reef to retail or exporter, importer, wholesaler,
retailer. How they are treated in transport plays a
huge role in survival of what you bought.
• Where they come from, (region)
• Australia, Hawaii, Red Sea, Florida, and most of the
Caribbean all are heavily regulated fisheries. The
Philippines and Indonesia are areas that still, (but not
all), practice improper collections so know your
source.
Stocking the Tank
• Again the “R” word! DO YOUR RESEARCH!
• Buying healthy livestock is the key to
keeping marine animals. They don’t play
catchup so well! You have to start with
healthy guys.
• You're going to hear the term “Reef Safe”
which generally means “won’t bother corals
& inverts”. A lot of fish won’t bother corals
but prey on shrimp and other inverts.
Watching, and Knowing Your Animals
• To know your tank. Test on a regular basis, always stay
on top of evaporation with good source water.
• A lot of animals are bio-indicators, (“canary in a coal
mine”).
Xenia
(Sp.)
Xenia Coral
(Sp.)
Leather Coral
(Sarcophxton sp.)
Leather Coral
(Sarcophxton sp.)
Quarantine
• Quarantining fish and corals.
• Not using quarantining is like playing Russian
roulette.
• Nobody wins the game, some just get to play
longer than others.
Breeding Marine Fish
• Martin Moe started Aqualife Research in 1973
• Breeding clownfish and gobies
• Right now- breeding about 10 percent of
what’s in the trade
Reef
Reef
Reef
Reef
Reef
Sharks in The Aquarium
• CAN WE KEEP THEM?
• SHOULD WE KEEP THEM?
Coral Banded Shrimp
(Stenopus hispidus)
Emerald Crab
(Mithraculus sculptus)
Peppermint Shrimp
(Lysmata wurdemanni )
Arrow Crab
(Stenorhynchus seticorniss)
Scarlet Reef Crab
(Paguristes cadenati)
Blood Red Fire Shrimp
(Lysmata debelius)
Cleaner Shrimp
(Paguristes cadenati)
Turban Snail
(Tectus fenestratus)
True Green and Blue/Purple
Bulls eye Mushroom
(Rhodactis Inchoata)
CARIBBEAN RED RHODACTIS
(Rhodactis sanctithomae)
Clown Fish
(Amphiprioninae ocellaris)
Royal Gramma
(Gramma loreto)
Lemonpeel Dwarf Angelfish
(Centropyge flavissima)
Banggai Cardinal Fish
(Pterapogon Kauderni)
Juvenile Queen Angelfish
(Holacanthus cillaris)
Adult Queen Angelfish
(Holacanthus cillaris)
Juvenile Emperor Angelfish
(Pomacanthus imperator)
Adult Emperor Angelfish
(Pomacanthus imperator)
Juvenile Regal Angelfish
(Pygoplites diacanthus)
Adult Regal Angelfish
(Pygoplites diacanthus)
Juvenile Blueface Angelfish
(Pomacanthus xanthometopon)
Adult Blueface Angelfish
(Pomacanthus xanthometopon)
Pinktail Triggerfish
(Melichtys vidua)
Niger Triggerfish
(Odonus niger)
Moon Wrasse
(Thalassoma lunare)
Six Line Wrasse
(Pseudocheilnus hexataenia)
Peppermint Shrimp
(Lysmata wurdemanni)
Mantis Shrimp
(Stomatopoda sp.)
Snowflake Eel
(Echidna nebulosa)
Zebra Moray Eel
(Gymnomuraena zebra)
PJ Cardinalfish
(Sphacramia nematoptera)
Flame Cardinalfish
(Apogon maculatus)
Purple Firefish Goby
(Nemateleotris decora)
Fire Goby
(Nemateleotris magnifica)
Bicolor Blenny
(Ecsenius bicolar)
Midas Blenny
(Ecsenius midas)
Orange Stripped Prawn Goby
(Amblyeleotris randalli)
Candycane Goby
(Awageous strigtus)
Lionfish
(Pterois volitans)
Lionfish
(Pterois antennata)
Flame Hawkfish
(Neocirrhites armatus)
Longnose Hawkfish
(Oxycirrhites typus)
Sailfin Tang
(Zebrasoma veliferum)
Sailfin Tang
(Zebrasoma desjardini)
Seahorse
(Hippocampus Sp.)
Seahorse
(Hippocampus Sp.)
Mandarinfish
(Synchiropus splendidus)
Acan Brain coral
(Acanthastrea echinata)
Candy Cane Coral
(Caulastrea furcata)
Hammer Coral
(Euphyllia ancora)
Brain Coral, Trachyphyllia
(Trachyphyllia geoffroyi)
Scoly Coral
(Scolymia australis)
Chalice Coral, Ultra Color
(Echinophyllia aspera)
Flower Pot Coral
(Goniopora sp.)
• Books
– Marine Aquarium Handbook (Beginner to Breeder) by Martin Moe
– Conscious Marine Aquarist by Bob Fenner
– Wet Web Media
• Conservation
– Coral Restoration Foundation
– Reef Ball Foundation
– Reef Quest
• Florida Live Rock
– Tampa Bay Saltwater
– Florida Live Rock.
• Links
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Pacific East Aquaculture, Dr. Mac, www.pacificeastaquaculture.com/
Fosters and Smith, www.drsfostersmith.com/
Real Reef, www.realreefrock.com/
Walt Smith, www.waltsmith.com/