I just finished reading an excellent article from Ronald L. Shimek, Ph. D. on temperature and salinity tolerances and their optimums for maintaining coral reef aquariums and animals. I have to say that after much anecdotal information I have gleaned over the measly three years I have been in this hobby, I was quite pleased to really dig into the science behind what is an optimal temperature and salinity, how much it matters, what happens in the physiology of the animals when kept at the limits, etc. Fascinating stuff really. There actual is an equation that determines the rate of biological reaction within an organism based on the change in temperature! If you really want to geek out and go from anecdote to science, grab a beverage and a quiet spot and give this article a read. Click the title below to link to the article.

Temperature and Salinity in Maintaining Reef Aquarium Animals
by Ronald L. Shimek, Ph.D.

The UTMAS tank of the month for August 2010 belongs to Levi Bradley (Lurkerz).

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We all know we should test our aquarium water regularly. Yet many of us fall into the “well, the tank looks good… so there probably aren’t any problems” school of thought. Unfortunately this mentality often leads to major headaches down the road.

Algae blooms seem to pop up out of nowhere. Corals once vibrant and growing like weeds suddenly stop growing, exhibit less polyp extension and brown out. Fish color becomes drab and their behavior changes. These sorts of problems are often linked to water quality issues and can be avoided by simply testing your water parameters on a regular basis to make sure levels are being properly maintained.

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One of the most rewarding parts of being associated with UTMAS and other forums is being able to help out my fellow hobbyists as well as get expert advice and help from them. When I set up my first Reef Tank I was unfamiliar with how much help was out there and had to learn many lessons by attending the school of hard knocks. I did most of my research on the Internet and soon learned that there is a vast community of, “Fish Geeks”, out there all willing to help and I quickly joined several forums and started my education on how to build and maintain a successful Reef Tank.

Since that time I have talked with hundreds of new hobbyists trying to learn the basics of setting up their first tank. I started a series of articles on the subject that I called Reef Tank 101 which I was hoping would be a simple straight forward set of lessons on the subject of setting up a saltwater aquarium. When the first draft of my the first topic became many pages long I realized this was going to be a huge project. It was looking like my 7 part series was going to turn into 20 or more articles. Don’t get me wrong I was happy to do it but I wanted to get this information to the UTMAS users quickly and it was just taking much more time than I had to give. Then I was doing some research and happened to see this E-Course on About.com titled Saltwater Aquariums 101. After looking at the 5 day course, (actually 5 lessons that you can comfortably digest in 1 day each), I found that it was organized very similarly to the work I was doing. Since this is basic information I decided not to reinvent the wheel and simply post a link to the course on the site.

For those of you looking at setting up your first aquarium or trying to master the basics of this great hobby I highly recommend you take a look at this e-course. Do the lessons in order or pick and choose what interests you. Either way I think you will enjoy the lessons and they are filled with links to other sources and topics that may perc your interest. So here is the curriculum.

Day 1: Getting Started Today we will be determining the type of aquarium you will be starting as well as the right location for your new tank.

Day 2: Filtration, Sumps, Protein Skimmers, Canister Filters, Wet/Dry Filters Today we will be we will be learning about and choosing the heart of your new aquarium: the filtration system.

Day 3: Lighting, Canopies and Hoods, Live Rock, Substrate and Sea Salts Today we will be learning about which lighting and sea salts are the best for you as well as live rock and substrate.

Day 4: Setting Up, Fish, Invertebrates and Corals Today we are going to assemble your new tank and all of its equipment as well as learn about the fish, invertebrates and corals that will work for you.

Day 5: Quarantining, Maintenance, Water Changes, Foods & Feeding Today we will talk about quarantining new additions and maintenance tasks as well as feeding your tank.

So some of us get so depressed when we have our fish die I just wanted to let you know you are not alone. This is a picture of the losses found during the morning cleaning at a very professionally run LA marine wholesaler. This also shows how one pic like this if taken out of context can cause quite a controversy. It is the nature of the hobby. It also shows why the costs by the time fish get to us can be quite high as at every stage until the fish get to us they go through incredible stress. RIP little fishies…

What could be more important to your fish and corals than the quality of their water? This article by Randy Holmes-Farley in Reefkeeping Online Magazine discusses reef tank water parameters and has helpful charts you can use to determine and maintain the correct water parameters for your reef tank. http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.php