Marine Aquarium Urban Legends

There are two very distinct, so-called facts or testimonials by numerous aquarists who swear by two statements that seem to keep surfacing regarding the marine aquarium hobby and the success provided by each. These two scenarios are as follows: Aquariums MUST contain a protein skimmer and MUST have strong lighting to support corals and ensure that you are successful with a marine aquarium. Yes, these two factors can be beneficial and do support life in a marine aquarium, but the employment of these two factors need not be warranted when setting up an aquarium or to maintain life within it. I have two tanks one of which does not have strong lighting and runs without the use of a protein skimmer and have had long term success maintaining my livestock under these conditions. I will take this one step further and note that I have a pacific Long Tentacle Anemone as one of my inhabitants in this tank and it has thrived for over two years now. Anyone who knows anything about anemones, knows how difficult and finicky they are and optimal conditions should be met to ensure the health and success of these beautiful animals.

As for the protein skimmer dilemma, a protein skimmer is a form of mechanical filtration. Basically there are three forms of filtration: biological, chemical and mechanical. One need not maintain all three filtration forms to ensure success in the saltwater hobby. One form of filtration is really all that is necessary to see beneficial results from your tank and its inhabitants. Now, having said this, care must be taken with employing one form of filtration! First, novice aquarists should not partake in this activity as their are too many things that could go wrong and cause a tailspin that could spiral out of control before rectification has been addressed. Seasoned aquarists are better apt to recognize and correct problems that may arise, making them better candidates of using one form of filtration only.

Biological filtration, I feel, is the best source of filtration, especially since it is the only form found naturally in our reefs. Waves creating foam that washes up on shore is a good example of how a protein skimmer works but when you take into consideration the amount of water compared to the foam generated by waves to be dispersed on the shore, the percentage is not very great. Plus the waves pounding the shore have very little relevance to the reefs that are found far off land. Because of this their must be other sources of filtration. Yes, you got it biological filtration! Sand and rock teeming with life in the form of bacteria, both aerobic and anaerobic, and the plethora of life from micro crustaceans to polychaete worms that reside on and within the rock and sand surrounding reefs helps to maintain ideal water conditions to support life.

Getting back to the closed system environment, by incorporating chemical filtration, carbon being the most popular form of this, and a protein skimmer isn't a bad thing. Quite the contrary, it is just that to support life these forms are not necessary. Both, the skimmer and carbon will remove impurities, dissolved organics, toxins and tannins, BUT... will also remove beneficial traces, minerals, liquid foods and buffers such as iodine and vitamins. Using these filtration choices should come a regimen of performing weekly water changes and also supplementing or dosing vitamins and other vital nutrients, many of which can be replenished with the weekly water changes.

By performing weekly water changes in the absence of a protein skimmer and/or carbon will replenish valuable elements that will be removed by livestock and also help to remove and dilute impurities and other negative sources of pollution which, ultimately will effect water quality and your livestock.

Light, as you know is beneficial to life, here on land as well as underwater. The amount of light needed is dependent on the type of animal as well as their location in relation to the amount of sun light and its intensity that is made available to the particular animal. PAR(photosynthetically available radiation) and PUR(photosynthetically usable radiation) must be taken into consideration when it comes to your marine aquarium as light intensity should not be the only factor to consider when deciding on your lighting scheme for your tank. Spectral qualities of the bulbs and other factors should also be considered. If the light intensity is to low, corals zooxanthellae will not be able to reach its saturation or compensation point, often leading to the corals demise if position or light intensity is not increased. Now, there is a fine line between too much light intensity and not enough! The other end of the spectrum would be where corals receive too much light causing an over saturation of dissolved oxygen that the corals zooxanthellae cannot break down fast enough. This will cause photoinhibition which can also lead to the death of your coral if not rectified.

Full-spectrum light is ideal and essential for life in a marine aquarium as well as in nature. The suns rays contain ultraviolet rays at one side of the spectrum to infrared at the other end, though we can not see these through the naked eye. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple are visible and portray a vitally important component to support life under man-made lighting. So running out to your local hardware store to purchase the cheap standard fluorescent bulbs, to save a buck is like passing up a dollar to pick up a penny further up the sidewalk, and should not be implemented.

T-5, VHO, power compact, LED and metal halide lighting are staples in the marine aquarium hobby, all of which offer their own merits and drawbacks. These forms of lighting are full-spectrum meaning that they offer the beneficial light supplied by the entire color rendition provided by the sun, though, depending on the kelvin(bulb color) rating the bulb will contain more or less of the blue/purple end or red end of the spectrum representing the deeper blue areas of our reef environment or the shallow tide pool areas replicated by the red end of the spectrum.

Ok, now light as discussed is pertinent to life and our marine aquariums, however, going over board by buying the 400watt metal halide bulbs for a 55gallon or even a 200gallon tank is not necessary! The type of corals, anemones and Tridacna clams are valid questions that should be addressed before selecting the lighting for the tank. Also, the size of the tank will influence the intensity of your lighting scheme. These variables are discussed in more detail in my other articles pertaining to the particular subject, and I will focus my attention on the fact that you do not need to have 10watts per gallon of water to support most corals and invertebrates.

You may, or may not know that light intensity that reaches your livestock below the water line is influenced by many factors. Just because you are maintaining 6watts per gallon of light doesn't mean that that is in fact what your livestock is receiving. Gelbstoff, tannins, dissolved organics, turbidity, salt creep and the age of the bulbs all will significantly alter the lights PAR and PUR. What I am trying to get at is that if you maintain proper water parameters and quality with limited refraction variables, the need to overkill and have to much light intensity can be minimized. This can help with energy costs, bulb and light fixture costs and heat issues brought on by the bulbs. Being able to run the lights at shorter intervals over the course of the day can also be employed while enabling your light loving corals and invertebrates to receive the same amount of light that they would receive under less than optimal conditions and the lights were running for 10-12 hours a day. Placement within the aquarium can also enable you to reduce the amount of time and money spent with overdoing the wattage situation, lighting duration and arrangements.

More is not necessarily better in this case and by taking into consideration all these variables and providing optimal water conditions, you can get the most out of your lights with out paying for it at the pumps, so to speak. Be frugal, without compromising anything that will effect your livestock that you take pride in and get enjoyment out of.