Reef Keeping Fever

Reef keeping has come along since the early days. When done right there is nothing more satisfying and beautiful than a coral reef aquarium. It's like an underwater garden that is always in full bloom. With today's technology, creating and maintaining a reef tank is easier than you might think, when the main principles are applied. The goal of this site is to provide information for creating and maintaining a balanced coral reef aquarium from the 5 gallon nano reef to the complex large reef tanks.

There are three main ingredients to any reef tank, correct lighting, plenty of water movement, and biological activity. The main biological activity occurs with in live rock and live sand. There are many factors to consider when setting up a coral reef aquarium, but the first place to start is to consider what kind of corals and invertebrates will inhabit the tank. Soft corals and sponges require less intense lighting and water movement, while stony corals generally require more intense lighting and water movement. Stony corals are broken down into two categories, SPS (Small Polyp Stony) and LPS (Large Polyp Stony) corals. They need more intense lighting to maintain the symbiotic algae known as zooxanthellae living within their tissues that gives them much their color. During photosynthesis, the symbiotic algae intakes carbon dioxide and gives off oxygen and other nutrients that the coral needs to live.

Corals give off a slime that needs sufficient water flow to keep excess mucus as well as accumulated detritus swept away. In addition to carrying away waste, water movement is necessary to carry food to the animals as well.  In nature the animals would have zooplankton and phytoplankton brought to them by the currents.  In our aquariums, the artificial currents serve the same purpose. Water flow is also the main factor in gas exchange.  The importance of oxygen import and the export of carbon dioxide cannot be overstated.  The accumulation of CO2 will depress the pH and can slowly eat away at alkalinity. To maintain the proper amount of dissolved oxygen in the water, flow should be between 5 to 10 times the gallon capacity of the tank per hour. Many LPS corals have sweeper tentacles which they use to sting competing corals, and generally need more space than SPS corals. Soft corals generally compete with the hard corals by releasing 'terpenoid' or 'sarcophine' compounds into the water to injure or impede the growth of neighboring corals, and then overgrow these impeded individuals. If you are going to mix coral types between soft, LPS and SPS plan on a larger aquarium where you can give them plenty of space and allow for growth. Learn the secrets of keeping a beautiful reef aquarium.

Fish are another determining factor in the size of tank you plan to set up. There are many fish that are suitable for the coral reef aquarium. While a nano reef could only include 2 or 3 small fish like the clown goby or firefish, larger fish and schooling fish need much more tank space. It makes sense to choose the tank mates you are interested in, before deciding what size of aquarium you buy. Click on the menu items to learn more about coral reef aquariums, and catch the reef keeping fever.