Saltwater Aquarium Care - Hidden Dangers to Avoid When Doing Saltwater Aquarium Maintenance

Performing proper and consistent saltwater aquarium care is a crucial part to having a successful marine aquarium and many people realize this. But what many people do not realize is that there are dangers that you must avoid when doing saltwater aquarium maintenance.

Common Marine Aquarium Dangers and How To Avoid them

Electrical Danger- All equipment that is used in your aquarium is powered by electricity. While all of these items are designed to not transmit electricity into the water nothing is 100%. In order to avoid being shocked or electrocuted always use a GFI circuit that will trip and protect you if a short is detected.

Bacterial Danger- A saltwater aquarium is full of bacteria, some is harmless and useful to the tank. While others are harmful to humans and can make you very sick. To avoid coming into contact with the bacteria always use rubber gloves when doing your aquarium maintenance and always wash your hands with anti bacterial soap and hot water after cleaning your salt water tank.

Fish Danger- While not all saltwater fish are dangerous there are some that can bite, cut or poke you. To avoid this danger use caution when doing performing saltwater aquarium care if your tank houses aggressive fish like trigger fish or venomous fish like lion fish. TO clean the tank safely you may need to have a helper hold them back with a poker. Or you can make a plastic tank divider to keep them away from the side of the aquarium yo are working on.

Cutting Danger- If you have live rock or dead coral skeletons in your salt water tank be careful of the sharp edges when doing saltwater aquarium maintenance. These types of decorations have very sharp edges that can cut you very easily. Always use gloves that are strong enough to withstand a brush against the sharp rock or coral.

To create a stunning and easy-to-maintain saltwater aquarium grab a copy of our Saltwater Aquarium Guide. This illustrated guide will show you step by step how to properly set up your aquarium. It's crammed with tips and secrets that the pros use to create stunning displays! Learn more at http://www.saltwatermethods.com/

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Beginner Saltwater Aquarium Tips For Anyone Wanting a Successful Saltwater Aquarium

Setting up a new salt water aquarium is very fun and exciting hobby. It is also a hobby that can be fairly expensive and rushing into it can wind up costing you more then you need to. Below you will see some useful tips that will help you have a successful saltwater tank.

Avoid Small Tanks- As neat as they seem those small aquariums are nothing but trouble. They are not stable, will limit the amount of fish you can keep in your tank and actually require more care then a larger tank. For a good beginner saltwater aquarium stick with something over 40 gallons and under 90 and you will be set!

Learn About The Fish You Like- Knowing what types of saltwater fish you want to keep in your salt water tank will help you properly choose the proper sized tank and filtration system. It will also allow you to eliminate any delicate or hard to keep saltwater fish from your list.

Stay Vigilant In Your Care- Nothing Will wreck a nice clean beginner saltwater aquarium like lack of maintenance will. But you can keep your tank clean by changing 25% of the water every month, cleaning your filters every other week and giving the fish and equipment a visual check every other day or so.

Do Not Over Stock- Cramming to many fish into a saltwater tank is a common problem with new marine tank owners and algae and dead fish are the result. Avoid this by only keeping a medium sized fish per ten gallon of tank water. Over time you can see if you can add more but take it slow!

Do Not Over Feed- Overfeeding your marine fish is just as bad as overstocking the tank. When you feed your fish you should shut off your filters and pumps and add small amounts that the fish eat quickly. Repeat this a few times and make sure no food gets left uneaten or it can rot and cause algae to grow in your beginner saltwater aquarium

To create a stunning and easy-to-maintain saltwater aquarium grab a copy of our Saltwater Aquarium Guide. This illustrated guide will show you step by step how to properly set up your aquarium. It's crammed with tips and secrets that the pros use to create stunning displays! Learn more at http://www.saltwatermethods.com/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Darin_Sewell

Too Much Algae in Your Tropical Fish Tank?

Too much algae ruins the tropical fish tank hobby for many people. The green slime coats the glass, plants, and gravel, and a beautiful fish tank is turned into an ugly embarrassment.

Don't give up! Here's a five-point plan for dealing with too much algae in your tropical fish tank.

1. Remove as much algae as you can

You know when you can hardly see your tropical fish, too much algae is making your fish tank a misery. The first thing to do is to remove as much algae as you can. This is the start of the fight back, and a cleaner tank will inspire you to prevent algae permanently. Collect and remove green algae by twirling a cocktail stick through it. Algae magnets will clean the glass of most algae - for stubborn spots use a toothbrush or an old credit card. Discard any plants covered in algae, and remove decorations and wash the green slime off.

2. Reduce the nutrients (short-term fix)

Your tropical fish tank already looks better, but the algae will return double quick if you don't take the next step. Perform a partial water change and remove up to 40% of the water from the aquarium. Get rid of the detritus and algae you scraped off in step one. Replace with clean water - add an aquarium dechlorinator to your tap water first, or better yet age the water for 48 hours in an old tank or safe bucket. If your tap water has a lot of nutrients in it, you will need to consider using a resin or a reverse-osmosis unit to clean it up first, otherwise you're just adding too much algae food back into the tank.

3. Reduce the nutrients (permanently)

To keep the nutrient level down - and so starve algae of the phosphates and nitrates they need - you need to look at three factors. Firstly, make sure your tank is not over-stocked with fish. Secondly, ensure you're not over-feeding them. All food added should be consumed completely within five minutes, and there should be none visible on the floor of the tank. Thirdly, start a regular water change regime to keep refreshing the old dirty water with clean water.

4. Increase the planting

Algae will smother plants in a badly maintained fish tank, so the first three steps are vital to get it under control. Adding plants to a tank where the algae is in retreat will finish the job, though. Cheap stem plants grow quickly and absorb a lot of waste, reducing the food for algae. Floating plants can spread very rapidly to block out the light, further suppressing the algae. Floating plants will also absorb a lot of nitrate and phosphate.

5. Consider adding CO2 fertilisation and better lighting

If plants don't grow well in your aquarium, you may need to consider upgrading your lighting and adding CO2 to the water. It may seem odd to add more light, but plants in a well-kept tank will stop too much algae growing, so it makes sense to get them established. CO2 is much more important to plants than algae, so again by feeding the tank with CO2 can encourage plant growth rather than too much algae. CO2 can be cheaply added via a DIY kit, so it needn't cost too much.

For more algae control tips to keep your tropical fish tank looking its best, please pay a visit to AquaDaily, the top aquarium tips, news and reviews blog.

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