Pets: Marine Aquarium Do's and Don'ts for beginners

Marine Aquarium Do's and Don'ts for beginners

Written by Doug Kamp

Marine Aquarium Do's and Don'ts for beginners Over repparttar

years I have come across a number of helpful do's and don'ts for marine aquarium keeping that would have saved me a lot of time, money and disappointments. If only I had them all together in a list from repparttar 147492

start! Well here they are - I have decided to jot a few of them down in repparttar 147493

hope that they will save at least one new marine aquarist some time, money or disappointment. This is only a very basic guide and is not meant to be conclusive or detailed – just a memory jolter in bullet point form that you can refer to every now and then to refresh your memory. I encourage you to research in more detail any and all of these points using your favourite marine aquarium book or even repparttar 147494

internet! The Do’s •Do buy a good book on marine aquarium keeping. This should be your first purchase and most valuable accessory! •Do look at your tank every day to check your fish and invertebrates health. Are they acting differently than normal, do they have any damage or signs of illness etc •Do react quickly when you think something is wrong. Test your water quality and conditions. Look for indicators of problem or disease. Read your aquarium books, search repparttar 147495

internet and talk to your friendly marine aquarium retailer for advice. •Do create a maintenance schedule that helps you remember to regularly check your water quality, top up with freshwater, replace saltwater, replace consumables etc •Do feed small amounts of food regularly •Do feed a varied diet that accommodates all your inhabitants needs •Do ensure you have adequate filtration (biological and/or mechanical) •Do ensure you have sufficient circulation in your tank. Most people recommend at least 10x your tanks volume be circulated every hour. This includes powerheads, filters (both internal and external), protein skimmers, circulation pumps etc. •Do use a timer if possible on your tanks lights as repparttar 147496

inhabitants like regularity with respect to their daytime and night-time. •Do adopt a photoperiod that considers repparttar 147497

output and intensity of your lights and either mimics repparttar 147498

inhabitants natural environment or that of your local environment •Do wash your hands before putting them in repparttar 147499

tank or working with any equipment that will come into contact with your tanks water. Soaps, creams, medicines etc can all harm your inhabitants. •Do use good quality activated carbon in your tanks - this removes unwanted toxins and keeps repparttar 147500

water crystal clear. •Do regularly replace your activated carbon (approx. every 8 weeks) •Do keep your tank as close as possible to Natural Sea Water conditions (NSW). These are, for repparttar 147501

most, a pH of 8.3, Specific Gravity (SG) of 1.025, temperature of 25 degrees Celsius. There are many other levels that need to be considered (eg Calcium, Carbonate Hardness, Iron, Silicon, Phosphate, Copper etc) but these are repparttar 147502

main ones. •Do acclimatise your new fish and inverts appropriately - your marine aquarium retailer should notify you of their requirements as they can vary from 10 minutes just for temperature adjustment for hardy fish to hours for sensitive inverts. •Do use, where possible, natural sea water in your tank - there is nothing like repparttar 147503

real stuff! •Do make sure you know where repparttar 147504

real sea water is coming from - you don’t want it to have been collected in your local marina or just offshore as it will not be suitable as it will contain all sorts of man made pollutants. •Do use RO/DI (Reverse Osmosis/Deionised) water when real sea water is not available. Use it to top up or when mixing new salt - especially in tanks that contain corals and other sensitive invertebrates. •Do use a protein skimmer if possible. It complements your mechanical and biological filtration and in some cases is a mandatory requirement for keeping certain inverts. •Do ensure you understand repparttar 147505

nitrogen cycle. This is repparttar 147506

fundamental basis for how wastes in repparttar 147507

aquarium get converted from toxic chemicals (ammonia and nitrites) to less toxic chemicals (nitrates) by bacteria that live in your water. •Do select your new fish and inverts very carefully. Ensure they are not damaged, diseased or otherwise looking unwell. If possible, quarantine them in a separate tank before adding them to your main tank. An alternative is to use an Ultraviolet (UV) steriliser for about four weeks after adding repparttar 147508

new inhabitants to kill off any newly introduced diseases.

Signs You Might Be A Cat

Written by Michael LaRocca

SIGNS YOU MIGHT BE A CAT Copyright 2005, Michael LaRocca

You can get cuddles whenever you want them.

You yowl loudly if your litter box is not clean.

You yowl loudly at repparttar full moon.

You yowl loudly for no reason.

Floor swimming!

Ping Pong balls!

You find yourself bathing Daddy every day because he doesn't know how to clean himself.

You don't understand repparttar 147449 language that your pet humans use, but you always know when they are talking about you.

Daddy won't change repparttar 147450 weather no matter how many times you tell him to.

Sleeping near repparttar 147451 air conditioner is always bad, no matter how hot repparttar 147452 weather is. It's better to curl up under a lamp in repparttar 147453 hot summertime.

You are always on repparttar 147454 wrong side of any closed door.

Strangers invade your home and you can do whatever you want. You can sniff them, you can let them rub you, you can purr and cuddle in their laps, you can protest their presence, you can cuddle Daddy, you can cuddle Mamma when there are too many males in repparttar 147455 flat. This is your home; they are only visitors. Meow!

You often get uncontrollable urges to bolt around repparttar 147456 house at 3AM yelling meow meow at repparttar 147457 top of your small but impressively powerful lungs.

You prefer even your water to have a tuna flavor.

I eat therefore I am.

Lying atop repparttar 147458 bookshelf, which is very tall, gives you an excellent view of everything that happens in your flat.

Acrobatic leaps that make repparttar 147459 rest of repparttar 147460 world sick with jealousy.

Your pet humans can sleep through alarm clocks and train wrecks, but not through repparttar 147461 siren that is your voice. They wake up, feed you, and sleep through repparttar 147462 rest of repparttar 147463 day. Who cares if they sleep, as long as you are fed?

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