Royal Gramma Basslets

Royal Gramma Basslet 

 

Scientific Name: Gramma loreto

Common Names: royal gramma

Minimum Tank Size: 30 Gallons

Temperament: Peaceful

Care Level: Easy

Reef Safe: Yes

Ideal Water Temperature: 72-78

Ideal pH : 8.1-8.4

Max Size : 3”

Color Form: Yellow Purple

Diet: Carnivore

Origin: Tropical Western Pacific, Caribbean

Family: Grammidae

Identifiable markers: Bright purple / violet colored anterior contrasted by a vibrant yellow posterior.

The Royal Gramma Basset brings amazing coloration to the saltwater tank. It combines vibrant yellow and purple and is the ideal fish for a nano aquarium, due to its small adult size. This is a fish that will appreciate intricate rock work that give it an extensive amount of hiding places. This small fish will show aggression toward those of its own kind, making it hard to keep more than one per tank. However, the Royal Grama is peaceful toward most other tank mates, with similar size and temperament. For tanks larger than 100 gallons, there Is a possibility of keeping a group of the Royal Gramma Basslet together. 

The Royal Gramma Basslet will eat a varied diet of crustacean flesh, mysis shrimp, and will readily accept pellets and flake foods, and almost anything that can be added to the tank.

Lyretail Anthias

 

Lyretail Anthias 

Scientific Name: Pseudanthias squaminpinnis

Common Names: Scalefin

Minimum Tank Size: 100 Gallons

Temperament: Semi Aggressive

Care Level: Intermediate

Reef Safe: Yes

Ideal Water Temperature: 72-78

Ideal pH : 8.1-8.4

Max Size : 5”

Color Form: Female : Orange – - – Male: Red

Diet: Carnivore

Origin: Indonesia, Fiji, Maldives, Melanesia

Family: Serranidae

Identifiable markers: Males have bright red coloration, females have orange variations

The Lyretail Anthias is the social butterfly of the tank. These fish are incredibly active and out during the day, these are great fish to help bring out more timid fish. This type of Anthia is best kept in a tank over 100 gallons, and best kept while having 1 male with a few females. The Lyretail Anthia will mainly stay mid aquarium but does enjoy few good places to hide. 

All Anthias share the quality of being hermaphroditic. If the head male is killed, the largest female of the pack will often develop into a male, to take his place. The lyretail Anthia is most likely the hardiest fish within the Anthia family, but it is most likely the most territorial one. Anthias are a fish that school in the wild, and it recommended to keep only a single fish in aquariums smaller then 100 gallons. If you plan on keeping a group of them, you should keep one mail along with few females. This fish can be kept with peaceful community fish, but it important to keep only one male per tank as it is likely two males within the same tank will fight.

Anthias notoriously have a very high metabolism, which requires nearly constant activity in the water column, this basically means that anthias will require multiple feeding each day. Most Anthias prefer dimmer lit tanks, while most will eventually adapt to the brighter lights of reef aquariums. They are active swimmers, and prefer open water areas/

Anthias are zooplankton feeders, so it is important that they are fed meaty foods that are specifically made for zooplankton feeders. They can also be fed a varied diet of mysis shrimp, vitamin enriched brine shrimp, and other frozen meaty varieties of food.Frozen zooplankton foods are more quickly accepted than pellets or flakes, but some will feed on these when they become more accustomed to the diet in captivity. It is recommended that they are fed a minimum of 4 times daily, and you should be careful and closely monitor your water quality, and avoid overfeeding.

Koran Angelfish

 

 

Koran Angelfish 

Scientific Name: Pomacanthus Semiciculatus

Common Names: Semicircular Angelfish, or Halfcircled angel

Minimum Tank Size: 175 Gallons

Temperament: Semi Aggressive

Reef Safe: No

Ideal Water Temperature: 72-78

Ideal pH : 8.1-8.4

Max Size : 16”

Color Form: Black, Blue, White, Orange, Yellow

Diet: Omnivore

Origin: Indonesia Caribbean Maldives, Sri lanka

Family: Pomacanthidae

Identifiable markers: black / blue

The Koran Angelfish grows to be a very large fish, it requires a very large tank, along with a lot of rock for it to hid and graze on. It is a known nipper of stony and soft corals, and will also nip at clam mantles. These things make it not suitable for a reef aquarium. This is however a very hardy fish, and can be kept with other full sized angelfish

The diet of the Koran angelfish consists of large chunks of meaty foods, which includes krill, raw table shrimp, squid, clam and mussels. It is also a good idea to supplement with spirulina

Lemonpeel Angelfish

Lemonpeel Angelfish 

Scientific Name: Centropyge flavissima

Common Names: True Lemon peel angelfish

Minimum Tank Size: 30 Gallons

Temperament: Aggressive

Reef Safe: Possibly with Caution

Ideal Water Temperature: 72-78

Ideal pH : 8.1-8.4

Max Size : 6”

Diet: Omnivore

Origin: Vanuatu, Fiji

Family: Pomacanthidae

Identifiable markers: Blue highlights that encircle lips, eyes, pectoral fin, and tips of the dorsal, anal, and caudal fins.

The Lemmonpeel Angel fish is a gorgeous yellow highlighted with sky blue colors throughout its body. The Lemonpeel angel is one of the more aggressive dwarf angelfish. It will fight with other dwarf angel fish along with other fish that resemble it by either color or shape. It can kill butterfly fish that are almost twice the size of them, due to the coloring. The lemon peel angel is one of the more fragile angels of the pygmy angels. They are not very hardy, and need to be added to aquariums that utilize live rock and have established micro and macro algae growth. This should generally be one of the fish that you add last of your aquarium stock list. 

This is a stunning fish, and as a juvenile is not likely to harm corals, but as an adult it will gladly take a bite out of your LPS coral if it is lacking food. The lemon peel angel is also known to nip at soft corals, zoanthids and clam mantles. They do however leave non – sessile inverts alone, including shrimp and crabs. The Lemon Peel angel requires a minimum tank size of 30 gallons, but will flourish in a larger tank. They require a large amount of rock that has caves and crevices In order for it to hide in.

In the wild angelfish eat a varying diet that consists of algae and crustaceans. The diet of this fish should include Spirulina, marine algae, Formula 2, mysis, live or frozen shrimp, and other meaty items. The angel requires a significantly larger amount of seaweed or algae in its diet than most other angelfish. 

Saltwater Tank Substrate or Sand

Choosing the Right Substrate

There are various types of substrate that can be used when setting up your marine ecosystem. The most important point is that sand is natural, your tank inhabitants will feel at home among the sand. Sand is also more esthetically pleasing then gravel. 

What type of sand should I get? 

Choosing the right sand is a big decision some sands have no impact on your water chemistry but others have a big impact. Some sands can help with king Kh and pH in check. If you are not sure about what type of sand you ended up getting it would be best to test it before filling your aquarium with it. It is fairely easy to check the water chemistry of your sand, you simply place it in a container with water and allow it to sit for a few days, after it has had time to site you simply test your water parameters. It is best to test your water paramaters before adding the sand and then again after you have added sand and it has had a chage to sit. You can then judge accordingly on whether or not the sand you have will be suitable for your aquarium.

Silica Based Sands 

Play Sand

This is a common type of sand that people put In their tanks, it is readily available and fairly cheap. It is also known as silver sand. While this is fairly common aquarium sand, it can create an excessive amount of algae growth. 

Blasting sand

This type of sand is used in the sand blasting industry, it is cheap and generally has a very fine grain sand.

Black Beauty Sand

Also used by the sand blasting industry, but is not a naturally occurring type of sand, it comes from powered iron. This can and will change your water chemistry, and the iron slag can have sharp edges that will hurt your burrowing inhabitants.

Coral Sand

This is also known as Crushed coral (CC), it is made from coral, and can be very good at maintain the correct pH and keeping the water hardness high. This is generally more expensive type substrate then silica sand and is generally white, with mixed grain sand. It seems that crushed coral substrates are beginning to become sort of an “old school” thing to use, it still can have many benefits, in maintaining water chemistry and some disadvantages when it comes to colleting detritus and not being the greatest for burrowing tropical fish. 

Aragonite 

This has become the new “norm” within the aquatic community. It comes in a variety of different colors and grain sizes. Aragonite sand can help control pH value and water hardness within your aquarium. 

 

 

What is Live Sand? And why do I need it?

Live sand is sand that is collected from the ocean, or “not live” sand that is cultured with bacteria to make it live. The key to live sand is  the bacteria that is living within it. Live sand can be the basis for your biological filter.

All sand over time will become alive with bacteria, it is not required to start your tank out with live sand, and some might say that it is a waste of money, because you can purchase cheap sand such as play sand.

One good benefit to live sand is that you dont have to wash it, and more then likely there will be a signifigantly smaller amount of dust when you add it to your aquarium. This will also lead your aquarium to clear sooner.

Protein Skimmer Benefits

 

How does a skimmer improve your water clarity and system health?

1. It rids your system of organic wastes and residue that is within the water column.

2. Remove some inorganic impurities such as phosphate

3. Removes toxins that are excreted from the inhabitants of your tank.

4. Helps to relieve some pressure on your biological filter.

5. Removes bacteria 

6. Can help to maintain algae

7. Increases the oxygen level in your aquarium

How do you set up your Protein Skimmer?

How do you set up your Protein Skimmer?

Depending on the skimmer you purchase, you will need to follow the manufactures instructions closely. You should pay close attention to where you are positioning it, the position of your skimmer will determine how effective your skimmer is. Depending on where you plan on keeping your skimmer in your tank is also very important, if you have a system with a sump, then your skimmer should be placed as the first filtration device. If your sump does not have room for a skimmer or you have a sumpless system, you will need to purchase a skimmer that has the ability to hang on the back of you tank (HOB).

How does a protein skimmer work?

How does a protein skimmer work?

A quality skimmer streams bubbles from a bubble generator and is pumped into the water column, this creates a huge water / air interface. This creates an interface that attracts most of the unwanted organic molecules, this accumulation of organic waste continues to grow which eventually gets thicker and creates foam, this foam travels up the chamber, and eventually collects in cup which needs to be cleaned regularly.

Importance of a Protein Skimmer

 

Importance of a Protein Skimmer

       Protein skimming, also known as foam fractionating is one very important aspect of keeping your marine tank happy and healthy. If you want to keep your dissolved organic compounds (DOCS) to a minimum you will need to invest in a quality protein skimmer. Skimmers collect unwanted organic compounds before they begin to rot and raise your ammonia, nitrate and nitrite.  A protein skimmer is one of the most important things your can get for your aquarium, it physically pulls the "gunk" out of your tank, and after  a month of use and seeing all of the stuff that is collected in it you will quickly find how valuable this piece of equipment is.

Ending Saltwater Tank Cycle

How Do I Know My SaltwaterTank is Cycled? 

The only way for you to know that your tank is fully cycled and you are ready to add fish to your tank is to monitor the water chemistry in your tank closely. It is very important that you purchase a quality tests kit that includes the tests for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. It is suggested that you use liquid tests, they are generally cheaper and more accurate than test strips.

You should test your water parameters daily, through testing you will see an initially spike in ammonia, and then you will see a spike in Nitrite. Most likely you will see your ammonia spike within the first week, and then you should see your nitrites spike toward the end of the second week.

How fast your water parameters spike is solely dependent on the amount of ammonia you have introduced to your tank. After you have seen these two levels spike and zero out, your tank is considered cycled. You should also wait until your nitrate levels fall. It will be very important for you to physically write down your tank parameters, this is always good practice, and allow you to know where exactly in your cycle your tank is at.