Reef Aquarium and Protein Skimmers-Good Tip

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This article, I thought, was a great, well written article, discussing protein skimmers, the uses for them, the importance of them, and what kinds of skimmers are available. It is an excellent source of information if you want to learn about these necessary tools.

A Practical Guide to Protein Skimmers
Protein skimmers are arguably the most useful component of the modern saltwater aquarium. Oxygenating water, removing dissolved organics, and clarifying water all help our
closed systems imitate the pristine waters of the reef. Most protein skimmers are improperly tuned and only provide a fraction of the benefits. So if you are looking to buy a skimmer, or judge if yours is working right, here is a summary.
The basic idea behind a protein skimmer is to have the finest bubbles possible suspended in the water the longest time. This allows time for the dissolved waste to coat the bubble, rise to the top, and be removed. I will use the old counter current air-driven models as an example. At the bottom of the skimmer an airstone creates a current upwards. Near the top of the skimmer is an inlet for tank water, with the water exit at the bottom. The trick is to get the bubbles to remain suspended, but not be pushed out the bottom, by adjusting the amount of water flowing downwards. This allowed for the maximum coating of the bubbles, and maximum density of bubbles in skimmer.
Venturi skimmers are a way of injecting air into water. The idea is like that old straw trick we annoyed our parents with. Blow across a straw that is in a cup of water, and presto, you have a projectile spray and a waiter cleaning up a mess. Venturi inlets just reverse this and use a stream of water to draw air in. These are very effective, although you need to see that the design allows for the air/water mixture to remain in the skimmer tube until saturated. This includes swirling the mixture to maximize tube length, sending it through a byzantine maze to maximize space, or utilizing the counter current design mentioned above.
Venturi designs have improved by reducing the size of the bubbles injected, as in the needle wheel and downdraft technology. Needle wheel skimmers have air injected before the pump where the bubbles are chopped finely by the custom impeller. These are very effective and produce a very dry foam. Downdraft skimmers send the air/water mixture through a tube of bio-balls to break apart the bubbles and maximize contact time.
When you have your skimmer set up, you will want to adjust it for your tank. Overall, adjustment will probably be a matter of raising or lowering the air/water mixture level in the skimmer. If you run your skimmer and you are getting a brown residue in the tube but not in the cup, you need to raise the level of the air/water. This is done by either opening the valve to let more water come in from the pump, or if your pump is maxed out then you need to restrict the amount of water coming out of the skimmer. If you are getting a lot of clearish, watery looking foam in the cup, then you can lower the level of the water/air mixture so that the foam takes longer to build up then overflow.
Please make small adjustments at a time, and let your skimmer run for a few hours before adjusting more. This is important because you skimmer will skim differently depending on the surface tension of the water. Depending on your feeding schedule or the time of day you skimmer may be making larger bubbles one minute then foaming over the next. Even the oils on your hand can make the water tension fall and the skimmer will not skim for a few minutes or hours.
Good luck and enjoy your tank,
Intrinsic Reef Design

http://www.intrinsicreef.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Wes_Corbyn

Important Tip-Keep Your Reef Aquarium Temperature Constant

Image via Wikipedia Your fish cannot regulate their body temperature so extreme changes to their surrounding water temperature can create a lot of stress for them. Make sure before purchasing any fish, to ask what is the right temperature for your fish and make sure they can all live within the same temperature range. Also, be careful when doing water changes that you do not add water that is too hot or too cold.

Reef Aquarium Tip-Adjust for Evaporation

Evaporation Tip
As time marches on, water in your tank will begin to evaporate and it will need to be replenished.  In order to do this correctly in a saltwater tank, you must replace the water with freshwater. Why? Because the water that evaporates is freshwater. The salt in your tank water will not evaporate, so if you add more saltwater you could end up raising your salinity to possible dangerous levels and could kill your livestock. So monitor your tank closely and when you start to see the water level begin to drop, top off with freshwater. Another thing you can do is add a freshwater drip system to your tank. That way, water is added all the time and will keep the tank parameters level.

Regal Angelfish-Reef Aquarium Tips

DonH took this photo of his Regal Angelfish. You can see a few more pictures by clicking here.

 

Regal Angelfish are beautiful fish that can be put into a reef tank. Each fish is diverse. You can expect to see uniqueness in color, texture, and shape. These fish require large tanks, preferably larger than 80 gallons and much, much bigger if you plan on keeping more than one.

They can be very difficult to keep in captivity due to their finicky eating habits. These fish are semi-aggressive and do well if they have places to hide and swim. Chances of success can be increased by making sure that they are the dominant fish in your tank. Something else you need to know is that these fish will actively graze on zooanthid colonies, and some corals and sponges may be at a slight risk. With some dedication and patience these fish in time can be weaned to accept a variety of foods such as frozen, pellet, and even flake food.

These fish can grow to 10 inches in length and can live for up to 10 years in captivity, if they have impeccable water. Sad to say though, most die early because they do not do well in shipping process. If you can keep one for at least 6 months, however, you should be OK. Because of the difficulty of these fish they are recommended for above average enthusiasts only.