Tank Preparation: Speaking the Language

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Tank Preparation Speaking the Language

• Dr. Craig Kasper

Photo Larry Ward
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Golden Rules

• Relax. (This will be a journey, not a cruise.)
• Be patient. Fish die once. Do it right first
  time.
• It can take time (up to 6 weeks) for a new tank
  to mature.
• Do not over stock or overfeed.
• Research your fish before you get them.
• Dont get fish from a tank with dead/diseased
  fish in it.
• Routine maintenance and documentation avoids dead
  fish.
• Sometimes fish just die!
• Have some fun!

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• Must maintain a tank ecology that mimics natural
  habitat.
• Controlling water quality!
• managing the inflow and outflow of nutrients,
• management of waste (nitrogenous)
• beneficial bacteria populations.

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Summary The Basics

• Choosing the right tank
• Positioning the tank
• Setting up the tank
• The running in period
• New tank syndrome
• Water changes
• First fish
• Fish to avoid
• Maintenance

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Summary Beyond the Basics

• Aeration
• Water chemistry
• Salt. Yes, or No?
• Filters and Filtration

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1. Tank Selection

• Match the tank to the size (and type) of fish you
  will produce.
• Large fish (or deep bodied) need larger tanks.
• Convict cichlids can be placed in small tanks.
• Paddlefish or sting rays need wide tanks to turn!!

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Tanks

• High quality glass
• -Plexiglass is expensive, but lighter

Monteray Bay Aquarium
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2. Tank Positioning

• REM Water is very heavy!!!
• Water _at_ 8.3 lbs. (3.8kg) per gallon (L)
• Gravel _at_ 10 lbs/ft2
• Glass tank (200 lbs)
• Lid (20 lbs)
• Potential trouble!!
• Make sure the floor will support this weight!
• The floor beams are strongest
• near the wall.

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Tank Location

• Don't site the tank near a door (bang!)
• Avoid people traffic unless passage is wide!
• Radiators, sunlight add heat (algal growth)
• Convenient power supply.
• Will maintenance be easy (possible)?

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No one wants this much water on the carpet!!
Courtesy Perigrine Plastics
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3. Tank Setup

• Place the tank stand check plumb (level)
• Place some polystyrene over stand place tank.
  (This provides even support.)
• Place your equipment in the tank (heater,
  filters, power heads lighting etc)
• Wash and place the gravel. (Recheck to make sure
  it is still level.
• All electrical connections should be away from
  any water at this point.

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Tank Setup (cont.)

• Fill the tank about 1/3 full (check that it is
  still level.)
• If its plumb, add hard landscape (stones bogwood
  etc), continue filling until full.
• Switch on all electrical stuff and make sure
  everything is working.
• Let run 24 hours to stabliize temperature.
• Dont add fish yetyouve go no bacteria.

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3. Tank Maturation

• Biofilter conditioning will now commense!
• Your water initially will be nearly sterile, esp.
  if you used tap water.
• We need nitrifiers to process fish wastes.

Nitrosomonas (ammonia to nitrite) NH3 ? NO2-
                                                 
Nitrobacter (nitrite to nitrate) NO2- ? NO3-
Denitrifiers, Pseudomonas (nitrate to nitrogen
gas) NO3- ?N2  
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New Tank Syndrome

• In a new tank ammonia accumulates for 3 to 7 days
  where it becomes very toxic.
• Fish death.
• The easiest thing to do to deal with this problem
  is to avoid it all together.
• Maturing the tank before the fish go in it.
• If you develop high ammonia levels, stop feeding,
  change as much water as needed to reduce your
  ammonia levels to near zero.
• Clean the gravel (even before you change the
  water.)

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How Do I Condition a Biofilter?

• Since nitrifying bacteria are ubiquitous
  (everywhere) and can be found easily in the water
  column, soil and sediments you can just add some
  pond water or a little dirt to the system.
  (Could introduce pathogens or other toxins
  though.)
• A better way
• a. Use existing media from another filter as a
  starter colony (just like passing around
  grandmas sour dough starters).

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Recipe for Nitrification Success!

• Once youve achieved proper ph, hardness, and
  alkalinity for your target species its time to
  add the bacteria before you stock out.
• System start-up formulae
• a. Spike the system with ammonia.
• -(NH4)SO4 3.3 ppm (mg/L)
• -NH4Cl 3-6 ppm (mg/L)
• b. Place several fish in the system and feed
  them.
• Wait 4 weeks (if no starters present)presto!

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• Get em yourself!
• (Sewage treatment inspectors get top pay!!)

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4. Water Changes

• The importance of carrying out regular partial
  water changes cannot be over stressed.
• Even with good biofiltration, nitrates
  accumulate, but arent removed.
• All changes should be done gradually
  (30/month).
• Match incoming water with tank temp and pH.
• Large fish or carnivorous ones require more
  frequent water changes.
• Keep the nitrate level under 25ppm (lt10ppm for
  breeding purposes)
• Also, adding makeup water replaces trace
  elements.
• Changing water doesnt do much visually. But you
  won't breed many egg layers if you neglect it,
  nor will you grow any fry to there full
  potential.

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5. New Fish

• Good 1st
• cyprinids, Corydorus catfish and rainbowfish.
• Good 2nd
• loaches, dwarf plcos, tetras, cichlids,
  anabantids and livebearers.
• Bad
• goldfish, piranhas, knife fishes, hatchet and
  pencil fishes, elephant noses and baby whales,
  Chinese algae eaters, bala sharks, iridescent
  sharks, glass cats, plcos, long-whiskered
  catfish, red-tailed catfish, spiny eels, painted
  glassfish, dyed fish, brackish fish and saltwater
  fish.
• (Basically, anything tropical, electrical, or
  that lives in special water, isnt a good
  starter!!)

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6. Fish to Avoid

• Any fish that grows large!!
• Redtail Catfish (50kg)
• Paddlefish (25kg)
• Sturgeon (100 kg)
• Wels Catfish
• Arowana (gt18 for some spp.)
• Arapima (2 meters)
• The 'Dyed' Glassfish (injected Indian Glassfish).

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7. System Maintenance

• Daily
• Fish alive ? Behaving normally?
• Remove all uneaten food, and any dead leaves from
  the plants.
• Check the temperature
• Check all the equipment, filters, heaters, pumps,
  etc.
• Weekly
• Check the pH
• Add make up water.
• Clean the glass (magnetic)
• Clean the condensation covers
• Every Two Weeks
• Carry out a partial water change of about 25 to
  30.
• Clean the substrate.
• Clean the filters.
• Carry out all water test.

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Beyond the Basics
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Aeration

• Oxygen both fish and bacteria
• Bacteria actually use up more oxygen than the
  fish.
• (Pound for pound more than we do!!)
• Speeds up decomposition
• Circulates water (air lift pump)
• Ideally the airpump should be placed above the
  water level (prevents back syphoning, quiets
  pumps)
• REM Temp, TSS, and surface area
• all influence O2 saturation.

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Aeration

• Non-pressurized
• Downflow bubble contactor (DBC)
• Counter current diffusion column
• U-tube diffusers

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Water Chemistry

• pH
• Most freshwater fish 6.5-7.5 (marine 8.4)
• Improper pH can prevent fish from spawning.
• More acidic add peat, more alkaline add sodium
  bicarbonate.

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Water Chemistry

• Hardness
• Dissolved salts in the water (general hardness
  Ca2 and Mg2) and carbonate hardness (CaCO3)
• 0 -- 50 Soft   
• 50 100  Moderately Soft 
• 100 200  Slightly Hard 
• 200 300  Moderately hard 
• 300 450  Hard 
• gt 450  Very Hard 
• Trace Elements
• Usually they are added when you feed, but
  periodic checking may help
• make the difference between raising 15 small
  fry, or raising 150 vigorous fry.

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Excessive Water Hardness

• Fish which require soft water (some Amazon fish)
  develop tough egg casings which prevents them
  from fertilizing or hatching.
• Be carefull!!

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Salt

• Dont over do it.
• Too much salt in an aquarium can lead to
  problems breeding fish, developing eggs, etc.
• Yes, salt can cure Nitrite problems, disease, or
  reduce transport stress but when youre
  breeding, try to avoid it.

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Filters

• Primary method of cleaning tank
• Removes solids
• -small solids called suspended solids
• -larger ones called flocs
• Provides substrate for nitrifiers
• Many types depending on needs

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Gravel/Substrate

• Material for nesting
• Aesthetics
• Nitrification
• Live sand
• Filtration

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Gravel/Substrate
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Gravel/Substrate
PVC shavings!
Activated Carbon
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Media Filters

• Bead/Sand/Media filters all use water pressure to
  force water through some type of media.
• Excellent filtering capacity, esp. for larger
  systems
• More maintenance (media changing
• backwashing, etc.)

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Mixed media filters
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Gravity Filtration

• Trickle filters/Settling Chamber/Swirl Separators
• Most use gravity to accomplish filtering.
• Better for nitrification and oxygenation.
• Prone to clogging if primary filtration
  inefficient.

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Screen Filters (RDF)

• Screen/Microscreen filters
• A.k.a.rotating drum filters
• Utilize large particle size
• flocculation to remove
• solids.
• Excessive flow can
• reduce efficiency!

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Best of Both Worlds??

• Fluidized bed??
• Actually more simple than it sounds.
• Running a sandfilter backwards would give same
  effect.
• Huge potential for nitrification.
• Bed expansion by optimizing flow.

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Fluidized-Bed Filter

• Media maintained 50-100 expansion volume of
  original.

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Over 20 feet tall!
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Bead Filters

• Another form of fluidized
• filter system (upwelling).
• Media is usually plastic beads.
• Good nitrification.
• Performs poorly during heavy
• loading.
• -excessive stocking density
• -ad libitum feeding