Before you even decide for certain that you want a saltwater aquarium in your living room, you need a clear understanding of the time, effort, and expense involved in maintaining it properly. Although emphasizes design over technique, once the design is executed, maintenance becomes all-important. Coral reefs shelter their diverse inhabitants in one of the most stable environments on Earth. In fact, environmental stability may well explain a substantial portion of that diversity. When you can count on tomorrow being pretty much like today for thousands of years at a stretch, adaptations necessary for coping with, or preparing for, environmental change can be redirected into specialization of lifestyle. In turn, most coral reef organisms have, as a result of that specialization, sacrificed adaptability to change.
To provide the stability necessary for your organisms to thrive in your saltwater aquarium, you need to:
● Regularly monitor and maintain proper water conditions
● Feed the fish
● Keep records
● Perform water changes
● Be alert to potential problems
That said, caring for an aquarium need not be a terrible chore, and anyone can learn how an aquarium works. Even if you consider yourself a rank amateur, you should have a good grasp of the basics.
Saltwater aquarium enthusiasts have a plethora of choices for purchasing both supplies and livestock, from local specialty dealers to big-box pet retail chains to mail-order suppliers. Finding the right combination of these for your aquarium needs will facilitate the creation of the tank you want at a cost you can afford.
Look for a store with a large saltwater dry goods section and a varied inventory of healthy marine fishes and invertebrates living in well-maintained holding tanks. A dirty, unkempt, poorly lighted store should be an immediate signal to look elsewhere. If you live in or near a reasonably large city, look for a store that sells only saltwater aquariums. It is likely to have a better selection, more knowledgeable personnel, and better prices than a store where saltwater is a sideline.
Never buy fish on your first visit to any store. First, investigate the range of offerings, quality, and prices in your region before making any decisions, especially if there are several competitors. Make at least two visits a week or more apart. The idea is to find out how the store operates on a continuous basis. Be critical but fair in your evaluations. We all have our good days and bad ones. Ask questions. Do not expect everyone to be an infallible expert, but you should hear correct answers at least to basic questions about water quality, the particular needs (feeding behavior, for example) of any fish in the shop, and steps to prevent or cure common problems. One good sign to watch for: when someone does not know the answer to your question, they take the time to look it up in a book. Good shops always have several well-used reference books behind the counter.
Dealers are in business to make money, but a sales pitch should not be the sole communication you have with them. Professional dealers know that the key to their business success is for their customers to be successful hobbyists. It is in the dealer’s best interest, for example, to steer you away from fishes that would be inappropriate for your tank because of size or compatibility problems. Remember, though, that most dealers will sell you anything you want if you insist. The next step is to evaluate the specimens themselves, and there are several factors that you should consider.
Care in purchasing may be the most important aspect of managing your aquarium. Here are some suggestions for making wise decisions in this regard. Bear in mind that most saltwater fish have been collected from wild populations. The time between being collected and arriving at your local shop typically ranges from two to three weeks. During this time, the fish may or may not have been maintained under optimum conditions. Unfortunately, it is seldom possible for you to know much about this chain of custody.
● Overfishing
● Generalized damage to the reef itself
In favor of wild collecting, the response concerns the importance of this source of income to local fishermen lacking other options for feeding their families. Establishing hatcheries in the source country, rather than collecting from its waters, maintains the income stream while reducing the toll on the reef. Fishing for food already removes substantial numbers of reef fishes, though not usually the same species as those collected for the aquarium. Stresses induced by turbidity from shore development, increased water temperature due to global warming, and the influx of human-created pollutants contribute far more to the decline of reef health than does aquarium collecting. Nevertheless, most saltwater enthusiasts would prefer that their aquarium not contribute to the decline of the coral reefs it is intended to depict!
One way to avoid unhealthy fish is to choose species that routinely come from good sources. Several popular aquarium fishes come largely or exclusively from
Potter’s angelfish (Centropyge potteri), Vanderbilt’s chromis (Chromis vanderbilti), and several desirable butterfly fishes, such as the raccoon (Chaetodon lunula), threadfin (C. auriga) and longnosed (Forcipiger flavissimus).
The tropical west Atlantic and
Captive-propagated fish are among the best possible choices for the saltwater aquarium. Many species of anemonefishes are available from hatcheries, along with several kinds of gobies and dottybacks. Dealers usually advertise that they have captive-propagated stock, but always inquire. Captive-bred specimens may be smaller than wild caught counterparts but will of course grow to the size typical for their species. In all cases, captive-bred fish acclimate better to aquarium conditions and have fewer problems than do similar specimens harvested from the wild. Captive propagation takes some of the pressure off natural populations.
