Kalkwasser Adds Calcium To Your Saltwater Aquarium

As any experienced saltwater aquarium keeper will tell you, you’re playing a balancing game with pH and calcium. Adding kalkwasser is a perfect way to regulate both.

Calcium is vital for coral and invertebrates in forming skeletons, exoskeletons, and shells. Calcium is also used to buffer water so the pH doesn’t swing too widely. A lot of marine life can handle pH outside their comfortable range but they can’t handle wild pH shifts.

Calcium is constantly being used up by your saltwater aquarium residents, precipitated by the pH, absorbed by certain substrates, and more. In order to keep your aquarium environment stable, you need to add calcium to your saltwater.

Although calcium is important to skeletal and shell growth, even more important is the pH of your water. Most marine life prefer an alkaline (as opposed to acidic) environment. For example, skeletal and shell growth can occur in low calcium but high alkaline environment, but the opposite is not true.

The optimal pH is 8.0-8.4. Seawater naturally contains 380 mg/L of calcium so maintaining 400 mg/L is optimal for calcium growth.

Kalkwasser

Kalkwasser is probably the best solution to not only add calcium to your saltwater aquarium but to also control the pH. Kalkwasser is German for lime water, which is synonymous with calcium hydroxide.

When you work with calcium compounds like calcium hydroxide or calcium oxide, these compounds can be caustic. They can cause burning sensastions to your skin. Definitely be careful not to get it in your eyes or breathe it in.

The two compounds commonly used calcium hydroxide or calcium oxide. Some people use calcium chloride but you’ll need an extra step to buffer the solution with bicarbonate so stick with the first two; they’re just simpler to use.

The general mix is 1 teaspoon per gallon. Make sure you use high quality water (reverse osmosis or distilled) when mixing your kalkwasser solution for your saltwater aquarium.

Also, don’t make too much at once. Kalkwasser solution, when exposed to carbon dioxide, forms calcium carbonate. Calcium carbonate does not dissolve into the water and will appear like white flakes, which needs to be removed from your saltwater aquarium.

Adding Kalkwasser To Your Saltwater Aquarium

When adding kalkwasser, never just dump the entire mix into your saltwater aquarium. If your saltwater has a pH of 8.0-8.4, your kalkwasser solution has a pH of 12, drastically shifting the pH can kill your marine life quickly.

A great way to add kalkwasser to your saltwater aquarium is through your top off device (which replaces evaporated water). You don’t have to buy anything extra and it’ll slowly add kalkwasser solution to your environment.

Another way is to purchase a drip doser or metered pump. One advantage of this is that you can control exactly how much kalkwasser solution enters your saltwater aquarium at what rate. Another advantage is that you can use the auto doser to administer other supplements like iodine or magnesium.

There are calcium reactors. They eliminate the need for daily mixing and all the other headaches of calcium balancing but they’re not cheap. There aren’t any beginner models so getting the wrong one can be expensive. But if you get the right one, it’ll do wonders to simplify your maintenance and water quality.

If your saltwater aquarium smells like rotten eggs (or eggs in general), you’re smelling hydrogen sulfide. In an aquarium environment, hydrogen sulfide is usually caused by organic material (i.e. food particles, feces, dead material) rotting in a place without oxygen.

Usually the only non-oxygenated area in your saltwater aquarium is beneath your substrate. Organic slipped beneath your substrate and is decaying without oxygen. This is basically the nitrogen cycle without the oxygen.

Hydrogen sulfide could occur if you’ve had a power failure and organic material left in the filter has started decaying without oxygen. Make sure you flush out your filter before starting it back up, in this case.

Ways To Address Hydrogen Sulfide Problem

The most common way to address hydrogen sulfide problem in your saltwater aquarium is to remove deposits in your substrate.

The first step is to remove all living organisms to another tank. That includes fish, living rocks and corals, invertebrates like crabs or shrimp, and everything else.

If there are organisms that you can’t remove (for whateve rreason), there are steps you can take to maximize their survival.

1. Do the change the brightest lights possible. The lights drive higher oxygen concentrations and the oxygen will help neutralize hydrogen sulfide.
2. Add iron supplements to the water. The iron will bind to the sulfide, making it neutral to living organisms.
3. Make sure there’s plenty of oxygen in the water. The primary way oxygen enters a tank is through oxygen exchange between the water surface and air. Run a powerhead to circulate water from the bottom to the top for several days before the change.
4. Before and during the substrate change, run your saltwater aquarium water through granular ferric oxide (GFO) and activated carbon.

Ways To Prevent Hydrogen Sulfide Problem

One of the best ways to prevent hydrogen sulfide problem in your saltwater aquarium substrate is to run an undergravel filterplate. This will circulate water from your tank through your substrate and properly oxygenating them.

Keep housekeeping invertebrates like hermits crabs or shrimp. They do a fantastic job of scavenging food from substrate surface, before they can slip between the cracks and into the deep.

Sunlight, both visible and ultraviolet, play a pivotal role in breaking down hydrogen sulfide to safe forms. Having proper lighting will go a long way to prevent future hydrogen sulfide outbreak:

• Super High Output (SHO)
• Compact Fluorescent Light (CFL)
• Metal Halide
• LED

Don’t bury live rock in your substrate. Otherwise, the portion that’s buried will die and start to rot beneath the surface. Rather, use dead rocks as a base and place live rocks on them.

Final Thoughts

Like keeping the nitrogen cycle in control (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate), controling hydrogen sulfide is a part of owning a saltwater aquarium. Proper maintenance will go a long way to prevent any serious conditions.

Choosing The Right Saltwater Invertebrates

Most people own saltwater aquariums to keep exotic fish but having the right saltwater invertebrates can not only enhance the visual appeal of your saltwater aquarium but they can do important housekeeping functions.

Cleaner Shrimp

This is an easy saltwater inveterate to keep and maintain in your saltwater aquarium. The skunk cleaner shrimp is a great choice. They’re white with a red stripe down their back and they’re inexpensive to buy and maintain.

They feed by scavenging your aquarium floor for uneaten food and fish waste. Since uneaten food particles and waste decay and convert to ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate, cleaner shrimp can do wonders in reducing these toxins.

They also feed on parasites that can grow on your fish. It’s great to see your fish stop by and have your cleaner shrimp service your fish, eating any parasites it finds.

If you’re carefully monitoring your food intake and your fish are eating most of the food you give, make sure you add a little more so your shrimp has something to feed on.

If you keep your cleaner shrimp population small, around 3-4, they tend to be more social and active.

A special note, shrimp need iodine in the water to properly molt. If you feed your tank frozen or live food, they usually have enough iodine for your shrimp. If not, you may need to add a few drops of iodine to your tank.

Hermit Crabs

Hermit crabs feed in the same way as your cleaner shrimp. They feed off of uneaten food particles and fish waste on your saltwater aquarium floor. But they also feed on algae. They can be actually better housekeepers than your cleaner shrimp.

Two hermit crab species that are great for beginners and play nicely with others are blue-legged hermit crab and scarlet hermit crab. They each grow about 1-2 inches.

If you bought them as juveniles, they’re going to grow and they’ll need larger shells. When the time comes, you should provide them larger shells for them.

Sea Urchins And Starfishes

If you’ve owned your saltwater aquarium for a few months, you should have enough experience to care for these animals. Most make great additions to your saltwater aquarium, eating uneaten food particles, fish waste, and algae.

And unlike cleaner shrimps or hermit crabs, they can climb and eat algae that form on your saltwater aquarium walls.

Just be careful. Some sea urchins are poisonous.

Snails

Any snail that feeds on algae are great for beginners. Like sea urchins and starfishes, they can climb your saltwater aquarium walls, clean algae that form there.

Because they maintain their shells, they do need a high calcium content in your saltwater aquarium.

Maintenance

Invertebrates are highly sensitive to copper. Never use anything copper in your tank. In fact, if you’ve ever used copper in your tank previously, most experts claim you can never remove enough copper for your saltwater aquarium system to keep invertebrates happy.

Invertebrates are highly sensitive to bad water conditions. If your saltwater aquarium ecosystem is off balance (pH is off, calcium content is low, too much nitrate, etc.), your invertebrates will be the first to suffer and die.

Keeping a clean saltwater aquarium environment is a priority if you want to keep your invertebrates happy.

Choosing The Right Saltwater Fish

Picking the right saltwater fish will help you learn to properly keep your saltwater aquarium and prepare you for more exotic species. There are a few fish that are ideal for beginners and you can gain valuable experience by raising them.

And they’re relatively inexpensive so if you make a mistake and they die, you haven’t wasted a lot of money. The most important thing is to take it slow. Add 1-2 fish at a time. Wait for the tank and the new fish to get used to each other before adding any more.

Criterias For Picking Fish

Here are a list of things you should keep in mind when you’re selecting fish for your saltwater aquarium.

Compatibility

How well would the fish do with other fish. Basically you’re worried about fish eating and harassing one another. A good rule of thumb is that if one fish can fit in another fish’s mouth, they’ll usually end up that way.

A good beginner fish will be tolerant of other fish and will play nicely.

Hardy Constitution

Saltwater fish face a lot less fluctuation than freshwater fish so they’re sensitive to water quality changes like pH and hardness. A good beginner fish won’t be as sensitive and will let you make mistakes without dying.

Feeding

A good beginner fish won’t be picky about what they eat. By keeping all your fish eating the same thing, you can reduce the number of different food you’ll need for each fish.

Price

If you’re a beginner saltwater aquarium owner, you’ll probably make mistakes. If you start with inexpensive fish, it’ll be easier on your wallet to make mistakes.

Size

If you buy fish as juveniles, make sure when they’re grown, they won’t outgrow your tank or start eating your other fish.

Damsel Fish

These are the absolutely best fish for beginners. They’re extremely hardy and can endure worse water conditions than any saltwater fish, they’re not picky eaters, and they’re inexpensive.

However, one thing to keep in mind is that they’re territorial and can be aggressive. If you keep 1-2 in a tank, you should be fine.

Some dealers get around this by adding so many damsel fish that they can’t get territorial. But in the long run, this makes them unhappy and you should try to keep your fish as happy as possible. It leads to less stress and healthier fish.

Molly Fish (Mollies)

Another great choice for beginners are molllies but they need to be first acclimated to saltwater. You can do this by dripping saltwater into their bag over a 6-8 hours. Remove any excess water and discard it.

A lot of people use them to break in a new tank since they’re inexpensive.

If stocking your saltwater aquarium with mollies, buy several. They don’t form schools but they do form groups with their own hierarchy. They’re also passive so more aggressive species may pick on them.

Blenny Fish (Blennies)

They’ll need a lot of places to hide but they have great appetites. They’ll eat almost anything you add to the tank. Some eat algae too so they’ll help you keep your algae population down.

Because they like to hide, they often get lost in a large tank.

Goby Fish (Gobies)

Gobies, in general, are another good choice for a beginner saltwater aquarium tank.

However, some gobies are extremely rare and will run hundreds of dollars. Others feed by siphoning your top layer of your substrate. They’re difficult to keep in a fish-only tank.

Clown Fish

Clown fish are related to damsel fish. They’re really hardy but they’re not the best to break in a new tank. They’re really sensitive to the new tank environment.

Like damsel fish, they’re territorial. They’re aggressive to each other but not to other species.

They can live without sea anemones, which is a relief for a couple of reasons. Each clown fish species likes a specific sea anemone species. And sea anemones need really clean water and high quality lighting. Avoid sea anemones until you have the experience and the equipment.

Conclusion

All the fish mentioned above are all hardy, generally play nicely with each other, they aren’t picky about what they eat, and most importantly, they’re inexpensive. They look great and they’ll give you room to make mistakes without costing you an arm and a leg.

Undergravel Filterplate Filter

The undergravel filterplate filter is a great choice for you if you don’t know how deeply you want to get into saltwater aquariums. It operates on a simple principle and there are very few parts. You can even make one yourself from readily available parts. But the downside is that it can’t filter larger tanks with lots of fish.

Undergravel Filterplate

There’s a small plate buried by substrate. In the corner, there’s a tube that draws water up by blowing bubbles. As the water rises in this tube, water from the tank is drawn through the substrate to the undergravel filterplate.

Because of bacteria that lives in the substrate, this filtration system constantly draws water through the bacteria so it can process toxins in the water like ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate.

Flow rate is determine by the number of tubes you have and the power of the pump that generate the bubbles.

This type of filter will be your least expensive and most beginner aquarium owners use this. If all you want to do is keep a few hardy fish like damsel fish and not upgrade, then an undergravel filterplate filter is a great choice.

Undergravel Filterplate Limitations

An undergravel filterplate filter, by itself, isn’t suitable for every type of saltwater aquarium (as you probably guessed).

The primary limitation is that it can’t handle a lot of fish. The undergravel filter’s effectiveness will always be limited by the amount of surface area you have in your tank. So if you add more fish, you can’t make the undergravel filterplate any more effective.

In other words, you really don’t have much of an upgrade path. The only thing you can do is add more tubes and airstones. However, because they’re limited by the surface area, they increasingly become less effective as you add more.

You have to carefully control the number of fish you add to the tank or you run the risk of maxing out your filtration system (and your fish dying). A good rule of thumb is 1 inch of fish per 5 gallons.

Another limitation is the oxygen. Bacteria use up a lot of oxygen quickly and they can quickly strip the water of all the oxygen. Ideally, you should have 7-8 ppm of oxygen dissolved in the water.

The primary way oxygen enters your saltwater tank is through aeration between the air and your aquarium water surface. The bubbles in contact with the water help introduce some oxygen into your saltwater aquarium but not much.

The greater the load is in your tank, bacteria strip more oxygen from your water, leaving less for your fish.

Undergravel Filterplate Maintenance

Although this is a really simple setup, it still requires some maintenance.

Because salt will clog up airstones that produce the bubbles, you have to observe the quality of bubbles and change the airstone periodically.

Along the same lines, the tubes will eventually clog with salt residue. You will need to either clean or replace the tubing when this happens.

Buying Live Rock

If you don’t have the resources to cure live rock (separate tank/container, filter, heater, protein skimmer, etc.) you have a couple options:

Buying Live Rocks From Local Fish Shops

If you buy your live rocks from a local fish shop, you save money on shipping and your rock will never spend days out of water. You can also see what you’re getting before buying.

Make sure you:

• Inspect the live rock for any black spots of white film. If there any, the live rock is in the process of curing.
• Make sure you smell the live rock. If there’s any rotting, pungent, or unpleasant smell, the live rock is in the process of curing.
• Examine the live rock for any unwanted passengers like worms or anemones.
• Don’t get talked into buying more than you can handle. Remember, start small and add more as your saltwater aquarium stabilizes.

Also ask questions like:

• How long have the live rock been curing?
• What area does the live rock come from?
• What additives have they used while curing?

Buying Live Rocks Over The Internet

If there’s no local fish shop around, your only option may be to order from the Internet. When buying live rocks over the Internet, it’s vital you find out whether the live rock has ever been allowed to dry out.

Ask questions like:

• How was the live rock collected?
• How was the live rock stored?
• How will the live rock be shipped?

Quality live rock collectors will immediately submerge  their harvested live rocks in water so it never dries out. And when being stored, the live rock will always be submerged.

Unless the live rock is shipped completely submerged in water, you’ll have to go through the curing process. Of course, shipping submerged live rock will add to the shipping cost but you will save money on not having a separate aquarium system for curing.

Live Rocks Enhance Your Aquarium Environment

Live rocks are not alive themselves but they host micro and macroscopic organisms. The rocks are usually made up of coral and other calcium compounds.

Why Live Rocks?

Instead of using external filtration systems, most saltwater aquarium owners try to balance their aquarium environment to internally deal with waste products like nitrate and phosphate.

Live rocks have many organisms (algae, bacteria, sponges, mussels, and more), waste products like ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, or phosphates have many ways to be broken down and neutralized.

One characteristic of live rocks is that they’re usually very porous. Because of the surface area and the volume of water flowing through them, they can excellent biological filters.

Because the live rocks have a high calcium content, they also buffer your aquarium water pH.

Types Of Live Rocks

Not all rocks can become live or home to organisms. The key ingredient needed in live rocks is calcium. Whether the live rock is natural or man-made, it must contain calcium.

Not counting artificial live rocks, there are two types of live rocks: inshore and reef live.

Inshore rocks come from inside the reef (closer to shore) and suitable for macroscopic organisms like crabs, mussels, and shrimp. They are denser than reef rocks.

Reef rock are usually made of coral that’s been broken off in storms that have settled. If you have a choice, get reef rocks because they’re more effective in cycling water and stabilizing your aquarium water (due to their porous nature). Also, if you buy uncured reef rocks, they cure much faster.

What Is Curing Live Rocks?

Some rocks from quality sources will come already cured or ready to be installed into your aquarium tank. If you see terms like ‘unseeded’, ‘fresh’, ‘uncured’, or ‘unconditioned’, it means the rock has not been cured and you need to go through the curing process to get it ready for your saltwater aquarium.

Normally, live rocks are submerged in fresh seawater (or saltwater). However, when they’re collected, if they’re not kept submerged in water, they dry out and the organisms that are growing on them die. Add any shipping time, your live rocks could have spent 3-7 days out of the water.

Curing live rocks is basically bringing ‘dead’ rock back to life.

Curing Live Rocks

First, prepare a bucket of saltwater and submerge your live rock in it. Look for any black spots or area with a white film. These are either dead or dying spots. Gently rub these spots off with a sponge or a spray bottle.

The live rock should be kept in the dark during this time to prevent algae bloom. The water should be well filtered and have a protein skimmer.

Do this daily until you don’t see any black spots or white film for a week. By then, most of the dying should have stopped and the rock should be ready to be introduced to your tank. This can take anywhere from a few days to months but ideally, you should do this for a minimum of  a month.

How do you know your live rock is ready? There’s two factors:

• Does it smell like it’s rotting?
• Does the saltwater used for curing have any ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate reading?

If the answer to both questions is ‘no’, then your live rock is cured.

Caring For Your Live Rocks

First of all, when starting with live rocks, start slowly. If you quickly add massive amounts of live rock, they can quickly die off. Start small and let them get used to your saltwater aquarium environment. Once things seem stable, add some more.

Secondly, make sure your fish selection isn’t primarily herbivore or feed on coral. Otherwise, your fish can easily pick your live rock clean.

A good ratio to use is 1.0 – 1.75 lbs of live rock per gallon. Some people just eyeball it to see what looks good.

If you see any black spots or white film on your live rock, remove them immediatley. As the organisms die, they will pollute your saltwater aquarium water.

Any area of your live rock that doesn’t receive circulation will die. Try to arrange your live rock to expose as much area as possible to water flow.

When adding live rocks, make sure your tank isn’t full. Otherwise, they’ll be an overflow of water.

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The Right Live, Saltwater Plants For Your Aquarium

Keeping plants in your saltwater aquarium can have many benefits like neutralizing toxins like nitrate and phosphates, provide food for certain fish, shrimp, and snails, and just make your saltwater aquarium more appealing and attractive.

I hope this goes without saying that plastic plant only provide visual appeal.

Most people keep their saltwater aquarium for the sake of their fish and they add live plants to enhance their aquarium. We’re going to assume the same is true for you.

Things To Consider When Choosing Live Plants

Although you can add live plants at any time, you should ideally start adding live plants after:

• Adding substrate
• Cycled the water

If something goes wrong, it’s easier to track down the culprit if you take things one at a time. Also, it’s better to do things gradually and let things get used to each other.

If you know from the start that you’re going to add live plants, you should do it before adding fish.

Substrate

When setting up your substrate, you should have 2 layers. The bottom layer will provide nutrients for the live saltwater plants while the top layer will provide anchoring and protection for the roots.

One article goes into much more detail in about picking the right substrate.

Plant Size

By now, you should’ve picked out your saltwater aquarium tank and you should know its size. Consider how large your plant will be when full grown.

If your tank is 30 inches tall and the live plant grows up to 40 inches, you’re going to have a problem.

There are dwarf saltwater plants that only grow 1 – 2 inches. Giant kelp can grow up to 175 feet. There’s probably a plant species that fits your tank.

Water Quality

Ideally, you’re going to add live plants before fish. Research your fish tolerances for pH and water quality in general. Make sure your live plants will be able to survive in that environment.

Unwanted Passengers

Depending on where you got your saltwater aquarium plant, it could have snails, algae, or other passengers that you don’t want to introduce to your saltwater tank.

Some snails only grow 1 – 2 milimeters and breed really quickly. They can quickly overrun your saltwater aquarium if you’re not careful.

Make sure you carefully examine your live plant before planting it in your saltwater aquarium. Better yet, quarantine it for a week and see if any unexpected animals or organisms appear.

Light

All plants need light to power photosynthesis. You should measure how much light your entire tank will need (fish, coral, etc.) and pick live plants that can live within the measurements.

A good rule of thumb is 2.5 watts of fluorescent per gallon.

Starter Plant vs. Mature Plants

Starter plants will be cheaper than fully grown plants but you’ll have to wait for them to grow. But if you have the money, you can just get mature plants.

Care For Your Live Saltwater Plants

Compared to fish and other organisms, live plants are pretty hardy. But you still need to give them some basic care to make sure they stay healthy. In general, by keeping a healthy aquarium, you’ll naturally care for your live plants.

Living Entirely Submerged

A true aquatic plant likes to be completely submerged. If you quarantine them before introducing them to your tank or between tank maintenance, don’t let them dry out.

Anchoring Your Plant

If you’ve picked the right substrate, the bottom layer should be a type that contains and/or releases phosphates. Some even convert ammonia into nitrate (which is another nutrient for live plants).

A good mix for the bottom substrate layer is half laterite and vermiculate.

For mosses, tie them down to rocks with twine until they attach.

Algae

Algae compete will compete with your live plants for nutrients and light. One way to control algae is to control your phosphate and nitrate levels.

Ironically, the presence of algae indicates an inbalance in your tank (too much phosphate and nitrate in the water). One of the reasons people introduce live plants into their aquarium is to control both these compounds in the water.

However, don’t be “too effective” in controlling phosphate and nitrate in your saltwater aquarium since both are nutrients to live plants. It’s going to be a balancing act to provide the right levels so your live plants can survive but not enough to cause algae to bloom.

Another way to control algae is to introduce algae-eating organisms like shrimp and snails. Snails also eat live plants so make sure they don’t harm your live plants.

Shrimps are great scavengers and will not only eat algae but uneaten food particles and even dead fish. Keep in mind that when shrimp have young, your fish will consider them snacks. But adult shrimp may also snack on your smaller fishes.

You can also remove algae but periodically rubbing them off your live plants and your aquarium tank walls.

Siphoning Or Vacuuming

If you don’t have housekeepers like shrimp to control uneaten food particles and algae, you might want to vacuum the substrate. Make sure you only siphon the top layer. Otherwise, you might damage your live plants’ roots.

Maintaining The Right Phosphate Levels

Phosphates are highly reactive compounds that are essential to living creatures. All living things use phosphates both as a source of energy and for bio-chemical reactions, vital to their continued functioning.

In your aquarium, phosphates will be one of two forms:

• Inorganic (orthophosphate)
  Phosphate in this form is water soluble and plants can easily absorb it.
• Organic
  This is phosphate that’s bound chemically in cells. In order for it to be reactive, bacteria must first break down the cell to release the phosphate.

The main concern of having excess phosphate in your saltwater aquarium is that algae uses it for food. At the mild end, having excess algae is annoying because they grow on rocks, aquarium tank walls, and other surfaces. If this continues, your water will eventually turn green and become murky.

On the other end of the spectrum, in a severe outbreak, the algae will consume and deplete oxygen from your aquarium, eventually killing all living creatures.

However, algae growth need a supply of phosphates, nitrates, and light (artificial or natural). By keeping any one of these three low, you can control algae.

But by keeping all 3 in the correct balance, it gives you some latitude, in case another factor becomes unbalances for some reason.

If you’re maintaining a reef or semi-reef tank and you’re concerned about coral growth, phosphate levels higher than 0.25 ppm, it can inhibit their growth.

Maintaining the right phosphate balance is vital to your saltwater aquarium ecosystem.

Phosphate Sources

There are two main phosphate sources in your saltwater aquarium:

• Internal sources
  There are several sources that originate inside your aquarium
  • Dead plant material
  • Feces
  • Uneaten food particles
  • Bacteria
• External sources
  These are sources you can control through careful monitoring
  • Water supply
  • Additives in foods (i.e. flakes, frozen shrimp)

Controlling Phosphate Levels

The best way to control phosphate levels is to control their influx. The primary source of phosphate in a saltwater aquarium is through the food source. 5 grams of fish flake food can raise the phosphate levels by 0.5 ppm.

Ideally, the phosphate levels should max out at 0.5 ppm and should hover around 0.1 ppm.

If you keep reef or semi-reef tanks, the live plants and organisms living on the rock will absorb and use the phosphate, helping control their levels.

Ironically, you can use one of the major concerns with high phosphate levels to control it: algae. By keeping macro algae (i.e. filtration system, sump, refrigerium), because they consume phosphate, they can keep phosphate levels low.

Along the same lines, live mangrove plants are highly effective in binding water soluble phosphates. These plants are so effective at not only removing phosphates but nitrates and other organic material, they stopped using protein skimmers.

Protein skimmers can help control phosphate levels by removing excess organic material (i.e. feces, uneaten food particle) that will break down into nitrates and phosphates.

Phosphate Test Kits

Phosphate test kits are useful in monitoring phosphate levels. However, they can only measure inorganic phosphate that’s dissolved in your saltwater.

Saltwater Aquarium Water Quality

Your saltwater is the ‘air’ that your fish, your plants, and other living organisms breathe in your saltwater aquarium. Having poor or unbalanced water quality is one of the fastest ways to kill your aquarium ecosystem. There are several factors that need to be carefully balanced against each other to make the optimal water for your fishies.

General Hardness

General hardness measures mainly calcium and magnesium content. Unless you’re raising sensitive fish or plan on breeding, general hardness isn’t a large factor in aquarium health.

It is important to know your water’s general hardness level and pick your aquarium residents (fish, plants, crabs, snails, etc.) that can live in your water.

Carbonate Hardness (KH)

This measures the carbonate and bicarbonate content of your water. Carbonates act as shock absorbers and help buffer your water’s acidity and keep your pH levels stable.

Depending on your tank requirements, you probably want to keep your KH around 70 ppm.

Although there are better ways to control your KH levels, in emergency situations, adding baking soda will increase KH (and decrease acidity) while distilled water will dilute disolved carbonates and decrease KH.

If you need to make changes quickly, be cautious and start with small amounts (of baking soda or distilled water) and always have a test kit to measure the changes.

pH Levels

There’s an entire article on pH levels. But to quickly summarize, the pH measures your aquarium water’s acid level.

The scale goes from 0-14 and 7 is neutral (neither acidic or basic). 0-6 is acidic while 8-14 is basic.

If you need to change your pH level, consider your carbonate hardness level. The harder your water is in KH, the more difficult it’ll be to change because the pH will just bounce back. Conversely, the softer your water is in KH, the easier it’ll be to make changes.

Nitrogen Levels

The nitrogen levels relate to the amount of ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates in the water. The importance of these compounds is explained in the nitrogen cycle article.

The main concern here is that these nitrogen compounds are toxic to marine fish.

Phosphate Levels

The main concern of high phosphate levels is that it acts as a food source for algae and other planktons. Having high levels will result in green waters.

Normally, saltwater pH will not let phosphate dissolve in the water. However, if the pH drops, which can occur in a few days, the phosphate dissolves into your saltwater aquarium and becomes available to alge.

A pH below 8 will allow phosphates to dissolve. A pH around 8.5 will allow some phosphates to bind to walls and rocks. A pH above 9 will cause phosphates to crystallize and drop to the ground.

You want to have your phosphate level as close to zero as possible, around 0.1 ppm.

Chlorine / Chloramine Levels

Chlorine and chloramine is added to your water to disinfect it from organisms like amoebas that can cause diarrhea and other health problems.

Chlorine quickly breaks down and you can use chlorinated water just by leaving it alone for a few days.

Chloramine, however, is far more stable and will not break down. It is a combination of chlorine and ammonia, both which are highly toxic to fish. Chloramine will enter the bloodstream through the fish’s skin and block oxygen-carrying cells.

Chloramine will kill your entire aquarium tank of fish in 24 hours.