Our 1/22/2014 corals/sponges exhibit meeting at the Aquarium of the Pacific, Long Beach, California.  In blue is me, to my left is Jerry Schubel, president and CEO, behind the fence is Chris Carr, facing us is John Rouse, VP of operation and next to John is Perry Hampton.

Tank Arrives April 14, 2014

Long Beach Sponge Tank Exhibit

All fish must be quarantined for a minimum of two weeks, preferably more.  Failure of quarantining the fish will guarantee that some fish will get sick and die off. Prior to introducing the new fish after it has been quarantined, the fish must be healthy and eating well to ensure the success rate. However, as the video below shows, there is no guarantee the fish will get along.

Activated carbon has been used for years and is very popular to use in both freshwater and marine aquaria due to its effect at making aquarium water look sparkling clear. The effect of activated carbon on marine fish in aquaria is well known.  Heavy use of activated carbon over prolonged periods of time can lead to the development of hole in the head disease, also called lateral line erosion in fishes. This effect is commonly seen in tangs and angelfish, but can even be seen in damselfish when carbon is used continuously over a long period of time.   However, the effect of activated carbon on corals is not well documented in reef aquaria.  It is our experience that the heavy use of activated carbon in reef aquarium can kill corals.  This effect will show when otherwise healthy corals suddenly start bleaching from the tips.

Approximately 4 months ago we set up four identical reef aquaria, with each using different filtration system methodology.  As seen in the photos from those tanks recently taken, algae has grown significantly more in the tank using the Berlin system than the other aquaria.  This same finding was also found in the SeaScope article by Thomas Frakes back in 2000, after he had done an 18 month comparative study.  This effect was so significant, that in order to continue our experiment long-term, more snails were added to each tank after the nuisance algae was brushed off and removed.  In addition, it became necessary to siphon detritus from the tanks on a weekly basis.  We also started adding low doses of kalkwasser solution, instead of just regular RO/DI water for evaporation, in order to not only add calcium but also to reduce any excess phosphate in these systems, but especially the Berlin based tank.  The best growth and colors are seen in the corals in the Paletta and EcoSystem Plus (modified Paletta) based tanks, however they have to be seen in person for the differences to be fully realized, although with careful observation they can also be seen in the video.