SaltwaterSense

Disaster or Renewal? Tropical Reefs and the Responsibility of the Saltwater Marine Aquarist?

In case you missed it, there was an interesting thread in the forums (under the “Responsible Aquarist” category) this July about reef degradation entitled “Bad News Please Read This”.

“Almost half of the coral reef ecosystems in the United States territory are in poor or fair condition, mostly due to rising ocean temperatures,” wrote the poster citing a 7 July 208 NOAA report. “It does not paint a pretty picture of our world reefs, but it is important reading for all of us.”

But most responders seemed not to agree. To wit:

“If someone is getting paid millions of dollars to write a 569 page report that took 18 months to write, well they better have some bad news for us. The sky is falling, the sky is falling!!"

“As for the elevation of temperatures, it is my humble opinion that many species will adapt to the changing water conditions, others will evolve. Certainly species will be lost. Not that that isn't a concern, it is. The reefs have been around for a very long time though. I am sure that the water conditions are not the same as they once were.”

“This use [sic] to concern me, but not much anymore… If they were that worried about it, they could build as many ‘reefs’ as they wanted, anywhere in the world. If the temps are to [sic] high in one area, move to a cooler location. It's really not as hard as it once seemed. And if we can build the kind of reefs we have in our living rooms, just think of what can be done in the ocean.”

“As others said, nature will balance itself out. Some creatures will adapt, some will go extinct, some will become totally new species. Maybe that will include some culling of the human herd in the process. Some call it disaster. I call it renewal.”

“IMO the global warming, psyco hard environmentalist [sic] just want you to feel bad for being human. Everything is our fault and there is always a new disaster that is just around the corner that is some man made. Anything to scare society so they can grip just a bit tighter and take more control(money) out of the hands of regular citizens.”

Let’s go back a moment to the forum category title—the Responsible Aquarist, and then let’s ask this question to which I think the original poster was alluding:

Should (as in the moral “ought”) the responsible aquarist familiarize oneself with scientific data discussing the health of the ecosystems from which the majority of our animals are collected?

Now before you jump on my back, allow me to clarify—I know that coral for the hobby is not collected in the Caribbean, and I realize the report the original poster cited was about the Caribbean. Nonetheless, the discussion quickly took on a global slant, and that is to what I am referringhere: the health of reef ecosystems worldwide.

So what responsibilities (if any) do we, as (aspiring) responsible aquarists, have to educate ourselves about tropical reef health? Should we be familiar with the reports such as the NOAA report that the original poster asked us to read, or are we too distrustful of “chicken little” environmentalists to give any credence to reports that speak of global climate change, sea surface temperature rise, endangered species, and the like?

I suspect the answer is, as usual, somewhere in the middle. In the name of raising awareness, there are numerous reports (it is the International Year of the Reef after all) discussing the plight of the world’s reefs. Do some of these reports devolve to alarmism? Most certainly yes. But, on the other hand, there are so many reports out there—so much data collected by researchers from different countries, with different politics and as parts of different scientific studies, and nearly all say essentially the same thing:

“The world’s tropical reefs are in trouble and anthropogenic stressors are, at least in part, to blame.”

As responsible marine aquarist, it seems to me we should have a baseline familiarity with the ecosystems we attempt to replicate in our homes.

I’ve already rambled longer that I intended to, but allow me to finish with this suggestion. The original poster may have a political agenda. He (at least I think the poster is a he) may be a tree-hugging, Birkenstock-wearing crunchy environmentalist. But notice that what he did was to post data (or at least to direct us to a report based on data). Is the NOAA report infallible? Of course not, but why not respond to the data laid out in the NOAA report with data? Not one of the responders attempting to discredit the NOAA report put forth any data to support his or her response. There are plenty of places on the Internet (even in the SWF.com’s forums…lol) to spout off about one’s politics based on anecdotal evidence, and I encourage you to do so, but when a person starts a thread in the Responsible Aquarist forum based on data, why not respond with data?

It is my opinion that such a dialog would help us all, regardless of politics and personal opinions, become better and more responsible aquarists.

Fish Food Tainted with Melamine

The New York Times reported this week that Hong Kong food inspectors found fish food imported from China was contaminated with melamine. Yep, melamine—that’s the toxic chemical responsible for the Chinese milk debacle and the tainted pet food that led to the largest pet food recall in this country’s history.

According to The New York Times, “Inspectors said fish feed imported from Fujian Province in southern China was found to have 6.6 parts per million, more than twice the level of melamine deemed safe for food.”

The acceptable level of melamine in the United States is 2.5 parts per million.

Does this mean that your marine aquarium fish food might poison your fishes? Probably not. Most of the contaminated fish food is used to feed fish on an industrial level at fish farms. Hong Kong officials have announced that “melamine-tainted fish feed would probably not pose serious health problems for people who consumed fish because consumers would not be directly eating the melamine.”

At least one manufacturer of aquarium fish food pulled their aquarium product off the shelves in 2007 when the Food and Drug Administration announced that melamine was identified in fish feed being used at the Marion Forks Hatchery in Oregon. In a press release, Sergeant's Pet Care Products, announced it voluntarily removed ornamental fish food products from retail store shelves.

A portion of the production lots of Atlantis® Goldfish Flake Food and Atlantis® Tropical Fish Flake Food have been found to contain the contaminant, melamine. Atlantis Goldfish Flake Food and Atlantis Tropical Fish Flake Food are products that are formulated specifically for the feeding of ornamental fish, such as a goldfish and Neon tetra. Atlantis fish food is not formulated for the feeding of fish intended for human consumption.

To be safe, it’s probably worth making sure that, at least in the short term, your marine aquarium fish food does not have the nearly ubiquitous “Made in China” label on it.

A Tropical Saltwater Aquarium Refugium

Today I want to briefly touch on the oft-misunderstood and somewhat mysterious refugium or “fuge,” as it is often referred to in the hobby. This entry is not meant to be a comprehensive article on refugia, but rather I hope it might inspire you to add a refugium to your existing marine aquarium set-up.

What is a Refugium?

The origin of the word refugium is rooted in the common term “refuge,” and that’s exactly what a refugium provides for your marine aquarium. A refugium is a refuge for macroalgae, pods and certain interesting species that may not survive in your display tank as a result of predation. Do you need a refugium? While I’d hesitate to go so far as to say you need one (uness, of course, you keep dragonets or anthias), I definitely recommend you seriously consider adding a refugium to your system.

Refugium Benefits – The Short List

Why do I strongly recommend adding a fuge to most systems? For starters, a properly maintained refugium—even a small one—will prove beneficial to virtually any and all marine aquarium set-ups. More specifically, a refugium:

·         provides a refuge in which healthy pod populations (excellent food for species such as anthias and dragonets) will thrive.

·         provides a place where various herbivorous foods (e.g., macroalgae) can be grown without being consumed by your herbivores until you harvest it.

·         provides additional overall water volume to your system.

·         can mediate daily pH fluctuations secondary to your lighting schedule.

·         can serve (depending on size) as an emergency holding tank for a harassed animal (although you should always have a QT/hospital tank at the ready).

·         promotes nutrient export through regular trimming and disposal of cultivated macroalgea.

…the list goes on and on, but you get the point. A refugium is really a no-brainer, but how do you set it up?

The Plug & Play Refugium

There are a number of ways to plumb a refugium as part of your current set-up. Perhaps the easiest is to use a commercially manufactured HOB (hang on the back) refugium which can, as the name suggests, be hung on the back of either the display tank itself or the sump. Some of these refugia are shipped with a powerhead, but if not, the refugium can be powered with a small, inexpensive one you purchase separately. These commercially manufactured refugia are about as plug-and-play as it gets, but there are other options including sumps that have a “middle chamber” designated as a refugium and my favorite, the display refugium.

The Display Refugium – A Sample Set-Up

If you have the space, I recommend plumbing a display refugium to your system. A display refugium? What’s that? A display refugium is a refugium that is “on display” either above, below or beside your display tank. I’ll use one of my own set-ups (pictured above) to illustrate what I mean.

In this particular set-up, I have plumbed a 10-gallon refugium to a 30-gallon display tank. The refugium, which sits on a shelf below the display tank, is gravity fed from the display tank’s overflow. I have reduced the flow to the refugium by splitting the overflow from the main tank with two ball valves—one to the refugium and one to the sump. The refugium then gravity feeds, by way of a standpipe, to the last chamber (after the protein skimmer) of the set-up’s sump.

Why drain the refugium to a point after the protein skimmer? Does it really matter? I think it does because I want to allow some of the organic material and pods from the refugium to make their way into the display tank by way of the return pump. The protein skimmer may pull these out of the water.

This is the basic set-up, and it works very efficiently in my experience. Don’t forget that, because it is “on display,” you have the opportunity to keep some interesting species in the refugium that may not survive in your main tank.

Deep Sandbed and Macroalgae

Regardless of how you incorporate a refugium into your system, you will probably want to employ a deep sandbed (I like using a commercially available mud product) and grow macroalgae such as Chaetomorpha (pictured left). I also like to jump-start the pod population by adding cultured pods to the newly established aquarium. Don’t stop there though! I grow mangroves and seagrasses in one of my display refugia, which creates a fascinating biotope adding overall appeal to my system.

In short, a refugium is a great way to enhance your existing marine aquarium both in terms of health and interest. If you use your imagination, you can create some absolutely stunning and unique displays.