Providing a stable temperature is extremely important to the creatures residing in your captive ecosystem. Their natural environment, the ocean, has enormous water capacity which changes temperature very gradually. The varieties of life forms we maintain in our systems come from substantially different environments and they adapt to their new home, our aquariums, with a very remarkable tolerance. Rapid fluctuation in the any of the water parameter stresses the inhabitants and can lead to sickness or death.
Unfortunately, even the largest captive ecosystem simply does not have the ability to maintain the same stability as Mother Nature. We need to utilize heaters and chillers to compensate for our lack of volume. There are many factors that impact temperature of our systems, such as room temperature, high intensity light, pumps etc.
Proper sizing of heaters and chillers is based upon the number of degrees that you must compensate for in order to maintain a stable temperature. The representatives at Reef Encounters will help you to size a heater and/or chiller to meet the specific needs of your aquarium.
Here are some general guidelines:
Heaters: We recommend that you utilize at least 3-5 watts per gallon when heating your aquarium.
Please refer to the chart below for a guideline to correct chiller sizing:
1/5 horsepower = 75-125 gallons
1/4 horsepower = 125-160 gallons
1/3 horsepower = 160-300 gallons
1/2 horsepower = 300-500 gallons
3/4 horsepower = 500-750 gallons
1 horsepower = 750-1400 gallons
The representatives at Reef Encounters will help you to size a heater and/or chiller to meet the needs of your aquarium. Please feel free to call us for assistance.
Captive Sea`s . Keep your Aquarium Fish Healthy
Why Use UV Sterilization?
The main advantage of ultraviolet (UV) sterilization is the constant reduction in harmful microscopic organisms such as bacteria and parasites. Full time sterilization will reduce these organisms, thus lowering the stress on your animals resulting in reduced instances of disease. Think of it as insurance for your fish and invertebrates. Another benefit of U.V. sterilization is that it will also kill free floating algae producing crystal clear water.
While UV isn't harmful to people, precaution should always be taken when operating a U.V. sterilizer -- for example, don't look directly at the lamp. For other safety precautions make sure and read the product's instructions thoroughly before using or have Reef Encounters work with you on installation and / or a quality product selection.
Red Sea's Berlin Skimmer
Protein skimmers consist of a main cylindrical unit, which contains an air stone. The air stone provides fine bubbles which slowly rise to the top of the cylinder, collecting proteins and other organic compounds on their surface. These tiny bubbles, 0.5mm to 1.0mm in diameter, congregate at the surface of the water, and are eventually collected, along with the removed proteins, in a container at the top of the protein skimmer. The main advantage of protein foam skimmers is that they remove proteins and other organic compounds from the aquarium before they have a chance to break down and foul the water. Unfortunately, this also means that some beneficial organics will be removed from the aquarium as well. Factors which dictate the efficiency of a protein skimmer are bubble size, air flow rate, and the active contact time of the bubbles in the skimmer. The desired bubble size is between 0.5 and 1.0 mm. This maximizes the surface area of the bubbles, without considerably lowering their buoyancy. Air flow rate dictates the relative ratio of water to air bubbles in the protein skimmer. The recommended air flow rate for protein foam skimmers is around 1.8 cm/sec per cm^2 of cross-sectional area of the main cylinder of the protein skimmer. Having the correct flow rate will increase the skimmer's efficiency by creating a good foam without compromising the active surface area of the bubbles. The active contact time of the bubbles is generally controlled by two factors - the height of the protein skimmer's main cylinder, and the flow rate of the water through the skimmer.Venturi Skimmers are often more efficient when used correctly and they rely on pump flow and air intake.Protein skimmers can be a very beneficial component of a saltwater aquarium. They are used in both basic saltwater and reef aquariums. I do not recommend relying on a protein skimmer alone for filtration, but rather to use it as a supplement to a wet/dry or under gravel filter.
What's a Wet n Dry Filter ?
The wet n dry system as referred to / or a biological filter, works on the principal of aerobic bacteria feeding on waste products generated from your Aquarium fish and marine life. Aquarium water is gravity fed onto a drip tray where it is dispersed over a bios- filter bed. The aquarium water drips through the bios media and is collected in the sump. The bios media grows the bacteria needed to neutralize unwanted aquarium waste.Then by pump the water in the sump is pushed back up a return line and in to your tank, hence the name [wet/dry] This system while it is an uncomplicated method, not only works to improve water quality but also helps add oxygen to your Aquarium as well as de-gassing any unwanted buildup. Several different designs exist in the market place today though not all are compatible with other components.
Typical Wet n Dry / Bio- Filter
Aquarium Gravel Cleaning and Aquarium Maintenance 808 373 7774
