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Aquarium Saltwater - Dealing With The Problems That May Arise |
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Written by The Aquarium Lady
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Sunday, 21 September 2008 |
Saltwater aquarium problems are not something that one is easily able to predict, and will occur without any warning. So in order that you can deal with any emergencies that arise in your aquarium saltwater tank, you need to have some kind of plan in place, and which will help to make sure that the salt water fish in your aquarium remain safe.
The most likely problems that an aquarist will be faced with, when it comes to keeping a saltwater aquarium, is that a power failure may occur, the tank may begin to leak, or the aquarium saltwater becomes polluted or the heaters begin to overheat. The other thing you need to think about, is that it is going to be very difficult for you to determine whether there is a problem or not, and so regularly monitoring of the aquarium is advised.
If a problem does arise, then you need to immediately spend time looking at just how everything is coping in the tank, and what is happening with the aquarium saltwater, as well as watching the fish and invertebrates in the tank. You also need to keep an eye on how any corals or live rocks in the aquarium are coping with this situation.
Dealing With No Power To Your Aquarium Saltwater Tank
You could lose power to your aquarium at any time, and unfortunately there is nothing that you can do in order to prevent this from happening. What is important,, however is that you make sure that the aquarium saltwater remains aerated, whilst it is without power. Most power failures will only last for a few minutes or hours, but if they last up to 24 hours, most aquarium saltwater fish, plants, and other marine life will be able to cope with this particular situation.
To aerate the aquarium saltwater, it is a good idea to have a battery operated air pump as part of your aquarium emergency supplies. These pumps will help to move the water around and so dissolve some of the oxygen in the water, and make sure it remains at the correct levels for the fish to survive. Also without any power, the heaters which keep the temperature in your aquarium saltwater right, will not be working. You therefore need to use a blanket (thick one), or sleeping bag to help retain the heat, by wrapping them around the outside of the tank. One thing that you must not do whilst you have no power to your aquarium, is to feed the fish and marine life in the tank. Remember the filtration system is not working at this time.
Dealing With Your Aquarium Saltwater Overheating
If you at some point find that the heaters are not working correctly, and the water is becoming too hot, you need to deal with this situation as soon as you can. Although most aquarium saltwater fish and marine life are able to live in water that reaches a temperature of 86 degrees Fahrenheit, it is best not to leave it like this for too long. Rather it would be better if you could avoid this situation occurring at all.
Dependent upon what size of aquarium you have, but for a larger one, instead of having one big heater, you purchase two small or medium sized ones. These will then help to ensure that the temperature of the aquarium saltwater does, in fact, remain constant. Also it is crucial that you regularly check that the heaters are working correctly, and doing this means you will be able to quickly identify any problems when they do occur.
If you do identify a problem that has caused the aquarium saltwater to overheat, then you need to turn down the temperature on the heaters, or turn them off completely. Also it is vital that you remove some of the hot aquarium saltwater from the tank (about 20 to 50% of the total volume should do and retain this). Replace the water taken out with some bags of ice, and this will help to bring the temperature of the aquarium saltwater down to a more reasonable level. Also the aquarium saltwater you have retained, once is has cooled down sufficiently, can then be returned to the tank, but it must be done slowly.
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