Help avoid losses from overstocking, unanticipated nutrient-spikes, and power-outages.

Wed, 26 May 2010 20:14:02 -0400
General Tips

Supplements: MicroBacter7, Erase-Cl

The warmer months of the year are typically when less time is spent in front of the aquarium in observation of the inhabitants and the system, in general, compared to the colder months (when it’s simply too cold to be outside for very long). This is primarily a factor of hobbyists enjoying the weather by performing outdoor activities and going on vacations while school is at recess. A number of things predictably happen every year between late-Spring and late-Summer:
• Aquarium retailers run large sales to keep hobbyists interested, and money coming in the door; some amazing deals on livestock can be had and turning down a purchase on fishes, corals, and/or other invertebrates* is often too hard to do, regardless of the space existing in your current aquarium. Many readers may scoff at this thought, that is, until they happen upon one of these sales and see a fish or coral that they have been fervently looking for staring back at them from the inside of a retailer’s aquarium, and at an unbelievable price. I have news for you: that animal is coming home.

•Power-outages become more frequent, and may last anywhere from seconds to hours, or even longer. Every time the power is out, your aquarium inhabitants are put at risk because there’s simply no way of knowing exactly how long the outage will last. True, a back-up generator will help you here, but this is something that many hobbyists do not own. Often times, hobbyists cannot justify the expense of a generator, don’t have a place to put it (particularly true if they live in an apartment, townhouse, condo, etc.), would rather “take their chances”, etc. That’s okay, but a contingency plan is required.

(* - Overstocking an aquarium with plants has a lower-impact on the system than it does with fishes or invertebrates; this is why plants were left out of this statement.)

The end result of both of these scenarios is an increase in the concentration of ammonia in the system as a result of interrupted biological filtration; in extreme cases, the biofiltration is severely-impacted and the ability of the system to sustain the inhabitants is correspondingly lowered. At the very least, steps can be taken to detoxify the increasing ammonia concentration and ensure that any deteriorating organic material is rapidly dealt with before it begins to impact the aquarium inhabitants. Step 1: Erase-Cl will rapidly neutralize ammonia and nitrite, preventing it from being converted into nitrate. Step 2: MicroBacter7 will help enhance the biological filtration capacity of the system to deal with the increase in decaying organic material, converting it into microbial biomass that can be fed upon by suspension-feeding invertebrates (such as corals, clams, tube worms, sponges, tunicates, etc.); additionally (in the case of power outages), MicroBacter7 helps ensure that the biofiltration system in the aquarium quickly rebounds when the power does come back on. [One last thing regarding power outages: one or more battery-powered air pumps (which retail for less than $10 each at many retailers) can be used to create water circulation and to introduce oxygen into an aquarium; they are truly worth having on-hand for these emergencies. Ideally, a generator will be employed to provide power to your fridge and to the circulation pumps in your aquaria, though.]

Two bottles in your aquarium cabinet could help save the lives of a lot of organisms, saving you heartbreak and money.