Since going on holiday for two weeks (in Arizona) all sorts have happened. As Peter has indicated, one of the two much loved grandmas has seriously deteriorated and now has to have 24 hour care. The time and work involved in making the necessary arrangements is quite amazing, though certainly not resented – grandma has given so much to my generation and particularly to my son Peter’s, and also to my grandchildren.

Things are ‘smoothing out’ now so life isn’t quite so hectic. I’ve managed to respond to comments on the blog and to entries on the forum.

My reef aquarium is doing well. I’ve just done a routine seawater change and the fish as usual attempted to obtain food by begging. The time sequence – that is the time periods that the aquarium receives for maintenance – has been completely out but it’s coming back on track.

As Peter says, we’ll start writing again soon. It’ll probably be me first as Peter is embroiled in projects and work considerations. I keep my fingers crossed for him.

So thanks for your patience.

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I thought that I would pop a post out to explain why we have not posted any articles recently.

Myself and John are both very busy at the moment but for two very different reasons!

I have found myself in a position where the company I work for has a very doubtful future and I am spending a lot of my time trying to keep my job. I am working long hours to try and impress etc so that I can hopefully be seen as as asset to the company. Unfortunately in the current climate there are not a lot of other positions in my field available and the ones which are available would involve me either working away from home or relocating the family – neither of which I am willing to do. I am working on other ventures at the moment as well to try and safeguard a future for myself and my family which is taking a lot of time when I am not performing my ‘day job’. When you mix in spending time with my family as well as doing the various jobs required around the home it does not leave a lot of time for other things.

I also had to make a hard decision. In an attempt to save money to put away for the future we have cut back on various things – one of which was my reef tank. Whilst I still have a huge passion for this hobby I am now reefless. It broke my heart to see it go but when things settle I know that I will start a new one.

John on the other hand, whilst retired is also very busy. John’s sons, myself and Michael live in the same area and John looks after both of our children – taking them to and from school, looking after them during school holidays etc. He is also looking after two aging ladies – my grandmothers – his own and his wifes (my mums) mothers. They are both now at an age where they need to be cared for and they are both doing a huge amount of work looking after them. It really is a shame to see people who I look up to and respect end up as what can only be said as being children again. They need to and will spend the rest of their lives with dignity and respect from everyone who knows them and they cannot have anyone better looking after them than my mum and dad. The passion and energy that they both show is truly amazing.

John still has his reef tank and it still looks as fabulous as ever. John pops onto Aquarists Online as often as he possibly can and answers questions in the forum as well as comments left on the site but at the moment when he is not busy looking after other people he is rather tired.

So please stick with us – there is a lot of information as well as other features on Aquarists Online and we will be back to post more content as soon as we possibly can – we promise.

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Successful small aquariums from the very small 10 gallons to the larger 50 gallons, fish only or reef, are very beautiful to look at as a whole, but their main impact is in the detail particularly with a reef. Even in a very small aquarium, provided it is a well aged system, there are growths of different algae, sometimes different corals popping up, existing corals spreading, miniature life such as tiny worms waving around looking for food and tiny shrimps foraging about particularly at night. At night small snails could appear then hide away again when dawn arrives. There’s often more.

With larger aquariums the impact is not just the beauty but the eye filling dimensions. I would guess that if asked a marine aquarist would normally advise that a larger aquarium would be on their shopping list ‘if only’. It cannot be denied that a fish only system with many fish and some of them larger species such as angels is a real spectacle. A properly designed and stocked reef system, well, that is truly something. It appears as if the reef has been sliced out of the wild and placed in the aquarium complete with life. It is true of course that any captive reef doesn’t have the diversity of Mother Nature’s own, but let’s not start nit picking. Again, close inspection should reveal all sorts of interesting items as in the previous paragraph but probably more so. Most viewers however wouldn’t be too concerned about small detail; the overall view would be the one to watch.

There is a large aquarium that is accepted as one of the best. It belongs to David Saxby and can certainly be described as large. Many marine aquarists are aware of it and have watched the video of the original aquarium, lovely as it was. Was? Yes, the aquarium has been stripped down and re-started so that the livestock could be altered. A new video has been produced that is very watchable and well made. There are some lovely fish to be seen, anthias and yellow tangs seems to be a favourite – watch out for the different coloured one. There’s also one of my favourite fish, the copperband butterfly.

As said the video is worth watching and is relaxing, so sit back and just enjoy. Here it is:

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We used to have dinosaurs of all sorts, flying, land and sea based ones. They could be small or large – how about that favourite of many, the Tyranosaurus rex?

There is a ‘dragon’ in the sea though it isn’t one really it’s a sea horse known as a ‘leafy dragon’. Not what the word ‘dragon’ really intended, nor was the word intended for those ladies who eat people for breakfast!

If you went to Romania what would you expect – hmm, how about Dracula, but no, that’s the wrong country.

So did they exist at all, dragons? The answer is a maybe – maybe? Have a look at the video and see what you think. Look at the shape, the wings…

Just imagine having a peaceful swim and one appeared, what would your reaction be?

Here’s the video, you’ll need to wait a few seconds for the advertisement to clear:

http://animal.discovery.com/videos/dragons-a-fantsay-made-real-aqua-dragon.html

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To avoid becoming a squishy heap on the ground humans have a skeleton. Quite a good invention really, not having a skeleton would cause quite a few difficult problems.

Humans aren’t alone with the possession of a skeleton of course; there are all sorts of life forms that have one too, how about the elephant or man’s best friend the dog as just two examples.

Skeletons are not essential to life however; there are creatures that don’t use one at all. As a non-scientist I can say that they use a different method to maintain their body shape, I’m not sure how a scientist would put it. For example a shrimp has a hard outer shell rather than an inner skeleton.

Vertebrates, those that have a skeleton, are vastly outnumbered in the world. It is estimated that vertebrates are around 3% of the life forms in the world. It follows that a massive 97% (I just had to demonstrate my mathematical abilities) are invertebrates.

There are land dwelling insects such as spiders and worms, examples of well known invertebrates. In the cold sea there are huge numbers of plankton, anemones, sponges etc. The warm seas contain many better known (to the marine aquarist) invertebrate species, including filter feeding worms, shrimps, corals and sometimes very large anemones. It is with some anemones of course that the representatives of the vertebrate/invertebrate world have combined forces to mutual advantage; these are the clown fish with their selected hosts. There are other examples of this life style.

Invertebrates are very adaptable as demonstrated by the discovery of volcanic activity deep in the sea well beyond the sun’s light. Scientists used to accept that life basically depends on the availability of light from the sun, an example of which is that plant life uses the sun’s light to photosynthesize and grow, and then the plant life is eaten by a herbivore from which energy is obtained. Herbivores are then the prey for carnivores. They all basically depend on the plants and the sun. This belief has been changed by the life found near this deep volcanic activity, including filter feeding worms, mollusks, bacteria and crabs which depend not on the sun’s light but on heat and chemicals.*

Anyway marine aquarists, or rather those who maintain a reef system, keep various types of invertebrate including shrimps, corals, sponges, anemones, filter feeding worms etc. These very interesting life forms only ask for a few things for success, including high quality seawater, for the majority of corals and some others sufficient light of the correct spectrum, space to grow and freedom from predation. It is usually important to place for example corals in a position where they receive sufficient seawater flow.

It is worthwhile noting that all marine aquariums, big or small, fish only or reef, depend on invertebrates for their health and life. The bio-filtration system, whether this is live rock or canister filters, contains bacteria that deal with the toxins ammonia and nitrite. Without these bacteria the life in the aquarium would die. With live rock, further bacteria should be able to deal with the sometimes troublesome nitrate.

Those aquarists who make use of natural live rock could discover that they have invertebrate life forms in their aquariums that they didn’t import themselves or at least not intentionally. Some such as filter feeding worms could be welcome. Others such as the Aiptasia anemone are not welcome. The Mantis shrimp is another, though in this case it is worth keeping but needs re-housing to an area where problems won’t arise.

Invertebrates provide the aquarist with a chance to create a living reef at home, be this large or small, though compared to Mother Nature’s creations all home reefs are miniscule. Nevertheless, a successful home reef is wonderful to see.

(* Reference: Marine Invertebrates. Martyn Haywood & Sue Wells)

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I’ve been involved with aquariums for 40 years or more and no, I’m not going to try advising the secret of keeping goldfish in salt water! What I’m going to do is remember, if I may.

Over 40 years ago I had nothing to do with fish. What did I do with my time I wonder – well, I had two children, Michael and Peter. As is normal we ended up one day at a fair and yes, there was a goldfish stall, throw a hoop or something similar. My boys must have been good shots because we ended up with a couple of goldfish, the common variety, in a plastic bag. They had instantly joined the family and so a small plastic aquarium was obtained on the same day. Once home into the aquarium they went. Michael and Peter were overjoyed. It must have been at least a whole week before they lost interest!

So there they were, these two goldfish, in their small aquarium on a shelf. For a while nothing changed and then I added some gravel as it didn’t look natural. A while later I added a couple of plastic plants. Now things were so much better. The fish seemed to enjoy nosing about in the gravel. Guess who was in charge of cleaning and it wasn’t Michael or Peter!

Then I decided – and this I reckon is where I became doomed to my fate – the fish would be happier in a bigger aquarium, so they got one 24″ long. It came off the shelf and stood on a more solid work surface in the kitchen.

Then I decided it would be better to have tropical fish (the addiction was getting a grip). I kept standard tropicals for a while and still used plastic plants. The fish were fine.

Then I saw my first marines, this would be quite a while later, about 5 years after the first goldfish appeared. They were in a pet shop and I learned they were damsels. What colours, wow! I didn’t buy damsels once the decision had been made to keep marines; I obtained two common clowns (Amphiprion ocellaris). These were kept in a slightly larger aquarium, 30″, which sat in the same place as had the 24″.

Since that time I’ve travelled down the road in the same way that so many others have. That first small marine aquarium which was fish only became larger and as time passed contained a variety of fish. All were reasonably successful and I don’t recall any serious problems except one. This was with a juvenile emperor angel (Pomacanthus imperator) about 3″ or so in length. It was so lovely I was quite awestruck. It seemed very happy in a 4 ft aquarium which had a reef and several soft corals. Then one day I found it lying upright against the front glass. Close observation showed it was breathing quite heavily and I suspected white spot or velvet, two serious diseases with marines. As the fish wasn’t moving I was able to inspect it with a magnifying glass but couldn’t see anything. Seawater testing indicated all parameters as being fully acceptable. Strangely, no other fish displayed any symptoms. Eventually the fish died and it affected me considerably, feeling quite guilty of losing a fish that had been taken from the wild and had died in my care. I was not as experienced as I am now of course, and currently I would have investigated further.

On I went in the hobby and eventually graduated to a full blown reef aquarium. The first one was built into a wall like a picture, with a sump (a 30″ aquarium). The aquarium became larger (I filled in the hole in the wall) until, calamity, we moved house. This was 10 years ago.

An aquarium was inevitable though, the one I have now is smaller than that at the previous address because of the space available. Peter kindly purchased it for me, and I made the cabinet and hood and fitted all the bits and pieces.

It’s a soft coral reef which has been running for 7 years (I know this as I keep a notebook). I love soft corals, the pastel colours and the way some of them sway in the seawater currents. It’s lit by a bank of three marine white fluorescent tubes, and two blue (actinic) tubes. The tubes are timed for a ‘dawn’ and ‘dusk’ sequence, in the morning the blues come on first then the whites, and vice versa when they go off. Seawater movement is created by two powerheads, arranged to produce the necessary random chaotic flow type. The bio-filtration was by two Eheim Ecco canister filters containing sintered glass, this could seem a bit backward to some but it worked well. Any nitrate presence was dealt with by a home made hang-on sulphur based denitrator and routine seawater changes.

The reef is constructed of inert dead rock with the name ‘Grotto Rock’, I don’t know why as it wasn’t from any grotto. The rock is very porous which is good for bacteria populations. It was excellent for the purpose with its various shapes, and many caves and crevices were formed. The reef sits on a plastic grate about 1¼” or so above the base glass. Another powerhead pumps seawater under the reef (below the grate) through a multi-dispersal pipe, which has successfully kept the underside more or less clean and of course has kept the lower regions oxygenated and prevented temperature stratification. Once the reef had been constructed the net gallonage of the system was 43.

I also constructed a hang-on anti-phosphate filter filled with a well known media, and this has operated from the beginning.

There is also a hang-on protein skimmer, a Red Sea ‘Prism’. This isn’t the world’s best skimmer but it does a sufficiently efficient job probably because of the low fish load. There could be some DOM (dissolved organic matter) that could have been removed, but perhaps it is helping to feed the corals. Let’s not get into that as it’s another subject.

Apart from various corals there are only two fish, a Flame Angel (Centropyge loriculus) and a Fijian Damsel (Chrysiptera cyanea). I believe that with reef systems it is better to under stock than fully stock (although there is nothing really wrong with the latter if done properly and growth is taken into account). This is because of seawater as it is easier to maintain at high quality with less fish. It’s a matter of personal opinion and taste. Routine seawater changes are still completed.

I have a very small DSB (deep sand bed) which is not large enough to have any particular impact on the aquarium; it was constructed purely out of interest. It is successful and, particularly at night, numerous tiny life forms can be seen. In the main aquarium quite a large number of snails are seen at night, and fortunately they are not the troublesome variety.

The canister filters are still running though the media has been removed. This happened a good while ago because I suspected the dead rock had changed to live. The rock, with all the growths on it, looks very similar to the live variety. I began to wonder about the rock as there wasn’t ever a trace of nitrate when the seawater was tested. Admittedly there was a denitrator but was it that efficient? Also of course routine seawater changes were being done.

To check I stopped the denitrator. Over three months of testing there wasn’t a trace of nitrate so the denitrator wasn’t changing anything. It remains switched off though it hasn’t been removed (I’m maybe too lazy!). Then I tested the seawater before a routine change, still no trace of nitrate. Then I left the seawater unchanged for three weeks, still no trace. So I began to remove the bio-media from the canisters, one was emptied entirely, and then the system was left for two weeks. There wasn’t a trace of ammonia, nitrite or nitrate at weekly testing. Then I removed ½ of the bio-media from the other canister, still no change. Now the final media was removed, though this made me nervous there wasn’t any change whatsoever. The rock had become ‘live’.

As the rock was porous the bacteria that deal with the toxins ammonia and nitrite established themselves on and in it, followed deeper inside by the bacteria that are able to deal with nitrate. The canisters had become redundant, though they still run to cause agitation at the seawater surface. The rock dwelling bacteria are clearly dealing with any toxins that are produced.

There’s a large amount that I’ve missed out about the journey from goldfish to a reef as there would be with other marine aquarists who have followed the same or a similar route.

The marine hobby has provided a little insight into the world of the wild reefs. I’ve had the good fortune to snorkel on many reefs in various areas and what a pleasure it was.

As time has progressed I’ve become more and more involved in the whys and wherefores of this and that. Now that experience has accumulated, looking back to the very early days with marines I have to smile and consider it was certainly worthwhile. Learning continues. I’ve found the marine hobby to be educational and it develops the discipline of patience. It’s also entertaining and fun.

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Most marine aquarists are only too happy to have something different in their aquariums, as long as that something fits in with the current population.

The apple being talked of here is the Sea Apple which is definitely different! As can be seen it’s colourful too. An aquarist who has one will usually be fascinated by ‘the thing in the corner’. The Sea Apple has been available to aquarists for many years. I feel that the beginner aquarist should let experience build before keeping one, as a pure guess say about a year, or at least until the common general husbandry mistakes are no longer made and seawater quality is consistently high. This is important as will be seen.

‘Sea Apple’ is the common name; the proper one is Pseudocolochirus axiologus. They need the usual correct introduction to the aquarium, that is, acclimatization, and should not be exposed to air. They need to be handled gently but this of course is the same for all livestock.

The Sea Apple does not require reef lighting as it is not a coral but a species of sea cucumber. This can of course be confusing, the common name talks of ‘apple’ yet the species is ‘cucumber’. (This seems to happen from time to time, such as the Foxface fish (Lo vulpinus) that belongs to the rabbitfish family.) The Sea Apple is usually able to grow to about 4″ (circa 10cm) though there are larger species that grow to about 6″ (circa 15.25cm) or more though these are not so readily available and are more expensive.

The Sea Apple is able to move slowly around the aquarium and will do so until it is happy with its position, and this depends a lot on seawater flow. The flow doesn’t need to be very strong but moderate to brisk. This is because from the top centre a crown of feathery tentacles will appear and too strong a flow could cause problems. As said, the Sea Apple will make its choice and the final place could be a viewing glass, a corner, a rock or even the tube from a tubeworm. The aquarist has his or her preference for position, so keep those fingers crossed. The final position is likely to be between half way and the top of the aquarium. Once the Sea Apple has come to rest it should be left in peace unless the position is causing trouble to other livestock or presents a danger to the Sea Apple itself. It should not be irritated by the aquarist; this could be a real problem as will be seen.

The tentacles are used for feeding and are extended into the seawater column for this purpose. Fine particulate matter is captured and, one by one, the tentacles are passed into the mouth for removal of any food and then withdrawn, it’s a bit like a human sucking food off the fingers. This is a fairly slow process and is fascinating to observe.

The Sea Apple is quite hardy in a high quality environment and can live a long time. Many do fail though and this is to do with feeding, or rather the lack of it. In most aquariums there is insufficient suitable fine particulate matter in the seawater and therefore the Sea Apple doesn’t get enough to eat. This causes it to slowly shrink until it dies. Target feeding is needed, the frequency of which is best twice a day or more if the need is observed. There are plenty of commercial fine foods available that are suitable. All that is needed is for this food to be squirted into the seawater with a suitable instrument a little upstream from the Sea Apple when it has the tentacles extended, the food will then drift over them. If the seawater current is too high causing the food to pass too quickly, turning off the pumps for a short period will not do any harm. Any of the fine food that is not taken will drift off and could well be captured by corals.

Overall I would suggest that a reef system is the best aquarium for the Sea Apple to be introduced into. The reason is that there is a greater likelihood that there will not be any fish present that could nip at the tentacles, though this is not always the case. If the Sea Apple is excessively harassed then serious trouble could occur.

The problem that a Sea Apple could cause is very serious. If it is excessively harassed and stressed a toxin could be released that could, and likely will, kill the other livestock. Not a pleasant thought. That is why the Sea Apple should not be harassed excessively by the aquarist and its tank mates should be suitable. In addition it would be a good cautionary measure to protect the intakes of circulation pumps etc so that the Sea Apple cannot be accidentally damaged, this should be done before introduction.

Having said that, the Sea Apple should be a good introduction to a suitable high quality environment provided the aquarist has reasonable experience and feeding is given suitable attention.

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One fish that is not as brightly coloured as some others, but is colourful and very attractive nevertheless, is the marine betta, as can be seen at the following link. Another common name for the fish is marine comet. The proper name is Calloplesiops altivelis.

http://www.ozanimals.com/Fish/Comet/Calloplesiops/altivelis.html

The beta is covered in dots and has large finnage which is where the common names probably come from. When the fins are extended they look spectacular. These fish are capable of growing to around 6¼” (circa 16cm) so they are not for the small aquarium, if they are to be comfortably housed a 36″ (circa 91.5cm) aquarium or thereabouts is recommended. Normally only one beta should be kept. Their tank mates should be selected carefully as they are fairly shy and not at their best when housed with bold, high action and/or aggressive fish, the companions should be of a similar size or smaller. It is also best not to overcrowd the fish, which is good practice in any aquarium anyway – a lower fish population is advantageous.

Having said companions should be smaller, care is again needed as the beta could predate on much smaller fish. It tends to ambush them from whatever area it has decided to hide in. Care also needs to be taken with smaller crustaceans as these will sometimes be eaten.

Once the fish has settled in feeding is not normally a problem, good quality frozen food is usually accepted and often so is freeze dried food. There will no doubt always be exceptions, but flake food is not particularly attractive to them. The aquarist needs to observe the fish in the aquarium at feeding time, as is the practice anyway, as the beta could lose out to faster and greedier fish it is necessary to ensure it has fed sufficiently.

For the fish to settle well the aquarium must be furnished with rockwork, be this live rock or otherwise. The rockwork needs to be arranged so that there are one or two caves, preferably several, that are large enough for the fish to hide in and watch the outside world from.

A very bright halide lit reef aquarium is not ideal for the beta as it prefers moderate light – a reef that houses soft corals and is lit by fluorescents would be better, as would the lesser lit fish only system. The fish could become accustomed more or less to brighter light but in this circumstance is likely to hide away for longer periods. The natural habit of the fish is to hide away during the day, but in the lower lit aquarium the fish should be seen more often for longer periods.

When the fish is first introduced to the aquarium it is likely to hideaway for quite a period, most fish hideaway at first but the beta’s period could be longer. The fish should start to appear when ‘dusk’ occurs (that is, main lights off and actinics only on before lights out) or maybe it could be ‘dawn’. Whatever, it should settle provided it feels secure and the environment is of high quality and then be seen more.

The only defence the fish has (to my knowledge) is that when it feels threatened it will put its head into the rocks and leave only the tail and rear body showing. The markings on the rear end seem to be similar to a moray eel, and any potential aggressor will consider twice before mixing with those.

This lovely and interesting fish will be excellent for the aquarium provided its tank mates are suitable, the lighting isn’t too bright, there are suitable hiding places and the seawater is of high quality. The aquarist could need to search a little before a fish is located.

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Watching a marine aquarium is a great pleasure and probably one of the major reasons why so many keep them. With a reef system sometimes a new arrival is seen to appear, or a species of coral that is already present appears somewhere else.

On a few occasions I’ve noticed arrivals that must have come in with coral rock, such as a very dark and tiny crab that was very timid and only appeared at ‘dusk’. Its presence was shown by an exploratory claw appearing out of a crevice. The crab hasn’t been seen for a long time and no doubt has gone.

Corals too can appear when new live or coral rock is introduced. In this case the coral type is already present in the aquarium with a fairly large colony, and the new appearance is in a completely separate part of the aquarium.

As far as I can tell, the main colony is a Rhodactis species (the purchase was made years ago and the dealer didn’t have a clue). Rhodactis are also commonly known as hairy mushrooms and mushroom anemones. I think it could possibly be Rhodactis indosinensis – but is this correct as most grow larger than my specimens? Maybe they are Discosoma species. The colony is receiving plenty of light as it is half way up the reef (about half way up the aquarium depth). The new one, however, is not; it is right down at the bottom. The aquarium is 24″ deep (21.5″ from lights to coral). Further, this new growth is at the end of the aquarium and is partly shadowed by another coral.

Is my lighting system powerful? No is the answer, it’s a fluorescent array of five tubes, three marine whites and two marine blues (actinic). They’re not even T5’s, they’re T8’s. The reef is furnished with soft corals and they are perfectly happy but I had to wonder at the growth of this new one. The blues will penetrate well but even so….

The original colony is in an ideal spot apart from seawater flow which is a bit too vigorous, they prefer weak flow. However, I’ve left things as they are as the mushrooms are clearly healthy and open well, though not to as large an extent as with lower seawater flow.

The new one is the reverse; it’s in an area of slow flow. However, as said, I wondered about the light. It has been slowly growing for about 8 months now and has reached a size of 3″ across, which, because of the slow seawater flow, is full expansion. However, though I believed the slow growth must be because of light, or at least the lack of it, it seems this could be wrong. Looking at one of the references available to me * it seems that though light is no doubt an influencing factor it isn’t that important, as strong lighting is not required by Rhodactis species though they will tolerate it. Discosoma species prefer in many cases reduced light.

How did the new growth appear? It is possible it’s by natural detachment, but in this case is more likely to be my error. From time to time I have to get out the trusty and sharp scissors and reduce the colony to prevent interference with other species. Part of this is catching the detached parts. These corals are easy to ‘frag’ so if a small part escaped my attention and lodged it is more than likely to grow.

So there we are – what started as a general belief followed up by some simple research has turned my notion upside down. Goes to show how important basic research is. As far as identifying the species, I’d need a marine biologist and I bet there’d be uncertainty even then.

(*Reference: Aquarium Corals. Eric H. Borneman)

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Last week I was helping my neighbour move a broken up concrete garage base to make way for a new one. Because the lumps of concrete were pretty rough I wore protective gloves.

Without warning a pain similar I suppose to having a red hot needle stuck into me occurred on the inner wrist. The pain didn’t last long, about a second, so it wasn’t severe. The only word I uttered was ‘Ouch!’ I saw the wasp leave, somehow or other it had got caught between my wrist and the glove. Over a couple of days my wrist did swell to an extent, but there wasn’t a problem though the itching was an annoyance.

When it happened I tried to recall the standard remedy. I knew that a wasp and bee had opposite sting make-up, one being alkaline and the other acid. Should I dose the sting spot with milk or vinegar? I wasn’t sure so I did both.

Later I found that a bee sting is acid, so milk would be appropriate, and a wasp sting is alkaline, so vinegar would be appropriate. Pretty straightforward really and seldom a real problem unless the person involved is likely to severely adversely react and/or is stung many times.

Australians often take a bottle of vinegar to the beach in case of stings. There are some nasty life forms that could make their presence felt. Another way if vinegar isn’t present is to use urine so I’m told (so perhaps those few beers on the beach could help in more ways than one!).

Vinegar, milk and urine are not the correct medications for all venomous stings and bites etc.

Marine aquariums are to be found in many places around the world. In the US and EU they are very numerous. Considering livestock, there’s a few that could cause problems.

In the sea there are some dangerous creatures and some of these find their way into aquariums. For example the blue ringed octopus is kept by a few aquarists. This little octopus, properly called Hapalochlaena maculosa, is around the size of a golf ball and is attractive, though the rings only turn blue when it is about to attack or as a warning to another life form considered too close. The size makes it a possibility for inclusion in a suitable aquarium. However, it has a deadly bite because it injects toxin.

Another dangerous creature is the stonefish (one type is Synaneichthyes verrucosus). I have seen a stonefish for sale, though only once, but why anyone would want to keep one I don’t know. The fish is sedentary, sitting still waiting for prey. They look very like a rock. On the back of the fish are 13 grooved spines which inject toxin if they penetrate the skin, somewhat like hypodermic needles. The intensity of pain and subsequent problems is subject to an extent on the number of spines that penetrated the skin. The pain is stated to be excruciating.
 
A problem caused by a blue ringed octopus or a stonefish needs immediate medical attention or death could occur. There are other dangerous creatures in addition to the two mentioned.

Most of us marine aquarists don’t keep such life forms. There are a similar few that are kept but are not as dangerous perhaps, but dangerous nonetheless.

One such fish, and well known, is the common lionfish, properly called Pterois volitans. There are other types but the common lionfish is the most readily available. The body markings are quite striking and the finnage beautiful. In the aquarium they need careful selection of companions or the companions could be eaten! The fins are the problem to the aquarist; they are able to inject venom that causes great pain.

Another well known and commonly kept fish is the foxface, properly called Lo vulpinus. These fish are also colourful and are a ‘different’ addition to the aquarium because of their head shape, though why they should be called foxface I don’t know. The danger with these fish again lies with the venomous fin spines which are capable of injecting venom which could take a long time to heal.

Another commonly kept life form is not a fish this time, but a coral. It’s very innocuous looking and kept in very many aquariums from beginner to advanced. It is quite tolerant and is usually able to resist some errors made by beginning aquarists. They are the zoanthids or button polyps which come in various polyp sizes and colours, normally covering the upper surfaces of a rock. Who would think there could be any danger from these? The danger comes from the species Palythoa, Protopalythoa and related species. Many aquarists handle zoanthids without any problem – in fact, problems from handling are rare. The fact is that the mucus of these zoanthids contains a neurotoxin which could be very dangerous or deadly to the aquarist. It is known that some tribes used to dip their spears in the mucus for use in battle and hunting*. So when one of these polyp groups is to be handled at the very least the aquarist should be sure there aren’t any cuts and abrasions on the skin. Wearing suitable gloves would be better.

The aquarium inhabitants mentioned above aren’t the only potential dangers that could appear. What is necessary is that the aquarist knows the potential problem(s) that could be introduced with newly purchased livestock to ensure he or she is happy with the situation. More important the knowledge should ensure the aquarist takes precautions and exercises caution when carrying out maintenance etc. The knowledge about livestock comes from some simple pre-purchase research.

In addition it is necessary, like a good scout, to be prepared. So as the potential problem is known the aquarist can find out from the internet or other sources what course of action should be taken should a mishap occur. Obviously medical assistance could be required, but it is important to be able to take initial action, if any, to help control the problem before medical help is available. It is also important to be able to advise the medics what it is that has happened, for example a puncture from X fish that is known to carry venom. At the extreme it could save your life.

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