saltwater fish information

DIY aquarium chiller

2009-04-01T09:46:00.000-07:00

How to make a homemade aquarium chiller

Equipment

A hand drill
A ½ inch or 5/16 inch drill bit
Screwdrivers
Knife or scissors for cutting tubing and pipes

Materials

A small refrigerator with a freezer/ice cube tray section. A 1-1/2 cubic foot refrigerator is suitable.
½ inch thin-wall PVC pipe. You will need roughly 1 foot.
Epoxy glue (5-minute)
PVC fittings. It doesn’t matter if it is threaded or slip.
3/8 inch hard plastic tubing. You will need roughly 50-100 feet.
Silicone sealant suitable for aquarium use.
A pump/powerhead (powerful enough to pump water through the chiller fast enough)

Overview

Everything is placed in the plastic box inside the refrigerator housing.

The turquoise square on the sketch symbolizes the freezer compartment with a temperature probe attached to the inside wall of the cooling box.

Point 1: This is where the water will enter from the pump.
Point 2: The water is transported through the 3/8 inch coiled plastic tubing. (The more coils, the better the cooling effect.)
Point 3: This is where the chilled water leaves the chiller.

How to make a homemade aquarium chiller

Ideally remove the box that isolates the freezer/ice cube tray section from the refrigerator. (In some models, this will unfortunately be virtually impossible.) Leave the temperature probe as it is.
Drill access holes for plastic tubing on the top. (You can also drill them in the sides; the important thing is to choose access points that are practical for your particular set-up.)
Prepare two pieces of PVC pipe; roughly 4 inches each.
Insert the PVC pipes through the access holes.
Reinforce the pipes with epoxy glue at the access holes.
Seal with silicon. It is important to seal well.
Glue or thread the PVC fittings onto the pipes and connect the pipes to the 3/8 inch tubing inside the box (coiling) and outside the box (running from the pump to the chiller and from the chiller to the aquarium/sump).

Important factors to think about

#1: The pump must be powerful enough to keep the water fast flowing; otherwise it might freeze to ice inside the chilling box.

#2: When the water runs back from the chiller to your aquarium it will be heated up again by room temperature. Using a long piece of plastic tubing between the chiller and the aquarium is therefore not a good idea. If you have to use a long tube, insulate it properly.

How to make a homemade EMERGENCY aquarium chiller

If you need a quick emergency remedy for your over-heated aquarium while putting a more durable construction together or waiting for a ready-made one to arrive, you can try this emergency chiller.

What you’ll need

A small canister filter with the motor on top
A bucket
Plenty of ice

What you’ll do

Fill the bucket with ice.
Immerse the lower half of the canister filter in the ice.
Use the filter as you would use a normal aquarium filter.
Replace the ice continuously.

As mentioned above, this is just a quick emergency solution– not something that you can rely on in the long run. You have to monitor the temperature in the aquarium closely because this type of emergency aquarium chiller can easily cause dangerous fluctuations in water temperature. DO NOT unplug your heater.

Harlequin Tusk - (Choerodon fasciatus)

2009-03-25T08:13:00.000-07:00

The Harlequin Tusk originates from the reefs of the Indian Ocean and Australia. Indian Ocean Tusks have orange stripes with white margins and a hint of blue adjacent to the tail of the fish. Australian Tusks have orange stripes with vivid blue margins starting from the pectoral fin, along the fishes back to their tail. Both of these beautiful color forms have bright blue teeth or tusks used to crunch invertebrates. They are a wonderful fish for a FOWLR (Fish Only With Live Rock) aquarium. These fish are typically shy when at a small size, but will in time gain personality and confidence as they mature. Juveniles live on steep reef walls. Adults sometimes live in small groups around overhangs and caves on reef slopes.

Tuskfish start life female. The dominant female within a group of tuskfish undergoes a physical sex change to become male, and lives with the remaining females as his harem. Should the dominant fish die, he will be replaced by the next most dominant female. Theoretically, this means that if you buy a group of tiny ones you'll eventually get a harem. However, given the large size and territoriality of this species, this isn't advisable in general.

The Harlequin tuskfish is a member of the wrasse family Labridae. It undergoes a color change as it matures. Juveniles are paler and have black spots on the fins. The rear half of the tuskfish gets darker as it gets older. There are are usually eight orange stripes with blue-edging. It is sometimes still referred to under the old name Lienardiella.

A 125 gallon or larger aquarium with plenty of live rock for hiding places and moderately aggressive, active fish such as Angels, Tangs, Wrasse, and smaller Triggers is an acceptable environment. Keep only one specimen per tank. Although they will not bother corals, they will eat any small crustacean such as snails or crabs.

The Harlequin Tusk Wrasse diet should include vitamin enriched frozen mysis shrimp, vitamin enriched frozen brine shrimp, and other meaty foods along with a high quality marine flake and marine pellet food. The Harlequin tuskfish has very strong, pointed fang-like teeth, the tips of which are bright blue in color. It uses these to crush mollusks, crustaceans, bristle worms, urchins and starfish. Captive specimens take most chunky foods, from whole shrimp to cockles, squid and chopped fish. Watch your fingers if feeding by hand.

Minimum Tank Size: 125 gallons

Care Level: Moderate

Temperament: Semi-aggressive

Reef Compatible: With Caution

Water Conditions: 72-78° F, dKH 8-12, sg 1.020-1.025, pH 8.1-8.4

Max. Size: 10"

Color Form: Blue, Orange

Diet: Carnivore

Origin: Patchy distribution through the western Pacific from Taiwan to the Great Barrier Reef and northern New South Wales, Australia.

Family: Labridae

2009-03-24T17:32:00.001-07:00

Purple Hornet Zoanthid

2009-03-24T12:09:00.000-07:00

There is a listing on Ebay for a Purple Hornet Zoanthid as of this writing. However, I would like to note that the Zoanthid pictured in the listing is NOT a Purple Hornet Zoanthid.

Ebay PH:

PH Daylight:

PH Actinic:

As you can see there is a HUGE difference in coloration. The fingers are MUCH different on the Purple Hornet.

Green Mandarin - (Synchiropus splendidus)

2009-03-24T07:36:00.000-07:00

The head and body of the Green Mandarin, also known as the Striped Mandarinfish or Green Mandarinfish, are a mazelike combination of blue, orange, and green. Males may be distinguished from females by their more-elongated first dorsal spine. It is extremely popular with aquarists because of its unusual beauty.

It should be kept in a well-established 30 gallon or larger aquarium with live rock, live sand, TONS of copepods, and plenty of hiding places. It is moderately hardy in reef aquariums if given special care. It is not overly aggressive towards other fish, except for conspecifics.

The Green Mandarin has been known to spawn successfully in an aquarium.

It feeds on a variety of vitamin-enriched live brine shrimp, live black worms, and natural prey on live rock and live sand. Make sure you have an established tank with a refugium with healthy pod growth. Green Mandarins will constantly swim around and look for copepods to eat. That's pretty much what they do all day long.

If you cannot maintain an abundance of copepods for this fish to seek out and eat, it will, most likely, not survive. While it's true that some of these fishes have been trained to east prepared foods, the majority of them will only eat pods.

Minimum Tank Size: 30 gallons

Care Level: Difficult

Temperament: Peaceful

Reef Compatible: Yes

Water Conditions: 72-78° F, dKH 8-12, sg 1.020-1.025, pH 8.1-8.4

Max. Size: 4"

Color Form: Blue, Green, Orange

Diet: Carnivore

Origin: Indo-Pacific

Family: Callionymidae

Kaudern's Cardinal - (Pterapogon kauderni)

2009-03-24T07:27:00.000-07:00

The Kaudern's Cardinal is highly sought after for its ease of care, attractive color pattern and distinctively long and elegant fins. The Kaudern's Cardinal, also known as the Banggai Cardinalfish or Longfin Cardinalfish, is metallic silver highlighted by rich black stripes and white, celestial spots on the body and fins. This sophisticated color pattern of the Kaudern's Cardinal makes it a visual striking and memorable addition to most saltwater aquariums.

A 30 gallon or larger aquarium with cave-like rockwork and peaceful tank mates is ideal for this slow and methodical swimmer. Due to its aggressive behavior towards conspecifics, the Kaudern's Cardinal should not be kept in large groups. The Kaudern's Cardinal is relatively easy to breed in the aquarium setting. Once spawning has occurred, the male carries the eggs in his mouth to protect them.

The Kaudern's Cardinal should be fed a well balanced diet of meaty foods such as feeder shrimp, marine flesh, bloodworms, and depending on its size, live feeder fish.

Minimum Tank Size: 30 gallons

Care Level: Easy

Temperament: Semi-aggressive

Reef Compatible: Yes

Water Conditions: 72-78° F, dKH 8-12, sg 1.020-1.025, pH 8.1-8.4

Max. Size: 3"

Color Form: Black, White

Diet: Carnivore

Origin: Indo-Pacific

Family: Apogonidae

Ocellaris Clownfish - (Amphiprion ocellaris)

2009-03-17T08:47:00.000-07:00

The Ocellaris Clownfish, also known as the False Percula Clownfish, False Clown Anemonefish, and Anemone Demoiselle, is found associating with anemones throughout the Indo-Pacific. It can attain a length of 3.2" (8 cm) in the wild, but aquarium specimens rarely exceed 2" (5 cm) unless they are imported large. This fish is sometimes sold as the Percula Clown, even though it is not. The color pattern is very similar, but it is not as bright orange. The black outlines on the white stripes are also thinner on the Ocellaris Clown when compared to the Percula. The advantage of the Ocellaris is that it is much hardier.

It is a long-lived clownfish that is excellent for the beginner hobbyist. It does best in the presence of anemones such as Heteractis magnifica and Stichodactyla gigantea. Like the related damselfish, it is well-suited for all but the most predatory tanks.

Although there are no external characteristics to differentiate male and female, all clownfish are sexually immature when hatched. Meaning that the fry do not have a pre-determined sex, and develop into males and females depending on the hierarchy of the school. A pair will lay eggs along the base of the host anemone, using it to protect the eggs. The eggs normally appear orange in color. Without proper preparation, rearing in the average aquarium is nearly impossible.

This clownfish is an aggressive eater. It will take most meaty foods and frozen herbivore preparations.

Minimum Tank Size: 20 gallons

Care Level: Moderate

Temperament: Peaceful

Reef Compatible: Yes

Water Conditions: 72-78° F, dKH 8-12, sg 1.020-1.025, pH 8.1-8.4

Max. Size: 3½"

Color Form: Orange, White

Diet: Omnivore

Origin: South Asia

Family: Pomacentridae