Consistency.
You hear the term mentioned in pretty much every field of human endeavor: Sports, investing, education, nutrition, business, personal fitness…
And of course, it’s a concept perfectly applicable to reef keeping. Absolutely.
Consistency is a trait that can not only make you a better reef keeper- it can create a better reef! It applies to virtually every area of the reef keeping hobby: Environmental parameters, equipment choices, feeding, livestock selection, maintenance, and procedures, just to mention a few.
Whoa! This is shaping up to be my least "moronic" post in a long time! Where is that tool- er, critic when I need him?
Consistent habits create consistent environmental parameters, without a doubt. A prime example would be the achievement and maintenance of consistent environmental parameters with regular maintenance procedures, such as water changes, dosing schedules, and lighting photoperiods. As you’ve heard me mention ad nauseum here, the ocean is one of the most stable physical environments on earth, and fishes and corals, although capable of adapting to environmental changes, have really evolved over eons to grow in consistent, stable conditions. That's why you hear the environmental groups freaking out about acidification, temperature fluctuations, and other things that negatively impact or otherwise challenge the stability of the reef environment.
The most stable environment on earth...
I don’t really care exactly how many ppm your calcium is- and to some degree, your corals really don’t, either: Wether we’re talking about 350, 390, or 410 ppm is not a tremendous difference, when you really think about it. The important thing is to keep the range of fluctuation limited.
What you need is enough available free calcium for corals to incorporate for growth. The corals typically can thrive anywhere in a range- but the range should be consistent. Pick a number that works for you and your corals, and try to keep it within a few ppm. Use of two part solutions or calcium reactors can help you achieve some stability, but staying at exactly 395 ppm is a tough target. Keep it within, say, 10ppm for extended periods of time, and you'll be doing your animals a favor. Dealing with widely fluctuating calcium levels will definitely wreak some havoc on your corals- at the very least, resulting in inconsistent growth, at worst, possibly stunting it.
Other parameters, such as alkalinity, phosphate, magnesium, or ammonia have more significant impacts if allowed to fluctuate more than just a few “clicks.†For example, anything outside of “undetectible†ammonia is a potential death sentence- or at least an extremely life threatening situation. It is certainly indicative of a major problem within your system. Wide alkalinity fluctuations of more than a few degrees can be caused by a number of things, ranging from overpopulated systems to improperly prepared source water, all of which should be examined if you see such a swing.
Phosphate swings of more than a ppm, or even less in many instances, can result in significant nuisance algae growth in closed systems, and, at the very least, should tip you off to some deficiency within your system and its maintenance regime. Just looking at your reef and its inhabitants will be enough to tell you if something is amiss. More than one advanced reefer has only half jokingly told me that he or she can tell if something is amiss with his/her reef simply by the smell…I get it- excesses of biological activities do create conditions that are detectible by scent!
It's important to at least have some sort of "working relationship" with your test kits. Really.
I needn’t point out the necessity of keeping temperature in tight check. Sure, you might see a day/night fluctuation of a degree or two (or even three), but get much outside of that range and you’re looking at a stressful situation for many fish, and some corals. Stress, as you know, can lead to lower resistance, disease, and death if left unaddressed. Pick a number that works for you, and do your best to keep it in a very close range.
Even factors like photoperiod have potential to cause stress for animals, yet are among the easiest to control. Electronic controllers, or even reliable light timers- are wonderful pieces of equipment for achieving and maintaining consistent diurnal periods. If only we could control parameters like magnesium as easily!
Wildly fluctuating environmental parameters are just another stress factor for our livestock.
The point is, consistent environmental parameters yield more controllable, easier-to-manage reef systems, with happier, healthier corals and fishes. They minimize the need to constantly adapt to a changing environment- a key cause of stress in captive animals adapted over the eons to live in consistent environmental conditions. Stress is one of the most underrated, yet most common, killers of captive marine animals. Yet, ironically, stress is one of the more easily controllable health issues if you adapt- you got it- a consistent approach to your husbandry and water quality management.
Don't our corals deserve a little consistency?
To me, consistency is all about minimizing stress for your animals. Even a simple thing like creating ‘brand loyalty†to your salt mix, can help. I have plenty of reef keeping friends that jump around from brand to brand depending what’s on sale this month! I’ve never liked that for a number of reasons, the most important being that it creates yet another thing that your animals must adapt to. Think about it: Every salt manufacturer uses a slight variation on a basic formula that’s been around for many years. Proprietary blends of various concentrations, or even purity and source of different major and minor components, such as trace elements- can make a difference to your animals. Among other reasons, that’s long been my argument for consistently using the same brand of salt mix. Not only does it create familiarity for you when doing water changes- it minimizes even the most minor environmental differences for your fishes and corals.
"Brand loyalty" is important when choosing a salt mix...so stock up!
So, without further beating a dead seahorse, I think I can successfully make the argument that consistency in all manner of reef keeping endeavors can only help your animals. Keeping a stable environment is not only humane- it’s playing into the very strength of our animals, by minimizing the stress of constantly having to adapt to a fluctuating environment. As So Cal reef keeping legend and Reefapalooza juggernaut Greg Carroll likes to say “Stability Promotes Success.â€
Who could argue with that?
I'm sure that you can think of a few other ways that consistency in our reef keeping habits can help promote more healthy, stable reef aquariums. Since we're talking about consistency, I'll continue my daily call for you to contribute to this topic!
In the mean time, give some thought to the discussion here; think about how it applies to your animals.
So, man the siphon hose, check your lighting timers, break out a test kit now and then. Stay inquisitive. Stay rational. Stay consistent. And most important-
Stay wet.
Scott Fellman
Unique Corals
You hear the term mentioned in pretty much every field of human endeavor: Sports, investing, education, nutrition, business, personal fitness…
And of course, it’s a concept perfectly applicable to reef keeping. Absolutely.
Consistency is a trait that can not only make you a better reef keeper- it can create a better reef! It applies to virtually every area of the reef keeping hobby: Environmental parameters, equipment choices, feeding, livestock selection, maintenance, and procedures, just to mention a few.
Whoa! This is shaping up to be my least "moronic" post in a long time! Where is that tool- er, critic when I need him?
Consistent habits create consistent environmental parameters, without a doubt. A prime example would be the achievement and maintenance of consistent environmental parameters with regular maintenance procedures, such as water changes, dosing schedules, and lighting photoperiods. As you’ve heard me mention ad nauseum here, the ocean is one of the most stable physical environments on earth, and fishes and corals, although capable of adapting to environmental changes, have really evolved over eons to grow in consistent, stable conditions. That's why you hear the environmental groups freaking out about acidification, temperature fluctuations, and other things that negatively impact or otherwise challenge the stability of the reef environment.
The most stable environment on earth...
I don’t really care exactly how many ppm your calcium is- and to some degree, your corals really don’t, either: Wether we’re talking about 350, 390, or 410 ppm is not a tremendous difference, when you really think about it. The important thing is to keep the range of fluctuation limited.
What you need is enough available free calcium for corals to incorporate for growth. The corals typically can thrive anywhere in a range- but the range should be consistent. Pick a number that works for you and your corals, and try to keep it within a few ppm. Use of two part solutions or calcium reactors can help you achieve some stability, but staying at exactly 395 ppm is a tough target. Keep it within, say, 10ppm for extended periods of time, and you'll be doing your animals a favor. Dealing with widely fluctuating calcium levels will definitely wreak some havoc on your corals- at the very least, resulting in inconsistent growth, at worst, possibly stunting it.
Other parameters, such as alkalinity, phosphate, magnesium, or ammonia have more significant impacts if allowed to fluctuate more than just a few “clicks.†For example, anything outside of “undetectible†ammonia is a potential death sentence- or at least an extremely life threatening situation. It is certainly indicative of a major problem within your system. Wide alkalinity fluctuations of more than a few degrees can be caused by a number of things, ranging from overpopulated systems to improperly prepared source water, all of which should be examined if you see such a swing.
Phosphate swings of more than a ppm, or even less in many instances, can result in significant nuisance algae growth in closed systems, and, at the very least, should tip you off to some deficiency within your system and its maintenance regime. Just looking at your reef and its inhabitants will be enough to tell you if something is amiss. More than one advanced reefer has only half jokingly told me that he or she can tell if something is amiss with his/her reef simply by the smell…I get it- excesses of biological activities do create conditions that are detectible by scent!
It's important to at least have some sort of "working relationship" with your test kits. Really.
I needn’t point out the necessity of keeping temperature in tight check. Sure, you might see a day/night fluctuation of a degree or two (or even three), but get much outside of that range and you’re looking at a stressful situation for many fish, and some corals. Stress, as you know, can lead to lower resistance, disease, and death if left unaddressed. Pick a number that works for you, and do your best to keep it in a very close range.
Even factors like photoperiod have potential to cause stress for animals, yet are among the easiest to control. Electronic controllers, or even reliable light timers- are wonderful pieces of equipment for achieving and maintaining consistent diurnal periods. If only we could control parameters like magnesium as easily!
Wildly fluctuating environmental parameters are just another stress factor for our livestock.
The point is, consistent environmental parameters yield more controllable, easier-to-manage reef systems, with happier, healthier corals and fishes. They minimize the need to constantly adapt to a changing environment- a key cause of stress in captive animals adapted over the eons to live in consistent environmental conditions. Stress is one of the most underrated, yet most common, killers of captive marine animals. Yet, ironically, stress is one of the more easily controllable health issues if you adapt- you got it- a consistent approach to your husbandry and water quality management.
Don't our corals deserve a little consistency?
To me, consistency is all about minimizing stress for your animals. Even a simple thing like creating ‘brand loyalty†to your salt mix, can help. I have plenty of reef keeping friends that jump around from brand to brand depending what’s on sale this month! I’ve never liked that for a number of reasons, the most important being that it creates yet another thing that your animals must adapt to. Think about it: Every salt manufacturer uses a slight variation on a basic formula that’s been around for many years. Proprietary blends of various concentrations, or even purity and source of different major and minor components, such as trace elements- can make a difference to your animals. Among other reasons, that’s long been my argument for consistently using the same brand of salt mix. Not only does it create familiarity for you when doing water changes- it minimizes even the most minor environmental differences for your fishes and corals.
"Brand loyalty" is important when choosing a salt mix...so stock up!
So, without further beating a dead seahorse, I think I can successfully make the argument that consistency in all manner of reef keeping endeavors can only help your animals. Keeping a stable environment is not only humane- it’s playing into the very strength of our animals, by minimizing the stress of constantly having to adapt to a fluctuating environment. As So Cal reef keeping legend and Reefapalooza juggernaut Greg Carroll likes to say “Stability Promotes Success.â€
Who could argue with that?
I'm sure that you can think of a few other ways that consistency in our reef keeping habits can help promote more healthy, stable reef aquariums. Since we're talking about consistency, I'll continue my daily call for you to contribute to this topic!
In the mean time, give some thought to the discussion here; think about how it applies to your animals.
So, man the siphon hose, check your lighting timers, break out a test kit now and then. Stay inquisitive. Stay rational. Stay consistent. And most important-
Stay wet.
Scott Fellman
Unique Corals
However once you know your reef and it is stable, it is easy to tell when things are "off" and further testing is needed.
