Dom
Full Time Reef Keeper
It was 2010 when I first became involved in the hobby. Whenever I visited the LFS, I was drawn to the fantastic displays and the thriving salt water community within them. I set out to do some reading before diving head first into the hobby. As a guy who knew nothing about the hobby, I found "The New Marine Aquarium" (among others) to be a great help in establishing a foundation understanding.
One misconception I carried was that the LFS maintained top quality water. I mean; how else could they have such thriving displays? But I've since come to learn that the LFS is only interested in maintaining a water quality which will support short stays.
I've become friendly with the proprietor at my LFS, and recently was asked for my input about a problem they were having; fish coming in from the wholesaler were dropping dead within 48 hours of arrival. I love challenges and this was a good one!
As I investigated, what I learned was shocking!
To begin, I love when people tell me that all water parameters were "normal" or "within normal ranges". I've never understood this answer as "normal" depends on what you are keeping in the tank. For example, IMO, calcium levels can be lower in FOWLER tanks as opposed to a reef tank. So what's normal is relative.
I asked for two water samples: one of their multi-tank display which was inter-connected to one filtration system and a second tank which they called a "reef" tank and is connected to a canister filter.
The Results:
Nitrates - 160+
Calcium - 550+
Salinity - 41ppt
You get the idea?
One practice (which absolutely blows my mind) is that they were in the process of adjusting their water parameters to match that of the supplier. The reason for this was so that they could skip the acclimation and just dump new stock directly into the tank.
I was also informed that they were doing water changes using DE-chlorinated tap. But that doesn't get rid of other additives such as fluoride. Their goal was to get their salinity down to 16ppt, matching the supplier and reducing stress to the fish.
Husbandry was all but absent. They do 10 gallon water changes monthly on a system with a total water volume of 110 gallons using DE-chlorinated tap. Their filtration is a canister filter which they "hardly touch" and there is no protein skimmer installed.
I made the following recommendations to start:
1. Install and use RO/DI filtered water. The manager expressed doubt that the company would spring for RO/DI as there is a lot of waste water and the company wouldn’t go for it based on the added expense of water usage. To my surprise, they were able to get approval to purchase the RO/DI filter, as long as they used the “waste water” in the fresh water tanks.
2. Do not add any livestock until we get water parameters under control.
3. 50 % water change immediately and test 24 hours after.
4. Repeat with 25% WC as needed.
During my conversations with the manager, I was surprised to learn of the tiny budget to maintain their salt water displays. I mean; how does one maintain a healthy display without the use of RO/DI water and a complete absence of husbandry?
In the end, I did help them to see my point of view: Instead of having 5 stores with virtually no budget to maintain a saltwater setup, why not designate 1 of the 5 stores as a "saltwater store" and combine the budgets so that, there would only be 1 store with saltwater but it would be healthy and properly maintained.
It has been two weeks and while they have agreed to an RO/DI setup, they still have not received it. Sadly, there isn't any sense of urgency to correct this problem.
One misconception I carried was that the LFS maintained top quality water. I mean; how else could they have such thriving displays? But I've since come to learn that the LFS is only interested in maintaining a water quality which will support short stays.
I've become friendly with the proprietor at my LFS, and recently was asked for my input about a problem they were having; fish coming in from the wholesaler were dropping dead within 48 hours of arrival. I love challenges and this was a good one!
As I investigated, what I learned was shocking!
To begin, I love when people tell me that all water parameters were "normal" or "within normal ranges". I've never understood this answer as "normal" depends on what you are keeping in the tank. For example, IMO, calcium levels can be lower in FOWLER tanks as opposed to a reef tank. So what's normal is relative.
I asked for two water samples: one of their multi-tank display which was inter-connected to one filtration system and a second tank which they called a "reef" tank and is connected to a canister filter.
The Results:
Nitrates - 160+
Calcium - 550+
Salinity - 41ppt
You get the idea?
One practice (which absolutely blows my mind) is that they were in the process of adjusting their water parameters to match that of the supplier. The reason for this was so that they could skip the acclimation and just dump new stock directly into the tank.
I was also informed that they were doing water changes using DE-chlorinated tap. But that doesn't get rid of other additives such as fluoride. Their goal was to get their salinity down to 16ppt, matching the supplier and reducing stress to the fish.
Husbandry was all but absent. They do 10 gallon water changes monthly on a system with a total water volume of 110 gallons using DE-chlorinated tap. Their filtration is a canister filter which they "hardly touch" and there is no protein skimmer installed.
I made the following recommendations to start:
1. Install and use RO/DI filtered water. The manager expressed doubt that the company would spring for RO/DI as there is a lot of waste water and the company wouldn’t go for it based on the added expense of water usage. To my surprise, they were able to get approval to purchase the RO/DI filter, as long as they used the “waste water” in the fresh water tanks.
2. Do not add any livestock until we get water parameters under control.
3. 50 % water change immediately and test 24 hours after.
4. Repeat with 25% WC as needed.
During my conversations with the manager, I was surprised to learn of the tiny budget to maintain their salt water displays. I mean; how does one maintain a healthy display without the use of RO/DI water and a complete absence of husbandry?
In the end, I did help them to see my point of view: Instead of having 5 stores with virtually no budget to maintain a saltwater setup, why not designate 1 of the 5 stores as a "saltwater store" and combine the budgets so that, there would only be 1 store with saltwater but it would be healthy and properly maintained.
It has been two weeks and while they have agreed to an RO/DI setup, they still have not received it. Sadly, there isn't any sense of urgency to correct this problem.
