Pull fresh air from outside or CO2 scrub the air entering your skimmer. So those are the 9 MOST IMPORTANT marine aquarium water parameters plus 3 more important items that are important, but just not worth a lot of your time and effort (in most cases) unless you are having serious problems and are convinced the top 9 values are fine. I was surprised to see how expensive it was at retail compared with online. Small amounts of nitrogen in the nitrates can be absorbed by certain soft corals or macroalgae, but it can also act as a sort of fertilizer, boosting problem algae growth–which nobody wants.eval(ez_write_tag([[300,250],'saltwateraquariumblog_com-netboard-2','ezslot_28',126,'0','0'])); Some invertebrates are intolerant of high nitrate levels and their health will decline (adding more to the nitrates problem) if left unattended. Alkalinity is also used for coral calcification and skeletal formation. Get it?eval(ez_write_tag([[300,250],'saltwateraquariumblog_com-square-2','ezslot_41',132,'0','0'])); But salinity is relatively difficult to measure directly. For alkalinity, phosphate, and calcium, I have generally used individual test kits. On an ongoing basis, you want to strive for nitrate levels as low as possible. But, reef tanks tend to be a bit more sensitive and the optimum pH levels in these tanks need to be more towards the higher levels. Now, a few thoughts here about reef tank aquarium water testing: no test kit, intended for hobby use, is going to be perfect. The ninth most important reef tank water parameter is temperature. Carbonate and bicarbonate are necessary for reef tanks because they help coral remain healthy and build a strong skeleton. Since most of what we do is intended to recreate the natural environment our animal friends have come from, it should be no surprise to you that the ideal recommended temperature for your reef tank is the same. A pH of 7 is considered to be "neutral," neither acid or alkaline, while pH above 7 is alkaline or "base," and below 7 is acidic. Ideal saltwater pH level for a reef aquarium The ideal range you want to aim for is: ~8.1-8.4 for a healthy saltwater aquarium. The eighth most important reef tank water parameter is salinity. In a marine aquarium, the biological filter will help you keep your water in tip-top shape. To keep your water parameters in the ideal range, you may want to have a protein skimmer, installed in a sump with a refugium, a calcium reactor, and reliable heaters and/or a chiller. Each kit includes: 100 pH tests 55 kH tests Red Sea Alkalinity Accuracty: 1 dKH / 0.36 meq/L Range: 0 - ∞ Test… The pH level of your aquarium will be affected by the pH levels of your water. So, let’s just cut to the chase. These natural, biological methods of keeping the water clean will help you keep the water in your home reef in a range that is suitable for growing the most amazing corals. This temporary drop in pH goes away in a few hours. At least, it should be tested once a week in the morning and in the evening. Free downloadable reef tank parameters chart. The first is that, well, the list of the 9 most important items stops at 9. One way you could measure the salinity of the water is to completely evaporate a liter of saltwater and weigh the salt that is left behind. More information can be found here. The fastest, most natural, and lowest-tech way to remove nitrates from your reef tank is to perform a partial water change. The fourth most important water parameter for you to monitor in your reef tank is nitrate. Unless you are an advanced aquarist maintaining a complicated reef system you can usually take care of trace elements with regular water changes. To measure … Ammonia can burn your fish and corals and at higher levels, it can be toxic which is why there is no tolerance for this in a reef tank and the ideal ammonia level is zero. The good news is that a healthy, fully-functioning biological filter protects your tank by removing ammonia from your water. Since it fuels problem algae growth, you want to keep it low and may be tempted to keep it at or near zero.eval(ez_write_tag([[250,250],'saltwateraquariumblog_com-sky-1','ezslot_31',131,'0','0'])); Because of that, I recommend you keep levels below 0.2 ppm if possible.<0.2 ppm. Keep in mind that any major adjustments in the pH level in your tank should be done slowly. This site participates in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees at no additional direct cost to you by linking to some products on Amazon.com. What Is the Nitrogen Cycling Process in a Saltwater Aquarium? Iodine is also an important element for reef tanks. So, I took them off the list. In the winter, when the house is buttoned up, I get pH in the 7.8-8.0 range. Ammonia occurs naturally, as a byproduct of some sort of organic waste breaking down in your tank. High-quality reef tank water starts by using a high-quality reef aquarium salt mix. No, that is not a typo, nitrite and nitrate are two separate and important compounds to monitor, in your water. Usually in between AM and PM a fluctuation of 0,3 pH is often observed, but this should be minimised as much as possible. If your pH either starts or falls out of that range, take your time raising or lowering the water over hours or days (depending on how dramatic the difference is) to avoid shocking your fish, corals and other invertebrates. The deep sand bed creates a low-oxygen environment at the bottom of the bed where the third type of beneficial bacteria can grow. Because in your saltwater aquarium, phosphate acts as a fertilizer for algae, and if your tank is like mine, you probably don’t have the same types of algae-eating controls as a natural reef does. As such, I put it in the ‘nice to know, but don’t need to worry’ bucket. I was hoping the KH would stay the same for at least during between weekly waterchanges. I think your reef will do fine at a little deflated pH, but if you have an easy way to increase the pH it wouldnt … If this is so, why does the pH in your saltwater aquarium change, usually dropping lower? Using this kit, you can test for the four big aquarium water parameters in just a few minutes. Then, the second group of helpful bacteria will convert that nitrite into nitrate. For the advanced reefer, it can play a major role in creating some of the problems advanced reefers face–however, for the vast majority of us, this tremendously important ion is naturally present in such large amounts that it renders it as important, but probably not worth worrying about on an ongoing basis. To help keep your nitrates low on an ongoing basis, some hobbyists employ the help of beneficial bacteria who eat the nitrates.eval(ez_write_tag([[250,250],'saltwateraquariumblog_com-portrait-1','ezslot_29',127,'0','0'])); They accomplish this via a process called carbon dosing. Luckily, some super-smart people came up with a few super-easy ways to estimate salinity super-easily. The 7 Best Powerheads for Saltwater Aquariums, The 10 Best Aquarium Water Test Kits of 2021, Cycling a New Saltwater Aquarium With Fish, Controlling Algae in Your Saltwater Aquarium, How to Get Rid of Green Hair Algae in Your Tank, 5 Reasons Why Marine Fish Die in Aquariums, Using a Saltwater Aquarium Fish Diagnostic Tool. If the pH drops below 7.8 at night, something in your system needs to be optimised. Keep clean glassware. Also, most aquarium fish sold today are raised in fish farms that do not keep the fish in the pH of the natural habitat water. If you are keeping a reef tank, the recommended pH level may actually be higher – between 8.0 and 8.4. The salinity of the ocean is actually ~ 35 g/L, but for your saltwater aquarium, it is more common to measure the specific gravity of the water as a proxy for salinity, because of how easily specific gravity can be measured. Observational and sometimes speculative information like that is what makes it challenging as a hobbyist, sometimes, to know what to focus on and avoid doing more harm than good, in the process of trying to create the ideal living conditions. Generally, a pH of 7.9 to 8.4 is considered to be the normal range for a average marine aquarium. Phosphate plays a big role in reef keeping. And if your animals require specific aquarium water parameters–you should do your best to meet those standards–or steer clear of those animals. If you choose to add macroalgae to your sump or even to the display tank itself, the macro will actually pull phosphates, silicates, and nitrates out of the water as well.eval(ez_write_tag([[728,90],'saltwateraquariumblog_com-square-3','ezslot_42',148,'0','0'])); If you want to take this biological filtration one step further, you can add a deep sand bed to your tank or refugium. In the summer, when my AC is running all day long, I get a range from 8.1-8.3. pH is definitely one of the Top 10 reef tank water parameters. If you see any level other than zero, while you’re testing your water, it is a symptom that either your biological filter has crashed, or that it just can’t keep up with some large source of ammonia (like from a dead fish). The problem is that ammonia is toxic waste in your aquarium. …test the pH and Alkalinity in your saltwater aquarium with the Red Sea pH/Alkalinity Test Kit. There are a couple of reasons those three reef tank parameters didn’t make the cut. pH (power of Hydrogen) is simply a measurement of the acidity or alkalinity of any solution. However, levels around 30-40 ppm are generally tolerated by most saltwater aquarium fish (except for fragile species) and many hardy soft corals that tend to come from nutrient-rich waters. Within that acceptable range, the most commonly provided advice tends to be to keep your aquarium temperature around 78-80 degrees Fahrenheit or 25.5-26.6 degrees Celcius. Perhaps more important than reaching a level within that range is to try and stay consistent with that range, once you have found an alkalinity level that suits the inhabitants of your tank and is easy to maintain, based on your local water. The majority of animals we keep in our tanks come from tropical reefs, and tropical reefs tend to have a stable temperature somewhere between 73 and 84 degrees Fahrenheit, or 22 to 29 degrees Celcius. Additionally, these next 3 parameters are not as practical to measure or moderate through supplementation and water changes as the major items in the top 9.eval(ez_write_tag([[468,60],'saltwateraquariumblog_com-sky-4','ezslot_35',140,'0','0'])); Please don’t read this as me saying that these three elements are not important to reef coral biology, because they are. Determining the ideal level of phosphates for a reef tank is a bit of a tricky subject. As another one of the most important reef tank parameters, the ideal ammonia level for a reef aquarium is ~0 ppm. It is up to you to research the husbandry needs of the animals you want to keep to be sure you know if their needs differ from the standard water parameters. When the salinity of the water changes, two other important things change:eval(ez_write_tag([[250,250],'saltwateraquariumblog_com-small-square-1','ezslot_38',133,'0','0'])); So, as hobbyists, we use a hydrometer to measure the density (specific gravity) of the water, or we use a refractometer to measure the angle of light refraction, to estimate the salinity. At least for right now. A saltwater aquarium should generally be kept at a pH between 7.6 and 8.4, but the specific pH recommended for your tank may depend on the species you have in the tank. Live rock adds a new dimension to the aesthetics and care to the basic marine aquarium. Both pH and alkalinity are noticeable indicators for a reef tank. This Nature’s Ocean Aquarium Reef Sand also assists in the maintenance of the correct pH balance within your reef aquarium. Ok, speaking of bending light, I love this band: You have to have salt in the water to measure salinity. Need to maintain your aquarium pH at 7.0. I am using DI water for my aquarium and by adding API Proper ph 7.0 my aquarium is maintaining a ph of 6.9 to 7.1. The seventh most important reef tank water parameter to monitor is phosphate. I just let those words wash over me for a moment and pictured a hotly debated strontium controversy between two uber fish geeks. Saltwater, without outside influences, will maintain a steady pH. The first 20 minutes represent a slow addition of acid followed by 25 minutes of slow addition of base. Temperature A tank’s temperature doesn’t have much to do with its chemical concentration, but keeping the warmth of the water consistent is key to overall specimen health. As long as the temperature of your saltwater aquarium is in this range, keeping the temperature consistent (avoiding fluctuation) becomes more important than the actual value itself. Ammonia Toxicity Reduction in Saltwater Aquariums, What Fish Hobbyists Should Know About Adding Limewater to Reef Tanks. A regular tank maintenance program that removes fish waste and uneaten food, along with partial water changes with new saltwater, will usually keep the pH in your aquarium at the proper level and make pH adjustments a thing of the past. You can find this kit in most of the major fish stores (including the big chains). Understanding how it works in a reef aquarium will help you grow beautiful corals and keep a pristine tank. Maintaining good water movement in your reef tank is critical to keeping your PH high in your reef aquarium. Some tropical corals can deposit enough aragonite to grow over a cm per month! Haha. Though different species of fish and other tank inhabitants have slightly different preferences for pH, the ideal range for a marine aquarium is between 7.8 to 8.5, though a pH of 8.2 is ideal because that is the pH of natural seawater. These are the proper water levels for a saltwater tank and the necessary environmental features for reef life. If you keep your reef's water parameters at normal levels equal to natural sea water, pH should take care of itself. In the winter, when the house is buttoned up, I get pH in the 7.8-8.0 range. It is entirely possible that specific individual species you acquire for your own tank may come from an environment that differs from these generalities and may, therefore, require specific care. It has something to do with hydrogen ions, the scale is logarithmic, meaning that 8.0 is a lot farther from 7.0 than it seems, and apparently, it is very important for some deodorant to be pH balanced for women (or at least that’s what the commercials tell me). If you get a really high nitrate reading but your tank is telling you otherwise…do a water change (just to be safe) but get another kit to verify it isn’t a false reading. Helpful bacteria that live on and in the live rock, live sand, and even on the aquarium glass itself will help remove toxic ammonia from the water and replace it with much less toxic nitrite. Everyone who has seen a milk commercial on television knows that calcium promotes good bone growth. If you are using RO/DI water you need to maintain a stable pH and this product delivers all that it is described to do. If your pH level is lower than the level that it should be then you will not get the proper amount of calcium. Related terms used in reference to aquariums are carbonate or calcium hardness, and its German equivalent, KH or dKH. Before you go, please take a moment to familiarize yourself with three other important reef tank parameters that are important, just not one of the 9 MOST IMPORTANT. As best I can tell, the science supporting the dosing of these trace elements in a reef aquarium is inconclusive. The ideal concentration of iodine in a reef tank is 0.06 ppm. The short version, here, is that these beneficial bacteria naturally grow in your tank, but you can give their populations a boost by adding carbon to your tank. The ideal range you want to aim for is: ~8.1-8.4 for a healthy saltwater aquarium. 9 Most Important Reef Tank Aquarium Water Parameters, macroalgae that can help keep your phosphate levels down, Sun coral: How to care for and keep Tubastraea, 5 Things you need to know about fighting bryopsis algae, Neon Goby, Elacatinus oceanops, easy breeder or challenging. Special considerations for FOWLR setups include proper curing or acclimation of reef rock, additional light or supplements to cultivate desirable coralline algae, and the restriction of many medications that harm beneficial life found in reef rock. Freshwater Parameters The following chart provides acceptable water parameter ranges for different types of freshwater aquariums, brackish water aquariums, and ponds.The water parameters listed serve as a general guideline for maintaining each specific type of aquarium or pond. I won’t bore you, too much, with the scientific definition of what pH is. Maintaining proper reef tank parameters is essential to the health and well-being of fish, coral and invertebrate inside your aquarium. The ammonia in your tank will burn your saltwater fish and corals and even kill them, if high enough. And how close to ‘ideal’ do you need to keep the water parameters in your own aquarium without causing problems? Ideally, you want to keep your aquarium reef at a specific gravity of 1.025, which is the simplest way to ensure the salinity replicates the salt concentration of a natural reef. The aquarium water parameters listed on this page are adapted from Wikipedia, Dr. Foster and Smith, and Advanced Aquarist. well, then I’m a bit jealous and hope you’ll invite me over to hang out very soon. The world’s oceans tend to have reef calcium levels between 380-420 ppm (parts per million). Dramatic swings in pH can cause problems for your livestock. Your protein … Levels that drift significantly outside of that range can cause problems, including causing issues with other parameters like calcium levels in your tank. The amount of "buffers" in seawater determines the alkalinity. Ensuring appropriate water parameters and environmental requirements is fundamental to reduce tank mortality. You need to keep alkalinity in the appropriate range in a reef tank to ensure there is sufficient bicarbonate for your corals to grow. By the way, the author states that typical ocean levels of strontium are 8 ppm. Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) will raise pH after an initial small drop. That’s a pretty broad range. Ok, so now you know where to focus your attention, in the beginning, but what are you supposed to do about it? No pressure to do so, just letting you know those are affiliate links. The normal trend for water in a saltwater system is for the pH to move downward, or more acidic, which stems from the addition of acids to the aquarium. Phosphate occurs naturally on reefs and is present at a level of ~0.13 ppm, but phosphates in a saltwater aquarium can be a big-time problem-maker in your tank, even at natural levels. Instead, buy a high-quality salt mix that roughly approximates the natural levels of the ocean and stay on top of your water changes.eval(ez_write_tag([[250,250],'saltwateraquariumblog_com-sky-2','ezslot_33',143,'0','0'])); Magnesium is an important ion and is the third most abundant ion in seawater. Strontium is actually a bit of a controversial supplement in the saltwater aquarium hobby (well, I guess as controversial as something like strontium supplementation could be). Nitrite is an intermediate by-product produced by your bacterial filter as part of the nitrogen cycle. Nitric acid from biological filtration (nitrification). The next several links to test kits are affiliate links that will take you to the Amazon.com product page for those products, where you can review the specifications more closely (if you wish) and read user reviews to decide for yourself. I cross-checked the information in their table with other reputable sources. When it comes to finding out what the ideal calcium level is in a reef tank, it will be important that you do not get too many different numbers. In practice, this deficiency can be caused in several ways. Just so you know, I do earn a tiny commission if you purchase anything on Amazon after visiting through one of those links. To tackle the big four reef tank aquarium water tests (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and pH), you may want to check out the API Saltwater Master Test Kit. What are the Proper Levels for a Reef Tank: 8.0 – 8.4 (down to 7.8 at night) Why is it Important to Test: In general, corals only thrive within the proper pH range. The way I think about pH is this: the pH level tells me how acidic (or not acidic) the water is.eval(ez_write_tag([[728,90],'saltwateraquariumblog_com-sky-3','ezslot_34',155,'0','0'])); pH is a critical reef tank parameter to measure for a healthy saltwater aquarium. The best magnesium level for a reef tank is likely consistent with the range found in the ocean–approximately 1285-1300 ppm. In the summer, when my AC is running all day long, I get a range from 8.1-8.3. The 9 MOST IMPORTANT Reef Tank Parameters are:eval(ez_write_tag([[300,250],'saltwateraquariumblog_com-box-3','ezslot_12',125,'0','0'])); Let’s dive a little deeper into each individual water parameter as well as the value for each one that is considered to be ideal for a reef tank, Jump right down to the summary chart of ideal reef tank parameters. If you don’t live in an area with a steady tropical temperature like that, then you will need equipment to keep the aquarium temperature in the right zone.eval(ez_write_tag([[336,280],'saltwateraquariumblog_com-square-1','ezslot_40',136,'0','0'])); An aquarium heater is probably required for just about any aquarium because most of us live in houses where the daily temperature is lower than the ideal values listed below. Most of us make our own seawater with a salt mix. If your tank has fully cycled, there should be no detectable levels of ammonia. In chemical terms, ammonia is a base, or a basic compound, which sort of means it is the opposite of an acid. Alkalinity is a complex concept/thing to describe because it pretty much only has scientific explanations. What do you think–are there any saltwater parameters more important than these 9? Calcium is an extremely important element in a reef tank and is essential for Small Polyp Stony or Large Polyp Stony Coral care and health, because, while they don’t have bones, they do have bony skeletons made from calcium, and they get that calcium from the seawater. The problem is that as your aquarium gets more crowded and mature, it will generate more nitrate and those levels will climb. Knowing the pH of the tank at a glance is great, but knowing what is the normal pH level for your tank on a day to day basis is even more important. So, a pH of 6.8-8.0 is a safe range for keeping most freshwater fish. If so, please leave a comment below. But until you reach an advanced level of sophistication or if you’re otherwise experiencing problems with your water quality and need to rule it out as part of the problem, you may be able to let sleeping magnesium lie and focus on the 9 most important water parameters. Proper levels create stability and prevent ph swings. A s discussed above, a reef aquarium's pH rises when its water becomes deficient in carbon dioxide. For equipment, I now use this Refractometer to measure the salinity of my reef tank, although you could certainly use a swing-arm hydrometer, like the one shown in the image above. So where does alkalinity come into all of this? For temperature, I use this Digital Aquarium Thermometer that I bought, a while back, on Amazon. On the other hand, if you get overzealous and maintain zero phosphate for an […] This is the kit I used when I set up my first aquarium, and I have replaced it more than once. Stan and Debbie have worked in the aquarium fish field for over three decades and written 300+ articles about pet fish. They are inexpensive and easy-to-use. Here are the target numbers: That’s a fairly narrow range around~400, so, to keep things simple, I generally think of the optimal reef tank calcium level to be about 400 ppm. Now that I think about it, bringing up milk didn’t really help this story much. This means that if you have a 55 gallon tank you want to have a circulation amount of 825 1100 GPH. The same is true with any dead critters that are left in the tank. You can use baking soda or soda ash to adjust the alkalinity and pH in your reef aquarium. Okay, back to the article…. The fifth most important saltwater aquarium water parameter is nitrite.