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Originally Posted by invertaman
1.go as far as you want to ived learned there are no limits(there are some exeptions...like tank compasity)
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I hope this was meant to be there are no limits as to how FAR you can go with keeping Marine aquariums...
There are plenty of other limits in the hobby, one of which is the ability of seawater to carry oxygen, at 80 to 82 degrees F in a closed system. Considering how many fish you want to have and their restrictions to adult size in terms of
biological filtration to move their nitrogenous wastes through the
nitrogen cycle in the tank, a very generalized rule of thumb would be a total of 5 inches worth of fish in 50-60 gallon (US) system, less if you plan on keeping any populations of stony corals. Carnivorous fishes, especially ones like lionfishes, groupers, etc., drop this limit even further due to their high percentages of nitrogenous wastes produced as a result of their feeding requirements. One of the big things that SW keeping requires is a gradual change whenever adjusting bioload in order for the populations of bacteria responsible for reducing ammonia and nitrite to nitrate to grow to match the waste production of the additional fish. This waste conversion, along with the presence of autotrophic bacteria and algae, will consume alkalinity in the water column either to maintain adequate pH or as a single carbon fragment for metabolism or photosynthesis as well, so you'll need to consider alkalinity as a limit as well. This does not include any use by calcareous algae or other hermatypic (reef building) organisms like stony corals. These are but a few of the limitations of closed marine system husbandry. (Heh! If Spanky were here, he
might bring up those pesky deep sand beds...
)
Some limits are based on our closed system concept of keeping sea creatures, others are based on the creatures themselves and their particular needs. There are considerations that need to be made related to the amount of current and light needed for the entire system
as a whole. This means that you need to consider how you're going to provide the flow needed for the organisms in the system in a way that is suitable for
all the organisms. If you provide current for stony corals for optimum growth, you'll need to put pump and recirculation capacity into the system that will provide around 50 to 70 cm sec^1 (cm/sec) current velocities. If you also have LPS single polyp specimens like some
Euphyliid spp. (Torch or Frogspawn), this rate of current may result in polyp bailout or detachment, particularly if you maximize the current for the
Acroporidae . Current issues can make the difference between a system that has many problems and a system tht is clean, attractive, and thriving.
The same is true for lighting requirements. Most
Acroporiid spp. need the general equivalent of 1500 to 2000 mEs m^2 (microEinsteins/m2) light energy to survive, more to thrive. Lighting maximized for normal growth and development of
Acroporiids will pretty much blister most understudies of octocorals and other organisms that dwell in the indirect light and shadows of other more light-needy species. In the shallow confines of most closed aquaria, there is some shadow available, and in SPS tanks, these shadows are frequently filled with the organisms that meet these requirements, but more often than not, the compromises needed to make them thrive are not available to more than a few select creatures that can fill the ecological niche proffered by this environment. See John Tulloch's
Natural Reef Aquariums or Bob Fenner's
The Conscientious Marine Aquarist for more information and a great resource for setting up new systems. Read them cover to cover before making any changes or additions to your system. Ask questions here on things you don't understand, and get lots of input before spending the first red cent for any equipment, supplies or specimens.
The key of this discussion is that there is a need to select a particular biotope based on what specimen you feel is the most important to keep, then to build your habitat around the needs and conditions prevalent in the biotope of that specimen's natural community. THIS is the key to truly successful captive coral systems, as the conditions that allow the primary specimen to thrive should make all the specimens chosen from that biotope thrive, rather than having to create compromises to allow them to survive.
Such a huge difference between surviving and thriving...
This is not to pick on invertaman's POV, as I feel that he was trying to be a booster for your situation, but it
can and often
is taken that so long as it will fit in the box, it should survive. As a conscientious aquarist, it is important that each of us find the right combinations of conditions that allow for each of our wards to THRIVE in their captive environment, rather than just get by. This is the ultimate ideal for which each of us should strive, and education and research, whether it be through question and answer, surfing the net, reading textbooks, or learning through the experiences of others; each grain of knowledge we learn about the environments we seek to emulate helps us achieve that goal.
Knowledge is power, seize the power!
sorry for the long post, got a bit carried away.
HTH
OK, I'll stop and take the soapbox home now...
