Flight or Fight?

Introduction

It is always of interest to hobbyist to understand the behaviour of the organisms we raise, to best take care of them.

Fish behaviour though, is definitely extremely complex, something that cannot simply be categorized or idealized. Behavioural ecologists have spent countless years understanding the complex relationships between various factors that make up an organism, and how that dictates how it deals with the surroundings.

As we all know, some fish displays aggressive behaviour towards any of its conspecifics. Others, only to the same sexes. Then there are those that besides a 'mate', will definitely take on anything else.

There are fish that will not tolerate any coinhabitants, and those that will easily. There are those 'in-between' as well. Sometimes, it seems like it all just varies with each specific individual.

Whilst certainly the combination of behavioural factors is part of what makes each and every species unique, and then every individual amongst that species, there are certain behaviours that we can observe as being consistent throughout many species. By understanding these behaviours firstly, and relationships between these behaviours secondly, we can definitely have a more profound understanding of our live stock.

Fight or Flight

The 'fight or flight' response is one that is deeply ingrained in many animals, one that trascends the various animal kingdoms.

'Fight or flight' denotes a very simple biological decision, that of whether to run from a dangerous situation, or deal with it head on. Whilst this is generally most obvious in fish, you would probably have stumbled upon it elsewhere.

Did you ever notice that many clams would close up quickly if you shadow the lights? It is a response to danger, or at least 'perceived' danger. In the wild, they associate being shadowed with the presence of something above, shading the Sun. This something 'above' could very well be a predator, hence the closing up 'flight' response.

'Fight' and 'Flight'?

As we can see above, the definition of 'fight' and 'flight' can be quite broad. 'Flight' doesn't mean that one has to definitely run away. It could be something like the clam's 'closing up', or a coral retracting its tentacles into itself. Neither of this allows the organism to go anywhere far, but it is enough to escape from a predator.

'Fight' too, does not necessarily mean 'fight' in the sense of a battle ensuing. A 'fight' response can simply involve the act of rasing one's defenses, such as a pufferfish puffing up, or a lionfish raising its spines. Essentially, if 'flight' is an act of escape, 'fight' is an act of defiance.

It is important to understand the definition of these words, to fully understand why our livestock do what they do. Or at least, provide some explanation for it.

A Perceived Threat

One of the factors that we have to keep in mind is that a 'threat' may be perceived, i.e. non-existent.

However, due to the way organisms are programmed, they may still react nonetheless - for example, with the clams and shadowing example above.

Why is this important? We must remember then that what we know or perceive is not as important as what our live stock know or perceive.

One of the most obvious example of this is with cichlids. Many cichlids fall prey to birds and the likes. Birds rely mainly on sight to spot their prey, and in areas of open water, they can obviously spot their prey better.

Cichlids, therefore, avoid open areas like the plague, unless there is indication otherwise. Over time, they will eventually 'brave the outdoors', though it will take time for them to do so. Even then, their fight or flight response kicks in, if there is any semblance of danger, such as when you approach. Though in this case, it will almost always be a 'flight' response. This is because everything boils down to survival (and passing down of their genes), and in situations where they have little chance to fight back, their instinctive response is to run away.

So what can you do? You can turn off their 'fight or flight' response by adding what are called dithers, or in other words fish that acts as a safety indication. There are many open water fish that will brave the open in large numbers, such as rainbowfish. With these in the aquarium, it will give the cichlid a sense of safety. If these fish are not being eaten, then a likelihood of predators is low.

A True Threat

Understanding the 'fight or flight' response is also important to understand many of the interactions between our livestock.

When dealing with predators or major dangers, the instinct is to run away. When dealing with a much more managable danger, such as competition, then the instinct gears more towards te 'fight' response. Fight for mates, fight for food, fight for territory.

Many of this will still depend on the situation, but others will be almost exclusively a 'fight' response, when the 'flight' response is unavailable.

How is this important, and what does this explain? This explains a lot. Have you ever seen a cichlid defend its young? For many cichlids, the young are defenseless and are totally reliant on the parents. In such cases, leaving the young means certain death, and so even if possible, cichlid parents may not leave their youngs, in order to protect them. When the 'flight' response is forced to be switched off, the 'fight' response tends to be much more intense as well.

This is why many fish are so much more aggressive during and after breeding.

This is the same for territorial aggression. Having chosen a home, they have nowhere else to flee to, and so will do anything to protect it. Well in the wild, they can abandon their home, but...

In Our Aquarium

Our aquarium is quite special because we put fish together into a box that is probably at least a thousand times smaller than their natural habitat. At least. At least.

So don't be surprised if there is a lot of territorial encroachment, or if there is a lot of 'fight' responses going on. It is easy for a fish to be cornered, and obviously when cornered - the 'flight' choice is gone. And so, fight.

One major is issue is... what happens if both 'fight' and 'flight' are unavailable options? Have you ever seen your fish tucked away in the corner of your aquarium, afraid of coming out? Yeah...

So how do we control this.

Simple. We just have to make it so that the fish don't need to choose between 'fight' or 'flight'.

Okay, it is not as simple as that.

Think back to the example above. Most cases result from a fish addition into a tank with a fish that already has a territory. The fish feels like it needs to protect it, and will chase away the invader (the new fish). On the other hand, in nature, the invader might just run away, but in our aquariums, they will still be somewhere around. Having not manage to chase away the invader, the defender just have to try, and try, and try again. Even when the 'invader' is tucked in the corner. So next time, don't blame that 'aggressive' fish of yours. It is just protecting its territory, and is probably just as scared.

There are many methods that can work, but usually 'resetting' the aquascape will help. When this happens, no one has territories, and so everyone has to establish something. In this case, it might just work out as fish do not actually require that big of a territory. The issue normally is that once established, a territory keeps on getting bigger and bigger, until it meets the edge of another where it stops. So multiple territories established at once will work, but sequential additions mean that something will encroach upon something else's territory, and whilst fish are happy to have a limited territory from the beginning, they do not like a big territory being narrowed down.

The above is just one issue that arises from the 'fight or flight' response. There are many others, such as issues with fish running into rocks and the likes and hurting themselves out of fright. All of this must be managed, by reducing the need for the fish to resort to the 'fight or flight' reaponse.

Because when they need to initiate that response, they feel endangered, and will be stressed out and may exhibit dangerous behaviour. We definitely don't want that.

Conclusion

This really is just a short article on this behaviour. It is truly much more complex than this, but you should get the general idea. The thing is you must always keep this in mind as a consideration, when determing why your live stock is behaving in a certain way. 'Why is my fish spazzing out? Why is my corals retracting? Why is my anemone running amok? Why is my clam moving? Why are my goby and blenny not getting along?' Well. 'Are they running away or dealing with it head on? Are they initiating a 'fight or flight' response? How can I alleviate this?'

8 Marine Hobby Myths That Just Aren't True!

Introduction

Whether one is new to the hobby or has been around for a long time, there will always be stories out there. Some are fully valid and proven time and time again. Others, despite its incomplete truth, seems to somehow persitently remain and proliferate, keeping itself alive through the ages. The retention of these myths rely on its attachment to truths. Unfortunately the attachment makes it absolute in many's minds, and when the time comes that these myths prove wrong, no action is taken. This leads to just endless problems for us, the hobbyists, and the lives that we care for. For the good of all our fish and corals and more, it is time we separate them once and for all.

1. Corals only need light to grow

One of the biggest, and most persistent myth surrounding corals is the requirements for growth. Many will tell you that corals only need light to grow, much like plants.

Well firstly, plants need more than just light to grow. As plants grow, more cells and biological products are created. And unlike in Harry Potter, matter don't just come out of nowhere. So in a closed system like an aquarium, where does all that matter the corals need come from? Well, not from the lights, that's for sure. I'm pretty sure that if you stand in the light, matter don't suddenly appear on your skin. :)

2. Nitrates and phosphates are inherently bad for corals

Yes and no. Context! Context is important. Firstly, no chemical is inherently good or bad. It depends on whether it can be used or if it causes harm, and for/by what.

Do you remember what lives within corals, turning 'light' into usable energy? Zooxanthellae (Symbiodinium). And they are, guess what, symbiotic algae. Yes, algae. To be precise, they are dinoflagellates.

Remember all that algae in your aquarium? Remember why people say 'nitrates and phosphates' are bad? Because algae consumes it. Waitttt, what did we say zooxanthellae was again? Oh right, algae.

Yep, your corals actually do need phosphates and nitrates (and other nutrients) to grow. Surprise, surprise.

3. Nothing measured is nothing existing

Measured 0 for your PANN (phosphates, ammonia, nitrites and nitrates)? Yet seeing algae all over? Well simple. No PANN measured doesn't mean no PANN existing. Reefs are like forests, in that nutrients added can be uptaken very quickly. So even if you overfeed, by the tine you measured for PANN it may have all been consumed by algae and the likes. This is especially true when you already have plenty of algae growing, which is the state most reach before realizing 'oh crap so much algae, better reduce feeding'.

It truly is hard to gauge how much is overfeeding and how much is 'just right'.

Sometimes, it is best to not rely on tests, and rather on the visual signs within your aquarium.

4. Stocking many fish/corals at once is instant death

This is a big myth out there, and it stems from many reasons, none of which is exclusive and justifies this myth.

The biggest reason for the continuance of this myth is that stocking needs to be slow, for your biological filtration system (microbes) to adapt to the increase in bioload. But as I detailed in this blog post here, if your biogical filtration system needs to adapt after each addition (especially the first), you are doing it wrong.

A proper cycle should prepare your aquarium for whatever first addition(s) you make. And once your aquarium is ready, no matter if it is one fish or ten fish (assuming all other factors allow), you will be able to add them all in.

There are many other reasons that people use, such as:

-The longer the aquarium has existed, the more stable it is.

-Compatibility is important.

-Enough territories are required.

-The keeper will be more experienced as time goes on.

And so on.

As can be clearly seen, most of the reasons are exclusive from what they actually purports to support, pertaining more to 'tank readiness' than anything. Like I said above, if your aquarium is ready, then your aquarium is ready.

Think about it. If you have enough territories, then whether you add fish one at a time or multiple at once, that won't change territories.

Same with compatibility. If they are compatible, then regardless, they will be compatible. Adding fish slowly won't somehow make them 'more compatible'. On the contrary, many fish species are highly territorial, and when added together has a better chance of settling territories right off the bat. Adding one by one means that there is a much higher chance that the first additions have taken big territories, leaving newer additions with nothing.

5. A cycle finishes when you see a reduction in AN (ammonia and nitrite) to zero

Oh and nitrate too, sometimes. This is not true, and deserves its own special mention. The cycle, which should be better called the 'bacterial propagation phase' (BPP), only properly completes when you have a healthy population of bacteria.

Think about this way. You can have an aquarium with nothing except saltwater, and you'd measure nothing. Does that mean it is cycled? Hm... (no, it is not).

6. LEDs/T5/MH/etc. is better/worse

The simple truth is be it LEDs, T5s or MHs (and a number of other types of lighting), they can all work, and work well. That doesn't mean that you can just plop any light on a tank and your corals would bloom though.

Remember, it all depends on the actual spectrums, efficiency, and more. If your lighting system (regardless of what type it is) produces the correct lighting for coral growth, then the simple truth is, your corals will grow.

7. Dead rock always leaches phosphates

The theory behind this is that if we leave live rock out, organisms deep in the rock will die and decompose. This will leach out into the aquarium slowly, and basically forever. And because the organisms die so far within, nothing can take advantage of the organics in there.

The truth is very different. We truly underestimate the capabilities if bacteria and other microbes to colonize every surface possible.

If you 're-cycle' the rock properly, all that organics will be (relatively) quickly consumed.

8. You need at least xyz watts of lighting per litre/gallon/whatever

The idea that somehow, growth of corals always require a certain wattage over a certain volume.

This is one of the oddest myths out there, as there are just so many things wrong with it. Firstly, Even if you have a certain amount of wattage over your tank, and it is not in the correct color spectrum, then good luck. See if your corals love all-UV light. :)

Additionally, a single volume can mean many different types of aquariums. A tank that is 3ft long, wide and high has the same volume as one that is 6ft long, 3ft wide and 1.5ft high. But you'd need to consider your lighting very carefully with the 3ft high, as you need the light to be able to punch to the bottom of the tank. Compared to 1.5ft, which is much easily reached.

Additionally, sometimes two tanks of the same width and length, but different heights can use the exact same light as the light would have the ability to cover either heights. So to illuminate one that is say, 1ft high, and one that is 2ft high, there may not need to be an increase in wattage or anything of the likes.

Conclusion

The amount of myths out there is humongous, and these just represent a small proportion. They are though, very commonly dispersed around the community. Next time you see one of them around, think of this post. :)

Any questions, please ask!

Live Rock? Base Rock? Dead Rock? Cured Rock? Where to even START?

Introduction

Rocks serves many purposes in an aquarium. From being a part of the decoration, to breaking up waves and acting as a surface to place corals. More importantly, it is a biological filter media, capable of filtering our aquariums effectively.

Yet, it can be very confusing when purchasing rocks for our aquariums. What type to buy? What are the advantages and disadvantage of each type of rock?

This article will explore the broad type of rocks available, and just what it means for the rock to be labeled as such.

Live Rock

Live rock at an aquarium store. Most stores will store their live rock in such large vats of water, until the time is right for a hobbyist to pick up theirs. This here is a picture taken at Majestic Aquariums.

Live rock is in simplest terms, rock taken from a marine system/environment. In theory, live rock would contain much of the life originally found in and on the rocks, as it was in the ocean or from another aquarium. In reality, the trip from the ocean (or another aquarium) to the aquarium store (or to your aquarium) would have seen some of the organisms dying off. This is exactly what is normally referred to as 'die-off' when people discuss rocks.

Due to that, the straight addition of live rock to an existing aquarium must be carefully considered, as the die-off can foul up the water quickly. Of course, it would depend on just how much die-off there is, the amount of rock you are adding in, your aquarium volume and your aquarium filtration capabilities. Essentially this: if your aquarium can, at all points in time post-addition, handle the concentration of waste from the rock, then you are safe.

Cured Rock

Cured rock is rock that does not produce 'waste products' as live rock do, being safe to add straight into an existing aquarium.However, this means that 'cured' rock can either be live rock or dead/base rock, and therefore can cause confusion.

Cured rock may go through a full curing process, whereby die-off is washed away or re-used by organisms on or in the rock. As much of the die-off can be washed away, the amount of beneficial bacteria (and organisms) existing in and on the rock can be aplenty, or minimal. Many curing processes result in cured rock left for too long, or not done properly, and almost everything has died and completely decomposed (before being drained away). Although these rocks would not produce waste - it is because there's practically nothing left to produce waste, not because it is thriving with bacteria that breaks down waste.

Therefore, take into careful consideration what you are attempting to do when purchasing cured rock, and what way the rock has been cured. It is best to double-check before purchasing, what type of cured rock you are getting.

Dead/Base Rock

CaribSea 'life=like' base rock. This type of base rock is designed to look like rock with coralline algae coverage. CaribSea distributes plenty of types of rocks.

Dead or base rock are generally the ones you see that look just like any other rock existing out there. There really isn't much life on it.

Depending on how the rock is stored, it could be completely sterile/clean or full of dirt/detritus/dead organisms. The first is no different from cured rock (and so basically some cured rock are dead/base rock, as mentioned above). The latter when added to an aquarium can result in a situation no different than that seen with live rock, with plenty of unwanted molecules and chemicals released into the water. In fact, if it was stored in areas exposed to 'unnatural' chemicals, it is best to give the rock a good rinse/clean first.

Conclusion

There really are just three types of rocks out there, and can even be divided into two categories - either live rock ('containing life') or base/dead rock ('no life'). Either can be cured, or uncured.

Note that even though rocks can offer extreme filtration capacities, it will still depend on the origin of the rock itself. Rocks from certain reefs are more porous than others, and hence offer better filtration capabilities. It is therefore worth it, not to just know the state of rock you are purchasing, but also the particular type of rock it is.

Happy hunting!

The Ons and Offs of Cycling

Introduction

Following on from the previous from the previous blog post, I do want to touch a bit on what type of equipment should be turned on or off during the cycle, and the reasons why. After all, this is a frequent query that people have.

To be frank, if we consider the purpose of a cycle, then the answer is quite straight forward. And that, will also be my approach to answering this.

Let's consider now, why we cycle. The purpose is to grow a healthy population of bacteria, that can meet our filtration demands. Towards that, whether or not to use a piece of equipment are not is very simple.

I will divide the possible equipment set up in terms of the cycling process, and the post-cycling process.

During the Cycle

During the cycle, we want to focus on growing bacteria. There are two factors we want to especially consider here:

1.) We want to retain bacteria in the aquarium.
2.) We want to maintain enough food for the bacteria.

And so, let's cycle through the equipment list (pun intended).

Heater/Chiller

Yes - Contrary to popular belief, a heater (or chiller, but usually just the heater) turned on during the cycle is good. What temperature though? If you have live rock in with organisms besides microbes, then set it to around 27 degrees celcius (80 degrees fahrenheit for you Americans). If you've started off 'bare' then set it to 33 degrees (91 fahrenheit). Optimal growth rate for many nitrate-reducing bacteria is around 29 degrees, whilst others are more so at 37 degrees. It would be good to set your temperature to be somewhere around there, so that whilst it not quite optimal for any one species, you're getting good growth of all. Just make sure not to go above 37 degrees (98 fahrenheit), as some bacteria will stop liking it by then.

 Hydor Theo Heaters, a brand of heater suited for bigger tanks. Set it to higher temperatures and see your bacteria bloom!

Mechanical Filter Media

No - Don't worry about mechanical traps initially. You are not trying to remove anything. In fact, you definitely want any food particle to disperse as evenly as possible throughout your tank and sump. Remember, you want to grow bacteria, and it's not just about having food in the tank, it's about getting the food to your bacteria.

Poly-Filter, which also acts (mainly) as a chemical filter media. This is an extremely effective product capable of removing ammonia and so much more. Which also translates to DON'T.

Biological Filter Media

A MUST! - Where else do you think bacteria can grow? They need their own lovely home.

Marine Pure, one of many types of biological filter media. Live rock is actually also a type of biological filter media. Don't forget, you NEED a biological filter media of some kind. Bacteria need a home too.

Chemical Filter Media

No - Carbon, GFO and the likes are not recommended. Once again, think about what we are doing here. We actually WANT what we normally consider as 'waste products' to be in our aquariums, to feed bacteria. There's no point taking these out. Chemical filtration are useful in taking out certain toxic chemicals. But then the question is... why are those chemicals in there in the first place? If you need to, run these BEFORE the cycle. :) Then take it out once you begin.

 PhosBan, one of the many types of ferric chemical filter media out there. This product in particular is mainly used to remove phosphates... which is not quite what we want to remove. There are bacteria that sequesters phosphates after all. Basically any by-product of biotic processes is probably utilized by some species of bacteria.

Skimmer

NO JUST NO - Skimmers takes out practically EVERYTHING you want to retain, including bacteria and their sustenance. This will massively slow down your cycle. Just, no. Don't. Don't do it.

Need a compact skimmer? Tunze Comline is a good choice. Just remember, DON'T have it running until your tank is cycled.

Reactor

Maybe - It really depends on what type of reactor you are running, but most won't really aid in any way. Biopellet reactors, in theory, are good, but otherwise it won't be contributing much. Certain reactors that run carbon or the likes are no different from chemical filtration (because they are chemical filtration). See above for my opinion on chemical filtration.

A Deltec Calcium Reactor. Now let's think hard about this. We are slowly dissolving calcium into the water. What for? Sure it probably won't harm the bacteria, but it's not like they need the amount of calcium corals do, eh?

Water Circulator

A MUST! - Be it pumps or water circulators or the new awesome Maxspect Gyre, you need something to circulate your water from the getgo. That's the best way to ensure distribution of bacteria (and food) to where they need to be.

This is an Eheim Compact 1000. Many smaller (nano) tanks can actually get away with just a return pump, such as this one, and not need a water circulator in the tank itself! Hurray for limiting 'artificial' products in the display. :)

Lighting

No - At this point light will grow algae, and not much else. Bacteria don't need light to grow.

 Wowwwww, the colors from this Illumagic ComboRay! Corals would look great underneath it... if only my tank doesn't take months to cycle... oh wait!

Honorable Mention

Don't do a water change. Coral supplements/food are not necessary. Do feed fish food, or better yet, just purchase some seafood mix from the grocery store and feed the tank. I personally would recommend pureeing it and distributing all over the tank.

Post-Cycle

You can now run equipments as you like. Lower the setting on your heater/chiller to something more suited to what animals prefer.

Conclusion

In the end, I might have missed something (if I did, please let me know), but in general, you just have to consider this - 'what will affect my ability to propagate bacteria?'.

So long as it helps, I'd recommend it. If it doesn't, then don't have it. In essence you can definitely cycle a tank with all equipments on, but it will just take a long, long, long time. For comparison, I cycled my 36L nano in 7 days, and by day 10 I fully stocked it with 5 fish and a lot of corals. Not a single issue occured, in relation to my biological filtration capability. In the end, all I had in my aquarium was Marine Pure and coral sand (biological filter media), heater (set to 25 degrees celcius, I did forget to set it higher) and the return pump running.

As always, be flexible though. There may be times that you NEED to do something I don't recommend. But in general, stick to it and you'll see that your aquarium will cycle much faster. :)

Have fun!