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Random Aquarium Topics
| Mantis Shrimps and Pistol Shrimps Marine Topics - Marine Pests  Like its terrestrial neighbour, The Mantis Shrimp (Odontodactylus spp.) is a dangerous and cunning predator. It secretes itself in holes within living rock and more often than not finds its way into the aquarium via that same route. Indeed, some consignments of living rock can be so dense with them that one can be found in almost every hole. The adult size of this shrimp can vary widely within a range 2-12" (5-30cm), depending on species. Whilst hovering at the entrance to its resident hole, the mantis shrimp can flash out club-like appendages at anything considered edible passing within range. Fish, crustaceans, molluscs, aquarist's fingers(!), all can fall foul of this voracious hunter. |
| Bacteria Revealed Marine Topics - Filtration After all these years, it turns out that the nitrifying bacteria are not what we thought. Biological filtration is the critical filtration component in every aquarium. Whether the biological filter is live rock, trickle media, a sponge or any other substrate, the oxidation of ammonia to nitrite and then to nitrate is necessary to keep these substances from reaching toxic concentrations in our aquariums. It has been a basic tenent in biology and the aquarium hobby that there are two bacteria responsible for nitrification. The first, called Nitrosomonas europaea, oxidizes ammonia to nitrite, while the second, Nitrobacter winogradskyi, oxidizes nitrite to nitrate. |
| Anemones - Flowers Of The Sea Marine Invertebrates - Anemones  PHYLUM: CNIDARIAAlmost every enthusiastic marine hobbyist must be either keeping, or tempted to keep an anemone. Whether it be to give a natural home to clownfish or just the mere fascination of these undersea 'flowers', anemones have a special place in the heart of nearly all marinists. |
| Thought For Food Marine Topics - Marine Foods and Feeding  Coral reefs have often been referred to as 'deserts of the sea' and paradoxical as this description may seem, it is perfectly accurate. For, although teeming with an abundance and great diversity of life, nutrients are in surprisingly short supply when compared to the seas in other areas of the world. The gin-clear waters bear testament to the fact that plankton and other food particles do not flood the reef in any massive quantity, yet still these are some of the richest and most densely occupied locations to be found on the planet. How? |
Big Fish for The Marine Aquarium!
One type of marine aquarium never fails to create a stir, the fish-only tank containing BIG fish! The sight of large slices of brightly coloured piscine flesh cruising around an equally spacious aquarium is enough to make anyone's heart beat a little quicker.
The Micro Shrimp Tank
Most of my regular readers will already be aware that, on the whole, I do not condone small marine tanks; that is, tanks with a nett volume of less than 20 gallons (91 litres). They are usually very unstable as far as water parameters are concerned and subsequently exert...
