Aquatic Life

Clown Fish... The Inside look at how clown fish could affect your tank... pg. 9

Issue, 1 Quarter,1 2011

Aquatic LifeIssue,1 Quarter, 1 2011

Issue, 1 Quarter, 1 2011

TitlesChief EditorAlana Bilotti

PhotographerAlana Bilotti

Graphic Design Alana Bilotti

Assistant Graphic Designer Jenessa Nahon

Brian Blank

Advertising Alana Bilotti

Consultant Phil WangA.J. Hilton

Publisher CompanyAB Productions

Contact [email protected]

Facebook.com/aquaticlifeTwitter.com/aquaticlife

Aquatic LifeIssue, 1 Quarter, 1 2011

Titles1. Letter From Your Editor F 3- A Reflection on the first quarter

2. Allie Aquarium Adventure F 4- Allie shares her trials and tribulations

4. Test Your Tank Knowledge F 10 - Take a quiz to see how much you really know about your tank.

5. Tank Contest Winner F 12- Our magazine is proud to offer rewards for establish-ing a great tank

3. Stop Clowning Around F 6 - A deeper look into how Clown Fish can affect your tank.

Vieques, Puerto RicoYour fish’s favorite Tropical destination

FBrought to you by puertoricanvacations.com

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This first issue is dedicated to you! The new hobbyist, one that is unfamil-iar with technical terms that all the

other aquarium magazines use but the lay-man terms. Simplifying the hobby to fit the needs for even the first time tanker

.

There will be a time when technical terms

will become more familiar as you enter into the deeper realms of tanking but in the mean time don’t over whelm yourself. Enjoy your tank and the first time ex erience. Try not to r ush but if you are impatient like e yu will find it hard.

Throuh many different attempts through trial-and-error I have become more of my tank and the proper tanking techniques. Without the need to rush my environment along I may not be in the position I am in today.

As I become more experienced in my salt-water aquarium skills I will be happy to pass this useful information on to you. With the growth of the magazine comes groth of knowl-edge for myself and the magainzes readers.

My position is to help you benefit from my uncanny experiences. These are my unorth-odox way of doing things. My suggestion to you, learn from my mistakes. In the long run you will save yourself a lot of time and money.

However; if you have the need to rush and not learn from my experience. We here at Aquatic Life would love to hear your stories. You can e-mail us at [email protected].

Your Aquarium Enthusiast,Alana Bilotti

Chief Editor/ Aquarium EnthusiastAlana Bilotti

F 3

Dear Hobbyist,

F Alana Bilotti

A fresh new Bio-Cube a month after the dust storm.

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My first Damsel, th

e same one

that got lo

st in th

e dust s

torm

the first day I g

ot my ta

nk.

A star fish who is not coral friendly which I was unaware of when I purchased it,

]Allie's Aquarium Adventure

F

As a first time hobbyist, my first quarterly column should keep all of our read-

ers well informed on what not to do with an alternative approach.Well, as you know from your edi-tor impatient way has now led us to delivery this funny interpretation of saltwater aquariums. So, lets start from the top. I re-ceived my first tank (a 28--gallon Biocube) as gift from my boyfriend for our two year anniversary. I was so excited, it came with the whole kit and Caboodle! The Biocube it-self comes ready to rock with the pump, algae balls and coral lights. Next in my love basket came the “live sand” and the sea salt to mix together with filtered water so this can all be added to the Biocube. So, we started by adding the sand first and then mixed the water with the sea salt. Afterwards, we added the water to the cube. Now keep in mind when you add the water to the sand this creates a big Biocube of satly-watery sand-storm inside. Instead of letting the water and sand settle from this murky messy state, I needed fish in the tank then, immediately! There was no reasoning with me. The poor Damsels disappeared into the murky water for days. My advice to you, at least wait for your water to settle before you go rushing fish in your murky water (for their sake not yours!). The proper way to start your tank is to “establish” your tank. This means you want to have your tank cycle for a good 4 to 6 weeks be-

fore adding different forums of life to your tank. During this time you can add damsels and/or a “clean-up crew.” Which consists of hermit crabs, crabs and snails. They will help maintain your tank through-out its life span. However, there is a secret I learned through my impatient ways, there are different products out there which can help speed up the cycling process. An example is Aquarium Instant Bio-Spira. This can make a 4 to 6 weeks process happen in a week or less. I bought it but never used it. A week went by and my dam-sels were looking alive and having a grand ol’ time. All of a sudden one day I notice this coral looking thing coming out of my live rock. I thought to myself “Wow this is great! I got a couple free pieces of coral.” But much to my surprise when I went to the Pet Store I found out this “cool coral” was nothing of the sort. They called it aiptasia and are a species in the Jelly Fish family. The young lady assisting me said, “You have to shoot them with the syringe and a calcium solution but be care-ful because they move fast and when they smell fear they disperse their seed.” She followed the reassuring instruction with “it’s fun trying to kill them all off.” I knew I was in for it after her statement. I headed home to kill off the new enemy. Wouldn’t you know they did exactly what she said they did. Before I knew it I had aiptasia pop-ping up all over the place. Even on

the glass! There was no stopping it... So I decided I would try a different approach. I took all the live rock that was living in my tank to the intercoastal and set it free. (Well set me free from a tank filled with Aip-tasia.) This is the part where a new love story develops. I decided to go to a different pet store because the first store had the tainted live rock as far as I’m concerned. A friend had told me about a saltwater aquarium store. I walked into Rockin’ Reef and was amazed! There was nothing but fish! All the other stores I had been to were stores for all types of ani-mals. Not Rockin’ Reef, saltwater aquarium only. I immediately fell in love. There was no going back. They had a whole wall filled with untainted live rock so I purchased three new piece for my aquarium. I was satisfied for the day. Not only did I never go back to the pet store with the tainted live rock, I never have been to another aquarium store since. I hope you have taken some important information from this! Looking forward to next time!

Best of Luck,

Allie!

]Allie's Aquarium Adventure

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6 FF

Clown Fish

“Clown Fish are the first fish to be suc-cesfully tank raised,” said Ned Fennegan.

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Stop Clowning Around,Find out what’s right for you

People are probably most familiar with clown fish from the Disney movie Finding Nemo. What people fail to real-ize is most Clown Fish are not as friendly as Marlin and his lovable son Nemo. Clown Fish are native to the sea and compromises about 30 different species . They are most commonly found in warm climates such as; the Pacific Ocean, Red Sea and In-dian Ocean. They vary in color from yel-low to blue and range in differ-ent sizes. Their name comes from their vibrant color and are commonly mistaken for fooling around with their cra-zy antics. “In reality, Clown Fish are very aggressive and terri-torial. They will go to great lengths to protect their terri-tory,” said John Harm, a staff writer for aquarium commu-nity. When it comes to the aggres-sive behavior Clown Fish tend

to react in the same way. So, it depends on when you accli-mate the fish to your tank. Traditionally, when fish are introduced to an environment at the same time there is not much room for aggressive be-havior. A little taunting may occur but once territories are divided and established. Once this happens the species are fine and everyone is at peace. However, when a new species is added to the tank this is where things can get deadly. “I have tried to introduce a couple of different species to my tank and my clown fish becomes a serious bully,” said Julie Smith, aquarium hobby-ist. “I once put an arrow crab in my tank and my clown fish pick its legs off one by one.” This problem of aggression can happen when an estab-lished tank species feels there is an “intruder.” There can also be behavior is-sues when a mate is involved. As most species, protecting a

mate is a number one factor in aggressive disputes. These problems are also more predominant in smaller tanks. If a tank is larger and the community is sized ac-cordingly there can be no ag-gression at all because all species have their space and learn to respect one another. Understanding your species is half the battle in finding out who is compatible with who. This is a responsibility as a tank owner. If you have sub-missive fish and wish to keep them a Clown Fish may not be the right fit for you established environment if your tank is small. Do your research and in a worse case your local hob-byist store can help. There is no reason your en-viroment can not all live in harmony together with a lit-tle problem solving and daily care.

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-By: Alana Bilotti

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Stop Clowning Around,Find out what’s right for you

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Methods to Try When Adding New Species

*Remove all the established fish from your aquarium. (Including all the new species)

*Rearrange the rocks and other deco rations in your tank.

* Place a when ventilated plastic bar-rier in the tank to introduce separate the fish for a few weeks until they get acclimated to each other.

*If your tank is too big for a well ven-tilated plastic bag try a well ventilated box for a few weeks until the fish have time to warm up to each other.

* If all else fails, take the fish back to the aquarium store where you pur-chased your fish and ask if you can trade your fish in for any species that is more compatible with your tank.

-By: Alana Bilotti

Test Your Tank Knowledge

1. How often should you change the water in your tank?A. Once a weekB. Once a monthC. One a year

2. When you change the water, how much should you change out. A. 2 gallonsB. A third of the tankC. More than half

3. How many snails and hermit crabs should you have part of your “clean-up crew?”A. 5 of eachB. One of each per gallonC. As many as you want

4. How often should you feed your fish?A. Every other dayb. Once a dayC. Once a week

5. What type of water do you add to the tank when water evaporates?A. Tap waterB. distilled/filtered waterC. Chlorine water

6. In between filter changes, how often should you rinse the filter off?A. Twice a weekB. once a weekC. Never

7. What is the proper temperature range for a saltwater aquarium?A. 65 degree Fahrenheit or belowB. 72-80 degree FahrenheitC. 80 degree and above

8. How many hours a day should the lights be on?A. 2-3 hoursB. The same as the amount of daylightC. All night

If you chose 5 or more “A”

You are still learning about what is important when it comes to your tank. There are some general facts that will help you to maintenance a healthy and happy tank. Most of the facts come from experience and ask-ing questions.

Keep Up the Good Work!

If you chose 5 or more “B”

You are either an experienced tank owner or you are catching on quick-ly. The fish and other species in your aquarium are happy to have you as a tank owner. You deserve a pat on the back for your hard work and well maintenance habits.

Congratulations!

If you chose 5 or more “C”

You should start paying more atten-tion to what is going on in your envi-ronment. There are plenty of sources to help you with any questions or problems you may have with your tank. If all else fails, the profession-als working at your local aquarium store will be happy to help you.Good Luck!

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There are some very important facts when it comes to taking care of your tank. If you want a clean and healthy tank you should know how to maintain your aquarium. Some people think its okay to start to establish a salt water aquarium and the rest can take care of itself. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

So, we here at Aquatic Life think its important to test your knowledge on aquarium maintance. We hope this is an easy fun test and if you have trouble or don’t know all the answer, we hope you learn something. There is nothing wrong with not knowing all the answers but to take knowledge from the test.

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Tank ContestWinner!

Winner of the 1st A.L. tank contest is Sandra Medero owner of the 65-gallon AGA. This is a great example of what your tanks should look like.

A clam with two types of coral and an anenome.

A coral friendly starfish tries to climb the glass.

This big anenome is home to Sandra’s only Clownfish.

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Feel you have what it takes to be the next Aquatic Life Tank Contest Winner? Enter at:[email protected].

WIn $100!

Aquatic Life is proud to be sponsered by reefbuilder.com to host a quarterly salt water aquarium contest. Anyone is eligable to enter the contest with any kind of tank. We are hoping to eventually have different catergories

of tanks. In the mean time, we can only host one. It is up to the proud readers to send in photos of their aquariums. We encourage people to entert to win money and motivates to keep a healthy tank. Details are below.

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