Reef Aquarium Food is this month's Special Feature by DBW, a mass move in has occured, and Marther explains a bit about silicon and diatoms.

Editorial

Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday OZ REEF, Happy Birthday to You. Yep, you've got it, OZ REEF Marine Park is now 1 year old, a whole 12 months. Wow, that is really quite amazing, it now seems like it has been around for a real long time. Anyway, a lot of things have happened in that time, and it is well on the way to the original goals that I set out to achieve. Being a reef aquarium that is stunning and beautiful to behold and a suitable habitat for the residents. Anyway, one down .... and a lot more to go ;-).

I have once again been absent twice for more than a couple of days during the last month, and things have been nice and stable. The first period was 7 days, the longest yet, and the second only 4 days. I just had someone, a house mate, to feed the Park twice a day and then to replace the evaporation water top up drum. So there was nothing really involved or anything, just very simple for him. When I returned on both occasions the only things wrong were corals that had become dislodged or moved around on the sand due to the gobies, the picky things. I am now very happy that I can leave for such a length of time and not have to worry about what is going on. Although I have been able to be contacted by a mobile phone for both periods if something came up.

Below you will notice that it has been a huge month for new residents moving into OZ REEF. The reason for this is a friend of mine, Christian Hofman, is moving and had to do something with all his reef aquarium stock. He is moving up to Townsville in Queensland to do an undergraduate course in marine aquaculture. Anyway, one night he called me up and asked me if I wanted some corals, and the list of them is below. Thanks Christian, and don't worry, those shrimp are boomerang shrimp ;-).

In the last week the first major resident incompatibility has appeared, Ecsenius bicolor or Bicolored blenny and a type of small polyped scleractarian. The coral is one that I moved from Christian's tank to mine a week ago. It appears that the blenny has taken a liking to chewing on the end of the colony branches, and this has caused some tissue damage and the rest of the branch refuses to extend. Luckily the entire colony is not being attacked because of the crab that lives within the branches that defends its territory. So, the blenny has to go, and that is going to be no trivial task. What I hope to do is use the fact that they love to sit in small holes watching the tank. A small plastic container has been placed in the tank with a hole in it just the perfect diameter for the blenny. Hopefully he will take it on as a home, and when that occurs can just reach in while he is sitting in it, he retracts into the container, cover the hole and remove the container. If this does not work then will have to deconstruct part of the reef structure to remove the rock that he currently hangs out in. Fingers crossed anyway.

This last month has been bit of a DIY period, with two DIY projects designed by other people, Kay Wilson and Mike Stroub, being put online. Kay has designed a calcium hydroxide reactor, with everything including the magnetic stirrer being built from scratch. It is a very neat and ingenious project, being based on the reactor mentioned in Delbeek and Sprung's The Reef Aquarium. Mike has designed a very simple wavemaker that turns powerheads on and off using a very simple commercially available timer. He has used this himself for a long period, and does a very good job. Additionally there is another project, by myself, is actually featured in this issue of OZ REEF Press, a food that is very simple to make and can cater for the food requirements of most of your reef aquarium inhabitants. See the DIY Plans for details. Thanks Kay and Mike for allowing me to put your plans here for all to see.

Til next month, catch ya,
DBW

Welcome OZ REEF's New Residents

All of this months residents have moved in courteous of Christian, and there are some very nice and unusual ones too, thanks Christian.

• 2 x Stenopus zanzibaricus, Golden Headed Coral Banded Shrimp. These two are a mated pair that work on about a 30 day cycle. They are very shy and you are lucky if you see them during the day. But at night they can be seen wandering over the entire reef structure. The male lost his large pair of claws while catching him, but has already started to regenerate them within a week.
• 1 x ????, ????. The Caretaker does not have any idea what this coral is. It has around 1mm brown coloured polyps that extend to about 2mm in length. The blunt branched are tightly packed together and are around 8mm thick. The colony has formed a sort of wedge like structure that is 150mm long and 40mm wide.
• 1 x ????, Orange Crab. This one is a symbiotic crab that lives in the colony of the previous resident listed. If a fish happens to approach the coral, he waves his claws to ward them off. Is a little difficult to see at any time, as the colony is rather dense and little space between the branches.
• 1 x ????, Clam/Scallop. Not sure what type this one is, looks a lot like a type of scallop. It has a nicely patterned brown mantle.
• 1 x Virgularia sp., Sea Pen. A very fascinating organism that only comes out at night to feed. During the day hides in the sand, then extends out and exposes its polyps to feed. Is a light brown colour, and the vertical stalk is entirely covered by the polyps that look very much like those found on Dendronephthya sp..
• 1 x Acropora sp., Staghorn Coral. A nice small fragment, brown coloured.
• 1 x Turbinaria peltata, Bowl Coral. Very interestingly shaped brown/grey coloured colony.
• 1 x ????, ????. The Caretaker has no idea what this one is. The brown colony has very fine branches, about 3mm thick with very abrupt angles. The polyps appear to be around 1mm across.
• 1 x ????, ????. Once again, The Caretaker has no idea what this coral is. It has very small polyps, around 1mm, that extend up to around 3mm in length. the brown colony that it forms is in the form of thick, blunt branches.

Resident of the Month

Dear Marther ReefKeeper

Dear Marther,

What form of silicon, silica or silicates is it that I should be concerned about being present in a reef aquarium?

From,
D.I. Atom

Dear D.I.,

For starters, let go through and define all the compound you are referring to:

Silicon (Si)

Member of the group four elements, along with carbon, germanium, tin and lead. Has very similar properties to that of carbon, making it possible to form long molecular chains. It is therefore thought possible that silicon based life could exist. Interesting side of this is that the life form would 'breath' out silicon dioxide, or sand in much the same way we oxidise carbon to give carbon dioxide.

Silica/Silicon Dioxide (SiO₂)

An infinite 3D structure made from arrangement of a SiO₄ tetrahedral with each oxygen shared between two silicons. The structure is very similar to that of diamond, just place a silicon at each carbon and then an oxygen along each bond. Silica is quartz, sand and some other minerals. Silica sand is quartz that has turned brown due to iron oxide impurities in the crystal structure.

Silicate (M_xSiO₄)

A chain of SiO₄^4- units with some metal, M, counter ion. There are many different forms, each differing in the charge present on each tetrahedral unit, the differing number of oxygen atoms shared, and the manner the sheets and chains are arranged together. Some base units can be SiO₃^2- and Si₄O₁₁^6-. Examples of some silicates are zircon ZrSiO₄, which all you cheap dudes out there should know, and talc Mg₃(Si₂O₅)₂(OH)₂. The possible minerals and structures is absolutely huge due to the three characteristics indicated above.

The species that is found in water is typically a shorter silicate, even down to the base SiO₄^4- unit, but can be multiply units long. Other forms that is present is SiO(OH)₃^- and Si(OH)₄ (silicon hydroxides), with the former more likely to be present in alkaline environments, such as found in seawater. Silica dissolves into water, which it does to about a concentration of 15ppm.

The reason that the levels of silicates in aquarium water is an issue as elevated levels can cause blooms of diatoms, coving all surfaces with a grey/brown dust. Diatoms use silicate to build their silica skeleton, and is typically the limiting nutrient in a reef aquarium. Therefore if you keep the silicate levels low in the water, then it is likely the diatoms will not reach bloom proportions. The actual form that diatoms use silicon from the water I am yet to find out, but I suspect they may be rather flexible in what they can use.

Diatoms are the dominant plant component of plankton, although the majority of the species are actually benthic and only enter the plankton to reproduce or because of disturbances. The cell walls consist of a silica shell in two halves which can be highly ornamental. Diatoms also prefer cooler, low nutrient waters outside which they are out competed by blue/green algae or dinoflagellates. Most are sensile, but some move by excreting and withdrawing a mucus to give a basic form of locomotion.

Some other interesting things about silicates I was researching this:

• Opal consists of a close packing of tiny amorphous (randomly arranged structure of the silicon-oxygen unit) silica spheres. As the spheres are very small, around that of the wavelength of visible light (500nm) they show diffraction effects which give the flashing colours.
• Flint is an amorphous dehydrated silica.
• Diatomaceous earth, or deposits of skeletal remains of diatoms, is used to make dynamite.

From,
Marther ReefKeeper

Special Feature

Reef Aquarium Food

by

Idea of this is to make a food mixture that will feed everything in a reef tank in one go. Fish (herbivores, omnivores, carnivores), shrimp, large polyped corals, small polyped coral, anemones, brittle stars, fan worms, sea squirts, and so on. It is also very convenient, with a batch lasting a month or two being made at the one time and it just has to be thawed and added to the aquarium.

What actually goes into the food mixture depends on what is available and the type of animals that are in the tank. There is a list of possible ingredients below. The more herbivores there are, such as tangs, then the more vegetable matter you put in, the more suspension feeders then the more small food particles etc. Just adjust to the needs of your reef. As you go along, you will learn what they like, and which you have success with. The great thing about it is that there are so many different foods within the one food source. Therefore there should be something for all the organisms in the reef aquarium, and it also ensures that it is meeting all the nutritional needs of the organisms too.

The easiest way to make it up is in a blender, but you could also do it using one of those hand 'Bamix' type blenders. Make sure though, that it is not reduced to a really fine paste, otherwise there will be no larger food particles for the larger organisms in the reef aquarium. So judgement has to be used which ingredients to add at a particular time in order to keep them from being turned into mush. What I have also done is cut up some shrimp meat up after it has been blended, and the stirred this in to give some larger food chunks. So of the foods it is best to add after the rest has been blended, or chopped up before the rest is added. Points about when each should be added are below in the ingredients list. It is a good idea to add a little water to help it form a thick slurry.

Now you have a wonderful reef food. To keep it as such, so it will last a long time, and can be conveniently used freeze it. There are several ways to do this: in ice cube trays, baking trays, or a plastic bag. The idea is to make it into a size that you can feed to the aquarium for one feeding. Depending on the size of the ice cube trays, you may have to split them in half once they are frozen. Or alternatively just water them down by adding more water to the cubes before freezing. If you do it on baking trays then put down a bit of baking paper first, spread it out around 10-15mm thick and freeze. Then you can either cut it up into the sized required, or break it off as need. With the plastic bag, just lay it out flat and follow as per the baking trays.

This I usually fed once daily to OZ REEF. I place the frozen food into a small glass of water from the aquarium and allow it to thaw. Then using a baster, it is dispersed into the water and then injected into the aquarium. Using the baster it can be directed at specific organisms if the need arises, such as shrimp, corals, shy fish, brittle stars etc. You can also make a feeder that can read almost anywhere in the aquarium, a DIY Fish/Coral Feeder.

A list of possible ingredients are as follows, with the amounts that I place in a typical mixture:

Nori

This is dried seaweed, and herbivorous fish absolutely love it. It is used to wrap sushi, so it can usually be found in the Asian section of the supermarket. When you buy it, it is in thin sheets, just a bit thicker than a sheet of paper and is a dark green colour. Get the plain version, not flavored. The best idea is to shred this first, before adding the other ingredients, when it is dry. And then remove it, blend the other things, and stir into the mixture when it is finished. Add one sheet.

Shrimp

Good stable food for all carnivorous organisms. A few larger pieces are a good idea for larger fish, large polyped corals and anemones to have. This is usually the largest component of the meat part of the food, adding about 10 shrimps.

Scallop

Another good stable food. The good thing about this is that it can be minced up really fine, into a paste. So can be a good suspension and fine food particle feeder to small polyped corals, fan worms etc. Add about 6 scallops.

Squid/Calamari

Most likely cheaper to use squid, but if you can only get calamari then that will have to do. Have to be careful, as this can be difficult for the blender to chop up, and may get wrapped around the blades. Add about 6 rings.

Crab

Another good meat to put in. I have not been able to find any decent crab meat at the market, only the 'seafood mix' stuff, which is really just a mix of cheaper, lower quality stuff.

Octopus

The small entire octopuses are quite handy. They blend up really nice, and because it includes the entire organism, there is a lot of different nutritional value in it. Add about 4 octopuses.

Mussel

Another good food variation. Add about 4 mussels.

Fry Food

This is the small bottled product that is used to start a culture to feed fry. It is a good food source for the fine suspension feeders, such as clams, sea squirts etc. Add one of the small bottles of this, about 10ml.

Yeast

Another good fine suspension feeder food. About 1 teaspoon per mixture.

Flake Food

This will ensure that they are getting all that they require. Add the flake at the end, by stirring in, it does not require blending. It will absorb all the moisture in the mix before being frozen and disperse into small pieces when it is thawed. Add about half a handful.

Bait Fish

Last time I was at the market, I spotted a small, white bait fish so I gave it a try. It seems like it was a good move, as the fish relish these food fragments in the mix. Add about a handful of this.

Vitamin Supplement

This is just to make sure that they are getting all that they require. It is likely this is not required, but I am just making sure. I use a bird multi-vitamin and it is very cheaper than anything directly for an aquarium. Add about a teaspoon.

Brine Shrimp

I plan to use this in the future. Just stir some in after the mixture has been blended. If it is frozen, then thaw out first. Can also use newly hatched brine.

Fish Eggs

I have heard of a few people using these in their mix, just don't use Russian Caviar. ;-) This makes sense though, as an egg has a lot of nutritional value and it is meant to feed a growing organism and tend to all its nutritional needs until it can feed itself.

Shrimp Eggs

Saw this mentioned around the traps also.

Mysid Shrimp

Fish absolutely relish this food source, so if you can get them they make a wonderful addition. Stir in after the mixture has been blended.

Chicken Egg Yolk

Another good type of egg to put in. Cook the egg yolk, then just add to the blender. Add towards the end as it does not have to be cut up, just stirred well in. Once again, the egg is to act as a source of nutrition for the growing chicken, so it has a lot of vitamins and minerals in it. Another type of food for the suspension and filter feeders again, as will quickly break up upon injection into the aquarium.

Zooplankton

If you have access to this, they are usually sold as a frozen food from the local aquarium store, then another great food to add. Thaw first, then stir in after the mixture has been blended. If you happen to have your own cultures of this type of stuff, then that can be added.

Bloodworm/Earthworm

Many people like to feed these type of things to their tank, personally I don't like feeding anything that is non-marine to my reef. But, if you feed this, or are comfortable with it then it can be quite easily added. Best idea might be to cut it up and stir into the mixture after it has been blended.

Spinach/Romaine Lettuce/Broccoli/Pea

Same as with the last ingredients, I don't particularly like to feed a terrestrial food such as this, but many swear by it. Might be a good idea to shred these up separately, then stir in at the end so that you have more control over the resulting size.

Anything Else You Normally Feed

Add anything to the mixture that you would normally feed to your reef. And use your judgement to determine when to add it, how to cut up etc, so that the correct food particle sizes are acquired.

As you can see, this is quite a list of possible foods that you can put it. But you do not have to put them all it, this is just some examples of what to put in, and some is what I personally use.

So give it a go. You will find it very convenient, and your reef inhabitants will love you for it. Let me know if you think of some other foods that you have tried, I will add them to the list, and the success you have had.

You Wouldn't Believe It!

..... almost the entire west coast of the South American continent cannot support very much coral growth. This is due to the Peru Current that brings cold water from the southern oceans around Antarctica along the coast of Peru. The same effect also works along the west coats of the North American continent too, with ocean currents from Alaska and Canada bringing down cold water.

..... Cassiopea sp., or the Upside-down Jellyfish, actually lives on the sea floor unlike other jellyfish. It lies on the sandy bottom and points its bushy arms directed upwards. They can easily be mistaken for an anemone.

Bereavement Notices

Hyastenus sp. Decorator Crab
One morning he was found on the sand. Over the last few months the crab seemed to be not as well decorated with bits of algae as at the beginning. It is suspected that there was a lack of food, because of the fact that they algae has been disappearing over the last couple of months.

Lysmata debelius Fire Shrimp
This one is actually just missing, but since he has not been seen for something like 3 months then it is more than likely that he has died. Fire Shrimps is very shy anyway, and is not typically seen during the day time in a highly light intensity reef tank. This is the second one to go, with the first dying while caged in a breeding trap to avoid being caught in the crab trap that was being used in the Park.

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