Troylee
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So what is a low nutrient aquarium? A common question being asked around in today reefing....
Below is an interesting article by Jeremy Simmonds to better understand of what's the fuss about....
So what is a low nutrient aquarium?
Hi, my intention is to keep this article as a generic overview of the systems and some of the methodologies that make up a low nutrient filter system. If anybody wishes to correct or add to this document please pm me and I will be happy to update it as needed.
Why low nutrient aquariums?
Simply put for many years marine aquarists have wanted to be able to offer water quality that is as good as nature. You do not have to be an aquarist for long to realise that in the end, it all comes back to the water. If you could connect your aquarium up to a supply of natural seawater turn on the tap and let it flow constantly through your aquarium, given a little light and flow you would have thriving colourful corals.
Adding fish just messes it up!
Where aquariums go wrong is the addition of fish, corals and other livestock. A glass box of lovely crystal clear shimmering water is so attractive and easy to keep, “adding fish just messes it upâ€. That remark was made to me by a designer adding a water feature to a London office where I use to work.
Making it all work.
So we quickly come to the conclusion that we cannot fit a new tap to our house called Pacific Ocean and unless we are like the London designer we actually want our fish and corals. So we have to find ways to make it work and boy do we try different ways to make it work. Since I first had an interest in marines, I have seen just about every gadget, gizmo, pill, and powder brought onto the market to try and make the aquarists life easier by improving the water quality. Some worked some were rubbish and a few moved the hobby forward and gave us better conditions for the animals in the aquarium. In my opinion the tools of low nutrient systems are the next step forward and one that is making a real difference to the health of our aquariums.
Since the first filter was added to an aquarium we have relied on bacteria to help us digest fish waste and keep the aquarium water in good condition for our fish. The nitrogen cycle as it’s often called is the basis of reprocessing wastes in nature. It is quite easy to cultivate these primary bacteria, just a bit of sponge or gravel with water flowing through it and you will soon have a nice home for bacteria to live, add a little ammonia and a few other bits of waste and you have happy bacteria consuming the bulk of the waste in the aquarium. As primary bacteria, these species are quick to grow and quick to get the job done, but, here’s the downside, these bacteria are limited in what they can consume. If waste was simply just a single element then perhaps we would have sufficient bacteria to do the job, sadly all the other biological wastes in the aquarium build up and lower water quality. Over the years we have come up with a wide range of gadgets and methods to try and help remove these other nutrients. The ones you are probably most familiar with is devices like the protein skimmer, the use of live rock to help remove nitrates and absorption resins that will absorb and hold specific wastes in their pores. All these methods have helped us to try and keep our water quality closer to natural seawater levels. At this point it would be wrong to say that these systems have failed abysmally as I have seen some very good aquariums run using a combination of the methods mentioned above. I have also seen some very well equipped and specified aquariums run by competent aquarist’s amount to nothing more than a drab brown collection of rocks and corals.
Anybody who has seen an Acropora coral either in the wild or in the aquarium can attest to some of the fantastic colour combinations that look almost painted on to the coral by nature. It is this beautiful colouration and maintaining it across the whole branch of the coral that became the driver for the early developers of low nutrient filtration. These guys were interested in a method of filtration that allowed corals to keep their eye popping colours. This is easier said than done and anybody who kept Acropora corals over 5 years ago would notice that a beautiful coral bought and added to your aquarium on Saturday could be fading fast by the end of the week.
Lovers of SPS corals have long been the experimenters at the dripping edge of the hobby. Their early quest to keep these corals alive, lead to many pioneering methods such as powered skimmers, calcium reactors and the design of better filtering equipment, all to keep these difficult corals alive. Once they were alive and growing the next big thing was to keep the colour.
So much has been written about coral colouration but it is still very hard to fully explain why every coral is the colour it is and why some will change colour more easily than others. Most early sps keepers had a nice aquarium of fast growing green and brown staghorns, if the truth was known most of the browns had probably been bought as expensive blues or tricolours that once added to the aquarium either quickly or slowly all sort of went brown. A few of these, where the lighting was strong, would develop coloured tips but in all but the most exceptional aquariums brown was the colour.
The battle for low nutrients begins.
In those early days you could easily notice that the SPS coral would look brighter for a good water change. This and taking a sledge hammer lead to the problem lead to bigger powered skimmers to try and keep water quality high along with experiments with evermore powerful lighting. Another factor was that those aquariums that had good SPS colouration often had hardly any fish. Back to the designer who feels fish ruin a water feature.
What makes a coral go brown?
It can be a combination of things; some Corals are brown that’s the way nature intended them to be. Others lose their colour due to elevated nutrients, stress migration and adaptation to their new environment.
Below is an interesting article by Jeremy Simmonds to better understand of what's the fuss about....
So what is a low nutrient aquarium?
Hi, my intention is to keep this article as a generic overview of the systems and some of the methodologies that make up a low nutrient filter system. If anybody wishes to correct or add to this document please pm me and I will be happy to update it as needed.
Why low nutrient aquariums?
Simply put for many years marine aquarists have wanted to be able to offer water quality that is as good as nature. You do not have to be an aquarist for long to realise that in the end, it all comes back to the water. If you could connect your aquarium up to a supply of natural seawater turn on the tap and let it flow constantly through your aquarium, given a little light and flow you would have thriving colourful corals.
Adding fish just messes it up!
Where aquariums go wrong is the addition of fish, corals and other livestock. A glass box of lovely crystal clear shimmering water is so attractive and easy to keep, “adding fish just messes it upâ€. That remark was made to me by a designer adding a water feature to a London office where I use to work.
Making it all work.
So we quickly come to the conclusion that we cannot fit a new tap to our house called Pacific Ocean and unless we are like the London designer we actually want our fish and corals. So we have to find ways to make it work and boy do we try different ways to make it work. Since I first had an interest in marines, I have seen just about every gadget, gizmo, pill, and powder brought onto the market to try and make the aquarists life easier by improving the water quality. Some worked some were rubbish and a few moved the hobby forward and gave us better conditions for the animals in the aquarium. In my opinion the tools of low nutrient systems are the next step forward and one that is making a real difference to the health of our aquariums.
Since the first filter was added to an aquarium we have relied on bacteria to help us digest fish waste and keep the aquarium water in good condition for our fish. The nitrogen cycle as it’s often called is the basis of reprocessing wastes in nature. It is quite easy to cultivate these primary bacteria, just a bit of sponge or gravel with water flowing through it and you will soon have a nice home for bacteria to live, add a little ammonia and a few other bits of waste and you have happy bacteria consuming the bulk of the waste in the aquarium. As primary bacteria, these species are quick to grow and quick to get the job done, but, here’s the downside, these bacteria are limited in what they can consume. If waste was simply just a single element then perhaps we would have sufficient bacteria to do the job, sadly all the other biological wastes in the aquarium build up and lower water quality. Over the years we have come up with a wide range of gadgets and methods to try and help remove these other nutrients. The ones you are probably most familiar with is devices like the protein skimmer, the use of live rock to help remove nitrates and absorption resins that will absorb and hold specific wastes in their pores. All these methods have helped us to try and keep our water quality closer to natural seawater levels. At this point it would be wrong to say that these systems have failed abysmally as I have seen some very good aquariums run using a combination of the methods mentioned above. I have also seen some very well equipped and specified aquariums run by competent aquarist’s amount to nothing more than a drab brown collection of rocks and corals.
Anybody who has seen an Acropora coral either in the wild or in the aquarium can attest to some of the fantastic colour combinations that look almost painted on to the coral by nature. It is this beautiful colouration and maintaining it across the whole branch of the coral that became the driver for the early developers of low nutrient filtration. These guys were interested in a method of filtration that allowed corals to keep their eye popping colours. This is easier said than done and anybody who kept Acropora corals over 5 years ago would notice that a beautiful coral bought and added to your aquarium on Saturday could be fading fast by the end of the week.
Lovers of SPS corals have long been the experimenters at the dripping edge of the hobby. Their early quest to keep these corals alive, lead to many pioneering methods such as powered skimmers, calcium reactors and the design of better filtering equipment, all to keep these difficult corals alive. Once they were alive and growing the next big thing was to keep the colour.
So much has been written about coral colouration but it is still very hard to fully explain why every coral is the colour it is and why some will change colour more easily than others. Most early sps keepers had a nice aquarium of fast growing green and brown staghorns, if the truth was known most of the browns had probably been bought as expensive blues or tricolours that once added to the aquarium either quickly or slowly all sort of went brown. A few of these, where the lighting was strong, would develop coloured tips but in all but the most exceptional aquariums brown was the colour.
The battle for low nutrients begins.
In those early days you could easily notice that the SPS coral would look brighter for a good water change. This and taking a sledge hammer lead to the problem lead to bigger powered skimmers to try and keep water quality high along with experiments with evermore powerful lighting. Another factor was that those aquariums that had good SPS colouration often had hardly any fish. Back to the designer who feels fish ruin a water feature.
What makes a coral go brown?
It can be a combination of things; some Corals are brown that’s the way nature intended them to be. Others lose their colour due to elevated nutrients, stress migration and adaptation to their new environment.
