Light Acclimation and Coral Coloration

• by Felicia McCaulley
 
•  December 19, 2022
 
•  4 min read

Did you know it's just as important to acclimate new coral to your lighting as it is to have proper water parameters? Any time you move a coral from one place to another, even within the same tank, keep in mind that the coral will need time to adjust to the new lighting intensity and flow rate and pattern there. Newly shipped corals are especially prone to "bleaching" from being exposed to direct light too quickly.

How to light acclimate a coral

When you receive your new coral, follow our easy acclimation guide. Turn the aquarium lights off before placing your coral in the new tank. Keep the lights off until the next morning.

A good place for new corals is at the very far left or right side corners of the aquarium where the light is least intense. If the frag has a plug, you can place a frag rack in a shady spot on the side of your tank for new corals. If it has a flat bottom, you can place it on the substrate (avoid letting sand collect on the coral).

If you want to mount your coral to its final placement right away, you can dim the light instead. Some LED lights come with an "acclimation mode." The standard is to start the light acclimation by dimming the lights by about 50%, slowly increasing the intensity by very small increments over the course of 30 days. 

If you don't have LED lights with an acclimation mode, you can shade the coral by cutting out circles of mesh window screen and stacking them above the coral on the lid of your tank so that they only shade that coral. Each week remove one of the stacks. 

If your lights have a simple on/off switch and can't be dimmed, you can cut back the number of hours your lights are on during the day temporarily. Add an hour to the daylight hours each week for a month until the daylight hours are back to normal (usually 8 to 12 hours total, with actinic light coming on one hour before the white, and staying on one hour after). Another method is to adjust the height of the lights so they're further away from your water's surface. Over the course of the month, slowly adjust the height until they're in their original position.

Of course, you should observe your coral during acclimation and adjust as needed. It takes a bit of experience and focused observation to know when a coral is stressed. A coral that is pale, white, or translucent is "bleached" and should not be exposed to direct lighting. Bleaching happens when a coral is stressed, usually by bright light or heat, and loses its symbiotic zooxanthellae. Even a coral that is completely white can recover given proper conditions, indirect light, lots of coral food, and patience.  

an example of a pale, bleaching coral that needs to be moved to a shady spot and fed often for recovery.

What to expect when you're expecting new coral

Shipping is the most stressful event in these animals' lives, even exponentially more stressful than chopping them up and gluing them to rocks! This is why we need to give them extra care and consideration when they first arrive. Luckily, most coral, especially aquacultured coral, is much hardier than expected as long as you know how to acclimate them properly.

Keeping this in mind, it's normal/expected for coral to arrive with less color after shipping. It's also common for smaller/younger frags to have a more subdued color than the mature mother colony they were cut from. Over time with proper care, conditions, and nutrition, these young frags will color up to look more like their parent colony. 

Corals can look completely different depending on the light intensity. A "Mummy Eye Chalice" will be bright yellow under intense light, but deep neon orange under less intense light.

A Sunkist Oxypora will be dull green under intense light, but will be a beautiful velvety orange in the lower areas of a brightly lit reef tank. An Acropora coral might be dark green as a frag, but pink as an adult colony. A dark green Acropora colony can even turn a completely different color under a different type or intensity of lighting. It depends a lot on the health and concentration of the coral's many tiny symbionts and how the environment and feeding encourages the coral's coloration.

This Acropora turned bright pink after an upgrade to a newer "high end" lighting system.

This Red Montipora Cap grew into a stunningly bright show piece with proper light acclimation and slow light intensity increase.

This Biota Helen's Smoothskin Acropora was grown in Palau from a bright blue mother colony. Young, small frags tend to be more green, and it's natural for coral during shipping to lose a little color, but they tend to color up again quickly. Here's a collage of this coral from the day it arrived until about one year later. It's hard to imagine the coral in the first picture is the same exact coral in the last picture.

If you think your coral arrived DOA, please read our DOA policy here.

There is no instant gratification when it comes to coral keeping, but that's half the fun of this hobby! The coral keeper must provide an environment similar to its natural habitat in order for it to thrive, and that isn't always easy. Of course, aquacultured corals are hardier and better suited to home aquarium life than wild caught corals. With patience, consistency, and research, you will be a successful coral grower! 

 

The Secret to a Healthy Quarantine Aquarium

• by Felicia McCaulley
 
•  November 28, 2022
 
•  5 min read

Have you been making these common quarantine mistakes? Contrary to popular belief, quarantine done properly is not dangerous or stressful to new fish. Rather, it should be a safe rest and conditioning period before being introduced to the established fish in the display tank who may not be happy about sharing their territory.

Aquarium hobbyists rely on healthy populations of nitrifying bacteria, clean up crews, microfauna, algae, fish, coral, and many other diverse lifeforms to process waste in their aquariums. It can take half a year or more for these populations to mature and stabilize, even with the help of pre-seeded media, live rock, and bottled bacteria. It takes time. We all know that a quarantine tank is the best way to introduce a new fish to your home, but how is anyone supposed to keep a quarantine tank from crashing without all the diversity in a mature system?  

The secret aquaculturists know is that organic matter left in the tank for any amount of time can turn deadly very quickly. It’s important to constantly remove waste from immature tanks. Failing to do so can cause acute ammonia spikes, ORP drops, pH swings, infectious bacteria growth, acute oxygen depletion, and other issues that may not be easily diagnosed or requires special equipment to test that hobbyists don’t have immediate access to.  

In addition to your regular maintenance, we strongly recommend siphoning the quarantine tank before and one hour after each feeding. Thoroughly remove all detritus, feces, and uneaten food. Pay special attention to anywhere detritus can collect, like under rocks or hides. You will need to use a scrub pad to scrub the bottom of the tank as needed. Also frequently squeeze and rinse mechanical filtration like sponges in the tank water you removed during water changes, since organic matter can collect there quickly. Organic matter left in an aquarium starts to decay and attract bacteria almost immediately.  

Even in quarantine aquariums that have "cycled" media or rock, the diversity, stability, and overall maturity is still lacking. This can cause temporary but deadly ammonia spikes that may not even register on an ammonia test because the bacterial action processed the ammonia quickly. Keep an ammonia badge in the tank to help alert you to ammonia spikes, but also be aware that having “cycled” media or rock in your temporary tank does not mean your tank is safe from ammonia spikes.  

You may be thinking, "This sounds a bit unnecessary. I always do one larger water change each day on my quarantine, and that has worked for me." Keep in mind, though, some fish are more hardy than others. Removing waste frequently is particularly important for more sensitive species like Regal or Multibar Angelfish, for example, that have a hard time tolerating swinging parameters and immature aquariums. If you're an advanced aquarist and an expert on the species you're quarantining, you might be able to avoid siphoning as often if you can keep meals small and make sure the food is eaten quickly, but this is a difficult balance even for experts. 

We recommend feeding 3 - 4 x a day when fish are young or newly introduced. Keep feedings small, but frequent. If the fish isn’t eating at all, keep the portions tiny. You’ll want to give the fish enough time to notice and eat the food, but don’t leave the uneaten food in the tank for too long.

Some fish are more tolerant to water quality issues than others. Fish that have just been shipped and also sensitive species are sort of like "canaries in the coalmine," so they'll often be the first to show symptoms of water quality issues while other fish seem OK. Having one fish in the tank that is struggling while the others look healthy does not indicate good water quality, and it doesn’t mean the struggling fish is defective in some way.  

It’s extremely important to make cleaning and siphoning part of your feeding regimen. It can sound tedious to have to siphon and clean the tank so often to prevent these issues, but it only takes a few minutes each time to quickly siphon the tank bottom and scrub it with an algae pad as needed. You don’t need to remove a large volume of water around feeding times, just enough to remove the waste. Keep a small bucket and a thin siphon hose next to the quarantine so you can quickly and easily perform the needed maintenance. Also keep a large container with mixed saltwater on hand at all times so you’ll always have pre-made water on hand when you need it. 

An Acclimation Box is a Great Tool for EVERY Aquarium 

If you can’t use a quarantine aquarium, an acrylic acclimation box can serve a similar purpose - conditioning new fish and letting them interact with your existing fish in safety. Even if you quarantine your new fish in a separate aquarium, we still recommend using an acclimation box when you move the new fish into the display.

 How to introduce new fish to a tank that already has fish

 We strongly recommend introducing any new fish to a tank using an acclimation box; this is particularly important for smaller fish. This allows the fish to get to know each other. More importantly, using an acclimation box also lets you keep a close eye on the fish so you know it is getting food and isn't swept away by pumps or filtration while it's tired from its long journey. Make sure your acclimation box is large enough to accommodate your new fish comfortably for several weeks. Place it in an area that gets plenty of flow so the water inside doesn't become stagnant. Provide lightweight hiding places like PVC or macroalgae in the box. Observe the fish in the box for at least a week, and if the fish aren't acting aggressively toward it, try releasing the fish. If the fish fight, ideally you'd catch the aggressor and isolate it in the acclimation box to allow the new fish to get used to the tank. If you can't catch the aggressor, it's OK to put the new fish back into the acclimation box until signs of aggression are gone. With particularly aggressive fish, you may need to repeat these steps. 

 Why do I need a quarantine aquarium? 

 A quarantine aquarium isolates your new arrivals and gives them a chance to regain strength before going into the display tank with other fish they’ll have to compete with for territory and food.

 Although our marine biologists practice strict biosecurity at our facility, we still recommend all aquarists use a quarantine and conditioning aquarium as good practice. We should all do our best to provide the best conditions for our pets, but it’s not possible to have complete complete control over all the lifeforms in our aquariums, including the ones we don’t want. 

There’s a scene in Jurassic Park in which Jeff Goldblum’s character warns the scientists that they can’t expect to control the dinosaurs, and we think it’s a great metaphor for our captive aquarium environments. -

Dr. Ian Malcolm : “John, the kind of control you're attempting simply is not possible. If there is one thing the history of evolution has taught us it's that life will not be contained. Life breaks free, it expands to new territories and crashes through barriers, painfully, maybe even dangerously…I'm simply saying that life, uh... finds a way.”

How to set up a quarantine tank

https://humble.fish/community/index.php?threads/quarantine.2/

Dos and Don’ts of Quarantine 

https://humble.fish/community/index.php?threads/the-20-dos-and-donts-of-quarantine.2036/

Though proper quarantine is an excellent practice, we don't recommend using medications prophylactically on very young or newly shipped fish. Please give your fish plenty of time to grow and condition them well if you plan to use any preventative medications. 

 https://shop.thebiotagroup.com/blogs/news/how-to-mix-multiple-tangs-in-an-aquarium

How to Mix Multiple Tangs in an Aquarium

• by Felicia McCaulley
 
•  November 02, 2022
 
•  4 min read

Many aquarists have successfully added a young captive bred Biota tang to their tanks that have existing older, wild tangs. This Biota blog will help you learn some useful tips and tricks for keeping multiple tangs together.

Why are tangs aggressive toward conspecifics?

Some people tend to think of only carnivores as being aggressive, but tangs and other herbivores can be aggressive to protect their territory. Many tang species are considered to be “peaceful,” while some are “aggressive,” but even peaceful tang species can be aggressive toward other tangs, and sometimes even toward other herbivores like blennies if they feel their territory is too small or if their food supply is perceived to be limited.

How do tangs fight?

Most fish species will use their teeth to fight, so new tang owners might be surprised to see their fighting tangs line up side by side. Instead of biting, tangs typically use a sharp spine (scalpel) at the base of the tail (caudal peduncle) to slap and puncture their opponent. If you see your tang swim next to another fish while flaring all its fins and darting quickly back and forth, this is aggressive posturing.

top and bottom left: various tang species' caudal peduncle weapons 

bottom right: a tang with injuries 

How to introduce new fish to a tank that already has fish

We strongly recommend introducing any new fish to a tank using an acclimation box; this is particularly important for smaller fish. This allows the new fish and your existing fish to get to know each other in safety. More importantly, using an acclimation box also lets you keep a close eye on the fish so you know it is getting food and isn't swept away by pumps or filtration while it's tired from its long journey. Make sure your acclimation box is large enough to accommodate your new fish comfortably for several weeks. Place it in an area that gets plenty of flow so the water inside doesn't become stagnant. Provide lightweight hiding places like PVC or macroalgae in the box. Observe the fish in the box for at least a week, and if the fish aren't acting aggressively toward it, try releasing the fish. If the fish fight, ideally you'd catch the aggressor and isolate it in the acclimation box to allow the new fish to get used to the tank. If you can't catch the aggressor, it's OK to put the new fish back into the acclimation box until signs of aggression are gone. With particularly aggressive fish, you may need to repeat these steps. 

Tang groups should be kept in a very large tank

Your tank should be at least 6 feet long if you want to keep multiple tangs together. Very young tangs can be kept in a smaller tank together temporarily during quarantine or grow-out, but they grow quickly. Adult tang groups should ideally be housed in the largest aquarium possible. A tang that feels crowded may act out aggressively.

Have a lot of rock arranged with a lot of hiding places

The aquascape of your tank is important. Tangs are strong swimmers and need plenty of open space, but they also need lots of live rock with caves and crevices to feel safe.

Feed often

A well-fed tang is a happy, peaceful tang. In the wild tangs graze constantly. If they sense a lack of food, they will be more likely to fight. It can be a fine balance between feeding enough to make tangs happy and controlling organic waste in the tank. Especially when tangs are first introduced together, feed multiple stations of "grazing" type foods like nori seaweed sheets on clips or Easy Reefs Masstick at opposite ends of the tank and replace as often as possible.

Add tangs at the same time

Your best bet is to add an odd number of tangs to the same tank at the same time. Two tangs will only have each other to fight with, but three tangs will disperse their aggression three ways. It’s better if you can find tangs that are already used to being together. Biota captive bred tangs are housed in our facility together with others of their species and tend to acclimate together better than tangs that have been housed alone. Younger tangs also tend to get along better than tangs introduced together as large adults.

Turn out the lights

When you open the shipping box, you don't want to shock your new fish with bright lighting. Turn off your aquarium lights and make your room as dark as possible. Adding new fish into a dark tank will also encourage the fish to rest instead of fight. Keep the lights off for the rest of the day and allow them to come on in the morning. Aquarium professionals use red light in dark dedicated acclimation rooms because fish don't see red light. You can use a red light at home or a red flashlight to view your tank at night.

Add tangs in order of size and each species’ aggression level

If possible, add tangs according to size. The smallest specimens should be added to the tank before larger ones. If you’re adding different species together in one tank, consider their aggression level. For example, a Blue Tang is considered to be peaceful while a purple tang is considered to be semi-aggressive, and a clown tang is aggressive. Add the most peaceful species first. Some individuals of the same species can be more or less aggressive depending on their personality and life experiences. If you can't follow these rules, be sure to use an acclimation box to introduce new fish! Adding multiple tangs in odd numbers helps break up aggression if you already have established, older tangs in the tank.

It is usually easier to add tangs together when they have a different body shape, color, and are a different genus. For example, adding a captive bred Yellow Tang and a captive bred Blue Tang together at the same time is likely to be successful. 

Distractions 

Aquarists use creative ways to distract their "bully" tangs. 3D printed "decoy" tangs, a mirror or a picture of a tang taped to the side of the tank can attract a bully to help keep it away from a new tang. Moving the rockwork around and breaking up a bully's territory can also help when adding a new fish.

If you have any questions about adding a captive bred Biota tang to your aquarium, please feel free to reach out to our support team. 

 

#CORALmagazine #Insidelook: Author Felicia McCaulley and photographer Michael Vargas have done it again with an all-out tour de force, replete with glorious MVargas Photography, showcasing what seems to be the “coral of the year”, the Torch Coral, Euphyllia glabrescens. It’s this issue’s Species Spotlight.