Saltwater Biotope Aquarium - Thoughts

After the success with the little biotope aquarium, the bigger one bore new challenges: I couldn't keep those beautiful seagrasses alive. Anemones were wandering around, which is no good sign and dangerous for them. I needed to understand some more things about the processes in the sea and how to transfer them into the aquarium...

For example: Everybody is anxious about nitrate and phosphate in their aquariums, because undesired algae would grow... Even in a tropical coral reef, as coralish it looks, there are always algae growing around!!! And there are animals that feed on them. Also: Corals and anemones are inhabited and maintained by algae that need...: nitrates and phosphates!!! I was determined not to transfer this into a chemical lab. There must be a natural way... And there is! First of all: If you have animals that feed on algae and your aquarium is stable, you will never have a problem with the typical algae, since while they grow, they are consumed. There are only some specific species that cause trouble - so did with me - for example because they overgrow everything including corals and no animal obviously feeds on them. I had that problem. I found a snail that feeds on this algae, but it wouldn't eat all of it and not between the corals. It was impossible to defeat it!!!

Finally I came across information about another important player in the game: bacteria. Similar to algae they multiply very fast, consume nitrates and phosphates, but different from them they don't need light and they don't produce oxygen, but carbon dioxide. Their growth can be boosted with the so called 'Vodka-Method'. This means that alcohol in tiny doses is added to the water. (I use a mix of 100 ml of ethanol + 400 ml of water and add 10 - 20 ml daily to my 150 l aquarium. You have to start with a little dose and increase it slowly. Add it in the morning, because bacteria will produce co2, which you don't want to happen at night...) Bacteria consume the carbohydrates from the alcohol and phosphates and nitrates to such a degree, that other forms of life could begin starving. They also can lead to a lack of oxygen, which is fatal ('bacterial bloom'). At the same time they are - as microscopic algae - at the bottom of food chains. I had also an explosion of plancton - which is very desirable!!!

And finally: It solve my problem with algae! I'm pretty sure that in freshwater environments this effect is also very desirable to provide biological co2 and also plancton for freshwater mussels, for example . And also to control algae growth. It seems as if some plants also profit from the carbohydrates...

Aren't those biological processes extremely fascinating?