As a saltwater aquarium owner that may be looking to add corals or you already own corals, you should be aware of Palytoxin Poisoning and so should your family members.
What is Palytoxin Poisoning? – Palytoxin is a very powerful toxin that can be contained in some Palythoa (Palys) and Zoanthid (Zoa) species. This toxin is used by the coral as a natural defense mechanism. Not all contain it and not everyone is susceptible to the toxin, but it can be very dangerous to your health if you are exposed to it and it could lead to life-threating consequences.
From my research, it appears that pets can also be susceptible to poisoning, especially if the toxin becomes airborne or an unnoticed coral falls to the floor and then gets ingested.
Thankfully, Palytoxin Poisoning is very rare, but I advise you to read this and make your family members be aware of the symptoms so they can recognize if you have been affected, then take the necessary actions to get you medical attention.
How Can I Be Infected?
The slime coating that covers Paly’s & Zoas is where the toxin is likely to be present. The greatest risk of infection comes from the following activities:
Possible Foul Smell or Bitter/Metallic Taste in Mouth
Medical Attention
If you suspect that yourself or a family member may have become infected by Palytoxin Poisoning you are advised to:
Contact your local Poison Control Centre
Call Emergency Services
Take them to the hospital
Use the information guide below to help medical staff
Your response should depend on the severity of the symptoms.
Great Video For More Information
Download Your Free Guide
I have created this free, handy guide to keep in your home to help your family members be aware of what symptoms are associated with Palytoxin Poisoning.
Print off this guide and write on the phone number for your local Poison Control Center and keep it accessible so your family members can quickly and easily access help if required.
This guide is also useful if you have to go to the hospital. Palytoxin Poisoning is rare, the chances of a small hospital having dealt with this are probably zero. The information could help the medical staff access their information more efficiently.
When you are new to saltwater aquariums knowing where to even begin can be a challenge in itself! I have collated all my best resources into this one page to give you somewhere to begin your learning journey!
This entire site is dedicated to making your journey as easy as possible with articles, guides, ideas, and information. Just look around!
Beginners to experienced aquarists all make mistakes. Some can cost you dearly, some will make you call yourself an idiot! You may find some of these obvious and others you may never even have heard of yet.
Research & passing on of experience is the best thing you can do to try and eliminate as many mistakes as you can. You will still make mistakes that are a given, but foresight into their prevention will really help to stop you from pulling out your hair!
Common Mistakes Made By Saltwater Aquarium Beginners:
Lack of Patience
Overfeeding
Topping Off with Saltwater
Adding Damselfish First
Lack of Research & Planning
Impulse Buying
Lack of Maintenance
Inaccurate Water Testing
Using Tap Water
Not Asking for Help
This list is just a quick overview of 18 of the most common mistakes made so you can be aware of them and prevent them from happening to you!
Let’s get down to the good stuff…
1. Lack of Patience
We have all fallen prey to this at the beginning of our saltwater journey. As humans, we have become a society of wanting everything now and our aquariums are no different!
Mother nature cannot be rushed and letting your aquariums biological bacteria build to look after the new livestock addition is key to success. Let the cycle fully finish, wait for another week or two (hard I know!), then gradually start adding your livestock.
The more patient you can be with every aspect of your new aquarium, the healthier it will be in the long term, and the less stress it will cause you!
The Only Thing That Happens Fast In A Saltwater Aquarium Is A Tank Crash!
2. Lack of Regular Maintenance
After the initial honeymoon period and the aquarium is going through its algae blooms many aquarists begin to lose faith in their ability to look after a saltwater aquarium. No matter what you try your aquarium looks like crap and you can’t do it anymore!
This is the time you need to knuckle down and know that it’s just a phase in the lifecycle of your aquarium. If however, you find yourself allowing the maintenance to slip then you are on a slippery slope.
Try and set up a regular routine to do your aquarium maintenance. I do mine every Tuesday evening after the kids have gone to bed. This allows me to test my parameters, clean the glass, sand bed, water change and inspect both my livestock and equipment.
By setting up a regular maintenance period your parameter results will be more consistent and you will spot signs of trouble earlier than if you do your maintenance once a month!
Small and weekly is better than large and monthly!
3. Poor Quality Source Water
This one thing causes more problems for new aquarium owners than anything else. I know setting up a saltwater aquarium is expensive and the last thing most of us want to do is spend another couple hundred dollars on an RO/DI water filter, but boy is it worth it.
Most city water supplies are laced with so many chemical elements to make the water clean and healthy for HUMANS. Many of the elements found in our city water create havoc on our aquariums and are even toxic to our livestock.
Phosphate and Nitrates are two of the biggest food sources for algae and our city water is full of them. If you are having terrible algae issues then an RO/DI water filter will solve your problems.
4 Stage RO/DI Water Filter
Setting up an RO/DI water filter will be one of the best investments you make in your aquarium. Clean water is the basis for a healthy aquarium.
As Aquarists We Don’t Keep Livestock, We Keep Water!
** For lots more information on RO/DI (Reverse Osmosis/De-ionized Resin) water filters and how to select the right one for you, I have a super helpful article you can find HERE **
4. Overfeeding
This one is obvious, but it is one we are all prone to, even now I can get a bit overzealous! Feeding too much to your livestock is a surefire way to begin having problems.
Uneaten food will collect in holes, cracks, and pockets and if left to break down it will increase ammonia, nitrates, and phosphate which not only are toxic to your livestock, but will also fuel algae growth.
I suggest you feed your fish little and often, feed your corals just before lights out, then before each water change blast all the rocks with a turkey baster. You will be surprised how much junk comes out!
In addition to the above, regular vacuuming of the sand bed with your water change will all help to keep any uneaten food from remaining in your tank and decomposing.
I tend to feed a little, wait for a minute or two to ensure its all been eaten, then feed a little bit more. Always watch your fish when they are feeding and I like to turn off my wavemakers and feed at the front of the tank so the food stays away from the rock and becoming trapped.
5. Improper Research
This is the mistake that in today’s society is no excuse. We all have in our hands-on of the most powerful information providing devices ever developed and researching what you are about to do or about to purchase will save you so much trouble.
Someone has always been in your position and has usually placed information on the internet to try and help others with the same predicament, so be sure to reach into Google and spend a bit of time trying to find out all you can about the chosen fish, coral, invertebrate or piece of equipment to ensure you spend your hard-earned money wisely.
The other important aspect of your research is to look at all the answers as a whole and not base your decision on an untrusted source. There is a lot of bad information out there, hence the decision I began this blog to try and rectify that!
15 minutes of research will really help broaden your knowledge of your chosen topic. Even do the research while in the fish store! We all begin this hobby naive, but its the research and knowledge that we collect along the journey that makes our aquariums more enjoyable and easier to do!
6. Impulse Buying
This is one I see daily on the forums and it drives me insane. Someone comes home from the fish store and then asks ‘How do I take care of xx?’. Many times they are told to take it back as they or their aquarium is not suitable for it.
Every time an animal is moved it gets stressed. Stress can lead to illness, which then takes us into a whole other ball game! As I mentioned in Tip #5, get out your phone in the store and research if this new acquisition is the right one for your aquarium.
The best thing to do is create a ‘Fish Stocking List’ and a ‘Coral Stocking List’ while your aquarium is cycling. Do all the research and decide what you can and CANNOT have, and in what order to add the livestock to prevent territorial battles!
Impulse buying is hard to prevent, but you can save yourself some serious headaches by having a plan and doing your research!
7. Listening Only To Fish Store Advice
There are many great fish stores out there with great staff and great advice, however, there are many more that have one sole purpose when you walk in that door – Don’t let you leave without buying something!
Fish stores are a business and for some, the best interest of their livestock and products is not in their minds. They need to make money and you are that source!
Just like the advice given on the forums, do your research and find out who are the best stores are in your area. By all means go to every store, just be aware that some of the information given to you may be to influence you to buy what you think you need, rather than what you really need.
A Full ‘Finding Nemo’ Setup In A 32gallon BioCube, Ready For Your Daughter’s Birthday In 3 Weeks Is A Sign To Walk Away!
Do your research, listen to advice from the masses and use your judgment!
8. Inaccurate Testing Equipment
Knowing the health of your aquarium is paramount and the biggest factor in the health of the aquarium is the quality of the water. Regular testing of the water is what gives you the information to decide on if that quality is meeting your standards.
To be able to get an accurate test result you need two things:
Good-Quality, Accurate Testing Equipment
Testing The Same Time Each Day/Week
The best advice I can offer you is from day one buy a Refractometer to measure your salinity levels and buy good quality test kits like Salifert, Redsea or Nyos. By using these products you can get easy and accurate results to then base your adjustments off.
By testing the same time each week this will give you an accurate and stable result. Your aquarium fluctuates in many parameters throughout the day and by testing, at different times you can end up chasing your tail trying to stabilize a parameter.
** See the ‘Further Reading’ section at the end of this article for links to really good articles on testing your water **
9. Cycling With Fish
This is an old-school, inhumane way to cycle your fish tank. The cycle needs an ammonia source to begin breeding and multiplying nitrifying bacteria to build your aquarium’s biological filter. Fish used to be the recommended way to provide this.
Today however, there are superb Biological Filter Starter Cultures available that your dose to your new aquarium that helps to populate but accelerate the growth of the biological filter, thus preventing the need to use fish in a toxic environment!
Dr Tims One And Only is the most popular starter culture. You can find out more information on it Here at Amazon.com
10. Adding Damselfish First
This tip goes hand in hand with cycling with fish. Many stores used to sell you a Damselfish or two to help begin your aquarium cycle. They are super pretty fish but boy they are by far the meanest little buggers in our hobby!
Damselfish are VERY territorial fish and by using them to cycle a tank they claim the whole aquarium as their territory. When you add any new fish to the aquarium, they will bully them to death. It happens every time!
The other problem with these fish is that they are fast swimmers and trying to catch them almost always ends up with the aquarium owner having to tear down the rockscape and draining the water just to be able to catch and remove them.
I recommend you never add ANY Damselfish to an aquarium until you have stocked most all your other fish first, and only then add Azure Damselfish. These are fairly placid, have beautiful coloration and do not bully like most other Damselfish.
Be Warned! Add Damselfish At Your Own Peril!!
** If you wish to know more about adding Damselfish to your reef tank please check out my article HERE **
11. Not Letting The Aquarium Cycle Finish
Cycling an aquarium is a boring process and having all the excitement of installing your aquarium diminished by now having to wait weeks to months for it to cycle is a real downer.
This is the time you need to exercise your patience and let mother nature do her thing. Using a starter culture like Dr Tims will help reduce the time slightly but you need to let the aquarium fully cycle before adding any livestock.
This time is a great time to practice testing your water parameters and collating your fish and coral stocking lists. The more patient you are during this time. The better your aquarium will be long term.
Adding livestock before the cycle has finished can not only lead to death and a waste of money but could bring out diseases like Ich or Velvet which can then spread to every other animal you add. Having these diseases in the first few months of your new aquarium is a guaranteed way to make you quit the hobby!
The water in our aquarium is warm and because of that water evaporates from them. Adding a sump and wavemakers also increases the evaporation rate of our systems.
Salt does not evaporate so when water evaporates from our aquariums the salt gets left behind and as a result out aquariums become saltier because the ratio of salt molecules to water molecules becomes more concentrated. As water evaporates the salinity of the water goes up.
To ensure the salinity remains stable at around 1.025 we need to manually add FRESHWATER back into the aquarium to replace the water lost to evaporation. An Automatic Top-Off System is the best way to do this. See the ‘Further Reading’ section for more info.
An Automatic Top-Off System by Tunze
Only Use FRESHWATER To Replace Evaporation Loss
If you replace evaporation loss with mixed saltwater your salinity will climb through the roof causing the imminent death of some, if not all of your livestock!
** If you would like to know more about how these great little devices work please check out my article HERE **
13. Overstocking
We all want to have that show tank from the aquarium store in our living room, except we cant fit or afford the 300 gallon display tank that has dozens of fish cruising around.
We try to recreate our own piece of the wolds reefs and that usually means we overstock. How many is too many, there is no real definitive answer because it all depends on your equipment, maintenance, and level of filtration but I can bet most home aquariums are overstocked!
The usual way to see an aquarium is overstocked is by the increase in Nitrates. This increase in nitrates can lead to loss of color in your coral, fish getting sick or dying or just overall poor health within the aquarium.
Once your nitrates are not being controlled by your water changes, chances are you are overstocked. Remove some of the fish and make a mental note of your current stocking to keep that as your benchmark.
14. Livestock Compatibility
Earlier I talked about the territorial nature of the Damselfish. Each fish and coral have their own characteristics and ensuring you provide for those characteristics is key to a harmonious aquarium.
Using your stocking lists, begin with fish that are the least territorial and try and get livestock that occupies different areas of the aquarium. Using this Fish Compatibility Chart is a great place to see if your intended purchases can live together. If not death and illness may be just around the corner.
15. Doing Before Learning
This almost ties into researching before buying but is more concerned with the equipment or setup side of the hobby. I remember when I started dosing supplements to keep up with my coral’s demand for calcium and alkalinity.
I knew it was something I had no idea on how to do but I’d already built my DIY aquarium controller with 4 dosing pumps ready for this moment. Jumping online and learning all about dosing was key because if I’d just gone and mixed up the stuff and tried to dose it I know my tank would have crashed!
Always be sure to find out exactly what you are doing before you actually do it. There are many things that can kill your tank in a heartbeat and doing something you shouldn’t is no excuse.
Stop, study, learn then do!
16. Not Learning Common Pests & Diseases
Every week I see on the forums a picture posted with the owner asking what it is. The dreaded Aiptasia or Ich is the most common and usually by the time the owner finds out what the problem is it has spread and they are now dealing with a larger problem!
Aiptasia, Mejanos, Ich, Velvet, Asterna Starfish, Euclid Worms are all unwanted guests in our aquarium and I always recommend aquarists know what to look for. Just Google each one and learn about them.
Aiptasia – A Common Pest Coral
On the other hand, people are asking about good things like Copepods, Bristleworms, Sponges and Feather Dusters.
** Learn what is good and what is bad and how to recognize them! For more information on common reef tank pests please take a look in my ‘Pest Section’ HERE **
17. Inadequate Fish Acclimation
You have a beautiful new fish about to go into your aquarium so you just open the transport bag and drop it in! This may have been fine for freshwater Mollies but saltwater is a completely different animal.
Rapid water parameter changes in marine livestock can damage cells and tissue within the animal causing death within hours. Proper acclimation is paramount to ensuring a seamless transition from the store to your aquarium.
All fish require the bags to be floated for 20-30 minutes to allow the temperature to stabilize then a slow introduction of your water into the transport bag over another 30-60 minutes to allow any changes in water parameters to be gradual and not harm the fish.
For a step by step guide on how to properly acclimate a saltwater fish please read my article: ‘How To Acclimate Saltwater Fish‘
18. Buying Large Clean-Up-Crew Packages
Your aquarium is full of algae and you need some critters to clean it up fast. You see these Clean-Up-Crew Packages online all the time and that’s what is going to solve your problem! Wrong!
Buying a lot of invertebrates in one go is only going to lead to more problems. Once the critters have mowed down all your algae they will then begin to starve through lack of food. They then die, decay and release all the NItrates and Phosphates they consumed in the algae to be released back into the water.
Just like any livestock, buy your Clean-Up-Crew a few animals at a time. See how well they help curb the alae, then buy a few more if needed. Always try and find the right critter to target the algae you have.
Once your algae have been removed and you have solved the source of the problem (Poor source water, overfeeding, lack of maintenance) you can then drop in algae pellets or sheets of Nori to help keep them fed.
To Finish
We all make mistakes and we will find new ways to make the same mistake but in a different form. Knowledge truly is power in this hobby and by applying some foresight into everything you do with aquariums you can eliminate 95% of the problems ever occurring!
Use what you can to help broaden your knowledge and your enjoyment for this hobby will greatly increase!
My wife is always asking me what gifts I would like for my Birthday, Christmas, Holidays etc and I end up making her a list everytime!
I put this together to make it easy for you to send your loved one a link, share it, or even “accidentally” leave the webpage on your computer for a day to hopefully ‘Drop The Hint’!
The TRM-1 is an easy and convenient method of determining TDS levels for your RO/DI system. Install one sensor on your Input Line, one sensor after your RO Membrane and the last sensor after your DI Resin to monitor the efficiency of your important filters on your RO/DI water filter unit.
This super handy device should be in every marine aquarists toolbox. Really accurate and very easy to use for testing your salt level within your water. There is no guessing the salinity when using this tool. You will be using this almost every day and accuracy is paramount!
Another ‘Must Have’ tool in the aquarists tool box. The magnetic cleaner makes cleaning your aquarium glass super quick and easy. With a razor blade attachment it makes even the most stubborn Corraline disappear with ease. It comes in 3 sizes to suit every aquarium size.
Is your aquarium green? Have you been battling algae forever? Its time to find out how high your Nitrates and Phosphates are and start to win the war on algae! This great test kit contains 100 tests for each compound and will ensure you can get accurate results with every test!
How many times do you read about people forgetting to turn off their RO/DI unit and flooding their home!?
This fully automated device senses your water level and shuts off the water supply so you will never flood! Uses optical sensors and fits any vessel using magnets!
Innovative Marine has designed the ultimate light to grow your Macro-Algae fast! By adding this cheap-to-run 9W light over your Refugium you will be pulling out handfuls of Cheato in no time.
Nutrient export is a great way to control Phosphate and Nitrate and this light maximizes it to the fullest!
These dosing pumps are a great way to begin dosing Alkalinity, Calcium and Magnesium to your reef. Bluetooth connection to just one pump or link multiple together.
So many dosing options from 1-12 times per day! A great pump for a great price.
This great kit comes with all the tools you need to begin or continue fragging your corals. Each tool has been hand picked to give you the best tools for the job.
Neatly presented in a roll-up case this is sure to make a great gift!
