Maintaining A Reef Aquarium Doesn’t Have To Be Hard; The Right Foundations Can Keep All The Fish In Your Saltwater Aquarium Healthy


What Is A Self Sustaining Fish Tank & Why Would You Want A Self Sustaining Fish Tank Ecosystem?

When we talk about self sustaining fish tanks, people often think of closed-tank systems that require minimal set up and allow for little intervention. Yet the fact of the matter is, the healthiest, most successful, easiest-to-care-for saltwater reef aquarium projects are all self sustaining to some degree. That’s because (as noted in our Reef Keepers Top Tips) when you have to intervene in your fish tank ecosystem — even just for basic saltwater aquarium care — you risk shocking or creating damaging imbalances in the marine environment. Unlike freshwater aquariums, a saltwater fish tank ecosystem is not naturally very well equipped to weather sudden or dramatic changes; the less you need to manually control or change conditions, and the more stable the environment remains on its own, the better!
Self-sustaining fish tanks (once they’re established) don’t need much human intervention to thrive. By definition, the fish tank ecosystem is well-balanced as a result of selecting complementary and codependent corals, live rocks and sands, and invertebrates and other critters, as well as the fish for your saltwater aquarium. As a result, you can minimize the frequency of high-risk events included in your saltwater aquarium care program.

Building A Well-Balanced Saltwater Fish Tank Ecosystem From The Ground Up

Designing a self sustaining fish tank requires thinking about each of the different levels of the fish tank ecosystem from the ground (substrate) up. Some reef aquarium experts estimate that as many as 90% of saltwater aquarium care plans either fail outright or do not sufficiently set the tank up for long-term success beyond two years [1]. In these instances, even experienced reef aquarium owners end up having to continuously restock the tank and recultivate corals. When the food-chain in a reef aquarium is broken, the fish tank ecosystem becomes unlivable.

Cleaner Critters: How To Clean A Saltwater Tank Without A Lot Of Hands In The Water

The biggest threats to a self sustaining fish tank are algae blooms, infectious outbreaks, and debris build-up; that’s especially true in reef aquariums. These events can quickly imbalance the fish tank ecosystem and require direct human intervention to fix. Plus, they require you to figure out how to clean your saltwater tank, and fast, without causing new environmental imbalances and stress on the animals that call your reef aquarium home.
That’s why one of the most essential components of any self sustaining fish tank are “cleaner critters.” Taking a self sustaining approach to saltwater aquarium care most commonly involves keeping shrimp in the tank. (Herbivorous) shrimp not only keep the tank free of algae, but can play a unique role in maintaining the health of the fish in a saltwater aquarium [2]. Live sand mixes often contain miniature shrimp-like invertebrates, though bigger shrimp can play a bigger role in keeping the fish tank ecosystem clean. Other cleaner critters up for consideration include sea urchins and snails — both of which can become nuisance animals if you don’t select the best-fit species for the rest of your fish tank ecosystem.

Notes For Selecting Compatible Cleaner Critters & Fish For Your Saltwater Aquarium

1. Cleaner shrimp may prove to be easier-keepers than the many kinds of cleaner wrasse available for maintaining the health of the fish in a saltwater aquarium [3].
2. As useful as they are to a healthy fish tank ecosystem, some shrimp can be a problem for anemones (often stressing and stealing food from anemones, and even sometimes eating them outright).
3. If you choose Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp when figuring out how to clean your saltwater tank without actually having to clean it, Bubble Tip Anemones can still thrive so long as you also have clownfish hosts for the anemone [4].
4. Sexy Shrimp are known to easily cohabit with Bubble Tip Anemone (and many others), but clownfish hosts will kill them to keep them out of anemone [5].
5. Some sea urchins are actually meat-eaters, and can wreak havoc on a reef or other reef aquarium inhabitants, while others may bulldoze fragile rock and coral structures and outgrow or overpopulate the tank.
6. Tuxedo Urchins easily answer the question of how to clean a saltwater tank without disturbing its residents; they are completely herbivorous and will happily eat problematic algae off tank components, glass, rocks, and reef [6].
7. Tuxedo Urchins stay small and aren’t bulldozers, so they can live in harmony with other fish in a saltwater aquarium. Plus, since they are a collector species of urchin, they benefit from their role in daily saltwater aquarium care as they can use small rocks, broken off corals, and other debris they pick up for camouflage, making their presence in a reef aquarium mutually beneficial [7].

Sand-Sifters: The Unsung Heroes Of Saltwater Aquarium Care

Sand sifting is an often-overlooked (but incredibly important) part of a healthy fish tank ecosystem. That’s because allowing organic materials and food debris to build up on (and in) the sand bed in your reef aquarium can fuel algae growth and also release toxic compounds during decomposition [8]. What’s more, live sand requires aeration to thrive as a food source and algae-control system.
Our favorite sand sifter, which is one of the safest options for a reef aquarium, is the Nassarius Snail. Nassarius Snails don’t actually eat algae, so they’re not competing with algae-eaters like shrimp or urchins; rather, they eat carrion (dead fish, shed parts, and discarded and excess meat-eater foods) [9]. They’re also unique from many other snail species because their foot is long enough that they can flip back over if they’re up-ended, making them harder for other fish in a saltwater aquarium to eat. Other sand sifters include some gobies and starfish, each of which can be hard to keep alive and happy because of their voracious appetites and unwillingness to cooperate with targeted feeding if the interstitial food supply in your reef aquarium runs low..

Notes For Selecting Compatible Substrate, Sand Sifters, & Fish For Your Saltwater Aquarium

1. Using live sand is important to many self sustaining fish tank projects, as it contributes to the biological filtration of the water and becomes a valuable food source for fish in a saltwater aquarium [10].
2. There are some unique challenges associated with keeping Twin Spot Gobies and Sand Sifting Starfish as the resident sand sifting fish in your saltwater aquarium. Most significantly, there isn’t often enough organic matter (especially small invertebrates) even in live sand reef aquarium beds to sustain these animals long-term [11].
3. Non-snail sand sifters may refuse targeted feeding attempts, making them more challenging fish for a saltwater aquarium than many other species. If you are starting a new self sustaining fish tank project, especially, you should be careful about choosing gobies or starfish over sand sifting snails; if you want gobies or starfish, you should consider opting to use well-established live sand instead of dry (non-living) sand [12].
4. Gobies are not ideal fish for saltwater aquariums stocked with other animals that are in any way aggressive. A small goby makes a quick meal for many other special, and a startled goby may leap from the tank [13].
5. Like all sea stars, Sand Sifting Starfish will eat all manner of other invertebrates, including shrimp and urchins [14]. Reef aquarium owners should exercise caution when pairing these with other invertebrate cleaner critters.
6. If you want Nassarius Snails, you should make sure to have live rock and deep sand or mud, which can complicate your choices about how to clean your saltwater aquarium and prevent algae.
7. Though they are largely peaceful and easy-keepers under most reef aquarium conditions, Nassarius Snails have been reported to attack some other snail varieties [15].

As with any saltwater aquarium care strategy, you should work with a professional before starting a reef aquarium or making significant changes to the substrate or non-fish critters in your fish tank ecosystem. Work with one of our expert marine aquarium advisers, today, to get started building a successful self sustaining fish tank!