Taking Preventive Safety Measures for Your Aquarium and Fish

Aquarium Safety Measures

Aquariums are an exquisite addition to any setting, be it residential or commercial. Aside from the aesthetic component, people often become very attached to the livestock in their tanks. One of the more frequent questions posed by aquarium owners is: what measures can I take to make my tank more foolproof as well as protect the fish?

Owners must first be aware of some of the possible issues that can wreak havoc:

1. The heater can spike to an extremely high temperature due to a malfunctioning heater and kill the fish

2. The chiller thermostat probe can somehow be removed causing the chiller to run continually (by not getting a correct reading on the temperature) and freeze the fish

3. An electric outage due to a storm or other factor can bring the system down

4. The main water pump can go bad due to a broken impeller or bad motor

5. Home air conditioning turned off for extended time can cause the water temperature to rise above safety level

6. The sump can overflow leading to equipment and property damage

7. Salinity levels in a marine system can go very low due to excessive auto top off. Alternatively they can also rise due to evaporation

8. Sick fish can set off an ammonia spike and poison the tank

Strategies to prevent disaster for the tank and fish:

1. Purchasing an Apex Controller (Neptune) is a secure albeit more costly option. This device will monitor the full aquarium system. From temperature, salinity, ORP (fish decomposition) and even water leakage beneath the tank. Once the controller detects an issue (based on your preprogramed settings) Notification regarding any issue can be sent to the tank owner or maintenance service provider via email and/or SMS text so that the situation can be remedied immediately. The controller can be operated without even being present (a battery backup on your router will help the apex controller alert you before the internet connectivity goes down with no power to the router).

2. A UPS Battery backup with a wave maker pump can ensure protection in the case of power failure. The battery will offer enough energy to power low-wattage wave maker pumps until electricity is restored.

3. Setting up an Auto Shutoff Float to the sump serves as part of a water evaporation replenishing solution. This will also ensure that the salinity levels remain stable.

Although each part will help address a different issue - I found that combining the three will eliminate many different weak spots. For example, (number 3) setting up an Auto shutoff float attached to a water source may take care of balancing salinity, however you may be risking a float getting stuck thereby causing overflow/damage to your property and a drop in the salinity. Therefore, when combining with (number 1) Apex Controller you will be informed as soon as the salinity is dropping below normal and will be alerted before any damage takes place.