Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast 016

Finally! It’s here! Here is another Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast filled with aquarium tips to help you set up some automatic aquarium systems so that you don’t have to worry about topping off the evaporated water or feeding your fish when your away from your fish tank! In fact, you can even keep these systems set up when you aren’t away from your tank, and you’ll have more time to just enjoy your aquarium.

In the last podcast we recorded, Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast 015, I talked a lot about the first few fish that I added to my 30 gallon saltwater tank. Not only has it been over 2 months since that last podcast was released, but its almost been 3 months since those fish were added to the tank. In that time I’ve added a Coral Beauty Angelfish to my aquarium, and I’ve had to be away from my tank so that I could go on vacation over the holidays. Everything is explained in the podcast, so go ahead and take a listen while you scroll through some of the pictures and check out all of the links below!

Adam Puli’s 10 Gallon Freshwater Aquarium

Adam Puli of Melbourne, Australia reached out to me, gave me a few pointers for the podcast, and sent me a few pictures of his 10 gallon freshwater aquarium. He was worthy of a podcast shout out and including one of his pictures in the show notes!

The Components of a DIY Freshwater Auto-Top-Off System

In this episode of the Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast I talk about setting up a freshwater auto-top-off system. For now, I’ve included a picture of the necessary components, but check back soon for a set-up video!

Coral Beauty Angelfish head on

Coral Beauty Angelfish from the side

Above are some pictures of the Coral Beauty Angelfish that I added to my aquarium. I encountered a few problems about 2 weeks after it was added. I think, and I hope, all of my problems are gone!

Equipment and Links Mentioned in this Episode:

• Eheim Everyday Fish Feeder
• TOM Aquarium Aqua Lifter Pump
• Digital Aquatics Float Switch Kit with Mount
• Elite Soft Airline Tubing
• A Water Container

Aquarium Tips of Note in this episode:

• Turn off and unplug the equipment that you’re maintaining
• Test all DIY projects as soon as they’re complete
• Test all automatic systems for a few days before leaving your tank unattended
• Purchase tank-bred fish whenever possible

Do you have some automatic systems set up on your aquarium? Which ones? Leave some comments below!

TJ

The post Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast 016 | Aquarium Care Tips for a Holiday or Vacation, a Fish, and Some Problems first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

A little while ago we shared some aquarium tips and pictures about acclimating aquarium livestock and the Doradon Aquarium Acclimation System here. A few days later, I added some peppermint shrimp to my fish tank. This time, it was time to add the rest of the cleaner crew to my 30 gallon saltwater aquarium. Of course, even the snails, red-legged hermit crabs, and blue-legged hermit crabs need to be acclimated. This time, I decided to make a video of the acclimation process!

This method of aquarium livestock acclimation works great for small fish, cleaner crew, and small coral frags. However, not all fish are small and the big fish need to be acclimated as well. For larger aquarium livestock it would probably be wise to drip acclimate into a bucket. Say tuned to Aquarium Tip Tank and the Aquarium Tip Tank YouTube Channel! We will  share more aquarium tips and show you how we acclimate the big fish when we get one!

Any questions about acclimating your livestock? Leave comments below!

TJ

The post Easy Cleaner Crew Acclimation first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

I’ve had to perform a water change or two for my new 30 gallon saltwater aquarium, and I figured it was about time to share some aquarium tips and a video showing how I perform a water change for my aquarium. Here are a few tips and tricks to make your aquarium maintenance and water changes quick, easy, and mess free.

Setting up for an Aquarium Water Change:

• Prepare new water ahead of time.
• If freshwater, have some ready and sitting in a container for a day or two prior to performing water change. Condition the water properly and de-chlorinate. Make sure water conditions match that of the water in the display tank.
• If saltwater, make sure pH, salinity, and water chemistry match the conditions of the water in the display tank.
• Make sure new water temperature matches the temperature of the water in the display tank.
• Have a towel handy.
• Gather all of your tank cleaning and water changing tools and have everything staged and ready.
• Keep filters, pumps, power heads, and protein skimmers running while you clean the walls and insides of the tank. This way, a lot of the algae and gunk that is scraped from the surfaces will get removed by the filtration devices and not just sink to the bottom of the aquarium.
• Turn all heaters, pumps, power heads, filters, and protein skimmers OFF BEFORE REMOVING ANY WATER! You don’t want to break the heater or any of your pumps and electrical equipment by running them when they are dry if they are meant to be wet.

Once you’ve done these few simple steps you are ready to change the water in your aquarium. Take 20 to 30 percent of the water out of your display tank, and add that same volume of new water back into the tank. Here is a video showing how I clean out my tank and use the Aqueon Water Changer to perform a quick water change. Enjoy!

Have any cool tricks for performing aquarium water changes? Leave comments below!

TJ

The post How To Perform an Aquarium Water Change first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast 015

In the last episode of the Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast we talked about several tips, tricks, rules of thumb, and the method I like to use for stocking an aquarium. Well…I’ve added the first couple of fish to my 30 gallon saltwater aquarium, and in this episode I share my fish selection story! This podcast is jam packed with aquarium tips and fish facts!

About a week ago, I came home from the local fish store with a Six-line Wrasse (Pseudocheilinus hexataeniaand) and 2 Tank-Bred Ocellaris Clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris). Go ahead and listen to the story about the experience that my wife and I had picking out our new pet fish, and below you can check out some pictures of our new pets getting acclimated to their new home!

Floating Fish Bags While Gathering Acclimation Equipment

When we first arrived home I immediately floated the bags at the top of the tank, and turned the lights off. There were a few pieces of equipment that I had to gather and get ready before I started drip acclimating the Six-Line Wrasse, and I wanted to make sure that I started regulating the temperature as soon as possible.

Six-Line Wrasse Drip Acclimating

I only have one Doradon Aquarium Acclimation System. I could only drip acclimate one fish at a time. I decided to drip acclimate the Six-Line Wrasse first. I figured that the Six-Line Wrasse likes to dart through rocks, explore, forage, and find hiding places a little more than the clownfish does. The clownfish were tank-bred so maybe they were more used to the conditions found in home aquariums and  they might withstand floating in a bag for 15 0r 20 minutes longer than the Six-Line Wrasse. Note: The 2 Clownfish were bred together, lived together in the same tank in the fish store, were put in the same bag to be brought home, and are being referred to as one single fish for acclimation purposes.

After about 20 minutes of drip acclimating the Six-Line Wrasse, the drip cup was out of water and it was time to get the Six-Line Wrasse out of the bag and into the tank! I unattached the bag from the acclimation system, captured the Six-Line Wrasse in a small net, gently pulled it out of the bag, and released it into its new home!

Six-Line Wrasse happily foraging on live rock.

I made sure that the Six-Line was swimming around and exploring the aquarium, but I had to quickly start drip acclimating the Clownfish now that the acclimation system was available.

Ocellaris Clownfish Drip Acclimating

It took another 20 minutes to finish the drip acclimation process for the Ocellaris Clownfish. Once the drip cup was empty, I grabbed the small fish net and transferred the Ocellaris Clownfish to the aquarium!

2 Ocellaris Clownfish happy in their new home!

All of the fish seemed to be healthy and happy when first introduced to the aquarium, and a week later they are still doing great! They have been exploring all of the holes, crevices, nooks, and crannies of the live rock. They come right out to the front of the tank to say hello every time I’m in front of the aquarium!

Aquarium Tips of Note in this episode:

• Get your family involved and share the fun!
• Angelfish are best as the last addition to an aquarium
• Select Tank-Bred fish whenever possible
• Have 3 or more of each schooling fish
• Inspect the fish tanks before selecting the Local Fish Store that you purchase your fish from
• Have a deep sand bed for a Six-line Wrasse
• Tank-bred Ocellaris Clownfish can be kept with a variety of other tank-bred clownfish, as long as they are introduced into the aquarium at the same time.

Did you recently add some fish to your aquarium? How did it go? What fish did you add? Leave comments below!

TJ

The post Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast 015 | The First Fish in My Aquarium first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

If you’ve been following along with the Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast you’ve been listening to a lot of aquarium tips for starting and setting up a home aquarium. You may have also heard me say something like, “A protein skimmer is  not necessary for the first few weeks of cycling your tank.” While this is true because you want to allow the organic compounds that the protein skimmer would normally remove to break down into nitrogenous waste to kick start your biological filter, a protein skimmer is one of the best ways to help filter the water and increase the water quality in your aquarium.

My 30 gallon saltwater aquarium had been up and running for about 2 weeks and I decided it was probably time to do some research and  purchase a protein skimmer. You may have also heard that my API Nexx Canister Filter leaked. My tank had been cycling for 2 weeks without any kind of filtration and only the Hydor Koralia Evolution 550 Aquarium Pump being used for water circulation. Everything was going well and all of the water tests that I performed were showing me that the tank was cycling correctly, but it was definitely time to add some filtration to the aquarium.

I decided to go with the AquaC Remora-S Protein Skimmer. Protein skimming is a type of mechanical filtration that physically removes organic compounds from the aquarium water, but it is the only way of removing those organic compounds before they start to decompose. This improves the water’s redox potential and eases the load on the biological filter. There are many aquarium hobbyists that swear that a  protein skimmer is the only filtration device they ever use to keep a smaller sized reef aquarium thriving and happy. My plan is to only use a protein skimmer, some chemical filtration with a phosphate reactor, the biological filtration of my live rock and live sand, and, of course, regular water changes.

There were a few things that I had to keep in mind when selecting a protein skimmer for my tank. The protein skimmer I chose had to:

• Hang on the back of the tank- I don’t have enough room in the tank stand for a  sump to house the protein skimmer.
• Not be an eyesore – After all, it is going to be hanging off the back of the tank and everyone will be able to see that it is there.
• Be rated for at least 30 gallon aquariums, and preferably rated for larger aquariums.
• Be quiet – In the world of aquarium equipment quieter is always better.
• Be easy to clean and maintain – Isn’t this always a necessary feature?

The design of the AquaC Remora-S Protein Skimmer takes care of all of these concerns, and more! Some of the features included with the Remmora-S are:

• Hangs on the tank
• Compact Size and Profile
• Translucent Gray Acrylic Main Body to inhibit the growth of algae and marine organisms
• Rated for aquariums between 20 and 75 gallons
• Neoprene foam noise muffler
• Extended Collection Cup
• Optional collection water drain fitting
• Level adjustment screws at the base of the skimmer
• High Flow Spray Injector
• Nylon cleaning brush
• Cobalt MJ-1200 Pump

The reviews were great. The Remora-S had everything I needed. I went ahead and ordered one, and it arrived just a few days later!

AquaC Remora-S Protein Skimmer arrives in a 3′ tall box

The Remora-S Protein Skimmer arrived in a very large box despite the fact that it is only 19 inches tall. Its probably from all of the packaging that was used to keep my delivery safe!

Remora-S Packed for safe travels

As you can see, the Remora-S protein skimmer was packed to withstand the worst of shipping environments. I’m glad everything arrived safely!

All the parts and pieces were packed well inside the actual Remora-S Protein Skimmer box too

The body of the Remora-S protein skimmer, collection cup, Cobalt MJ-1200 pump, and cleaning brush were also safe inside the actual AquaC packaging. However, I figured all of the parts and pieces would look much better out of the box!

All AquaC Remora-S Protein Skimmer parts out of the box!

The only real assembly steps for the Remora-S Protein Skimmer are giving everything a quick freshwater rinse, and attaching the output of the Cobalt MJ-1200 pump to the flexible intake tubing of the Remora-S. Then, you are ready to hang the Remora-S on the back of the tank, adjust the leveling screw, and plug the pump in. Skimming has been started!

Skimming with the AquaC Remora-S Protein Skimmer

The full profile of the AquaC Remora-S Protein Skimmer

The AquaC Remora-S Protein Skimmer uses a spray injection system that produces a powerful, high-pressure air-induction spray to bombard the main skimmer chamber and generate an enormous amount of waste-removing bubbles. Protein skimmers work by using an air stone, aspirator, or spray induction to create a large air/water interface by injecting large volumes of bubbles into the water column. Organic waste molecules then collect on the surface of the bubbles in the collection cup. The more bubbles that are created, the bigger the air/water interface is, and more organic molecules can be collected. For a huge increase in performance, the Remora-S features a high flow spray injector for increased air and water flow, smaller bubble size, and thus, more bubbles and organic waste removal.

Are you using a protein skimmer for your aquarium? What kind? Where is it in your system? Leave comments below!

TJ

The post Unpacking the AquaC Remora-S Protein Skimmer first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast 014

It’s about time to put some fish in the tank. The 30 gallon saltwater aquarium has been running for 2 months. I’ve added a complete cleaner crew and I need to figure out what fish I want to put in the aquarium!

In this episode of the Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast I talk about the scientific art of stocking a fish tank. I try to explain why there are limitations to the number of fish that you can keep in one fish tank. I also discuss some of the rules of thumb that are used for stocking an aquarium, their exceptions, and how I like to go about putting fish in my tanks.

Aquarium Tips of Note in this episode:

• Don’t overstock your aquarium
• Stock your fish tank slowly
• Perform water quality tests on a regular basis

Is it time for you to put fish in your tank? Do you have any questions or comments? Leave them below!

TJ

The post Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast 014 | Stocking a Fish Tank first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

A couple of days ago at Aquarium Tip Tank I wrote about using the Doradon Aquarium Acclimation System to acclimate all new livestock to the water conditions of your tropical fish tank. What I didn’t tell you is that I first used the system to acclimate 3 Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata wurdemanni)! These were the first of the cleaner crew, and the first of any livestock that I added to my 30 gallon saltwater tank. Today I will share some pictures and some aquarium tips for adding Peppermint Shrimp to a saltwater aquarium!

I have to admit, I had originally planned on adding a much larger cleaner crew to my tank. Unfortunately, when I asked my Local Fish Store (LFS) about a cleaner crew, the aquarium salesman said, “Well, we just took down our cleaner crew tanks and we’re about to start setting them back up. So, we probably won’t have much as far as cleaner crew goes for about 4 weeks.” My thoughts were, “Great. I’ve been cycling my tank for 4.5 weeks. I’ve got some diatoms blooming, and some algae starting to grow all over the live rock, live sand, and walls of my tank. Do they have anything in here that might eat some of that and help clear my tank up a little bit?”

Luckily, the LFS at least had some Peppermint Shrimp. While the Peppermint Shrimp is best known for enjoying a meal of nuisance Aiptasia, it will also scavenge the aquarium picking at the live rock and live sand for detritus, uneaten food, other nuisance algae, and decomposing organic material. Peppermint Shrimp have also been successfully tank bred.

While 3 Peppermint Shrimp won’t be a complete cleaner crew for my 30 gallon aquarium, it is at least a start. Like many invertebrates, Peppermint Shrimp can’t tolerate copper-based treatments or high nitrate levels. I’ve done some water testing and my water parameters are suitable, but I also know that if the Peppermint Shrimp survive, then some fish will survive too! Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to put any aquarium livestock into unsuitable and stressful conditions. However, Peppermint Shrimp are abundant, have been successfully tank bred, and are sustainable. I’ve done everything that I can to ensure that aquarium conditions are suitable, and its time to acclimate these 3 Peppermint Shrimp and add them to my tank!

The bag of Peppermint Shrimp Hanging for Temperature Equalization while Dripping Aquarium Water Into it for Chemical Equalization

To read a little bit about acclimating new livestock check out what I wrote here.

2 Peppermint Shrimp in Corner of Bag being Acclimated

When the Peppermint Shrimp were done acclimating it was time to get them into the main tank. Whenever you do this with any livestock DO NOT just dump all of the contents of the bag into the main display tank. If the original water in that bag came from your LFS you have no idea what might be in there. If the water in that bag came from your quarantine tank, then it might contain the remnants of some copper based quarantine treatments (more on that later). Grab your trusty aquarium net, scoop up the Peppermint Shrimp, let the bag water drain back into the bag, and swiftly but gently add the Peppermint Shrimp to your main display tank!

One of the Peppermint Shrimp worked its way over to the corner of the tank under the heater.

Hopefully, the Peppermint Shrimp start exploring their new home and scavenging food from the live rock and live sand immediately after being added to the tank.

Peppermint Shrimp Hanging Out Upside Down Under Live Rock

Are you adding new tank mates to your aquarium? Show us! Leave comments below.

Stay tuned to Aquarium Tip Tank for the next round of cleaner crew additions!

TJ

The post Adding Peppermint Shrimp to a Saltwater Aquarium first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

If you follow along here at Aquarium Tip Tank you know that I have been going through the process of setting up a 30 gallon saltwater aquarium. A couple weeks ago, I decided that it was time to start adding a cleaner crew to the tank. At that point the aquarium had been cycling for about 5 weeks, there had been a few nice diatom blooms, and it was time to add some hardy invertebrates that like to feed on some of the algae.

As with any livestock that is going to be added to an aquarium, I needed to make sure that all of the members of the cleaner crew were acclimated to the conditions of my saltwater aquarium. I started to investigate and do some research into ways to make my own acclimation system until I did a quick search on Amazon. There, I found the Doradon Aquarium Acclimation System for only $20.

Sure, I could’ve gone to the hardware store and found some small diameter tubing, a drip valve, and all of the other materials necessary for this project. However, I probably would’ve spent $20 or more at the hardware store and a whole lot more than the 2 days that Amazon takes to deliver items to my doorstep.

The Doradon Acclimation System all boxed up

The Doradon Aquarium Acclimation System allows users to equalize new aquarium livestock to both the temperature and chemical conditions of your fish tank simultaneously. It holds the bag that your local fish store sent your new fish, coral, shrimp, or invertebrate home in, allowing it to float in your aquarium water to equalize temperature while keeping the top of the bag open to equalize the chemical conditions by dripping water from your tank into the bag.

Opening the Box of the Doradon Aquarium Acclimation System

The Doradon Aquarium Acclimation system includes all of the necessary parts and pieces to hang an open bag in your aquarium water and drip your aquarium water into the bag. All of the parts and pieces are also different colors! This helps make the included instructions easy to follow. The three main parts are the blue aquarium frame with the silver thumb screw, the green bag holder, and the clear dripping cup with flow control nozzle.

The parts assembled with the directions, but still in the box.

Above, you can see all of the parts assembled. The green bag holder has a hook that slides onto one of two spots of the blue aquarium frame. The clear dripping cup has two holes at the back that allow it to slide onto the pointed cup supports at the top of the blue aquarium frame.

Blue Aquarium Frame on the Tank

To start getting the Doradon Aquarium Acclimation System on the tank, you should first put the blue aquarium frame on one wall of your aquarium by itself.

Thumb Screw Used to Keep the Aquarium Frame Upright and Level

The thumb screw allows the acclimation system to be used on various aquarium wall thicknesses. Adjust the thumb screw so that the blue aquarium frame stays upright and level on your fish tank with a little bit of pressure pulling the aquarium frame forward. After all, you’re eventually going to hang a bag with livestock in it from this frame. You don’t want it tipping over, and ruining your plans to acclimate your livestock.

Livestock bag attached to bag holder.

The next step is to pull the top of the livestock bag through the bottom of the green bag holder, open the bag and wrap the open end of it out and around the outside of the green bag holder. Use the pointed arrows of the green bag holder to poke holes in the top of the livestock bag so that it can be held securely by the green bag holder.

Livestock Bag floating in Aquarium water and being held by the green bag holder and blue aquarium frame.

Next, you can pick the green bag holder up with the livestock bag attached to it, and slide the hook on the back of the bag holder over one of the holder supports on the blue aquarium frame. At this point, you should have a bag of livestock floating in your aquarium water with the lights off. The temperature is equalizing, and its time to start equalizing the chemical conditions with the drip cup!

Dripping Cup with Aquarium Water hung from Aquarium Frame and dripping into livestock bag.

All you have to do is dip the dripping cup into your fish tank to collect some of your aquarium water, hang the dripping cup on the blue aquarium frame of the Doradon Aquarium Acclimation System, and adjust how fast your aquarium water drips into the livestock bag using the flow control nozzle at the bottom of the dripping cup.

Acclimation to your Aquarium Conditions in Process

Now, just let the acclimation system do its work for at least 15 to 20 minutes. If there is still water in the dripping cup after 15 to 20 minutes, just leave everything alone until the dripping cup is empty. I actually like to let everything acclimate for about 30 to 45 minutes. The temperature will come to equilibrium in about 15 to 20 minutes, but it usually takes a little longer for the chemical conditions to equalize.

I hope you made it this far because I have a couple more aquarium tips about acclimating your livestock. First, use a quarantine tank. No, a quarantine tank may not be absolutely necessary for your first round of cleaner crew. However, a quarantine tank should definitely be used for every fish that you place in your display aquarium. Yes, I’ll admit that I’m guilty of not always using a quarantine tank with new fish, but you never know what kind of disease, parasites, and stress the fish store has given the fish that you just brought home. That disease will quickly spread to the rest of your fish tank and you’ll end up scrambling to set up a quarantine tank to keep your display aquarium alive and thriving. Its much easier to just use a quarantine tank first, get rid of all the fish diseases, then acclimate from your quarantine tank to your display tank.

Second, acclimate livestock that comes from different tanks and systems of your LFS separately. For example, you may stop by your LFS and pick up a cleaner crew from one tank or tank system while also picking up a fish from another tank or tank system. Or maybe you purchase a fish from one wall of your LFS and another fish from another wall of your LFS. Do not put them in the same bag and acclimate them together. Acclimate livestock from different aquarium systems separately. Sure, that one wall of tanks in your LFS is probably working off of the same filtration system with the same sump, protein skimmers, filters, etc. The other fish that you get from that other wall of tanks is probably running off of an entirely different system and the water characteristics may be different. Acclimate them separately and they will go through a much safer, and less stressful acclimation process.

Finally, acclimate between every tank. Acclimate between your LFS and your quarantine tank, and acclimate between your quarantine tank and your display tank. Your fish and your aquarium will be much happier, and much healthier if you take just a few simple steps.

Putting fish in your aquarium? How do you acclimate them to your tank? Leave comments below.

TJ

The post Unpacking the Doradon Aquarium Acclimation System first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast 013

We’ve been saying that we’re going to have some interviews here on the Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast since the start. I’m excited to say that for our first interview we were able to talk to a reef store manager and the owner of a marine aquarium hobbyist news website all in one! In this episode of Aquarium Tip Tank Michael Rice was kind enough to take some time to talk to us. He has a website at marine-engineers.org, he manages Elite Reef, a reef hobby store in the Denver, CO area, and he’s got several years of experience with home aquariums.

Michael shares the story about how he got started in the marine aquarium hobby as well as some aquarium tips about the types of tanks to purchase, stocking a tank with sustainable livestock suppliers, and making sure you do a little bit of research about the fish and aquarium equipment you want to purchase. Elite Reef and Marine-Engineers.org also hold an annual Elite Reef fest that is all about fun and helps raise some money for some great charities.

Where to find Michael Rice:

• Marine-Engineres – marine-engineers.org
• Elite Reef – elitereef.com

Sustainable Marine Fish and Invertebrate Suppliers mentioned in this episode:

• Quality Marine – www.qualitymarine.com
• Oculus Aquatics – www.oculusaquatics.com
• Sustainable  Aquatics – www.sustainableaquatics.com

Charities that Elite Reef Fest has raised money for:

• Wild Animal Sanctuary – www.wildanimalsactuary.com
• Cameroon Development Fund – cameroondevelopmentfund.org

What did you think of the interview? Leave some comments below!

TJ

The post Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast 013 | Elite Reef and Marine-Engineers Interview with Michael Rice first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

The saltwater aquarium that I have been setting up is going through the cycling process. During this period, it is important to test water quality for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and pH. Here, I share a few pictures, and a few aquarium tips about testing the water quality of a tropical fish tank.

While a new aquarium is going through a nitrogen cycle, a spike in ammonia levels is the first change that should be noticed. Next, the ammonia levels start to recede and gives way to a spike in nitrite. Finally, the nitrite levels recede and a spike in nitrates occurs. This process occurs in both freshwater and saltwater aquariums. To hear all about the nitrogen cycle in new aquariums, take a listen to Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast 011.

There are several test kits to choose from. I chose to use an API Saltwater Master Test Kit.

API Saltwater Master Test Kit unopened and off the shelf

This test kit contains tests for pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate. These are the most important water quality parameters to test for in a cycling aquarium. The API Saltwater Master Test Kit uses liquid reagents to turn vials of aquarium water colors for comparison to a color scale. All of the necessary reagents, vials, instructions, and color scales are provided in the test kit.

API Saltwater Master Test Kit Color Scale Card

Of course, when anything that is going to be used in your aquarium water is first opened it should always be rinsed off with tap water. Then, prior to performing any tests, the vials to be used should be rinsed with the water to be tested.

Water Quality Test 3 Weeks into Cycling Saltwater Aquarium

These are the results of the water quality test that I performed after my saltwater tank had been cycling for about 3 weeks. Of course, I’d like the ammonia levels to be at 0 parts per million (ppm). However, I had just added some fish food to the tank a couple days prior in order to allow it to decompose. When held under a better light and against the white background of the color scale, the color was somewhere between 0 and 0.25 ppm.

The nitrates were at 0 ppm, and the nitrates look like they were around 10 ppm. At this point, there were some light brown diatoms growing in the tank, and these water parameters are almost exactly what was expected.

With the diatoms growing in the aquarium, and the water quality looking suitable it was time to start adding some livestock that will help keep the tank clean. Yes, it was time to start stocking with an aquarium cleaner crew. Stay tuned at Aquarium Tip Tank to find out how stocking the tank with some cleaners went!

How are the water parameters in your aquarium doing? Perform a test, and leave some comments below!

TJ

The post Water Quality Testing TJ’s Cycling 30 Gallon Saltwater Aquarium first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast 012

My 30 gallon saltwater tank is almost done with the initial nitrogen cycle, but a brown film has started to coat my live sand and live rock. This is a diatom bloom and what many aquarium hobbyists call New Tank Syndrome. In this Aquarium Tip Tank podcast I share some aquarium tips for dealing with a diatom bloom. I also share some information about what diatoms are, where they come from, and why they decide to coat a tropical fish tank.

I wanted to be able to show you some of these diatoms that are growing in my fish tank. I’ve included a few pictures below.

Light Brown Diatoms on Live Rock and on Live Sand

At this point I also have a few small spots on the live rock with some green algae and some light purple coraline algae. Hopefully, you can see both of those in the picture below.

Spots of Green and Purple Coraline Algae growing on Live Rock

I also mentioned in the podcast that I would include the picture that Ryan Howells shared with me. He has a fairly new nano aquarium with a mated pair of clownfish that have laid some eggs! Here is the picture that he sent me of his tank!

Ryan Howells’ Nano Aquarium with a Mated Pair of Clownfish

Ryan’s tank looks like it is working out to be a nice little marine aquarium! He recently contacted me and told me that he was just finishing up the cycling process of his tank. It looks like he’s got a little more than that! There’s a nice colony of coraline algae, and of course, his mated pair of clownfish!

I had stated on many previous podcasts that I would give listeners a shout out if they decided to get in touch with me, let me know about an aquarium breakthrough, and send me a picture of their tank. I’m a man of my word! Keep sending your fish tank breakthroughs and updates.

Have a diatom bloom in your fish tank? Leave comments below!

TJ

The post Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast 012 | Diatoms and New Tank Syndrome: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

If you’re a frequent visitor here at Aquarium Tip Tank you probably know that I am in the process of setting up a 30 gallon saltwater aquarium. Actually, you’ve probably already seen pictures of the Koralia Evolution water circulation pump set up in this fish tank. However, I’m not quite sure that I’ve actually showed you the pump itself and explained who it is made by, why it is necessary, and how it works. I figured it is about time to share that information with you!

First, lets talk a little bit about water circulation in an aquarium. Good water circulation is important in a home aquarium for three main reasons. Water circulation provides a means of food delivery, waste removal, and the provision of oxygen.

In order to adequately disperse and deliver the food that is fed in a broadcast manner to the livestock of your aquarium, water must be circulated around the entire fish tank and to all corners of the aquarium. This is especially important when dealing with sessile invertebrates. After all, they don’t really move. Of course, you can dose individual corals with food filled syringes, but corals and their symbiotic zooxanthellae algae also grab the tiny particles of plankton and nutrients that are floating in the water. In order to make sure that the food an nutrient rich water passes close enough to the sessile invertebrates to feed, good water circulation is necessary.

Not only does circulating water deliver food and nutrients to all parts of a fish tank, but it also picks up and removes waste particles that have been left behind. The oceans have waves, currents, and tides that are constantly creating water circulation that removes waste. In an aquarium, water circulation must be created in order to pick those waste particles up and off of the corals, rocks, sand, and decorations. Proper water circulation will then help bring those waste particles to the inlet of the filtration system so that they can be removed from the aquarium water.

Finally, water circulation in a home aquarium helps with oxygenation of the water. Water does not have the ability to hold as much oxygen as air does. The warmer the water gets, the less oxygen it can hold and warm saltwater holds the least amount of oxygen. If water in a fish tank were left stagnant, only the water in the top water column of the tank would be in contact with the air for oxygenation. Good water movement will constantly circulate all of the water to the air/water interface, allowing gas exchange and proper oxygenation for all of the water in the tank.

Okay. Now that we know why proper water circulation is important in a home aquarium its about time I show you some pictures of how I’m moving the water around my 30 gallon reef tank.

The Koralia Evolution 550gph Movement and Circulation Pump Revealed

Koralia Evolution 550gph ready to be opened!

Most manufacturers show flow rates and recommended tank sizes for their pumps. As shown below, Hydor provides a chart on the back of their Koralia Evolution Movement and Circulation pumps.

A very general rule of thumb that is used when it comes to flow rates is that water circulation should be at a flow rate equal to ten times the net water volume of the tank for soft corals. For example, I’m putting this pump in a 30 gallon tank. Therefore, the flow rate for water circulation should be at least 300 gallons per hour (gph) if keeping soft corals. For hard corals, a flow rate equal to 30 times the net water volume of the tank can be used. Therefore, for hard corals, the general rule of thumb states that I would need 900 gph of water circulation.

I’m currently only putting one Koralia Evolution 550 gph Movement and Circulation pump into the tank, and that should work for right now. When I decide to put hard corals into the tank I may need to add another pump for a total of 1100 gph from power heads. However, some water circulation is also produced by filter returns and protein skimmers and another power head may not be necessary. That is a decision for future TJ to make.

Flow Rate Chart on back of Koralia Evolution box.

The Koralia Evolution 550gph in its box.

Koralia Evolution 550gph Movement and Circulation Pump out of the box!

Koralia Evolution 550gph Movement and Circulation Pump by Hydor in the Fish Tank!

Shown above is the Koralia Evolution 550gph pump by Hydor mounted to the side of my tank. Currently, the pump is actually closer to the top of the tank. The top of the tank just seemed like a better spot for the power head once the live sand, live rock, and saltwater were all in place. The location near the top of the tank also helps create some waves and turbulence at the air/water interface to help with oxygenation.

How do you circulate the water in your aquarium? Leave comments below.

TJ

The post Unpacking the Koralia Evolution 550gph Movement and Circulation Aquarium Pump by Hydor first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

Yes, it has been about 3 weeks since I’ve actually had this saltwater fish tank set up and cycling. However, I wanted to make sure that I put together a decent video showing all of the steps that I took in order to set up this saltwater aquarium. I went over all of the steps of setting up a home aquarium in Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast 010, and the process of cycling a tank in Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast 011.

Shown below, is the video of how I used all of these steps to go ahead and set up my 30 gallon saltwater aquarium. I had all of my saltwater made, and all of my live rock, live sand, and aquarium equipment set up and ready to go.

I also made a time-lapse video of the water going from cloudy to clear and you can see that in the video below. I admit, it is a video of a blue-ish purple cloudy tank. However, we want to show you everything that we can here at Aquarium Tip Tank so we figured we’d go ahead and take some pictures over the 3 hour period that it took for the water to clear up.

I started taking pictures as soon as all of the live rock, live sand, and saltwater were in the fish tank and all of the equipment was up and running. A picture was taken every 6 seconds for a period of 3 hours. Each picture is a frame in the video and the video was put together at 30 frames per second.

The API Nexx Canister Filtration system was running at this time. It seemed to be working great during this time period. However, shortly after the water was cleared up is when I realized that the filtration system was leaking again. I immediately turned the API Nexx Canister Filter off, took it off my tank and sent another email to RENA. Of course, I will keep everybody updated on what happens with the filter.

Luckily, I don’t really need a filtration system set up in order to cycle the tank. I do have good water flow and water movement because I have a Hydor Koralia Evolution 550 Aquarium Circulation Pump up and running. Therefore, the water will still move well around the tank. Gas exchange will still occur between the top of the water and the air in my house. The fish food and pieces of krill that I add to the tank will still decompose, and ammonia will be formed. Then, the beneficial nitrobactors will take over and the aquarium will go through its cycling process.

A filter is not absolutely necessary for this process. A sump and/or refugium is the best way to filter a marine reef aquarium. However, I don’t have enough room under my fairly small 30 gallon aquarium to put a sump. The good thing is that I do have a whole lot of live rock, and live sand for biological filtration. I will also add a protein skimmer to help with filtration. I will also make sure that the cycling process is complete and that the water conditions are constant and pristine before adding any livestock.

I hope you enjoyed the videos! The tank has been set up for 3 weeks and is going through the nitrogen cycle process. Keep checking back at Aquarium Tip Tank to follow the progress of this tank!

How is your fish tank coming along? Leave comments below!

TJ

The post Setting Up TJ’s 30 Gallon Saltwater Aquarium first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

Yes, this one is pretty simple. However, there are a lot of people that shy away from starting a saltwater aquarium when they realize that they have to somehow make, or acquire, actual saltwater to fill their fish tanks with. In reality, mixing up some saltwater takes less time than running water through an RODI filtration system to get purified water. Some people don’t want to take the time to use an RODI filter, but we recommend an RODI filter to purify all of your water for any type of fish tank that you have, be it freshwater or saltwater.

Once you have your canisters of RODI purified water, it really only takes a few minutes to measure your salt mix, pour it into the purified water, mix, and test for specific gravity and salinity using a hydrometer or refractometer. I use Instant Ocean Reef Crystals Reef Salt and literally just follow the directions on the back of the bag. Below, I’ve included a video about how I mix my saltwater.

In the end, it ends up that it takes almost exactly 2.5 cups of salt mix for me to make a 5 gallon bucket of saltwater. These days, I go ahead and put 2 cups straight into my RODI purified water, mix up the salt, do a quick specific gravity and salinity test, and add another 0.5 cup of Instant Ocean Reef Crystals Reef Salt. Obviously, I’m still starting out on the low end of specific gravity and salinity when I only have 2 cups of reef salt in a 5 gallon bucket of water. Personally,  I just like to test, and make sure that everything is mixing correctly.

So what do you do if you have a larger tank and you need to make more than 5 gallons of saltwater at a time? There are a few options here. One is to have several 5 gallon buckets of water. For example, if you have a 100 gallon home aquarium, you would need 20 gallons of saltwater to perform a 25% water change. You would need to make 4, 5 gallon buckets of saltwater and make sure that the water conditions all matched.

Maybe you have a 20 gallon container for your saltwater. Hopefully it has wheels. Just fill it up with RODI purified water and add 1o cups of Instant Ocean Reef Crystals Reef Salt.  You may want to start with 9 cups, do some specific gravity and salinity tests, and add more salt mix until you get to the correct water conditions. Try this the first couple of times and you may end up finding out that you’re adding that 10th cup of salt mix every time you go to make a 20 gallon container of saltwater.

Whatever way you decide to make your saltwater, and whatever type of salt mix you choose to use, it really isn’t very difficult to mix up some saltwater. Just follow the directions on the salt mix container, and remember to do a few quick checks of your water conditions while your making your saltwater.

Most salt mixes state that the saltwater you make with them can be used immediately. This is true, and some people do this without any detrimental effects to their saltwater tank. However, I like to let my saltwater sit for a little while before placing it into the tank. I like to make sure that all of the salt and all of the beneficial trace elements, and vitamins are properly dissolved in the water. This also allows the saltwater to have some time for gas exchange and oxygenation before pouring it into the tank. If you let your saltwater sit in a container for several days, make sure that you test the water conditions one more time before pouring it into your tank just to make sure that none of those water conditions changed unexpectedly.

How do you make your saltwater? What salt mix do you use? Leave comments below.

TJ

The post How To Make Saltwater for a Small Marine Aquarium first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast 011

On the last episode of the Aquarium Tip Tank podcast we talked about all of the steps to setting up a home aquarium up until the nitrogen cycle. Since then, I’ve been setting up my 30 gallon salt water aquarium and have started the cycling process. Are you in the process of setting up a tropical fish tank?

In this episode I discuss the final step necessary for setting up a home aquarium. Yes, its performing the cycling process of your tropical fish tank. I discuss why the cycling process is necessary, what happens during the cycle, and methods for performing a fish tank cycle.

You can go check out the post about how I performed my aquarium system check here. I took a few pictures documenting the rest of my aquarium setup process, and they are included below.

Draining the Fish Tank after a System Check

Ready to make some Saltwater for the Aquarium

Making saltwater for the aquarium was very quick and easy with Instant Ocean Reef Crystals. Instant Ocean claims that the Reef Crystals are specially formulated for use in reef aquariums and contains extra calcium, additional trace elements, vitamins, and a metal detoxifier to ensure the health and growth of reef life. Check back at Aquarium Tip Tank for more about making saltwater for your aquarium. We’re feeling a video in the works.

The First Bag of Live Sand being added to the Tank

Next, some Live Rock was needed

Saltwater is Necessary for a Marine Aquarium

Now, remember not to freak out if your water turns cloudy when adding the saltwater. Some tiny particles in the live sand are just getting picked up in the water and will take a few hours to clear up. As shown below, my tank had such a milky white cloud that nothing could be seen inside the tank after it was filled with saltwater. It took about 4 to 5 hours to clear up after turning on my canister filter.

I can’t see anything in that cloudy tank!

Then, when I went to check on things I found water on the floor, under the canister filter. As stated in the podcast, Aquarium Tip Tank no longer recommends the API Nexx Aquarium Canister Filter. At this point, we just don’t trust them. Yours might end up working great. Ours ended up leaking.

Thankfully, it was only the canister filter. I was able to stop the filter and get it out of the tank without too much of a mess. Also, it isn’t absolutely necessary to have a filter running during the cycling of a tank. Some even say that they only run their power filter or canister filter while clearing the cloudy water, then they turn the filter off. The theory is that the filter will end up extracting things that you want to keep in your tank during the cycling process. For example, decaying food particles actually help jump start the cycling process by creating an added ammonia source for beneficial  bacteria to feed on. So, you actually want to keep those decaying food particles in the tank and in the water rather than sucked up in your power filter or canister filter. I may end up just adding a protein skimmer and leaving water filtration up to it and the biological filtration in the tank itself. As always, whatever I decide, you’ll know it here first!

Items Mentioned in this Podcast:

• TJ’s 30 Gallon Saltwater System Check
• Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast 007 | Aquarium Filtration, Part 1
• Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast 010 | Setting Up a Home Aquarium, Part 1

My tank is currently cycling, and creating that biological filtration system. How is your tank coming along? Leave comments below.

TJ

The post Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast 011 | Setting Up a Home Aquarium, Part 2 – Cycling A Fish Tank first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

We don’t only talk about reef tanks here, that just happens to be what I’m trying to set up. Therefore, you don’t have to use live rock, or any rocks for that matter. You can go out and get fake decorations that suit both the needs of your creativity and the needs of your livestock. Or, maybe you want to arrange, cut, scrape, and sculpt your rockwork into your own fun and useful decorations! My opinion is…go nuts. If people ask you how and why you aquascaped the way you did, its time for a fun lesson!

Share some pictures of your aquascaping! Fire me an email at tj@aquariumtiptank.com if you have too!

TJ

The post Aquarium Tips of the Day | Be Creative and Functional with Aquascaping first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

Get out your hydrometer and do a quick test for specific gravity and salinity. Yes, a refractometer is better, but also much more expensive. You want a quicker, more accurate way to measure pH? You can grab a pH Tester for $15 from Amazon and have one delivered to your house in just a few days! These simple tests take less than 2 minutes, and can easily give you peace of mind about the quality of saltwater that you’re about to add to your home aquarium.

Question? Comments? Leave them below!

TJ

The post Aquarium Tips of the Day | Test Your Homemade Aquarium Saltwater first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

If you’re a regular at Aquarium Tip Tank you probably know that I am setting up a new 30 gallon saltwater tropical fish tank, and that I am sharing this process for all so that everybody can see how its done, get some home aquarium tips, and learn from my mistakes. Once you have all of the necessary aquarium equipment on hand, it is time to start setting up your tropical fish tank. All of the steps for home aquarium setup are listed in Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast 010 | Setting up a Home Aquarium, Part 1.

The first step in this process is to get all of the equipment in place, running all of your hoses and plugs, and making sure that everything is in the location that you think you are going to want. You can listen to the story of how I cleaned and leak checked my aquarium tank prior to moving it into position on Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast 003, and see how I set up and placed my API Nexx Aquarium Canister Filter here.

I attached my heater in place on the back wall of my tank, attached my thermometer to the side, got my light and light stand set up, and ran all of my plugs to my surge protector. At this point, it was time for me to put some RO/DI water into my empty fish tank and run a 24 hour system check. First, here is a quick little video about how I go about filtering my tap water.

Now that I have some RO/DI purified water, its time to fill up my fish tank and perform my 24 hour system check! I have to admit, not everything worked out exactly as planned. I hope you listened to Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast 010 prior to setting up your tank and you had an empty bucket, some towels, and some extra RO/DI purified water handy.

Yes, you’ve probably guessed by now that I had a leak. Much to my dismay, the leak was coming from the API Nexx Canister Filter. BUT WAIT! Don’t return your filters just yet. I did eventually get it to work, and I think it was just user error. That’s the only thing that can really explain the leak because as I write this, the API Nexx Aquarium Canister Filter is currently working perfectly, and has been for 4 days.

I did try to fix the filtration system on my own – I apologize for not having pictures or video of this, but I was frantically gathering towels, cleaning up water, and turning electrical equipment off and not thinking about grabbing my camera. Initially, the leak was a small stream of water coming from in between the base unit and the canister section. I turned off the filter, dried everything up with a towel, and took the canister section off of the base unit.

On the bottom of the canister section there are 2 male water ports that slide into 2 female water ports on the base unit. The male water ports on the bottom of the canister section both have O-rings around them to seal up the tubing and keep water from leaking. This had to be where water was getting out. I decided to try putting some plumber’s tape around these ports, put the canister section back on the base unit, and try again to see if water stopped leaking. Well, the leak actually got worse.

I turned everything off, cleaned everything up, and at this point I was baffled. This thing could’ve been leaking from anywhere. Having a degree in Mechanical Engineering, it was, of course, time to take the entire system apart for inspection. I grabbed a screwdriver and started taking the API Nexx Aquarium Canister Filter apart.

This is where having some empty buckets ready really came in handy. In order to take the entire system apart, the tubes feeding the base unit and canister filters with water and returning the water to the tank, had to be removed from the base unit. Well, when you turn the handle to take the canister section off of the base unit, you are also closing valves and re-routing water. It was fairly obvious that there was still water sitting in the water tubes that would need to be drained. However, what happens when you disconnect the water tube from the base unit? Water keeps draining out of that tube until the water level in the aquarium is lower than the pump for the filtration system.  I’m glad I had a few empty buckets around.

I disassembled the entire filtration system, but still couldn’t find any other place that water could be leaking from. It wasn’t until after reassembling everything that I thought to myself, “You know, those o-rings on the male ports of the canister section are there for a reason. Maybe I shouldn’t be covering them with plumber’s tape. Maybe the plumber’s tape actually made the tape worse.”

So, I removed the plumber’s tape from the male ports on the bottom of the canister section of the filtration system. I then went about reconnecting the water tubes to the base unit, and very carefully placing the canister section back onto the base unit making sure that everything is lined up properly and that the canister section was pushed snugly onto the base unit. I turn the handle at the top of the canister section to lock everything in place and open up the valves that allow water to flow through the canisters, and turn on the canister filtration system one more time.

Much to my surprise, there are NO MORE LEAKS! The API Nexx Aquarium Canister Filtration system has been working great for 4 days now! The unfortunate part of all this is that I don’t really have an answer for you about why the thing leaked in the first place. My only guess is that maybe I didn’t have the canister section properly aligned on the base unit. Like I said, maybe it was user error?

I must also say that RENA/API, the manufacturers of the API Nexx Aquarium Canister Filter, were very quick and fantastic with customer support. I sat down and sent them an email before I took the canister filter apart. The email was sent on a Saturday evening at 6pm through their contact form on their webpage. By the time I woke up on Sunday morning I had a response to my email.

I will continue to keep you updated on the durability of the API Nexx Aquarium Canister Filter. Do I have trouble placing the canister section back on the base unit the next time I change my filter media? Do I spend 30 minutes to an hour chasing small leaks every time I take the canister section off the base? Or, does it work perfectly every other time I go to use it?

For now, here’s a video showing how I filled my tank with RO/DI purified water for my system check and how everything is performing and looking after letting my saltwater tropical fish tank system run for 4 days. Enjoy!

Did you perform a 24 hour Aquarium System Check? How did it go? Leave comments or questions below!

TJ

The post TJ’s 30 Gallon Saltwater Aquarium System Check first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

This tip also comes from experience. Yes, I recently let my RO/DI unit run a little too long. Fortunately, I caught it fairly soon after my purified water container was full, and I fill my containers in a bathtub. So, one thing you can do to keep from flooding your floors is fill your containers in a “safe” place over a drain. But if you let your RO/DI filter run to the point of overflowing your purified water container you’re still wasting a lot of purified water and a lot of money.

One thing that might help remind you to turn your RO/DI filter off in time is setting a timer. For example, if you know it takes about an hour to get 5 gallons of RO/DI water, and you need 20 gallons, then set a timer for 4 hours. Most smart phones these days come with a timer application. Maybe you have a watch with a timer on it. If all else fails you can always use the timer on your oven or a simple, cheap cooking timer.

Ever overflow your RO/DI purified water container? Tell us the story below!

TJ

The post Aquarium Tips of the Day | Turn off your RO/DI Filter first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast 010

Its time to start setting up your tropical fish tank and here are a few aquarium tips to help you on your way! We’ve discussed all of the pieces of aquarium equipment that are needed to start a home aquarium. I’ve purchased all of the equipment that I need to start setting up my new saltwater aquarium. Have you acquired all of your aquarium equipment? Are you finally ready to start setting up your home aquarium?

In this episode of the Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast I’ve listed and I discuss all of the steps of setting up a home aquarium. I’ll start with getting all of the equipment set up, and attached to the correct places of the aquarium. I’ll get into performing a 24 hour system check, and I’ll end with starting the nitrogen cycle. In part 2, I will discuss the entire nitrogen cycle process for a home aquarium.  Included below are a few pictures of my home aquarium setup process.

White Vineger, Sponge, and Towel For Cleaning the Aquarium

Above are all of the cleaning supplies I used to do a final wipe down of the tank. Below are the two light timers that I’m using. The Ecoray 60DX LED lighting system has one plug for the blue LED lights and one plug for the white LED lights. I’ve used zip ties to label them so that I know which plug is which. The white zip tie is around the plug for the white LED lights and the neon yellow zip tie is around the plug for the blue LED lights. I would’ve used a blue zip tie for the blue LED lights, but the pack of zip ties that I have didn’t have any blue zip ties. You can also see the plug for the heater. It is not plugged in yet because there is no water in the tank for it to heat. You may also notice that the surge protector has several places to plug things in. The thing I like about this surge protector is that the plugs rotate to easily accommodate different sized plugs.

Two Light Timers. One for the Blue Lights and one for the White Lights

Close-up of white LED light timer

Close-up of blue LED light timer

Ecoray 60DX LED Aquarium Light System on DIY Tank Hanger

Starting to Fill the Fish Tank for a System Check

Items Mentioned in this Podcast:

• Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast 003 – TJ’s Tank Cleaning and Leak  Check

How’s your Tropical Fish Tank setup coming along? Leave comments and/or questions below!

TJ

The post Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast 010 | Setting Up a Home Aquarium, Part 1 first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

No, we’re not talking about saving it in containers and putting it through the RO/DI unit again. What we’re talking about is using it to water your house plants, water your lawn and garden, or wash your car. We’ll admit that there are a few logistics that you might have to work out to make this a viable solution for you. After all, getting 20 gallons of RO/DI purified water to change the water in your 100 gallon tank will produce 80 gallons of contaminated waste water.

You will have to find large containers for this waste water and figure out a way to move those containers to the spot where you’re going to re-use the waste water. Maybe your RO/DI filter is in your garage or your basement and it wouldn’t take much effort to run the contaminated water hose to a series of large, water tight trash cans? Or, maybe you only have  a 20 gallon tank and you only need 5 gallons of RO/DI purified water to perform a water change. In that case, you would only need one large, 20 gallon container for your concentrated waste water.

The topic of moving large volumes of water around could produce several more aquarium tips. For now, just know that there are ways to recycle your RO/DI waste water and use it around the house if you don’t want to dump it all down your drain. Also, you might spend some money on the water that you run through your RO/DI unit, but if you recycle your waste water, you won’t have to pay anything for the water you use to water your lawn!

Do you recycle your RO/DI waste water? How do you do it? Leave comments below!

TJ

The post Aquarium Tips of the Day | You can Recycle your RO/DI Waste Water first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

You can hear all about some of the small, but necessary aquarium gear on Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast 009. However, I ordered all of the aquarium equipment that I need for my new saltwater fish tank and it happened to arrive a few days ago! As always, we’ve decided to share some pictures and insights about unpacking this aquarium gear!

The first box opened actually contained the waterproof floor mat that was eventually placed under the tank stand to protect my carpet. It is the floor mat that can be seen under all of the boxes and aquarium equipment in the next few pictures. The second box to be opened contained the Aqueon Aquarium Water Changer and one bag of the CaribSea Arag-Alive! Live Aragonite Reef Sand. Three bags of the CaribSea live sand were ordered, but the other 2 bags came in a separate shipping box.

The box is opened, revealing the Aqueon Aquarium Water Changer and CaribSea Arag-Alive

The Aqueon Aquarium Water Changer and the CaribSea Arag-Alive Live Sand out of the box and on the Waterproof Floor Mat

The next box of the day had the Aqueon Pro 150 Aquarium Heater, the Marineland Light Timers, the thermostat, some zip ties, and the Belkin 12 outlet Surge Protector.

Opening the box with the Aqueon Pro 150 Heater, light timers, thermostat, zip ties, and surge protector

All of the small aquarium gear unpacked and ready for installation

Next, it was time to install all of this new aquarium equipment! Stay tuned to Aquarium Tip Tank for some pictures and videos showing the installation and testing of these products!

The one thing that hasn’t yet arrived? The RO/DI water filter. Many updates are yet to come!

Pieces of Aquarium Equipment Mentioned in this article:

• Aqueon Aquarium Water Changer
• CaribSea Arag-Alive! Live Aragonite Reef Sand
• Aqueon Pro 150 Aquarium Heater
• Marineland Light Timers
• Belkin 12 outlet Surge Protector

TJ

The post Unpacking and Installing the Small, but Necessary Aquarium Equipment first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

Today’s Aquarium Tip Tank tip of the day will help you keep from frying your lights, heaters, and other electric aquarium devices. No matter how much you try to prevent water splashes and overflows, you’re never going to completely prevent them in the years that you have your aquarium. The problem is that water can help conduct electricity and there are several pieces of aquarium equipment plugged in somewhere near the tank. It is possible for that splashed, overflowed, or leaked water to travel down the cord to the plug and create a short, a surge, a fire, and possibly electrocute somebody. In order to prevent this, make sure that all of your power cords have a drip loop. We’ve included a picture of a drip loop below. This way, any water traveling down the cord sits at the bottom of the loop until it either evaporates or drips to a spot under and away from the plug and outlet.

Use a Drip Loop on all electrical cords for your Aquarium

The post Aquarium Tips of the Day | Use a Drip Loop for the Cables of your Aquarium first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

Maybe I should’ve gone with a sump and/or refugium for my tropical fish and reef tank. I was over at Reef Threads and heard about a post over at Reef Central about 5 things to remove from a reef system. One thing on that list is canister filtration. Well,  I plan on using my API Nexx Aquarium Canister Filter for my new 30 gallon reef tank.

I’ll admit, a sump system with a refugium is probably the very best way to keep a large reef tank. Once set up, a refugium may also be less maintenance than a canister filtration system. However, my tank is only 30 gallons and there just isn’t much room under and around it for an overflow box and an extra tank underneath for the sump. The tank also doesn’t have any built in plumbing for a sump, hence, the need for a hang-on overflow box.

Reef Threads does go on, and they do have a rebuttal for just about every one of the 5 points mentioned in the post. They don’t, however, go so far as to recommend canister filtration for a reef tank.  The issue is that everything needs to be regularly cleaned and maintained. Sponges, bio-balls, filter socks, filter medium, and canister filters can be nitrate factories if you don’t regularly and thoroughly remove, replace, clean off and maintain each of them. However, there are beautiful reef tanks that are kept by many aquarium hobbyists with all of these items in use.

The issue with aquarium canister filters is that they can be a pain in the butt to maintain. With many of them, there are valves you have to make sure you have access to so that you can close them and prevent water from spilling during the filter media change. There can be hoses to move, valves to close, latches to deal with, and several compartments to access in order to thoroughly rinse and change the filter medium. If not changed regularly – about once every 1 or 2 months – the filter medium can build up with too much particulate waste and become a nitrate factory that actually spits nitrates out and back into your aquarium. You also have to prime most canister filters in order to get them started or re-started after every filter medium change. People get lazy and don’t want to deal with all of that every month or two just to change some filter media.

However, I chose the API Nexx Canister Filtration system for a reason. The reason is that it is very quick and easy to change the filter medium and thoroughly clean out the filter medium chamber. With today’s advancements and technologies I can set a reminder in my calendars for a few days before a medium change needs to occur, and order the filter medium that I need. When it arrives a day or two later, I can take the 5 minutes to change out the filter medium and thoroughly rinse out the canister. All it takes withe the API Nexx Canister Filter is about 5 minutes to change the filter medium and thoroughly clean everything. Oh, and there’s no priming necessary.

In conclusion, no, I did not make a bad decision when I selected the API Nexx Canister Filter for my reef aquarium. Yes, there can be less maintenance with a sump and/or refugium once it is up and running. However, as long as there is a regular maintenance schedule, everything on your maintenance checklist gets checked off, and you are diligent about changing and cleaning all of your filter media, then you can have a very healthy and beautiful reef aquarium using all of the items listed in the Reef Central post. The API Nexx Canister Filter also makes filter media changes quick and easy.

What kind of filtration do you use for your reef aquarium? Leave comments below!

TJ

The post Did I make a bad decision getting a Canister Filter for a Reef Tank? first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

At Aquarium Tip Tank we love our pet fish and we enjoy setting up and taking care of our tropical fish tanks. We love them because they’re beautiful, they are tools for education about underwater ecosystems, they are tools to promote marine conservation, they are fantastic and proven stress relievers, and they are just plain fun! For more on that, listen to Aquarium Tip Tank’s First Podcast!

However, before you jump into this wonderful hobby, there are a few things to consider if you’ve never taken care of a home aquarium before. We definitely don’t want to scare you off, but please realize that the fish in your tank will be your pets. Just like any other pet there is some research that you should do prior to picking out your pet, and there are some pieces of equipment that you will need in order to bring home your new pet and keep it healthy and happy.

Before you buy a Tropical Fish Tank:

For a home aquarium, the initial stages of research, equipment purchase, and tank setup, before you actually purchase and bring home any fish, accounts for the biggest chunk of time that you will have to devote to your new hobby. The size of your aquarium tank and the type of livestock you choose to keep will determine how simple or complex the maintenance of your tank will be.

Tank Selection and Fish Research:

In the end, the environment that you create in your tank must match the healthy living environment of the livestock that you want to keep. The task is to simulate the natural environment of the fish that you choose to keep as closely as possible. So, one of the first steps is to do some research into the kind of livestock you want to keep. You may want to keep an Emperor Angelfish (Pomacanthus imperator), but when you start doing your research you figure out that a minimum tank size of 220 gallons is recommended to keep an Emperor Angelfish.

Our thought is that you have to start with tank selection and livestock research simultaneously. Do you have such an undying need to keep an Emperor Angelfish that you will use whatever spot in your home is big enough for a 220 gallon tank? Or, do you have the perfect spot for a tank in your home, but you can only fit a 50 gallon tank there? If you can only fit a 50 gallon tank, then you will have to do some research and find some tropical fish to keep that will do well in the environment that you can create with that 50 gallon aquarium.

Personally, I like to find the spots in my house with esthetic quality first, figure out the maximum tank size that I can put in that space, and choose my fish based on that tank size. I like to find a spot in my house where myself and my guests will see the tank, ask questions about the fish, invertebrates, and other livestock, and where its easy to relax and enjoy the personalities of my pet fish. But that’s just me. Maybe you want that Emperor Angelfish so much that you will put a large tank in your large, unfinished basement where most people don’t regularly go. It is up to you. If you need some help selecting a tank, go ahead and sign up for our FREE Tank Selection Worksheet and our e-updates and newsletter.

You’ve selected a tank location, and a tank size. You’ve purchased the tank you’re going to use and researched and selected some fish that you are able to keep in that size tank. What’s next?

Aquarium Equipment Selection:

While doing the research on the fish that you want to keep you may have realized that there are certain environments that your livestock normally lives in. The water temperature must be kept steady, the tank has to be lit to mimic the sunlight that the inhabitants of your tank normally receive, and the water quality needs to remain pristine with the use of a filtration system.

There are several varieties and countless brands of every piece of aquarium equipment. You can do hours upon hours of research to figure out exactly which pieces of equipment you want to purchase, or you can walk in to your Local Fish Store (LFS) and purchase whatever the salesperson suggests for you. The problem with walking into your LFS and immediately walking out with an aquarium setup is that you end up with less of an understanding of how everything works together to create the underwater ecosystem that you want to keep. You won’t know why you were sold those specific pieces of equipment. Maybe it was the best for your intended aquarium, or maybe it was the pieces of equipment that cost the most. We suggest that you at least do some research into the types of equipment that you want to use.

Fish Tank Setup

Now that you’ve purchased your tank, tank stand, filtration equipment, heater, thermometer, lighting, light timers, surge protectors, water additives, substrate, rocks, and decorations its finally time to actually setup your tank so that you can put fish in it! First, you need to place everything and attach it correctly on, in, and around your aquarium. Anything that is going into the tank and is going to be submerged in the aquarium water MUST FIRST BE RINSED off before placing it in the desired location in the tank. This includes your gravel, aquarium safe decorations, rockwork, etc.

Finally, its time to put water into the tank. If you are starting a saltwater aquarium, you may have to make the saltwater first. Once the water is in your tank YOU MUST CYCLE YOUR TANK. A whole article can (and will) be written about the Nitrogen Cycle and how to go about cycling your tank, but for now, just realize that it could take anywhere from 1 week to 6 weeks.

Now that everything is set up and properly cycled, fish can be added to the tank. From this point on, fish tanks require relatively little maintenance. There are many aquarium hobbyists that may laugh at that statement and completely disagree. However, we must remember that our fish are our pets. As with any pet, they need to be fed, and there are health and maintenance tasks that must be performed on a regular basis to keep our pets happy and healthy.

We have to feed our fish every day, just like any other pet, so we should also do a few quick water quality checks every day. While we’re feeding our fish, it only takes a few seconds to check the water temperature, make sure all of our pumps, lights, heaters, and timers are still in working order, and it will be obvious if some algae and grime needs to be cleaned off the inside walls of the tank. This usually takes less than 5 minutes a day. This is less time than it takes to walk, play with, feed, and take care of almost any other pet every day.

There are also bigger maintenance tasks that must be performed on a regular basis, but they are not daily tasks. It is recommended that a 20%-30% water change is performed on a weekly to bi-weekly basis. It is imperative that filter media be changed about once every 2 months. In conjunction with these, water quality testing should also be performed. The time it takes to perform these tasks depends on the size of your tank, how easy it is to change your filter media, and the demands of the livestock.

The Price of a Home Aquarium

All of these pieces of equipment that we’ve talked about so far need to be obtained for use somehow. Again, the cost of these items will depend on the size of your tank and the demands of the livestock you choose to keep. For example, a freshwater, fish only aquarium with fake, aquarium safe decorations, does not demand the specialized lighting and filtration systems that a planted tank or a saltwater reef tank does.

You also may be able to find hand-me-down equipment, equipment on Craigslist, or on aquarium websites with deals like That Fish Place. Personally, I’m in the process of starting a saltwater tank that I got from my brother-in-law. He used to use the tank and tank stand for a freshwater aquarium. With everything that you might get as a hand-me-down or from Craigslist, just make sure that everything works, nothing leaks, and you clean everything out.

Of course, the fish and other livestock for an aquarium also cost money. You also need to make sure you have food, and there are a few very low cost tools ($10 or less each) that you will use when performing routine maintenance. Once again, this is not unlike any other pet.

In conclusion, a decision should be made about if you want to do all of the necessary research, if you have the time, and if you have the money to take care of a pet. Every pet requires some initial research, some time to take care of them, and some equipment to make sure that they are in a happy, healthy, and clean environment. If it is tropical fish that you want to keep, then  join us at Aquarium Tip Tank, and ask us any questions you may have about home aquariums and the beautiful underwater ecosystems.

TJ

The post We Love our Tropical Fish Tanks. Do you want one? Find out if starting a home aquarium is right for you. first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

TJ

The post Aquarium Tips of the Day | Use a Labeling System for your Fish Tank first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

Rumors have been flying around that Pixar is in the process of ramping up production on a Finding Nemo sequel, that film writer and producer Andrew Stanton has signed up for the directing job, and that television writer Victoria Strouse will be writing the script. I call them rumors because Pixar does not comment on development.

There is a double-edged sword to these rumors. On the one hand, I love it. I loved the first Finding Nemo, and it is still one of my favorite Pixar films. Of course I do, I love most things about coral reefs, tropical fish, and ocean life. I also think Pixar does a fairly fantastic job at creating all of their animated films.

Sure, us nerdy ocean and aquarium lovers can pick apart some of the inaccuracies of such movies. But Pixar did a pretty good job with the original Finding Nemo of entertaining my 2.5 year old nephew, me, and my 60 year old father while incorporating a few scientific names and some of the basics about ocean life and underwater ecosystems.

Underwater is a place that most people don’t look at and see very often. Therefore, it was out of sight and out of mind for a majority of people until Pixar released Finding Nemo in movie theaters across the globe and put those ocean ecosystems right in front of toddlers, teenagers, parents, and grandparents across the world.

Finding Nemo was also fantastic for the aquarium hobby. Kids wanted to go “find Nemo” at the public aquariums. They started dragging their parents past the puppies and into the fish section of pet stores. Tanks, stands, aquarium filters, and all sorts of aquarium equipment started flying off the shelves like never before. The added interest and money pouring into the industry allowed for advances in husbandry, technology, and research.

So, the other edge of that sword? The downside to all of this is that all of those fish that people now want to keep in their home aquariums come from somewhere. Did anybody realize that the whole movie was about a tropical fish being snatched out of its natural environment by a SCUBA diver, ripped from its family, and placed in a small tank thousands of miles from home? We learned some great things about the oceans on the journey to find Nemo, but he just wanted to be out of that tank and back at home with his family and friends.

Luckily, the aquarium hobby didn’t seem to take much heat for that. In the end, the clownfish populations did. Those new aquarium hobbyists were looking for the “Nemo” fish left and right to put into their new aquariums, and these new hobbyists mostly lacked the proper setup and care knowledge. Then, if one of their ocellaris clownfish died, they would just go grab another one from their LFS. Clownfish populations were practically wiped out in certain parts of the world. There are also new advancements and technologies that have made fish keeping better, and easier.

As tropical fish lovers, coral reef lovers, and aquarium hobbyists we have a responsibility to educate about conservation, proper aquarium setup, and proper aquarium maintenance this time around. Luckily, breeding of tropical saltwater fish has come a long way since the first Finding Nemo. It kind of seems like every other person in the aquarium hobby is breeding clownfish these days.

If people start asking us questions about setting up new tanks we should take the time to show them how to do it correctly. We should educate new hobbyists about the oceans and underwater ecosystems. We should teach them about fish and reef compatibility, the nitrogen cycle, water chemistry, and water quality so that new hobbyists can keep their fish happy and alive. Most importantly, we should teach them about conservation, fish breeding, and tank bred fish.

Aquarium Tip Tank will be here to help. If you are new to the aquarium hobby please ask questions, and let us know what you need help with. That is what we’re here for. If you have been keeping fish for a while, and you’d also like to help, get in touch with us. You can comment below, send an email to support@aquariumtiptank.com, say hello to us on Facebook, say hello to us on Twitter, or find us on YouTube.

TJ

The post The Finding Nemo Sequel and our Responsibilities as Coral Reef Lovers and Aquarium Hobbyists first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast 009

So far, at Aquarium Tip Tank we’ve gone over the bigger, more expensive, absolutely necessary pieces of Aquarium Equipment to start a new tropical fish tank. These are items such as the tank itself, the tank stand, lighting, and filtration systems. In this episode we talk about the rest of the smaller, yet just as important, pieces of equipment that are needed to begin a tropical fish tank!

I need to purchase some of these items myself, but I also talk about the pieces of equipment that are necessary, but I already have from other aquariums. Some pieces of equipment can be used for more than one fish tank as long as you make sure that you rinse all aquarium tools under running tap water prior to putting them in any aquarium water.

I’ve created links to all of the items that are talked about in this episode below.

Make sure you have your smaller Tropical Fish Tank tools and equipment:

• Floor Mat To Keep Carpet Dry
• Aqueon Submersible Aquarium Heater – 150 Watts
• RO/DI Filter
• Floating Thermometer
• Aqueon Water Changer Siphon with 25 ft. hose
• Marineland Light Timer
• Belkin Power Strip with Surge Protector
• 5-gallon bucket

Please say hello to us on Facebook, or Twitter, find us on our YouTube Channel, or leave a comment below!

TJ

The post Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast 009 | The “Smaller” Pieces of Tropical Fish Tank Equipment first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

Hopefully your test kit has an expiration date. If your test solutions are dried up – and not from using them – its definitely time for a new kit. Some test kits say that they have a 5 year shelf life, but then go on to say something like “discard them one year after opening.” Just make sure you know that you are using a valid, non-expired test kit to test the water in your fish tank and get the most accurate results! After all, it wouldn’t be any fun, and would be very confusing, if you thought that all of your water parameters were spot on because you used an expired water test kit and then had something go wrong with your fish tank.

What kind of test kit do you use? Leave a comment below!

Email us, say hello on Facebook and/or Twitter with any questions you may have!

TJ

The post Aquarium Tips of the Day | Make sure your Fish Tank Test Kits are NOT Expired first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

Ever mistakenly left the power off on your aquarium? Leave a comment below!

TJ

The post Aquarium Tips of the Day | Turn Your Aquarium Power Back On first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

The API Nexx canister filtration system has arrived! All of the pieces and steps to start setting up my new 30 gallon saltwater aquarium at Aquarium Tip Tank are coming together! You can hear all about my filtration selection process in Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast 008. Included here are some pictures of unpacking the API Nexx canister filtration system, and some videos about setting up the filtration system an putting some filter media into it!

Update: We do not currently recommend the API Nexx Canister Aquarium Filter. It leaked when I first set it up for my aquarium system check. Somehow, I got it to work for 4 days without any leaks during the system check. Then, I drained the aquarium, put live sand into the tank, put live rock into the tank, filled the tank up with saltwater and re-started the API Nexx Canister Filter. A few hours later I went to check on the tank only to find a puddle under the tank stand. The API Nexx Canister Filter was leaking from the base. I have removed the filtration system from the tank while it is cycling. I am in contact with representatives from RENA and will post updates with the outcome.

API Nexx Canister Filter in opened shipping box

Front Cover of API Nexx Canister Filter box

Side of API Nexx Canister Filter box

The side of the box that the API Nexx Canister Aquarium Filter comes in shows that it has a modular design and 2 extensions are able to be added to the base filter in order to accommodate aquariums that are larger than 55 gallons. Each extension is rated for another 55 gallons of aquarium filtration. Therefore, with just the base unit you get 55 gallons of filtration. With the base unit and 1 extension the canister filtration system is rated for 110 gallons. With the base unit and the maximum of 2 extensions, the API Nexx Canister filtration system is rated for 165 gallons.

Back of API Nexx Canister Filter box

The back of the box that the API Nexx Canister Filter comes in shows a diagram of how the water flows through the system with a by-pass free circulation for complete water flow through the filter media.

API Nexx filter box opened!

The API Nexx Canister Aquarium Filtration system was packaged well with all of its components well padded from shipping mishaps.

API Nexx Canister Filter Pump that will be submerged in the Aquarium

API Nexx Canister Filter Pump head and all the little parts for setup

API Nexx Canister Filter – The Canister and flexible tubing!

All the parts of the API Nexx Canister Filter out and ready for setup!

Everything that was supposed to be in the box was there! Nothing was missing, and now its time to set my aquarium filtration system up! In order to do this and show it to you I made a little video presentation and submitted it as my first video on YouTube! I also embedded it below!

This is a fairly rough video. I think there are a few things that I would do differently. Hopefully, my videos will get better as I make more aquarium tutorial videos for all of you! Enjoy!

As for putting filter media into the API Nexx Canister Filtration system, I made another movie! I think it may have turned out a little bit better than the one above. I figured out how to get some HD out of it. It is on YouTube at the Aquarium Tip Tank YouTube Channel, and we’ve also embedded it for you below! Enjoy!

As you can see, setup and filter media installation of the API Nexx Canister Aquarium Filter is quick, and easy!

Grab your Aquarium Canister Filtration system now:

• Base Filter From Amazon: API Nexx Canister Filter
• Extension Filter from Amazon: API Nexx Canister Filter Extension
• Mechanical/Chemical filtration media screens/pouches from Amazon: API Nexx Bio-Chem Zorb Sz 4 Note: Size 4 is what works with API Nexx Filter.
• Biological/Chemical filtration media stars from Amazon: API Nexx Bio-Chem Stars

If you have any questions please let us know. What do you think? Leave comments below!

TJ

The post Unpacking and Installing API Nexx Base Canister Aquarium Filter first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

You should also probably write all of the dimensions and sizes that you come up with on a piece of paper somewhere. You may even want draw a diagram of your project with accurate dimensions. That way, you can bring it to the store with you when you are looking for the correct size pieces for your DIY light mounting system or your DIY aquarium plumbing.

Are you doing a DIY aquarium project? Leave your comments below. Say hello to us on Facebook!

TJ

The post Aquarium Tips of The Day | Measure Twice on DIY Aquarium Projects first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

Aquarium Tip  Tank Podcast 008

In this episode of the Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast I discuss the mechanisms used to perform mechanical, chemical, and biological filtration in a home aquarium system. The devices I talk about include Hang-on-Tank filtration systems, Canister Filters, Under-gravel filters, and Wet/Dry filtration systems. I also discuss my choice of aquarium filtration for the 30 gallon saltwater aquarium that I’m in the process of setting up.

I chose to go with a Canister Filtration system and I chose the API Nexx aquarium filter. However, let me do a little clarification here. Make sure you do your research and choose the filtration system that you think will work best for your situation. I have to admit, if I had a larger tank, and more room in the tank stand under my tank, I probably would’ve tried to set up a wet/dry filtration system with a separate reservoir under my main tank. I would’ve sectioned off that reservoir and created different areas for my mechanical, chemical, and biological filtration. I would’ve tried to get a little refugium going, and maximized the potential for biological filtration.

I just don’t have that kind of room under my small, 30 gallon tank. The API Nexx filtration system should work great for what I’m looking to do with my home aquarium! I do think the API Nexx Filter is a great canister filtration system that is also expandable. If you’d like to use the API Nexx Filter, I’ve posted a link to Amazon for one below. If not, and you’re going to use a different type of filtration system for your aquarium that’s awesome! Go ahead and leave a comment below and tell us how you are filtering your aquarium water, or how you plan to!

Update: We do not currently recommend the API Nexx Canister Aquarium Filter. It leaked when I first set it up for my aquarium system check. Somehow, I got it to work for 4 days without any leaks during the system check. Then, I drained the aquarium, put live sand into the tank, put live rock into the tank, filled the tank up with saltwater and re-started the API Nexx Canister Filter. A few hours later I went to check on the tank only to find a puddle under the tank stand. The API Nexx Canister Filter was leaking from the base. I have removed the filtration system from the tank while it is cycling. I am in contact with representatives from RENA and will post updates with the outcome.

Grab your Canister Filtration System now:

• Amazon:  API NEXX FILTER

Other posts mentioned in this Podcast:

• Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast 007
• Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast 006
• Unpacking Ecoray 60DX LED Aquarium Lights

We love our listeners and respect your opinion! Please search for “Aquarium Tip Tank” in iTunes to find all of our podcast episodes and leave a review. We’d love to know what we can do better and we’d love to keep improving! Also, please feel free to contact us with any aquarium questions, stories, and we really love breakthroughs – tell us about the fish you just added to your tank!

TJ

The post Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast 008 | Aquarium Filtration, Part 2 first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

If you’re a regular to Aquarium Tip Tank you may know that I am starting a new 30 gallon saltwater aquarium. You can hear all about how I went through the process of selecting the lighting system for my new aquarium in Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast 006. In the time since that podcast was released Ecoray actually came out with an upgraded versions of their LED systems that included a second dimmer for the blue LEDs so that now both the white and blue LEDs had their own separate dimmer. I decided to pay just a few more dollars for the upgraded version, and my new Ecoray 60DX lighting system arrived 5 days ago! Here are some pictures of the unpacking, and a few of my insights.

Ecoray 60DX arrival and out of the shipping box.

Ecoray 60DX Box Opened!

From the picture above you can see that the Ecoray 60DX was very well packaged. There was no damage to the box and all of the contents inside were well protected from shipping mishaps. The seller even packaged the system in a whole other box that was also well insulated.

All Ecoray 60DX Contents out of the Box!

The LEDs of the Ecoray 60DX!

The “top side” of the Ecoray 60DX

In the 3 pictures above we can see the contents of the box being removed. We can also see the dual power cords and dual dimmers. One power cord and the white dimmer powers and controls the white LEDs, and the other power cord and blue dimmer powers the blue LEDs. The 2 separate power cords makes it possible to plug the cords into separate timers so that you can have whites and blues on at separate times. I’m thinking about possibly going through a daily light cycle where I turn the blue LEDs on first for 30 minutes to an hour, then have the white LEDs turn on so that I have both white and blue light for about 10 hours, then turn just the white LEDs off again and leave the blue LEDs on for an extra hour or two to replicate dusk/moonlight until I decide that the blue LEDs can be turned off. I can just program the timers correctly to achieve that light cycle. This is a very nice feature of the Ecoray 60DX, and I can just adjust the timers to try out different light cycles whenever, and however I want!

Yes, some more expensive LED aquarium lighting systems include the electronics and software so that the timers are already in the system, or so that you can control everything from your smartphone, tablet, or computer. I just didn’t want to go overboard and spend $300 or more extra on those components when I can just spend $20 on 2 timers. For me, it also adds an element of relaxation. I’ll set the timers, and just have to forget about it and not worry about it the rest of the day. I’ll have to look at, enjoy, and tinker with my lights timer settings. It’ll be fun. I won’t have constant control of the lights from everywhere, therefore, why worry about it the rest of the day. If I had those types of controls on my smartphone, I may actually be  more worried that I’d change something without even looking at my aquarium just to come home and figure out that I had messed something up!

Hands-free or dimmers that worked on a timer of some sort might be nice though. It would kind of be cool if I could schedule and time the lights so that I could have full power blue LED lighting during the daytime hours, but then set the dimmer to automatically go to 50%, then 25%, then to off in the night hours. For this setup, I have to get up and manually turn the dimmers to create a different lighting effect. However, controls like that still cost a whole lot of money and I wasn’t ready to spend the extra cash. I also don’t know how much I really NEED something like that. After all, the nano-reef that I currently keep does just fine with a metal-halide turning on for 10 hours, then just turning off. I’m sure I’ll just tinker with the settings and timers that I use with the Ecoray 60DX, find what I’m happy with, set it, relax, and let it go!

Small package containing mounting brackets, hanging cables, and instructions opened!

If you don’t have a lighting ballast, it is probably easiest to put a hook in your ceiling and hang the Ecoray 60DX LED system. I don’t really want to do that. I don’t have a ballast to mount the lighting system in currently. My plan is to head out to a hardware store and see what kind of mounting legs, or mounting stand that I can come up with. You’ll just have to check back later for my post about that!

Ecoray 60DX Blue LEDs at 100%. White LEDs not even plugged in.

Light side of the Ecoray 60DX with Blue LEDs at 100%. White LEDs not plugged in. All Blues are working!

Ecoray 60DX with Wite LEDs at 100%. Blue LEDs turned off.

Ecoray 60DX White LEDs at 100%. Blue LEDs at 25%.

Ecoray 60DX White and Blue LEDs both at 100%. All systems go!

The last 5 pictures were taken with a flash turned off. The flash would have added light and not shown the effects of the lighting very well. I didn’t have a way to mount the light like I wanted to at this point so I just placed it on top of my aquarium tank and plugged it in to test everything for a few minutes. Everything worked great! Of course, I’m going to have to turn the system 90 degrees to get the correct light coverage for my tank, but I think everything will work brilliantly!

Grab your High PAR LED Light system now:

•  Amazon: Ecoray 60D High PAR LED Light Note: Amazon only carries the 60D. I could not find the 60DX on Amazon. I went to eBay to get mine.

Check back later to see how I decide to mount the Ecoray 60DX lighting system! Got any comments? Leave them below!

TJ

The post Unpacking Ecoray 60DX LED Aquarium Lights! first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

This is especially important with acrylic tanks. They tend to scratch a little bit easier. However, glass will scratch too if you don’t realize that you have a piece of substrate between your scraper and your aquarium wall.

Trust me, at some point you will get some sand wedged between your scraper and your aquarium wall. It might be with a magnetic scraper. It might be with a razor-like scraper. It might be with a softer, “acrylic safe”, scraper. At some point you will try to get all the way to the bottom of your tank to rid the entire inside surface of your tank of algae and debris. You’ll kick up a little substrate and the tiniest of particles will get wedged into the space between scraper and wall. Just remove your scraper from the wall, shake the debris loose in the water column, possibly take a quick second to remove more stubborn pieces of debris under a freshwater faucet, and resume. It certainly doesn’t take much time, and it will save you years of an unsightly eye sore.

Leave your comments below, and say hello to us on Facebook.

TJ

The post Aquarium Tips of the Day | Don’t Scrape with Substrate first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

This could be as easy as throwing a large sheet over your aquarium set-up, but make sure that you don’t burn the sheet with your lights and that there is still enough ventilation for the aquarium. It would be much better to have your lights turned off for a little while and a large sheet over your tank than let chemicals from something like a pest exterminator float into your tank.

Do you have a creative way of protecting your aquarium when necessary? Leave comments below!

TJ

The post Aquarium Tips of the Day | Protect Your Tank from Home Improvement! first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

It’s been a little while since we’ve talked about coral restoration here at Aquarium Tip Tank. In the last few days we’ve come across an interesting read about suggestions for market-based strategies for sustainable funding of restoration projects of marine environments in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS). We’ve also found a link to a quick, and easy survey on Reef Relief’s site that asks SCUBA divers and snorkelers that have recently visited the Florida Keys a few short questions about their experience, and their awareness and participation level in reef conservation programs.

The Georgia Aquarium is involved in the Florida Keys reef conservation initiative. Brett Howell has been involved in his Conservation Fellowship at Georgia Aquarium for about a year and a half now. To sum things up, he is trying to find market-based solutions to funding issues of marine conservation programs. Many of these programs are currently funded by time-limited grants. At some point, the money necessary to run the coral nurseries and reef conservation efforts will run out, or the time will be up. They are trying to restore reefs that us SCUBA divers, snorkelers, and fisherman love to enjoy. There has got to be a way to keep these reef restoration programs running and they want your help and your ideas.

For much more detailed information about what I am talking about please head on over to the Gaia Endeavors blog post that contains the comment, from 19 endorsing organizations and 7 individuals, to support market-based strategies submitted to FKNMS here. I implore those interested to download the full comment that is at the bottom of that post and read it to get an understanding of their suggestions for a market-based funding solution.

Then, if you’re a SCUBA diver or snorkeler that has visited the Florida Keys and enjoyed the wonder and beauty of the underwater Florida Keys ecosystem, head on over to Reef Relief’s blog post here and leave your own feedback in the quick, easy survey that they have included at the bottom.

Got any coral reef restoration ideas?  Are you good at raising money for a good cause? Leave your comments below!

TJ

The post Happy 4th of July USA! Help Save Your Coral Reefs! first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

I can’t use a light that has a maximum light stand width of 24 inches. Use the wrong width and some of my on-the-spot calculations for the volume of my tank had to be incorrect.

It’s really easy to do. I could’ve just had it in a note on my smartphone (by the way…I just made that note in my smartphone). I could’ve wrote the dimensions on a small piece of paper and stuck it in my wallet. It is so easy to have my tank dimensions with me at all times that I could’ve saved myself trips to the store, research time, and frustration by taking them with me. Just remembering them correctly would’ve been nice too.

Ever made a simple task harder? Have any breakthroughs and/or pictures of your aquarium? Leave comments below.

The post Aquarium Tips of the Day | Take Your Tank Dimensions With You first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

Just rinse your tools off before using them for your aquarium. This does not mean that you can use that bucket that you used to use to mix chemical household cleaners in as long as you rinse it out first. NEVER, use that bucket for your aquarium. However, you probably have clean, aquarium safe tools that you will use on your aquarium regularly. Prior to placing those tools into your aquarium water or your aquarium system, just rinse them off with normal tap water. It doesn’t have to be special filtered water or water that you’ve put special additives into. Just use the water that comes straight out of your tap.

See, even though you use those aquarium tools regularly, they still just sit around for some period of time every day. During that time they are collecting dust, dirt, and whatever other small particles might pass them by. I’m not saying that your house is dirty. Every house has a little dust and grime floating around it. You may not have used that bucket for 2 weeks since your last water change. Could something have fallen in it? Floated into it? Crawled into it? Maybe, but just check it out and give it a quick rinse!

Your aquarium isn’t used to those dust particles. They may make your water conditions go haywire. Its just easier to give your aquarium tools a quick rinse before using them and it ends up that it can save a lot of time as well.

Leave any and all comments below!

TJ

The post Aquarium Tips of the Day | Rinse All of Your Tools Off first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

First of all, purchasing tank bred fish and invertebrates is the “green” way to go. If you are purchasing a tank bred fish you are not purchasing a fish that was removed from its home in a natural reef ecosystem or a lake or river somewhere halfway across the Earth. Those ecosystems need those fish in order to thrive and sustain natural habits and species diversity. If you remove too many of the smaller, tropical fish, then there isn’t enough food for the larger predators in that ecosystem.

Second, while tank bred and raised fish may cost more, they should also be easier to care for. You can have the peace of mind that you didn’t take anything from a natural ecosystem and the peace of mind that your fish is used to its surroundings. It wasn’t pulled from its home half way across the world and transported in a small bag or container thousands of miles to reach its new aquarium. The tank bred and raised fish isn’t stressed from all of that travel. It doesn’t know anything other than finding a home in a tank and being fed aquarium food. It should be a hardier fish, a less stressed fish, it should be used to its surroundings, it should be eating aquarium food, and it should adapt a whole lot easier to your tank. The question is, why wouldn’t you want a tank bred fish?

We’re not saying that there aren’t sometimes issues with finding tank bred fish. Almost all of the freshwater fish that aquarists keep these days are tank bred. However, there are only a few tropical saltwater fish that have been bred in an aquarium successfully. All we ask is that you try your hardest. You do some research, and you try your best to first find fish that are tank bred and raised.

Where do your fish come from? Leave your comments below!

TJ

The post Aquarium Tips of the Day | Try your hardest to Find Tank Bred Livestock! first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast 007

In this episode of Aquarium Tip Tank we talk about the three main methods of filtration and how they are performed. In the next episode of this filtration series we will go over the devices that are used in an aquarium set up to perform the different types of filtration and discuss the  filtration system that I am planning on using for my 30 gallon marine tank.

Do you use all 3 methods of filtration? Leave comments below!

TJ

The post Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast 007 | Aquarium Filtration, Part 1 first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

This may mean that you put a pair of gloves on. If your tank is huge it may mean that you jump into a wetsuit. You may even want to throw a pair of protective glasses on to protect your eyes. I know, it sounds like I’m going a little overboard here, and I’ll admit that I don’t usually put gloves on. I also know that I’m not allergic to marine animals, or shellfish, and that I don’t keep any poisonous livestock. I also try to only take hold of things that I can see and inspect first. However, if I’m going to grab something buried, or hidden, I always make sure to throw on a pair of gloves.

Wear the proper exposure protection and save yourself from stings, cuts, scrapes, and possible poisoning. It has happened to the most experienced hobbyists I know, and afterwards they always claimed that they wouldn’t have gotten stung had they took the 2 seconds to throw on some gloves.

Been cut, scraped, stung, or poisoned messing around in your aquarium? Tell us the story! Leave comments below.

TJ

The post Aquarium Tips of the Day | Use Proper Exposure Protection first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

If you have a refugium, wet/dry filter, or sump below your fish tank or somewhere out of sight, you can also float your fish bag there without turning the lights to your main tank off. Of course, this location has to be big enough and have enough of your aquarium water running through it to float your fish bag. Otherwise, float the bag on top of your main aquarium tank and make sure you turn the light off.

This will allow the heat of the water in your tank – or temperature of your water considering the fact that I guess there is a possibility of your aquarium water being cooler – to slowly transfer to the water in your fish bag. The temperatures will slowly equalize and your fish won’t be stressed by quickly being dunked into water with a different temperature.

The water in the fish bag shouldn’t be too far off from the water temperature of your aquarium. After all, you should be purchasing livestock that are well suited for the conditions of your tank, and the store that you bought your fish from should be keeping the fish in similar temperature water. However, you did have to transport your fish home, and that just leaves time for the water in the fish bag to change temperature. How that water temperature changes all depends on the ambient air conditions that surround the bag on the way home.

Adding new fish to your tank? Leave your comments below!

TJ

The post Aquarium Tips of the Day | Float your Fish Bag first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

Here at Aquarium Tip Tank we talk a lot about saltwater aquariums because that is what most of us keep, I have a small one that I am keeping, and I am in the process of setting up another 30 gallon saltwater aquarium. However, many of the aquarium tips, tricks, and advice that we give can be used for both freshwater and saltwater tanks. Therefore, we figured that we would list some benefits to keeping a freshwater fish tank, explain those benefits, and compare to a saltwater set-up. Here we go.

Freshwater Aquarium Benefits:

• Not much need for specialized lighting.
• No need to mix salt into water.
• Hardy fish that are usually easier to care for than marine fish.
• Majority of freshwater aquarium fish are tank bred.
• Freshwater aquariums are generally less expensive than saltwater aquariums.
• Freshwater aquariums are generally easier for beginners to care for.

When I look at the list above, I realize that almost all of the freshwater aquarium benefits can be grouped under the last two. Freshwater aquariums are generally less expensive and easier to care for. All aquariums require a tank, substrate, filters, lights, test kits, food, nets, scrapers, and possibly a quarantine tank. A saltwater tank requires a few more pieces of equipment such as a hydrometer, power heads, a protein skimmer, extra test kits for calcium and alkalinity, and possibly some live rock and sand instead of the cheaper gravel that is used in a freshwater tank.

Obviously, all of this extra equipment costs money, and has to be maintained in properly working order. This is also only for a fish only with live rock (FOWLR) set up. If you want to keep a reef tank with corals and other invertebrates you will need a lighting system that will deliver more light to those light hungry invertebrates. You will probably also want more live rock, a refugium, and a reverse osmosis (RO) filter unit – we recommend RO filtering all of your water for freshwater or saltwater tanks, but you will definitely need one for a reef tank.

Now lets talk a little bit about ease of care. I don’t want to scare you out of keeping a saltwater aquarium so I will first say this…I honestly don’t think that the maintenance of a saltwater tank is that much more difficult. There are a few extra maintenance tasks to take care of for a saltwater tank, but in my opinion, they don’t take a long amount of time, and they aren’t that difficult.

First, water changes for a freshwater tank are a little bit easier. This is mainly due to the fact that you don’t have to make your saltwater. You can keep a beautiful freshwater tank by using dechlorinated and filtered tap water. With saltwater aquariums you have to dechlorinate and RO filter your tap water into storage buckets to mix the salt in. This saltwater making process is usually done a few days before a water change.

Second, the livestock of a freshwater aquarium is generally a little bit easier to care for. The vast majority of freshwater aquarium fish are tank bred and tank raised. The Aquariums are their homes and where they are used to living. They are used to being fed and eating aquarium foods. They were not transported from a reef halfway around the world. Therefore, freshwater fish are much less stressed about their aquarium environment and end up being hardier fish that are a little bit easier to care for and keep happy.

You also won’t be able to keep any corals with specific demands for  lighting and water conditions. Sure, you may want to keep some live plants, but you can still keep some live freshwater plants with NO fluorescent lights and dechlorinated and filtered tap water. Some freshwater plants may require more light intensity for photosynthesis, but it is not near the light intensity necessary to keep corals and other sessile invertebrates.

Finally, please don’t let any of this dissuade you from keeping a saltwater aquarium. Once you have your tank and your equipment and it is all set up, cycled, and the proper lighting and water conditions have been established, the maintenance tasks for keeping a healthy marine aquarium are not that much more expensive or difficult than keeping a freshwater aquarium. You can always buy your saltwater from a LFS instead of making it yourself. You just have to have containers to keep it and transport it in. If you choose and care for your fish wisely, marine fish also aren’t that much more difficult to care for. Just remember, a lot of marine fish in your LFS are probably taken from the Earth’s reefs. Keep your fish happy and healthy so that you’re not the aquarium hobbyist depleting those reefs of tropical fish.

Comments? Got some cool pictures of your tanks? Leave a comment below!

TJ

The post Freshwater Aquarium vs Saltwater Aquarium first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

First, water weighs a whole lot. With all of the equipment, substrate, rock, etc. just round up and say that every gallon of water is 10 lbs that your stand has to hold up. For a 30 gallon tank, that’s 300 lbs. For a 100 gallon tank, that’s 1,000 lbs. Please make sure that your stand can hold all of that weight.

Second, sturdy doesn’t only mean that it can hold a lot of weight. With all of that precious cargo you also don’t want your tank to tip, wobble, fall over, and break. Make sure that your fish tank and its stand are on level ground with sure footing. You don’t want to end up with your fish tank, all of your water, your pet fish, and all of that great equipment broken on the floor!

Ever had any issues with your tank stand? Leave comments below!

TJ

The post Aquarium Tips of the Day | Have a Sturdy Tank Stand first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

A gravel cleaner is nothing special or expensive. In fact, it is probably already on the end of the siphon tube that you use to perform your water changes. Some manufacturers put special filters, bags, pumps, and other features onto their siphon tubes, but all that stuff isn’t really necessary. Don’t get me wrong, it may make the job a little simpler and easier, and even those aren’t very expensive. However, the larger, hard plastic tube at the end of my siphon, that has an angle at the end to make it a little easier to get into the substrate is all I use.

Once I get my siphon primed and running, I basically just go around the bottom substrate of my entire tank. I stick the “gravel cleaner” into the substrate until the substrate gets pulled up the tube and almost starts going into the smaller tube. Then, I crimp the smaller tube with my  other hand to stop the flow of water and allow the substrate to fall back to the bottom. This usually creates separation between the detritus and the substrate itself. See, the detritus is lighter than the substrate and even if I let go of the crimp in the tube that I created with my other hand and let the siphon start pulling water into my dirty water bucket before the substrate is all the way back down on the bottom of my tank, I usually end up getting all of the waste to travel into my dirty water bucket without any of the substrate.

Once I’m done going around and cleaning out all of the substrate in my tank I usually still have more water that needs to be siphoned out of the tank. So, I go around the aquarium gathering water from all spots, and maybe I go back to some areas of substrate that looked a little dirtier. All the while I’m allowing dirty water to travel out of the tank and into my dirty water bucket. If I still have more water to get out of the tank after all of that, then I just make sure that I haven’t pulled the end of the tube out of the water (after all, this would make my siphon stop!), I place the end of it in a safe place and just allow the water to flow into the dirty water bucket until I’m done.

Performing water changes regularly? Got a special gravel cleaner that works really well for you? Leave comments below!

TJ

The post Aquarium Tips of the Day | Use a Gravel Cleaner first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

See its not just about putting freshwater fish into a freshwater tank. You have to ask yourself questions like, what kind of fish do I have in my aquarium already? Will my new fish get along with the fish that I currently have?  Is the aquarium big enough for another tang?

Angelfish are beautiful saltwater fish, but they are also aggressive.  You can’t just have a tank full of angelfish because they will fight, get stressed, and some of them will die. Clownfish are very hardy saltwater fish, and can be great for beginners. However, clownfish can also be aggressively territorial. Unless you find a mated pair, you should only keep one clownfish. If you want to add a clownfish to your tank you should also make sure that the tank is big enough, and that it has a cave, hole, or anemone in a section of the aquarium that it can call “home”.

These are just a few examples of things to look out for when purchasing fish for your tank. First, when you set up your tank, you should have put some thought into the fish and livestock you wanted to keep. Then, once you have an established tank, its much easier to make sure that any additional fish you’d like to keep will actually suit your aquarium conditions rather than trying to change the conditions in your tank, and possibly stressing the livestock you currently have, just to keep one new fish.

Having fun stocking your aquarium? Leave comments below!

TJ

The post Aquarium Tips of the Day | Purchase Fish that Suit Your Aquarium Conditions first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

Every once in a while we here at Aquarium Tip Tank get the chance to take some vacation, get out into nature, and do the things that got us interested and excited about nature and the underwater world. I had aquariums before I started SCUBA diving, but really got interested in keeping an underwater ecosystem in my home when I strapped on a tank and dove for the first time in St. John, USVI. We had a little bit of a long weekend for Memorial Day this past weekend and were able to jump on a buddy’s sailboat out of South Florida for 4 days. Dry Rocks Coral Reef and the Christ of the Abyss in John Pennekamp State Park off the East coast of Key Largo is one of the places that we had the opportunity to SCUBA dive.

It was our second day of sailing and we were on our way to Key Largo Sound in John Pennekamp State Park to grab a mooring ball for the night. On our way we decided that we may as well stop at Dry Rocks coral reef. When we arrived it was late afternoon and there were several boats with snorkelers that had already grabbed the mooring balls closest to the statue. We grabbed the mooring ball on what I believe was the South West side of Dry Rocks coral reef. Of course, this was the one farthest from the buoy marking the Christ of the Abyss statue. No worries though. We had the gear to allow everybody to swim on over and plenty of air for those that were certified and wanted to strap on a tank.

We got all geared up, I grabbed some coordinates to swim to on my compass that I was diving with, we performed all of  our checks, jumped in, and started swimming to the Christ of the Abyss statue!

Divers Swimming to Dry Rocks Reef and Christ of the Abyss

This reef is quite spectacular! Honestly, I was delightfully surprised by the health and beauty of this coral reef! I’ve been on a few dive trips with SCUBA dive charters in the Key Largo, FL area before and I seem to remember them saying something like, “Well, its nothing special.” or, “It’s only in 20 feet of water, so its better for snorkelers.” I disagree.

First, the reef is something special. There was an abundance of thriving coral and fish swimming happily through the reef. Some of the brain corals were gigantic! I saw schools of blue tang, grunts, a spotted box-fish, golden trevally, lobster, conch, and many more! What I didn’t see was any lionfish, and that is also a delightful surprise.

Large Brain Coral at Dry Rocks Coral Reef off Key Largo, FL

Second, so what if it is a shallow site? Okay, I’ll agree that when you’re paying for a dive operator to supply you with tanks, take you out to nice coral reefs, and you’re paying to rent SCUBA gear that maybe you want to go someplace deeper than 20 ft. so that you can feel as if it was necessary to pay all of that money. I’ll also admit that we have all of our own tanks and gear so we weren’t paying for any of that anyway. However, I’ll let you SCUBA divers in on a little secret, corals like sunlight, and a lot of the beautiful reefs with lots of colorful corals and fish are going to be found in shallow waters where they get maximum mid-day tropical sun. I was also bringing my underwater camera with me. I knew that I was going to want to be at the bottom of the Christ of the Abyss statue at 20 feet deep taking pictures of people with the statue. I wanted to hand my camera to somebody so that they could take a picture of me. This is a lot easier to do if you don’t have to hold your breath.

Christ of the Abyss Statue in John Pennekamp State Park

In the end, it ended up being a fantastic dive for the people with tanks on their backs and the people without! Then, I was able to use the pictures that I had taken to educate some of the less informed on the boat about what they saw, how the organisms live, and the beauty of the underwater ecosystem!

Christmas Tree Worms on Coral at Dry Rocks Reef John Pennekamp State Park

Have any fun SCUBA or snorkel stories? Leave a comment below!

TJ

The post SCUBA Diving Dry Rocks Coral Reef and Christ of the Abyss first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

Personally, if I’m going out of town for a long weekend and I’m heading out on a Thursday night, then I try to make sure that I have a couple minutes to perform a water change early Thursday afternoon. My job is a little bit weird with times, and this works for me. It probably wouldn’t work for somebody that has a normal 9-5 job who’s leaving straight from work to catch their 7pm flight. In that case, just make sure you get that last water change done on Wednesday evening.

Normally scheduled water changes are about every 2 weeks anyway right? Well, doing it this way when traveling will add another water change, but your fish and your pet sitter will love you for it. You can never underestimate the importance of good water quality. Performing these simple water changes will keep your mind at ease. It will also allow your pet sitter to just stop by, feed the fish, check the water temperature, and make sure all of the equipment is still on and running. Also, this good water quality can help your livestock survive even if all else fails (can you say power outage?) and you’re not home to fix it!

Heading out on vacation soon? Got a good fish sitter and maintenance crew? Leave a comment below!

TJ

The post Aquarium Tips of the Day | Perform Water Change as close to Departure Date for Holiday Travel as Possible first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

Yes, Maris has given birth to the first Beluga whale calf to be born to parents who were both born in captivity. The calf was born in the Georgia Aquarium on Friday May 18, 2012 shortly after 10:30pm. We knew about it a little bit earlier, but at the Georgia Aquarium we like to allow our benefactor, Bernie Marcus, to make the important announcements to the media when the time is appropriate. It has been released, and we can discuss! Below is what I know, and a link to the official press release .

Currently, the calf is actually in critical condition receiving first class care around the clock by the best veterinary staff and aquarium experts. First-time pregnancies are very often unsuccessful with beluga whales no matter if the first-born calf is born in the wild or in a zoological setting.

When the calf was born it took its first breath, but needed the assistance of divers that were immediately on hand and in the water to help. The calf then tried to swim with her mother, Maris, and it was immediately apparent that the calf was just too weak to navigate the waters. The Aquarium staff took over and placed the calf in critical care and performed a physical exam. It was then that they found the flukes had not hardened on the calf and that it weighed only 82 pounds, much less than an average beluga calf.

The mother, Maris, is doing well, and the calf is getting the best 24-hour care that it can possibly receive. You can read the official press release and get updates via Georgia Aquarium’s blog. Until further notice,  the beluga exhibit will be temporarily closed to the public to allow for the veterinary and animal care staff at the Georgia Aquarium to completely focus on the comfort of Maris and her new beluga calf.

TJ

The post Beluga Calf at Georgia Aquarium! first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

Hopefully, you’ve been performing regular water changes and your fish and other livestock have been enjoying clean, ammonia free water, with little to zero nitrates and nitrites. Well, your now about to put your fish in a bag with no live rock, no live sand, and no helpful bacterial population. There isn’t anything in that bag to keep the waste from that fish from fouling the water. So, it would be nice if the fish didn’t make any waste in that water. The only way to stop this from happening is to not feed your fish for a little while before putting it in the transport bag. Allow your fish tank to “fast” for about 36 hours prior to placing them in plastic bags and your livestock should’ve had a chance to digest just about everything they’ve eaten. Then, they won’t have anything to make waste out of!

Moving your fish soon? Ever had any trouble with fish transport? Leave a comment below.

TJ

The post Aquarium Tips of the Day | Stop Feeding before Moving your Fish first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

I recently got a new toy. My new Canon 60D takes amazing pictures (actually I guess I’m the one taking the pictures, but I use the 60D to do it), and one of the first things I did was make a time lapse of my green star polyps. Head on over to my new Google+ page and check it out! While you’re there, go ahead and give me a +1!

This is actually a very rough video. I figured out how to set up the camera, put it on a tripod, read a little bit of the manual about taking some macro pictures and started taking some pictures of my small reef tank! I made sure the aperture, shutter speed, and focus were all set up the way I wanted, turned on the small metal halide lamp that lights this nano tank and set the timer to take a picture every 5 seconds for an hour and 15 minutes!

I ended up with 900 photos. I did absolutely nothing to them as far as post-processing goes. Each picture is a frame and the movie was set to 24 frames per second. Export as an avi file to keep the size down a little bit, and this is what I ended up with for my first time-lapse. Enjoy!

Take some cool pictures and videos of your home aquarium? Share and comment below!

TJ

The post Coral Time-Lapse Video first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

Maybe you’ve seen some of our aquarium tips about selecting fish. All of that applies and we will definitely get into that here, but choosing a fish store is also about personal preference. Do you like the sales force? Are they knowledgeable? Do they give you the time of day even when it is crowded on a Saturday afternoon? Are they fun people to chat with?

You may not even spend a lot of money at the local fish store of your choice. You may end up buying some small things like fish food, or your saltwater, but your local fish store may end up just being a place where you like to check out the new fish, look at their tank set-ups, and have some good fish talk. From my own experience I’ve found that I can find a lot of the actual equipment for an aquarium much cheaper on the internet. However, there are still some important factors that we should all take into consideration when choosing our local fish store.

Check the Fish Tanks

As your walking around the store make sure that you not only look at all of the wonderful fish that they have, but do a little inspection of the tanks and ask yourself a few questions.

• Are most of the tanks clean or are the tops and sides encrusted with residue?
• Is the water in the tanks clear or is most of the water in the tanks discolored?
• Are there any dead fish in the tanks?
• Are there any sick fish?

If you notice any of these unsightly conditions that make it look like the fish store does not do a very good job caring for its livestock, then you’ll probably want to find a different fish store. This isn’t to say that you should abandon the store all together if there is a little salt creep on one of their tanks, but if there is more than one dead fish floating around and all of the tanks look dirty with residue, then its definitely time to walk out and never look back.

Choose an Eco-Friendly Dealer

No, I’m not talking about a fish store owner that drives a Prius. I’m talking about a fish store that encourages conservation of fish, coral reefs, plants, rivers, oceans, and all of Earth’s environments. They can do this in several ways.

• Offer captive-bred fish
• Offer aquacultured invertebrates
• They have a live fish guarantee
• Participate in sustainability efforts and Foundations
• They know their collectors, harvesters, and distributors and know that they use responsible and sustainable methods.

The fish store you use should either have these items posted, and advertised in plain site, or if you ask them, they should be able to answer without hesitation. Selecting captive-bred fish and aquacultured invertebrates keeps organisms from being taken off the reef and out of their natural environment. If the fish store has a live fish guarantee, they are confident in their fish keeping skills. Keeping fish alive keeps more fish in the stock, and less fish from being pulled off the reefs. All you have to do to make sure that you’re purchasing items for your fish tank from an Eco-friendly dealer is ask a few simple questions.

Looking for a fish store? Leave a comment below!

TJ

The post Choosing a Fish Store first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

It may cost $10 extra to get that hanging power filter that is rated for 55 gallons instead of 30, but that is much better than the stress and added work that may come along with buying the filter rated for 30 gallons. If you end up purchasing a filter that is too small, you may even end up throwing it out and just buying the larger filter in the end. Instead of learning your lesson the hard way, just pay the extra $10 for the larger filter and relax while having the confidence that your aquarium filter is going to keep your water clear!

Purchasing an aquarium filter? Ever have a filter problem in your tank? Leave your comments below!

TJ

The post Aquarium Tips of the Day | Go One Size Larger for your Aquarium Filter first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast 006

In this episode of Aquarium Tip Tank we finish off our discussion about lighting your home aquarium. We had talked about fluorescent and metal halide lighting systems in the first part of this lighting system and we had to get to LED aquarium lighting systems. In this episode we make sure that we discuss all of the criteria and specifications that you should look for when selecting LEDs for your aquarium. I also tell the story of how I went about choosing the lighting system that I will use for my new 30 gallon marine reef aquarium.

Aquarium Lighting Mentioned in this Podcast:

• Ecoray 60D LED system
• Ecoray 60D in Amazon

What lights do you use with your aquarium? Leave a comment below!

TJ

The post Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast 006 | Lighting the Aquarium Part 2 first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

Copper is toxic to invertebrates, and if copper based treatments are used directly in your main reef aquarium you will end up killing all of your corals. Then, you will be dealing with much bigger issues than the Ich. You will have an overload of dead organisms and waste in your tank, creating too many nitrites and too much ammonia in the tank for the beneficial bacteria to handle. You then run the risk of complete aquarium meltdown!

Instead, set up a quarantine tank if you haven’t already and move all of your fish into quarantine. There, you can treat your fish without having to worry about taking out all of your inertebrates. I’m not saying that you should just go ahead and dump copper based treatments into your quarantine tank. After all, fish are hardier than corals, but copper can still be toxic to fish if not used correctly. You may want to try the Hypo-Salinity method of curing the Ich in the quarantine tank, but that’s an entirely different topic. For now, just don’t use anything copper based in any tank that you keep corals and invertebrates in, nor in any tank that you think you may keep them in in the future (the copper could get stuck on the sides).

Comments? Leave them below!

TJ

The post Aquarium Tips of the Day | No Copper in Reef Tank! first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

After all, fish are the reason you’re here right? I’m assuming you found this site because you’re interested in starting an aquarium, or maybe you already have an aquarium and just want some aquarium tips to help you out. I’m also guessing that the majority of people out there with an aquarium are trying to keep at least one species of fish. More detailed posts on different species of fish will be published here in the future, but for now..the basics without regurgitating everything from Wikipedia.

The Whale Shark is the biggest fish in the world. I don’t think any home aquarium hobbyist is going to be able to keep one of those any time soon, but realize that I said biggest FISH in the world. It is not a whale, a mammal, but a cartilaginous shark with gills and fins for limbs. In general, this is the type of animal we’re concerned with when talking about fish. They have skeletons made of either bone or cartilage, gills, and fins.

Cuttlefish, jellyfish, starfish, and crayfish can be kept in your home aquarium, but are not actually considered to be “fish”. Cuttlefish are cephalopods or molluscs, starfish are echinoderms, and jellyfish are cnidarians. Is that enough of the scientific names for you?

What we’re mainly going to deal with here are the smaller tropical fish that are able to be kept in the freshwater and saltwater tanks that you typically have in your home. These are fish like angelfish, tangs, clownfish/anenmonefish, discus, goldfish, koi, anthias, damsels, boxfish, and the list goes on. We may deal with some smaller sharks and rays, but we’re going to start with the fish anatomy diagram below.

Fish Anatomy:

Different species of fish have different traits and uses for many of their fins and parts of their anatomy. Some, like groupers, have a thick, muscular caudal peduncle with a large caudal fin that they use to ambush their prey. Some, like the crevalle jack, are very sleek with a thinner caudal peduncle and are made for speed. Some, like the boxfish, use their fluttering pectoral fins to swim instead of moving their caudal fins back and forth. There are more than 30,000 species of fish. With such diversity, each fish species has developed many different shapes, sizes, and uses for their fins, eyes, mouth, and all of their anatomy so that they can adapt to their environment and survive for the last 500 million years. Take a look at your fish. What fins do they propel themselves with? How big are there eyes and where are they located? How big is the mouth and how is it oriented? What are the teeth like? Can they crush coral and shells like a triggerfish?

Most fish also have extraordinary sense organs. Their vision is usually just as good, if not better, than human vision. So yes, they can see you, and most daylight fish even see colors. They also use their chemoreceptors for extraordinary senses of taste and smell. As far as hearing goes, they do have ears, but their hearing may not really be that good. I guess that depends on what you call hearing. After all, hearing for humans is actually the translation and interpretation of vibrations at different wavelengths. For this, fish have sensitive receptors along both sides of their body called the lateral line that detects the most subtle of vibrations, currents, and the motion of other fish, predators and prey.

The great thing about some of these fish that we like to keep in our aquariums is that they come in so many exotic shapes, sizes, and colors. Those colors usually serve a purpose in their natural environment. Like anglerfish, that use their color, unique anatomy, and unusual appearance to camouflage itself from predators and prey. Its predators don’t know its there so it doesn’t hunt it, but neither does its prey, allowing the anglerfish to wait until its prey unknowingly swims right in front of it. It will even use its angler like a piece of bait. There’s also the square-spot anthias. If it has a square, it is male, and that male will even change color when in nuptial display.

Finally, we want to collect and keep these fish because of their vast diversity and beautiful colors, but please do so with conservation, learning, and teaching in mind. Many marine are harvested from the ocean reefs, and this impacts the ocean reefs that they came from. We just ask that you first check to see if you can purchase a tank bred version of the type of fish that you want to keep. Tank bred fish used to be very expensive, but recent advancements in marineculture and fish farming, it is now possible to breed and rear many species of fish such as the clownfish, dottybacks, gobies, and angelfish. These days majority of freshwater fish that are available for the home aquarium are bred in tanks. Tank bred fish are also hardier and easier to keep. They haven’t been stressed by being taken from their reef home in Indonesia and transported half way around the world. They adjust more quickly to the conditions and are fully accustomed to aquarium life. After all, that is where they were born, and the only conditions that they have ever known. This will greatly reduce the chances of infection and disease.

We’re not saying that you shouldn’t keep a marine aquarium because or that you must always purchase tank bred fish, but do a little homework about the fish store that you are buying from. Make sure that they sell fish that are sustainably collected and/or aquacultured. Make sure that the store has some sort of sustainability mandate, have a guarantee policy for their fish, and are involved in ocean conservation. Ask them where their fish are from, how they are collected, and if they are tank-bred. The salesperson at your fish store should be knowledgeable to answer all of these questions, and if not, then find another place to buy your fish. A great place that I have found to purchase fish is Saltwaterfish.com.  They have a sustainable mandate and a 15 day Live Guarantee.

One last thing about fish conservation and that’s just to keep your fish alive. If you have the patience, take your time, and keep your fish alive and happy, then you won’t constantly be heading to the fish store to buy another one. You will be keeping more fish in the store for other aquarium hobbyists to enjoy or on the reef where they belong.

TJ

The post Fish first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

Live rock isn’t actually alive, but its called live rock because its been sitting out in the ocean being aqua-cultured for the last several years. Small, microscopic organisms have been able to populate the rock and now call it home and make it “live”. Then, the live rock is harvested from its perch in the ocean, wrapped in paper that is wet with saltwater, and shipped to your local fish store or directly to you. You think all of those organisms stay alive when that live rock is out of the water and being transported? Absolutely not!

At this point there are still some beneficial organisms residing in the live rock and enough of them should still be alive, but there are also a whole lot of dead organisms and pests that you don’t want and you need to get out of the live rock before placing it into your aquarium. You know what a spike of dead organisms means to your fish tank water right? Yes, it means introducing a whole lot of unwanted nitrites, nitrates, and ammonia into a tank that probably doesn’t have the beneficial bacteria necessary to handle the sudden water quality change. If its an established tank, be prepared for some dead fish and corals. If you’re cycling your tank, be prepared for a jump in ammonia levels and a longer wait to complete the cycling.

Our recommendation? Either pay the little bit extra for the live rock that has already been cured by your dealer or cure the live rock yourself before putting it into your aquarium tank.

Curing some live rock? Leave your comments below.

The post Aquarium Tips of the Day | Cure your Live Rock first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

One of our Aquarium Tips of the Day here at Aquarium Tip Tank is to use checklists and worksheets to keep your aquarium adventure simple! Its much easier to remember the maintenance tasks that you have to perform if you have them written down in front of you and can just check them off as you go. It is also much quicker and easier to go through a worksheet to pick out the new equipment that you want, or to see if the new fish that you want to add to your tank is compatible with the rest of your livestock.

Personally, I’ve read all of the books and tried to absorb all of the information in them, but I hate having to climb up my bookcase, pull all the aquarium books out, and scan through them until I find the information that I’m looking for. These days I’ve gotten a little more efficient by just making up checklists, worksheets, and charts that I use for everything from buying equipment like tanks or lights and selecting livestock to performing water changes and testing water quality.

I’ve decided to give my Tank Selection worksheet away for free! Just sign up for the Aquarium Tip Tank e-updates and news up there in the upper right hand corner and we will send you the link to get your free worksheet! Then, feel free to change it and update the checklist as you wish.

Have you made up any checklists of your own? Leave comments below.

TJ

The post Free Tank Selection Worksheet! first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

You have to understand that if you buy a young, healthy, juvenile fish that it probably still has some growing to do. You also have to take into account that your live plants and corals will also continue to grow. It is very easy to find the maximum length of your species of fish, and use that as a guide, but also consider that the fish may grow wide as well! Just make sure that you know the size and the limits of your tank, what you plan to keep in it, and the size and speed at which that livestock tends to grow!

Ever relocate due to something outgrowing your tank? Leave a comment below.

TJ

The post Aquarium Tips of the Day | The Fish Growth Factor first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

REEF along with sponsors Divers Direct are holding a lionfish derby tomorrow at Black Point Marina, Key Biscayne, FL. Head on over to there Lionfish Derby page for more details including rules, registration forms, waivers, etc.

It may be a little late to get to this lionfish derby unless you live in Miami or were already planning on traveling there and already have access to a boat. However, REEF’s Lionfish Derby page lists the other lionfish derbies that are planned for 2012 in the South Florida and Bahamas area.

Lionfish are a non-native species of fish that are taking over and destroying reefs and coastal areas of the Caribbean, Florida, The Bahamas, and are moving up the Eastern US seaboard. Lionfish have very showy, spiked pectoral and dorsal fins and the very tips of those spikes on their fins are venomous. Those venomous spines are so effective at keeping predators at bay that lionfish don’t have any known natural predators, but they are very ravenous predators themselves. They will hunt and eat any fish on the reef that they can fit into their mouths.

Not only do lionfish eat all fish on the reef while nothing eats them, but they also reproduce at an alarming rate. They seem to reproduce year round, and females release two mucus filled egg clusters frequently. Those egg clusters may contain as many as 15,000 eggs each. That’s 30,000 eggs each time a female releases her egg clusters. Again, this happens frequently and year round. That mucus filling the egg clusters is also said to make the clusters distasteful to predators. So here’s a fish that is not native to these waters, it eats everything, reproduces often and in abundance, and nothing really eats it or its eggs. The lionfish is taking over, and we’d like to find a way to stop it.

Fortunately, the meat of a lionfish is very tasty. Also, only the very tips of those spines are venomous, your skin has to be punctured to get stung, and they are fairly easily removed to provide a very white, meaty, light, delicious fish meat with an almost buttery taste. So, be careful when collecting. Have some good, puncture-proof gloves on. Grab a spear and a good collection bag and go get yourself some lionfish!

Personally, I killed a few of them while on a sailing trip on my buddy’s catamaran this past New Year. We had spears to do some fishing with. No tanks are allowed when spearfishing in the Bahamas so we would just do some free diving, searching for some good fish to eat. We came across lionfish at almost every reef we went to. We had wetsuits and gloves on that offered some protection and we would just spear them, put them in a collection bag and swim them back to the boat. I’ve included a great video below about how to filet a lionfish. The fish sandwiches that we had from our lionfish were fantastic!

Got a good lionfish recipe? Leave comments below.

TJ

The post Lionfish Derbies 2012 first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

A vote was taken and the results were unanimous. A piece has to be written about the aquarium. This is a website about keeping an aquarium so lets start with the basics. I will not go into the history of the aquarium, different tank designs, or aquarium equipment in this post. If you want those details you can always head over to the aquarium wikipedia page. I will attempt to cover the topic of the aquarium from definition along with some personal insight. Here it goes.

Aquar-i-um noun

1. a container (as a glass tank) or an artificial pond in which living aquatic animals or plants are kept
2. an establishment where aquatic organisms are kept and exhibited (Mirriam-Webster)

What we should all realize from that definition is that it is not just the tank, but that tank must be housing living aquatic animals. I’m also going to emphasize aquatic. Small land animals such as hamsters, lizards, and turtles are part of a terrarium. Yes some of those animals do swim around in the water a lot of the time and some turtles spend most of their lifetime in their aquatic world. However, the way that you keep them is not in a tank full of water. They are usually kept in a tank that is mostly dry and might have a few decorations and a small pool of water for the animal to use.

An aquarium is a small homemade aquatic ecosystem. The largest aquarium in the world, Georgia Aquarium’s Ocean Voyager tank, holds 6.3 million gallons of saltwater. It is still small compared to the 343 quintillion gallons that make up all of the water in the world’s oceans. I have a small 12 gallon mini reef aquarium. No matter how big or small, saltwater or freshwater, public or private, fish-only or reef, the ecosystems and the living aquatic organisms of these aquariums are still beautiful, amazing, relaxing, and diverse.

The aquatic organisms that are housed and exhibited in the aquarium interact to form a biological community and cycle. When you start your aquarium and have to go through the nitrogen cycle you are introducing fish waste, uneaten fish food, or ammonia to your tank to grow beneficial, microscopic bacteria. Some of the bacteria, called nitrosomonas, eliminate the ammonia by oxidizing it, forming nitrites. Soon, more beneficial bacteria, called nitrobactors, develop, colonize the tank, and convert the nitrites into nitrates. Ammonia and nitrites are very toxic to fish and aquatic organisms. Nitrates are much less harmful unless large amounts are allowed to build up in the tank. Fortunately, nitrates can be fairly easily kept under control with live aquarium plants, live rock, deep sand beds, filtration, and regular water changes.

Those microscopic, beneficial bacteria colonies are the first organisms of your aquarium. They also start the ecosystem that can soon include live plants, colorful fish, and beautiful corals. Hopefully, that ecosystem will grow as the organisms spawn and bring new life to the aquarium.

Ready to start and grow your aquarium? Leave comments below.

TJ

The post The Aquarium first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

I say this tip is about conservation because while you’re outside take some time to enjoy all of the beautiful things that nature surrounds us with. Head over to the park, take a walk, and take a nice deep breath of fresh air while enjoying the birds and the trees. Maybe you live near the ocean or the lake and you can take a walk on the beach and find some fun creatures that live there. Go with your friends and family and teach your kids about all of the fish in the rivers and streams you might be surrounded by.

Children are spending half as much time outside as they did 20 years ago. If we don’t get them, our friends, and our family outside to enjoy the things that nature has to offer in its oceans, forests, plains, deserts, and canyons, then how are we supposed to expect them to help us conserve such beauty and life?

Take a trip outside recently? Camping? Hiking? SCUBA diving? Snorkeling? Leave comments below!

TJ

The post Aquarium Tips of the Day | Get Outside first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

I happened to recently stumble upon this great video of 100% Coral Coverage at a reef off of Kisan Island in the Solomon Islands. The video was uploaded about a month ago, but was filmed in 2006.

Its been 3.5 years. My question is, of course, is it still there? There have been storms, tsunamis, ocean water temperature increase, acidification, and a myriad of other issues destroying the coral reefs and with them, delicate ecosystems. Has anybody seen anything like this since 2006? Has anybody been back to this isolated location? By the way, if anybody (travel agency, research institute, conservation society, dive shop, etc.) wants to send me out there to take some video and report, I think I could probably find some time! Just leave a comment or head on over to the contact page and fire me an email!

So, hopefully you’re asking if there’s anything that you can do to help. First, get educated about what’s going on and help educate others. Go with your friends and family to your local aquarium, take some time to get a good look at their fish and coral reefs, and talk to them about their conservation programs. Ask them about their volunteer programs and volunteer if you can. If you live near water, head on out to the beach, put a mask and snorkel on and check out what’s under there. Take a SCUBA or snorkel trip on your next vacation, but do some research to make sure that the company you take the trip with values ocean conservation and follows some sort of an ocean conservation plan. Maybe its an extra $10 donation on your trip to help maintain the marine park that you end up swimming in, and make sure you look but don’t touch.

You can also head on over to sites like NOAA, or the Coral Restoration Foundation. While there you can learn about all sorts of environmental issues, the research that’s being done, and even leave a donation if you so choose. Also, check you this article in National Geographic about the Coral Triangle Rescue Plan.

Got some good underwater videos of fish and corals? Leave a comment below!

TJ

The post 100% Coral Coverage Video first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

I know I get caught up in the busyness that life can present. I’ve been traveling for the last 5 weekends. I’ve been working during the week while finding time to unpack, pack again, dive at the aquarium, maintain my home aquarium, and make sure that I sit down to feed myself, and my fish. Sometimes I just have to tell myself, “Put everything down, sit back, put your feet up and just watch what’s going on in your aquarium for a little while.” When I’m done I’m more calm, relaxed, and I’m ready to move on with the rest of my day or night with a sense of ease.

Comments? Leave them below!

TJ

The post Weekly Tip | Relax and Enjoy Your Aquarium first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast 005

In this episode of Aquarium Tip Tank we share aquarium tips to help you light your aquarium. Included in this episode are some tips to help you select the correct aquarium lighting system for the livestock that you intend to care for. We had to break it down into a few parts so that each podcast episode wasn’t too long. In Part 1 we discuss the lighting needs of all types of aquarium livestock and we try to explain all of the fluorescent and metal halide lighting options. In Part 2 we will discuss LED lighting options and explain how I went about choosing the lighting system for the marine aquarium that I am currently in the process of setting up.

TJ

The post Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast 005 | Lighting the Aquarium Part 1 first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

Fish with sharp spines and sharp rocks will easily pierce a single bag. Put at least one strong polythene bag inside another and your chances of bag and livestock survival increase dramatically. You can even use up to 4 bags to pack up sharp objects and prevent collapse. Then, you can put your livestock bags in a polystyrene cooler or box and move on out to your next location in your adventure!

Got some moving stories? Leave a comment below.

TJ

The post Tip of the Day | Double Bag Livestock in Transit first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

In the meantime, if you have any aquarium questions, or comments go ahead and leave them below!

TJ

The post General Site Update first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

So, this past Friday I started my day out with a SCUBA dive in the largest aquarium in the world. Yes, at about 0740 I once again found myself submerging for another volunteer dive in the Ocean Voyager (OV) tank at the Georgia Aquarium. The dive plan was a little different than the dives that I had done in OV to date, and in the end, I found myself staring straight into the wide open 4 ft. wide mouth of the largest fish in the world.

Usually, we start our dives by doing something like scrubbing the rock work to clean the algae off of it. Or maybe we’re doing some sort of maintenance to the vacuum and pump pipes of the tank. Basically, we usually spend the first 30 minutes of our dive performing a task that makes us suck through a lot of the air. Then, we clean all of the viewing windows and do a fish feed. Not today. Today we were doing it backwards and focusing solely on making sure the viewing windows were as clean as possible.

The great thing about this is that it meant that maybe I wouldn’t suck down all of my air before the fish feed. The 3 of us did a good job of cleaning the inside part of all the acrylic in the tank. We took our time, worked around a few of the goliath groupers and wobbegongs, and concentrated most of our efforts on the tunnel until we got to about 1000psi left in our tanks.

At that point the safety diver told us to that we were done cleaning and it was time to head out over to the ladder. I thought we were about to get out. Then I remembered the fish feed. I checked my air and I had about 900 psi left. Plenty of air for the fish feed! When I looked up from my air pressure gauge one of the other volunteer divers was holding out a squeeze bottle full of food and looking at me as if to say, “You want to feed the fish this morning?” Of course my answer was, “Heck yeah!”

In my limited experience as a volunteer diver I haven’t ever had enough air left for the fish feed part of the dive. This time, I was the one doing the feeding! I followed the diver with the chum-sickle of food over to the feeding area of the tank. I started squeezing food out of the bottle at about 10 ft. deep and was immediately swarmed by pork fish, blue tangs, king angelfish, batfish, goliath grouper, blacktip reef sharks, bluestriped grunts, golden trevally, and crevalle jacks. Of course, one of the whale sharks also started swimming around the area. I kept squeezing the bottle and feeding the fish while I descended down to about 25 ft. I started ascending when the food was almost gone and by the time I got back up to 10 ft. there was nothing left.

I looked around for the rest of the divers and turned to head back to the ladder and finish off the morning’s dive. When I looked up I realized that a whale shark was heading my direction. I believe it was Yushon, one of the male whale sharks, but I could be wrong. We’re used to being in the tank together and all of the whale sharks swim within inches of the divers on a regular basis. I figure that he was just going to swim on by this time. When he got to about 4 ft. away I realized otherwise. He opened his 4 ft. wide mouth and continued straight for me giving me a view I’ll never forget.

Luckily, I was taught enough about the whale shark so that I didn’t freak out. I knew that they were gentle, and that he couldn’t eat me and probably wouldn’t try to. Whale sharks are filter feeders and they filter anything that is too big for them to swallow whole out of their gills. They do have teeth, but only use them to help with the filtering process. Basically, I knew that I just wouldn’t fit, and that Yushon would eventually realize that I was out of food and I was too big for him to swallow.

I quickly put my hands up on Yushon’s nose and gently pushed. At 17 ft. long he’s so big that I think I ended up just pushing myself out of the way. He did seem to turn the other direction though. Both of us were fine, I patted him on the back as he swam by as if to say, “We’re all good. Good to see you and I’ll see you next time,” and we both swam away safely and happily.

Have any fun fish feeding stories? Leave a comment below!

TJ

The post Whale Shark Feeding first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

The Georgia Aquarium has announced that it has 2 newborn South African Penguins waddling around Atlanta. The baby penguins were born at the aquarium in early January. It wasn’t announced that the aquarium had new arrivals until late March due to the fragile nature of rearing and caring for newborn penguins. Now, the South African Penguins are two months old and gave gained about 5.75 pounds and will be full grown in about 1 month!

When born the penguin chicks weighed about 100 grams and had down feathers, but they are now in the fledgling stage and have started to shed those fluffy feathers to “waterproof” themselves with new juvenile feathers. Then, the animal care and training team will begin teaching the chicks to swim and eventually introduce them to the rest of the South African Penguin colony.

For more pictures and information, check out Georgia Aquarium’s new blog.

(Photo courtesy of Georgia Aquarium)

(Video courtesy of WXIA Atlanta)

TJ

The post Baby Penguins at Georgia Aquarium first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

Some fish food flakes are being recalled because they may be contaminated with Salmonella. Read on to make sure you aren’t affected.

The Hartz Mountain Corporation is recalling 7,056 1-oz. containers of its Wardley Advanced Nutrition Perfect Protein Tropical Flake Fish Food. The presence of Salmonella was found in one or more containers of the lots specified below during random sample testing conducted by Hartz as a part of their quality control procedures.

Lot Codes Affected:

• PP34911
• PP34912
• PP35011
• PP35012

The product was shipped between December 20, 2011 and March 15, 2012. Consumers who have this product should stop using it immediately and discard the product in the trash. Hartz is fully cooperating with the Food and Drug Administration in this voluntary recall. Customers should contact the Hartz company to get a reimbursement for the purchased product. Full details on the recall can be found here.

The post Warning! Wardley Fish Food Recall first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast 004

In this episode of Aquarium Tip Tank we debunk 5 myths of owning and maintaining a home aquarium. Included are tips and tricks to keeping your aquarium inexpensive, fun, easy, and maintaining a conservation type of mind.

Items Mentioned in this Episode:

• Article: A story about how a couple are setting up the first public aquarium in Falmouth to educate people about marine conservation can be found here.

Have comments about this episode? Leave them below!

TJ

The post Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast 004 | Aquarium Myths Debunked! first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

Constantly check your salinity to make sure that you did not add too much of your salt mix. If you do, you may have to add more water to your mixture to dilute more of the salt mix and bring the salinity back down. There are many complications that this could lead to. You may not have any room in your mixture container for more water. If this happens, you’ll have to dump at least some of the water in your mixture container out and now your just wasting water. You also may not have any filtered water left to add to your mixture. If this is the case, then you have to go get your Reverse Osmosis filter out and take the time to filter more tap water.

The process of adding salt mix to your saltwater should be that you add a little less than what is called for by the manufacturer of the saltwater. Then, you stir and mix the water until all of the salt mix is dissolved and the water is clear again. Testing should be done every time some salt mix is added, but should only be done once all of that salt mix has dissolved and the water is clear again.

Just add a little bit of your salt mix at a time and you should slowly end up at a salinity that is suitable for your aquarium. If you add salt mix too quickly, you may end up emptying some or all of your water and starting all over!

Adding saltwater right now? How’s the mixture going? Let us know in the comments below.

TJ

The post Tip of the Day | Start with Less Salt Mix first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

Make sure that you rinse your hydrometer with tap water before every use. Then, just submerge the hydrometer into your saltwater and watch the floating needle rise to point to the salinity of your saltwater. When you’re putting saltwater into your tank for the first time you’ll want to make sure that your salinity is between 1.o23 and 1.025 for a reef aquarium with corals. For a fish only tank the salinity should be between 1.019 and 1.023.  If you’re adding saltwater to your tank during a routine water change, make sure you test the water that is currently in your aquarium first. Fish and invertebrates don’t like drastic changes in water quality so try to match the salinity of the new water to that of the water that is currently in your tank. The water that is currently in your tank should be withing the salinity ranges listed above. If not, and you’re trying to raise or lower the salinity of your aquarium water, just do so slowly and with very small differences in salinity from the water in your tank to the water that you are adding. You don’t want to shock and stress the fish and invertebrates of your tank!

You can use a refractometer to test the salinity of your water, but they are generally about 4 times as expensive. You do get more precise readings with a refractometer, but a hydrometer usually does the trick.

Making saltwater for your new marine aquarium or for a water change? What is your salinity? What salt mix do you use? Leave your comments below!

TJ

The post Tip of the Day | Use Hydrometer to test Salinity first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

There are several chemicals that are added to municipal tap water in order to help clean the water and make sure that it is drinkable for humans. Just because it is drinkable does not mean that the water chemistry is suitable for your fish! Tap water may also contain several minerals and bacteria that is not harmful humans, but is different than the minerals and nutrients in the natural environment of your fish. Therefore, it is not safe to add unfiltered tap water to any aquarium.

The best ways to filter your tap water is to use a reverse osmosis filter. A reverse osmosis filter basically works by forcing your tap water over a semi-permeable filter membrane that removes those chemicals and minerals and leaves some clean water and some dirty waste water. There are several types of reverse osmosis filters available from the inexpensive, portable filter to the very expensive, installation required reverse osmosis filter.

Remember, when using a reverse osmosis filter you are removing all minerals and chemicals from your tap water. This water is fine to add directly to your aquarium if you are just topping off the evaporated water. However, if you are performing a water change you must add the minerals of your pet fish’s natural water environment. Make sure you use the correct water conditioners or saltwater mixes after you filter your tap water when you are performing a water change.

Do you use a reverse osmosis filter? Which one? Comment below.

TJ

The post Tip of the Day | RO Filter your Tap Water first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

Eventually we plan on offering some checklists for download here at Aquarium Tip Tank. Until then, you may be reading a book about aquariums that has some useful checklists in it. Or, you can always quickly make your own!

A daily check list might just contain a list of tasks like feed fish, check water temperature, check water level, check specific gravity, and clean algae off of aquarium walls. Keeping these checklists electronically would be the best way of doing it so that you don’t use a piece of paper every day of the year. Eventually, the daily checklist entries will turn into your aquarium journal!

Personally, I think its easier to look at a bullet checklist than it is to open a book every day and search through paragraphs of writing and information to find the reminders of the few, quick tasks that need to be completed to maintain your aquarium. These days, you can keep those lists on your smart phone, and check them off as you complete them. That way, you won’t forget anything and you can be assured that you have done all of the required maintenance to keep your aquarium healthy!

Do you use checklists? How many? Where do you keep your checklists? Leave a comment below.

TJ

The post Tip of the Day | Use Checklists! first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

Now, this does not mean that there aren’t some species of the Pomacanthidae family that can be kept together under the correct conditions. However, it is not unusual for many angelfish species to fight with their own kind and with others of similar shape, color, and size. Therefore choosing the correct angelfish for the community of fish that you already have, and plan to have in your tank is also important. Some of the medium size species do well with other non-aggressive fish of other non-related species such as Anthias, Blennies, Butterflies, Gobies, and Tile fish. A few of the larger species of angelfish do well with other less-aggressive fish such as Trigger, Hawks, Groupers, Eels, Damsels, and Surgeonfishes. Make note that all of these other species that were listed are either non-aggressive or less aggressive. If taunted, angelfish will normally not back down from a fight.

What other fish do you keep with your angelfish? Leave a comment!

TJ

The post Tip of the Day | Only One Angelfish! first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

This is a great way to get a lot of those nitrates out of your tank and promote oxygenation. Personally, I start my siphon and immediately stick the tube that I’m using as far down into my substrate as possible. The amount of waste that I pull out of the substrate is amazing, but watch out! If you just let the siphon flow you will suck up all of your substrate down into your waste bucket. Make sure that you have your other, downstream hand on a lower portion of your tube, and crimp off the flow of water before you start losing your substrate. The substrate will then empty back out into the bottom of your tank. Since the waste is a little bit lighter than the substrate it should remain up in the water column of your siphon tube. As soon as all of the substrate is back on the bottom of your tank, release the clamp that you had on the downstream portion of your siphon tube. As long as you have kept the other end of your tube in the water, the flow will re-start and the waste from your substrate will be sucked into your waste bucket. Next, move on to the next spot!

When I do my water changes, I do this first, going from spot to spot until I’ve gotten down into almost all of the substrate that is in my aquarium. Then, when I’m done cleaning the substrate, I just let the siphon tube vacuum up the rest of the necessary water.

Do you clean your substrate? Tell us about it. Leave a comment below.

TJ

The post Tip of the Day | Clean your Substrate first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

I know, you might be thinking this is a little bit of overkill. But you’ll be happier removing all of the water, rocks, substrate, and decorations from your tank than you will be if you have to re-seal your tank. Re-sealing your tank may be what is necessary if you don’t empty your tank before lifting it. Any weight on the bottom of your tank will pull at the seams around the edges of the tank that hold the bottom to the sides of the aquarium. It is possible for this gravitational force, even if small, to create a tiny leak in the seam of the sealant that is round the edges and in the corners of your aquarium. If this happens, you’ll have to re-seal that spot, which means re-sealing the entire tank. You’ll end up having to remove everything that is in your aquarium to re-seal the tank anyway.

If you’re moving your aquarium tank, go ahead and empty it so that you don’t end up creating a leak and having to empty your aquarium anyway.

Moving soon? Tell us about it. Leave a comment below!

TJ

The post Tip of the Day | Don’t Lift a Full Aquarium first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

You know that dead fish that I was just talking about that was belly up in the fish tank at your LFS? Don’t buy anything else that was in the tank with that fish. Its very possible that there is some sort of water condition and/or health problem in that tank that is spreading to all of the other fish. It would be terrible to get home, take the time to adjust your fish to your tank and water conditions, get your new fish into your aquarium, and wake up the next day with that new fish, and possibly several others belly up from whatever disease you brought home from your LFS. This is also a good reason for a quarantine tank, but we’ll get into that in future posts.

Take some time at your LFS to observe the behavior of the fish very carefully before buying. Do not buy any fish that looks stressed or damaged in any way. Some signs of stressed or damaged fish are cloudy eyes, torn or clamped fins, spots or sores on the body of the fish, a sluggish fish, or a fish that appears to be shivering. If there is one fish in the tank that appears sick, then don’t buy any of the fish from that tank. Also, inspect the tanks at your LFS. Make sure that the tank you select your fish from has clear, clean water. Avoid tanks that have discolored water, or have residue along the tops and sides of the tank. If your LFS has more than one tank with these signs of ignorance, then find another fish store all together.

All you really have to do is find the fish you want in a clean tank with clear water and make sure that the fish is active, alert, and doesn’t show any signs of being stressed or damaged! Pick that fish out, take that fish home, and enjoy your new pet!

Find a fish you want to take home for your aquarium? Let us know about it. Leave a comment!

TJ

The post Tip of the Day | Buy Healthy Fish! first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

In one regular feeding, if you’re fish and other tank cohabitants aren’t finishing the amount of food that you give them in about 3 to 5 minutes, then you are overfeeding your aquarium. You are adding more waste to your aquarium and making more work for the nitrite and ammonia filtering bacteria of your biological filter. Often, this leads to a breakdown in water quality, your fish getting stressed, and health problems for you aquarium.

So just watch your fish eat. That’s a lot of the fun of owning an aquarium anyway! While your fish are enjoying the feast and you’re enjoying the show take a look at your watch, clock, or timer and see how long it takes the cohabitants of your tank to eat different portions of food. Figure out which portion size takes 3 to 5 minutes to be eaten and use that portion every time!

How much do you feed your fish? Leave comments below!

TJ

The post Tip of the Day | Don’t Overfeed your Fish! first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

First, as always, do your due diligence and do some research about the corals that you want to keep and their lighting requirements. You’ll probably find that there are corals that have high lighting requirements, or require a lot of light, and that there are low-light corals that don’t require direct light all of the time. In most aquarium tanks, your lighting is coming from the top of the tank. Therefore, and it may seem somewhat obvious, the high-light corals that require a lot of direct light during a large period of time of the day should be placed closer to your light source and at the top of your tank. The low-light corals that do not require direct sunlight, or don’t require light for as much time of the day, or are natural in deeper ocean environments, should be placed further away from your aquarium’s light source and at the bottom of the tank.

You can enjoy a little creativity with how you place your corals in your reef aquarium as well. Maybe you have a high-light coral at the top of the tank, or an overhanging rock structure that is providing some shade to an area in the middle of your tank. You may be able to place a low-light coral in that shade, and see how it grows!

Have corals with different lighting requirements? How did you place them in your aquarium? Leave a comment below.

TJ

The post Tip of the Day | Placing Your Reef Corals first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

What would a website about aquarium tips be without fish profiles? Here at Aquarium Tip Tank you will be able to find fish profiles that aren’t too scientific and confusing, but do include all of the necessary information about the natural, wild habitat of the fish and the tips, tricks, and information that you will need to keep the fish in your aquarium and keep it healthy!

First, we’re going to start with the Harlequin Tuskfish (Choerodon fasciatus). The alternating blue-trimmed white and orange strips of this fish make for a beautiful addition to a saltwater aquarium. Fret not, the four protruding blue teeth may make this fish appear ferocious, but it is actually relatively docile.

The Harlequin Tuskfish is part of a large wrasse family, Labridae. It can be found from Southern Japan to Australia in a widespread area of the Western Pacific. Specimens from Australia are known for there more intense, brighter colors. There are age differences in coloration as well. Juveniles have black false eye spots at the front and rear of the dorsal fins, on the anal fin, and on the pelvic fins. These are thought to be “protective” spots and disappear as the fish grows. In a healthy aquarium you can typically expect the Harlequin Tuskfish to reach 5 to 7 inches in length. Of course, there are some fish stories out there of the maximum size being 12 inches.

Harleguin Tuskfish are carnivores, generally aren’t picky and should be given a variety of meaty frozen and/or freeze dried seafood. Chopped krill, shrimp, squid, and non-oily fish can be part of a great well-rounded diet or the Harlequin Tuskfish. In the wild, it does use its teth to grasp and shred hard prey such as hard-shelled benthic invertebrates, small crabs, fish and shrimp, but usually avoid the resident shrimp, small fish, crabs, and sessile invertebrates in a healthy, well fed saltwater aquarium. This is not to say that large specimens won’t misinterpret new additions to the aquarium as food, but your best bet is to add any small fish or shrimp after the lights are turned off. Then, be on the look out for a little while and the darkness should give the new additions some time to get acquainted to the tank and find a hiding spot. Tuskfish do not actively eat corals, although they may inadvertently knock some over while searching for prey.

Tuskfish are generally hardy fish with easy to moderate levels of care and maintenance necessary. Like most reef fish they do best when the water conditions of the aquarium are kept with parameters similar to their natural reef environment, but otherwise do not have any special water quality and lighting requirements. Keeping a pH range of 8.0 – 8.4, specific gravity of 1.020 – 1.024, temperature range of 75 – 82 degrees F, and feeding properly should keep the Harlequin Tuskfish happy and healthy.

As usual, the bigger the tank size, the better for a Harlequin Tuskfish. If you do happen to get that specimen that grows to 12 inches long, it will definitely have some girth to go along with it. A minimum of 60 gallons is recommended, and if it grows bigger than the typical 5 to 7 inch aquarium Tuskfish, you’ll definitely want to have a bigger tank.

A substrate is optional for the Harlequin Tuskfish since it doesn’t bury itself in the sand at night, but a sandy, crushed coral substrate can always help with biological filtering and is recommended. It is also recommended to have live rock that is arranged with overhangs, openings, and caves for hiding and a sense of security for the Tuskfish. In the wild they are generally found as single specimens patrolling coral rubble, sandy areas, and areas of caves and overhangs on the reef.

You should probably not keep more than one Harlequin Tuskfish in your aquarium. More often than not, they are found alone on the reef, and their external characteristics do not make it easy to distinguish males from females.

As always, make sure you research your Local Fish store! Make sure they partake in conservation practices to keep the ocean reefs thriving! Make sure they have a live specimen guarantee, and you read it!

Any questions about the Harlequin Tuskfish? Leave your comments below. They are a great and beautiful fish for your marine aquarium!

TJ

The post The Harlequin Tuskfish – Choerodon fasciatus first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

At Aquarium Tip Tank we have talked about how aquariums don’t have to be a lot of hard work, and stressful. This tip may seem to go against that, and may make it seem like an aquarium takes a lot of time and effort. But really, we’re just trying to get you to pause, relax, observe, and enjoy the process of populating your tank with corals and invertebrates. Much like stocking your tank with fish too quickly, we’re also trying to make sure that you don’t stock your reef aquarium too quickly or too full.

Sessile invertebrates can grow at a very slow pace, and if you keep your water conditions clean and pristine, your corals and anemones will grow. But they don’t grow as fast as fish do. So, stock your tank with 1 to 3 invertebrate frags to begin with (depending on the size of your tank of course), add 1 to 3 hearty fish that are compatible with those invertebrates, and just relax, observe, and enjoy for a couple months while performing regular water changes, keeping pristine water quality, and performing your regular aquarium duties. After that, if you want to add a few more invertebrates, do your due diligence and repeat the process of stocking slowly!

How’s your reef aquarium coming along? Leave a comment below.

TJ

The post Tip of the Day | Take Reefs Slow first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

So, it just doesn’t take much time to unplug and turn off your heater when performing a water change for your aquarium or whenever removing your heater from water. First, if you remove your heater from water and it stays on there is a very good possibility that the heater will overheat and break. Second, if your aquarium’s heater doesn’t overheat from not being submersed in water and staying turned on it is probably going to get very hot. Many aquarium heaters have glass in them that can get very hot if this happens. When you submerge that hot glass back into cooler water it is very possible that the glass will crack  from the sudden temperature change. Then, you won’t have a heater that works, and who knows what is in those heaters that can leak out into your aquarium water and destroy your water parameters.

Unplugging your heater when it will be taken out of water is easy to do, and could save you an emergency trip to your LFS. Ever have a heater problem? Tell us about it below!

TJ

The post Tip of the Day | Unplug and turn off your heater when changing your aquarium water first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

Over the weekend I found many interesting articles about the decline of coral reefs throughout the oceans and the people who are finding ways to re-grow the corals that humans have damaged. Of particular interest was a TED blog post about an artist named Colleen Flanigan and her Kickstarter campaign so I figured we’d share it here at Aquarium Tip Tank.

Colleen is an artist…a metalworker…a welder…a sculptor who was inspired by architect Wolf Hilbertz, who developed Biorock®. Biorock® is a mineral accretion technique for growing coral reefs. Biorock® uses a process by which low-voltage direct current is run through metal that is in seawater. The electrolysis that takes places attracts minerals such as calcium carbonate (the skeleton mineral of stony corals) and a very hard mineral surface is deposited  on the metal framework. If coral polyps can use less energy creating their skeleton to live in, then they can spend more of their energy and resources growing and reproducing.

All of this just sent my brain storming with ideas and questions. I hope Ken Nedimyer and the Coral Restoration Foundation know about this technique. Could they use it to do what they’re doing? Have they already implemented this technique? The issue for underwater coral nurseries may be the power source for the low-voltage direct current. Many of the Biorock schematics seem to have a solar panel above the surface of the water that provides the necessary power. This type of system would mean that the coral nursery would not only be underwater, but also above water.

We could also possibly implement this technique inland, not only in our own home Aquarium tanks, but also in some of the coral nurseries that are set up on land to be sheltered from the storms. Why not grow corals on land and then transplant them to the ocean to rebuild our declining coral reefs?

I may give the technique a shot in the saltwater aquarium that I am working on setting up. If I do, I will do it on a very small scale and very early in my Aquarium’s life so that I don’t mess up and shock a fish. For now, I’m going to head over to Kickstarter and leave a donation. You should too. It looks like they need some help for a good cause and any donation helps!

Mentioned in this Post

• TED Blog about Colleen Flanigan
• Kickstarter campaign
• Coral Restoration Foundation
• Ken Nedimyer

What do you think? Leave a comment below.

TJ

The post Coral Growing Sculptures first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

If you immediately stock your aquarium with a full load of fish, those fish will overproduce waste and create too much ammonia and nitrite for your tank and all of its filters to handle! First, if you are cycling your tank by adding fish hopefully you’ve done your research enough to realize that if you add too many fish too quickly, then there isn’t enough good bacteria in your aquarium yet to take care of all of the ammonia and nitrites that the waste from all of your fish produce. Well, the concept is the same even if you have gone through the nitrogen cycle without fish.

Every animal that you add to your aquarium is going to produce waste. Your nitrifying bacteria in your tank needs a little bit of time to adjust to the added waste that every new animal you introduce to your tank produces. If you add fish at the proper rate, that nitrifying bacteria should grow proportionally in response to the added load. If you add too many fish too quickly, the nitrifying bacteria will not have a chance to grow to the correct proportions and additional ammonia and nitrites will be detected in your water. If there is too much ammonia and nitrites in your water, you will end up placing additional stress on your fish and more than likely, some fish will die.

Just calm down, take it slow and put 1-3 hardy fish in your aquarium to start off with. Enjoy those fish  for a few weeks while regularly testing your water conditions and if everything goes well, then you can add 1 or 2 more!

Are you about to stock your aquarium? Did you just put some new fish in your tank? Leave a comment below and tell us all about it!

TJ

The post Tip of the Day | Stock your Aquarium Slowly first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

Most (if not all) municipal tap water is treated with chlorine and chloramine. Both chemicals are hazardous to fish.  So, you can’t just take buckets full of your tap water and immediately fill your aquarium with it. You have to De-chlorinate in order for your pet fish to be healthy!

First, go out and get a cheap water test kit that will test for both chlorine and chloramine and test the tap water that you plan to use for your aquarium. These test kits can be found at your LFS, or you can head on over to your local plumbing and hardware store and they should have a test kit. You may have well water and think that you don’t have any chlorine and chloramine in your water. Well, some well tanks are treated with chlorine to reduce bacteria. Just do a quick test, and you’ll know for sure.

If you have to De-chlorinate, it should only cost you about $5-$10 a year. A regular, cheap bottle of De-chlorinating water treatment from your LFS should be enough to treat about 4,000 – 5,000 gallons of water. Make sure that you get a water treatment that takes care of both chlorine and chloramine. This should be written on the bottle, but may be in fine print somewhere. We don’t really recommend that you purchase the water treatments that De-chlorinate and have “added benefits.” Really, you just need to De-chlorinate and neutralize the chloramine. Anything else that the water treatment can do might mess with the natural biological filters that are in your substrate and keeping your aquarium ecosystem healthy.

You may not have to purchase anything to De-chlorinate unless you want to just spend that $5-$10 per year to be safe, and not worry about it. If you test your water and find that there isn’t any chloramine then you may just have to set your water out in a bucket overnight. Setting your water out in a container with a decent surface to air ratio for about 24 hours should allow all of the chlorine in the water to evaporate. Most reverse osmosis (RO) filters also De-chlorinate.

Once you’re sure that the water your adding to your aquarium due to evaporation, or for a regular water change is De-chlorinated go ahead and put it in your tank and your fish will stay happy and healthy! For saltwater aquariums just make sure that you add the correct amount of salt after you De-chlorinate if performing a scheduled water change.

How chlorinated is your tap water? Leave a comment below!

TJ

The post Tip of the Day | De-chlorinate! first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

What if you’ve spent all that time doing the research and planning for your aquarium, you have everything in your tank, you flip the on switch, and a pump doesn’t work, or a heater doesn’t work? Now, you may end up having to take all of that substrate, live rock, rock-work, and decorations back out of your aquarium, drain the aquarium, replace the faulty part, and start populating your tank all over again! Just fill the system with water only and turn everything on to perform a wet test of your aquarium to save yourself some time and hassle if a pipe is leaking or a valve isn’t working properly. This way, the water is the only thing that you may have to empty out, you’ve saved yourself some time, and possibly saved yourself from losing some live rock or some of your substrate. There’s no need for that stress. Relaxation is what your aquarium is all about!

Ever had everything set up, turned the switch on, and something didn’t work? Comment below!

TJ

The post Tip of the Day | The Wet Test first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast 003

In this episode of Aquarium Tip Tank we take you through the start of TJ’s journey of starting a new saltwater aquarium. TJ tells you about how he cleaned his tank and performed a leak check on his tank. Included are some aquarium tips that will save you time and effort and allow you to relax and have fun with the aquarium setup process. So sit back, relax, and join us on this wonderful aquarium journey! Some pictures of the cleaning and leak test are included! As you can tell from the first picture in this post, there was some dirt and grime in the bottom of my tank.

Letting the shower rinse the entire tank

Rinsing up close

The tank is so much cleaner now!

Fill-er-up for the leak test!

Tank is full! Time to let it sit for a while and check for leaks!

How did your aquarium tank cleaning and leak check go? Tell us about it in the comments below!

TJ

The post Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast 003 | TJ’s Tank Cleaning and Leak Test first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

There are several options that you can choose from to accomplish this. If you want to keep it cheap, you can just buy a $5 tarp from your local hardware store and put it under your tank. However, your spouse might not like this option and it may detract from the overall beauty of your aquarium. Or, maybe that tarp can be rolled up and hidden under your tank stand when you’re not doing maintenance on your aquarium. If not, there are other options that are just a little more expensive.

If you want something that is a little more esthetically pleasing you can search a little more in your local hardware store and find impenetrable, vinyl, comfort mats in all sorts of shapes, sizes, and colors. These range in price from $30 to $200 depending on what you want and the size that need for your aquarium tank stand.  Just make sure that you have a barrier that sticks out from the edges of your tank stand by a few inches on all sides. After all, water splashes are not picky!

How do you protect from erroneous water splashes during maintenance of your aquarium? Leave a comment!

TJ

The post Tip of the Day | Keep your carpet dry! first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

You just saved yourself from having to remember to turn the lights on at the beginning of the day, and turn the lights off at the end of the day. You also just shed some stress of worrying about if your fish, plants, and corals are getting the correct amount of light. No more worries about forgetting to turn the lights on when you rushed out the door late for work in the morning. No more rushing home from a nice night out with your family or some drinks at the bar to make sure you turn your aquarium lights off.

How long should your lights be on? Typically, anywhere from 8 to 12 hours a day will be adequate for most home aquariums. Is there any particular time of day that the aquarium lights should be turned on or off? Not necessarily. As long as there is a regular schedule of the lights going on about the same time every day and off around the same time every day your fish, plants, and corals should stay happy and stress free. Personally, I keep my light on for 10 hours a day and I like to make sure that I can enjoy my aquarium after work. Therefore, I don’t like to turn my lights on at 8am and off at 6pm because I might not even be home during those hours. My lights are set to come on at noon and turn off at 10pm. They do this every day, and the residents of my aquarium seem fairly happy.

Make sure you understand what you’re keeping in your aquarium and you know what the lighting requirements are for your aquarium’s residents. Adjust the timer for your lighting accordingly, put your feet up, and enjoy!

How do you time your aquarium lighting? Leave a comment!

TJ

The post Tip of the Day | Use a Timer for your Aquarium Lighting first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

We here at Aquarium Tip Tank recently heard of a peppermint angelfish (Paracentropyge boylei) finding a new home, at least for a little while, at the Waikiki Aquarium. This in itself is special news because it is one of the rarest fish to be kept in a marine aquarium. This one that recently arrived at the Waikiki Aquarium is only the second Paracentropyge boylei to be kept in an aquarium…ever. The only other one that is known to be alive in captivity is kept by a Japanese aquarist.

The peppermint angelfish is also very difficult to obtain because its natural habitat is at 35o ft. below the surface. It is also extremely difficult to get a video of this specimen in its natural environment. It shows up at about 2:41 into this video in the top, middle section of the frame, swimming out and between the rock crevices. This video was shot by Dave Pence at a depth of 350 ft. while on a dive near the island of Moorea. The peppermint angelfish that is currently at the Waikiki Aquarium was caught at 365 ft.  by Rich Pyle on this same dive. The rebreather equipment you see the SCUBA divers using is what allowed the divers to go so deep for such a long dive.

The specimen currently at the Waikiki Aquarium is reportedly happily adjusting to its temporary quarantine tank, but will eventually be transported over to the Smithsonian as part of the Moorea Biocode project.

TJ

The post Video of Peppermint Angelfish in Natural Environment first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

Okay. So, you’ve cleaned out your tank and made sure that there is no more dust, dirt, grime, spider webs, etc. in your tank. It’s time to do a leak check! This isn’t something that takes too long, and it will save you a whole lot of stress and disappointment later on. Personally, I would do this with any tank, new or used. A new tank shouldn’t leak. It came with a warranty from your LFS right? Well, I’ll let you figure out how upset you would be if you put water in your new tank, went to bed, and woke up the next morning with a wet carpet and little to no water left in your aquarium.

So, first you need to find a location to perform this test. This should obviously be a place that is easily cleaned and mopped up if the tank does have a leak. Maybe this is a spare bathtub, or your basement, or your kitchen with a tarp under the tank. Find a good spot, and fill the tank up with water! RO/DI water is again preferred. After all, you don’t want all of that chlorine and minerals from your tap water to coat the inside walls of your tank. However, if tap water is all you have, it should end up being okay. You can go ahead and perform your leak test while your RO unit is being shipped to your house. That’s it! Just leave the tank filled with water for several hours. Leaving it full for a full day or two might be best.

If there are no leaks in your tank, start siphoning the water back out of the tank and down a drain. Don’t try to pick the tank up when its full because you risk cracking the tank. Remember, water weighs a lot! Once the water is out, you should have a clean, leak free tank that you can put on your tank stand!

If there is a leak in your new tank try to find where that leak is and bring it back to your LFS. If there is a leak in your older, used tank you will have to find the source of the leak and try to fix it before setting the tank up.

How’s your leak test going? Leave a comment below! For more tips sign up for our weekly updates and newsletter!

TJ

The post Tip of the Day | Leak Check your Tank first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

Its always great to hear a story about how underwater coral nurseries, SCUBA divers, and the knowledge and techniques of the aquarium hobby are helping to revive the natural coral reefs out in our world’s oceans. When we hear about these stories, Aquarium Tip Tank will always share them.

We’ve reported about transplanting corals to the reefs off the coast of Fort Lauderdale, and how Ken Nedimyer is growing corals in his nursery in the Florida Keys. This story comes from Puerto Rico where, in April of 2006, a 750 foot-long tanker hit the Tallaboa reef, crumbling about 2 acres of coral reef. It was great insight that some SCUBA divers had to immediately collect some of the crushed pieces of coral that were left behind in the rubble and start a coral nursery with just 100 fragments of coral.

Today, the nursery is home to 1,500 individual corals. Divers have been able to move 100 pieces of coral a day from the nursery to sites as close as 100 feet away in order to help revive the coral reef that has been demolished by large boats running aground.

Check out the full story by Andrea Mustain of OurAmazingPlanet here.

TJ

The post Coral Nurseries Reviving more Reefs first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

First, start by just rinsing your tank out. Using water that is Reverse Osmosis filtered and DE-ionized (RODI) is preferred, but not completely necessary for this process. If your tank is new from your LFS, then your cleaning is pretty much done. You’re just looking to get some of that dust and packaging material knocked off and out of your tank. You can let the inside of the tank air dry and wipe the outside down with a clean, soft cloth.

If your tank has been sitting in a dirty garage or attic collecting spider webs, paint chips, and sawdust for the last year (or more), you’ve got a little more cleaning to do. DO NOT USE ANY CHEMICAL CLEANERS! Just take a 1/4 cup or your normal white vinegar and dilute it with about 1/4 gallon of water (again RO/DI water is always preferred). Put that mixture in a new, rinsed spray bottle. That’s your cleaner. Get as much dust and dirt out of the tank by just rinsing it out with plain water first, then use your homemade cleaner and a clean, soft cloth to get the dirty grime off of all the surfaces and out of all of the nooks and crannies. Thoroughly rinse your tank out one last time and you’re done!

Make sure you do all of this in a location where you won’t scratch or crack your aquarium and where you won’t destroy your carpet or any other part of your home! When you’re done with the cleaning, it’s time for the leak test!

Want more? Get our weekly updates and newsletter by signing up for our email list! Just got done cleaning your new tank and have some insight? Leave a comment!

TJ

The post Tip of the Day | Cleaning your new Tank first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

In this post we will share some aquarium tips and information about lighting your tank with LED lights, and share the benefits of using LED lighting for your aquarium. A few years ago the initial sticker shock of buying a new LED system for your aquarium lighting was just too much. There also weren’t LED systems available that could produce enough light for some species of coral and plants. Technology has advanced a little over the last several years, more companies have dove into the LED lighting realm, and supply and competition has lowered the price of the LED lighting system for your tank. So, lets look at some of the benefits of the LED lighting system for your aquarium.

First, LED aquarium lighting is cost-effective. In a quick search of prices we have found that you can get an LED lighting system for your aquarium for the same price, if not lower, than a metal halide or t5 fluorescent system for your tank. They are also cheaper on the electricity bills because they produce about 7 to 8 times more light per watt of energy used. This is like replacing a 250 watt metal halide with a 30 watt LED. Most LED manufacturers also rate their lights for 30,000 to 50,000 hours. Therefore, those lights rated at 30,000 hours won’t have to be replaced for 7 years if you ran your lights 12 hours a day. Compare that to replacing a metal halide or T5 bulb every 9-12 months. While T5 Hight Output (HO) bulbs can be found fairly inexpensively at $18, I haven’t found a metal halide bulb for less than $45.

Second, LED lighting generates less heat. This is not to say that LED lights produce no heat at all, but the heat is all right around the bulb. There is little to no radiant heat impact on the aquarium itself. Therefore, you may be able to get away without running a chiller, and cutting back on your power bill even more. Still, you should always use a thermostat and always monitor your water temperature.

Third, LED lights can be excellent for coral and plant life. You can find LED lights that deliver 8,000K to 10,000K of lighting which is enough to promote growth for a wide variety of live aquarium plants and keep your corals happy too!

Fourth, LED lights are compact and can be adjusted easily. Compact means that you can place them around your tank in such ways that allow you to have easy access to your tank for routine maintenance and water changes. Some manufacturers are even offering waterproof LED systems that can be hidden around the rim of the aquarium. Manufacturers are also offering expandable, and interchangeable LED systems that will allow you to add more lights, put different colored lights in different places, and even remove lights if so desired. LED lights are also dimmable, making it easy to adjust between any light output setting you wish. You can reproduce a bright sunny day, dim the lights to produce a storm cloud simulation, and even simulate moonlight and moon fazes.

Fifth, it is said that the visual effects that you can get from an LED lighting system are amazing. Many LED lighting systems have a shimmering effect and all of the different colors that you can use with an LED system can really bring out some beautiful colors of your fish, plants, and coral.

Finally, LED lights are safer than metal halide and T5 fluorescent lights. There are no metal filaments or noxious gasses contained inside an LED light. Many manufacturers are also making their LED systems water resistant!

This is not to say that LED lighting is the only way to go. Maybe you already have a metal halide or T5 fluorescent set up that is perfect for your fish, plants, and coral. You may have a fish only tank that only requires normal fluorescent lighting and you don’t need to spend the money on any of the high output lighting options. Know what you’re keeping and what the lighting requirements are for everything in your aquarium and then make your own decision on the type of lighting you use.

What kind of lighting do you use? Leave a comment and let us know! Also, sign up for our weekly updates and newsletter to get more aquarium tips, tricks, and tutorials.

TJ

The post Benefits of LED Aquarium Lighting first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

Start sending us emails at support@aquariumtiptank.com with the subject “Aquarium of the Week!” Include some pictures and a short description of an aquarium that you are submitting for the weekly contest. We will look through all of the submissions for the week – generally Monday evening through Sunday – and award an aquarium of the week every Monday! We will then report about the aquarium of the week via all of our media outlets, bringing a little beauty and enjoyment to all in the beginning of every week! We will not share your email addresses or contact information, but do not include any personal information in your emails and tank descriptions that you are not willing to share with all.

Now that the boring legal stuff is out of the way, send us some pictures and information about your beautiful aquarium! Also, sign up for our free weekly newsletter and e-updates to get the first look at every aquarium of the week winner, free aquarium tank tips,  and aquarium news.

Have another aquarium contests we should play? Leave a comment and let us know.

TJ

The post Aquarium of the Week Contest! first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

Here, we will provide the basic information about corals for the reef aquarium. It was once thought that keeping corals in an aquarium was impossible, but over the years, with advancement of technique and technology, it has become much easier to care for coral in your saltwater aquarium! We will start with the basics in this article and continue with several articles getting into the specific needs of each of the seven main categories of corals for the reef aquarium.  Join us, enjoy, and figure out which type of coral you’d like to keep in your beautiful home marine aquarium!

What are corals? Corals are actually animals! They may look like flowers and plants, but they are actually tiny creatures called polyps. These tiny polyps have tentacles that surround a mouth, digestive system, reproductive tract, and nervous system. The tentacles of each polyp are tipped with stinging cells called nematocysts that they use to defend themselves and capture food.

On a coral reef, the polyps are not everything that you see. In fact, depending on the time of day that you visit the reef, you may not see any of the polyps at all! All corals secrete at least some amount of calcium carbonate as their byproduct. Calcium carbonate is the hard, shell-like byproduct of stony corals (Scleractinia) such as elkhorn coral, brain coral, staghorn coral, table coral, etc. that make up the skeleton structure that forms most of the visible reef. (“Scleractinia,” 2012)

Soft corals (Gorgonacea) such as sea fans and sea whips have a flexible skeleton that is made of a protein secretion called gorgonin. They do secrete some calcium carbonate, but only in small clumps.  (“Gorgonian,” 2012) The polyps of these stony corals and soft corals generally live in colonies. The larger the colony of polyps, the larger the skeletal structure. Entire colonies can weigh several tons!

Mushroom corals (Corallimorpharia) are singular polyp corals that have a wide oral disc on top of a narrow column. The singular polyps of mushroom corals can occur together in large colonies, but they do not form hard, stony skeletons. (“Corallimorpharia,” 2012)

If corals are animals what do they eat? Where do they get their nutrients? The coral polyps extend their tentacles out of their skeletons and use their nematocysts to trap tiny plankton particles floating through the ocean. The polyps can also contract into their skeleton when they are stressed or to protect themselves from predators and the elements. You may not see the polyps if you visit the coral reef during the day because they extend themselves the most when they are feeding on the plankton at night. (“What are Coral Reefs,” 2012)

Most corals also contain a symbiotic algae called zooxanthellae. The zooxanthellae provide the coral polyps with the organic products of photosynthesis including glucose, glycerol, and amino acids while also providing oxygen and helping the coral remove wastes. The glucose, glycerol, and amino acids are used to manufacture proteins, fats, carbohydrates, and the calcium carbonate that helps build those skeletons. In return the coral supplies the algae with carbon dioxide, produced by coral respiration, and metabolic waste products such as nitrates and phosphates. These are the compounds and inorganic nutrients necessary for photosynthesis of the algae. The coral also provides the zooxanthellae with a protected environment. (“What are Coral Reefs,” 2012)

So, what are the types of corals that we can keep in our aquariums? All of them! However, the types of coral that are most frequently kept in aquariums are referred to as mushroom corals, soft corals, polyp corals, Large Polyp Stony (LPS) hard corals, and Small Polyp Stony (SPS) hard corals. Hydrocorals and Sea Fans can also be kept. We will go through the details of each of these types of corals in future posts!

What would you like to know about each type of coral? Leave a comment and sign up for our free e-updates and newsletter!

TJ

References

Corallimorpharia. 2012. Retrieved February 29, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corallimorpharia

Gorgonian. 2012. Retrieved February 29, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_fan

Scleractinia. 2012. Retrieved February 29, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stony_coral

What are Coral Reefs. 2012. Retrieved February 29, 2012, from http://coris.noaa.gov/about/what_are

The post Coral Basics first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.

Marine scientists are going to start transplanting corals that have been grown in onshore aquarium nurseries to damaged reef off the shores of Fort Lauderdale. Ken Nedimyer, president of Coral Restoration Foundation, gives credit to aquarists for the ideas, techniques, and knowledge about growing and transplanting. These are just some of the pieces of news about how the aquarium hobbyist can help with the ocean and reef conservation efforts that we like to read here at aquarium tip tank.

Coral reefs off the South Florida coast have been disappearing due to several factors both natural and man made. Storms and hurricanes can wipe out a coral reef and bring disease. The reefs and sea life can also become stressed from a high volume of boat traffic and large ships. The Coral Restoration Foundation and marine scientists throughout South Florida are attempting to transplant, replace, and restore those damaged coral reefs by using techniques learned from the aquarium hobbyist.

References:

• The full article and videos about the Coral Restoration Foundation can be found in this Advanced Aquarist article.
• The full article about transplanting corals to damaged coral reefs off the coast of Fort Lauderdale can be found in the Sun Sentinel here.
• Photo via Keri O’Neal and Sun Sentinel.

TJ

The post Coral Rescue by the Aquarium Hobbyist first appeared on Aquarium Tip Tank.