Posts by Avery

  • Has anyone tried or even thought of buying these cubes?

    I wouldn’t say that they are a scam specifically, but the surface area they claim would be the same if you crushed a way smaller size of that and then used it. The reason carbon is mostly always crushed is because surface area matters when it pulls chemicals into itself - so this is less effective based on the size and shape of being a cube.


    Carbon can make water clear, but there is more to water parameters than just clear water. The parameters could still be all out of wack but the water could be crystal clear, which I believe is a false sense of things when it comes to fish keeping in general (and why some people panic when they add driftwood and the water turns yellow which many thing is a critical problem other than the color itself).

  • Did you have a protein skimmer to start with?

    It may sound bad, but I’ve ironically always just purchased them used or tend to use a surface skimmer to get rid of the excess surface foam from any protein that was in the tank. I’ve found them highly useful, but I guess that I haven’t really had a tank that didn’t fully require it (and had the bad assumption that it just was a common piece of equipment that was needed).

  • What substrate do you for most of your tanks?

    I also highly prefer the look to sand. Getting sand (either pool filter sand, black diamond sand, or a various mix of colored sand) always makes other things pop without having to worry about the fish poop or uneaten food getting stuck between the gravel pieces.


    Plus using snails, they can effectively turn the sand over to prevent gas bubbles while also eating everything else. The only downside is that if you have a look of fish who poop a ton, then it’s noticeable - but just lets you know faster and easier when it’s time to clean the substrate up and do a water change.

  • How often do you clean your tank(s)?

    How often do you clean your tanks, and what do you use to clean them?


    For my planted tank, I honestly never really clean it minus the ugly hard water mark (which I use vinegar to clean) about every 2-4 weeks.


    For my turtle tank, I clean the excess poop and food I find every 4-5 days, and then in that process probably drain about a 3-4 gallons or water and replace it. I figure that the little ecosystem in there should take care of everything else on it’s own.

  • How did you get into the hobby

    I think I started the hobby when I was just a kid. I remember going to Petco at the time and getting my first tank, gravel, and air pump. I think I just used a undergravel filter and would just change the water a lot.


    Looking back, it’s crazy to think what I had kept in there and how the nitrogen cycle wasn’t really fully completed (as we’d always wash the gravel and tank out every other month).

  • Who takes care of your tank when your gone

    Dependent on how long I’m gone, I’ll try to use some type of automatic feeder or have a neighbor or a family friend come by in order to feed the fish and my turtle. I’ve never really been gone more than 2 weeks so the automatic feeding device works a vast majority of the time.

  • How hard was it to get your fish to eat commercial food vs. live food

    If they fish is bred inside of an aquarium, it is by far easier to get them to be able to eat commercial food right away since that is all they are used to. However, many saltwater fish are wild kept (and don’t reproduce at all in an aquarium) so it can be next to impossible to get them to shift from live food to commercial food. Maybe people try to slowly wrap them around (add commercial food inside of the live food) and make the live amount smaller and smaller over time.


    Eventually, this will lead to them possibly switching to commercial food fully as they get used to the texture and taste.

  • Why does everyone always recommend salt as a cure to everything at first?

    I believe that it is due to an old tale where salt would magically cure a vast majority of bacterial, external parasite, and some fungal infections due to its prosperities (and the fact that anything in freshwater really isn’t designed to handle salt at any level). It’s a very common medicine used for general cures due to this, however it can be pretty dangerous if used too frequently (you’ll turn your freshwater tank into a brackish tank, or kill off any snails and plants you may have) and tends to be recommended very incorrectly. A lot of people tend to recommend the same amount no matter what fish you have, which some fish are more or less salt tolerant up to specific levels.


    Is it a generic cure all? No - but it can help with a lot, cure more things that most medicines can (since they are very specific), and does help time to time by allowing for the fish to generate a new, thicker slime coat.


    Are all salts the same? No - there are a few different salts out there that all do specifically different things (for example table salt is not the same as marine water salt). All salts have different compounds o minerals in them that provide a benefit to a specific set of aquatic animals that one may wish to keep in their aquarium.


    Should it be used all of the time? No - since things are freshwater for a reason (and not in brackish water), along with it having dangerous effects to invertebrates who are used to living in absolutely no salt. Plus, other fish can have an extremely hard time processing the salt which can cause for them to slowly die off.


    Do you need salt in your tank? No - I’d only recommend it if you have a known bacterial, fungal, or external parasite that will die from the addition of salt. Otherwise, I’d note to stay away from it all together.

  • What is one fish that you wish you would have avoided from the start?

    Quote from Gilbert

    Algae eaters (those Chinese Algae Eaters). They love algae when young but turn into little devils when they grow up and mature sadly.



    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

    I think that they always get a bad reputation since they do eat algae when young, but if they don’t get enough protein then that is when they try to suck the slime coat off of others (same how Plecos will even do the same). I have them in a few community tanks, and as long as they get fed protein every other day they don’t attack other fish and still eat algae on the tank to this day.

  • What are some good amphibians to start off with?

    I’d probably recommend to start with probably fire belly roads (they are the easiest by far), followed by newts, and then possibly red slider turtles since they are the most forgiving. From there you can expand our to others such as different type of turtles, or other types of frogs.

  • Aqueon 40 Gallon Breeder Turtle Tank

    Hey Gilbert,


    Yes! I added a new photo to the gallery album on which specific type of screws that I used. I only went with those that are stainless, and designed for a deck (wood specific), plus these have a lifetime warranty so nothing can really go wrong there in my eyes.


    The platform does sway if you put your hand and try to move it on the top, but it’s nothing major. I’m sure once I move tanks (when this turtle is way bigger) and add more driftwood pieces, this will eliminate it (since it sways since it only has 2 support pieces that are somewhat in the middle but kinda not weight wise).


    It wasn’t too hard in order to screw then together, when the wood got wet I did have to tighten it more since it got loss as the wood expanded outward - but everything was overall easy to make. Just make sure if you do try to copy this, that you use wood that is already waterlogged or pretty heavy otherwise this may try to float (as some types of driftwood does).


    I also added in a photo of how I did the submersible lights (since they aren’t under water at all - but hidden if you view it from the front or sides somewhat). Let me know if you want to see anything else specific and I’ll take a photo!

  • Easy way to tell if livebearers are pregnant?

    Good question, with a somewhat good answer on how to tell if they are just bloated or if they are pregnant with some photo examples.


    If they are pregnant, you should be able to notice that they may appear bloated (tummy will be expanded out). Dependent on the coloration of the fish, if they are see-through you should be able to see a dark spot through them which will be the fry’s eyes (or their bodies dependent on the pregnant length). For those that are not see through, they will appear to be boxed out (when they are a week away from giving birth) and also may be breathing slightly heavier than normal.


    If they are bloated, they will just appear super round overall. If you stopped feeding for a day or two for example then the bloat should disappear (compared to a pregnant one, will not).


    It takes a good eye on telling they are pregnant or not, but in the photo examples these are both pregnant (which can be confusing since the platy looks bloated - but the boxed appeared is a key sign for it being pregnant).

  • Tapatalk doesn't work correctly - shows error codes on unread topics, can't read any read topics/posts

    I’ve made the required changes to the files to disable the react functions (and prevent them from showing up) in Tapatalk. Cleared the system cache (and maybe your device’s cache) should resolve this so that they are now visible and can be read/replied to in the meantime


    Please let me know if you run into any other issues! If the device cache doesn’t work, try to reinstall Tapatalk since it needs to clear out previous saved data for the threads so that they fully reload vs. using system cache.