Posts by Avery

    Do you recommend any specific UPS units or any specific battery powered pieces of equipment?

    For a UPS, make sure you get one that automatically switches over and has atleast some outlets that are not used for it and some are (to allow for some heavy items like lights or non-essential filters) to be turned off. I try to find one with a decent warranty and one that lasts atleast a good amount of time with the load you expect (look at the items to see wattage per hour of usage), and then see how long that will go. You could also get one with a digital display that outputs how much load is on there and will tell you how long it will last.

    You ideally want one that lasts at a bare minimum of 4-6 hours, or ideally 8-12 hours. Anything more than that is an added bonus, especially those that have replaceable batteries since you can have a pair as a real backup.

    REMEMBER; they are pricey, but you are getting a power backup AND a surge protector (a really good one at that).

    For a battery backup; you really just want air pumps/bubblers that can mix up the water a given rate. I just try to find one with common batteries (ex: AA or AAA) since others take small 9V batteries which always seem to last longer and cost more money if you buy the batteries in bulk.

    This isn’t the case with all tanks, which I’ll outline below;

    Glass

    Now with glass tanks, all of the pressure is actually applied and spread to the corners of the tank (which is why you have tank stands that only hold the tanks on the corners fully). Placing mats underneath aren’t recommend since it can shift weight over time, and apply all of the pressure from the corners to other parts - which under pressure/tension, will crack the glass.

    Acrylic

    Aryclic tanks actually spread the weight out from the bottom to the sides. These must have a completely even stand/bottom, where any imperfection on the weight being distributed on the tank can cause some unevenness and will put more water pressure on other aspects. Since it’s acyclic, it won’t specific break, but it will cause for the sides to bow outward more where there is uneven weight and can cause for the acyclic to deform over time (and thus causing for a weak spot where it will break at - but extremely rare).

    I’ve tried to play a few but they become so stupidly unrealistic it kind of takes the fun out.

    Last real one I thought was almost spot on was Zoo Tycoon with their Marine Life Expansion Pack.

    Good call on Zoo Tycoon, I used to play this game as a kid and thought is had a bunch of information in a easy format to understand (such as what species can be together, what each species likes decoration wise or habitat wise).

    Would love to see a more detailed game like this but specific for fish, since Zoo Tycoon focused on a zoo, a dinosaur park, and then the marine life aspect.

    100% agree that the bigger that you can go, the more it gives you the room to let levels move around without having to constantly check. Normally around 40+ gallons is where people start with saltwater, unless you want to always check then you can go lower.

    I haven’t fed live foods (mostly have been either dried OR frozen) - but I would always make sure that either you raise the source of food yourself, or find a extremely repeatable seller since a lot can have either no nutrients or they can have parasites from being raised in poor conditions.

    I like the plant on driftwood look. Any issues with algae with it being so close to the window?

    No big issues, I do have some nice growth of green algae on the leaves but nothing on the tank walls (due to the snails eating it all off), and no other type of algae growth (such as black/brown/red).

    It’s like an endless supply of food for my snails that clean it up every day.

    What type of algae are you having issues with the most? Many algae eaters only eat a specific type of algae (or types) and not every kind, so narrowing it down can help us with some recommendations.

    Yes, and they are pretty cool to also look at. You mostly would want to have some sort of macro and micro nutrient elements (such as having soil as the substrate, or by dosing with fertilizers).

    This is what a lot of people do when they make tanks that are sealed but allow for light to enter in.

    I normally use a mixture of liquid fertilizers, and will also push down root tabs.

    When I used a substrate such as Flourite I mostly just overdosed with liquid fertilizers for it to absorb it (while also placing a TON of root tabs underneath it). Then once I noticed my plants start to look a little poor, I would use more liquid fertilizers and then take some root tabs and try to put them underneath the substrate while filled up with water.

    Those are eggs from a snail, more specifically mystery (apple) snails that are sold in pet stores. If they are kept moist from the humidity from the tank and not dipped into water/under water, they have a pretty high chance of hatching.

    Looks like they have investigated and found nothing wrong. Ironically I also tried to reproduce this again and everything came through correctly.

    If you see this again let us know via the contact us form or by making an account this way and syncing it to Tapatalk.

    Additionally you just make sure your Tapatalk account is validated before trying to register or it will cause some odd issues that you may have been seeing.

    As a small update they will be looking into this shortly - will keep you updated as I hear more information!

    Note: in order for them to validate what is going on, I have turned the in-app registration on (although it WILL error out). If you get stuck on validating, send us a message in the contact us form.