Posts by Avery

Since there are such a wide variety of different types of lights, which ones do you use?

It really depends on your lighting and the corals you have. A vast majority do fine without any extra feeding, although some do better when fed if they aren’t getting enough nutrients from the light or waste that is being created in your tank. Some even do good as they are normally indirectly fed by fish who swim between them and get trapped.

As a basic answer, is it required? No - but feeding them CAN provide them with more nutrients which will allow for them to grow and be more vibrant under a light.

I’m not too sure - possibly make this a goldfish tank or even try out something more unique/not commonly kept (African Dwarf Frogs or Red Claw Crabs). I’d love to try another Fire Belly Toads setup if I could get enough stuff for them and find a nice seller in my area.

Quote from Gilbert

I’ve heard that it should start tomorrow, but nothing official yet. We’ll see though since everyone on Facebook loves to just point out random dates.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Looks like this is correct, the event is going on from now until January 30th!

How frequently do you do your water changes on your tank(s), and how much water do you replace?

I know plenty of times with some picky eaters, if the food isn’t exactly the same then they refuse it regardless of how long I let them not eat (up to a point).

Have your fish ever done this before? And if so, did you ever get them to eat the new brand?

When you first setup your tank, did you plan the layout of corals (if you have any), rocks, and other aspects like equipment - or did you just place it as you felt fit when putting it all in?

Have you ever tried to grow algae in order to use as a food source for fry or fish? If so, how did it go and what type of algae did you attempt to grow?

I kind of like the odd shaped ones, only problem is that if you ever buy them used I would 100% make sure you reseal them since their odd shape puts more pressure on the seals than other tanks.

Quote from RocketMAN

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.

Are you making sure you are measuring the inside of the tank and not the outside? The dimensions on most boxes show the outside for shipping information, however the inside is different and where the true volume is stemmed from.

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).

Quote from Brosj

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.

Have you tried to reduce the amount of lighting you have (hours on, or the PAR)? Otherwise are you able to remove it with a sponge underwater or is it more “stuck on”?

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.

Quote from Aquatime

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.

And that wraps up the contest entry period - we’ll be counting all of the valid results before assigning them to a random number and releasing who won. Stay tuned in the next coming day for that result.

Good luck to everyone who has entered successfully!

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.