Posts by Avery

Have you ever adjusted or tried to optimize your protein skimmer to ensure it was running more effectively for the way you have it set up in your tank?

Did you ever find anything that worked just right, and what were some of the lessons that didn't work out nicely that you would want to share for others to learn from?

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Well, in rare news, looks like Petco extended the sale for another month after the last one ended on July 4th.

I would say no. If only 1 line is being used, then the excess air that is spread across the other 3 lines would end up being forced through the only open line. A caveat to this is if the pump has internal piping to avoid this situation and would just let the excess air out beneath the unit (for example).

I’d just recommend connecting the 3 closed lines to a single tube and then using that, or more ideally, downsizing the unit to just have the number of open ports you would need to use in your setup.

Do you have a specific budget in mind? I’m assuming that you currently run a canister filter since you noted not wanting to run with any HOB filters or HOB-like skimmers, so you'd for sure have to stay with something that can be added as an in-line unit to your canister filter flow. The only reason I ask is that some of the protein skimmers depend on the flow rate of your canister filter to function properly and have enough flow in general.

I’d say Topaz Cichlid (Archocentrus myrnae) based on their eye colors, and the common trait of them having a black dot in the middle of their body.

Just as a note, this sale is live now!

Updated with a rumored date in June!

I know that the switch to LEDs was huge for the aquarium industry, which also shows as everything else is heading to full LEDs. In terms of the next lighting evolution, it really might depend on the cost she uses (a reef tank will have completely different needs than a planted tank). It also will be based on cost-effectiveness, since when LEDs first came out they were extremely pricey as well which made it hard for anyone to afford them outside of commercial or professional standpoints.

Do you know how big the red light is? And how close it would be to the tank?

I would either have the protein skimmer away from where you are feeding (opposite side of the tank for example), and also make sure to push the food within the water vs. leaving it floating on the top where it may be skimmed up accidentally.

I've never turned mine off, but I have bigger tanks where the fish all head to where the food is on the other side. If you have a smaller tank, I'd probably recommend more than likely turn it off when feeding to make sure that your food doesn't just end up getting in the filter vs. feeding those fish.

I'd always just ended up replacing the full glass panel for many reasons.

Depending on whether it's a chip or crack, you could technically repair chips although there is always the worry that if there was any other damage near/on the fixed chip, it would break/spread easier than now.

I believe you can fill a chip with the water within there, although if it's cracked (even tiny), you need to replace it completely.

I would give it time, or try to avoid feeding for a day or two and then use that as food so that they will go after it and eat it. I’d also try to maybe coat them in flakes (if you have any) so that they can get used to the new food size and taste/smell (as many fish are extremely picky over this).

I currently use a piece of fake driftwood for my African Dwarf Frog tank, and I think the quality is great. I haven’t had any issues with the paint chipping, fading, or random things growing on it (like with other super cheaply painted or made units). For me, it looks kinda fake but once you add in some live plants they kinda help sell that it may be real.

I wouldn’t honestly worry too much these days - and for a very good reason. Before, many light fixtures were powered by bulbs which, dependent on the fixture and bulb type, had an average lifespan of a year or a couple of years before they went out (or got so dim you couldn’t really use them anymore). Nowadays, almost all light fixtures are powered by LEDs which have a very long lifespan (>10 years on average), and they won’t explode if you accidentally get a drop of water on them when doing water changes.

If you are buying used light fixtures, I’d try to avoid high-powered units since they must have fans or the lights get too hot and will burn out, and I would also avoid units with non-common light bulb types (which means replacement bulbs are pricey as they are uncommon at best).

I tend to give them a general cure-all like medicine, along with a treatment for Ich and any parasites. This is to avoid any issues once I add them, in case I didn't catch them having Ich or parasites, that would ruin all of the other species within the tank.

Hey cy.paul, I appreciate your worry regarding making sure members are always up to date on any news we have. I believe that the current setup (having the announcements at the top, in their own reply-only section) has the benefit to allow those who want to see and read it - to do so.

I’ve personally seen other communities force you to mark that you have read an announcement or toggle a checkmark to verify that. I don’t believe we need that here, since any announcement wouldn’t be mission-critical like it would be with a service platform, for example.

Likewise we are working on integrations with out social platform channels to make sure any announcements are automatically pushed to them, so that will help for those who follow us on social networks.

I can personally 100% can recommend Beamworks or Nicrew for cheap, quality LED lights that will be able to grow low-light plants with ease. Otherwise, I think even trying to get a modular LED light fixture might make sense overall (Aqueon has one where you can buy individual LED strips that can promote light, plants, corals, etc. over time) so you only end up buying what you need or in smaller purchase groups to get the best product overall.

I think that they stopped selling the fish due to them not being that cost-effective, getting a bunch of bad press when it comes to the conditions that they were kept in (many employees cared less, so they would be covered in ich, half dead, or even fully dead). I also think that this was a way for them to try to get into the world of Petco/Petsmart (as they already sell the equipment, food, etc. for a variety of animals including fish or turtles) since it seems like a very profitable business if you look at the balance sheets of those two major companies.

I've made a few different types, such as Brine Shrimp (since you can feed with high-quality algae), or even using fruit flies since you can make sure that they are full of protein and other things that are extremely beneficial to fish fry, or even to some fish as their natural diet. I think the biggest aspect is to make sure that they are worth raising in terms of batch size, and then trying to feed them correctly so that they are super nutritious compared to just crushing up food to make it smaller for fry to consume easier.

In order to make the fry or inverts eat it, I think it's really just around making sure that you place them in the tank next to them so they can see it (and during the day, when the tank has had lights on for awhile so they are fully awake).