Posts by Avery

I tend to find a majority of sumps that are on the market already pre-made super expensive. It doesn’t take too much time or effort in order to build one from scratch.

If you have built one from the start, would you mine sharing some photos and steps so others could see how it’s done?

As far as fish are concerned, then yes clown fish tend to be the most forgiving when it comes to water parameters while also being a low cost option in case you do mess up once or twice (hopefully not though with our help)!

I've mostly stuck with name brands when it comes to substrate for saltwater tanks (never really looked too deeply into which one to specifically use), along with making sure to use some live rock in order to provide the beneficial bacteria (although I always keep a lookout at night for any of the brittle worm since they are a pain in the butt for sure).

Saltwater tanks require the most precise lighting based on what you plan to have in your tank. For example, having corals require a specific wavelength of lighting for a certain amount of time to allow for the corals to be able to look their greatest, and to be able to consume the light and use it as energy. In our to create a more natural environment of lighting for your saltwater tanks and the life that you keep inside of it, which one do you use and why?

Quote from votavk

Looks cool! How much did you say that you spent on the tank and all of the equipment? Do you have a plan once the turtle gets bigger on a new setup?

In total, I probably spent about $370 for everything that you see. I never really thought about pricing everything out since I mostly bought it all on sale from various different stores (including some local only stores for items that most big chains do not carry). I can always do this, but I don't think you can look to buy all of this at once (it took me a good month overall for everything to line up price wise where it made sense for me to do it).

Once the turtle gets bigger, it will honestly probably move into it's final home of a 150/200 gallon tank (and not the tall models but the wider ones). I'll obviously have to redo the basking platform (will end up adding more driftwood to it to make it more stable and taller/wider), and will more than likely add in another turtle just to keep the one company. Ideally, this won't happen for another 3-4 years, at which point this tank will probably become just a standard one (or possibly a saltwater tank).

I think it really depends in your area, since there are some pros and cons to highlight - along with the key aspect that same laws in some areas d prevent anyone from collecting any type of rain water for any usage (so check your local laws to verify if you can do this).

Pros:

1) It's free water that you know won't have chlorine or any hard water deposits.

2) You can store it pretty easily without having to worry too much about needing to add any types of chemicals to balance things out with.

3) It would be the same water that is in your region, specifically in lakes/ponds around you - which is ideal for outside tanks or ponds.

Cons:

1) Acid rain/water - if you live in a heavily polluted area, you water actually is pretty acidic and can be harmful (even to even slowly burn paint off of a car over time).

2) Having a way to collect it without allowing for bugs and algae to form over time.

In that photo I would probably lift the decoration and push the fish out from the front to back. If you still are unable to, try to get a hammer or something hard to break the decoration without damaging the fish directly.

I mostly recommend that unless the fish is exactly half way through (then pushing from the back makes better sense overall).

The is very common on all pieces of driftwood when they are first added into an aquarium. It’s more common on those that have some sap still on the wood since the added sugar creates this appearance (but even thicker).

It’s perfectly healthy and normal, and many fish and invertebrates will actually love this as a food source and keep it in check. After about 2-3 weeks of this appearing it will disappear on its own as the wood has leeched out all of the extra nutrients that allows for this to grow.

If it’s something that you can’t stand to see, I’d just recommend to use a rag and wipe the wood down and then put it back into the water.

For those of you who have either almond leaves, or driftwood in your tanks - do you guys like the way that the color changes from crystal clear to more of a dark yellow tea (tannins)? If you do or don’t, what is your reasoning behind your answer since from just talking with others it appears to be an almost 50-50 split on the choice.

I personally love the color of tannins, plus it makes some fish really become more active since that is what they are used to (such as some tetras and maybe cichlids).

Looks like they changed things up on us, and the sale dates are regional based. I’ve updated the thread to show the two cycles since the second one ends the other starts.

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).

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).

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.

I would say that the number one disease that I tend to see in other fish tanks (the stores, friends, or even those in groups) is Ich. Without a doubt it seems to be the most common, followed up by popeye for some odd reason.

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.

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).

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.

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.

Air pumps do not directly add anything to the water itself - instead they create some bubbles which adds surface movement which is how the gas exchange works in aquariums (and how oxygen gets added to the water and how carbon dioxide gets expelled out).

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 properties (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.