Posts by Avery

Yes, they are as they require freshwater and cannot live in brackish or saltwater conditions.

I don't think that it can be a replacement for a heater since they function completely differently. For example, a chiller/cooler actually cools the water down in case it gets too hot for specific species (think mostly of saltwater tanks). A cooler, in theory, cannot heat the water at all since many don't have that function unless you buy a combo unit that does (which isn't normally used unless you need to process a lot of water through the same system).

I don't think that it can be a replacement for a heater since they function completely differently. For example, a chiller/cooler actually cools the water down in case it gets too hot for specific species (think mostly of saltwater tanks). A cooler, in theory, cannot heat the water at all since many don't have that function unless you buy a combo unit that does (which isn't normally used unless you need to process a lot of water through the same system).

There are TONS of different brands and types of aquarium substrates that are ideal for planted tanks. Many include substrate that is naturally inert, but has been sourced with a bunch of various nutrients to make it similar to soil, but in a gravel like format that can be recharged via dosing or root tabs. Other substrates can be just pool filter sand if dosing, or actual organic plant soil that has been sifted through to remove wood, etc. that are within those bags.

It really depends on the specific bags you may have locally, or the size of the grain (some are sand but are inert with nutrients, others are gravel sized, some are pebble like sized, and then you have the outliers).

There are tons of different types of substrates, but many break down into the following categories;

1) Gravel

2) Sand

3) Barebottom (so no substrate in a tank)

4) Pebbles/River rocks

It really depends on what species you have, since many do require very specific types of substrate such as sand, or mixed substrate such as sand with river rocks for example.

Not all aquarium plants need substrate, although many do need something to tie down to if they aren’t root feeders. For those plants that are root feeders, a substrate must be provided since there isn’t enough nutrients in the water itself to keep them happy.

All air pumps work pretty much the same - they have a small pump that sucks in the air that is around the pump, and pushes it into the aquarium (or tubing). The only difference is that there is a battery instead of the actually pump being plugged in, which can be idle if the power goes out or there isn’t any extra plugs for the air pump to be plugged into.

I just recently put in some convict cichlids with my turtle, since they are more aware especially at night when other fish just tend to stay in the same spot and don’t really move until it’s too late.

The biggest thing is probably just to make sure that the cichlids have similar water requirements as the turtle, and that your tank can honestly handle cichlids due to their size or speed (and ability to jump dependent on species).

I would avoid having more than one turtle in the same tank, unless you have a pond that is of bigger portions so that if a turtle is getting harassed by another, it can actually swim away (vs. swimming in the same tank and being chased endlessly).

As far as the difference between male and female, do you know the exact species you are talking about? They have different visual cues to note if they are male vs. female.

We actually cover this pretty common question in our getting started article; https://aquariu.ms/article/2-fres…rs-thermometers

Below is the specific section that answers your question regarding any low power mode (there isn't one, at least that I have found in testing over >15 of these on the market for present ones).

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Having an adjustable heater is something that is highly recommended since you can maintain the temperature throughout the whole aquarium by moving the switch from one degree to another. This is since many preset heaters, or always on heaters do not turn off when they reach a specific temperature (unlike adjustable ones) and you can cook your inhabitants to death. Since there are many different manufacturers, we suggest that you read the product's back packaging to know the specific watts you need for your aquarium size.

Those two look they are both Gold (Chinese) Barbs, with slightly dull coloration from either their generics or a poor diet.

Well, looks like they changed the 24 hour flash sale for these into the full month of May 2022. I've updated this as the sale is on!

Ultimately, this tank is just an extremely weird height and size, and even for a Dwarf Gourami as and snail tank, it just gets way too dirty too fast that requires a ton of maintenance to clean (ex; draining a vast majority of the tank to reach down). I've decided to move on, and start breaking this tank down. Driftwood will be saved and migrated into the turtle tank once I get a bigger tank size (I've already put a piece into here to secure the basking dock more), snails will be fully moved into the turtle tank once I sift through the sand, plants will be moved into the turtle tank another tank I'm going to setup soon, and everything else will be sold (tank, sand, lights, filter, etc.).

For everyone else, it's a good tank, just really hard to keep up (especially by a window), and it's size really limits you to very specific set of fish (unless you go marine and make this a reef tank, although you'll need to buy a new DIY based hood and lighting system).

For all of you shrimp keepers, have you seen the recent line of shrimp dedicated tanks that many retailers are trying to sell recently? For your given shrimp species only tanks, do you tend to use dedicated tanks like these which are internal filters hidden away being a grate, specific substrate for planted tanks and shrimp to move around, or have a powerhead output for the filter to make sure that it doesn't directly point somewhere static that cannot be moved?

I've found a bunch of them seem like a really nice deal because they are in a weird starter kit format but missing a few pieces of core equipment like a heater, substrate, or other aspects. Although their size is on the smaller side (ex; <19 gallons), their size is ideal for a perfect planted shrimp tank that can really highlight the shrimp and plants, while providing the needed lighting and layout for doing a lovely aqua scape.

In some of your bigger tanks, do you tend to have multiple different types of filters, or do you just use one specific one? For example, an internal filter and a canister filter, or a hang on the back and canister, or even a canister and sponge filter or powerhead to make sure that water moves around evenly.

When you are moving, either between houses or out of one location to another, how do you make sure that your corals are packaged correctly so that they don't die or break apart? Do you make sure that you bring along any cooling bags or heat mats if the temperature is going to swing when moving?

FYI, it looks like Petco is having a "Flash Sale" on all open tanks, similar to this type of sale, for the rest of the day (appears to be a random 24-hour window they selected).

Just a small update, I completely cleaned out the tank from all of the leftover lettuce over time leaving a lovely mess (drained about 30 of the 40 gallon tank). I’ve also purchased another surface skimmer to help push water around and moved the direction of water from counterclockwise to now clockwise. I’ve also stabilized the driftwood slightly more by adding more sand and fixing the rock points that it is surrounded by.

I still need to clean out the canister filter, but that will be at a later date. I’m also now down to just 4 of the original zebra danios, with the Chinese algae eater being eaten (it’s gone) recently. Turtle is a little bit bigger and doing healthy, no issues so far!

I might add some additional stocking of faster fish, possibly some of the smaller cichlids in order to add volume in the water column compared to the 4 danios that now school together throughout the tank. I need to also add in more plants, so far it’s left the Anubias alone but it still seems not so green compared to what I think it could be. Possibly thinking of Amazon swords (fast growing), Water wisteria (fast growing) or Java fern (bad taste) to add in around the driftwood.

What size do you normally purchase your corals at from any seller, and does the size matter on what type of coral it is, or is price more of the controlling reason?

Since mollies have a special ability to move through pure freshwater, to brackish, to saltwater, many people use these fish to determine if there are any issues with their water quality in their tanks since they are fairly cheap compared to many other saltwater fish that are common in the hobby. Have you ever used mollies inside of your tank in order to get used to saltwater (as a beginner), or do you use them as a dither fish in the background since they breed extremely easily and are very popular in the freshwater hobby?