Aquarium Tips of the Day | You can Recycle your RO/DI Waste Water

By on August 8, 2012 in Conservation, Filtration, Freshwater, Maintenance, Marine, Saltwater, Tank Setup, Tips of the Day

Today’s Aquarium Tip Tank tip of the day will help you be a little green and save a little bit of water. First, we recommend that you use a water filter to perform reverse osmosis and DE-ionize (RO/DI) your tap water before using it to make saltwater, top up your tank with freshwater, or use it for your freshwater aquarium water changes.  However, when a stream of  water is pushed through an RO membrane, two streams of water exit the membrane. One of these streams of exiting water is waste water containing the concentrated contaminants that were removed from the other, purified stream of water that you are going to use for your aquarium.  In fact, there is usually about 4 gallons of concentrated waste water produced for every gallon of purified water.  Doesn’t that seem like a waste of water? Just recycle it!

No, we’re not talking about saving it in containers and putting it through the RO/DI unit again. What we’re talking about is using it to water your house plants, water your lawn and garden, or wash your car. We’ll admit that there are a few logistics that you might have to work out to make this a viable solution for you. After all, getting 20 gallons of RO/DI purified water to change the water in your 100 gallon tank will produce 80 gallons of contaminated waste water.

You will have to find large containers for this waste water and figure out a way to move those containers to the spot where you’re going to re-use the waste water. Maybe your RO/DI filter is in your garage or your basement and it wouldn’t take much effort to run the contaminated water hose to a series of large, water tight trash cans? Or, maybe you only have  a 20 gallon tank and you only need 5 gallons of RO/DI purified water to perform a water change. In that case, you would only need one large, 20 gallon container for your concentrated waste water.

The topic of moving large volumes of water around could produce several more aquarium tips. For now, just know that there are ways to recycle your RO/DI waste water and use it around the house if you don’t want to dump it all down your drain. Also, you might spend some money on the water that you run through your RO/DI unit, but if you recycle your waste water, you won’t have to pay anything for the water you use to water your lawn!

Do you recycle your RO/DI waste water? How do you do it? Leave comments below!

TJ

 

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Unpacking and Installing the Small, but Necessary Aquarium Equipment

By on August 7, 2012 in Fish, Freshwater, Maintenance, Marine, Saltwater, Tank Setup

You can hear all about some of the small, but necessary aquarium gear on Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast 009. However, I ordered all of the aquarium equipment that I need for my new saltwater fish tank and it happened to arrive a few days ago! As always, we’ve decided to share some pictures and insights about unpacking this aquarium gear!

The first box opened actually contained the waterproof floor mat that was eventually placed under the tank stand to protect my carpet. It is the floor mat that can be seen under all of the boxes and aquarium equipment in the next few pictures. The second box to be opened contained the Aqueon Aquarium Water Changer and one bag of the CaribSea Arag-Alive! Live Aragonite Reef Sand. Three bags of the CaribSea live sand were ordered, but the other 2 bags came in a separate shipping box.

The box is opened, revealing the Aqueon Aquarium Water Changer and CaribSea Arag-Alive

 

The Aqueon Aquarium Water Changer and the CaribSea Arag-Alive Live Sand out of the box and on the Waterproof Floor Mat

The next box of the day had the Aqueon Pro 150 Aquarium Heater, the Marineland Light Timers, the thermostat, some zip ties, and the Belkin 12 outlet Surge Protector.

Opening the box with the Aqueon Pro 150 Heater, light timers, thermostat, zip ties, and surge protector

All of the small aquarium gear unpacked and ready for installation

Next, it was time to install all of this new aquarium equipment! Stay tuned to Aquarium Tip Tank for some pictures and videos showing the installation and testing of these products!

The one thing that hasn’t yet arrived? The RO/DI water filter. Many updates are yet to come!

Pieces of Aquarium Equipment Mentioned in this article:

TJ

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Aquarium Tips of the Day | Use a Drip Loop for the Cables of your Aquarium

By on August 3, 2012 in Filtration, Freshwater, General Updates, Lighting, Maintenance, Marine, Saltwater, Tank Setup, Tips of the Day

Today’s Aquarium Tip Tank tip of the day will help you keep from frying your lights, heaters, and other electric aquarium devices. No matter how much you try to prevent water splashes and overflows, you’re never going to completely prevent them in the years that you have your aquarium. The problem is that water can help conduct electricity and there are several pieces of aquarium equipment plugged in somewhere near the tank. It is possible for that splashed, overflowed, or leaked water to travel down the cord to the plug and create a short, a surge, a fire, and possibly electrocute somebody. In order to prevent this, make sure that all of your power cords have a drip loop. We’ve included a picture of a drip loop below. This way, any water traveling down the cord sits at the bottom of the loop until it either evaporates or drips to a spot under and away from the plug and outlet.

Use a Drip Loop on all electrical cords for your Aquarium

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Did I make a bad decision getting a Canister Filter for a Reef Tank?

By on August 2, 2012 in Filtration, Maintenance, Marine, Saltwater, Tank Setup

Maybe I should’ve gone with a sump and/or refugium for my tropical fish and reef tank. I was over at Reef Threads and heard about a post over at Reef Central about 5 things to remove from a reef system. One thing on that list is canister filtration. Well,  I plan on using my API Nexx Aquarium Canister Filter for my new 30 gallon reef tank.

I’ll admit, a sump system with a refugium is probably the very best way to keep a large reef tank. Once set up, a refugium may also be less maintenance than a canister filtration system. However, my tank is only 30 gallons and there just isn’t much room under and around it for an overflow box and an extra tank underneath for the sump. The tank also doesn’t have any built in plumbing for a sump, hence, the need for a hang-on overflow box.

Reef Threads does go on, and they do have a rebuttal for just about every one of the 5 points mentioned in the post. They don’t, however, go so far as to recommend canister filtration for a reef tank.  The issue is that everything needs to be regularly cleaned and maintained. Sponges, bio-balls, filter socks, filter medium, and canister filters can be nitrate factories if you don’t regularly and thoroughly remove, replace, clean off and maintain each of them. However, there are beautiful reef tanks that are kept by many aquarium hobbyists with all of these items in use.

The issue with aquarium canister filters is that they can be a pain in the butt to maintain. With many of them, there are valves you have to make sure you have access to so that you can close them and prevent water from spilling during the filter media change. There can be hoses to move, valves to close, latches to deal with, and several compartments to access in order to thoroughly rinse and change the filter medium. If not changed regularly – about once every 1 or 2 months – the filter medium can build up with too much particulate waste and become a nitrate factory that actually spits nitrates out and back into your aquarium. You also have to prime most canister filters in order to get them started or re-started after every filter medium change. People get lazy and don’t want to deal with all of that every month or two just to change some filter media.

However, I chose the API Nexx Canister Filtration system for a reason. The reason is that it is very quick and easy to change the filter medium and thoroughly clean out the filter medium chamber. With today’s advancements and technologies I can set a reminder in my calendars for a few days before a medium change needs to occur, and order the filter medium that I need. When it arrives a day or two later, I can take the 5 minutes to change out the filter medium and thoroughly rinse out the canister. All it takes withe the API Nexx Canister Filter is about 5 minutes to change the filter medium and thoroughly clean everything. Oh, and there’s no priming necessary.

In conclusion, no, I did not make a bad decision when I selected the API Nexx Canister Filter for my reef aquarium. Yes, there can be less maintenance with a sump and/or refugium once it is up and running. However, as long as there is a regular maintenance schedule, everything on your maintenance checklist gets checked off, and you are diligent about changing and cleaning all of your filter media, then you can have a very healthy and beautiful reef aquarium using all of the items listed in the Reef Central post. The API Nexx Canister Filter also makes filter media changes quick and easy.

What kind of filtration do you use for your reef aquarium? Leave comments below!

TJ

 

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We Love our Tropical Fish Tanks. Do you want one? Find out if starting a home aquarium is right for you.

By on July 31, 2012 in Conservation, Filtration, Fish, Freshwater, Lighting, Maintenance, Marine, Saltwater, Tank Setup

At Aquarium Tip Tank we love our pet fish and we enjoy setting up and taking care of our tropical fish tanks. We love them because they’re beautiful, they are tools for education about underwater ecosystems, they are tools to promote marine conservation, they are fantastic and proven stress relievers, and they are just plain fun! For more on that, listen to Aquarium Tip Tank’s First Podcast!

However, before you jump into this wonderful hobby, there are a few things to consider if you’ve never taken care of a home aquarium before. We definitely don’t want to scare you off, but please realize that the fish in your tank will be your pets. Just like any other pet there is some research that you should do prior to picking out your pet, and there are some pieces of equipment that you will need in order to bring home your new pet and keep it healthy and happy.

Before you buy a Tropical Fish Tank:

For a home aquarium, the initial stages of research, equipment purchase, and tank setup, before you actually purchase and bring home any fish, accounts for the biggest chunk of time that you will have to devote to your new hobby. The size of your aquarium tank and the type of livestock you choose to keep will determine how simple or complex the maintenance of your tank will be.

Tank Selection and Fish Research:

In the end, the environment that you create in your tank must match the healthy living environment of the livestock that you want to keep. The task is to simulate the natural environment of the fish that you choose to keep as closely as possible. So, one of the first steps is to do some research into the kind of livestock you want to keep. You may want to keep an Emperor Angelfish (Pomacanthus imperator), but when you start doing your research you figure out that a minimum tank size of 220 gallons is recommended to keep an Emperor Angelfish.

Our thought is that you have to start with tank selection and livestock research simultaneously. Do you have such an undying need to keep an Emperor Angelfish that you will use whatever spot in your home is big enough for a 220 gallon tank? Or, do you have the perfect spot for a tank in your home, but you can only fit a 50 gallon tank there? If you can only fit a 50 gallon tank, then you will have to do some research and find some tropical fish to keep that will do well in the environment that you can create with that 50 gallon aquarium.

Personally, I like to find the spots in my house with esthetic quality first, figure out the maximum tank size that I can put in that space, and choose my fish based on that tank size. I like to find a spot in my house where myself and my guests will see the tank, ask questions about the fish, invertebrates, and other livestock, and where its easy to relax and enjoy the personalities of my pet fish. But that’s just me. Maybe you want that Emperor Angelfish so much that you will put a large tank in your large, unfinished basement where most people don’t regularly go. It is up to you. If you need some help selecting a tank, go ahead and sign up for our FREE Tank Selection Worksheet and our e-updates and newsletter.

You’ve selected a tank location, and a tank size. You’ve purchased the tank you’re going to use and researched and selected some fish that you are able to keep in that size tank. What’s next?

Aquarium Equipment Selection:

While doing the research on the fish that you want to keep you may have realized that there are certain environments that your livestock normally lives in. The water temperature must be kept steady, the tank has to be lit to mimic the sunlight that the inhabitants of your tank normally receive, and the water quality needs to remain pristine with the use of a filtration system.

There are several varieties and countless brands of every piece of aquarium equipment. You can do hours upon hours of research to figure out exactly which pieces of equipment you want to purchase, or you can walk in to your Local Fish Store (LFS) and purchase whatever the salesperson suggests for you. The problem with walking into your LFS and immediately walking out with an aquarium setup is that you end up with less of an understanding of how everything works together to create the underwater ecosystem that you want to keep. You won’t know why you were sold those specific pieces of equipment. Maybe it was the best for your intended aquarium, or maybe it was the pieces of equipment that cost the most. We suggest that you at least do some research into the types of equipment that you want to use.

Fish Tank Setup

Now that you’ve purchased your tank, tank stand, filtration equipment, heater, thermometer, lighting, light timers, surge protectors, water additives, substrate, rocks, and decorations its finally time to actually setup your tank so that you can put fish in it! First, you need to place everything and attach it correctly on, in, and around your aquarium. Anything that is going into the tank and is going to be submerged in the aquarium water MUST FIRST BE RINSED off before placing it in the desired location in the tank. This includes your gravel, aquarium safe decorations, rockwork, etc.

Finally, its time to put water into the tank. If you are starting a saltwater aquarium, you may have to make the saltwater first. Once the water is in your tank YOU MUST CYCLE YOUR TANK. A whole article can (and will) be written about the Nitrogen Cycle and how to go about cycling your tank, but for now, just realize that it could take anywhere from 1 week to 6 weeks.

Now that everything is set up and properly cycled, fish can be added to the tank. From this point on, fish tanks require relatively little maintenance. There are many aquarium hobbyists that may laugh at that statement and completely disagree. However, we must remember that our fish are our pets. As with any pet, they need to be fed, and there are health and maintenance tasks that must be performed on a regular basis to keep our pets happy and healthy.

We have to feed our fish every day, just like any other pet, so we should also do a few quick water quality checks every day. While we’re feeding our fish, it only takes a few seconds to check the water temperature, make sure all of our pumps, lights, heaters, and timers are still in working order, and it will be obvious if some algae and grime needs to be cleaned off the inside walls of the tank. This usually takes less than 5 minutes a day. This is less time than it takes to walk, play with, feed, and take care of almost any other pet every day.

There are also bigger maintenance tasks that must be performed on a regular basis, but they are not daily tasks. It is recommended that a 20%-30% water change is performed on a weekly to bi-weekly basis. It is imperative that filter media be changed about once every 2 months. In conjunction with these, water quality testing should also be performed. The time it takes to perform these tasks depends on the size of your tank, how easy it is to change your filter media, and the demands of the livestock.

The Price of a Home Aquarium

All of these pieces of equipment that we’ve talked about so far need to be obtained for use somehow. Again, the cost of these items will depend on the size of your tank and the demands of the livestock you choose to keep. For example, a freshwater, fish only aquarium with fake, aquarium safe decorations, does not demand the specialized lighting and filtration systems that a planted tank or a saltwater reef tank does.

You also may be able to find hand-me-down equipment, equipment on Craigslist, or on aquarium websites with deals like That Fish Place. Personally, I’m in the process of starting a saltwater tank that I got from my brother-in-law. He used to use the tank and tank stand for a freshwater aquarium. With everything that you might get as a hand-me-down or from Craigslist, just make sure that everything works, nothing leaks, and you clean everything out.

Of course, the fish and other livestock for an aquarium also cost money. You also need to make sure you have food, and there are a few very low cost tools ($10 or less each) that you will use when performing routine maintenance. Once again, this is not unlike any other pet.

In conclusion, a decision should be made about if you want to do all of the necessary research, if you have the time, and if you have the money to take care of a pet. Every pet requires some initial research, some time to take care of them, and some equipment to make sure that they are in a happy, healthy, and clean environment. If it is tropical fish that you want to keep, then  join us at Aquarium Tip Tank, and ask us any questions you may have about home aquariums and the beautiful underwater ecosystems.

TJ

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Aquarium Tips of the Day | Use a Labeling System for your Fish Tank

By on July 30, 2012 in Filtration, Freshwater, Lighting, Maintenance, Marine, Saltwater, Tank Setup, Tips of the Day

Today’s Aquarium Tip Tank tip of the day will help you keep all of those lines, cables, plugs, and hoses in order! Ever look at the back of your tank and wonder what all of those tubes and cables were running to? Or from? There is a hose taking water from the tank and into your filtration system, then another hose bringing the filtered water back into the tank. You might have yet another hose bringing water into your display tank from a reservoir with fresh, top-up water. Then there are cables and plugs for all of the electrical components like lights, filters, pumps, heaters, and power heads. If you want to keep them all in order, grab a label maker, or some other type of labeling system and put labels on all of those hoses, cables, and plugs!

TJ

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The Finding Nemo Sequel and our Responsibilities as Coral Reef Lovers and Aquarium Hobbyists

By on July 27, 2012 in Compatibility, Conservation, Fish, Maintenance, Marine, Saltwater, SCUBA Diving

Rumors have been flying around that Pixar is in the process of ramping up production on a Finding Nemo sequel, that film writer and producer Andrew Stanton has signed up for the directing job, and that television writer Victoria Strouse will be writing the script. I call them rumors because Pixar does not comment on development.

There is a double-edged sword to these rumors. On the one hand, I love it. I loved the first Finding Nemo, and it is still one of my favorite Pixar films. Of course I do, I love most things about coral reefs, tropical fish, and ocean life. I also think Pixar does a fairly fantastic job at creating all of their animated films.

Sure, us nerdy ocean and aquarium lovers can pick apart some of the inaccuracies of such movies. But Pixar did a pretty good job with the original Finding Nemo of entertaining my 2.5 year old nephew, me, and my 60 year old father while incorporating a few scientific names and some of the basics about ocean life and underwater ecosystems.

Underwater is a place that most people don’t look at and see very often. Therefore, it was out of sight and out of mind for a majority of people until Pixar released Finding Nemo in movie theaters across the globe and put those ocean ecosystems right in front of toddlers, teenagers, parents, and grandparents across the world.

Finding Nemo was also fantastic for the aquarium hobby. Kids wanted to go “find Nemo” at the public aquariums. They started dragging their parents past the puppies and into the fish section of pet stores. Tanks, stands, aquarium filters, and all sorts of aquarium equipment started flying off the shelves like never before. The added interest and money pouring into the industry allowed for advances in husbandry, technology, and research.

So, the other edge of that sword? The downside to all of this is that all of those fish that people now want to keep in their home aquariums come from somewhere. Did anybody realize that the whole movie was about a tropical fish being snatched out of its natural environment by a SCUBA diver, ripped from its family, and placed in a small tank thousands of miles from home? We learned some great things about the oceans on the journey to find Nemo, but he just wanted to be out of that tank and back at home with his family and friends.

Luckily, the aquarium hobby didn’t seem to take much heat for that. In the end, the clownfish populations did. Those new aquarium hobbyists were looking for the “Nemo” fish left and right to put into their new aquariums, and these new hobbyists mostly lacked the proper setup and care knowledge. Then, if one of their ocellaris clownfish died, they would just go grab another one from their LFS. Clownfish populations were practically wiped out in certain parts of the world. There are also new advancements and technologies that have made fish keeping better, and easier.

As tropical fish lovers, coral reef lovers, and aquarium hobbyists we have a responsibility to educate about conservation, proper aquarium setup, and proper aquarium maintenance this time around. Luckily, breeding of tropical saltwater fish has come a long way since the first Finding Nemo. It kind of seems like every other person in the aquarium hobby is breeding clownfish these days.

If people start asking us questions about setting up new tanks we should take the time to show them how to do it correctly. We should educate new hobbyists about the oceans and underwater ecosystems. We should teach them about fish and reef compatibility, the nitrogen cycle, water chemistry, and water quality so that new hobbyists can keep their fish happy and alive. Most importantly, we should teach them about conservation, fish breeding, and tank bred fish.

Aquarium Tip Tank will be here to help. If you are new to the aquarium hobby please ask questions, and let us know what you need help with. That is what we’re here for. If you have been keeping fish for a while, and you’d also like to help, get in touch with us. You can comment below, send an email to support@aquariumtiptank.com, say hello to us on Facebook, say hello to us on Twitter, or find us on YouTube.

TJ

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Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast 009 | The “Smaller” Pieces of Tropical Fish Tank Equipment

By on July 26, 2012 in Fish, Freshwater, Maintenance, Marine, Podcast, Show Episodes, Tank Setup

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Aquarium Tip Tank Podcast 009

So far, at Aquarium Tip Tank we’ve gone over the bigger, more expensive, absolutely necessary pieces of Aquarium Equipment to start a new tropical fish tank. These are items such as the tank itself, the tank stand, lighting, and filtration systems. In this episode we talk about the rest of the smaller, yet just as important, pieces of equipment that are needed to begin a tropical fish tank!

I need to purchase some of these items myself, but I also talk about the pieces of equipment that are necessary, but I already have from other aquariums. Some pieces of equipment can be used for more than one fish tank as long as you make sure that you rinse all aquarium tools under running tap water prior to putting them in any aquarium water.

I’ve created links to all of the items that are talked about in this episode below.

Make sure you have your smaller Tropical Fish Tank tools and equipment:

Please say hello to us on Facebook, or Twitter, find us on our YouTube Channel, or leave a comment below!

TJ

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Aquarium Tips of the Day | Make sure your Fish Tank Test Kits are NOT Expired

By on July 24, 2012 in Fish, Freshwater, Maintenance, Marine, Saltwater, Tips of the Day

Today’s Aquarium Tip Tank tip of the day will help you make sure that you are getting the correct results when you test the water parameters of your tropical fish tank, or any aquarium tank, or any water for that matter. Ever gone to test your water and noticed that all of your liquid tester is dried up? Ever get everything to turn up with such bad results that there’s no way a fish could be alive in that water? Take a look at your expiration date on your test kit, and make sure you’re not using an expired test kit!

Hopefully your test kit has an expiration date. If your test solutions are dried up – and not from using them – its definitely time for a new kit. Some test kits say that they have a 5 year shelf life, but then go on to say something like “discard them one year after opening.” Just make sure you know that you are using a valid, non-expired test kit to test the water in your fish tank and get the most accurate results! After all, it wouldn’t be any fun, and would be very confusing, if you thought that all of your water parameters were spot on because you used an expired water test kit and then had something go wrong with your fish tank.

What kind of test kit do you use? Leave a comment below!

Email us, say hello on Facebook and/or Twitter with any questions you may have!

TJ

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Aquarium Tips of the Day | Turn Your Aquarium Power Back On

By on July 19, 2012 in Filtration, Fish, Freshwater, Lighting, Maintenance, Marine, Saltwater, Tank Setup, Tips of the Day

Today’s Aquarium Tip Tank tip of the day is just a little reminder that will help you keep everything in your aquarium alive and running. Ever get done doing some type of maintenance on your aquarium at night, get up, go to work the next day and think to yourself, “Hey, did I plug the lights back in?” For one day this probably wouldn’t be a detrimental mistake. But what if it was your aquarium heater in the dead of winter? You might come back to some dead aquarium fish or invertebrates. We tell you to unplug and turn just about everything off when doing partial water changes or other maintenance tasks. Well, when you’re done, just take a quick second to make sure that you’ve plugged all of your equipment back in, you’ve turned it all to the on position, and everything is working properly!

Ever mistakenly left the power off on your aquarium? Leave a comment below!

TJ

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