Pet Fish that Don’t Need a Filter

It’s almost a cardinal rule in the fish keeping hobby to have a good filtration system running to keep the fish healthy and alive at all times. At the same time, there will always be exceptions to such rules. As hard to believe as it is, there are some fishes of fish that could thrive for long periods of time without the use of conventional aquarium filtration systems.

Before anything else, a disclaimer; Fishes, like all living things, need oxygen to survive. Furthermore, prolonged exposure to toxic ammonia, nitrates and nitrites could endanger the health and well-being of any fish. However, through years and years of evolution and adaptation, by biological and/or physiological design, some fish are able to thrive in environments some others cannot survive. Today, we will discuss fishes that could thrive without filtration systems. However, please note that we would still have to recommend keeping a good filtration to provide healthier living conditions for the fish.

Is it really possible? Well, according an article written by National Geographic, there are fish that have evolved to sustain life even outside of water. These fish, have either stayed the same or have evolved throughout the years. Either way these fishes have developed the ability to breathe from the air outside of the water and in environments other fish would not be able to.

For us to know what fish could thrive in an aquarium without a filtration system, first, we need to know what a system does. Generally, most filtration system works both mechanically and biologically. The mechanical part takes solid waste and keeps them out of the tank by trapping them in less permissive media such as polyester wool. On the other hand, the biological side converts toxic byproducts of decay to less toxic chemicals. These byproducts being ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. While ammonia and nitrite is extremely toxic to fishes, nitrate, the byproduct of the nitrogen cycle is only toxic to fish upon exposure to very high amounts in long periods of time. Lastly, the movement created through the filtration system also gives crucial oxygen in the water in order for the fish to be able to breathe.

Now what kind of fish will be able to survive tanks without filters? We have two main characteristics that would help us narrow down which fish could survive such environments. These are the following:

  1. Biological adaptation/evolution
  2. Overall hardiness

Adaptation/Evolution

Biological adaptation and/or evolution, as mentioned a while ago, gives some fishes a coping mechanism in order to survive in an environment where what a filter does is not present. These changes in the fishes’ physiology and/or biology may come in the form of them being able to breathe from the surface or their bodies being able to produce mucus to shield them from the toxicity of some chemicals.

Overall hardiness

Aside from being able to adapt well to different environments, since aquarium tanks without filtration are generally not suitable environments for fish to thrive in, fishes that we are looking for must be able to handle such stress. Hence, they should be more hardy and tolerant of such environments than other fish.

Now that we have narrowed down our search by knowing what would be the cause of not having a filter and by using our two main characteristics a fish should have, here are the survivors!

Gourami

An Anabantoid or more commonly know as labyrinth fish the many different kinds of Gouramis have evolved to be able to breathe air from the surface of the water. They do this through the help of their labyrinth organ which takes oxygen from the surface of the water to their bloodstream. Without dissolved oxygen, which is another byproduct of a filter, a fish will usually die. However, with the presence of its labyrinth organ the Gourami will be able to survive.

Also, Gouramis are known to be very hardy. They are amongst the fish that are recommended for beginners. Indeed, Gouramis have a good chance of surviving waters without filtration.

Betta

Yet another Anabamtoid or Labyrinth fish, the Betta or more famously known as the Fighting Fish, is like the Gourami because it could also breathe through taking air from the surface of the water.

What makes the Betta more suitable to aquarium without filter is how they are bred and kept. For decades, Bettas have been bred and kept in very small tanks tanks without filtration. Because of this, the Betta might have already adapted to conditions wherein the benefits of a filtration system are not present.

Lastly, as a mostly solidary fish, its lack of tolerance of fish of the same kind makes it less likely to be kept with other fish. Since it is alone, it would produce less waste than a normal small community of fish. With less fish comes less waste and a lesser need for a filtration system naturally follows.

Mudskipper

These species of gobies are one of the most unique fishes in the entire animal kingdom. They are considered as “amphibious fishes” due to their ability to thrive outside of water. As a matter of fact, mudskippers are known to spend parts of their days outside of water. They are able to do this through their skin and their mouth like most amphibians. However, they need to be moist to be able to do this.

This extreme adaptability to thrive on both land and water also gives the mudskipper extreme hardiness since they are able to tolerate such conditions. Thus, the Mudskipper is one fish that could thrive in tanks without filters.

Lungfish

If there’s one fish that we’d bet on surviving tanks without filters, it is the mighty Lungfish! Lungfish, as their name suggests, have very complex lungs that enable them to breathe air and get oxygen even when not underwater. This complex characteristic of the Lungfish enables them to survive months outside of the water.

They are also able to cover their body with mucus for protection especially in times of drought when they burrow themselves under thick mud. This mucus membrane could also serve as their food for such times of hibernation since they are able to consume them while they slow down their metabolism.

Lastly, the most important yet interesting thing about lungfish is that this characteristic have been present for thousands of years. Hence, as weird as it seems, perhaps it is the lack of evolution that enables the lungfish to survive such dire environments. They are extremely hardy since they have remained unchanged for thousands of years. Indeed, the Lungfish is the ultimate Unfiltered-SURVIVOR!

4 Aquarium Fish to Breed for Profit

Being able to breed your pet fish is a tedious yet very rewarding experience. Breeding for profit? Now, that’s entirely another conversation. To be able to successfully breed for profit, it would require skill, commitment, knowledge, technique and maybe a little bit of luck!

At first, breeding fish for profit might sound like a daunting task. However, knowing which fish to breed and how to breed them will exponentially ease the task at hand. So are you thinking of breeding your fish? Well, you’re in luck because today, we will discuss the top 4 aquarium fish a hobbyist can easily breed for profit.

Before anything else let’s set down a few characteristics a potential breeder should look for in picking a fish to breed. These characteristics will help us narrow down our selection so that we could come up with the most viable options when it comes to breeding ornamental fish.

  1. Ease of Breeding
  2. Number of Spawn and Survival Rate
  3. Frequency of Spawning
  4. Value of Fish

Ease of Breeding

Like any other animals, fishes breed differently. While almost all of them lay eggs, the process of courting mates to fertilizing eggs may differ from one fish to another. Also, when it comes to rearing their fry, there are a plethora of ways on how fish go about it. For example, some fish are mouth brooders while others make nests.

We have to greatly consider the ease of breeding because it will allow us to know which fishes would render a higher success rate when it comes to breeding. Since this is the backbone of the industry we are trying to penetrate, a fish that is easy to breed will be more favorable than another which may be complicated.

Number of Spawn and Survival Rate

The amount of fish per spawning and their survival rate is also very important when breeding for profit. Simply put, the more fish that is produced, the more income it generates.

If fish are more likely to survive from being a fry to a juvenile, then they are more likely to be sold for profit. Even if a fish is easy to breed, if it does not have a good survival rate and a good number of fries produced upon spawning, then it would not be as profitable. Hence, these fish should breed in good numbers and are have a high survivability rate.

Frequency of Spawning

The frequency of spawning is another very important aspect to consider when looking for the best fish to breed for profit. A fish that breeds frequently would produce more juvenile fishes in the same time than one that does not. This helps maximize the profit of the breeder. Furthermore, it also helps to provide the breeder with a more consistent supply of fish to sell rather than only being able to profit occasionally.

Value of Fish

Lastly, the value of the actual fish is also a very important thing to consider. A fish might be able to breed extremely well but if it does not sell for much, then it will most likely, not be able to sustain the accumulated expense of breeding them. More so, since we are breeding for profit, a fish that just covers its own expenses would obviously not be profitable. Thus, we should look for fish that have a rather high market value.

Now that we have our four main characteristics that we should look for upon selecting which are the best fishes to breed for profit, let’s check out the top 4 best fish to breed for profit:

Fancy Guppies

One of the all-time favorite fish in the hobby, guppies are very easy to take care of and will always be popular amongst fish keepers. According to Maddy Hargrove of Tropical Fish Keeping Magazine, guppies are very easy to breed. She also said that guppies breed rapidly. Guppies usually give birth to around 20-40 fish per litter. They may be kept with a ration of about 1 male to 4 females. That would amount to roughly 160 fish per liter. Couple that with a very short spawning cycle, you would have a ton of guppies per year!

Although at first, one might think that guppies are quite inexpensive fish, there is a difference between an ordinary guppy and a fancy guppy. A fancy guppy is a selectively bred guppy that display extremely beautiful coloration, pattern and fins. A Blue Moscow guppy is priced at around 40-100 dollars!

The guppy makes our list because it is very easy to breed and is very valuable! Probably the biggest bang for the buck!

Fresh Water Stingrays

In Thailand, one of the worlds biggest ornamental fish exporters, backyard fresh water stingray breeding has boomed. Hundreds of backyard breeders have successfully produced species of South American fresh water stingrays.

Although most would say that keeping stingrays are quite hard, it is actually very straight forward. Just make sure the filtration system is sufficient, the rays are well fed and that they are given ample room to swim, they will thrive.

More so, breeding stingrays are quite simple as well. They breed naturally at around 1 year and a half of age and will continue to do so for up to over 20 years. They would breed twice to four times per year while the amount of pups (small stingrays) can range from 4 to at most of 18.

What sets the stingray apart is its value. The cheapest they go fo is around 50-100 USD while the more expensive rays are known to be sold for over 20,000 USD. The value of these awesome animals, and their longevity is one of the most appealing characteristic they have for breeders. Indeed, for the monster fish keeper, breeding a fresh water stingray would be very profitable.

Platys

Yet another fish for beginners, Platys are almost always a staple in a beginner’s community aquarium. They are very colorful and very peaceful towards other fish. Breeding platys are very easy. Actually according to Robert Brand of Aquarium Tidings, Platys take care of breeding on their own.

They would readily breed in a good sized tank while breeding requirements does not usually differ from normal tanks. The only consideration one must keep in mind is to keep a ration of around 3-4 females for every male. The males usually try to breed females all the time and keeping more females around the males would render more pregnant females.

Being live bearers, Platys give birth to their fry instead of hatching them from eggs. This helps ease the survivability of the spawn since most fries are already well formed upon birth.

Although the value of the platy is not that high, the sheer amount of fish that can be produced more than makes up for their lack of market value. Also, they are always in demand since a lot beginners buy them. Indeed, the platy is one of the first options suitable for all potential fish breeders!

Fancy Betta

Bettas are one of the most captive bred ornamental fishes in the world. They are “mass-produced” in Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia. This is because it does not take much to breed Bettas. They can be bred very easily because they can thrive in very simple tank set ups. As a matter of fact, a lot of Bettas are bred in milk bottles across Asia!

Fancy Bettas are fish selectively bred overtime to display desirable coloration and finnage. Their market value is exponentially higher than what people usually see available in pet stores. However, since they are basically the same fish, their breeding patterns are the same.

Generally, males build bubble nests once they are ready to spawn. The female then releases her eggs on the nest for the male to fertilize. Once they are fertile, the male will take care of the spawn until they are free swimming. There are around 20-40 fishes per clutch.

For it’s simplicity to breed, a fancy Betta could net quite a high market value. According to Leonard Ho of AdvancedAquarist.com, the most expensive fancy Betta sold was bought for 1,500 dollars at an auction. Although that is an unusually high value for a betta, fancy bettas are often sold at around 50-100 dollars. Imagine having an armada of easily bred Bettas producing fish that sell at that amount! Ka-Ching!

LED there be light – Top 4 lights to use in your aquarium

Long gone are the days of fluorescent lamps illuminating our aquariums. Slowly but surely, LED lights are taking over the task of making things brighter, quite literally, for our fish and their tanks. Today, we will discuss the top 4 coolest LED tank lights.

Before anything else, first, let’s answer the question “Why use LED?”. According to an article by Stouch Lighting (http://www.stouchlighting.com/blog/fluorescent-vs-led-vs-cfl) LED beats Fluorescent or CFL lights in almost every category they provided. In a nutshell, LED is more energy efficient, lives longer, more durable and more affordable in the long run than almost any other light source used in the hobby.

Lighting our aquariums both enhances our pet’s colors and lets us appreciate them even more. Furthermore, a fish, may only be able to take in some nutrients from such light sources when they are kept indoors and away from direct sunlight. More often than not, especially in salt water tanks, we emulate the lighting conditions in the wild to satisfy our fish, or any other living organism’s needs.

In picking the absolute best LED for our tank, we selected 4 categories where the products must thrive in as proving grounds to be worthy to be amongst the best LED aquarium lights. The categories are as follows;

  1. Technology
  2. Durability
  3. Lighting Capacity
  4. Lifespan

Technology

When it comes to Technology, surprisingly, LED aquarium lights have gone a long way. There are a lot of products which offer numerous functions that suits various needs and quirks of fish keepers. For example, there are some that can be set to mimic sunlight as it goes from dusk to dawn while there are some with an extremely wide range of colors available and customizable.

This is an essential characteristic to find the best LED aquarium light because this sets apart those ones which simply light one’s fish tank as opposed to those that provide a wide array of settings which could cater different preferences for different people and different tank set ups.

Durability

Durability in almost any product conceivable is also of paramount importance upon its value. Nobody wants a product that does not last long. A broken product, often times, could not do a job it’s designed to do properly, or worse, could be hazardous to use. Moreover, since electronics and water don’t mix well, considering that an aquarium light is most likely to get wet a lot, it has to be durable enough to withstand such conditions as it is innate in the nature of the hobby.

Lighting Capacity

To be able to narrow down our search, a LED aquarium light’s capacity to illuminate must also be considered. If a LED light’s capacity to illuminate is low, it will not serve it’s purpose as well as ones with a higher capacity can. There are products that could illuminate a standard 50-gallon tank brighter and more efficient than others. Hence, we would only include those which could illuminate our tanks better.

Lifespan

Generally, the lifespan of a LED bulb lasts longer than almost any other light source available for our tanks, there are still difference between the types of bulb uses and their lifespan. Changing aquarium lights often due to breakage or wear and tear could be stressful to both fish and fish keepers. Thus, we will only include those which have a considerable longer lifespan than others.

The top 4:

Current USA Satellite Freshwater LED Plus Light Aquarium

With it’s sleek, lightweight and easy to install design, this LED aquarium light is one of the best to ever hit our market. It boasts of a 6,500K ultra bright illumination that is ready to light up any aquarium.

The Current USA Satellite LED Plus is also very durable as it is rated as an IP65 water resistant beast! Lastly, it’s controlled by a remote that could give your various light settings ranging from dusk, noon, dawn, rain and night mode just to name a few. It could be set to operate automatically in various customizable settings at any time of the day.

For it’s value, the Current USA Satellite Freshwater LED Plus is very tough to match as it provides top-notch function at a very affordable price.

Koval 156 Led Aquarium Light

This model is makes our list of the best LED lights available due to it’s durability and simplistic design. It is probably the most plug-and-play model available in the market today. It has 156 LED bulbs that are individually wired so that if one or more bulbs malfunctions, the others remain working.

Furthermore, the Koval 156 Led Aquarium Light also provides a full spectrum light that can make your fish and plants pop out. It is also very energy efficient as it’s equipped with technology that allows this model to emit strong light even at low power.

Lastly, when it comes to lifespan, this model takes the cake as it is designed to work for more than 50,000 hours. That’s more than 5 and a half years of continuous operation!

Finnex Planted+ 24/7

The Finnex Planted+ 24/7 is another awesome aquarium LED light because of it’s fully customizable light cycle feature. This feature allows the user to fully customize a schedule of lighting intensity and variety for 24 hours. Moreover, the you may also opt to use different groups of lights to to work together on specific times. This LED aquarium light is also designed to support both plant and animal life with over 7000K od illumination.

Probably it’s most impressive function is how the Finnex Planted+ aquarium light can operate even under water. Due to this ingenious design, it could well be one of the most durable aquarium lights available in the market today. It even has a waterproof IR remote receiver so controlling it from underwater would be possible.

AquaIllumination Prime

Don’t let it’s small yet slick design fool you. The Aquaillumination Prime sure packs a punch! Although relatively new in the market, it already won over the hearts of a lot of seasoned and popular fish keepers around the world.

This aquarium light is really small and portable and very easy to install. It may be installed on a bracket, their very own flex kit (flexible stand), or even hanged from the top of your tank. Although it’s small in size, each unit it’s extremely powerful. This is because of it’s breakthrough HD Power technology where it could transfer energy from bulbs individually selected by the keeper to others which will then illuminate the tank. Like others, it has a full spectrum of light while using the most advance LED technology available. It is also equipped with an 80-degree optic lenses that keeps the power and intensity of the LED bulbs balanced throughout the tank.

If that’s not impressive enough, the AquaIllumination Prime, may be remotely controlled on your smartphones. Yes! From your smartphone! It has almost all the features all other LED aquarium light has and are extremely customizable from the amount of power to the intensity of light produced. It may also be set to operate at different preferred settings throughout the day. All that and the comfort of just a push of a button on your smartphone. Need I say more?

Top 10 Most Unusual Aquariums

Since the 1800’s people have been keeping fish inside transparent containers whether to observe, study or just plain appreciate them. We’ve since came to have known these containers as aquariums. After centuries of innovation, creativity and everything in-between, people have come with a plethora of ideas on how to take their aquariums to the next level!

We’ve seen some amazing display tanks throughout the world and now, we’ve narrowed down our search for the Top 10 Most unusual aquariums around the world!

Fish N’ Flush

The Fish N’ Flush aquarium is one of the most unusual aquariums we’ve ever seen. It incorporates a full 2.2-gallon fish tank into a flushing system that would fit almost any traditional toilet bowl. The tank comes with a built in under gravel filtration system and pumps. You just have to bolt on this unusual fish tank to your toilet, add gravel, water and fish! It’s very easy to use and is very “out of the box”, or “out of the tank”!

Indeed, having fishes staring at you while you are busy doing your business is an unusual and weird experience all together. It would still be very easy to maintain since it will most likely be placed in your toilet room where water source and a water drain won’t be a problem. Oh and don’t worry, no fish will be flushed down the toilet using this tank!

John Marcus’ 10,000-Gallon Monster Tank

Veteran monster fish keeper John Marcus’ 10,000-gallon fish tank is one of the most impressive yet unusual fish tanks ever built by a fish keeper. Named “The House of Sam”, this monster tank houses 2 Arapaimas, one of the biggest fresh water fish in the world. They are named Sam and Samantha.

This colossal tank is 26 feet long, 12.5 feet wide and over 7 feet deep. It weighs a whopping 198,000 lbs! It carries 10,000 gallons of water! It is one of the, if not the, biggest privately owned fresh water aquarium in the United States of America.

If it’s sheer size isn’t enough to impress, it houses over 100 species of monstrous fresh water fish amounting to over 50,000 dollars. Keeping a couple of Arapaimas is indeed an unusal thing to do! Keeping them in an aquarium as large as your garage, in your own garage, is just plain insane!

Largest ADA Nature Aquarium

Sensei Takashi Amano, founder of ADA (Aqua Design Amano) Nature Aquariums is known for his unusual yet unique tank designs which focuses on aqua-scaping that depicts images of untouched nature. His beautiful aqua-scapes focuses more on design, perspective, plants and soils over fish and other animals. His makes aquariums look like masterpiece artworks or paintings of a scenes that are very serene yet dynamic.

Inside the Ocenario Lisboa in Portugal, lies the worlds largest “Nature Aquarium”. It’s 40 meters long, 2 and a half meters wide and 1 and a half meters deep containing around 160 tons of water.

What sets this tank apart aside from it’s sheer size is the amount of creativity and “zen” involved in its construction. Each rock, plant and moss are meticulously placed at specific locations to represent something. They did no

Shark Tank / Gator Tank

Featured in an episode of Animal Planet’s hit show “Tanked”, Missy and Phil’s Gator and Shark tank is one of the most unusual and unique tanks they’ve ever created. It is a 10-foot long tank which is divided in two. On one side, there are sharks, rays, skates and other large fish. On the other side, it is a well built vivarium that houses a few baby alligators.

This unique design offers the best of both worlds! Aptly called the “Predator Tank”, it showcases both apex predators from each of their respective areas in the water. Although it’s next to impossible to see these animals side by side in the wild, in captivity they made it a possibility.

The seamless design of the tank is a wonder to see. They made it seem that the sharks and gators are in the same waters. Indeed, it’s one of the most impressive tanks ever built.

Blues Angels Drum Kit Tank

Another impressive feat by ATM from Animal Planet’s Tanked show, Blues Angel Music shop’s Drum Kit Tank is yet another unusual tank created by ATM that made it to our list!

They converted an 8-piece Yamaha drum set into 8 different fully functional tanks complete with lights, filtration and fish. Another impressive feat that this tank can boast of is how the “drum-tanks” are all stocked differently. Some are stocked with fresh water fishes like goldfish and gouramis while some are stocked with salt water favorites like the Blue Tangs and Clownfish.

If that does not blow the roof off, then perhaps the fact that it is still a fully playable and functional drum set will. Being able to enjoy music and fishes at the same time? Now that’s a bang!

World’s Smallest Tank

Holding only 2 teaspoons of water, Anatoly Konenko’s miniature tank is the smallest functional fish tank in the world. How small is it? This tiny glass tank is 30mm long, 14mm wide and 24mm high. That’s just about enough to hold 10ml of water.

It is fully furnished with very small pebbles and plants. It houses 2 very tiny zebra fish (probably one of the very few fish that would fit). It even comes equipped with a miniature fish net!

Konenko considers this tank as part of his “miniature art” collection. Now that’s a proof that good things, indeed, come in small packages!

Biggest Home Reef Tank

Somewhere in Wisconsin, Bill Wann, a Lab Equipment company CEO, built the biggest privately owned reef tank in North America. The tank is 24 feet long, 10 feet wide and 10 feet deep containing 20,000-gallons of salt water.

This tank, built and designed by Bill himself. He even designed and built the life support system for the tank. He made his own reverse osmosis system to his preference. The most impressive feat is his filtration system which he says runs through PVC pipes that is over 2 miles long.

If there’s a will there’s a way, and this man sure did it his way. With a sever case of being the ultimate DIY guy, Bill Wann built one of the most unique and unusual aquariums and built his house around it!

Skateboard Ramp Tank

With the risk of sounding redundant, here’s another tank made by ATM and was later featured in Animal Planet’s episode of Tanked! This time, the took it to the extreme. Literally!

The esteemed branding mogul “La Jolla Group”, which branded skateboarding products such as O’Neill commissioned ATM to build a tank for them, you know it’s going to be extremely unusual. The guys from ATM did not disappoint though. They were able to make a skateboard ramp tank! Yes! A freakin’ skateboard ramp! And f that’s not enough, they made a fully functional skateboard ramp tank which skateboarders can actually skate.

Making a curved tank the shape of a skate ramp is hard on it’s own. However, to be able to make the tank safely skate-able is just insane. Imagine the engineering required to make sure it’s structural integrity is up to par. Indeed, this tank is RAD!

AquaDom

Located in between hotels in Berlin, Germany the “AquaDom” is the largest cylindrical aquarium in the world. It stands 25 meters tall with a diameter of 11 meters and holds over one million liters of water.

It is so huge that it has its own elevator inside which people can ride to have a different view of the aquarium. This aquarium is frequently visited by tourist and patrons of the nearby hotels.

This engineering marvel is one of the most inspiring, breathtaking, and yes, unusual aquariums in the world!

Chimelong Ocean Kingdom

When you see the world “Oceanarium” you know it’s going to be big. But it does not get any bigger than this. Literally!

Located in China, the Chimelong Ocean Kingdom or Chimelong Oceanarium, is the BIGGEST fish tank in the entire world. How big is it? Well, it houses the biggest fresh water fish in the world, the Whale Shark! It’s viewing panel alone is 39.6 meters long and 8.3 meters tall. The Chimelong Oceanarium boasts of a total of 12.87 million gallons of water!

It has set a total of 5 Guiness World Records including the largest aquarium viewing dome at 11 meters across.

If the goal of making an aquarium is putting a little bit of underwater nature in a tank, the Chimelong Oceanarium more than accomplished it. It literally placed large piece of the ocean inside an aquarium. One of the most impressive and unusual aquariums ever built!

How to pick the right heater for your fish tank

I get asked about heaters surprisingly often.

Whether you’re in a cold country or you’re living in the tropics and you just want your water temperature to be consistent at all times, a reliable heater is a must for every fish keeper. The aquarium heater, is indeed, an essential accessory that every fish keeper must have. It keeps the tank water to a preferred temperature all the time which, in turn, makes your fish happy.

Hover, with hundreds of brands available in the market, picking the best aquarium heater is not an easy task. First we will discuss these 3 main characteristics you should look for when picking the best heater for your fish tank;

  1. Safety
  2. Durability
  3. Value

Safety first!

Time and time again, we’ve heard accidents happening due to either aquarium heater breakage or aquarium heater malfunction. In an article written by The Mandarin Garden (https://www.themandaringarden.com/dangers-of-dry-aquarium-heaters.html), it was discussed how a heater which wasn’t properly handled, caused injuries to both fish and the keeper.

Hence, we should consider the safety factor an aquarium heater has before considering to purchase it. If it is a glass heater, it should be made out of glass that won’t shatter in the event that the heater suddenly changes temperature and breaks. Furthermore, it must not electrocute both fish and the fish keeper due to malfunctions. Lastly, it must be equipped with proper technology so that it does not overheat the tank and cause every inhabitant of the tank to get seriously injured, or worse, die.

Durability

With safety in mind, naturally, durability, reliability and longevity naturally follows. A tank heater that breaks easily will pose more harm than ones that does not. Furthermore, a heater that is not reliable will only likely to raise electric bills rather than tank water temperatures.

Lastly, the longevity of an aquarium heater should be taken into serious consideration. There are a lot of heaters in the market that would perform excellent in the first year and then suddenly stop working in the next. Such breakage usually proves to be a very costly mistake even for the sole reason of the value of fish dying in such events.

Thus, for the sake of both our wellbeing and our fishes, we must always consider the durability, reliability and the longevity of our aquarium heaters.

Great Value!

Generating heat is not an easy task. More so, it is not cheap. Granted that maintaining a heated tank causes the electrical bill to rise, we should also consider the value of the heater that we use.

There are so many heaters that promises to do so much for an added value but do not deliver in both durability and performance. On the other hand, there are many cheap heaters that are borderline disposable. For the sake of our search, we will consider heaters that are both durable and reasonable with regard to pricing.

Now that we have discussed the 3 main characteristics we should look for when searching for the perfect aquarium heater, here are the 4 best aquarium heaters for your tank.

Eheim Jager

When it comes to aquarium products, Eheim has consistently delivered for more than 55 years. The Eheim Jager, its line of aquarium heaters has proven to be both robust, reliable and affordable for a very long time.

It has a very easy to understand interface and a well-built thermostat which makes it very easy to use even for novice fish keeper. Its thermostat is very accurate and provides for almost exact water temperatures.

Its design is very straightforward, and reliable. It uses quartz glass that is both shatter-proof and shock-proof. As a testament to the Eheim Jager’s great engineering, it’s design have mostly remained the same for years. It has kept fishes farm and fish keepers happy.

Lastly, at around $32.00, it is more affordable than most top of the line aquarium heaters which provides more functions.

Hagen – Fluval E-Series

Like Eheim, Fluval has been in the market for quite some time. However, its line of heaters the “E Series”, have been relatively new.

What it lacks in age though, it makes up in technology. The Fluval E Sereis comes with state of the art digital thermostat and LED display. It uses a microprocessor (a small computer) to make sure that it is very accurate and safe.

When it comes to safety, it does not disappoint either. It comes standard with a heater guard to make sure you and your fish will not get burnt upon contact. It has an LED lit interface which changes color as the temperature rises. It can even indicate if the temperature is safe or not.

Lastly, at $42.00, it is a bit pricier than its competitors. I guess advances in technologies does not come free.

Hydor ETH

Established in 1984, Hydor has been one of the standard-bearers when it comes to aquarium technology. The same could be said for their line of aquarium heaters, the ETH.

The Hydor ETH is an in-line heating system which means that it is usually connected to a pump or filtration filter, such as a canister filter, which sits outside the aquarium. Being placed outside the tank, it greatly reduces the risk of breakages when doing moves in the tank or even the usual water change routines.

Hydor boasts of its PTC technology which keeps the heater within a range of “safe temperatures zones” which, in turn, keeps it from overheating. Such technology keeps fish safe from being turned into stew!

With regard to price, it is a bit more costly at $49.00, compared to its competition.

Aqueon Pro

The youngest, yet arguably the most promising, brand among the four, Aqueon claims to be engineered by actual hobbyists. It’s line of aquarium heaters, the Aqueon Pro, probably delivers just that. It uses an electrical thermostat for a more accurate temperature reading but uses very straightforward analog functionality when it comes to adjustments.

Aqueons best asset is that it is built without using any glass. It has an aluminum core which provides for even heat distribution. Such engineering provides for utmost safety compared to virtually any other heater. The Aquaon Pro is known amongst hobbyists as “Indestructible”. And it does live up to that name!

Being a no-fuss yet well-built heater, it is the most affordable amongst it’s competitors ar $29.00.

The Verdict

Now that we have discussed the top 4 aquarium heaters available in the market today, I guess it’s safe to come up with our vote.

While other brands were able to valiantly put up a fight and score points from advance technologies, for me, the Aqueon Pro, edged out its competition when it comes to aquarium heaters. Its straight-forward design is extremely simple and user friendly. Analog knobs edge out digital ones as they tend to be more durable and resistant to wear and tear. It invested a lot on a digital thermostat for accuracy and reliability and it paid off. Furthermore, not having any glass parts scored major points for the Aqueon Pro. It eliminated most of the fears a fish keeper usually associates with aquarium heaters. Lastly, it proved that quality does not always come with a price in being the most affordable in our list.

Best canister filter for your fish tank

The canister filter is one of the most reliable types of filtration systems ever created. Novice fish keepers are impressed by it and experienced fish keepers swear by it. It has been used in the hobby with great efficiency for decades and there are no signs of it ever slowing down. They come in different shapes and sizes but, when it comes to filtering your aquarium water, they always get the job done.

Canister filters work by sucking water from the aquarium with a pump from the aquarium into the “canister” or a sealed and pressurized box which contains all of the filtration media. Various medias can be used such as carbon pads, filter floss, and a variety of biological filtration. It is extremely reliable as it is a type of an external filtration that could be serviced without having to actually move things from the tank. Moreover, being an external filter, it helps unclutter tanks as the only thing physically attached to the tank are the return and input water lines.

Today we will discuss the 4 best canister filters available in the market today. However, with so much innovation and new technologies available, we will first narrow down our selection with the help of the following characteristics a canister filter must have to be considered as one of the best available:

  1. Reliable Pump
  2. Good Filtration Rating
  3. Customizable medias

Pump it!

The lifeblood of the canister filter is the pump. Its what keeps the canister filter running. No matter how impressive it may look nor how loaded are its contents, a canister filter just won’t work without a good and reliable water pump. Hence, we should initially take into consideration the type of pumps used in these canister filters to be able to properly determine which is best.

Pump it up!

Canister filters are rated differently. Some are rated for as small as 20 gallons while some may be able to filter up to 400 gallons. The most fatal mistake a hobbyist can make is to get a filtration system that is not rated for the size of his tank. More specifically, a canister filter that is rated lower than the actual size of the fish tank. We need a large enough filtration system to be able to accommodate various tank sizes to eliminated this peril in choosing a canister filter.

Medias

When it comes to aquarium filtration, it is in the media where the actual filtration process happens. Generally, they are places where solid particles are trapped and collected or provide housing for beneficial bacteria that convert toxins to less toxic by-products to propagate.

In Canister filters, the amount of media and how they can be customizable to the need of the owner matters. The more media that will fit, the more efficient the filtration is. On the other hand, if the content is customizable, the keeper may be able to tailor fit it to his own needs.

Now that we have discussed the 3 main characteristics we are looking for…

…here are the 3 best canister filters in the market:

Fluval 406 Canister Filter

The 406 canister filter is made by Fluval, one of the best known and trusted aquarium accessory brands. Its pump is able to move 383 gallons of water per hour making it able to handle tanks as big as 100 gallons.

Another feature that makes the Fluval 406 a good choice is its square shape which allows it to carry 30-50% more water and media.

When it comes to content, the Fluval 406 does not disappoint either. It comes pre-equipped with Mechanical (foam and polishing pads), Chemical (activated carbon) and Biological (Bio Mats and Biological Media). It holds up a total of 8.5 liters of media which is definitely one of the highest capacity out of our list.

Indeed, the Fluval 406 is one of the best canister filters in the market.

Eheim Professional 4+

Eheim is one of the most reliable and well known aquarium accessory manufacturers around the world. German engineering at it’s finest, Eheim pumps are known to continue working for decades after decades. With it’s high performance ceramic axle, the professional 4+’ pump is designed to be one of the most durable aquarium pumps in the market. Lastly, it is rated for 160 gallons which is the largest in our list.

It is also shaped as a box unlike other Eheim canister filters to be able to hold more media. It comes with a pre-filter media that helps trap solid particles to avoid clogging of the biological filtration and loss of effectiveness. It comes pre-packed with Eheim’s ceramic rings and other filtration media that are among the industry standard for aquarium filtration. Thus, the Eheim Professional 4+ is one bad ass filtration system deserving of our recognition.

Hydor Professional 600 External Filter

Another reputable brand, Hydor is known for it’s breakthrough takes on staple products. It gave the same treatment to the Hydor Professional 600 External Filter. It has a very reliable and durable pump that can move 290 gallons of water per hour and is rated for up to 150 gallons of aquarium water.

What’s most impressive about the Hydor Professional 600 is how large it’s media capacity is. It has the largest media capacity at 12.2 liters. With that much room for media, any hobbyist may opt to add a little bit more to what is pre-equipped with this canister filter. It comes with 5 stackable trays with standard mechanical filtration media on the first and last tray and 3 large trays dedicated to biological media.

With it’s huge unparalleled media capacity, the Hydor Professional 600 makes our list as one of the best canister filters available in the market today.

Easiest Fishes to Keep – The best ones for beginners

The degrees of difficulty when it comes to caring for aquarium fish species spans from extremely straightforward and simple to very complicated and meticulous. For example, there are some fish that are almost maintenance-free such as bettas, while there are some species, like fresh water stingrays, that cannot tolerate discrepancies and fluctuations with the water parameters.

Today, we will tackle the 4 easiest fish to keep. However, before we go through the different species of fish, we must first consider what makes a fish easy to keep. Here, we listed down 4 different characteristics we should consider before deciding if they are, indeed, easy to keep.

  1. Hardiness
  2. Temperament
  3. Diet
  4. Size

A hardy fish would be easier to keep than others because they are able to tolerate different water parameters. They can cope well with fluctuations on the water quality and chemistry. For example, strictly brackish water fish are out of the equation since the keeper should always consider the amount of salinity in the tank for the to thrive.

However, this is not the only thing we should consider in coming up with the easiest fishes to keep. A fish may be very hardy, but some require special attention when it comes to other aspects of the hobby. For example, Gars are extremely hardy but they need large aquariums and a carnivorous diet to thrive. Maintaining a 300-gallon aquarium is not as easy as maintaining your usual 25-gallon tank.

We should also consider the temperament or their aggression towards other fish. Simply put, a fish constantly terrorizing its tank mates does not make things easier for any fish keeper. Thus, we should keep in mind that, for a fish to be easily kept, it must play well with others and are peaceful towards other fish.

Diet is also a big consideration when it comes to ease of care. There are fish that are strictly herbivores, carnivores or even insectivores. Such special considerations will not make life easier for any fish keeper because sourcing and storing those kinds of meals for their fish tends to be more tedious than feeding them with commercially available fish pellets or flakes.

Lastly, the maximum size of an adult fish must always be considered. It must be small enough to be able to fit comfortably in most commercially available aquariums. A big fish will obviously need a big tank, which would not make things easier for any fish keeper.

So now that we have an idea on which characteristics we are looking for, we can sift through hundreds and thousands of different fish species until we are able to narrow down our search to the 4 easiest fish to keep:

ZEBRA DANIO/ ZEBRA FISH (Danio rerio)

The Zebra Danio or Zebra Fish, is a very hardy fish from Central Asia that can thrive very well in various environments. According to Fish Keeping Advice, due to years and years of being bred in captivity, the Zebra Danio can now adapt to almost every fresh water aquarium set-up. Furthermore, what sets this fish apart, is how well they can thrive in a wide variety of temperatures. They are one of the very few species of fish that can easily adjust between temperate to tropical waters.

They are very social and would generally prefer to school in groups of 5 or more. They are never known to bother other tank mates even when breeding.

These fish are also never fussy when it comes to feeding. They would eat anything that they can fit in their little mouths.

Lastly, they are extremely small, only growing to a maximum of 2”, which means a small group of danios could even fit the smallest commercially sold aquariums.

Over the years, the Zebra Danio have solidified their reputation as one of the easiest fishes to take care of. Thanks to their small size, no fuss diet, and their ability to easily adapt to various environments, the Zebra Danio makes our list as one of the easiest fishes to take care of.

SWORDTAIL (Xiphophorous hellerii)

Swordtails are definitely one of the easiest species of fish to take care of. According to an article by The Aquarium Guide, Swordtails are extremely hardy because, in the wild, they can tolerate diverse environments.

When it comes to their temperament, they are one of the most social fishes out there. They are never aggressive and like the company of other fish.

Being naturally omnivores, Swordtails also readily accept commercially available fish food such as fish flakes and small fish pellets. They would also accept other food such as insect larvae, bloodworms, and even algae.

Swordtails are also a small species. Their common length is only 1.1” and could potentially grow to a maximum length of around 5 inches. Even if 5” seems to be “too big” for our purpose, we should also take into consideration that the length of their “sword” part of the tail, which is around the same as the length of their bodies are included in that computation. Thus, the actual size of the fish is still small enough to fit most commercially available aquariums.

Like a dash of cayenne pepper, the Swordtail is sure to add a little spice to any aquarium. They are small, hardy, social and are not hard to feed. Caring for swordtails is virtually as straightforward as it gets. Hence, the swordtail is one of the easiest fishes to take care of.

PLATY (Xiphophorus maculatus)

Like their cousin, the Swordtail, Platies are amongst the easiest fishes to take care of. They are just as hardy as Swordtails and, as a bonus, they come in almost every color and pattern imaginable. Some even have Mickey Mouse markings on their tails!

Platies are very good tank mates as well. They tolerate other fish very well and won’t mind sharing the tank with them.

When it comes to their diet, they are generally omnivorous. They would readily eat commercially available fish flakes and pellets. However, when choosing the proper food for them, always keep in mind that they would prefer products with algae content to keep their herbivorous sides happy.

Male Platies usually grow to no more than 1.5” while females reach 2.5” upon adulthood. A good number of these fish will fit comfortably in most aquariums commercially produced.

What sets the Platy apart from other fish which are also easy to take care of is the amount of variety they have. Imagine a fish catering to your wants and needs even in terms of looks and colors. Now that’s making life easy!

DWARF GOURAMI (Trichogaster lalius)

With a bright shade of red sunset orange, and iridescent blue, the Dwarf Gourami is certainly one of the most beautiful species of fish you will ever see. What makes this fish even more appealing is how hardy they are. Being labyrinth fishes, they are able to survive even in oxygen depleted waters, since they are able to breath directly from the surface. This also means that the lack of dissolved oxygen in the water, which usually causes death to most fish, will not bother them at all.

The Dwarf Gourami is often described as a very shy species of fish. Like most species of Gourami, they are very docile towards their tank mates and would not torment them.

They are food guzzlers as well. They would take either algae-based or meat/fish-based processed food in a heartbeat. Their eating habits makes feeding them a breeze.

The Dwarf Gourami only grows up to 2” in length. Being the perennial “dwarves” of their family, makes them suitable tank mates to fish of the same size. They would fit in very well in small aquariums and could live the rest of their lives there comfortably.

Being beautiful, hardy, docile and small, the Dwarf Gourami is one of the most appealing fish to take care of. Both novice and experienced fish keepers will have fun in keeping this no-fuss fish in their tanks.

Top 3 Automatic Fish Feeders

At one point in time, you will go on vacation and will have no choice but to leave your fish unattended. Fish, like us, get hungry too. They are animals. They need food. So do they just die of hunger? Well, maybe I exaggerated there a little bit, but then again, these circumstances are almost, always, a cause of concern for every fish keeper.

So what do you do? Well, advancements in fish keeping technology got you covered. Automated Fish Feeders actually exist!

Now before we dive in this relatively new technology, let’s first discuss how it works. For the purpose of this discussion, we will go through the following topics to help u understand how the Automatic Fish Feeder works;

What does it do?
How does it work?
How do I operate it?
Advantages
Disadvantages
Examples of automatic fish feeder products

What does it do?

In a nutshell, automatic fish feeders are devices a fish keeper can install on their existing tank set-ups so that they could feed the fish with very little human intervention. These contraptions help ease the task of manually feeding fish every day. It is designed to save both time and effort when it comes to feeding your fish.

How does it work?

Automatic fish feeders are mostly battery operated machines that lets you load various chambers certain amount of food that will be given later to your fish. These chambers are then set to be released inside the tank depending on the preferred time set by the fish keeper. When using these machines, the fish keeper must always be conscious of the time when all the food is depleted.

How to operate

These machines are relatively straightforward to operate. First, the automatic fish feeder should be installed on the tank. Take not that some may require specific placements to work properly. Afterwards, each chamber should be loaded with the desired amount of food the fish keeper wants to feed to his/her fish every meal. Once all chambers are loaded, the time when food is to be released to the tank is set by the fish keeper. These are the usual times when the fish inside the tank are fed.
The battery life should be checked periodically to avoid loss of power. More importantly, the machine should be checked regularly as well to see if it is working properly to avoid prolonged future accidents.

Advantages

The main advantage the automatic fish feeder gives you is that you do not have to spend time daily to feed your fish as it already does that for you. You will only have to check on it on days where the food chambers are set to run out. The ease the when feeding the automatic fish feeder provides is, indeed, yet to be matched thus far.

Furthermore, it helps you be more consistent when feeding. In both amount of food fed to the feeding schedule, this machine greatly improves the consistency. Since the food is prepared on an earlier date, the amount placed on each feeding chamber is more likely to be consistent than, say for example, getting from food containers by hand.

Disadvantages

Like every aquarium related products, it comes with some disadvantages. The first glaring disadvantage is that, in the event of a breakage in the machine like when the battery runs out, the fish will not be fed or worse, become overfed due to mechanical malfunction. Like the old saying goes, “a fish is better off starving than being overfed” as it might lead to ammonia spikes and the like causing major complications.

Secondly, over-reliance to this machine might cause too much complacency on the part of the fish keeper. In turn, this might cause him to completely neglect periodically checking the machine and the parameters of the tank altogether. One must remember that even though such machines are designed to make life easier for the fish keeper, they still need to be checked religiously periodically to ensure that they are working properly.

Examples

Hydor Automatic Feeder

When it comes to build and design, the Hydor Automatic Fish Feeder is one of the best built of it’s kind. It may be set to 1 to 3 times feeding per day at specific times. It boasts of a battery life of over 9 months. At around $40.00, it is one of the more affordable models out in the market. However, some concerns may arise as installation may require specific positioning. Lastly, it does not have one of the biggest food chambers compared to its competitors.

Rusee Daily Automatic Fish Feeder

The Rusee Daily Automatic fish feeder is probably your best bet if you keep fish with complex eating habits. This battery operated machine can be set to feed your fish up to 6 times per day. This is one of the highest ratio in terms of times per day it may be set to feed. At around the same price range as the Hydor Automatic Feeder, it is affordable as well. Lastly, it can accommodate a wide variety of processed fish food like flakes and pellets.

Eheim Everyday Fish Feeder

Probably the best automatic fish feeders in the market, the Eheim Everyday Fish Feeder is engineered to perfection. It can dispense food to up to 8 times per day. It is well built to keep moisture out of the entire system as well.

The Eheim Everyday Fish Feeder also comes with a universal mounting clamp that can fit virtually any aquarium. It also has a manual “dump” feature that lets you manually release food stored for your fish. Lastly, and probably it’s best feature, is it’s battery life indicator which informs the you when its time to change batteries to avoid the unwanted event of it losing power.

8 Easy Steps to Start a Healthy Reef Tank

Starting a reef tank usually scares a lot of people. Sometimes, people think it’s easy to find “Nemo” but it’s hard to take a little piece of the ocean home for him to swim in. While setting up reef tanks could be quite meticulous at times, it could be made a lot easier if you know what to look for and what to do. Need help? Then here it is, the 8 easy steps to start a healthy reef tank!

1. Research

Research! Research! Research! People say that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. In any hobby, starting out by researching the ins and outs before starting out is, indeed, a wonderful first step.

Since this is the first, and probably the most important step, it’s extremely crucial to know that before you dive in the colorful and world of reef keeping, you must first gather all of the knowledge you could gather before starting out. In this step, you should be able to have at least a general idea about the reef keeping hobby. Specifically speaking, you must be able to have an idea which fishes and corals to keep, how big of a tank, the nitrogen cycle, basic filtration and what not.

This step may be accomplished by reading books, magazines, online articles and joining various social groups over the internet to be able to intercept as much knowledge and ideas as you can. Just remember that there will always be room for new things to learn and a little help. Also, by reading this article, it’s safe to assume that, at the very least, you’ve taken your first step! In other words, in any battle, preparation is always the key!

Lastly, take note that you will be constantly coming back to this step countless times in the entire process of reef keeping.

2. Picking your Aquarium

Now that you’ve done your homework on the general principles of reef keeping, it’s time to pick your aquarium. For starters, I would recommend something not bigger than 50 gallons. Although some would argue that bigger is always better, such is not always the case. The bigger the tank, the higher the overhead expense and the more maintenance it would entail and such tasks could be daunting to someone who’s just getting their foot in reef keeping.

In picking your aquarium, make sure the size suits the fish and corals you are planning to keep. Furthermore, you have to make sure that it fits perfectly to the area of the house you would want to place it.

The dimensions of the tank matter as well. Some corals and fish dwell on different levels of the water with preference to varying amount of water movement. Having different levels to a tank through making the total height a bit higher would help achieve this but it would also make siphoning dirt from the bottom a bit harder. You should keep all of these into consideration and let them factor in upon deciding which tank to get.

Ultimately, the size and orientation of the tank will limit which species you could keep. Other than deciding which fish fits a tank, I would suggest that you work the other way around and have an idea which species you would like to keep then tailor fit a tank that would best suit them. Another good choice are tanks with built-in filtration systems or “All in One” (AIO) tanks.

3. Filtration System

One of the most integral part of the fish keeping hobby is a proper and efficient filtration system. For this part, although some external filters could help, the most common filtration system we prefer is the SUMP filter. This allows countless modifications and enough space for different types of filtration media. You could even assign a chamber for your protein skimmer so that it would not be placed anywhere within the tank itself.

In setting up a filtration system, make sure it moves at least 300% of the total aquarium water volume per hour. If you have a 50-gallon tank, the filtration system should be able to accommodate 150 gallons per hour. What this means is that the tank’s entire water volume can circulate and pass through the filtration system at least 3 times ever hour. This helps the filtration media treat any impurities on your water which in turn makes it efficient in what it does.

4. Accessories

While there will be essential accessories for every reef tank, in this section we will cover everything that you may or may not need. We will be dividing this section into a few sub-section so that you will find it easier to learn about each product. It would be very helpful if you could source these products first before setting up your tank. Having these products at hand upon set-up could make the process infinitely easier.

a) Aquarium Light

In reef keeping, lighting is very essential. There is a specific spectrum of light that helps fish and corals grow and display their vivid colorations. In picking the proper lighting equipment, make sure to take the depth of the tank in consideration as not all lighting products penetrate water the same way. Furthermore, different species of both fish and corals may need different lighting needs.

b) Wave Maker

Just like lighting, fish and corals prefer different water movement patterns. The wave maker, as it’s name suggests, mimics the movement of water, or waves, in your aquarium. There are fish and corals that prefer strong currents while there are some that prefer more to none. The placement of this accessory is also essential. You could place the wave maker near the species that prefer high current and place the others that doesn’t on parts where it does not flow directly.

c) Protein Skimmer

Also a staple, in not just reef tanks, but salt water tanks in general, protein skimmers remove impurities such as protein deposits from the surface of the water. Although there are protein skimmers that may be hanged from the tank, a better option is one that fits right in your SUMP or other filtration system. Having a protein skimmer right on a display tank may be unsightly at times, so it’s better to have it hidden somewhere near the filtration system. Lastly, make sure that the protein skimmer is rated for the size of your tank and the amount of live animals you would be keeping.

d) Water Test Kit

Testing your water often helps assure you that your water parameters are conducive to life. Reef animals are sometimes very picky with water parameters. Having a water test kit on hand will help you monitor the levels of important chemicals in your tank.

This would be very essential down the road when you are cycling your tank. It would help you gauge if your tank is ready for its residents!

e) Refractometer

Another essential tool in salt water fish keeping, the refractometer is a tool that measures the salinity, or amount of salt, in the water. Having a refractometer is very handy because some reef animals will not tolerate discrepancies in salinity levels. Whether you are mixing your own salt water or buying pre-mixed solutions, it’s always good to check if the salinity is within the range of what your animals would like.

f) Glass Cleaner

Due to intense lighting needs of reef animals, algae buildup is hard to control in salt water tanks. Having a glass cleaner cleanly tucked by your tank is a sure way to help you keep your glass clean and enjoy your wonderful piece of the sea,

g) Fish Net

The fish net is one of the most often used tool in any aquarium. Whether it’s moving fish or removing unwanted things from the tank, you will surely use your fish net frequently.

h) Water Siphon

Having a water siphon ready is always helpful for any reef keeper. This helps you suck water out of the tank especially during water changes. Regular water hoses work but an aquarium water siphon helps reduce the risk of spills, accidentally vacuuming sand and of course, drinking aquarium water!

i) Heater/Chiller

Lastly, depending where your are around the world and the types of animal you would want to keep, having a heater or chiller on hand is essential to your success as a reef keeper. Animals are very temperature sensitive and you have to provide them with the optimal living conditions for them to thrive.

5. Live Rocks/Sand

Although it is a possibility to opt for non-live rocks and/or substrates, having live rock and sand helps the reef a lot. First and foremost, having “live” rocks and sand helps the cycling (to be discussed in detail later) process to be faster allowing you to add fish and coral easier and safer. Furthermore, adding live rocks and sands, will introduce good bacteria and other chemicals to the water that would help make living conditions more suitable for reef animals.

However, in sourcing your live rocks and/or sand, you must always keep in mind, that the live rock and/or sand you are getting must be free of unwanted parasites and chemicals that could be harmful to our pets and our aquatic system in general. Hence, make sure your get them only from reputable retailers.

6. Water

What’s a fish without water? Water is just as crucial as the fish themselves. Now in keeping a reef tank, water need is not as simple. We need salt water. To be specific, we need water that matches the salinity needs of the animals we want to keep.

There are two ways to achieve this, one is buying a “salt mix” or a powdered product we mix with water to get “sea water” while the other is by buying pre-mixed salt water. Both ways are effective and have their very own pro’s and cons.

Mixing your own salt water helps you be more hands on and specific on your salinity. However, it will be hard to correct and if you make mistakes in the mixing process and make your salinity too high.

On the other hand, buying pre-mixed solution, provided they match the salinity that of what you want. If there are discrepancies with the salinity of the pre-mixed solution and the need of the animals, it might not be able to provide the right conditions for your pets to thrive in.

Either way, if done right, should be good for you and your pets. Again, I will reiterate the importance of your refractometer so that you could always check if the salinity levels are right.

7. Cycling your Tank

Now that the tank is ready, there is water and the filtration system is running, you are thinking that the only thing left to do is to add fish right? Wait just a little more! In this step, patience is the difference between success and failure.

Now what Is Water Cycling? Without going in too much details, Water Cycling is basically waiting for your entire aquarium system to mature so that it can support animal life. Ammonia, and Nitrite are byproducts of any organic waste and they are extremely deadly to both corals and fish. However, there are beneficial bacterias that converts the said byproducts to the less toxic Nitrate.

When we say “Cycling” and/or “Aquarium Maturity”, what this means is that we are able to have a good enough supply the said beneficial bacteria within primarily the biological medias of our filtration system to be able to convert such byproducts from the organic waste our fish will produce. In other words, prior to putting in fish, we need to “seed” our filters with a lot of beneficial bacteria. This could be done through either 2 ways. First is the natural cycling method, that could last for weeks or months, where we let nature run it’s course and let beneficial bacteria naturally propagate within our system. Secondly, we could seed our filtration system with products that contain live beneficial bacteria. These are ready made solutions that you just have to add to your water. This helps the cycling process go faster.

In this process, the end result must be zero Ammonia and Nitrite and below 40ppm Nitrate. Such readings is known as “pristine water parameters” to achieve this, the tank must first be fully cycled. To be able to monitor this properly, having a water parameter test kit would be very handy.

8. Fish and Corals

Now that all is in place, running smoothly and fully cycled, the most exciting and fulfilling part starts! It’s time to add fish and corals! After carefully selecting fish, corals and other animals that could co-exist that fits perfectly within your system, sourcing them and adding them to your tank should be a breeze.

Just make sure you properly acclimate and quarantine them (if not sure about the source) before setting them free in your tanks. You would want to make sure they slowly adjust to the temperature and parameters inside your tank to avoid any problems upon release.

Now just have your high quality food ready for feeding times, your siphon for scheduled water changes and your commitment to routine to fully enjoy the wonderful and colorful world of reef tank keeping!

What’s the best fish tank for toddlers?

“Mommy, Daddy, I want a pet fish!”

It may come after a visit from the zoo or a local aquarium, or maybe even after seeing movies like Free Willy or Finding Nemo, but at one point in time, kids will ask their parents for a pet fish. Pets and kids go hand-in-hand like fish and water. Often times, parents deny their kids’ requests outright and tell them that it’s too much work to maintain a fish tank. But what if it’s your kid who looks at you with those puppy eyes practically begging for his own “Nemo”? Fear not because today, we will discuss the best fish tank suitable for toddlers.

Before anything else, let’s set down some premises on things you should consider before buying your kid their first fish tank:

  1. Safety – It must be safe for toddlers.
  2. Durability – It must not break easily.
  3. Size – It must be easy to move around.
  4. Maintenance – It must be easy to service.

Safety First!

When it comes to your children, their safety is always our top priority. According to an article written by Lilly Fowler for NBC news, furniture-caused injuries to children have had a steady increase over the years; among the furniture mentioned in the said article are fish tanks. We don’t have to imagine how perilous a 20-gallon glass tank would be falling over or even near a child, don’t we?

With safety as your first and foremost consideration, definitely, glass tanks or fish bowls are automatically out of the conversation. Glass is relatively heavy and breaks easily upon impact; and toddlers, being naturally curious and clumsy as they are, just don’t mix well with glass. Shards of broken glass have no place near your children.

What’s our alternative? Acrylic or plastic tanks. Acrylic and plastic fish tanks, if made properly, hold water just as well, if not even better, than glass. More so, they don’t break as easily. Since, glass is generally harder than acrylic or plastic, in the unlikely event of a breakage, the tank won’t end up in hundreds of razor sharp shards which pose a significant danger to your children.

Built Tough

Again, considering the amount of energy a regular toddler has, your toddler’s fish tank should be durable to avoid breakage. Glass tanks are made from glass panels sealed by silicone to hold water. Over time, silicone is known to shrink and become less elastic which greatly impairs its integrity to hold both the glass and water.

It’s a good thing we have both acrylic and plastic tanks. Acrylic and plastic are built tougher than your usual glass tanks or fish bowls. Acrylic tanks are made by bonding acrylic panels together using a “glue” that bonds the acrylic sheets at the molecular level. On the other hand, plastic is usually formed or molded in the shape of the tank itself. With that said, there are virtually no actual seams that are being held together by anything. Such process greatly increases the structural integrity of these types of tanks as opposed to glass, which, in turn, makes them extremely durable.

Size, does matter

When it comes to fish tanks, the usual saying is “the bigger, the better”; however, such saying is not always true. In an article posted by PetHelpful.com, they cited that among the best starter-fish for kids are, guppies, betas, mollies, and platies; all of which grow to no more than 2 inches in length. Hence, we would not be needing a tank bigger than 5 gallons.

Furthermore, a tank as big as 5-gallons, filled with water, would weigh a little over 40 lbs. If you think that’s too heavy, a 2.5-gallon tank, which weighs a little over 20 lbs., should be okay as well. I would not recommend a tank too small for toddlers because smaller tanks could be easily moved around by our little rug rats resulting to a big watery mess or worse, an accident.

We should also consider how easily an adult can move around the tank because children, as fickle minded as they come, would probably ask you to move their tank from one place to another. 40lbs would be just a few pounds lighter than your international luggage allowance and wouldn’t be much of a hassle to move around.

Just add water

Any experienced aquarist would always advise beginners that part of the fish keeping hobby is taking good care of your water. This would usually cause the expenses to pile up. Filters, aerators, and other accessories are tank essentials someone new to fish keeping does not always consider upon planning to buy their first fish tank. Moreover, a kid would not have an easy time setting up such accessories as some tend to be too complicated to assemble even for adults.

Fear not, it’s 2018 and “All in One” tanks (AIO for short), fish tanks with built in filtration systems, aerators and even led lights, are already easily available in the market. AIO tanks are getting increasingly user friendly thanks to newly developed technologies. Some are even designed to help you change the water inside the tank with minimal effort to avoid water spills around the house! These types of tanks usually also have built in filtration systems which are able to handle waste byproducts of small fish recommended for kids. Thus, we can make sure the fish stays healthy while our kids enjoy hours and hours with them.

The verdict:

With all the aforementioned things being considered, you’re well on your way to getting your kid his or her first fish tank. You are now able to narrow down your choices for your toddler’s new fish tank. You are now sure how they will stay safe while having fun in keeping a pet fish. As a parent, you now have an idea on what to expect and how to react while having an easier time in catering to its needs and your kid’s wants.

The next time your kid asks you to buy him or her a pet fish, you’d be able to confidently say “Yes!”. You can now head to your local fish store, or even browse online to find a 2.5 to 5 gallon acrylic or plastic AIO tank with a built in filtration system and have your kid enjoy the hobby of fish keeping!

Oh, and don’t forget to add the fish of course!