Aquagarden Barracuda Pond Pump

The Aquagarden Barracuda is a filtration type pump. It is great for fish pond filters, especially in dirty water. The cage at the front doesn't have any sponge, so all the particles that are big enough to fit will go through and not get caught up or damage the pump. Because pond pumps sit at the bottom of the pond they get exposed to all sorts of debris, anything from insects to branches and leaves, and this setup – the big wide grill without a sponge – will require less maintenance overall, because it is easier for these materials to simply go through. It can, in fact, handle particles of up to 6 mm in size. This pump can be both submerged and run in line outside of the pond. These characteristics make it ideal for use in polluted water – if you are not experienced and/or had bad contractors and your pond ended up being quite a mess, this pump can help bring it back to life, giving you another chance to create a truly beautiful pond.

The Baracuda uses non-corosive ceramic bearings that ensure a flawless operation over a longer period of time, and has a high quality Vortex impeller. There is a threaded inlet and a threaded outlet on top of which sits another component that adds a lot to the overall efficiency, a ball joint for adjusting the outlet of the hose to various positions without getting a 90o turn that would slow down the flow of water. The next part are the hose tails, they are made to fit different sized hoses and are easily attached to the ball joint. The way they work is quite simple, there are several widths, starting from the narrowest and cascading to the widest – looking sort of like a wedding cake – and if you have a hose that is a little wider, you can simply take a saw and hack off the narrower parts, leaving you with the perfect size hole. All of these components (the cage, ball joint and hose tails) can be removed by unscrewing a screw, making disassembly and maintenance an incredibly easy task to perform. Four screws at the back hold the impeller cover, so from time to time in addition to scrubbing of the cage and cleaning out the tubes, you can take the cover off and give it a more thorough cleaning, although this is not something you will need to do often. The impeller behind this cover is an open type impeller, which means that it doesn't have sharp edged blades and is able to pass larger pieces of debris without them clinging to it – so additional clean up will rarely be needed, but it is easy to do should the need arise.

Regular maintenance is essential for any machine to keep functioning properly, so you should make a mental note to clean up your pond pump from time to time. For the first few days the pump will be working at optimal levels and you will be able to get a feel of how everything looks when it’s running at 100%, so after a few weeks or a month if you look at your pond and you get the feeling that it’s getting dirtier, you will know it’s time to do some cleaning.

The Baracuda pond pump is also equipped with a thermal safety overload switch. You see, what usually happens if you haven’t been cleaning your pump regularly is it gets clogged up, the water flow will slow down, the pump will start heating up, and at a certain point it will burn out. This means you now have to replace your pump. With the Baracuda once the temperature gets too high it will automatically shut down to protect itself, just like a computer that is overheating. The models range from 3600 lph to 25000 lph, so the time it would take an unattended pump to heat up and shut down will vary depending on the model.

The sight of a dirty pond can leave a bad impression of you to your neighbors and visitors – you wouldn't want your colleagues to think you are some kind of swamp monster when you invite them over for a dinner. That is why you need a good, sturdy pond pump that will get the job done and require as little maintenance as possible no matter how dirty the water, and the Barracuda has got your back on this one.

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Red Sea Max Marine Aquarium - Perfect Simplicity

There are quite a lot of people out there who are more than willing to pay for all the bells and whistles and get themselves a very good quality marine aquarium, but even then they are faced with a big problem: it takes a lot of work just to set up a tank and maintaining it properly can be a nightmare. It is sort of one of those old video games where you can’t save your progress, one little mistake and it’s game over, you have to start all over again. At least with video games you only pay for the game once and you just lose some time and your nerves, but with marine aquariums you have to buy new fish every time. There is in fact an easier way for beginners and the busy, hard workers amongst us hobbyists and that is a tank that is set up and ready to use straight out of the box, just add salt water and live rock, wait a while and you are ready to go. You don’t have to be particularly handy with tools and good at assembling things and hooking up electronics, almost all of the work is already done for you with the Red Sea Max aquarium.

This marine aquarium is glass with rounded edges and has a volume of 130 liters, more than enough for a stunning display that will fit perfectly in any room of the house, provided you find a solid base to support the substantial weight. The hood has three separate access panels:

Filter panel – located in the back and allows easy access to the protein skimmer.

Front panel – full width panel, opening one third of the total length of aquarium and folds back revealing a working surface that can hold all the different accessories for feeding and monitoring.

Full access panel – raises the entire hood, securing it at an angle which gives the user full access and full visibility of the entire tank when aquascaping and during regular maintenance

When the Red Sea Max is turned on, the water in the aquarium circulates 10 times an hour. All of the equipment, that you would usually need to install and arrange in some sort of compartment below the tank itself, is housed behind a smoked glass divide that keeps it’s mechanical components hidden from sight so as not to detriment the overall aesthetics of the corral and fish on display. The components that are integrated into the system include:

Reef lighting – dual 55 watt T5 power compact lights and moon glow LED nightlights with a built-in 24 hour programmable lighting timer, located in the hood

Removable inlet filter comb – with adjustable shutter, used for surface skimming
Two-stage mechanical filter

Professional high capacity protein skimmer – with a 1200 liters per hour pump and heater with a thermostat

Biological and chemical filtration compartment – fully equipped

Twin circulation pumps – with adjustable dual outlet jets for optimizing water currents

Water chiller – optional

All of the above components are connected to a built-in power center that is splash proof, allowing only a single cord to portrude from the tank and making it very easy to hook up to a power outlet. There is an external control panel, accessed by opening the small door on the side of the tank, and it contains buttons that allow each separate component to be turned on or off. The door has nice little white symbols of the various components that are affected by the corresponding buttons, thus allowing even a small child to efficiently manipulate the marine aquarium. The Max also comes with a detailed guide on reef keeping and for just a little bit extra money you can get the Max starter kit which contains all the necessary feeding and monitoring accessories you will need.

Those of us who don’t have too much time to spend on our hobbies and want the precious few hours we have to ourselves to be fun and relaxing, not boring and tedious, where it feels like it’s just more work. The best thing about the Red Sea Max aquarium is that we don’t have to worry about buying and setting up all of the equipment, so all of our free time can be spent doing what we love – finding the best fish and reef-scaping. All in all it is a brilliant product that will save you a lot of time and energy, and that even the uninitiated can be trusted with in your absence.

If you want to find out more about other types of aquariums, check out our fish tanks selection.

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Outdoor Water Features - Great Way To Cope With Stress

Today, in this hard economic climate, work is stressful enough to create health conditions that would entail much healthcare cost. Hence, a good solution would be engaging oneself in relaxing hobbies like caring for pets like fishes, having a backyard pond or even an aquarium.

Perhaps you have noticed that Asians are fond of water elements in their home or office setting. Many Japanese homeowners maintain a beautiful Koi pond in their backyard because they find it relaxing to watch bright colored Kois. It can be a truly relaxing experience enough to relieve you from daily stress.



Another great way to cope with stress is pursuing aquascape as a hobby. The water is an important element and Feng Shui is a term that translates to “wind water” and defines the Asian practice of harnessing the energy (“chi”) of a location for maximum prosperity. Using the ancient secrets of Feng Shui to balance your home can help alleviate stress, remove obstacles and invite harmony.

Can you really imagine such a balance in the environment, today?

Just gazing at a refreshing waterscape such as mini waterfall can refresh you from a hard day at the office. You may even find yourself listening to the gentle gurgling of water that drips from rocks. Even gazing at the fluid movements of fish in the water can make you fall asleep.

If you are looking for a water feature that will make your garden pond look both sophisticated and very beautiful, if you want to make all those neighbors jealous, if you are a successful man or woman who has exquisite taste and wants to show it, then, call off the search because the Oase Pond Jet is most certainly the thing you have been seeking. This is a stationary floating fountain unit. It will fit like a glove and improve the overall look of your garden wherever you put it, and if you have any problems with dirty surfaces or ponds that you cannot remove the time has come to stop worrying about it. Just install the magnificent Oase Pond Jet on these surfaces, put an easy chair at a desirable distance from it, sit down, relax, and enjoy the show.

Let’s now go into the details and specifications of this remarkable product.

• The Oase Pond Jet has a 12000 liters per hour pump. The maximum height that the spray of water can reach is 3.5 meters in height and 3 meters in weight. If you think about it, this is extremely high. The demotions of the product are 670mm x 540mm. The maximum head of the water is 7.7 meters. It weighs 9kg, and the voltage used is 230V/50Hz. The place where you should connect the water hose is an inch wide in diameter. With it you get a 20 meter cable. Now, these are all just numbers, but, if you compare these numbers to the specifications of another product like this, you will eventually find out that the Oase Pond Jet is better than most (if not the best) of its competition.
• This product comes completely ready for installation. This means that you don’t have to worry about the whole process of combining parts and components in order to get it working. The best place to put it is a natural pond or some kind of lake, or even at places where the depth of the water is too big.
• The process of installing the Oase Pond Jet is rather easy, with just a small amount of money spent for necessary cost. Of course, a simple and easily comprehensible guide is supplied within the package. Having said this, it is natural to conclude, that you don’t have to have a permanent spot for it. If you are dissatisfied with the place you put it after some time, simply install it somewhere else. You can also use it just for special occasions like fancy dress parties, weddings, birthdays, any kinds of performances, and so on. It will definitely make you feel good about yourself when all of your guests start complementing you and your magnificent garden.
• The Oase Jet Pond Illumination Set is sold separately, but it is strongly recommended that you consider acquiring this as well. With it you get loads of fascinating light effects at night. When this add-on is installed I can guarantee that you will be spending more and more time in the garden, just sitting and enjoying the very beautiful display in front of you. You will find that friends and family are stopping by your house more frequently, just to drink a cup of coffee in the garden, but we all know that, besides a healthy conversation with you, they came to relax near the water and enjoy the futuristic light and water effects.
• The minimum water level required for the Oase Pond Jet is 1 meter if the water is clear, and 1.5 meters if the water is rather muddy. The illumination functions like this. You have three 50 watt halogen spotlights marked Oase – Laguna 10, and they are connected to UST 150 transformer which are located under water. As a result you get fantastic illumination of the patterns that the spray of water makes.
• Within the complete package you get the pump, the float, the nozzle, the dual function nozzle which gives you the opportunity to connect even more nozzles. The lights are sold separately, as mentioned before, but for your pleasure it is highly recommendable that you complete the set by purchasing them too.

In order to show how this product looks like when it is installed properly here are some pictures:

Without lights:



With lights:



In conclusion, is perfect for sitting in the garden during the summer and relaxing with this product near you. It is definitely what you deserve after a long day of work. It is most certainly at the top of the list of outdoor water features, and it has certainly satisfied many customers in the past. Now, it is your turn.

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