Technological Advancement or Total Disaster? Aquariums Hold the Answer

Can you imagine what would life be like if we were to return to nature, living without electricity and without all the necessary equipment that we are used to? Can you imagine life without the internet or without television, where everyone would be able to be themselves. I do not say that this rather new technology is harmful. On the contrary, it has helped us a great deal so far, and without the internet, for example, we would not be able to see what is happening on the other side of the world. But the bad side is that all these tech advancements have caused some changes not only among people, but in nature. New technology requires more power, and power is achieved by controlling and exploiting nature and its fruits. Once upon a time, we were reasonable when it comes to using nature's gifts, but men have become greedy, and the more we had the more we needed. Oceans and rivers seem to be the most endangered. Many fish and other species that live in still unexplored areas of the ocean die on a daily basis due to oil leaks. But there are ways to fight back. I have been a man of nature and a fighter for the „green” world for a long time, and I have been searching for certain methods of fighting back and bringing everlasting peace in this struggle between man and nature. I am talking about bringing nature back into peoples’ homes. This can be achieved solely by owning a garden with different plants, or owning a small zoo with a few animals that you will love and feed every day. But the thing I want to talk about the most are aquariums.

All the fish in all the oceans, rivers, lakes and seas in the world – unite

First of all, owning an aquarium is a direct approach to fighting against endangered species in the oceans. As I have mentioned, many fish die every day, and just by having some in your home means a lot to the world of pisces. If you are about to buy an aquarium and support this movement, I suggest you seek a few pieces of advice from someone who already knows a lot about this kind of hobby. I am no expert in this area, but I will try to explain several things when it comes to owning and maintaining an aquarium. You should, firstly, decide whether you are going to have fish from the rivers or from the oceans and seas. As you know, oceans and seas have salty water and, logically, the sole existence of fish from rivers would not be possible in such an environment. Therefore, there are normal aquariums, also known as fish tanks and ponds and there are kinds of aquariums that are built specially for fish and other creatures that live their lives at sea. Now, the size does matter, no matter what they say. Of course, I mean the size of the aquarium you are about to buy. If you are planning to devote a lot of your time to the fish and aquariums, you can buy those big ones that will cover one whole wall. But, if you are new to this hobby, I suggest you take a smaller one, and have no more than five fish. Then again, if the fish are not that big or needy, you can have more than five, even with no experience at all. At the end, it all comes down to the fact that you are about to start something new which will eventually become an important part of your life, believe it or not. It is the same story as with other pets. For fifteen years I had been trying to persuade my parents to buy me a dog. At the age of twenty five, my father bought me one for my birthday and from that moment on it was him who could not take his eyes off the pet. They literally became best friends, and it took him fifteen and more years to realize how much pets can actually mean to people. The same story goes with the fish. These little creatures can become part of your family in no time, and you will be very happy to have them in your life.

But now comes the time where I must warn you about some other consequences of buying an aquarium. As you may know, they will require a lot of maintenance, which you will have to do on a daily basis. You can do it by yourself, or you can hire someone who has experience in that area to do it for you. However, a lot of time spent on the internet, made me think about certain devices that can help me with cleaning and generally maintaining the aquarium. I found about these things called Aquarium Filters, which made the whole cleaning process much easier. What it did was keep the water clean as much as possible by adding certain substances into in. Therefore, the time you spent just changing the water in the aquarium can be reduced twice or even thrice, and you will save a lot of energy also, since that procedure is very exhausting. Other devices such as Aquarium heaters can help you with keeping the temperature of the water constant, because some fish will require constant water temperature.

To sum up, although technology is very helpful nowadays, we should spent more time in nature and use high tech devices a little bit less in order to save planet from the extinction that has been threatening it for the past two or three decades. You can help nature even by doing some other things such as decorating your home in more “natural” way. Among all the other things that you can put in your home I recommend you buy an aquarium since that can be a way of helping endangered species that die every single day due to pollution.

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How to Keep a Fish Tank

Extra fish in your aquarium can cause a lot of problems. More fish demand more oxygen and additional production of ammonia. If you own a filter that deals with a higher level of ammonia you are, let’s say, in the clear, but, with a high ammonia level, you’ll end up with increased nitrate production and you will have to change the water more often to keep it low. Some more solid waste might also appear out of nowhere.

Some people, who are experts in this field, think that a tank with too much fish can lead to the stop of fish growth, or, as this phenomenon is more commonly called, to stunning. If the fish are kept and left to breed in the same aquarium where the adult fish are, you will notice that future generations will be smaller than their ancestors.

To sort this out, get another aquarium to raise the fry in – especially one that is big enough to serve a spawning pair, or for pregnant females.

On the other hand, many would find a quarantine tank the best among all the others. To be a successful keeper of fish, this kind of a tank can be very helpful, and is often recommended by any retailer.  Many people forget to use a microscope when purchasing fish, and that’s why they usually aren't aware of whether the fish are suffering from any kind of illness. If you buy new fish and bring it to your home, regardless of its healthy look that may mislead you, it can infect your existing livestock. The solution to this problem is to set up a separate aquarium for the new ones and keep them there for a few weeks so you can be sure they’re not infectious.

These tanks can also be used to keep and treat fish that have been bullied or ill in the main tank. It’s more effective to treat them in an unfurnished, clean tank. A medium sized tank is cheaper to treat than a heavily stocked one. You’ll also avoid a risk of killing any inverts or knocking out beneficial bacteria in the main tank, which are pretty essential.

Not all fish are compatible. When you’re a fish-keeper, there’s so little time and too many fish. This hobby can get a little complicated. The water conditions, the size of the fish and their temperament is a key thing to take into consideration.

To solve this, set up some more tanks to help you out, and sort them into hard-water and soft-water set-ups. When it comes to the radical differences, you can set one up as a rocky Rift Lake, and another one as a flora oriented one, for example. New tanks always look nicer. As time passes by, fish aquariums seem to be getting much nicer and better designed. Check out BiOrb Life 60L or Fluval Edge 46L - Water Cube, for example. There was never a choice of so many sizes and shapes, as there is now. For many people, showing off their tank is a big part of keeping fish. Like every work of art needs a good frame, having a good tank for your fish is also of big importance.

Furnishing fashion for homes changes all the time and you have a choice to have a brand new tank and not an old one made of mahogany. For many people, keeping fish is kind of a new challenge. Keeping fish attract many different people and there’s just the right kind of fish for everyone. You should try coral propagation or take the challenge of breeding. It takes some determination, skill and time to breed fish so that you provide them with everything they need and want. And don’t forget to feed the fry. When a fish-keeper is a real fanatic, he or she must come to this point: to want to make a fish room. If you’re one of them, consider that a fish room can be any room in your house - a spare room, for instance.

To sum up, keeping fish seems to be a hard and demanding job. But, it has many advantages. It’s there to bring in new colors to your living space and keep you occupied. It’s also good for relaxation and, if you have kids, it would be a lot of fun for them to have their own private part of the sea. Whatever the reasons are, make sure you don’t forget about the fact - fish can’t play with you, but still are living beings.

 

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Keeping Fish for Beginners

If you’re a total beginner when it comes to petting fish, but you've decided to pet some, I’m here to give you some advice about the main things you’ll need. First of all, you have to think over the reasons that made you keep fish. If you think of it as a “job” that doesn't require time and responsibility, then you’re not the one to do the job. Keeping fish surely can be considered the least demanding activity, but still, it requires some attention and commitment. I don’t want to underestimate you by making statements like the one in the previous sentence, but it somehow happens that people forget to do all the petting, although it’s not much, and end up with dead fish floating in their aquariums. I’m sure you wouldn't want that to happen. 

On the other hand, if you’re a person that enjoys colorful images for instance, then you’re the one to keep fish, with just a little effort you’ll have to put in. You may have a chance to possess a living picture that constantly moves and brings relaxation into your life. It really is relaxing and extremely interesting to observe life that goes on right in front of you. It can send you back to the days when you were a kid and evoke some emotions that you had probably forgotten about. In the text that is about to be written, I’ll try to concentrate on how often you’ll have to change the water and feed the fish, choose them, also the choice of light and aquariums, and of course the right temperature of the water and the decoration of the fish’s environment. So, if you’re willing, continue on reading this article, because I’ll be precise and concise in giving advice to you who are beginners.

Aquarium size depends on the number of fish you have, but also on their sensitivity to change of nitrogenous waste and their temperament. It is a lot easier to keep a big aquarium clean, than a small one. The big aquarium is also more flexible when it comes to rapid changes in temperature and water chemistry. Since you’re a beginner, the best option for you when it comes to buying an aquarium is the medium sized one. If you have budget problems, and you’re thinking over a small one with expensive fish, and a medium one with not so fancy fish, you should go for the second option, definitely. As a beginner, you can’t handle these pricy fish because of the lack of experience. 

Changing the water is something you’ll have to do despite all the strong mechanical, chemical and biological filtration existing. Since we constantly bring in a lot of new nutrients by feeding our fish, it’s hard for an aquarium to become a perfectly balanced ecosystem. As a beginner, it’s good for you to choose sturdy beginner species that require changing 30% to 50% of the water once in a week. It might be a little messy at first, but by repeating this action, you’ll learn to do it without making any mess and with a minimal amount of spilled water. If you keep on changing that 50% of the water once in a week, you’ll solve the usual beginner’s problem such as over-feeding the fish. If tap water is the only one you have, you’ll need to first keep it in a bucket for a little while until the chlorine is gone, or use a dechlorinator to do it faster.

Feeding the fish requires a little research done to find out which food a certain specie needs. For common beginner’s species, flake food is a good solution. You can even use your own fruit files. If you keep bottom species, it’s not a good idea to use flake food because it probably won’t even reach the bottom. But, if you get sinking pallets or similar, you’ll cope with the needs of the bottom species. The algae-eaters won’t be pleased only by eating algae, but would like to be provided with some vegetable based foods. It’s better to feed your fish a few times a day rather than only once a day. But make sure to give them only as much as they can consume within 5 minutes. If you’re not around for few days, you won’t have to sip extra food, because there are always some leftovers for your fish. If you give them some extra food, you’ll only end up with fouled water, and that’s something you really don’t need.

The temperature depends on species and their needs. Do a little research about your species, and you’ll find out just the right temperature. Generally, it’s important for the temperature to be stable. Fish love to hide, so make sure you provide them some aquatic plants. Since you’re a beginner, choose adaptable and sturdy fish species, because you’ll handle it easier. Later on, if you improve in fish-keeping  you can have more delicate fish species.

Conclusion

To finish this article, I’ll add that keeping fish is actually really interesting and creative because it’s different from any other pet. If you choose to improve and get skills in fish-keeping  you’ll have a lot of fun and colorful time!

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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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Yasha Nano Reef Tank

For most people the word aquarium simply means an overgrown fish bowl. They think of it as simply pouring some tap water into a glass container and filling it with a bunch of cool-looking fish. However, there are people out there who can appreciate the finer things in life, and know how to relax and enjoy the colorful nature of the world around them. If you are one of those people, I can tell you that there is nothing you can set up in your home that will bring a sense of serenity and put a smile on your face quite like a nicely decorated marine aquarium. The most beautiful and awe inspiring of these are reef aquariums, with their plethora of colorful corals and various exotic sea creatures.

If you have seen pictures of huge, wall mounted aquariums and lamented over the fact that you could never afford such beauty, than the Yasha Nano Reef Tank is perhaps just the right thing for you. It is, as its name suggests, a smaller, budget friendly version of its big reef aquarium brothers, and is one of the best and most popular models on the market. It can hold a few sea creatures and fish, but the main focus of a tank, with the size of 36 liters, are the actual live corals themselves. It is designed to best showcase these magnificent corals, without consuming too much space in your house, or in your office.

The Yasha Nano Reef Tank has a maximum capacity of 36 liters, it weighs 15 kg (empty) and it measures 40cm by 30cm by 30cm, so as you can see it really doesn’t take up a lot of space. It can be easily installed in your living room, even if you don’t have a great amount free space – simply put it on a small table, a counter or even in a corner. You could put it in your office to brighten it up with some colour, and it goes well with other room decorations and furniture. It fits both the modern and more traditional interior decorating styles. There are of course larger models if space isn’t an issue, but they do cost more.

In terms of equipment, the Yasha Nano Reef Tank has a rear filter compartment with two components. First there is the Turboflotor Blue 500 protein skimmer, a very important part of the aquarium – it removes decomposing organic compounds before turning into nitrogenous waste. The protein skimmers main task is basically keeping everything inside the aquarium alive and happy. The second component in the filter compartment is the NanoProp 5000 stream pump with an adjustable output ranging from 2000 to 5000 l/h. This reef tank is of a solid construction and compact size, and will remain in perfect working condition  for years, even decades if proper care is taken. It can, as it is often the case with beautiful reef aquariums, remain a treasured household item for the generations to come.

In order to better showcase the beauty of the live corals, the Yasha Nano Reef Tank includes three Aquasunspot LEDs, each giving 9 watts of light at a 14.000 Kelvin colour temperature. This keeps the water at an optimal temperature for the organisms living inside, but also helps illuminate the whole reef tank with intense light providing you with an astonishing display that everyone will admire. One must experience the sight of this aquarium sitting atop a table in a dark room to fully appreciate the breathtaking beauty of the intricate shapes and vivid colours of the corals and tropical fish. It is quite something to gaze at as ones mind drifts of, a sort of zen moment you can have a few times during the day as you relax, and put your worries on hold.

All in all, if you are looking for something that will liven up your room and bring some colour and style into your life, but you don’t have the space, time and money to invest in a large fish tank, then you should definitely start your home decorating journey by looking into the Yasha Nano Reef Tank 36L model. It is sturdy and compact, user friendly, aesthetically pleasing and it will only cost you $595, which is quite good as nano reef tank prices go.

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