The Aquarium Source

Hot:

Keeping your aquarium at constant temperature is essential for maintaining good aquatic health.  A tank that is too warm promotes algae growth and a tank that is too cold encourages growth of parasites.   Below is a general guide for determining the size heater you will need to keep your aquarium at a constant temperature.

Instructions:
Subtract the average temperature of the room the aquarium is located in from the temperature you wish to maintain the aquarium water at. Find the size of your aquarium in the left hand column and move to the column that shows the number of degrees the aquarium needs to be heated. If the heating requirement is between levels, move up to the next larger size.

In larger tanks, or where the room temperature is significantly below the desired water temperature, two heaters may be required. Heaters should be installed at opposite ends of the aquarium to heat it more evenly.

Example:
Average Room Temp = 68 degrees F
Desired Water Temp = 77 degrees F
—————————————–
Heating required =  9 degrees F

Tank Size = 20 gallon
Heater size needed = 50 watt

 
Remember, this is a only a guide.  Feel free to contact us  if you have questions about this chart.  If you are interested in puchasing a heating system for your tank, please take a look at our wide selection of heaters at Gredens.com

Hot:

Understanding Your Fish Tank Water Hardness

            We have all seen the instructions on testing kits that tell us how to test for certain chemicals in the tank but sometimes we are not exactly sure what we are testing and why. In this article I will cover the two basic types of water hardness which are General Hardness (GH) and Carbonate Hardness (KH).

            General Hardness (GH) is a test that measures the amount of Calcium (Ca²⁺) and Magnesium (Mg²⁺) that has dissolved in your freshwater tank. Hard water, testing at > 200 ppm, is high in both Calcium and Magnesium. Soft water, testing between 50-100 ppm is low in these minerals. It is important to know that a special saltwater test is required for saltwater aquariums because the ions of Calcium and Magnesium are higher than the testing ranges for most test.

            The general hardness of your tank can increase over time and so it is important to check the water level continuously. As water evaporates it leaves behind the metal elements which increase the general hardness, when water is added more metals are added to the tank further increasing the hardness. Adjusting the level of your water hardness can be as simple as completing partial water changes using deionized water or adding a water softener “pillow” to the filter to reduce the hardness, or by using specialized salt to increase the hardness.

            Different types of fish require certain hardness levels and the following is small listing of fish and some plants along with their hardness requirements.

30ppm- Discus, arowanas, elephant nose, neons and cardinals.

60ppm- Certain Tropical fish, angelfish, tetras, botia, and community aquariums.

120ppm- Certain Tropical fish, swordtails, guppies, mollies, cichlids and certain goldfish.

180ppm- African Cichlids and certain goldfish.

            Carbonate Hardness (KH) is also known as Alkalinity and is the measure of Carbonate (CO₃²) and Bicarbonate (HCO₃). This type of hardness helps to stabilize the pH in your aquarium and with a high level (> 200ppm) your aquarium will have a high pH. In low levels, your tank water will be acidic and you will experience rapid shifts in pH. Carbonate is used by aquarium plants and consumed in the filter so this level will need to be maintained or it will fall and become unstable.

           Reducing you Carbonate Hardness is as simple as doing a partial water change and using distilled or deionized water. Increasing can be done by using a pH adjuster

            The following are acceptable levels for the listed fish. Please check the levels for your individual fish.

40ppm- Discus, arowanas, elephant nose, neons and cardinals.

80ppm- Certain Tropical fish, angelfish, tetras, botia, and community aquariums.

120ppm- Certain Tropical fish, swordtails, guppies, mollies, cichlids and certain goldfish.

180ppm- African Cichlids, certain goldfish brackish water and certain marine fish.

240ppm- Rift Lake Cichlids, certain goldfish, brackish water and certain marine fish.

Hot:

When I first started out with aquariums I was unsure about everything and even though I wanted to do things right I was a little confused about the job and importance that every piece played. Take aeration for instance, I remember specifically asking the owner of the pet store that I was in if I really needed aeration, and what it did for the tank. The reply that he gave could have been correct and he was the one who worked in the pet store so I had no reason not to trust him. The reply that I received was that aeration was only to make the tank look good and I really didn’t need it for my fish to live. Now as a kid who was just learning about tanks and aquariums this sounded good to me, I wasn’t trying to win any contest for how good my tank looked, I just wanted happy healthy fish. The knowledge that one learns through experience is better than anything, so here are a few simple basic facts about aeration.

Fish need air to live-  It is true that fish live underwater (just seeing if you are awake), but they breath air. When the water passes over their gills, the oxygen is “sifted” out of the water and passed into their “lungs”.  Fish do not have lungs like we have but clean oxygen is EXTREMELY important. The water that the fish has already removed the oxygen from is now lighter than the rest of the water in the tank and so it rises to the surface (this is where you get the surface exchange of gasses). Once at the surface and the gasses are exchanged the water particles are the same weight as the rest of the water in the tank and they are recirculated. This process continues and you have the water circulation in your tank. This process is not an extremely fast one and if the original exchange was the only “bad” air in the tank it would not be so bad. However through the natural nitrogen cycle harmful chemicals are continously produced, circulated and removed from the water in your tank by the filtration system and the “good” bacteria that is growing there. The chemicals produced by this cycle are also in the water and are harmful to the fish. When you think about all of the water in your tank and then think about the top of the water, where the surface gasses are exchanged, the top is a relatively small surface area for this gas exchange to take place. If the only water movement in your tank is coming from a filter then that is not enough movement to effectively remove the harmful gasses from the water. Imagine living in a sealed room where 10 particles of harmful gas was added to the air every minute and only 5 particles of harmful gas were taken out in that same time. Eventually you would get sick and die from breathing in the harmful gasses. Its the same concept. Now take a air hose that pumps in clean air into that room and thats what an aerator does. It helps oxygenate the water that the fish lives in.

An Aerator infuses water with air- In addition to having a really neat affect on your aquarium, the aerator actually speeds up the exchange process. When all of those bubbles reach the surface they cause the water at the surface to move making the gas exchange happen faster. Also by bringing in fresh clean air into the bottom of the tank, “dirty” water particles that come in contact with these air bubbles have an underwater gas exchange with the air bubble and are cleaned. By starting this process from the bottom of the tank there is actually more clean water throughout the tank.

Water movement is very important and that leads into an entirly different article about wave makers, pumps and powerheads.

Suffice it to say that your fish WILL live without an aerator FOR A LITTLE WHILE. Once the gas reaches toxic levels your fish will die. Even with an aerator your aquarium water will need help, that is why you treat it with chemicals and complete water changes. You have to help the aquarium live and survive. An aerator is a great option and when you consider the amount of time that you will be spending working on your tank it only makes sense to get something that is going to help you out. Gredens has many aerators as well as many bubble stones and several bubble makers under decorations. Click hereto be taken to Gredens home page.

Hot:

Considering the nature of some people, we at The Aquarium Source felt we needed to explain a topic to help people think about their actions. The topic that is a major subject of debate is Invasive Species and Aquarium Fish.

          In a recent discussion about Invasive Species, it was made evidently clear that not every one knows what that is. You know the type of person I am speaking of, they just talk, everyone else knows that the person speaking has no clue what they are talking about, but that person keeps talking.

          So what is an invasive species? Leaving textbook definitions aside, an invasive species is any species that is introduced into an area that is not its natural habitat. It can be an aquatic species, mammals, birds, insects, plants etc., if you can think of it, then it can be an invasive species.

          The major difference between the normal migration of a species into a new area and the introduction of an invasive species is the lack of natural predators. Without natural predators a new species can rage unchecked and force out the normal life that was originally in the area.

          This can relate to the aquarium world easier than you might think. Who hasn’t had a snail infestation? One second your buying a cool new plant and the next there are snails everywhere. They are an invasive species in your tank. Your options are to treat the tank chemically or introduce a natural predator such as a Loach into the tank and let nature do its course.

          Turtles and fish are some of the most common “pets” to be discarded in America. It doesn’t matter if you think the fish or turtle is too much work or you just don’t have time to deal with it anymore, DON’T TAKE IT TO THE RIVER OR LAKE TO GET RID OF IT! There are many options such as pet stores, other owners or even posting them on the web to find someone who can take it. Many people are under the assumption that by discarding fish in a lake or stream, the fish will not be able to survive and therefore they should not be concerned. First off, why would you just kill your fish? Second thing that is not always the case. Fish are tougher than most people think and can take a wider range of changes. Some will even “convert” to and from saltwater fish if the change is slow enough.

          I was standing on a pier in Okinawa, Japan watching a man fishing. My Japanese was not the best but through broken conversation I was able to find out that he was fishing for puffers and he was doing it just for fun. This man was not using a normal rod and reel or even a net; he was using a pole with a ring on the end of it. After watching for a few minutes I saw that he was pushing on the puffers that were coming for the bait (don’t ask what he was using, I’m not sure) until they blew up, then he would put the ring on them and pull them out of the water. I started to get a little upset when I saw how he was treating the fish by just leaving them sitting there, all blown up. About 5 minutes later, after I was sure the fish were dead he put them back in the water got his stuff and left. Walking over to see just how many of the fish he had killed, I was shocked to see that there were no dead fish. The puffers had survived out of the water longer that I thought any fish could. Point of the story: Fish will surprise you if you let them. Treat them right and take care of them or find someone who will. Don’t just throw them out.

Hot:

I wanted to write this article to let everyone know of the Grand Opening for Gredens.

Gredens is a sister company for the aquarium source and from the beginning our two sites have worked closely together.

Gredens has extended a 5% discount in addition to the sale that is already running on the store for viewers of our site. Please visit www.gredens.com and check out the selection and prices. As Gredens progresses, there will be new items added almost daily. Dont quote me on this but I believe there are around 2000 products on the site currently, and that is from one warehouse. Through the information that I have seen, Gredens has access to 4-5 warehouses all across the country, so their product list will be growing. If there is something you need but cant find it on the site, please email the Gredens staff and let them know and Im sure they have the product and it is just waiting to be loaded into the store. If you do email the staff let them know that you came to their site from the aquarium source for an extra discount.

I was also asked to extend a Thank You in advance for visiting the Gredens site and helping to support the aquarium comunity.

Now for the Gredens discount information 1) Go to the store and shop as you would for any other online store 2) When you are ready to check out put this code in the box (TAS54974362)  and 5% will be taken off of your bill.

Thanks again.