Natural Aquarium Setup

Ive used this wonderful color-in-by-the-numbers book for high school to university instruction to teach local (California) near-shore marine biology.

California Reef Specialists, 740 Tioga Ave., Sand City, CA 93955, 408-394-7271 produce a handy, informative newsletter on temperate reefs as well as supplying cold water organisms and "live-rock". They have David Wrobels excellent "cool" booklets too.

After setting up the tank, adding water, testing your gear and allowing it to run for a few days, such live material can be added to it.

"Old" Filter Media:

Another "pre-seeded" possibility is placing filter sponge, ceramic media, carbon, polyester/wool et al. from an up-and-running system in your new set-up. Such media can be easily transported damp from one tank to another. One proviso: Make sure the "donor" system has no r

These systems call for chemical filtrants, more vigorous circulation/aeration, and other mechanisms to reduce water chemistry fluctuations.

Size:

Even though Im only 5 7", bigger is better (!) in aquarium sizing. Like ocean-size volumes, humungous tanks dont change much very quickly; in part because of dilution, and temperature -wise due to tank wall thickness.

Livestock:

What kinds of life youre keeping touches directly on the issue of the type of system filtrat

natural aquarium setup

You should be encouraged to purchase the largest system possible/practical. The bigger the tank, the easier it is to maintain, the more stable an environment it will provide, and the more flexible it will be for stocking and decorating. Remember that small displacement engine motorcycle, and hard-drive on your first PC? The bigger, the better. For saltwater systems yo

There is usually a control valve for regulating water flow. A check valve is usually placed on the filter intake to prevent the sand from packing-down when the filter is turned off.

Because water flows upward through the filter, the sand in the filter becomes suspended or "fluidized" in the water column, forming a fluidized bed of sand. If the flow of water is controlled properly, the sand does not flow out of the filter, but remains suspended. This happens because the flow of water is just fast enough to keep the sand in suspension. The weight of the sand prevents it from escaping the filter. Because the sand is suspended in wat

Reply to tips for aquarium shots?

Photography is a still of life posted a reply:

Id say a dark room, no flash, and a wide aperture.

phosphates too high
hello again- Well my 90 gallon predator/reef tank has been up in running for about 7 months. Everything is running smoothly so far- water parameters are nitrate > 20 ppm, nitrite 0ppm, ammonia 0 ppm, p.

Blue Algae , cyanobacteria

Blue Algae ( cyanobacteria )

Most aquarium hobbyists know and .

newbie with some questions...
hello everyone, i am new to this site and it looks really good! anywho, my cycle finished about a week ago, and i just added a fiji blue devil to my tank today. he seems very happy and healthy, getting use.