Large Freshwater Aquarium Photo

Except for "run-in" periods (the first few weeks) to establish nutrient cycling, I advocate full-time operation of your skimmer. You cannot "over-skim" a tank. Loss of Essential Matter is a concern the hobby literature has non-addressed over and over. There is very little in the way of trace elements, therapeutics, and more that has been determined scientifically to be removed by skimming. New materials are

Wait a minute! What are you talking about, you may ask? Well, bear with me for a moment. Imagine getting out your car-washing bucket (very different than your fish cleaning buckets!). Add some soap to the bucket and begin to fill it with water from the hose. If you allow the water to merely pour quietly into the bucket, you will create some large bubbles and a little bit of foam. Now, if you place your thumb over the hose to produce a high-pressure spray, the water and soap in the bucket will foam up like crazy! This is the principle behind spray in

Dear Reader, and fellow utility subsidizer, many of these pumps suffer an early death from this "tube" being ignored. You want to save some real money and hassle? Please read through all materials that come with the mechanical components of your system, and add their periodic checks and maintenance to your system maintenance schedule.

Ultraviolet Sterilizers

If you have one, should be inspected

Be gentle, it's my first time
Hi, my name is Victor and I'm a fish-a-holic. Have had FW for years and years and years.... Tried SW in college, but I didn't inhale. (or research it) = tank-o-cide. :( Any who, just bought an established 30 gallon from a friend. Compact flourescent (T5's) 1 actinic 1 6000K lighting. Inhabitants:1....

Icecap, lumenarc, reeflux... not working! help!!!
Ok, so I’m having troubles with my lighting. I have a Icecap 250watt ballast, a lumenarc reflector and a reeflux 10k bulb. Problem is, it’s not lighting up! The bulb will sometimes flicker once for a fraction of a second but then it’s out. I’m getting a little buzzing noise from the ballast when I first plug it in to the wall but after 5 m.

Common Cichlid Diseases
Like all fish kept in tanks, Cichlids are prone to disease. The artificial environment and closed system are the perfect breeding grounds for pathogens and parasites. Of course, wild fish get diseases, but these go unseen by everyone but fishermen and wildlife biologists. The best cure is always ....