That Fish Blog – Aquarium Advice and Information

Many freshwater aquarists use or at least have heard of using salt in their freshwater aquariums, but few seem to know why. Most “read about it somewhere”, “heard it from someone”, or “saw it on the shelf so I must need it”. To some, it may be beneficial but to others it can cause far more harm than good.

What exactly is Aquarium Salt?

“Salt” is a very broad chemical term and can refer to an unlimited combination of elements. The salt used in freshwater aquariums is Sodium chloride (NaCl). This is NOT the same thing as what is probably in your kitchen and is NOT the same thing that saltwater aquarists use for their corals and clownfish. The “table salt” used as a condiment is mostly NaCl, true, but most table salt is Iodized Table Salt and contains iodine, de-caking agents, and possibly potassium or other trace elements. The marine salt used in saltwater aquariums is mostly NaCl, also true, but has buffers and other elements like sulfate, magnesium, calcium, potassium and others. All of these extra ingredients can range from unnecessary for to harmful to freshwater aquariums, affecting the biology of freshwater plants and animals directly as well as changing the water chemistry in the tank. For freshwater aquariums, use only salt sold as freshwater Aquarium Salt or pure NaCl like Kosher Salt or Rock Salt. Read More »

There are some products that you can find in every store that sells aquarium supplies and that every aquarist has purchased at some point or another, no matter how long they’ve been in the hobby or what type of aquarium they’ve had. Out of those stand-bys, how many of them do you really need, and do you know what they do (or do not) do for your aquarium? One of the most wide-spread of these “necessities” is activated carbon. Read More »

Almost every aquarist will feel the sting from a cnidarian (anemones, jellyfish, ect.) at some point or another. For some, it can just be a mild annoyance, but for others it can be downright painful or even dangerous. The correct treatment depends on what you were stung by and how sensitive you are to it.

Cnidaria is a large phylum (one of the broadest scientific classifications) and includes jellyfish, corals, anemones, and hydroids that aquarist might encounter in their tanks. Cnidarians have specialized stinging cells known as “nematocysts” or “cnidocysts”. These cells can be used as defense mechanisms or to catch prey. Some are harmless to people, but effective on the cnidarian’s targeted prey.  Some can be lethal to anything they touch – the Sea Wasp, a type of box jellyfish, is touted as the most venomous marine animal ever and is usually fatal. Different types of nematocysts have different functions and one animal can have more than one type of nematocyst at a time, but all function essentially the same way. Read More »

One of my first ever experiences with fishkeeping was with a goldfish won at a carnival – I thought it looked hungry and dumped an entire container of fishfood into the bowl. At a recent family picnic, I found a pretzel in the top of my small freshwater system courtesy of my four-year-old nephew and after a lesson on not feeding Aunt Eileen’s fish when she isn’t in the room, we all realized that the cycle is truly continuing (especially since that particular nephew loves to check my aquarium maintenance skills and point out all of the spots of algae I missed). I can’t wait until he has long enough arms for me to put an algae scrubber in his hand.

So how do we keep the aquarium hobby fun and safe while turning our little “helpers” into future aquarists? Here are a few tips that I’ve come across while working at That Fish Place, in my prior naturalist experience at a South Carolina state park, and with my own two nephews: Read More »

Every SCUBA diver and beachcomber dreams at some point of finding long-lost buried treasure or unearthing some relic lost to the sea. Two Andrea Doria divers recently did just that when they unearthed the bridge bell during their first dive on the wreck. The SS Andrea Doria is a fairly recent wreck. It sunk after it collided with the Swedish ocean liner, the MS Stockholm on July 25, 1956. Even though many of the lifeboats were unuseable once the severely damaged ship started listing to one side, only 46 lives were lost on the Andrea Doria and 5 on the Stockholm. Read More »