While LED lighting is still relatively new to aquariums, practical applications of new LED fixtures have shown the effectiveness of this technology for growing plants and corals. But what about cost? It’s common knowledge that LED’s use much less energy than metal halides or compact fluorescents, but did you ever consider their overall longevity and cost advantages they also offer? Well, let’s take a look at the numbers to see how popular lighting types stack up.
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More power, more colors, more sizes, more flexibility. The next generation of Panorama and Stunner LED’s from Ecoxotic simply gives you more. The new Panorama Pro units are a completely new design of the popular LED lights, and offer more power (19watts vs. 12watts), linkability, 5 color choices, and a really cool remote control RGB unit. Read More »
“Why is that snail just sitting there? Is it dead? Why do they keep dying?”
Common questions with a lot of possible answers – Water quality, mineral or vitamin difficiency, starvation, predation – but often the solution can be quite simple…it fell down and couldn’t get up. Snails crawl around all the time, but falling off of a surface and ending up with their shell on the sand can be a death sentence.
Most snails aren’t adapted to environments where there they may get flipped upside-down (like falling off the straight sides of an aquarium). They are from environments where they are either not climbing at all (like sand flats) or where if they do fall, they either roll until they are right-side-up again or fall where they can reach another surface and right themselves. Being upside-down for short periods of time won’t kill the snails, but it does leave them vulnerable to predation from tankmates, and they can’t feed or do any other normal snail things. Some snails can flip themselves over like acrobats, but others may need a hand if they get stuck. Read More »
Few species of pond plants can be compared to the striking foliage and blossoms of the Sacred Lotus, Nelumbo nucifera. The Lotus is native to tropical Asia where it is deeply rooted in cultural symbolism, history, religion and legend. Its large, round leaves and spectacular pink, cream or white flowers are produced by long, buouyant, fibrous roots called rhizomes. The foliage and flowers stand tall above the water’s surface, while the rhizome runs in long strands through the mud or substrate. These plants and their hybrids are prized by pond and water garden enthusiasts and can be show-stopping if cultured and cared for properly. Read More »
Outbreaks of nuisance snails are one of the most common problems encountered in planted aquariums. Though much maligned, snails are perfectly normal in tanks with live plants and can even help with algae control. The problems occur when the snails reproduce and become out of control. Throughout our blog posts, we’ve gone over a number of methods of controlling snails through predators and removal methods, but as with any problems, the problem can be avoided with preventative measures.
A common way of cutting down snail populations is to dip new plants, killing snails and snail eggs before they enter your aquarium. We have here a few different “recipes” for these dips. Keep in mind that while these have been used successfully by many aquarists, sensitive plants may still be damaged. You can try your chosen method on one plant before using it on all of your new plants. These are also all solutions that are to be utilized in a separate bucket, tub or sink – NOT in the aquarium! Read More »
That Fish Blog – Aquarium Advice and Information
