That Fish Blog – Aquarium Advice and Information

The EcoTech Marine VorTech is one of the most ingenious water pumps ever made. The motor section of the pump is actually located outside of the aquarium, and powers the inner propeller section through a magnetic system. This eliminates heat caused by traditional submersible pumps, as well as gives the internal portions of the device a really small size, especially for the amount of flow that it is capable of. This system allows the pump to be mounted virtually anywhere in your aquarium

The pump is controlled wirelessly with the EcoTech Marine Wireless Wave Driver. The driver allows you to control the output of the VorTech from 500 gph to 3000 gph, with several settings for different flow patterns. It also has a feed mode that shuts the pump off when you want to turn it off for feeding your aquarium.
EcoTech Marine also makes a battery back system for the Vortech that can keep the unit running up to 30 hours in the event of a power outage.

The Seio Electronic Controller, when mated with two Seio Super Flow Pumps, creates a powerful wave making system. The controller will operate one or two Seio Pumps from 30% to 100% output, and you can control the duration and cycle of speed changes. The result is wildly variable water currents that mimic nature in motion. The unit also has a feeding mode that shuts down the pumps for feeding your aquarium

I can’t wait to see what comes out next

Until next blog,

Dave

Worried about what to do with your aquarium when you go on vacation? Who will feed the fish? No need to worry, there are several products that are easy to use, that will feed your aquarium for you while you are away.

There are several options for feeding your aquarium while you are away from home. The first, and easiest, option is to use a vacation feeder block. Vacation feeder blocks, like the Pyramid Feeder from Aquarium Pharmaceuticals, are a community fish food that is imbedded into a slowly dissolving binder that slowly releases food for your fish. These work great for small fish, and community fish, and are safe to use on most aquariums. These types of feeders are typically made with plaster and should not be used repeatedly without performing water changes in between usage; repeated use will affect your aquariums pH.

A new type of dissolving feeder is also available from Tetra. The TetraVacation Feeders use a Gel binder to hold the food which will not affect pH in repeated use, and are considered safer to use than the older plaster type feeders.

If you have finicky eaters, or you travel often, an Automatic electronic fish feeder is a better option for you. Electric feeders give you the ability to use your fish’s favorite pellet or flake food, so that you know your fish is getting food they will eat. Feeders like the Current AquaChef, are programmable and adjustable, so that you can feed as often as you like, and also control how much food is fed at each meal. Automatic feeders like the Rondomatic from Grasslin have individual compartments for each meal, so you can feed different foods at different times. Automatic feeders are great to use year round. Most feeders are battery operated.

Whichever vacation feeder you choose to use it is a very good idea to do a test feeding before you go on vacation. This way you can fine tune your electronic feeder so that you have the feeding volume correct. If you are using one of the dissolving feeders you can make sure that it is acting properly with your water chemistry, and that your fish are eating the type of food in the feeder. Testing the products first will make sure that you do not over or underfeed your fish.

hope that gives you one less thing to worry about when you are on vacation, until next blog.

Dave