On my 20 long, I decided it was time to replace the Eheim 2213. I had it paired with a Koralia Nano powerhead. In effort to get some of the stuff out of my tank, I purchased a Hagen Fluval 206 filter. It’s one of the newer models released in October of this year that includes the 106, 206, 306, and 406.

One of the nice things about this filter is that, as per the box anyway, it comes with a 3 year warranty. This is certainly a plus, because the filter has a certain “plastic” feel like most filters these days, and I found myself afraid of putting too much force on something and breaking it during the assembly of the filter.

I took everything out of the box, and conveniently, this filter comes with all of the media you probably need. If you’re running a planted tank, the bags of carbon probably aren’t particularly useful. I replaced my upper tray with some micro polishing pads surrounding Seachem Purigen.

One critique I had with the media though was the 06 line’s new ‘Bio-foam’ that sits in the bottom tray. According to it’s product description:
“This ’3-Dimensional’ media features a pore structure that increases surface area for nitrifying bacterial colonization essential for the break down of toxic ammonia and nitrate.” Honestly, it looks and feels like a regular piece of foam. This means the default filter setup would be something like:
pre-filter foam -> bio-foam -> biomedia -> polishing pad + chemical media. That’s a lot of foam. I believe in previous iterations, the first layer was those ceramic noodles. I was thinking about replacing the biofoam with hose, but I’ll try out the biofoam and withhold judgement on the media setup for now.

Hooking the filter up was pretty simple, I didn’t have too much trouble outside of hoping I didn’t accidentally snap the lever off the  Aquastop. The Fluval intake/outtake tubes are a bit clunky, but they’ve been replaced in the 06′s with clearer alternatives. It took some fighting to get them positioned correctly, and I’d still consider replacing them with an aftermarket solution (lily pipes or something) if you’re worried about aesthetics. I’m also not a fan of the ribbed tubing. I suspect all filter manufacturers make a nice chunk of change off the use of proprietary tubing. The fluval ribbed tubing makes it nearly impossible to connect to any sort of inline heater or CO2 diffuser though. I’ve been told you can replace it 5/8″ tubing, or use a reducer to go down to 1/2″ and run my normal inline heater and such without any reduction in flow, as the fluval tubing itself is pretty close to 1/2″ but the connectors are 5/8″.

As for the flow, it blows my older filter completely out of the water (I liked that pun…). Even the 206 model pushes a lot of water. I no longer need any additional powerheads or anything like that in my aquarium. The 206 is more than adequate for a 20 gallon. I’m really impressed with the sheer power of the ’06 line. The priming mechanism on the filter has been reinforced and it’s easier to use. Coming from a filter without a priming mechanism, it makes your life much easier. I’m also a big fan of the aquastop system – it allows you to very quickly detach the filter for maintenance and cleaning without much trouble.

Conclusion
The Fluval ’06 line, specifically the 206, are really solid filters. I’ve used Fluval filters off and on in the past, but I’m impressed enough that if I was to buy another filter in the future, it’d probably be a Fluval barring any mechanical failures or leaks on my filter in the future.

Pros:
Media trays, priming mechanism, and aquastop make maintenance less of a headache.
Comes with pretty good default media so you don’t need to do too much tweaking.
Filter pushes a lot of water for it’s size and cost.
Default hose and intake/outtake tubes aren’t too bad.

Cons:
Can’t connect inline devices to the ribbed tubing – will need to be replaced.
Intake/outtake tubes probably not up to snuff in true aquascapes.
Filter is still almost entirely plastic (but it’s probably about as solid as any other consumer filter out there at the moment.

TFH is one of the best magazines for aquarium hobbyists, featuring articles from the freshwater, saltwater, and planted aquarium realms. There’s really a lot of neat stuff in every issue. I have a pile of older issues at home I really need to read through during my holiday vacation.

You can check out the full details and subscribe here. It’s good now through December 31st, 2011 on new subscriptions.

Ecoxotic and one of their dealers, Aquarium Adventure of Columbus, have teamed up to make former high school me very jealous by donating 40 EcoPicos to Peter Dewitt’s Metro High School science class. The project is anticipated to reach 160 students in Grades 9-12, and their goal is to replicate a real-life sustainable environment based on an already existing one, such as a saltwater reef or a blackwater pool.

Not only is this a great science lesson, it’s a fantastic way to get students involved in the aquarium hobby. They have a blog setup where you can follow individual team’s progress. While it seems like most of the groups mentioned thus far joined the dark side of saltwater tanks (just kidding! saltwater is cool too), we here at Aquaspire have high hopes for the freshwater groups, Team Guppy, or Team Cranberry Fluffy Fish (whom by far have the coolest name).  We’ll keep an eye on developments and maybe post a few updates as things move along.

It’s hard to predict just how successful their store will be with the abundance of other online retailers out there. Shipping costs and pricing will probably have a lot to do with it.

We decided to compare Wag.com’s product pricing and availability with some other online retailers by selecting the random product Seachem Purigen (random being whatever was on the top of my ‘need to buy’ list at the time).

Purigen Pricing (for 100ml bag)
Big Al’s $8.09
Wag.com: $8.29 (100ml was the only quantity they sold as far as I could tell)
Foster and Smith Aquatics: $8.29
PetSolutions: N/A (only sell the 250 ml quantity and higher)

Based on our random product, it looks like Wag.com’s pricing falls inline with the rest of the online stores. However, only offering one specific quantity was a bit of a bummer. The other retailers offered larger quantity jars. Given Wag.com is just starting out, some limited product availabilty is to be expected. We’ll have to see how things pan out as wag.com establishes itself.

[via Reefbuilders]

I realized my approach was wrong for a variety of reasons.

1. It’s difficult to convert someone to the planted tank world via sheer scientific evidence as to why planted tanks are better for their fish or why I like planted tanks. I equate this to someone telling me fruits and vegetables are “good for me” – while true, I still ignore this advise regularly. I can try to drag people into planted aquariums kicking and screaming with all the justification in the world, and they’re reluctant. Show people some of the beautiful planted aquariums out there, or a Takashi Amano book, and their eyes light up.
2. 

   A cherry shrimp shot with a macro lens.

   Planted aquariums are a very multi-disciplinary. You can throw in some java moss into a breeding tank for good measure, or create an entire biome based around your favorite type of fish. If art is more your thing, you can try your hand at creating a beautiful aquascape (color, composition, the two-thirds rule are talked about considerably). If you’re a scientist at heart, there’s discussion communities out there where people debate macro and micronutrients until their eyes glaze over, or how to distribute CO2 most effectively. Even aquarium photography is no easy feat. Not only do you have to deal with subject matter of all kinds of sizes, they move. And there’s the whole bizarre aquarium lighting thing and shooting through glass. What appeals to one type of person won’t appeal to them all.

3. It’s difficult to make a blanket statement like “Planted aquariums are cheap and easy!” because while they certainly can’t be, they aren’t always.
   

   A rimless glass high-tech aquarium

   Many of the aquascaping photos you see are high-tech tanks, with specific plant substrate, pressurized CO2 systems, intense lighting, heavy filtration, special aquascaping rocks, and rimless glass tanks.

Enter Hannele Cox, a 13-year old girl with the dream of becoming an Olympic gymnast. While not your typical aquarist, Practical Fishkeeping reports that Cox was cleaning her fish tank, when she scraped her hand up against the rim. Cox thought little of it until it become infected and her dermatologist prescribed antibiotics, which weren’t effective. It was then that they identified the bacteria causing it as Mycobacterium marinum, or fish tuberculosis.

Now after three surgeries and five years of antibiotic treatments, Hannele Cox may have to have her hand amputated.

The family said the only fish contained in the tank were some neon tetras that didn’t show any signs of disease. While it may not have been beneficial in this case, us aquarium keepers need to keep an eye on the health of our fish and take precautions.

Personally, I try not to work on my tank if I have an obvious open cut on my hand. Of course I have scratches and knicks where bacteria can breed (If I tried to wait until all those healed, I’d never get to work on my tanks). I also make sure to wash my hands after aquarium work, and try to use some of that alcohol-based hand sanitizer. Even with precautions, I’m sure it’s still possible to get sick from your tanks. With anything, there’s risks associated with it – my goal of writing this isn’t to scare people away (there’s of course risks with any hobby or activity. Aquarium keeping probably isn’t any worse than most), but to inform them that this is out there and hopefully get treatment early if they run into this.

We’re wishing Hannele Cox the best of luck in her treatment, and hoping she makes a full recovery soon and can pursue her dreams.

UPDATE: Aquaspire coverage featured on Newsy.

So if you’re interested in TFH and don’t mind not getting a physical print copy, check it out.  There’s definitely some interesting articles in their publication, spanning freshwater, saltwater, and planted aquaria.

Most of the news in the aquarium industry seems to be ADA dominated lately, at least from what I’ve gathered from a random assortment of press releases and browsing the hobbyist forums. So it’s probably no surprise that another new ADA product from Aquarium Design Group has raised some eyebrows, called the ADA Cube Garden ‘Superior’ line.

German heat resistant glass is used and put together with high temperature to create an aquarium which has both high clarity, low-iron content glass and has absolutely no seams.

 

The Cube Garden Superior has no silicon seams, and from the product picture, the edges are beveled slightly, which certainly makes it look like the Cube Garden Superior is just one big chunk of glass (like a glass bowl or vase, not like standard aquariums that are 5+ pieces of glass attached with glue and silicon sealant). I’d also have to go out on a limb and say it’s impossible for this thing to leak except for an actual crack in the glass.

While it’s a neat concept, an ADA 60P Garden ‘Superior’ will set you back $3,200, as compared to the standard ADA 60P Cube Garden that retails for $120.  I don’t see it being worth it for the average hobbyist to pay an additional $3,080 to avoid silicon seams and use one large solid piece of glass for their aquarium especially when the standard Cube Gardens – generally considered the highest quality aquariums by planted tank folk – have silcion seams that are nearly invisible.

It does, however,  warm my aquarium geek heart to see new innovations like this make their way in to the hobby.

Well earlier this week when I went into Petsmart, I noticed that some of their plants were now labeled as ‘Semi Aquatic’. While I still think that just calling a plant ‘Semi Aquatic’ is still rather confusing to people just shopping around, hopefully it’ll lead to people asking more questions about the plants and doing more research. It’s a shame to see people buy these plants and put them in their aquariums. While it would be nice to see Petsmart (and the other big box stores) do even more to educate their customers to increase their chances of success in the planted tank world, this is a good first move to make sure people are more aware that the plant they’re buying won’t survive completely submerged.

• Eheim double-taps are very expensive, and very annoying. They just hang there annoyingly, I can’t seem to plumb anything right because of their existence because they keep bending my hose. Anything integrated into the canister itself is far better.
• Fluval uses some sort of weird hose ends. I bought 1/2″ hose thinking it would work with my Fluvals, but alas, the end of fluval hoses is bigger than their hose. I converted back to my eheims, but the double taps along with kinking hoses. have been giving me a major headache.
• I hate canister filter hosing that kinks on me. Maybe one day I’ll finally get my 60P plumbed appropriately and ready to go. Ordered some standard issue Eheim hose in hopes that it’s magical eheim properties save me
• My only remaining planted tank (outside of the brand new 60P) is a complete disaster, that, due to the above struggles, will need to be redone and the filter reconfigured at some point.
• I got a signed Takashi Amano book! More on that later…I think it’s cool enough to get it’s own post.