Weekly Roundup

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It’s the end of the week! Just a few points to put forth onto the blog….

 

  • 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.

No Planaria

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While it’s been some time since I’ve done shrimp, one of the most common problems I ran into in shrimp keeping was those pesky planaria. They’ve been known to lurk beneath the substrate and attack shrimp. I’ve known breeders who have had entire colonies wiped out by these guys. While overfeeding and water quality do tend to be the culprit, sometimes they can just pop out of no where.

Common wisdom has been to dog dewormer (fenbendazole) to nuke these guys, but it was exciting to see a new product make it to the United States called ‘No Planaria’, a product made by the same people who make Biomax shrimp food. I believe it’s relatively new to the US market, so I couldn’t really find much in the way of people’s experiences with it and whether it works any better or worse than fenbendazole or manual removal.

Green Leaf Aquariums is currently the only place I know of in the US where you can buy the product.

If anyone has had any experience, let me know via the ‘Contact’ link or commenting on this post and I’ll share them.

(Image courtesy David Thomas via flickr)

Hemianthus callitrichoides

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At our aquarium club swap meet, there were at least one or two plant sellers (and for a very cichlid-heavy club, you take what you can get) with a good variety of plants. One seller had some very nice looking emersed foreground mats for sale. I decided to purchase one, and as I was doing so, another shopper remarked, “How does anyone actually grow that stuff?”

I’ve killed it countless times, but I’ve also grown some very nice looking foreground mats with it on occasion. I don’t think there’s really any “secret” to this plant,  but below is some basic information intermixed with my experiences.

Scientific Name: Hemianthus callitrichoides
Common Name: ‘HC’, ‘Dwarf Baby Tears’
Use in Aquascaping: Foreground, iwagumi aquascapes
Difficulty: Moderate to Hard

Water Hardness: I’ve had luck in both hard and soft water. Doesn’t seem to make a difference.
Substrate: A finer nutrient-rich sandy substrate is best. In very rocky substrates, it may be difficult to get HC rooted.
Fertilization: High CO2 is recommended. I’ve only had luck when I used CO2 injection. A good fertilization regiment (particularly iron, I had better luck when supplementing iron) is nescesary.
Lighting: High – Most of the sources I’ve read claim HC needs high light to thrive. Depending on lighting type, tank dimensions etc., it’s difficult to define what high light is. I had my most success growing it in a 10 gallon with a 40 watt Power Compact Light.

Tips: After awhile of forming a dense mat, mulm and sludge can build up underneath. Occasionally the whole mat will start to pull itself up too as it becomes heavier. It’s sometimes necessary  and helpful to re-divide the mat from time to time and “start over” with the foreground so to speak. Making a couple extra bucks selling it to fellow hobbyists can’t hurt either.

 


Thanks :)

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I was looking at the stats for February, and my little blog here at well over 500 unique visitors. That means discounting the select few search engine robots and accidental clicks, hundreds of people have at least taken a quick peek so far.

I’m not one of those search engine optimized “graaah we must increase the click-through rates!” type of bloggers,  but I did get a pretty good idea of what content people are clicking on and what fell short. Of course, the content I enjoyed writing or that were more challenging were the ones that did the best. I even got a few comments about how my groaner jokes elicited at least one or two good chuckles.

The small bit of blogging I’ve done so far has been a great experience, and I’m glad Aquaspire in it’s blog form is off to such a great start.  Thanks for reading along everyone!

Aquarium Design Group: Loyalty Program

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I received some information from Aquarium Design Group (ADG) today that there was even more news to add to yesterday’s Aquasoil deal. In addition to the reduced shipping and Aquasoil pre-order prices, they’re also introducing a loyalty program where for every $20 you spend, you get $1 of store credit to use on a future purchase (essentially 5% cash back in the form of store credit).

Other retailers do similar things; those familiar with Best Buy know they have something similar, when I go to lunch at Subway I earn points for a free sub. With the recent price cut on Aquasoil, as well as this new rewards program from ADG, ADA products (which started as a luxury, owned by only the elite few, but I’ve noticed they have already gained quite a bit of momentum in the last year or two in the hobby) are becoming less expensive for the average hobbyist to own. As I say, almost anything which attracts more participants in our hobby is a good thing.

Fair Disclosure: I just started setting up my ADA 60P last night with some aquascaping rocks and aquasoil, so I might still be coming off the high of clear, rimless tanks and a very natural-looking substrate. Either that or they might’ve slipped some sort of happy gas into my aquasoil bag.

As I touched on in the Aquasoil Wars article, it’s really interesting to see ADG break away from the typical quiet set-price no-sale strategy typical of higher end retailers and start this week with price cuts, sales, and a rewards program. I’ve really enjoyed seeing the high-caliber aquascapes people come up with in the ADA-style tanks, and I hope programs like these will encourage more people to give the art of aquascaping a shot.

From the ADG press release:

This new program instantly adds and accrues points to customers and clients of ADA through ADGShop for money spent on product as a way to reward those who choose Aqua Design Amano products. Whether a customer purchases a bag of AP-1 Fish Food or a complete ADA 120-P Aquarium setup, they are rewarded for their loyalty, patronage and appreciation.

….

The new Buyer Reward Program is effective immediately on all purchases, and while the system is brand new to ADGShop and ADA offerings, it allows for much greater integration and development as time progresses. This enables possibilities such as:
Bonus Points awarded for special purchases
Pre-Order Bonuses
Double Point weekends

When you make a purchase, you can check the amount of points accrued by your account at ADGShop.com by simply clicking on “My Account” then under “Other Features” select “My Rewards”

Your accrued Rewards will then show and you can Redeem these at any time to apply to your order!

Aquasoil Wars!

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When I went to replace with my 3 crappy algae-infested scapeless tanks with something nicer to lighten up and add some aesthetics to my dark, foreboding, gloomy basement, I decided to downsize to just one tank – an ADA tank. The ADA rimless aquariums and Aquasoil Amazonia substrate line have really received high praise in the aquarium community. It isn’t the cheapest, and I certainly don’t think everything from ADA is worth it’s price, but their rimless tanks and Aquasoil Amazonia substrate are used by a great many planted aquarists.

When I was shopping around, there were 2 distributors of ADA products in the US: Aqua Forest Aquarium (AFA), based in California, and Aquarium Design Group (ADG), based in Texas. When I shopped both of these company’s catalogs awhile ago, the only thing that differed was the shipping price (ADG in Texas is closer to my house, after all). Everything else was identical, right down to the stock  list. Since then, ADG has increased their presence in the online aquaria world substantially, answering questions and releasing content.

And then today things got even better. As I sat there eating my sandwich, I saw on twitter ADG had cut the price on Aquasoil , cut shipping costs, and replaced Aquasoil Amazonia II with a type called ‘Aquasoil Amazonia Improved‘. Anything that helps me grow healthier plants is a good thing, and making it cheaper is even better.

So if I was going to buy Aquasoil again, where would I buy it? How do these two companies compare in price?

If we look at ADG vs. AFA pricing for a single 9-liter bag of Aquasoil shipped to my house, we have:

ADG: $36.69
AFA: $49.17

ADG: Aquasoil to my house

AFA: Aquasoil to my House

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So ADG is considerably cheaper for a single bag of Aquasoil shipped to me by more than $12.

Let’s try something else – let’s see how much it costs to have a bag shipped to you if you live in San Francisco, Aqua Forest Aquarium’s location:

ADG: $38.40
AFA: $39.19

ADG: Aquasoil shipped to San Fransisco, CA

AFA: Aquasoil shipped to San Francisco, CA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Even in the same city as AFA, it would still be cheaper (though less than a dollar) to order from Aquarium Design Group instead of Aqua Forest Aquarium. Neither of these examples include instore pickup from either place, sales taxes where applicable, and include the pre-order discount from ADG, which may or may not be permanent.

While drawing too many conclusions from the pricing on a bag of Aquasoil is dangerous, I think it’s safe to say this is the first time I’ve seen a clearcut pricing advantage from either AFA or ADG over the other. Is this the start of a competition between the two US Distributors for the money of current and potential ADA customers? More than likely. Is this good for the aquarist? Definitely. Competition drives prices down, quality up, and pushes innovation and the “newest and greatest” into the marketplace.

I’ve really enjoyed the content that I’ve seen from Aquarium Design Group’s ‘ADGVibe’, which has included videos and articles on aquascaping, which makes things far more friendly to cynical, inexperienced ADA “newbies” like myself, who would otherwise probably cause injury to myself and others while placing driftwood. As a poor, aquarium hobbyist college student (are there any rich college students? Bueller? Bueller?) who just paid $3.50/gallon to fill up his car, cheap Aquasoil is even more awesome. Even for an average planted tank hobbyist, it just got much cheaper to outfit your tank with quality substrate.

Update: Marineland Stealth Pro Recall

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Last week we reported that the Marineland Stealth and Stealth Pro heaters were both being recalled.

First the tweet I sent out with a link to the blog post started with ‘Breaking…’. I had actually meant it entirely in the journalistic form. I didn’t fully realize the horrible irony until about 30 minutes after I sent the tweet. I wasn’t that good to come up with something that cool intentionally. Well, it wasn’t that cool, but I got a few chuckles out of it. Of course I’m chuckling much less when I realize I still have a heater to replace. Anyways, on to the actual news.

I checked with a few of the online aquarium stores and all confirmed that the recall just affected Stealth Pro Models, 100 watts or higher. I’ve received notices from PetSmart, Big Als, and Drs. Foster & Smith Aquatic sent to me about the recall, and it sounds like all of them are working with customers to get refunds or replacements. The online aquarium stores that I spoke with all said my Visitherm Stealth heater (circa 2006) wasn’t affected by the voluntary recall.

Reefbuilders posted a letter sent to suppliers outlining the details of the recall. It looks like the older stealth models were previously discontinued and all were just yanked from shelves.

So the bottom line is if you have a Stealth Pro Heater 100w or higher, you should immediately cease using and contact Marineland or the retailer you bought it from for a refund. If your model isn’t effected, I have no idea. I tried to contact Marineland but I was on hold for about 10 minutes before I gave up. Personally, I’ll be getting a refund for my Stealth Pro, and swapping out my Visitherm Stealth for Hydor Inline heaters out of sheer paranoia.

You can read the original article with the email I received here.

UPDATE #1: Some people have reported in that they’ve had luck getting their original Stealth (and not Stealth Pro) models exchanged for other Marineland heaters Visi-Therm Deluxe heater. Formally, this is being called a “stop sale” and not a “recall” persay. Regardless, if you have either the Stealth or the Stealth Pro, giving Marineland a call (800-338-4896) and seeing what you’re options are is the best bet. So far all of the feedback I’ve gotten about Marineland’s customer service has been positive.

 

4 Things You Should Upgrade in your Aquarium

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One of my goals this year was to balance the aquarium budget, or in practical terms, take in the same amount of money that I put into it. The profit would come from fish and plant sales, and the expenses..well..I don’t have to tell anyone where the expenses come from in this hobby. If I ran my aquariums like a business though, any accountant looking at my numbers would probably puke. Deficit spending is no obstacle, unexpected income is sometimes added to my aquarium budget in the form of a bailout, and not even my tax return is spared from being added to the aquarium budget.

For those of us in the US, tax returns sometimes generate a nice little splurge in income. As any true hobbyist would, I immediately started looking for some useful upgrades to make to my tanks. These are, in my opinion, the areas of your aquarium that are the most useful and worthy of an upgrade.

Non-Planted Aquaria

  • Filters: There’s an old saying; ‘You can never have too much filtration.’ That’s generally true. Unless your fish are being blown out of the water or you have a species particularly sensitive to excess water movement, a filter is a great place to look to upgrade. You can replace a relatively limited hang-on-tank filter with something more powerful like a canister filter. If you’re feeling really adventuresome, you can even try out one of those new-fangled computerized filters like the Fluval G (the thing has a little LCD screen on it! It’s also arguably more than most people’s entire aquarium setup).

  • Hydor ETH Inline Heater

    Heaters: If your heater got recalled, you might be on the market for a new one. If you have a canister filter, inline heaters might be a good source to invest some money in. Somewhere between $35-45, these just attach to the line for your canister filter and heat the water that way. That’s one less ugly thing you have in your tank. (Photo by James Green via flickr)

Planted Aquaria

  • CO2: The answer to life, the universe, and everything. If you’re going for a higher tech tank, Co2 is probably the best investment you can make. Having done the DIY method with a 2 liter bottle and yeast for awhile, I can assure you the investment is definitely worth it. The hassle of DIY CO2 was crazy. Once I had the tank, a regulator, and a diffuser, it was pretty easy to setup. Fill the bubble counter with some bubble counter liquid, turn the dial, watch bubbles come out of the diffuser. You just gotta be careful with compressed gas like CO2 – the last thing you want is a large hunk of brass flying around.

  • ADA Aquasoil Amazonia

    Substrate: This might be more controversial than the rest of the items I’ve listed, but I’ve found I have the most success with plants with a good substrate. While something completely inert like standard gravel provides area for roots to grow, it doesn’t offer any nutrients plants can take up through their roots (outside of any excess fish food or debris that falls through the cracks). There’s lots of good options here; products such as Flourite or Eco-Complete work decently. There’s guides on the internet on making your own mineralized top soil, though I’ve never made my own. Some even swear by things like Miracle Gro (not sure I’d advise this one, but hey, if it works..). The opinion of the “best” substrate always seems to fall back on ADA Aquasoil Amazonia. Aquasoil is rich with nutrients, looks natural, and is competatively priced with some of the other options. I haven’t tested it out yet, but I purchased some recently from Aquarium Design Group. They were easy to get in touch with, and answered all of my questions about how much to buy, which type was best etc.  (Photo by Torden Sungjun Cho via flickr)

Of course there’s something to be said for stowing away your extra cash for a rainy day, but if your aquariums need some investment, these should give you some ideas.

Atomic CO2 Diffuser

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For those of us with planted tanks, algae is one of the greatest evils. It’s the arch-nemesis that bursts on screen in any action movie just when the hero is about save the damsel in distress, and it’s never the easy ‘just pull and remove’ kind. It always seem to be the kind that requires a hammer and chisel, or a tactical nuke from an orbiting satellite to rid yourself of.

While every algae is caused by something different (all of which tend to be fiercely debated on aquarium sites), one common element always seems to be blamed for causing it. CO2. Actually, most problems in planted aquaria can be attributed to CO2. Poor plant growth? Increase CO2. Plants melting? Increase CO2. Not green enough? Even more Co2. Some people even recommend adding CO2 to the point where the fish begin gasping, then dialing it down a notch. Just increasing the nob and watching your CO2 levels rise isn’t quite the end. You need to diffuse the CO2 into the water efficiently.

A standard glass CO2 diffusor

Since the dawn of time, I’ve used a standard glass CO2 diffusor. You look up the CO2 line, turn it on to a reasonable level, and small bubbles begin coming out of it. It just sticks to the side of the tank, and you can get them off eBay for $7-8 or from various online sources for a ballpark amount of $12.

Then, as I was sitting at my desk at lunch one day, I browsed upon an announcement from Green Leaf Aquariums. A new, “atomic” CO2 diffuser was available from them that promised to achieve “100% CO2 dissolution”. Hah. What kind of wizardry was this? It was probably just some marketing gimmick.

I watched the video, and I nearly spit my sandwich onto my computer monitor. Maybe it was just the jungle noises in the video, but the CO2 diffuser was actually pretty impressive. It looks more like a very fine mist than the small bubbles I’m used to. From the video, it’s hard to tell how much the diffuser had been cranked up, but I imagine it would be more efficient than my current glass diffuser. They have an inline model also, that coughs up a an intermittent mist (I imagine running the mist through the turbulence of a canister filter line would break up the bubbles even more effectively). I’m considering upgrading my Co2 diffusers in the two tanks I have to one these. (Image courtesy egmel via flickr)

Haven’t decided which model I’d choose, whether the inline or the intank. The possibility of leaks on the canister filter line always makes me a bit leery when adding on anything. Is it worth $40-80 for me to use these over the simple glass diffusers I have laying around? The juries still out, but getting 100% of my injected CO2 to dissolve in the water with a small, simple device would certainly be welcome – when I crank up the Co2, I’d know I wasn’t wasting as much.

You can check out the videos below and decide for yourself. Feel free to comment with experiences with these. The diffusers are available over at Green Leaf Aquariums. Aquascapist also has some information about the Atomic CO2 diffusers..

 

 

Marineland Stealth Heater Recall?

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I’ve used Marineland Stealth heaters in my tank for a number of years. They’re nearly solid black, small, not made of glass (so they won’t shatter), and generally don’t look too bad for in-tank heaters for planted tanks. I had one where the casing cracked when it was out of water, but they quickly sent me a replacement when I reported the issue. Well, looks like all isn’t well in Marineland Stealth-land. I just received this email from Foster & Smith Aquatics regarding the Marineland Stealth heater line:

Marineland is investigating quality issues involving the Stealth PRO Submersible Heater line, and out of an abundance of caution, they have stopped selling 100, 150, 200, 250 and 300 watt models. If you have questions about this stop sale or to return these heaters under your Marineland warrantees, please call Marineland Customer Service at 800-338-4896.

Please stop using it immediately and take the following steps:

  1. Unplug the heater from the wall to stop the flow of electricity
  2. Let the heater cool for 15 minutes
  3. Remove the heater from the tank

As a valued customer, your satisfaction is our priority and we would like to offer a replacement or refund for the heater you purchased from us.

That doesn’t sound good at all…I don’t have any more details, but I’ll keep this updated with any more information I find out.

UPDATE: Other’s have reported receiving similarly-worded emails from PetSmart.
It looks like Marineland has indeed issued a voluntary recall on their Stealth and Stealth Pro line of heaters as a cautionary measure while they investigate possible issues. Nothing about what the issue is exactly, but incidents of the Marineland Heater exploding have been reported on some of the aquarium forums.

As the recall recommends, you should stop using the heater as per the instructions above from Marineland, and contact either your original point of purchase or Marineland directly at their number above for refunds or exchanges. Nice to see that Marineland is exercising some caution and offering refunds.

UPDATE #2: Only Stealth Pro models 100 watt+ are eligible for recall according to a few major aquarium merchandise outlets. You can read the updated post here. Feel free to leave comments if you’ve heard anything different.

UPDATE #3: Some people have reported in that they’ve had luck getting their original Stealth (and not Stealth Pro) models exchanged for other Marineland heaters Visi-Therm Deluxe heater. Formally, this is being called a “stop sale” and not a “recall” persay. Regardless, if you have either the Stealth or the Stealth Pro, giving Marineland a call and seeing what you’re options are is the best bet. So far all of the feedback I’ve gotten about Marineland’s customer service has been positive.