nabokovfan87

Just got off the phone with aqueon. They made the glass shorter due to "some hang on back's not fitting" and I asked about the trim fitment issue. They also received my email and never responded to it. I called, was given the case number, and the email to contact (after asking for the 3rd time if anything could be done) Unofficially of course, talking with the technical support staff on the other line. "that's a decision above my pay grade" was the response when asked why not just make the glass thicker and put in the correct trim piece. The current glass does bow a lot, I understand the 75G is a LOT thicker. The nice thing is that it actually works. Sending photos over now of everything, but this is just beyond silly.

@AK Aquatics How is the tank doing? Happy Holidays! 🙂

Generally it should be. yes. Most of the times it's sold for BBQs, but if you can get larger size pieces from a rockyard or garden shop you should be fine. Before I add mine to the tank (decoration) I take sandpaper to break all the very sharp edges. It can be some pretty intensely sharp rock if it's not tumbled / deburred. CC @AK Aquatics 🙂

The last big one we had, my 75G has 4-8" waves. The tank was low, probably something to keep in mind. It wasn't up to the edge of the rim and that probably saved it. I ran to the tank, floor was wobbling all over the place like I was on a roller coaster and I was trying to stabilize the tank (no idea if this was the right move). Having good lids really helps. Especially glass ones that are heavy and can hold themselves in place. Some people put the wood around the top surface to keep things from sliding as easily, like this: Make sure you have a rubber mat to do the same thing, especially on a bigger tank. This is my biggest gripe with stand manufacturers with regards to (at least locally) how tight the fit is on the top of the stands. I mean, at least give me 1/4" all the way around or something. We don't need to have this tight of a fit on the edge of the rim. As far as emergency equipment. -wet/dry vac -towels -buckets/tubs -usb air pumps + power banks (they last multiple days per change whereas others that go from AC/DC will only last hours. This means your major issue is going to be heating the tank. The only real way to accomplish this is going to be heating the room or water changes. Potentially fish selection becomes a consideration if you're in a place at risk. very good tip. Definitely something to have on hand.

Yeah. They sell plastic sheet cutting kits that work very similarly to glass cutters. It just takes a few more swipes to get a deep enough cut. Definitely go yhr route of lexan, not just the acrylic sheets that will weep and bow.

Your best bet is to go to Lowes and have them cut it. Or go to a local glass shop and have them cut it.

One of mine is writing. I started it in middle of high school and this is one of the first poems I've written. Good writing usually entails a story, this one definitely has one.

ORD. But yes! 🙂

That's where I struggle, and one of the points I missed on. One of the things I wanted to mention, but forgot to add it when typing. "Why does any of that list matter?" Make products better, the new hobbyists don't struggle as much, fish do better, and they actually enjoy the hobby. YES, information is critical and having a new hobbyist understand what to do is a huge hurdle, but often people have good intentions and a terrible filter. Often people have the right mindset and don't understand how the food they were given caused bloat or other issues. Long term, systemically, if the issues are fixed you're looking at a much better feedback loop to help new hobbyists. That's why I mentioned how testing should be a highlight of major companies. Show us the tests on the box. Use that for marketing. Have some basis of standard for reliability and actually test your product for reliability. The point being, make sure your testing is robust enough and shows defects, not designed in such a way to only show success and ignore reliability issues.

Have you noticed any fin nipping on the silver dollars towards the angels?

Meds alter the viscosity of water. Adding that into the equation we need to also realize that a lot of ammonia comes from fish respiration. Meaning, you very likely need to improve oxygenation. Salt helps with this, but I would start by adding an additional air stone. Ammonia being high isn't great. Nitrite being high isn't great either. Both of those typically result in some form of burn on the fish. Salt helps to prevent this. Right now we need to get things in check. Likely this means add air, and let's review filtration to make sure it's sufficient. Whatever is going on I lean towards your tank being cycled, but just overstocked due to the size and number of silver dollars. Lastly, until both nitrite and ammonia are safe I would be doing water changes every 24 hours. I usually do 50% water changes, but 30-50% daily should be sufficient. For the sake of it, please verify the tap isn't adding ammonia (usually shows up when there is chloramines in the tap as well) Sidenote. Colu posted elsewhere about feeling under the weather. It might take time for a reply. Edit: I think you have the marineland 38G bowfront kit? Please show how the filter box is setup. Likely some improvements we can do to expand bioload performance and give the tank a better time processing the load.

NCIS is a phenomenal show. So is the X-Files, especially the episode about baseball. It's a subtle, but beautiful analogy. I would recommend travelers, just be careful when it gets to the later seasons and things hit a little close to home. Top gear, before the trio was sent to amazon, please enjoy. Clarkson's farm, James May's shows, I always enjoy. What am I actually watching these days.... All American. It's a really impactful show and I do enjoy that it makes me think about the things I go through day to day. Very good writing, despite the teenage drama. There is a lot of depth there.

Needless to say, we spend some time here and get to know one another. It also might be pretty easy to leave out / not mention certain talents if they exist given the nature of it being a forum specifically about fishkeeping. Please take a second, feel free to share a talent you might not share regularly on here. I know sometimes being vulnerable isn't easy, but it is a good quality to have (I think). I will share mine tomorrow, once I find something of quality to share. For now here is something about me: I used to play street hockey every day, literally, growing up. We don't have ice and so roller / street was just the way I got to enjoy something I loved. I did eventually get to play some ice hockey, I did get to skate in an NHL arena, and I did get to meet a pretty epic athlete center ice at the pond and get my skate/gloves signed. I did score a goal, even as a non-offensive defensemen, and I definitely feel like I missed out on my calling going amateur / pro due to just literally not having the guidance needed to make that push. Meaning, I had the heart for that type of effort, but I just never had someone guide me on how to get to my goal.

Listened to this earlier because of this thread. Very interesting conversation for sure.

As long as the rhizome isn't buried the ferns should be fine to go right into the easy planter. If the rhizome is tied or in the rock wool then it should be ok.

Firstly, the Betta and Borneo loaches are going to want very different tank setups. Given that they are in the same tank one of those two isn't going to do well given how things are setup. The loaches will want high oxygenation and good flow, 72-74 degree water. The Betta will want low flow, as well as 79-81 degree water temp. I believe they also don't do well in warm temps, but I can't specifically remember the advice I was given. I mention this as something for others to comment on or something to research further. You're talking a double dose. Just me mentioning this for clarification. There is a lot of assumptions here and testing may or may not be explaining the results you're seeing. The way I handle things is generally as follows. 1. You're better off with small doses daily or spread through the week. You're better with doses spread out compared to one large dose once a week. 2. I would dose normally and test daily specifically logging nitrates. If you see a gradual decline or a constant than it would indicate that feeding and your fish bioload aren't adding to the plant fertilization in a meaningful way. This is a good thing because it means you can control dosing via testing a little bit easier. (Again, I'm assuming this) 3. If your bar is 10ppm nitrates, you'd dose the tank as normal and then test midweek. If your nitrates are lower than desired, add another dose. If your nitrates are constant and where you want them to be, then consider halving the dose and dosing 2x a week. Don't quit changing water. That will introduce more issues than solutions. Your main path would be controlling the floating plants and light while . monitoring dosing levels as mentioned above. This is why some tanks use rings to corral floating plants and keep them slightly in check and give the other plants a chance to get some light and nutrients. You're floating plants are likely choking out the other plants. This isn't just in terms of lights but also in terms of nutrients. Having free access to carbon let's them thrive.

Improve or review tank water circulation, add a second heater. Depending on tank size what this does is widen the zone of heat emanating through the water. This means you're less likely to have cold spots and more even heating. This also means that you're working on having a backup as well as the heater itself not working as hard. For 3-4 foot long tanks this is a very common approach. Please post a picture of the tank, heater position, as well as whatever filtration you're running so I can check out the flow path. Lastly, what is the ambient temperature in the room at night?

Yes. Correct. I have very similar, almost identical water to yours. I dose in some alkalinity buffer in my tanks to get the KH from 40 up to 60-80 ppm to give it a little more stability. Another, more safe way to do that is to use crushed coral, 1lb per 10G.

Something like baking soda is used to raise PH, small amount might work. You could also use Ich-X. Sounds good. I use a prefilter sponge, a spraybar kit, and a pumphead to have added circulation in my CO2 tank. I'll try to snag a picture for you tomorrow.

Sounds about right. Thank you for checking! It's been hard to even find anything similar, so it was cool to see something similar in style.

Do you happen to still have that ornament, does it have a brand or anything on the bottom? I had one in a similar color / design when I was a kid and I've been trying to find it.

This is an idea of your flow path right now: Having a spraybar across the top would give you that even flow across the entire length of the tank. Ultimately, a spraybar is one of the best ways to have great circulation. Having the intake on or near the spraybar will best enhance that output flow when using a spraybar. Water will circulate across the water surface, down the glass, back towards the output and then the intake takes in that water. It's one oval / circulation path and that is going to reduce a lot of deadspots. If you're using a single direct output, aim it diagonally across the longest part of the tank. If your output is back right, aim it towards the front left and use lock line / duck bill outputs to spread it out, if possible.

Waste. KH is a series of specific elements in your water and having that present gives you a "bigger trashcan" before you see something like a PH crash. Once you have a spike in waste, chemical changes happen and ions are bonded/reacting. As a result your KH drops, and as a result of that your PH drops. https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/ph-gh-kh You'll also learn a bit more about your water by performing an off-gas test. Some water can alter it's parameters after it comes out of the tap. You'll usually see small changes in results. It also helps give you an idea of what your water changes are doing in your tank and how something like old tank syndrome can become prevalent in tanks with water quality issues. 1. Take a sample of water from the tap, test it for everything you can. 2. Aerate that same sample for 24 hours with an air stone, then retest. (This is what your water parameters are during water changes) 3. Compare test #2 results to your tank and this gives you an idea of what water changes are doing to your water chemistry.

Hey everyone, I am, or was, a design engineer working on a variety of projects related to aerospace seating. The cool thing about that job was that I was able to work with injection molded plastics, vacuum formed plastics, 3d printers, various metals, electronics, cushions, upholstery, prototyping, and a variety of other mediums. One of my "pride and joy" projects came trying to model a solution to save a massive company project. Needless to say, it worked, it was fulfilling, and it's the type of thing where as an engineer that is the feeling of making a difference, and that feeling is what makes the job worth the effort. Whether you're making the production line's job easier, the customer's life easier, or your own life easier by improving design, you report to many different people for considerations and have to put all of those things together for a robust product. So, with that in mind, I wanted to try to elaborate on a few things I think "the hobby" from an industry perspective can do better. I will specifically order this list in a priority as well. 5. Protect quality. One of the issues with today's product designs is how easily things make their way from the manufacturing plant and end up being molded in a different color with poor quality control. We all are familiar with the "nano air pump" and it was news to me that these are common in other parts of the world, offered in half a dozen different colors, and come from a plethora of different manufacturers. Does it really matter if one is "made better" than the others? Would anyone reliably know which design is best? This is where you're stuck looking at forums, youtube videos, unboxings, comments, amazon reviews, and so many outside factors to try to find what is actually decent and will work for your particular situation. Secondarily, this is why we also see so many projects where people have to fix, create, or 3d print things themselves. Make sure your own brand has a quality standard, follows it, and make sure that the stores that sell your product are beholden to that standard. One of the best examples of this issue is one I personally experienced with Fluval, the E-Series heaters. It's a FANTASTIC product, but I have ordered it from a variety of stores and had a 50% failure rate due to package design. Why? Well, because of the way items were shipped is one reason, but ultimately the packaging itself does not protect the product from damage. That is the epitome of a design failure. 4. Think outside of the box There are a lot of products we use every day that are so rigidly designed. The choice of "better" is such a meaningless difference at times. To the extent where color and sponge porosity could even be the defining difference in a design being useful or a complete failure. Rehashes of 20-50 year old products means that you're putting band-aids over solutions and not forcing an honest design review process. If the least you can do is change one characteristic to offer a "revolutionary product" for the hobby, I think we all can demonstrate that the design engineers and those controlling what designs get pushed into production can do better. There is a lot of skilled, passionate hobbyists. Ultimately I think that's a skill set some major companies need to really take advantage of. Something like a certification testing center should be the highlight of a company like Fluval, eheim, Sera, Seachem, and so many others. Yes, I know they run some tests, but I also see a lot of very poor design choices make their way to the customer. I believe Cory has mentioned it on more than one occasion, regarding how some companies are simply behind the times and not making products for the modern hobby. This is also why we do see such a divide between some products (and prices) for fresh vs. saltwater products. Sometimes this difference makes sense, especially given material requirements for a saltwater product design, but I guarantee that there have been some great idea left in the design meeting room and never even sketched out onto the computer. (example: you're doing a water change and your bucket is full of dirty water, you're on carpet or don't want to drip on the floor. Where do you place the siphon without dropping it into the tank?) 3. Be honest. In the past few years there is a lot of things I have learned a very small amount of information about. I think because we've all been home for a little while there are conversations we've had and items we've been able to research because the time to do so was there. These are the types of things that companies should be doing to protect and improve their product designs. If you're making a battery powered product, then you'd probably be very interested to see what the electric car world is working on. If you're making a fish food product and a documentary comes out about shark (mercury) being used in pet food, then that is probably something you'd want to look into. There are a lot of examples of this. As an industry, for the sake of the customer I think we can do a lot better than labeling a food product with "protein of an ocean creature" as an ingredient. And yes, that isn't made up, that is an actual term used on a product. Secondly, I think we really do need to have product issues heard. If a company is simply rehashing designs, ignoring customer issues, or not really wanting to face some difficult design meetings, then all you are doing is hurting your own product line. One of the better examples of this is how some canister filters were "improved" through their various design iterations, but plastics are now thinner, alignment tabs break very easily, and that results in issues for the customer with product ease of use and reliability. Is this a very easy thing to fix? Yeah. It really is. When you make a mistake, admit it, fix it, and do better. 2. Listen to the customer This is a big one. Think about it. How many times have you purchased something and had an issue, only for it to exist years (or decades) later. Why is it so difficult to get a product that works, doesn't break on a whim, and where you can feel confident it will work for your particular needs. Need a hang on back filter? Well, make sure you get one size up. Need a prefilter sponge? Well, make sure you get one that doesn't just have a hole through it or make your own. Need a lid for an aquarium? Well, you are better off making one yourself. Need something that isn't allowed to be sold online? Tough, even if you don't have a method to go support local hobbyist shops and buy the product as intended. There are so many considerations for reasons why products can't be improved or available, but I want to make it clear how many hurdles customers face just trying to buy something simple. So many things are designed in such a way to look good on the box, but in use there are very obvious flaws that are often ignored and never addressed. A lot of time and money is spent on marketing as opposed to design, especially for this hobby. Trust me, that is something that is a common disconnect and it's something most engineers deal with. Even if it's a simple fix, it's almost never responded to on an FAQ page, and guidance and information for the customer isn't there. A fun example of this is a medication I was looking at, dosing is per 2 gallons. Or another medication where the front of the box says "treats 100 gallons", but in practice you're dosing the medication 5x a week and it actually only works for 2 treatments in one 10 gallon tank. And my personal favorite, trying to find a lid for my aqueon 29G aquarium that actually fits is actually impossible. When I tried to contact the company, I can't actually provide them the photographs with dimensions or get a response back. This is the norm, and it's actually really unacceptable. 1. Do better and actually try to improve products Let's say there is a product in work for a new design. Maybe there is a real push for something bigger in scope. The first question I would ask the designer is "what was this product based on?" Meaning, is this the type of thing where it's designed from the beginning to be it's own design, are we trying to use the same container and redesign the internals, or is this simply a product where we are going back to putting a new sticker on the box and not much else has changed? Time and time again there are things released as "new and innovative" that really aren't. Some companies might have a great product design on offer, but something as simple as using a 30 year old material choice is causing major issues with manufacturing, quality, production, and shipping. All of those choices fall down to the customer, and all of those issues are very likely to be ignored as demonstrated in the above request. I think overall there are needs for certain products and design costs don't have to be extreme. I think the customers are hungry for product improvements, mod kits, and other things. There is a few hundred examples of this, various threads, posts like this, and I think the bottom-line of any company would be improved if they just tried..... wanted to do so. Please feel free to post your own ideas, feedback, and thoughts on the topic.