Aquarium Hacks

[JettsPapa]

On 9/1/2022 at 12:23 PM, Cinnebuns said:

I might have to use this someday. I'm having a hard time convincing myself to use anything but gravel out of fear. I did recently buy some black sand to put in my shrimp tank that's currently barebottom but it hasn't been put in yet

What are you afraid of?  I have either pool filter sand or sandblasting sand in all eight tanks.  I've never had gravel.

[Cinnebuns]

On 9/1/2022 at 12:26 PM, JettsPapa said:

What are you afraid of?  I have either pool filter sand or sandblasting sand in all eight tanks.  I've never had gravel.

Partially filter clogging. Mostly gravel is what I'm used to

[JettsPapa]

On 9/1/2022 at 12:36 PM, Cinnebuns said:

Partially filter clogging. Mostly gravel is what I'm used to

As long as you don't use a very fine sand that shouldn't be a problem.

[Patrick_G]

On 9/1/2022 at 10:23 AM, Cinnebuns said:

I might have to use this someday. I'm having a hard time convincing myself to use anything but gravel out of fear. I did recently buy some black sand to put in my shrimp tank that's currently barebottom but it hasn't been put in yet

I think aquasoil is hands down the best stuff for growing plants. The main drawback is the price. 

[rockfisher]

Asking for broken slate tile and every hardware store for pleco caves.

[Cinnebuns]

On 9/1/2022 at 2:48 PM, Patrick_G said:

I think aquasoil is hands down the best stuff for growing plants. The main drawback is the price. 

That's facts. Is that fluval shrimp stuff good for plants too?  I think that's pretty expensive tho too right?

[Patrick_G]

On 9/1/2022 at 1:35 PM, Cinnebuns said:

That's facts. Is that fluval shrimp stuff good for plants too?  I think that's pretty expensive tho too right?

Yes, I just use the term aquasoil for all the commercial fired aquarium soils. That includes Fluval Stratum, ADA, UNS etc.  I have been told that the Fluval Stratum is the least enriched. That means is doesn’t leach much ammonia when you initially put it in the tank. This makes initial start up easier for beginners. This is the one that aquatic horticulture champ @Bentley Pascoe recommends in his aquarium club talk. 

[Bentley Pascoe]

To chime in (thanks for the shout out Patrick!):

Fluval in my experience is one of the easier to source and least enriched of the various aquasoils out there; however, if you want no ammonia leaching at all, then I would look into Brightwell's Rio Escuro.  This is an ash based aquasoil rather than clay, but it's functionally so similar that there's really no difference unless you specifically want the hyper enriched, high ammonia leaching of some of the other aquasoils.  Those can be very good for kickstarting your beneficial bacteria colonies as it provides food for them readily and easily for a good period of time.

[CJs Aquatics]

There are some really cool ideas on this thread, thanks to everyone who shared I’m going to be implementing alot of them myself

[chrisharvey1160]

On 9/1/2022 at 4:37 AM, CJs Aquatics said:

to battle the BBA

What is/are BBA? 

Big Bad Algae?

Big Black Algae?

Thank you.

Edited September 2, 2022 by chrisharvey1160
Spelling

[TOtrees]

On 9/2/2022 at 7:43 AM, chrisharvey1160 said:

What is/are BBA? 

Your suggestions are so close to the answer, I can’t tell if you’re asking for real? Black beard algae.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

@chrisharvey1160 😂😂 all of your guesses are correct!

But for the sake of science, Black Beard Algae. Yarrr!

[chrisharvey1160]

On 9/2/2022 at 9:05 AM, TOtrees said:

Your suggestions are so close to the answer, I can’t tell if you’re asking for real? Black beard algae.

Yes...I had totally forgotten  about it..

I battled that on my 75 cichlid tank..😢

Thank You!

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Bread tags. I love using the orange ones for heaters.

 

[Jenja]

A ladle. My 2g was a nightmare to add water into - no matter how slowly I poured I always disturbed something. Bought a dollar store ladle on a whim, thinking it'd be useful for something with my tanks but not having a fully formed idea...turns out it's the perfect tool to aid refilling. Ladle in one hand submerged just below the water and a gallon jug in the other, simply aim the water at it and now I can refill with a shocking amount of speed and nothing disturbed.