Niveau 7

Bryozoans One interesting little critter that looks much like a hydra but is a different type of animal is something called a “bryozoan”. It acts and looks much like hydra but tends to occur in clusters and colonies, often quite large. It is very rarely seen in the aquarium. The little bodies have many more … Lees meer

An article on how to build a do it yourself aquarium undergravel filter.

These are instructions on how to make several do-it-yourself planted aquarium fertilizers.

These are the instructions on how to make a fertilizer for a planted aquarium with epiphytic or floating plants,

These are instructions on how to use fish food to fertilize a planted aquarium.

There are several worthless programs that use a complex of five or more components to supposedly make a good fertilization program. It is all marketing hype.

This article describes some 16 different ways to build DIY filters for small aquariums.

Many planted aquarium photos from Europe show a little fan-like device in one corner. These are the “Chihiros Doctor” (the Twinstar Unit is very similar and does the same thing). The units are somewhat expensive ($73 to $110). This device supposedly controls algae. This device is nothing more than a “sneaky” way to use chemicals … Lees meer

There is one “interesting” approach to providing carbon dioxide to the aquarium which bears mentioning. This is to use food as the source of CO₂. Note I do NOT recommend this method. It is challenging, to say the least. Let’s do some simple math here. In a planted aquarium it is desirable to add VERY … Lees meer

How do I set up a CO₂ system for an aquarium?

KH, pH and CO₂ form a very complex relationship in the aquarium.

Dit artikel gaat over twee goedkope CO2-systemen voor een beplant aquarium.

Summary This is only for planted aquariums. If you have a fish only aquarium ignore this article. It is very important to plant a planted aquarium with a LOT of plants. There needs to be a plant of some sort every three inches. To illustrate, a 20 gallon aquarium is 24 x 12 x 16.  … Lees meer

We define a “high tech planted aquarium” as a planted tank with carbon dioxide injection and high intensity lighting with some crimson and blue light. There are a whole list of things needed for the good growth of higher plants in the high tech planted aquarium: Algae control in high tech planted aquariums is surprisingly … Lees meer

Dit zijn instructies voor het gebruik van het estimative index bemestingsprogramma voor beplante aquaria.

There is a “rule” that says you need to change the water 50% every week and a 25% change twice a week with an aquarium. The only reason for doing water changes is to keep the nitrates down. Note there are all sorts of other reasons given on social media for doing water changes: “You … Lees meer

Dit zijn instructies voor het maken van de optimale meststof voor beplante aquaria door ammoniumzouten en fosfor- en ijzertoevoegingen om in de substraat te gebruiken.

There are a whole series of products which supposedly add “liquid carbon” to a planted aquarium. There are three points which summarize the discussion: To go into more depth read on. “Liquid Carbon” in Depth There is one supplier which is honest about “liquid carbon”. It is Cory at Aquarium Co-op. Cory is the most … Lees meer

The easiest approach to planted aquarium fertilizing is to simply use Aquarium Co-Op Easy Green™ per the instructions on the container.

The going mantra is that tropical fish require “stability” and “constancy” of pH and temperature. Supposedly any rapid change over 0.2 pH or 2 degrees temperature will “shock”, “stress” and possibly kill the fish. This idea is a myth. Experimentation and scientific research by the author and Universities has shown this to be patently false. … Lees meer

Nitrates in any aquarium CAN be removed via something called assimilatory denitrification but we do not recommend it.

The substrate in an aquarium does not act as a biofilter, as proven by testing.

Goldfish, due to hundreds of years of “inadvertent selective breeding” are simply the easiest fish there is to keep. Yet well meaning but ill-informed individuals on social media will tell the hobbyist that goldfish are very touchy fish that requires a great deal of careful care. This is because of a concerted effort by PETA … Lees meer

In a small aquarium a common goldfish will grow to possibly four inches and no greater. In a large lake a common goldfish will normally grow to six inches with an occasional fish getting to eight inches. If you want a bit of a rant followed by a very long and boring analysis of the … Lees meer

Carbonate hardness (KH or alkalinity) is relatively unimportant in an aquarium.

Tetrahymena is a disease of livebearers which is often confused with ich.

Leeches in the aquarium are discussed, including how to control them.

If one adds in the cost of more filters needed for poor media the cost differential between the most cost effective media and the least cost effective media becomes a factor of 25.

The aquarium fish disease camallanus explained.

Zand en straalmiddel zijn geweldige substraten voor het aquarium.

Aquarium planaria are discussed in depth, including how to control them.

Detritus worms are discussed in depth.

Hydra in the aquarium discussed in depth.

It is possible to remove nitrates from an aquarium via anaerobic denitrification but we do NOT recommend it

A critique of the false idea that a filter made of kitty litter can somehow help reduce nitrate to nitrogen gas.

Most aquarium bottle filter designs simply do not work. But they can typically be modified to work.

High performance filters for the aquarium are simply very expensive commercial fluidized bed sumps. Don’t even consider them.

Aquarium sand filters are too complicated in operation to be useful in most aquariums,

Wet-dry aquarium filters do not work very well and are going out of favor in the hobby.

Trickle aquarium filters are not good ways to filter any aquarium.

This gives several design possibilities for a static media sump aquarium filter.

The biggest myth with canisters is that the flow through the canister is what is important. That is just plain incorrect. The test below showed that flow has very little effect on the efficiency of a canister. Test of Flow Rate in Canisters Canisters are normally rated by their flow rate. Supposedly if you double … Lees meer

This goes into the types of aquarium sump filters.

Foam in a sump makes for a very effective low maintenance aquarium filter.

This article has plans for several DIY sump aquarium filters.

The optimum aquarium filter is a fluidized bed sump.

Purigen will NOT create clear water nor will it help with nitrates. Purigen will absorb colored compounds such as tannic acid.

Clay balls are a very inefficient aquarium filter media material.

Seachem Matrix filter media is simply marketing hype that doesn’t work very well. This was confirmed by testing.

Ceramic media are very ineffective in aquarium filters.

“Growstone” or “Buddystone” is not a very effective media to put in aquarium filters.

Testing has shown lava rock is NOT a good media to put in any aquarium filter.

One of the best aquarium filter media turns out to be plastic pot scrubbers.

Bio Balls Aquarium are a relatively poor aquarium filter media.

EVA pads are decent filter media for aquariums and ponds. Japanese mats are not good media.

Pumice and perlite have a lot of shortcomings when used as a filter media.

Foam is a very good biomedia for aquarium filters, confirmed by testing.

Filterwatten worden meestal alleen gebruikt voor mechanische filtratie. Het wordt zelden gebruikt voor biofiltratie. Dit artikel gaat in op waarom filterwatten op deze manier moeten worden gebruikt.

The flow rate of water through an aquarium filter is not very important.

The recommended chronic exposure upper limit in the aquarium of nitrite in parts per million is dependent on pH as follows (from Duke University https://users.cs.duke.edu/~narten/faq/cycling.html): These limits are for chronic toxicity, where long term damage to internal organs occurs. There are some university papers on the toxicity of nitrites: The toxicity of ammonia and of … Lees meer

Ammonia is not the poison it is made out to be by many in the hobby of fishkeeping.

Chlorine in the Aquarium is very poisonous to the fish.