Why Do You Need Fish Tank Stands?

One important part to your aquatic setup is the fish tank stand. Not only does it adequately support the tank itself, it serves a wider variety of purposes and needs. You definitely do not want to place your new fish tank on a cheap bookcase or table. Fish tank stands are designed to hold the immense amount of weight they are subjected to. For example, if you have a 10 gallon tank, you will usually fill it up to a little more than 9 gallons. Each gallon of water weighs a little more than 8 pounds. So, for a 10 gallon tank, you would be looking at about 76 pounds once the water is added. Adding gravel, equipment and decorative items adds even more weight. Finding A Fish Tank Stand There are a wide variety of fish tank stands available. You should be able to find an appropriate size for your tank at a pet store or aquatic hobby store. Fish tank stands are not necessarily cheap, but they are really not optional when it comes to a fish tank. If you have a small table sitting around your home, it may be usable, but you need to take into consideration the enormous weight that will be placed on it. Will it crack under the pressure? Once you have your fish tank stand set up, you probably need to anchor it, especially if you have pets or children around the house. Imagine if a child wanted to see the fish and decided to hoist himself up by holding onto the top of the tank. Surely the tank and fish stand would topple over, hurting your child and destroying your aquarium. So, you don’t absolutely have to anchor it to a stud in your wall, but it can be a good idea, depending on your home situation. An aquarium is a big investment in money and can take quite a bit of time overall. Using a fish tank stand can help make sure your investment doesn’t accidentally hit the floor or destroy the random table you decided to put your aquarium on. Fish tank stands can also be good at hiding your equipment, food and extra filters since many fish tank stands have shelves and doors underneath. Choose the fish tank stand that is right for your tank and your home, and you should not have to worry about it the support your fish tank is receiving.

Maintaining A Large Fish Tank

Fish have always been considered a very low maintenance pet but, the trick is you will soon get addicted and from couple fish in a small tank you will soon acquire more and more to a large fish tan. . .

ORP Dropped.
Figures after my recent positive ORP posting that yesterday I found it at 288 which is a sign of a problem and shows one of the assets of monitoring ORP. A rapid sudden drop is the cue to take a close look.

I took a look around yesterday and found my Gold Tear Drop clam dead in its shell and removed it. Today the ORP reading is back to 310.

New Probes Installed.
Installed the new temperature probe for the AquaController Pro, calibrated the pH probe and installed the ORP probe. The first issue I noticed is that the temperature probe seems to be 2 degrees off on the low side.

As an interim fix, I programmed the AquaController Pro to add 2 degrees to the readout displayed and send an e-mail to Neptune Systems for clarification as the instruction manual hints that the probes are factory calibrated.

blooming snails
Well I think i’ll have to divert my ranting from algae to snails now. The algae is proving much less of an issue, but the snails have started eating the plants! To recap, we got some snails here: http://www.jammeh.com/fishblog/2005/09/26/woooo/ and some more here: http://www.jammeh.com/fishblog/2005/11/11/more-snails/ and they’re very good in the main, nice colours, shiney etc. I was actually [...]

Replaced pH Probe Battery on Calium Reactor.
The pinpoint pH probe which monitors the effluent pH coming out of the calcium reactor needed a batter replacement. Typically the battery last for about 3 months.

When changing the battery its a good time to calibrate the pH probe. The probe calibration went perfectly required minimal adjustments.

Left RO/DI flush valve open over night... oops.
About every 4th time that I refill my RO/DI holding vat (20 gallons) I open the flush valve to purge the RO membrane. This helps to extend the life of the membrane.

Typically you would leave the valve open for about 5 minutes, close the valve and make the RO/DI water. I got side tracked. This morning I went to get water and the holding vat was still empty yet the booster pump was running... then I remembered. The valve was still open.

Going to get a big water bill next month. *sigh*

Ordered New Replacement Skimmer Pump - Eheim 1260
Called up EuroReef and ordered a new modified Eheim 1260 recirculating needle wheel pump for my RC-500 skimmer. Frustrating and annoyed that I have to keep tossing money into this skimmer, but the performance is amazing and the skimmer is totally worth it.