My Tropical Fish Aquarium Suddenly isn't big enough...

Any obsessed keeper of Tropical Fish will be well familiar with the term "Multiple Tank Syndrome".

MTS is where your love of the hobby gets to such a point, that you desire to keep more and more different species of fish. You suddenly find your existing aquarium simply isn't big enough anymore for your new growing ambitions. And somewhat inevitably you buy an even larger Aquarium to satisfy your growing fishy addiction. After a while, the cycle then repeats itself and you are now deep inside the realms of Multiple Tank Syndrome. These pretty glass boxes are soon everywhere.

Anything can trigger the start of MTS. Reading about a fish in a book or the Internet, or often just seeing a larger more impressive tank than your own. Anyway, take a look at this...

I hope this has helped any sufferers out there. You can't beat a tank that's so large, the only way to clean it is to put on full Scuba-Diving gear and jump in with a large underwater Vacuum Cleaner.

Care: This size Aquarium may be a bit heavy for some floor joists.

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www.jenkin7 - www.jenkin7.com
Giftware & Collectables

Hydor External Heater - Update

During May, I published a blog concerning the excellent External Aquarium Heater produced by Hydor,

Hydor Blog

The one I have installed to my Fluval 105 is still working to a high standard. I have since added some additional footage onto Youtube for those who are still undecided and require a bit more information. The clip is kept brief at 47 seconds.

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www.jenkin7.co.uk

And the Bristlenose Catfish :o)

More aquarium footage today. This time of the Bristlenose Catfish.

He is male and has occupied the tank for little over a year. He was born with one pectoral fin missing, but seems to have adapted well.

He is a great eliminator or algae! As always, I have included a few fishy facts in the video. :o)

In summary, these are very unusual fish with an odd swimming style. It is important to provide them with a cave or hiding place that they can adopt as theirs for resting.

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www.jenkin7.co.uk

More Aquarium Youtube footage !!!

Following my blog of yesterday, I decided to upload a few more short videos onto Youtube. I'm starting to get the hang of this now and uploading video clips has proven a lot easier than I previously imagined. I wish I had put some videos up a lot earlier now ! :oP

This time, I have focused on three fish species and also thrown in some factoids as well. See? It's educational as well. :o)

Many thanks for watching !!!

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www.jenkin7.co.uk

A look at the Aquarium :o)

Hello strangers! I haven't updated the blog very much over the last couple of weeks, partly due to time constraints, but mainly due to a loss of inspiration. Oh well, it happens to the best of them I guess. :oP

Fortunately, despite my absence, I see that the world blogging community has somehow managed to soldier on. I had feared it would collapse, declared a fad and promptly forgotten like a poor dinner joke told by Gyles Brandreth.

Yes, anyway, I have finally uploaded something to Youtube which I have been meaning to do for quite some time. The video below is of my current aquarium. A little bit of quality has been lost in the upload process, but hopefully I'll do a bit better next time!



Ok, so that's another milestone crossed off the list. I am now an official Youtuber. Hmmmm, doesn't feel much different to before.

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www.jenkin7.co.uk

The Hydor External Aquarium Heater

Like many keen Fish Keepers, I used to have the traditional tank set up. It consisted of an External Filter and an Internal Heater which was attached inside the back of the Aquarium by a couple of suckers. As long as the flow of water was good across the heater, the temperature was distributed evenly with no cold or hot spots.

This was fine until I purchased a Bristlenose Catfish. He often would rest on the heater or get dangerously close to the heater element itself. With the species habit of continuously sucking everything with a microbe of algae on, I could see this was an accident waiting to happen. I considered a plastic guard to clip over the heater, but this looked ugly and further took up much needed space. So what was the answer?

Then, when Googling, I found the answer! The Hydor External Heater !!!



I bought this almost straight away after viewing. Put simply.. it is Brilliant. Controlled by internal electronic circuitry, the heater slots into the return piping of the External Filter. It was very easy to install, with just a sharp knife needed to cut the filter piping.

The benefits I saw were immediate. Firstly, the Aquarium was now at a more even and universally stable temperature. This was because all water now entering the aquarium was at the correct temperature and didn't have to be heated and distributed uneconomically from one stagnant place.

Second, the amount of extra space created by removing the Internal Heater was greater than I had imagined. I hadn't noticed before, but fish generally would give the old Internal heater a wide berth as not to burn themselves. With this threat now gone, the area and immediate surrounding area were converted to free swimming space.. much healthier for the fish.

Thirdly, my Britlenose was now free to go wherever he wanted without the unknown danger of being suddenly frazzled!

If you are experiencing similar problems to those that I had or you simply just want to free up some more room in your Aquarium, I would whole heartedly recommend the Hydor External Heaters. The model I have is a Hydor 200 which are suitable for tanks from 100 to 200 litres (26 - 53 Gallons). I paid just over £30 and have it connected to a Fluval 105 External Filter. A great bargain! Also there is a version avaliable for larger tanks called the Hydor 300.

I have now had the heater in place for 6 months and it has proven extremely reliable.

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www.jenkin7.co.uk

Snails in the Aquarium

First of all, how do they get there?

Generally these crafty critters hitch a ride to your Aquarium on new plants. More often than not, they are in the form of eggs, so you would not immediately notice. Running the plants under the tap would make little difference.

Your newly set up Aquarium is going fine, the eggs hatch and suddenly it's Snail City!

Snails, in themselves, are not a bad thing. They do a great job of clearing waste food particles and also turning over any sandy substrate present. This is important as their movement helps to prevent the sand compacting and producing, what is know as, dead spots. Within dead spots, gasses can build up which could prove lethal to the fish. This phenomena only tends to occur in substrate depths of an inch and a half and greater and can be compensated by manually stirring the sand every so often.

The key here to a healthy aquarium, is controlling the snail population. The Population will soar if there is an abundance of food to snack on. If you are in the middle of a sudden snail epidemic, cut down on feeding.

If your current stocking allows, one cure is to add some snail eating fish. Dwarf Chain Loach, Clown Loach and Yo-Yo Loaches are particularly good snail eaters.

During one bad spell, I had particular success with manual removal by hand. Removing 20 snails a day until it was hard to find 20 to remove. This combined with a better cleaning regime worked wonders. Snails will also feed on old plant matter. Regularly remove or siphon this out.

Snails tend to hide in the substrate a bit. Sometimes it will seem like your snail problem is improving when in reality, it isn't. One method is to create a trap. Place a lettuce leaf or piece of weighted down cucumber in a jam jar overnight. By morning, the jar should have attracted a considerable number of them. Repeat this for a few days.

In summary, snails are not a bad animal to have in the aquarium and certainly nothing to worry about. They serve a purpose as they would in the fish's natural environment. The key is Population control.

I hope this blog is of some help for those who are currently experiencing problems.

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www.jenkin7.co.uk

What's that Fish?

Hi there. A few people have asked me what that pretty fish is in my Avatar.

It is a freshwater tropical fish called a Pearl Gourami (Trichogaster Leeri). Sometimes referred to as the Lace or Mosaic Gourami, it is native to Malaysia, Borneo and Sumatra. Growing to around 10cm in length and living up to 8 years, in my opinion, this is one of the most beautiful of all the freshwater tropicals.

Although each tend to have their own temperament, generally the Pearl Gourami is a very peaceful and hardy fish. Two males in a small aquarium however will probably have a bit of a go at each other so this is best avoided.

The Pearl Gourami is a wonderful fish. For more information on Aquarium fish and fish keeping, I would highly recommend the forums of www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk.

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www.jenkin7.co.uk