On a mission

  • Get the NEW AquariaCentral iOS app --> http://itunes.apple.com/app/id1227181058 // Android version will be out soon!
B

bl0wfish

Registered Member
Feb 4, 2014
1
0
0
46
I am on a mission. I love my fish and my aquarium hobby, but have not been passionate about it enough lately to take my tank to the next level. I was reading some articles on blogs about adjusting the pH of my tank and noticed some blogs do a monthly roundup of the best tanks.


I have a relatively small tank, but I noticed a 30 gallon tank on one of the lists. I started looking closer at the pictures to figure out what makes those tanks special, at least compared to mine.


The things that seem to standout are lighting, arrangement, and creating a natural looking reef environment. I guess the other item that should be mentioned is extreme cleanliness. Those tanks are some of the most pristine I have ever seen.


I am curious what other factors you can think of if you wanted your tank to make a top list like that?


From my observations, it looks like the fish in the tank are almost secondary to the rest of the setup. The tank is the primary focus with the fish almost appearing to be the accessories to the coral reef setup.


I need your tips as motivation to improve my tank and collection of fish. Implementing your tips is the perfect way to inspire myself to invest a little more money, and a lot more time into taking my tank from ok to great.


On a side note, have any of you seen one of the BiOrb aquariums they reviewed recently. It looks like a great small aquarium for my office, but I have not seen one in person and would hate to order one online sight unseen.
 
K

kumar420

AC Members
Feb 5, 2014
54
0
0
32
What do you mean by 'taking it to the next level'? Could mean anything from special species tanks (discus biotopes, african cichlid tanks) or that you might want to make the jump to saltwater (given the references to reefs). A 30 gallon does limit your options, as its too small for multiple large cichlids (especially african cichlids)

I've been researching saltwater setups and while they aren't nearly as much of a pain to maintain and most people would have you believe, they are still a load of work. Just getting the water quality perfect is a big job, and corals and certain types of fish are really intolerant of the slightest mistakes, as well as local pet stores selling species for incompatible tanks or incompatible species together. It really takes alot of research: certain fish and invertebrates cannot be in the same tank as coral, and some species grow to an excess of 2' (some eels reach 4-5')

And thats not even taking into account setting up a sump and refugium, acquiring a chiller and appropriate lighting for corals (anywhere from 4W/gallon all the way to 8W/G)

Anyway can you give us more information on your current setup and experience? And try doing some research, I learned a lot just looking at fish profiles on liveaquaria.com
 
ktrom13

ktrom13

AC Members
Feb 4, 2013
1,238
0
0
boston
Real Name
Kyle
My first big project is my 20gallon biotope. Im trying to make it as close to 100% accurate as i can. The only things that ill allow to be non-biotope are the driftwood and leaf litter and substrate. Besides that all the fish and plants are going to be appropriate.

In my eyes, many things can bring your tank to the next level. Such as automatic water changes, auto top offs, cleanliness, aquascape, etc.

For us to make the best suggestions we need to know what your definition of next level is.

Sent from my SGH-T989 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
 
wesleydnunder

wesleydnunder

Discus Addict
Dec 11, 2005
2,752
167
66
Gulf Coast Texas
Real Name
Mark
Agree with Kyle...what do you want your tank to be? Some options for more advanced fishkeepers are lots of work and can take tons of patience to achieve. Check out some of Amano's tanks, Tom Barr's, etc. A tank can be as involved as you want to make it. Just remember, the more bells and whistles you hang on something, the more that can go wrong.

Mark
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
zoomed.com
hikariusa.com
aqaimports.com
Store
Top Bottom