vauxhallmark
Member
- Joined
- 29 Jan 2008
- Messages
- 569
Idea for a thread - things that you absolutely take for granted now, but which were a revelation when you first realised it.
Don't be embarrassed about sounding thick for not realising before - the point is that there are things which are hardly ever mentioned in books or on the web which could help new (or not so new) hobbyists if shared.
I'll start with three of my biggest D'oh!! moments:
TOWELS ARE YOUR FRIENDS
No matter how careful you are, or how high tech your water changing system is, you will always spill water on the floor, or on the front glass of the aquarium when you're changing water, or trimming plants. Cover the floor in front of the aquarium with a towel, you can always use it to dry your hands if you don't spill anything! And you can polish the outside of the front glass when you're finished.
TRY AND MAKE WATER CHANGES EASIER
It's going to be different for everyone, depending on water source, drain location, tank size, etc., but spend a few minutes thinking how you can make your water change as easy as possible - you'll be less likely to miss one then. Some of the things I do are:
~ Make sure (as far as possible) that all equipment is mounted where you don't have to turn it off to do a water change. Hinged luminaires or hanging lights are great for this, and position heaters and filter intakes where there'll still be underwater at 'low tide' You might not be able to do this for everything, but the fewer things you have to turn off the better (easier for you, and no chance of forgetting to turn them on again). I do turn my filter down a bit as the spray bar splashes a lot, but the flow adjuster is easy to reach.
~ Get a measuring jug and a permanent marker, and fill you containers with water and mark them - eg I use 9l containers, and have them marked in litres up the side. If you know exactly how much water you're going to ad (27l for a normal change for me) then it's easy to take the internal measurement of your tank in cm and calculate how far down from the desired waterline you need to drain - I've got a tiny mark on the side of the tank glass which is exactly where I need to drain down to. (if I had a drain I would make a rigid syphon tube that extended exactly that deep into the tank, put a filter strainer on the end, and just set it going, but I don't, so have to use buckets.) So I just syphon out to my mark, and then start the containers syphoning back into the tank (I try and position tanks where there's something higher than the tank to stand full water containers on for adding new water). I like to add it slowly, so I use a really small diameter tube, but I can leave one container empty into the tank, and just come back and change it when it's empty. I know that the last one won't overfill the tank, so I can leave the house once that one's started.
~ Don't forget that the old tank water is great for house or garden plants! Re-use those fertilisers!
RAZOR BLADES ARE YOUR FRIENDS
I tried every possible method of removing algae from the glass walls before razor blades, but now I don't use anything else. You may have no algae on your walls, which is great, but I find that after a month or two, even if you can't see any, if you give it a scrape you can see the difference in the clarity of the glass, so it must be growing at a low level for me all the time. They get rid of any limescale lines too. It would be lovely to think that I had an algae free tank, but this proves to me otherwise. Take the time to polish the outside of your tank at the same time - wipe them down with a wet cloth or sponge (or just dip your hand in the tank and wet them if you're feeling lazy 8) ) and wipe dry quickly with a dry cloth, t-shirt, or (a bar-keeping trick) scrunched up newspaper. (Most bars have lots of mirrors, so you have to know the best way of cleaning them! Also the best way to clean windows.) If you're really making an effort put some vinegar in the water you use to clean the outside glasses. Every tank looks better with clean glass.
So tell us some of your tips, just little things that make you aquarium keeping a bit easier, or more fun, or more efficient.
Hope to pick up some great new tips,
Mark
Don't be embarrassed about sounding thick for not realising before - the point is that there are things which are hardly ever mentioned in books or on the web which could help new (or not so new) hobbyists if shared.
I'll start with three of my biggest D'oh!! moments:
TOWELS ARE YOUR FRIENDS
No matter how careful you are, or how high tech your water changing system is, you will always spill water on the floor, or on the front glass of the aquarium when you're changing water, or trimming plants. Cover the floor in front of the aquarium with a towel, you can always use it to dry your hands if you don't spill anything! And you can polish the outside of the front glass when you're finished.
TRY AND MAKE WATER CHANGES EASIER
It's going to be different for everyone, depending on water source, drain location, tank size, etc., but spend a few minutes thinking how you can make your water change as easy as possible - you'll be less likely to miss one then. Some of the things I do are:
~ Make sure (as far as possible) that all equipment is mounted where you don't have to turn it off to do a water change. Hinged luminaires or hanging lights are great for this, and position heaters and filter intakes where there'll still be underwater at 'low tide' You might not be able to do this for everything, but the fewer things you have to turn off the better (easier for you, and no chance of forgetting to turn them on again). I do turn my filter down a bit as the spray bar splashes a lot, but the flow adjuster is easy to reach.
~ Get a measuring jug and a permanent marker, and fill you containers with water and mark them - eg I use 9l containers, and have them marked in litres up the side. If you know exactly how much water you're going to ad (27l for a normal change for me) then it's easy to take the internal measurement of your tank in cm and calculate how far down from the desired waterline you need to drain - I've got a tiny mark on the side of the tank glass which is exactly where I need to drain down to. (if I had a drain I would make a rigid syphon tube that extended exactly that deep into the tank, put a filter strainer on the end, and just set it going, but I don't, so have to use buckets.) So I just syphon out to my mark, and then start the containers syphoning back into the tank (I try and position tanks where there's something higher than the tank to stand full water containers on for adding new water). I like to add it slowly, so I use a really small diameter tube, but I can leave one container empty into the tank, and just come back and change it when it's empty. I know that the last one won't overfill the tank, so I can leave the house once that one's started.
~ Don't forget that the old tank water is great for house or garden plants! Re-use those fertilisers!
RAZOR BLADES ARE YOUR FRIENDS
I tried every possible method of removing algae from the glass walls before razor blades, but now I don't use anything else. You may have no algae on your walls, which is great, but I find that after a month or two, even if you can't see any, if you give it a scrape you can see the difference in the clarity of the glass, so it must be growing at a low level for me all the time. They get rid of any limescale lines too. It would be lovely to think that I had an algae free tank, but this proves to me otherwise. Take the time to polish the outside of your tank at the same time - wipe them down with a wet cloth or sponge (or just dip your hand in the tank and wet them if you're feeling lazy 8) ) and wipe dry quickly with a dry cloth, t-shirt, or (a bar-keeping trick) scrunched up newspaper. (Most bars have lots of mirrors, so you have to know the best way of cleaning them! Also the best way to clean windows.) If you're really making an effort put some vinegar in the water you use to clean the outside glasses. Every tank looks better with clean glass.
So tell us some of your tips, just little things that make you aquarium keeping a bit easier, or more fun, or more efficient.
Hope to pick up some great new tips,
Mark