A biotope aquarium contains fish and plants that live together in the same place in nature. It replicates the habitat, water parameters and materials found there, like wood, sand and leaves, and is decorated to look as it would look if you were to snorkel underwater in that very place.Traditionally biotopes have been quite general like South American, Asian or African, although those three a...
Much of the UK has hard water, especially the South East, and a key indicator is limescale build up inside a kettle. But hard water doesn’t have to be a barrier to keeping tropical fish, as there are still loads to choose from.Rift Lake CichlidsFamous for their love of hard, alkaline water, cichlids from Lakes Malawi and Tanganyika in East Africa love water with a pH of 8 or over, and a...
Marine aquarium owners should aim for a salinity of 1.025 s.g. which is about 35 parts per thousand. That means that for every thousand grammes of freshwater you should add 35 grammes of salt, or 35 grammes of salt per litre of water. 1000g = 1kg = 1000ml = 1 litreKnowing this can help you makeup saltwater quickly and in bulk. Let try some tank situations:An Evolution Aqua eaReef...
Some of the most popular tropical fish like guppies, platies, mollies and swordtails all give birth to live young, and the difficulty is often not getting them to breed, but getting them to stop! Female livebearing fish get swollen bellies when pregnant, and when their bellies get really big that’s an indication that soon they are going to give birth.Unfortunately, we can’t always tell w...
If you find some eggs on the glass one day you may be wondering where they came from. If you have any Corydoras catfish in the tank, its probably from them, as they frequently lay clusters of large eggs on aquarium glass. They don’t look after them though, so if you don’t remove the other fish from the tank they will probably be eaten.Another catfish which lays eggs on the glass in plain...
Discus are highly sought after and regarded by many as the kings of the freshwater aquarium. But there are a few things you need to know about before you keep them. Discus are cichlids, meaning that they demonstrate brood care and protect their eggs and fry from others. They are pair forming but when not in a mated pair they are shoaling species and feel more comfortable in large groups....
Sumps can be used on any aquarium but are most popular with marine keepers. In essence, a sump is another aquarium attached to the main one. They are usually placed in the cabinet underneath but can even be placed above a tank and run “upstream.” Multiple tanks can be attached to one centralized sump, and that method is popular with local fish stores for keeping lots of fish in lots of tanks ...
Aquarium gravel comes in all shapes, colours and sizes but some suit some fish better than others, while others may be unsuitable for certain types of fish or aquarium. Freshwater or marine?Freshwater tanks need freshwater sands and gravels, whereas saltwater tanks need marine substrates. The main difference is that marine sands and gravels are made up of pieces of coral and shell, w...
“Do a partial water change,” those are the words you’ll hear often as a fishkeeper but what does that mean and why and how can it help your situation? When we’re dealing with ponds and aquariums we’re talking about closed bodies of water. In nature, pollution is diluted or washed away but in small, closed bodies of water like our tanks and ponds, waste builds up. Everything tha...
The Fluval Flex is a modern-looking aquarium with a funky shape and large filtration capacity. At 41x39x39cm it holds 57 litres/12.5 gallons, which is about the same volume as a standard 60x30x30cm, or two foot tank. Its 19cm shorter, however, so this needs to be taken into account when selecting the fish species that you are going to put into it.The fish that we recommend are based on maximu...