Duckweed and You.

I thought I'd take a few minutes to explain
how duckweed impacts my freshwater fish
and turtle tank.

Hopefully you can avoid problems cropping
up in your own tank, should you ever decide
to add duckweed to your aquarium.

If you have any other questions, feel free to
ask away!

Cheers!

Turtles in the Tank: Further Examination.

So I thought I'd delve a bit deeper into a couple of points that I've mentioned before about the impact of turtles in a freshwater aquarium.

I'll be referencing a video I posted via the AquaticAdventurA Youtube channel.

Here it is imbedded. Use this link if the stream is non-functional. "A Day In The Life: 75 Gallon Freshwater Aquarium"

As you can see, there are several elements here. In the top left, you can see the bottom of my floating dock for basking. The bright light above it is a UVA emitting bulb. To the right of that is a UVB emitting bulb. Below the dock is a rest station for the turtles (you can see Isabella, a Map Turtle, standing on it if your eyes are good!). The central area is clear , allowing ample swimming space. To the right is where all of my Hornwort seems to collect. This area provides space for fish to hide, and a secondary "rest" spot for the turtles if they tire of swimming. There is duckweed along the surface of the water also adding to the level of "safety" that can be felt by the tank's inhabitants. There are 3 pieces of driftwood along the bottom. The turtles rearrange these however they feel and I make no effort to manipulate them besides to clean under them. Notice that the water level does not reach the top of the tank. There are products out there (and some do-it-yourselfers!) to help your turtles bask above the tank should you find that preferable.


Now that you've become acquainted with my tank, lets take a closer look.


Basking Dock
The dock is made out of Cork Bark. It was purchased for a small fee at a local fish store that I've come to love called "Big Al's". The fee was very reasonable compared to the prices for brand name docks created from man-made materials. Something to note about using natural woods in your tank is that it changes the chemical values in the water and will turn your water a "tea" colour. More on how to deal with this in the future.
This dock is great not only for the turtles to get out of the water (which the species kept in this tank needs), but also for some of my fish to feel more at home. Hanging out below and near this part of the tank you'll generally find my Boulengerella Maculata (common: South American Spotted Gar) and Ctenolucius Hujeta  (Common: Rocket Gar; Silver Gar). Both are timid ambush-type predetors.

The Drift Wood
As mentioned above, adding "real" wood to your tank will have an impact on the water parameters and "stain" your water a tea colour due to the release of tannin. The natural woods provide safe zones for fish to hide and help break up the bottom of the tank into "zones" to reduce agression.

The Plants
The plants in this tank are all chosen for their ability to survive while uprooted, torn appart and otherwise abused by turtles. I have included a flourecent light above the right half of the tank to provide essential lighting for live plants. I wouldn't say I have a real green thumb, but these plants have proven hearty additions.

Hornwort is a great little plant that grows uprooted just fine. It can be torn in the mid-section and both halves still seem to grow fine. The leaves and shape provide great cover for smaller fish to dart through when running from larger ones, and at this stage in my turtle's life still provides enough bouyancy that they can rest on top of it and float near the surface without putting in any real effort!

Duckweed is another top-pick from me for addition to a turtle tank. It has a few benefits but also a few drawbacks, so beware.

Benefits include:

• Fish and turtles will use it as a source of food, and it produces quickly so while you'll likely run out of it eventually, you do get some value from it. Some people even like to grow it themselves in a separate tub so they don't need to buy it again. 
• It provides surface cover for fish  and turtles and helps to feel like they can hide. This reduces stress and helps to maintain good health.
• It looks great if you're going for a "swampy" feel to your tank!

Drawbacks include:

•  It can get a bit messy. Syphoning out the tank leaves me with an arm covered in duckweed every week! I try to save as much as possible, but I lose some down the drain inevitably. Both results can be somewhat annoying.
• It can clog your filter. I find that, especially with lower water levels, duckweed seems to find its way into the filter intake and easily clogs up mechanical filtration.
• If you keep turtles in a tank it's advisable to leave the top open for air cirulation. In my 75 gallon (4' x 1.5') with a caged top I lose 1-2" of water level every week. As the water level lowers, duckweed will be left behind clinging to your aquarium's walls. This can be somewhat unsightly, thought is relatively easy to clear. I use a dish brush (this is all it's used for!) to clean the surface while performing water changes.

The Substrate
While I haven't spoken a lot about this, chosing the correct substrate is very important. Not only is it one of the most annoying things to try to change later after setting up a tank, it has a big impact on your weekly maintenance and the feel of the tank. I think that we can all agree that a fish tank with natural sand has a different vibe than one with pink and blue painted gravel!

River Stones were purchased at a local garden center in large bags for a very reasonable price. After looking at garden supply prices a trip to the local pet shop to look at the price of their gravel will be painful! The river stones, while looking great in my opinion, also offer two benefits.

1. They don't fit in a turtle's mouth. Sometimes turtles will swallow gravel and stones that are a bit too big.. this can cause a lot of damage to their digestive tract and is called "impaction". We don't want to give them the opportunity to hurt themselves!
2. The stones create a two-tiered leveling to the bottom of your tank. They offer many spots for your fish to hide when they don't feel safe.

Sand is also included. I like sand as a secondary substrate for my stones. It brings a couple of valuable features.

1. It acts as a "filler" between the stones. This makes cleaning a bit less taxing as a LOT of gunk will build up below the stones when you include as many natural elements as I try to. Dead plant matter, feces, uneatten food and parts of prey animals that did not get fully consumed will build up down there. While having these things in your tank isn't the end of the world - having too much can cause problems.
2. The sand can be eatten by your turtle without causing too much harm. Unless they eat a lot of it at once, it's small enough to pass through their system without blocking everything up. On a side note - I did not use sand in my aquarium while my turtles were still genuine babies. 

It should be noted that if you use a sandy substrate you'll want to make sure that it gets moved around a bit. It will settle and pack itself pretty tightly. This can allow pockets of gasses to form beneath and cause problems for your tank's inhabitants. Just be sure to include something that'll dig around and disturb the surface of the sand to counter this. Doing it manually is also viable, of course!

The Realities of Turtle Keeping.

I thought I'd take some time to run over a few things. I'm not the first, nor will I be the last person to have the inclination to keep aquatic turtles and freshwater aquarium fish together in the same tank.

I consider myself to be fairly successful at this, but it can provide some challenges. Here are some things that will eventually come up that you should be aware of before you begin.

Turtles Won't Hesitate to Eat Your Fish!

It's true. They won't always want to eat that feeder fish you threw in the tank for them. Sometimes they'll chow down on a $10, $20 or $30 dollar fish that you thought would make a beautiful addition to the tank. If you are not prepared to lose a fish in this way, then you may want to reconsider.
I personally have lost only one fish unintended for consumption for certain, a Ctenolucius Hujeta fell prey to a turtle snap and was partially consumed. I was disappointed for sure! A betta also mysteriously disappeared one night. I have no solid evidence, but I do have a couple of shelled suspects.
Turtles will eat fish that are larger than their heads, so having larger fish in the tank is not always a guarantee of their safety either. Generally, swift agile fish that are comparable in size to the turtle are a solid bet.

Turtles Aren't Guppies!

Your turtle(s) will get into everything in your tank. They'll uproot plants, move rocks, dig holes, toss your driftwood around, try to pull your heater off the glass and just generally get into all the trouble they can manage. When you set up and maintain a freshwater aquarium including a turtle, you'll need to be aware of this! Check out AquaticAdventurA's Youtube Channel for videos of my 75 gallon tank containing 2 juvenile map turtles. As of today, it includes 100% natural ingredients (rocks, sand, woods, live plants). All plants were chosen for their ability to survive uprooted or floating through the tank. If you keep turtles in your freshwater aquarium be sure to turtle-proof it!

Water Level.

Many turtles require the opportunity to bask. This is done by climbing out of the water and sitting under a heat source, normally the sun in the wild to absorb heat and nutrients from its rays. Because of this, they require special lighting to achieve this. I'll cover this in more detail in another post, however should you choose to keep turtles in your freshwater aquarium with fish, you'll need to leave space between the top of the aquarium and the water's surface for them to get out and bask. You'll also need to provide that area to climb out. I have used multiple products in the past for this. As of writing this, I am using a piece of cork tree bark as my turtle's basking dock.

Establishing Legitimacy.

This doesn't regard the blog topic in particular, but in an effort to increase the legitimacy of this blog and its content, I will be creating accounts for it on high quality social media sites. Namely Twitter, Facebook and Youtube for the time being.


It is my hope that I can enhance the quality of my offerings by becoming involved in these social sites.

Please find each of the accounts dedicated to this site below.

AquaticAdventurA on Youtube

AquaticAdventurA on Facebook

AquaticAdventurA on Twitter

Adding New Fish.

Hello again!

I wanted to take some time to discuss water quality with regards to the addition of new fish.

There are a lot of resources out there regarding how to test your water for various conditions (pH, hardness, salinity, temperature, ammonia, nitrites, nitrates). What I wanted to touch on, though, is the value of understanding the impact these conditions - intended or not - can have on the fish in your tank.

Lets say you've had your tank running now for 6 weeks. Inside the aquarium you've got a close to capacity stock of fish. If you had not changed the water for a while (Lets say it's been a few weeks and your water changes prior to that have been small), you may find that the conditions in your tank are not where they should be for your fish. In fact, they might be quite a bit off for targets! You might start to ask yourself why your fish seem to be okay but the new one you added today died within hours.

Here's the answer!

As the water quality gradually decreases over time with sub-par water changes and maintenance, your current fish are slowly being acclimated to the increasingly undesirable state of things. The opposite is true of the fish you just added. While you may have placed the bag in the water, let it sit for 15 minutes to match the temperature of the bank's water to the tank's water and then gone about adding your fish... What's happened here is similar to you breathing fresh clean air one minute to suddenly finding sucking on a truck's tailpipe. It's quite a shock as you might imagine!

So if you're wondering why new fish you're adding to an established tank aren't surviving... Try a 25% water change twice a few days apart before adding another friend!

Tank Placement.

So you think you've figured out what sized tank you're going to need. Awesome! As per the old saying "measure twice, cut once", let's make sure that this good decision can turn into a great one.

Ask yourself the following questions:

Is my tank going to be a near a window? 
If so, you may be inviting an algae growth issue in the future. Extended exposure to light creates an excellent atmosphere for algae growth on your tank walls, your substrate and the decorations as well! Adding an algae eating specimen to the tank may not be enough to keep it at bay.

Another concern with placement near a window can be changes to the temperature. If the sun is beating down on your water all day, you may cause the fish extreme discomfort resulting in stress and/or death.

Is the tank going to be on a flat surface?
This may sound silly, but some tanks can be under a lot of stress from the weight of its contents. Providing a level and supportive structure for it to rest on can help reduce the chances of the tank acquiring pressure cracks  or even outright breaking. A leaking tank is not something most people want to deal with!

Where is my tank in relation to maintenance items?
Carrying buckets full of water up and down stairs is not the most enjoyable experience. If the bucket is too full - a likely scenario if full buckets mean fewer trips up and down the stairs - splashes of water can end up in places you don't want them to be! This point is particularly important in my experience because it has an impact on how willing you become to perform necessary water changes. Even if the tank is not up/down stairs, a "long" distance away from a water source can be a nuisance.

There are some alternative to the traditional manual bucket-and-syphon system. If you place your aquariums appropriately, there are products on the market that can syphon directly out of your tank and straight into your sink. To make the deal all the sweeter, they can pump tap water straight into your tank as well. You can find products like this Aqueon Aquarium Water Changer - 25 Feet on Amazon for a fair price. From experience, it took roughly 25 trips to the tap to fill my 75 gallon tank for the first time!

Selecting the Tank.

As with any project, the key to success is planning. Before entering the hobby in a meaningful way, many people are exposed to a fish bowl or someone else's aquarium. While many of us are drawn to 500 gallon tanks with sometimes hundreds of fish or beautiful planted set ups, the reality of the situation is that these tanks are no small undertaking. If you decide to purchase a fish tank, you're also purchasing the responsibility that comes with it. Weekly syphoning of the gravel, cleaning dirty filters, water changes that are sometimes larger than you'd like, and of course all the problems you'll no doubt run into at some point in the hobby. 

Size is important. The size of the tank should be determined by a few factors in this order of importance.

The resources you have to make this dream a reality.
Keeping an aquarium is not a one-off purchase. Don't forget about the additional costs to your hydro and water bills on top of maintenance items.

Your personal level of dedication to general upkeep.

If you aren't the type of person who is motivated to take on additional responsibility, then even a fish bowl may not be suitable for you. In fact fish bowls, for their size, are probably the most work in my humble opinion. A properly maintained fish bowl would undergo frequent water changes to battle stagnation and poor water quality associated with having no real filtration system in place. These changes would be completed with properly treated water of the correct temperature so as to cause as little stress as possible for the fish. Not only that, but the fish we tend to keep in these bowls, gold fish, are very messy fish by comparison to others. If you are not prepared to provide proper maintenance read no further. Most gold fish can live for many years. In the proper conditions it would not be surprising to learn that a goldfish was over 10 years old. The majority kept in a fish bowl will never make it that far.

The space you have to place it in your home.

It can sometimes be easy to imagine things in places they might not belong. Do the measurements and make sure it not only fits, but leaves room for the rest of your life to get around it! After having spent some time working in the retail furniture industry, it's incredible to learn how many people really forget to do this. If you are purchasing a large aquarium think about how it will be manoeuvred through your home. Also, if you're not planning on using a for-the-tank stand and instead some other furniture item, keep in mind the weight of the tank when it's full can be quite heavy. Some items sold in today's markets are not the sturdiest!

Also, this can have an impact on the best shape for your tank. There are more and more "alternative" tanks available including below-the-coffee-table styles, "corner" styles and on-the-desk mini tanks all designed to appeal to modern approaches to furnishing the home. These qualities generally come with an increase in price, so if you're operating on a strict budget you may find a more traditional tank offers the most flexibility for stocking with fish while also keeping cost down.

Check out some additional tips on tank placement here.

The fish you intend to keep.

Some fish have special requirements. Often you won't find these more specialized fish at your local fish store, but they are out there. Getting informed about the size of the ADULT specimen is highly recommended. It is a lot easier to sell juveniles for many reasons including required shelf space and their cute, lovable faces for instance! If you have 10 gallon tank with no plans for upgrades, you might want to rethink buying a 2" Oscar. 

A common rule of thumb is the "one inch of fish per gallon" rule. While this rule of thumb may provide some insight for a beginner hobbyist, there is more at work here. Your level of filtration, maintenance and fish requirements make this rule unreliable.

Some fish will dwell at particular levels in the aquarium such as the top or bottom and rarely venture to leave it. These fish will often require particular dimensions more so than gallons. For instance, a catfish that dwells primarily at the bottom of the tank will prefer a tank with a large base and care less about the total depth of the tank. Other fish which are very active or territorial may have quite different requirements.

Once you've selected specimens that interest you, the tank size requirements should be relatively straight forward. Just remember to provide enough space for your specimens. After you add decorations, or if you don't plan on filling the tank to full, remember that this will have an impact on gallons and the overall swimming space. 

Good luck!

Step 3: Follow Through.

After my last brainstorm I've realized that there are quite a few topics that I'd like to cover, all of which of course, are related for the most part. I've decided that the best approach, then, is to tackle this from the ground up. Beginning, with the basics and first steps and moving into the less commonly known items.

Therefore, I shall begin where many aquarium keepers do and begin with shopping for a tank for my future pets and take it from there.

Step 2: Establish Guidelines.

Now that I've added a "What's Next" page, I hope that it can be useful to the both of us. For me, it will serve as a record of topics that I want to attend to, and for you hopefully it can serve as a taste of what will be coming up, as well as a navigational tool. I'll link each of the topics to related posts as they're covered to keep this as streamlined as possible. 

Cheers,

-Adrian

Step 1: Decide what you're doing.

November 7th, 2011. 
This is the day upon which AquaticAdventurA was born.

The Name?
A collection of A's makes for an easily abbreviated title. AAA.

The Reason?
I have been an enthusiast of the home aquarium for many years. When I was a child in grade school it began when my parents let me take home some guppies. The guppies were from another classroom's fish tank and the fish were being sent to "good homes" at the end of the year. I was very excited at the time. I took my two new friends home in a 1 litre pop bottle that I'd rinsed out for the occasion. Prior to this moment, I had always been fond of "bugs" as a child, and I was prepared to envision and create a habitat for these guppies.

As it turns out, I was so concerned about giving them the BEST possible situation to live in, that I changed their water daily. I performed 100% water changes religiously for over a week before the poor things died. I, of course, had no idea at the time that I had been the source of their demise. My parents gave me their condolences and I was left to think about what had happened.

While I had lost the guppies, I had gained something else - a strong desire to keep fish. It would be a few more years before I would be able to get my parents to give in and let me get a 2 gallon tank. It was hexagonal, used an under gravel filter system and came with right red "rocks" to put in the bottom. At this point I was in grade 5 and playing baseball in a local league. My parents and I agreed that each time I hit a home-run, they would give me credit towards buying fish. Unfortunately, I wasn't particularly adept at hitting home runs.

As time went on, I got my first "job" as a paper delivery boy and this, combined with some good behaviour and  a few home runs gave me enough resources to get a second tank. This one was much bigger than my last, coming in at 10 gallons. Between these two tanks I kept and gained experience with a variety of species - Cory Catfish, Chinese Algae Eaters, Guppies, Red Tailed Sharks, Tetras, Bettas and Cichlids, among others. Unfortunately, I was never a fan of goldfish.

Today, I keep a 75 Gallon, 30 gallon, 10 gallon and 5.5 gallon stocked with various fish and turtles. I'm beginning to realise that this hobby keeps betting bigger and bigger.. and I keep finding myself interested in fish and ideas that are becoming increasingly difficult to find information about on the internet. So that other aquarium enthusiasts need not find themselves in a similar situation, I am beginning this blog to document my ideas, their implementation, their revision and/or maintenance over time, and to provide feedback on products and services I use to achieve the results I'm looking for. 


Cheers,

Adrian.