Month: January 2018

So you’ve decided to take the plunge into the exclusive club of aquarium owners. If you haven’t decided already, the next step is choosing whether to have a freshwater, saltwater or reef aquarium!  So which one is best for you?

Freshwater tropical aquariums are colorful and natural, they provide an impressive visual experience requiring a less demanding maintenance schedule and lower operating costs.

However, if you were to go for a heavily planted freshwater aquarium for example, additional special lighting, fertilizers and carbon dioxide will be required and the costs can really add up fast.

The fish in freshwater aquariums are inhabitants from rivers, lakes and streams. They aren’t always as vibrantly colored as saltwater aquarium fish, but can definitely come in an array of amazing patterns and unique shapes. The combination of the earthy colors and sleek lines of freshwater fish and fauna can look particularly striking in a luxurious interior. Variations and combinations of rocks, woods, plants and sands can be sculpted to suit your preference, resulting in a relaxing, zen-like visual.

Freshwater inhabitants also tend to be much hardier and generally less expensive than their saltwater counterparts. They are also more tolerant of changing tank conditions than saltwater fish.

 

When it comes to saltwater fish, truth-be-told the biggest difference from freshwater fish is – personality.

A saltwater fish tank opens you up to keeping creatures from oceans and seas all over the world. While amazingly colorful and exciting, truth-be-told the biggest difference from freshwater fish is – personality. The ability to keep species from different parts from the sea opens you up to an amazingly diverse world of behavior.  From the symbiotic relationship of the Clownfish and anemone, to the Hawkfish perching on a rock, to Gobies that chew up sand to sift through for food or the Cleaner Shrimp keeping its tank mates tidy. It’s a diverse eco-system, right in your own home or office.

A Saltwater Fish-Only Tank or Marine Aquarium is the nomenclature for a saltwater aquarium that only houses fish, along with artificial or non-living décor. The advantages being it’s a more affordable alternative to a reef tank in terms of equipment and maintenance and you’re able to keep fish that would not be safe in a reef environment (read invertebrates or coral predators).

A saltwater reef aquarium is a re-creation of the ocean. Saltwater fish with living corals and invertebrates (shrimp, snails, crabs, starfish, clams, etc). A reef tank also requires live rock for it’s in tank structure.  Natural or aquacultured rock from the ocean, teaming with living micro-organisms and beneficial bacteria. A reef aquarium usually requires more equipment, specific lighting and additional maintenance to keep the water parameters exact as possible. With the ability to support all of these different species in one aquarium, the reef tank is not as forgiving when it comes to water conditions in order to keep all inhabitants flourishing.

Because most of saltwater fish sold in the trade are sensibly harvested from the worlds oceans, the cost is much more than freshwater fish. The cost of collecting a fish in Indonesia, flying it to the United States and then housing it for quarantine is a delicate process. Aqua FX Aquariums quarantines all of the livestock we provide our clients for at least 14 days to insure that they are in optimum health.

No matter what type of living art aquarium you choose, you will always have an exceptional show piece everyone will love.  Every freshwater, marine and reef aquarium created by Aqua FX Aquariums is a fabulous conversation piece that makes an engaging focal point in any room.

Freshwater Aquarium:

• Tap water system
• 2-4 week maintenance interval
• Natural aesthetic
• Durable and colorful fish
• Cost effective visual impact

Marine and Reef Aquariums

• Specialized salt and Reverse Osmosis water
• 1-2 week maintenance interval
• Live coral reef wow factor
• Colorful fish and corals
• Impressive visual impact with personality

COMING NEXT WEEK – PART THREE – GLASS OR ACRYLIC?

You’ve decided you want to add an aquarium to your home or office. First off, congratulations! You’ve taken the first step to unlocking a whole new world of benefits and enjoyment. Now what? You’ve entered a world of unlimited options and possibilities. It can be overwhelming. Now we’re a bit biased, but we highly recommend working through this process with a professional aquarium company.  The internet has made a vast amount of knowledge available to the aspiring aquarium owner. While a great resource, the one thing the internet cannot provide is years of experience. Working hands on, day in and day out, tackling various problems with carefully vetted solutions, knowing what works and what doesn’t, etc.  It’s a cache of understanding that really doesn’t translate well to a Google search.  Did I mention Aqua FX Aquariums has been in business for over 10 years?  And is staffed by expert aquarists with a combined 40 plus years of experience?  When it comes to making the decision to invest into a successful, enjoyable, long-term aquatic environment, we cannot stress how important it is to work with an experienced company.

You’ve got some decisions to make, actually you have a lot to make.

That said, you’ve got some decisions to make, actually you have a lot to make.  This series of articles is designed to give you an outline of what decisions are important enough for you spend some thought on, regardless of how much you want to, or don’t want to, be involved with your aquarium.  Aqua FX Aquariums client base ranges from hardcore hobbyists who know as much about aquaria as we do, to individuals who just simply say, “Get it done” and really don’t want any involvement in the process.  This series is set up to inform the potential aquarium owners in between those two extremes.

First things first – Where you gonna put this thing?

If you’ve decided that you want an aquarium, chances are you’ve got an idea where you’d like to put it. If not (we’ve had clients who aren’t sure where they want a tank, they just know they want one) that’s ok too!  While an aquarium can be put almost anywhere, we start our advice with a “don’t” first. Direct sunlight. You really don’t want your aquarium where it is going to get a lot of direct sun.  Accelerated algae growth (gets dirty quickly) and possible temperature issues make it a bad choice.  That said, if you absolutely need to have it in direct sun, we’ve learned many different tricks over the years to make it do-able,  just not preferable.

Custom built-in or freestanding?

A freestanding aquarium with cabinetry or an in-wall custom built in?  That’s your first big decision.  Which look do you prefer?

 

Now that you’ve decided where you’d like your aquarium and if you’re doing a built-in or freestanding system, we can start to hone those choices even more. Will the aquarium be viewed primarily while sitting (like in a living room) or standing? (like in a home bar) We can change both the height of the actual aquarium and the height of the stand to optimize the viewing experience. It’s those little things that we have the experience not to overlook. So that when the finished product is realized your expectations are not only met but exceeded.

COMING NEXT WEEK – PART TWO – FRESHWATER, SALTWATER OR REEF AQUARIUM?