Using Moss to Create Age

When exploring our Mother Earth, we often find that it is possible to find locations with a great sense of age. Usually, this age comes about by the flora that resides in that location. Take a moment to see how nature grows around the bones of the Earth, for example, trees growing around rocks and moss covering boulders. We can recreate this in our aquariums with a careful choice of plants and mosses. I find…

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Working with Carpeting Plants and Grasses

‘Krabi’, by celebrated UK aquascaper James Findley – read on for more information about how to create a beautiful carpet effect, or view more images of this Nature Aquarium in our Aquatics Gallery. Introduction Carpeting plants are extremely important in aquascaping, they provide us with the lush green pastures, tree-lined hillsides and mossy outcrops which feature in many aquascapers’ visions of a perfect Eden. The availability of these plants can make an underwater garden a…

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Cleaning and disinfecting with Hydrogen Peroxide (H202)

H202 is the perfect solution for sterilising fish tanks, pipework, glass and plastic. Unlike bleach, H202 will turn into harmless water and oxygen after 24 hours in contact with water. It is therefore the perfect solution for use in the aquarium environment. Not only will it kill all pathogens and algae spores at a dilution of 1 part H202 to 150 parts water, but used in stronger concentrations of 1 part H202 to 10 parts…

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Water changes made easy

Rather that siphoning water into buckets and then carrying these from tank to sink or drain, a simpler method is to use a small compact powerhead/pump. Once the basic vacuuming of the tank is over the rest of the water to be changed can be done directly to a waste source such as a window, toilet, or drain. A small but powerful pump can be used for this. Something like the MaxiJet 1000 is perfect.…

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Grading Gravels to Replicate Nature

Rivers transport materials including rocks and stones in the direction of flow. Due to size and shape variations there is a natural spreading effect as materials are deposited in the riverbed. Therefore by replicating this in an aquarium a highly natural looking result can be achieved. An effective use of this technique can be seen in our Altum Angel Display tank. The photos show the gravel when it is wet, as it appears when submerged…

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