Aquarium and Pond Care with EcoBio-Block

Planted freshwater aquarium

Live plants perform two essential roles in the freshwater aquarium. First, live plants enhance the appearance of your aquarium in a way that artificial plants cannot. Fake aquarium plants often look rigid and unrealistic whereas live plants bloom and grow, filling your aquarium with natural beauty. Second, live aquarium plants improve the water quality in your tank by removing nitrates and by oxygenating the water. Some aquarium plants even help to reduce algae growth.

Before you begin cultivating a planted aquarium, make sure you have adequate tank space to accommodate the growth of live aquarium plants. A tank height between 12 and 18 inches is sufficient along with a volume between 15 and 50 gallons. In addition to providing your live plants with plenty of space to grow, adequate filtration is necessary in order to circulate the water and to remove toxins and waste. Undergravel filters may hamper the spread of plant roots and are not recommended for planted tanks. The best filter for a planted aquarium is a power filter that provides both mechanical and chemical filtration.

Lighting is one of the most important aspects in keeping live aquarium plants healthy. Aquarium plants require at least 2 watts of fluorescent lighting per gallon of tank capacity in order to grow properly. Special plant-friendly fluorescent lights are available at most pet supply stores but regular full spectrum and daylight varieties work just as well and are much less expensive. Leave the lights on in your tank for 10 to 12 hours a day to maximize plant growth and replace the bulbs every few months to ensure the maximum efficacy.

Though many aquarium plants do well in regular gravel or sand, substrates designed with aquarium plants in mind are best for optimal plant growth. Plants need a supply of iron in order to grow properly so substrates like Fluorite and Eco-Complete which provide plants with this nutrient are recommended for planted tanks. If you do not want to purchase a planting substrate, consider at least putting down a 1-inch layer of peat moss or laterite under your gravel to fertilize your plants. Providing your plants with the right substrate will enhance their growth, ensuring that they will be able to do the work of improving the water quality in your tank.

To maximize the water quality-enhancing effects of live aquarium plants, pot one or two of them in an EcoBio-Planter. The EcoBio-Planter is made from natural zeolite and crushed stone, making it the perfect environment to cultivate the microbes and beneficial bacteria that help aquarium plants to thrive. If you choose to use the planter, place a fertilizer tablet in the planter before adding your plant because it will not have access to any fertilizer you add to the substrate in your tank. EcoBio-Block products help to improve water quality by establishing a colony of nitrifying bacteria that clear cloudy water, making it a healthier environment for live plants.

Cultivating a planted freshwater tank is not as difficult as it may seem to the novice aquarium hobbyist. Aside from providing the right substrate, lighting and nutrients there is little else that must be done on a day to day basis to keep your aquarium plants thriving. In order to ensure the success of your planted aquarium, purchase an aquarium water test kit to check the CO2 and nitrogen levels in your tank on a weekly basis and make adjustments when necessary. If you provide your plants with the right environment they will grow well and repay you by keeping your freshwater aquarium clear and healthy.

Low Maintenance Aquarium with EcoBio-Stone L

Many pet owners refer to their animal companions as their children because just like youngsters, pets require care that can sometimes be tough and time-consuming. And just like other pets, aquarium fish demand and deserve considerable attention in terms of feeding, maintaining optimum habitats, and addressing health concerns.

Maintaining aquariums, however, does not have to be tedious. With a little foresight, the right equipment, and some helpful water quality innovations, fishkeeping can be a wonderful and rewarding experience. Here are tips on how to keep a low maintenance aquarium:

1. Bigger is better. Small aquariums are harder to maintain than large aquariums for the simple reason that a small quantity of water is much easier to pollute. This means a small tank must be monitored constantly and quickly attended to as soon as water quality is even slightly compromised
2. Location, location, location. The best place for an aquarium is where it does not receive direct sunlight, is not exposed to drafts or heating/cooling appliances, and is close to a water source. Sunlight promotes algae bloom; therefore, additional maintenance. Exposure to drafts and proximity to heating or cooling appliances can affect the temperature integrity of the aquarium and cause illness and death to the fish community. The ideal location keeps the tank stable and trouble-free. And being close to a water source minimizes the effort of lugging buckets of water across the living room or down the hall, and ruining carpet or wood floors in the process.
3. The right tools for the job. A stable aquarium environment relies on the efficiency of its support equipment—the overhead lights, filtration systems, heaters, and aerators. Sufficient lighting should automatically turn on and off at designated time intervals to optimize plant growth and the fish’s day/night cycles. Filtration systems should have adequate flow rates and filter media to handle the bio-load. Heaters and aeration systems should provide the right temperature and oxygenation levels in the tank. Efficient and adequate support systems are tools that help optimize habitat quality and avoid emergency and extraneous maintenance routines.
4. Compatibility is key. Compatibility is about fish living harmoniously together. It’s also about fish living in the appropriate size and type of environment. Keeping fish, that are not compatible with their tank parameters or their tank mates, upsets not just the health of the fishes but also the stability and integrity of the aquarium, leading to serious maintenance issues.
5. The invisible component: Bacteria. The success of fishkeeping is highly dependent on the nitrifying bacteria that process the fish’s waste matter into non-toxic form to keep a healthy aquarium environment. An innovative aquarium product that ensures the prolific growth of large colonies of beneficial bacteria is called EcoBio-Block Family Products. Mineral-rich volcanic stones from Japan, EcoBio-Blocks are embedded with the “bacillus subtilis natto”, beneficial bacteria that actively multiply every half hour, degrading organic matter and keeping the aquarium clear and odor-free for years.

Aquariums can be relatively low maintenance if the right conditions are in place. Keeping fish, or any pet for the matter, can occasionally be demanding, but with the help of the right equipment and novel solutions like EcoBio-Block, taking care of finned friends can always be fun and fulfilling.