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Year: 2018

Published on Leave a comment on Review: Can the Marineland LED hood grow plants?

The Marineland LED Light Hood for Aquariums, Day & Night Light is pretty popular as an affordable combination light/hood in aquarium starter kits. I have used the 20" x 10" size on a planted 10 gallon tank for several months. While the light is certainly not the brightest LED, it is just enough to grow some low light plants. In this review I will cover some of the pros and cons of this hood.

Planted 10 Gallon Lit by Marineland LED Hood
Planted 10 Gallon Lit by Marineland LED Hood

Pros:

  • Hinged hood design

The hinges that come with this hood allow it to be lifted up to feed your fish or maintain the aquarium without fully removing the lid. I use a small hook in the shelf above my tank to hold the lid open when I am working in the tank.

Marineland Hood Open
Marineland Hood Open

  • Low wattage LED

The integrated LED light bar uses about half the power of a traditional fluorescent tube light, and should have a much longer service life. This light puts out a natural color temperature (around 5500 K according to Marineland) that does a great job of showcasing fish.

Yellow Tiger Endlers under Marineland LED
Yellow Tiger Endlers under Marineland LED

  • Integrated light / hood combo

Having the light bar nested into the hood keeps light from escaping horizontally across the top of your aquarium. This gives it a nice sleek look as all of the light from the LEDs is directed down into the tank.

Planted 10 Gallon Lit by Marineland LED Hood
Planted 10 Gallon Lit by Marineland LED Hood

Cons:

  • Comparatively low light level

While the output on these Marineland LED hoods will keep low light plants alive, it is not anywhere near what you would get out of a more expensive LED fixture. I have been able to grow rotala rotundifolia, anubias nana, and cryptocoryne wendtii under this light, but everything grows very slowly. Since the LEDs are all concentrated in the center of the hood, the light level drops off significantly on the outsides edges of the aquarium.

  • Lack of customization

These hoods are difficult to cut or modify for different styles of filtration because they are made from a thick plastic. You also cannot swap out the light for one that stretches across the whole tank. In my opinion, this is the biggest drawback to their design.

Planted 10 Gallon with Marineland LED Hood
Planted 10 Gallon with Marineland LED Hood

Bottom Line

The Marineland LED Light Hood for Aquariums, Day & Night Light is a good affordable option for aquarists who are looking for an all-in-one light and canopy design. I would not recommend it if you are interested in growing high light plants; but if you want a light that will showcase your fish and keep some plants alive, it is a nice looking option.


Published on Leave a comment on Easy DIY Filter Media Basket for a Sump
Mechanical Filter Media Basket
Mechanical Filter Media Basket

This mechanical media basket holds filter floss pads and Polyfil where water enters the sump on my 90 gallon rainbowfish aquarium. It is made from a plastic tupperware container that I up-cycled from a package of lunch meat (after washing thoroughly). I drilled about 30 holes into the bottom of the container using both a 1/8" and 1/4" bit to spread the flow evenly across the tray.

This is a modification to the original design for my DIY 20 gallon sump. The container fits perfectly into the larger basket that houses a coarse sponge and previously held my mechanical media. A smaller media tray keeps the flow of water concentrated into a reduced surface area, which allows me to use less mechanical media. It also facilitates changing the media, because it is easily removed and replaced, as shown in the video below.

The bottom of the basket is stuffed with Polyfil which is then covered by a piece of filter pad media that is cut slightly larger than the aperture of the container. The clear sides allow me to see when the media is dirty and needs to be changed. This is a dirt cheap DIY  mechanical filtration solution for a sump; I covered the use of Polyfil and some other cheap DIY filtration solutions here.


Published on Leave a comment on How To Properly Keep a Betta Fish
Betta Barracks at About Fish Inc. in Westminster, CO
Betta Barracks at About Fish Inc. in Westminster, CO

Do bettas need a filter?

Yes.

Although bettas are often seen in unfiltered bowls, they need filtration to survive longer than a few weeks. See this post on the nitrogen cycle for more info on why all fish need filtration. A big or expensive filter is not necessary. A small sponge filter like this one is sufficient for a single betta.

Betta posing with a heater and a sponge filter
Betta posing with a heater and a sponge filter

Do bettas need a heater?

Yes, unless they are kept in a room that never drops below 74 °F. Betta Splendens are native to the Chao Phraya River in Thailand. Temperatures there are consistently warm all year, ranging from 75-90 °F. If you live in a tropical climate, you may not need a heater. Betta species prefer a water temperature of around 75–82 °F.

Bangkok Average Temperature

A small heater like this one will only run you about $10-$20 and will keep your betta a lot healthier than consistently cold water. Always use a thermometer so you can keep an eye on the temperature.

Can a betta live in a bowl?

Yes, if it holds at least 2 gallons of water. Not sure how much water your bowl will hold? Use a milk jug or soda bottle to measure the amount of liquid you can add. Two gallons is equivalent to about 7.5 liters. Anything smaller than this will require frequent maintenance to remove waste so that the water is not foul, and will be too small to add a filter.

Even better than a bowl, though, is a nano tank like the Fluval Spec. These small aquariums come as a kit with a filter and a light, and make a perfect home for a single male Betta Splendens.

So why do stores sell Bettas in cups?

Because money.

Bettas are a member of the gourami family, which means they are aggressive. This is why another name for the Betta Splendens is the Siamese Fighting Fish. Male bettas cannot be housed together, and they don't do well with most other species of fish. This makes housing bettas in a store properly not very cost effective. It is cheaper for a large percentage of them to die than to provide each one with adequate space in a heated and filtered system.

The other reason that bettas are so often sold in cups is that they have a special labryinth organ that allows them to take gulps of air from the surface. This is a common characteristic of anabantoids, a group which includes gouramies. Because of this organ, bettas last longer in low oxygen environments than other fish. The problem, however, is that ammonia from fish waste can still burn their gills and kill them. In a tiny, unfiltered container, ammonia levels can quickly become deadly.

The solution to this, which all pet stores should implement, is a betta barracks. This is a rack system that houses each individual male betta in a small container, but each container is plumbed together. The water is heated and filtered as it moves through this rack system. This video by Aquarium Co-Op explains how to build a DIY betta barracks. Unfortunately, this system costs money to implement. But it is far more humane than keeping fish for sale in small plastic cups.

Healthy betta in a planted 10 gallon aquarium
Healthy betta in a planted 10 gallon aquarium

What can you do to change the way bettas are treated?

Don't buy a betta - or ideally, any fish - from big chain stores that keep them in cups. I have been to several local fish stores that had bettas in barracks racking systems. These local stores will typically have a better selection of healthy fish. The big box chains see bettas as a gateway product that allows them to sell you a bowl, chemicals, food, gravel, and decorations. As long as people are buying bettas in cups, and cheap tiny plastic bowls, they will keep selling them.