My Aquascaping Experience

[JGaulard]

Fluval M50 & Inkbird ITC-308S​

During the summer months, my 55 gallon tank's water temperature hovered around 78°. That was fine, but I began getting nervous a few weeks ago when the temps dropped down into the 60s. The last I looked, the water in the aquarium hit a low of 66° and my platys and danios weren't too happy. They weren't moving around the tank much at all, so I knew I needed to buy a heater. The thing is, after looking through the various brands of heaters on Amazon, I became very discouraged. It seemed as though quite a few of them were of low quality and some buyers of these low quality heaters complained of "heater runaway." Basically, that's when a heater's internal thermostat malfunctions, causing the heater to never turn off. Some people said that their heater ran all night and when they woke up in the morning, all of their fish were dead and their tank water was over 100°. I also learned that aquarium water heaters are notorious for going bad - breaking - malfunctioning - whatever you want to call it. They stopped working. The primary reason for this is too much cycling (turning on and off). Let's say you live in a very cold home and you purchase a 300w heater. You install it into your 60° tank water and it warms the water to 76° within two hours. At that point, the heater turns off because the maximum temperature was reached. Well, because the house is so cold, the water temperature will drop rather quickly, causing the heater to turn on again. Multiply this by hundreds or thousands of times over the course of a winter and you've got yourself a broken heater. All because it turned on and off too many times. After all, there's only so many cycles a fish tank heater can go through in its lifespan. In the example I just gave above, the water was warmed very quickly because of a high power heater and it cooled down quickly because of a cold home. To solve the cycling problem, it's best to keep a warm home and to run a lower wattage heater.

The unit I purchased is a 50w Fluval M50. This is fairly low wattage, so it'll take a long time to warm my tank's water. That's fine. Also, as an insurance policy against heater runaway, I bought the Inkbird ITC-308S. That's basically a temperature controller that will cut power to the heater if the water temps rise too much. The heater's power cord plugs into the controller. So most of the time, the heater's internal thermostat will control when the heater turns on and off, but just in case, if the temperature rises past, in my case, 72°, the controller will cut the power. Personally, I like the controller because it's got a probe that sits in the water and that measures the water temperature. I have the module hanging in the wall so I can see what's going on, nice and clearly. Check out these photos. The first one is the heater and the probe in the water and the second one is the module hanging on the wall.

 

[JGaulard]

Aquascaping a 55-Gallon Fish Tank​

For the past few months, I've been aquascaping a cute little 10-gallon fish tank. It came out pretty awesome. If you'd like to check that out, you can do so here. Before setting up the 10-gallon tank though, I had my heart set on a 55-gallon. While the 10-gallon is nice, I would love to see my little fishes swim around with a lot more freedom and space. Ten gallons isn't nearly enough room for five Danios and four Platys. The Platys are now having babies, so I really need more room for them. I will tell you though, the 10-gallon tank is really great for a beginner. Mine looks outstanding and has been a lot of fun to deal with. After I finish the newer and larger tank though, I'll likely keep the smaller tank for breeding and to house plants. We'll see what happens.

Last week, I filled the new tank up about half way to leak check it. I let it sit the entire time and there were no leaks, so I ordered some substrate gravel and another light. I also found some great looking stones from a nearby stream. Yesterday, I began arranging everything and adding more water. This morning, I took the filter from the old tank and put it in the new tank. This was to establish a nitrogen cycle. I also began transferring some of the smaller plants and stones from the smaller tank to the larger one. It's got a long way to go, but it's getting there. The water is still very cloudy. While I did rinse the gravel, I suppose I could have done a better job. Check out what I have so far.

 

[JGaulard]

The water is still cloudy in the tank. I've gone ahead and added the filter with the old media in it to the new tank full time. And just this morning, I added the rest of the stones, plants, and fish. The fish seem extremely happy and are enjoying all of their new space.

Here are a few pictures of some happy Platys.







Here's a quick video I took about five minutes ago.

I still need to do some work to this setup. I need to add some black background, which I have sitting off to the side. I don't want to add the backer board before I stop splashing and dripping water all over the place. I also need to add some root tabs for the plants and wait for the tank to clear up. The water is still pretty murky. Although, I'll say that it's only about half as cloudy as it was yesterday. We'll see how it looks tomorrow morning. Maybe I'll be surprised with a nice clear tank.

Here's a picture of the entire thing.

 

[JGaulard]

I received a nice little package from Aquarium Co-Op this afternoon. Inside the package was the sponge filter I've been waiting for. I haven't had bubbles in a tank for years, so I was excited to set everything up. During the process, I snapped a few photos, just in case someone is interested in what the filter, pump, tubing, and everything else looks like.

Here's the box the gear came in.









As you can see, I ordered the large sponge filter, a check valve, some air tubing, a never-clog air stone by Ziss, and an Aquatop AP-100 air pump. Let's see each item in its packaging.











Now we'll take a look at each item while in operation. First, we've got the sponge filter in the tank. It was a snap setting this stuff up. It only took a few minutes.

Oh yeah, before that, I'll show you a photo of the sponge filter and the air pump outside of the tank.



Now I'll show you both items inside the tank while running.





I originally had the air pump mounted to the side of my fish tank table, but after realizing that the check valve was cracked and that I couldn't get any air through it in either direction, I decided to mount it to the wall above the tank. Just in case the power goes out, the water won't siphon out of the tank. You gotta have one or the other; a check valve or an elevated pump.



This is a photo of the cracked check valve. I decided to not even use one. I am not in love with the idea of having another part that can break - or slowly go bad over time. I've heard differing reviews on these things.



I contacted Aquarium Co-Op about this. We'll see what they say. Oop - I just received an email back from them. They'll refund me for this part. Easy enough.

I've got the pump and filter running right now. I took a video of it to show off how loud (or quiet) they are. During the video, the pump was turned up high so the greatest volume of air would travel through it. I have since turned it all the way down because the filter really doesn't need nearly that much air. Everything looks good. I don't see any suction going through the foam though. I suppose that happens slowly. Here's the video.

Let me know what you think. Good stuff? It seems to be the industry standard.

 

[JGaulard]

Enjoy the latest video of my 55 gallon tank. I took this for my friend Rob, just to show him the tank, but since it came out okay, I decided to post it on my YouTube account. The Danios are so much fun to own. They don't usually swim in the current, but I guess last night was their night.

Danios Swimming in Current - 55 Gallon Aquarium

 

[JGaulard]

How to Quickly Cycle a Fish Tank​

I am setting up a new 55 gallon aquarium and I'd like to know if there are any tips or tricks I can use to get a cycle going faster than the weeks I would normally have to wait by letting it happen on its own. Does anyone have any advice for instantly, or at least quickly, cycling a tank?

Answer:

There are three/four methods for cycling a fish tank that I can think of. I'll explain what they are down below. But first, let me explain the cycle itself.

The Nitrogen Cycle​

The cycle goes like this:

1. You add fish and food to your tank. The food is nitrogen.
2. The fish consume the food and excrete it as ammonia.
3. A bacteria grows (Nitrosomonas) that eats the ammonia and converts it to nitrite.
4. Another bacteria is formed (Nitrobacter) to eat the nitrate and turn it to nitrate.
5. Live plants absorb the nitrate and ammonia and use it as fertilizer for growth.

Nitrate is relatively harmless, but you do want to be sure to keep it under 40ppm by doing water changes. Live plants do help with keeping the nitrate in check by consuming it. You will need to trim your plants periodically, however, to remove the nitrate from the system.

So that's your desired cycle. Unfortunately, that natural cycle takes a few weeks to establish. It's all that beneficial bacteria growth that takes time.

Naturally Cycling a Fish Tank​

Onto your options for creating a cycle for your aquarium.

First, you can simply let it happen by itself. Add water to the tank and set up your aquascape. Wait a few days for the water to get to temperature and for things to settle down. Then, add a (hearty) fish or two. Feed as you normally would and then wait a few weeks while feeding and caring for the very few fish you added. By adding only a few fish, you'll be less likely to have created an ammonia spike than if you had added many fish. If you add too many fish to the tank without any of that beneficial bacteria growing, there will be nothing to eat the ammonia the fish produce. Ammonia kills fish. So you definitely want to add your fish very slowly.

Adding Ammonia Directly (Without Fish)​

I've heard that some people out there within the aquarium community have added small amounts of ammonia directly to their tanks after setting them up, but before adding fish. Allegedly, this can jump-start the nitrogen cycle. I'm not sure of the amounts and I'm not sure if this works, but it seems to be a think. If you think about it, it should work. The introduction of ammonia should prompt the growth of the bacteria. Once the cycle is complete, you can add your fish. If this method interests you, let me know down below and we can do some investigating to see how it can be done successfully.

Use a Store-Bought Solution​

There are many over-the-counter cycle jump-start products you can buy. One I know of is called Fluval Biological Enhancer, otherwise known as "Cycle" in some places. Another product is called FritzZyme 7, which I've heard good things about. Do your homework before buying any of these because from what people say, many of these types of products don't work when it comes to the nitrification process. In theory though, by adding a cycling chemical to your tank, you should get the cycle going very quickly.

Pulling From an Established Tank​

If you are big into the fish keeping hobby and if you have more than one tank, you're in luck. This last option is definitely the best and it's the one that pretty much everyone who already has an established tank uses. Basically, because the sought after beneficial bacteria lives on surfaces, such as glass, stone, wood, gravel (substrate), plants, and filter media, it's very easy to simply borrow some items from the established tank to add to the new tank. A common item to take from the old tank and add to the new tank is filter media. When I personally need to start a nitrogen cycle in a new tank, I take the entire filter from an established tank and just use it in the new tank. That's really all it takes. The results are instant. Another option is to take the old media from the established filter and tuck it behind a foam filter, if that's what you're using. If you've got extra plants, put those in the new tank. Extra gravel or rocks? Same thing. Basically, anything that's got the bacteria growing on it will help out tremendously. After doing this though, I'd still wait a few days, just to make sure the temperature is okay and to make sure the water is filtering through the entire tank. I like my tanks to sit for a while before adding fish.

No matter which method you use, be sure to always add fish slowly. There's an entire science behind ammonia load and how much bacteria you have in your tank. You don't want to cause a dangerous ammonia spike that may kill some of your fish. In this hobby, slower is better.

 

[JGaulard]

How Long For My Cloudy Aquarium Water to Clear?​

I am setting up a 29 gallon high fish tank and the water has been cloudy for about a week. I don't think I did anything wrong. I rinsed the gravel well and I cleaned everything I put in the tank. I just put a few fish in the tank, but the water is still so cloudy. I have had the filter running the entire time too. I thought that would have cleared the water up, but it only did a little bit. Does anyone know what's going on? Why is my aquarium water still cloudy?

Answer:

There are a few things that may be going on. Most likely, you just need to wait things out and the tank will clear up in time. You don't want to rush the process. Bacteria needs to build up and grow and those little microbes will eat a lot of what's making the water cloudy, or as some people call it, milky. I'm sure yours isn't drastic enough to be called milky though. If your tank is anything like the ones I've set up, the water is cloudy because, as much as you think you cleaned the gravel, you didn't clean it enough. A good filter and about a week should fix the situation.

Something else that's most likely going on is called "new tank syndrome." Basically, in many new fish tanks, just after they're set up, billions of tiny little bacteria are duking it out for supremacy. These different types of bacteria are eating any food source that's available in the tank. The beneficial bacteria that actually helps clear the water and remove the cloudiness takes some time to establish. This is the "nitrifying" bacteria that we all seek as aquarium hobbyists. It establishes balance to the tank and that can take a few days.

I'm sure your tank is at the stage where the microbes that were alive in the water when you put it in the tank are multiplying like crazy. They're feeding on the nutrients in the water and all that feeding is making the water somewhat opaque. What you don't want to do right now is add too many fish or feed the fish you do have in the tank too much food. That will just feed the microbes more and make matters worse.

So what should you do? What's your plan of action? Nothing. Don't do anything. The best thing for you to do is go on with life and let the colonies of good bacteria grow and consume the bad. Let nature run its course. Don't change the filter in the hopes that a new one will make matters better. Doing this will actually make matters worse. Also, don't do water changes because, again, you'll be making matters worse. What you're hoping for is called a "nitrification cycle." At this very moment, good bacteria is establishing itself in your filter media as well as in the water and on the gravel. If you were to try to clean all that, you'd disrupt the entire thing. As the good bacteria grows, the bad (dirty) bacteria will consume what it can from the water and eventually die off.

To hurry the process of cycling your tank and making the water clear, you can add live plants and old filter media from another tank you have, if possible. Doing this will add the good bacteria and help fight the bad.

So, to sum up, to hasten the clearing of your fish tank water after setting up your tank:

1. Don't over feed your fish. This only adds fuel to the fire and adds to the cloudiness.

2. Don't add too many fish too fast. Fish eat food and poop and pee out ammonia. This feeds the bad microbes.

3. Try adding activated carbon to your filter. Carbon sucks up and reduces the available nutrients that feed the bad bacteria.

4. Add previously used gravel, filter media, plants, and hard-scape from another tank. This stuff has loads of good bacteria already attached and can work wonders for your tank. This is called "seeding" your aquarium.

The process can take anywhere from several days/weeks to a few months, depending on how many fish you have in the tank and how many live plants you have. Like the previous poster said, don't try to fix the situation. You can do a water test to see how high your ammonia and nitrates/nitrites are, but really, you just need to wait for the bacteria to grow. This is all part of the aquarium break-in cycle. You're probably experiencing a bacterial bloom that needs to be dealt with naturally.

 

[JGaulard]

When Can I Combine Platy Fry Babies with Adult Fish?​

One of my Platys recently had little baby fry. As far as I can see, there are between nine and 11 of them. They're difficult to count because they're small and they keep moving around. But there are at least 10 of them. Here are a few photos.





Some of the baby platys are very small, as if they were born yesterday, and some are bigger and are starting to turn orange. They're currently in a 10 gallon tank alone. There are no adults in there with them. There were adult fish, but I moved them to a larger tank yesterday. When they were together with the adults, they seemed to be doing okay because the babies were hiding under rocks and in some Java moss. The new tank isn't as established yet and I don't know if they'll have as good of hiding spots, so I want to know when the earliest I can combine them with the adult fish. Does anyone have any experience with this?

Answer:

I'm not sure if this is the first time you have dealt with baby fish, so I'll try to be as thorough as possible. The short answer to your question, though, is after about a month, you can throw the babies in with the parents. That is, depending on what type of adult fish are in the larger tank. If it's just other platys, that time frame should be fine. If you've got Oscars and Jack Dempseys, you'll need to wait a lot longer - or never transfer them at all. You actually shouldn't be mixing Platys with African Cichlids, unless you want the smaller fish eaten up.

If you don't have any experience with breeding fish, here's some background and some helpful tips that might help.

1. Keep your eyes open for pregnant fish, especially of you've got heavy breeders, such as Platys. These fish tend you breed quite frequently, so you may need to keep closer attention than you normally would with other types of fish.

2. Size your tank appropriately. The smaller the tank, the more chance your baby fish will be eaten by their parents. Also, if the babies don't have places to hide, they'll get picked off quickly. If you only have a few Platys and have caves and moss in which the baby fish can hide, a 10 gallon tank should be fine, but that's the smallest I'd go. Personally, if I were going to allow my fish to free-breed without me moving the parents or the babies into separate tanks, I'd have them in nothing smaller than a 30 gallon.

3. Get a separate breeding tank. Stop by a local fish store and buy a five gallon tank that'll be used exclusively for breeding. Once you see that a female is pregnant, which should be plainly obvious (mine get really fat and their stomachs turn more white than orange), catch the female and put her in the small tank until she gives birth. Once she does, remove her and put her back in the other larger tank. This way, the fry won't have to worry about defending themselves from hungry mouths and can safely grow larger.

4. Add plants, caves, or a breeding trap to your community tank. Java moss is cheap and it'll grow in almost any tank. It'll also do well with cold water. Go out and buy some of that and put it at the bottom of your community tank. Allow it to grow and when the female Platy gives birth, those fry will have the perfect place to hide. Alternately, you can purchase a breeding trap (breeding cage) and add it to the community tank. There are all different types of these cages. When you see the female is pregnant, add her to the trap and when she gives birth, the fry will automatically separate from her. My advice is to add some rocks and lots of live plants to your tank so you won't have to concern yourself with any of this. If there are enough hiding places, you can let the babies stay with the adults and they'll have enough coverage for most of them to survive. Another benefit of live plants is that they and the algae that grows on them can be nibbled on by the fry for food.

5. Bide your time. Once you notice that a female platy is pregnant, you will have about a month to get her over to her own tank, if that's the route you choose to go in. On average, she'll birth about 20-40 babies, with that number climbing as high at 80 under some circumstances.

6. After the mother gives birth, move her back to the community tank.

7. Feed the fry as you feed all your other fish. Nothing special is necessary. Just be sure not to overfeed and to really crush any food down so it's small enough to nibble on. Fry hardly eat anything, so you only need to add very little food to the tank. Just remember, what you feed your fry matters. Cheap food with hardly any nutrients won't give them vibrant colors as adults. Feed them the good stuff.

8. Keep the fry tank clean. Don't go off and forget about those baby fish! Their tank will get dirty, just as any other tank will. Every two weeks, do a 25% water change, making sure not to suck any babes up the siphon hose.

9. Add the young fish to the community tank. Young Platys will grow to full size after approximately 120 days. You can wait until then or you can wait about a month, as I mentioned above. This really depends on what your community tank looks like. If you've got many nooks and crannies, plants, and caves, you may be able to add the young fish to the larger tank sooner rather than later. If it's a bare bottom tank with nothing in it though, you'll definitely want to wait until they can defend themselves (and not get sucked up into the hang-on-back filter).

 

[JGaulard]

Well, that didn't go so well. Last week, I added three fry to the larger tank and they swam down to the bottom. From what I've been able to see, they have been doing okay. I have seen one or two of them doing well throughout the week. I assumed all three were still alive.

Fast forward to this morning. I got the bright idea of adding a few more fry to the larger tank. I caught three with my net and transferred them over. Two Danios promptly ate two of them. They chased them down and swallowed them whole. It was utterly disturbing. What's the moral of this story? Two things: Danios are like sharks and don't add fry to a tank with adult fish in it.

 

[JGaulard]

How to Know if Fish Tank Sponge Filter is Working​

I've been asked this question many times and I'm not sure I've ever given it the consideration it's due. I guess I haven't thought about it much. After setting up a sponge filter, I just assumed it was working. With all the bubbles coming out the top, through the tube, I have always known that there was a lot of water movement and pull through the sponge. I'd like to get some other opinion though. So the question is, how do you know if your sponge filter is working?

Answer:

I am sure someone out there will say this is a stupid question, but it's really not. Aquarium sponge filters have been around forever, so people just think they work. Do they? I have had sponge filters in my tanks for years and I have never seen anything that was floating around get sucked up into any of them. I would sit there and watch as particulate matter would hover right next to them and nothing would happen. It was like there was no suction at all. I honestly don't know if they do anything. Does anything stick to these things?

Answer:

How long have you had the filters set up? The way you can tell if they're working is to remove one of them and squeeze the sponge out in a bucket. If the water is brown, they're working fine. You won't see much action while in the tank, but rest assured they are doing their jobs. Hang on the back filters are much different. They're faster and it's much more obvious that they're filtering. Sponge filters are slow and steady, but effective.

Answer:

Agreed. You won't see much in the tank. In the beginning, you won't see any difference in the appearance of the sponge itself. Over time though, you'll see it becoming dirty looking. The color will change. Tiny little particles are getting stuck to the sponge and those particles build up over time. The squeeze test will show you for sure. You'll see all that dirt come out. Basically, if you see bubbles coming up the tube, the filter is working. When cleaning the filter, just be sure to wring it out in a bucket of water from the tank itself. These are microbial filters and they hold tons of very good bacteria. You wouldn't want to clean the filter in chlorinated water. That would destroy and kill the beneficial bacteria. Be very careful with these types of filters. They do a lot more good than just filtering your aquarium.

 

[JGaulard]

Danios Eating Platy Fry!​

I have Danios (Pearl, I think) mixed in with some Platys in a 55-gaoon tank. The Platys had fry recently and I swear there used to be more in the tank than there are now. I don't see the Platys paying any attention to the babies, but the Danios are looking suspicious. They're like little sharks swimming around. Could it be that the Danios are eating the Platy fry? I don't really see the Danios paying too much attention to the fry during the day, but in the morning when they're hungry, I think they'll eat anything. Also, I would like to get some Zebra Danios in the future. Do they eat fry?

Answer:

Fry are usually pretty good at hiding if you have enough area to hide in (moss and live plants), but if they become bold enough as they get older and go out for a free swim, yes, the Danios will most definitely gobble them up. I own some Giant Danios in my tank and if they're anything to go by, man, those fry don't stand a chance. If you want to keep them, you really need to separate them from any adult fish. I wouldn't trust any of them, but Danios can be especially aggressive. If you have heavy breeders though, perhaps it wouldn't be such a bad thing getting rid of some of those little guys. All those babies can quickly take over.

If you wanted to, you could add a divider in your tank to keep the Danios at bay, just until the fry grow larger - large enough to hold their own. It would probably be best to keep separate tanks though. I sometimes use a ten gallon for my baby fish as a growout tank. I even separate the fry from the parents.

It seems like the size of the Danio stomach is never ending. If it'll fit in their mouths, they'll eat it. Fry stand no chance again them. I was watching a video the other night of Danios spawning and then eating the eggs as fast as they were being released. It was crazy; like a feeding frenzy.

 

[JGaulard]

Insulating an Aquarium​

I've been having a lot of fun with my 55-gallon aquarium. If you haven't read my previous posts on the topic yet, you can above. They show how I set up the tank and a few other things.

When I initially bought my danios and platys to put in the tank, I did so because those breeds are able to handle colder water than other fish can. While they weren't classified as "cold water" fish, they could easily survive the water temperature dropping into the high 60s. Tropical fish tanks are generally kept between 76° and 84°. There are many fish that definitely need to live in warmer water. Since my house is kept fairly cool in the winter, I needed to buy the most hardy fish possible. Actually, I wanted to catch some minnows and crayfish from a nearby stream to add to the tank, but I never got around to that. Those would be able to handle ice water.

I believe I set my tank up in the late spring. During that time, the fish were fine. During the summer, the water temperature was in the 80s and the fish loved it. The platys bred like crazy. As I sit here and write, there are probably 30 of them in the tank. They all came from one female. It's just crazy.

Funny thing happened recently. I was fed a dose of reality. While I always knew my house gets cold in the winter, when I set the tank up, I don't think I wanted to admit to myself just how cold it gets. There are mornings when I come downstairs and the temps are in the 40s. A few months ago, when it began getting chilly here in Maine, I watched in horror as the water temperature in the tank dropped to 63°. When that happened, the fish became very lethargic and hardly moved at all. I knew I needed to buy a heater. I thought I could get away without using one, but I was wrong. My goal was to keep the tank at 72°. I've since abandoned that temperature for 68º because it seems like the fish like that better. Plus, it saves some money in electricity keeping the tank cooler. Right now, the water is 69.8° and they're fine. They've been this way for about a month now.

The heater I purchased is only 50 watts. The reason I purchased such a small, low wattage, heater is because I didn't want it to continuously turn on and off like the bigger heaters do. I wanted it to turn on and stay on for a good long time. Then, when the water got to the proper temperature, it would turn off for a while. Heaters cycling on and off too much reduce the life of the heater. It's very bad.

As it turns out, a 50 watt heater in a 55-gallon aquarium can't compete with an air temperature of 60°. It can warm the water pretty good, but it just can't bring it into the 70s like I wanted it to. And honestly, I can't stand the idea of running a fish tank heater all the time. It goes against everything I believe in. I hate the idea.

Last week, I went so far as calling a local pet store to offer them my fish. I didn't want them anymore. The idea was to trade them in for white cloud minnows. Now there's a hardy fish. You can keep them in water that drops down into the 30s. The only problem is they don't like warm water at all, and again, mine goes into the 80s during the summer, so I don't think they'd work out.

One morning, I came up with a fantastic idea. Since I had some one-inch rigid foam insulation hanging around, why not cut and attach some of it to the sides and top of the tank? So that's what I did. I read a few other forum posts about insulating aquariums and it seems like the idea is pretty popular. Most of what I saw was folks using that silver bubble insulation to wrap their tanks, but I didn't see anyone using rigid foam. After this post and my photos get out there though, I think my idea will catch on. Insulating a tank is a must for those of us who live in colder climates and in colder houses. I actually like to keep my house about 65° during the winter. Any warmer than that and I'd overheat. Not exactly the best climate for tropical fish.

I wanted my heater to stop working so hard. I wanted the water in my tank to stay warmer without the cold air outside of it sucking the heat out of it. Really, the only way for that to happen was for my to insulate the tank. Check this out.



This is the aquarium with the back, sides, and top insulated with blue rigid foam insulation. Here are some photos of the sides.





For the back, I glued some black backer board to the foam so I have a nice black background for the tank. The entire project took only about an hour and now, after I set the heater to stay at 68°, it's almost like it doesn't go on at all. There's a blue light that illuminates when the heater is in use. I don't see that light nearly as much as I used to.

I don't know which is more important to insulate, the top or the back of the tank. Both are large areas. I'd say the top is pretty important though, so I made sure to do that. I cut the foam so it friction fit and then cut some rectangles in the center so I could place my LED lights on them to light the tank. Check it out.





While this is all good during the day, the real problems occur at night when I'm sleeping. Since I can't fill the wood stove during those hours, the house gets pretty cold. I wanted to bundle up the tank as best I could, so I made sure to cut another piece of foam to cover the front of the tank as well. I simply attach it before I go to bed.



While I'm sleeping, the entire tank, except for the bottom, is insulated. I woke up this morning and the air temperature in the house was 58°. Guess what the water temperature in the tank was. It was 69°. No problem at all. And I don't think the heater ran that much overnight either. It's like I made a big goose down winter jacket for my aquarium. Pretty cool, right?

Have you ever thought about insulating your aquarium? The foam I used is R-7, which is quite a bit of protection. I love the idea of doing what I did. If you have a tank and if you did something like this, please let me know about it. Thanks!