Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Aquarium Powerhead Costs
Over the past few posts, I’ve broken down some of the biggest electricity costs associated with my saltwater aquarium. The lights and return pump (if you have one) probably consume the most electricity (and therefore create the biggest cost), followed by aquarium powerheads, as a distant third. Some aquarists choose to alternate the flow from…
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Aquarium Return Pump Costs
Ever since I wrote the post last week about whether switching to reef LED lighting will save money, I have been almost obsessed with trying to understand how much electricity my saltwater aquariums are consuming. Next to the lights, the next most energy-intensive piece of equipment is the aquarium return pump–the electrical pump that returns water from the sump…
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Will switching to reef LED aquarium lights save money?
I found myself asking the question: “Will switching to reef LED aquarium lights save money?” a lot lately–mostly because I’m overdue to change out my light bulbs. So now that it is time to fork over the ~$110 to replace my lights (to purchase a new metal halide lamp and 2 power compact lamps), the questions I…
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Aquarium Maintenance Productivity Hack
I’ll get straight to the point–I don’t like to do aquarium maintenance, and I’m going to venture a guess that you don’t like it much either. The worst part about it–is that I’m usually not even honest with myself. I usually say, “I forgot.” But the truth is, subliminally, I want to forget, because I don’t…
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Zooxanthellae: Symbiotic Coral Algae
Zooxanthellae: Symbiotic coral algae What are Zooxanthellae? Zooxanthellae are single-celled algae that live symbiotically with corals, clams and anemones. That was a mouthful and a bit nerdy, so let’s take a little bit deeper at each of the important terms there: Single-celled: Living things are made of cells. You are made of cells, but millions…
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Captive-bred Saltwater Fish: Four Recent Advances
Captive-bred Saltwater Fish: Four Recent Advances Recent advances in captive-bred saltwater fish took FOUR major steps forward recently. Captive-bred Marine Bettas, Calloplesiops altivelis, became available from Sustainable Aquatics. 3,200 French Grunts were raised by a partnership between Disney and the Tropical Aquaculture Laboratory (Matthew L. Wittenrich) Captive-bred Randall’s Assesors will be available soon from ORA…
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Zebra Danio Study Shows How Fish Evolved Limbs
Zebra Danio Study Shows How Fish Evolved Limbs Due to a recent study with the Zebra Danio, scientists are one step closer to figuring out how fish evolved limbs and took their first steps on land. Zebra Danios are a popular freshwater aquarium fish because of their: abundant energy general hardiness inexpensive price tag Developmental…
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Clownfish Use Sound to Reinforce Dominance
Clownfish Use Sound to Reinforce Dominance Clownfish are probably the most common saltwater aquarium fish. They are beloved by almost every aquarist because of their striking coloration, hardiness and symbiotic relationship with their host anemones—which incidentally aren’t required to have success with clownfish in captivity. Who doesn’t love a clownfish? Another great aspect of…
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Aquarium Power Failure
After Hurricane Sandy blew through, I had my first real experience dealing with my aquarium during a power failure. In this post, I will take you through some of what I learned along the way. My heart goes out to those who were effected in a major way by this storm. I was fortunate to…
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