Aquarium Fish Tank Silicone Sea Anemone Ornament SH189 Pu

Purchased this for my Salt Water tank but my Betta had other plans for it. He loves this "Sea Anemone" It's so pretty, soft and sweet. This particular product is an excellent size for your tank or spoil your Betta. Amazon has some really great items to decorate your aquarium.

Hagen Marina L.E.D Light Only

Just a warning to other aquarists who may be interested in purchasing this blue light for moonlight in your aquarium. It is not a piece that can be purchased on its own, you must buy the adapter plug to actually be able to power the light. Mine is sitting in its box until I buy A SEPARATE PIECE that serves ONLY as a wall plug. No where on the product description does it tell you that. Now I have to decide whether to spend another ten dollars on a plug, or return the light and get something else that I can actually use.

I originally purchased 3 of these in white over a year ago and they are still working great! I set the blue ones up this past weekend and they look spectacular! The beam of light is softer under water but it mimics natural beams of moonlight. They work well to illuminate the bottom of my 75 gallon freshwater aquarium so I can observe my nocturnal fish. I also have a 4"+ red eared slider turtle in the tank and he tried to pick apart the lights and they stood up to him! So they are quite tough.

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Unlike the picture used in the description the packaging my daughter's light came in has 2 large yellow labels indicating "Transformer not included". Had I known that I never would have purchased this product. What good is a light with a six foot cord and nothing to plug it in to? First time I've ever been burned by Amazon, although I blame Hagen for forgetting to add this tiny detail to their product description.

Update:

I contacted Hagen to get the part number for the transformer and they sent me one at no cost. Can't say enough about their customer service. Now that we can use the light it works fairly well for what it is. It is a small LED light for a small tank. Suction cup holds the light in place well.

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Got these two lights to replace one that had burned out (after 4 years), and added one light to my system. The 3 lights work great in my 55 gallon tank. The entire tank bottom is illuminated in a red glow, for night viewing.

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cool lights put into 12 gal fluvial edge cut holds in platform and have lights shiny up very cool at night

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Lee's Carbon Cartridge Bowl Filters, Disposable, 2-Pack

So less maintenance after i got this filter. I used to change water in my fish bowl twice a week. Now I do it once in 2 weeks. This filter comes with a little tree which is nice. I have 2 mollies and 2 guppies in my 2 gallon fish bowl. Highly recommended product.

Hydor Automatic Fish Feeder -Battery Powered, with Air Connection - Original EkoMixo

This is my first automatic feeder. I've been using it continuously for ten months without any problems. When I go out of town, I have no worries about my fish.

The good:

it has worked reliably for me

it holds weeks worth of flakes

I haven't had problems with moisture, even without using the air input

adjustable feeding quantity

1 to 3 feedings/day

low battery warning

batteries lasted me 10 months with 3 feedings/day

The bad:

programming interface is poor. The 24-hour clock starts *at the time you set it up*, which means if you want the first feeding at 7am you have to wait until 7am to program it.

I can't program it without the manual. It's not simple enough to figure out, and there isn't an instruction plate on the unit. Now that I have to change the batteries, I have to go digging for the manual.

the program is inflexible. There is no way to pause the program, or to make the unit do a one-time extra feeding. The multiple-feeding/day interval is unchangeable (12 hours for 2x, 6 hours for 3x).

bulky with limited mounting options. The unit has to sit on top of your tank, with the feeder output over an opening. The base of the unit (the black part in the picture) is about 4.5", with the feeding slot (clear plastic part) extending past the base with a 1" wide opening.

I had to experiment over a few feedings to find a position that would get all the food into the water. I put velcro strips on the base and attached it to a heavy drink coaster with a felt bottom. It doesn't move around and won't scratch my acrylic top.

Despite the inflexibility, I'm happy with this thing because I really have no worries when I'm on vacation.

Have had the product for a few months now. It is working and seems to be reliable. Only wish you could program it by entering a time into the feeder. You have to set it at the time you want to feed the fish and then it just counts the hours until the next feeding...once a day, twice a day etc. The amount you feed depends on how wide you open the hopper. Make sure you have enough food in the feeder since it works off of gravity and the rotating hopper to drop the food into your tank.

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My husband has a 55 gallon for mollies and I have a 5 gallon for a Betta. He did not want to use the automatic feeder that I recently purchased and told me to buy the tetra vacation gel for the 55 gallon. I decided to set up the auto feeder for Betta and my husband dropped the Tetra Gel in the Molly tank. We left for 4 days and when we returned the water in the auto feeder was not cloudy, Betta alive and happy while the 55 gallon tank, the water was cloudy, the mollies did not look well and I found alot of the Tetra gel residue. I purchased my feeder else where cheaper, and can say it was worth the purchase. However, there are some cons I would like to point out.

Cons:

1) Cannot set a designated time;

2) Container bit small for supposedly 1 months feeding; guess if you feed once a day it will last a month; and

3) No clamp to support to fish tank only a couple of velcro strips

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I was kinda worried about how well it would work, since I bought it here on Amazon and the reviews made it look kinda sketchy, but I've owned it for nearly half a year now and I have not once had a single problem with it. I did notice though that if you place it over the surface where the bubbles from your air stone come up, the inside of the feeder does get a bit of condensation causing the food to clump a little and for it to shut down. But as I found out after doing a little bit of research, that is expected of ANY feeder, and the condensation will usually KILL it as well, so I guess this feeder is a toughy.

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First of all, setting up this feeder is the simplest thing ever. There is only one button, which pressed repeatedly, allows to select 1, 2 or 3 meals/day that have been preprogrammed at the most logical time interval of each other (that is 24h, 8h, and 6 hours, respectively). The first meal is repeated at same hour each day, which coincides with the time you set the feeder. It's up to you to decide when you want to feed your fishes the first meal each day. I don't see any problem with that, unlike many other people before me did.

The canister that holds the food is a lot bigger than you can see in the picture, most of it being hidden in the main body of the feeder. It probably can hold same amount as one of the Tetra 29 g (1.02oz) of flake food. That's (a lot) more than a month worth of food for my fishes, so no worries here. The amount of food that is dispensed at each time can be adjusted and if the amount of food still doesn't seem to be sufficient for the number of fishes you may have, I would suggest to try more frequent meals, I mean more than 1 or 2. 3 meals a day is a little too much from my experience, while 1 is not quite enough. 2 meals a day should be ideal I'd say. Another option would be buying some feeder that is double in price or even buying 2 feeders and put them to run in the same time. I guess you have to be inventive, but for any normal amateur aquarist this type of feeder is ideal and meets their needs.

The mounting is done the most natural by placing the feeder on the hood of your aquarium, and nothing else being necessary to keep it in place, although 2 velcro strips are provided. No clamp is provided but I believe that is obvious from the image. If, for any reason you can only mount the feeder by using a clamp, the alternative is to get a cheap clamp from a Dollar store but my tanks need cover anyway or else the fishes will jump out.

I even like that there is the option to connect it to the air pump so clumping is prevented. I don't know if that would happen otherwise, but I decided to use the air as well. The pressure isn't high enough to see flakes flying , but the producer made sure that the air supply is cut in the time of feeding to prevent an overdose. That being said, I believe this feeder to be very good for what it is intended, and paying more would only matter for bragging rights, not performance.

There is an update I'd like to add to what I have previously stated. After some time using two of these feeders, I have noticed that the small plastic clips that keep the canister in the body of the feeder have a very good chance to break. So you have to be careful when inserting or taking out the canister for a refill and also make sure you buy a good, intact unit. I am however considering different remedies, since plastic clips aren't going to set me back now. On a market invaded by cheaply made chinese products this isn't a surprise or is it (this product is actually Italian)?

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NLS THERA A 1MM SINK 150GM

This is currently the best dry fish food for general marine reef aquarium use. The .5mm Small Fish Thera+A pellets apply here as well big fish may have a problem with these two smallest size pellets, but tangs do quite well with both smallest sizes. Anemones and many corals love it as well. Some fish really go for this food rabidly right from the get-go while some have to get used to pellets, but they do.

I have used Thera+A for about 5 years now, and as my staple food for the last two years since Vibragrow small marine pellets went out of production. Thera+A does wonders for color almost as well as Vibragrow, naturally and helpfully for best fish health as well not just for good healthy color. Thera+A is better in some ways than Vibragrow was, but not quite as good in other ways. Thera+A is still currently king of dry fish foods rest assured.

Some dry fish foods really should not be used as a staple food and will not maintain top health like this one does. Thera+A has not only the wide variety but also the proper variety for maximizing fish health. Thera+A also has garlic which does seem to make some difference as well, in my opinion and in the opinions of many other marine reef hobbyists as well. I used to make my own frozen food mix with very similar variety, and sell it locally too, which also had Selcon ingredients in it as well. It was tops for taste (according to many, many fish) and for variety and health too, but was not so convenient to make or even to feed, and not quite as good on the color enhancement for the fish. The pellet form of Thera+A also locks in the vitamins (and other nutrients), until the fish can eat it, better than flake or frozen foods do.

Some hard to keep fish do at least somewhat better when fed this food, such as the Mandarin Goby which may ignore other foods or just not get the food value from other foods which they must normally must get from live foods (like copepods which grow naturally right in well kept reef aquariums) to give them the specialized nutrition they need to survive and thrive in captivity.

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Quiet Flow Filter

I've used this filter for the last 18 months purely for mechanical/chemical filtration. I use a fluval 204 canister filter that has all three trays filled with biomax ceramic media to take care of all the biological filtration so I can't speak to that aspect of the Aqueon filter's function. As anyone with a decent amount of fish keeping experience will tell you counting on a HOB filter (with inserts of the type the Aqueon filter uses) for biological filtration is not ideal since when you change or clean inserts you lose most of your beneficial bacteria colony.

However in regards to it's mechanical and chemical filtration performance: this filter has a really powerful pump that moves a huge amount of water and thus it does a fantastic job of pulling floating particles in when they get within 2-3 inches of the intake. On the downside this means the filter inserts (it uses 2 at a time) clog very quickly and the thin cotton material used on the official Aqueon cotton/carbon inserts doesn't hold up well to attempts at cleaning it; therefore these inserts must constantly be replaced.

Thus I found using those official Aqueon inserts gets pretty costly, even ordering them with free shipping on Amazon where they are half the price of a brick and mortar pet store. But as a previous reviewer mentioned using cut-to-fit filter media such as the cotton "Marineland PA0100 Filter Pad" and a seperate bag of carbon greatly reduces the cost of changing the filter media so frequently. I myself prefer to use the cut-to-fit "Deep Blue Professional DB Activated Carbon Pad 18x10" which is made of a tougher, thicker and more densely woven material with carbon bonded directly to it. This material imparts three major advantages in it's use as a filter insert: A) the carbon bonding means every bit of water flowing through the filter insert is getting cleaned chemically as well as mechanically, B)because it's more densely woven the material works as a water polisher by trapping fine as well as course particles, and C) the toughness of the material means that when the inserts get caked with crud you can give them a thorough cleaning and re-use them multiple times without them falling apart.

Since I've begun using these cut-to-fit carbon covered pads as the media inserts in the Aqueon 55/75 it does an amazing, and much more affordable, job of working in conjunction with the canister filter and a 24 watt UV sterilizer to keep the water absolutely crystal clear in my 55 gallon tank which is stocked with 28 full grown Mbuna African Cichlids.

Other things to note about the Aqueon 55/75:

1) The pump is silent but the water itself makes quite a bit of noise as it flows into and through the filtration area. Imagine having the sound of a small but fast flowing stream in your room. Some may find it soothing, while others will find it overly loud and annoying.

2) As was also mentioned in another review; because the pump creates such good suction at the intake the filter really does wind up pulling in food faster than the fish can eat it if it's floating around. I combat this by using fast sinking pellet food dropped well away from the intake.

I absolutely love this filter. Most filters are really noisy, and since I have a fish tank in my room, this wasn't an option. I ran into the quietflow for a 20 gallon and was amazed by its results. It's blissfully quiet and does an amazing job at filtering. The additional plastic piece that allows beneficial bacteria to grow fits well and does a great job. I was so pleased with the quietflow that I replaced all my fish tank filters with it and haven't been happier!

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Flows lots of water quietly. Would recommend to anyone with 50 gal or more. easy to adjust the draw tube.

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I have a 75 gal tank and originally bought a Marineland Penguin 350 to get started, which turned out to be REALLY noisy (impeller/motor). Ended up returning it as defective and getting this Aqueon power filter instead.

This Aqueon is much better! Motor/impeller are VERY silent, and the water return is also virtually silent (I have the water level up to the lip of the return). I forget what it's called but there is a blue splash piece on the return of this filter that breaks up the water flow just enough that it 1) eliminates the sound of the water returning to the tank and 2) slows the water current a little on the way out which is good if you have some smaller fish or top feeders hanging around.

The filters come with carbon in them, but there's still enough room behind the cartridges in the filter box to place additional media if you want. I've added a couple of small bags with extra carbon and they fit pretty easily.

This filter uses additional hard plastic grids to help bacteria grow. Different than the spinning Biowheel design on the Marineland, but honestly I can't help but think this Aqueon design is going to be much easier to maintain.

The filter comes with an extension tube that is adjustable. You simply slide it up or down. Easy to use.

The only reason I have it 4 stars instead of 5 is that there is some slight (but pleasant) water noise where the water comes INTO the filter. So, technically it's not 100% silent but I think for a filter that pumps 400 gal/hr this is about the best they get. Mine is new so we'll see how it holds up over time.

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Best filter I've ever purchased. My 55 gal. aquarium was really in need of major cleaning. This filter within one week totally cleaned the water crystal clear. Change the pads everyday for one week if your tank is really bad. After that, normal changes will keep it clean (once or twice a month). I am so glad I bought this item!

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CO2 Natural Plant System Activator & Stabilizer Refill Pack, 3-Pack

I wouldn't bother buying this as you can easily recharge your canister with yeast & baking soda. We have the Hagen Co2 setup that this product is for and my husband tried making his own mix by filling the canister as usual with the prescribed sugar and lukewarm water and added a 1/4 teaspoon of breadmaking yeast granules and 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda and it works great.

That said, the Hagen unit is great value, but the "activator" is merely yeast granules and the "stabilizer" merely baking soda, (NOT baking powder). For the cost of these little packets, you can buy a jar of yeast and a box of baking soda that will be many times the amount you get in the packets. But hey, if you can't be bothered with measuring, go for it!

I have been using this product for at least three years now. I have to say is and excellent way to improve the grow, colors and health of your plants (almost to good).

The only considerations you have to take are:

1Install it in a place where you can easily access to maintain it (careful with the water)

2Regular measure the water Ph and Kh (it drops both because of the CO2). Consider to use only during the day period of your aquarium.

3Make a little research about the best aquarium light you can use to improve the C02 effect.

4Wait three weeks for the results.

5You will have to regular cut the long leafs (depending of your plants).

6Consider quit the active carbon if your using liquid of pills plants activators.

The price is a little high but the results are really good if you have a plan and good practices with your tank.

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It's the first time I have had this product that was fresh not something I get at a local pet store where the exp. date was 2 or more years past due

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I did try a DIW version and then swicthed to the low tech kit which uses these replacement packs. They work well and produce CO2 without much cost. I am happy with it.

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Never truly lasts as long as the product suggests. Really just better off making your own mix . {yeast water sugar baking boda}

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Jardin Aquarium Airline Air Tube Tubing Connectors Filters, 10-Piece

Bought these, they worked. Now to fill in the word requirement I'll go into how I defeated a tank with only two of these. Here I was in the trenches a Panzer IV rumbling by. I was down to my last rations and was going a bit crazy from starvation. I decided I could use these to breathe through while I dug a trench under the water so that when the tank drove over the creek it would get stuck. Now all I had was some 3/16's tubing and these connectors. The connectors allowed me to use the tubing to create move oxygen flow to my crazed brain. It only took me 212 hours to dig the creek low enough to stop a tank but without these I wouldn't had been able to do it.

you never know when you need connectors like this. they fit well into ridgid line or flexible line. Do yourself a favor and keep some on hand.

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They are good and low price. You must have them. Good supply. I will consider to buy hem again. Thanks!

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if you want a lot of air stones in yourfishtank, this is the perfect thing to buy.....be aware that the more divider you use the less air hile come out tru each airstones because there are too much output :)

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They easily connect and disconnect. They work well for our purposes. I didn't really have need for the 1-to-1 connectors, so I didn't try those.

Aquaclear Foam Inserts, 3-Pack

I am very active in the aquarium hobby and the AquaClear 50 (all models I have tried) are just awesome. What I find most attractive about these filters besides the fact that they function flawlessly with very little maintenance, is that they have seperate media replacement parts. You can customize your personal AquaClear to your needs. Personally I use two filter foams instead of one and one carbo insert. You can always add the carbon insert quickly and easily if needed.

A few bits of advice:

1) Use a pre-filter sponge over the intake for added biologocal activity as well as preventing small fish or shrimp from getting sucked into filter

2) Regularly (once a month) shake/squeeze both the pre0filter sponge you put on as well as the media from in the filter in water you JUST REMOVED from your tank when doing your regular water change. DO NOT rinse the media in tap water ro use hot or cold water period.

3) Once a month, unplug and unscrew the motor housing and remove the impeller and use an old toothbrush or cotton swab and clean both the impeller and the impeller housing.

These AquaClears are workhorses and the ability to tailor the filtration to your individual tank makes them invaluable.

5 starts on this one!

I'm low tech so AquaClear's are all I've ever used on my smaller tanks. I use two foam inserts in the filter chamber. With my last two foam inserts, one seemed to break down much faster than the other. Hope these new ones hold up.

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Not much to review here... just a sponge. I wanted them to use as prefilters for all of my HOB's. I took all 3 out of the box, cut a hole down the middle, so that the intake tube of my HOB filter, will slip inside of the sponge. Compared to a "job specific" sponge that my LFS wants $19 for, I get 3 of em for quarter the price!

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AquaClear is a great brand. The foam I got did seem a little cheaper quality than the foam that came with the filter. Since it came in a 3 pack, I used only one since they last forever and decided to cut up the others to fit my smaller filters.

Out of this 3 pack and after cutting some up I ended up getting:

1 for my 70

2 for my 50

2 for my 30

and a home made slip for the tube so the fry don't get sucked up into the filter.

UPDATED 10/4/2012

I have 3 Aquaclear 70 filters and I have gone through about 3 boxes not even in one year. The replacements continue to fall apart just after 2 months. The last time I bought was the worst quality yet. I'll be looking into something else for now.

*The original foam that came with the filter is still excellent and still using it, it's just the replacements that are crap*

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it is a rly good product and the filter is the best in my experience. they last long but i use 2 and the bio bag.

Bio-Wheel Assembly for Penguin 150B Power Filter

The product itself had two problems. Firstly, it was shipped in an envelope so when it arrived the plastic disc on the end of the wheel was broken. I was able to fix it with epoxy glue. But the reason I ordered the bio-wheel in the first place was that the one that came with the filter did not turn. It was not close enough to the water for the flowing water to make it spin. The same was true with the new wheel. I glued 4 slats made out of plastic equally spaced to the fins on the wheel. The added slats are about 1/8 in deep. Now it spins and works like it is supposed to.Interestingly, I also have a Penguin 100 filter for another aquarium, and it works fine out of the box.

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PondCare Melafix Liquid Remedy - 64 FL OZ (1.89 liters)

I have been using this product for almost ten years to treat ulcers, fin rot and just anything that looks abnormal on my koi and goldfish. The directions are very easy to follow. As far as treatment goes this stuff has corrected minor fin rot and ulcers usually completely within about two weeks. You will start to see a noticable difference in about a week. This is best to always have on hand so that as soon as you see something that is out of the ordinary with your fish you can apply it.

I've used this product for years, I've seen amazing results in very short time so I wont trust anything else

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I have a large (450 gal) freshwater African Cichlid tank. If you have a large tank it is much cheaper to buy aquarium water conditioners, medications, etc. made for ponds. The only difference it that the chemical is more concentrated so you end up using less/gallon.I generally use Pimafix if I see any visible damage and I use Melafix more often as a regular water treatment. I am pleased with the results.

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I started a pond and was clueless...

2nd season had issues with flashing fish. I bought this... but I think if I had learned about salt before this the salt alone might have solved my issues. This messed up the growth of some of my water plants (but I was well warned before hand) so I can't blame the product.

Just try salt... once you do that... then this stuff is good to have

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It may seem silly to offer a review of this stuff, but without it , my pondfish would never survive some of the issues that occur in the lawnpond. And with goldfish any injury or health problem needs to be treated immediately. Much like the previous review, it's worked miracles. I'm never without a bottle on hand.

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Chem-Marin Stop Parasites 8 oz

This is supposed to be reef safe and invertebrate safe. It did not kill our invertebrates or corals, however after adding to the tank it caused our green star polyp and zoanthids to close up for over a week. Would not use it again because of that. We now have a quarantine tank so that we can use better medications and not risk hurting other critters in the tank.

Penn Plax Curved Corner Glass Aquarium Kit

I am the only one that cleans my fish tank so I needed one that was enough gallons to make my betta, Sushi happy but not too much where I couldn't pick it up safely. It perfectly fits a live plant (bamboo), a rock, his Spongebob house, his heater and a couple moss balls. If you're on the fence with this, buy it. You won't be disappointed. 4 instead of 5 stars because I felt the lid hinges could have been less flimsy. :-)

Great tank for my betta, quiet/gentle filter, fits the filter and a heater, couple plant decor with still plenty of room for Chino. Only reason not a 5 star is, I would have liked an on/off switch for the light instead of unplugging when you don't want the light on.

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Style 3 Aquarium Decoration

This is beyond what I had hoped to achieve. My aquarium looks like an authentic underwater reef and my fish are so much happier. Such a beautiful decoration, it really turned my aquarium into an awesome focal point in my home. I couldn't be happier.

TOM Aquarium Accessories Dip & Pour Multi-Purpose Container, Large

ASIN: B00176AZWE: the opening is not 9.2"L x 5.4"W x 6.2"T as Strictly Pet Supplies indicated to me via e-mail, it's actually 7 3/8"L x 3 5/8"W x 5 7/8"T. Again, this is the dimensions of the opening only (not including the two pouring spouts and bracket). Other than that it is as seen and was shipped promptly.

This product works well for collecting fish that are about to be shipped. The easy pouring feature is especially nice. I use one container to collect the fish and a second one with fresh water and water treatment to put the fish into for shipping. I transfer the fish to the fresh water and then to the bag. The easy pouring feature helps make the transfer to a bag for shipping a much safer and easier task.

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I love this product! It's a little big for my 20 gallon tank, but I use it every time I do a water change or as a holding pen for my fish to be transported. I have a HOB filter that needs to be filled with water before turning it on, so this is a great use for it. I can easily scoop up some tank water and pour just the right amount to get it started. I've also used it as an observation container, as it can hang on the side so that you can see how your new fish will react to the current occupant in the tank. Is this a necessary item? -No, but it's very nice to have.

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Pretty much the exact same little plastic hang on boxes that they use to collect fish at the petstores, but they don't sell themwell here they are! I bought the small and the large sizes. The small is definitely for drip-acclimating small coral frags or small inverts. The large size is more multi-purpose.

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I really like these. The large are just that large; but they still hang off all three of my fish tanks perfectly (55g, 30g, and 10g).

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Carib Sea Ecco-Complete Live Freshwater African Cichlid Sand 20 lb

I chose this specific sand because of several factors. The price was comparable to other sands and gravel (minus play sand, of course). It claimed to come packed with live, good bacteria to help with cycling. It requires no rinsing. It buffers the pH, and it's an attractive sand.

After reading all that, I thought it would be the perfect choice. Both processes of rinsing sand and cycling tanks are not things that I ever look forward to, so I was very excited when I found this sand.

The tank has been set up (with sand) for a month now. Initially, the tank was quite cloudy for maybe five days with an old filter running on it. The claim "doesn't need rinsing" led me (and probably many others) to believe that the product wouldn't create a cloud-fest in your tank.

The live bacteria claim is a joke. The tank still isn't fully cycled. I should have remembered that the bacteria requires aeration and a source of ammonia to stay alive, or at least refrigeration. Not going to get much of that packed in a water-tight bag.

The pH level is fine, but I can't say for certain that it's the sand doing it. I have tufa rock in the tank as well, and I've heard that water in my area is naturally higher in pH.

The sand does look nice, and after the tank is established, it's not a bad product. The few mbuna that I have in there now love digging out pits between and under rocks. But the product's initial claims are a little far-fetched.

I used this stuff to replace some crushed shell substrate in an mbuna tank. I love the look but, for me at least, it didn't live up to its billing. It had no buffering effect in my tank. My tap water is 7.2-7.4 and, after several days, the new substrate had no effect. So it didn't replace buffering chemicals. Second, the bag says no rinsing required. That may be, but there is a lot of sediment that will take a few days and a couple of water change to work out.

I have also noticed that my water is slightly more cloudy after replacing my old substrate with the Carib Sea. However, that may be due to fact that the old substrate had mature bacteria colonies and the new does not. Even though I have extensive biological filtration with a fluidized bed filter, it may take a while for the new substrate to catch up.

One other note: with sand like this, fish waste tends to accumulate on top of the substrate rather than sinking as it would with gravel. The bad news is that because this product is so light in color, that looks bad. The good news is that it is easy to remove with a battery vacuum. Vacuuming every day or two probably contributes to better water quality than does cleaning the gravel every week or two during water changes.

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When the instructions to this sand/substrate say to wash until cloudy (not muddy), they really mean to wash it until CLEAR water is the result. This will still result in a cloudy tank for a few days even with agressive filtration with lots of good charcoal. The end result is a lovely looking bed of sand in the tank. Buffering is not great, but I am content with the water we naturally have at my location: basic enough for cichlids. The caution: When initiating a tank, try to have the same water conditions as the store, then slowly introduce fish, then make any changes towards having a more natural water type for your fish. If you introduce poorly managed fish into a well managed tank, one is likely to shock the fish and kill them.

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Exotic Environments Giant Clam Aquarium Ornament, 5-1/2-Inch by 4-1/2-Inch by 4-Inch

I recieved this before expected which was nice! Unfortunately, the color was a little different than the picture showed. The pink on the inside of the clam is a dark purple... It's not ugly, but it's not as cute as the picture. I'm still happy with my purchase though ~

I love this product, it adds to the beautification of my tank and make my fish tank come to life.

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I really like this piece. Looks great in my 35 gallon tank. Nice colors and great detail. I have it with the pink coral and the carriben hide away. All three look great together.

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Cute aquarium accessory. The inside of the shell is purple and not the bright pink as shown, just as the other reviewer stated. Nice size and solid. Brings some bright colors into the tank.

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My wife has a large 29 gallon aquarium and only had a few decorations for it. I decided to surprise her with this and a few other items. She loved it. The bright colors and underwater feel that they had was perfect for her personality. She started to reorganize right away. She was highly satisfied with everything.

Elite Deluxe Oval Air Stone 4-Inch

I'm running this on a JW Fusion 500 pump and KAPOW! Major bubbles. The 500 is also running another small airstone besides this disc, but it doesn't seem to decrease the bubbles off this disc. Only thing I'd prefer is that the bubbles were smaller and mistier, but oh well. The fish like it and it looks great. Like another reviewer said, it does want to float, but I just used a suction cup on the line near the floor and piled rocks around and even a few on top of the disc. Works great and looks awesome.

Puts out good air..my pleco still moves it around so I had to help anchor with a few stones..works well though

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Yes, it makes bubbles, which is good. But the bad news is that it floats... Really, what kind of air stone floats?! I had to tape two heavy washers on it to get it to stay underwater.

This company should really work out this awful engineering oversight ASAP.

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Stone works well, but it is not heavy enough to stay on the bottom. I had to add weight for.....

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This is the second and last time I'll buy anything from the misnamed "Elite" brand. This item FLOATS and emits most of its LARGE bubbles from its bottom vents (!) with three or four small streams of smaller bubbles coming from where all of the bubbles are actually supposed to come from. And, yes, I let it soak for way beyond the typically recommended 60 minutes before I used it.

The other defective item I bought from them was a 4" air stone bar. It emitted bubbles from about 1" of its total length.

This company either never tests the air stone products it makes, has nonexistent quality control, or both.