Aquascape of the Week: Desperator's "Carnival in Vietnam"

Continuing the recent theme of brightly colored Dutch style aquascapes (I swear it's the dreary New England weather getting to me), this week's "Carnival in Vietnam" is aptly named. The collection of colors and leaf shapes and sizes just works so well together. Definitely check out the other pictures of this aquascape over on Aquascaping World.

Green Aquascaping

Recent articles in the Guardian and Practical Fishkeeping on the environmental impact of keeping fish as a hobby highlight an important issue. Keeping fish may be doing a lot of environmental harm. But there are some ways to mitigate the environmental impact.

Inspired by these articles, I began to think of ways the average aquascaper could make important changes to be more green. Several popped up immediately:

• Buy fish and plants locally through other hobbyists. - This helps eliminate shipping species across the globe, and reduces the demand for aqua-culture facilities, adding to pollution. Your selection may be more limited, but often times you'll find species you may have never found in a store.
• Reduce the energy consumption of your lights. - This can be difficult, but if possible, reduce the length or intensity of your photoperiod. Opt for less light demanding and maintenance intensive plants. Or, switch to more efficient lights. LEDs are much more energy efficient and are just emerging as a viable alternative. Also, remember that in general, the smaller diameter the fluourescent tube, the more efficient it is.
• Reduce the energy consumption of your heater. - Turning your heater down a few degrees can save a bunch of money, and as long as your fish can tolerate the cooler temperatures, is great for the environment. Just be sure to do this gradually at no more than a degree a day to prevent stressing the fish. Locating your fish tank away from windows or drafty areas can also substantially reduce the amount of energy your heater consumes.
  
• Reduce the energy consumption of your filters and pumps. - Lighting and heaters are often the largest consumers, but pumps run continuously so these must also be energy efficient. Buying an energy efficient filter should be a top priority. Eheim pumps often use 1/2 the energy of other pumps and filters, making them a truly green alternative!
• Make/grow your own fish food. - Processing and shipping fish food can use a lot of energy, so making your own, or growing a live food source is both cost effective and better for the environment. Live food sources often replenish themselves as well!
• Compost any plant trimmings you don't replant. - Instead of creating extra trash and having them hauled off to the landfill, compost trimmings to create potting soil.
• Buy dry fertilizers in bulk. - Shipping around all that water weight takes energy, so buying dry fertilizer powders and mixing them at home is cheaper and better for the environment.
• Turn down your CO2 injection. - I know, this can be scary and contrary to popular opinion, but there's only so much CO2 your plants can use. Back off on your CO2 injection (if you have it) until you notice signs of algae or slow growth. Also, make sure your diffusion methods are efficient to ensure as little as possible of the CO2 is escaping into the atmosphere.

Following some or all of these simple tips will help reduce your energy consumption and help to both save you money and reduce the overall environmental impact of your aquariums.

Aquascaping Answers: Cheap Lighting

Each week in Aquascaping Answers, I do my best answering your aquascaping and aquascaping related questions. Just leave your question in the comments section!

Some more good questions this week, so I'll dive right in:

What about a post for beginners trying to find an affordable way to light their planted tank? Lights can be rather expensive and all the options are daunting. Can screw-in type compact fluorescent bulbs be used?

Yes. It's not quite as efficient as compact-fluorescent tubes, but it will work, and can be much cheaper. Just make sure to get the right spectrum light bulbs!

What fishes (or other organisms) can be beneficial to your tank and what fishes should you try to avoid? (for example what fishes will eat the leaves, root up the plants or pollute the water?)

There are many fish that don't really work well with planted tanks. For starters, there are fish who eat plants in the wild and should not be kept with them unless you want your plants all torn up. Some of these include Silver Dollars, some loaches, Rummynose tetras, and I'm sure I'm forgetting a bunch. Also, most cichlids and goldfish cannot be kept with plants except maybe the hardiest plants (anubias, java fern) since they will rip up/eat most plants. I'll try to come up with a comprehensive list in a new post!

What about an article on using Leaf Litter in Aquascaping? Or, aquascaping a Coldwater aquarium?

These are great ideas. The principles would probably stay the same as aquascaping a regular planted aquarium, however, you'd have to select species of plants that would grow well, or aquascape without plants at all (it can be done!).

Ask a question about aquascaping, keeping aquatic plants, plant-friendly fish, lighting, CO2, fertilizing, or any other aquarium plant related question in the comments to this post, and I'll answer them in next week's edition.

Aquascape of the Week: Jacek Debski's Moss Tank

Hope everyone had a good weekend! This week's aquascape is a special one, since it's primarily a moss aquascape. All different types of aquatic moss come together to make a very unique looking tank, and by incorporating driftwood branches, it looks like an overgrown forest. I've always wanted to start a moss only aquascape, and this aquascape is the main reason! For more information on this tank, see this thread (in Polish).