The FSA aquarium decoration rotation program is a service provided by FSA for our monthly aquarium maintenance program participants. At the time of your scheduled service call our aquarium maintenance technician will remove the decorations that are in need of cleaning and replace them with clean algae-free decorations. With the change of aquarium decorations comes a new aquarium display for our NJ aquarium maintenance customers with every aquarium maintenance service, never the same display twice!! Our decoration rotation program ensures that the FSA aquarium maintenance customers always have clean decorations and a new type of display for their professionally maintained aquarium. The aquarium maintenance decoration rotation program is an annual fee based on the size of your particular aquarium. Aquarium services have never been so easy! Call FULL SERVICE AQUATICS to find out more about the aquarium decoration rotation program for your aquarium today.

For certain types of fish this principle will hold true. The best example to demonstrate this that I think will be familiar to most people is the goldfish in the bowl example. Everyone has seen at sometime a little goldfish kept in a bowl, no filtration, just a fish and his bowl. That fish can live for several years and never really grow to more than 2” or so, but take that same fish and put him into a 2000 gallon pond and you will see a very different animal emerge, a nice fish growing up to 10” with long fins and vibrant color. WHY? Well, it has a lot to do with the volume of water the fish is kept in, however; there are many other contributing factors we can look at.

Nutrition places a big role in fish growth and health; if you are looking to get that growth you can use growth foods and/or look for foods with high quality ingredients. Fish foods that have the first ingredient listed as potato starch will not be as healthy as those with the first ingredient being fish meal for example. Good feeding habits for your fish are vital as well, do not underfeed or overfeed your fish watch carefully how your fish eat and adjust your habits accordingly. Temperature plays a role in fish growth, make sure that your temperature is correct for the type of fish you are keeping, temperatures that are too low or too high will affect growth. Water quality is probably the most important factor in growth and overall health, high water quality and filtration are a must if you expect to see normal and healthy growth patterns for your fish.

Stock levels in your aquatic environment are critical as well. Fish secrete a growth inhibiting hormone, as that hormone level in their aquatic environment grows to higher levels the growth rate of fish slows and/or stops. This explains that goldfish in a bowl; as that little fella sits in his gallon of water the hormone count in the water keeps his growth stunted even though he is genetically programmed to grow much larger, water changes can dilute that hormone or more volume of water will dilute that hormone as well. So, in one gallon that fish will get to 2” and grow no more, in 2000 gallons that same fish will grow to its actual size. An overstocked aquarium or pond will have high hormone levels inhibiting the growth of all the fish, as well as dragging down the overall health of all the fish. A correctly stocked or even a lightly stocked tank will yield better health and better growth for all the fish.

So, yes your fish will only grow as much as their environment will allow but it is controllable by way of how their housing and nutrition parameters are set-up for them.

The FSA coral rotation program is offered to FSA aquarium maintenance customers who have signed up for the monthly aquarium service contract option. Corals can be used to decorate saltwater fish tanks and can be very costly to purchase with small pieces of coral often costing $30.00 or more per piece, many pieces upwards of $150.00. FSA offers dried and synthetic corals for decorating aquariums. The coral rotation program ensures that our monthly aquarium maintenance customers will have clean algae-free corals in their displays, the dirty algae covered corals are removed and replace with clean corals, not only creating a beautiful display but also creating a unique display each time the corals are rotated. The FULL SERVICE AQUATICS coral rotation program was created to provide the opportunity for FSA aquarium maintenance customers to have beautiful display tanks without having to spend hundreds of dollars to do so, or to have to spend the many hours necessary to clean corals to be used in displays again. Let FSA take care of those time consuming difficult chores for you! The FSA coral rotation program, is a “leasing” program and our customers do not own the corals. The FSA coral rotation program is paid for annually and is based on the square footage of each particular fish tank.

A fish is an ectothermic (cold-blooded) animal which lives and breathes in water. All fish are vertebrates and most breathe through their gills extracting oxygen from the water and have two sets of paired fins and several unpaired fins and scales. Fish make up about half of all known vertebrate species.

This answer depends on the wants and desires of the aquarium keeper. FSA&L aquarium services technicians believe both freshwater and saltwater/marine tropical fish tanks can be beautiful displays, and both offer colorful and interesting fish. Marine fish do have bolder brighter colors than their freshwater cousins but the choices are greatly limited, they are more difficult to maintain in an aquarium, and the prices are higher. Freshwater tropical fish also offer some very colorful and interesting fish but one may have to look a little harder to find the tropical fish sellers that carry those fish, which you will not find in the “Big Name” pet stores, and these fish may have a higher price range as well. The freshwater aquarium will allow the keeper to have a higher stock level in their tank, whereas marine aquariums should be relatively lightly stocked; for example a 100 gallon marine aquarium may house 10 medium size fish and a 100 gallon freshwater aquarium may house 30+ fish. Freshwater fish are largely bred in captivity and are accustomed to being kept in tanks, while their marine cousins are still largely harvested from the wild and may have a difficult time adjusting to their new environments. The captive bred marine fish are very limited in availability and carry an even higher price tag than wild caught marine fish. A marine aquarium, although there are exceptions to every rule, should generally be no smaller than 100 gallons; freshwater aquariums can start at as little as 30 gallons for a nice tank display. Regardless of the type of water in the tank, when aquarium maintenance is done correctly both can be decorative and make beautiful display tanks with interesting fishes. What type of tank to do depends on your particular interest and budget. Aquarium services, aquarium installations provided by FULL SERVICE AQUATICS will make aquarium maintenance in New Jersey simple no matter what type of aquarium you choose.

Aquarium filters are an everyday fact of life for the aquarium experts at FSA&L. Aquarium filtration is a very broad subject because of the many approaches to filtration and the many different schools of thought. The approach to filtering aquariums has changed over the history of aquarium keeping and all approaches have their upsides as well as their downsides in regards to effectiveness and ease of maintenance. In respect to the broad range of filtration methods and systems this FAQ will deal with the most popular and typical types of filters that are available to the general aquarium hobbyist and aquarium fish enthusiast. The aquarium filter categories we’ll discuss will be canister filters, hang-on-back filters, wet/dry filters, and undergravel filters.

• Canister filters typically sit below the aquarium; they are an enclosed filter with no exposure to open air, usually comprised of (2) parts; the head piece which contains the motor, and the body piece which houses the filter media. The (2) pieces are clamped together with a water tight gasket seal. Canister filters are pressurized filters meaning they have a pumping mechanism which forces the aquarium water through the filter by way of (2) lines or hoses, an intake and an output line, drawing water from the aquarium and returning the filtered water to the aquarium. Canister filters allow for mechanical, biological, and chemical filtration and should be cleaned about every 8 weeks for good maintenance practice. Many people believe these filters only need to be cleaned once very 6 months; this would be poor maintenance practice. Canister filters can be used for both freshwater aquarium and marine aquarium. The aquarium professionals at FSA&L recommend using canister filtration for fish tanks of 90 gallons to 250 gallons, or as supplemental filters for larger systems.
• Hang-On-Back Filters attach, or hang, on the backside of the aquarium. These are great filters for the smaller aquariums ranging from 10 to 90 gallons and can even supplement larger aquariums. These are motorized filters that have an intake tube in the aquarium which draws water up into the filter; the water passes through carbon filled filter cartridges which perform mechanical and chemical filtration, and then returns the water to the aquarium by way of a spillway. These are uncomplicated, easy to maintain filters that require monthly cleaning consisting of changing cartridges and rinsing the filter unit. Hang-on-back filters are great for providing aeration and circulation for the aquarium environment. The aquarium maintenance professionals at FSA&L recommend hang-on-back filters for freshwater use only.
• Wet/Dry filters sit below the aquarium, have a rectangular box shape, and are relatively large filters that are excellent for both freshwater and marine aquariums. Wet/Dry filters are usually used for aquariums from 90 gallons to aquarium systems upwards of several thousand gallons. Wet/dry filters offer mechanical, biological, and chemical filtration. Water coming from the aquarium enters into the top of the wet/dry filter and passes through a mesh type of material to remove debris from the water, then the water is passed over a “drip plate” which spreads the stream of water of a larger area allowing it to drip over a column of biomedia which is exposed to open air creating an oxygen rich environment which is very effective at breaking down organics (or nutrients) in the water. After passing through the biomedia the water flows into a basin (or sump) then through a polishing sponge to remove very fine particles and is pumped back to the tank; filtered and free of debris and sediment. Chemical filtration on the wet/dry filter system usually takes place after the water has passed through the polishing sponge. Wet/dry filters are easy to maintain and require monthly maintenance, sometimes more, of the sponges; and at least an annual cleaning of the biomedia for a properly maintained filter. The aquarium service techs at FSA&L recommend wet/dry filters for larger aquariums, marine systems, or tanks that house large fish.
• Undergravel filters are housed in the aquarium. The “UG” filter is a flat slotted plastic plate which sits on the bottom of the aquarium and is installed before the gravel is put into the tank on top of the plate, hence undergravel filter. A 1.5”-2” bed of gravel is most effective for this type of filtration. The UG filter is a biological filter with a marginal degree of mechanical filtration ability. These filters are run by air pumps or powerhead pumps. The undergravel filter draws water down through the gravel, under the plate, and then passes the water back into the water column at the top of the tank through lift tubes. These filters can be used for freshwater or marine aquariums and are highly effective biological filters. To maintain the undergravel filter the aquarium substrate needs to be siphoned monthly, there is no need to remove the UG filter for monthly maintenance; however, once every few years it is beneficial to clean under the filter plate. These filters cannot be used with sand or substrate that has a measurement of smaller than 3mm grains. Undergravel filters although often by-passed by today’s hobbyists are extremely effective and have been credited with making the ease and popularity of the aquarium hobby what it is today. The aquarium experts at FSA&L recommend undergravel filters for all types and sizes of fish tanks.

To discuss any of the numerous other approaches to aquarium or pond filtration contact the New Jersey aquarium experts at FULL SERVICE AQUATICS or call us at (908) 277-6000 for complete information, watch for future FAQs on this subject matter, or schedule a one on one aquarium consultation service with one of our NJ aquarium services professionals.

The “Reef Tank”. Ahh yes, we all are mesmerized by their beauty. The coral reef tank is an approach to aquarium keeping in which one can house living corals in a captive environment. The environment is generally made up of what is called “live rock” as opposed to the deco-corals and artificial decorations that are used for “fish only” aquariums. These aquariums are one of the most challenging types of aquariums for even the advanced aquarium keeper and will require a host of equipment that your typical “fish only” tank will not need. Corals are generally sold as “hard/stony” or “soft” corals and can be mixed in varying degrees. In the coral reef tank the corals and invertebrates are the main focus and the tropical marine fish are secondary. In the reef tank there will usually be included a variety of other invertebrates as well such as: snail, crabs, starfish, anemones, sponges, algae, tropical shrimp, and many other coral reef dwellers which are an important part of creating the coral reef ecosystem, and should not be ignored. The aquarium equipment used will need to be higher end than a fish only tank, and will most likely include: metal halide lighting or some type of VHO lighting, protein skimmers, RO filters, wet/dry filters, heaters and chillers, overflow style tanks, powerhead pumps, calcium reactors, ozonizers and many other interesting types of equipment. There are many schools of thought on the approach to keeping coral reef tanks and one should look into several of them before setting up your tank. Consult with a FSA&L aquarium professional as well. A consultation with an experienced aquarist from FSA&L can save thousands of dollars and months/years of frustration for the DIYer. Or call FULL SERVICE AQUATICS for aquarium maintenance in New Jersey and let us handle it all for you!

No,…but let’s talk about this. First, what is a sterilizer and what is it for? Technically, the sterilizer is a cylinder which houses an ultraviolet bulb and allows water to pass through it being exposing the water to the U.V. bulb which is used for control of harmful bacteria and parasites. Under laboratory conditions with highly controlled flow rates the sterilizer can be effective against a very SMALL number of harmful bacteria and even fewer parasites. Your pond or fish tank is NOT being kept in laboratory conditions, so let’s not even consider the sterilizer for use against any sort of bacteria or parasites, period. By and large the sterilizer is used for control of planktonic (floating) algae, or GREEN WATER, and for this the sterilizer is quite excellent and capable of clearing green water very quickly. However, killing the floating algae does not actually address the problem of why your pond is producing green water. Green water, is not harmful to your fish, it is a symptom of a pond that is out of balance. In other words nutrients are building faster than the pond is able to process them, therefore planktonic algae has a huge supply of food to help it thrive and reproduce turning your water green. So how do we address the high nutrient level issue? ..filtration. Proper pond construction and filtration is essential to having a healthy clear water pond. Here are the key ingredients: skimmer and biofalls filter system, gravel and rockwork in the pond, a nice assortment of aquatic plants, a proper stock level of fish, controlled feedings for your livestock, and periodic beneficial bacteria treatments. If you have all these key ingredients you should be enjoying a low maintenance pond which should allow you to see down to the bottom of your pond on a consistent basis. Build your pond wrong, correct it or get a sterilizer, build your pond right, enjoy the soothing clear waters of your own backyard paradise, and skip the co$t and maintenance of an ultraviolet sterilizer!

Cloudy milky water in an aquarium installation is a common and easily resolved problem. For green water, brown water, or yellow water issues in your aquarium installation read our aquarium FAQ section addressing those specific problems. Cloudy milky aquarium water in a new aquarium installation usually occurs within the second week after setting up a new aquarium installation, or within a few days of introducing the first fish to your new aquarium installation. A fish tank set-up is considered new for the first 3 months after installation; there are two times in which any aquarium owner should EXPECT cloudy water and that is at 1-2 weeks and again at 5-6 weeks, this is completely normal, NORMAL I say!, and the fish tank owner should not add any chemicals to try to “fix” this temporary condition; or more often than not they will complicate the situation. When allowed time for the aquarium to go through the cloudy cycle it will clear up on its own, however to help the process a bit the aquarium owner can add beneficial bacteria to help clear the water. The normal period for a new aquarium installation to be able to clarify and stay clear on its own is about 8-10 weeks, given that: there is adequate filtration, the stock level in the aquarium is properly managed, and feeding is properly managed.

After the “break-in period” or “cycling” of the fish tank has taken place; some of the factors that will create cloudy milky aquarium water are: overfeeding, dirty filters, high temperature water, and poor maintenance practice. If your tank is cloudy take a good look at it; has the aquarium maintenance been done lately? We recommend maintaining your aquarium on a 4 week cycle. Do not wait until your fish tank MUST be cleaned; maintain your fish tank with good fish tank maintenance practices. Do you see excess fish food on the aquarium bottom, in the decor, stuck along the water line of your aquarium? If so, you’re overfeeding which clouds the water, cut back on your feedings and remember the stomach of a typical tropical aquarium fish is about the size of their eyeball, once a day feeding is fine and once in a while skip a day. A HUNGRY FISH IS A HEALTHY FISH. Check your filter, is it dirty? A dirty aquarium filter will make for ongoing cloudy aquarium water. Does your aquarium water feel slightly warm or obviously warm? That high temperature will cloud your aquarium water. The temperature of tropical fish aquarium water should be about 70 – 76 degrees, which is a bit chilly to the touch. Water that feels warm to the human touch is usually above 90 degrees, way too hot for even tropical fish! Turn down your heater thermostat, 74 is a nice temperature to be at.

If your aquarium water is cloudy, follow the above guidelines to remedy the situation or call FULL SERVICE AQUATICS and speak to one of our professional aquarium experts about our aquarium maintenance services in New Jersey. Aquarium cleaning services made easy.