Tip of the Day – 7/30/2011

Sometimes aquarium forums turn into places where people simply show off their wealth. Granted, this hobby can be quite expensive and we’re not condemning anyone for having the expendable income that they have worked hard to gain. But instead of spreading knowledge about aquarium husbandry, many hobbyists start expensive aquarium builds or post about a new piece of equipment they bought just to show off to the community that they can drop several hundred dollars on their setup with ease. Their aquarium build goes from a slightly informative discussion on how they accomplish their hobby to a “look at all of the cool crap I can afford” thread, and it can really turn less fortunate hobbyists off. These threads usually consist of an individual showing off all of their VorTech or Tunze pumps and expensive skimmers, and are usually devoid of any valuable information. None of the equipment is complex or DIY-grade, and the owner just throws a bunch of stuff on a tank and fills it with water and livestock. These builds have little to no valuable information, and readers should instead focus on builds that require significantly more thought and ingenuity to accomplish. These complex builds provide a great deal of information to aquarium keepers and pushes other hobbyists to think outside of the glass box.