Mark Valderrama

Mark is the founder of Aquarium Store Depot. He started in the aquarium hobby at the age of 11 and along the way worked at local fish stores. He has kept freshwater tanks, ponds, and reef tanks for over 25 years. His site was created to share his knowledge and unique teaching style on a larger scale. He has worked on making aquarium and pond keeping approachable. Mark has been featured in two books about aquarium keeping - both best sellers on Amazon. Each year, he continues to help his readers and clients with knowledge, professional builds, and troubleshooting. He maintains the content of this site with a strong Editorial Process and provides a practical and real-life review process on all products reviewed and tested.
Honest Blogging about Aquarium Keeping.
Best Toys For Parakeets

THE 7 BEST TOYS FOR PARAKEETS (2024 REVIEWS) – KEEP YOUR BUDGIE HAPPY AND HEALTHY

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Parakeets are the most popular and playful birds with a variety of colors. They are small, yet very intelligent and friendly. An intelligent bird needs the best bird toys to not get bored.

Parakeets are highly social pets. They love to interact with their owners and talk to them for hours. However, bird owners seldom get time to spend with their pets every day, leaving their parakeets all alone in the cage.

To cater to this, bird enthusiasts came up with an incredible idea to get bird toys for parakeets. Parakeets love colorful, noisy, and hanging toys. Hence, the market is flooded with countless options.

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Best Aquarium Heaters

The 11 Best Aquarium Heaters Of 2024 [Tested & Reviewed]

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Aquarium heaters are one of the more essential, yet more fail prone piece of equipment that you can add to your aquarium. The vast majority of us in the aquarium keeping hobby keep fish that require tropical temperatures so a heater is a must.

There are many heaters out on the market and it is very easy to just select a cheap aquarium heater and think you are good to go. The best aquarium heaters are not fail prone, built very well, and will heat your aquarium safety. I will go over the best aquarium heaters and also talk about glass vs titanium heaters. I will also talk about fail safes and how to prevent a tank disaster if a aquarium heater fails (and also what usually fails). Let’s get started!

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Best Aquarium Controller

Best Aquarium Controller (2024 Reviews) – Tank Automation Is Here!

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Having your aquarium run automatically is a dream for many fish tank owners. Every wants a device that can automate many of the mandate tasks of fish and coral keeping. What if I told you that such devices exist today? They in fact do exist, and many do an excellent job of making your aquarium keeping life easier than ever before! They are called aquarium controllers and the technology is now over 10 years old and mature in our industry. But what is the Best Aquarium Controller? There are a number in the market now and they require a lot of research and development to create a long-standing product.

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Best Aquarium Sump

The 9 Best Aquarium Sump & Refugiums For 2024 – Tested And Reviewed

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One of the most important decisions you can make is choosing your sump system and selecting the best aquarium sump and refugium for you as well as connecting it with the best aquarium sump pump that you can buy. 

Let’s talk today about what is an aquarium sump, what is a refugium, and then let’s go over the best aquarium sumps available to purchase readily.

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Best Betta Fish Tank

The 7 Best Betta Fish Tanks For 2024 [Tested And Reviewed]

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Looking for a Best Betta Fish Tank? You came to the right place! Betta fish are amazingly beautiful freshwater fish. Contrary to what you see in many chain pet stores, they are not best served in a tiny fish bowl. They need their own space to thrive. With the right aquarium, you can actually build a very affordable, small, and thriving environment for your Betta Fish.

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Best Sponge Filter

The 7 Best Sponge Filters For 2024 [Tested And Reviewed]

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The sponge filter is filtration made simple. It is the cheapest and easiest to use filtration system available in the fish tank keeping hobby. They are not for every setup, but if you know what they are best for you can save yourself a lot of money on filtration. Today’s post we talk about the best sponge filters and where they are best suited for. 

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Best Aquarium Decorations

The 8 Best Aquarium Decorations (2024 Reviews) – Artificial vs Natural

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Sometimes, the best part of owning an aquarium isn’t buying it or getting any fancy equipment. As is the case with a home, the best part of owning an aquarium is putting personal touches on it to make something unique. Those aquarium decorations for your fish tank can be very satisfying to set up.

Picking out the decor for your aquarium fish tank can be a tough process, simply because there are so many aquarium products to sort through when searching. Rocks, aquarium lights, plants, and other structures; there is a wide variety of things you can choose for your aquarium. You can model your aquarium after your own house or do something completely unexpected and off the wall. 

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Best Canister Filter Reviews

11 Best Canister Filters Of 2024 [Tested & Reviewed]

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For those hobbyists getting serious about aquarium keeping, high quality filtration is top of mind for keeping the best fish only and planted tank systems. While hang on back power filters have their place in community community setups, there are setups with heavier demands like planted and predator tanks that require a high end filtration solution. This is where canister filters come in.

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Best Cockatiel Cage

BEST COCKATIEL CAGE – (2024 REVIEWS & GUIDE 🏅)

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Getting a cockatiel is an exciting time. They are one of the most loveable pet birds you can own and having the best cockatiel cage you can buy will allow them to have a safe place to be and hang out in. Today, I’m going to go over the all the popular bird cage options today and which ones fit best for your cockatiel. I will go through what to look for, what are the best brands, and give you a variety of options are different price points. Before we get started let’s talk about what I’m looking for when purchasing a quality cage.

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Iwagumi Aquascape

Iwagumi Aquascape – How To and Guide

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The Iwagumi Aquascape is a timeless aquascape style that is focused on stone formations and simplicity. If you are looking for an eye popping yet simple freshwater aquascape, the Iwagumi Aquascape is worth considering. It has a lot of history behind it and a specific aquarium brand dedicated to it.

It does have its challenges and complexity to it, which is the purpose of this post. In this post, I will provide you a how to guide of success on the Iwagumi Aquascape.

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