The ASD Blog

Honest Blogging about Aquarium Keeping.
Best LED Lighting For Reef Tanks

The 12 Best LED Lighting For Reef Tanks Of 2023 – Tested And Reviewed

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LED lighting systems are the rage these days for Reef Tanks. It makes a lot of sense why. The best LED lighting systems will have a lot of user friendly features like timers, ramp up and ramp down features, the ability to adjust spectrum, and multiple mount options. The main attraction for LED though, is the power savings features. LEDs are a lot more energy efficient than traditional T5s and metal halides.

In today’s post, I’m going to go through the best LED lighting for Reef Tanks. I will break what these systems are best for, what they are good and not good at, and offer our recommended picks. The end goal is to provide the necessary information you need to make an informed decision as to what is the best LED lighting system for you. Let’s get started!

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Dutch Aquascape

Dutch Aquascape – How To And Guide On Dutch Style Aquariums

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I continue our Aquascaping series with the Dutch Aquascape this week. Also known as the Dutch Style Aquarium or Dutch Style Aquascape, this style is considered one of the more pure and more maintenance intensive styles in our hobby. Its tradition dates back further than the Iwagumi Aquascape before hardscaping really became a major factor in aquascape. If you are looking for an eye popping aquascaping style that is very colorful and plant only, this is the style you are looking for. 

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Saltwater Algae Eaters

Algae Eaters – The 7 Best For Your Saltwater Tank

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Today’s post is about Algae eaters for your saltwater tank. Before we get into our list of 5 best, I want to talk about the 3 key steps in implementing an algae control system. When most people have an outbreak, the first thing one might do is buy livestock to fix the issue. However, livestock is not the fix, but actually the control. Livestock controls algae and prevention measures fix outbreaks. Knowing prevention, the types of algae, and how to combat them will ensure that you implement the right algae control measures in your tank 

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Best Reef Safe Fish

Best Reef Safe Fish – Top 11 (That Won’t Eat Corals)

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When going to a local fish store (LFS), it can be always tempting to impulse buy a fancy looking fish that you have never seen or heard of before.  Listed below are best reef safe fish fish that are best suited for virtually any community and reef setup.  Equipment is important for this hobby, but proper fish selection is critical for success.  I always would find it frustrating to see LFS sell fish that are for advanced fish keepers or not suited to the tank of the buyer (*cough* Tangs).  In a later post, I will go through the top 10 saltwater aquarium fish you should avoid.

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Best Aquarium Plant Fertilizer

The 8 Best Aquarium Plant FertilizerS Of 2023 [Tested And Reviewed]

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Fertilizers for aquarium plants can get overly complex with all the products out there and lot of information about all the plant requirements. My hope today is to simplify and educate then provide several products that will help you along the way. 

Aquarium fertilizers play an important part in aquarium plant health. It’s all about balance your marco and micro levels and find the right mix of supplementation based on your tank size and bioload. Let’s start with explanations first then recommendation fertilizers.

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Best Substrate For Planted Tank

The 7 Best Substrate for Planted Tanks For 2023 [Tested And Reviewed]

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As we mentioned in our Best Low Light Aquarium Plants article. There are some plants that require rich substrates to thrive and others that are column feeders. Today’s post we are going to concentrate on selecting the best substrate for your planted tank. There are many factors that go into selecting the best substrate and there are a ton of questions aquarists want answered before they they start planting. I will go through as much as I can in this post to provide you the best information possible and then suggest several great substrates that should work for your planted aquarium. 

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Best Low Light Aquarium Plants

The 21 Best Low Light Aquarium Plants – [Reviewed and Tested]

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Many of us who want a planted tank want to have an easy to maintain tank that that doesn’t really take a ton of effort to keep up. Today’s post is all about that. The list we will make today will help you find plants that are easy to maintain and grow fast to provide a great aquascape for your planted tank. These plants are low light aquarium plants, which means they will not require sizable investments in powerful lights to keep. Many of them will thrive without CO2 supplementation, which will also save you money in the long-run. 

All these plants are readily available as well. They are relevantly cheap and easy to find available. With that, let’s go ahead and get started!

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Best Solar Powered Pond Pump

Best Solar Powered Pond Pump – 2023 (Reviewed & Compared) 🏅

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A common question I get asked when it comes to pond keeping is can you keep a pond with a solar powered pond pump. The concept of having a completely green solution sounds very appealing for many people, but the are several factors you will need to consider before choosing a solar powered pump. Let’s first start out with the main benefits of owning one.

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Best Koi Pond Kits

The 7 Best Koi Pond Kits Of 2023 [Tested & Reviewed]

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In this post, I’m going to go over everything today then I’m going to simplify everything so you can build a reasonable Koi pond with the best koi pond kits available on the market. Sure, you can spend several thousand with a professional and have a wonderful cement based bottom drain Koi pond, but I imagine if you are here that isn’t your idea of how much you want to spend for a Koi pond. I’ll go through the concepts of why so many professionals focus on big installs and then get you into the contractor’s mindset so you can build a wonderful Koi pond for less and be satisfied with what you create. Let’s first talk about what makes an ideal Koi pond.

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