Yasha Nano Reef Tank

For most people the word aquarium simply means an overgrown fish bowl. They think of it as simply pouring some tap water into a glass container and filling it with a bunch of cool-looking fish. However, there are people out there who can appreciate the finer things in life, and know how to relax and enjoy the colorful nature of the world around them. If you are one of those people, I can tell you that there is nothing you can set up in your home that will bring a sense of serenity and put a smile on your face quite like a nicely decorated marine aquarium. The most beautiful and awe inspiring of these are reef aquariums, with their plethora of colorful corals and various exotic sea creatures.

If you have seen pictures of huge, wall mounted aquariums and lamented over the fact that you could never afford such beauty, than the Yasha Nano Reef Tank is perhaps just the right thing for you. It is, as its name suggests, a smaller, budget friendly version of its big reef aquarium brothers, and is one of the best and most popular models on the market. It can hold a few sea creatures and fish, but the main focus of a tank, with the size of 36 liters, are the actual live corals themselves. It is designed to best showcase these magnificent corals, without consuming too much space in your house, or in your office.

The Yasha Nano Reef Tank has a maximum capacity of 36 liters, it weighs 15 kg (empty) and it measures 40cm by 30cm by 30cm, so as you can see it really doesn’t take up a lot of space. It can be easily installed in your living room, even if you don’t have a great amount free space – simply put it on a small table, a counter or even in a corner. You could put it in your office to brighten it up with some colour, and it goes well with other room decorations and furniture. It fits both the modern and more traditional interior decorating styles. There are of course larger models if space isn’t an issue, but they do cost more.

In terms of equipment, the Yasha Nano Reef Tank has a rear filter compartment with two components. First there is the Turboflotor Blue 500 protein skimmer, a very important part of the aquarium – it removes decomposing organic compounds before turning into nitrogenous waste. The protein skimmers main task is basically keeping everything inside the aquarium alive and happy. The second component in the filter compartment is the NanoProp 5000 stream pump with an adjustable output ranging from 2000 to 5000 l/h. This reef tank is of a solid construction and compact size, and will remain in perfect working condition  for years, even decades if proper care is taken. It can, as it is often the case with beautiful reef aquariums, remain a treasured household item for the generations to come.

In order to better showcase the beauty of the live corals, the Yasha Nano Reef Tank includes three Aquasunspot LEDs, each giving 9 watts of light at a 14.000 Kelvin colour temperature. This keeps the water at an optimal temperature for the organisms living inside, but also helps illuminate the whole reef tank with intense light providing you with an astonishing display that everyone will admire. One must experience the sight of this aquarium sitting atop a table in a dark room to fully appreciate the breathtaking beauty of the intricate shapes and vivid colours of the corals and tropical fish. It is quite something to gaze at as ones mind drifts of, a sort of zen moment you can have a few times during the day as you relax, and put your worries on hold.

All in all, if you are looking for something that will liven up your room and bring some colour and style into your life, but you don’t have the space, time and money to invest in a large fish tank, then you should definitely start your home decorating journey by looking into the Yasha Nano Reef Tank 36L model. It is sturdy and compact, user friendly, aesthetically pleasing and it will only cost you $595, which is quite good as nano reef tank prices go.

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OASE Aquamax Eco Pond Pump

OASE has been making the Aquamax range for about almost two decades now, and their products have only become increasingly efficient over the years. They are great at displacing the dirt and muck, and this really is their  main task - sucking muck from the pond and displacing it from the pump into the filter. The Aquamax Eco pump has a big, semi-globular cage with some generously sized holes – each hole is about 10mm in diameter. Anything getting sucked in there will get pumped up to the filter with ease.

Because it draws from such a large area, there is no place on the cage where the pump sucks very forcefully, therefore wildlife tend not to get sucked into this particular design – which means it is good for the environment as well.

This design has two pipes, an inlet and an outlet. The pump sucks from the surface of the domed cage, as well as from the inlet pipe, which allows it to draw from two locations at the same time, while remaining situated at the bottom of your pond. There is also an optional smaller cage that attaches to the inlet via pipe, so that you can then set the inlet to draw with varying degrees of power, leaving the big cage with the smaller percentage of draw power, or disabling the suction on one end entirely. This can be useful in the winter, when the water at the bottom is relatively warm, you can set the part attached to the skimmer to draw at full power, drawing of the surface, so that the water at the bottom of the pond stays pretty much at the same temperature.

The double suction feature especially comes in handy if you have a crescent moon shaped or elongated pond – like a sort of canal, because you can draw from both ends (by attaching a length of a hose to the inlet pipe and draw it out to the desired area while the main apparatus remains on the other end). The inlet can also be attached to the skimmer, so you can actually suck water from the top of your pond, sucking away all the filth and muck, the dead leaves, dead bugs, small twigs and other materials that eventually accumulate on the surface, while at the same time drawing from the bottom of your pond as well. So by setting it fifty-fifty, you can maintain a steady suction on both the surface and the bottom.

As far as what pipework to attach to the inlet and outlet of your pond pump, using a big hose is recommended, so that you have the maximum amount of water being pumped out without pressure. Ultimately you will get more water coming down your cascade or more water being pushed through your filter.

            The Aqua Max range carries a 5 year guarantee, and you can be sure that you will still be using them for years after the warranty has expired. Most of the time, when people experience a problem with one of these pumps it is simply neglected. They install the pump and then just leave it laying at the bottom for years, without ever giving it a second thought, so it eventually gets all clogged up. Periodical cleaning of the Aquamax Eco will ensure that the sturdy little pond pump keeps on chugging along, as good as new, for years and years.

            The running costs on these pumps are really low, even the Aquamax ECO 16000, which pumps 16000 liters an hour, runs at only 170 watts. Eco models 12000 and 16000 also have “Seasonal Flow Control” (SFC) that adapts all year round to the relevant seasonal changes within the pond, and enables a circulation that is dependent on the water temperature.

They are not cheap to buy, their price range is from $900 to $1150, but in the long run they will save you a lot of money on running costs (since they will last for years with little maintenance you can expect great savings over time), and you don’t have to buy a new one every few years like some of the cheap models found in hardware stores.

So in conclusion, you get a very functional, high quality garden pond pump, with enhanced sucking capabilities, that is also very eco-friendly and saves you a ton of money in the long run. These Aquamax pumps are just one of those things for which you might have to save up and carefully plan to purchase in between various everyday expenses, but then ten years from the time of purchase you will look at the good job it’s still performing and mutter to yourself that it was money well spent.

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