jsiegmund
Member
Maybe it's just me, I don't know... But I seem to be in constant struggle with myself over having an aquarium. On the one side, there's the joy of having a cool hobby and the great feeling that setting up a nicely functioning tank will bring. It feels powerful being able to control a little piece of nature inside of a glass box, and likewise you feel powerless when algae take over and nature strikes back On the other side, I truly respect nature and see how our world these days is not doing that great because of us.
And so I try to do my part; I live in a newly built house with heat pump, solar panels, awesome isolation and no gas. Last year our solar set-up produced way more power than we needed so that's all nice and "green". I try to reduce waste, recycle stuff and care for nature in a general sense.
So let's cut to the chase: having an aquarium might be a piece of nature, its not natural. Apart from all of the materials that you need, you're also importing plants and fish from all over the world (sort of speak) and all tanks use at least some water and power.
Now I know that a lot of you maybe not care (as much) as I do, that's ok. But if we truly love nature, it's my personal opinion that you should at least care a little bit. So this thread is for those who do care and want to share it. Maybe we can inspire others to also think about ways to combine a great hobby with the respect that nature deserves, and give back a little!
Here's some tips from myself that I try to follow:
Really curious to find out if there are other like minded folks out there who might also have some stories, tips or other things to share. Thanks!
And so I try to do my part; I live in a newly built house with heat pump, solar panels, awesome isolation and no gas. Last year our solar set-up produced way more power than we needed so that's all nice and "green". I try to reduce waste, recycle stuff and care for nature in a general sense.
So let's cut to the chase: having an aquarium might be a piece of nature, its not natural. Apart from all of the materials that you need, you're also importing plants and fish from all over the world (sort of speak) and all tanks use at least some water and power.
Now I know that a lot of you maybe not care (as much) as I do, that's ok. But if we truly love nature, it's my personal opinion that you should at least care a little bit. So this thread is for those who do care and want to share it. Maybe we can inspire others to also think about ways to combine a great hobby with the respect that nature deserves, and give back a little!
Here's some tips from myself that I try to follow:
- I've got a small tank (55liter) to begin with (and only one). Granted this is also due to time available, but it was a conscious choice not to go too big. Bigger tanks obviously require more water and power.
- The water I take out during water changes I try to recycle. During the summer by watering the garden and in winter time at least the indoor plants. This is a great tip by the way, as you probably still have some nutrients in the water that your other plants can benefit from as well.
- Same for RO; I do use RO water for my tank, but the waste water I collect and use for other purposes whenever I can. Simply matter of sticking the hose in a jerry can.
- For plants / trimmings; don't flush them! There's problems where species from other parts of the worlds end up in the wild and take over everything because there are no natural enemies here.
- For livestock you might also want to find out where your LFS imports them from and how they're caught. Otos for instance are in some cases caught in large numbers, of which a lot die during their travel. So it's better to get them locally bred.
Really curious to find out if there are other like minded folks out there who might also have some stories, tips or other things to share. Thanks!