The most important thing in keeping Marine life is the water or more importantly the salt you use to make up your marine water. There are many mixes out there and new ones coming on the market all the time making all sorts of claims.

Instant Ocean is one of the oldest and the market leader if sales are anything to go by.

Instant Ocean salt has been around for decades and is a tried and tested artificial marine salt mix.

In 1964 William Kelley formulated an artificial marine salt replicated as closely as possible to natural seawater. Using a formula based on the one used at Frankfurt Zoo he managed to reach his goal, and created a synthetic sea salt that would maintain invertebrates indefinitely. He called it Instant Ocean®.

During the late 1960s and early ’70s they continued to tweak the formula making it the market leader that bit is today.

Now we can all regardless of where we live can make up with confidence a marine solution that will support a healthy and vibrant marine system.

Instant Ocean® remains the standard for scientific research in marine environments.  It has been used by NASA and, with proven results, in numerous public aquariums and parks, including SeaWorld, Orlando; Shedd Aquarium, Chicago; Wonders of Wildlife Museum, Springfield, Ill.; Columbus (Ohio) Zoo & Aquarium; the (Atlanta) Georgia Aquarium; The Dallas World Aquarium; Underwater Adventure in the Mall of America, Minnesota; Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas; the Denver Zoo; and many others.

 At ValueAquatics we offer Instant Ocean® in four handy easy to use sizes.

Instant Ocean Sea Salt 60ltr – 2kg

Instant Ocean Sea Salt 120ltr – 4kg

Instant Ocean Sea Salt 240ltr – 8kg

Instant Ocean Sea Salt 750ltr – 25kg bucket

John

valueaquatics.co.uk

At Valueaquatics we are now offering the new Fluval U series of underwater filters.

They work on a three stage filtering system using BIOMAX to keep the water quality in excellent condition.

The Fluval U series filters have been designed for ease of use and are very easy to change the filter cartridges through the use of the flip up top. This gives easy access to the inside of the filter for replacing the cartridges, maintenance and general cleaning. They also have a new three way flow control giving individual flow from the top, middle and bottom of the filter.

These internal filters are ideal for Freshwater Tropical Fish and Turtle aquaria.

Available in Four Sizes.

Fluval U1 250lph for 55L Aquariums

Fluval U2 400lph for 45-110L Aquariums

Fluval U3 800lph for 90-150L Aquariums

Fluval U4 1000lph for 130-240L Aquariums

• Ideal supplemental or stand-alone filter, or for installations where external filtration is not possible
• Filters debris and provides optimal biological filtration
• Silent and efficient
• Simple to install and maintain
• Engineered and manufactured in Italy
• For aquariums, terrariums and turtle tanks

John

   www.valueaquatics.co.uk

What is the most important thing in the aquarium and the least understood? The water, most people look at their fish in the aquarium and hardly give the water a second thought as long as it looks clear then it must be okay. Wrong just because it looks okay you should never take it for granted. I check my tropical Aquariums water every fortnight for pH and Nitrate and in the Malawi Cichlid tank water hardness, none of these will show up as a visual look it the water.

What causes High readings of pH, nitrite and nitrate in the water?

The pH can be affected by many factors but mostly excess waste in the aquarium from over feeding (the most common) too many fish in the tank producing excess waste products or new tank syndrome when the Aquarium is going through The Nitrogen Cycle.

Another cause is the tap water the ph will vary depending on where you live and can be anywhere from pH 6 – 10 and the majority of community fish are happy in the pH 6.5 – 7.5 range.

Nitrite will become high as the aquarium goes through the Nitrogen Cycle (New Tank Syndrome)

Nitrate as the Nitrite but other causes are overfeeding and overcrowding. The bacteria cannot cope with the excess waste and rotting food. 

So ValueAquatics have the answer the API Freshwater Master Test Kit. It comes with everything you need to test for pH, Ammonia, Nitrite and nitrate. You should get over 800 tests with this kit making it very economical and cheaper than buying individual tests.

What you get in the Kit is High range pH, Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate testing solutions, Computer-calibrated laminated colour cards, 4 glass tubes, a holding tray for the test tubes,. There is an easy to follow none technical instruction booklet with added information on how to correct unsafe water conditions.

The API Freshwater Testing Kit comes in a durable, unique transparent dome allowing a clear view of the contents. 

Highly accurate and economical

Over 800 tests

Compact

Easy to use

None technical and informative booklet

John

These Aquarium Cabinets are made exclusively for ValueAquatics. They are very sturdy and robust and have a central strengthening bar for added strength and stability and designed to take the weight of a full aquarium. The cabinets are made from high density fiber board.

They come flat packed and are extremely easy to put together only 8 screws and 8 cams. There are no shelves so there is plenty of room to put your external filter and air pump, giving easy access to them.

They come in BLACK only and in two sizes for 24” and 30” aquariums. 

Always stand the Aquarium on an aquarium mat or some polystyrene tiles as a cushion before filling the Aquarium; otherwise the base of the Aquarium can crack if there is the smallest grain of sand under it.

John

The most common type of lighting for Aquariums must be the fluorescent tubes that come in a vast range of colour temperatures. The type of tube is a personal choice some like the warm effect that shows the blues and reds off best that comes from the Gro Lux tubes or the more natural light from the Fresh water type of tube.

No matter which tube you like you will need a starter unit for them and the best in the market is Arcadia who have been in the pet care lighting business since the 1960’s. Arcadia’s products have an unparalleled reputation for design, performance and quality and are sold in over 55 countries worldwide.

The Arcadia Ultra Seal Controllers  available from ValueAquatics come in a complete range of waterproof single Fluorescent Controllers that come with the new Ultra Seal  IP67 Tube Holders.

Complete with all fittings, clips, screws & universal mounting bracket
Easy tube changing
Waterproof
GS & CE approved for extra safety

ACU58 is a special order not a stock item.

John

Are you tired of the heavy metal AC/DC drummer in your aquarium cupboard then look no further The TetraTec APS air Pumps are what you need. These have been designed especially with noise, vibration and flow rate in mind. The APS range of air pumps is amongst the quietest of diaphragm air pumps on the market.

These pumps are especially effective when used with deeper aquariums where the back pressure often defeats other pumps of the same rating.

The innovative design and advanced sound reducing technology creates a better environment in the aquarium fore your fish, and you don’t have to turn the Television up to maximum to cover the sound of that old pump.

There are 5 sizes of The TetraTec air pumps available from ValueAquatics to suit the vast majority of aquariums.

John

The innovative Smart Heater/Thermostats by the highly respected Rena Company use an electric sensor that accurately checks the water temperature. The thermostat can be set from 20°c to 34°c. The heater has a warning light that will flash if the temperature goes 3° above or bellow the set temperature. This is good news for all those keepers of large robust fish like Oscars or Aquatic reptiles like terrapins/turtles, as they are said to be unbreakable as it is made from composite materials. The Smart Heater is insensitive to mechanical or thermal shocks.

Fish are less likely to get burnt on the smart heater as the water is drawn up through the centre of the heater, thus warming it up and passing the warmed water out of the top. It can be used with an external canister filter with the connection kit (not supplied) allowing it to be connected to the 16mm internal diameter hose inlet tube.

If the inlet tube of your filter is 12mm internal diameter simply use a step down adapter.  Both the heater and the external filter adapter are available from ValueAquatics.

Fully submersible
Works in any position
Unbreakable
Shock resistant
Switches itself off if not fully submerged in water
Available in 50w, 100w, 150w, 200w and 300watt

Jacqui

Monarch Aquarium Hoods are made from aluminium making them both light and very robust. The hoods come in two finishes black and silver, they have a flap on the top front that allows easy access for feeding and maintenance. A compartment at the back of the hood takes the lighting ballast unit, make sure it is firmly fixed into place, the hoods have push out holes to take the light tube, fittings and wiring. All the hoods are designed so that they will take the same size fluorescent tube sizes i.e., a 24” x 12” hood takes a standard 24” tube. All the hoods come complete with drip trays. ValueAquatics offer the Monarch Majestic Hoods in the following sizes.

18” x 12″
24” x 12”
30” x 12”
36” x 12”
48” x 12”

It is also possible with these units to add a second tube to increase the light intensity, the hoods are very well designed, and the black Monarch Majestic hood, goes well with any colour cabinet / stand. If your looking for a budget purchase say for a 2ft standard aquarium, to go in a childs bedroom for example, you won’t do better than a black 24inch Monarch Majestic  Hood combined with our budget Black Aquarium Stand, plus if you bought both you would get free next working day delivery.

John G & Mark H

ValueAquatics are pleased to announce that we can now offer melamine Aquarium Cabinets for 24”x12”, 30”x12, 36”x12” and 48”x12” (L.W) aquariums. They are available in the following finishes Beech, Walnut and Oak. All the Cabinets are made of high density fibre board with added strengthening bars for added security and peace of mind. The cabinets come as a flat pack unit with full easy to follow instructions. The Cabinets come as two cupboards with fitted doors allowing plenty of space for filters, pumps, food, medications and access for the plumbing and electrics.

These really are great cabinets and so quick to assemble!

John
www.valueaquatics.co.uk