"The Aquarium Kid"

Hey everyone,

I'm boywithafishtank, and today i wanted to make a little introduction of myself. I realized, that i joined this forum in January 2013, but didnt introduce myself to the community here on 3reef. So let me just make a quick little introduction. My name is Magnus Schmidt, i'm 14 years old and live in Denmark. I know most of you people on this forum are from America, and sometimes i realize how different the aquarium hobby is over in the US, compared to here in Europe, and small little Denmark. So let me talk to you guys about how much experience i have, and why i love this hobby. Also, i will discuss on how the fish hobby is over here in Denmark, so we all can learn a little bit about the aquarium hobby, around the world, and how different it actually is.

Who are you?
I'm an aquarium youtuber, and love the community over there. I know many other aquarium youtubers, and talk with them often. I'm a part of the "Fired up" community, and also a part of the "Fishtanktv" community. I really love the community over there, but its mostly based on youtubers, that shares their experiences and knowledge with others, to both beginner and experienced aquarists. This is my goal. I wanna learn people how to keep their tanks properly, and i want to have success, so they dont have to come through all of the difficult things in this hobby, that i have sometimes run into, cause i can say right away: Its not fun! As i said earlier, i'm from Denmark and the aquarium hobby is completely different over here, and i often wonder how many aquarium things you have over in the US compared to here. Sad little Denmark

Whats your experience in this hobby?
I've kept freshwater tanks, for almost 6 years now. I've always loved aquariums, and one day, my parents decided to give me a tiny little 10 gallon freshwater tank. Me and my dad (Who has always been there for me through this hobby) aquascaped this tank with some plants, and rocks. Back in those days, i didnt know anything about forums like 3reef, or youtube. I didnt know anything about this amazing community. I stocked this tank, with some few Zebra Danios, and some Neon Tetras. I was really happy for this tank. For a while... I slowly began hating it. I didnt wanna take care of it, because i had noone to share with. I didnt have anybody who i could talk with, who also has aquariums. Of course i had my dad, and he loved the aquarium too. I slowly stopped taking care of the tank, and at some point, i had my dad doing all of my waterchanges (Cruel, i know, but he didnt mind ). But then, one of my friends got this 30 gallon freshwater tank, that he stocked with tetras, beautiful plants, a green spotted puffer, mollies, guppies and plecos. I loved this tank! I remember we went home from school everyday, and i always stopped by his tank, and checked out how the tank was doing. I would stare at it for a half hour, and we would talk about these awesome fish. This guy, my friend, got me into the hobby again. I slowly realized, how awesome this hobby can be. I came home to my dad, and said "I wanna rescape my tank" and he thought it was an awesome idea, so we took out at some local fish stores, and bought some fake plastic decorations and real plants (I know, it was not so pretty, but i enjoyed it for a while ). I funny enough actually have an OLD video with it, at another youtube channel, take a look:

Do note that this video is VERY old, and the video was recorded with a really bad camera

Anyway, this tank ran for some months, and then it was christmas. I had only one wish for a gift: A 30 gallon aquarium. And then, christmas eve i saw this giant 30 gallon aquarium (It was giant to me) and my mom and dad said "Thats yours!" and i was so happy, i remember jumping everywhere. I also got a gift card to one of my local fish store for some plants and fish, and also got some neccesary equipment. So i was really happy that night, and 2 weeks later, we sat up the tank. This tank, was gorgeous! I tell you, i was really impressed how well me and my dad aquascaped this tank, take a look:

Do realize, that this video was also recorded with a webcam, so the quality is not the best

A little before i got this tank, i went on youtube, and searched up "Aquariums", i found people on youtube like "Churchhealzimpact" "TheRossiBoy" and "Dustinsfishtanks". I thought their videos were really awesome, and interesting. I would sit each day, infront of my computer and see fish videos. I liked to follow their tanks, and i liked getting information on different species of fish. Then i got that 30 gallon planted tank, and i got my brothers old webcam, that he used for his proffesional gaming streams (Yes, he is a proffesional gamer). And, i started making videos with this camera, and i really enjoyed it. I thought it was really funny, to show people my tank, and how i care for my fish, and share my experiences with others. Of course, as any other aquarium freak, i wanted a bigger tank. So, 3 months after i had my 30 gallon planted tank, i finally saved enough money, for a 50 gallon african cichlid tank! I was really excited, and the tank was awesome, you can take a look at that tank too in one of my older videos:

In this video, i used a new camera, the Nikon D3100 camera, that i still use, i'm better at controlling it now though

So, after i got this tank, i went crazy with planted tank videos, and african cichlid videos, and i teached people about many different aspects of the hobby, and my videos always got a great response from people. I would get nice comments, many subscribers and alot of views. Now i'm partnered with youtube, and i actually make money by making videos, which i'm really happy for. Now i make videos very often, and i always make sure to keep people updated on all of my tanks. Anyway, my cichlid were doing fantastic, and i managed to breed my Melanochromis Auratus cichlids, and i got lots of fry, that i still have today! I started a new 15 gallon tank, specially made for my auratus fry:

A little video on the auratus fry, about 5 minutes after they came out of their mothers mouth

After that, i rescaped my planted tank, and i really loved this tank aswell. I managed to keep discus, as you might have seen from my previous video on the planted tank:

As you can see, this tank was awesome!

So, i kept enjoying my freshwater tanks, and i still do. But then, at the end of the year 2012, i was obsessed with reef tanks. I thought they were so awesome, and i thought that 6 years of experience, should be enough for a reef tank. I started researching, and i did it for months, to make sure i got nothing wrong, and i knew everything that was neccesary. I then sold my planted tank, and got about $230. Then I bought all of the things that i needed: Food, live sand, test kits, syringes, equipment, everything. So at christmas, the gift i wanted was money. My parents thought it was boring, but i thought it was awesome. So i saved up some money, and bought all of the equipment i needed for my reef tank. I then began to search after some tanks, that would be great for a beginner and experienced aquarist. I stumbled upon the "Aqua Medic Blenny" and i've only heard good things about it. This aquarium is so great quality, that the equipment on this tank, was perfect, and was not one of this all-in-one tanks where you later had to change the skimmer, the pump etc.. This tank is awesome. It has a skimmer, that is used for alot bigger tanks, which is perfect. It also runs carbon, and a heater, then it also has a great pump, that creates a belting water flow, that will blast away your tank, and make sure that there is lots of water movement! I was so excited. My dad called the ONLY fish store in Denmark that carried this aquarium, and they said "All of these types of aquariums are broke, and a new delivery of that exact aquarium will come in 3 weeks". I was so sad. I had to wait 3 WEEKS for this tank to get delivered. So, a week after, the guy called us up and said "Hey, we got early delivery! The tank is already here, alot faster than expected" So one day, my mom and dad let me get home from school one day. We had a LONG drive. We had to drive all the way down in the other part of Denmark, which is roughly a 5 hour drive (I'm from Hjallerup, which is Northern Jutland, one of the most northern cities over here). So my mom and dad said "If you pay for the gas it takes to get down there, we can come with you!" And they took with me down to southern jutland, and we got the Aqua Medic Blenny tank, in good shape! Nothing was wrong, and everything was as it should. We bought live rocks from the same store (Which i probably shouldnt have done, cause they were infested with Aiptasia, however it had LOTS of small critters). So after we got home again, we sat up the tank. At night. It was awesome. Check it out!:

But, it didnt go so smoothly. My tank got to be a parasite disaster. First and foremost i had problems with algaes, but those went away after i got my sea hare. He actually took care of all of my hair algae and bryopsis problems, and they didnt grow afterwards. So i was really happy about that. I then returned him to my local fish store, after he was done eating my hair algae and bryopsis. BUT. I had a clarkii clownfish for almost a month, and it was doing fantastic, it was beautiful, colorful, and healthy. But then, i got this tiny bicolor angelfish, and it started to get Brooklynella. Brooklynella is an annoying parasite, that kills EVERYTHING, almsot as bad as Velvet. I had SO many problems with this store, and all of the fish i bought from there died. I got the bicolor, which by the way also killed my clarkii clown with that parasite infection. Then, i got 2 ocellaris clownfish, those died too by the same disease. I was so sad. It was probably the most depressing thing i've ever had in my life. My dad was SO mad at the fish store. And it was impossible for us to cure, because its illegal to use medication in Denmark for home aquaria. So, we couldn't do anything. I was lost. But then, after my father got mad enough at that fish store, he managed to get medication from him (I wont say who he is, because if i do, his store will be closed, right away since its ILLEGAL). We didn't know why he carried it either, but he had it over at his garage HIDDEN. So, it was reef safe medication, and we used to kill all of parasites and parasite spores in the water. I then waited a month, which was incredibly hard, because the only things that were in my tank were: Skunk cleaner shrimp (Which i still have) 3 hermit crabs, and a nassarius snail or two. So it was really boring to look at. However, we changed our local fish store, and went to the more northern parts of Denmark, where we found a great store in a city called Hjørring. The fish they had were amazing, and the guy who kept the store, said that he wouldn't sell his fish, before they were in his tanks for atleast 2 weeks, to make sure that they dont have any diseases. He said that he was very careful with giving people diseased fish, which i think sounds very reasonable. He talked about an old man, that has learned him about a new acclimation method. This old man has kept reef tanks for 25 years, and he knew pretty much everything. He said, that drip acclimation is simply not effective over here in Denmark, since it just kills your fish, because of our cold weather, that makes the acclimation buckets water cold, and make temperature swingings, which eventually leads to LOTS and LOTS of parasite attacks. He said that i should use an acclimation method, which is that you basically take your sealed bag with fish in, you put it in your tank (This way it will adjust to the temperature) then, i should poke 8 holes with a fork in the bag, so water slowly could pass through. Now CHILL guys! I know many of you Americans dont like this method, because you use medication, BUT WE DONT! So therefore, there is no risk about copper or malachite, or any other dangerous "interesting ingredient" that they use in those creepy medications. I actually made a thread on the acclimation method, here on 3reef that you can see right here: http://www.3reef.com/forums/general...climation-better-than-drip-method-148300.html CAUTION AMERICANS, THIS IS NOT A SAFE METHOD FOR YOUR AQUARIUM, SINCE YOUR STORES OFTEN HAVE TRACES OF MEDICINE IN THEIR TANKS, AND IT CAN KILL YOUR FISH AND INVERTS, IF YOU ADD THE WATER TO YOUR TANK! But for me, its the most safe method. It works fantastic. All since i've used these 2 stores and this method, i've never had problems with parasites, for 3 months now! So, my tank has turned out great now, and i'm really happy about it. I got a Bicolor Dottback, 3 small Chromis and a Mural Striped Sleeper Goby in my tank at the moment, and i'm going to add some very small Clarkii Clownfish for my sebae anemone this thursday or friday! So, after all the trouble i've been through as a beginner, i think i've learned ALOT. Alot more than most other beginners. You learn by your mistakes, and you learn about your countries rules about aquariums, and all of the strange things thats different between Denmark and the US. I'm happy that my tank is where its at now at the moment, and if you would like to see the latest update that i uploaded yesterday, go check it out!:

Also, now i see the good i can get out of making all of these videos. I can see almost my whole aquarium history and all of my tanks back in the past. Thanks for reading, and hope you enjoyed it! Happy reefing!

 

Welcome to 3Reef. Good job with you r tanks.

 

First I would like to say welcome to 3reef

Normally; I never comment on people ill comments, but this is a like much. I am a foreigner, just like many of the people here on 3reef and you are giving US a bad name. When it comes to reefing no country is better than the next! It’s the right way and the wrong way of doing reefing POINT BLANK!!!

This is why they invented tank heaters, and I hope your tank is in doors. Because the one think I love about Denmark is the rain.

This is wrong. Most parasites come from warm waters. Water temps from 72 to 80 in normal tropical water. Anything lower then that or high then that you need to reevaluate the placement of your tank.

Hhmm, temperature is not the main reason you acclimate your fish. Special if you buy it from a local fish store where the temp there SHOULD be around 73 to 76 to prevent parasites. Most reefer drip acclimate there fish for the real reason (finding out the real reason can be your HW) and BECAUSE they don’t want to mix the LFS water in there tank. You don’t know what they dose their water with.

It’s called an ingredient label.


I speak for myself when I say this. If you are trying to be a TROLL please move on to the next form because in this reef community we are here to learn from each other about reefing, NOT to try and make people believe there county way of reefing is better than the rest. IF IF IF IF you have just been misinformed about reefing and want to learn the correct or different ways of reefing, then welcome you will learn a lot from the guys and gals on this form.

There is the wrong way of reefing and there the right way of reefing, pick which side you want to be on.

Apologize Matt, Mods and follow reefers. [/SIZE]

 

This is the second time today that I've read posts from you where you go out of your way to put a negative spin on how things are done in countries besides your own. I hope it's the last time that I read a post like this from you. Consider that a warning. I am going to close this thread to prevent any bashing that I believe will come as a result of this post. Feel free to rewrite it in a manner than is less offensive if you decide to repost it.