Mr. Saltwater Tank TV Friday Am Quick Tip #107: Express Yourself…With Aquarium Gear
The start of a new year is often marked with celebration and new year’s resolutions that are quickly forgotten. Before you forget your new year’s resolution, here’s how to use a piece of left over aquarium gear to look cool. And possibly keep that resolution of yours as well.
Browse the Store! Questions?
Mark, good tip. A friend gave me a skeleton to a brain coral that didn’t make it and I use it for a paper weight at my office. 🙂
I like the idea. i use old flake food containers with left over aquarium gravel in them for pen holders. Glad to see im not the only one who recycles. Don’t forget that your pen holder is a going green idea in regards to putting something to use that would otherwise be in the trash and in a landfill where it will never biodegrade.
lol
Jumped the shark.
Borderline Ridiculous
Chris…I didn’t think about the flake food containers. That’s a good idea. They’ll also work well for food thawing containers.
What?!? The Friday quick tip is making a pen holder out of a bulkhead? This would be a good April 1st tip.
I’m always amazed at the different reactions for the different crowds. I showed this idea to my fans on Facebook this week and people loved it. The comments from this am clearly aren’t headed that direction!
That was terrible dude.
Hi Mark,
Where did you get that cool little light between you computer and the eco pico?
Seriously? Please don’t clutter my inbox and waste my time with stuff like this. You send out a ton of email already. I know you want the constant contact, but please at least make the content worth the time. Pen holders? Really?
Lighten up Rick……
Mark,
Neat idea, one I will probly put to use in the future. As for the people that can’t appreciate your efforts, I say: take a flying leap off your high chair and appreciate the things that YOU subscribed to rather than piss n moan. I will end this by saying…. Stupid people, or ^^^ shouldn’t breed. Lmfao! Good day everyone!
I have an idea to all the people that don’t like the Friday AM tips go kill yourselves, why don’t u guys just unsubscribe from mr saltwaters emails.
He has plenty of good stuff to say and just cus u don’t like one, but be assholes.
Thanx Mr saltwater tank.
Wow there is way to much anger these days. I thought it was funny. Be happy people!!
Unsubscribe Rick!!!
It’s not anger ken. I just don’t understand people, mark is going out of his way to make these videos and people just trash them. Like I said if u don’t like them don’t comment on them, I’m sure they’ll like the next one or something.
LOL Mark Calli? LOL at 0:10 seconds man you must have been tired
Lisa, The light on Marks desk is from IKEA.
Mark, thanks for taking time out of your day to make these weakly e-mails.
Mark,
When your video’s first load, which coral is that on the bottom left of your splashscreen?
Digitata or Porites?
Thanks!
Hey Mark,
Could we please see a video on your pico tank?
Im interested how you set yours up. BTW… interesting idea.
If you’re running out of ideas then how about a joke that we can laugh at.
I submit a motion on the floor for all the rude people who are so offended by this “wasting their time” yet still have time to comment….. unsubscribe. Get a life people. Thanks Mark! I always looks forward to whatever is on your mind. Do I have a second?
I second that motion… 🙂
Keep up the good work mark, Happy new year everyone out there
Hi Mark, Happy New Year. I’m quite surprised by the comments. One or two negatives might be expected but wow. I haven’t even watched the clip yet and had to chime in. Not only does Mark take the time for these quick tips, at no charge to anyone. But he is getting these tips from us, the viewers. And he’s nice enough to give us a shout out for the tip. Its not like winning the Nobel Peace Prize but I was pleasantly surprised to see my tip featured at one point. I guess my point is these are just quick tips, and that’s all. I dont think they are meant to be life changing mantras. Sometimes I use the tips sometimes I dont but I always look forward to my Fri morning tip. And if I can’t afford af minute and a half of my time to be wasted then I need some serious time management skills. I guess I should go watch the clip now to see what all the fuss was about. And you never know, someone out there might make good use of this tip. By the way, anyone know where I can find a paperclip holder.lol.
Mark, I sincerely appreciate the effort and time you put into this hobby. You’re awesome. I love all your tips including this one. Please do not get discouraged from negative comments.
For all the haters out there here is another goofy tip: for any shooters of 22 caliber pistols/rifles – use empty plastic Parmesan cheese shakers (the kind with 4 big holes under one side of the lid and the spoon hole under the other side of the lid) to hold several boxes worth of loose ammo and then shake a few rounds out as you need them just like you would the cheese.
Tank keeper specific: I keep an old plastic/sponge filter from an Emperor 400 (carbon removed) in a plastic bowl under the sink. When I clean the sheet glass covers for my tank I stand them up on the sponge side of the old filter (plastic side down). It makes a good non-slip base for the glass to sit on so I don’t worry about the glass edges on the metal/ceramic sink, and more importantly I don’t get in trouble for using the wife’s dish rags for my fish stuff (she doesn’t like that.)
Again, Thanks for your enthusiasm and passion for the hobby.
For all the super informative videos that Mark puts out there… we’re gonna hang him on the wall because this weeks edition focuses on office space functionality???
I get it… it’s not what we expected (I didn’t) but think about it. It’s New Years week after Xmas… how many of us just put up one of the most productive and enriching weeks of our year?
Mark is human and he probably had a big fish tank NYE bash that he’s still recovering from. Put it together people. Geez…
Thanks for the (positive) comments those of you that left them. I fully understand I can’t please everyone and as usual, some people loved this tip, some people didn’t. The negative comments don’t bother me, it’s just part of doing what I’m doing!
Mark:
Remember negative x negative equals positive!
Thanks for every Friday, I look forward to them on my way home from work every Friday.
Some times we need a little bit of the fun side.
I feel sorry for the individuals that cant just have a little fun now and again.
May be they have to re evaluate there own personality and forget about there tanks personality.
Your doing a great job Mark.
I got the entire set of your ebooks on sale and they are worth every penny.
I just wish I had all the information in your books when I started in the hobby.
All the best to all and a happy new year.
YOU GO Mark, you are THE BEST,Happy New Year my friend, and do not listen what people like Rick say, they are wasting everybody time with there negativity. We love and thank you for all the thing you are doing for us.BRAVO.
i personally did like video and I wouldn’t want a old ugly bulkhead on my desk. However I don’t understand the rudeness and anger towards mark. I personally love 99% with this one being the 1%. I think that it’s amazing that u have so many great vids and tips. Keep up the great work! A lot of us really appreciate it. I suggest if u dont mind that is? If u run out o tips just educate us on like a Friday fish, coral or any type of marine life of the week. Like diet, availability and general pricing. Or even suggestions on exotic reefs through out the world. Just a thought. Again thx for your service to the reefing community:)
My wife thought you were nuts, but she looked at me and said… You would do the same thing. She’s right ya know. Keep them coming Mark, even Babe Ruth didn’t hit it out of the park every time at bat.
I have to agree with the negatives here – this one is a ‘fail’. They aren’t all gonna be winners. ~shrug~ Even your favorite TV show has a ‘meh’ episode or two. That reality doesn’t make the FMQTs any less enjoyable on the whole.
It seems to me like both, the negative and the positive comment-ers, are a bit over the top on this one. It isn’t a “great idea” – stop it! lol A “great idea”, or maybe really just a “sensible idea”, would be to kill both of those NYres. birds with one stone (declutter AND recycle) by simply taking your plastics to your local recycling center. And it also isn’t something so horrible that getting one ‘meh’ Quick Tip is gonna ruin your overall experience with the FMQTs.
Slow reef day? Old fittings desk items? Love your show.
Very creative Mark and a unique idea that would keep those aquarist with their clean tanks busy.
I should use that tip to make at toque holder for when my head gets too warm. Thanks for the idea.
Cool. Speaking of salvaging stuff from the hobby, how about salvaging stuff for the hobby! Being a marine keeper for 34 years years now ( started in 1978 after college and in my first apartment with a 29 gallon tank and a trigger fish – don’t ask how that went! ;), I have accumulated a LOT of odds and ends. Too much! all in boxes and such and mixed to the point that IF a needed something, I could not find it! I now use clear dry cat food bins with an attached hatch top ( Deli brand dry food from Costco) and thanks to the appetite of 3 cats and one sneaky Rhodesian Ridgeback hound, I accumulated a dozen plus of these containers over the past few years. Now they are marked top and size with contents and all the heaters are in one container, all the power heads in another and so on. IF a set of quarantine or need to make a loan to a friend, I can walk into the basement closet and ‘pull’ the container that holds the ‘present need’. And organizing, allowed to to go thru those ugly falling apart card board boxes and throw away that 6 year old test kit and bits of hose and parts from ‘bad filter ideas’ as I got the new system stocked. All good.
never enough water changes– JasPR
People need to relax.
Is your life perfect? Do you expect Mark’s videos to all contain pearls of wisdom that will magically make your tank the envy of the National Aquarium?
Life is too short!
Oh, and Mark… why do you have a photo of Sean Hannity over your right shoulder?
Ian, I had to look again. If I let my vision blur just a little bit your right. Hilarious. I wish Mark would tell us about the little Pico tank over his left shoulder. Unless that is a secret between he and Sean. LOL
hey mark, what do you think of this fish: http://www.oceanproaquatics.com/shop/snowflake-echidna-nebulosa-p-4248.html and do you think it could live in a 60 gal reef tank?
Kilroy,
That eel will treat your shrimp and small fish as dinner. 😉
Most eels should be kept in an aggressive fish only aquarium.
I’m not sure what etiquette is for this media so I apologize if it is intended that we stay on the subject at hand. But if it is allowed to evolve as the readership morphs the subject to other subjects, I’d like to add what might seem obvious to you more advanced keepers.
As an old salty, one who has seen the tastes and skills of the average hobbyist morph and grow over time, I think that the question about the eel in a ‘community’ setting is a key to the fundamental success of an individual system. And as important a ‘moment’ as the filtration chosen, the maintenance done, etc.
It’s very hard for a beginner to know exactly how his/her aquarium will be stocked in the end. Indeed, impulse buying rules the day and there is always the “I must have that rare fish/invert” lurking at every LFS.
But for those that can grasp the Big Picture, you will have greater rates of success if you have a vision as to how your aquarium will be stocked as a theme. Sounds boring, I know! But to envision a tank of ‘small or slow species, or a system with no ‘impossible species’ is the beginning formula for success. Obviously we can’t keep creatures that hunt and eat one another. And on the reef that is called the food chain! Eels, for instance, are really animals for the ‘specialized tank’ or the ‘predator tank’. Just as gobies, dragonets and shrimp made up the ‘slow/quite tank’. In these mixes there is harmony. Cross some of these lines and you risk a ‘food chain aquarium’ (a short and unhappy experience) or ‘a chaotic aquarium’ where things like starvation from competition, harassment and intimidation are common place. A WORD TO THE WISE
killroy…Lucas pretty much nailed it and I wouldn’t put an eel in that small of a tank.
Ian…Sean Hannity?! That’s me in the photo!
Cam…that’s a good idea considering how easily you get hot headed! :p
question not for the tip but about you desktop tank behind you.
can we get some spex i have 55 gallon salt on the journy to reef but a littler
side tank would be nice on the way.
Mark,
You must really be running out of ideas. You could have done sooooooo much better. Can you PLEASE add some material to your website and your videos that include FOWLR systems. I am not a Reefer and not everyone is and I would like to see some episodes of FOWLR tanks. I have one that is 200 gallons and it is a highly equipt system that includes UV, Ozone, and bio-denitrators. I’m sure there are viewers who would agree you can turn it up a little and include more than “Reefs”??? And for the love of God please choose music other than country music! Uhhhhggggg!!!!! 🙂 Thank You…. 🙂
Good Morning! Mark, as an author and ‘expert’ in another ornamental fish hobby, I know this is a thankless job giving advise to the general public. Like life itself, many people are respectful kindred spirits that are fans and internet friends. But there is also a percentage of overly competitive, agressive and down right cranky folks! That’s what makes up all readership in all hobbies– cameras, cars, dogs, reptiles — you name it.
What is most noticeable to me is the divding line between ‘kindred spirit hobbyists’ and those that come to boards, websites and commercial advise sites with the idea that the world is there to cater to him personally. It is not a bad person who makes this assumption. I think is the individual when sees human interaction as a commerical transaction. The ‘you need to give me what I want’ attitude is a definite turn off to most serious hobbyists who know that to be really good, you read EVERYTHING in the hopes of coming away with less and less as you do get ‘good’. But here’s the bonus— readings someone elses words and their particular spin on things ( even things you think you already knew) can cause a quantum leap in understanding on that subject. OK, ramble out— JasPR