About Marina Holt — FishLinkCentral

MH
About the Author

Marina Holt

Aquarium writer and equipment reviewer based in Portland, Oregon. 15 years keeping freshwater and saltwater tanks from 10 gallons to 180 gallons.
Portland, Oregon
15 Years in the Hobby
Freshwater and Saltwater
My Story

I set up my first aquarium in 2009 — a 10-gallon freshwater tank with a bag of gravel from the pet store, a plastic castle decoration, and three goldfish that lasted about two weeks. I did everything wrong. The tank was never cycled, the filter was too small, and the heater had no thermostat. I was devastated when the fish died and determined to figure out what I had done wrong.

Fifteen years later I currently run four tanks in my Portland home — a 90-gallon mixed reef with SPS and LPS corals, a 40-gallon breeder high-tech planted tank, a 20-gallon neocaridina shrimp colony, and a 10-gallon betta display tank. I have crashed a reef, lost a planted tank to algae, and watched a shrimp colony wipe out overnight from a bad water change. Every failure taught me something that no product description ever would.

I started FishLinkCentral because most aquarium review sites are written by people who have never actually kept the equipment running long enough to see it fail. Every review on this site comes from real tank time — real parameters, real failures, and real opinions on what actually works in a living system.

What I Currently Keep
90-Gallon Mixed Reef
SPS, LPS, and soft corals. Sump with protein skimmer, refugium, and calcium reactor. Running since 2018 through two power outages and one complete parameter crash.
40-Gallon Planted Breeder
High-tech planted tank with CO2 injection, pressurized canister filter, and full spectrum LED lighting. Carpeting plants, stem plants, and a school of rummy nose tetras.
20-Gallon Shrimp Colony
Neocaridina shrimp in a heavily planted tank with sponge filtration and RO/DI water remineralized with Salty Shrimp. Currently housing three color variants.
10-Gallon Betta Display
Planted betta tank with a single male halfmoon betta, snails, and a small sponge filter. Simple, low-tech, and the tank I recommend to every beginner.
How I Review Equipment

Every piece of equipment I review has been run in a live tank for at least three months before I write about it. I do not accept free products in exchange for positive reviews. I do not get paid by manufacturers. When I earn a commission through an Amazon affiliate link it does not change what I write.

I test equipment in real-world conditions — fluctuating room temperatures in a Portland home, hard Pacific Northwest tap water, and the kind of livestock load that actually stresses filtration. Equipment that works perfectly in a lightly stocked display tank at a stable 78 degrees often fails completely under real conditions.

If something failed during testing I will tell you exactly how it failed, when it failed, and what the consequences were for the tank. That is the only way any of this is useful to you.

Get in Touch

Have a question about a piece of equipment, a tank setup, or want to suggest something I should test? I read every message.

Send a Message