The Lifestyle Guide and Information

It's been a tough season for spring break destinations. With students and parents tightening their belts in the face of a major recession, the annual tradition of letting off steam - ideally on an exotic beach, with access to plenty of cheap beer - is suffering.

This spring break season - typically, March 16 to April 5 - flights from the U.S. to the Caribbean have dropped as much as 20%, according to data compiled for TIME by the online travel agency Expedia. Meanwhile, safety concerns over Mexico's increasingly violent drug cartels may be helping keep students away from its beaches in droves; travel to the spring-break Mecca of Cancun is down 22% over last year.

But that doesn't mean spring break is canceled. When it comes to scaling back expenses, that's where many college students are drawing a line in the sand. Sun-drenched revelers are spending less, and service-oriented spring breakers are reaching out to communities closer to home.

"For college students, spring break is really a once in a lifetime experience," says Matt Scriven, founder of spring break tour operator ParadiseParties.com. "So they're finding a way to do it."

For many, that means forgoing a far-flung trip - which can cost upwards of $1,000 - and soaking up some less exotic rays. According to Expedia, spring break flights to Orlando, Los Angeles and New York all jumped more than 25% this year.

At ParadiseParties.com, the uptick in sales of cheaper, domestic options - including a $400 party cruise from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., and a $300 trip to Panama City, Fla., where MTV films one of its spring break specials - kept the overall number of bookings from dipping substantially, despite a drop in international sales. "We definitely sold a whole lot more of the affordable stuff," says Scriven.

Affordability may also help explain why service-oriented spring break trips, which can cost as little as $300, are more popular than ever this year. At St. Michael's College in Burlington, Vermont, applications doubled for trips to serve in soup kitchens or build homes around the country and abroad. Harvard's alternative spring break program recorded a 90% increase in applications.

And Break Away, an organization that helps coordinate service-oriented break trips for over 150 college campuses nationwide, has tracked a 10-15% increase in participation for the sixth year in a row. "Most alternative break programs are very student-led and small-donor based, very grassroots," says Jill Piacitelli, executive director of Break Away. "Students are still willing and able to raise the $300 to go on the trip."

Some students, however, are less able than they used to be. The University of Maryland, Baltimore County, for example, sent some spring-break volunteers to Kentucky last year to help rebuild an elderly woman's home after it burned down. This year, they're offering a staycation instead: 30 students are living on campus and working at local nonprofits.

The per-student tab for the week comes to $75, compared to $350 a pop for one of last year's trips. "Students were not as interested in paying that much," says Jordanna Spencer, graduate coordinator for service and volunteerism. (Read more about volunteer vacations.)

Other alternative break trips are being refocused to help people especially affected by the recession. About two dozen schools, for instance, have retooled their Habitat for Humanity-style affordable housing trips to focus on rehabilitating foreclosured homes instead, says Piacitelli.

"The idea with alternative breaks is to address pressing social needs," she says. "When there's a demonstrated, clear one, the students are on to that, and plan trips around it."

There are other students, of course, who are simply staying home. Melissa Bubb, 20, a junior marketing major at Temple University, took a bus home to Brooklyn, New York, where she spent spring break visiting her grandmother and catching up with high school friends.

"Honestly, I couldn't afford to go on vacation," she says. "The way the circumstances are now with the economy, you have to pick and choose."

For her senior year, though, Bubb has already made her decision. "It will be my last year and my last semester," she says. "I'll probably just treat myself to a trip."

By LAURA FITZPATRICK

Labels: lifestyle guide, recession, sprig break 2009

How to check aquarium water

Today, aquariums have advanced to the point that the tanks are self-sufficient. Water conditions are important to check, since in each area of the world, water is different. In fact, some area waters are more contaminated than other areas.

The types of fish factors into water, as well plants play a role too. Tetras is a type of fish, which naturally habitats in rainwater, or when in aquariums the fish enjoys soft waters. Therefore, when you test waters for these fish make sure that the waters are soft.

Cichlid is another species of fish that prefer harder water. The specimens came from the Rift Valleys of Africa, which contains dissolved salt. The salt was available from natural sources, such as lakes and rock lining.

How do I avoid hardening the water?

If you want hard waters, then do not add limestone. Limestone should be avoided, especially if you intend to use it as rocks or gravel.

How can I tell the condition of waters after testing pH?

After you test the waters, pH readings should give you a figure. If the number is below seven, then the water is acidy. If the figure is higher than seven are then the water is alkalinity or alkaline. The neutral pH figure is pH7. If the water conditions are below or higher than this figure then your water is too alkalinity and/or acidity. If you maintain a correct temperature and balance of water, your fish and plants will live long and healthy.

Tip:

Red Nosed Tetra prefers freedom to swim and density of plants.

If you have test water keep in mind that tap water has pH7 or pH8 reading usually. If the gauge reads higher or else lower, it means that the water is too alkalinity or acidy: Keep in mind that discus from the symphysodon aequifasciata specimen enjoy acidy waters. If you have cichlids from Rift Valley, these fish prefer alkaline.

How do I test water?

You will need to purchase a test kit. You can purchase test kits online or preferably at your local pet store. Of course, you can purchase the kits online, but if you are not familiar with the types, it is best to purchase at a pet store.

The test kits will provide you a read out of chemicals in the water as well, such as chlorine. There should not be chlorine in the waters; however, tap water may have such chemicals. Water conditioners are ideal. When you setup your tank and each time you refill the tank you should use water conditioners.

Tip: If you have a heater in the tank, keep the volume low.

Living Room:

Typically, it is not recommended that you locate your aquarium in a living room. Since most living rooms are too warm, the fish will feel agitated. However, if you have tropical fish as well as plants you will have fewer problems. Plants and fish from the tropical regions tend to adapt well to higher water or room temperature. Using a heater in the tank can help you preserve your fish, yet you want to keep the heater on low volume. Maintaining a volume of heat will also prolong the life of your heater.

If you are heating your aquarium, take the easy way out. Some heaters include heaterstats, which will help you regulate heat. Heaterstats are thermostatically controlled devices, which fix to the corners of an aquarium. You can use suction cups to mount the heater. The heater has a small lamp, which will click on each time the heater is activated.

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Labels: aquarium, aquariums, care, fish, lifestyle guide, water