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I'd definitely recommend real plants. They look good, add interest as they grow, and can help the water quality: nitrate in my tap water is about 25; in my community tank it's less than 5. This is with a basic low tech set-up, no added CO2, standard built-in lighting, feeding once a week with...

You should be able to grow healthy plants without special lighting or CO2. Of course, if you want a really stunning planted tank like you see on the planted tank forum, then you'll need to investigate these things - but you can have an attractive planted tank with the setup you've got. You do...

I think you're very wise to be cautious - I'd agree, keep up the ammonia for a few more days. My small tank cycled with a sudden drop in nitrites, and then 2 or 3 days later I had traces of nitrite appear again, and it took a couple of days to clear. I think I may have added a little more...

It looks like Severn Trent currently add chlorine but not chloramine - difficult to be certain without knowing your exact location, but their general documentation seems to say this. (Or at least this was the situation when they last updated the documents on their website, but it could be up to...

You can buy a measuring dropper or graduated pipette marked out in ml from most pharmacy counters (Boots, or your local chemist, or a pharmacy counter in a supermarket), should cost you no more than about £1. They are accurately marked, and will also dispense quite consistently sized drops...

Agreed - otos should be kept in a group. If you're stuck for space and want the oto to deal with algae, you could consider the little fish known as 'black otos' or 'otocinclus niger' which aren't really otos but belong to a related family (hisonotus leucofrenatus). I have two, but haven't seen...

One of my corys scratched its side on a sharp stone that came in with a plant. They tend to dart around if something makes them panic, like a sudden movement near the tank. Fortunately it recovered very quickly. If it's not possible to smooth off the edges, then perhaps you could position the...

I think every fish keeper you ask will tell you something slightly different! 20% a week seems pretty normal - I'd maybe suggest a bit more for the moment as your tank is fairly new. Longer term, as well as monitoring ammonia, nitrite and nitrate as you've been doing, you might want to keep an...

Update: Well, fishless cycle finally completed. :D Used a small amount of mature media from the community tank (couldn't fit much inside the small internal filter) and the ammonia was processing happily overnight after just 3 days. But it's taken another 12 days (including a couple of...

Very sorry about your guppies. I guess it's the obvious question, but are you testing the water for ammonia and nitrite? With a newly cycled tank, it's possible to get raised levels of either when you add fish. Hope the others are OK.

If your mum's friend can't help, there's a scheme called Freecycle where people offer things they don't want any more for free - apparently fish tanks do come up occasionally. You can join up and post a Wanted message. Your profile says you're in Eastbourne and there seems to be a branch there...

If you like the Aqua Ones, the 510 doesn't have an undergravel filter, but instead has a trickle filter built into the hood. This is very easy to get at, and as a beginner I found it ideal for maintenance. You can easily get at the filter parts, don't need to take anything apart, and there's...

Java moss is also good cover for baby fish. We let them take their chances, and seem to get 1-3 platy babies surviving each time, hiding in a fairly small piece of Java moss and under the bogwood. Most of the fish would see them as a snack, including their own parents (it might even be the...

I'd vote for real plants (or a mixture of real and fake can work as Jazzzz suggests, especially while they're getting established). They don't have to be a lot of work - just feed them, pick out any dead leaves, and occasionally prune them. Plant a selection, and give them a chance, then remove...

Hi - welcome! Must be a bit of a challenge talking aquariums in French! There's some good pictures of shrimp on planetinverts .com - you might be able to identify yours there? I don't know much about them, just started finding out as my daughter wants to keep some.

Thanks for the advice. My daughter's definite she wants frogs, so I think we need to put them first rather than risk a betta that turns out to be an axe-murderer in disguise. The platys and danios in the big tank are such pigs, I'm sure the frogs would starve if we mixed them. Sounds like...

You will need to wash sand, even clean children's play sand. Put some in a bucket, add water, swish it around with your hand or a stick, pour away the water. Repeat several times. And then repeat several more. Even better, use a hose and run it into the sand so the water overflows, for quite a...

A bucket or cool box with a lid as suggested - it can be useful to get some newspaper and scrunch it up and pack it around the bag so it doesn't roll around in the box or bucket. Put the lid on to keep it dark and reduce the stress to the fish. Suggestion: if you've got children in the car...

Does it still look fogged when you fill it with water? Have you left it to soak in the acid? If you put a few layers of kitchen paper over the glass, then pour lemon juice or vinegar onto the paper, that keeps the liquid in contact with the glass for longer. I think Spishkey's lemon technique...

Found the topic about rocks - knew I'd seen it somewhere: Rocks

My book says that any wood other than bogwood is likely to disintegrate over time, which could be a problem if it rots in the tank, or releases stuff which could cause a fungal or algae bloom. To avoid this, seal it with clear plastic paint normally used for sealing concrete ponds, which is safe...

Currently cycling a 28 litre tank, planning to keep 2 or 3 ADFs. Just wondering whether there's anything else we can put in with the frogs without risking either frog or friend, or one or the other pinching all the food? I've had mixed advice about bettas - it seems to depend on the betta - what...

If you're not sure about the garden twigs, have you thought of bamboo? My book reckons that's OK for tank decoration.

Sounds like the A-bacs will normally survive a few hours with zero ammonia then? That's useful to know. I'm doing 'add and wait' - last night was my first top-up since the initial dose. We'll stick to the evening routine, as my daughter can help then - it's her tank after all, a reward for her...

Limestone would raise the pH of your water, not lower it. The pH in the tank is often different from the tap water. There are various reasons, including carbon dioxide, rocks or sand, bogwood, and even your water conditioner may have an effect. Do you have soft water? We've used pebbles we've...

If you feed them peas it seems to help. Cook a few in the microwave, then take off the 'skins' and squish the inside bit between your fingers. I'm sure they still produce as much, but it seems to break up the strings and looks a little less gross!

Thanks for the encouragement - it's really good to have support! It took me a bit by surprise yesterday: went out for the day and came home to zero ammonia, so had to do a quick top-up and hope the A-bacs hadn't starved - seems to have worked as they processed from 3 to less than 1 overnight...

Very sorry about your fish - you must be gutted. You could try asking your water board whether they've done anything to the water recently. As ColinT says, it doesn't sound like that would be the cause as it was several days before, but you don't want to risk the fish you've got left. Has anyone...

OK - thanks! The mature media has certainly speeded the ammonia processing; hoping the nitrite processing will be quick too, but it's useful to know that it won't be harmful to the cycle if the nitrite levels go up. You're right, it does help a lot if you can see them dropping and feel like...

Fishless cycling with mature media. Ammonia is processing nicely, but nitrites now above 1.5 - I've just topped up the ammonia so expecting the nitrites to go higher before they drop. I've heard that high levels of ammonia can inhibit the bacteria, but not had that problem - so what about...

That's good to know - and of course going to answer the phone in the middle isn't in the instructions! Just a bit concerned in case there was something wrong - thanks for the reply.

Fishless cycling a tank with mature media. I did an ammonia test, and had to go and answer the phone before I could read the result. When I came back, the ammonia test had gone very cloudy, with sort of orange bits floating in a pale yellow liquid. It's the Nutrafin ammonia test, where you add 6...

My corys love the gravel vac too! As soon as the water starts moving around, out they come, busy following the vac - at a safe distance. Some corys will shoal together, but it's difficult to predict. I've got bronze and trilineatus, and they don't really mix. Other people say that similar sized...

It might also be worth considering the pH of your tap water, which might rule out some fish.

It would be interesting to know - though not sure if anyone can answer this! - what is the actual difference between a 'mature' and a newly cycled system? It's not just numbers of bacteria, because a newly cycled system can be consistently processing a full load of ammonia, with zero detectable...

One fish in a 200 litre tank seeded with gravel from another mature tank - quite possible the ammonia wouldn't even get to harmful levels! This is a bit different from sticking 10 tetras and 6 danios in a 50 litre tank with no mature media - what one of my local shops recommended. Pliny the...

More corys. They're happier in larger groups, and likely to be more active if you get more. I love my corys... :wub:

That's very good - did you do the stone texture by hand, or use a pattern or effect? It works really well. You've got a shadow on the stairs on the left hand side, suggesting the light is coming from above and slightly to the left - suggest you also need a shadow on the vertical wall running up...

Congratulations on the babies! :D Keep going with the water changes, and hope things continue to go well. When my platy has babies, most of them get eaten (even by their own parents :-( ) but a few survive each time. Don't be surprised if you lose some (or even all) of them this time - there...

We also have a cupboard under our tank, and my daughter has let the door slam several times - the fish dart for cover but have shown no lasting ill effects, so I doubt that's the problem. It might stress your fish, but as you have been watching them closely, I think you'd have noticed a change...