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Try the Buy, Sell, Swap forum? There's usually a couple of tanks available, but depends where you live. You could do a Wanted post, say where you are and whether you can collect. Or is there a Freecycle near you (look on the internet)? Or put up a card in your local supermarket (they usually...

It does sound a bit steep, though don't forget it's not just the tank. If you add up the cost of the other bits: net, water conditioner, ornament, food, background, heater/thermostat, thermometer etc. - that's going to cost a few quid. I preferred to buy all these bits separately so we could...

You could try putting a piece of stocking/tights (or 'pantyhose' if you're in the US...) over the filter intake to stop fish getting in, but it's usually fry that are at risk, or things like otos sneaking in and getting stuck. If your fish are getting sucked in while they're still alive, you...

They're a bit tame I guess, but I'm keeping platys, zebra danios, bronze and trilineatus corys in hard water, and they're all doing well. I know other people round here keep silver sharks, mollys, guppies, tiger barbs, and gouramis (I think they're honey gouramis but not sure) successfully in...

Glad things are going better now! Keep going with the water changes, hopefully it will be a lot easier soon. :good:

Hi - and welcome! Wish I had space for a fish room! Nice pictures - how big is your tank?

I'll be a few days behind you, so please post with your progress! Hopefully your tank will cycle really quickly and painlessly and you'll have a new betta soon. Good luck! :good:

Just wondering why you need it? I wouldn't replace the ceramic noodles - these are there for the beneficial bacteria to grow on.

That is really interesting. I've just had high nitrite levels in an empty tank too. See this thread: Nitrite-in-Fishless-Tank I still don't really know where it came from. Since then I've done a nearly 100% water change, and it's now sitting with the filter running. I'm going to leave it a...

I would advise against trying to lower the pH by adding stuff out of a bottle. Adding chemicals to adjust pH often only has a temporary effect, especially if your water is hard (IME it reverted overnight), and the fish will be much more stressed by the swings in pH than by leaving it alone...

He's not talking to you - your messages got a bit lost in the heated debate. You will keep doing water changes, won't you? Please keep us posted on progress - suggest you start a new thread though... Good luck!

I'd recommend real plants - they can look great, and make your tank an attractive feature of the room even when the fish are hiding! Nothing against fake plants, and they can look great too, but a lot of people think real plants are difficult, and they don't have to be. Some people use special...

I think your LFS person is a little confused and mixing up two different facts. Firstly, sudden changes in pH can be a dangerous shock to fish - generally several smaller water changes give the fish a better chance to adjust. The other thing is that ammonia is more toxic to fish as the pH...

I'd suggest that you watch him and see. Does he swim around with the others, or does he lurk on his own at the back? Some will happily hang out with other species of cory - you'll be able to tell if he's lonely. My albino bronze cory seems to think he's a trilineatus, follows them around and...

Agreed - note the 'repeat and repeat'! Even with sand that seemed really clean to start with, we needed to do it several times before the water looked clear. Then when we added water to the tank, it still stayed cloudy for a couple of days - when I added some filter wool to the internal filter...

Did you get the fish from a shop? If so, take him back to the shop. They gave you very bad advice if they sold him as suitable for your community tank, and ought to take him - even if they don't give you a refund, at least he's off your hands. You won't be the first person to return an...

There's a useful pinned topic in the Planted tanks section, which lists many of the common aquarium plants and their preferred temperatures etc. It's not an absolute guide - some plants just seem to like - or hate - your tank regardless of the theory, but might be a useful starting point? If you...

Kordon NovAqua+ uses the chelating agent EDTA to bind to heavy metals. More info about it at: Kordon article about heavy metals

Chaca or frogmouth catfish will eat anything they can fit in their mouths. This includes your guppies and neon. Apparently they can also affect the pH (acidity) of the tank too, which can have all sorts of nasty results. Frogmouth-catfish I'd really recommend you take it back to the shop, as...

Nothing against fake plants, but I'd vote for real ones unless you've got a plant-munching/digging fish. Yes, they do need feeding, but you can either just add a splash of liquid feed every time you do a water change, or use slow release tablet and forget about them for weeks. There's a really...

As minxfishy says (while I was typing!), most of your bacteria will be in the filter media, not the substrate (unless it's an undergravel filter). Some fish like to root around in the substrate (e.g. many catfish) or even bury themselves in it (some loaches), so you might want to think about...

Really sorry things aren't improving for you. It's hard and so frustrating, when you're doing your best and still losing fish. It may be your water. Just because your shop says 'it's OK' doesn't mean it is. There are plenty of people who have described a similar situation to yours, where their...

There's only a few bits of leaves, broken off when they were planted, and a bit of dead leaf stuck to the plastic ornament - I know it's a small tank, but would be surprised if they could generate that much ammonia? I've picked them out now anyway. I'm going to do a water change, in case...

I've been setting up a 28 litre tank for my daughter to keep dwarf frogs. It's been running now for about 2 weeks, and the plan was to change the water, add some mature media and a couple of small fish from the community tank this week, and then get the frogs in a few weeks. Before adding the...

Very sorry for your loss. It's hard to lose so many at once. Nitrates (with an A) are unlikely to be a problem even if the level is fairly high - it's ammonia and nitrite (with an I) that are dangerous. I'd suggest that you get a (liquid) test kit for ammonia if you can, and nitrite too if...

Not sure what sort of paint, but have you thought about sticking a black backing to the outside - your local fish shop should sell plastic rolls of the stuff (sometimes they have a different colour or pattern on the other side). Then if you change your mind in the future, it's easy to...

There are various reasons the water company can change your supply, like if they're replacing water mains etc. Could be the heavy rain. In agricultural areas it can wash nitrates etc. from fertilizers into rivers and reservoirs, or it can interfere with proper drainage of waste water. Then the...

What media have you got in the filter? If you don't already have some, it might help to add a layer of filter wool? I've been setting up a small tank with sand, with a little internal filter that came with just a piece of black sponge inside. Washed the sand very very thoroughly, but like yours...

This sounds wrong to me. The water conditioner will react with the chlorine and chloramine in your water. If you only add a little water, it only contains a little chlorine. So you'll be left with some 'spare' conditioner. As you add more water, it comes into contact with more chlorine...

I researched these for my daughter, reluctantly deciding we didn't have space. According to what I read, axolotls will grow to 30-35cm (12 inches or more). They are cute, but we didn't have space for a big enough tank - I've seen recommended a minimum of 2 ft for a single axolotl and 3 ft for...

Come on, confess, how many people read this and started thinking: hey, I could take the bath out of my bathroom and replace it with a really massive fishtank... :hyper:

Hi - how's the danio? If it's still poorly, I'd suggest posting in the Tropical Fish Emergencies section - you usually get some good advice there quickly - there are some very knowledgeable and helpful experts around. The first thing they'll ask for is your water statistics (readings for...

Chemists? Many years ago, seems like another life... Let's see... Chloramine is very stable, and doesn't break down easily in water on its own. Most water conditioners available here will remove chlorine and break down chloramine into chlorine and ammonia. The amounts of ammonia released by...

I believe the Nutrafin nitrite test (possibly others) uses a modified diazotization method. Sulphanilic acid reacts with any nitrite present to form a diazonium salt, then a naphthylamine is added and forms an azo dye, which is pink/red. Adding a blue dye helps interpret the results, as the...

Welcome gerryR - very good idea to test your tap water for everything before starting! You're lucky, your tap water sounds fine for most fish. I puzzled over the traces of nitrite in my tank for ages before thinking to test the tap water, and finding that was where it was coming from. It's...

My books say bronze corys don't like it above 26C. In the warmer weather, my tank went higher than this, and they did seem to sulk.

I've had mine about 4 or 5 months. I believe it's available in black or silver. You can get a cabinet to match as well. I used the carbon cartridges that came with it until they fell apart (about 2 months) - but that's with messy fish and plant bits - yours might last longer. I replaced them...

My lfs said there aren't many around at the moment, they don't come in steadily through the year, but they'd expect some in a couple of weeks or so - OK, they may have been fobbing me off, but they've been OK so far... :unsure: Anyway, they took my phone no. and will call me when they get some...

We've got an Aqua One 510 (is that the same, or does Ar mean something different?) Assuming it's the same: I'm fairly happy with it. It's the only tank we've got (so far!) so I can't really compare it to anything else... but here are my thoughts FWIW. Advantages: the filter is fitted into the...

I was interested in this article, as it's very useful to know the exact volume of water you've got for dosing medications etc., but I'd question some of the arithmetic. OK, you probably want to skip the rest of this post... :S Perhaps I need to get out more... First of all, the author's...