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Carbon seems to be one of those things that is a sort of standard in fishkeeping. New filters seem to all come with some type of carbon. Most lfs's sell lots of carbon. However, it seems that there are quite a number of knowledgable people who don't use it. When I bought my fish tank in...

I'm probably not the right guy to ask because I've had a lot of fish deaths. Anyway, I have a 30 gallon tank and I take out 5 gallons approximately once per week. It actually is more like every 5 days. Every other time I also syphon the gravel as I'm removing the water. About once every 6 I...

Interesting, I also have formalite/malachite green on hand. I got it when I first had trouble with a cockatoo cichlid but was hesitant to use it. The fish ended up surviving but sustained permanent eye damage (it may not have been protozoa). Will this kill my shrimp?

OK, I have salt on hand (I know, not table salt). So I should add 1 1/2 teaspoons for 30 gallons. I've read that temperature should be raised with parasites. I'm at about 78 right now. Should I raise it? Will the salt hurt my bristlenose or ottos?

Can you suggest a medication available in the US?

One other symptom, at least with the female cockatoo. Her color is very dark.

What possible course of action should I take? Should I medicate the tank for parasites? Could there be another possible problem? Will medication harm the plants, invertebrates? Unfortunately, I have a major paper due for grad school on Tuesday. I can't afford to be spending time setting up...

I did not notice any redness but I did notice some flicking.

This afternoon I looked in my tank and had a horrible shock. I saw one of my Von Rio tetras dead. These were my first fish and about two weeks ago I found one of them struggling for life so I euthanized it. Now it looks as if two more have died as I found one body, five fish, and some very...

It's possible the flies are emerging from the water. A couple of times while changing water, I found damselfly nymphs in my old tank water. I suppose if I hadn't syphoned these out, they would have eventually turned to flies and would have been found flying above the water or on the hood. I...

I have been home all day and been observing the tank as much as possible (without my wife getting jealous!). You're right, they have been darting in and out of my caves as well as their own little spots. The male cockatoo seems to have adopted the most spacious one (two bedroom, split level...

Undoubtedly, they would also find some bits of uneaten food, even if you feed very sparingly.

Glad you guys like my tank. Yes, it's a three footer and the new cockatoos just arrived yesterday. I'll try leaving the lights off. I actually go dark during the day and I noticed this afternoon they were all resting somewhere - couldn't see them. I'll try turning the lights off earlier at...

The tank is pretty heavily planted but I have it so that most of the plants are bunched on either side of the tank. This gives two seperate territories where fish can hide. Before I added the cockatoos to the tank I kind of rearranged the tank, creating a lot of little caves. The problem is...

I think the shrimp probably enjoys the algae pellets more than the actual algae. I would suggest not putting the algae pellets in for a while and see if the shrimp gets hungry enough to start eating the algae.

I had a lot of trouble with my cockatoos but I can't really figure out why. My water parameters were perfect, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, >5 nitrates, stable pH although a touch on the high side at 7.2 or there abouts. I aclimated them by adding tank water into the bag for at least 30 minutes and...

Yesterday I added a pair of cacatoides to my 30 gallon. Previously, the tank housed 1 male agassizi, 1 female agassizi and 1 female cacatoides. The male agassizi harrasses all of the other dwarfs but seems to especially pick on the male cockatoo. He seems pretty viscious and single minded in...

I say get the best stock you can. You can still be loyal to your lfs in other ways.

Are you going to buy your cockatoos from a lfs or are you doing the mail order thing?

This is the old female so unless my new female and male bite the dust I'm cool with the lfs. Today they gave me a replacement male double red, no charge and free glass shrimp (well, big deal, but at least they're making an effort). Of course, if he dies then they'll still owe me a fish and I'm...

My otos don't touch the hair algae in my tank. I suppose that's because there's plenty of soft, green algae for them to eat, plus their weekly supplements. ;)

I was going to post this in the emergency section but things look alright for the fish now. Today I added a few new fish into my tank - a pair of cockatoos and 4 ghost shrimp. I'm not sure one had anything to do with the other but about 3 or 4 hours after adding the fish, I was looking at my...

Also, net the fish out of the bag. Don't add the water back into your tank.

It seems you can't be too careful with cockatoos so you're wise to add the tetras first. This is my third pair and from the other two pairs only 1 female survived. It's not like I have bad water conditions either. I keep my otos no problem and the agassizis, which I thought would be more...

I went to the lfs today and the guy told me he owed me a cockatoo. He had gotten some in and I decided to get a pair. I also bought 3 ghost shrimp and he gave me one free. So now I am really done, provided the fish survive, which, given my luck with the cockatoos before I'm not so sure about...

Another New Yorker here. I'm from Westchester, but it's cool; I was born in the Bronx. You don't know what cycling is? I've been riding a bike since I was 5 years old. :P Actually, cycling refers to the nitrogen cycle. It the biological filtration process necessary to keep your tank water...

I don't know for sure, but common sense tells me that if you lower the flow rate then less water is flowing through the filter. This should mean that it is pumping less than 300 gallons per hour. I have the same filter and vary the flow rate on it from time to time. I read somewhere (may have...

It ain't gonna work. I only was able to buy this tank because I said it was a "family" gift for Christmas. With two yungin's to take care of she doesn't have time for a fishtank.

hehehe...mine will just pig out on them. I throw one in once or twice a week primarily for my bristlenose. He eats it for a while then my three otos "settle in" and just munch on it constantly.

I added plants one time that had a snail on them. I only saw one snail and decided to leave it in, not knowing how fast they can multiply. About two weeks later I had dozens of snails and thought it was going to cause a problem. I started pulling them out a few at a time, and when I saw a...

Yes, it's true, but I don't want my epitaph to be "Divorced his Wife to Marry a 75 Gallon Tank".

I think I've just about completed my 30 gallon tank. However, I'm getting this feeling that I still want to add more fish to the tank. Now I know why so many of you have multiple tanks! My current fish are in my sig. My origninal plan for the tank was to have two pairs of dwarf cichlids, a...

nc nutcase makes a lot of sense. I purposely shop at a store that charges more because I think they take better care of their fish. The bristlenose plec I bought from them was in a discus tank with quite a few pieces of driftwood. The 3 otos and today the SAE that I bought were all kept in...

I did some research and found conflicting opinions on these fish on whether or not they need to be in groups. Basically, what I've gathered is that they will school but will also be alright by themselves and as anna_panna points out they may get aggressive towards each other. I went back to...

Is it alright to have one SAE in a tank or do they really need to be in groups. I have a 30 gallon that's pretty stocked (see sig), but I'd also like to get one of these fish and I think two (and definitely more) would be bordering on overcrowding once they grow to full size.

I went to my lfs this afternoon and they seemed to have an abundance of SAEs, after never having them over the last three months. I'm wondering if these are the true SAEs since everyone says they are so hard to find and that there are other false species that are sold as true SAEs. The ones in...

I started feeding my fishes frozen bloodworms as a dietary supplement to the flake and now that's all my female cockatoo will eat!

My tank is only a 30 gallon, so I'd be reluctant to add another male cockatoo. I guess I'll see how it plays out over the next week or so. Neither of the females seem to have adopted their own territory yet.

I'm not a biologist or organic chemist but I believe driftwood would lower pH, if anything. The tannins are acidic (tannic acid) and pH below 7 means water is acidic, above 7, it is alkaline. But nutcase is right that South American cichlids would normally find roots, wood, leaves, and all...

How big of a tank?