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Just wanted to ask: On all the filter media that is supposed to have bacteria have brown on it. Is this bacteria or dirt?

I don't know where you live but if you live in USA drs foster & smith is good for all pet supplies.

I am not sure what brand those are so i can't help you. One thing i know is: never get test strips! They almost never include ammonia and that is the most important test you need. Also, when they touch air, they already start changes, which gives you a false reading. Go and buy a liquid test...

Yea good luck. You know, my directions were wrong. Instead of getting the schools at one time, get 3 fish a week.

I started cycling my tank this past monday and from monday to friday ammonia was 4, 4, 4, 4, 4. Saturday was 2-3, and this morning it was 0. I added more ammonia this morning untill it was at 4 again, and I just tested it now (Its 5:05 pm) and it was already at 0! Should it be being...

your tank seems to be about 22" long, 12" wide and 11 high- I am from america and I gotta convert all the metric to american! Your tank I am guessing is 10 gallons? Then you would want around ten inches of fish (around 25cm). 4 two inch corydoras catfish, (bronze cories are hardy) and a...

As I said, corys need to be in groups. Maybe 3 gouramis, 4-5 corys, and shrimp. You can go with the sparking gouramis, but banded gouramis (or you can call them indian gouramis) are a lot hardier (as I am told). If you want the banded gouramis, maybe 1 gourami, 2 platies and 4 cories, plus 5...

Ooops sorry! I thought you meant you bought almost everything in the store, and one of them was a pacu. When you first look at them in the aquarium, they look like carnivorous monsters!! But even bigger, they have 5-6 foot long catfish! They are 18" wide at the head and 6"the base of the tail...

Corys need to be in groups of 4 or more, and so do neons. I would say 2 female platies, 1 male platy and 4 cories. Maybe some shrimp to keep algae in check.

Females (no long tail) can but don't have to be in groups (group meaning 3-4) Males (long tail) will kill other males. If you have both, you should have 3 females to one male.

Today my tank's ammonia got to 0. It was at 2-3 yesterday. That was a quick drop! I tested for nitrites (with API) and they were a very deep pink. They were off the charts! I put more ammonia and im waiting untill its 0 again. do i just add and wait, add and wait untill nitrites are 0...

Yeah, i was going to push it in anyway. i will be waiting for that suprise corey01!

Mechanical filter is the sponge material that gets rid of things like dirt, and really just all that brown stuff, and biologial filter is bacteria that eats fish waste. there are 2 types, 1 that processes ammonia (fish waste) and turns it into nitrite. the 2nd type processes nitrite and turns...

well, i guess my plants will hide the goop, so looks don't matter! thanks for the help.

Natural is not best. Actually, it is the worst of all. All it does is promote algae growth. Artificial light is best. Elodea is not a very demanding plant, so if it has at least .5 watts per gallon (the lighting that comes with the tank when you buy it is usually enough), fertilizer, gravel...

Do you just hover the vacuum over the gravel, or push it in, pick it up, push it in somewhere else... Also, how often? Some say once a week, some say once a month. I thought it was once a month, and water changes once a week, but i may be wrong!

That wasn't the best choice for your tank. Pacus get 4 feet long, and wide too. I've seen them at the local aquarium, man are they huge! :o they look so cute when they are little babies, but then they turn into monster sized fish! I would return it.

I just tested the tank this morning and ammonia is down to 2. Cycling is starting to work! I wonder why the bacteria (at least thats what you said the goop was) isn't processing ammonia fast. there's are good amount of bacteria on the bottom. Is the goo going to ever go away? i mean will it...

The main tank is cycling right now. I only started monday, the 1st, and ammonia hasn't gone down at all, so i don't think its bacteria, but i hope it is! the main tank filters are an aquaclear 50, and a penguin 150. The 2 put together are enough for my 30 gallon tank- 1 alone isn't enough...

3-4 shrimp with an light hanging above with plants would look nice in a small area, like a desk! Maybe some elodia. It can live without a heater.

I have 2 things: 1.) I bought a fliter for my hostpital tank, and I just thought of something. Right now I have the sponge from it in my main tank, to get bacteria on it. It is a BIG sponge, so I have to tie it down in the tank. Once its got bacteria on it i was going to put it in the...

I just read this thread- a gold fish is one of the messiest fish! Some people go along with a betta in an unfiltered tank- they live, but not the happiest life. Gold fish need at least a 55 gallon tank, or a pond with EXTRA filtertation. When you get the bigger tank, if you do, here is a list...

The LFS has it stored in a refridgerator. I think I will get it.

Thanks, rabbut. I can't wait either, or at least untill I get done cycling. Should I get some bio-spira? Does it do any thing?

I woke up this morning with my tank perfectly up to 84. :D I got my ammonia up to 4, but that took about 8 tests! It went up about .5ppm every time I put in about 8 drops, but at least I'm at 4! I will just test and wait untill the ammonia is at 1. Then I will bring it back to 4... (you can...

Well, I just checked and its at about 75, but it took 3 hours. My tank is 30 gallons, and I have a 150 watt heater. I filled my tank about a month ago, and then emptied it because I thought I didn't need to cycle; I just put hardy fish in, then get some more in 3 weeks. The heater worked...

Grrrr! Its been almost 2 hours and its still at 71! I guess I will just wait a little while longer.

Here are my pictures from today. Got water in and filters going. About to cycle. Just waiting for the heater to go up to 84! Its stuck at 71 :angry: The little filter inlet in the middle of the big inlets is my hospital tank filter. I need bacteria on that too, of course!

I think the least stressfull way is to get a python system. You just hook it up to your sink, flip the switch on the system, and it sucks the water up. Then to get water back in, you flip the switch on your sink and direct the system into a bucket, put declorinator in, and dump the water in...

That moss is algae! If you are not fully stocked yet, some siamese algae eaters, NOT siamese flying foxes, are great little algae eaters! Your tank before it had an algae bloom was nice!

I am going to add a lot of plants to my 30 gallon tank with this habitat. I have read that carbon in filters removes fertilizer. Well I have a penquin filter that the mechanical part is the same as the carbon. It is a plastic thing with mechanical stuff all around it, and carbon in it. I...

Blaine is right. No matter the quality of the test strips, when they touch air (well actually humidity) they start to change colors, which isn't accurate. I tested my water with strips and got a pH of 8 or more. When I used the liquid API, I got 7.5, which is way more accurate.

Here are my photos from yesterday! They just have driftwood, rocks, and 1mm gravel. The wood chips are to mark where I will put plants, but I took them out this morning, because I realized that they will leak tannins, and I would have taken them out anyway!

I put my pics on snapfish, and got the URL, copied and pasted it in little to type it in, pressed submit, and it said "that URL is invalid. I tried several times, never working.

Thank you. I just started my tank today. Got the gravel in, laterite in, and a piece of driftwood, and rocks. The tank will have 8 harlequins, 6 cories, and a banded/indian gourami. How do you post pictures? I know how you click add image, but there is no website for my pictures, they are...

I am going to use this add and wait method. Just to make sure I doing it right, are these right in simpler terms? get everything running for 24 hours. Put ammonia in until its 5-6ppm. Wait and test daily untill its 1ppm, which usually takes a week. When ammonia is at 1ppm, test for...

Thank you! I think I will go for the first tank. It has variaty, while there are not too many fish. I have flakes, bloodworms, shrimp pellets, and algae wafers. Is there any other food I need? What temp and pH should I keep it at?

that definately needs to be in a school. tetras are naturaly schooling fish. they need to be in groups with at least 5-6.

I was debating to myself about the CO2. I know the pH rises when there is CO2, and drops dramatically when there is none at night, so I went for the flourish excel because it doesn't flucuate the pH. Also, CO2 machines are expensive, and the less expensive ones you have to turn on and of...

Well, I think I am semi-overfiltering. I have a aquaclear 50, made for 20-40 gallom aquariums, and a penquin 150, made for 30 gallon aquariums. I think I want the harlequins, barbs, and cories. That way I have some fish on each level of the aquarium. With these fish, can I use dechlorinated...