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Do you have live plants?.

If you're buying on eBay, look for individual types of plants, rather than collections. As three-fingers says, if you buy a selection, you can't be 100% sure what you're getting - that's a false economy.

Not the worst thing in the world to have in your tank, of course. What shape is it?. If it's shaped like an ice cream cone, it's probably a Malaysian Trumpet Snail. They actually do a great job of keeping your gravel/sand turned over. If you find you have too many, just cut down on feeding for a...

Depending on the size of your tank, I'd double the number of Neons; they (like most fish) do much better in a group. As for feeding, fish are opportunistic feeders - they'll eat as much as you put in for them, but they really don't need a great deal. Remember, even if you're feeding them a...

The flow's the indicator, really. If the flow is fine, don't bother. Manufacturers and LFS would LOVE you to buy new media every month, but, as with so many other things in the hobby that shops will tell you that you need, it's just not necessary. Spend your money on something else.

It's worth remembering that with most fish a constant PH is most important. Any Freshwater fish you see in your LFS will be acclimatised to water that won't be a million miles away from your own supply. Acclimatise any fish you buy slowly in a bucket and you shouldn't have any problems. I often...

This sounds very similar to the darkest day in my tank. Just before Christmas three years ago, I bought a pair of Blue Dwarf Gourami. For the first week, everything was fine. Then one day I got a phone call from home while I was at work; the Gourami were herding my ten Cardinals into a corner of...

It'll take you about ten minutes from opening the box to having it working; believe me, if I can do it, anyone can. Just a tip; the tubing was coiled fairly tightly when I got mine, so just pop it in a bucket of warm water until you need to fit it while you get everything else ready, makes it...

Aaaahhhh...........

I'd go for a Fluval 1 internal. Don't worry about the current being too strong, it can help strengthen Guppies muscles as they grow, particularly the males with larger tails.

I'd rather do water changes than just vacuuming the gravel and keeping the same water in the tank.

That filter would be great; I've had mine for around eighteen months now (on a well-planted 200ltr) and I wish I'd got it long before - they're fabulous. Which filter do you have at the moment?. I just put all the media from my Fluval 4 Plus internal into the Tetratec in place of one of the...

Nice looking tank, but I'd move the wood to either just left or right of centre. Anything that large needs to draw the eye towards it rather than standing out the way it does dead centre.

We really need to know how many of each fish you have. Many of the fish you list need to be in groups of at least 5/6 and with a tank the size of yours, it won't be possible to have many groups. Swordtails in particular can get large very quickly; they alone will use a lot of the space.

You can buy transparent/coloured film from any art supply shop. If you're in the U.K. you could even try somewhere like WH Smith.

The most important thing to remember when buying Otos is to make sure they're already eating in the shop tank when you buy them. They are VERY sensitive and the traveling does them no good at all. It can take a while for them to recover from their journey to the shop. If they go straight from...

Just feed the fish every other day, too, until the filter bacteria catch up.

Is the correct answer!!. Let me guess; when you were in the shop, the assistant said ''Oh, you'll need some of this, and this too, and this........''. Sponges can be used until they're falling apart. I'm sure the manufacturers would LOVE people to buy new sponges every month - God knows how many...

Even if we assume you only have a couple of each fish, you're massively overstocked for a 54ltr. How often have you been doing water changes and how much (%) each time?. Do you always remember to dechlorinate the water and how do you clean the filter media?. I have to say, though, that you need...

I think that's the best way; my LFS won't buy them from the usual places, they only take them from local breeders.

If you do put Prawn/Shrimp in there before you go away, be prepared for the whiff when you come back.

I honestly wouldn't look any further than the Tropica. I bought a bottle several weeks ago and instead of dosing it all in one go after a water change (per instructions), I dose just a little every day - the growth has been fabulous.

Silver Sharks prefer to be in groups of at least 5/6; they grow to around 12'', so your 75ltr isn't really big enough for one, even if they could be kept singly.

I hope you returned the Angels; they need a tank at least 18'' high.

It may be worth your while to buy a cheap automatic feeder, just to drop a little food in every day.

£6 for five at my LFS. £21? - that's unbelievable.

Two 30% water changes a week keeps me from worrying. PH hasn't moved from 7.2 in over three years; I'm starting to think about Discus................

I'm sure you won't have any trouble finding a purple(ish) Betta.

Sadly, Goldfish haven't been banned as prizes, it still goes on. And on............

I've been called MUCH worse.

Most shops are there to take your money, not to tell you not to buy something.

Cardinals are definitely larger than Neons, but neither should really be added until a tank is cycled AND matured.

Safestart still exposes fish to high ammonia and nitrites; not as high as a straight 'fish-in' cycle, but any ammonia is enough to permanently burn a fish's gills.

Try to relocate the telly; if you argue with gravity there's only going to be one winner............

I had a semi just thinking about it..................

Does that include delivery?.

Welcome, Ben; I wish all newbies thought the way you do. It'd save a lot of us typing the same replies to the same things again and again. First, find a decent shop and stick to it. Even as a newbie, it's quite easy to know a healthy looking fish when you see one. As you're just starting, I'll...

There's not a great deal of bacteria in gravel, a little filter media would be better.

Apart from being prone to the fatal Iridovirus, DGs are seriously unpredictable. I kept a few three or four years ago until one day they decided to take out all ten of my Cardinal Tetras. They herded them into a corner then took it in turns to go in and pick one off. Unfortunately, I was at work...

I'd like to think it doesn't exist, but.................