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I know this won't be much help to you, W, but I was looking at a UK website the other day and I saw rubber thermometer holders for sale. If it comes back to me, I'll let you know where it was.

You'll need to wait a good three/four months before adding the Neon Tetras, even to a fully cycled tank; it needs to mature.

This is why researching before buying is so important; your LFS may not always take fish back.

Once the gills are damaged, it's irreversible, unfortunately. That's something that people who cycle fish-in seem to overlook. Yes, the fish may survive the cycle, but the damage is done. It may not kill them, but they'll always have the after effects.

I've never been keen on the stick-on types; if you have a warmish room, they're bound to be affected by the external temperature of the glass.

You could always ask in the LFS if they know of anyone selling a tank; customers move onwards and upwards all the time, nobody wants a spare tank in the house. There's always the chance a staff member may be selling, too. My LFS also puts cards in the window when a customer is selling a tank.

Please, please take the Angel back. What you have in there is like a timebomb waiting to go off. Something WILL happen if you don't act quickly, and it won't be pleasant when you see the aftermath. I'd also give that LFS employee a hefty kick up the ####. I know a lot of them don't get great...

Tetratec. EVERYTHING you'll need is included. I've got three left hands, but had it out of the box and running in ten minutes.

Yes, I'd definitely avoid the Dwarf Gourami. Perhaps a couple of Honey Gouramis instead?. They won't get too large, but still an eye-catcher.

A word of preparation/warning. Lots of fish 'specialists' don't even acknowledge the existence of tank cycling and will probably say something along the lines of ''set it up, leave it a week and you'll be ready for fish''. Take the time to read as much as you possibly can here before you take...

Try just a plain black or blue background; with a decent selection of plants and fish, it'll show off their colours like you wouldn't believe.

As Waterdrop says, I doubt it was a parasite; the guppies (which are nowhere near as hardy as they used to be anyway) will have had their gills burned by Ammonia. Even the ones that don't die after being used to cycle a tank will still have permanent gill damage, it doesn't heal. The only ways...

I used to change around 20% every ten days on my 40G; I've started using Tropica TPN, so I've upped it to around 40%. Can completely recommend the Tropica, BTW.

The Swordtail poop alone should keep the filter bacteria going. I used to keep them and they were laying cables every time I looked in the tank.

Easiest way to stop it becoming a problem is to use a cleaning pad from your LFS and give the glass a wipe before you do your gravel vac and water change; that way, any bits will be taken out with the vac.

You can put newly dechlorinated water into the tank straight away; it works almost instantaneously. If you put the old filter media into the new filter, it will support the amount of fish you already have. Go easy with feeding for the first week or so (maybe just feed every other day). Just...

It's very strange; it actually makes a cracking sound. Not good for the blood pressure when you hear a cracking sound coming from a 40G tank.

If you do go for Guppies, make sure you have 2 (preferably 3) females per male. Of course if you have a mix of females and males, see if your LFS will take the fry when they're big enough to sell. Even if only half the fry survive, that's a lot of fry every month.

Not right in the middle; just left or right of centre.

Easy. Tape some tin foil on the surfaces the cat jumps on. They HATE it.

Don't have one.

Don't worry about feeding them; fish are opportunistic feeders, they could go for days on end in the wild without finding anything decent to scoff. Lots of fishkeepers hold off with the food for a day or two a week.

:dunno: It's got me stumped. I presume all Corys spawn the same way?.

Hi j, It's definitely coming out of the front end. I can even hear it with the telly on. It's actually not unlike that static pop you sometimes get from the screen when you turn the tv off. Never seen any of them do it before the last few days.

With most Livebearers, I'd keep a ratio of 1 male/3 females. If you only have one female, she'll be pestered non-stop by the male and her life expectancy will be shortened.

If you want a better brush than the rather scrawny ones you buy from pet shops, have a look on eBay for a 'trumpet brush'. These are fabulous; bendy all the way through, but with better, stiffer brushes on either end. I've just bought a new spare for £3.

Nitrate that low isn't a problem; the water changes are needed to get the Ammonia down. ANY Ammonia reading is a bad thing.

Wouldn't packing it with more filter material slow down the flow?.

I've started planting mine around 1'' apart; the growth all the way down the stem is much better. The stem gets much thicker, too.

Hi all; I have five Bronze and five Peppered in a well-planted 4ft tank. Over the last few days, I've noticed one of the Peppereds doing what I can only describe as blowing single bubbles at the surface on the side of the tank at the waterline. If it was a Gourami, I'd swear it was...

My Otos; bought them a few months after the tank was set up, so probably had them nearly four years now, had my Cardinals around three years.

Did you remember to ask about a staff discount?.

Try getting two or three different brands of flake food by different manufacturers (the smallest pot you can find); feed a different one for a week at a time and see what happens.

Are you still mixing Coldwater and Tropical fish?. If you have both in the same tank, you really can't give both of them the best conditions possible. Goldfish are VERY messy, and really need a large tank of their own; 20 gallons for the first Goldfish, plus an additional 10 gallons for each...

There's very little bacteria in the gravel and none at all in the water. Once you can get some mature filter media alongside yours, it will double in number in around 24 hours. Vacuuming the gravel won't hurt, as the filter can't do anything with the gunk that's in there. As you're doing fish-in...

Don't clean the filter; you need to give it as much help to build up bacteria as possible. As for the filter media, any type of sponge that someone could donate will help you massively. I'd put some live plants in there, too, something very fast growing; Elodea Densa would be perfect. Several...

Yes, if you can move the filter output, just point it slightly upwards at night, then back down at lights on, so as not to drive off Co2 during the day.

Any shop should sell things like Hygrophila, Elodea Densa (VERY fast growing) and Ludwigia Repens. You don't need to spend a fortune on them; my LFS sells them in bunches for a quid each, or ten bunches for £8.50. Put plenty in; they're a handy 'backup filter'. They'll give the fish a sense of...

What sex are the Mollies and Guppies?. If you've any male/female mix, it won't be long before you are overstocked. Keep an eye on the Neons, too, they like to nip long-finned fish like bettas. Three Neons isn't really enough for a shoal anyway; I'd replace them with 5 or 6 Corys.

If you swapped your fake plants for hardy, fast-growing real ones, they'd strip a lot of nutrients from the water that encourages algae.