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Bear in mind also, waterlily, that you only had one fish in each tank. IIRC, Tetra say you can use Safestart AND stock your tank on the first day which, IMO, would result in very high Ammonia and Nitrite readings (which is what PFK found when they tested it to the instructions on the bottle), so...

Wow, just noticed my mistake; I use 5ml of liquid co2 in my 200 LITRE tank, not 200 GALLON. 200 Gallon in my dreams!!!.

TBH, I never noticed myself for a LONG time, then when I was off work for a week, I noticed on some of my stem plants (don't have them now) that they'd start closing the leaves up at around 9pm (lights having been on since around 1pm). I'm sure not every plant does it, but I think it gives you a...

You're very kind, but it's not much of a compliment - sometimes I think my cat knows more than some people who sell fish and tanks :)

50% weekly for me, too. I'd rather do several of those than a 100% change, unless it's a DIRE emergency.

I think a handy tip is to watch your plants; many will start to close up their leaves when they've had enough light. Just make a note of how long the lights have been on when it starts to happen.

The best reason is because watching the tank is a ###### sight more interesting than staring at the goggle box for several hours every night. Wow, I've been censored; all I typed was '######'.

IMO, a lot of people spend far more than they need to; I bought a large tub of Tetra Complete Substrate, covered it with a couple of inches of fine gravel and use 5ml of AE liquid carbon a day and have 2x38 watts in an Arcadia Overtank Luminaire over a 4ft tank. I've never had trouble with...

Sara, as many people coming here for the first time have found, LFS aren't always the best to be giving advice, especially when they want you to keep coming back to give them more of your money. Now you're here, the best thing to do is to take your time and read the pinned threads and topics...

I'm afraid that this is where others will be able to help you more than me, c. I was given almost a filter full of mature media when I started my tank five years ago, and I never got a measurable Ammonia reading. It's possible that because you've had the fish in there for some time that you may...

Dechlorinator is as near instant as you can get; certainly by the time you've given the bucket a quick stir, there'll be nothing to worry about.

I have to say that your problems may not be entirely down to ph. That's a very volatile mix of fish you have in there. I certainly wouldn't mix a Male and Female Betta. Also Neons and Angel fish don't mix; Neons are just the right size to fit in an Angel's mouth; the Neons will nip the Angels...

More than welcome, h.

It would take a hell of a lot longer for you to starve a fish. In the wild, they could go for days (or several weeks) on end without finding any food. Not feeding them for a day or two every week will benefit the water quality, too.

Is that the one that has granules in an edible gel?. If so, they're SO much better than the old type white blocks. Those are actually held together with plaster of paris. You can safely leave most fish for up to two weeks if you're going on holiday.

IMO - and it's just MY opinion - I'd feel comfortable adding sensitive fish a good four months after cycling. IMO - again - Harlequins may not be up to a new tank. Unfortunately in a lot of cases, the fish available in one Country may be much hardier than the same fish available in another. I...

VinylMAN may be a bit of a clue. ;)

I appreciate that you really want some Cardinals (I have a nice shoal of 25), but as with some other fish, they really need a mature tank, rather than just a cycled tank. They're stronger than Neons (which are of course prone to Neon Tetra disease), but a cycled tank is just that - cycled. It's...

Which type of feeding block did you put in there?.

The Neons are likely to make a mess of the Guppies' tails, too. Neons aren't great in a new tank. The Rummynose Tetras (like most fish) prefer to be in a group of at least five or six, which would fully stock the tank on their own. Looks like you've had the (sadly common) poor LFS advice. Read...

I'm not so sure; usually, the thickest glass in a tank is on the bottom, so that's where the weight will be. It'd also be able to take a few knocks safely on the bottom (ooh matron!!).

Nothing to worry about; most fish can be left when you go on holiday for up to two weeks.

Cardinal Tetras aren't a great choice for a newly set up tank, I'm afraid. Anything else take your fancy?.

Hi Katlee and welcome. Those Silver Sharks can get to the best part of a foot long, I'm afraid, and need to be in a shoal, which would need a VERY large tank due to their skittishness. Those four Clown Loaches will also need a larger tank sooner rather than later. Can you exchange them for...

The only time I'd pay someone to do maintenance is if I physically couldn't do it myself, but wanted to keep my tank. Maintenance is half the pleasure for me, too. However clean and healthy your tank and inhabitants look before you start, you can always see the improvement afterwards.

Usually as an alternative, particularly in smaller tanks, say 125ltr or under, but no hard and fast rules.

Cardinal Tetras shouldn't nip, but Neon Tetras probably will. If you do buy Cardinals, try to get some which are already fairly large; the Angel will probably take any smaller Cardinals.

O riginal P oster

That's right; I mainly have some Amazon Swords and six or seven Crypts plus a couple of Echinodorus 'Red Special'. I dose for what the instructions call a ''moderately planted tank''. The Red Specials have stayed fabulously red and I never saw a sign of Crypt Melt. I use the EasyCarbo because I...

TBH, I'd steer clear of those tablet co2 things, just get some EasyCarbo and dose as it says on the bottle; lots of people sell it online now. I started seeing the imrovement after about a week. A 250ml bottle last me 50 days (in my 40-and-a-bit-gallon tank) and costs about a fiver. It's some of...

Ah, no prob, C. I suspected it may be the shop's own 'special' kind of advice.

An easy way to add co2 is to use either EasyCarbo or AquaEssentials' own version of it. 5ml a day in my 200G has my plants looking fabulous, with barely a trace of the dreaded green stuff (I didn't even get any sign of Crypt Melt). There's also the chance, too, that your shop is selling you...

That's one of the first laws of fish: if a fish CAN fit somewhere it's not supposed to, it WILL.

Have you thought about Honey Gourami, debz?. They don't get too large, so you could have four or five of those. Like a lot of fish in shop tanks, they don't look too impressive, but - like Dwarf Neon Rainbows - give them an hour or two in a decent planted tank and they'll start to show their...

goldlasie, what advice were you given on cycling and what size is the tank?.

Hi all, just a heads-up for those who don't already know. I've just emailed Aqua Essentials to see if they have any plants in stock at the moment and received a reply saying that due to lack of demand, they won't be stocking plants ''for the time being''. I'm a bit surprised, because...

I'd try to get a different floating plant, like Amazon Frogbit, or Salvinia; Duckweed can be VERY difficult to get rid of if you ever want a change and you'll have to make sure you get rid of every single bit of it.

Angel, if you want to know how easy it can be to grow some live plants, buy several bunches of Elodea and just shove them in the gravel. You'll be trimming them at every water change; just cut the top third off and replant them.

I always trim my Vallis leaves at a 45 degree angle; I think they look a little odd if you trim them straight across.

J, I'd remove that Anubias leaf with the hole in it; the plant will only be wasting nutrients it could use on the rest of the leaves.