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When that calcium stuff starts to creep onto the glass (it's limescale), I use vinegar and elbow grease. Vinegar because it will partially dissolve the calcium, and it is non-toxic to fish if it gets into your tank.

I use a Python type system. Basically it's a valve that attaches to my sink and a long hose with a gravel vacuum attached to the end. You can simply turn on your water and put the gravel vacuum end into your tank, and it will suck all the water out. This is a little wasteful on the water, so...

Well, that would depend on a few things. How many males and females do you have? Is it males displaying to each other or a male displaying to a female? Are the males shaking their heads at the females?

The hardest part of taking pictures of fish is taking enough photographs to get a decent picture. When I take pictures of them, I will take a memory card full of shots, then go back through and pick out the good ones. Never be afraid to take hundreds of photos. Practice makes perfect :D

Well myrtle, getting experience with breeding bows, even hybrids, will give you the tools and habits you will need when you finally do get some pure specimens. Not saying that you would, but don't try and pass off hybrids as pure bows. That's a huge problem with bows in the hobby. Only...

Mike, actually I don't have any tanks up and running right now. A year ago I had to move and sell off my tanks to be able to make it with the economy crash, and I miss it dearly. You have more experience than I, and I haven't been posting on any rainbow forums lately, so I just have been going...

Thanks for the info Mike! I only tried it because my daughter knocked over my mature vinegar eel culture, and I had to have something fast with hungry day old fry to feed. I asked on a few rainbow forums, and that's what they recommended. By the time my seeded culture was ready, the fry would...

In my opinion, you could fit more fish in the 30 gallon. This is a good thing if you want to keep cory cats. They really need to be in groups of 6+ with the more the better. These fish travel by the hundreds and thousands in the wild, so they really do feel better in a larger group. Also...

I really like apple snails myself. When the get large enough, make sure to pay attention to the colors and details of their fleshy parts. Amano shrimp would be a good choice too. If you've never had shrimp before, I would recommend getting some. They have some interesting behavior!

Mike, I used Hikari First Bites as it came recommended from a few rainbow forums. The problem with prepared fry food and rainbows IME is that the fry have to learn that it is food. Rainbow fry are programmed to eat live prey when they are born (when they are fry they eat "animal" protein foods...

Mike, I'd have to disagree with you on this one with rainbows. Having raised quite a few myself, I have tried the powdered commercially available food, but I experienced more losses and slower growth. This isn't the case with all fry, but rainbow fry are different. When fed with vinegar eels...

All you need to hatch brine shrimp is a container, light source, warmth, salt, and water :D DIY brine shrimp

I had a 72 gallon bowfront and what I did was go to my local hardware store and bought a 4 foot double bulb t8 light fixture. This lit up the back parts of the tank well, but still left the front a little dark. So I bought a standard light fixture for a 10 gallon tank (20 inches) and laid it...

It's hard to say for sure, but I'd be willing to bet that it's the presence of more food. Do you know how to hatch brine shrimp?

I wouldn't worry too much about hitting 100% on aqua advisor, after all each tank is different and their estimates are based on ideal conditions. In my opinion, it's better to understock than to overstock, especially with rainbows (dwarf neons can be particularly sensitive). The ideal ratio is...

My buddy found a 10 gallon tank on the side of the road, so he decides he wants to set it up. He goes off to the fish store and talks to the employee there, and the employee, being a good salesman tells him about the bacteria in a bottle sitting on the shelf. Luckily my buddy and I talk fish...

With rainbows, you need to have more females than males, regardless of what they tell you at the LFS. They are in the business of selling fish, not properly caring for them or offering expert advice. What can happen with more males than females is the males can quite literally stress the...

Awesome! Getting them to breed is the easy part! If you weren't in the UK I could send you a culture of vinegar eels to feed the little guys. The first 5 days after hatching are the hardest on the little guys since they don't hatch with a yolk sac like some other fish do. If you toss in...

I keep those. They do need a 4 foot tank IMO. They also can reach 5 inches if kept well, but fish that size are pretty old specimens :) Nonetheless, if you have ever seen a mature adult rainbow male you know that they not only grow long, but also deep and thick. Adults are actually quite...

Yeah, rainbows are like any other schooling fish, they NEED a minimum number of individuals. Of course your LFS will tell you different, but since when do they know much of anything. It's kind of like getting 3 tiger barbs and then taking them back because they are too aggressive. The problem...

Rainbows can and will show aggression if they are kept in too small of a group. Ideally you want at least 6 individuals with at least 4 of them being female.

The problem with them is that the rainbows would see the cardinals as a snack when they got large enough. How about a group of Psuedomugil furcatus?

What color is it? You should check out Algae Guide. You need to find out what is causing the algae so that when you do get rid of it, it won't come back.

You could get some dwarf cichlids. Many of the species are attractive and they have some interesting behavior once they have settled in. Another option would be another school of tetras, say lemon tetras and a group of cherry barbs for some bright red color.

6 weeks seems to be the magic number. The old filter won't have any effect on cycling the new one. It pulls water from the same supply of ammonia allowing bacteria to grow just as in a fish in cycle. Eventually you will have an equal amount of bacteria in both filters, provided enough media...

I've seen that too. It usually starts to happen when they reach maturity. How long have you had them?

I would add 3 male and 5 female Melanotaenia Praecox aka Dwarf Neon Rainbowfish. If that would be too much blue for you, replace the cardinals with rummy nose tetras.

Very well put C. What I did was ensure that I had a market for my juveniles. I went and got to know all the LFS owners around. To get them to buy my stock, I went and gave each store owner 10 fish with the agreement that they were on consignment. If they sold the fish, I only expected so...

I can explain why pH up isn't keeping your pH up there. You see, chemicals like this will raise your pH using a strong alkaline substance. This raises your pH, however it does not address the underlying problem, and when the chemical gets all used up (when you add it to your tank a chemical...

With a tank of that size, there are plenty of other inhabitants that will co-exist with the shark. The problem with the sharks is that they are territorial. They do not do well with other placid or slow moving fish. However, you can put a shark in with some medium sized cichlids as long as...

You should read the article that I wrote a while back. It pertains to more than just measuring, but has steps in one approach to help manage low pH problems. All of the information might not apply directly to you, but there is also some good info there about low pH problems too. Terry...

Well, it depends on the species. Not all snails are capable of singular reproduction. Most likely though it would.

I found a decent article on this subject: To make your own food, here is a recipie: Source: http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/diyfeedersfoods/a/aabrineshrimpgr.htm

My buddy and I were browsing youtube and I happened across this video. Some really stunning tanks here. Video

A much easier way is to soak them in a weak bleach solution. This removes a good bit of the stuff and anything that is left will be softer and easy to remove. Afterward, rinse the plastic plants in tap water and let it completely dry. Your plastic plants should look close to new again.

Curiosity101 is correct. The large chain stores have their own contracted suppliers, and they normally won't buy fish from a hobbyist. I have sold fish to stores on occasion. They normally give you roughly 1/3 of the retail price. If they have BN plecs for $6.00 each, they will normally buy...

The main reason I like to have multiple filters is for the piece of mind. If one goes out, I still have 2 filters that are quite capable of handling the bio-load, plus this ensures that I will still have plenty of bacteria in case I get too vigorous when I clean a filter. I clean one filter...

Rainbows are kind of liek tetras, they need at least 6 members in their shoal to spread the aggression around, otherwise they can get kinda mean.

How about a golden severum? Severum

Err, sea monkeys and brine shrimp ARE the same and they BOTH need salt.