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Ok, I've been doing partial water changes every day until the Kanaplex arrived. It came in the mail yesterday, so I added the first dose last night.

What about the large mass on his side? I assumed it wasn't injury because of the fish I lost to dropsy a week ago.

My German Blue Ram has had a cloudy eye and protruding white mass for some time now (see pictures). Two weeks ago I posted asking for help on the issue and decided to treat with herbal tonics (pimafix and melafix by API). After the recommended dosing I saw no change so I purchased some...

It is a mature tank with ammonia and nitritite at 0ppm, and I keep nitrates around 10-20ppm with ~25% water changes every 3-4 days. The pH is a little high for ram cichlids but after doing research I've decided not to fight with it because they've been doing fine as it remains stable. Thinking...

Here are pictures: He's also lost colour, any idea what this could be? In the past he had growths near his mouth but I think they were harmless as they went away on their own.

Hey all, ended up putting some wood screws in the sides and some L-brackets on each of the shelves. Also put a cross brace in the back.   Here are the screws in the sides at each shelf. I’m going to put another bit of stain on them tonight, the pic makes it look like they are a lot more...

I just got a new table to hold my fish tank. It wasn't made for a fish tank so I'm paranoid that it is going to fail. I've had it on there for about a week and I'm convinced the left side is bowing out. For peace of mind, I'd like to reinforce it. My idea was to put a single 2x2 at the back...

bumping htis?

Hello all, see the attached photos of white bumps that have appeared near my male Ram Cichlid's mouth.   I don' believe it is ich because they protrude quite far. The first one showed up about two weeks ago and the second bump just started to form. I'm not really sure how to proceed with it. Can...

After doing a little research, I think they are in fact crypts (cryptocoryne lutea to be specific). See the better photos below, note that the second one was from when they were fairly juvenile.    

I've had these plants for approximately 3 months.   At about the 2 month mark, I added root tabs. I've also been adding other species over the course of the three months. All the other plants seem happy, no explosive growth but that's not what I expect with my low-tech setup.    Nitrates are...

  Originally, the leaves on my swords grew in nicely. It was only recently that they started growing in distorted.

I've got four of these sword plants, they were doing fine when I first put them in the tank. But now new leaves grow in distorted (ravelled edges, small, orange/red tint on the edges). The existing leaves seems to be thriving but new growth looks weak?   I'm not sure if this had anything to do...

Not necessarily looking for energy efficiency, I just want a cost effective way of getting moderate level lighting.

I recently bought a 10 gallon starter kit that came with a 14w 4200k Hagen Sun Glo T8 flourescent tube.     I was considering upgrading to an incandescent hood with two 23w 6500k Sylvania CFLs     Would the upgrade be worth it?    Has anyone had any experience with that type of Slyvania bulb?

I only have neons and an oto so I don't think that could have happened.

A day after the eggs were deposited I came home from work and they were gone, so I'm assuming they went unfertilized and were eaten.   I'm still not even sure if the female was just unloading the eggs or if they are paired but the male just failed to fertilize.

About a month ago, I bought three female german blue rams and one male german blue ram. They were just random fish from my LFS, ie they weren't sold a breeding pair.   Recently one of the females started showing her colors and I noticed her and the male seemed to stick close together. Her belly...

I ended up returning her to the pet store and exchanged it for another. The tank seems much more peaceful now.

I got four GBRs three days ago, one male and three females. The male is obviously dominant, he claims his space but he's "friendly"about it. Two of the females are fine as well, they just swim around and don't really bother anyone. One of the females is extremely aggressive. She hides in a...

  Oops, I was talking in generalities sorry! 

Just finished putting my first fish in the tank. Thanks to everyone for following along. The total length of the cycle was about 6 weeks. Here are a few things I learned along the way for anyone who stumbled upon this that might be looking to fishless cycle a tank.   The biggest take away for me...

  It was maintaining territory and keeping other fish away. It also was the first one to come to the surface of the water when I put my hand over the tank.   That was the dominant behaviour I think I exhibited (I'm no expert here) but it had also been in the tank much longer than any of the...

It was sold to me as a male (the guy was certainly no expert), and was definitely dominant in the tank. The dominance could be because it was older than the other GBRs. In the store I thought for sure it was a male (no pink belly, dominant, fairly long pectoral fin although I'm not sure, dorsal...

See the attached photos, it's all the same fish. Here's another

I think I did it folks. The 3ppm of ammonia I put I the tank around this time has turned into nitrates. Just to be sure, I put another 3ppm in again tonight, if that disappears tomorrow night, I'll do a big water change and finally make a trip to the LFS to get fish.

I'm thinking about possibly using a mix of distilled water and tap water to dilute the hardness. Just really nervous of doing things with peat/driftwood at this point, might have to graduate to using those natural methods once I've got more stable parameters.

My tap water is medium on the hardness scale, and the pH is naturally around 7.7 or so.   I would like to start a tank for South American fish that need lower pH and soft-medium water. In researching the topic I seem to be getting mixed opinions on whether to adjust the hardness and pH to better...

Thanks Byron this is an interesting suggestion, never thought to try. Excuse me for omitting this from the original question but you are correct, it is in the context of buying them from my LFS.

I'm able to tell the difference between full grown male and female GBRs but how does one tell the difference between juvenile GBRs? Many haven't developed the features that full grown specimens exhibit.

  Forgot about that, I remember reading this about the test kits before.   I tested three different combos this morning:   1mL tank water + 4mL distilled = 0ppm nitrite 2.5mL tank water + 2.5mL distilled = 0ppm nitrite (slightly darker blue compared to above) 5mL tank water + 0mL distilled =...

Here is the progress graphically. It got kind weird after the water change but here it is. The drop in nitrates is when I did the change. After that I dosed ammo to 1ppm everyday because it kept going to zero overnight. The nitrites are posted at 10ppm because they were ff the charts (which is...

I just checked the water and it appears the nitrites have dropped significantly without having to do another water change. I'd say we're almost there folks.

Thanks a lot, any other opinions are welcome! Maybe I'll hold off on the neons :S I'll keep this thread posted on how it goes.

I've been monitoring the levels, nitrites are off the scale (too high) but nitrates are continuing to climb. On your suggestions I've only been adding a small amount of ammonia each day to maintain the ammonia->nitrite bacteria colony.

Hey guys;   Thinking about getting a pair of German Blue Ram Cichlids. From what I've read, they require water that is on the softer side, with low pH (5-7). My municipal tap water is moderate on the hardness scale, but the pH is relatively high (~7.5).    Do you have any suggestions on how to...

Been testing for the past week after putting the pad in from the LFS. Nitrites and Nitrates are rising out of control, and in the last day I was able to reduce 3ppm ammonia to 0ppm in only 24hrs (still not all the way to nitrate, but things are on track). In a guide I've been following it...