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Actually bitten off? They could have developed finrot, or the fins may have been chewed off after they died, since many fish will pick at a dead tankmate, I've had them almost entirely eaten before I found them, and I've had fish disappear entirely this way. How are your water stats through the...

I've seen this fish, or one very much like it, sold as a "scribbleline plec" and "false zebra plec." I tried to get a solid ID, but never have found one.

http://www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=239440 The common musk turtle only gets about 5 inches and tends to bask less than many other species. I do see them in stock occasionally, but usually cost around $75, compared to painted turtles and red eared sliders, which run $15-25.

My community was originally fake plants. It's been much more stable, particularly with algae growth, since I planted it up. It also gives you something else to channel the constant temptation to add more fish into. It does depend on your fish - some fish will eat live plants, others will uproot...

They do eat some algae, but I've found nerites and ramshorns better for that. Apple snails get a good size and come in attractive colors, and are an excellent cleanup crew, they're very thorough at hoovering up leftover food. Single apple snails aren't able to breed, and even in groups, they lay...

Test it with vinegar, or preferably a stronger acid (API's nitrate test bottle 1 has hydrochloric acid in it). if it fizzes, the rock will have an effect on hardness and pH, which is usually undesirable in freshwater tanks.

There was a similar thread recently. I found a pH one that costs only $50, it has to be periodically recalibrated, and the calibration kit is $16 with ten charges, so while it has accuracy on its side, the initial cost and cost of running is higher than drop kits. I saw digital ammonia testers...

The parents will take care of the eggs, and the fry at first. Don't be alarmed if they eat them, they usually mate for life and will try again, it sometimes takes a few spawns for them to learn how not to eat their babies. You'll probably want a separate tank to rear the fry. What do you plan...

Simply put, if you're even the slightest bit squeamish, the knife or bludgeon methods will make matters worse. You'll likely flinch and either maim or only cut part way through the fish, rather than kill it instantly. It works, and it's worth being informed on, but if you're in any doubt, don't...

LFS are notoriously bad for stuff like that. There's a good chance they simply didn't know or were misinformed, bu t there's also a chance they're just trying to offload hard-to-sell fish before they eat more than they're worth. Most local fish stores will take trade ins, though you might not...

You're doing it wrong. Put him back in the tank, put the water in the freezer until it's freezing. Actually turning into ice. Just putting ice cubes in, you're only reducing the temperature a little bit, and it's happening slowly. By leaving it sit, it's getting warmer and approaching room...

For comparison, this is one using standard tan gravel: You get a bit less contrast this way. I've actually come to prefer black gravel, but won't be changing this unless I give in to temptation and buy a bigger tank yet.

This look like it? http://www.fishbase.org/Photos/PicturesSum...mp;what=species Edit: As always, nmonks delivers. Still, beautiful fish - hope you have space for him.

Fish refers to multiple individuals, fishes refers to multiple species. The contents of your tank are fish. Tetras, cichlids, and danios are fishes.

Could be small dragonfly or damselfly larvae. Some people get them in on plants. If you have fish, I'd just remove them (or squish them against the glass, your fish will probably eat them). They're generally harmless, but dragonfly larvae particularly might eat small fish or fry eventually...

If you have a bubble stone of any type, those lights make a pretty neat effect shining through them. I've seen a tank with a thick mat of java moss growing over submerged lights, too, it made a kind of eerie effect, since it wasn't lit from above.

Mbus (and puffers in general) are sensitive fish, any ammonia/nitrite is bad for them, and the only permanent solution to ammonia is lots of water changes until the biofilter catches up. People house mbu's properly, only to have them randomly go on a hunger strike and starve to death. The fact...

Was it actually freezing or just really cold? The water should be actually turning to ice, so its temperature is 0C/32F. Coming from a tropical tank, the change will send them into hypothermia very quickly. If it was just cold water with ice cubes, it might not have been cold enough.

More than just a bit. At the very least, try to rehome the CAE. It's got the largest adult size out of the bunch by a good margin and as they grow, they turn aggressive. People have had them do damage in far larger tanks, particularly to slow moving fish like gouramis, but in such a confined...

Fish will try anything that will fit in their mouths. If it tastes enough like food (and there usually is some nutrition left after a trip through the gut), they'll eat it. Most of the time, I see fish spitting it back out, but not all the time. If you have any cyprinids, they don't have a...

Hikari and Wardley dry foods - tropical flake, micropellets, algae wafers. For extra treats, shrimp pellets, dried brine shrimp, and tubifex. I also use Omega 1 frozen bloodworm, daphnia, and whatever is in their community mix, and live blackworm when it's in stock locally. Plecs, snails, etc...

What test kit are you using? The stats you give, and the one you're missing, makes me guess 5-in-1 strips? You'd really benefit from a liquid drop kit for a few reasons, including accuracy and reliability, but also cost. For a slightly higher initial cost, you can get a hundred or more tests -...

Probably. Mine did almost nothing just because of the movement made by my filter.

No, it's because of the banking system - there's a lot more money moving around than exists at any given time because of the money multiplier. Corporations and consumers borrow from investors and banks, banks borrow from national banks as well as corporations and consumers (in the form of...

Top one could be an albino black skirt tetra. Most of the ones I see at the LFS are painted, but not all of them.

Because Canada, China, Japan, most of Europe, Russia, India parts of the Middle East and South America are also going into a recession to varying extents. That's enough countries that basically every country on Earth is dependent on something from them, and the few countries that aren't...

Pulchra's a a dwarf snakehead, get about 5 inches I think. For general care, you can try posting in the predatory fish section, I know there's a couple regular posters there who have them.

Look around book stores for species books, I have a nice one that's limited to smallish community species that would be particularly nice, but I also have some 500 page behemoths. If you get him involved in picking out future fish, he might find the wait more bearable. You can also make weekly...

You can't pop bubbles under water - they just turn into smaller bubbles, the air has nowhere else to go. My canister spits bubbles for a few hours any time I open it, and my hanging filters all spit bubbles if there's a loose fit in the tube. The bubbler could also be a factor if bubbles are...

The original stocking gave each betta almost 5 gallons of space - that's a nice spacious betta tank. I don't think I've ever seen 25 gallons considered a minimum. My betta's killed corys, dwarf frogs, and shrimp. IMO a bit pointless to have him in anything bigger than 5 gallons, as I certainly...

I don't think dwarf gouramis will eat the shrimp. Cherry shrimp breed quite well anyway, if you have a healthy population and a nicely planted tank, I don't think they'd eat too many if they did.

I highly recommend keyhole cichlids if you're into something a bit more subtle. They aren't visually stunning fish, but the colors they do have shift almost constantly with their mood, surroundings, etc. They're very fun to watch in a community tank as they interact with their tankmates. If you...

If you find snails unsightly, a warning about assassin snails: while they breed slowly, so do trumpet snails, which have still been known to grow to pest levels. The assassin snails will also turn to scavenging as the snail population becomes insufficient to feed them, just the same as your...

It would really be pushing it, but that probably is possible - provided you're religious about maintenance, have a battery backup for your filter, and have a very well matured tank. Swap the rummy nose for more neons or white clouds and I'd be more comfortable with it. That's really what...

They aren't used in open waterways, but segments of industrial water systems, where they can't (usually) escape. They're maintained in these systems for their entire life. Fish have been used in this manner for many years, but historically sensitive species are used and the indicator is that...

Somebody on the forums contacted one of the manufacturers, Seachem I think. Their dechlorinator had been tested to 50x overdose without harming fish. Dr. Hovanec posted that some dechlorinators can slow the growth of nitrifying bacteria, but nobody seems to have really noticed the effect. I...

My guess would be the aggressive gravel cleaning, though not in the way you think (Unless you have an undergravel filter). Disturbing the substrate can dig up deeply buried muck. Even in mature tanks, moving a lot of decoration or plants around can cause a minor ammonia spike.

Java ferns, anubias, and valisneria are nice easy plants to care for, and they do add to the tank. IMO, the tank's a bit tacky, but to each their own, the fish generally don't care. As for the lone neon, it's generally not recommended, but in some cases, it can work if you have a healthy shoal...

If she slimmed down on her own, it's probably just overeating. Danios are one of those greedy fish, and they'll eat too much pretty regularly. It's something I've had to learn to deal with, since it's hard to ensure that slower feeders like angelfish and gouramis get their share without danios...

Another point with low maintenance tanks, it's not an easy setup, just easy maintenance. If you get it wrong, things could go south very quickly with the Walsted method. The best way to reduce water changes without complex and advanced methods is to reduce stocking - stock 1" per 2 gallons...