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Bubbles can be turned off at night as long as they are not part of the filter - an air powered sponge filter or a venturi on an internal filter for example. As long as there's a filter running 24/7 in the tank and the outlet is positioned to create surface movement, that's all you need. You...

It depends. Do you have ammonia solution or ammonium chloride? If it's ammonia solution, does it give the % on the bottle? The amount to add depends on the concentration in the bottle. If it's Dr Tim's ammonium chloride, follow the dose rate on the bottle.

If you are on mains water, look on your water provider's website and see if they give your hardness. You need a number and the unit of measurement rather than some vague words - the unit is important as there are several they could use. If you are on well water, the simplest would be to take a...

In the first photo, do the scales stick out like a pine cone or does the photo just make it look that way? If the scales do stick out the fish has dropsy. This is not an illness itself but a symptom of an underlying condition which could be a bacterial, viral or maybe protozoan infection...

According to the OP's other thread, this 35 litre/9 gallon tank contains 4 angelfish, 1 koi and 1 honey gourami. It is grossly overstocked and the water conditions may be far from perfect.

That's 9 gallons

That chart is interesting. It seems that wild type can throw yellow offspring. I have quite a few wild type now. I also have some wild type which have a greenish tinge, though not a definite green.

Water conditioner should not be added after new water. Chlorine and chloramine irritate fish's skin and gills. Refilling with buckets - add water conditioner to each bucketful at the dose rate for each bucket. Refill with hose - add the water conditioner first, then the new water. However...

Besides the wild type, tanks with mixed colour shrimps can also throw up unusual colours for the mix. This afternoon I did a water change and spotted this shrimp climbing on the Bolbitis heudeloti. There's a red shrimp at the bottom of the photo; this one is bright yellow. (Please excuse the...

Most people now say 5 gallons in the minimum with 10 gallons being better. I always used a 25 litre/6.6 gallon tank when I kept bettas. The small tank size you often see quoted comes from the misconception that wild bettas live in puddles. They don't, some of them survive in puddles during the...

If this is a fishless cycle with ammonia, topping off is fine. You'll do a huge water change when the cycle is finished and that will reset everything back to tap water levels.

The API pH tester only reads down to 6.0, so how do you get 5.5?

That's the one that is fine, it's mainly trace elements that the plants can take up through their leaves.

The link in your post contains a step by step guide on how to do a fishless cycle. If the method is followed exactly, you don't even have to understand why. https://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first.421488/ The most common pitfall is failure to follow...

I have Java moss in my shrimp tank, it's wound round a piece of wood. The shrimps love it and the wood makes it easy to lift the moss up to clean under it. I don't have algae growing on the moss though there is something else which does annoy me and I remove as much as I can - Utricularia...

Thank you :) I would hate anyone reading the unedited post thinking their liquid rock water was only slightly hard :unsure:

Rams of all colours - but not Bolivian rams as they are a different species - need water warmer than most other tropical fish. This does limit the fish you can keep with them. Before buying any fish, it is a good idea to research their temperature needs as well as their GH range to make sure...

20 dGH (aka 20 German degrees) is not slightly hard, it's very hard. Even mollies are OK in 15 dH. Slightly hard is around 10 dH

Save a tub and small screw top bottle from the recycling/rubbish as well. The amount to use is 10 drops per litre - I use a pipette to get it out of the tiny bottle it comes in and to count the drops. Scale that amount down if the bottle is smaller than 1 litre. It emulsifies better in hot...

First make up the clove oil with water in a small screw top bottle. Clove oil does not smell very nice so I always wear rubber gloves. The oil doesn't mix well with water so it has to be shaken like mad, that's why you need a screw top bottle. Sacrifice a small container (or save a 'butter' or...

Because the rules for the game were laid out at Rugby School in the town of Rugby :) Did you know there are two types of rugby - rugby union and rugby league -with different rules? League is played in a region from Lancashire in the west to Yorkshire in the east. Everywhere else plays union...

We do have a place for discussing music :) https://www.fishforums.net/forums/books-music-films-tv-shows.87/

Is this the tank you have? https://www.petsathome.com/product/jaws-big-eye-tank-kit-15-litre/7145844P?productId=7145844&purchaseType=one-time&volume=15litre If it is that tank, it's 15 litres/4 US gallons and I'm afraid it is too small for this fish; the gourami needs a much bigger tank. The...

It looks like one of the colours of three spot gourami, one of the more aggressive species in the hobby. And yes it is a tropical fish. These gouramis can be nasty towards other fish, even females can be. We had a member once who had a female of this species which had to be kept alone as she...

It's not that Yodel couldn't contact the driver, it was the main depot that decided to put the package on the van the day before they told you they'd deliver. In the case of my plants, the driver informed the office he was running late. Maybe there'd been an accident and he was stuck in a...

A few years ago I ordered some aquarium plants from a reputable company, ProShrimp. I had an email from the courier (DHL) saying the would be delivered between 2 and 3 in the afternoon, a Friday. Looked at the tracking site and the package was out for delivery. 3 o'clock came and went, then I...

Yodel is not the most reliable courier in the UK. It is likely to be all Yodel's fault and Swell have their hands tied. All they can do is change their courier which most customers would be unhappy about as the postage costs would go up. When we had a cat the on-line shop I ordered from used...

Congratulations :hooray:

The easiest way is to put all the media from the internal into the external and fill the gaps with the new media which comes with the external. Ceramic media from the old filter can be placed in a bag and surrounded by new ceramic media. Old sponges can be put in the new filter, and cut up if...

The dose rate on the bottle is 5 ml once or twice a week in a 250 litre tank. I have a 180 litre tank so the dose should be 3.6 ml once or twice a week. I dose 1.5 ml once a week. That's 41% of the dose once a week.

I use Seachem Flourish Comprehensive Supplement at around 35 to 40% of the dose on the bottle. You should be able to get that as Seachem is an American brand. I have no problems with it and my tank nitrate is zero, though I do have only 3 ppm nitrate in my tap water.

Many American members have said they use that fertiliser with no problems. As long as you tailor the amount to suit your plants I can't see it causing problems. By tailor the amount I mean use less than it says unless you have a jungle with hardly any swimming room left. If there are only a few...

If you use a good quality fertiliser - ie not an unbranded import from the far east, or a fertiliser intended for terrestrial plants - and you dose at or below the recommended dose, there should be no problems. We've had members who have bought unbranded fertiliser from eBay and had ammonia and...

The meds we have available are quite mild compared to the antibiotics available in other countries. They are worth trying but may not work if the infection has progressed badly.

Just so we know what the fertiliser was, they were unbranded root tabs from eBay. This is the photo from the listing The description listed the contents as Contents 17% nitrogen (N) 9% phosphorous pentoxide (P2O5) 11% Potassium oxide (K2O) 2% Magnesium oxide (MgO) 0.01% Boron (B) 0.006%...

Epsom salt should be used as a bath outside the tank not added to the tank. The fish is left in the bath for a maximum of 30 minutes, but if it becomes distressed within that time it should be returned to the tank immediately.

When adjusting water it should really be done before adding to a tank. That's easy when refilling with buckets, though impossible when refilling with a hose. I was told off for saying the dose should be for entire tank volume when refilling with a hose :S . I was informed in no uncertain terms...

Do you have a fish store nearby which would test some of your tap water for GH (general hardness)?