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This is false. Firstly, no plants can absorb ammonia. Secondly, ALL plants can absorb both ammonium and nitrate. Most aquatic plants prefer ammonium but will absorb nitrate (even nitrite) as necessary. Terrestrial plants tend to be more agnostic, absorbing both ammonium and nitrate readily. In...

A lot of erudite nonsense. The term "bully" as applied to human psychology may not have a place in the fish kingdom, but it's a perfectly useful descriptor for some types of fish behavior. I suggest you view the video in the link below. What you will see in that video is an event that occurred...

I have no idea. Uneaten food? Feces? Whatever it is, it's not harming your plants.

Ignore all the advice you get regarding lighting and nutrients. Brown algae will survive regardless of any lighting or nutrient conditions that will keep your plants alive. In short, if your plants live, so will the brown algae. In a mature aquarium, with proper filtration and established...

Do not drain your tank. Increasing the temperature will increase that metabolism of the bacteria, meaning they will multiply more rapidly. The bacteria have already begun to multiply, just at a slower rate. Draining the tank would mean starting from scratch.

Assuming you have some type of filter other than an undergravel filter, you can't vacuum gravel too much. Even an undergravel filter will recover relatively quickly from a thorough cleaning.

If it actually was a case of gill flukes, you'll need to continue treatment for much longer than that. As I recall, 4 weeks is considered a reliable minimum and the spacing of doses is something like day 3, day 7, day 14 or similar. You should also be aware of side effects, appetite suppression...

Every beginner (and many self-styled experts) should start with this one: https://aquariumscience.org/

Discus have a social hierarchy that is normally sorted out when they are juveniles. As adults, there is generally much less squabbling for position. There are exceptions, however. As most fish keepers are well aware, fish do have personalities. Link to video below. When the video starts you...

Not anything I didn't already know. Did my Tetras also tell me something? Selective observation is a common fault among those attempting to defend preconceived beliefs. I didn't overgeneralize anything. I stated quite clearly some of the exceptions, in particular with egg development. As for...

I've never tried freeze dried bloodworms because I've heard they won't sink. All of my fish prefer feeding from the middle or bottom of the water column.

The following list consists of facts essential to understanding aquariums and fish-keeping. Afterward I provide an example as an illustration. References are provided at the end of post. Aquatic ecosystems are extremely complex and only partially understood.1 Aquatic ecosystems are dynamic.2...

Sadly, there is no source for live blackworms where I live.

The API tests are fine as long as you follow the instructions. The nitrate test tends to read high for levels above 40 ppm, but the other tests seem to be very accurate. You do have to follow the instructions precisely. The color charts can be a bit difficult to interpret for some readings, but...

Tubifex should sink if you pre-soak it. The brand I'm using won't be available in your neck of the woods. I do have an old video showing some Discus eating tubifex, but nothing recent. Is it possible to upload video to this forum? Most forums won't allow it due to file size.

I supplement granulated food with freeze dried tubifex worms 2 or 3 times a week. All the fish get excited, especially the Discus and the Corydoras. There is always some minor aggression among some of the Discus during feeding time, but when tubifex are in the water the intensity ramps up. The...

Please ignore Byron. He tends to obsess over inconsequential things. I may be able to help you but you need to provide more information: How long have you had the Discus and how many? How old are they? If you don't know their age, how big are they? Are you keeping other fish with them? If so...

This is complete nonsense. First of all, farmed Discus are raised without any substrate at all. Secondly, wild Discus inhabit forested areas that are devoid of sand. Although sand substrates do exist in some areas, those are the exception not the rule. Most substrates in the Amazon basin consist...

While replacing some foam in one of my canister filters, I discovered a juvenile Diamond Tetra swimming about. The filter was relatively new, installed less than 4 months ago. At some point in time a newly hatched fry, or possibly a fertilized egg, passed into the filter. Based on the size of...

IMO that's a very poor option. You will have to replace the media in that filter often, though you should not have to replace the biomedia, assuming it's foam. The floss will clog up quickly, and the carbon is absolutely useless unless you're trying to remove tannins from driftwood. If so, you...

You might be able to keep more than a pair, but fighting has been known to break out among gouramis competing for a mate or a spawning area. The truth of the matter is fish do have personalities. You can never be certain how they are going to behave. Your tank is large enough you might be able...

Undergravel filters never need to be cleaned so long as you aren't overstocking. The bacteria in the substrate and in the small amount of mulm that collects below the filter will constantly break down organic matter into DOM, which is processed in turn and eventually becomes ammonia, nitrite and...

There's nothing wrong with a canister filter. You need to make sure it's rated at a minimum of 1000-1500 liters/hour for that size aquarium. I personally believe two canisters rated at the low end of that range would be best. The single most important aspect of any filter is the amount of media...

All I can say is the ATI sponges must be crap. I've had very good success using unbranded sheets of foam that I cut myself. Anyway, the point of my post was that biofiltration is all that is really required for healthy water. You seem to be the only person here that agrees, or isn't fussing...

You should take a look at some of the aquariums being displayed on Youtube. In any case, the most likely reason you don't consider water clarity an issue is because you spend all your time viewing the aquarium from the front. That's typically 24" or less of water column. If you look in from the...

Like I said, some people like to pick nits.

Most people use "floss" or very fine porosity foam for mechanical filtration. I guarantee you if you use foam with a porosity of 30 ppi or greater you will not get clear water for several weeks, or months. Hence, it's not mechanical filtration.

Han's filtration system is brilliant. A lot of plumbing, but the simplicity of the process is absolutely brilliant. While I understand your comment about using the Mattens behind a "background", that would take up a lot of useful space. Also, just to note, Poret foam is just reticulated foam...

Thanks for the link. I'd never heard of the Hamburg Mattenfilter before. Personally, I would never use the design illustrated on that website - it's just too ugly. Also, using an air pump to achieve water flow simply isn't going to be sufficient unless you have a huge amount of surface area...

Perfect water clarity is achievable without water conditioners, mechanical filtration, UV or chemical filtration. All you need is filter media capable of holding a large enough colony of microbes and sufficient water flow. The embedded photo illustrates what can be accomplished with biological...

It's just marketing hype. The best media available for biofiltration is foam, period. Foam media should last for many years without replacement. But where's the profit in that? I have a 150 gallon tank (net volume) running two canister filters filled with nothing but 30 ppi foam. I keep Discus...

Seachem Matrix is a scam. They advertise massive surface area but don't tell you that almost all of it is useless. Water follows the path of least resistance. Do you really think water is going to flow through the pores in Seachem media? It will simply flow around the media. Even gravel provides...

Sponge media is about 10 times more effective than ceramic rings.

Rule #1 Don’t believe everything you read on Internet forums (including this one). Finding the truth about a specific topic is like looking for a needle in a haystack. You need to do your research. Rule #2 When researching a topic pay attention to the source. There is a lot of intentionally...

Patience is a virtue. How quickly the bacteria reproduce is dependent on both temperature and pH. The lower the pH and the temp, the longer it's going to take. On a side note, you don't need all the fancy commercial stuff to properly cycle a tank. OTC ammonia is just fine and a LOT cheaper...

It depends. In my case it's a four hour drive to the nearest LFS. I can place an online order and expect delivery the following day for a very small shipping fee. Totally worth it. It also depends on the quality of your local LFS. There are few I would trust with providing healthy, disease...

Go to 22:45 minutes into the video. I'm done here.