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Well, at some point overcrowding is a problem, but up to that point, if the water quality is high the fish remain healthy and grow. As evidenced by breeders tanks with flow through systems not to mention the huge schools of fish in natural waters. Then again, in the average home aquarium, fewer...

I would rarely. if ever, contradict you Byron, but... nitrates is our only measure of water quality so I feel one could make a case that if/when the bio-load is such that nitrates remain low (aka water quality is high~) then that's not bad. Also I think the video does touch on species numbers...

Sumps are great, but it seems to me that a 'problem' with sump filtration is that it's dependent on filtering water that overflows. But many small particulates may remain circulating in the water column in the tank. I love sponge filters (use several) but not so much in display tank. I think...

I feel that the linked Aquarium Co-Op video is very good. Experienced fishkeepers can keep many more healthy, happy fish than novices. It goes without saying that improper or inadequate stock levels and/or tank/filter maintenance can and often does spell disaster for 'pet fish'... but then this...

What water do you drink/cook with? When you say 'tastes and smells disgusting' are we speaking of chlorine/chloramine or something else? RO or RO/DI water is an option, but you might likely be able to simply filter the water through a carbon filter to make it more than acceptable for partial...

The only downside that I have seen with API Nitra-Zorb pouches is that in time (after several recharges with salt water) the effective use life diminishes as the resin becomes coated with detritus gunk. So if it's not placed after fine filtration media (or eventually even when it is) the resin...

I don't know what you saw on Amazon because the reviews I see are all glowing and my personal experience verifies API Nitra-Zorb's effectiveness in adsorbing nitrates from fresh water.

You might find great value in the article I referenced above and or the section on Filtration/Water Quality. Perhaps not in creating a nitrate pre-filter, but API Nitra-Zorb is sold in pouches intended to be placed in filters after fine filtering media (to prevent fouling the resin with...

What he said! :)

Sadly measuring for nitrates is our only means of monitoring tank pollution. Even in my heavily planted tank (including fast growing water sprite) with just a handful of fish, I've never ever had zero nitrates and continue to strive for nitrates less than 20ppm. Attempting to hit an impossible...

As explained in the article, I pre-filter water into a 45g Brute Trash can...it is then pre-heated as/if necessary. We should strive to keep tank nitrate levels below 20ppm, but the lower, the better. With the exception of rather polluted waters, the fresh water in the tropics has little/no...

(I write this post as we continue to see many posts over time about high nitrates in source water.) --- We focus a lot in keeping nitrates low in the aquarium - it's our common measure of pollution. And although plants and good tank maintenance can help keep nitrates lower, we tend to rely on...

If it's a new tank or an only tank, then it 'is' a quarantine tank. We only quarantine 'new' fish to protect 'old' fish :)

On one tank I sprayed black Plastidip paint, another has a trimmed black garbage bag, and another is black poster board paper. There are many options but as mentioned, black latex paint also works.

Apparently you are unfamiliar with organic gardening. :) Oh and those things you mention in aquarium water are in good soil in the millions!

I'm not sure that I agree. Water from a healthy tank likely does not contain any disease organisms and surely tank water is hardly different from compost or manures / manure tea.

Scuds!

I feel that there really is no precise, proper number of fish per gallon of water as long as the quality of the water remains high and the fish are not aggressive with each other. I colony breed swordtails and some would say that my tanks are extremely overstocked. But I use fast growing...

I'm not sure they're working at all. I have two separate experiments on-going, but I haven't checked nitrates in quite some time... I lack the gumption to do a real controlled experiment with result tracking... Instead, I also have somewhat deep sand, lots of floating water sprite, and do weekly...

"Biomass is organic material made from plants and animals. Biomass contains stored energy from the sun. ... Some examples of biomass fuels are wood, crops, manure, and some garbage. When burned, the chemical energy in biomass is released as heat. If you have a fireplace, the wood you burn in it...

I see this differently in that snails, bacteria, fungi, ect. are digesting and converting organic waste so the conversion isn't really increasing or adding to the biomass... Although some hobbyists seem to curse them, they serve a valuable function as members of the clean up crew.

As Byron points out, like us, fish are best served with a normal circadian rhythm, which requires a period of total darkness. Having 'said' that, tank lighting is more for plants and our viewing pleasure than for the fish...as fish navigate just fine in very dim or murky waters. I have a finnex...

The beauty of sand is that organic matter does not get down under to decompose anaerobically and create noxious gases... It is important NOT to stir the sand so organics get buried down under! --- I have about 3" of sand in several tanks that I don't touch (although I might rarely siphon the...

As mentioned, aerobic bacteria on filter media from a healthy tank will process ammonia into nitrite and nitrite into nitrate (nitrosomonas and nitrospira), but will not oxidize nitrate into nitrogen gas. Very specialized anoxic or anaerobic bacteria are required to do that. I have tried some of...

After learning that I had high nitrates in my well water years ago, I obsessed over nitrates. It's like once you see something, you just can't unsee it! In time, relying more on good tank maintenance, especially sufficient volume/frequency of partial water changes to keep tank generated nitrates...

Thank-you! Just another extension of the hobby to share decades of learning experiences. On the one hand, on the surface, the hobby is simple - a bowl of water with some plants and aquatic creatures. But as one digs deeper and looks closely, there's a LOT of 'stuff' to learn to be a really...

In addition to the article Byron suggested above, check out https://mjvaquatics.com/lowering-aquarium-nitrates/ Also, I highly recommend API Nitra-Zorb sold in pouches to use in a filter - rechargeable many times in ordinary salt water.

Generally speaking 'there's no such thing as too much fresh water'. https://mjvaquatics.com/blog-filtration-water-quality/

Small fry are food for nearly all other, larger fish so adding any fish to counter mosquito larvae would be counter productive. As @Colin_T suggested, just feed the mosquito larvae to other fish - they're a great free food.

https://mjvaquatics.com/my-nitrate-fight/

Just my $.02, but I would never chase my tail to attempt to alter source water chemistry as most often it's just not necessary. We sometimes get tunnel vision and think we need to do things that we really don't need to. Many species of fish have been successfully bred and raised in a wide range...

As I explained to my wife...for every mosquito larvae that I collect (daily) and feed to fish means dozens, if not hundreds of fewer mosquitos in the neighborhood. I probably wouldn't bother except the outside daphnia bins have great production - so the here and there mosquito larvae is merely...

PLEASE NOTE: NEVER do drip acclimation especially with fish that have been shipped and spent any length of time in the bag with water - why? ... the water in the bag becomes slightly acidic so lethal ammonia is converted into relatively harmless ammonium. (a good thing since otherwise the fish...

Plop 'n Drop - Acclimate for temperature only (usually about 15 minutes), then quickly open the bag and pour through a net into a waste bucket and put the fish directly into the quarantine tank.

It's the [female] mosquitos that are 'bad' because they draw blood from infected critters and transfer to humans. However, The larvae is relatively pest free. I collect mosquito larvae and blood worms (along with the daphnia) from my outdoor daphnia bins all the time with never any trouble. I'll...

There are so many myths in the hobby .... https://mjvaquatics.com/fish-hobby-myths-vs-truth/ For me, I was in Petsmart one time and an Employee that I knew to be an experienced fishkeeper told a customer that she could not use sand in a planted tank. I was really surprised, but decided not to...

You could have the air pump on a timer to only run in the night, but as @Colin_T points out, in a back corner merely provides interest, but not distraction.