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I couldn't find them on .com or .co.uk.

The vast majority of silicate mineral crystals, quartz, fjeldspars, amphiboles, pyroxenes, olivines etc. are perfectly safe in aquaria, metals present are tightly bound in the crystal lattice and will not leach out. Softer minerals, galenas, pyrites, cassiterites, blende etc. are best avoided...

>>> They are shoaling fish, and should be part of a much larger group   Absolutely right. Sexed pair or not, a male terazona will endlessly chase a single female until she dies, then, frustrated, he will be a nuisance to other fish in the tank. That is why they have a bad reputation for...

This stuck out to me...   >>> All barbs are well known for their fin nipping behaviour.   ... that is SO untrue. I would say that the vast majority of barb species are perfectly harmless. A few, a very few, exceptions do not make a rule. The ONLY species I kept that was a problem for me was...

There is little point arguing or debating when both parties KNOW they are right but that their knowledge frameworks are mutually exclusive. Vis your points above, point 3 interests me slightly. As a trained geologist, Kingston Polytechnic, (now called Kingston University), 1978, I'd be...

The panchax and aphyosemion fish, (etc.) are all included in the taxonomic family nothobranchiidae so I can see how that name came about, but agree, it is not typical to do that.

There is little point trying to debate or argue even with religious types. It is not really their fault, they had religion thrust onto them long and hard from a very early age. It sinks in deep. That is why religious teachers like to "get them early", whilst science educators have to wait until...

50 years ago, when I started planting my first tank, fertilizers, micro nutrients, pH, hardness, even light levels were never mentioned, let alone measured or adjusted. Tank was filled with tapwater, and had an incandescent lamp over it. Very few plants survived, Amazon Swords was one that did...

>>> I use black chalkboard paint   That is what I use as well.

It is not uncommon for fish in a tank to appear to be behaving oddly when it is dark.

All of my tanks were at least 15 years old, I've no idea how old, bought all of them used. I wouldn't be losing sleep over the issue.

>>> from the cabinet below   Never had that capability, always had polystyrene tiles under the tank, and plywood under them. Neither being well known for transparency.

The large area of the u/g plates coupled with regular aquarium gravel is unlikely to cause flow problems. There will be a load of gunk in the gravel and under the plates, the power filters will pull that out in a few hours though.   I installed a powerhead on one of the uplifts in my 48", the...

I think the adaptor you mention will be a necessity otherwise the water will be easier to suck DOWN the uplifts rather than up as it should. The lack of movement through the gravel then will likely kill off at least some of the beneficials you have there at the moment. Correctly done, it will...

When the water evaporates, it is just that, the water evaporates. Whatever was disolved in the water will remain in the tank, thus topping up a tank with the same water will lead to a gradual increase in the concentraction of the disolved minerals. You will need to watch that, and be prepared...

Many rainbows are naturally from hard alkaline systems, and thus will thrive in your environment. African rift valley fish are from a similar, perhaps even more extreme environment, but frankly, those that are generally available are not what I would recommend for you.  Water holds heat well, it...

Whilst my thoughts were, naturally, guppies, I agree with Akasha, they look a little different then guppy fry I've had... and I've had a few! Do they have a small adipose fin? Picture is not clear enough to tell.

A runt perhaps. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runt

Great fish.

Post the pictures to a picture hosting site like photobucket, and then post a link to the picture(s) here.

Rainbows are Atherinids, so post should be in CC&A.

I was living in Hampshire, but drove up to Enfield, to Wildwoods etc. about once a month touring the shops there. There are two or three top notch shops there.

Hairgrass, Eleocharis species, don't do well on a gravel substrate, but are fine on sand.

The fish, (black ruby), is quite plain when immature, but colours up as it matures. Don't be too quick to judge young fish. Unfortunately, the fish is also quite easy to breed, and from farms where numbers are more important than quality, a lot of low quality inbred fish reach the market, (the...

Couple of things struck me right away. That is a warm tank, very warm. Why is it that warm? Oxygen is less soluable in warmer water, I'd turn the air on full time to keep the surface agitated. Second thing is your water stats, Ammonia and nitrite should be close to zero, but biological...

I painted the back/sides of three of my 1m tanks with ordinary blackboard paint. It took a couple of coats to get the even colour, but easy enough. Having done so, I used ordinary Silicon sealer to attatch polystyrene tiles to them to reduce heat loss, a negligable saving but cheap and easy, so...

First impression was it was Bolbitis heudelotii but looking up Selaginella willdenowii, I'm now not sure.

Print it to a file then post the contents of the file cut up as required?

I agree with the other posters, trying to save money in that manner = buying yourself a lot of trouble.

>>> software engineering (more fun than fish, promise!)   As a professional software engineer for more than 30 years, I would have to disagree.

Dolomite, (a Calcium and Magnesium Carbonate), will resist any changes in a downward direction. It will simply dissolve, releasing carbonate, (and bicarbonate), ions, into the water restoring the hardness and raising the pH again. Replacing the dolomite will be a start, you don't say what other...

When trying it on with a female, the male flashes his front dorsal fin up and down, always amusing to watch.

In my unit, the membrane was rolled up. More turns on the roll, more area to work with. Thats one way I can think of doing it. Longer rolls is another. Guess it depends on the model.

The larger the area of the membrane, the higher it's production will be at the same pressure, ie. a 2m2 will produce twice the volume, of the same quality as a 1m2, all other things being equal.

Similar sized/shaped fish may school together if the environment is threatening enough. In a relaxed tank, even "tight schoolers" tend to go their own way after a while. It is, after all, a defensive strategy.

Is the water you are adding "different" from the tank at large. By that I mean is it Chlorinated, hot, cold..... I would not expect the behaviour you describe under normal circumstances.   As an aside, whenever I have kept Cherry Barbs, I've found that males will squabble with each other, even...

Harlequins spawn, "upside down" under an overhanging leaf of an aquatic plant, they are not typical egg scatterers. As mentioned above, they require very soft acidic water. What you describe is not typical spawning behaviour for the species.

Clown barbs, (everetti), are a reasonably peaceful fish in suitable company, in a good sized tank. They grow substantially larger than pentazona or tetrazona and are less deep bodied, more torpedo shaped. They are notorious plant destroyers.

>>> What's the difference   A band.   Pentazona has five, hexazona has six, partipentazona has four and a half, the half is directly below the dorsal fin. There are other species in this assemblage.

I used to suspend a net in the tank and defrost the frozen foods in it. Has the added advantage that fish tend to associate the net with something good, rather than fleeing on sight.