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The advice on the package is mandatory stuff, it's all perfectly valid, and not of great concern if you're careful with the dust. It's not vastly different to the advice to wear dust masks and eye protection when doing any dusty job, entirely up to you, but still recommended. If you've got the...

Personally, sponges, they're cheap, they last, they work. If you need more surface area for bacteria than you're probably better buying a second filter than paying lots for expensive media.   Nothing wrong with the expensive stuff, apart from the price.   Question, why carbon? What do you want...

The magnet based thingamies are fine with the white film stuff. Just don't expect much from them for harder algae.   Word of warning, the size tends to also denote magnet strength, which is important if you've got thicker glass, but a pain if it's too much as they judder more than scrape on the...

I've got both. A razor blade on and a magnet one. Magnet one is great for running across the glass every so often to clear the fine film algae that starts up, but is fairly useless for the harder green spot stuff, although it does eventually get it off if you really persevere with regular...

Depends on the betta. Some of them can be placid, some of them are not at all placid, some of them start out placid and then turn into killing machines.   What you can't really do is put in fish that look food sized, or fish that will nip at the fins on a slow moving betta. They also need...

API master set is a good kit to cover the bases. You can get them from all sorts of places, amazon included.

I can fully understand your need for time, been there, done that. It was a pleasure to work with you and I hope that life is treating you well to cause the lack of time.

Welcome,   1) Boiling, not really, it's a lot of fuss for no great benefit.   Tapsafe, whatever it says on the bottle for dosing.   2) It's always a risk adding non aquarium stuff, frequently it's fine, but occasionally you run into trouble with solvents, dyes or glues leeching into the tank...

Neat looking tank.   Are we going to get to see the workings of the hob?

Yes, it works with paintball tanks, although they tend to take a different regulator thread, so they need a different reg or an adaptor.

It'd also be helpful to know how many, how old, and in how big a tank. Ellioti are lovely fish, but get quite territorial as they get older, so aggression could be a cause.

Stages refer to the different processes that are involved. As has been said, the rate of production is hugely important, the rest of the stages both protect the RO membrane by putting slightly better quality water into the system and also having a slight improvement in the output quality.  ...

Cutting them down is fine. I agree on the masking tape as well, helps to stop the saw jumping as you start. A bit of sandpaper around the cut edges makes it easier to get the newly cut tube into the intake cover again as well. Just make sure that you don't cut off anything that has a size change...

Mine are all getting redder and redder. I know this isn't regarded as a bad thing as they're really good cherry colour now, but I do like the black ones.

Yup, big water change.   I might even be tempted to do another one later once the water that's left has had a chance to mix again properly.   "The solution to pollution is dilution."

Sounds great. Got the log burners, and the smooth running chainsaw and chopping area. Sadly that's where it ends. The house build is ongoing (getting there though, only two more rooms to go) and a basement isn't structurally feasible in this piece of land. Working on retiring but apparently I...

Welcome back OldMan. Glad you've got some more free time again. If you work out where they're hiding it can you let me know?

Aye, hope the new year is a good one for everyone.

I've got a whale pump. 12v caravan thingamy, looks like the one from Maidenhead. Works nicely with a 12V adaptor to get the bucket emptied.   I've also got a drain point under the tank, so I can just feed a hose into the drainpipe and let the tank drain for water changes. Helps a lot.

Most of the online plastic shops will do custom cutting. They will accept pictures with dimensions, tends to cost as much as the largest dimensions.   I've dealt with several of them and generally had very good and very cheerful service.

A few things bother me about all of this. They're probably not what people expect though.   The fact that people like this exist bothers me less than it probably should. I've long been aware that people like this exist. I suspect I'm resigned to the fact.   What bothers me more is that people...

50% water changes are fairly common in planted set ups, so don't worry too much about them being too big.   I can, as can many, sympathise with how annoying test kits are. The reality is that they're a guide, albeit a useful one. Properly accurate kits would, for several tests, cost a fortune...

Was going to suggest home brew products for getting a tank of water warmed up. There are some good blankets and heaters out there for that purpose, although, as Steve says, it may not be a big enough difference to worry about too much.

I suppose I may be more used to lower pressure systems in the UK. There is a level at which RO units like to operate with regards to pressure, and below this (as I was imagining might be the case with a shower spigot) a pump may help.

There are definitely pumps strong enough to do that, but costs start to rise.   The lack of a drain is more of an issue.   I have the joy of being able to leave my water cans on the underfloor heating. Gets them to about 22C fairly reliably, but it probably counts as cheating.   I suppose it...

The more pressure the better, more pressure leads to less wastage per drum of RO. I run mine at one of the first pipes on the way into the house.   Personally (and I do have a water softener) I don't see the point in running after a softener. I'm assuming you're talking about a salt based...

Yeah, there are plenty of retrofit LED options now. I used to just take hood like that apart and upgrade the ballasts to allow better tubes, but the LED option is becoming far more sensible now. What you can do depends a fair bit on the shape of the gap you have, naturally, larger gaps tend to...

I agree with the above. Lilies do depend a little on the size of the pond. I don't bother lifting the lilies, but my pond is well over 6 feet deep, so there tends to be a stable climate in there over winter anyway. I'm probably cheating a little at about 15,000 litres though. It also depends a...

I'd probably go with a DIY box filter. There was a howto lying around somewhere for one made from a tetra fishfood pot.

I've looked into ecospheres before. In principle, it works. You have a system where the nutrient broth grows algae, which is fed on by the shrimp, who then die of old age, are broken down by bacteria, which feeds the algae and so on.......   However.   If you don't supply the exact amount of...

Can't beat a sump for media space if you do it right.   Otherwise I'll admit that I go on what I can get at the time for a sensible price. There's generally an offer on one brand or another, and I'm not loyal enough to any particular make to stop me shopping around. I do make a point of looking...

I've had a couple of bits of mopani do that. To be honest I've never really given it all that much thought, but I can see why it's concerned you with sick fish.   I honestly can't see a connection though.

Welcome, sounds like a great plan, and a great childhood.

They're cichlids flutter, anything and everything can initiate an angelfish spat.   As for that male Akasha, that is indeed an extreme example. I've had a few males show humps but that's ridiculous, what are you feeding them?   Introducing pairs can be a challenge. It's best done when you're...

Throw it in, by all means, but keep doing the water changes. Just throw it in after a water change, not before. Bacteria can multiply ridiculously quickly given the right conditions, so once they get into the filter media they'll do just fine.   A good traditional starter test kit is the API...

Soft, acid water, no nitrites yet, it's survivable but far from ideal.   However, once the first stage of the cycle gets going those nitrites will shoot up and it's game over. As has been said above, big water changes. Even if your tap water was 0 then the 30% change would only drop you to 2.8...

Amano's will go for weakened fish, but it's also worth getting a good look at the claws and making sure that they are indeed actually amano's. There are quite a few similar looking shrimp that are quite predatory, and occasionally they sneak into the hobby.   As for replacing them, cherries...

Warm water doesn't hold as much oxygen as cooler water, so the oxgen levels will have been low. If you've cooled the water and he's still with you after the temperature changes then keep a close eye on him, and on the filter. I've not got a whole lot of experience of filter bacteria at 35C, it's...

Yeah, a silver molly and a female platy/swordtail. Nick is quite right to check your tank size as mollies are on the larger end of fish that are easy to keep, but need a bigger tank. They can range to brackish, and hard water is really needed for a good, healthy life for them, which your tetras...

Pretty tanks, run on airpumps for the filter, so not exactly ideal for a bedside table, although there are some who like the white noise of the airpump at night to drown out other background noise.   Personally, I think they're not brilliant tanks, the shape leads to reduced surface area for the...