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Aqua bid in the US has some very nice sellers of plants. Their Saturday Night Express sales are a lot of fun too! All auctions are for one hour on the 3rd ( I think) Saturday of the month. All Saturday Night Express auctions are marked "SNE" in the title.

In the US, Ace Hardwaare has the stuff I used. You want the Janitorial strength, with no additives. If you have plants, and they are sensitive, you would be best to modify the cycling directions to only add enough ammonia to get to 1 ppm, rather than 3ppm. If you have a lot of plants, test...

Hi PP, The answer is likely age which was exacerbated by the cramped quarters.

Male guppies are best kept in larger numbers, and almost always in odd numbers. A single male will attack a second male in order to claim dominance and breeding privileges. Guppies are lovely fish, and generally quite mild mannered. The exception to that is having a pair of males. They will...

http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/algae.htm

No. The issue with the Old Tank Syndrome is that the water chemistry will change too much too quickly for them to handle it. Do the two water changes a week... It will take longer but it's the only way to get the nitrates down for now. The salt treatment TLM was suggesting will help the...

The lock man nailed it. Please follow his instructions, this tank appears to be squarely in the "Old Tank Syndrome".

Exactly. That's the physics of it.

Sounds like your issue is that the top brace across the middle of the tank is missing. Depending on your level of handiness, this can be replaced. I wouldn't feel comfortable doing it myself, but there are methods out there to do it.

There is no single ideal set of water parameters for freshwater fish. The answer depends on where the fish come from, as different rivers have different parameters. South American cichlids come from Amazonian tributaries which is very soft water, whereas African cichlids come from 'liquid...

That is quite on the high side. Anywhere 72-75 would be plenty warm enough. http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/xiphophorus-maculatus/ (Considered 68-79 as the acceptable range.) Higher temps also increases the metabolism of the fish, increasing waste and potentially shortening the life span.

Yup. Looks like a pH crash. Do a 90% water change to add some new inorganic carbon (needed for the bacteria, and the same stuff that keeps the pH up). Then, bump the ammonia back up to 2ppm and wait 24 hours. You should see some nice movement by that time. :D

I'd suggest that you let the rams do the work and you just need to keep the water parameters constant. I'd suggest a lot more small water changes more frequently. More than likely, the ram pair will NOT raise this first batch. Its ok. They need to learn what to do. But, from what I...

Beneficial bacteria aren't affected by all medications. Generally just the ones that kill gram negative bacteria. What you are describing is an infection of external parasites, primarily. Medications for external parasites aren't going to affect your biofilter. But, I would suggest some...

Hard to say why the danio didn't act out earlier.  But, I can tell you that they are extremely 'active' and just that activity could be enough to scare off more timid species.     You could look for some local aquarist clubs.  They could help you with that.

This isn't a case of a bully fish.  This is a case of improper housing.     Danios are ACTIVE fish, and they are a shoaling species.  IMHO, they shouldn't be kept in a tank smaller than 4 feet long (not because of their size, but their activity level).  And they should only be kept in groups of...

Keep an eye on ammonia and nitrite.  That filter isn't 'cycled' yet, so there's no beneficial bacteria (of consequence) dealing with the poisons.       And you'll need to do large water changes as well to remove a hormone that can reduce the growth rate of the fry.

:blink: fridge?

Wait for the ammonia to drop to 0.25 ppm or lower. Then dose ammonia again. No sense adding more bacteria, really. You are rolling now. They can double in a day under the right conditions. Do NOT add a fish until both ammonia and nitrite drop to zero 24 hours after adding the ammonia...

I would suggest feeding peas and then fasting for a few days.  Hopefully the swollen abdomen will decrease.

Welcome.  Post what is going on with your bettas and the members here will offer what we can.  

He's 'the_lock_man', not 'the_pic_man'!                                 :rofl:   I crack myself up sometimes!

Congrats TLM.     Good to see you around here again.   

Yes, the reality of fishkeeping is far different from the common (and advertised) perception.     Proper fishkeeping really starts with proper bacterial colonization.  How many starter kits include any comments about the need to properly propagate a bacterial colony?  Without the proper...

I'd suggest going with some different varieties of anubias, they are generally left alone by angels.  And maybe a Amazon sword or two.       If it is the dwarf hairgrass look you like with foreground plants, you could try echinodorus tenellus (Pygmy chain sword)  or try dwarf sagittaria.  Not...

    Yeah... this shop is NOT promoting actual 'cycling'.  They are promoting running your equipment for a week, waiting for no reason and testing for no reason.  The 'CYCLE' being discussed is the nitrogen cycle, but the water will OF COURSE come back as good as there is nothing in your tank...

    I think this may be the culprit, actually.  The lack of vacuuming may have led to an increased amount of organics in the tank, breaking down over time, and this might be why you are suffering a bacterial bloom.   Have you tried a gravel vac to remove these excess organics?     When you have...

Bettas do 'sleep' and find places to 'rest'.  So, as long as he isn't always doing that, but only doing it periodically for 'rest', then I wouldn't worry about it.   The thermometer is reading about 26.5 C/80 F.       I was asking because I know that male bettas kept at 'traditional tropic'...

What's the temp of the tank?

Might need to spread it out a bit more.

Good to see you 'floating around' here again WB!  

I had typed out a long addition to the post above.  In my opinion, adding the nutrients to the substrate would be the preferred method.  Definitely best in terms of keeping less TDS in the water column.  And when the nutrients are in the substrate, the plants have access to them, but not the...

I'm far from an expert on discus and their preferences regarding lighting.       I must have missed the peat tablets part.  Yes, that should help.  The good news regarding the lighting is this:   The peat tablets and the peat in the substrate you added should release tannins into the water...

50% once a week is great for your fish, IMHO.    There are very few occasions where large water changes are bad for your fish.

"Liquid CO2" does kill valisneria and some other plants.  It is also a 'poison' and could be a problem for fish if overdosed.  Some are adamant against it.       Not familiar with that fertilizer product.  I have used the Seachem Flourish, etc. supplements in the past.         Your maintenance...

Change it to either a piece of black paper or a bit of black plastic trash bag.  I always find that to be quite a stark difference.  It will also make the plants 'pop' a little bit more.    Looks great though!  :good:

Where is your pH now with the substrate?

That looks absolutely fantastic!  Well done.

The cloudiness is normal when adding a substrate. The bubbles are likely just air that was trapped in the dirt when it was added. They won't stick around for long. A filter floss material should capture a good amount of the particulate causing the cloudiness in a few hours to a day or two...