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  Not at all.  Its the best thing for the fish.  Some diseases can actually be treated with just lots and lots of clean water for the fish to use their own immune system.  Further, even more diseases can be avoided that way as well.  Water changes are just about the best thing to do for your fish.

  Awesome!  Congrats.  Let the MTS begin!!! :lol:

No worries.  I need to know what you added to the tank to bring the kH up to 4. 

Speaking as a teacher... it is not a good idea to ask a teacher to do something like this.  If it is the teacher's idea, then it is the teacher's responsibility.  If it is the student's idea, then it is the student's responsibility.   Teachers have a lot of responsibilities and who and how it is...

    Well, let's take it from the top.  Raising the TDS is EASY.  Just about ANYTHING you add to the water will do that.  We'll come back to this one.   pH is VERY HIGH for discus.   What did you add to the water to raise the kH to 4?   Likely this is what brought your pH up so high.  Instead we...

that's basically MTS.     A buddy of mine has a 350 G marine.  He would have gotten a 425G but it wouldn't fit through his door, the 350G was as big as he could go.  He literally bought a house that could handle his 'fish room'.  He has a 100+G as a sump/refugium on his 350G marine... and...

  Well, the good news for you is that that box will remain ticked for quite a while.  There's seemingly a limitless number of things.  Different species of fish, different species of plants, different biotopes you could recreate, breeding...  And then there's the whole 'dark side' of being an...

That may be true.  Many folks actually go through that as they learn about the nitrogen cycle.  Doing it once though teaches you such a great lesson, that you rarely struggle with it again.     So, if someday you are looking to start a new tank, you can clone your current colony by putting some...

I have never used this product, but found this:   A few things popped out at me:   Black peat will likely darken the water a bit with tannins.  Tannins are beneficial overall for the fish's health, HOWEVER, it means that the water will go a bit yellowy or brownish.  This means that you won't...

Not sure what the owner means by organic?  One with ammonia in it?  Crushed coral, which is organic, would be bad not because of nitrates but because of increasing the kH and pH.     Your gravel will be just fine.   And the waste from the fish should go into the gravel and become food for the...

It could just be a false reading, or that you are reading it under the wrong light.     I would only worry if the ammonia went higher.  

:D  Progress

Good questions

Just about any substrate can be added with water, it isn't takes time to settle. I have found ceramaquartz to be very clean. But any substrate could be added if rinsed thoroughly first. Laterite or any other 'plant' substrate is not necessary. Inert sand can be very good, if the nutrients...

  A few items are smacking me in the face here.     Water changes - You should be changing a minimum of 25% weekly, but closer to 50% weekly is better.   NH4/NH3 - this should be zero in a cycled tank. NO2 - I have no idea what 'ok' means.  Either nitrite is ZERO, or its a problem. pH - 8 - is...

6-8 would be fine.  More than that and you might get algae.  (Actually... if your nutrients are out of balance, algae will still find a way.)

Looks really nice.  Piece of advise on that potted plant - you'll want to take your time taking that apart.  There's going to be a lot of plants in that clump and they will grow better if they are spread out a bit.

Male bettas especially appreciate very slow water movement.      You earned it... Lovely fish.  GREAT coloring.  He doesn't look like a marble to me, so I doubt he'll change to all red... but then again, what I know about bettas is extremely limited, so its not outside the realm of possibility. ...

  Well, the 'proof' is a bit over blown, IMHO.  Fish move around quite frequently, so getting video of them on sharp gravel for a piece like this doesn't mean that they live there full-time, just that they are found there for a spell.  A much longer study of those fish would be required to...

The key with anubias and java fern is that their rhizome (looks like a horizontal green stem) MUST be out of the substrate and in the water flow.  If not, the rhizome will rot and the plant will die.   You can bury the brown stringy 'roots', though I think they are called something else...

I took care of that for you.  ;)

Shrimp pellets Bottom feeder tablets (look for one that has high protein content, rather than 'algae' wafers)

Adding more substrate isn't an issue.

    Male guppies will be far more busy 'demonstrating' and displaying than actually 'nipping'.  The key is to actually have MORE of them, not less.  The more there are, the more the aggression by any single male will be spread out amongst a larger group better.  

  The logic is simple:  You know exactly how much ammonia is being processed BEFORE adding fish.  If the plants are consuming the 1ppm from the jump, GREAT.  If not, then the delay gives the bacteria a chance to grow, or the plants to grow to use more ammonia.   The answer to your second...

  The problem for me is the risk.  This is another area where it is so easy to overdose ammonia, which can kill plants, bacteria...not worth it really.  Aside from this, high ammonia does affect the second stage of nitrification, and at not very hgih levels can inhibit and even kill the...

I do not know the name, but it appears to be a terrestrial plant. It will look good for a while, but eventually rot in the tank. It is likely a "semi aquatic", which means it would live along shore lines where it would be out of the water at least as much as it was in it. It should make a...

Welcome Toney.

How old is the bulb? Regarding a lack of roots in plants, if the plants are getting the nutrients they need from the water column, why grow extensive roots? I use low tech, and osmocote root tabs. The roots I get are fairly extensive... But only with my root feeders like Amazon swords and...

  I think this right here is your issue.  Cories are best on sand, not gravel and if there's food down in between the rocks they can and will harm themselves in an effort to get it.  No vacuuming in that instance can also lead to bacterial infections, as an open wound can easily get infected, as...

    It doesn't work that way...

Well, if its as bad as described, it would be best not to.  Dr. Tims would be better and safer.  The tap water's copper content could be a problem for any inverts that they might want.   I wonder if the flourish would be sufficient to remineralize the water though.  Not sure if it would have...

Well yes, it is louder that way.  :lol:

That's a good idea.   If you want even more movement, you can lower the water level a bit to cause more 'splashing' as it returns as well.

Water surface movement is basically all about how the filter moves it - where the outflow from the filter is pointing.  You can point it up or you can point it more down... depends on what you want to do.

Well, using RO water and not ANY water will dramatically slow the cycle.  The cycle's timeline is really dependent on how much bacteria is in the tank from the tap water.  But, you didn't use any tap, so theoretically the amount of bacteria that you are trying to cultivate in your tank is...

It seems appropriate to post this in here to add to the discussion.   http://www.seriouslyfish.com/whaddaya-mean-too-hot/   Discuss.  :D  

  Wow.  Never heard of water that was so bad.  

In a case like yours where your tap water is extremely hard and you are using RO you need to do something to "remineralize" the water, at least somewhat. No fish is supposed to live in pure RO water. Seachem Flourish is one way to go, but honestly it's unnecessary. You already have exactly...