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Hi ! welcome back to the hobby! Lots of folks with stories like yours on here, mine included! I was out of the hobby for 15ish years, and you guessed it, covid was a good excuse to get back :D I believe @ITViking is also a returner after a long hiatus. and I think we could fit @Naterjm into...

That's so surprising, I have heard that black skirts are incredibly hardy, so it's unfortunate that your fish are not doing well. We decided that the black skirts would be the first fish we got because they are so reportedly hardly, so hopefully that plays out

https://www.waterhardness.net/calculator/show 1dh = 17.9ppm

ah, ok good old henderson-hasselbach and acid dissociation constants. always messed me up, will continue to mess me up :D low pH -> lots of H+ -> drives equation right so predominant species is ammonium, neutralizing its toxicity. In higher pH situations (less H+), the predominant species is...

oh good. Yeah the prime should really help in case the nitrites keep going up, but hopefully at this point you will also have the beginnings of some good bacteria and you wont see further spikes. The plants will also help a lot too! You know, it's crazy to think that with how healthy your tank...

That's fair. It's great that you have an open line of communication with your folks :) so yeah, it seems like you know what you are working with, and at least for the next few weeks you have your work cut out for you in trying to get everything set with moving the old fish out and rescaping the...

Lol you already have a centerpiece, the glofish :D Very peaceful looking tank, I love it

On here is the thread. It's a little all over the place,but the person ended up getting a lot of good feedback from @essjay and other folks on the hardness topic so worth a look. Also some links to original posts on hardness by older members as well :)...

Oh boy, do you fill the tank with the softened water? From a fish perspective, the water softener does not change the hardness because the total quantity of dissolved ions in the water is the same, but the fact that Ca and Mg are being switched out for Na means that there is more "salt" in the...

plenty of great centerpiece fish for smaller tanks, but the best advice (As already mentioned) is to match the fish to the water parameters of your tap water. That way they have the highest likelihood of living the longest, healthiest life possible. As mentioned, the parameters you are looking...

do you get your well water tested for drinking water quality every now and then? the GH/KH may be contained there.

I'm sorry to hear that your fish have been doing so poorly :( don't be discouraged, i'm sure you will be able to get to the bottom of it with the help of the smart folks on this forum! I have nothing to add to the questions you've already been asked, but looking forward to your responses and...

Oh that is so exciting!! Are you doing RO in this tank for the ottos? They're such cute fish but I'm basically traumatized from owning them because they did so badly when I last tried to keep them. Not that they're really an option for me right now since my water is pretty much the opposite of...

Here I was thinking there was some redeeming factor to my awful water, but guess not! Sorry that I got it backwards, I must have misunderstood back when you and ITViking were talking about his fish-in cycle. So I want to make sure I have this right: soft water with low pH is the "best" in terms...

Fingers crossed!! This has been quite the journey...

You know, it's not the worst looking tank ever. There's no clown puke :D I am planning on trying parrots out in a community, from my research they are hit or miss. Definitely same problems with plants as your loaches, but I'm thinking if I do potted plants it might somewhat work out. I think...

Sounds like you are on the right track! Both the API Quick Start and the aquaeon balls have beneficial bacteria in them so hopefully your cycle gets established soon. Keep testing for ammonia and nitrates every day before you do your water change - that will help you track where you are in your...

Wow, I had no idea! I'm glad I'm on this forum because I keep learning bits of info to keep behind my ear....

@Aquadaisy sounds like your water parameters are giving you a hard time :( sorry to hear that! No day like the present to move towards the next best aquarium practices! A lot of folks recommend using the API master test kit coupled with the API GH/KH test (it doesn't come bundled). Sometimes...

I can't really answer your questions until you reflect on the points I made above. What are your nitrates before water changes? Are you able to commit to twice weekly large water changes if necessary? Stocking depends on the following factors: 1) fish suitability to water 2) fish suitability...

Oh no!!! So you thought your cycle was complete but your test kit was just wonky? That really sucks :( it's not your fault, you didn't know. You're doing the right thing though, you have a ton of plants and you're doing lots of water changes so I think the fish are going to be ok. It's just more...

Oh my goodness. So freaking adorable!!

One way to tell how your tank is handling the bioload is to measure nitrates before your next water change. If there above 20ppm, then you need to consider whether you will be able to handle a consistent routine of more frequent water changes to keep up with the bioload in the tank.

I would use an air pump to fill the bags with air if you go that route, your breath contains more co2 than necessary for this type of thing. Since your water parameters are possibly different at your destination, I would take as much water from either your old fish tank or (possibly better) from...

Welcome! Congratulations on your new acquisition! I am complete junk at fish identification, but does your fish match any of the pictures that come up on google when you search "kribensis"? I also have my night filter still active on my phone so colors aren't coming through correctly so I'm...

Also take the ammonia absorbers out of your filter,they will prevent your cycle from establishing properly. You must do daily water changes until you get your ammonia down otherwise your fish will die imminently.

Such a cutie!

I have one of those! I think. It's still a bulb but starting to poke out some roots.

Woohoo!!! You did it!!! Congrats :)

It looks good! It's all about the finish and the trim :)

Put the foot heater on full blast in the cab and put blankets around the totes for insulation against heat loss, I think you should be completely fine if you keep the ambient temperature somewhere in the range of what your fish need. Otherwise,I think you are in good shape make sure the filter...

Sorry I'm spamming you now but one final idea on the visualizations: another key concept is the effects of hardness. Softwater fish in hard water: draw black dots where the kidneys are theoretically to show mineral accumulation. Hardwater fish in soft water: harder to draw, but make it look...

Oh, one more thing: pictures and graphs are really helpful when discussing difficult concepts like BB for example. Nobody has drawn a picture with "fake" BB coating a fish tank over the course of the cycling process, and I think that's too bad. In my head, it's something like: day 1 - stock...

I take a look every now and then, but something that I struggle with a little bit is navigating the site on my phone. When I am in an article and get the picture tiles for the next articles,those don't work super well on mobile format for me, but it might just be a "me" thing as well...

I'm late to the party, but I've read conflicting reports on whether panacur-C kills snails or not. Might be worth a try at a "heftier" dose and then doing 18 water changes afterwards. Another thing I've been thinking, is that when you get plants, you're supposed to do a bleach dip to get rid of...

Pretty tanks! I like the vibe that the skull sets :D How do you like your snail? Recently I got the idea of getting a snail and I'm trying to decide between a mystery and nerite snail

I mean, every now and then we get someone like that on the forums too. Except then it's even worse in a way because everyone weighs in and says the same thing and then it's like, "welcome but you know nothing about fish here is your to-do list" and inevitably they always disappear pretty quickly....

I find it funny that they bought multiple portions of it, don't they know that duckweed multiplies?! :D

Hahaha yesssssssssss Tbh, it looks like some kind of cabinet door

Interesting! Thanks for the help!