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Whenever my brother comes to visit I'm sure I can coax him into performing a water change. Nitrates are not really rising as the tank is, I get the same reading each time I've tested, I even keep the solution in the test tube to compare and its always the same colour. I'm going to put carbon...

Bit of a bizarre thread, but I need help. The problem I have is I'm going to be unable to do any water changes for one to two months. The short story is I went in for an operation, suffered complications and now I'm unable to weight bear on my legs. Please understand this is an unusual...

Ideally you should do weekly water changes. I've personally been doing 40% each week, the reason for wanting to do so is to dilute any Nitrate buildup, and to aid removal of the things we cannot easily test for like dissolved organics and hormones in the water. Your water sounds very similar to...

I started my 90L tank with plants and tetra safe start stocked with 7 Endlers and an Otocinclus. I never saw ammonia or nitrite readings. Since the tank was first setup, I've added an additional 6 Endlers and there are still no Ammonia or Nitrite readings. I think as long as the bio load is kept...

I went for Endlers also!! Really love the little guys, they're always active and up to something! I have 13 now after getting 7 at the start. Watching them chasing, displaying to each other and then scavenging from the leaves of plants never gets old! Occasionally one will curiously inspect the...

Cold water is full mains pressure so that is fine. I fitted the header tank myself about 6 years ago so I'm confident enough that there isn't anything nasty in it. When I opened the tank to change the ballcock about a year ago the tank looked clean, no sediments or anything particularly bad...

I looked into this before I settled with hard water fish. To lower the hardness and pH you need to either purchase RO/DI water from the fish shop or purchase a complete RO system. Once you have the RO water you then mix it with your own tap water so as to give you the desired water parameters. I...

Sorry to butt into this thread but i have a question related to this quote. Would a domestic hot water supply that is heated by a standard boiler and heat exchanger be ok if the header tank fitted has a lid? My header tank is a large plastic tank with a lid on the top. I've been using the...

Very handy tip, thank you! Thanks, I think you kindly linked to the site in my other thread and I have been using it as a starting point for some of the fish I've listed! I'm having no luck with elodea densa either, so it's good to hear I'm not the only one. Will remove it from my 90L tank as...

Tank is filled and running now! No plants or decorations yet, just water, tetra safe start and a few drops of ammonia to start cycling it. Not going to be able to get fish in before my surgery next month so putting the ammonia in will not harm anything. Very impressed with it, the filter is very...

Quiet filter is a great problem to have :) My filter is very quiet also, barely perceptible unless I place my head right next to it so nothing to worry about at all. I've recently used Tetra Safe Start and it seems to have worked well for me. A little tip is when you buy it is to take a look...

She who must be obeyed wasn't particularly impressed when I arrived back with the tank hehe. I'm certain the Oto is eating the Algae, after I place it in the tank he'll quickly find his way on to it and spends the rest of the day scraping it clean. There is a big spot of Diatoms forming on the...

Hello all, Recently setup my first fish tank (a 90L scrapper that I resealed and brought back to life!) and accidentally purchased myself another one :). To recap from my other thread my water parameters are as follows: Calcium (mg/l) 103 Calcium Carbonate (mg/l) 265 Degrees German (dH) 14.84...

The Endler Guppy X that was resting on the substrate has stopped doing it. I suspect he was stressed from the move so no worries there. I read up about the Otocinclus and I did see that it isn't a good fit for a new tank because there would be a shortage of food for them to eat. I have a...

The advice from one of my local shops has generally been very good. When I was chatting to the guy and talking about some of the things I had discussed here, he remarked that for a newcomer to the hobby, I knew a lot more than some of his self labeled expert customers... I thank Byron for the...

They're all males yep, I made sure that I didn't purchase females as I had heard that Guppies love nothing more than to procreate! The little catfish is definitely an Otocinclus, he isn't quite as panicked as before and I've seen him stick on to the glass a few times now. I was looking up what...

Well, the fish are in but the whole episode was more eventful than I was expecting it to be! The good news is the fish are in and seem to be doing well, they're active little blighters! Now for the eventful bit; the guy at the fish shop seems to have accidentally given me two extra fish.. I...

Thanks! I've not added any ammonia to the tank so I should be all set to go. The current water has been in there for three days ,I've not added anything other than de-chlorinator and a small splash of safe start. I'll pick up some vegetable based foods for the fish&shrimp when I'm at the shop...

Hi again, Can I just confirm that it is ok to add fish if I have plants in (3x Java Fern, 2x Anubias Nana, Water Lettuce (has split into two separate plants now) and about a hand sized clump of Frogbit) if I add the the Tetra Safe Start about an hour before I buy fish? The fish I'll be getting...

Good to know! I have a lot of black aquarium safe silicone (about 7 tubes of it) so if I ever do decide to create a cave system I can use that! A very helpful post, thanks for putting that up! Yeah, the Endlers they have there are definitely hybrids between Guppies and pure Endlers. I remember...

No worries, I was going to use a single piece of the larger rock without stacking it and scatter the pebbles around the rock on and on sand. I'll politely decline the offer of fish shop filter media then, I hadn't even thought about pathogens so good call on that one. Could I use filter media...

Excellent, thank you again Byron, you've been a real help! The rock I have isn't excessively large compared to anything I've seen in other peoples tanks so it should be fine then. The seals on the bottom are much larger than the manufacturer tank seals were so I'm pretty confident that they'll...

One last question (sorry!) Would Endler Guppy hybrids do well in the water and tank size that I have? Was browsing in the fish store and came across these tiny little wonders, was blown away by how stunning looking they are! Calcium (mg/l) 103 Calcium Carbonate (mg/l) 265 Degrees Clark (UK)...

I've got hold of the filter now, went with an Eheim internal filter similar to the one you linked to earlier Byron. The chap at the fish store said he used them personally in three of his own tanks and vouched for how quiet and reliable they are. It has a vortex tube for aeration on the outflow...

I'll give the dual sponge filter a go, certain I saw that model in the fish shop selling cheap so an easy choice. I was going to buy an air pump anyway so the extra cost from that is of little concern. The tank is going to be situated in a study/man cave so it doesn't need to be silent, just...

Thanks for the replies! I've checked out and registered on seriously fish, loads of information on there so very helpful! I watched a video by aquarium coop regarding sponge filters and he had good things to say about them so I'll likely go down a similar route. My only worry is they're going...

Hi, Just recently got hold of my first ever fish tank! it was completely free because it leaked like a sieve, I used black marine safe silicone from my neighbor to repair the seals after reading and watching online articles about how to restore a tank. I've had it sat outside in a shed and it...