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A while back I posted about how my of the dry "life" rock I was going to use and somebody said I was using too much (without any explanation). They also said to ditch the UV sterilizer (without giving the nice explanation that you did) - so the UV sterilizer will go unused. I'm a little...

I guess you'll find out if they do spawn - that usually tells you they are comfortable with the environment, but really a 50 gallon or larger would be best, especially if you have a reef or other fish. In fact I believe they lay their eggs on live rock so you need a reef. I'm going to start...

So sorry for you loss. Years ago I had a poodle named Spike (he would take on anything). He died after a long fight with liver cancer. Nothing could ease his pain. We had to carry him outside to go potty (and help him lift his leg) - I'm sure he was humiliated. Like you I think we waited...

About 6 months ago I bought a Biocube and stand for about $600 on Amazon. This is a 32 gallon tank with strip of holes for water to spill over into the sump in the back where you can have a protein skimmer, lots of different filtration media and a chamber for the heater and thermometer and...

I have yet to find a second-hand tank in my area that wasn't way over priced and wasn't filthy plus you don't know if it now leaks after sitting in somebody's garage or basement for a few years. As the OP mentioned they are very limited on space - so while I agree bigger is better and easier...

I think you really need understand what is going on when a tank is cycling (read up a little more on it) For some reason it all sounds intimidating but in reality it is quite simple, and no real knowledge of chemistry is required (even though it is a chemical process). When you start...

I always called them "spider plants" - when mature they send out offshoots that you can pot and grow some more. In the right pot, they make lovely simple gifts so I would just grow them up. They also look great in hanging baskets. I don't remember all the light and water requirements...

When I had hundreds in a 29 gallon tank I couldn't stand them. So eventually I managed to get rid of almost all of them. Now I want some back - besides eating a lot of leftover food (and I'm bad about overfeeding), should they get out of hand again, they are my DoJo's favorite snack. The...

Welcome! With the talk of Oscars and Firemouths - exactly how big of a fishtank is she helping you buy?

Add the plants, but keep in mind with your design that some fish need a lot of room to swim since this is a FISH tank and not a GARDEN. But if you go look at all the forum on "tank of the month" it seems like the more crowded it is with plants the more likely it is to win. With most of the...

And what are you going to do with these fish if none of them bond and/or they grow too big for your tank? 90-120 gallon tanks with a stand cost so much the last thing you'll be worrying about is how to save money on substrate, I have 4 Dojo loaches - everything I read said they grow to about...

So strange so many mention bristlenosed plecos. Right now I have 6 of them and they have LOTS of caves set up specifically for them but they rarely use them. They are out all day and all night, Perhaps they are attracted to me for some reason LOL. These are actually among my favorite fish...

I was in a management training class and we took a break about 9 or10 am and watched on the TV in the Secretary's office. My husband was at home having had a heart attack recently. I watched from the secretary's office for nearly an hour. The trainers realized they weren't going to have any...

Well today I filled my new 90 gallon tank and primed the canister filter and plugged it in. After priming about 200 more times it finally took off and is running perfectly (I really struggled with the assembly of that canister filter - their pictures and descriptions made no sense so I watched...

I can't really distinguish what he's doing from the pictures (I have cataract surgery later this month) but he he actually going into a tube placed in the middle of plant?

What are the least messy floating plants - by least messy I mean they don't make all this "pills" or "seeds' or whatever they are that cover your entire arm and constantly clog up you filters? I think I have had something like frogbit or any one of the "bits" and they are responsible for...

I'm sorry I can't think of a single person on this forum that gives advice to others that doesn't understand the nitrogen cycle and basic fish welfare. I haven't read anybody say they are overstocking. (jhave you seen the youtube videos - these are sellers for the most part but they constantly...

I am disabled and am on oxygen 24/7. I still manage to clean my house and take my trash out - and occassionally drive but for the most part I am homebound and have everything delivered - groceries, RX's etc. I struggle to shower and dress and do nearly anything that takes effort. I am trying...

But you have been some help - I never thought of using fake floating plants - what a good solution, Same with the cork. I would love to use real plants in their tank but they uprooted them daily and eat them if they are the least bit edible. Obviously needing some greens, I do feed skinned...

I have an Aqualear filter for my 29 gallon tank. I recently lost a number of fish when (I think) my assistant forgot to treat one if the large buckets of water - a number of them just dropped dead at the same time. Only the Pleco's survived. I ordered online (for a fortune) a number of...

Thank you so much for your response. It got me thinking. I've tried the floating plants and they just ate pieces of it - as dense as it was it was not dense enough to hold their huge weight. These guys are 15" long and about the size of a quarter around. The other issue with floating...

I have kept virtually nothing but pleco's and Dwarf Gourami and Pearl Gourami , These fish stress easily so you don't want to mix them with a lot of fast moving fish or schools of fish (A little tiny danio ate the fins off my gourami - I will ALWAYS hate the Danio species) There is a...

My large fish dig up any plants that are buried - or they eat them. They eat just about anything. I enjoy having some plants floating on top of the tank - many fish like the "shade" and a number of them like to sleep on them especially if they are thick and healthy. I had some plants I had...

My Loach sleep half the day and are maniacs the other half. they usually plop themsellves on some flat slate rock to rest - rather on the sand for some reason. They are DoJo which are pretty much scaleless fish that grow up to two feet long. My longest is 15" at age 1 1/2. The slate, sand or...

I know the aquaclear is supposed to be highly rated. In fact all my aquariums have used Aquaclears. After using them for a few year I find them to be a HUGE pain in the neck. 1, If you have floating plants, half will end up being sucked up by the fillter. 2. Good luck in getting that...

I'd say if the fish are in place and have survived a few days - don't mess with it. Remove the carbon and replace the carbon monthly. I personally feel that carbon is a very inexpensive filter that can also help "shine" the water. In any case - it doesn't hurt. In the meantime get a...

So I assume you had quite a loss of fish due the vinegar wash? 1, OVERFEEDING: My major mistake, which continues to be a problem, is overfeeding my fish. After 4 yrs I still can't seem to get a feel for how much to feed, especially when I have a tank of fish of multiple species - some...

Oh dear Colin - thank you for telling me I can cycle this just like a freshwater tank. That's my plan with the addition of adding lots of bacteria to hopfully cut the time down to a couple of weeks. I also just got my 90 gallon freshwater tank yesterday - this will be for my 4 DoJo loaches...

Oh there are a number of online coral websites and all they sell are frags ranging from $15 to $1899. I looked at the ultra expensive corals - can't determine what kind of coral they are - they resemble them all and some just looked tie-dyed - that was about it. Supposedly very rare and nearly...

Are you going to do a freshwater tank? If so I think a sump is overkill especially if you have a good canister filter. Sumps are most commonly associated with salt water tanks and basically a sump is just a "build your own filter" in which case you don't need a canister filter or HOB filter -...

Thanks for the advice. I've actually cycled a freshwater aquarium in less than a week after adding plenty of bacteria and the start and a little more at each water change. BUT I've had constant problems with white algae so thick you could barely see the fish. We removed everything except the...

Since I didn't want to sink thousands of dollars into this I bought a 32 gallon Biocube (and am now sinking thousands of dollars on extras and modifications) - but I'm just about ready to mix my salt water. Since I am renting this duplex I didn't want to permanently alter the plumbing so I...

Read up on the nitrogen cycle and make sure you understand what it's trying to accomplish and then use your brain to see how you can accomplish it based on your current tank parameters. That will give you some insight as to why you can have a mass die-off and other disasters. But don't just...

Don't nuke the tank - work with it and get some bacteria in there, do that water change and buy a test kit. No point in giving up. Losing that many fish so close together I'm thinking this was either due to a big ammonia spike (due to dead fish in the water and no water change being done) or...

There is a kit you can buy to determine the GH (general hardness) and KH (calcium level) in the water but I don't think it's worth worrying about since this sounds like a PH issue. . I think for guppies which are kind of adaptable compared to other species I would worry more about the PH...

Really stunning. Where did you get these?

Try and understand the reasoning behind the RO/DI water. You need plain water - no hard minerals or other nutrients at all. For a tank that small you can probably buy 15 gallons or so at a fish store. Some well water is nearly that pure- if you are on well water than sure use your water...

I've only had a red and white one once and I would have sworn the first stripe on her body was much darker in color than the other stripes so to me he looks 100% ok. When I've seen other fish attack - it was always a fin that they damaged, not a body shot, but I suppose each fish could do...

The second and third one for sure looks like a hillstream loach - I love them. Plecos and SOME catfish species are in the same family so the way Wikipedia writes it is that All pleco's are in the pleco family but only some species of catfish are in that family. Now you have plecos...

I think it's just some genetic defect or growth disorder. Unless you plan to breed and sell the neons he seems to be getting around just fine no reason to kill him unless he's suffering.