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I did the same recently - accidentally knocked a rocker switch off so the filter and integrated heater were off for 24 hrs. The temperature dropped significantly but the fish all seemed OK. I turned everything back on and monitored the water for a couple of hours - everything was fine. On the...

Over the years there have been many times when I have stripped a tank down or maybe just decided on a rescape and mega clean. On those occasions I have performed much larger one-off water changes and there have been no issues (apart from the nitrate spike and minor things such as algae blooms...

I have many times left my fish for up to two weeks whilst away on holiday. I usually use an Eheim automatic feeder, give the tank a good clean before I go and everything usually runs smoothly. Recently I was faced with a bigger problem as I went away for a mega 5 week holiday and I thought it...

I use JBL Bionitratex in my filter. The theory is that it creates conditions for the anaerobic bacteria that break down the nitrate. It lasts 6 months so it's cost effective. I too have 30+ ppm in my tap water but my tank is usually around 5ppm. I used to assume that my plants used up the...

My cyanobacteria problem is modest yet persistent. My nitrates are low at 5ppm but my tap water averages about 30ppm so the level rises temporarily after a water change - the CB gets a little worse until levels fall again. It's almost like it is the fluctuation that causes the issue rather than...

Hold the tube over the test card so that you see it against a white background, in good daylight. Allow the colour strips to overlap the water in the tube, that way you can more easily see which one matches up. I believe that what happens to reagent 2 is that it precipitates out, which is why...

Mine used to breed like crazy. A couple of times a year I would catch as many as I could, up to 20 or so at a time of mixed ages and sizes, and take them to my LFS. I guess on one occasion I took too many and didn't leave a breeding pair as breeding suddenly stopped and I saw no more babies...

A Fry's Turkish Delight bar. Can still taste it mmm.....

Thanks!

As I've commented before, water comes out if my tap with 30+ ppm nitrate but my tank is close to zero, so something in the tank is using it. Whether it's bacteria in the filter media or the plants I don't know, possibly a bit of both, but I do know that if I change more than 15% per week nitrate...

I use Chrome on my mobile and have never seen a single ad on this site so was very surprised to read this thread. I don't recall ever installing an ad blocker and I do see ads on other sites to varying degrees so I'm pretty sure I haven't. Literally zero ads here though, either video or...

I used to give a variety of flake foods but when I started including Tetra Pro it was soon clear that this was the one they preferred. My fish are mainly large tetras and barbs 4-6 inches long and they go for Tetra Pro so enthusiastically that I always get wet at feeding time. I've even had them...

I remember a time when these were the archetypical difficult plants to grow, so don't beat yourself up if yours fail! Never risked trying them myself.

Last week I was in a bar and the bartender was making a cocktail. He was putting on quite a display in mixing it, but it ended in disaster when the top came off the shaker and he threw the contents right in the face the girl that he was making it for! Luckily it narrowly missed me!

Put the media in a shallow bowl of aquarium water and it should be fine for a couple of hours. If you can, periodically swill the water around. The key is to get fresh, oxygenated water into the media. Just as fish can survive a few hours in a plastic bag, so bacteria will be OK for a shortish...

Went to a Fawlty Towers dining experience a few weeks ago. Best evening out ever! 🤣🤣

Yeah, even my cooler water fish such as denisoni barbs seem to do fine for short periods of heat in the summer. Last week their tank was 31.5C and they were acting completely normal. I wedge the covers open slightly to allow heat to escape but I don't turn the lights off. Surely that would stop...

Unless I'm mistaken, I think I would have a problem with the Python and this is what had put me off getting one. Refilling is the toughest part for me and I believe that there is a threaded device that screws onto your tap? Clearly there will be a big temperature difference if just using the...

Turkey

In theory if you have a very large cycled tank, lightly stocked and well planted, you could manage without a filter - think of a garden pond - most aren't filtered. However, the last thing you want to do is switch off an established filter and kill the bacteria within it. Also, you need some...

Hi from just up the road (Woking) - awesome room! It would be a shame to see that FW go but keep us posted if you embark on the native project. Would you need to cool it though, possibly costing almost as much as heating the tropical tank?

Yeah, I saw the original thread. I sort of get the point that it's not structural in as much as the wrap around plastic top trim will hold it all together, so it won't fail. However, if the point of the bars are is only for aesthetic purposes to keep everything lined up then it really doesn't...

I just checked my 18 month old 260 Vision and I too have the issue. I think it's been like it from the get go as I always thought that the contours of the flaps didn't quite follow the contours of the frame. It hadn't occurred to me that this might be the reason.

I used JBL NitratEx resin. 24hrs in your filter will substantially reduce nitrate levels. You don't leave it in or use it permanently and you recharge the resin by soaking in salt water. I have found two cycles are enough to get my plants growing, after which they can deal with the increased...

My tap water is 35ppm nitrate but my tank is usually 0-10ppm depending on how recently I have performed a water change, so it seems my plants are soaking it up. It could be that there is some anaerobic activity in the filter too. Whenever I set up a new tank nitrate remains high until the plants...

How weird. I've always found angelfish to be a bit hard on plants and all the ones I've kept have behaved just like the one in the video - I thought that was normal! When I've had them in with plecs I learnt that they like lettuce too as they always used to eat most of it. On a similar note I...

I used to put lettuce in for my BNC's but my angels would eat most of it (unbalanced)! I also had a hatchet fish that loved his spinach (frozen, chopped)!

I was intrigued so I had a look! The tank is basically a badged Interpet brand tank. See the link below and click on 'manual'. The button is basically a timer - you press the button and 28 days later it flashes red to remind you to change the filter cartridge! Who knew?🤔...

That will almost certainly mean your computer isn't compatible. Regardless of how old or how powerful it is, Microsoft have chosen to restrict support to computers that have specific processors (you can actually install it on other computers but you won't get any updates). Mine's only a year...

The latest version of Windows 10 is 21H2. From time to time new versions of W10 came out and each would eventually stop being supported so you needed to download a newer version when that happened. It didn't cost anything, you just do it through Windows update and it took quite a while. I think...

Yes but Bettas don't like too much flow. It's hard to imagine that even a basic filter wouldn't provide adequate circulation in a 10 gallon (as far a temperature distribution is concerned) but yes, increasing or changing the circulation can result in the pattern of the thermostat changing e.g. a...

Yeah, heater settings are only a guide. It could be something else that is bothering the Betta, but as far as adding an airstone is concerned, you don't need to worry about a higher temperature causing low oxygen. It shouldn't be an issue for a single fish in a 10 gallon, but particularly an...

Check out my YouTube channel of novelty songs! All inoffensive I would hope, though some might be considered a bit 'non PC' by today's standards. https://youtube.com/channel/UCKUVEDifE3I6D9JyBtFI38Q

Your problem sounds a bit more complicated than one I had recently, but mine was a simple fix so might be worth a try. My Win 10 computer wouldn't recognise external drives at all. All I needed to do was run the troubleshooter and it fixed it. It happened again after an update but I fixed it...

Jelly

Algae can leave permanent stains. I've tried bleach (most proprietary cleaners are just weak bleach solution, but you can a make stronger with household bleach - obviously rinse and soak well in clean water afterwards) as well as a pressure washer, but some rocks remain stained. You can try a...

Finally got round to clearing some plants out of my 55 gallon today. I removed about half of the vallis that had taken over as well as about five or six large handfuls of floating salvinia. I can finally see the fish once again and I think I've confirmed that I'm missing a pygmy chain loach. I...