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However, Juwel filters are also designed to limit the flow through their lower level in order to promote conditions for nitrate removing anaerobic bacteria (subject to suitable media), so increasing the flow is likely to reduce that effect. Water comes out of my tap at 35ppm nitrate but my tank...

Medication will often lower oxygen content in which case an air pump can be useful in maximising circulation, but they serve little purpose for everyday use (unless you use an air driven filter of course). As Essjay says lack of oxygen in the water isn't going to be the issue so you certainly...

I once bought a card for a child's birthday which read 'I am 2'. On the back of the badge (because it had a pin) it said 'not suitable for children under 6' ! Also, I once read about a woman who complained to a holiday company that her holiday had been ruined because nobody had warned her that...

I use a small old flake tub to defrost frozen cubes using tank water. It takes about 10 minutes. As for dried food I use a variety, including bug bites, but my fish by far prefer Tetra Crisps. These certainly seem more 'hearty', and they are the only food that leaves me dripping wet because the...

I once heard someone say that you can safely drink your tank water because fish will only live in water that's clean and pure enough to drink! Cup of tea anyone?

Some amazing pictures here! 6 months ago I wanted some Vallis. My LFS didn't have any but gave me a couple of scraps they had left over in a redundant tank. I didn't expect them to revive but this is a picture of my tank now! I have actually cut them back as they had spread half way along. The...

Was he actually 'stuck' under the wood? If so then he is probably just injured slightly and hopefully will recover. Unless you have fallen behind with maintenance, I wouldn't make any water changes as any changes can cause stress. Also, only add chemicals (including salt) as a last resort if you...

That's the conundrum isn't it. If you lack one thing that plants need, then relatively speaking you have a surplus of something else! Them growth slows and things might get worse or, if you are lucky, you might reach an equilibrium. What you have us either an algae or a cynobacteria, and it's a...

I was getting a little slime algae and suspected excess phosphates. The tank is heavily planted and nitrates run at about 10ppm compared to 30ppm out of the tap. I bought a phosphate test kit which confirmed that phosphate was the issue, but not for the reason I was expecting - phosphates were...

Byron makes a good point about flow rates. The barbs won't mind a more gentle flow providing the water is clean and well oxygenated, but the gouramis won't like a fast flow. With floating plants you will want to moderate this in any case. Other water parameters do overlap though, so I wouldn't...

Often it's just slime dislodged from the pipes when you restart the motor. I had a Fluval with the intakes through the bottom glass so it wasn't practical to clean the pipes very often and this happened every time even though the main filter was thoroughly cleaned. As Circus days, it's not...

Denisoni barbs are my favourite fish, I've had them in my tank for 20 years. They seem to live 6-10 years though I still have one very ropy looking one from my original batch! My group has generally been between 4-6 and I have never seen any aggression. Over the 20 years they have seen many...

Without knowing the sizes of your fish I can't say for sure but it looks like you increased the biological load by quite a large percentage. The existing nitrifying bacteria will have been in equilibrium, so now need to catch up which is why you have seen a temporary spike. If your tank was...

This can be caused by water quality issues or sometimes just because something changes e.g. I've seen it occasionally after a major clean up or plant thinning and in such circumstances it soon settles down and will disappear. Also, I have a Juwel Bioflow internal filter. When I turn it off to do...

A few years ago I had a population explosion of bristlenose plecs. I didn't know how many I had as they stayed hidden during the day. Eventually I had to have a clear out and took them to my LFS. When I started netting then I was astonished to fish out over 50 varying between 1 and 3 inches...

I do get the theory of this, however, I've kept fish for 45 years, most live to ripe old ages, spawn regularly and grow to good sizes. My water is clear (no yellowing), I'm heavily stocked and plants grow well (since I started using CO2 at least!) In the past if I've increased water changes...

It is possible for your tank to have lower nitrate than your tank! Plants soak up some nitrate and filters MAY remove nitrate if you have nitrate reducing bacteria in there. My tap water is 30ppm whereas my tank is 10ppm. I get nitrate problems if I do water changes much above 15% per week as I...

I think the short answer is no, they are similar but different strains. However, in reality there are quite a few strains in both fresh and salt water which include some that will live in either. I guess it's not a good idea to cross-seed salt/fresh water tanks but other than that, for all...

Thanks, I didn't know that! It does show how hard it is to work out what is going on though. I once had a marine tank filtered just by an undergravel (no living rock). One day the pump failed and suspecting that the gravel would now be foul, I removed the fish to a tiny tank before I turned it...

Bacteria multiply very quickly, they can double in number every 20 minutes. I think it more likely that you may have transferred too many bacteria to a raw tank with a very small bioload, and hence where there is not enough 'food' to support them. You therefore get an ammonia spike due to the...

I recently changed the other way round when I replaced an old Fluvial tank with a new Jewel, so firstly, yes you can seed a new filter with media from an old one. Fill the Fluvial with half new media and half with sponges from the Juwel, doesn't matter which, and gradually remove the old sponges...

I thought my RMTs were too big to be eaten by an angel, but a couple disappeared. Then one day I caught my angel with a stripey tail sticking out if his mouth....... I also saw one take a harlequin once, so yes, they can eat bigger fish than you might think and are not to be trusted!

I disagree, anaerobic bacteria can live in a power filter if the flow is limited and you have enough of the correct media. Media such as Siporax is marketed on this basis. Provided the pores are fine enough there will be areas deep in the media where flow is limited, however, as I say, limiting...

I agree that Vallis does best without competition. I've had Vallis choke my tanks but when I try to add other species it slows up and inevitably seems to be the plant that loses the battle.

Sorry in advance for the length of this! I'm in the UK and my two water is 30ppm, but my tank runs at around 10ppm even though it is heavily stocked, so clearly my tank us dealing with all of the nitrate that the fish produce, and more. It is heavily planted and my filter deals with some of it...

Although there is a specific condition known as dropsy, which is probably incurable, a swollen body with raised scales can actually be caused by many other things. Therefore you might get lucky and the fish might respond to a treatment, but it can be very difficult to know what the underlying...

Sorry meant to say 15% not 1%!

Yes, blue green diatomic 'algae' can be caused by any parameters that are out of wack. This includes nitrates which, even if you don't keep plants, can actually be too low. Presumably your source water must be zero nitrate otherwise there would be some in your tank too. Therefore the large water...

A few times I have plunged my arm in my tank in the Summer and have been left with a nasty scum in the surface because I forgot that I had applied sunblock to my arms earlier in the day. I skim it off with a tumbler and no harm has ever come of it, but certainly something to avoid.

My LFS is a Maidenhead Aquatics branch and they have taken the odd fish off of me from time to time. As Circus says, they have never offered me anything for them and neither would I expect it. I view it as them doing me a favour.

It sounds like you have very limited surface area so it follows that you only have room for a couple of fish anyway. As such it seems too small to be contemplating breeding and therefore the breeding box is probably out of place.

No, if you have a motorised filter you don't need an air pump or air stone. Air pumps do very little as far as pumping oxygen into the water is concerned; what the rising bubbles do is circulate the water. So if you are circulating it via a motorised filter, that's all you need. If ever you need...

That's quite a small tank and looks like a fairly basic filter. Flow wise it will make no difference whether sited on the back or the side. Just try it in both positions to see where the flow goes and leave it where it doesn't blow fish and plants where you don't want them!

The problem with using a higher wattage than recommended is that if it fails in the on position you can very quickly cook your fish. Using a lower wattage means your heater will work harder and might increase the likelihood of it failing in the off position, however, in a heated room it is less...

Yes, it's safe. When my wife and I both worked every day, the house would be shut up all day so in the Summer my tank would go to that level fairly often, sometimes for days at a time. Never had any issues, in fact the fish seemed to love it!

I have a 10 gallon quarantine tank. I don't keep it set up all the time. It has a very small HOB filter and I keep the sponge from that in the canister filter in my main tank so it's primed and ready to go when I need it. I half fill the QT with water from the main tank and top off with tap...