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I don't have the Satellite Flexible LED+, but I do have two other CurrentUSA products, the Satellite LED+ (non-flex) and Satellite LED along with two different ramp timers.  I love their products.   I think of their products I own, the Satellite LED+ is the most similar.  It appears to share the...

Thanks Baccus!  After a bit more digging, I found the tail colors and patterns matched better Gastromyzon zebrinus.  Your info was the springboard I needed to ID the loach though. 

There's a lot opinions out there, but I am having great success with 6500K.

Hey folks,   I was wondering if anyone could help me identify the type and sex of a hillstream loach I got from my LFS.  The employee told me this striped HSL is more uncommon and more hardy.  It was labelled "UFO" at my LFS.  His/her name is Posey (any baseball fans, he/she is named after San...

I second that.  I'd rather wait to get plants with nice, healthy roots and decent leaves than have them rush a bad batch out.  Hope you get some plants soon!

Thank you everyone for voting, and for the feedback!   I'll look into that, actually.  It looks pretty neat (when I picture it in my mind). :)   I actually have a piece almost exactly alike in a 30 gallon tank that is oriented like you described.  It looks really neat actually, but I wanted to...

Hey folks,   I am cycling a 20 long tank that will soon be a cory only tank.  I want some opinions of how to arrange my manzanita driftwood.  So far, I have settled on orienting it like roots.  So I've got 8 pictures to choose from, but other suggestions are welcome!   I've also got a bunch of...

I pretty much had the exact same experience as you with the algae wafers and snails.  I believe algae wafers aren't particularly healthy for bettas too.  I eventually stopped feeding the snail at all, and after a long-ish holiday, my two nerites had died as well.  Now, the tank is sustaining a...

Hey folks,   Quick question, I am going to setup a quarantine tank that will forthcoming be for corydoras.  How do you recommend I set it up?  Specifically, what substrate do you recommend I use?   So far I have a piece of driftwood and some rocks.  I may throw in live cheap live plants (that I...

Not yet, but by tomorrow, when I hit up my LFS, I will buy two caves.  Will that be enough?  Apologies if that's a silly question, these are my first apistos.

Some of the browning was indeed the outer leaves dying.  The rest of it wasn't actually any dying at all, but rather diatoms growing at the highest points where the light is more intense.  Thanks for the info!   Sadly, Minerva passed away on Saturday.  :(

Hello folks,   Bear with me here, you'll be rewarded with pictures at the end of this post.   I just want to know what y'all feed your apistogramma cacatuoides.  I have checked other resources on the internet and have found only conflicting info.  Some places say that dried foods (flakes...

I like the hardiness and simplicity of Dwarf Sagittaria.  They explode in a dirt tank so you'll be trimming back often.

I'm an absolute sucker for GBRs.

Nice work!  I recently dirted my first tank, a 29 gallon.  I've been wanting to redo my own betta tank with dirt too.  I'm just worried about the water params going nuts in such a small tank.  What other plants are you planning?

Hi folks!   I recently got a 29 Walstad tank going, and so far I've only got 5 panda cories in it.  They most recent additions have been in the tank for almost two weeks now.  They spend the majority of their time sifting through the sand looking for food.  I have three types of food currently...

Thanks everyone for reading and supporting!  Here's a quick update before I need to run some errands.   Minerva seems to have been spooked by something.  She's hanging out in a shady shot and (as far as I have seen) is staying put there.  Her poop is stringy :(   I also have a few questions for...

I do this too! :D

A quick update in the form of a brief story!   I was at my LFS (which has earned tons of my appreciation and respect recently) to pick up some MTS to keep my sand aerated.  While there, I checked out a tank of German Blue Rams and saw a gorgeous female!  I kind of fell for her .  But I decided...

I drilled the spray bar on my Eheim 2215 to expand the existing holes to lower the current in my tank.  I did this cause I want to keep an apisto in the future.    From most places I looked online, the general consensus is that pandas love medium-high current.  Now that the current has been...

Here's one that I did not do, but my dad did when I was 10 or so.  He bought two live crayfish from our local supermarket (they were meant to be eaten, not pets) and put them into a 15 gallon tank with a few comet goldfish.  Things did not end well for most of the goldfish.  The crayfish also...

Thanks everyone for the compliments!  Time for an update!     Look what I've found in my tank!         They are only three right now, but I will continue to add slowly until they reach about 10, maybe 12.  If I decide to go for a species tank, I might get more than that.  However, the...

A quick update, all my plants are showing growth now with my LEDs!  Very happy with them!   And thanks ech0o for the advise.  The photoperiod is at 5 hours and 15 minutes now.  It's amazing how much growth they can get with such a short photoperiod!  Correct me if I'm wrong, but I've heard of...

Sorry there has not been an update in a while!  It's been a busy week and finally I have a chance to update.  If there are any (American) football fans out here, GO 49ERS!  Anyway, fish tank...   Plants came Thursday, and I dropped EVERYTHING and went into full "aquatic-gardener" mode.  Took...

The one's that everyone has :P   I am actually using the CurrentUSA Satellite LED+.  It is pretty much what ech0o described.  It has 6500K LEDs along with RBG LEDs.  It comes with a remote and is fully customizable.  I got the 24"-36" (adjustable length) for about $80.  This is my first LED...

People will warn you that sunlight will lead to algae problems, but I have kept tanks by windows with minimal problems.  However, BGA is easier to develop in sunlight in my experience, but it all eventually disappeared when I got my tanks in balance.   Lighting period changes.  Ruling out...

After doing a few required 100% water changes, messing up, doing more water changes to clean the mess, then messing up again, etc., I have finally deemed it safe to desist from the 100% water changes and add equipment and decor into the tank.   Here is how it looks now! There are lots of...

I have never kept tiger barbs, but barbs will nip at other fish when their own numbers are too few.  Generally, when kept in an adequately sized group, they will chase each other, rather than other fish.  However, most people I know that have kept tiger barbs will agree that they do best in...

  Correct!  Natural red clay has an abundance of iron that will tend not to enter the water column.  The surface of clay has lots of negative charges, so the positive charge of iron (and other elements that plants eat) will cling to the clay.  I have seen a video where a guy crawled under his...

Time for and update!   Spend most of my day dirting, capping, filling, draining, and refilling.  No fish and plants yet, sorry.  But here are pics of the progress so far.   LET'S DIRT THIS TANK!!!     Done.  Smells so good!     My ingenious method of adding water slowly into the dirt.  An...

My experience with meds is poor, and I swear by the heat and salt only method simply cause it has never failed me.  Although, Kordon is a trust brand, I believe.  I've bumped up a tropical tank to 90 with no observed harm to my fish (rummynose tetras).   If you're thinking about switching from...

Thanks everyone! :)   I bought mine from PetSolutions.com while they were having their Black Friday sales.  They also have it on Amazon.  So far I haven't found them in any LFS or chain pet store, only online.  I love the settings they have too.  Customizable with a bunch of pre-programmed...

Hey folks!   Here's the setup journal for my long awaited (by me) semi-Waalstad method tank.  Enjoy!   The stand was set up first.  I had to shift a bit of furniture, but this was the intended spot when I was planning the tank.  The hardest part of having the tank here was wire management as...

Hey folks,   Quick question.  I want to add some foreground plants to my tank, and I was trying to decide between dwarf sag and crypts (wendtii).  Then I thought, "well why not both?"   However, dwarf sag is a fast grower and shoots off runners pretty quick, whereas crypts tend to be a slower...

The second colony of bacteria (that does NO2- -> NO3-) takes longer to develop than the nitrosomonas colony.  Getting technical here, but the energy yield of changing nitrites to nitrates is less than that of changing ammonia to nitrite.  That's why the second colony of bacteria takes longer to...

I would remove the brown leaves on the java fern.  They are hardy and fast growers, and can handle that.  For anubias, I would leave them on since they are slower growers, even though they are also hardy.   Here is why, and I ask to be corrected if I am wrong because I am no plant expert. ...

What is a good size sand/gravel particle for you, KirkyArcher?  Pool filter sand is supposed to be 0.45mm-0.55mm.  Play sand (which has a poor reputation for a lot of reasons) is 0.06mm-2mm.

Good find! $20 per 20lb. bag is fair to me.  $30 is going to far, simply because there are other options. :D  I'm going the cheaper route, but it'll require more work, and hopefully the results will be better than EcoComplete.  My laterite will be an organic soil with clay mixed in. :)

I was wondering the exact same as you not three days ago.  I was recommended the EcoComplete fine grade for cories, but where I am, it would be over $30 per 20lb. bag. After lots and lots of searching, I have decided to use a rich laterite, then capping with pool filter sand.  Plants and cories...

General consensus is that sand is the best substrate because cories (of all types) sift through sand to find food.  A lot of people say "they will be fine" on gravel, but also say that the difference between gravel and sand is like night and day.  I have personally never kept cories, but I have...