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Oscars are the most intelligent fish, hands down. A friend says his Oscar used to flip the lid of his tank when he was in the room just to get attention, and would stalk him through the apartment, swimming in the tank along with him when he moved around. But the fish never did anything unusual...

Hi all, As some of you know, I have an AquaOne AR620T as my upstairs tank. While performing a routine water change and plant trim, I tilted the top of the light cover all the way up so I had more room. While doing so, I noticed the Perspex cover for the lights is quite cloudy. For those...

THIS! I had all sorts of problems for my first year as a tank owner because I was diligently buying new filter pads every month as advised by the pet shop boy (who had won many awards for his prize fish in the store). I was always getting ammonia spikes and dead fish until I found this site. I...

Personally I wouldn't do it. I'm not sure of the components of the crystal and I wouldn't be happy with a problem later down the track if there was something in the crystal that was bad for life.

What sort of substrate do you have in your tank? There might be something in the substrate that is decomposing, causing ammonia. Other than that I don't know. And yes, you can top up the tank due to evaporation, if it's only a small amount it won't affect the cycle in any noticeable manner.

Looks like she is definitely pregnant. I'm not sure about guppies (I keep Endlers) but it looks to me like you may have fry within a week or two.

You should be right for a few days (maybe 5), if your nitrites are starting to come down, then they'll reduce at a faster rate as time goes on and the bacterial colony continues to grow (more bacteria = more processing ability). If there is no ammonia for the ammonia eaters, then they will start...

I love the Aquis filters. I'm running a 1000 and a 750 on my 4' tank and the air pump is louder than both combined. The tank came with a Fluval FX5 but it would constantly build up air and rattle. I've since found out this could be just air settling out of the filter sponges, but it was a...

If you have a testing kit (API Master is a good one) then you're ready to go. Please keep coming and asking questions as you progress.

Using the calculator (http://www.fishforums.net/aquarium-calculator.htm) and choosing the volume of your tank, I got: 0.62ml if it's US Gallons 0.75ml if it's imperial gallons For your initial dose (taking into account you may have substrate and your tank might not be full to the brim), I'd...

I'm no plant expert, but it seems to me like you have enough plants to take up the ammonia produced by 3 small fish. Like Wills said, if your ammonia rises above 0.25 you should be looking at water changes though. Perhaps someone (like Byron) with more experience in planted tanks can offer some...

Can you upload a photo of your tank? I'd just like to see how many plants you have and what they look like.

You could submerge your intake hose in the tank with the tap open, letting all of the air flush out. Then close the valve (if it has one) or put your thumb over the end, then connect to your filter. Make sure the other end is still submerged, and make sure your filter is lower than the tank...

Cleaning is a little awkward, mainly due to the height of the stand (rather than the tank itself). But overall it's easy. Your plan for seeding the filter sounds like a good idea.

I have the same tank and am extremely happy with it. The only thing about it is the smaller footprint (tall vs long) so the stocking is a little more limited than, say, a 3' long. So you need peaceful, not too active fish rather than, say danios. I have harlequin rasboras and endlers in mine...

Or just read the "cycling a tank" article on this site (in the blue bar at the top under How To Tips). I prefer this one, as it has been thoroughly researched and tested, and gives a step-by-step guide. I had absolutely no issues cycling a tank using this, after a long and painful fish-in cycle...

So after a frustrating day trying to sort out an air bubble issue (I’d clear it, it would return. I replaced the impeller, I replaced the inlet/outlet arrangement, I disconnected and reconnected the hoses, I said some bad words), I have put my Aquis 750 and 1000 on the new tank, and will sell...

Just trying to work out how a 405 works. Does the water first pass down the long thin foam pads, then up through the baskets (in which case the ideal place for some fine "wool" would be the top basket), or down through the baskets and then up through the foam (in which case replace the foam with...

Well, after trying to convince the good wife that I "need" a bigger tank, and pricing all of the necessary bits and pieces, I found a second hand tank for $350 that (by my calculations) would cost over $1000 to set up with new stuff (stand, tank, hood, filter, LED light, substrate and...

And headed for 38 today.

It’s only 35 Celsius today, so I should have picked up the filter and left it out in the sun...

Thank you all.

I have been gifted a second hand canister filter, which is another tiny step towards my ultimate goal of getting a larger tank for my stand (increase in height, mainly). I know the gent who is giving me the filter, and I understand him to be a conscientious fish keeper. However, I would not...

I wouldn't worry about trying to transport water. There's not much benefit. Just make sure you drip acclimatise the fish before they are released from their carrying bag, with a 4 hour move, there's a strong likelihood your water parameters will be noticeably different and it may take time for...

Black Moor?

So it definitely looks like your ammonia is being converted almost immediately to nitrate (via nitrite). I'm not sure of the figures, but it seems that 2ppm ammonia has resulted in a 10ppm rise in nitrates, which if my vague memory is correct is about expected. So I'd say you're in for a short...

It is possible that you have been fortunate in adding enough nitrite processing bacteria in your mature media and squeezings that the nitrite is already being processed. Can you give us a nitrate reading, and then another next time you add ammonia? If the nitrite is being processed, the nitrate...

In general, fins and claws don't mix. I would say there's a fair chance your crawfish is trying to eat your finned fish.

Awesome news. Don't forget to do a massive water change before adding fish, which will bring your nitrates back to a safe level.

Is it nitrites at 5ppm or nitrates? Nitrite is the blue/purple test in the API Master Kit, Nitrate is the yellow/orange/red one with 2 reagents. If your nitrite is at 5ppm you are not cycled. IF it's your nitrate at 5ppm I'll leave it to more experienced members.

It depends on how long you think it will take. If you stop feeding the fish for a day or so, then move them into a large bucket/container while you rescape your tank, provided it's finished on a couple of hours, your fish should be fine. If you have a large enough container and your filter can...

That photo should be posted into every single fish store on the planet! Clowns look really cute when they're 2" long in the shop, but few people (and very few LFS employees I've spoken to) realise how big they get. Not saying Bob's not cute, by the way... Out of curiosity, who/what is his...

Prime is not useless. It treats the water by (I'm not going to go all sciency because my mind just went blank) making sure the chlorine and chloramine in municipal water does not kill your beneficial bacteria (which are part of your nitrogen cycle). However it does not help at all to start a...

The kids wanted a dog. We live in a city, so I thought it would be hard on the dog (lack of roaming space) and neighbours (noise). Yes, we eventually got a dog but he actually went to live on a farm (with my mother) once it became obvious a small suburban backyard was not a happy place with a...

Just a word of advice on live breeders. I would not consider keeping the females, as they are either pregnant or storing sperm, so they WILL drop fry in the near future even if you take the males out. Some of them will be male, the cycle continues...

A fairly simple rule is to feed fish an amount of food equal to the size of their eye per day. There are exceptions (like fry) but it works out pretty well. If you have uneaten food after three minutes, you're feeding too much. As to what sort of food, whatever the fish will happily eat is...

There's some information we need before we can give an answer to you. How big is your tank? What type of filter do you have? How long has the tank been running? Have you had more fish in the tank than the 7 you named as existing occupants? If so, how recently? Adding live plants will help, but...

In times of disaster, it's normal to find something you can focus your attention on. Having been through floods (and my current employment is in disaster relief) I can understand what you're going through. My uncle and aunt's place was flooded in 1974 and they still have flashbacks. Their...

By the way, $100 Aus is around $80 US at the moment. The LFS has a unit at around $300 but I'm not totally happy with the look of it (looks like about 2' of lights and 2' of extension bars).