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Only read them briefly, admittedly, because I have a life, but none of them seemed to refer to emotion, but rather instinctive behaviour such as fleeing through fear which no-one would ever deny fish possess. You only need to walk up to your tank too quickly with your arms waving about a bit to...

Pain: "Highly unpleasant physical sensation caused by illness or injury". It's a physical reaction caused by nerve sensors, nothing to do with emotions. Yes, you're right, pain does express, er, pain.   Where did I say fish don't feel pain?

  You can't say it's "proven" then not name your scientific source. A quote from your source or sources would be useful.   You say it's proven then go on to draw some sort of parallel with people or dogs in pain, but pain isn't an emotion? It's much more likely that something with a brain the...

That would work. I avoid live foods in my tank, but a strainer and the hot tap sounds easy enough.   I made the mistake of listening to my LFS, who said it was fine to just bang in FBW from the freezer and "watch them fight over it". My fault, though, because this is the same LFS which only...

Yeah, that seems to make sense the more I think of it. How long do you defrost it for? Is that just in a glass of water?

One cube of FBW won't lower the temperature in a 275 litre tank, not even slightly.

I wondered how other people feed this to their fish - do you go straight in with it frozen, or slightly deforst it in some water first, or maybe some other way? Just had one of my eight fish die and am searching around for potential causes. It could be 'just one of those things' and not related...

I think you're tinkering unnecessarily. Substrat Pro, presuming it's the Eheim stuff, is about as good as it gets and you're going to get no improvement from changing, in my opinion. I have Substrat Pro and Seachem Matrix and they're both equally good. You have to wade through the manufacturer's...

Surprising how common that is - LFS staff not having a clue. I take no notice whatever of my LFS after explaining to one of their staff that I was cycling a tank and her looking at me all baffled. They continually try to tell me that I need to lower the pH in my tank for discus, even though it's...

Every time I read this sort of stuff, it gets me quite angry. People who haven't got a clue what they're doing (your mum, not you) just throwing fish in a tank without bothering to do any research and then, as you say, think you're being all unreasonable when you suggest doing what's right for...

Absolutely. I see you've got a 450 litre, and that would take at least three for sure. My last one was only 300 litres, but they threw all the gravel and all the other stuff that came with it in with the aquarium rather than packing it separately, so it was well hefty between two of us. They...

As I said, it's during the day and everyone's working. "Instant notification via email when the delivery is made"? - what's the point of that then, whem I'm already there taking delivery? You can only deliver it if the customer's there, in which case they'll already know?   "Able bodied big...

Can't really arrange help like that, because they only give you an am/pm notification, so you have to have someone waiting around for potentially hours and, as it's during the day anyway, everyone I know is working.   The last time I had one delivered I offered the bloke some money, but he...

I'm in the market for a new aquarium, but every site I check seems to have the "kerbside delivery" thing. As I don't live on a kerbside and have no intention of setting up an aquarium on one, I'm not sure how that actually qualifies as 'delivery'? I'm not aware of delivery companies doing it...

Should be okay with the algae, because there'll be no plants in there so won't need strong lighting on for long, and there'll be no direct sunlight either. Like you, I'm tempted to persevere with white sand, because I think aesthetically it could look stunning in a black tank. Just need to keep...

  Thanks. Good to have input from someone who's kept both. Sounds like an Oscar might be best kept alone, because loaches are about the only thing that are possibly compatible according to the charts I've seen. Unless you can suggest anything else that might be compatible in a 200-litre tank...

Loaches and Oscars are supposedly 'compatible'. I'll be getting a small one anyway and raising him, by which time the loaches will be fully grown. He won't be eating a four-inch fish, and they're compatible anyway. The spine is presumably the reason fish like loaches don't get eaten, in the same...

I was thinking of putting an Oscar and some zebra loaches in there, so not sure if that would be a problem in terms of toning down their colours.   The beneficial bacteria grows on the substrate as well as everywhere else, so there must be a real risk of it going green/brown. Wouldn't want to be...

Quite interested in using some of this stuff, either sand or gravel, but wondered whether it stays white or starts to look dirty? I vacuum a lot on my current tank and wondered whether that would be enough to keep it looking okay, or will it naturally deteriorate in colour regardless of what I...

Thanks for the reply. The pump is for a Biorb 105 though and, apparently, essential. I'm just going to be using it as a quarantine tank for new fish before introducing them into my proper tank. I wouldn't entertain the Biorb otherwise but, as it's going to be used so infrequently, I merely...

I do have that valve, though. I thought that was the purpose of the two-way valve, though, to stop the water?

You see, that's what I mean. I'm not taking one experience as 'proof' it's not necessary but, combined with my past experience, it is interesting. Thanks for your reply.

Just wondering how essential this is, as suggested in the set-up instructions? They sort of imply that it's advisable to have the pump above the water level, but not vital. I've got no easy way of setting it up that way and, as there's already a valve to prevent any water getting into the pump...

Hmm, that's got to be worth a go. Have noticed them sleeping at the top. Just hope my removing the top of the tank doesn't wake them. They're so quick, though, it's impossible not to chase them. They never stay in the same place long enough. They're even worse now because they're slightly...

Thanks, tried that though. They're not only lightning fast, they're also quite clever and way too savvy for that. Any time they see the blue of the net, they dive down...

I had six zebra danios in my tank to cycle it before getting my discus, which I put in the tank three days ago. Only thing is, I could only catch four of the danios, so there's two in there haring around like nutters in a tank that's too warm for them. The discus don't seem bothered by them at...

Does anyone know if a seneye detects both toxic and non-toxic ammonia (or is that ammonium if it's non-toxic)? Mine is showing ammonia at 0.049, which I think is on the verge of a stress level, but my discus appear very happy. Just wondered how the seneye reads ammonia levels because I've dosed...

Been looking online for the right sort of filter media bags to put Purigen in, and can only seem to find huge things way too big for my Fluval 305. So I thought, instead, I'd make my own. Only slight problem with that is that I, er, don't know how... Any suggestions? Can't really do socks...

On Fluval's own instruction video, though, the bloke's cleaning quite a few bits using tap water, such as the media trays and the canister itself. Unfortunately, it's not for a 305 so there are different bits he's cleaning and I couldn't work out which bit was for mechanical filtration. I'm sure...

I'm a bit confused about how to do this properly. I have a Fluval 305 and, while I know not to rinse the ceramic rings in tap water, what about the first-stage foam? As far as I know, that's for mechanical filtration and no beneficial bacteria are in it, so can I just wash it under the tap...

  Thanks for the advice. Any suggestions, also, on when to add the dechlorinator? Don't like the idea of chlorinated water and possible heavy metals from the mixer tap going into the tank, even for a short while, so can you add it before the water goes in, or does it have to be after? Or during?

  Yes, adding double the amount of dechlorinator necessary did strike me as dodgy advice...   On the 'oomph' issue, I don't really see that as a problem because, even if it is struggling to raise the water a few feet to the sink, I can cut off the hose to the relevant length to make it a much...

  Just bought one. I agree, they are overpriced for a bit of glorified plastic, but I figure what price can you put on saving yourself at least half an hour twice a week during water changes? Er, a pretty high one, I think you'll find is the answer...   Also, it's better for the fish, because...

  Looks like just the job. I'd even get away with the 7.5-metre version, which is much cheaper. Thanks for the pointer. Presumably it'll fit a normal kitchen mixer tap?

  Not sure how I would connect my syphon to a hose to get the water out that way? Don't have the back-door option for the hose anyway because I'm in a first-floor flat, so the sink is the only option, and the water would have to travel up the hose for about three feet to be drained into there...

Wondered if anyone has any tips for an easier method to change your water? Currently, as a newbie, I'm siphoning the water off into a bucket and carrying it over to the sink at least six times. It might be that that's the only way to take the water out, because I have to know how much I've taken...

  Thanks. The tank's about a metre long, 60cm high, so ideally could've done with being longer and shallower, but I've now decided on a mostly-alonocara stocking with a maximum size of about seven inches to accommodate for the lack of length.   Was planning on a pleco for algae-eating purposes...

Thanks for your reply. Yes, 5ppm clearly is too much - not sure why that would be the default setting on the calculator when the write-up suggests much lower? I'm just wondering if it'll come down but take longer, which wouldn't be a problem because I'm in no rush to add fish.   The plants are...

As the title says, I'm 13 days into my cycle and, although nitrites are just about beginning to show, the ammonia's sticking in the 3.5ppm-4ppm range, unchanging since day three? I wouldn't be worried, but that differs markedly from the cycle shown in the sticky on fishless cycling on this...

Thanks very much for the clear, succinct advice. Think I'll go with your suggestion, although the Purigen stuff mentioned above also sounds of interest. Should make my cichlids' lives better, and that's what these forums are all about. Cheers.