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Beautiful fish! Always liked white clouds, both the golden and “standard”.

I have a shoal of 6 Zebra Danios in a heavily planted, sponge filtered 10 gallon tank and they have been active and healthy for well over 2 years. Happy? You'd have to ask them. They started as a shoal of 8 but 2 passed on right away. The remaining six are fed once daily with Tetra flakes...

I vote never. Your current maintenance sounds fine. I wouldn't tear down the tank for a "total" clean unless you were really starting over, say wanted to go from "regular" tank to an African Malawi cichlid tank, or after a devastating disease, or wanted to change your substrate. You would...

Years ago I had a small fantail oranda goldfish in a ten gallon and while Belinda was a wonderful pet, full of personality, she sorely strained the capacity of the tank even with twice weekly 50% water changes. Small goldfish become big goldfish so I would NOT go that route. I like Zebra...

Guppies good choice if you get all males or you will soon be heavily stockedwith offspring. How about Zebra Danios; a very active hardy colorful fish? I have a small a shoal of 6 in a similar sized tank and they have thrived for the last couple of years. Some individuals are more blue and...

Tank size sounds ideal. As mentioned by others, any filtration should have a low flow or the ability to diffuse/redirect it. A heater is crucial. As for window sill, the painting of the back and sides is good and I like black as a backdrop for the fish, BUT, it may encourage too much heat...

Definitely can grow back. I picked up an orange veil tail whose color I liked so much that I failed to notice his ragged tail. With just clean water, good food and appropriate temperature his tail is now fine. I'd not be too quick to medicate, but that's just me.

I formerly, quite happily, used Tetra EasyStrips 6 in 1 Test Strips for measuring the water parameters before my weekly water changes on my Betta's 10 gallon tanks.  After repeatedly reading on this board the superiority of the API Freshwater Master Test Kit, I switched to the API Kit and found...

A while back I had asked advice of the forum concerning a couple of ideas I had.  I received excellent though varied feedback so after a while I decided to run experiments myself.   Question #2: Would house plant Spider Plants (Chlorophytum comosum) grow hydroponically by dangling their roots in...

A while back I had asked advice of the forum concerning a couple of ideas I had.  I received excellent though varied feedback so after a while I decided to run experiments myself.   Question #1: Would I have to increase maintenance if I removed filtration from my Bettas’ Tanks? Answer #1: Turns...

Sorry, forgot to add LiveAquaria.com where I bought Water Sprite lists preferred pH of 5.5-6.5 though it has thrived for me around pH 7 David

I love White Clouds but have to concur, their ideal temperature environment is significantly below a Betta's by a good 10F, indeed a temperate rather than tropical fish, but hardy so it may work though certainly not ideal for them. I have 6 Bettas each alone in a 10 gallon and they don't seem...

I have my Bettas in ph 7 water only because that is what comes out of the tap. I have them (6) in 10 gallon low tech tanks kept from 78F up to room temp in summer (no AC for me or fish). I currently have forests of Java Ferns, Java Moss that continually needs to be thinned or it will cover the...

I agree, a gang valve is my vote. Air line from pump attached to one end. Air lines from filter, air stone, mermaid, etc attached to valve controlled connections. Usually made to hang on tank rim (side, back). PetSmart has some nice lever controlled metal valves for $6 for 3-way, $8 for...

I found these great plastic basket/cylinders in a $1 bin at store. They are maybe 4" in diameter, maybe 6" tall, with the sides of a hard plastic mesh and the bottom solid. Probably meant to hold pens or what not on a desk but I bought a couple as they looked useful. As luck would have it...

In my area, New England, USA, the PetCo deal ended August 8. Sorry.

I have a Tetra Whisper Deepwater Model AP 300 and it is rated for 3 devices at 96", 10 at 36". I bought it for multiple sponge filters, not for its depth potential and it is actually too powerful for my uses, I bleed off excess pressure. Maybe someone has actual experience with it at depth...

Spiders wouldn't last with roots dangling in water? I realized that I couldn't have plant in tank but hoped that I could mimic a hydroponic setup with just roots dangling in. Thanks for your insight.

Sorry post cut off. Nitrate <10. Thanks for your input. Not worried whether spider plants will flourish or not as long as bettas are not adversely affected. David

I seem to have an overly green thumb with spider plants (chlorophytum sp.) and I am overrun with them. My other great love is bettas. I house single male bettas each in 10 gallon sponge filtered, heated aquarium currently heavily planted with Java Ferns, Java Moss, Marino Moss balls, Anubias...

I vote for a large school of danios: hardy, always active, color up nice, and school. Either Zebras or a mixed school of zebra, leopard and pearl danios. Physically very similar but the different colors and patterns will give interest and they will school (shoal?) together. Zebras though have...

It would work, when you do a fish-in cycle (I know frowned upon) you are using the fishes' urine essentially. But would you want to, aesthetically. And dosing of course would be a wild guess. Also, anything you ate or medication you are on would also be added to the tank. Finally.. Ewwww.

The only caveat in using a powerful heater is if it does "stick on" which I've only experienced once it will overheat the tank much faster, perhaps too fast for you to intervene. In my case I lost a 10 gallon community tank's residents. After that episode I actually used two under powered...

I have purchased Mopani driftwood pieces several times from Drs. Foster and Smith (drsfostersmith.com) in U.S. and have always been happy with size and quality. Very heavy so don't need to soak to sink but it will discolor water for some time. I left pieces in bucket of tap water, flushing...

Though I only have a shoal of zebras currently, I can't see any reason why he wouldn't shoal with some long finned or normal finened zebras or leopard danios. Zebras by far are the easiest to find; hardy, peaceful and give a tank constant motion and action.

I concur, a long finned danio, probably leopard or zebra/leopard cross. He'll be happiest shoaling in a group of 6-10. David

Do you think they are "off" always, like thermometer A being always +2 what thermometer B is reading, or do you think they vary from true by variable amounts? If the former then I think just knowing the margin, say +2C, would allow you to adjust your "target" to account for the margin. If the...

My tanks are much smaller so I use gravity and suction to remove 50% and stop automatically, as long as your discharge target, a bucket for me, the drain for you, is below your tank. I crafted essentially a squared off "J" of common 1/2" PVC fittings (two 90 degree elbows and some straight...

I think your filter will be fine, but as NickAu rightly suggested, if you could obtain some cycled or "used" media from an established healthy tank, preferably the ceramic rings but even some gravel in a mesh bag until your tank is cycled that would give you a leg up on a successful stable tank...

A single male betta in a 10 gallon filtered tank? The bioload is so low, even before the addition of supplemental bacteria, that I think you will be fine, just add a 25-30% weekly water change. Don't over feed, get yourself some easy live plants, and you should have a happy healthy betta for...

I love duckweed though it certainly does cover the tank quickly.  I find it easy to decrease its population by skimming the surface with a small fine strainer from time to time.  I have only used it in Betta tanks (10 gallon, only surface agitation from air run sponge filters) but if you want an...

Thank you all for your input. I will probably keep the sponge filters under the rule that if it isn't broken, don't fix it. It isn't the annoyance of the ambient back ground noise that caused my question but rather the serenity of the silence when the power went off. True silence is such a...

I currently house four male bettas each in their own 10 gallon tank which are heavily planted with Java Ferns, Java Moss, a centerpiece Anubias and floating duckweed. The tanks are kept at 78-80F, have LED lighting on a 14hr timer and are filtered with air driven sponge filters. Only tank...

"Bolting" to surface and then returning to substrate is classic normal healthy Corydoras activity. David

I have had real success with little effort from Java Fern, Java Moss, Anubias Nana and Duckweed. Had some rampant initial growth with some floating Elodea but after some needed thinning perhaps I was too aggressive and it has not returned to its rapid growth. Java Moss and duckweed have to be...

I concur with Richard, I vacuum the gravel and or sand with every weekly water change. I have five 10 gallon tanks, one with danios, one with platies and 3 with single male bettas. They differ in amount of sediment removed but I always get a healthy amount of sediment, the removed water being...

Great idea with middle "maintenance section" between two male bettas! I could squeeze sponge filter and heater between dividers maybe behind bushy plant camouflaging equipment. I purchased two level stands to allow room for four more ten gallon tanks under the current tanks but your idea...

Thanks for helping identify Sherman. Maybe I will try to purchase some at my lfs to keep him/her company and maybe breed. What is normal life span? Can they be kept with a Betta safely or would my male Bettas consider them food? Now each male Betta only has snails as tankmates. Thanks...

Sherman. Hope his photo uploads, just using my ancient iPhone 4. Concerning transfer of baby shrimp, I have NEVER knowingly had shrimp and I purchased the plants over 2 years ago. They came mail order wrapped in damp paper. They were first in a Betta tank and then the thinnings went into the...