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Hi. It's awesome to hear that you are doing a fishless cycle. With a fishless cycle, if things get wonky and weird, you won't kill fish. You are already ahead of the game.   The fact that something has/is going wrong, does not make you an idiot.   I think it is important, however, to follow one...

Very glad to see you are making a comeback! No one started this hobby with encyclopedic knowledge of water parameters and fish behavior. And even if they did, "book learnin" is a far cry from putting it all into practice in a tank full of water and fish. I still try new ideas and techniques...

Planning is so important. It seems like you know that already. It's awesome that you are asking questions so that you can do things the right way.   Wait until you have answers to your questions before you buy anything. Perhaps you could wait a few weeks to make that long trip so you know for...

I've always been curious about scientific studies on how fish (and birds) see the world so differently by utilizing wavelengths our eyes can't perceive. I'm left to wonder how beautiful they seem to themselves, LOL. Light (or its absence) drives everything. 

Great pics. Thanks for taking the time to share. Doubt I'll ever get to that aquarium in my life. PLUS ONE for sharing your good time. If you didn't take these with a "real camera" what did you use?

I think I left an incomplete thought.   To clarify, I filled my tank by dragging the hose in the window.   I meant to suggest that you could look into ways to make water changes easier. There was a recent thread on the forum about people using their pythons or their hoses to even do water...

yes. yes. yes.   No secret magic about how these work. You don't need to send a spy to steal the secret formula.   My first thought about your micro/journal tank, is that a matten filter could take up a lot of real estate.   I'm sure you've already considered that. I'm a +1 on working it out for...

All the normal legalese in place. I'm not responsible for what happens in your tank.   Drag that hose in the window and let it go.   That said, you'll be doing regular water changes for the tank 5 years from now. If it already seems like a PITA....            

Hi. I see this is your first post. Glad to see you on the forum. I'm new to the forum as well. Wanted to throw in two quick thoughts....   1) You've obviously done some research and chosen to go with fishless cycling. Cool. Bummer you couldn't find ammonia. Maybe the link above will help you...

Wonderful to be able to see the change from last Fall till now. Very nice.

Congrats! Glad to hear they all arrived alive. Hoping they are frisky and fecund.

Lovin' the pics. Lookin' forward to seeing the eel in the tank. How are the plants faring?

It's like getting close to home from a road trip, needing to "make water" (gave me the giggles every time grandma said that) but deciding to hold it, and the closer you get to home the harder it is to hold. By the time you're unlocking the door, you're practically wetting your leg.   Can't wait...

Camera is back from vacation. Figured I'd get some new pictures up. I've fiddled around with a few small projects. The sum total makes it feel more like a working tank than a zoo display, which I quite enjoy. I appreciate a runway model tank as much as the next person, but there's something...

If you plan to go out and do your own collecting, the list is huge. If you are ordering online or from a local fishery, the list is considerably narrowed. There are a large variety of minnows and darters that would work. (Many of which are quite beautiful.) And, if I remember correctly, there...

A couple google searches on wood that is safe for your aquarium will give you lots of good ideas. But in general you want a hard wood that has been dead a long time.   As far as rocks go, if you don't have any natural rock deposits in your area, I've had good luck in the past going to a place...

Great approach, IMHO. Always easier to use the water you have, than start down the slippery maintenance slope of constantly fiddling with your water parameters.   The livebearers you mentioned would appreciate your hard water.

Hi. As you've decided to do a fish-in cycle, you may find the following thread helpful. (Not instead of, but in addition to, the links in the other replies.) http://www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/175355-arrrggghhhh-whats-cycling-new-tank-and-ive-already-got-fish/   You may have done a lot...

I didn't read the guide, so I'm in no way qualified to interpret the phrase "large water change."   However, at the end of the cycling process, you should not be seeing significant amounts of either ammonia or nitrites.   After your cycle has completed, the goal of water changes is to reduce...

How are the red cherry shrimp coming along?

Have you found the missing shelf?

How are things progressing?

Hi, paradiddle.   It must be a real pleasure to kick back and stare into that tank at the end of a rough day. The only thing I will offer in the way of aquascaping constructive criticism, is that everything looks kinda really evenly spread out. I think you could create some really cool focal...

Plant update: I went to pull out the dying plants and found nice, fresh, white roots growing. So I left them where they were. I think I've been feeling nervous about this whole collecting my own plants process because I lost sight of the fact that they are essentially weeds. One of my talents...

Thanks for the replies. This is the first time I've collected my own plants. I have to admit I'm probably tumbling myself in mental loops that aren't necessary. Thanks for the reminders that they are just plants, doing what plants do.

When it comes to rinsing out media and dumping out the gunk, I'm a big believer in a weekly routine.   I do it with every weekly water change.

I collected some plants from my lake, all of which were completely submerged, but which grow to be emersed. I put them in my newly set up 55g with a gravel bottom. Decidedly low tech here. 48" t8 shop light, one 6500 daylight and one reef sun 50/50, both older bulbs. No supplementation. They...

Depending on how passionate you feel about building the tank yourself, and what access you have to deals on glass, I would lean toward buying a used "off the shelf" tank. With some persistence you can find a used pre-drilled tank for less than the cost of new glass to build your own. If you're...

Sleeveless t-shirts

Your pic of the single cory is awesome! I haven't seen a species profile pic that looks better. Great stuff.    

The experimental plants I put in did not do well. In fact, they are moribund. I'll have to take another approach. The hornwort I left in the bucket of rinse water is going strong and has yet to drop a needle. I'm really worried it will fall apart the second it hits my tank, but I'm starting to...

I think light may have an impact on fish in ways we are still trying to fathom. Check this link... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vision_in_fishes   I won't dare to imagine how to make a practical application of this knowledge in an aquarium. But I think your question is solid, and not just...

I read your post this morning and I've been mulling it around all day. I suspect that water quality issues, as far as what you are testing, are a red herring. Just my gut reaction based on what you've said.   Nonetheless, there are clues being missed. All really good mysteries are eventually...

I didn't like the one and only rock I had placed in the aquarium. Actually, I liked the rock, it was more that I really couldn't see how to make it work. I took it out of the tank and put it in the rock garden. I went down to the creek this morning (finally remembered to bring my pruners to rid...

It's been a very busy, crazy, fun day. Hope everyone else had a great day. Finally got the nephews to sleep. (I didn't know having a sleep over was part of the plan, but to tell the truth, everyone knows I don't care, so no one asks.) They are good kids and I have a blast sharing and exploring...

I resolved the background issue.   My dissatisfaction with the paper background (standard LFS issued, black on one side and blue on the other) was that it was too glossy for my tastes. I've used a cloth background in the past affixed with velcro and was pleased with the result. But since I'm on...

Hi. I'm new to this forum also. I saw you hadn't gotten any replies and wanted to offer a couple thoughts.   First, lighting is a really broad topic.   As you noted, the first thing you need to figure out is what type of light fixture you have. Hopefully you can find some details on the fixture...

Shoot, I forgot...   Congratulations, FishOut-O-Water, on the great tank find! Now the fun can begin. I bet you can fix the couple problems you mentioned for next to nothing.

Ok. So about my mud, err gravel. I clearly underestimated the amount of dirt in a shovel full of rock and sand. If you've done this before, thanks for giving me the chance to explore and meet the world face to face (or face to mud) without laughing at me before I could laugh at myself. If you...

Hey, everyone. Thanks for checking out my journal. To answer your questions.... I will be doing a fishless cycle. For me, there's really no point in setting up my tank if I can't find the time to grow some bacteria. But that's just me. I'm only a couple years from my last tank, DrRob. But I...