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If its surplus to requirement and you could get a little bit of cash for it then why not, but saying that, its always a good idea to have a back up filter just in case :)

All depends on what species of plants you choose to grow, some are less demanding than others.

Thankyou. Nope, no Co2, just a little fertilizer after a water change and some root tabs from time to time. :)

Thanks, a silent cycle is a new way of doing things for me as I've always cycled my aquariums to 4 ppm or used an instant cycle, so queries were inevitable, how very interesting, thanks again for confirming I was on the right track.

So to fully cycle an aquarium we add ammonia up to 4 ppm(to fully stock it) but without an initial cycling period and adding ammonia we assume that a fully stocked aquarium still produces 4 ppm, lets say that with a silent cycle the plants are taking up 3 ppm and the filter would eventually grow...

Your question is something I have wondered about regarding the silent cycle. If the plants are so efficient at removing ammonia then is the filter ever truly cycled. Lets assume that the plants take up 80% of the ammonia being produced by the live stock then that still leaves 20% for the...

What a good idea. Times I have had an aquascape that I'm working on that maybe could have done with a few tweaks, but instead of tweaking I've completely rearranged and wish I could have reverted back to previous but could never get it the same.

Yep, the majority stay smallish, Just low light and appreciate a root tab from time to time.

I think you need to give it some time to fill out and if I may suggest a few Cryptocoryne's at the front would make the world of difference ( but I am very partial to a Crypt). Great start :)

Welcome to the forum :)

Brilliant, lovely set up and well maintained. Thanks for sharing :)

That's defiantly not a Balloon ram. Its Just your average German Blue that is a little heavy on the gold colouring around the front end of the fish. Usually you will have blue speckles in the gold but its not that unusual for the colours to vary considerably. A nice looking fish at that :)

Totally agree @Byron, They are becoming more and more popular. I find it hard to get my head round it when there are many beautiful, unusual shapes and species already available without breeding in a deformity.

They are just German Blue rams and require the same parameters. They are selectively bred from bad genetics that have created a deformity, Whether or not you agree with this is another thing. :)

I had the love fish Panorama which is very similar after a google search, the filter could do with being replaced but apart from that it is a good aquarium. The lights are basic but will happily grow low light demanding plants. For that price it is a bargain.

Thankyou, I'm just an average amateur aquarist with a few years under my belt. Plants, I could learn a lot more and Latin names just confuse me. I know the basics of water chemistry and have been very lucky to have housed an array of fish so I'm confident in knowing what should be compatible but...

Just step back and take a deep breath and relax! :) We can all go a little overboard when we find a hobby that we are getting pleasure out and I can assure you I've been guilty of purchasing the odd aquarium. Finding the correct aquarium for what you require should be priority, how much...

I'm quite content with my hobby at the minute, I've downgraded from 3 tanks to 1 and I'm loving how easy it is to maintain, probably 1/2 an hour a week. But saying this I am getting itchy fingers and I'm contemplating a complete aquascape on my 35 gallon. One day I would love to try a...

Brilliant, I bet she loves it, nothing like getting them involved at an early age :)

I think most of us start out with plastic plants as they seem like the easy option, especially if you haven't got green fingers! but its surprising how easy it is to grow some of the less demanding varieties, I've never ventured into Co2 as I'm cautious when it comes to growing an algae out...

I got my 1st aquarium when I was 18 and dabbled in and out of it though my 20s and 30s but around the 35 year old mark was when it became a passion, that's 10 years ago now. So you could say I've been housing various species for 27 years but only seriously for 10. It became more of a pleasure as...

Regarding the difference of opinions, that is always going to happen. We are constantly learning no matter how long you have been an aquarist and people are going clash in regards to the correct way to do something, this doesn't make anyone in particular right or wrong( as long as its not...

Its surprising how much difference it can make to an aquascape when the plants have been added and matured. What looks a little off can simply be an imbalance. You may love it in 3 to 6 months:)

@AdoraBelle Dearheart Don't worry too much about the conditions your Otocinclus are housed in, Ideally they are soft water fish and it would be ideal for them to housed in such conditions but many people successfully keep them in less than ideal. Stable parameters are far more important and...

Thanks for posting, I've always fancied housing the Sparkling Gourami but its a fish that I have never got round to having the pleasure of owning.

Its amazing what can be accomplished in such a small volume of water, looks very professional :) Well done.

Just squeezing a cycled filter media into a new filter will kick start a cycle and reduce the duration significantly but my preferred method is to cut a piece of cycled media from an already cycled filter and place it into the new filter. I have cycled many aquarium's this way.

Check out eBay, the majority of my aquarium's have been purchased 2nd hand at a fraction of the price. You can pick up some really good deals if you are prepared to travel but some have came from my county so just up the road.

I had shrimp in the past and really enjoyed them so its defiantly something I would like to get back into.

Shrimp :)

The Swords were planed from the beginning and they took off like a wild fire, they get home made root tabs periodically and the water column is dosed with Easy- Life Profito at half the recommended dose, no liquid carbon or anything. I've always wanted a Red Tiger Lotus to grow from a bulb but...

Thanks for the welcome @PheonixKingZ

Plant newbie? I think your pulling my leg! They are indeed Amazon swords, Cryptocoryne's and Anubias. I'm thinking of having a re-scape, still with low light/low demanding plants but maybe a change. I haven't tinkered with the aquarium for ages so its all still a early plan at the minute. I do...

Hi @AdoraBelle Dearheart , here is a photo of my aquarium, I'm going to be upgrading the lighting soon and adding a few more plants :)

That's a lovely looking aquarium :)

My names Kev and I have been in the hobby for quite a few years. Housed an array of fish and have had many aquariums, I've recently downgraded from 3 to 1 tank. The tank I currently have is a Low-Tech planted aquarium (35 gallons) that houses 20 Harlequin Rasbora's, 4 Corydoras and a few pest...