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I'm thinking dense will look the best.

I'd like a green, bushy plant for my tank, but I'm not sure exactly which one. I've heard that you can encourage some of the rotala species to grow into a ball, but I don't really know which of those are green and which are red. Any other suggestions would be appreciated, as well as pictures...

Make sure you check inside your filter for survivors. Open the canister up and take out the media so that there are no hiding places. I'm sure you've seen the threads here about folks finding hidden treasures in their filters!

I've made two separate orders from aquadisestore and I have never had any problems. The feedback rating does indicate that some other members have had problems (and you have to remember that since most people buy multiple plants at once, many times 4 or 5 negatives come from the same person who...

Due to the fact that slightly heating the airline (with very hot water or something) will make it softer and easier to attach to the diffuser (I was having problems with my airline popping off until I attached it this way), I would say that you would probably want to attach the airline and then...

Bottled water shouldn't be a problem. A lot of bottled water is simply RO water, which many people add to their tanks already. Like three-fingers said, it's not likely that a 10% water change using room-temperature bottled water was the cause of your fish's deaths. I would investigate other...

Almost correct. Putting the sponges in still water didn't kill the bacteria because of cold water, but it was (IMO) the contributing factor. The bacteria on filter media need to be kept in moving water in order to get a constant supply of nutrients. If the bacteria are in still water they...

Siamese Algae Eaters will mow that stuff down like nothing. However, do a little bit of research before buying because there is are a few other fish that look very similar that some LFS will try to sell as a SAE. Unfortunately, the look-alike doesn't have anywhere near the algae eating...

Just to add to what Andy said, they're called 40W starters for a reason, and that reason is because they deliver 40W of power. If you can only fit a 25W bulb on your tank, then you should only be looking at 25W starters. If you try putting a 25W bulb into a 40W starter, you'll have 15W left...

Yeah, rather than risk a fire, why not just do the 2x40W (without the extra 18W)? That would give you a nice 3wpg. I'm not familiar with this exact starter, but that seems like a safer option.

The wattage on fluorescent bulbs has to be matched to the wattage on the fixture. That's why all you can find are 15W bulbs for your fixture. If you want to increase the wattage over your tank, the only way to do so is by adding additional lights/fixtures. On the bright side, if you keep an...

Rather than keeping a plate in my aquarium, I have a plastic bowl that I pour into. Works just as well and doesn't disturb any of my plants or the substrate. And it's faster than siphoning the water back in. :) And it only cost $0.39. :)

Build yourself a good reactor and run it inline with an external filter. But if you're not into that, I've found that ladders can be difficult to maintain and are prone to getting blocked, causing bubbles to escape prematurely. The glass-style diffusers tend to work very well; with their...

The only problem with the lights being shorter than the tank is that the outside edges of the tank might not get as much light.

If you use bleach, make sure it is VERY dilute. 19:1 is generally the recommended mix. Also, make sure you rinse the plants off very well afterwards; bleach + fish = bad stuff. If the algae is just simple brown algae you shouldn't need anything more than hot water, your fingers, and maybe a...

That won't work. Looking around a bit shows that the fixture isn't even 28W on each tube. It's 28W total, or 14W in each tube. Here are the fixtures that the bulbs you found will work in, but that's only (2x24W)/29g=1.66wpg. Check out this, this, or this. Those will all either give you...

Can you show the fixtures? Fixture wattage and bulb wattage have to match, otherwise you could run into serious electrical problems.

I'll reply here; hopefully you find it! :) The tank you have now works out to be just under 15 US gallons. This is the light you currently have, so 15W/15g = 1wpg. That's generally considered low light, and the fact that you have floating plants in your tank means that the light level is even...

That sounds good, but could you provide links to the fixtures you found? The only 24" Aqualight T5 fixtures I can find are 14W.

I'm no lighting expert, but here's what I do know; feel free to correct me anyone if I'm wrong. For standard fluorescent tubes, wattage related to length. Thus, 18" bulbs will be 15W bulbs no matter what. As far as I know, CRI is related more to light quality/color rather than light intensity...

Seachem Flourish Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday

That should be fine. Neither my fish nor my plants experienced any visible signs of shock, but since I keep Apistos (which like soft water) I did a few 20% water changes every other day with pure RO water to bring GH down.

It's the cuttlebone. A 2x2 inch piece, chemically speaking, is huge (especially in a 20 gallon tank). Cuttlebone, as you know, is mostly calcium carbonate, and calcium carbonate is the principal cause of hard water. I did something similar to my own tank with two small rocks that I didn't...

Here are some pics. The first shows everything, and you can clearly see the hose barb on the bottom of the regulator. Next to it are the solenoid with its connectors and finally the needle valve on the end. The second pic shows the solenoid up close; it has an identical-looking connection on...

Let's just get some terminology straight. There are very few warm-blooded fish, and to the best of my knowledge none of them are of the variety that are kept in personal aquariums. Nearly all fish are cold-blooded, meaning that they are not able to self-regulate their internal body...

Did you take just the water from the old tank to the new? If so, then your new tank is going to have to cycle still. Bacteria doesn't live in the tank water, just on physical surfaces (filter media, substrate, etc...), so if you only transferred the water then your new tank has no bacteria to...

You are correct, 1ppm = 1mg/L (in water). Wikipedia has a good article about parts-per notation and how it works.

Howdy mates, I've searched here for an answer but came up dry. If this has been answered before, then just point me towards the correct thread. I've bought the separate components for a pressurized CO2 system, but I'm wondering about the best way to make one of the connections. The only...

Glad to hear that things went well for you.

I wish my tank would go as drastically wrong as that! :P

You can add plants before your tank has finished cycling. In fact, any dead matter that drops off of the plants and decomposes will actually help your cycle.

Turn the heat up a little higher, but don't go above 30. 28-29 is a nice place. This is important because white spot is actually a parasite which, during its life cycle, alternates between living inside and outside of your fish. The white spots that you see are actually little tiny parasites...

Try here, here, or here. Those will be your best bets. If you have Craigslist in your area, that is also a great place to look for tank deals.

Not trying to be rude here, but just yesterday you weren't sure what cycling was, and the tank was brand new (well, unless it's a different tank...one says 35-40 liters, one says 30 gallons). Anyway, I would just politely suggest that you make absolutely sure that you're clear on what cycling...

Looking at the biOrb website, I don't see any reason why those stones wouldn't work in another tank (I'm assuming that you're talking about what they call "Ceramic media"). However, due to the spherical shape of the biOrbs you're probably going to need to buy more substrate to cover the bottom...

I'm not an expert on all the specifics behind the science, but pH doesn't relate directly to CO2 levels without looking at carbonate hardness (kH, the buffering capacity of the water in the tank). A pH of 7 indicates CO2 level of 30ppm only if your dkH is 10.0. A great description of the...

Trim the leaves and let the plants be. They'll recover on their own, but moving them again would just aggravate the condition. It's not that crypts are sensitive, it's just that they don't like change. :)

Looks like you've been introduced to the infamous "crypt rot" (also known as "crypt melt"). Basically, crypts can be fickle plants and don't take changes very well. In my tank, I've had this melting after both a major replanting and after a temperature drop (when my heater broke). If you just...

Here is a link to the lights. Maybe I should have mentioned that they're compact flourescent. :) I currently run DiY CO2 (Nutrafin), changing the mixture in the reactor once per week. I also dose with liquid ferts every other day (following the directions on the bottle), but will be starting...

Howdy mates, I have a 10g (US gallons) planted tank and I love getting those plants to look nice. I'm interested in increasing the lighting on my tank, and would like the community's opinion on the two options I am considering. 1) Current USA Single Satellite 20 inch, 1X40W 2) Current USA...