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Coaching gymnastics, breeding/showing/training horses (all-around show horses--showmanship, hunter under saddle, hunt seat equitation, trail, western horsemanship, sort of western pleasure, etc.), spending time with my amazing hubby, cooking/baking, gardening, cuddling our pet pig, 5 dogs, cats...

I get on at work and do a lot of browsing...I don't comment a ton because I'm still trying to remember things after being out of the hobby for about 10 years. But I have the site pulled up pretty much all day at work. :)

Thank you for this. Very informative.

Right, I get that. I just question why people use CO2/Excel then? If you could just overload your tank a bit, wouldn't that make more CO2? Or can no amount of fish equal the amount some people need for planted tanks?

Here is my wild question.....so plants need CO2 to thive. Fish give off CO2 as they respirate. So is it possible that if you overstock a tank enough, you could equal the amount of CO2 from fish respiration that your plants need?

Montana, USA

I didnt do an island, but will get a pic to you asap

I've used egg crate with mesh screen for my paludarium to separate land and water.

Which ones were your favorite? Thanks!!

I'm considering getting one or two of the rarer livebearers as a breeding project. Currently looking at Tiger Limia, Ilyodon furcidens (goldbreast splitfin), and zoogoneticus tequila (tequila splitfin). I'm thinking the goldbreast splitfin might be too big for what I want, but wanting to see if...

My guess is also on platy/sword.

Sorry, but you should definitely cull that one :(

Even if it is ich, your shrimp will be fine. I just stocked my tank and of course, pretty quickly got ich. Turned the tank temp up and didn't do anything else. My amanos and everyone but the plants were fine. Plants have melted a little, so I turned the temp back to normal (79F) after a week...

I was thinking about him the other day too, as we are fairly local to each other. Hope to see him back on here soon!

Haha, awesome! I haven't had any stubbornness issues with mine, but I am big on discipline from the beginning, so they don't get to complain much. I'm pretty proud of this one...I bought her for super cheap as a yearling and have done all the training on her myself.

I'm in the red and grey...this was from October. I tend to not take selfies or many photos other than ones of my pets. Love seeing everyone!

It's just saying that your one filter turns over 600 liters/hour, while the other one turns over 450 liters/hour. So between the two of them, you're turning over 1050 liters per hour. Given that you have a 110 liter tank, you have about 9.5 tank turnover per hour. Honestly, it's fine. The goal...

My RO has the same pH as my tap water, so maybe check that. I mix about 30% tap water (ph 8.4, KH 38, GH 1, TDS 1000+) with my RO (8.4 pH, 0 KH and GH, 10 TDS) in my tank. I just keep an eye on GH and add Equilibrium to bring the GH up (have hard water fish) when I do a water change.

Sounds like it's time for a back MRI and physical therapy if applicable. I'm in the same boat...altho I sleep MUCH better as laying down doesn't affect my back as much as sitting or standing still (99% sure I have a herniated or bulging disc), so I'm putting off my MRI as long as possible. You...

What are your water parameters before and after a water change (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate)? What is the GH and KH and pH as well just to give us an idea. What brand of dechlorinator and is it expired? Size of tank and how many fish? What type of filter and how long has the tank been running? Thanks!

Yay the tank is cycled!! Hoorah! I had never done a fishless cycle so I'm quite excited!

Thanks! I just started drinking coffee and am fine with the taste so far and hubby hasn't mentioned it (and he drinks 2 pots a day sometimes)...I actually LOVE the taste of my well water. It's super high in salinity I think (when it evaporates it leaves sheets of white, and with my GH only 1, I...

Awesome! I'm short on space too, which is why I think I'll try to somehow keep it in my laundry room with a storage tub (garbage can, like you) and attach the RO system to the wall. My tank is less than 10 feet away from my washer/dryer hookup so it shouldn't be too bad, but I'm also planning on...

Ok, I finally decided to get a RO Buddie for my tank. I have NO idea what I'm doing! Is there a way to hook it up so that I can still use my water changer to the faucet or hooked up to the RO water storage somehow so I don't have to bucket? Is putting it in the laundry room (washer hookup) or...

I would definitely agree that it's probably a mbuna african cichlid. Looks very similar to mine.

Lol, well I'm in a town of 600...it IS a city! And sounds like it's getting more dangerous by the year. I'll take my farm life. :)

I certainly will!! I usually go to Bismarck instead of Billings, and they have no freshwater LFS. But if I head to Billings sometime I'll check out that place!

Funny thing is...you're in Billings. That's the "city" I'm talking about that's 3.5 hours away!! I truly am in the middle of nowhere. When I lived in Sioux Falls, SD...I actually went and visited aquariumplants.com when they were stationed in Tea, SD and bought plants from them in person and...

So even with a TDS that high, you'd still recommend soft water fish? It's the GH (calcium and mg) not the KH that affects the kidneys and osmotic regulation? Just want to make sure I'm clear on that before I start picking out fish. Thank you!

Lol, there's a reason I asked for online places. I live in the middle of nowhere in the US. There is barely civilization out here, much less aquarium clubs/societies. I don't have a stop light in my county. It's 3.5 hours to the "city" (one way)... of 75,000-100,000 people. So online it is...

As an update, I did get a TDS meter. In the tank with about 50% town water, TDS is 700. From the tap in my house, TDS is 1000+. So, should I be planning for hard water fish now??? This is so confusing but I want my fish to thrive.

Hello! Curious to see where are everyone's favorite places to buy plants and/or fish from? Thanks!

Alright, pH is around 8.2 in town. So, fish suggestions for a 60 gallon tank with a GH of 0, KH of 7?? Also plant recommendations? I did buy this light: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07F6XD2FH/?tag=ff0d01-20

I'll probably just use town water. I haven't checked pH, but it seems to be a better option than my well water, and I only live 4 miles from town so it's not a huge deal to make a few trips back and forth with water. I'll check the pH of the water and then we can look at what fish would do best...

That sounds horrible, Byron. Thanks for letting me know. I checked my water at work just to compare it to my well...GH of 0, KH of 7. So would it be beneficial to collect some of this water in town (I run a business so the water is "free" to me as we never use the minimum amount that we pay...

Thanks. I had read a lot on it and there are many people who seem to have no issues with it, so I thought it would be fine. I have used pool sand successfully before as well, with no issues.

As mentioned earlier in the thread, I have already tested the tap water. GH of 1-2 and KH of 38. My substrate is Black Diamond blasting sand (aka coal slag).

Thank you! I just checked my gh and kh of the tap water that has sat in the aquarium for about 5 days. This time kh was 42...it seriously took 42 drops to get the color change. Gh is still around 1. I also checked the pH of the tank and it is 8.4, which is what I assumed it was.

Thank you @Byron , I will definitely consider just leaving my GH that low. It's more along the lines of 1 dGH...it never really turned orange in the test tube. Either way, very soft. Which I still find absolutely astounding. Will my ridiculously high KH have a negative effect on fish or plants?

I personally don't really care if I have hard or soft water for cooking or drinking. It tastes great and hasn't killed me yet in the 6 years I've been using it. It is interesting to me that I suffer from a magnesium deficiency, and my water is lacking Mg if it's that soft, so that might be part...