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How small is the ammonia? Even 0.25 ppm over prolonged exposure is very stressful, even for hardy fish like danios. Fish under stress often stop eating, and ammonia stress would also most likely explain the one hiding behind the filter as well, and gives a pretty good idea about the fourth one -...

What kind of vinegar did you use? They're not all created equal. White wine vinegar and heat is the only thing I've found that can fight hard water stains.

Glofish are danios. They breed by scattering eggs in groups, which is good news if you don't want babies, since the eggs will get eaten in an aquarium setting unless you take steps to save them. I've read the genetic engineering in glofish has a lethal factor - if two different color strains...

I have a hard cover copy. It's pretty, big pictures, makes a good coffee table book, but it doesn't really have that many fish. I have a few more compact books that have far more fish and more information. Definitely a good book, but I prefer the ones I can carry with me to the store in case...

Everything mentioned above, but also a little bit of experimentation (with a plan B ready to go at a moment's notice if it doesn't work). Sometimes no matter how much you research or who you ask you'll find yourself in a situation where nobody's entirely sure what will happen, though they think...

Stress coat is basically just a rather expensive water conditioner. You do want to use some kind, primarily to remove chlorine, but stress coat is more expensive to buy and you use more of it. Seachem prime is a popular one, you use fairly small amounts (with my 55 gallon, a bottle will last...

If there's some surface movement, it should be enough - air stones aren't very good at oxygenating because the bubbles just rush to the surface and dissipate. However, if the tank gets hot, hot water holds less oxygen and it can be rough on fish sometimes. Anyway, much more important are...

I've let all my fish go for nine days once without food. I noticed a harlequin rasbora missing afterward but that was it. It can feel uncomfortable leaving your pets so long unfed, but cold blooded animals need a lot less food than warm blooded ones. Most of the stuff we eat is burned just...

I like to overfilter pretty heavily for community tanks. More filtration allows bigger bacteria colonies and more capacity for removing ammonia, which lets you push the stocking rules a bit more - particularly bigger shoals. You'd be amazed the difference just one or two extra fish in each of...

They should be ok together. I keep keyhole cichlids with kribs. As long as the kribs aren't spawning, they're quite peaceful and do fine with most tropical fish. If they try to breed, which is always a possibility if you have a male and a female, they can become real terrors. I've also had...

I have a similar glass lid, but there was a bit more room to work with than it sounds like you have. I taped the bottle to the top of the filter and let it hang down, and trimmed it until it didn't quite touch the back of the tank.

Decorations are fine. As for plants, they thrive in an ammonia rich environment - they'll probably never grow quite so well once the tank's mature than they will during the cycle.

I have a couple aquaclears, and they are pretty strong for hanging filters. If you block the output so water doesn't spill directly into the tank, you'll cut down on the flow a bit. I used half of a 2 liter bottle to do that once. That was because my hatchetfish were getting blown around, but I...

What's the normal pH? pH can crash during a fishless cycle (or for that matter during normal operation if you go too long between water changes), particularly if your water has a low kH. Did you do a big (~90%) water change right after the cycle before adding fish? That'll "reset" your water...

There's do it yourself CO2 fermentation units, as well as ones you can buy. Much cheaper than compressed ones, but there's downsides, too. A word of warning: Everyone in your house will hate you when it comes time to clean it. I tried cleaning mine outside and the neighbors complained - I think...

If he absolutely has to use such a tiny bowl, go for a couple feeder guppies. It's still a really small bowl, but they cost pennies and they're about as close to indestructible as you can get with fish. I've heard of them being accidentally forgotten on a shelf in those plastic cups pet stores...

How did you cycle it? (what was your ammonia source, how long did it take, any details at all) Even after a fishless cycle, it is possible to overwhelm the bacteria you built up and get an additional minicycle if you add a heavy stock of fish right away. Cycled isn't a yes/no question, it's...

Aquarium salt also alters the toxciticy of nitrite and nitrate. It was very popular in the mid/late 20th century with poor understanding of the nitrogen cycle making a lot of noise about "old water" and general fear of water changes. It stresses fish that don't need it, but when you run on no...

Nitrates themselves aren't very deadly - hardy fish have been tested to easily survive hundreds of ppm. However, long before the time that a lethal level builds up in the tank, you get stuff like nitric acid building up as well, which reacts with the carbonate hardness, and when the kH drops...

What kind of cichlids? It would be safe with most rift valley cichlids, which thrive in the higher pH and hardness that the limestone will cause, but not as much with most river cichlids or new world species.

The symptoms you mention Define "safest color" for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. You gave good details on hardness and pH, but these are rarely stats to worry about - the only time they'd be a concern is if they're significantly different from those at your fish store (common if they're in a...

On the same vein as the hot water question: has there been any water main work in your area recently? Last year the connections fromt he water main to the houses on my street were replaced and I didn't think anything of it at first until shortly after the next water change I had a snail...

There's a thread about it on the gourami forum right now ("I Know That Your Not Supposed To But What's The Reason?") - gouramis with female bettas is generally not a good idea, but some people have had success. You can say that about a lot of things, though - lots of space, the right aquascape...

Undergravel filters have low flow, but over a much larger surface area than power filters. They don't grow the noticeable brown mats of bacteria that power filters do, either - they have smaller colonies over a much lager area. What ianho said is a bit simplified, but it's still essentially...

It depends on the species. Some (apple snails for example) only have one sex, some have both but need a mate, some can self-fertilize. Some don't even lay eggs, but give live birth. They're pretty diverse little guys.

I've always put bettas in fresh out of fishless cycles. They're fairly tough little fish, the fact that they regularly hang on for months in unfiltered, let alone uncycled, tanks is a good testament to the fact. They're not particularly prone to stress or disease, which is what makes fish...

Try replacing the heater - if it's getting over 80 even on very low settings it sounds like it's not turning off when it should. They have a thermostat built in so that in warm weather, a properly functioning heater won't overheat the tank, it just won't turn on. The other consideration is the...

With enough size, decoration, and a lot of luck you can do a lot of things you're "not supposed to." I know a guy who's opinion is that with the right aquascaping and baring major size differences or lethal equipment, you can potentially keep any two species together if you can figure out how to...

Not for long as it grows. Goldfish have a reputation as the ultimate short lived disposable pet, but they're actually pretty long lived (longer than a dog - 20-30 years isn't unusual of and 40+ has happened) and get big. Common breeds from good breeding can get well over a foot long, fancy...

Here in Michigan the actual water cost is pretty much meaningless. My bill this month was $89, but 86 and change was fixed fees that aren't based on my usage. Daily showers, a temperamental toilet, water changes, washing the car, and watering the yard, I didn't even hit $5 in usage.

I'd say hornwort is worth a try, too. It can grow free floating, and even though they'll certainly eat it (many of my fish graze on it), it can grow ridiculously fast and you'll still probably need a rake to keep it under control. You can tie it to rock or stonework if you want, or just let it...

My main secret: A comfy chair about eye-level with the mid line of the tank. Just sit still and relax by whatever plant or rock you want in the picture with the fish (or just where the fish likes to hang out). The more you run around the tank, the more likely you are to either spook the fish or...

My understanding of dwarf gourami disease is that it's pretty contained. Only other anabantoids are likely to be vulnerable to it, and even a lot of those are resistant or immune. It's only really something I'd worry about if you're adding another dwarf gourami to a tank with healthy ones...

NO2 (nitrIte) at 1 is high. The same .25 rule for ammonia is useful for nitrite. It's not usually as bad as ammonia, but still not a good thing, and should always be 0 in an established tank..

LaraFrog brings up a good point - provided the filter media didn't dry out, the tank is probably still cycled (or close to it) if that's the situation. Either way, you definitely want a test kit - that and a siphon are the most powerful tools in a fishkeeper's arsenal, and a set of water...

They could have come in the bag with new fish. Did you get any decorations that had been in another tank? Lettuce does good for catching them - leave it in overnight, and check early in the morning. Pull the leaf out and throw it away along with the snails. Just about any loach will eat snails...

A spoon or fork works fine. If you cut it lengthways, you can put a rock on one end - I usually use that for lettuce, and a fork for cucumber or zucchini.

Most likely a bloodbath, yeah. If they're something like kribensis, maybe, but rift valley cichlids will probably eat the neons and kill the angelfish. At the very least, it'll be unpleasant for the community fish. Do you have a good sized tub? Put the fish in that, put some screen over it so...

Is it just a glass tube heater? One of mine has a plastic knob on the end for just such a situation. it does let it sit on the substrate safely if need be, but I'd definitely go out and get a new suction cup. They're cheap, and even if the heater is entirely safe, when it's not fastened, I'd...

Planaria don't have legs. As far as I know, they aren't destructive, either - they'll feed mostly on waste food. My first guess would be some kind of insect larvae, but there are freshwater bristleworms (they're in the class Oligochaeta, rather than Polychaeta like their marine cousins). I've...