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I used a now discontinued API Tap Water Filter filled with API Nitra-Zorb. I set it up to trickle well water through to use for water changes. It was very efficient and I could recharge the media by soaking in salt water. The resin lasted forever as it was not contaminated by dirty water!!! 😊

Rather odd to post but I felt some might be interested as Byron was such a mentor to many 'fish friends'...

It is with great sadness to share the news that my friend Byron passed away in the wee hours this morning. I well know that many here will share my sadness. We have lost a great fishkeeper who was always willing to help a fellow hobbyist. Byron fought the good fight for a very long time but as...

As many of you know, Byron Hoskins has been my friend for many years as we were both moderators on another fish forum years ago. As a matter of fact, when a new company took over that forum and I was expelled without cause, Byron left in protest on my behalf...cementing a lifelong ,albeit long...

Hello Addict. I've been in the hobby over 50 years and used to also obsess over frequent partial water changes. Now frequent partial water changes are great, just maybe not as critical as we once thought. I also used to think that getting the crud out of the filter as soon as possible would be...

There was a time grasshopper's that I once religiously did 50% weekly water changes along with filter cleaning. I have since relaxed this the every other or even every 3rd week for partial water changes and I don't clean filters until the water flow is visibly reduced...as the filter houses a...

MTS are great, however, these snails will only burrow to levels that also support oxygen which may not be the case in deeper fine sand where anaerobic conditions exist. Btw, in tanks where I have substrate, it's all pool filter sand. :)

Just my two cents..... Although plants may do okay in fine sand, I tend to believe that roots have an easier time in slightly coarse sand or gravel. Coarse sand is also more permeable better ensuring against anaerobic regions. Remember not to stir the sand! Disturbing sand may trap detritus...

There may be some personality traits that create a likelihood for MTS or other hobby/obsessions. I remember as a youngster I would go through what my mother called phases, there was a coin collection, a rock collection, gardening, Gerbils, and of course tropical fish. There may have been others...

Not all fishmeal is created equally. Some is merely heads, skin/scales, and bones. Fishmeal made from whole fish is better, however, it may still be loaded with preservatives and sit in a warehouse for an unspecified period. Clearly fish foods made from whole fresh fish are better, but few and...

Automatic feeders have been debated by hobbyist's since they came along. Some swear by them, some swear at them. I'll confess to have mixed feelings about them. In general fish are preprogrammed to feed whenever food is available. In the wild, the availability of food may be few and far between...

Keeping pets of any type seems a bit of a double edged sword. On the one hand, to some, it may seem cruel to cage or otherwise confine any critter. Then again, look at how cruel nature can be. Bad weather, predators, poor food supplies. Like my dogs over the years, my fish are well fed and live...

It was virtual so you bring your own snack and a favorite beverage. :-)

Culturing/Collecting Live Foods

Well, it's all been said (happens when you come to the party late!). Plants, especially fast growing stem and floating plants (slow growing plants, not so much), adsorb ammonia as their nitrogen source as they grow so pollution is converted into plant tissue. In so doing, this ammonia does not...

DITTO. Although nitrate levels are one means of measuring pollution, there are other potential contaminates invisible to a nitrate test. Nature constantly freshens fresh water with rain and snow melt. In the confined aquarium, the hobbyist makes the rain to replace old water with fresh. So...

Fish get no respect (in my best Rodney Dangerfield <g>) The fish 'hobby' is one that can come and go without much fanfare, while a person would be hard pressed to give up a dog or cat that's more like a family member. Life goes on and we all make choices. :)

I used to fertilize regularly and then I stopped...In my 60g tank in the living room, I switched from 50% weekly to 50% every other week...and the plants are doing just fine, if not better than before - like feeding your fish, sometimes less is more. :)

I must confess that my enthusiasm for the hobby is quite reduced and for the life of me I'm not sure how to deal with a couple of hundred 'unwanted' swordtails in the basement. If I lived in the south and had a pond it would be easy. But here I sit in the Northeast in the dead of winter...

...At least for me.

First, although I was perhaps once a pioneer in source water nitrate removal with a repurposed API Tap water filter filled with API NitraZorb, I'm happy to report that my well water nitrates are low enough now so as not to require filtration. The 95 acre farm land across the road changed hands...

Although you can mess with your water chemistry (many hobbyists do) I tend to believe that your better off just living with the source water that you have. 'Chasing your tail' to match some imaginary water chemistry target doesn't necessarily meet the best needs of your fish and fish will often...

https://mjvaquatics.com/partial-water-changes-fast-and-easy/

I'm jumping in late, but feel I may add some clarity... My friend, @Byron pointed to the article I wrote quite some time ago for our CNYAS fish club newsletter, the Reflector: Commercial Fish Foods. Back in the day, serious fishkeepers became concerned about commercial fish foods made with low...

Disclaimer: I have untreated well water for aquarium water changes so I don't typically use any conditioners! However, I have used Seachem Safe (powder version of Prime) in instances of suspected ammonia content. So lets first speak of WC volume. I have always advocated 50% (or more) weekly or...

You can add a new heater before or after removing the old heater. Most mfg's recommend inserting the new heater for about 10 minutes before plugging it in. Now most heaters are close, but often 2°F or so off from the set point, so always monitor with a thermometer and adjust as necessary. :)

Wishing you and yours Happy and Safe Holidays! ♥

Is your water naturally soft? Please tell us it's not from a water softener. If so, crushed coral may be your most cost efficient method. But as @Byron asks, why?.... as it's always better to just use the water you have, rather than chase your tail to try and make a different water chemistry. :)

Think of it like food you would eat. Frozen food has to get to room temperature before bacteria begins to spoil it. It's probably even somewhat less important for fish food considering that fish in the wild will eat decaying organic material with few ill effects.

The Seachem products listed above are good and I have used them. I also like my friend (and contributor to my website) Greg Sage of Select Aquatics of Erie, Co.'s Rapid Grow Aquatic Plant Fertilizer. Greg has been breading and selling fish for many decades and has an amazing fishroom (take a...

"Are heaters really necessary?" Well, not always. As @Byron points out, it depends on the species. And I would go a step further to say that it also depends on how COLD the ambient temperature is around the aquarium. Then too, all creatures want to survive and many can tolerate colder...

It likely varies with the grain size of the sand. I believe that my pool filter sand is permeable up to 2" deep where finer sands may only be 1" deep or so. And this may be enhanced by the activity of tunneling Malaysian Trumpet Snails. Other beneficial biology can exist in deeper levels hence...

Agree to disagree .... Again there is far more surface area for BB in the substrate than in any filter. I would agree that in a tank with limited or no substrate, then with only slight exception, the filter is the only place for a BB colony. Footnote: Then again, even with my 50+ years in the...

Nay nay... any tank. Hobbyists have been brain washed for years (that's right I said it!) by manufacturers that beneficial biology only lives in special bio-media in filters. It's marketing hype that's just not true. We've also been 'informed' that sponge material is only for mechanical...

The real flaw in the plan isn't the copper pipe, but filtering the polluted water and returning it to the tank - better off discarding the dirty water can refilling with fresh clean water. Edit: I realize now that my post is somewhat of an echo of my friend @Byron's post - great minds and crazy...

YELL BACK! :)

Especially once established, there is far more beneficial bacteria in the tank, especially the SUBSTRATE, than in any filter. So you can clean filter sponges in tap water and never see a problem. :)

In my much earlier days in the hobby, I thought we were best served by keeping filters clean. After all filters trap organic waste where it decomposes and pollutes the water. In theory that seemed sound, but only if you were to clean the filter every day or even more often. In fact, much like...

If you read the article, what I'm saying is that the with the exception of uptake by fast growing plants, the ammonia or ammonium will be processed by beneficial bacteria into nitrites, then nitrates. Since our primary reason for routine partial water changes is to reduce nitrates, this can...

Perhaps semantics, but water conditioners don't remove anything since removal would be extraction. What they can do is neutralize or detoxify chlorine, chloramine, and/or heavy metals. But there's a 'price to be paid'. It has been written that heavy metal detox prevents plants from taking them...