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I remembered that a couple of you have this same tank, so I thought I'd share what I'm working on and ask a few questions. I plan to set this up as a QT. I removed the pump, tubing and filter material. Then I used a razor blade to remove the sealant on the plastic partition that has caused everyone so much trouble. It was really satisfying to get it out of there and see I was left with a nice open tank! My questions: Do you all use this tank with its pedestal? I've never quite understood the use of it, because it doesn't support the entire tank bottom. Is there a reason for that? If there is, I've not figured it out. I'm concerned about the less-than-tight-fitting lid. The front leaves about a 1/2 inch gap and the back one is bigger, even with the light attached and the air hose going out there. Have any of you lost fish through those spaces? Has anyone removed the black vinyl from the back of the tank? If so, was it difficult to get off? I plan to run it bare-bottom with a small sponge filter. The filter has been in another tank for several months, and I also used some water from that tank too. I plan to plant a couple of clippings from stem plants (from my aquariums) in rockwool in little mesh cups to pop in there too. Any other suggestions or tips with this tank? Thanks so much!

First time fishkeeper and hobbyist. My only tank (30L) and fish.

I went to visit my folks today to setup a new network appliance/AP, and check on the tubs. I'm going to setup a 29 gallon or 40 breeder in their living room to move the White Clouds and Neo shrimp inside. I filmed a quick clip of my mom feeding the tubs. I was wondering why she was asking for more Xtreme Nano!

Not quite IN my fishroom, but definitely fish related. I recently relocated my 150 gallon tub/pond from the north side of my house to the south side. This matters because the pond will get something like 50-80% more sunlight year-round. I also sold my wife on the outdoor tub idea a couple years ago by saying I would encase the tubs in a wood frame and make raised flower bed perimeters, well that never happened and here we are...I guess better late than never. Project was pretty easy, build a box out of pressure treated 2"x12"s, fill it with soil, plant flowers. Done!😃 See pics below. Added the gnome pic from the garden store because I was legit surprised that they made the mold for this guy.

No, I prefer the deep tension that comes with really knowing someone enough to skirt around mutual areas of disagreement. But I do love watching my snails creep across the top of a tank upside down. When I was a kid my mom told me horror stories of tanks overcome by snails so I was charmed when I discovered they were not only adorable but useful pets/puffer food.

Xenotoca lyonsi are coming along nicely, super stoked about these.

I am so sorry to hear this. Something similar just happened to one of our LFS and they lost their two rays - it sounded like maybe the city made some changes to the water or something; it wasn’t due afaik to a mistake on their end.

I'm so sorry for your loss. Based on a quick Google search, my initial thought is chlorine in the tap water. Levels can vary from district to district and can even change over time. Green neons are very small so maybe they succumb more quickly? That said, I can't be sure that it was chlorine toxicity. I think that your hunch that is something introduced to the tank is spot on. Especially since it was so fast. I can imagine your horror. But, I've also read that small water changes are ok without a dechlorinator, so please don't beat yourself up. Even if it was chlorine, you thought you would be ok based on the information you had. Please don't give up! You sound like a thoughtful and caring fish-keeper.

Hey a thread where I can be useful. I am a structural engineer by profession, and if you got me the frame dimensions, steel sizes, and thicknesses I would be happy to check the stand for you.

In terms of affordability and weight bearing, it's hard to beat 2x4s. I built all my stands out of pine, including my 90-gallon. The frame of this thing is overkill. Double 2x4s at each corner, as well as on either side of the cabinets, cross bracing on top and bottom (mostly to keep it squared up). Then you've got lots of closed storage. Top cabinet super convenient for storing fertilizers and food. Bottom cabinet has cleaning supplies and other random stuff. Right cabinet has the Fluval FX6, left cabinet has bulk filter media, test kits, nets, etc. Sourcing actual tanks, though, not easy around here. I see people across the country picking up these bargain 100+ gallon tanks, whereas everyone around here is trying to sell their 20 and 30 gallons for $100. Petco never ever has anything above 75 gallons. I had to buy my own glass and made the 90 gallon myself. And I paid through the nose for that 1/2 inch glass.

I normally don't order lots of root tabs. I should; I have tons of plants that can use them. But they are more buoyant than anything I've ever seen in a aquarium, and it's really difficult to get them deep under the root of my plants (even with forceps) so that they'll stay there before the tablet casing begins to degrade! It sometimes takes me several minutes to deposit one tablet, and it's a task I really don't look forward to. When folks on this forum a couple weeks ago mentioned a very expensive, unavailable-to-the-US mechanism made just for this purpose, I hit the internets. But there was no way I could have something like this shipped to the US for less than $60! So I started researching the DIY route, and after some trial and error and lots of research, I've come up with this one-handed solution. It can be made for less than $10 in parts from your local Home Depot. In fact, you can make two for about the same cost! It is sized for Aquarium Co-Op Easy Root Tabs. PARTS: So let's dive in. These are the parts I collected together (non-affiliate links) : 1. Straight PEX Pipe: 1/4" ID, 5' length: $1.76 https://www.homedepot.com/p/Apollo-1-4-in-x-5-ft-White-PEX-Pipe-APPW514/301541226 2. Wood dowel: 3/16" diameter, 4' length: $0.70 https://www.homedepot.com/p/3-16-in-x-48-in-Wood-Round-Dowel-HDDH31648/204354369 3. Drawer pull: 1-1/14" birch cabinet knob: $0.98 https://www.homedepot.com/p/Liberty-Rowland-1-1-4-in-32-mm-Birch-Wood-Round-Cabinet-Knob-P10512H-BIR-C/204143998 4. Drawer pull: 1-13/16" birch cabinet knob: $1.88 https://www.homedepot.com/p/Liberty-Classic-1-13-16-in-46-mm-Unfinished-Birch-Wood-Round-Cabinet-Knob-P10515C-BIR-C5/100156480 5. Springs: 6-pack zinc-plated compression springs (used the 3/8" x 1-1/8" x 0.041" spring): $4.22 https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-Zinc-Plated-Compression-Spring-6-Pack-16087/202045468 TOTAL: $9.54 TOOLS: 1. Drill and assorted bits 2. Wood glue (or white glue) 3. 5-minute epoxy PREP: The 1/4" PEX pipe does not fit the Easy Root tabs. I made it fit by enlarging the first inch or so of one end of the pipe using a 5/16" drill bit. Now, the smaller end of the Easy Root Tab fits very snugly. If I don't push it in too far, it's a perfect grip! Next, I cut a 12" length of the PEX pipe and a 13" length of the dowel. I don't have very deep tanks, so this is fine for me. But this can be cut to any length you need; just make sure the dowel is always one inch longer than the tube. The wooden knobs already have holes drilled in them, which made it very easy to enlarge them to exactly the diameters I needed. For the smaller knob, I enlarged the hole to 3/16", making sure not to drill all the way through. I glued in my wood dowel with a drop of wood glue to hold it permanently: For the larger knob, I enlarged the hole to 3/8" diameter, this time going all the way through. I made sure to start with a 3/16" bit, and repeatedly went larger and larger until I reached 3/8". This ensured my hole stayed centered and I had a nice clean cut all the way through. I glued in the length of PEX pipe with 5-minute epoxy. This should hold well enough for my purposes. I'm using the shorter, wider spring for this project (3/8" x 1-1/8" x 0.41"). For good measure, I used some 5-minute epoxy to glue the spring to my plunger. This is totally optional, but gives me one less piece I can lose. That's pretty much all there is to do. I just inserted the plunger in the tube and I'm ready to try it out! I placed an Easy Root Tab in the end, just far enough for it to grip, but not so far that it won't push out easily. I inserted the tool with one hand into the tank, pushed the plunger, and voila! A deposited tablet in 5 seconds! But I am over the moon about how this tool turned out. I just placed about 20 tabs in two minutes. Even with coarse gravel, forcing the pill in was no problem. The two pieces come apart for drying, as that wood dowel won't last forever. Now I understand why the professional ones are so expensive. This makes things so much easier. I'm definitely making a longer one for deeper tanks. Hope you find this useful. Thanks for reading! Bill

If I were you and being that the experience is there. I would do School of 10-15 chili rasbora Or CPDs and a single tension fish like a big hillstream loach or mean big male guppy. What I mean by a tension fish is adding a fish like The ram to the school of rummy nose like @Brandy said it helped them get serious. A fish that is the "boss" is helpful to get real schooling behavior

I give my Big guy a snail shell to "play" with. It's just a trap door snail shell that he will grab and splash around he will carry it like a dog with it's bone. When he was only a few inches he would try to fight the air stone and "play" with the bubbles from it hence I named him bubbles. I don't feed live because feeder fish can carry diseases and my guy is a 3 foot plus alligator gar so brine shrimp doesn't cut it for him. He doesn't like to play in front of me but I have found him holding his shell. He will also swim next to where I'm standing and if I don't offer food In time he will splash me with like a gallon of water and pout on bottom for like an hour with his shell next to him.

Its 117* here today and the pond still hasnt gotten above 82* at its peak which is quite a relief. I will continue monitoring it regularly. Hopefully the water temp doesnt continue to creep up in the coming days. Im very impressed thus far with how consistent temperatures have stayed for such small body of water. The Danios are looking fat and happy. The adult hillstream loach pair has also been vacationing in the pond. I havent seen much of them but i can tell theyve been eating well based on the complete destruction of algae in the pond. https://youtu.be/A3fWqqkaPjY The veggies are also fairing quite well i think considering the hellish temps. The first peppers have started to appear which is very exciting.

I keep them in a small Tupperware with a little tank water and store them in the fridge. I feed it all out in 24 hrs.

Don't you just love surface tension? 🙂

I have 9 ember tatras in a 10 gallon tank that shoal. I had 15 green neons in a 12 gallon tank that truly schooled. I think if they shoal or school depends on the type of fish and if the width of the tank allows space for that behavior. 10 gallon dimensions: 19.5 in wide x 12 in tall x 9.5 in deep 12 gallon dimensions: 23.5 in wide x 15 in tall x 8 in deep (I found this strangely proportioned tank that fit perfectly on my 9 in deep fireplace mantle.)

I keep Microworms and Vinegar Eels because they're easy and will last forever if you maintain them

Gasp! You do have to rinse Stratum, but not Eco Complete! Now I remember why it was in a ziploc. Months ago it was being used in a tank I was cycling. The Mopani driftwood in the tank kept getting that white fungus. I know that's normal, but it was extreme, like an inch thick. I kept removing it and scrubbing it clean, but it kept happening. I finally broke down the entire tank and soaked the wood in bleach water for about a month until it finally stopped stinking and getting the fungus. Then I let it soak a couple more weeks in clean water. Also, when I broke down that tank, I drained the Eco Complete and put it in the ziploc to be used for some other project. That stuff is expensive! I didn't reuse it on that tank rebuild because of the negative association. I changed to Stratum. So that Eco Complete was only drained (not rinsed) when it came from that fungus-tainted water months ago. It just never occurred to me that it could be a problem. <<Forehead slap!>> I don't know if that alone was it, or if adding the still-chlorinated water created a perfect storm. I had thought green neons were sensitive, but these guys had come through so much unscathed, I just took for granted their toughness. BTW, the third dwarf chain loach showed up, so that means the only fish affected were the green neons. Man, that hurts. Those poor little things. I'm so going to miss their schooling, the loaches chasing each other through that beautiful blue cloud. Thank you so much to everyone who responded to this post. Even though it was a tragedy, I hope it maybe helps someone else before they make the same mistake.

I use both the fine (red bag) and medium (black bag) black diamond blasting medium in my tanks with no rhyme or reason as to why. I do prefer the fine for capping re-mineralized top soil tanks. The fine is the size of fine sand and the medium is small gravel size. They will both need to be washed very well. See below for pictures of both.

Thanks, @Cory and @genuine_red. I was finally able to post today. 😉 🙂

We relocated (8) 10Gs to the top row, completed (2) of the three rows of aquariums and installed the filtration on the rack. All that’s left is lighting and the bottom row of aquariums, then we can put a fork in this rack. Edit: Wrong pic.

I'll check the bag when I get back home, I still have a partial bag sitting in the stand of one of my tanks. They usually just have a marker line through several of the grades to indicate what all is in the bag.

I had something similar happen to my first batch of axolotl babies. I had dechlorinated and even aged the water, but somehow it shocked all of them and they died in minutes. I suspect either the substrate or water. I think I remember someone saying that certain municipalities will add a super dose of chlorine to their water before the cooler seasons. I am curious if you are in an area that freezes/gets real cold in the winter? I would need to look up more but that might be it. Thats also a very big water change so anything "bad" in the water would have gotten them quickly, and ypu would not have known to add extra dechlorinater (but don't feel like it was your fault- you can't predict when municipalities will add stuff to the water.) That is a small enough tank that you could consider buying gallons of RO water like Glacier from a grocery store or something for a few bucks. I also wonder if the water change stirred up some ammonia in the new substrate? But it seemed like you knew what was going on in that aspect, which makes me suspect the water. Very tough loss. It will always make you want to quit. Just do what feels right- if you need a break, do so. I encourage you to keep going!

Well, all the fishies have been busy here. Figured I'd share and see what everyone else has going on in their tanks. Newest additions are Snow white cichlids, Paleatus corys and some Appistogramm about to start coloring up.

I changed the theme (see the bottom of every page). I switched if from "ACO 2 (Default)" to "ACO". I did that because of a suggestion about a different problem. I don't know if that made any difference, but it suddenly started working.

Currently green water, vinegar eels and micro worms. Live cultures are just as addictive as getting new fish. Just as bad as MTS 🤭 My live cultures are being used for Dwarf Neon Rainbow fry.

That is the one I use.

Back from vacationing. . . Yesterday I delivered a bunch of midnight rams, gold rams, orange medaka rice fish, and L333 plecos to Aquarium Co-op.

My 30L betta tank

I am too lazy to change candles and too risk adverse to run a bunsen burner under my aquarium. The tank moves between 72°F and 78°F each day which is a very, very good temperature range. My biggest problem now is what to do with a big hole in the bottom of my fish tank. I think the solution will be a big rubber stopper. I will just put substrate over the top of it so it won't be visible.

Sounds like chlorine. Like @HenryC I age my water first because 'raw' water is just that, raw. It is good to let the new water settle and let gas exchange happen before it goes into an aquarium. I know this feels hard right now especially if it is not clear that anything has been learned yet, but learning always seems hard (painful). The communication of your experience helps everyone in the long run.

Sad to read this, the thing with small aquariums like those is that a huge change in parameters can happen more easily, and dangerous substances can become way more lethal due to a higher concentration because of the small quantity of water... big tanks have the ability to dilute stuff more. Even if it was only seven gallons, in a 12 gallon tank that's a whole lot of change, over 50% water change in one go, and if you take in consideration that the substrate and decorations might take the volume of 1 gallon of water, you're left with maybe 10-11g only, and changing 8 gets closer to even 70-80% :(. Have you ever done such a big water change before, or was this the first time? Lots of things could have happened :(. Perhaps water had different pH suddendly? Or maybe big change in temperature? Maybe even an ammonia spike from pulling out plants from the substrate or from the ziplocked, wet substrate? If I remember correctly you don't rinse either Eco Complete or Stratum, maybe a dangerous compound got created by rinsing it and storing it wet for months? Maybe Cory can analyze the situation. Something definitely shocked the fish too hard to be able to kill them that quickly and in that volume. As I said, even the smallest changes can unchain a torrent of problems in small aquariums. May them fishies rest in peace and swim in the big lake in the sky. I'm sure you gave them a great life, it was a honest mistake and we all learn from it. I am too paranoid about this, I have several sterilite containers for water changes, and I do this with all my tanks. I place the water first in the sterilite, then add conditioner, swish around for a bit, then I add it to the aquarium, it also lets mee examine (even smell) the water first before putting it in my aquarium, my water plant likes to do random mantenance, and sometimes the water comes out brownish and nasty for a split second after opening the valve. Again, so sorry 😞

As you can see from this quote, a greenhouse or a warm room were common methods of heating an aquarium. Apparently so were closed loops heated by gas flame.

This is my 16 gallon before a little cleaning session. I'm not afraid to share a messy tank.

I've done a couple silly things. I went to clean the glass tops on all my tanks and didn't have a spare table to lay them on while I cleaned them and promptly stepped on the glass and snapped it. I've done it at least twice. After the second time I bought a folding card table just so I'd have something to take from one room to the next so as to keep them up off the floor. Duh. Also several months ago I pulled out a half a forest of Crypts in my 75g without replacing it with anything else. About the same time I upgraded my light to a Fluval 3.0 and promptly had hair algae everywhere. Took me a month to realize what I'd done. I still have a bit but it's on the down slope. Now I do everything is slow increments.

this is a topless fluval edge (6 gallons) i made it into a little pond like set up with some plants lots of different leaf litter and rocks to make it look more natural. this is a mix golden creeping jenny, charlie mint, and fissidens moss that has overtaken the driftwood and is spreading to the other piece. the stem plants are all planted in the tank into the substrate so its a mix of submersed and emersed growth.

CENTER ISLAND & FIRST TETRAS My center island is an Anubias tree! I started with this overpriced decoration from PetSmart, cut off all the plastic flowers, and sliced off about an inch and a half off the bottom with my bandsaw: I then gathered together an assortment of Anubias I had collected over 2-3 orders from Aquarium Co-Op: 1 x Anubias nana 2 x Anubias golden 3 x Anubias nana petite (one had split) I superglued the Anubias to the tree. It helps to have a CA glue kicker, if you're into modelmaking or those kinds of things. 🙂 And here it is in the tank! I found 8 ember tetras at a nearby Petco, so I pulled out the platies and put those guys in. I will start to build up the numbers over time. Water parameters are zero on the ammonia & nitrite, under 20 on the nitrates. I gave it a spritz of Easy Green, and I'll watch those parameters very closely. Tomorrow I'll squeeze in some mulm from one of the other tanks during my weekend water changes. These guys immediately shoaled together, and that little shoal started to slowly migrate around the center island: S So far, so good! It will be interesting to learn the quantity of fish at which the group behavior starts to change. The shoal loosens up when I walk away, and tightens right back up when I get close again. What happens when there are so many fish in there the shoal becomes a directional school? Will it? Thanks for reading! Bill

Oh Colorado how I love you. Currently 91 out with a forecast for Tuesday of snow with a high of 35. Time to save as many fry And shrimp as possible and break down the deck pond.

Got down to 49 here last night, tub was 54 this morning, may have to drop a heater in the guppy tub! Probably have to move them the end of September.

For those in the snow belt, when will you move your tubs or livestock inside?

This is just such a nice set up! It's got all the features that make eye-pleasing, yet it's perfectly functional. Can't wait to see how the veggies do and if the fish enjoy being outside. So funny that you have fry already!😄 Congrats on creating such a nice system.

Today I lost all but six of the fish in my 12 gallon tank. All 15 green neons went literally belly-up within 3 minutes as I watched in horror. I'm also missing one of my three dwarf chain loaches. So that's 16 of 22 of my treasured fish. Here's what happened. I purchased three sword plants from an online seller that I've bought from many times. They were the usual gloriously beautiful and healthy plants I've come to expect from this seller. Regardless of that, I'm still not stupid enough to not wash the plants, which I do by cleaning them under running water, trimming any questionable leaves and roots, then letting them soak in clean water. I didn't use any cleaning products, just water. I really don't think the plants were the culprit. Before planting them, I pulled up all the plants they were replacing, then did a thorough tank cleaning/water change. I did a gravel vac, removed about 2/3 of the water, and cleaned the HOB filter in the used tank water as always. I then planted the new plants and added some old Eco Complete to cover the roots*. All fish were lively as I cleaned, and curious about the new plants. * (This was extra substrate that had been rinsed a few months ago but not used. It was sealed in a ziplock bag with most of the air pressed out. It may be important to note that it's not the same substrate used in the rest of that tank--Fluval Stratum.) Then I refilled about seven of the eight displaced gallons with tap water (which I always use) with my python hose. (At this point, the fish were still okay, playing in the incoming water stream.) I could not immediately access my dechlorinator during the refilling (it was in a bathroom that was in use), but I thought "What the heck, I remember a YouTuber saying he doesn't put in the dechlorinator until after a refill and he doesn't have any problem." I mean, it was only about seven gallons ... Then the horror ensued. I turned off the tap and when I came back in the room, I discovered one green neon swimming upside down then another then six then ten then all of them. I immediately retrieved the dechlorinator and added it to the water. There were about five of the neons still twitching, which I gathered as quickly as I could and ran them to my very clean plant grow-out tank. They didn't make it either. I'm just heartbroken. I've had those beautiful little things for about 10 months, never losing one of them. I got them through a stubborn bout of ich, made drastic changes to the aquascape in their tank, and they were not bothered by the cyanobacteria outbreak last month that cleared up quickly with the use of a UV sterilizer. I don't know if the old substrate could have been tainted or moldy. It looks and smells fine. In total I only used about 1/2 cup of it. If it wasn't that, could it have been the chlorine? Neither the dead fish or the survivors (two dwarf chain loaches and four honey gouramis) look to have red gills. Poor little things. I haven't flushed them yet and some of them are still bright colored and their eyes are still lit blue. This morning I was excited to add my new plants to fill out the blank areas of that aquarium. Now I just wast to break it down.