Pepere

Yes, if fish health is your only concern. Plants really don’t do better at 50 ppm than they do at 30-35 ppm. 30- 35 is the most they can process. The only rational that I could imagine with dosing to 50 ppm is the thought that it will gradually reduce to 30 ppm over the week…. For myself I front load after doing a water change, and then add another 6 ppm midweek.. Saturday morning is water change day, and nitrates will be around the 20 ppm mark before I do a 50% change. I dose about 25 ppm in my co2 tanks. A bit higher would make plants grow faster, but at 25 ppm, it lessens the trimming and replanting work. One of my 29 gallon co2 injected tanks. In my non co2 supplemented tank, I am keeping it down to 15 ppm. I am also doing 50% water changes twice a week along with using a Turkey baster to suspend crud from the bottom in order to vacuum it up. I also put in an 80 gph powerhead for extra flow. It seems to be helping. My hope is once algae is in abeyance I can back off on the water changes… my low tech 17 gallon fish bowl.

American Flagfish, for those who can obtain them also like to munch on algae they find in the tank…

It bears mentioning to ensure you are conducting your test correctly and your test kit is not expired etc… When I restarted in this hobby testing for nitrates and such was new to me, and I was in to big of a hurry to read the instructions in the booklet. I had the API master test kit with liquid drops. I saw there were two bottles for nitrates but it called for 10 drops on the bottle. So I assumed they provided two bottles to give you enough chemical to run all the tests you needed to keep up with the ph tests and nitrite tests that only had 1 bottle… SomI ran my tests with just bottle 1. And I never had any nitrate… until I read the booklet and conducted my tests correctly. By then I had bright red test solution…

Just to add, I recently discovered by reading the 2 hr aquarist site, that in a co2 supplemented tank it takes about 2 weeks for plants to adjust and reprogram and to see a response in terms of robust new growth. In a tank that is not supplemented with co2 it takes longer. Possibly as long as 6 weeks to determine if your changes are making a difference. Changes will be observed in terms of new growth. Oftentimes the old growth will be abandoned by the plant, and as a leaf is getting weaker it leaches organics from the leaves that algae likes to munch on…

A male American Flagfish can fill that bill. Of course a couple of females would be welcomed by him and encourage him to color up more and display…

It sure wouldnt hurt to have your nitrates up to at least15 ppm in a non co2 injected tank… 1 pump of easy green raises nitrates 3 ppm in 10 gallons of water.

Algae eating livestock would not be my first course of action. https://www.2hraquarist.com/blogs/algae-control/prevent-algae-growth “Maintaining good plant health, and stable parameters are important as it allows plants to grow consistently healthy. Healthy plants produce anti-microbial chemicals that prevent pathogens and algae from attacking the plant. However, each time growth parameters are changed drastically, plants have to channel energy instead to re-program their enzymes to optimize for new conditions.” “Under stress, plants will generally stop defending the older, less valuable leaves first. Algae will then opportunistically spawn on the affected (usually older) leaves. If the plant recovers in time, often affected leaves can recover. However, often the plant may choose instead to channel energy into producing new leaves, sacrificing the oldest leaves. Old leaves do not heal, and need to be trimmed away to make space for new growth. Preventing the plant from under going such periods of stress is important in keeping the tank algae free.” https://www.2hraquarist.com/blogs/algae-control/how-do-you-control-algae-naturally Reading every bit of info you can find on the 2 hr aquarist and putting it in to action is well worth the effort. Information I learned on the site allowed me to transform my display tanks to have no visible algae. Granted they are co2 injected tanks which makes the task much easier. iI am currently working on another non co2 supplemented tank and trying to refine my skills to keep that one free of visible algae as well…. I am not there yet, but it is oh so much better than any of my prior attempts…

Not on mine. There is an obvious seam between two parts and holes are on the seam on the inside. However, gentle persuasion with a knife on that seam did not yield promising results…

Airline tubing friction fits decently on the end of a syringe. A little electrical tape on the end of the airline allows the threads of the syringe end to secure better…

At least once…. Whether it could be reassembled is another question. I took a look at one and gently tried prying it. It doesn’t look too promising. I would hesitate to take a knife to trying to open it as the risk of self injury seems pretty high. my plan is soaking in a fairly strong bleach solution myself., then using dechlorinator. I would use a syringe with some airline hose attached on the end to flush the collar with bleach water and afterwards with dechlorinator water…

Crack or scratch, aesthetically it would be bothering me every time I looked at it.., Myself I would get a new tank and offer this one for sale cheap as a reptile tank.

Looking in to the tank looking at the back wall, your not going to perceive any difference so long as there is no lint from the roller sticking in the paint. doesnt really matter if it is matt or gloss either. The glass gives it a gloass regardless. now on the back of the tank looking from the outside there is a difference, but looking at it from the glass side, none whatsoever. My tank backs are near a wall, so I never see the side that it matters one way or the other. It is generally such a small surface I never bother with a roller and simply brush it on. 2 coats reliably blocks light. I place a light inside the tank when brushing. Between fumes, overspray, need to mask, expense, I much prefer brushing over spraying. I can see where others might prefer spraying…. Either way I cant tell the difference when I am looking in to a tank.

I simply brush on Rustoleum black with a disposable chip brush. I recoat it next day with a second coat. Works fine, no need for spray in my opinion.

My local Petco has serious fish enthusiasts in the department.. but they are not decision makers…. The store is terribly run down and the fish aisles are forever blocked by pallets of dog food. It is unkempt, in need of cleaning, understaffed, and the shelves are horribly understocked. I rarely buy any hardgoods there..

From a stores perspective I suspect a lot of new fish tank buys are impulse purchases. If the store laid out a plan of setting up the tank and waiting 6-8 weeks to cycle, a lot of people would be overwhelmed, put off by it… lost sales…. Lots of people dont wanna know either…. I was talking to an acquaintance who has a 15 gallon with a dozen Glo Fish skirt tetras in it and plastic plants. Only ever uses the moonlight feature from the kit light because otherwise the Algae gets too bad…. Has never done a water change, simply tops off water level and changes a cartridge to hob. States she doesnt need to do water changes because she bought a water conditioner that “ instantly eliminates all chlorine, ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. Zaps them right away.” Never tested her water either because her magic solution eliminates all potential issues. Declined an offer of free test strips too…

My next tank is going to be a 75 gallon. I intend to try a dark cycle, using filter squeezings to jump start the cycle and ammonia.. No plants, no lights. Wait until the cycle has matured with ammonia dosing for at least 6-8 weeks before planting.. The theory being that you have a microbiologicaly mature tank before putting in plants that supposedly leads to less algae problems once you put in plants… My suspicion is it is like a weather forecast. I will tell you more a few months after having tried it…

Personally, I would water change to drop the nitrates and minimize chance of Algae taking off. Then redose with ammonia. The ammonia will convert to nitrite to allow that part of the cycle to continue.

If the air collar clogs, I would be inclined to try soaking it in a strong bleach solution and then using an appropriately sized bottle brush. I have not had to do this on mine yet, but have used it on an air collar on an air collar on a suction cup mounted double sponge filter I have.

Yes but the sensor is potted in epoxy in a plastic well. I just don’t see it as worth the investment of time to fix a used heater. AQQA 50 watt unit costs $20.99.

last post on first page Cory writes in why they decided to stop offering it. Further up the page is a video where Cory discusses why they discontinued it. I bought 2 AQQA look alike heaters recently from Amazon. Electronic circuitry functions like the first co op heater. Only difference I have been able to perceive is the logo and a shorter cord. But just because I cant perceive other differences doesnt mean there are not other differences… If I could still buy the co op version I would be.

Have a good discussion with wherever you get your co2 refills before deciding.. I originally got a 5 pound tank. The tank cost me $100.00 roughly. Refills are an exchange rather than a refill. It cost $38.00. It covers the co2 itself and the labor as well as maintenance and testing of the tank and valve. I have 2, 29 gallon tanks and a 20 high. I was exchanging tanks every 6 weeks… I upgraded to a 20 pound tank… which gives me roughly 6 months between changes. The company credited the full 100.00 from the tank toward the upgrade to the $200.00 20 pound tank. The best part is that an exchange only costs me $48.00. So $10.00 more for 4 times the product. That is because the labor to refill, test handle, maintain the tank is virtually the same as a 5 pounder. always helpful to see the visual difference in tank size… My first regulator was a co op one. When I put it on the tank it had an internal gas leak inside the regulator itself. Not a user error issue… Candi promptly shipped out a new one. The replacement worked fine for 4 days and then there would be no pressure on secondary side. Primary guage showed pressure, secondary showed none. Shut off the tank valve, take the regulator off and put it back on and open the valve and secondary pressure would be back for another few days, and then a repeat… again no user error at play… The coop offered another replacement, but I opted for a refund instead and bought a Co2art regulator instead. Given that a regulator failure can kill all of your tank inhabitants 2 failed regulators in a row was more than I was comfortable with. This was within weeks of the co op offering the regulator for sale, and they did not yet have a lot of experience with it to see what their problem rate would be, but they did say I was not the first to report both problems… The Co2art elite pro with three bubble counters feeding 3 tanks has been working flawlessly since I got it. It comes with a 10 year warranty. I also found the needle adjuster to regulate the bubble count much more precise on the Co2art model over the co op model. They are much easier to adjust. Since having bought it however, @Mmiller2001 has made known to me the benefits of buying a regulator from Alan Le, going from memory on the name here, with a flow guage as opposed to a bubble counter. I plan on buying one when I start up a 75 gallon tank…

5 gallon will be too high to fit under my sink spout. I just ordered a set of three 22 guage Stainless steel buckets that will fit.

It took me two times…. now the first time was to the twin of this one and the handle pulled up through the plastic. It was in the basement and I dumped on the floor. I inspected it and noted the plastic was thin in that area so chalked it up to simply a defect. I inspected my other one and there was no problem… then today the handle itself broke dumping 2 1/2 gallons on my hardwood floor… 30 minutes later it is all mopped up and I have an oscillating fan and dehumidifier going. the braided rug garnered a lot of the water and that is drying in the basement… I am going to see if I can find some sturdy stainless steel buckets…

One of my Co op heaters was flashing end of life so decided to retire it. And I was curious as to its innards… The back clamshell can be pried off fairly easily. There are four little plastic moldings 1 in each corner that mates to recesses on the front housing. once off it is easy enough to clean out all the snails that get in there… 1 quartz tube with a resistive heater element. And the brains in the center and a temp probe in the bottom. All of it bedded in place with a plastic type resin, most likely an epoxy. Other than removing the back to clean out snails, nothing worth trying to repair or replace in there…. popping it back together to keep as a backup. thought people might like to see.

Well, $25.00 for an inkbird controller. What is the value of the fish in your tank? 8 Green Neon Tetra at Aquahuna would tops off the cost of an Inkbird even before I pay the shipping for the fish. Most of my tanks have at least a hundred dollars of fish in them. I think it is pretty cheap insurance.