NOLANANO

If you like your scape, I would take the one fish that keeps getting beat up to the LFS and explain the situation. You might even get a bit of store credit. I have learned that if something is stressing me, remove it from my tank and the stress is gone. Also I have read that sometimes schooling fish will beat up one of their own because they are sick (despite no symptoms) or have weak genetics or something along those lines.

Spamming ACO?

I don't really understand why its a rule that we can only discuss 2 online fish dealers. We are allowed to discuss filters, lights, food, tanks, and anything else related to fish keeping whether ACO carries the products or not but for some reason we can only discuss 2 online fish retailers? ACO doesn't even offer online fish orders themselves. It would seem like they would have a much higher vested interest in keeping competitors of products they sell off the forum rather than monitoring the discussion of things they don't sell. Doesn't seem to make much sense to me. Its a very minor complaint considering the overall good this forum offers to its community. I just find it very odd.

No idea if this will work but what about placing the net in the tank with an algae wafer in the net. Turning all the lights out and waiting until he eats the wafer and lifting the net? You'd have to stand there very still with your hand still on the net but I think it could work with patience.

In the same paragraph they say the world record is 15 lbs caught in 1932 or something like that. Just seems like terrible editing with typos. My guess is that 44 was supposed top be 14 and 30 gallon was supposed to be 300 gallon.

I have 10 neons and they are great. anytime someone who doesn't know anything about fish sees my tank, they point them out. BUT The majority of mine have bent spines due to bad genetics and while I have 10, I purchased 20 (not at the same time) and lost half fairly quickly.

Day 25 Update: This will probably be my last update until we reach the 3 month miles stone or if something happens (hopefully nothing happens). I have what seems to be 4 healthy and happy puffers. They all LOVE beefheart and mealworms. They all like blood worms (some more than others) and they will all eat frozen brine shrimp if its all that is offered. When it comes to Repashy, I have 3 that eat it and one that won't go near it. The one that won't eat the repashy is my pickiest eater. He will really only attack beefheart but will eat meal worms and a few bloods worms. He doesn't eat much else. I considered doing a second round of paraguard but after consulting with my puffer sensei I decided against it because all 4 are eating and active. I have started to be able to differentiate between my puffers. The largest one always eats way too much and thus has been named Chunk. The smallest is called Pipsqueak. The too middle sized ones are harder to tell apart until I feed. One of the middle sized ones is the picky eater and I call her Princess or Diva because she is above the repashy which she obviously views as peasant food. The other middle one hasn't earned a name yet.

Shouldn’t affect them at all. If you have sensitive plants, it might affect them but most beginner plants can go a few days without light.

Yes it will definitely help. Depending on the strength of the light, timing will vary. I personally keep my lights on for 6 hours a day. I have them turn on at 4pm and then shut off at 10 pm. Tis way they are on when I am home in the evenings. If I were you I would do a 50% water change and then black out the tank for a few days. Meaning don't turn any lights on and cover the tank with a blanket or something. This will help kill off the green water algae quicker and you can start your new life clear water. Others with more experience may have more concrete instructions but this would be my initial approach.

If you already have the fish, then it looks like you are doing a fish in cycle. You want to get them out of the bag as quickly as possible. A fish in cycle is a decent amount of work for about a month maybe even 2 but its doable. tips: 1) Test water daily and even twice a day if possible. 2) do a 50% water change if you see any ammonia in the test. 3) Feed very sparingly during the cycle. more food = more fish waste = more ammonia = more water changes.

My guess is that your lights are too bright for too long. What is your lighting schedule?

Can't beat that price point lol

@Biotope Biologist I am just curious, are there any pics you could share of the look you are going for when complete? Its a very interesting setup.

@Huckleberry I have the same 75G and stand from Petco (or petsmart? I get them confused). I really think its the best looking tank stand combo on the market at that price point.

I am not sure why but I can't get the pics to post in order but this top pic is what the tank looked like about 2 months ago before I did slight rescape. This is about the 2 year mark. This pic is what the tank looked like after the rescape but before I bought Val and Dwarf Sag to go behind the new structure. I will take an updated pic tonight and add it. This was 2 months ago so I would say this about 2 years still. Maybe 2 and a half. This picture was at about the 1 year mark and it is when the tank looked its best imo. For some reason I thought it was cluttered at the time and changed it up and I have been chasing this ever since. This is a pic from today. You can see the dwarf sag to the right. There is Val behind the structure but it’s melting at the moment. Hopefully it comes back with a vengeance soon.

I just watched a video on a guy that went with a group studying the Rio Negro and they tested the PH at different parts of the river and found it ranged from 7.0 to 3.0 but the fish were the same species in all tested points. His point was that fish can live in different PHs as long as its consistent. its better to use the PH out of your tap than to chase a desired PH.

I would love to join one but right now is a difficult stage of life to fit it in. I have young kids and my older son is getting really into sports to the point where we don't have many open days. When the kids get older, I plan to join my local fish club or at least attend the auction.

Your joining and original question was not an issue or a mistake. The issue/mistake is that you got upset and combative because you didn’t get the answer you wanted.

Look you can do whatever you want, but you did come here asking for opinions. My opinion isn't based on this specific product but on experience with this website. I have purchased multiple Jerseys from them because they are much cheaper than buying legit ones but I got what I paid for. Patches/letters are crooked, colors are slightly off, jersey isn't true to the size I ordered, etc. On a Jersey, imperfections aren't a huge deal, with a large tank it could be a disaster. Other reasons for my opinion that you should be cautious with this purchase is that there are zero reviews of this product anywhere that I can find online and depending on where you live the shipping seems to make the tank much less affordable. I also see some potential functionality issues like does it have a built in filter or sump? How do you access it? If it doesn't, is there anywhere to put a cannister filter? What kind of light does it have? Can you change the light if its not strong enough for plants? How does the lid open? Looks like it may also be difficult to clean given its height. It just seems like there isn't a lot of info on this tank and would be more of a gamble than I would be willing to take. But hey, what do I know? No one here is trying to rain on your parade, we just don't want you make a costly mistake. If you do buy it, I hope it works out and looks amazing. I also hope you come back to share your plans and show pics because it does look like it could be a very cool tank.

Fair enough. I just haven't met the disaster to teach me my ways are flawed. LOL.

This has always been my question regarding quarantine tanks. If you have a single tank or even a couple of tanks, you probably aren't getting new fish all that often. How do you keep the quarantine tank cycled in between new fish? And if the solution is to keep some fish in there permanently, what do you do if you need to quarantine fish that will kill them? I also understand putting an extra sponge filter in your main tank to keep it full of bacteria but I have a planted display tank and don't have room for an unsightly extra filter. And when it comes to sick fish, even if you remove the sick fish to a quarantine tank, wouldn't you still want to treat the main tank since it got the sickness in there? I do realize that I am refusing the solutions to my own problem in some ways but it feels like unless you have a fish room where you are getting fish often and have tanks to move fish and filters around, a quarantine tank is more trouble than its worth.

If you do buy it, report back but I would be EXTREMELY cautious. I can promise you it will be made with the cheapest materials possible. If you can lose $400 and its not a huge deal, maybe worth the risk but if $400 is a lot, I'd pass.

Ali Express is known for selling very cheaply made items. I have purchased fake jerseys from them and its hit or miss that I get anything that looks like the picture. I would never buy anything like an aquarium from that wenbsite.

Day 18 Update: These guys for the most part aren't as picky of eaters as I feared. I have 1 that will legit eat anything I put in the tank, 1 that isn't far behind, 1 thats 50/50, and 1 that will pick at stuff but only gorges itself on Beefheart. I fairly worried about the beefheart one because its the smallest and it seems interested in other food but never takes more than a bite or 2. For example, it will approach blood worms but back off at the last second and only actually eat a worm or 2. With the repashy, he goes, gets close, but never takes a bite. Its very strange because it looks like it wants to eat it but just doesn't. It will completely fill itself with beefheart though so that is a bit reassuring. The one that eats everything is the largest and a bit of a thief when it comes to meal worms. I usually drop 5-6 in the tank and he will eat like 3 of them. If he doesn't get to a worm first, he will try to take it out of the other puffers mouths. Its kind of funny to watch. But back to the Repashy, 2 of them east it well and a third does partake but not to the extent of the other 2. My Pleco seems to love it the most though. Luckily he comes in, gets his fill and then leaves. The fish are getting along with their tankmates fairly well. They do occasionally chase other fish but not relentlessly and I swear I can see them smiling when they do it. Its definitely more fun for them than any type of true aggression. I'm sure my other fish don't find it nearly as amusing. @IanB can you share any pics of your puffers? I am curious as to how big these guys will actually get. Also have you had to do any beak trimming or have yours been able to maintain on hard foods alone?

Just curious, how do you get the line to drip if the bag is floating? Doesn't the drip depend on gravity?