Mercfh

I do have light sand so thats probably one reason it is obvious. I will try lowering the intake though to see if that helps.

So this is probably a stupid question but should seeing poop on my sand be an indication that I am not cleaning enough? I vaccuum the sand 1st a week and do a water change but I still see quite a bit, especially under the filter (Fluval 407). I have light sand so it's pretty noticeable but I guess is this an indication that I am not "doing enough" or am overstocked?

I will say that I do not dose my tanks with any ferts but maybe I should? I have the Thrive brand which I heard was good but it's well stocked so I assume I wouldn't really need it. So maybe I should dose it weekly. Also I have 2 types of wood. One big mopani wood and I think a small stick of spider wood (which is rotting very quickly I think). @Lennie As far as the Raphael question I have never seen our raphaels touch even the tetras.

So I have a 55g that's honestly turned into a green hair algae nightmare. I've tried lowering the lights (It's a fluval 3.0 set to the auto setting which IIRC is around 8 hours). I've pulled out as much as possible as well. I have a Fluval 407 recently cleaned so I don't think it's a filtration problem. I feed every other day (besides 1 algae wafer at night for the pleco's, they get algae wafers on normal days too) I almost feel like my driftwood is rotting and causing issues, and the dead algae/dead plants (from algae getting all over it) is maybe causing issues. My nitrates are 0 though (or very low), other params are good too. People have suggested floating plants, but they never seem to live (even duckweed?) despite me not having a lid. I'm honestly not sure what to do. I think i'm going to pull out all of my "infested" plants and the driftwood I suspect is getting super soft. But any other suggestions? Will this maybe help by replacing the algae infested plants? (It's hard to pull it all out when it's bound up in-between them). I don't think i've overstocked? Here is what I have so far: 2 Raphael Catfish (1 striped/1 spotted) 10 Bronze Cories 2 BN Pleco's 1 Whiptail Catfish 8 or so cardinal tetras (a couple of kuhli's hang around too but they are load bioload). I also do weekly water changes.

I've read mixed results online, but we have hard water so I have constant white buildup on the glass top where bubbles pop. Is it safe to use vinegar to clean them? (assuming some gets in the tank). I'd imagine yes but it may lower the pH a bit? thanks!

Random question, what is the difference between a powerhead and a wavemaker? When searching they seem to be the same thing (and are there any good brands?)

So I have a female bristlenose i've had for maybe 6 months. I noticed today some chalky-white poop coming from her. Her belly looks normal (not sunken in or anything) and i've seen her eat at least a couple of days ago. She may have been a little stressed since I did a lot of adding plants/redecorating. However im worried about parasites or something, i've never had any medical issues with any of my fish fwiw. Here are some pics: You can see it's not stringy like I see in other pictures (Although she did poop again a little while ago and it was slightly stringyer maybe?). But it's def. white/chalk colored. She eats a variety of algae wafers that I rotate through.

This is old, but I guess my worry is because I read a lot of threads where people were saying a 407 is not nearly enough for a 55g which seemed odd to me.

In this case there are no fry, nor do I want to breed the fish.

Is there anything inherently wrong with this? All my fish aren't babies...and I feel like I overfeed some so I feel like it keeps nitrate levels low. But im curious if there is any reason I shouldn't be doing this?

I guess a follow up question would be if there are any other sponge filters people like? I just sadly haven't had good lucky with this one. Maybe a smaller one would suffice (this one is a large)

So right now I have a Fluval 407 for my 55g. It's got a lot of plants and isn't hugely overstocked. But I was wondering if it would be ok if it was just this filter alone. I have a Aquarium Coop large sponge filter in there as well....but even after cleaning it just doesn't do much, so I was going to replace it with a air stone. Do you think it'd be ok? Im not SUPER stocked I have 10 corys a few loaches 1 whiptail cat and 2 Raphael cats (and 6 serpae tetras) so there isn't a TON of waste.

IE: The cheap white/clearish kind. Are they safe to use on Aquariums/in the tank? I mainly use them when im cleaning the filters (just cause it's dirty work) but im curious if any of the stuff on it could hurt the fish. Thanks

So I have a 55 Gallon Aquarium (I think top fin brand) and it's on a top fin stand (actually decent quality surprisingly) thats rated for 75 gallons. The stand itself is slightly not level (maybe...half an inch total water un-levelness between one end of the tank and the other) The aquarium itself on the stand is flat (no gaps or anything). How big of a deal is this? I know if an aquarium itself is unlevel that would cause stress....but since the aquarium is flat on the stand it shouldn't cause that big of a problem right? I assume my floor/carpet is just slightly not level.

FWIW He came out last night and I saw no indication of fungus on him. I imagine where he sleeps just has it and it's on his face when he swims out. 🤷‍♂️