L.W. Wetarm

Thirsty fish?😉

Yes, that would be a good way to start a new bio filter colony.

I have always found that it’s easier to acquire forgiveness than it is permission. 😉

My tap water comes out super hard at around 15 or 16 GH & KH. This is fine for my 60 gallon species only Brichardi tank. However, I wanted more of a planted tank with softer water that fish like Neons and Rummynose Tetras would find more hospitable. For this reason I bought an inexpensive RODI unit to use on a new 29 gallon. At first, I was mixing half RODI and half tap to provide the necessary minerals but the high silicates in the tap water gave me a dose of diatoms and the resulting “brown algae”. The half tap half RO provided a GH & KH of closer to 7 and ph 7.8. For water changes on that tank, I’m now using straight RODI water wit Seachem Equilibrium and Alkaline & Acid Buffers to get to this same parameter. Is it really worth it, is the question. Well, I ask myself the same question when I’m lugging 5 gallon buckets of RODI water from the hall bathroom to the living room. I think I have a pump that will fit my Python hose so I can refill from the buckets that I store and treat the RO. Which reminds me...the RO water has to be heated as well; which is my latest challenge.

Everyone worries about this but in all my years of messing with aquariums, I have never heard of anyone actually having a tank crash through the floor. I would be interested to know if anyone on this forum has first hand knowledge of this happening. Mark Twain said, “I am an old man and have had many worries...most of which never happened “.

Whatever denomination it is 😄 , I pulled it up today did some trimming and replanting and I think it should be okay. There was a lot of melt in just the two days since planting. I’ve already lost a Water Sprite that never recovered so fingers crossed.

I got my Aquarium Co-Op plant shipment yesterday. I have a question about what would be the best way to plant my new Brazilian Moneywort? It seems to have little root balls all up an down the stem. I just planted them (2 plants) as best I could with the roots on the bottom that came out of the pot. It’s really sort of a mess of stems (runners?) with lots of root balls. Should I cut each stem just below the roots and re-plant it or what? 🤷🏼‍♂️

I’m wishing my PSO would slow down a bit. It’s so successful it has almost gone into the pest category. It has completely engulfed the Jungle Val, which had been the dominant plant in the tank...my Java Ferns have never prospered. I’ve got rock hard water, Ph around 7.8 or 8.0, Nitrates hover in the 25 to 40 (Salifert test) range, a Current USA light that’s not spec’ed for plants, temperature at 78. I dose either Easy Green or Thrive whenever I think about it...about once every week or two. I don’t know what I’m doing right but it must be one of those things. Good Luck. 🍀

I take it that you know who is behind Aquariumscience.org website? I like to know who is providing information so I can place some sort of credibility to it. As I research the website, I find a lot of message board chatter of a very negative nature. I don’t know that I buy all that he’s preaching but the information he gave on the fallacy of sintered glass, pumice, or lava as a denitrifying media was eye opening.

I have been studying the information on this site for a couple of weeks now and I have to say that it has really adjusted my thinking on filtration and the whole subject of beneficial bacteria and the ammonia oxidation process. It took me a couple of reads to really buy into what he’s preaching but he does back it with science instead of anecdotal evidence.

I purposely built this cabinet to place the tank closer to eye level @ 60”. It’s located in the traffic path from living room to dining room and kitchen where no one sits so I thought that since it’s a decorative planted tank, it would be more easily observed a little higher. Not too much of a problem to maintain. I can do most front glass cleaning and maintenance without a stool. When I have to get to the back of the tank, I bring a little foot step stool in from the garage.

https://aquariumscience.org/index.php/7-5-denitrifying-media/ Here is an interesting read on the subject of anaerobic bacteria and denitrifying filter media. It made enough sense to me for me to pull my media reactor filled with DeNitrate. I will probably phase out Matrix and Biohome over time in favor of Poret foam.

It’s the leaf dying back. That’s why it’s producing offspring. Upon a second look at the pics.... The brown fuzz are the roots of the baby plants. They will either break off or you can cut them off the leaf and attach the to a rock or driftwood just like you had paid $9.99 for it.

My 60 gallon tank is 24” deep...hence the screen name. 😎

I just paint the back and sides black.

OMG!!🤦🏼‍♂️ I clicked on your link around 8am this morning and ended up spending the whole day reading all of it. I won’t go off topic and talk about all the controversial things he wrote except to say, I’d have to throw away a lot of Biohome and Seachem products if I buy into all of what he’s selling. 🤷🏼‍♂️

I’m sure the weight of your 6’ tank full of water spread the load around to the entire cabinet frame. However, would everything be level once there was a load on the cabinet? The question I have is; is the cabinet racked or out of square and why. Try to borrow or buy a square and see where things are off. Are you completely sure the problem isn’t with the floor? I was in the floor covering business for a long time and have seen it all in bad sub-floors and the laminate flooring can hide many problems below.

What would be the harm OR benefit of an alcohol dip and hot water rinse?

Seachem PhosGuard to remove silicates and snails to eat them are the best cure that I have had success with. More plants to compete for nutrients helps. Remove as much as you can from the tank. Just brushing it off only moves it to a different place. Remove it from the glass by wiping upwards, bottom to top, with a paper towel, folding over to a clean side with each wipe. Remove any rocks that are high in silicates such as sandstone and shale. It comes and goes in my 60 gallon Brichardi species only tank because of the overfeeding that occurs in trying to get a huge colony of fish of all ages, fry to adults. I run PhosGuard continuously in a HOB but my Mystery Snail population has mysteriously diminished.

I love my hinged glass lids on my two tanks. Both Amazon and the big box pet stores sell them. Sizes vary...measure carefully.

Back in the olden days We were big NYPD Blue fans. We only got hooked on it in it’s third to last season. So, we started buying the early seasons on DVD to get caught up . 😄 About a month or so back we started watching ER from the start on Hulu. I had forgotten just what a great hospital drama series that was . It makes the contemporary network hospital dramas look lame. One interesting aspect of watching the 30 year old TV show is the glaring lack of modern technology and something as ordinary as a cell phone or Google search would change the whole story. We tend to take for granted what the modern everyday gadgets that we carry around in our pocket or all around us today do until you watch something like ER to notice the absence changes the outcome of the story.

What are the thoughts on Eco-Complete?

I would finish all meds before introducing Purigen.

It looks like l got two surprise houseguests with my last order. Little guys about the size of a corn kernel. When I saw them eating the brown algae off a leaf I said, “you go girl”! 😄

I started out using API salt but it was a little too chunky so I picked up a bag Fluval marine salt. It has a much finer texture. I feel I get a better measurement with it. Both work fine.