Bubbletrouble

Wow. How do you manage all that? You must have a written schedule for each tank. - Feeding alone must be a chore. Aquariums are not like a collection of inanimate objects like coins or stamps. Those you can "neglect" for a few weeks if you don't feel like it, but aquariums contain living, breathing creatures which need daily attention.

When I first got into aquariums 50 years ago an old-timer warned me that once you're hooked, you always want to go bigger and have more tanks. So far, I'm resisting the urge. My favorite was the one I built myself 30 years ago - from a 8x4 foot left-over sheet of 3/4 inch oak plywood. It was basically a wooden cabinet with a glass front. Fiberglassed inside, epoxied, with a drain through the floor of the tank. It had a canister filter, and the only thing showing inside the tank was the heater. Really cool. Had to give it away when I moved... Now I have a 65 gallon tank in a space between the living room and dining room. Most perfect place I have ever had. I see it every day. When I read all the posts of people with multiple tanks - even "tank rooms" I'm somewhat jealous, but also think I'd be overwhelmed having to look after so many tanks! I once had two of them at the same time but found that it was just too much up-keep, and I didn't have time to enjoy them both. I would love to hear fom others how they manage multiple tanks (and have a LIFE).

An airstone in the HOB makes no difference to the oxygen uptake. As stated, it's the surface agitation which allows for gas exchange between atmosphere and water. If your HOB creates enough surface agitation and current within the tank, no airstone would be needed, neither in the tank nor in the HOB. I ran my tank on only the HOB for years. If you think there is not enough agitation, lower the water level to make the HOB water returning to the tank fall a longer distance. Another option would be to glue some plastic shapes into the path of the returning water to make it break up more before it returns into the tank. I did that with a cheap HOB and it worked really well.

I have the same slime in my aquarium. I was told it's brown algae but I'm not so sure. Two weeks ago I cleaned it off the inside glass and within an hour all the fish were breathing really hard. Nitrite went up to .25ppm. I did a water change and added Stability. It saved the fish. Today I had more of the slime on the glass and the same growth on the plants. I cleaned it off again, and this time did a water change and Stability dose right away. The fish are fine this time.

Black fin or not, they are beautiful!

The only rock you need to be wary of is shale. It contains oils between the layers which is toxic. Some rocks, like slate (looks like shale but isn't) contain iron which may rust under water. Don't use "cultured" rock - the fake stuff made of cement and coloring agents. The concrete components are toxic and unless sealed with epoxy can also be harmful to fish. In general, larger rocks will not change the hardness level or ph of your water, so lime stone and granite are fine. I go to a landscaping supply place and get the most unique colors and shapes at a fraction of the price compared to Home Depot. I soak my rocks and wood in a mild bleach solution for 24 hours, then rinse and scrub carefully before placing in my tanks. It's always worked fine. I get my wood from the beach. Look at the turquoise rocks behind my peacock cichlid!

I agree. I bought a Topfin test strip kit and the PH between it and the liquid test from API is between acidic (6.5) and alkaline (7.5). What gives?? I went and bought the API Master Kit, and I'm inclined to trust it more than the strips. Turns out the strips seem to be wrong...

ok so my math isn't too sharp... it's definitely a back-pressure issue though. If the pump blows the line off its stud then obviously something is preventing the air from getting through. I just installed an in-line valve into my air line to slow down the air flow. The valve constricted the flow so much at wide open that no adjust ment was possible. I took it out and looked through it - there was so much plastic from the original casting left in the valve almost no air could get through. I had to drill it out to get proper flow. Maybe check all connections, valves, distributor manifolds etc for obstructions?

I mixed mine with 50% black gravel. Works great and my corydoras seem to like it, too.

Superglue doesn't work very well on smooth, non-porous surfaces. I would also be wary of chemical off-gasing of the glue into your airline. How deep is your aquarium? Remember the air pump has to push the air to depth and the deeper the aquarium the higher the pressure. If my math is correct, a 24 inch deep aquarium is at about 3 lbs per squar inch. Maybe try to move the point of exit for the air into shallower water overnight and see if this makes a difference.

This is past the need to advise, but perhaps someone else will have to move a fish tank. From past experience I know that the most important part is making sure the tank remains on a stable, flat surface. You did the right thing by lifting the dresser and tank together. This prevented the tank from being lifted unevenly. With 40 pounds of weight in it, the bottom pane could crack under the stress if it was lifted on only one side, or placed on an uneven surface. I would not try to move a partially filled tank with gravel and rocks in it unless it was on top of a rigid, unbending, unwarping surface.

I made my own fish trap from clear plexiglass. It's a 4x4 inch rectangular box about 8 inches long. Nice thing about being rectangular is that you can lay it on the bottom against the side glass and the fish can't escape between the glass and trap. If you use a glass jar (which works, too), they can escape between the gap. Leave the trap in place for a few minutes, then gently chase the fish toward the opening with a fish net. By the time they realize it's a trap, it's usually too late and they are in. Cover the opening with your net and pull the trap out. It doesn't have to be totally water-proof and if it leaks, that's okay. once at the surface, I pour the fish into the net and remove it from the tank. I put a long handle on the front of the trap to make it easier to remove. When I set up my tank I made sure there would be a suitable spot for a fish trap left bare of rocks and plants. Works like a charm... Mine has a lid which usually closes as soon as you lift the trap, but it's not necessary. Holding the net over the opening works, too.

I live in an old house (1972) which has an open partition between the dining room and living room. For 15 years I have been thinking the ledge between the two rooms would make a great spot for an aquarium. My old one was in the basement, next to my office door, so I saw it every day. Once I moved my office upstairs I had little reason to go to the basement and I found I rarely spent time looking at the aquarium anymore. There is no room in my new office for an aquarium so I got rid of it a few years ago. Earlier this summer I rekindled the idea of the aquarium in the living / dining room and built this cabinet which straddles the ledge. It's a solid 2x4 wall and bears most of the weight of the tank. The rest is built from solid 3/4 inch pine, with a 3x3 inch laminated post in the center.

I'm not so much concerned about how to fix the problem; I have put the under-gravel filter on a timer for now, running it for a few hours a day. I am just wondering if anyone else has encountered this issue?? This is not my first aquarium, and not the first under-gravel either. This has never happened before. BTW - ran the powerhead and outside filter overnight without the under-gravel, and all the fish are fine.

I set up a 65 gallon tank about two weeks ago. I had intended to run an under-gravel filter into my internal filter and then back into the aquarium. The internal filter has a venturi valve on it. It worked fine for a day until I noticed my fish were breathing heavily all the time. It got so bad my Maison Reef chichlids were lying on their sides at the surface, gasping for air. I disconnected the under-gravel filter and ran only the internal filter with the venturi valve. The fish were fine within a few hours. Then I hooked up an "outboard" filter with the intake connected to the under-gravel pipe. Same issue. Fish were gasping for air within a few hours. Disconnected it from the under-gravel and ran it by itself, and within a few hours all was fine. Last try was running the outboard filter by itself, with a powerhead connected to the undergravel filter tube. After about six hours the fish started to breathe heavily again, congregating at the surface. I disconnected the under-gravel again and just running the outboard and the powerhead as a circulator. What's wrong here?? Surely the bacterial build-up in the gravel can't be that bad yet after two weeks?? Any ideas? The fish are so far okay. No losses.