kcsquare

I saw a video once that suggested poking a hole in the root tabs prior to burying them. In that same video I recall them saying that their harmless in the water column. I just inserted a bunch yesterday and did poke a hole. I poked a hole, stuck them in the water and wiggled them until a little air bubble escaped. I'm jinxing myself i'm sure, but so far none have risen

Hi, I've had a 10 gallon tank that we used for mbuna fry about 6 months ago. For the past couple of months I've had just a piece of spider wood in it. About a week ago I got a betta fish. Finally, yesterday I received a sponge filter, light, root tabs, easy green, and some plants from aquariumcoop! Really looking for some reassurance and tips for how to be successful. Here's what I did last night after work: I did a 50% water change I cleaned (w. just water and elbow grease) a few rocks from my yard and added them to the tank I buried 12 root tabs around the sand, in a grid-ish. I put in the small sponge filter + airstone. I planted scarlet temple in back left I planted tiger lotus bulb back center/right I glued windelov java fern to the far right, on the wood I planted monte carlo towards the front I glued anubias nan petite in a Y on the spider wood I glued java moss in a few places on the spider wood and to the back of the rock on the far right Here are some of my concerns. The scarlet temple broke into multiple pieces when I was taking it out of packaging. I planted all of the pieces that had roots. I can see some of the roots of the scarlet temple. Should I try to carefully get them all in the sand ? Same question with monte carlo. Some of the roots are up in the water, not in the sand. How deep do these need to be? I have a lot of extra moss. Any suggestions for where to glue it? The sand, throughout this work last night, got really out of level. I had it slightly higher in the back, slightly lower in the front. Now it's very bumpy. How anal are you all about this sorta stuff? Today or tomorrow I plan to do first dose of easy green. Anything else I'm missing? Should I get easy iron to help the scarlet temple stay pink/red?

I did see that tank. It's shaped more (though not exaclty) like a cube. I have my eyes out for a tank that's 72" wide as I feel that will open up the type of fish I can keep more.

the 2 big national chains have the same 72" wide stand for $850. I am not easily finding the aquarium itself to go into that stand, but i'll keep looking. I did find an acrylic one for $12-$1300

He says $3k for everything new, but I think he's slightly overestimating if i assume $1500 for the tank & stand, $350 for fx6, $50 for 2 sponge filters, $50 for the heater, + canopy (?) + lights (?) Maybe $2400-$2600 if you include substrate & maybe up too $3k if he includes the fish. He doesn't mention if it's glass or acrylic. What's better? I've also kinda struggled to find a new price for a 150 + stand. What sites would you recommend if it comes to me wanting to buy new. Does anyone know what a site means when they say: Actual Gallons: 123 Model Gallons: 150

Hi everyone, I found a 150 gallon on the good ol' fb marketplace. Gentleman is including: stand, canopy, fluval FX 6, 2 sponge filters/pump, heater lights .... $1200. Is that a fair price?

by the way, i got a UV light (rated for 120 gallons) and the tank was crystal clear after 3 days. I still have significant algae on the back glass and the decorations...

How's this empty and cleaned sour.cream container? I think it is a green hue. I'm off to Google green algae water bloom, though your suggestions are very much appreciated 🙃

Hi, Been out of fish keeping for a few years, then started up my 55 a couple of months ago. I've had tanks many years and never had this issue. Very unsure what to do. About 10 days ago my new tank started to look very cloudy. Then about a week ago I noticed a green tint to the cloudiness. Full calendar of events below. Just did a water test (pics attached) and all seems fine to me. Looks like: 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, ~20 nitrate This past week I've been keeping the light off 99% of the time. I also cut down feeding to once every other day. No improvement. I guess the fish are healthy, but I can barely see them unless they're getting food. Any suggestions? ● 9/1 - water went in plus decorations ● 9/20 Added Substrate (pool filter sand) ● Fri 10/9 - Plants from Aquarium Co-op went in: 1 Moneywort (floating), 1 Marimo Moss Ball, 2 Floating Christmas Moss Ball. ● Tues 10/13 - added 6 yellow labs ● Fri 10/16 - 40% water change ● Tues 10/20 - 40% water change ● Wed 10/21 - cloudy water ● Sun 10/25 - 50% water change ● Mon-10/26-Sun 11/1 - keeping light off 99% of the time. Cut down feeding to once every other day

Great looking tank. thanks for the suggestions. Can't wait to get it going. Sorry, but what are "OB's"? Who's that blue & black striped fish to the left? Do you not always have 5-8 of the same fish as I see always recommended?

Gotcha, thanks! 3 colonies of 6 each will leave more room for babies if/when they come. Can I get away with 3 male/3 female per type? Or is there no reason not to always just go with 2 male/4 female. I always hear you say: yellow lab, red (or cherry) zebra, demsoni, purple acei ... anything else on the outskirts I can keep my eye out for or that could/should work?

I also have a water softener. I think the main thing it does is remove hardness, which is pretty much just minerals. It wouldn't really remove nutrients. The things that your fish need (bacteria that eats ammonia) are in your filter (biological media) & decorations and substrate. So, if the fish you keep need hard water (e.g. african cichlids), then you don't want to use water that's gone through the softener. I use water from the hose b/c it doesn't pass through my water softener. I have read far less about south american cichlids (like parrots), but I think they prefer water that's NOT soft too. Read and learn more about that.... That said, Ive also read that consistency is the most important thing. As long as your water is staying consistent youre probably ok if you're close to the range.

hi everybody. i consider myself a medium experienced fishkeepr and a novice to cichlids. I have a 55 gallon tank that was dormant for years. I'm cycling it and found Cory's videos. Now I'm gonna give the forum here a try b/c i want to talk fish all day every day .... Planning to go african cichlid. wife and kids want active, colorful. I've heard 3 colony 6-9 each. Can i get away with 4 colonies of 6 fish each? What say you about male/female ratio? I hear everyone say 2 male/4 female per species. Does that mean that everyone conceded that 4 of thei 6 fish won't have much color? Or is that more a peacock concern? is it worth going all male to try to get brightest most active fish? any suggestions for species mixes behind the well tried: yellow labs, red zebra, purple acei thanks all!