Tanked

Free shipping and minimum order amounts are problematic for a lot of us, but good for the LFS and Amazon. USPS service for me is always hit or miss, but the Coop packages have never taken more than 4 days getting to me in Ohio. Hopefully that won't change too much. I don’t have a problem paying shipping when better products and customer service is required. Shipping waste and shipping cost; also known as shipping and handling go hand in hand. Put simply, which is more efficient: 4 quarters in your pocket or 100 pennies? I obviously don’t know the details, but assume that 20 minutes is required to: print, pull, package, label, and sort one $12.00 plant order. Adding two plants and a sponge filter might add 10 minutes, but they will ship in the same box. My shipping cost for that order will increase by pennies. In addition to using fewer boxes, and associated materials, I will move more orders every day. This leaves more floor space for sellable inventory. Keeping my cost down keeps your cost down, and puts less shipping waste in the landfill.

I know a lot of people who go pale and gray when they get cold. On the rare occasion that aquariums comes up in conversation, SW/FW color is is the most common reason given for going SW. Diet, location, temperature, and size could all be contributing factors. If my LFS is any measurement, most of the SW fish I've seen are larger, so they appear more colorful. I think that there are more choices for FW color.

Winter announced its arrival 6 days ago in SW Ohio. A fierce cold damp wind around midnight. 60 degrees the next day quickly dropping to the mid teens. Now we are bouncing between the 40's and 60's. We had rumors of flurries, but the folks on the north end of the state got it a lot worse.

On the outside you have several options. Flat/matte finishes are usually preferred. Oil/enamel paints are solvent based, take longer to dry, are harder to clean up, and hold up better. They will also stink until the solvent evaporates. Acrylic paints use water as a solvent, dry faster, and are easier to remove if you change your mind. Once dry, and cured, they are waterproof up to a point. You can brush, spray, or roll the paints on, but a foam roller makes it really easy if your aquarium is already set up and close to the wall Krylon Fusion seems to be the most commonly mentioned paint for the inside or outside. I've been told that Plasti Dip works really well, but I have no experience with it.

It's kind of funny that this topic came back up. I would have bought a recently purchased big ticket item months ago, had It not been for conflicting or missing information. Packages differed according to seller; I could not determine what was included as standard equipment. I finally called the manufacturer to verify what was included in every box they sold. Having worked in inventory management for many years, this kind of thing tends to grind my gears.

Considering the stocking, you better hope it doesn't cycle.

Yep, Aquariums are as expensive and complicated as you choose to make them.

My wall isn't black, so you could use any solid colored piece of cardboard, or black paper. you could also try a mirror on one side of the tank.

Good question! There might be an algae reduction. Two sides of my75 face a blank wall. The narrow side is kept clean. At night, the fish will spend a lot of time staring at that side of the tank. It is assumed that they see their own reflections as another school. Painting the sides might get the same results.

I think that @Daniel has his aquariums on rolling tool boxes, but nothing that size, so it is possible. While the rollers could flatten out over time, the adjustable feet can only compress as far as that steel bolt lets them. 45 gallons of water (no sump)+ substrate + aquarium = about 600#. Still risky, but doable with helpers.

Moving a full aquarium is dangerous. A slope in the floor or anything that suddenly stops one wheel could cause a tsunami! The taller the stand, the more top heavy it becomes and the greater the possibility of tipping. Among other things, I've seen a pebble knock a car off of dollies. Having said that, the choice of casters with leveling feet looks like a good choice overall.

Some suggestions: A solid shelf on the bottom brace is a must. Turn the stand around and use those decorative rings for routing cords and tubing. A google search for shoe shelf will get some suggestions for equipment stackability. Depending on taste, a curtain or plywood cover attached with magnets is a great idea.

Thank you for adding another page to my Big Book of Indecision. Unless you find an epic centerpiece rock, I'm gong for: Option B - Plants of equivalent value. They continuously change. .

You could put a half dozen Ember Tetras in your 5 gallon. They rarely grow beyond one inch. They spend a lot of their time just hanging out together, so they don't require a huge amount of space.

I will add that do your spot dosing just before lights out. H2O2 is light sensitive. Use only the 3% concentration. My first BGA experience was just recently. It was in the zero maintenance tank which gets top offs only. As the area grew I noticed that gas bubbles were collecting under it, so I am suspecting poor substrate maint. I don't have shrimp, but the pest snails were unaffected. Spot dosing with fish hasn't been a problem.

What Val are you trying to grow? I don't have an answer because my planted tank can grow Crypts, but won't support PSO or Val. I do have some Italian Val runners, but it remains to be seen if they will survive.

It can kill in minutes or hours. It depends on the concentration. Remember that we are still speculating as to what happened in your aquarium. Here is a quick WIKI explanation: https://www.theaquariumwiki.com/wiki/Hydrogen_sulphide

In this case pearling refers to that tiny gas bubble rising out of the substrate. Instead of seeing the occasional bubble, it is possible for gasses to become trapped. If the water smelled of Sulphur or rotten eggs, that would be a good indicator. Pearlng in plants refers to the plants producing oxygen faster than the oxygen rich water can absorb it. Bubbles on the leaves or a string of pearls rising to the surface is considered a good thing.

I love the prehistoric look of the common pleco. If they were mine, I would keep them. There is a difference between can grow and will grow. My first common topped out at 16" and seemed quite happy when upgraded to the 75. It took almost 12 years to get to that point. I've never had one get close to that in subsequent years. This may be due in part to getting only a single daily feeding, or genetics. I saw a YouTube video for a fish rescue in Ohio. You might try doing a Google search for fish rescues in your state/region.

Did you test the water before the cleaning? Have you ever noticed your substrate pearling The dead Cory could have been causing an ammonia spike. Another possibility: If you had an over abundance of mulm, and it has been a while since you last cleaned the substrate, your cleaning could have released a poisonous gas pocket of (Hydrogen Sulfate?) It is possible that the Cory would be the first to be effected. Normally a deep cleaning does no harm. My fish get an extra feeding immediately after maintenance, so they associate the two events, and stress is reduced.

I don't have a good answer. It kind of depends on the plants and the overall look you are going for. Having used 3 individual lights in the past, I found that a single light was visually, more appealing in the room. A darkened area in the aquarium can add some interest. I think I would be tempted to buy a second 30" light, or the 48" and hold the 30" for your next aquarium. If lids aren't part of the plan: A piece of replacement towel rack bar $5.-7. cut to fit will provide support for the legs. I actually use a piece of cut glass to give some protection from the bubbles on the HOB side..

So that's what catfishing is! Now I know what they're talking about.

Sometimes I wonder if a lot depends on the heritage of the individual plant. There are so many variables that it would be hard to prove. There seems to be a lot of people on these forums that can't grow Val, but have no problems growing other plants. Short of giving them sunburn, I don't know if they can get too much light. At this point, I am considering moving the mother plant to my project tank. My eye tells me that it isn't very bright, but it does get a 16 hour day. I've restored plants in the project tank that won't grow in the planted community tank.

Unless I decide to add a new group, I buy fish about once a year. I like to keep them in groups of six, and purchase in groups of three. I have been fortunate that most of my fish are alive and happy until they aren't. I've only had to euthanize one. The smaller fish usually just disappear.

So far I've only killed 17 beginner friendly plants. I've also brought 3 back from the brink. I bought the ACO light as soon as it became available, thinking that my DIY light systems were the problem. Nope! None of my plants grow the way they are supposed to. That is why I keep trying to grow them. @JoeQ That is what my Italian Val runners look like but they aren't growing. I have a 3 year old Amazon Sword that I suspect is actually a Dwarf Chain or Micro sword. It isn't growing either. Last week I moved it to the project tank. The lower light and 16 hour day sometimes gets results. @Kit Craft My Gh is 290+, Kh is 50+- but my Ph is 6.6. I don't know if higher Ph is the answer for growing Vals. I'm in week #2 of my variation of Bentley Pascoe's lean dosing plan. Instead of dosing 3 or 4 pumps of Easy Green once a week, I'm adding 1 pump every other day. It's too soon to tell what this will accomplish with the plants, but I may be seeing a slight reduction in algae. ...or it might just be wishful thinking!