[What Are Your Non-Fish Keeping Hobbies?]

Does spending time with grandchildren count?

[High nitrates in water]

Welcome to the forum.  Unless your source water has nitrates (and it wouldn't hurt to test it), then yes, I'd recommend you keep doing water changes until it gets down below 40 ppm.  You probably already know this, but I wouldn't do them too often, or too large.  You don't want to shock the fish still in the tank that have adapted to the high nitrates (and whatever else may be going on with a tank that was neglected for a while).

[New to plants need advice (pots and ferts).]

1. They don't need to be planted in substrate immediately.
2. I don't think there's a hard and fast number, but it's quite a while in most cases.  Probably at least several weeks.
3. You'd probably want to get rhizome plants out of the pots sooner than plants that are typically planted in the substrate, but a few days certainly wouldn't hurt anything.  I'm pretty sure they don't drop dead in the warehouse if they aren't shipped immediately after arrival.
4. I don't know of any reason not to fertilize right away.

And welcome to the forum.

[What do you feed your pea puffers?]

I have one of them in a 40 gallon breeder tank.  It will eat frozen bloodworms, but it took months before that happened.  I drop a few rams horn or bladder snails in the tank several times a week (I don't crush them, but for young fish you might need to).

[sex and type my shrimp]

I agree that a clearer photo would be great, but I'm fairly confident it's a female neo.

[Things you "shouldn't" do, but do anyways]

For the people who say they suck on the hose to start the siphon, do you not have the tube at the end that's larger than the hose?  I'm asking because it's easy enough to start a siphon with one of those without sucking on the hose (and I threw the bulbs away years ago).

[Halloween is coming. What is the scariest event in your life that you can talk and hopefully laugh about?]

Years ago I had gone to check some cows, and I had my children with me.  My daughter was around 3, so my son would have been about 8.  Before I go further, I want to point out that my cows aren't at all wild.  While they aren't pets, they are relatively gentle.

We were walking in the pasture, minding our own business, when I heard a noise and saw a 1,200 pound cow, that had never shown the slightest sign of aggression before, charging at us full speed.  I picked my daughter up and stepped in front of my son, and when the cow was about 8' from us I yelled real loud.  She swerved aside and didn't make another try.

Being afraid for yourself is one thing, but being afraid for your children is a whole other level.

[Things you "shouldn't" do, but do anyways]

On 10/2/2023 at 1:22 PM, Sora said:

are you supposed to do that? never knew until now lol. I have learned my lesson about being careless with heaters though. once I took a fully heated plugged in heater out of the water and only noticed when it started smoking. so in a panic I unplugged it and put it outside. in the morning i came back and the plastic was a bit melted. (I still use it now, I guess thats something I shouldent do haha.)

It depends on how low the water level will be, and how the heater is positioned in the tank.

[Things you "shouldn't" do, but do anyways]

On 10/2/2023 at 12:43 PM, Tanked said:

. . . have never washed out the gravel syphon.

I've washed my large one exactly once.  The discharge hose was full of mildew, but after I used it to drain a tank that I'd set outside, filled 3/4 of the way with water, and then added bleach to kill the algae there was no more mildew.

[High nitrates, can Matrix help?]

More live plants can be your friend, but @Pepere made a good point about testing your source water.  100 ppm with weekly water changes seems like a lot.

[Things you "shouldn't" do, but do anyways]

Both of my 5.5 gallon tanks, and the four tubs outside, have a good amount of live plants, but no mechanical filtration or water movement.

When I add rocks or wood to my tanks, that I've collected, I rinse it and put it straight into the tank.  No boiling, no Clorox, no nothing.  I usually pick up leaves and drop them straight into the tanks without rinsing.

I can't remember the last time I vacuumed the substrate in any of my tanks.

[40 gallon breeder suggestions. No sump, canister or HOB allowed]

Two or three sponge filters spread out along the back of the tank should be fine.  I like to keep things simple.

[Deep substrate beds?]

I've had good luck with them.  I have cattle, so I use a mixture of dry cow manure and dirt for the bottom layer (1" - 1-1/2" deep), capped with 2" of either pool filter sand or well rinsed Black Diamond sandblasting sand, depending on what color I wanted.

Bubbles come up from the substrate for months, but the fish, shrimp, and snails don't seem to mind.

[Rate Your Shipper! Let's Hear Your Experiences!]

Most of my experience is with me shipping to other people.  I've shipped dozens of packages, all with USPS Priority mail.  While there have been a few hiccups, the vast majority have arrived within 72 hours, and often within 48.

I had one shipment with a significant number of deaths (it was shrimp), and that wasn't due to a delay in transit.  Since then I have always insulated the box when shipping shrimp or fish, regardless of weather, and it hasn't happened again.

[planning for our first big tank]

I also wouldn't worry about the weight.  I have a 65 gallon tank in a house that's almost 100 years old, with 2x6 floor joists.

You asked about stocking ideas.  I have turquoise rainbowfish, green corys, and lemon tetras in mine, and I'm happy with it.

[Is there any way to help healing fish that were exposed to ammonia?]

As far as I know, clean water is the best remedy, which it sounds like you've done.  They probably just need time.

[Can you have too many invertebrates in one tank?]

I agree with @AllFishNoBrakes.  I took somewhere around 100 shrimp from a heavily planted 5.5 gallon tank earlier this year, and that was nowhere near all of them.

[Lava sand for planted tank???]

On 9/16/2023 at 12:37 PM, JoeQ said:

. . . Some guys even use dirt cheap pool filter sand or blasting sand, the key to using these substrates is to have a good nutritional plan.

I agree, but contrary to what some people will tell you, you don't need to add root tabs.  Many plants will do fine in inert substrates with just liquid fertilizer.  That includes some that are often described as heavy root feeders.

[Aquarium leveling]

I don't know if any of my tanks are level.  I live in an old house on concrete blocks, so a tank could be off level in one direction for a while, then it rains and it's off level in the other direction a week later.

Having the tank on a flat surface is important however.  If it's on a surface that's twisted it puts strain on the tank and can cause it to start leaking.

[Slightly green water]

A green tinge to water is likely algae, and is common in new tanks.  It may get darker, or go away.  If it's faint, and doesn't get darker, I wouldn't worry about it.  If it does get darker (and I've seen it dark enough that I couldn't see to the back of a 5 gallon tank), you should be able to fix it with more live plants and limiting light to no more than 6 hours per day.

I will respectfully disagree the the statement that there is always a green or brown tint to freshwater tanks.  I use a white bucket for water changes, and the water that comes out of most of my tanks looks clear enough to drink.

[Copper Water Pipes In Your House: a Problem for Shrimp/Snails?]

My house has copper pipes that were installed in 1989.  Shrimp and other invertebrates do just fine.  The small amount of copper that leaches from the pipes (if any actually does) isn't enough to cause any issues.

[Anubias Bloom… Tragedy]

On 9/12/2023 at 9:20 AM, JChristophersAdventures said:

. . . A green aqua-thumb is a special talent.

In some ways it's easier than with terrestrial plants.  When they aren't doing well it's usually either too much fertilizer, not enough fertilizer, too much water, or not enough water.  With aquatic plants you eliminate two of those possible causes.

[65 Gallon - need ideas]

On 9/12/2023 at 8:16 AM, TheSwissAquarist said:

Ask any aquarist who’s been around for at least 4 years, and I’ll bet that they’ll confirm getting a “COVID aquarium”! 🙃

You're not wrong, in general, but I got this one from my wife for Christmas 2021.  I got it set up shortly before Covid hit.

[went overboard with hornwort]

On 9/11/2023 at 9:23 AM, HelplessNewbie said:

. . . and I don't think it will ship well.

I've shipped it a number of times without any problems.  Put a folded up wet paper towel in the bag with it so it doesn't dry out, and blow some air into the bag before you seal it so the plants don't get crushed.

I've shipped all over the continental US from Texas using USPS Priority mail.  They say three day shipping, and while it occasionally takes longer, it often takes only two.

[SETTING UP 10 GALLON QUARANTINE TANK FOR GUPPY FISH]

For a single guppy you could just do a fish-in cycle.  Test the water often and do water changes as needed to keep the ammonia and nitrites low.

You don't need the heater, assuming the tank is in your house.  I don't have heaters in my guppy tanks, and the room temperature ranges from 60° at night during the winter to 75° during the day in summer.