[Has anyone found a better cap for API test tubes?]

There are a variety of TT caps that are cheap on AMZ. Similar to these;

 

Cap, Snap, 13mm, PE, for 13mm Glass and Evacuated Tubes and 12mm Plastic Test Tubes, Red, Bag of 1000 https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B086WQDP7N/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_2ZWMKWR19G1R55JBTW1Q?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

[Plant fertilizer absorption rate?]

I have been searching through the scientific literature to help me answer the question about nitrogen uptake from the water column (which form NH3 or NO3) versus the substrate. I have found a couple of different papers, but so far have yet to find anything definitive.

[What would you breed in this tank??]

I would probably choose a mop spawning killifish like Gardneri (Fundulopanchax gardneri). 

[What would you breed in this tank??]

Those sunfish are just  pretty freaking cool looking!
 

 

[tale of two tanks]

Anything different with the fish load or hardscape in each?  

[Birthday Tank!]

@Jungle Fan Understood, I think I will just bite the proverbial bucket and buy them from Amazon.de  

the imperial/metric I do in my head do it is no big deal, and reading technical books in German helps keep me in practice. 

[What would you breed in this tank??]

Given the contents I would personally put something in there that does well with their fry so I would not have to dismantle the tank to get the adults and/or fry out. 

[Birthday Tank!]

56 minutes ago, Jungle Fan said:

Aquarienpflanzen

I have thought of ordering her books but have only found them on Amazon.de. Did you purchase the Deutsch version(s) in the US, or did you eat the cost of shipping. 

[sponge filter advice]

The tubes snap together and the sponges can stack, if horizontal real estate in the tank  is limited. 

[Ideas for 45 tall aquarium?]

15 minutes ago, Patrick_G said:

Those tanks look so cool but you don’t have much horizontal swimming room. I’d go for a school of something small like Ember Tetras

I have a similar geometry tank, only 38 gallons (23” tall) that I am in the process of building. My stocking selection is going to look like: 

10 - 12 lemon tetras 

3 - 4 black otocinclus 

5 ish Pygmy or sterbai corys 

3 - 4 juvenile angels (until they pair up and then move the others to another tank). 

[Shrimp and Snail Sunday - Show Off Your Invertebrates!]

I only have one snail that I know of, and no clue what kind it is. It hitchhiked in on some sußwassertang that is currently in a quarantine tank. 
 

This is the best picture I could get of it. 

[64g at 60 days: Questions on Next Steps]

It depends on your KH. You are aiming for a 1 point drop in pH (i.e. 7 to 6) from the time the CO2 is off (i.e. unsaturated) until the water reaches "peak" CO2 saturation depending on KH.

"Peak" saturation is generally accepted to be roughly 30ppm.

[Anoxic]

I have also been watching the Dr Novak channel. What he builds and advocates as an anoxic 'plenum' differs from the traditional way undergravel filters were used. His generally do not cover the entire bottom, and move only very little water (a few gallons). His premise is that the aquatic plants preferentially update ammonia as their nitrogen source instead of nitrate from the water column and the anoxic removal of nitrate is beneficial.

 

 

Disclaimer: Dr. Novak is an Icthyologist. I am an organic chemist and do not have a PhD.

[Ideas for 45 tall aquarium?]

If it is an aqueon branded tank, the 45g is: 36 1/4 x 12 5/8 x 23 3/4

 

 

 

 

[Bad Silicone on Aqueon tank?]

By no means am I advocating using a tank with questionable seals, but I just took down a 30 gallon long (36x12x16) that is at least 30 years old (All Glass brand, the predecessor of Aqueon) in which the seals have looked “bubbled” for at least the last 10 years. 

[Winter Storm in Texas]

1 minute ago, gregoryord said:

Some shade will probably go a long way towards keeping water temps lower .

Yeah I hope so. This is the first time that I have put tubs out like this before. I have a 12v powered solar fountain, and that combined with a fan, if needed for evaporative cooling will make it viable for our sweltering summers.

I suspect the dirt as insulation made a huge difference in yours as deep as the 300G tubs are. That thermal gradient is probably what saved your fish during the winter storm and helps them survive in direct sun.

[Undergravel filter - surprise surpise]

1 minute ago, Maggie said:

Has anyone on here had a HOB for that long?

I just broke down a tank that had a Marineland BioWheel 330 and a Magnum 350 canister on it. Both of the filters were purchased in the early to mid 90s and have been used off an on (i.e. not continuously) since then.

I bought a new impeller magnet for the canister once, and have changed the tubing on the canister maybe twice, but other than the they are stock filters. The biowheels are so mineral encrusted that soaking in vinegar for 3 or 4 days had no affect on the mineralization of the fabric, but otherwise I could put them back into service tomorrow if I needed to.

[Winter Storm in Texas]

4 minutes ago, gregoryord said:

Mine is a 300 gallon. 

Right on. Is it in direct sun? Mine will be covered most of the day and get maybe 2 hours of direct sun.

[Winter Storm in Texas]

How about during the heat of the summer? I am in S. DFW, have the same 100G tub and am a bit concerned about the water temps during the heat of the summer.

 

 

[Quiet good looking canister filter]

I have been a pretty die hard sponge filter user for a very long time, but I have a used the occasional canister filter (Vortex, Eheim, Marineland) for specific purposes. Personally I have always preferred the Eheim filters, and if/when I have to buy another canister, it will be an Eheim.

[Cracked 40 Breeder]

10 hours ago, JaredL said:

On sale, 40 breeders can be found for $40 to $50 new. 

Not sure if it is all Petco's but the local stores in N. Texas have a 50% off sale going right now. For the 40G it is not quite as good as the 1$/gallon, but still a pretty good deal at 49$.

[New aquarium setup with root tabs]

This is how I have previously added them to my new tanks, and there is no issue in doing so, but also no real difference in just using tweezers to add them after water is in the tank.

[Cleaning co2 diffuser]

ADA has a cleaning solution for cleaning the glass/ceramic fritted discs in diffusers. Looking at the MSDS for ADA Superge (sorry it is in Hungarian: https://greenaqua.hu/termekbiztonsag/MSDS_HU_ADA_SUPERGE.doc), the active ingredient is bleach (5% sodium hypochlorite.

The fritted disc in the diffuser is the same kind of material that some laboratory filters are made of, and can be easily damaged with anything hard (we used teflon spatulas to remove solids out of them in the lab).

[Converting a saltwater tank to fresh]

I have gone back and forth before between a FOWLR freshwater. I just washed the tank/sump multiple times (3 or 4 times) with warm and then cold tap water before finally setting it up.

 

The only thing that would concern me would be the substrate. Depending on what was kept in it before, there could possibly be a large amount of organic matter in the sand that could affect the water chemistry. I have reused some crushed coral that was previously in a saltwater tank but i did wash it quite well, and then only used a pound or two in a sump, not 60 or 80 pounds of it.

[Whos ready for outdoor tubbing season?!?!?!?]

That is where I am as well, suburban DFW. The tank (100g) is under my deck cover next to the house, and it only gets a minuscule amount of direct sunlight. I have only had water in the tank for a few days with a large AQ Coop sponge filter and an AP50. I have a bunch of hornwort ordered to go in the tank, and then in a few weeks am going to order some white clouds, and see how it goes. I will have at least a few months outdoors before the heat of the summer.