ChefConfit

It depends on the fish. For example when I buy Ottos they are typically wild caught and are notorious for being under fed from the time they are caught until you bring them home. They get fed for a few days to get their strength back before they go into quarantine since it's recommended to not feed while you're medicating. If there is not issue that needs to be dealt with first though they go straight into the meds

I've seen hygrophilas attached to wood in the past. Hygrophila pinnatifida would probably look nice

Iirc we are now on the second generation of the USB nano air pumps and performance running the larger sponge filters was one of the things they improved for the new ones. But my memory is horrible and I could be making that up

I would get a sponge filter and the coop nano USB air pump as a backup. Being able to plug it into a power bank to keep a filter going during a power outage is awesome. I have a hygger light on my 29hex and it's got a built in timer with sunrise sunset and moonlight but it doesn't connect to your phone. I really like the light it gives off and it also grows all my plants great including reds which I find impressive on such a tall tank for such a cheap light. The nicrew I inherited with the tank did not keep my reds red on the hex, but does a great job on my 5g

Can't help I'd a strain but they are very nice looking guppies. I'd breed them out to start a colony

I would do ecocomplete capped with sand. I like play sand over pool filter sand because it's more natural looking imo pool filter sand is too white. The darker collier also helps hide the mulm if you prefer to keep it in I stead of gravel vacing. Some people feel that allowing your bottom dwellers to stir the mulm into the substrate helps replenish it so you don't need to add root tabs or change out the substrate. I'm actually just lazy so I'm gonna find out if it actually works

I recently had this problem in my dirted tank also on a crinum. I wound up trimming the worst of the leaves then spot treating the rest with Peroxide in one of those tiny syringes for baby medicine. The BBA turned pinkish a day or two later and then disappeared. I think the shrimp ate it. I also began dosing with excel to try and inhibit growth

Then we could do it around the holidays as a secret Santa type exchange. Doesn't have to be just plants either any item/multiple items over a certain minimum

Not sure about floor lamps, but they make pendant style aquarium lights that are meant to hang from the ceiling. If mounting it to the ceiling isn't an option in sure they could be hung from a stand of some sort.

I asked the same question awhile ago and they confirmed the medium is the right size for the ac50. Haven't placed the order yet though so can't confirm

I just tried the 20% code they sent me in an email the other day and it worked brought the total for a 20 and 3 10s to $42.68

This is one of the reasons my knives come home every night. And because I absolutely do not trust any of my coworkers. But yes knives are a very personal choice. @Mychalause my suggestions as a starting place not as gospel. The Tojiro and Fujiwara knives are however both very good knives and very affordable so they are a good way to see if you like that style of knife before taking the dive on a more expensive knife if there isn't someplace near you that you can try out similar knives which is why I recommend them often as an entry point into Japanese knives.

I'd still get a lid. Other than keeping jumpers in the tank lids also help hold in heat so you save some energy from your heater being on less, and reduces water loss from evaporation. Aqueon Versa tops are nice and pretty affordable.

@MychalaI'd go with a 210mm Gyuto(the Japanese equivalent of a western chef knife) any smaller than that and you begin to be limited on what the knife can handle. If you do go Japanese be aware some brands grind their knives specifically for right or left handed use and using it in the wrong hand can cause the knife to steer instead of cutting straight. Chefknivestogo will tell by you in the knife info if it has a symmetrical or asymmetrical grind(and if the asymmetrical grind if right or lefty). My last piece of unsolicited advice is getting a ceramic hone to keep it sharp. Traditional honing steels are actually softer metal than most Japanese knives so they don't work on them.

Swords and crypts are primarily root feeding so what is your substrate? Organic soil users often mix natural red clay into their soil before adding it to the tank for extra iron. Maybe you could try making small balls of clay to use as iron root tabs. I'd try to freeze them first so they stay solid long enough to get buried in the substrate.

Just thought I'd let everyone know since it's news to me.

@Mychala I know you were asking @Dean’s Fishroom but I thought I'd put my 2 cents in. If you're looking at Japanese knives I'd recommend chefknivestogo.com a lot of professional chefs myself included buy most of their knives there. The prices are usually very good, shipping is fast and customer service is amazing. As for brand recommendations it's very hard without knowing your price range, but Fujiwara and Tojiro are both excellent entry points into Japanese knives a step above that I like Yahiko and above that Misono. Anything more expensive than that in my opinion isn't worth it unless you're a knife nerd or want a specific aesthetic and are willing to pay for it. If you want a German style knife I feel like Messermeister is the best value of the big 3 German brands. Quality is just as good but prices are significantly lower because they aren't as well known. They also offer many of their knives in a "stealth" version which is basically just ground thinner so you get a classic German profile but a thinner lighter knife.

Was thinking about fish tanks at work today and had an idea. It's plant related so I'm posting it here. I'm not sure if it would be against the forum rules but @Corycan probably shed some light on that. It's something I've participated in on subreddit for other hobbies in the past that I think would work well here and fit in with the theme of this forum. A Yearly (or twice a year) Plant Swap! Basically how it would work as I'm imagining it every person who wants to participate would submit their mailing address and after sign-ups close every member who signed up would receive the mailing address of another member who signed up. You then send a plant to that mailing address and another member will send one to you! There would have to be some rules. For example no floating plants since they don't really ship well, stem plants have to be 5 or more stems at least 4in each, plants like bucephalandra and anubias would require at least 5 leaves. Basically the portion or size would need to be equal or larger than what you would get purchasing that plant. This would ensure everyone gets something reasonable in return, but can be as generous as they'd like. I'd be happy to organize the swap, but would understand if it has to be handled by an Admin since it involves members personal info. I just thought it would be a fun way for us to support each other in the hobby and spread our favorite plants! What do you guys think of the idea, and is it even something that would be allowed?

I'd try planting the bulb 3/4 of the way into the substrate and also pushing the roots in. If you have fine gravel or sand it should be able to hold it down.

If the tanks are within a few feet of each other I wouldn't even bother with a container. I if you don't need to acclimate them to different water parameters I'd imagine being caught and pulled out of the water twice would be more stressful than spending a couple of extra seconds out of water and going straight in to their new tank

It may no longer be viable. If it doesn't sink on its own in another few days I would try returning or exchanging it. I bought 7 bulbs from petco a few months ago a pack of 3 lily bulbs and a pack of 4 mixed species. 1 bulb from each pack sank and only the lily ever sprouted. They had actually put an extra in each pack to. I returned both and purchased some food instead. I stick with coop and one other vendor I trust for plants now and other hobbyists too

I find my duckweed stays under control if I have a lot of flow on the surface. It will settle in and fill any areas with no or low flow, but won't take over the entire tank.

Some floating plants and or pothos should help. They should suck up all the excess nitrates. Since you used "raw" soil without going through the mineralizing process all the organic matter in it is decomposing and producing ammonia which is then getting converted by your beneficial bacteria. It might be a good idea to monitor ammonia levels in addition to nitrite and nitrate until everything stabilizes.

I was watching a video the other day and @Cory added marine aquarium salt to one of his tanks. He stated he was addi g it primarily for the minerals present in marine salt rather than for salinity. My water has basically no minerals in it out of the tap. Would marine salt be feasible for adding minerals in with water changes? Is there any reason you can't use Marine salt to treat fish like you would freshwater salt? What other ways do you people recommend for adding minerals to my water?

My current town uses chloramine but at such a low concentration it doesn't show up on test strips so I add it straight to the tank and treat the whole tank with fritz complete. My old Town used chlorine also at an untestable level and I did the same thing. Also had no ill effects a couple times when I forgot to dechlorinate. If I had detectable levels in my tap water I would probably treat first but as it is I don't think there's much risk in exposing anything to chloramine that's already in undetectable amounts for a few seconds during a 20% water change. If I ever have to do a large 50%+ change I'd probably pre treat just to be safe.