ChefConfit

Prefilter sponge on the intake the the included course sponge and then about double the amount of biorings they included.

You could try to find another pump that will dose properly. I believe the pump it comes with doses 1 ml. I had found 0.5ml pump tops online at some point I'll post if I can track it down

I did the same thing with airline tubing and a connector in my old tank to contain my floaters.

You 100% can put an extra sponge filter in your display tank then transfer it into your QT tank once the display is fully cycled in order to seed the QT tank. That's the way I would do it. Once the seeded filter is in the QT tank you should be ready for fish in it the next day. Since QT tanks are typically bare the vast majority of bacteria in them lives in the filter because the only other surface for it to live on is the glass. This is true but since OP is using plants then they have an ammonia source. Unless your water matches the water the plants had been growing in perfectly your going to have some degree of melt (how much depends on the difference in water chemistry, the plants, shipping time/conditions) don't cut away the dying parts of your plants. That's your ammonia source! You can also add some fish food for an additional source of ammonia if you'd like.

Also with crinum they love water flow. Had 2 in the same tank once, one in a corner with very little flow the other directly under the hob return. The one in the corner barely grew the one with lots of flow took over the tank.

At worst they absorb ammonia nitrite and nitrate helping to prevent crazy spikes and speeding up the process and prevent algae blooms. At best they already have some beneficial bacteria on them and help seed the tank in addition to the above benefits. Some people like to start with fast growing and floating plants then add the slow growers after because they're more susceptible to algae but I've never done that or had a problem because of it

Anyone know which size of the aquarium coop prefilter sponges fits an aquaclear 50 the best? I'm guessing medium since the large fits the 75 and up models just wanted to confirm before I buy. Right now I'm using the fluval edge one but it's way to fine and needs to be cleaned 2-3 times a week.

I use a razor blade for any actual buildup on the glass then a towel and vinegar to clean the glass. Just be careful around your seals with the razorblade

If it's just crud on the glass a razor blade then scrubbing with vinegar works really well. If your worried about sanitizing then bleach works too just rinse well and dose extra water conditioner when you fill it up. Also don't forget to check for leaks before you set it up!

From Jersey here. What I do is keep a list of "non essential" items I want(like a new intake sponge or a new food to try) Then I wait until the list gets long enough to justify the shipping or I actually need something (like I'm almost out of water conditioner) to place an order.

Making the hobby pay for itself is all I really want out of the tanks I'm planning to set up. If I can manage to have the experience of breeding fish, raising fry and propagating plants without ruining my family's budget then I'll be happy.

Also check out this one at harbor freight. I keep meaning to pick it up for the same purpose 52 Pocket Bucket Organizer WWW.HARBORFREIGHT.COM

So my wife has approved me putting more tanks in the basement(once we finish it) as long as I can make enough money off of them to cover the costs of running them. Show off how you use the hobby to make some money for me and others thinking about trying to make money can get ideas. My current plan is to get a rack with 3 shelves. One will have a 20g plant farm/shrimp breeding tank, middle shelf will have a display tank and the other will have either a 20g for breeding or 2 10gs.

You could build up the substrate in the back of the tank to give the illusion of more depth in the tank. Also there's a really good picture showing various composition theories in this thread that you can use the help place your hardscape and plants.

I keep coming back to this thread because I love my dirted tank and I thought I'd better actually contribute. I originally chose to do a dirted tank because I wanted to have a very heavily planted tank, but am on a tight budget and can't afford any of the expensive planted tank substrates. I also spent several months researching different methods of doing a dirted tank before trying my first one. I've done 2 dirted tanks. My current one is a 29g hex(currently running a little over 2 months) the first one was a 5.5g that I ran as a test for over 6 months before I committed to dirting my display tank. Here is my method for setting it up. Part 1 making mineralized soil: From my understanding mineralized soil is essentially soil that has had all the organics broken down into nutrients and minerals. This helps prevent ammonia spikes in the aquarium from organics in the soil decaying. From my understanding most planted tank substrates are made from mineralized soil bound with clay. I started with the cheapest organic soil I could find that didn't contain anything to help retain water(it wound up being a miracle grow product) and sifted it to remove any large debris that wouldn't break down during the mineralizing process. I then put the soil in a large shallow container then filled it with water and put it in the yard. The next day I poured off the excess water along with anything that had remained floating and allowed the soil to dry out in the sun which took a few days. Once the soil was completely dry I added water again and repeated the process for about a month. You now have mineralized soil! Some people chose to mix in clay or other soil amendments at this point but I did not. Part 2 setting up the tank: First I built a boarder around my tank with the sand I chose for capping the dirt(this helps so you don't see the dirt through the glass. Then I added a tablespoon of osmocote plus sprinkled across the bottom of the tank. Next I added my dirt(roughly 2in in front and 4in in the back) wet it down and pressed it to make sure there were no air bubbles. I then capped the dirt with 1-2in of sand. Next I placed my hardscape and filled the tank then drained it as completely as possible. Next I planted very heavily. Fast growing water column feeding and/or floating plants are important to soak up the large amounts of nutrients that will leach from the soil early on. After planting I refilled and drained the tank until the water was reasonably clear. I then let the tank run for 2 weeks with large frequent water changes before adding my first fish. I would have waited a full month, but I had seaded the filter with biomedia from another tank. Part 3 stocking and running: I added my fish slowly making sure to check parameters very often. I saw small ammonia spikes after each new addition to the tank but it always returned to 0 by the next day. I do not gravel vac during water changes unless there's a major mess that needs it. The mulm is slowly turned over into the sand by my bottom dwellers and is how nutrients is restored to the soil as the plants use it. I never experienced any large scale algae outbreak and I believe that can be attributed to using mineralized soil instead of "raw" which would leach large amounts of ammonia when the organics begin the decompose. Sorry for the long post but I felt this thread needed a detailed methodology

Update, the Corry passed away. Other two appear to still be fine

Also just got a good look at the underside of the fish. There appears to be red splotches across the entire underside most noticeable between the pelvic fins

I got 3 new peppered cories on Sunday. Brought them home and put them straight in my quarantine tank and added the quarantine trio meds. When I checked on them after work today the largest appeared to be floating dead. I went to net him out and he swam away. He can swim, but mostly just rests floating on his side and seems to be gasping for air. I last checked on them last night before going to bed and all 3 seemed fine. Ammonia and nitrite both read as 0, nitrite very low maybe 10, chlorine 0 gh aroumd 75 kh around 40 and pH 6.2 (using tetra test strips) I'm not sure what to do since my hospital tank is my quarantine tank so I can't separate the one from the other 2.

You also get far less surveys if you are on an iPhone. I use android and receive enough surveys to pay for my Pandora premium every month and make several purchases in the play store(although I probably will stop buying ebooks and songs so I can use it for my chanel membership instead). My wife on the other hand makes a couple bucks a month on the iphone, but apple gets the option to pay out to your PayPal account since they don't have access to the play store.

The most popular choice is probably miracle grow organic choice potting mix. If you wanted to run a 4th tank you could also do mineralized soil. I've had 2 dirted tanks both with mineralized soil and never had the initial algae out break common in tanks that use "raw" dirt.

Will the second plant then produce its own bulb?

I currently keep a dozen or so different aquarium plants most I've propagated at least once and as for the others I at least know in theory how to do it except for my dwarf lily. Has anyone here propagated on successfully? I know they're basically the cheapest plant to just buy more but I want the experience of doing it on my own.

Try boiling the cholla, I brought mine to a boil and turned the pot off. It sank by the time the water cooled

And 5 species Hi! I'm Kevin from New Jersey. I always had goldfish as a kid, but got my first tank as an adult about a year ago. It was a 5.5g in my daughter's room, but we recently bought a house and I upgraded to a 29g hex my uncle was giving away. It's a dirted tank capped with play sand. Hardscape materials are rocks I found in my parents backyard, a piece of cholla wood and 2 small pots that I believe are colored cement. Plants include: Crinum Calamistratum Windelov Java Fern Anubias Nana Red Flame Sword Bucephalandra (not sure what type) Dwarf Aquarium Lily Hydrocotyle Tripartita 'Japan' Micro Chain Sword 5 species of stem plants that I will be posting for help IDing soon Marbled Queen Pothos growing out of the top Fish are: 12 Neon Tetras 2 male Guppies 5 Otocinclus 1 Emerald Corydoras 9 Blue Dream Shrimp (currently in a quarantine/grow out tank because they came in extremely small) 2 Assassin Snails A bladder snail population that's pretty out of control right now.

So I was given a 29 hex a few months ago and decided abandon my plans to start a 20g in favor of it. It's been running over 2 months now started with filter media and plants from a 5g I broke down when I moved into my new house. It is very heavily planted, and running an aquaclear 50 and a small sponge filter. I'm trying to decide on a centerpiece fish to finish my stocking. My wife wants an angel fish, but I'm not sure if it will work. May also consider adding another small school of fish as an alternative. Current stocking: 2 male guppies (might rehome) 5 otocinclus 1 emerald corydoras (planing on getting 3-4 more) 12 neon tetras 9 blue dream shrimp 2 assassin snails (I have a pond snail problem)