CalmedByFish

Good to know! Thanks. I actually don't have the pump head, but that's still very usable info. Alright, back to the tanks...

I've been using a water conditioner that measures as 5 ml / 10 gallons water. I just ran out, so I got out my first bottle of Fritz Complete. It says to measure 5 ml / 50 gallons. That's quite a difference! Needing to treat just 2 gallons, I got a 1.0 ml syringe, and used 0.2 ml of Fritz Complete in the 2 gallons of water. That amount looks miniscule! Could that really be enough? I'm having a hard time believing it.

The only resin I'm familiar with is Purigen. It doesn't filter out nitrates. Rather, it filters out what leads to the creation of nitrates. Having a substance that effectively decreases the production of nitrates has been great for keeping the water clear of white bacterial blooms and green algae "pea soup." I highly recommend it.

Ah! My entire knowledge of apistogrammas is that they are, indeed, fish. The hard water thing makes sense. Fish seem to be decently suited to what they had to adjust to at birth. I guess I'll just add that if you've been feeling joyful about apistos for a long time, pretty consistently favoring them over other options, that's a pretty good indicator that you won't regret getting them.

Kinda need to know what the temperature range will be, and whether you intend to net them all out and keep them inside during some portion of the year. Maybe some other details, too. Do you want them to breed? Is your water particularly hard or soft? Got any predators around that you know of? Stuff like that.

That "probably" made me laugh! It's so honest! I consider ACO to be a trusted source for plants. But that's not because they're perfect - it's because they attempt to be. A conscientious source is very likely to get you better results than people who are strictly motivated by the profit. It's still possible for ACO plants to arrive with something undesirable, and from any source, snails are just a given. (Though I think that's good.) Just a heads-up. Maybe you already have enough experience to know this, but it's super common for a plant species to simply not work in a person's water or tank, often inexplicably. I always suggest not spending money on more than 1 of a specific plant until you've confirmed that it can do well for you. Odds are better if you get 1 each of a larger number of species, then go back later for more of the ones that worked.

Sorry about the shingles. I hope the aquarium stuff is at least a helpful distraction. I'd hesitate to use the 3 gallon for quarantine. Most QT meds are dosed per 10 gallons, so it'd be hard to come close to accurate dosing. I've used a 5 gallon, and aimed to put 6 gallons' worth of a dose of med in to make sure I get enough. Something else to think about is that during a course of meds, it's easiest to be set up such that you can avoid doing water changes until the med course is done (often 1 week). I don't know if you could keep 3 gallons of water clean that long. Maybe - but it seems iffy to me, particularly if you chance to have baby fish born during QT, since they would need fed often. Quarantining a plant once kept me from putting black beard algae in my tanks. I'll never not quarantine again. That convinced me! On the flip side, hopefully your plants will bring in helpful things like safe microfauna, or snails that don't annoy you. (But that doesn't mean to not quarantine. You can move the good critters into the permanent tank when you move the plants in.) It might be good to find the facts to prove that your tap water is dangerous or safe. If most people won't consume it, but the report says it's safe, something is off somewhere. I have heard of water reports that are inaccurate and shouldn't be trusted... but regardless, it might be beneficial to figure out the discrepancy between human behavior and human reporting. And you're welcome!

That's kinda perfect. You could use the EWW as a "circle of life" way to cull the platies you think look blah. I don't know if this applies to your situation, but just in case, I'll mention it. I gave my angelfish about 50 endlers, assuming he'd eat the smallest few, but most would live. The actual result is that he ate about half, and by the time I realized it, all the survivors had been living in terror for over a month. I netted them all out so I could take time to think about what to do. That's when I could see that they were all too thin, having been too scared to come out and eat. I had unwittingly made them miserable. So it's worth considering the idea of only having a couple days' worth of fish in the tarantula's water at a time. That would prevent any particular fish from going through an extended time period of stress.

Oh! Well, I feel like I'm being a jerk to the fish here, but... Platies? They're longer and chubbier than guppies. They're livebearers, so the adult females have babies every month. Adult males are about roach sized, and juveniles would be cricket sized. I think platies would be worth getting some more info on. I'm guessing other livebearers that are bigger than guppies would be too big (mollies and swordtails come to mind). Also, EWW!!!

New and curious idea to me. I only have one thought. Do you know if guppies are small enough for "fishy snacks?"

Do I see the toilet in the kitchen?! 🤣 That might be the problem, but I don't see anything else wrong.

Now that I've got a minute... Although you've been out of the hobby for a while, it sounds like you've got at least basic knowledge, given your descriptions of your previous fish. Is that accurate? If it's not fresh in your mind, I'd say to get re-acquainted with the nitrogen cycle, and liquid test kits. When you get the test kits, test all the parameters of your tap water, so you've got your bearings on what you have to work with. Double-check that those parameters match up with what your preferred species of fish need. (If they don't, there may be easy ways to adjust the water. Or if not, there may turn out to be other fun fishies that do match up with the water.) By the time your tank(s) is cycled, have a plan in place for quarantine. And though a lot of people don't quarantine plants, at least consider it. If you haven't yet, hunt down some high-quality videos on YouTube on fishkeeping. There are many videos intended for beginners, which are also good for those of us who just need a refresher, or need to get the intensely confused looks off our faces. 😜 Although Aquarium Co-Op has a very helpful channel (and blog), so do many other people! Off the top of my head, the only other advice I can think of is the dreaded "P word." Patience. Bleck!

Welcome! "Nerm" was just a mouth fumble that caught on. It refers to a normal person, who's also a nerd about fish. Normal+nerd+(not enough coffee?) = "nerm." Best advice: Research research research before taking action. (Sorry, I chance to be in a rush right now. Just needed a fish break. Toodles.)

At least as a general rule, yes. Full disclosure though. I don't have a formal higher education in any form of biology. This is just what I've seen in my and my acquaintances' experiences with human special needs. Hey @Beardedbillygoat1975, you're the only member I can think of with a higher education in human bio. Am I on the right track?

At least most of the time: If human hormones cause them to stop growing, the internal organs also stop growing. But if it's an overall delay of length caused by something like a curved spine, the internal organs do continue to grow. I wonder if the same might hold true for fish.

I might be misunderstanding your plan. If it's immersed instead of emersed, it might not be safe to harvest for human consumption.

I know this is miles outside of your context, but this section instantly made me think of my extremely stubborn kid. 😂

Welcome back to the hobby! It's great that you're thinking ahead carefully. I've heard some plant roots have a hard time with sand, so it might make sense to choose some favorite plant options, and get a substrate that seems likely to work for them. But it is also true that we tend to go through many species of plants before figuring out what can grow in our tanks. 🙄 So if you're more interested in substrate than plants, go ahead and get a substrate you think is awesome.

Just brainstorming here, so somebody else weigh in and correct me. But aren't very high ammonia, and very low pH, both things that kill the beneficial bacteria? Among other problems, could the cycle have crashed? I don't see any reason at all to use special water. The 4 species you listed are commonly kept in treated tap water. I think for those species, you'd only need RO if something was terribly wrong with your tap. (I'm just saying that from observation though, not experience.)

If the KH is 0, the pH will be unsteady. It sounds like your tap water would be fine to use. Can you test your tap to see if it has a KH above 0?

When I was getting green water, I tried the usual advice about light and nutrients, then someone here suggested increasing biological filtration. It was a 20 gallon, using a HOB and intake sponge. I added a medium-sized sponge filter, and liquid bacteria. That approximately doubled the amount of bio filtration. It was something like 2-4 weeks later that I woke up to crystal clear water. I'm not sure if that will apply to an established tank, but since the green water is happening repeatedly, it might.

Oh, excellent point.

It might help to ask yourself how many adults you want to keep for the long run. Then you'd pick a tank size based off of that number. When you do that math, factor in that an adult female is 2-3 times the bioload of an adult male, and that the females need to outnumber any males they live with so the males don't pester them to death. Examples based on my tanks: 30 adult males in a 20 gallon with a medium sponge filter, or 30 adult females in a 29 gallon with 2 medium sponge filters. Also have a plan ahead of time for what you'll do when there are (inevitably) too many fry. I so want to see this! 😂

Since learning that common plecos are a no-no for my small tanks, this is the first time a pleco has grabbed my attention! Those are so *pretty*! Are the fry as easy as guppy fry to feed? How big do the biggest of these get?

Endlers - whether for pleasure or profit. Hardy, color variety, breed easily. Good for me. Good for beginners. Good for feeding big carnivores, if needed. (But for what it's worth, I'm totally into fish for pleasure. I've never thought about selling.)