anewbie

There is no right answer here - it depends on your tank and the fishes you have. Some fishes find current intolerable - the other the more the merrier - only you can determine if you need the current to cover the entire top or if you need less current in certain areas.

2 every month would be 240 after 10 years; quite a bit for such a small aquarium 😉

The top one looks like a panda; a fish with 'blue' has pinoy gene - i find angels with this gene tend to have more defects if not directly then in off springs; but it is a popular mutation. Here is a list of some genes for angelfish and how combination produces different colours: https://www.aquaticcommunity.com/cichlid/angelfish-genetics.php and another one: https://angelsplus.com/pages/angelfish-genetics There is a calculator somewhere that shows the results of mixing genes in different combinations. Angelfish is a popular fish for cross breeding different genetics to produce 'new' colour morphs.

WC -> wild caught

Female will decide when it is time to breed - this presume male is mature - when the female is ready she will signal him and take him to a cave somewhere. In the worse case the male will attack the female to drive her out of his 'territory' until she is interested to breed but this 'attacking' highly depend upon individual fishes (though some species are more aggressive than others). If you notice this don't be alarm but make sure you have places where the female can hide and not be seen.

Sure buy a wc one. It won't be as pretty but it will be a lot healthier and better community member.

Just remember no matter how hungry or well fed you are eating live catfishes is dangerous to your health as many fishes have learned the hard way; and for many the last lesson on what to eat....

I've seen a few - but like all other species of fish - i generally avoid albino. It is a recessive trait i prefer to not encourage.

Like @PepereI prefer having plants so dense you can't see the back; otherwise i just leave it clear:

Most canister fillters require gravity to feed the water and putting them at tank level or above will put a lot of strain on the motor if they function at all. zoo med has a filter that I think will work at tank level but not sure it will work above tank level. Sponge fitlers or matten filters might work (depending on your 'personal reasons'). I'm a fan of matten filters and will use them on anything below 100 gallons. A matten filter is just a large sponge filter.

When i see 'vampire' shrimp I think of of sucking the life out of ....

I'm lost are we talking about fat fishes or tv shows ?

Does the co-op still lack the ramp up in the morning feature or did they add that? I.e, does it come on at full intensity at the prescribe time ?

I didn't read the article but fishes can over-eat in the sense that they get 'fat'. I'm not a betta person but i've seen several cichild get quite fat over time and like humans this isn't esp good long term. So in that sense they can over eat....

Yea but unlike duckweed I think it is actually quite good in many ways - my frys love hiding in the stuff for example and the shrimps find lots of yummies in it. Not saying there will come a time when it drives me mad - but if this is the rate of progress after 2 years i can live with it - duck weed only took a few weeks to make me ill and months to remove.

For smaller tanks I'm a fan of matten or sponges; the one pictured has a large matten filter in the back corner.

Iv'e had trouble growing Subwassertang; my understanding is it really thrives under cooler conditions - below 74; and most of the fishes i keep prefer 76-82 which creates a conflict. I've had the stuff in small pieces for about 4 years it just doesn't do much in my aquariums. I'm overjoyed with how marimo moss is growing in one of my aquariums. No clue what triggered this behavior since it only did it in one of the aquariums (the other 2 it has existed for over 5 years but hasn't done this): This aquarium is no warmer then the others or cooler but the moss has completely coated all things it could attach to (driftwood et all).

Sure - pick easy to grow plants like vals; hornworth; crypts; ... have decent water ... lots of patience - we aren't talking weeks - or even months but it can take a year or two to get a solid establishment.

Well it means his lights aren't neutral. That is one thing i really like about the freshwater blade; on white sand i see very little colour effect from the individual spectrums.

@Dork Fish In some aquariums yes but not the pictured aquarium.

Yea - i wouldn't buy it - a picture might explain what is going on but this aquarium doesn't seem like it is worth the money.

personally i wouldn't deal with that company. Providing a 21 inch light for a 30 inch aquarium is a red flag in my book unless they have a very good explanation.

You have to be a little careful; sometime the males will fight over caves.... sometime fatal if the cave only has one entrance the larger male can trap the smaller one in the cave and then - well it isn't so pleasant.

Did usual water change which always stresses my L208 even after years of bi-weekly water changes - so naturally he has to hide: Not necessarily the best place to hide right in front of the aquarium but who knows.... maybe i just don't get it.

Do you have a link to the end cap? Btw my concern is that pvc is bad for health. Recently there was a memo sent to major cities advising to no longer use pvc for city water because people were getting cancer from leaching: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2023/04/18/new-report-warns-against-using-pvc-pipes-drinking-water-systems/11688737002/ Also waht do you mean 'big bubbles' ?