anewbie

I would like to add a large uv to my aquarium capable of killing parasite - my reading is i need at least 25 watts. In the perfect world i would get something like a heater that i could insert into the sump but i can't find anything similar to that; i've seen some 25 and 40 watt units from various companies but no clue which one is reliable (I think there are complaints that the emperor housing has a flaw that causes the housing to melt and leak everywhere - so i'm skipping that one) but there are others. Any first hand experience using these? My intention is to run one on my 'main' aquarium for 6 months and then as 'needed' and the other on the qt aquarium (150 gallons) whenever i add new fishes.

What i am doing is building a 2 foot reactor out of pentair filter housing ; the input comes from the sump after the socks and the output goes into tub with the return pumps so all the return pumps can pull co2 rich water (there are 4 return pumps). I haven't tested this yet because well the tank arrives in about 4 weeks and another 3 or 4 weeks to get it setup and cycled but that is the plan - if it doesn't work well (waste too much co2); then i will just put it on one of the returns. Sometime this week or next i'll test the reactor portion in the bath-tub to make sure it doesn't leak.

Just an FYI: but i've not had problem with spider floating after let them sit in water for 7 to 14 days. Doesn't mean i won't have problems in the future 😉

I never had this issue; but i am curious if you know what type of it was as i suppose different types have different degrees of buoyancy.

Does it work well on soft tubing or do you use it on pvc pipes ? This is the one i had purchased which seems similar and it doesn't really do what i want: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Y997XKC

Can someone recommend a good cutter for larger tubings? I did buy a random gizmo with lots of high ratings on amazon but it doesn't really do what i want since it assumes you are cutting more a pipe than a tube - event hat i'm not sure - it is just kind of clumsy. So instead of throw more money away i'm hopeful someone has cut larger tubes and has an actual gizmo they have used that works well and they can recommend. The primary difference between tubing and pipe is they are not rigid and most cutters seem to be designed around smaller tubing. Yes my new aquarium uses 1.5 inch for overflows and 3/4 inch for returns and i have *lots* of tubing to cut.

No it doesn't and i retested the tds and it was a lot lower - around 140 (tap is currently around 115); i thinking either the meter was way off or more likely it is the impact of liquid fertilizer. I think the last time i tested it was just after i did a water change and add fertilizer and maybe it didn't dillute. I'm actually ok with 140-150 range if tap is 110 since (a) I add fertilize twice a week and the aquarium is up and running 4 full years. Still I think it is something i have to study more closely to figure out what is happening (i'm speculating it was the fertilizer that made it jump to 220 and not the meter being flakey as it was a couple of months the last time i measure it). Most of this is in prep. for my move in a couple of months - as the new place will have much tighter control over the water parameters but i will be adding more fragile fishes. Anyway thanks for hte video - it isn't that the video isn't accurate or anything it just doesn't provide an easy method of getting a grip on what portion of the chemistry is changing (I do have kh/gh/phosphate test kits and i do test these periodically though in truth nitrate is the thing i pay most attention to).

I guess it is related but video is too high level; i mean what he sez is true but i'm being a bit narrower; we do large water changes and we can measure kh/gh and know they aren't creeping - he suggest max 50% water change but since i do bi-weekly 50% water changes (yes 2 per week) that isn't going to help. When i move in a couple of months everything will get reset and i'll be using softer water but still it becomes an open question what to do about if you want to prevent creep. It almost sounds like you have to do near 100% a couple of times a year.

So over time tds seems to increase and if the aquarium is old enough (many years) it seems to just higher and higher. The question is - is this an issue and if so why/how? Now the problem with tds is that it is composed of many different substances so unless you get a detail test of the water it might be difficult to determine the source that is causing the tds increase but it makes sense it would increase over time as pure water tends to evaporate. For example my tap tds is around 120-130; the majority of the composition is calcium and magnesium though there are other substances. Even though i do 50% water changes bi-weekly the tds has still crept up to around 220 over the past 3 years. Should i be concern?

While it won't help in this specific case you can get monitors that will alert you if the temp (or ph) goes out of range. Both hydros and ghl have solutions for around $350-$400 that will include both temp and ph monitoring (hydros will also monitor leaks). Now $350-$400 isn't exactly cheap but if you have several tubs in the garage monitoring one might be sufficient (of course if a heater fails or what have you i guess it won't help so much there). To be honest i'm not over joyed with hydros which i've been testing - ghl i just purchased but haven't used it yet to comment. neptune is also a common solution - last time i priced it it didn't make sense but there is a new neptune jr which is more cost effective (though more than the other two last time i checked). How are your krobia doing? Also my angles - well the female platinum is starting to 'piss off' the festum. She keeps trying to herd them away (territorial thing) but they are twice her mass and I think she finally got the message that if she wants a territory she has to pick a spot where they are not cause they are not going to move. the last time she laid eggs; they (I have 7) all came over and ate them - she was not happy.

Kind of boring i guess but preparing a new batch of bbs for mom's fry:

Probably but depends how high you fell the containers. One mistake people frequently make is to add too much water (this includes the bags).

I always use those cheap 5 gallon pails (walmart/home-depot/lowes ) sell them for 2.50 to 4.00 depending where you live et all. I would be careful with ice as it can cool them - when imoved cross country (2 day drive); i just turned on the ac in the car and made sure the light didn't hit the pails; i also used the pails for the substrate. I put the plants in with the fish; you do want to cover the top to keep jumpers from well jumping but also make sure it is ventilated (air stone and small holes - you can use cardboard or the lids they sell). The larger water volume offered temp stability so if it changed it didn't change too fast.

Yea. It took me a long time to get it out of all my tanks; but once done it makes you feel a lot happier !

It could be yoyo but my yoyo never bothered cardinals. It could also be bacteria - one thing you could do as a test is put some of the green in another aquarium (if you have an extra) and see what happens after 2 or 3 weeks - consider it qt'ing. I will say that yoyo should be kept in larger groups and they will get large so they require a larger aquarium - at least 4 feet long - 75 would be good - they also like strong current (as do most loaches). A 29 is definitely too small for your stocking when they reach adult size. My yoyo are over 5 inches long and pearl gourami can also get fairly large - though i don't think they are as active as yoyo. To be honest a 29 would be more suitable for kuhli like loaches (8 or 9 common species); rosy (but i think they require special treatment - you would need to read up on them; dwarf chain are small but can be quite active and a 40 would be better for their level of activity; zebra loaches are smaller than yoyo (around 4 inches) and not quite as active but still a 29 is pushing it for a group of 6 - they can also be very shy but are more passive and quite lovely (imho); i guess hillstream loaches but they also are a bit more fragile. A 29 just doesn't offer a lot of swimming room. I guess of the torpedo like loaches zebra would be the only one i would risk in a 29 but i just think it is on the small side even for them. Of course when I buy yoyo i usually put them in a 29 for the first 3 or 4 months to let them get a bit of size before moving them into a bigger aquarium and they are fun at that small size - with my larger ones i have with clown and zebra and at night they will all collect and school together - drives the angels nuts but they never directly bother them (they don't even bother trying to get the angels eggs or frys).

With BN pleco my general experience has been that females are less likely to hide than males. The females are the one without the bristle (first picture in the above post). The male when fully mature will try to find a cave somewhere (or make one); he will hide in general and retreat quite quickly to his cave when you are around. The female will generally be out. I only have 4 species of pleco but generally speaking the male of all the species i have have been more inclined to hide; so while you might find the male bush or colouring (depending on species) more appealing the female is more likely to be visible in my experience - something to consider.

again apistos is a genus not a species; there is a wide variance of behavior among various species. You should name the explicit species for your experience to be useful to others rather than the genus. It is like saying I have an aggressive dog; all species of dogs are aggressive while in truth some species of dogs are more aggressive than others.

The common species have write-up in various places but the common species is approx 1/10 of the total species. You can find some additional information here: http://www.dwarfcichlid.com/Apistogramma.php

if that were 50inchx50inch it would be a good size; but 50cmx50cm really isn't that large and 50mmx50mm; well forget keeping a pair 😉

Not really; you can find some species in mergus cichild atlas vol 1, 2 and toms website (tomc.no) but none of these resources really provide a whole lot of information. They mostly cover where they are caught and sometimes water conditions in those area. Occasionally tom makes a comment on aggression he observed but nothing very exhausted. You rarely find information (other than the common domestic ones like macs, hongsloi, borelli, agazii, cockatoo, ...) if they are pair forming or harem breeders (most are harem breeders). To make matters worse some of the less common species have changed names over the years making it more difficult to find user experience with them and on top of that a few of the species have multiple names...

it is not a given - breeders tell me black rams are more aggressive for some reason; ive always kept gold rams - still i would not mix the a species of apistogramma with rams unless the aquarium was well scape and fairly large and even then i would be prepared to remove one group. The thing is that when you say 'apistogramma' you might as well be talking about dwarf cichild in general because there are so many species with different behavior and level of aggression. I identified 4 or 5 species of apistogramma that prefer warmer waters but haven't gotten around to actually testing any of them with rams. Anyway megaptera is certainly an interesting species and seems to occasionally become available so sooner or later i might try a group.

I believe a. megaptera will require fairly pure water to breed successfully as well as ph below 6.5 but not 100% sure - they are generally kept in near blackwater condition - which is to say very pure water.

I would not mix rams with apisto unless the tank is quite large and well scaped; the problem is that they both occupy the lower levels and both want their own territory to raise youngs. I suppose 1 male of each might work but not pairs or harems. If the tank is large enough (and a 75 very well scaped might work) then the story is a bit different but it comes down to individual fishes and specific species. Some will want a foot for their territory others 4 feet so there is no clear answer here. Keep in mind that rams want temp around 82 so you would want a species of apisto that prefer warmer waters and are not too aggressive. I actually made a list somewhere of potential species that might work as I was considering mixing the two in 48x48 cube. One of the species i came up with was a. megaptera. this species is not overly aggressive and definitely prefers warmer water; mind you have not tried this combo but it was on my list of options.

Is it glass or acrylic ? Just wait till she sees that post !

Very nice looking; bet it was kind of pricey but nice looking. Is it glass? And hey your wife is smiling that you got a new aquarium instead of well whacking you over the head - you know some wives are not very understanding of our hobbies when they see the credit card bill.