Gator

@BuzzDaddy21; I've used a Marineland C-220 canister filter for about five years now and I've had no issues with it. I removed everything from the media trays and replaced that media with filter foam made for this filter in all trays. As long as I can see that water is moving at a good clip and my aquarium water parameters are safe for my fish, I don't care about the GPH, "head pressure," or anything else. My fish are happy, I'm happy, life is grand.

@grimms; They will affect the pH as long as they are in the tank. Bettas are blackwater fish originally from SE Asia, so your Betta would be happier without those decorations raising the pH in the tank. Those decorations do look nice though, do you have enough space to set up a Guppy tank to put those decorations into?

@grimms; If you want to set up a blackwater tank, these rocks are not good for blackwater tanks and may even damage your plants. These rocks look like long-dead coral which are made up of Limestone and would increase your pH beyond what blackwater fish like. They are nice looking pieces though and may be good for a Guppy tank or a tank of other Livebearers as they prefer a higher pH.

@darkG; Yeah, the US Customs Service is broken. First, they'll hold a shipment of plants, birds, or animals to check with the Committee on International Trade of Exotic Species to see if that plant, bird, or animal is on the list of endangered species. Then they check with the Country where the plant, bird, or animal is from to find out they are a problem in their native habitat, and yeah, it takes time. To give you an idea why it's necessary, The Bronx Zoo imported two Asian Chestnuts trees for display, Asian Chestnut trees carried the Chestnut Blight with them while at the same time they're immune to the blight, American Chestnut trees weren't. A lot of American Chestnut trees died from the blight, and now there are very few American Chestnut trees remaining. I could mention other plants, birds, and animals, but I think you now understand the why the US Customs Service is so slow. It's easy to see that you've put a lot of hard work into your tank, and it looks fantastic. Keep up the good work and please don't be too hard on the US Customs Service, they're looking out for us.

Welcome to the forum.

@Krish; Yes, you can, in fact it may be perfect, any baby Guppies shouldn't get sucked into the filter.

@Tomato Shrimp; You're still going to need to cycle the entire system before adding any fish. I highly suggest bare tanks for the ease of catching fish but adding artificial plants will make the fish feel more secure and keep the snail infestation down. Keep the water temps at about 85 degrees to keep diseases down, trying to medicate the entire system at once would be cost prohibitive, and the stresses of transportation will cause the fish to get sick. Google "Columnaris" and scroll down the page until you find an article from the Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources (MNDNR) and read it, that article will say to raise your water temps to about 85 degrees to prevent diseases in your tropical fish. Of course, this would not apply to Goldfish which are cold water fish. It's interesting to note here that the MNDNR recently removed 5,000 pounds of live Goldfish from three lakes in MN. Set up a 55 G tank for plants and cycle it as you would any other tank, place either 6 Clown loaches or 6 Yoyo loaches in this tank before adding plants. There will be snails and snail eggs on your plants and these two species of Loaches love to eat snails and their eggs, but you'll also need to feed them. Sure, there are ways to discourage people from buying Cichlids and Guppies together, just say, "I'm sorry, but Cichlids will eat Guppies and their babies," or "I'm sorry, but a 10 G tank isn't big enough for even one Goldfish." Say instead, "May I suggest a male and female Guppy of the same color and two Bronze cories, the Cories will not eat the Guppies or their babies." Say, "It's highly recommended that an aquarium of at least 29 G be used for just one Goldfish." If they must have a fish with a bright color to it, suggest a Betta and two Cories, Bettas will eat baby Guppies. Call United Pet Group at 1-800-526-0650 to get informational pamphlets on fish, what common fish diseases look like and their treatment, you're going to want a lot of each for your customers. This place owns Marineland, Tetra, Jungle, and others, and is located in Blacksburg, VA, on the opposite side of 460 from Virginia Tech, which is the Land Grant College that has the third highest ranking Fisheries Biology Dept., so United Pet Group gets their info first-hand. Contact the Service Committee of Retired Executives (SCORE), they should be listed in your phone book. They will advise and assist you and your friend with advice on how to run a successful business, remember always, Please and Thank you go a long way toward making a business a success. Word of mouth advertising will do more for a business than paid advertisements, if you don't have happy customers, you're not going to have a business for very long. I want to convert a 95,000 square feet former K Mart building into a fish only pet shop, the likes of which nobody around here has ever seen. I sponsored a sit-down lunch at a casual dining restaurant to discuss this with three people who had previously owned small fish only pet shops, one of which who helped me set this up was someone I used to sell Guppies and Angelfish to. All three of them liked my ideas and are on board, now we're trying to form a workable partnership. Good luck and best wishes, keep me posted. Sincerely Gator

@BuzzDaddy21; One gallon of water is 231 cubic inches. Before you add the first drop of water, take the inside measurements, multiply L x W x H and divide by 231, this will give you the exact number of gallons. By height, I measure from the bottom to the bottom of the lip my glass hood is going to sit on. @HH Morant; Sorry, I entered this before I read other posts.

@Cinnebuns; I can see Java Fern, Java Fern Wendlov, and all species of Anubias growing on several different branches.

@Brandon; My father's sister married a full-blooded Cherokee who used obsidian to make arrowheads and spearheads, those arrowheads and spearheads were extremely sharp. I believe that obsidian would be like lava rock, it would have too many naturally sharp edges for an aquarium, Agate on the other hand might look cool. My uncle was a high-ranking game warden in his state, so I guess he was making the arrowheads and spearheads to gift to his co-workers, but what do I know? Your shelf idea is great, I did something similar back in the '80's using a piece of slate I had found while following a deer trail in the Appalachian Mountains, my Jack Demsey's took to it immediately when I got it home. Your shelf idea is great, I'm positive it's going to work out very well for you, look for more Sandstone, build a massive shelf system that will rival any prefab shelf system you can buy, place some slate in your shelf system for good measure. Your end result will be a shelf system with lots of nooks and crannies to hide in and maybe even lay eggs.

@Brackon; I've had Sandstone in all of my tanks for years, I've never had any problems from it. To find out if a piece of Sandstone is going to fall apart in your tank, try to break it with your hands, if it breaks, find one that doesn't. As @Flumpweesel states, I've seen a lot of buildings in a lot of towns made of Sandstone, sometimes entire cities. If you go onto google maps, you can look for a town called Harpers Ferry, WV and switch to satellite view, zero in on a railroad bridge over the Potomac River. This RR bridge was built out of Sandstone in the Roman Gothic style by the B&O RR in 1850 and is still in use today by the C&O RR. There are several RR bridges all across the US made of Sandstone that are still in use. Don't put just any rock in your tank, Limestone will raise your pH, Quartz is OK, I have a Quartz rock about 3 inches long by 2 inches wide I found that has a 22K vein of gold running through it, looks great.

@BettasAreSuperior; The answer to your first question is no and the answer to your second question is yes.

@Struggle; I believe what you are calling a stem is actually a rhizome, it looks as if the plant, where it meets the "stem" is trying to change directions. Try placing the "stem" in the gravel with the rhizome buried just under the surface, but leave the leaves above the surface, and then wait to see what happens, you may see new plants growing through the gravel from the rhizomes, my Crypts grow in this manner. Try this with one plant to start, if I'm right, you can place others in the gravel in this manner, but if I'm wrong, then you've only lost one plant. By looking at your Lotus, it seems as if your plants have a nutrient deficiency, use one capful of Seachem Iron supplement and 15 drops of Seachem Flourish Comprehensive plant ferts each week. Good luck. Sincerely Gator

@Tedrock; Raise your water temp to about 85 degrees and you'll never have Ich again. Ich goes dormant at 80 degrees but raising your water temp to about 85 degrees also keeps other fish diseases at bay.

@Tomato Shrimp, @T. Payne, and @Levi_Aquatics; I personally do not have any experience with Cypress in any of my tanks, but I do have Oak in one of my tanks that is from a dead limb I picked up off the ground in my back yard. After reading your posts and several yesterday, I wouldn't be against going where I know there are Cypress trees, breaking off a dead limb, as opposed to a green limb, bringing it home, breaking it down further to fit my tanks, and dropping those pieces in. It may take several days for the Cypress to soak up enough water to sink, the Oak took a week, but I wouldn't boil the pieces before I dropped them in because I want the tannins in my tanks for my blackwater fish. A friend of mine in Orlando, FL. breeds Angelfish and the wood she uses in her 55 G breeding tank is Live Oak and the Angelfish lay their eggs on that limb. A historical fact, the USS Constitution (Old Ironsides) is made from Live Oak.