HH Morant

Bare bottom will be better, I think. Sometimes you want to see the what comes out of a sick fish. It is easier to find it, remove it, and inspect it in a bare-bottom tank. Also, when you are trying to get the sick fish to eat, you will want to remove any food that does not get eaten. Again, easier with a bare bottom. After the illness is resolved, a bare bottom tank is easier to clean to avoid infecting the next patient with the disease of the last patient. Plants on the hardscape might be a plus for water quality and to help calm the fish.

I think flowing the water in reverse works, but it is not as good at aerating the water. If you pump the water in the usual direction, you can angle the flow towards the surface to provide good aeration. See aquariumscience.org article titled "Under-Gravels in Depth"

Welcome to the forum and welcome back to fishkeeping! I once spent 16 weeks in your beautiful state. I did a lot of hiking and shooting and some camping too. And drove some all-terrain vehicles. But I have to admit I was happy to leave Fort Knox!

Is it feeding time yet?

OK, so maggots from Fish Folks' clean trash can look yummy compared to what ArmyVet ate in South America. Sounds good enough for my fish!

I read an article entitled "I Accidentally Ate Maggots, Now What?" It was about humans eating maggots. Sounds like its not a good idea. Another article, "Maggots for Aquarium Fish," says feeding fish maggots you buy from bait shops is OK. Not sure what the bait shops feed their maggots. All this brings back memories of drill sergeants calling me a maggot! I am literally shaking!

I wouldn't put the rotting stuff that maggots eat in my aquarium, but I bet maggots are fine as long as they haven't eaten something that is actually toxic. Do maggots do that? I don't know what the likelihood of that is. Does the maggot process the rotting stuff somehow so that it is no longer harmful? There might be some science I need to learn. I guess I wouldn't bet my fish on it without knowing more.

Hey, aren't the top end smart phones now rated to be water resistant up to a depth of 5 feet for 5 minutes? Just put it down there and click away! I know, me neither.

I think people do that for aesthetics. Sponge filters take up space and do not look pretty or natural. If I have adequate or excess filtration already, I don't need one. That being said, I admit I have a sponge filter that I probably don't need, but it is hidden behind a large piece of wood and the base and up-tube are plasti-dipped black to blend in with the background. The air compressor has a built-in battery so that if the power goes off and my canisters stop working the sponge filter and the bubble wand keep the fish alive until I can do something about it. Of course, an air stone would do that, too.

I think hydra target fry and very small fish. Other fish eat the hydra. I have larger fish, so I have never seen a hydra.

Dude! I never heard of hydra until I read this post. Then I read an internet article called "How to identify and Destroy Hydra (in just days)" Looks like the easiest way is to get a molly to eat them.

I think koi angels will be perfect. I have platinum and blue paraiba angels in a 120 gallon tank with a black background. But I am setting up a peninsula tank now, and koi angels are going to be in that one. I think they will look great in your tank.

My guess is staghorn algae.

API General Cure is the same as Paracleanse, if you have that.

That looks worse than normal to me. My pogos generally start new growth - thinner leaves -from the top even before they drop the old wider leaves. Sorry that I don't have any idea as to why the plants pictured are doing poorly.

Great project! I don't think I have the guts to put water in a tank I made.

Like yours, my pogos turned left when they hit the top. I did not trim them because I am considering moving them to a new, taller tank that is not ready yet. My catfish like to sit in the pogos - like sitting in a tree - now that the stems have turned horizontal.

I feed once per day in the evening, with one fasting day per week. The fish will grow accustomed to whatever feeding schedule you use. They also watch you and learn what behaviors of yours indicate that food is coming. Like most people, I tend to overfeed, so I measure the food each day. The fish act hungry all the time, so you have to learn that doesn't mean anything. I think in the wild they don't necessarily eat every day, but when they do find abundant food they gorge themselves because there may not be food tomorrow or the next day. Water quality is easier to maintain if I am careful to avoid overfeeding. That is good for fish health.

It is interesting that we are discussing a digging problem and the substrate in the video looks like astroturf. I am not sure it ever moves.

It looks like a cross between a convict and a hillstream loach.

The biomax will be host to some bacteria, just like the substrate, but in most tanks there is much more beneficial bacteria in the filter (because of the flow) than there is on the substrate (maybe 90%-10%) An undergravel filter can change that and make the substrate a good biofilter, but not many of us have those any more.

Sounds like an interesting group of fish. I would like to see congo tetras with angels. I have thought about doing that. On the water change issue, frequency of water changes will depend on the number and size of fish, how heavily you feed, how effective your filtration is, plants, etc. Given those factors you have to figure out how often you need to change your water to maintain the water parameters that you consider appropriate. Testing your water quality will tell you when you need a water change. So the answer is "it depends." The frequency of water changes may vary from the time the tank is new to the time that it becomes more established. Changes in the fish load - not just from new fish, but from your original fish growing - can also require that water changes be more frequent.

The albino threadfin acaras all seem to have a red spot on their eyeball. I don't know why I like that. Here is one of the more outrageous looking images. They don't all look like this, but I think they are stunning fish. .

Beautiful fish and very interesting spawning info. I don't know much about threadfin acaras, but I want to have some albino ones someday in an aquarium with a black background.

I use pots to contain my plants, so I just put the root tabs in the bottom of the pot when I am initially putting the plant in the aquarium. I use tweezers to place root tabs for plants that have already been potted, but that is sometimes difficult. Taking the pot out makes it easier. I recently bought a "pill gun," designed to give medicine to dogs. The co-op tab fits, but I have had to bend the prongs on the device a little to get it to release the root tab when I want it to.