[Male Only Platy Group?]

I’ve kept Platies for years and would also highly not recommend only males.  I’ve also experienced aggression between female Platies.  Having a lot of plants and sight blocks and a bigger group of Platies tends to cut down with the aggression.

[Clown Pleco and wood]

Hello Everyone,

I have a clown pleco in a 10 gallon aquarium with driftwood and wanted to know if I could remove the driftwood and use Repashy Morning Wood instead.  I ask this because he makes a mess munching on the wood and it’s a real pain to constantly remove it.  This is more of an aesthetic problem because he seems plump and really healthy and I realize that munching on the wood is important in his diet.   Thank you

[White patch on Hill stream loaches.]

Sorry for your loss.  I tried keeping Hillstream Loaches in the past in a standard 20 gallon but found them way too aggressive towards one another and to other fish in the aquarium.  I had lost some fish from getting knocked around by them.  

[Hello from Cape Cod, Massachusetts.]

Welcome!!!  Nice to meet another fish keeper from Massachusetts.

[Is my Platy paralyzed??]

My fish was perfectly healthy this morning and then later in the day found her like this.  She is breathing but seems to struggle to swim.  I’m assuming that she may have hit something causing her to be like this.  Is this something that she can recover from??

[Favorite Horror Movie]

Halloween (2018) and Halloween Kills.

[Bolivian Ram]

Love Bolivian Rams!!!  I feel they are so underrated…

[Question about Platy fish]

I’ve had Platies for a while and in my experience I have learned that the best way to deal with aggression amongst them is to add more Platies to your tank.  In the past even the females were aggressive to one another when it was just 3 females.  If you add more there might be some aggression in the beginning but they work out the hierarchy and things usually settle down.  Males will still be somewhat aggressive towards each no matter what but given the numbers in my tank it’s not constantly Thunder dome.

[Brainstorming: Shrimp or Corydora that would get along with a pea puffer...?]

Please keep us posted.  I’m starting a pea puffer tank and am interested on your experience putting in an amano shrimp.

[Baby Tears melt]

I have a standard 20 gallon and the baby tears in there are growing at a good pace but the lower leaves keep melting.  I’ll trim and replant the tops and there are a lot of offshoots.  I’m not using any CO2.  Light is a Fluval 3.0 light with 30% on for 3 hours, and 2 hour siesta and 40% on for 5 hours.  I’m dosing Easy Green and Easy Iron once a week a week.  I was dosing Easy Green 2-3 times a week but cut back due to hair algae.

Ammonia/Nitrites: 0

Nitrates: 40 ppm

Ph: 7.2

Gh: 8 degrees

Kh: 3 degrees 

Temp: 76-78

[Something to eat my guppies]

If anything my Bolivian Ram will also eat bladder snails.  I purposely tried growing them out in the same tank to feed my pea puffers in another 10 gallon but they kept disappearing.  I thought at first it was the water parameters but witnessed the Ram putting it in its mouth and spitting out the shell less the snail.  So if you have baby guppies and bladder snails you can kill two birds with one stone!!!

[Something to eat my guppies]

My Bolivian Ram loves hunting and eating baby Platies!!!

[Pea Puffer Tank Mates]

Hello Everyone, I am going to be getting a single pea puffer for my 10 gallon aquarium and from everything that I’ve read pea puffers seem to be “OK” with Kuhli Loaches or Ottos.  Just wanted to get some thoughts from the Community on their experiences with this.

[Java Fern with Finnex Stingray Light]

Hello, I am planning on putting a Java Fern in my existing 10 gallon tank and it has a Finnex Stingray light.  ACO considers the Stingray on a 10 gallon tank “high light” under its light guide.  Will the Java Fern considered a low light plant be ok with the Stingray light??

[Hillstream Loach Sparring]

I had 2 Hillstream Loaches in a 20 gallon high and one of them was a terror for months.  Not only to the other Hillstream Loach but to all the other fish in the tank, especially the Albino Cory’s. Brought her back to the LFS and things have gotten so much better. 

[BBA on gravel]

I have some BBA on my gravel that’s been there for a while from using a light fixture that was too high density for my tank.  The BBA is more or less controlled and wanted to use the Easy Carbon to spot treat it but I have Valisneria and have read that it would effect it.  Does anyone have experience spot treating Easy Carbon with Val??  Would the BBA eventually go away??  I have a Hillstream Loach and some Platies who all seam to be nibbling on the BBA but it’s not going away.

[Losing the BBA battle]

I have some BBA on my gravel that’s been there for a while from using a light fixture that was too high density for my tank.  The BBA is more or less controlled and wanted to use the Easy Carbon to spot treat it but I have Valisneria and have read that it would effect it.  Does anyone have experience spot treating Easy Carbon with Val??  Would the BBA eventually go away??  I have a Hillstream Loach and some Platies who all seam to be nibbling on the BBA but it’s not going away.

[Scarlet Temple]

Yes, it’s what’s left of the plant that came from ACO, there’s little sprouts coming from it and hopefully they’ll grow into full plants.

[Aquarium Co-Op 100 Watt Heater]

Just placed an order for 2 new ACO heaters.  I use an InkBird temperature controller for each of my tanks and will be using it in conjunction with the ACO heaters.  I have it so the InkBird controls the heaters coming on/off.

 

My question is will the ACO heaters remember the temperature setting when the InkBird turns on the heater??

[Scarlet Temple]

Hello Everyone,

I was looking for some tips to be successful with Scarlet Temple.  The 2 plants I got from ACO came healthy but melted in my tank.  I still have a few bare stems that is showing some growth.

My parameters are:

20 gallon high with gravel substrate 

Fluval 3.0 light

0 ppm ammonia and nitrites/ 40-50 ppm nitrates/ 7.0 ph/ 8 degrees GH/ 3 degrees KH

ACO Easy Green and Easy Iron with Easy Root Tabs

Thank

[Filter floss dangerous for fish?]

I use the ACO course sponge on my Penguin Pro to reduce flow, same setup as you.  The filter floss will eventually need to be replaced and I just rinse the sponge and reuse it.  

[What changes could be made to make my 125 the best it can be?]

I think it looks great and you shouldn’t change anything.  

[Fluval Plant 3.0 Scheduling and Programming]

Hello Everyone,

I have a 20 gallon high tank and would my current settings be considered medium or high light??  

[BIO Wheel]

I have a Penguin Pro 125 and I stopped using both the bio wheel and cartridges.  I hot rod it with the ACO course sponge and poly pad ( filter floss).  It works great and I have had no problems.

[Co op test strip vs API GH & KH test solution results]

I have the same issues with GH and pH.  The ACO test strips pH reads 6.8 and the API reads 7.4.  The GH reads 300 all the time, way higher then API 2 degrees (I have very soft water).  The other issue I have is with Nitrates.  API will read 40-50 ppm while the ACO test strips at 60 seconds reads half that.  I have to wait 2-3 minutes and then the test strips will match the API results.  As far as the pH is concerned I have read in the Forum that some city/towns add chemicals that can skew the test strip pH results.  I still use the test strips because they’re quick and I know what to look for and adjust accordingly, pH is close enough and I just wait 2-3 minutes for the Nitrate results.