Carolina Guy

Was that something that you found at a pet shop? Or did you find it somewhere else?

The pump on mine quit working too. I just stopped using the stuff. I only have easy-to-keep plants, though, so it's not really a big deal for me.

I would tell my younger self to buy timers for my aquarium lights. This has made things easier for me and has made my fish happier.

The last time I moved, I had a fish, an Australian Rainbow, that I was keeping outside in a tub until I could get a tank set up inside. Autumn had just arrived, and when some cool nights hit, I would fill a plastic 2-liter soft drink bottle with hot water, cap it, and then place it in the tub. That can keep the water temperature from dropping as much, and the fish will usually hover near it for warmth too. On especially cool nights, I would do 2 bottles and repeat the process in the middle of the night. Anyway, I managed to keep that fish alive until I got him moved inside, where he lived for several years afterward. Oh, and if you can cover your tub during the night with something like a sturdy piece of flat cardboard (or something similar), it'll help hold the heat in and keep the temperature from dropping as much too.

I've recently been thinking a lot about black neons too. It's funny how certain species start bouncing around in our psyches. I'm soon going to switch a 20 gallon tank for a 29, and when I do, I think I may add some black neons to go with my group of glowlight tetras. I think that combo would be striking. Your tank looks very nice, by the way.

China Aquarium Fish Market--Crazy The Most Interesting Fish at Aquarium Co-op Any of the Aquarium Co-op Tank Tours (I really like it when you offer some more in-depth discussion of a few selected species.) The Tour of that Fish Store in San Francisco Any of the Interviews with Dean

My LED lights were too bright and too harsh for my taste, and also I was getting more algae growth in one of my tanks than I considered acceptable. So I bought a roll of fiberglass screen (charcoal colored) from a home improvement store (around $11 for a 36'X84' roll, and one can probably get shorter rolls than that). I cut some strips (it cuts easily with scissors) and placed them under the lights. This softened and diffused the light wonderfully. I think it was a big improvement aesthetically. I even doubled it on my Glowlight Tetra tank, the one with too much algae. It could be my imagination, of course, but my fish seem happier--the Glowlight Tetras aren't staying hidden in plants nearly as much as they were--and my low-light plants (crypts and anubias) seem happier too. This worked for me, but I have glass covers on my tanks. I'm not familiar with using eggcrate or polycarbonate panels, so I'm not sure if this would work for you or not. In addition, I have no plants that need a lot of light. (I figure, though, that a hole could probably be cut in the screen directly above any individual plant with higher light requirements.) Like I said, I don't know if this would work for you, but perhaps it's something worth considering.

Thanks for your reply. I'm going to check that out and see whether I think it'll work for me.

I really like the looks of that. I need to do a background for a 29 gal too. Since a 29 gal is 30 inches wide, it obviously takes more than one tile to go across. Is the seam where the 2 tiles meet very noticeable? Your photo looks great, and it doesn't appear to be very noticeable, but I can't really tell from that picture either.

My water conditioner creates considerably more bubbles.

I would say the odds are extremely low, almost zero, that any fry could survive in your community tank. When Corydoras fry first hatch, they are tiny, tiny little things (you can hardly see them), and even neon tetras, as small as they are, would have no trouble scarfing them down. If you want to save any, you should probably consider coming up with a way to separate them. I just removed a plant leaf with a few Corydoras eggs last Sunday and had a few of them hatch in a plastic container (with an air stone) that I'm letting float in a tank.

I once got a 20 gallon long with stand, light, and Aquaclear filter for $50, and I thought I got a bargain then, but wow, you really got a deal. What an incredible find. It looks really nice too. That black stand with the black trim on the tank looks great under that piece of art. Keep us updated.

Many years ago when I was a kid, I found one in my tank. I saw it swimming in the water, undulating like a snake, which freaked me out because it was so unexpected. It had come in on some plants I had just bought, and I was able to catch it and get rid of it fairly easily. It was really no big deal. My understanding is that they are seldom a threat to our fish. And there's absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about. Things live in water. You may only have had the one, but just keep an eye out for a while for any more that might show up.

Just to be clear, that was a 29 gallon, not a 20. And I don't want to give the impression that I'm advocating for people to do things that might be ill-advised. Even though some situations call for adding additional fish, overall I believe that tanks are generally better off understocked than heavily stocked. And do some more research on that red tailed shark and whether it can coexist with the other inhabitants that you have planned. I personally don't have experience with them, but from what I understand, they can be a problem sometimes. The one I was talking about probably wasn't fully grown, and it could have ended up being a terror in the long run. (By the way, they gave that tank and its inhabitants away because they were moving to Hawaii.)

First of all, don't get overwrought by arbitrary rules that some people come up with. Yes, Cory Catfish do well in groups, and yes, they look neat swimming together in those groups, but it's NOT a requirement to have 6 or more. I have 2 very happy Bronze Corydoras in a 20 gallon tank that I've had in there for years (6 or 7 years at least). They are quite happy, and to prove it, they have bred periodically throughout those years. In that same tank, I have 10 Glowlight Tetras and 2 Bolivian Rams. And I assure you, my tank is NOT overcrowded. And I have 3 Corydoras in another 20 gallon tank with a group of Platies and a couple of Swordtails, and those 3 Corydoras--just 3, not 6--are happy as they can be too. The same is true for tetras. Yes, tetras like to be in groups, but they're not necessarily miserable if they're not. I've had lots of groups of tetras in my life, and as they got older, I'd start losing some to age. That's just natural. But the ones that were left did just fine when it got down to 3, then down to just 2, and then finally down to just 1. (Think about it. If we were forced to replace fish to keep schools of 6 or more, we'd never get to change over to another type of fish to keep.) I've never kept Black Skirt Tetras. I've read they can get a little snippy at times, but you've dealt with that by adding a few more, which should help spread out any aggression. I'm not saying they definitely will, but if yours ever get snippy with the fins of your Angels, you might have to deal with that issue at some point. I don't know that much about Rainbow Sharks, but it sounds like you took care of that aggression problem by separating them. That's exactly what most seasoned aquarists would have done. Welcome to the world of fishkeeping. Things like that occur all the time, and you just deal with them, just like you've done. Right after I got out of college way back in 1979, I visited my cousin in Atlanta. He and his girlfriend had a 29 gallon aquarium. That established tank included 2 beautiful full-grown Gold Angelfish, a Black Redtail Shark, a huge female swordtail (I've never seen a larger one, before or since), 2 or 3 platies, and a school of probably 12 to 15 various tetras, including Lemon Tetras and Serpae Tetras. To this day, I don't think I've ever seen a group of fish that were any happier than those in that tank. Not a single one would hide or sulk. All of the Tetras would swim happily out in the open. And those 2 Angels, and the swordtail too, would swim toward me like little puppy dogs whenever I went near the tank, and I'm just barely kidding when I say it looked like those fish were smiling the whole time I was there on that visit. I've been keeping fish since I was in the 5th grade in the 1960s, and believe me, I know happy fish when I see them. If that many fish were that happy in a 29 gallon, I don't think your tank is overcrowded. Of course, there are some rules that are essential for fishkeeping, and there is great advice out there that should be listened to (Cory's expertise is probably the best I've ever run across), but don't get in your mind that things are a disaster if you violate some arbitrary rule, just because somebody else adheres to it. Just relax. Enjoy your fish. When problems occur (and they will), you can deal with them when they happen.

Carolina Anole (Anolis Carolinensis) on one of our outdoor potted geraniums.

Do you have any way to heat water? I've kept fish alive during power outages by putting hot water (that I heated on a kerosene heater) into plastic 2 liter soft drink bottles and putting them into the tank. (Cap the bottles, of course.) I'd replace the hot water periodically (after several hours). The fish would hover by those warm bottles, and I didn't lose a single fish, even for several days during an ice storm. You could use smaller bottles, of course, for small tanks.

Well, it can vary, of course, depending on where you are. I kept some Australian Rainbows (not the fancy, expensive kind though), Lemon Tetras, and Cherry Barbs for quite a few years when I lived near Greensboro (I had well water there), and they did well for me after I moved to Cary, too. Also in Cary, I've had good luck with a tank of tetras, Bolivian Rams, and Corydoras Catfish. (They'd probably get along okay without it, but I occasionally add a little chunk of Wondershell to that tank because my water has very little carbonate hardness.) And my livebearers (mollies, platies) do well if I keep Wondershells in those tanks just about all the time. For plants, like I said, Water Sprite is like a weed in a wet summer for me. I have it in all 4 of my tanks. It's great, too, because it can be used as a floating plant or planted. (I use little river stones to weigh it down by the roots when I want it planted.) Java Fern and Java Moss, although they grow slowly, do well in my tetra tank. And I have several pots (little clear Pyrex dishes) of Cryptocoryne Wendtii that I use fertilizer tabs with that have done well for quite a while now in my Platy/Corydoras tank. I'm also trying some Anubias Barteri that I've never had before. I got it not too long ago. It's a slow grower too. The jury's still out on it, but so far, so good. Like I said earlier, Vallisneria will NOT grow for me. I'm presently trying some Saggitaria. It's looking okay, but it's not taking off either. Don't know if any of this will help you. For plants, my advice is just try a few things here and there, and don't buy too much of it until you find out if it likes your water and light conditions.

"Is this possible????" Yes. I'd say it depends on the plants she has, the chemistry of the water, the livestock, and the lights. I run low light, and whether I add fertilizers or not, I have to periodically, and quite often, throw out excess Water Sprite, which can be a very fast grower for some folks. And years ago, I had a 75 gallon tank--very low light, no purchased fertilizers ever--that grew so thick with Java Fern and Java Moss (slow growers) that the fish could hardly get through it. And it almost seemed like the less light I gave the tank, the better those plants grew. (Much to my dismay, however, Vallisneria won't grow well at all for me.) One thing I've learned is that a lot of aquarists have their superstitions. I figure that many of the things they do oftentimes don't necessarily help or hurt. I never argue with people about their rituals, though, and I've learned to just ignore a lot of advice that seems pointless to me. Take my advice with a grain of salt too. I'm probably what most people would consider a lazy aquarist. I tend to stick with easy-to-keep fish and plants that seem to do well for me without too much work.

Sure, Devin. I go to The Fish Room in Cary. It's not a huge shop, but they seem to have most of the things I need, and it's close by for me. I bought 2 Bolivian Rams there about a year ago, and they've done great, and I got some really nice, healthy Glowlight Tetras there before too. Although I've never been, I want to go to their store in Raleigh. From the best I can tell, it's larger than the one in Cary and has a bigger plant selection. I also go to Pet Supermarket in Cary. Pet Supermarket is a chain pet store, but their fish and plant stock (which is fairly limited in scope) comes straight up from Florida. One of my interests is livebearers, and theirs are raised in hard water. I've gotten some good, healthy mollies there. I've also gotten some good plants in pots there (Cryptocorynes and Anubias) that have done well for me. Their fish/plant stock usually comes in on Wednesdays. I've also gone to Petco in Cary for their dollar per gallon sales. And there is a PetSmart in Cary too that I'll check out occasionally if I'm nearby.

I bought this bike, a Windsor Rover II, from Bikesdirect.com, and I'm really pleased with it. It offers a very smooth ride, compared to what I was used to. (I've had a Schwinn Continental for 46 years--still rideable--that I got when I was a teenager back in the 1970s.) This new bike is aluminum, so it is lightweight, and it has front shocks and a seat shock, which really helps when you're as old as I am. Also, my old bike had drop handlebars that killed my neck just about every time I rode it. This bike lets me sit in a much more comfortable, upright position. Yes, you probably save some money by buying from Bikesdirect.com, but there are some drawbacks. You have to do some assembly when the bike arrives (seat, handlebars, pedals), and they give you almost no instructions. (You can find some helpful online instructions on their website and on YouTube, but they're not model specific.) I was able, however, to eventually figure almost everything out. I still haven't tackled fine tuning the gears yet, and I may have to pay an expert to do that. (I get some chain chatter in some of the gears--some of which is normal, but it may be that some of that chain noise can be eliminated.) Because I have some heart issues, I can only do very short, easy rides. And to me, this bike is perfect for that. It's great for riding around on residential streets in my neighborhood and for going to a nearby shopping center/grocery store. I don't know how it would do on gravel bike trails. The tires are a bit bigger than the ones on my old Schwinn, but they're not nearly as big as mountain bike tires (which I don't like anyway). In any event, this is my most recent purchase that I'm excited about.

Pretty fish and pretty tank. I'm an old guy from North Carolina--Cary, NC. I've kept fish since I was in the 5th grade, way back in the 1960s. Welcome to the forum.

Green Tree Frog, North Carolina Found in a potted plant. Sat there all day.

I can't see any real difference between the two. They've spawned twice, though, but none of the eggs hatched either time. By the way, they got along great while they were fanning the eggs, which they did for several days. After the eggs were gone, however, they didn't hang out together much at all, and they went back to snipping at each other a little bit, like they'd done before.

I have 2 Bolivian Rams in a 20 Long tank with some Glowlight Tetras and a couple of Cory Cats. The B Rams snip at each other periodically, especially at feeding time, but their little skirmishes never get severe enough to do any damage at all. This tank has a lot of plants, though, and some small rock structures that interrupt the sight-lines. I have found that aggression is lowered if they have places to hang out where they can't see each other. Once, before my plants grew in, I even put a clean dark-colored coffee cup in there, temporarily, to provide even more sight-line interference, and doing that helped too. I love these Bolivian Rams. They have a lot of personality. I don't know how many would work in a 75 gallon tank. Somebody with more experience with Rams can probably offer more advice about that.