Tommy Vercetti

OP wants a sponge to fit the tube on the intake of their lily pipes. it should be 5/8 inch (16mm) inner diameter and about 3 to 4 inches (75mm to 100mm) tall.

Thank you for the update. We love you Murphy!

0 nitrites is one of the goals when cycling a tank. There are beneficial bacteria that convert nitrite to nitrate. 0 nitrates in a planted tank, that does not get dosed with fertilizers, is expected in a cycled tank and does not indicate a crashed cycle. If your tank has a light stocking of fish then the plants will consume all of the available nitrate. Let us know what the ammonia test say when you get your tests. But I am pretty sure it will read 0, this means your tank is doing fine and that if you want more plant growth, then consider dosing a fertilizer.

The easy mode stand will only take about 2 to 4 hours to build.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Simpson-Strong-Tie-WBSK-Workbench-and-Shelving-Hardware-Kit-WBSK/205177374

I like to make the face out of boards and the rest from plywood. Just like your kitchen cabinets. To join plywood, there are many options depending on your skill level and tool collection; Dowels are strong, easy and cheap. Rabets and dados are stronger but require more time, tools and skills. My preferred method is a cleat 3/4" x 3/4" with wood glue and screws or brad nails. Or you could go easy mode, like I did for the wife's fry tanks:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Swaner-Hardwood-Birch-Board-Common-1-in-x-4-in-x-R-L-Actual-0-75-in-x-3-5-in-x-R-L-629383/100086024

Poplar is inexpensive and strong. It is significantly harder than fir / pine. I would paint it because it has a weird green tone to the wood. If the budget allows for it, I would chose birch from home depot. It looks really nice and is cheaper than oak, walnut, maple and cherry wood. I made this stand from birch.

This is correct

I had this exact thing happen to me. I tried to use a toothpick but that failed so I put him back in the aqurium and worried until the next day when I saw that he was fine and the food was no longer in his mouth.

Rinse it, use it. Enjoy clear looking water. It really is that simple. Don't over think it. I have a spare bag, that I swap in. I then regenerate the old one and save it for next time.

Sounds like maybe dosing too much at one time. Maybe try spreading out the fertilizer dose over 1 week. Can you dose 2 or 3 times a week?

I vote for RO water top offs and treated tap water for the water changes. Assuming that your tap water parameters are relatively stable, my logic is this: evaporated water leaves behind it's minerals. An auto top off with RO water will keep parameters stable. This is how I avoid the slow onset of aquarium mineral content creeping up over time.

Ph is 7.8ish

Have 100's of cherry shrimp for 2 years and counting. They live, thrive and multiply in my hard water that test (out of the tap) at 650 to 780.

Maybe you could hang the light? That's what I do with my Chihiros lights.

None of the test kits available for our hobby are scientific grade and they all have inaccuracies. However, they are still useful because they are accurate enough to keep water parameters in the ranges necessary for this hobby. I use API liquid tests and ACO test strips and have no complaints about either one. The ACO test strips are faster and easier to use. But when I am wanting to really keep tabs on water parameters then I use the API liquid test, but this requires cleaning the and drying test vials afterwards, which is tedious when compared to ACO test strips.

I wet my BSD seive before use, makes it much faster.

I have successfully removed hair algae from my small 3 gallon tank by manually removing it and adding floating plants. Manual removal requires patience because the algae will grow back until the tank finds its balance. I am happy to report that tank is now algae free

Those holes look large. I found 1/32" is the sweet spot.

Same here the nano usb pump is the quietest pump I have used. If you have a tank under about 30 gallons, then I would call it ideal.

I have used safe t sorb right out of the bag without charging it. It worked pretty good for the plants, no issues. That tank was up for about 13 months before the wife took it down and put together a new aquascape with bagged aquasoil capped with tan sand and pebbles.

Okay here are all the .stl files: 1/2" PVC pipe or conduit, also fits medium sponge filter (when using 1/2" PVC pipe or Conduit) and fits nano sponge filter (when used with 1/2" PVC pipe only): https://than.gs/m/834123 3/4" PVC pipe: https://than.gs/m/836336 3/4" PVC electrical conduit: https://than.gs/m/836514 1" PVC pipe or conduit: https://than.gs/m/839089

I have been using API aqua essential for the past 2 years. I stocked up when it went on sale I have a large bottle of Seachem Prime but the Seachem prime has little floating things in it and I can see that stuff for about 10 minutes in the tank. So I find myself reaching for the API aqua essential over the seachem prime.

That looks like 50 to 75 to me.