Iceturf

-glad you like it (: --Signs of growth: -colored glass algea (green, brown; a few more and I'll have a rainbow) -some of the taller plants reach the top of the tank (I don't think they did that last week.....) - and : (sorry a bit blurry)

thanks

So far so good, I'm just hoping the plants take root (er the ones that grow roots that is) -converted a few mosses over to aquatic from my lawn, I'm hoping the dirt their roots cling to brings in nutrients

ok, thanks I'll have to remember that (saving money is almost always good ) however i'm thinking i'll buy 10 cardinals and about ~5 other fish, so maybe I'll do a bulk order with someone.

I don't know the maker of the sand, but I got it from "Princess Auto" (around 10$ for 10kg's or something like that, not the best deal on sand, but I didn't need that much) The loaches are always digging in the stuff and I haven't noticed any gill or other damage so I would think not.

Do you know the price of cardinals?

(one of the plants I converted to submersed)

I don't see the point in paying 2$/neon tetra to build a group (around 10-20) when I don't have to; so where is a good place to get about 10-20 neons in Edmonton? (cheapest and or healthiest) Furthermore, does anyone know where I can get some healthy weather loaches for a decent price? (and where to get some inexpensive ghost catfish) -Edmonton (pref. Southwest side) --Slightly off my original focus, when selecting aquarium driftwood, what do I look for/what kinds of pieces are good to produce a nice esthetic look? (thinking about putting a piece in my planted 20 gallon tall) -tall, long, thick, thin..? I suppose this is opinionated, but there must be some good guidelines I can use to pick a good piece thanks --oh yea, what is the difference between "Jumbo Neon tetra" and "Neon tetra" ?

Yea, I got them from a fellow AA member who was nice enough to offer them to me for the cost of shipping.

just hanging out

Believe it or not, sandblasting bead sand (off hand I forget the exact name, but I'll check a bit later)-"Eco-Glass"

I started this tank's tropical setup around the end of November of 08, was a goldfish aquarium before. Thanks to a fellow AA member, I as able to get all the plants you see above. (cough *Werner* cough cough) This aquarium consists of an ~18 gallon, tall (think two 10 gallons stacked), with a fuval 104 (I forget who, but got this from another AA member for an awesome price. Twas basically brand new, thank you) with a DIY lighting system and usually DIY yeast CO2. After using regular aquarium rocks for many years, I decided to switch to something more interesting; another AA member was selling large weather loaches and I chose to try out some sandblasting sand as a substrate (extremely soft and sinks decently). This worked out well for the loaches, as they buried themselves constantally. Another note, at this time I had many rooted plants. My loaches were constantally digging and related, my plants grew well. They only showed signs of Vitamin K and Iron deficencies (resolved quickly). After having these awesome guys for a while, I discovered shrimp and switch to them. However if I get the chance, I'd like to set up a weather loach tank. The loaches are now housed in a large goldfish aquarium (maybe a pond now, I don't know). Anyways, after the loaches were gone my rooted plants didn't seem to do so well. I didn't think about the impact on root systems since my substrate is so fine and therefor compact. As a result, I added some dirt a while later, sandwiched between layers of sand to give roots something to grab and grow into. Also added 4 MTS, but they don't want to reproduce and as such, my substrate stays compact. Note: While many people have problems with snails over-running the tank or being a nuisance, I have not had that problem. Now when I say I have not had that problem, I mean that my snails (discluding MTS's) have stayed small; under 4mm's for the most part. I can't figure this out, my snails reproduce seldomly and stay tiny (I haven't given this much thought). If course, there are a couple that are bigger, large enough to reproduce Plants: -Riccia -Trace amounts of pellia (maybe not anymore, recently rescaped. I like this plant but I suck at growing it. Will have to get some more) -Mayaca Fluviatilis -Limnophila Sessiliflora -Hydrocotyle -Java Moss Plants I want: [] HC, a neat forground plant [] Hygro Compacts (different than the above one, also a forground plant, but much different) [] Java Fern [] A flowering plant Fish I have: -Five neon tetras -Three Otocinclus's (my walls went from brown to whiteish clear within a few weeks, now I need to feed them myself!) Fish or related that I want for this tank [] Red Cherry Shrimp (last time I had these guys, I messed something up) [] Green Shrimp or Red Crystal Shrimp [] Blue shrimp or Snowball shrimp in the far fetched future. At which point I will likely have a species tank just for them [] Maybe Endlers or small Guppies, not 100% shrimp safe so ... Feel free to help me out with any of the want's, happy to trade any of the plants that I have in good numbers. :smokey: DIY Lighting: One t8 18" strip light and two 15w daylight bulbs. Should re-rig the reflector, but I'm too lazy DIY Co2 Yeast: outputs into my filter output. Not the best Co2 absorption but pretty self governed and simple. Costs: Tank $30 on sale, to my knowledge, this tank is no longer in active production (not a big seller?) Lights $50, ouch shoulda just looked for a good used set. But nothing's 23"< thats small enough Substrate $10, buying big bag from hardware store next time for $5 Fish ~$40, my neon tetra's musta been from a new shipment because I only have 5 now. Had bought 5 before and all survived. Filter $30 Plants $15, now paying for themselves in trades and related. To share the same offer I got on plants, I give them away sometimes (: (unforchunetaly, my tank isn't large enough that I can give away that many) Other ~$20 Total: $195, too much now that I total everything up, but thats alright. Tis my first tropical aquarium. Tank as of March28 th, 09 Enjoy (:

Simple yet stupid question; I know you shouldn't use the bathroom silicon in your aquarium, but would it be a problem if I used it to/on the co2 reactor pop bottle cap>tubing connection? (I don't seem to have any aquarium safe silicon on hand, and for such a small job that won't see water, I'm thinking no)

I'm thinking about buying a nice tank that has one major flaw, one of 6 (its a hex tank) sides has a large crack running through it. While in its current state, its not quite water worthy, I have been thinking about buying it and replacing that pane of glass, but I would need a custom cut piece to replace it...So does anyone know where I can go to (pref. South west side of Edmonton) get a piece cut for it?

I tried that once, they basically told me on the phone i would get credit for this large fish i had, but when i got to the store, they tried to get me to just give them the fish for free *new the fish i had would cost at least 30$, and mine was larger then their's at that price*. So i ended up giving away the fish to someone's pond *not big al's*

How good is the skiler 250 skimmer/filter? Anyone find it good? Bad? Horrible? Hated? Awesome?

how much?

I would strongly recomend talking to Henry at Nature's Corner as he can direct you towards some worthwhile local hobbyists who keep and sell higher grade koi. OK, hmm, how do I tell if a koi in a store has been stunted? Prices of Nature's Corner's Koi's? Any good online stores? tks ice I could be wrong but I don't think Henry has any koi in stock currently as they are seasonal fish and not generally suited to being raised indoors. He can direct you to some local edmonton hobbyists who may still have fish for sale. You cannot tell if a koi has been stunted until you try and grow them out and find their growth rates are slower than fish in the same pond with them. I've had fish twice as old as others who were only half the size and had not grown much since I purchased them. Koi can become stunted if kept in tanks too small for them. This is a less of a concern when overwintering koi as the fish should not be fed when the temperature is below 5C. There are few online retailers in Canada. A few in BC ad a few in Ontario. It's expensive to ship these guys via the airlines but it is theonly way to safely do it. I've inquired before about shipping from the US but there are a lot of hurdles and this usually increases the price further. k tks for the info

I have in the past but found them to be very low quality and almost always diseased. If I ever found any resembling a higher grade koi, they were usually damaged or sick. I went through many fish from there before I managed to get any that survived beyond the petcetera warranty period (two weeks). It was very disheartening as it took awhile to find decent fish in their deplorable little ponds and many of the ones I found with nice colouration seemed to have a wasting disease that I could not treat. That combiend with the staff's idiotic attitude towards selling them. Some of the staff seemed to approach selecting the koi like they were orders of fish and chips, few seemed to realize that these fish could potentially grow to six feet long and live upwards of 20 years (or perhaps they knew that their fish wouldn't live very long). After two years, I only have one still alive at this point and well, he seemed to have been stunted and he's fairly ugly now that he's grown out a bit. I would strongly recomend talking to Henry at Nature's Corner as he can direct you towards some worthwhile local hobbyists who keep and sell higher grade koi. When you're dealing with a fish that can live as long and grow as large, I suggest you shop around for some decent quality stock. Buying cheap fingerlings can be a dissapointment when you grow them out you find they're be quite ugly or poorly formed. When you compare a japanese bred koi to an american koi (such as those available at Petsmart) you will see a marked difference in the body contours and quality of the fish. OK, hmm, how do I tell if a koi in a store has been stunted? Prices of Nature's Corner's Koi's? Any good online stores? tks ice

Has anyone bought koi's from petcetera? How much are they? What quality? Anything else?

How much would a 5 inch (head to tip) veil tail goldfish be worth?

Does crushed coral substrate/substrate containing coral required minerals actually get released back into the water over time, eleminating the need for mineral supliments?

Which is better, buying a plastic pond with a preset size and dimentions or getting the water-proof tarp?

There is a chance that you will loose the fish, but since its not a new tank, if the skimmer and other stuff was working for a while before you move the tank, it should be fine.