geleen

I have spawned some cacatuoides orange flash a month ago:the fry are doing well. :thumbs: John

A zebra loach (botia striata) would take care of it. Mine maxed out at 3 " They do like their own company so get at least 2. I have come to a love / hate relationship with the snails. If you take out a bunch every week and limit your feeding you can keep them under control; they do keep the aquarium very clean of all algae. J

This mix might work OK. As to stocking, depending on the species of rainbows some go to 5 inches, and the plecos some go to over a foot....Your synodontis catfish grow very large. .I would max out at a total of 70 inches of fish measuring adult size from the start. To go with the A. heckelli the larger rainbows would likely be better. Rainbows and the tetra's need to be in a group of at least 3 preferable more of each. The rams would fight too much if you ended up with too many males. J

There is a place called SIL.....something just off 17 Street and highway 16, $16.00 for 100 pounds. I am using the white stuff size 3.4. The syphon will suck some of it up but if you are careful there is no problem. All the poop will sit on top and can become unsightly. You will need to stir it up because of a risk of pockets of gas forming that can kill the fish. For a 180 2 bags will give you about a 3" cover ....my guess. PM me for the address if you want I have it at home. John

Not for me. I tried to full edit the heading in the blue bar ......no go Is there a setting that has to change? J

I received a total of 35 fish from Spencer in last order. They are in quarantine. There are 27 left. Treated them for gill flukes, now they seem alright but in a few day's they will get parasite clear. J

I can't change the title in the blue bar with this method. I don't see any way to change the title without help from a moderator. If it is possible to do it your self I would like to know how to...... J

There are more and more hybrid rainbow fish on the market....buyer beware. J

What is Kale? Lana Kale is a broad leaf (rough edged and heavy leaf)vegetable with a unique taste. Best after a nights frost! Very European. Boil till tender then chop very fine before serving, great with boiled sausage, mashed potato and gravy :thumbs: J.

I would think the Nitrite (NO3) is what's killing your fish, your Nitrite should be at zero.... On the test kit, maybe Im miss understanding, my water doesnt stay clear, but it is matched with the first color on the kit test color panel... I dont have it in front of me right now but thought it went .1 - .2 - .3 and so on. Lisa Nitrite is NO2. Nitrate is NO3. Nitrite level of 0.1 should not be lethal. IMO Here is a possibility. The tank is not cycling as fast as it should, perhaps the filter you took from the old tank is not large enough for your new tank. Nitrites are 0 in a well cycled tank. Adding salt will help with the nitrites as will prime at the higher recommended dosage. J.

You could try acetone or nail polish remover. J

:thumbs: :smokey: I can feel the excitement over here! J

I sugest an xp3 to go with your xp2 as a good start. I have had good service from my Rena canister filters and absolutely no issues with them. That's what I would add J

I agree, the XP 2 is inadequate, and you are overstocked. You may succeed if you at minimum,doubled the filtration and did at least 3, 50-75% water changes per week.....lots of work though. The rainbows, and angels aggressive eating habits will keep food away from other fish especially the discus. I am not familiar with danio's. J.

Do you buy your RO or have a RO filter? I have one for personal use installed under the sink in the kitchen, makes at the most 10 gal/24 hours J

My RO is about PH 6. I have used 3/4 RO with 1/4 tap to get around PH 7. I did not measure anything else. No problems for 3 months. J

There are a few things to check out, as there are a lot of variables and you can try to systematically change some things: 1./ Depending on the amount of other fish you may very well be overstocked. You don't mention stocking level of other fish. 2./ To keep discus healthy in that environment you would need to do at least 2 likely 3 50% WC weekly. You don't mention your WC schedule. If you are overstocked even more WC are required. I suspect the main issue is here! I would schedule several 90 % changes over the next few weeks. 3./ I agree that some of the fish you mentioned are not suitable tank mates. 4./ Discus are easily out-competed for food, they browse for up to 1/2 hour after feeding. For instance, your angels are very aggressive feeders. 5./ What is the temp you are keeping them at. My recommendation when you have a problem is 86 -88 F. can your other fish handle that? 6./ How large is your filter? Can it handle the load? 7./ In a heavily planted tank there may not be enough circulation. All conditions above will set discus up for disease and over time the weakest will die. J

I have a 90 and a 120, about 20 feet apart in my living room,on opposite sites, perpendicular and against the bearing walls. The house has not fallen down yet. I do worry about potential leaks though. My house is 40 years old. If your basement is empty it would be easy to brace it from below, as close to a bearing wall would make a difference. J

<br /><br /><br />In my experience,anubias are fairly slow growers and like low light (shady) with very good substrate. Vals will grow in anything, even 1 watt /gallon but do not like excel. Excel will keep val to 2 " high,or kill it outright. It will like some ferts in the water where anubias likes mostly substrate and some in the water. I grow val in 1.3 w/gal and need to thin it out at least once a month. John

My first layer 1/4 inch was laterite mixed with gravel, then 3/4 inch of peat mixed with 10 % dirt from my flowerbed (sterilized in the oven) then 2-3 inches of gravel. Plants do fantastic in a low light, low tech set up. While you do pull up some peat when changing plants it is easily sucktioned off and is no problem. J

All you can do is try it, when it turns white it has regenerated. J

They are sterbai John

Very nice! Looking at the nicely maintained tanks and your tank list, you you spend a lot of time changing water. :thumbs: ]

Artist at work! j