Drydock

I get back the night of the 22nd and can help once I'm back. Let me know. If you need be to babysit any fish or plants let me know. Just keep in mind, I have a big tank... they might get lost :smokey:

Hey, I've never kept shrimp before, but I have a 10 gallon with cardinals and some small rainbow fry, live plants and a ton of algae. Could I keep some shrimp in there without having them turn into dinner??? What kind would be best to act as a clean up crew??? It would be cool if some would breed, but I'm not really focused on that. Plants - I have some vals, some pygmy chain and some hygro. Planted in black sand. Temp - 78-80 deg Filter - HOB Marina Thanks,

Are you logging in from your BB? I'm not sure how they handle cookies, but that would be the issue... I'm pretty sure anyhow.

I leave mine on, others use a solenoid and hook it to their light timers... I think you are going to get a lot of different opinions. Do what works for you.

Ya, I agree with Corvette. Go for the pond pump. I used to have a small pond pump that I could attach to a garden hose. I think it was called 'Little Giant' or something like that. It wasn't very big, but it did the trick. I didn't hook up the gravel cleaning attachment to it, I would do that manually and then use the pump to clean out the rest of my tank. To fill the tank, I would have a 5 gallon bucket in the laundry sink filling under the tap and I would put the pump in there. I even accidentally sucked a neon up through it once and it came out the other end just fine. not that I recommend it - your experience may vary. I have a python and I don't like it. The pond pump I described above was WAY faster and didn't waste the water to run it. I've tried running the python without the water and it just takes too long the way our house is set up.

It took over a month for me to set up my sump and get it all running. The one addition I made that made my life easier is to plumb in a bypass with a valve in my return that could divert water back to the sump. You can decrease the amount of water that is going back to the tank and help you balance it with the water flowing into the sump. It makes life much easier. Kudos on building a sump on a budget. Your're gonna need those bucks you saved if your power goes out and you flood. :mad: I agree that you really need to get an overflow on that tank to stop it from overflowing if your power goes out.

I use Prazipro and it is supposed to have a 'low impact' on your bacterial cultures. As far as 'broad spectrum' i know that term is used more for antibacterial meds, but on the bottle and on the website for the product, they do list quite a number of parasites that it is effective against. (They also have a concentrated version of the product for use in ponds and large aquariums.) I haven't tried the Jungle product, but I read that there are people on the board that like it as well. so I guess it's a matter of trying it and see what you like.

Are you serious? 12 degrees??? I'm calling in sick to work if my tank drops 2 or 3 overnight.

Have you treated for internal parasites? Use something like Prazipro or the Jungle product. (There are probably others as well)

I think that most cannister filter instructions state that you need to place them below the tank... I could be wrong, but the point is to read your instructions. Even if they CAN be placed above the tank, most are designed to 'push' not 'pull' water and they rely on that natural siphon to assist in refilling the cannister. You would be adding additional work to your pump which would decrease the effectiveness and probably shorten the life span of your motor. I ran a cannister for many years with no catastrophes. I did keep it in a 3 gallon bucket with a handle so that if it did leak, the water didn't go anywhere and it also made it easy to carry it to the sink for maintenance. I always made a habit of keeping an eye on the filter and bucket religiously for a couple of hours after cleaning the filter or a water change and then a couple times a day for 1-2 days afterwards just to make sure everything was good.

SO I had 0 ammonia when I got home this afternoon. I did an additional water change and shook up the media in the sump, let it all settle and then cleaned that out as well. I guess we wait and see where it goes now. BTW, the inhabitants are NOT happy with you all. I told them that no supper was for their own benefit... they're not buying it. Thanks for all your input. Roger

ah ha ha ha ha you hilarious! So can you measure nitrate and ammonia separately with a retail test kit?

OK, here are some more answers to your questions all at once. No time to go and answer them one by one. Filter - Filter Sock (Mechanical)gets changed every 2 days. Biomedia hasn't really been touched since I set the tank up... CO2 - less than 20 ppm. Edmonton water out of the tap is 7.8. I am only lowering it down to 7.0. Shouldn't affect the fish. New Fish - Added 3 Flasher Barbs in 2nd or 3rd week of December. Dead fish - I never did find the kribensis. I just haven't seen her in 3-4 days. The other ones I got out, only after they were floating... and stinky. Overfeeding - Who doesn't. If you ask the fish, I don't feed enough. (Who do you believe eh?) Ammonia - I am using the API test kit with the two reagents. Since the test kit measures Ammonia AND Nitrate AND Nitrite, what affect does using EI have on that type of kit? No monster trimming. I did take some plants out on Saturday, but I would say it was less than 1/8 of my bio mass. Not a MONSTER cleaning up - pruned the lily, hygro and about half of the 'mystery plant' that was floating. Fish losses were on both sides of that activity...

I have had my tank up and running since August... seeded it with filter and gravel from my existing tank, didn't overstock. I have lost 4 fish in 2-3 days and I have no idea why. Ammonia (NH3 NH4) 0.25 ppm pH 7.0 I am injecting pressurized CO2 and using Estimative Index for fertilizing plants. Water changes are every weekend - 50% Filter is a sump with bio balls and pot scrubbies I am feeding NLS and frozen mysis as a treat a couple times a week. Fish don't appear to look sick until they end up dead. i spend a good 5-10 minutes a day looking at everything in there to see if something is up. I just got glasses, so it shouldn't be my eyesight, though you never know... So far, I've lost Female Kribensis Red Line Torpedo Barb (Denosi) German Blue Ram Red Laser Cory It's basically a community tank. Tetras, rainbows, the rams and barbs... Any thoughts or suggestions? I'm baffled right now.

I couldn't get the links to work...

I had the same thing happening to my Java... I am running 4 x 96W Power Compacts at 12000K. I switched the side where the Java is to 96W Atinics to see if that helps as well. Less intense, but better penetration, so I am not sure if that will really help. I'm nursing it back to health right now in a shaded part of my tank. It was a forest on a large piece of driftwood and now it looks like a forest fire went through... I have been using EI, adding 3 tsp of KN03 - 3x per week, which should have been plenty. Still went black... must be the lights.

I have a 210 with a sump. I spend about $10 a month on CO2 in order to drop my pH 1.0 degree. (a 10lb tanks lasts me 2 months) If you are going with C02, go with the canister if you want to save money. JMHO

Yep, you can pinch and re-plant that one. I have the same and do it all the time.

I am having challenges as well. I haven't lost any yet, but I have a couple that weren't looking so good. I have been soaking their food in PraziPro, which is supposed to treat parasites and I think it is helping. I don't think you would need to use that one specifically, but I have had some reasonably good experience with it. I find that if you compare the ingredients from one brand to another, you will find that each of the targeted meds usually have the same active ingredients in them. (Not always, but I have saved a buck here and there...) Since they are not eating, you probably need to see about getting something in the water to get them healthy enough to get some appetite back, then treat their food. Good luck. I hope it works out for you.

There is a thick green slime that I used to have in my tanks. It' looks like an algae, but it isn't... there was a significant sour smell that came along with that.

striped botia works well for me...

I HATE thread algae... not so sure me and the Scheurmann 'character' would see eye to eye... They probably know everything about plants... which means comparatively I know nothing, but GOOD GOD that's a lot of algae...

Ya... about those water changes... I am using EI in my 210. I tend to forget to add fertz some days and I don't think I have yet to do the 50% water change EVERY week. Plants are still growing like crazy, fish are still spawning... and I couldn't be happier. As long as my algae doesn't get too out of control, I don't do a whole lot. (I have found that if I have excess algae growth, I need to turn up my CO2. Once the algae goes away, then I can turn it down slightly...) I would say my WC average 50% every 10 days or 2 weeks. I have to 'harvest' my stem plants about that often as well. I am more in the camp of 'use it as a guide, not as a rule'. I have 3 test kits at home - Ammonia, pH and Hardness. All will go past their best before date by the time I get around to finish them...

Glad I'm not the only one who messed up a stairwell moving a stand down... I have to admit, your mess looks bigger than mine though! Looks great Boom.

No Customs issues? I have heard nightmare stories about people trying to get SW fish and live rock across the border... If I was going, I would do some anonymous research on the Canada Customs website... If we are staying on the no fun, safe side of things.