KTK

I've ment to try Excel and the only reason I haven't is b/c I have a good bit of Val in there. I was hoping to try shrimp first to see if that would work first. If the shrimp dont work then Excel is going to have to be the next step and good bye Val. Thanx for the advise. Cheers

Well, I can't tell you how long it's been but I'm finally back on the site and looking forward to talking to people and thinking fish again. I really don't know what's been going on in Calgary in the past year but hope to jump back in and do some work on my tanks. I got hit with that dark brown hair algae over a year ago and haven't done any thing with my tanks sense. It's mostly gone in my cichlid tank but is still a pain in the but in my community planted tank. Like I've said I've been out sense this has hit my system and now I'm looking to fix it. I was thinking shrimp MIGHT help. I know this algae got into a Lot of systems and even the stores. Does any one know what people used to get rid of it?? Cheers

Convicts breed like guppies. If they haven't had babies its not a male.

Im not a fan. I have seen several start randomly start leaking. I think its the main seal ring that gets pinched b/c ever time its happend, and this is on more then one filter, I take it apart and put it back together and it starts working fine. They are less user friendly then the Eheims or the Marinelands. I find 85% of the time I service one I curse at it. Many people love them but I find most of those people have never used any thing ells or are comparing them to the older fluvals. The Renas do not come with Biological filtration so if you are going to buy a Rena I recommend that you buy the Substrat Pro from Ehiem. But if your spending extra money on the filter media you should spend it on a Ehiem filter that comes with every thing, is more reliable (in my opinion), and more user friendly. One argument that people are going to make against the Eheim is its Flowrate. I have a XP3 (350gph) and a 2028 (277gph) running on the same tank and I find that that Eheim is pushing more. The GPH that is shown on the box is the gph WITH OUT MEDIA!! Rena focuses more on mechanical filtration then Eheim where Eheim focuses more on the Biological. The extra sponges in the Rena reduse the flowrate dramatically more then what gets redused in the Eheim. Thats my two cents.

Thanx guys

Is it possable to sex bosemani rainbows just but looking at there color and or fins or can you just tell be temperament?

I'll Second that.

LOL Ill do my best

Thank god for that

The 10-15% a week is GOOD. Depending on the fish you can do more if you like. For the most part 25% at most. NOT ALL "bacteria" products are a waste of $. Cycle is for the most part. Use Stability!! It works great and it was the longest shelf life and does not need to be kept in the fridge. Chang for cycle to stability and keep doing what your doing.

New Life Spectrum (NLS) has a food that has garlic in it already. THERA+A You can get it at Big Al's

Big Al's has assassin snails. They are great at killing other snails and you dont have to be concerted about them taking over your tank. Loachs are good also. Clowns, yoyos, kuhlis will all help.

Shai thought the same as me about the test kits. Try another b/c yours may be no good. I would not recommend adding that many fish at the same time in an existing tank never mind a new one. It may be parasites as mentioned above also. Make sure you have the proper dose of salt and the temp is also good. I'd have it at 80. If it turns out that it is the water use prime and Stability. Stability is great for braking down nitrites and ammonia. If you wanted to treat for internal parasites you could use metropex.

Well the first question is.... What are you putting in it? Fresh Salt?

Im on board with the pleco.