Kronosdelsol

Glad you came aboard! Feel free to ask any question, no matter what your expertise is.

I have never used any heaters in the summer. No problems. However, I would recommend that you use a space heater set to a thermostat.

I would use either an egg tumbler of throw them into one of those hard plastic live bearer breeding containers. Add an air stone. If you don't have good circulation (not too strong), they could start developing a fungus. Look on youtube on making an egg tumbler, it's really easy.

Ya he is a great guy to deal with and He is also local to you.

Maybe shift the wood and your algae eaters will take care of it in no time. Just be prepared for the clean up after the algae eaters are done. :tongue:

Those crypts will start growing low to the ground when you get your lights. I would suggest that you acclimatize your plants to the new lights. Raise it up higher and then slowly lower it down week by week. Also monitor your water temperature as it will get hot. Tank is looking very nice BTW. If you fill the back up with high growing stems, it will look really good. Hygrophilia Polysperma will get quite large (2 -3 inches wide) and might look out of place in your tank. What about Cabomba, Ludwigia or Rotala Rotundifolia?

I don't agree with the statement. I had HC growing on low light (T12) without co2. It just grew straight up as you had mentioned. When I switched to high light, it grew low to the substrate. Using injected co2, makes it grow faster obviously. I don't think providing optimal co2 is mandatory for any plant growth, as long as your plants have adapted to the co2 levels in your environment. Most plants that come from the store die off within several weeks because it hadn't acclimatized to the lack of co2. Once it has acclimatized though, it will still grow regardless of low light or high light. It will just take its time.

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Yes I have two of them. They are in with my Malawi's and never get bothered. Even the smaller Pseudotropheus get chased around but these guys are fine. They show absolutely no aggression. They like to hide in caves and will be hidden anytime you stick your hand in the tank. I highly recommend them.

I was at Home Depot yesterday and they also carry a 6 ft led cord that is used for outdoor or carpet lighting. It would work really well along the canopy. It was only $15.

Here is a direct link.

Okay I just got a chance to watch the videos. How in the world did you get the 600 gallon into your basement? I didn't see any walk out basement. Can you explain what your maintenance schedule is like and how you do you water changes? That lemon cichlid looks so tiny compared to the Frontosas. You surely dove into the hobby with a great selection of fish. I am still impressed because at 11 months, I was still onto guppies.

Welcome aboard.

Welcome to the forum.

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Pick up a nice moonlight setup. Bigalsonline.ca has them for $10 on the front webpage. Although, I think this one is little bulky. Or you can get a ebay strip light setup for a little more.

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Only if you had the splenden white dot underneath.

Last time I went in, I didn't see prices on most of the fish tanks. I asked if he had any NLS and he didn't know what that was. Also he heats the entire store so its nicer to be outside rather than inside.

That's some pretty awesome stuff. Thank you for sharing. Way to start them off early huh? It sure does teach them some good responsibility though.

Like driving a maximum of 80 on your only highway! that is priceless.

The diatom will clean up the green water for now but it will come back. The UV will clear it and will keep it away, assuming you leave it on 24/7 and don't remove it. Eventually, you will be able to remove the UV. Like Jvision said in your other thread, you need to take care of the water parameters and stop the nitrate/phosphate spike. These are just temporary solutions. But if you run the UV sterilizer constantly, then it won't come back. You can pick a 9watt one up for $60 now a days.

If you have lots of water flow then you don't need to vacuum into the sand bed to keep it clean. Just skim the surface with your siphon and everything will come up. When the sand does not get disturbed frequently (plants or MTS), it will become anaerobic. If this is the case, you can purchase a really tall siphon tube. The sand will stir up half way up the tube when you vacuum it. Then plug the other end of the hose and let it settle back down. Some sand will be in your siphon container but you can easily pour that back into the tank. You are absolutely right about the layers. Eventually, it will all even out and be at the same level.

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I have both breeding pairs of haps and peacocks in my tank and the hap is the one with vertical strips, no splotches in the middle. I'm no expert but that is my experience. Those fish look identical to mine.