heff

In my limited experience with anubias, their roots are more for latching on than anything else. I'd trim away...

I've put some blanched cucumber in there from time to time - good to hear what others are doing. Thanks for the input!

I've got a half dozen of these little guys and I've been feeding them shrimp flake, sinking pellets and blood worms. For those that have or have had dwarf cories, what did you feed them to keep them healthy and happy? Thanks!

I just bought a half dozen from Big Al's in Edmonton last week - $5 each. I find myself in there all too often just looking at the stock and hadn't seen them there in ages.

When I called OxyPro in Edmonton, it was around $315 for the deposit and $10 per month, plus fills. And this was for a 5lb tank. I'm pretty sure I was talking to the guy at Aquarium Central (I've called probably two dozen places about this) who was talking about bringing some CO2 tanks in because there seems to be some demand but the prices seem to be a bit high.

May I ask where you rent from and what size? And did you have to put down a deposit?

I'm also in the market for a CO2 tank. Did you happen to find anything? I've been calling around Edmonton like crazy and haven't found much yet. Oxygen Products has branches in Edmonton and Calgary, but they want $130 for a 5lb bottle. I read online that I can find them for as cheap as $40 but so far, no luck. I've also read that fire extinguisher shops may be a place to look as well.

I considered for a long time of building my own - finally I found a stand on clearance at a store that suits me good enough for now. What you built is awesome - totally sturdy and if you decide to stain it up, it'll look even better. Good job!

@mokos - yep, you're right, it's tropical. although, it's pretty chilly in my basement. I think tropical is supposed to be warm. @bigfishal - good to hear that you haven't run into any problems. do you leave the substrate entirely alone and let the MTS do their thing?

Just having the discussion with the guy made me consider doing what you mentioned - reducing the thickness of the substrate to around an inch.

I was in at the LFS talking to a guy who runs after the planted tanks there and he shivered when I mentioned I had 2" of play-sand as substrate for my tank due to gas pocket development. He stated that he had his plants and fish die off in a tank because of gas build-up in the substrate. I've got a healthy breeding population of Malaysian Trumpet Snails that are all over the place - I imagine that I have at least as many in the sand as on the glass. Can anyone with experience weigh in on the gas pocket debate? Some brief searching has yielded that the gas can be methane, nitrogen, even hydrogen sulphide and for each post I read saying that it's toxic, there's another saying that it's fine. Thanks in advance! Hugh

Alright - so everyone has given me a ton of info on what to get from brands to size, etc. - thank you very much for that. Now how about the elephant in the room... leaks. I have to admit that I'm little terrified of having my filter up and decide it's going to leak like hell and empty the whole tank onto my floor. I think that'd be the end of my aquarium days as my wife would make me give it up. Or it'd be filled with land hermit crabs or something. Does it just start leaking? Or is it "I didn't put it back together right and now it leaks"? This is the biggest hurdle for me.

Wow, lots of feedback. I'm a little concerned with splashing causing scale to accumulate and etch the glass panel between the light fixture and water, as well as extra evaporation. I don't plan on doing CO2 just yet but I know that I don't want the extra surface agitation. I am looking for simplicity so a filter that would allow me to crack it open to get at the media without having to drain the lines and such is a big deal. This should give me enough to make a choice of what I want to get. Thanks everyone!

I've done a little research on the topic and the internets tell me the following: - media customization - Canister > HOB - media volume - Canister > HOB - noise - HOB > Canister I currently run only bio-media and some sponge in my HOB filter. My understanding is that I could do the exact same in a canister, except that I can load the heck out of it with bio-media. Am I missing anything? How about circulation? I know nothing about splash bars or how these things would be set up. I've had good luck with HOBs in the past (5 and 10 gallons) but now I'm into a 20 and want to ensure that I'm doing it "right" by my future fish and it sounds like canister is the way to go. Lastly, if anyone could suggest a canister that's of good value, it'd be appreciated. Or even a good HOB if it comes to that because the one that came with my tank kinda sucks. Thanks for your input! Hugh

I've never had anything but low-light setups and my plants have always grown. Just ensure that your plants have enough nutrients and you should be set. It's my understanding that lots of moderate- to high-demand plants are capable of growing low light, they just don't flourish. Regarding lights, I was using a 18,000K bulb for the longest time in a 10 gallon, with about 12" of water to the substrate and the plants did fine. I purchased some KNO3 (diluted) and KH2PO4 dry from All Seasons Garden Centre in the Strathcona area. I think it cost me $15 tops and I've mixed up two 500ml bottles of each, which have lasted me about a year. I could probably mix up another 25-50 500ml bottles easily. Or you could spend $$$ on the liquid ferts by Seachem or whoever... just saying.