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.

Any fish will eat the shrimplets if they can find them. Lots of fish food is made up of shrimp, so you'll primarily have to keep fish that aren't big enough to eat them because if they can, they will. Edit - I've had luck with kuhli loaches, guppies and celestial pearl danios.

Same as Vallisneria, I did the manual cleanup, dose KNO3, 4 day blackout, cleanup, 50% water change, then dose KNO3. This put a big dent in it but didn't stop it. Before it had the opportunity to get a grasp again, I repeated this process about 7-10 days later and that finally finished it off. I was not using CO2 nor was I keeping an eye on my nitrogen level.

Thanks for the info and suggestion. Just what I was looking for.

Does anyone have experience with Glowlight Tetra? I've got a new 20 gallon planted tank and I'm looking for a group of shoaling fish that are easy on the eyes and these sound like they're a little hardier than rummynose and cardinals. Other suggestions are welcome too! Thanks in advance! Hugh

I read this on CBC this morning: A B.C. man who raises tropical fish said his home and privacy were invaded when local enforcement agencies knocked on his door while looking for a marijuana grow operation, and then forced him to pay for an electrical inspection and upgrade his fish-tank operation. I wonder if he had a ton of incandescent bulbs, basically heating his home with 60W bulbs... http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2012/03/02/bc-fishgrowop.html?cmp=rss (I didn't read the article ... cbc is proxied)

Most of the store stands I've seen do not impress me in the slightest. I've got the tools and the ambition, so it's just a matter of making the time to do it. And you're right Neesmo, water all over the floor due to my own stupidity would be uglier and would probably spell the end of my aquarium days...

LOL, you're totally right. I'm going to rethink my strategy and consider building something functional and likely unattractive.

@jewels - Yes, squares aren't nearly as strong as triangles. You can lean on the front (back will hit the wall) and you can lean on the right side and the left will hit the my tv stand. I could probably get a 2x2 and brace the back legs like this -> | / | Nearly invisible and it would provide a little more support. $6 for the wood and bolts could save a lot of headache. @Iceturf - eartheater suggested that the top is probably lats glued together. I haven't verified that yet, but if that were the case, I was considering laying down a sheet of wood to spread the load out. The legs are 2x2 mounted at the top by bolts at 45 degrees into a metal bracket in the corner. It's pretty sturdy and they don't come loose easily. No glue aside from the aforementioned table top.

@eartheater - I think I know what you mean; spread it across as many lats as possible to spread out the load. In that case, I've got some hardboard that I could probably put on top of the table, then put the tank on that. @Noodles - Yes, just an 18 gallon When I finally get this set up and running for awhile, a larger tank will have an appropriate stand. @Azrie - Maybe I'll get some locktite or set a reminder on my phone to tighten the bolts up every so often. Thanks for the comments everyone.

I'm in the position where I just want to get my aquarium set up so my wife can understand how little maintenance a tank can be. I have the following table from ikea: http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/14630009/ I've laid on this thing. Mind you, I weigh 160 which is about 40 or so pounds shy of a filled 18 gallon aquarium. It's pretty sturdy, not wobbling when I shimmy around on it. Can anyone say they have done something similar or that I outright shouldn't do it? Hugh