jvision

What kind of filter are you running? If it's a canister, you could put the diffuser inline on the return; if it's an HOB, you could put the CO2 into the intake of the filter. My favorite way to disperse CO2 in a tank is to put it into the intake of a powerhead, which creates a fine mist of CO2.

I'm not sure about how effective the vits are when dry, but they won't do much to help plant growth; however, plants do absorb a lot from the water, and some of the vits may be sequestered in the plant's biomass... do you have any fish that love to eat plants? These plants might be more nutrient-loaded than normal.

The layout looks good, but because those rocks are round you may have some issues when the cichlids start digging. Make sure the rocks at the base of your piles are on the glass (or put down a piece of eggcrate first) so they won't shift when the fish dig. Try to make sure that each rock is supported on at least 3 points and make sure it's not wobbly in place... this is why river rock makes poor stacking material. I prefer fieldstone or granite... rocks with flatter surfaces.

Your concern is valid. Sometimes green/tiger barbs stick to just nipping themselves, but often, they'll pester more gentle species to death. I'm not sure how many members we have up in Slave Lake, so rehoming them using this site may be difficult, but maybe post the tiger barbs on Kijiji or a Facebook group before picking up your rams. Or, if you're coming to Edmonton to get some rams, maybe you could work out a trade with someone?

There's a very good chance that the cichlids would kill the new fish in short order.

I am dreading my growbeds for the same reason. I was hoping I could pump up the O2 enough with a small concentrator to help the bacteria break ALL of the solids down, but it's not working that way. Gonna try planting a lot more fruiting plants to try to suck up all the nitrates.

TNT is out of stock bc they're all at Aquarium Central

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When I was looking for black sand that was safe for Geos (although, this was about 9yrs ago), I could only find it at LFS. The stuff at blasting stores is to sharp from what I've heard.

There are a couple calgary guys who bring them in from time-to-time (cjerrom and fairdeal), and one guy in Edmonton that I know of who's brought them in with some regularity, tho I'm not sure if he's on AA (Adam, you around?).

Ozone is quite toxic to living things, which is good to sterilize the tap water. It's VERY reactive, which is good for your application b/c all you'll need to do is drip the water in from height - the exposure to air and little splash will cause the O3 to dissipate into the atmosphere immediately.

If you find a dosing syringe - the kind they use in hospitals to dose meds - or an IV, that would be the best way to give measured dosage along with the new water. The other option is to run your tap water thru a carbon filter before going to your drip system.

That's how Henry filtered his koi tubs in the store - he used the BioFalls from his pond equipment. I've seen everything from large pond canisters to big sand filters used for pools on indoor aquaria. When doing a large tank (with lots of large fish, I'm assuming), I aim for the most volume for biomedia (sumps are great for this); after that, my next priority is how it will fit with my set up - does the stand/cabinet have room for a large sump? Will it be too noisy? Too much evaporation? Etc. Finally, what kind of extra equipment will be needed? IE. extra pump, hose/pipe, fittings, etc. Really, canisters are the easiest - pretty much just plug & play. But, with some other methods, you can get more filtration for lower price - it's all up to you.

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The bubbles are either caused by air getting into the system (small crack in hose connection, gasket?) or cavitation (not enough water coming into the pump). Check all of your connections, maybe add some Vaseline to the gasket and clamps to the hose connection (or tighten them up a bit, if they're already there).

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Your best bet for Arnold's is to keep an eye on importers lists - maybe Spencer Jack?

If it was strait chemistry, it'd be a matter of adding up all of the N, H & O's in NH4 and H2O; however, because it's a biological process, it's not that easy. That being said, do you really need to know? Once NH4 and NO2 reach zero, while giving positive readings for NO3, you know your system is cycled. If you have any seedlings - or even houseplant cuttings - to throw into your aquaponics system while you wait, it'll help the cycle along.

Is it a 36" or 48" tank? If it's longer, then a school of 6-10 Congo Tetras would be great - they get big as far as tetras go, and I find do better in longer tanks. If you get them small, they might entice your other fish out more - I'd try to find small ones. Large ones may be a bit too boisterous for your shy fish, while small ones would normally be snacks for predators; so, if the small ones are out schooling around, the other fish may feel safer.

My first thought is dissolved gasses in the water. When adding water to a tank via hose, I always let the water splash in to help release dissolved gasses - lost a few hundred bux in plecos doing it the other way, once.

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Are your tanks plumbed together? That's how I used to run mine - it was a 23W (I think - might have been 13W) that I ran inline on the return from the sump to the tanks. If you're wanting one on each individual tanks, I'd probably look at small units imported from China... you may have a few that don't work, but most of those eBay sellers have decent return policies.

Not sure what those are.

It's possible that someone is calling an Honduran Red Point cichlid an electric blue convict - that's basically what they look like

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