jvision

I have heard that CFs only lose about 10% efficiency over their life time. Not like your typical T12, which is pretty much toast after 6 mos!! I don't have any hard facts, but I'm going on much anecdotal evidence from a lot of planters that have been doing it MUCH longer than me (~8yrs).

I was having the same thought just recently... except I was thinking breeding/growout tanks, instead of hospital.

I combine Jobes and Flourish Root Tabs. My tank is so thick right now, I think it's almost too good of a combo! Some of my lotus leaves are 8" across!!! The problem with Jobes' is that they supply N in the form of NH4. Algae LOVES ammonia!!! However, if you're carefull when you're rooting around, and/or you're quite dilegent on your WCs, you should be OK. Of course, I always recommend to plant heavily, if you're fertilizing.

Welcome!

Heh! He said HOOBY! :P

You don't have enough plants in there. And, with your light level, I wouldn't add CO2, either. Yes, it will help the plants, but with your stocking level, they won't produce enough O2 during the day to keep things in ballance overnight. Try dosing some Seachem Flourish Excel, as per instructions on the bottle. It's a lot easier to control than DIY CO2, and you don't have to worry about asfixiating your fish overnight. All plants will like it. If you can, add a bunch more plants. And if you want to use CO2, up the lighting to at least 2 wpg. Try to keep the CO2 as constant as possible. I bubble mine into a powerhead that is hooked to the same timer as the lights. During the day, the CO2 is misted into the tank, and at night, it just bubbles out w/o dissolving. Keeps everyone happy

Or, bring your wife!! :bang1: She did a great job of making sure I only bought what I came for, the last auction I was at. :pff: Actually, I'm greatful she was there! But, in Feb, I'm coming solo - lookout! :guns:

They look just like the "White"s in the pics.

The other end would be dark, getting only ambient lighting. CO2, unlike light, will be dispersed by any current in your tank.

Has the temp fluctuated at all? Usually comes when fish get cold, IME. I'd try the higher-temp-and-a-bit-of-salt tonic. Usually works well for most topical maladies.

Wow! I've bought the Playsand from HD a few times, and have never had the problems you described, Val! Last tank that I had it in was a 10 gal with a Penguin mini. I only had about 1/2" of sand, as it was just for the corys to root in - no plants or anything. The mini still works well, and I'll use the sand again when I try to breed the corys again... ended up moving last time.

The thing w. Flourite is, the more you rinse it, the more it breaks down. The best way to set it up, is in a new tank. Rinse it a bit 1st, then drain the water. Put wet Flourite in the tank, then fill it slowly with water - pouring the water onto a plate, or something to disperse the water helps a lot too. If you fill slowly, you won't cloud your tank.

I think it's Target... just the bags they have at HD - 30lb? 50lb?

I've never done it myself, but there are a number of articles online about making clayballs - I think there's and article at The Krib. If not, try Googling Steve Pituch (or Pitush/Pitusch) - he wrote an article on it, and I believe he lives/lived in Vancouver.

I've used playsand lots! When I was setting up a cory breeding tank, I used playsand, as the little guys love rooting in the substrate for the worms I fed them. I never did get a chance to 'actually breed' them - though, they bred on me, nonetheless, and I ended up vacuuming all but 1 fry. I've never had to wash it either - right into the tank, and fill w. water.

I once had a school of 6 glowlight tetras that were over 5 years old. They must have been in 12 different tanks - or more in there lifetime, as I moved so often!

They're tagged as "Pearl White" - a variant of the White Calvus? Or, someone getting fancy?

PMDD is great for most plants, but I'd still recommend feeding the roots of your swords and Crypts.

I use Seachem's Flourite. It's a brick-red color, and is about the size of #3 gravel. They also make Onyx which comes in large gravel - too big IMO - and sand. I have it mixed w. arogonite in my African tanks. Onyx will buffer the pH up about .2 - nothing really to worry about unless you plan on breeding any soft water fish. BTW - I tried to vote, but it wasn't registered. Add 1 to Flourite.

Well, now I've done it! It's just about time to convince my wife that we have to start setting up those 60s I got from Aquagiant! At last night's ACE meeting, I picked up a bag of 5 juvie F1 A. calvus. Thanks to whomever donated them! Right now, they're the only Tang. I have, so they're in w. some Yellow Labs & Mel. cyano. Everything's going to be moved around this week, so I'm hoping I can find something to get at least 1 60 off the floor, and move most of the Malawi's into that, and get a nice Tang. tank going!

I've used Flourite as the only substrate for years. I love it! When I moved everything into my 55 gal, I didn't have enough to make a deep enough layer, so I paritioned it off to the back corners - making it about 4-5" deep for Swords, Crypts & Nymphia lilies. Flourite works b/c it has a high CEC, and is heavy enough to hold down plants. Something else that I've had great success with is planting a VERY established tank - one that's already been set up for over a year. There is plenty of detritus and goodies in the substrate, and the plants take to it right away.

I'm always leary of buying fish from stores that have centralize filtration. There are a few smaller LFSs - like Nature's Corner - that individually filter each tank. That way, if one tank is infected, you're not infecting every fish in the store!

Wow! :drool:

Sometimes it takes a couple of tries for parents to get it right. Sometimes they just can't keep all the preds away - Cardinal tetras can be some of the best fry predators out there! When the eggs hatch, the parents will usually move them to somewhere else in the tank. Sometimes they build a little pit, sometimes not.

IME, the only Flourish items that supply sufficient amounts of nutrients for a well planted tank are the traces and Excel. Everything else will end up costing way too much for any tank larger than a 10 gal. I'm not familiar with dosing using the enema or 'no salt', so can't help you there. When I use KNO3 and KH2PO4 to dose macros, I try to keep NO3 at about 10ppm, and PO4 around 1ppm. Keep CO2 up around 30ppm, and do large weekly WCs - all is good.