jvision

My experience is that if you can find it already sunken, your quest is all but over. Just clean it with a nice salty bath, and you should be good to go. However, if it's dry, it may take a while to get it to sink.

2 methods I've used to sink dry driftwoond:

1 - wedge it in the tank. With pieces that are long, this is pretty easy - either wedge it across the tank at the height you want it, or wedge it from back top to front bottom.

2 - silicone it to stones. You'll need a surprizingly heavy stone to keep it from pulling everything up!

HTH.

One more thing... Loaches + snails = 0 snails. May even hold true for your gohst shrim, too. :boxed:

Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's from the yeast. It does look a bit like snail eggs, except its more opaque. It may actually be a type of bacteria. You ever have a Green algae bloom that wasn't really green? It's bacteria. I think it's feeding on the excess sugars that probably dissolve a bit in the CO2.

Are you using pressurized CO2 or DIY w. yeast? I've found often on my DIY reactor, there's a bit of a build-up (only noticed it on the Hagen ladder, tho). The Otos like the stuff.

[rule of thumb is 20g for 2]

If it has to do with the footprint, a 20 long and 15 gal are the same size!!

I was just in Wal Mart yesterday, and saw the 50 gal tank. It was priced at $299, and didn't notice if there was a stand included... might have to go back. :shifty:

I agree with Blue Ram. I've done many a tank with just plain gravel. Just make sure to dose both macro and micro nutrients. If you're using Jobe's Fern spikes, you should be able to get away with just dosing micronutrients in the water column (Flourish, Tropica Master Grow, etc.). If you have lots of light (+2wpg) and are adding CO2, I'd suggest dosing macros in the water column as well.

I use the Estimative Index to dose my ferts. 1/4 tsp. each of KNO3 and KH2PO4 every other day. On the off days, I dose micros (20mL Flourish). Then I do a 50% WC at the end of each week. It's working great for me!

I've moved to putting a few terrestrial plants in my AC for my Africans. Peace Lily or Amazon Sword (2 names for the same plant) are working great. Keep nitrates minimal.

They do suck up some water, so I have to top up the tank a bit more often; but, it keeps the fish healthy.

I've been using lava rock in my filters for bio for years! Such a huge surface area for the bacteria to colonize.

They're what I refer to as pond snails, which is pretty much any snail with that shape of shell. The ones in the ponds around Edm get huge, tho! Like 4"+!

If your plants aren't doing well, they will do damage; otherwise, you'll get the same results as Canadbis.

Not sure if the evolution vs. creation debate was where Val wanted this thread to head off to.....

Yeah.... I was just kidding about that. After I posted, I thought this might stir something up that really doesn't need to be debated here.

But, what if you don't believe in evolution, and that all animals were created at the same time??? Then what makes a fish hardy or delicate??

Even if you right click where it says something about posted pics?

When I right clicked on those words - even though they weren't hyperlinked - and clicked on view picutre, it went to the page where the pic is hosted. Then, when I came back to AA, they showed up.

Thanks HOSStile.

The pics have a bit of a yellow hue. That's b/c I have a Warm White flourescent in the mix there. UGLY!

Right now, for lighting, I have a 24" twin tube Fl fixture. Does anyone know of a source for some inexpensive place to pic up high color temp bulbs (T12 or T8)... other than the LFS? I'm tired of paying so much for lights!! :boxed:

If I can't find anything over 10K for $5 or less, I'll just head out to HD and pick up a plant buld.

Where'd they go??!! They were there last night! :well:

Will have to try to reload them, or something when I get home.

Right now, I have a 55gal fully planted w. barely 10" of fish - so, if we're going w. the 1"/gal rule - hugely understocked.

I also have a 35 gal w. what will eventually have close to 70" of fish. So over stocked?

Here are some more pics from the same tank:

Moved them from a 29 gal to a 35 this weekend. Not a big Gallon diff. but the footprint change is significant!

36" x 15" x 15"

Using Peace Lilies in the filter - have several Ivies in the tank as well. Terrestrials just suck up the NPK!

Lots of plants and lots of shells keep the fish busy, healthy and happy

I believe that Nutrafin PlantGro is only traces - maybe some K. You really need to fertilize with maconutrients, too - Nitrogen (as NO3), Phosphorus (as PO4), Potassium (as K+).

You can take care of everything pretty affordibly with dry ferts from hydroponics stores. Pick up some KNO3 and K2PO4, and you're set!! You can pick up the Jobe's spikes at Home Depot, or any gardening centre.

Basically, using ferts from the LFS is about as expensive as you can go; and, unless they carry Seachem, you're not likely going to get the macros you need.

Hope this helps!

The 1" of fish/gal is a good rule for schooling fish, or just a general rule of thumb; but, you have to consider what characteristics fish have when stocking a small tank.

Rams are territorial. Even in my 55 gal, I didn't really have enough room for the 5 Bolivian Rams I had - and they're a bit bigger than Germans (blues & golds are the same species).

If they're sexable, I'd stick w. a pair in your 10 gal, at most.

If you want more fish, maybe get a few mid-water fish like small tetras or rasboras, and make sure you have adequate filtration. Probably something rated for 15+ gallons would be preferable.

HTH.

It sounds like your pleco is getting the midnight munchies! If you're not dosing macros (NPK) then the damage may be too much for the plant to recover from.

Put 1/4 of a Jobe's Fern spike under the swords, and things should help out a bunch. Just watch out when you uproot the plants, these spikes disolve in water very well, and you'll have an algae problem if your CO2 isn't up to snuff.

You mentioned getting more light... CO2 is more important than light. Almost all algae problems are CO2 related - feed the plants right, and they'll out compete the algae every time!

I've had mixed results with the Hagen ladders. When I first used them when they first came out, I was getting

1/4 gives you 99%

When I reset up my 35 gal a year ago, the bubbles weren't really shrinking at all - I tried many things to help, adding more current, moving it into the current... nothing.

The last time I used it, I had 2 on my 54 gal - one with a pressurised sys, the other was DIY in the Hagen reactor, and both dissolved almost completely.

However, after much discussion on the APD about CO2 mist, I've since moved to using 2 powerheads to disperse the CO2 as tiny bubbles throughout the tank.

The KN03 you can get west of Dad's store with other ferts at the Hydroponics shop. It is about a block west of Henry's on the southside of the street across from Vienna Bakery

Sweet!!! I was living on the North end at the time, and everywhere I went said either it wasn't good for the environment (aka stump remover), or was being used to make bombs, so they wouldn't stock it anymore

Thanks Garhan!

My bet <i>is</i> on the Apple snails. It's the Mystery Snails that lay out of the water.

I think it's cheaper to get whatever you can locally - I think dry ferts are definitely the most cost effective way to go!

But, like I said, they don't sell KNO3 here anymore, so I got mine from Greg Watson. I've had the 1lb bag for about a year, and there's still over 1/2 the bag left!