creekbottom

I have a 30 gallon, I don't like. I'm completely tearing down and doing everything over!! New substrate, whole new plan for hardscape and planting. I'm going to pull the plants and put them in a bare ten gallon for safe keeping while I put in new substrate and build the hardscape and let silicone dry. Questions: What is the best adhesive for glueing slate tile together? I have GE clear silicone I 'all purpose.' Google has many different answers for this. How long does it take fissidens to attach to slate? While I've got the water out I thought I would give some moss a chance to attach with a sort of dry start. The tank is rimless, what do I use for a mat underneath it? Or, do I even need one? Thanks!

I dose with the PPS pro system. Mix it in water and use it as liquid fert.

The container I got from them was labelled "P.P. Trace". It works fine, dissolves well.

http://edmonton.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-sell-hobbies-crafts-Free-moss-from-my-fishtank-W0QQAdIdZ560094506 Looks likes fissidens!!

I agree with this too. That's probably the same stuff I've got, mixes well with water.

I just want to make sure that I'm reading this right: You're going to have 5 inches of substrate in a 12 inch tank? With 2 T5HO bulbs on top of it?

Seeing as we are in the annual January thaw, would a place like Canar let you into the back to pick through the piles? Especially if you really knew what pile you were looking for? I don't think I want to wait until spring.

If you plan on planting any of your plants, I always find sand is easiest to plant into. Gravel can be difficult, depending on the size. Sand also offers less places for bits of food to get stuck.

DO NOT add fish. I know, I know, you CAN add fish. Anytime I've added fish into my shrimp tank the population eventually peters out. Ember tetras, threadfin rainbows, micro rasbora. It doesn't really matter, shrimp are snack food.

I had used an Elite mini for a while as well, in a small tank. It worked pretty good. The problem was finding one of them, there was only one place in the Edmonton area that sold them anymore.

Just like this forum, there are some very good pond forums out there. With every question you could possibly think of, answered. If a little old lady in Wisconsin can dig 2 ponds by herself, you can definitely figure out how to do this!!!

From all the reading I've done about blasting abrasive being used as a substrate... It isn't the sharpness of the particles that erodes cory barbels, it's water quality.

The target up here won't sell by the bag, they have a 10 bag minimum. Is the Calgary target different?

Considering what my 20 gallon stand is made of and how it is made, you could probably find a piece of furniture that is much nicer and way stronger.

+1 for the CO2 reactor. I had a ceramic diffuser and I used it for about a day. As I watched the tiny bubbles rise to the surface I got this very sick feeling of throwing money away lol. Now, I don't see any tiny bubbles in the tank and the drop checker is always green. I have a Cerges style reactor and a Rex Griggs style. The Cerges is easier to build but a little more expensive. The Rex Grigg, I think is more effective.

Couple questions. *Where in/near Edmonton do you get cool looking rocks? I don't mean the smooth river rocks that are everywhere. The cool ones that you see in Iwagumi layouts with cracks and crevices and sharp angles. Also, without paying LFS crazy prices lol. *Is shipping manzanita wood across the border a problem? *Has anyone heard or seen of someone taking the top off of a 12 gallon Edge? There are oodles of 6 gallons with no tops, but will the 12 holdup without it's top?

Echinodorus vesuvious for all you mobile's.

yup, they're installed, maybe it's just hard to see in the pic.

It's just a light canopy that came with the tank I got off of kijiji. I took out the incandescent fixture and put in 2 sunblasters. Notice the screws out the top? That's from the handy clips for mounting anywhere, I just haven't done anything with them yet.

Pics!!!!

lol to the super nerd takeover!!! Check out Moltan.com That's the manufacturer and they have all the MSDS listed.

It's called Opti-sorb. Came in a big bag from Acklands-Grainger. It's not quite the same stuff as the Americans are using - safe - t - sorb but the MSDS says its the same thing. This stuff is fairly light colored which is why I capped it, it doesn't have that nice color like south of the border

You don't NEED to add anything under your substrate. Growing in just sand will work. You simply have to understand what your plants need and what are the differences. If you go with sand only, you need to use root tabs to feed the plants. If you go with potting mix under a sand cap you won't have to worry quite so much about fertilizing, but the usefulness of the potting mix will eventually run out and will need to be replaced. That's over a year away though. I use a montmorillonite clay base in my planted tanks then cap with sand. I still use root tabs and water column fertilization (High tech, lots of plants). The clay does much the same thing as a soil mix but it's cleaner and won't have to be replaced. It was also dirt cheap!!

Pond snails are scavengers and will eat whatever they can find that is dead. Dead plants, dead fish, dead shrimp, extra food, dead algae. I've never noticed them eating my live plants or moss.

I have several planted tanks, and everytime I start a new one I move pond snails in. In my experience they explode at first in conjunction with new tank syndrome and while I'm getting things adjusted and in balance. Once the tank has settled the population balances out. I've never experienced pond snails eating my plants.