Maxwell

Thanks everyone for their suggestions I have used the lettuce leaves method, it works but is slow. I have a couple of assasin snails in there but this is not having much effect that I can see.. Still thinking about a simple tool that should do the job much faster. Imagine a net attached to a long handled scraper. One pass and you've cleaned the glass. How to assemble these two together is my question. Where's an inventor when you need one

Hi everyone looiking for a simple solution that will help in removing excess snails from my 60 gallon planted aquarium glass. Netting isn't very effective as they bypass and fall to the bottom of the tank. I envision a tool with a blade attached to some form of netting that will capture these little devils and then allow for quick removal Nothing along these lines is stocked at aquarian shops (that I can find anyway) Your ideas are welcomed and thank you

I have a healthy tank with plants..the fish are happy and multiplying.. Problem is i started with 4 Platie stock and now have 20 or so.. I want to re-stoke with different species so have 16 happy little guys to give away.. email me at kabaer@shaw.ca ps. these are quite colorfull..red,brown.black..

Hi all OMG the CO2 introduction is now bearing fruit (I mean leaf growth). It's reasurring to see the vibrant 'Perling' now going on. Its quite remarkable to see this happen. I have around a dozen plants growing,occupying about half the space in my 55 gallon tank. The 6 feeder fish are enjoying the vegetation.. In a few weeks, once my water parameters and cycling phases are complete I will add some fish,yet to be determined. Which brings to mind that I should have some sort of record keeping to document and report all the various activities going on (Sticky notes have reached their usefullness! So my question(s) in this connection might be- How do you keep track of your water column,fish,plant information? I have the free "Open Office Org" software and that opens some possibilities to me. Maybe the Database tool within this software might be a solution. Poking around the net, I thought I would see some software developed for this purpose but outside of a Marine System (which costs money)there dosen't seem to be any tailormade free applications out there. Another thought that comes to mind, although premature to propose is this.- A database form developed by AA members that could be available to other AA members might be a useful tool. The exchange of information between members would be facilitated because of this standardized form. Just a thought..what do you think? Can we have some discussion on this topic?

Did a more extensive leak test on the regulato and found a leak on the thread of the high pressure gauge. Phoned J&L and they said remove the gauge and apply some teflon tape. Once I performed that simple operation, the leak was fixed. You wouldn't think that a manufacture instal would be faulty? Oh well that made my day.

I have the Milwaukee setup from J&L. See their website. Cheap, but good enough, time will tell.. Not using a reactor, output goes throught my water intake on my Eheim 2213.. Think I'm getting pretty good disolution. Set my bubble counter to about 1bps. Rather than go the timer route I just throttle back the needle valve a bit after the lighting goes out on a 12 hr cycle

OxyPro on 53 Ave..Are these the only guys in town. New regulator..no leaks evident on a soap test

55 Gallon 3x54W HOT5 1-Wide Spectrum 1-6700K 1_10000K Eheim 2213 5lb CO2 Milwaukee Regulator & Needle Valve I introduced CO2 10 days ago but ran dry 8 days later. Probable reason is that some leakage happened on setup & had a wide open needle valve at different times.. Was considering trading up to a 10 lb until they told me the difference in Tanks and prices.. I paid $137 filled price on the 5 lb. They wanted an additional $162 for the 10 lb aluminum tank with my trade in. Does that sound reasonable? I ask because the guy that works the Dock estimated an additional $40 for the larger Tank but was given a different story at the order desk. Anyway this dockman tells me that you only get useage of about 3.5 lbs on the 5'er and about 8 lbs on the 10. I came home with a filled 5 pounder.. No blowoffs or leaks this time. I've set the needle valve to get about 1 bubble a second and will work with this as long as the CO2 indicator shows green I'm hoping I get a couple of months out of this tank..whats your experience with this kind of bubble rate? Is anyone running the T2 lighting? Only one U.S. supplier has these lights that I can tell. They promote them as the next generation aquarium light even more efficient than the HOT5 At 1/4"D they only come in 5 inch links. They have fusible links.Pretty decent price too. Here's a link to that supplier in case your're interested http://americanaquariumproducts.com/

As near as I can guess,I am showing about 3-4 bubbles a second on the counter..There is a co2 indicator inside the tank.. The type that indicated Blue when no co2, yellow,too much and Green, the ideal range..It looks like a pale green to me..

I fed my co2 line to the intake of the Eihem 2213. You can see the bubbles travelling up the tube so assume when the bubbles hit the impeller they break up.I don't see any bubbles being ejected from the outake .line so could thismean a total dissolution in the water column? If I don't see plants greening up in a week, I may employ another method. Dovil suggests a powerhead. I don't have any water pumps circulating water..Should I put one in the system to move water around? I've read that moving water is benefical to both plants and fish so maybe using a pump in conjenction with co2 might work better. For a 55 gallon tank that will be stocked with a lot of plants, what kind of powerhead would you suggest?

I think I now have the basic equipment to introduce CO2 into my 55 Gallon Tank: Milwakee CO2 Regulator with Selenoid & bubble counter The 3 in 1 ceramic diffuser with check valve & bubble counter I have CO2 going into the tank but when it enters the 3 in 1 apparatus it kicks out large bubbles that escape to the top In other words there is no fine stream of bubbles Whether I adjust the needle valve from 1 bubble to second upwards to 10 makes no difference. Maybe I have a defective ceramic diffuser? I'm running an Eheim 2213 filter and wonder if I could introduce the C02 through the inlet side of the filter but not sure if that is a viable alternative? Would an airstone work? Does anyone have a similar setup?

O.K. I'll come clean- I don't know what I am doing .. First the background.. Several months ago I decided that i would like to have a planted aquarium accented with a few fish although i haven't decided on the livestock yet. So starting with a 55 gallon tank and then in the following months equipped it with T5 lighting,3x54 Watt,fixture,expensive planted substrate,about 60# along with about 25# of clean pea gravel.. So far so good..a 300 W heater was added. My plan was to get some aquadic plants growing for a month or so before adding any fish.. So down to a local aquarium supply store was next. Came home with a whack of plants,thinking it would be best to plant everything at one time. While happily planting i realized that I had no idea of what I was planting since there was no plant tags even suggesting the common names..now when you buy a seed packet you expect to see some information on the plant,growing hints etc Probably my error in not insisting some plant tags but wonder if there are any standards of labelling in the industry? Then,with a flick on the switch the growing was to begin, or at least I though so. After a few days of 12 hour blazing light my plants began to lose color and wilt. I was starting to skim floating leaves from the top.. I experimented in setting up a DIY Co2 system but that didn't work for me and thought I better get a pressurized system if anything was going to work at all. To that end I am looking at a system that should be in line with my budget. Its the Milwaukee dual gauge with needle valve and selenoid from J&L Aquadics in Burnaby. Not sure if i would also need a disfuser? I will get the vessel locally and should everything together in a week. So my impending questions now are- I cut the lights back to a few hours a day in the hope of maintaining some life in the plant roots so a restart may be possible.WillI introducing some emergency liquid form of CO2 be any help right now? My choice of this CO2 system..is it adequate? Are there any flies in the ointment that I haven't considered? Bear in mind I'm 71,new to aquadics and huffing and puffing up this steep learning curve.. But also i enjoy life and a dry sense of humor.. think that comes out.. Anyway look forward to your comments & suggestions. I could cry but then its nearly 4;20. -ham-

I've been toying with the idea of putting a mirror on the outside rear surface thinking it might enhance the depth of field. My aquarium is only 15 inches deep and I want to have plants in it as well as fish. If one has a lot of plants in there the effect might be lost anyway. Also would this aggrevate the fishes? My idea of a mirror would be a vanity 12-15 inch that I could cut to 48. Or maybe a plain Black or Blue backing would be the simplest in the end! Anyone ever try the mirror background?

I have (had) a pretty 5 lb white and brown rock (Big Als) that has accumulated a green algae on the surface. During my water change I took it out and scrubbed it with a dish detergent solution followed by a vinegar and then water rinse. It removed about 75% of the green stuff. I wondering if there is a better solution,home made formula that might be more effective and safer once I get fish in there since that method could be detrimental to any livestock. Any suggestions for unsightly algae removal would be appreciated

Hi Everyone! They say you are never too old to learn new things. Even at 71 I still believe that. Nothing like a new Hobby to engage the mind! I'm in the startup stage taking,one step at a time. Have a 55 gallon tank,160 Watts of light Eneim 2213 filter,300 W heater and 3 bags of plant substrate. Will check out Natures Corner tomorrow as they tell me they have received a new stock of plants. It appears that I'm leaning towards a moderate hi-tech setup so inclusion of a CO2 system is planned for next month along with some tropical livestock. There is certainly no lack of Websites and articles on Aquatics as well as the input of this fine group of Hobbyists. Friends are always asking "So where are the fish?" "In time ", I say. After they leave, I smile when I discover a goldfish swimming happily about. Don't think he will like the warmer water when it comes time! I've found the Site www.tropica.com particularily informative. Well I hear the 'splash on the glass' is telling me a water change/ top off is in order. Happy Spring everyone!