Dave

As the biomax provides bacterial filtration for your tank, I would be wary of doing a full rinse on it, and washing away all the good bacteria along with the unwanted ceramic chips. Maybe leave the sponge unrinsed for a cycle or two before fully rinsing the biomax, speeding up the repopulation of the biomax.

Not sure. You've seen my small school, and they stay in the back as well. They do come out during feeding time, and are generally happy to explore the entire tank when no one is looking, so I guess they are just shy.

Good question. Are there enough chairs to accomodate the expected crowd, or should we bring our own lawn chairs?

but the crab is cute. Would he seriously make a meal out of living fish?

I'll be goin with my mickey of rum stashed in my hip pocket. -roll- I have a bunch to sell, but I don't think I will be able to do so at this time. I'll just be buying

You got your basic Bridgessi apple/mystery snails. You have your Brown striped: stripe, pigmented shell, white body Purple striped: stripe, no pigment in shell, white body Golden: no stripe, pigmented shell, white body Ivory: no stripe, no pigment, white body And then you have your black body variants which look nearly the same with the exception for the purple stripe and the ivory purple stripe becomes a dark dark violet ivory becomes a "blue mystery snail". Body pigment is visible through shell. I had a brown stripe mate with an ivory and I got 25% of each kind. Depending on whether your purple female mated with another striped snail, you may have just two kinds, or all 8, depending on body pigment Did you get your purple snails at Pisces? You probably have my snails in your tank then Glad they are doing well if thats the case

They go in laying cycles, and I've found it usually depends on how much you feed them. High temps + lots of food make for some lovey-dovey snails. If the tank humidity is really high, I've found the clutches don't adhere very well to the glass, so you may want to remove them after they have firmed up and place them on a piece of floating foam, misting them lightly every day. What colours were the two that mated? more info found here: http://www.applesnail.net

Very nice colours.

I requested it at Pisces. I was able to get some Glossostigma elatinoides, but wanted some variety in carpet plants. I am already trying to propagate some Sagitaria subulata.

Oh yeah, thats right. I forgot about that mystery ID. Definitely not a Nile puffer though. Fahakas are pretty distinct

As temperature controls the speed of the lifecycle of the parasite, ~http://www.fishforever.co.uk/ich.html If the Theront's lifecycle is sped up by the temp of the water, as is all the other stages of the parasite, I would assume that that timeframe of 24 hours is significantly shortened. Ideally, you'll want to aerate the water, as oxygen isn't as soluble in warmer water. If you choose to medicate, do so lightly, only to speed up the process. If after a week or two you do not see any white spots on your fish, wait at least another week (or two if you feel more comfortable), and then begin to lower the temp of the water and begin to acclimatize the fish to its future tank environment. ~http://www.fishdoc.co.uk/disease/whitespot.htm I believe if treated properly in the first place, I don't think that one would have to worry about this.

what kind of puffer do you have?

Any sensitive fish such as tetras, loaches, puffers, and other "scaleless" fish seem to have a predisposition to Ich when introduced to new tanks. I find that the best way to counteract this is to place them in a quarantine tank with a moderately high temperature. Anything above 80'F, and the Ich parasite's life cycle is shortened drastically. After a couple weeks in there, slowly lower the temp of the water, and then transfer the fish. Voila!

Bare bottom 10g tank kept at around 75'F was what worked best for my pond snails. Every now and then I dropped some cabomba in for them to munch on. AC150 filter. It did not seem too difficult for the small snails to get around in. No light either. The key is the bare bottom. With thousands of snails littering the bottom of the tank, you don't want to have to worry about burying half your population under the gravel. I suppose you could add a handful of crushed coral to help buffer the water to keep their shells strong, but that would be as far as I would go. Some snails did get vaccumed up during cleaning, but I just picked them out of the bucket after. Losses are to be expected, but growth was certainly adequate to feed a puffer snail treats a couple times a week.

Its funny, I am trying to discourage my gouramis to breed. They tear apart my plants trying to make a bubble nest. I keep the temps cooler, and the water line as high as it can go lol. I can't help it if I have a sexy tank I guess lol

I don't have any experience with the compact flourescent ballasts as mine usually come as a unit(reflector, ballast, socket, drywall supports). The guys at Britelite or Litemor should be able to help you though.

Fish are so picky sometimes. My puffers will only eat certain things, and will snub their noses at any other delicacies I throw their way. I have my blackworms in a shallow tray, kept in the fridge. They get daily water changes. Pisces also sells blackworms, but as its winter time, their feeder shipments only come once every two weeks. This past Wednesday was a shipment, and the blackworms seem to be in good shape FYI

bump/tag. More good info

Interesting, I just posted a similar question in the general section as far as getting more light into a smaller space. I find that the fish who will shy away from the bright light will use the plants as shade. The watts per gallon rule is dependant on what kind of plants you want to grow. Some low light plants will do just fine with 1wpg, such as java moss, java fern, anubias, etc. I am going to do a quick search on the net and edit this post if I can find it. There is a chart of Takashi Amano's light requirements per gallon. I found it to be very interesting, as it seems that there is no set rule. It is more intuition and experience than anything. edit: Here it is: http://www.fitchfamily.com/lighting.html here is some info on some common plants and their light requirements: http://www.dwarfpuffers.com/plants.htm More good info here: http://www.azgardens.com/newaquar2.php

Everyone says to go to a compact flourescent, or Metal Halide for marine. I'm just finding that once you hit the larger tanks(90g+), its very hard to provide enough light for demanding plants. I'm sure I can aquire the CF receptacles at an electrical or lighting store, as well as reflectors, but I am at a loss as to where to get a suitable/affordable light for a heavily planted aquarium. So my questions are these: Is 4100K a decent spectrum for plants? Are CF's the way to go to provide tons of light to large aquariums? Where would I go to be able to accomplish my goal in a cost-efficient manner? I am no stranger to DIY carpentry or electrical.

tag! This is good info to know.

Maybe some tetras. I like cardinal tetras myself. I'd stay away from any fast moving fish like a danio. My 3 pearl danios at 1.5", have an entire 90g tank to run around in and they seem to use every inch of space!

Lol, yeah, I have found sometimes that a tightly knit community can sometimes have a tightly closed mind, but nevertheless, they are, and always will be, a reliable source of information on pufferfish So as I always do, I take information with a grain of salt. Nothing is written in stone as far as I'm concerned. I hardly post there, but I surf there nearly 2-3 times a day just to check new posts. I know of the takifugu hardships and disappointments. I am glad to see that yours is doing well. He looks very content

I know. I've been hanging out at thepufferforum for over a year. TAN was the only person who has kept them successfully =/ I was just curious as to the parameters at which you kept yours, as he seems in very good health.

What are the water parameters for the takifugu? Temp, SG, current, etc? Such a beautiful fish....