beautylovetruth

Great, thanks

Very nice find, even at a PetSmart. Gorgeous translucent fins.

Where is the February auction? I'm interested in attending

Looks great so far! Keep us updated

Thanks gBOY, I already have a pair that are courting so I'm crossing my fingers!

I agree, bracing it or building your own that you know will support it are your best options Good luck!

Picked up some GBRs from Big Al's yesterday. 4 for two pairs. I'm really hoping I sexed them properly in the store, they seem to be okay together so far, even going to far as to school with the tetras occasionally. It's quite adorable. Here's some pics of 3 out of 4 my new beauties, the fourth didn't want a photo session yesterday. Got pics of the three that have colored up The first picture below is the fourth - finally decided to come out and have its picture taken.

Picked up my first sets of German Blue Rams, haven't kept any cichlids since my brother had them at home.

Beautiful rams! I can't wait for that "parenting" experience as well. Your EBRs are gorgeous. It looks like you're going to have some very good looking spawn there. Keep us updated.

So I aged the water, tested for ammonia (was about 0.25) so I added 1 mL of Prime and put it into the aquarium. Two days later, my tank is reading 0-0-0!!! FINALLY! Thank you so much for all your help in getting through this process

Quick update. Decided to test the ammonia level in the aerating bucket. Gone up to 1.0 in 30 hours. Is this expected because the chemical bonds are changing/releasing?

Aww how sweet of him! Always thinking of his awesome other

Thank you very much for all the help! I've got one bucket aerating now, will use that water to change on Sunday since I did a 60% change today. Will let you know.

So I would have to keep the buckets aerated all the time or just stir them every so often?

Here is what my tap water tests as: And after the water conditioner is added: I think that I haven't been adding enough water conditioner (even though I've been adding the prescribed amount of 1 mL/gallon).

Thanks guys! I've been using Top Fin Water Conditioner with every water change but perhaps I'm not putting in enough? I've been following the instructions to a T on that bottle and stopped adding the bacterial supplement. I'll test my tap water tonight (I'm in Edmonton and I know we have a habit of adding more chemicals to our water during the winter due to runoff, etc) and add a little more dechorlinator. Thank you again for your help!

So I've been staying with the 50% WC, no media changes program. Here are my readings for tonight: Uploaded with ImageShack.us Am I reading these correctly? I'm reading 0.25 for ammonia, 2/5 for nitrite and 5-10 for nitrates. These readings have been similar for about a week. Thoughts?

Okay, I'll make sure the lights are only on when I'm home. What about water changes though, should I leave it for a day or two with no feeding and see how it goes?

Jvision - I'm using a AquaClear 30 and have not rinsed, replaced or even moved the filter since the tank has been set up. Possibly the water changes are replacing the water in that chamber and removing the bacteria? cullymoto - I was kinda thinking that was what was happening but wasn't sure how to fix it. I'll be putting my lights on a timer since I do like to at least see my fish and sometimes my days are long (12-13 hours). So the big question: I've done a 50% water change and now what is my next course of action?

I guess we'll see if this can be figured out. 1) Tank has been running for about 4 weeks (started October 29) 2) Temp stays around 27oC without a heater (my apartment is warm), municipal Edmonton water, have 5 pristella, 5 red phantom and one ivory mystery snail in there. Tetras were added about a week into cycling and snail was added just a week ago. 3) Lights are typical fluorescent bulbs as I have no live plants. Generally on from 5 am - 9 pm 4)Water Parameters as of right now: pH=8.0 Ammonia= 0.5 ppm Nitrite= 2-5ppm Nitrate=40-80ppm I'm going to be doing a 50% WC pretty soon, these parameters are not healthy. Will let you know what they are after the change.

Found some string-like growth on my snail's back as well as in my gravel. I'm wondering if this is a bacterial bloom, algae, or what. Any help is appreciated ETA: Current water conditions are listed in the second post.

Checked levels today: Ammonia=0.25 ppm Nitrites=2-5 ppm I think there is still some algae wafer left in the tank from last night, so that could be leading to the ammonia. Going to do another water change tonight.

Skipped it Did about a 35% change today and the level is around 2. Will keep doing those changes until it's down. Thanks for all your help

That's what I had read after considering that to be my issue. Did a 50% change yesterday, nitrites still high so I'll be doing another today and tomorrow. I'm hoping that helps! Thanks so much for your advice .