Redplants

Not a good idea to put a pleco ( a tropical fish ) with a goldfish ( a cold water fish ). There diets are considerably different and disease can become a problem.

Now I have heard everything. Having spent my career in the electrical world and having been involved in the repair of thousands of electrical devices I have never seen anything draw any current when it was switched off. Simply plugging an item into an outlet will never see any current flowing . Such a situation would offer a fire hazard. Only appliances like fridges and freezers etc. which require constant supply of electricity to operate will draw current when their thermostats turn them on.

Yes, I have seen that too. They are certainly not doing themselves a favour by doing so. If the Rams are listed as w/c by a reputable store I dismiss that label and would purchase them anyway. Recently I took a chance and picked up a couple of German Blue Rams which looked very good but the store staff on duty could not confirm the source. In fairly short order they developed several bad issues which proved that they were inbred and of no use for breeding. So if purchasing German Blue Rams, make certain that they come from a good source.

Been keeping Bolivian Rams for years and find them to be very hardy and healthy. Currently have 6 wild caught adults and they are thriving. I do a daily small water change with no added conditioner which they handle with no problems. German Blue rams, a domestic species, now come from mainly Asian breeders and I steer a wide course from them. Wild caught Rams are another matter entirely, coming from a huge range of bogs and streams in mainly Columbia, Venezuala and Brazil. Out of some streams they are completely colourless and others highly coloured. Those out of bogs are often highly coloured, with every site offering a completely differently coloured fish. When breeding I have had some raise a good brood in Calgary tapwater, others required significant softening of the water for success to be achieved. Wild caught Gold Rams out of Columbia, while extremely beautiful , have proven impossible for even experts to keep alive either in aquaria or fish farms. The Gold Ram found in the hobby is simply a developed colour morph of the Blue Ram.

I have raised Bettas for many years and keep the males in small heated filtered tanks. Why? They are masters at picking the eyes out of other fish. Many years ago, a pet store received a shipment of very beautiful males. They placed one male in every store tank which contained small Tetras, Danios and the like which they thought would not nip and tear the Bettas' fins. I told the manager that the danger also existed that the Bettas would attack the others. " I don't worry about that she replied, the other fish are too fast for them. I went back a week later and found her to be horrified. In every single tank at least one fish had an eye missing. She had forgotten about my warning. Since then, I have witnessed this scenario several times. During the last several tears the Betta Splendens group has been so badly inbred that they are far less aggressive than they used to be resulting in eye biting problems declining but some individuals still do it.

Have used Calgary tapwater for many years with few problems. Do not do water changes during periods of heavy run off ( spring melt ), ( big storms ) as the City has added alum and chloramine in the past during these situations. The first chemical can drastically lower the ph at the tap, the second binds chlorine and ammonia in the water to sterilize the whole system. Your fishy assets can be sharply reduced if you are not careful during these periods. Most other algae problems people complain about are caused by using the wrong lighting or insufficient water changes. I do agree that vastly increased fertilization up the Bow River has resulted in increased phosphates in the water and some more algae problems. I have been able to handle my planted tanks easily without going to RO water and have never used conditioning of any sort.

The one time I experimented with soil in the tank I greatly regretted it. Even small fish often dig, the material gets into the water column and huge algae blooms result. Other problems accompany also. By fertilizing daily with ( a proper liquid mix ) I had far less trouble maintaining the tank in pristine condition and had few problems growing the plants I wanted. I have grown many different large sword plants which projected well above the 24" depth of my tanks. When I did want to experiment with substrates I utilized clay flower pots and buried them in the gravel. That way I could easily removed them if problems developed, transplant them to another site or another aquarium or use several of them to set up a particular breeding arrangement when required. Shortly after ending my experiment I read an article by a famed plant aquarist who stated that organic material should be used in very small amounts in aquarums. I believe her and left it at that.