Recent content by biomanz

If they're Australian Red Claws, males will have a red patch on their claws, when they're at least 2.5 in long. If those crays are pale white blue then they recently molted - if they're very dark blue they might be molting soon.

Well I took it out the pot last night...and the roots grew out and wrapped onto themselves and the rhizomes. Half were dead - rhizomes were brown and so the leaves were browning from the bottom. I tied the rest onto a driftwood, just one healthy and two tiny ones, but the crays finished them...

Wow, the fish guy got it totally wrong, or he gotta pronunciate much better! I'm leaving them in the pots for a couple days just to see if my crays devour them. So far they haven't, save for the bigger male munching on this Java once in a while, but still looking fine. Maybe it's the rotting...

The guy at the LFS "guessed" it was a "Drummer Fur," and a Google search didn't show anything. Even tried comparing it to random images in vain. So here it is...it's young and looks badly damaged but it was the only one in the same tank as another plant with an ID tag so I got it to give it a...

Alrighty, so alkalinity and hardness can both vary depending on the types of minerals/ions in the water. I just added Eco Complete substrate, and it says I shouldn't add crushed coral, limestone, shells, and a few other things so I think I'm stuck with aftermarket stuff.

My tap water reads: pH - 6.4 (bit low for crays) Alkalinity - 80 ppm Hardness - 25-50 ppm I just got some Seachem Alkaline buffer. I'll be trying it out soon.

The red eye balloon tetras are just under an inch and the crays are 2-2.5 in. First day and the crays are just cautious of them it seems. People keep fish with crays with varying success so I'm testing my luck with these 4 tetras.

The way I understand, alkalinity is buffer that helps water resist changes to pH, keeping it slightly higher (?) and commercially products should be used to increase it - can anyone recommend a product? Hardness is mostly calcium and magnesium along with other soluble minerals in the water. So...

Ah thanks for that warning! Maybe I'm just underestimating how strong these tanks are..

That's what I'm hoping for - that they design it to hold the rated gallons plus some extra for rocks and such, but I read elsewhere somewhat opposite. Now I'm a bit confused, and don't know if it's safe to add, say 30 lbs of rock.

It does seem a bit too much current. Even the water flow on the bottom of your tank is swirling quite fast, so tone down your filter.

I got one from Aqueon with 3mm thick glass that are sealed at the corners, with a plastic frame on the top and bottom perimeter. Since the bottom glass is nestled on the frame, it's a bit elevated from the stand the tank sits on, so I'm concerned that center part is gonna bend down and crack...