Recent content by Faile

Well, this thread is long over due for an update. The plants have really filled in extremely nicely and I should get an updated picture up. I'll have to do a water change/top off first though! For some reason the nerite snails didn't like my aquarium, and I've lost most if not all of them. I...

You have the potential for more light with the new fixture, but unfortunately the 50/50 bulbs are intended for salt water setups. It's generally accepted that actinic light is largely unusable by the plants. This means that you've actually decreased the amount of usable light slightly. Further...

Some people have found success with limiting nitrates or increasing iron.

That is not an actual "system", it's just a diffuser for the CO2. I found the best results with a DIY inline reactor and piping directly into the filter.

Is there any particular reason you are using activated carbon in your aquarium? Generally I'd only recommend using it to remove medication after treating for illness. The other benefits can be better met with water changes. If you cease using it, then you won't have to worry about the...

Check out the PlantGeek Plant Guide. It's a great starting point for researching plants, figuring out which ones you like and the care they require. Make sure to avoid the ones listed in the non Aquatics section.

I would give it a little more time. What you are seeing now could easily be the results of improper care from before you acquired it. I would remove the leaves that are showing problems so that the plant can focus it's energy on the new leaves instead of trying to repair the old leaves. What is...

As of last night I've had my first official sighting of baby shrimp. They're about 3-4 mm long, so about 3-4 weeks old. Definitely some Cherries as some were already starting to color up. I'll need to wait a little longer to see if there are any Tigers in with the babies. I added some of the...

Actually the "WPG Rule" doesn't actually work very well on small aquariums like a 10 gallon. You're probably only looking at medium low light at best.

Your current fixture with a couple of screw in compact fluorescents would give you some good growth and options on plants.

Why do you want to change your lighting? If you're happy with the results you're getting with your current lighting and care routine, then I would stay with it. Increasing the lighting could push you to the point of needing CO2, but you won't know for sure until you try it.

I can add a Tiger Shrimp to the list of berried sightings. I'm currently acclimating some Nerite Snails. It will be nice to have a little more variety for my viewing pleasure. The plants are filling in quite nicely even without fertilizing. Now that it's warming up again, I hope to be able to...

Many fish will eat algae, but they usually only like one or two certain types of algae. This is why they aren't generally recommended as algae eating fish, since they'll only eat very specific types. I seem to recall cherry barbs being one of the fish occasionally mentioned as eating algae.

The only suggestion I would make is to replace the plastic o-ring with a permaseal. These make it much easier to get a good seal and don't have to be replaced every time that you get your cylinder refilled. Just make sure that if the place you take your cylinder to swaps out the cylinders, that...

A 20 gallon long would be good, but a 20 gallon high would be hard to aquascape again.