Recent content by Mark388

Go ahead and remove the old substrate and replace with whatever new substrate you would like. Never mix 2 substrates bc you can never unmix them/ it will be very hard and annoying to separate. You just need to make sure over the next few weeks you watch your levels closely and do frequent water...

I did this just on a smaller scale with my 100g cichlids tank and a 20g sump. It moves around 600 gph. It's been set up or about a month now and the biggest draw back is the difficulty to clean my sump. Mine is real make shift and will be improved later in the summer but it has three sections...

I have one bristle nose about 2inch in my African tank with a 9in common and a 3in royal Pleco. all of them get along well.

The biggest thing to look at when buying a used tank is ask how old it is and how long it has been sitting empty. I bought a 55g that was 15years old and was filled everyday till I bought it. And 150g that was 6 years old and had been empty for 1year. The seals on the 55g where great and never...

Search your Craigslist for a deal. Miami or Orlando will probably provide better deals and more options. So depending on the drive it might be worth it.

Then depending in where you live I wouldn't pay more then $300-$500 for a complete setup. Stand/tank/equipment/substrate. Where are you located?

God bless Texas!!! And it's kick*** economy

Ya I got the tank/stand for cost and got all the equipment on sale. Also helps when your a regular and can get the special treatment lol.

In Dallas they range from $100-$2000 depending of stands/condition/accessories and if its freshwater or saltwater set up. I payed less than $500 for a complete 100g from my LFS brand new. What's your set up going to be FW or SW?

Those are pretty big water changes and you may have shocked them if the temp was to drastic of a change. Gasping is a sign of low oxygen normally due to high temp so adding a air stone would help.

So I stumbled upon a this idea of a Natural Pool while looking a koi ponds the other day. A Natural Pool is basically a pond with the swimming area of a pool in it that is deep. It is naturally filtered by aquatic plants and harbors wildlife in its shallows. It is configured so that it is one...

Even though your Africans are larger than the ones you will be getting it shouldn't be that big a deal as long as your tank is big enough. I have 3 generations of Africans in my tank the oldest around 4-5in and the youngest just fry. The middle gen is about an inch and the adults don't bother...

You shouldn't really need them in a African tank. I have had south American and African cichlids. The Africans are busy enough sifting sand and chilling that dithers would just annoy them. There are a few aggressive male in my tank but no one gets the brunt of the aggression. As for south...

I think a umbrella will be a good temporary fix for the shade problem. Also I think your on the right track for what you have been given. Keep it up and keep us posted.