Recent content by Tong

Brown wendtii crypt and Bronze wendtii crypts are not green, require very little light, and are very easy to take care of. Also, as Alshain mentioned, pygmy crypts and most crypts I find, have at least some red or brown tinge to them. I find my crypts look browner when there is a lot of...

As a reference, I know Purrbox has 60 watts of CF lighting on her 10 gallon and she says its a highlight tank. I have 60 watts of T8 lighting on my 10 gallon and I think its a medium - high tank. I would guess that your tank at 43 watts, most of which are T6, should be at least medium light...

Best info I've had all day. I'll have to try it out sometime.

An army of shrimp. Glass (Ghost) shrimp or cherry shrimp should be fine. A little harder to find are pitbull plecos (they are very similar to otos...might acclimate better). Or if you want a BBA eating fish, the american flagfish is probably the best BBA eater for your size tank. Sorry to...

PAEDOCYPRIS PROGENETICA - Recently found to be the worlds smallest freshwater fish. Has an adult size of about 7.9 mm (~0.31"). Pygmy (Dwarf) Goby - Previous record holder for worlds smallest freshwater fish. Has an adult size of about 8.0 mm (~0.32"). I would bet you could place one of...

I create a solution as dosing it dry might be very hard to measure for most tanks. 1 tsp Plantex CSM + B 167 mL H2O 1.5 mL of above solution will result in 0.1 ppm Fe in 10 gallons of water. People dose until they have sufficient iron, which is usually 0.1 - 0.3 ppm Fe. If you see Fe...

FWIW, if you are using 132ish actually CF watts, your tank is actually more like 3.6 WPG and is definately in need of CO2. I would say even at 2.4 WPG, it is definately in need of CO2. Also FWIW, usually BBA is a result of a nutrient imbalance. More specifically, your nitrate and your...

Ozz's calculator assumes a 4 foot tube producing 2600 lumens with 32 watts or 81.25 lumen/watt. An 18 inch T8 bulb only produces about 600 lumens with 15 watts or 40 lumen/watt. Ozz's calculator doesn't work for anything but bulbs 3' or longer as smaller bulbs don't hold to his rules. We...

A couple of these were already mentioned but I'll reiterate. You could always add otos or pitbull plecos. Otos don't look like a catfish but they are technically plecos. Pitbull plecos are only slightly bigger than otos and have more of a catfish look. Pitbulls are kind of hard to find...

I agree. I have about double the normal bioload in my 10 gallon tank and still have to add about 30 ppm nitrate each week. I also go through an insane amount of potassium and I even have to dose phosphate (my tap water already has 2+ ppm phosphate!). So with lots of lighting and/or plant...

I have a 10 gallon. 20 watts (40 watt with 50/50 bulb) will only be like 0.7 WPG. Not too useful at growing anything in the absence of CO2 and correct dosing. I was able to grow a lot of stuff with just the 15 watt strip, but I had CO2 and was dosing. My 10 gallon now has 60 watts on it and...

Do the leaves on the amazon swords turn kind of transparent after a while? If so then it is a sign of insufficient light. In anycase, I am guessing that you don't have enough lighting. 0.66 WPG (actually its a little higher due to rule breakdown on larger tanks but its a moot point) is not...

You can get 2 screw in compact fluorescent lights from walmart. I've heard the 10, 15, and 20 watt bulbs will fit fine. They should sell for about $7 each. Make sure to get daylight bulbs (they should be whitish in color rather than orangish). It should say daylight on the labeling. If you...

Mine was in the tank for 2 days and eating everything in site. Then one morning I woke up and found him dead. I think if an oto can make it a week in a tank they'll be alright and are actually pretty hardy. I give a fish a week before I actually consider them acclimated. I have heard that...

I believe the premix is a 1 lbs bag with everything already mixed in it to the specified proportions. With this in mind, you may want to consider not buying the premix and just buying the individual compounds. For example, I have very hard water and don't need to dose magnesium so I just dose...