Recent content by Wallygator

I have seen some house plants that were 'planted' in an aquarium - plant was outside of tank but roots were allowed to rest underwater. What kind of plants can you do this with and is it a bad idea? Will these plants be beneficial to the tank/fish? Currently the only live plant I have in the...

Congrats @rtemis! Sounds like you are on your way.

I have a question regarding Skyrmir's post. He commented that you should never add anything to your water except dechlorinator. Does that include water changes? I know my tap water is high in ammonia. That may be beneficial to a fishless cycle but with an existing populated tank do you...

So is that adequate for keeping the cycle going or should I add more ammonia? Still an odd concept to me, but I see the logic in it.

Okay so I checked tap water after letting it sit: ph 7.4 NO2 0.2 NH3 1.0

Appreciate that @rtemis! I want to get my 75 gallon back up, but I dont currently have room for it. I also wanted to get a little wiser about aquarium upkeep before I tackled the larger tank again. I havent been adding ammonia to tank, but I know tap water is high in ammonia and we add a...

What kind of filtration would you recommend? I usually use jets/gravel filtration with frequent water changes to maintain tank. This may make you tank maestros cringe, I would have to plead ignorance, but it has worked for me in the past. The head I have in there now is Top Fin 30. It seems...

To answer mr86mister, substrate isnt 'new' but I dont think that I used it in a tank for many yrs. I rinsed it well before adding it to tank. The decor -some rocks and fake driftwood, were in a tank that was set up but never contained fish. The tank itself was used previously as a 'sick...

How long should it take to get bio-cycle goin? Will the Nitrates then need to be neutralized? So far I have added Cycle to the water and let is sit for a week, then changed some water and added a little more Cycle. I will check the tap water I set out after reading Purrbox's post. What else...

um.. sorry to jack your thread Artemis, I get that you are trying to get the biological filter going initially at start up. but...then what? How long does this go on? Is that what you are referring to that at some points the Nitrite turn to Nitrate. Does the tank start to balance out a bit...

in tap water -ammonia i guess, but i havent tested tap water prior to putting it into the tank. test kit good, heh, I would hope so, but no I have not crossed the results with another test. The tests I have done are from a liquid test kit. I don't believe any decor could be rotting. I wasnt...

I am starting up a 20 gallon for my kids. I have maintained a 75 gallon in the past for myself. I am having some issues with ammonia and ph. I cant seem to clear out ammonia and the ph drops like a rock (tap water is about 8.0). Could there be something with the rocks or decorative stuff...

BAH!! Why didnt I check into this forum years ago (assuming it has been here for awhile)?! I have always had to fight with ph to keep it about 6.5 as I was lead to believe that was a optimal level to maintain. I have read 2 threads here and both of them have completely rocked my understanding...

Ok color me confused. So you want ammonia to be present if not high when starting a new tank?? I have been struggling to get the ammonia OUT of my 20 gal to get it started. I had a 75 gallon tank I kept for 12 yrs and ammonia wasnt really an issue, but I cant seem to clear it out of the...