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The amount of tannins coming from driftwood is small, just enough to colour your water. It shouldn't have a major effect on your pH. My tank is 7.4 with a KH that is non existent. After a week it is 7.4. Other biological activities probably lead to your pH drops.

Yeah, often by the time the swelling is really evident, it is too late to treat. I will often move a sick fish to a qt and watch it for a few days with fresh water changes and food soaked in garlic (stimulates appatite). If it gets worse then I usually put them down.

The XP3 might be a lot cheaper. It might not be quite as good (I don't run one myself) but many people swear by them for ease of use.

If you want epoxy in the future try a Marine grade epoxy putty. That stuff is awsome, though it is not flexible when dry. Glad to hear you could get away without using it though.

Mollies can be acclimated. Guppies can be acclimated to brackish.

Short term salt is not a problem. It is only long term that it is bad. The plants probably won't do well. But they probably won't do well with lots of meds either.

Rena makes a good canister as well. If possible I would take the canister out of the box at the store and see how easy it is to access the media inside. I have a Fluval 304. Whileit is a perfectly fine filter, it can be a bit of a pain to reattach the top on it and get it seated correctly.

If you are thinking of UGF then I seriosly suggest you look at RUGF which is a spectacular filter. Though if you have Africans you may wish to have a sand base for them in the future, in which case the UGF / RUGF is a no go. A canister is a very good filtration source.

If possible I would run a long flexible brush through the tubing. I just did that on my fluval 304 and it made a world of difference. A bit of a pain to clean but the only filter I have ever used. I did break the blue outside clip on mine and had to buy a replacement. My fault, I pressed way...

Well with clove oil you can sedate a fish and then try to remove the stone. I don't know what sort of dose you would need for such a small fish. Clove oil will also kill a fish at elevated levels (and is good for euthanizing). Of course you would have to sedate the fish outside of the tank so...

I would say that this is a very sick fish and probably the best option is to euthanize. There are many ways to humainly do that. It could be a tumour in the throat quite easily. But if this has been going on that long I would suggest that it isn't going to get better. Has she gotten thinner yet...

I have personally found that bettas that come from small cups in fish stores take awhile to adapt to a tank with a current. Their swimming muscles need to adpat. I usually just make sure there are spots in the tank with low current. The fish can then choose to avoid those spots. Within days they...

I would suggest 2 filters as well, at either end of the tank. I run a canister and HOB on my 29 gallon and like the extra water flow and lack of dead spots. I would suggest teh Aquaclears and get the biggest you can afford. Properly cleaned they shoudl give plenty of decent filtration and current.

Your tank looks pretty stocked at the moment or will be when fish are full size. I would not add more fish. I agree, feed less food and pick them out. Add a piece of veggie to the tank at night. Generally it will be covered with snails in the morning. Easy to pick out. A good gravel vacuum will...

I use the mag float for a quick job during the week. If it is heavy buildup I use the algae pad during water changes when I don't mind getting into the tank. If done frequently it should get to be too bad.

Looks like a fine tank. In the future you may wish to add live plants as well. Easy to grow broad leafed plants seem to go really well with bettas. They enjoy resting on them. So if you find deal on java fern, snatch some up.

Loaches do best in groups, which is a concern in a smaller tank. Khulie loaches apparently eat snails. I would suggest that first you try to limit the amount by limiting food. When you do a water change, do a deep gravel vacuum. And cut back the amount of actual fish food by as much as half...

Do you mean changing the filter media? What type of filter do you have (brand) and what is the media like? Chances are you don't need to change any sponge like material out and can just rinse it in dechlorinated water.

I assume that the cost per volumn of those pure faucets would be quite high compared to a RO unit.

Nitrite eating bacteria take a long time to grow compared to ammonia eaters. Adding a dead shrimp will just increase the ammonia levels. That may be useful, but as you have ammonia already it is just a waiting game. This is a saltwater tank right? Get some live rock. The cured stuff will cost...

Once a tank is well established you will see the Tangs picking at rocks and such all over.

That happened to me when I had 2 female platies and a male in a 5 gallon tank. Same situation and in a 20 gallon tank they breed like crazy. Perhaps you need to do more water changes to get any risdual hormone levels as low as possible? Goldfish are waste factories and hormones are some of the...

It is very possible that the live rock is able to handle the amount of ammonia being given off by the shrimp. As the decaying process picks up sopeed perhaps the ammonia might climb a bit higher.

What exactly is the type of algae eater? CAE, SAE, pleco, oto? If you can find out, or actually knwo that can be a big help. Some of those fish just get far too big for small tanks and produce an insane amount of waste.

Assuming you use a gravel vacuum often on your UGF then it is a fine as any other filter. All filters are apain if not maintained properly. But you will be safe vacuuming and not hurting the bacteria.It grows on every surface of the tank, not just the gravel. It will also be on the plates as...