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I have been fighting bad BGA for at least a couple years now. The type I have is brown to black, so may be Red Slime Algae is a better name. It forms a thick matted sheet over everything & killing my plants (and maybe even fish ....) I though I had fight it at least to a draw .... but over the...

I am all excited with this. I had an old 75 that is cracked on one end sitting in the garage taking up space. I thought I can remake that into a sump. The plan was to cut the tank shorter to get rid of the crack. Since this is 3/8" thick glass, I didn't think the usual scoring & snap method...

I am thinking of adding a shutoff switch to my return pump after a minor flood. <Got a new pump, didn't get the overflow set right ....> From looking at the web, it seems I can spend $100 to buy a shut off unit, or a complicated build using relays, etc. I had a simple idea ... Suppose I wire...

Over the weekend, my Hydor pump impeller broke, and I can't find any replacement. I have to get an emergency replacement. I settled on the Rio Hyperflow 14HF. The pump works well, but there is an annoying hum. I am wondering if I should return it for something quieter. Can someone recommend a...

I am sure you all know this, but just in case .... a warning about using UPS to ship stuff from US into Canada. I just received an order from the US, and UPS charges over $30 for their brokerage fee ... this to collect $3 in GST!! They charge $20 as a brokerage fee, then $6 for the "bond fee"...

Ok, I've been blaming my goldies for the disappearing plants. I had a jungle of green hygro that disappeared overnight, and new growths that don't last more than a few days. Now I am finding chunks of leaves missing from the crypts & Java ferns. I have been sneaking up on the tank to see who...

I've never have much luck with crypts (except for a couple of C. Balanisae which is growing like mad), but since they are classed as easy, I can't resist trying them. Anyway, I got a couple of Crypt Wendti around March. They did the usual crypt melt with the transplant, but I got some new...

My plants are taking over & the fishies have no place to swim. I'll be doing a major trim on my Vals, hornwort & Hygro (sunset). Any one want some? I am in the university area - pm me & come pick some up.

I bought a bunch (4 plants) of cockscrew vals maybe a year ago. The original plants were maybe 6" tall with nice spiral leaves. In my tank, those plants started sending out runners instead of growing taller or bushier. I now have maybe 50-100 baby plants tightly packed into a 18"x18" area. <I...

I got a new tank (old one cracked ... well it is 20 yrs old), and I think I will re-do my HOB overflow. I read in one of the forum that you can use PVC cleaner to weld acrylics instead of Weld-On. Anyone tried it? What is the long-term result? I have some PVC cleaner hanging around so I'll...

I must be having some kind of deficiency - all my plants (except hornwort) are getting smaller instead of bigger! The Cockscrew Vals started out with 6-8" long leaves, but in my tank, the leaves are only 1-2". They are reasonably happy tho, since they have sent out runners like mad & I now have...

My hornwort is taking over my tank!!! They are doubling in size every couple of days. I am going to be throwing out a whole bunch, so if anyone in town wants some, just give me a shout.

About a year ago, I had 3 apple snails in the 70 gal. They laid a total of 4 clutches of eggs over several months, but there were no obviously live babies <lots of tiny perfect shells, but they looked empty>. I crushed up the clutches & dump them into the tank anyway. The last of the adults...

I have decided to add some SAE's to try to get a handle on the BBA I've been battling. <For those that remembered my bleach experiment --- what a disaster! All plant samples lost all the leaves after a week or so, even those that looked OK initially - I am glad this was just an experiment & I...

I've had it with the BBA!!! I've tried more plants, Excel, modifying dosing, no dosing..... It is not working. The stuff smothers plants & get onto everything. The most I can do is fight it to a draw. I even boiled a piece of drift wood for an hour, & the stuff still won't die. After the BBA...

My daughter came & got me tonight in a panic because her betta is looking funny .... well, it looks like classical dropsy, and apparently its been like that for 2 days. Background - male betta (1 year old), in a 5 gal eclipse at 80F, with a single Oto. My daughter is supposed to do 25% weekly...

I was pretty sure that the copper in trace mix is low enough to be safe for snails. But now I am having second thoughts with all my snails dying within this last few weeks. For reassurance, anyone dosing EI trace has problems with their snails? <Note that I am dosing about 1/2 the PMDD amount...

Over the last 3 weeks I've lost all 5 of my apple snails, plus 4 egg clutches (hatched 3-6 weeks ago) with no obvious survivor (I am hoping that there may be babies hiding in the gravel, but I doubt it). I've had the snails for 6-9 months, they are about 1-1.5" in size. All were acting...

Background: my 70+30 gal planted goldies tank, 4*32W T8, no CO2, redone 2-3 months ago with 2 dozen small plants (Java ferns, Vals, Swords, Crypts, Anubias, Cabomba, Bacopa, Hornwort, Apongenton) - the tank is rather sparse while waiting for the plants to grow. Dosing a variation of EI -...

My first clutch of eggs (3.5 weeks) appears to be hatching .... I had knocked the clutch off accidentally so it is now sitting on a styrofoam raft in a home made breeding trap. Yesterday, I noticed that the eggs are getting holes & I saw a few babies on the styrofoam. However, none of the...

OK, this is my 2wpg, non- CO2 planted tank that was completely relandscaped 3 weeks ago. I am noticing an increase in algae (dark green, covering & almost smoothering plants :( ) I did a bunch of water tests last nigh & noticed a very high pH (8+ may be 9 -- can't read very well at such...

We bought a couple otos for my daughter's betta tank. Got em at Pet Smart (looks a bit pale & skinny but I wasn't going to drive across town to the good lfs for $4's worth of fish!). The girl at PS told us that they are pale because of fluctuating salt levels & that they are currently in 0.2%...

First some history ... This is my 70 gal planted goldies tank (actually more like 60 gal of water with the rocks, etc). I set this up 2 years or so ago with a peat/gravel substrate. Initially plants were doing great, except that I was having algae problems. After finding out that my NO3 was...

My lfs had $1 assorted potted plants sale. Never to pass over a bargain, I brought what I thought were crypts. Now I am not so sure .... Pic 2 I think is a crypt, pic 1 don't look much like that. Maybe I've got a bunch of swords as well? Any guru with a positive ID?

After debating & thinking & chickening out a few times, I finally did it. I cut a u-shaped piece off the top of my tank so I can create a siphonless HOB overflow. The finaly push came when I had a minor flood last month during a power out (one of the siphon quit); so this is it, no more...