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Well, this thread is long over due for an update. The plants have really filled in extremely nicely and I should get an updated picture up. I'll have to do a water change/top off first though! For some reason the nerite snails didn't like my aquarium, and I've lost most if not all of them. I...

You have the potential for more light with the new fixture, but unfortunately the 50/50 bulbs are intended for salt water setups. It's generally accepted that actinic light is largely unusable by the plants. This means that you've actually decreased the amount of usable light slightly. Further...

Some people have found success with limiting nitrates or increasing iron.

That is not an actual "system", it's just a diffuser for the CO2. I found the best results with a DIY inline reactor and piping directly into the filter.

Is there any particular reason you are using activated carbon in your aquarium? Generally I'd only recommend using it to remove medication after treating for illness. The other benefits can be better met with water changes. If you cease using it, then you won't have to worry about the...

Check out the PlantGeek Plant Guide. It's a great starting point for researching plants, figuring out which ones you like and the care they require. Make sure to avoid the ones listed in the non Aquatics section.

I would give it a little more time. What you are seeing now could easily be the results of improper care from before you acquired it. I would remove the leaves that are showing problems so that the plant can focus it's energy on the new leaves instead of trying to repair the old leaves. What is...

As of last night I've had my first official sighting of baby shrimp. They're about 3-4 mm long, so about 3-4 weeks old. Definitely some Cherries as some were already starting to color up. I'll need to wait a little longer to see if there are any Tigers in with the babies. I added some of the...

Actually the "WPG Rule" doesn't actually work very well on small aquariums like a 10 gallon. You're probably only looking at medium low light at best.

Your current fixture with a couple of screw in compact fluorescents would give you some good growth and options on plants.

Why do you want to change your lighting? If you're happy with the results you're getting with your current lighting and care routine, then I would stay with it. Increasing the lighting could push you to the point of needing CO2, but you won't know for sure until you try it.

I can add a Tiger Shrimp to the list of berried sightings. I'm currently acclimating some Nerite Snails. It will be nice to have a little more variety for my viewing pleasure. The plants are filling in quite nicely even without fertilizing. Now that it's warming up again, I hope to be able to...

Many fish will eat algae, but they usually only like one or two certain types of algae. This is why they aren't generally recommended as algae eating fish, since they'll only eat very specific types. I seem to recall cherry barbs being one of the fish occasionally mentioned as eating algae.

The only suggestion I would make is to replace the plastic o-ring with a permaseal. These make it much easier to get a good seal and don't have to be replaced every time that you get your cylinder refilled. Just make sure that if the place you take your cylinder to swaps out the cylinders, that...

A 20 gallon long would be good, but a 20 gallon high would be hard to aquascape again.

You only want to reduce the surface agitation if you are injecting CO2 so that you aren't gassing off the extra CO2 that you're trying to get into the water. If you aren't injecting CO2, then surface agitation is a good thing since it encourages the CO2 levels to return to ambient (normal)...

For my 40 gallon I actually ended up picking up a 48" x 18" stand instead of one that was only 36" wide. This allowed me to pick a stand that I like much better without spending a ton more on the stand. The extra 6" on either side is actually nice, since it gives me a place to put my tools while...

Well, I've seen at least one Cherry Red Shrimp berried, and possibly two. Hopefully it's two, since the first one I saw was carrying quite a few more eggs than the one I saw today. I still haven't gotten around to pulling out the camera to take more pictures. I always find it fun to put the...

I would heavily recommend the 40 Breeder. The shape makes it awesome to scape, where as the 29 gallon is a bit narrow from front to back which makes it hard to fit a middle ground between the foreground and background.

Plants really don't care what type of wood they attach too. The main things to consider: 1. How quickly it will break down in the aquarium (too quickly and you'll have water quality problems)? 2. Do you like the way it looks? 3. Will it will sink immediately, need to soak for awhile, or need...

I personally prefer Current USA fixtures to the ones by Coralife. Both are good brands. The biggest problem I have with the fixture you're looking at is that it comes with bulbs geared for a saltwater setup, so you'd need to replace one of the bulbs immediately if you wanted to take advantage of...

I'm just starting my aquarium right now. So far I don't have any CO2 running, partially because I want to get a new drop checker first. There's a little bit of algae, but nothing horrible. I plan to use CO2 since I have the setup on hand from using it with a previous setup, but I don't think...

You might want to check out the Current T-5 fixtures. They are both energy efficient and great for growing plants. They're less expensive than some other brands, but I've actually been more pleased by them than one of the more expensive brands. Do you want to deal with CO2? If not you do best...

Do you want a low tech setup that doesn't require a lot of upkeep, but will limit your plant choices? Would you prefer a high tech tank that requires a fair amount of upkeep and start up expense, but would allow you to grow any plant you want? Most shop lights are meant to light a room, so...

Does the water used in your aquarium go through a water softener? What is the wattage of the T-5 bulbs? Another possibility is that you have some non aquatics that have finally been submerged too long. Or if the are Crypts, they could be going through Crypt Melt as they adapt to their new...