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k5mow, LOVE to hear about new tanks--maybe post a picture! Jake, such a wonderful apistogramma with her babies! I never even considered an apisto before, but I adopted one a few weeks ago from someone who was moving out of the area. I am in love! Such a smart, sociable little fish. She...

Autumn, how exciting about the pencilfish! I have a bit of BBA right now--plan to do a rescape soon and start that battle. New betta sounds very pretty--like a creamsicle.

I ordered pool filter sand yesterday. I finally will have some time to change out all my substrate. I have had play sand in all three major tanks for a while now, and it was a huge mistake. It looked pretty at the outset, but it's too fine and compacts too much. Compared to my previous...

I love the turtle enjoying his independence!

That's a beautiful tank.

Congratulations on the new tank! I started keeping fish back in the 1970s and remember when we used to just dump them in and hope for the best. We know a lot more now, luckily for the fish! On the very slim chance that you are located in the DC area, there is someone on Craigslist who has...

Thanks, Autumn. It was very sad when it happened. Thanks again for this fun article.

Very cool jungle! The fish seem happy. :fish2:

I love this! I am sure fish are tremendously underestimated in what they think and feel. I am fascinated by fish intelligence. I know I've written here a million times about my aquabridge between two tanks and how I consider it a measure of a type of intelligence. I am convinced, for...

Hi, all, I haven't posted here in awhile, but am so proud of one of my neons today that I had to share this story. As I posted a while back, I built an aquabridge to use between two 29-gallon tanks...

Hi, Echoing the other advice...Don't use soap again! Also, make sure not to overclean your filter. Cycling means growing the population of good bacteria Aiken Drum was talking about, so that your fish aren't poisoned by their own waste. That bacteria grows on surfaces in the tank and...

With the fish you are considering, I would go larger than 20 gallons. Buy the biggest tank you can afford, and you won't regret it. Bristlenose plecos get to be six inches long, black skirts are fairly large tetras, and serpaes need a lot of swimming room. I would go 30 at the smallest and...

If you were cycling that recently, it doesn't surprise me that you are still dealing with diatoms. You probably just need to be patient. Once your cycle is complete and the tank has settled a bit, they will likely subside. It sometimes does take months before they are gone. Another thing...

Update: I am starting a trial of Flourish Excel. I've used it in the past, but that was when I had a smaller variety of plants in my tanks, and they seemed to do fine when I discontinued it. Maybe the stopping is catching up with me, though... If this does not work, I may proceed to a...

I don't think a powerhead is necessary as long as you aren't seeing signs of problems with low circulation. The HOB filters on my 30-gallon tanks seem to provide some splash at the top and circulate the water pretty well. I do have an airstone in one of the tanks to help with circulation and...

Hi there, I am so frustrated with holes in my leaves! I have three planted tanks, and all of my Amazon swords, hygrophila, and java fern have leaves that are full of holes. There are so many holes that the leaves look like lace. The Amazon sword leaves are all disintegrated at the tips...

I would recommend pool filter sand over play sand. Play sand is very small-grained and compacts hard, which makes burrowing a little more of an effort. Also, if you ever decide you want plants, plant roots have a harder time in very fine-grained sands.

My best plant purchases, hands down, have been through the classified sections of aquarium communities--either boards like this or local aquarium clubs. Goatnad at this site sold me a great variety of high quality, low-light plants. I've also had success through the Planted Tank website.

Ha ha...Yeah, marbles will never last....just like this internet thing wasn't supposed to catch on...:lol: I am imagining you pedaling back home on your Schwinn with fried rice in one hand and marble angels in the other. :thumb: The booklet definitely gets a lot right...like suggesting that...

What a great thread! There is a gold mine of good advice here. Thanks... The mbuna are stunning!

I am sitting here laughing--glad you posted the snail picture again, and can't believe I assumed last time that it was two snails on opposite sides of the glass in a divided tank. I seem to have more in common with my betta (who is constantly flaring at his reflection) than I like to admit...

DrWho42, the imgur link in the post should go to the full booklet: https://imgur.com/a/6QELbAI. I scanned all the pages so everyone can read the whole thing if they are interested. Andy Sager, it's a beautiful little booklet. I was just being silly about the picture. She is poised...

I found this little treasure in our local book exchange. It's an instructional booklet for starting your first aquarium, dated 1966. The cover is below, and this link takes you the rest of the booklet. The picture on the cover (What exactly is happening there?) must be especially...

Hear, hear! I discovered this community in 2004 and can't believe it's been almost 17 years. The internet was still a baby then. I drift away for long periods of time but always find my way back, because the advice and the atmosphere are unmatched. I also can't count how many times I've...

Fun thread, and some great names here. I don't name my fish. I've tried, but the names never sound right to me. I can't shake imagining that they know one another in a sort of fishy language and that any name I would give them would be wrong. I say things like, "Hello, betta. How are...