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Got it. My best guess is that it is designated "saltwater only" because it is only intended for use as a substrate in saltwater aquaria. I can't think of any reason why use of a smaller amount in the filter of a freshwater aquarium would be a problem.

Yes. Crushed coral is fine for FW. Just put some in a bit in a filter bag, rinse it, and put it in your filter. Monitor the GH, pH, and KH. Just a little bit should raise hardness two degrees or so, and not affect your pH too much. How much depends on how much CC you put in and your water...

TCTFish, I was not familiar with it, but it totally makes sense. You want anaerobic zones so that nitrate can be reduced to N2, but not too low of a redox potential. Is that about right? Thanks for pointing it out to me, I will definitely try it in the 600ish gallon tank that I currently...

Patience is a virtue. We are a resource, but not a service. OK, if you're going to replace your Bio-Bag, you'll want to have something else with lots of surface area in your filter for the bacteria to colonize. If you put a piece of sponge, floss, or the new Bio-Bag in there, wait a week or...

I was shocked by how much mulm was trapped under my undergravel when I pulled it out. As you guessed, and like TCTFish, I believe that if you are committed to keeping the UGF, reverse flow is your best bet. I, however, would pull it out one panel at a time, and if you are careful, and have a...

With a tank that size you could probably put six or eight angels in there, with some bottom feeders and something else (many choices) along the lines of a small schooling fish (but not small enough to get eaten!). I would put all the angels in at once, but watch them and trade in any that are...

My 29 bowfront has notably more disortion than a comparable rectangular tank. My other problem with bowfronts is reflections. I find that if there is a light or window facing the front of the tank, you get reflections off the front glass across a wider viewing angle than you would with a...

Does the wheel turn if you remove the filter cartridge? I find that no matter how smoothly the wheel turns, if the water is backing up behind the filter, it slows way down. If that happens to me, and I'm not ready to change the filter cartridge, I just lift the cartridge up half an inch (so...

I second TG's suggestion. Get a pair of tweezers with thin, but rounded tips and fish (no pun intended) around gently. A friend of mine did this while I held the fish, and it worked out OK and the fish did fine. With regard to the possibility of a dislocated jaw, you just have to push gently...

You can also put salt in the filter box, and let it dissolve slowly there.

Very few of the bacteria are free-floating. Most of them are in your filter, and many more are in the gravel or on other surfaces Big water changes are OK as long as water parameters (hardness, pH, temperature) match up between the old and new water. Many years ago, my oscars had HITH due to...

I say cut the wires near the plug, and buy a new plug from a hardware store to hook it back up. Unplug it first! :mrgreen:

Great system Tom! Brian, your valve appears to be obscene... I will have to wait another coupla years before I'm in a place where I can mod the house for my tanks!

Thanks Brian, good to know!

How long a drive? BillyZ posted a great article on it: HERE Good luck!

I have two burgers in my tank. How can I tell if they are alive? They just sit there.

Angels can take quite good care of their fry, and with a little practice they can have quite a good success rate. They do need to be alone in a ~20 gal tank, as Brian says. Whether you remove them and hatch artificailly, or let nature take its course is probably a matter of doing more work vs...

If it was molting, maybe it went into the filter looking for a place to hide during the molt. I hope that's what it is!

I have not kept ghost shrimp, but it sounds like what happens when they are sick/dying. You may have problems if there aren't enough trace minerals or calcium in your water. Is your water really soft, or are you using RO water? Now I'll sit back and see if someone who knows what they are...

DanW, it just goes to show that it just has to do with who is running the tanks rather than what the sign over the door says. I refuse to go into Wal Mart for non-fish-related philosophical reasons, but apart from that, I'd just go where the fish are looked after best, even if it's more expensive.

I like BrianNY's comment that if you have hard water, get hard-water fish. That said, if you want to lower KH and GH without dropping cash on RO, here are a few things to think about. You can lower KH by boiling the water, but it is possibly not practical because of electric/gas bills...

In addition to KH and GH, we'll also need to know what the pH is, whether you are trying to adjust it, and if so, what you are using to do this adjustment. Minerals will generally not just settle to the bottom, because the ions that cause water hardness stay in solution, and will not...

One more point with fine substrate. You will want to protect your filter, because sand will kill your impeller. A chunk of filter foam with an "X" cut part-way through it should fit nicely over your filter intake, and just rinse it off when you're doing maintenance. ...and rinse rinse rinse...

Is it possible he's getting stuck? He may not be able to swim all the way through the plant, and maybe the fin spines get caught on the plastic fronds, and he can't back out.