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As to why I have to 'prep' my water before I use it: I have to run cold water out of my tap unless I want to end up with all the stuff that's been sitting in the bottom of our water heater for years. Then I have to let the water sit in a barrel for a couple days to warm up. I said in my last...

I did 50% water changes on both tanks on 5/24. The most recent water change I did was on the large tank was ~75% on 6/6. I am planning on doing water changes tomorrow (takes a bit to get water ready). And I definately went through the nitrite spike. The nitrites were unreadable for a bit...

I started a different thread on my first fishless cycle(s) but it seems to have died. It can be found ->here<- I am running two freshwater tanks. One tank is 29g (large) and the other is 10g (small). I started up the small tank on April 19 and the large tank on April 18. I had no seeding...

Thanks guys. This helps a lot. :thanks: I did know about the types of filtration (mechanical, biological, and chemical), but I wasn't sure on how to go about setting up a new diy-type mechanical filter. Also, I wasn't really sure if there was a distinction between foam and sponge filters, so...

From what I understand about cycling (admittedly I'm new to it), you will know you are cycled when both ammonia and nitrites stay at 0 for at least a week. So it sounds like you aren't quite there yet, but very close.

Thanks. I was thinking buying bulk would work and cutting things to fit. Another couple questions: How does the mechanical filtration differ between sponge media, foam media, or simple pad media? Or are these all the same? :confused: Is one better than another? Are there advantages to...

So I'm currently running Aqueon hob filters with the activated carbon inside them. (I know these aren't the best filters ever, but they're what I've got). I know that the carbon isn't all that necessary (unless you're trying to filter out medicines or the like), so I'm considering a diy sort...

So a couple weeks later, here's an update and some questions: Large Tank: pH 8 ammonia .5 (dosed up to 4 after tests) nitrites 0 nitrates ~80 (a nice red, instead of red-orange, but not deep dark red, see attached: it's the right vial) Small Tank: pH 8 ammonia .5 (also dosed this up) nitrites...

Tis freshwater tanks. I feel stupid for not mentioning that. :whistle: I believe my small tank is indeed almost cycled, but I think it needs a bit more time to be able to convert more ammonia as it doesn't convert all the ammonia that I add. Yesterday I did a huge water change on the large...

So an update: I'm warming some water up currently. Because of our water heater we have for our tap water, if I want to use water that doesn't have all kinds of gross stuff dragged up from the bottom of the water heater I have to use cold tap water for fish tank things (so yeah, it takes a bit...

I've been dosing up to ~1ppm (or a little higher) about every other day (that's how much it's taken lately). I guess maybe I'll try to dose to ~2ppm. I will carry out some water changes. (It'll take a day or two though to raise the temp of fresh/new water.) I was thinking that that'd be good...

+1 on pleco size Yup I have to agree about common plecos getting huge. We just had one that was 2ft long die recently of old age (he was nearly 19 years old).

So I'm doing my first cycle(s) (on two tanks) and as nothing has really happened for quite a while, I'm wondering if I'm stalled out or almost there. I'm cycling two tanks. A 29g and a 10g. (Started the large one up on April 18 and the small one on April 19.) I had no seeding materials; so I...

I'm just really getting into the hobby and I'm wondering what fish stores are good in the Denver area? I looked at the Fish Den and was fairly impressed with their stock and cleanliness of the tanks. Anyone have any experiences with the Fish Den?

So I recently saw a tank with cherry barbs in it and I sort of fell in love with how they look. When I first started researching fish, I read that barbs in general were notorious fin nippers, and so I didn't look into barbs. But having seen the cherry barbs (and saw that they left the golden...

-Update- I tested my tap water after leaving it out overnight, and it has a pH of 8 as well. Although I suppose it could be at 7.8 as the color looked between 7.8 and 8 but closer to 8; stupid judgement calls on the colorations is annoying lol. Either way it is my tap water that has a high pH...

Apparently with the api high range pH test kit I have a pH of 8 instead of 7.6. (I only had the regular kit before, so it showed as a deep blue, admittedly a bit off the scale). Atm I have a 29g and a 10g (the 10g for use as quarantine) just started cycling and the pH reads at 8 for both...

So I've been shopping fish supplies a lot lately to get a new tank up and running. Today I was at a Petsmart with my dad. Then I looked down the aisle and saw on the floor in front of the tanks a fish flopping on the floor. I was horrified and wanted to just pick the poor thing up and toss...

I was wondering what type/size of gravel cory cats do best with. (I know they like sand, but I want gravel.) I know that their barbels are sensitive so I'm wondering what's better in terms of gravel. I was looking at some bigger gravel that seemed a lot smoother in quality, and some smaller...

I had some Angels way back when...Managed to have them mate so I'd say they were happy. Have to say I love angels myself. So some advice from what I know about angels: Keep in mind that angels can get kind of nippy as they mature. They tend to say 29 gallons minimum for angels and I second...

I saw a German Blue Ram at one of my lfs's. It was absolutely beautiful. I might like to have one. I've read really mixed things about the parameters they like. Seems like they like low pH and higher temperatures. I was wondering if they would do ok with cories, the flame tetras and the...

So I'm thinking for my stocking in my regular 29g rectangular tank: 6 Von Rio Flame Tetras 6 Zebra Danios 6 Panda Cories 1 Pearl Gourami Thoughts on the numbers? Since the gourami gets a little bigger, I don't want to overcrowd them all, could I do more in the schools or are six of each good?

Like I said, I'm going with a standard aquarium not the hexagon. So what numbers can I do in the rectangular set-up? When we had the old hex tank up, we had a pair of angels in it. They actually breed together, so I'd say they were happy. :) The only downside to the taller hex tanks though...

Thanks. Oddly enough, but even our cat is grieving now. She spent a half hour yesterday just staring at the empty tank. I suppose that ever since she's been here, she's known our pleco (he was here before her). *Sigh* So sad...

I would definitely say give it an algae wafer every other day or so. The pleco I just recently lost to old age (19 years old) was fed an algae wafer (or two; he was a big guy) everyday and reached a good 2 feet long. Also if it's skitterish maybe feed it at night, but our guy got used to being...