Recent content by Alan26

What I've learned over the years is that sometimes stockings that should work, don't, and sometimes stockings that shouldn't work, do. Keep an eye on your fish and if any cause problems, remove them. Your pleco will be fine for a while...maybe years...just sell/trade/give him to somebody with...

how it works to lower pH will be dependent on the buffering capacity of your water...the more important thing is to keep things consistent, messing with this too much could cause some problems. if it were me, I would keep a bucket of water with the leaves in it, allowing them to tint the...

Test kits and other chemical additives always make up the bulk of the unnecessary garbage pilled in aquarium stands. A little water conditioner and maybe a little salt should be all you need for the water. Most important things... 1) cycled tank (any type of cycling without a test kit is...

Sounds cycled to me....Knowing if nitrates were going up would confirm.

scrub with a little white vinegar during every water change until gone.

Sounds like it's cycled if you're using media from a well established tank...you may be killing off your bacteria if not "feeding" it enough. If you're testing, have you tested nitrates?

I've planned on doing something similar to this one day for a long time...very interested in how it goes, especially with different plants. I've been considering more of the minnows than sunfish for mine. Keep us updated and good luck.

be careful with the boiling...any internal air pockets could cause an explosion... the fizz will only tell you if has or is made of carbonate...which if fine if you want to raise or maintain a higher pH. I've personally never had an issue or know anyone personally who has had any problems...

For a fishless cycle (like it sounds like you're doing)....stop testing and just keep "feeding" the tank on a daily basis...do some small water changes here and there (skimming off top to help control that biofilm). At 4 weeks, do a large water change 40% -ish. Test it, then feed it, and test...

Depends on your local market...where I'm at, I would probably have trouble giving it away, so would have to resort to shipping which would drastically lower what people would pay due to cost of shipping the larger items. So, in my little world I would price everything independently...allowing...

lists? ha, my wife wishes....i have notebooks full....

There is a ton...literaly thousands of research papers out there, about affects of stunting on many species of fish, in many varying environments...including aquariums........NONE of the results indicate ANYTHING showing overgrowth of internal organs..... IF you bother to look any of this up...

A wife and a kids are excellent tools when used properly.

a fishs' internal organs will continue to grow even when growth in stunted...leading to a painful death (and even exploding organs):facepalm:

In most science (biology and chemistry oriented at least), a B.S. degree can get you on with different environmental companies as an assistant of some sort…or you can go the local, state, or federal route and get a job that won’t pay as well, but will be easier to get without a graduate degree...