Recent content by Dale_I

Full tank pics here

eBay's always an option. But BHead707 has the best "cheap" method. Find a creek and take a walk...

Any of the better heaters are indexed, meaning that you can change/adjust the scale. Ex: if your thermometer reads 79 and your heater is set to 81, you can keep the pointer of the heater where it is and change the scale down 2 degrees to match the thermometer. Never trust the heaters scale. They...

Most plastic is fine. A filter case is plastic, pick up tubes, fake plants, etc, etc. It is the silicone that is used on the plastic that can be deadly to fish.

They usually aren't worth fixing since new ones are so inexpensive. I'm sure you could if you wanted to. But, taking it apart, diagnosing the problem, buying whatever piece broke and soldering onto a board, then sealing it back up water tight... for the $20 or so that a new one will cost, I...

when your quarantine tank turns into a stocked tank, so you get a new quarantine tank and it turns into a stocked tank, so you get a new quarantine tank and it turns into a stocked tank, so you...

:agree: As long as the heater is working properly, you shouldn't have an issue using the 150W. It should cycle on and off at the temp you have set. It does have the ability to heat the water quicker, so once it comes on, it will be on for a shorter time period. But, this will be your best bet...

Just a suggestion, but instead of running the outgoing water through a valve, you might want to consider an overflow pipe. Just run a pipe up to the level of water you want to maintain. As new water comes in, your level exceeds the height of the pipe and you drain it out. Doing it this way...

The new Flubal 06 series (106,206,306,406) are great to prime. I have a 304 for my 55gal, but just picked up a 106 for my 20L and if the 304 ever breaks down it will be the excuse I need to upgrade to a 406. In another post, member maxwellag mentioned Aquatop canister filters, which feature a...

New Life Spectrum makes a flake food. Omega One and Hikari are other brands I would trust.

Galvanized treatment is a coating. There are several types, but hot dipped would provide the best resitance to rust. However, all of them will fail over time. If you want it to last in water, go with Stainless Steel.

Well, in short, I had some fish in quarantine (20 gal long) and one died immediately after entering the tank. I didn't think much of it since it was right from the LFS and they were a new batch. They didn't have any more Boesemani in stock, so the next week they replaced it with one from their...

You would have to check with someone who is currently running an R/O system. I'm one of the very lucky few who don't have to do anything to my municipal water. They don't chlorine or even add fluoride to our water. Also, it is strange that your pH is changing with water changes. It should be...

You might consider reverse osmosis system and adding minerals back in. I don't think you can have a healthy tank with tap water measuring 1.0 ammonia.

I would suggest thinking through whether you want to do "fish in" cycleing or fishless cycleing. I'm not a fan of running chemicals for seeding bio material and then introducing fish early. Either way, expect to go a month or two before a truly stable tank results. Personally, I'm not a fan...