Recent content by DarylF2

Jason, have you tried MTS? My loaches won't touch MTS, although the LOVE regular pond snails. My loaches are a smaller variety (Kubotai loaches, also called Burmese Border loaches), so maybe that's why mine leave MTS alone...

Another way I've found that is helpful is a blackout period of a few days, followed by a thorough tank cleaning and 25% water change. I only have freshwater tanks, though, so I'm not sure how blackouts might affect marine tanks.

The flowing water suggestion is a VERY good one! My Flower shrimp hang off leaves and onto rocks in the direct output of my filters. They're amazing creatures and a lot of fun to watch! They're really quite beautiful, too.

That is a Flower shrimp, sometimes also referred to as a Bamboo shrimp. I have several (one for well over a year now), and I LOVE them! They are filter feeders, filtering plankton and other tiny critters out of the water for their food, so you generally don't need to specifically feed them...

I have a small (6-gallon Eclipse System 6) tank with Neon Tetra disease. 4/5 of my Neon Tetras have died of it, and while the 5th is showing no signs, I'm sure its just a matter of time before it show symptoms and will have to be euthanized (the clove oil method works well for me). This tank...

I ADORE my shrimp! I have one Bamboo/Flower shrimp in my 38 and one in my 20L, six Amano shrimp in my 38, and Red Cherry Shrimp in my 20L and in my Eclipse System 6. They are FUN, and have a surprising amount of personality. My Amano shrimp have all grown a bit, but one is now nearly 2 inches...

I have two Salwnsis (Kubotai) loaches in my 38-gallon tank, and they completely ignore my (1/2- to 1-inch) Amano shrimp (and of course my large 3-inch Flower shrimp). Would these loaches eat the smaller (< 1/2-inch) Red Cherry shrimp, though?

I used Excel almost daily in my 38-gallon tank with 1 large Flower shrimp and 6 Amano shrimp (and have for more than 6 months), and they all appear to be doing very well.

I buy all of my UPSs refurbished from www.refurbups.com these days. They have a wide variety of SmartUPS models on this page. I like them because they sell new batteries with all of their refurbished UPSs. Prices vary slightly, but right now they have a refurbished APC SmartUPS 1000 for $120...

My tanks are all protected by UPSs and it works VERY well. If you're going to attach most filters and/or powerheads, though, you need to buy a UPS with a sine-wave output. For APC brand UPSs, this means you need their SmartUPS line. Their less expensive BackUPS and BackUPS Pro lines use a an...

toddnbacka, just a quick update... I didn't get my shrimp-only tank set up in time (and its still not set up...), so I put the shrimp into my 20L tank (with 5 Cherry Barbs, 4 Corydoras catfish, 2 Otocinclus catfish, 2 fancy guppies, and 1 Bamboo shrimp). I have a nice bunch of Java Moss in...

I voted never. Ever since my overhaul in August, my (moderately heavily planted) 38-gallon tank has been remarkably debris-free. I use my tweezers to pick out the occasional dead leaf, and I clean my filter intake tube 1-2 times per week. I haven't had to clean the (Eco-Complete) substrate for...

I'm so sorry about your Pleco! I had something similar happen years ago, and now make sure all rocks/driftwood have a strong foundation (not sitting on gravel). I put my "foundation" rocks and driftwood in before my substrate, then build the caves and such (making sure everything is solid and...

happygirl65, what a terrific post! :)

triazole, sure! (and thanks for the compliment!) My filter is a Tetra Whisper Power Filter 60. Instead of the standard Tetra filter media, I use the plastic frames and foam pads from Drs. Foster and Smith Bio3 filters, with simple nylon filter pads in place of the activated charcoal filter...