Recent content by dimdem

Anyone know of a small, inexpensive canister filter of which this isn't true?

I'm confused, because when I look at pictures like this it looks like there are rigid pieces shaped to hang over the edge of the tank. http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xml?product_id=32313;category_id=4016

Isn't the Red Top Zebra actually Maylandia emmiltos? I love Google for making me look smart; I don't know the first thing about this. :)

Let me come at this a second way. With a canister filter, what exactly extends into the tank? Is it just a couple of flexible tubes, or is there some rigid plastic part that hangs on the edge of the aquarium?

I didn't have good results with it. There is an old thread around here somewhere chronicling my saga. I used two different packets, obtained from two completely different sources---one mail-ordered, one from a local lfs---and didn't get the expected results with either. I put some fish...

Petsmart has cc on their web page, but I found out the hard way that it isn't in my store. So I ordered it from Big Al's. I don't have a filter with compartments yetm but see my thread about adding a second filter to an Eclipse 12.

Do you have a bio-wheel filter? With that, you may not need an airstone. As I understand it--and I'm no expert---its splashing mixes enough air into the water for a tank our size. (Mine is a 12 galon.) But you need to have some way to aerate the water for the fish. What temperature is your...

I have a Marineland Eclipse 12 aquarium. I'm kind of interested in adding a second filter, in addition to the one built into the hood. One reason is that I don't think that the built in one is all that special, especially in terms of eliminating particles from the water. Another is that folks...

My hunch is that they don't. I guess they have coral, though, for decorative purposes. And I already have a hammer.. :)

Thanks to everyone for their help. I did some reading online this A.M. According to my city's water quality report, our tap water has an alkalinity (buffering capacity) of 35 mg/L. I found a conversion chart on an aquarium page that tells me this is equivalent to 1.96 dKH. From what JChillin...

I'm going to get a kh testing kit today. I double checked my low pH reading last night, and it was still 6.0. I had a bucket of treated tap water sitting around that I was heating to the proper temp for a pwc; when I checked it for purposes of comparison, it was very close to 7.0. Assuming...

I do have my own kit (and not one with strips). I just hadn't worried much about pH until the LFS checked it. The reason I had it checked was that I had added several ghost shrimp and they died very quickly. My nitrates, etc. weren't bad, so I suspect the pH as the cause. I'll look into...

I'm having trouble maintaining a proper pH in my tank, as I discovered when I had water tested recently at my LFS. Last week when it was tested it was 6.0. I used a "Correct pH" tablet to bring it up to 7.0., and I verified that it did work. (I added it in sections, over a day or two, to...

Thanks. Unfortunately, I lost him before I had a chance to act on any of this. Frankly, I am really at a crossroads with this aquarium. I know this a decision that no one else can make for me, but maybe someone here will say something that clarifies my thinking. I've had the aquarium set...

I have a smallish tank, an Ecplise 12. Right now it is home to a m/f pair of dwarf power blue gourami and 5 neon tetras, so it isn't overstocked. The male gourami is clearly weakening; I suspect that he is on his last legs. I noticed something odd the other day, which was there was a bright...