Recent content by Dnoel5787

Give them half an hour to "wake up" and see if their color returns. I'm betting it will. Sent from my Nexus 4 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

I've never kept cichlids, so take this with a grain of salt, but my understanding is that fire mouths tend to be a bit more docile than other cichlids and would do okay with the larger bodied fish like black skirts. Smaller tetras, danios, and rasboras would likely become a meal.

I call black skirt tetras the poor man's silver dollar. :) I guess that makes me a poor man. Really, though, they have a tall body, and although they get nowhere near the size of silver dollars, they accomplish the same thing for me in my tank.

My pleasure. People do all kinds of things with bettas that they really shouldn't. They are remarkably hardy fish, but they would be better off with pretty much the same treatment as other freshwater tropicals. Have a great night!

Generally not a good idea for two reasons. One is that bottled water often does contain chlorine just like tap water. Another is that it is often void of minerals needed to maintain a healthy pH. Some people use bottles spring waster, but I avoid the whole issue by just treating my own tap...

Some would say that it's a risk, but it does work. I did the same with my first tank. The risk is that you could introduce a parasite or a bacteria you don't want in your tank, but my thought is that you would be more likely to get something nasty (like columnaris) from aquarium filter media...

Awesome list! The micro rasboras look especially compatible, but I've heard the constantly hide. Any of these that would be mire likely to be seen? CPDs?

Plants will help, but I don't think she can tame those trates just with plants. Good excuse to go shopping, though!

Does it ever make you wonder how they could possibly survive in the wild? :). They seem to have ZERO hunting instincts. I guess that's what we get for sticking them in faster moving water.

No worries. I've spent lots of time talking to fish people and reading up on this since chemistry is not my thing. ;) Nitrate doesn't feed on nitrite, it is the byproduct of nitrite. Here's the way the cycle works, and I find it most useful to consider the bacteria as what it is: a...

No chlorine! Nitrates are not beneficial bacteria; they are the final product of the beneficial bacteria's nitrifying cycle. If you kill the BB, you will first see a spike in ammonia and nitrites, then even more nitrates. Also, the chlorine itself is harmful to the fish. I'm not experienced...

Ten percent water changes a week with bigger 25-30% changes every 4 weeks or so will keep your water healthy and stable. When you do your bigger ones, you should vacuum your substrate and do some filter maintenance. For suspended particles in the water, change your activated carbon or add some...

Thanks for all the dialogue. I love the opportunity to learn from more experienced fish keepers! :)

Let us know how it goes. I know I was adding my two cents' worth on the other thread you had running about this, too, so I hope I didn't lead you astray. How long have you had your BAs?

Gotcha. I have Praecox rainbows, harlequin rasboras, hatchets, and rummy nose tetras with my Bolivian and to make sure he gets his fair share, I always feed some flakes first to draw everyone up, then some sinking cichlids pellets for the ram. That way, he seems to always eat plenty. May be...