Recent content by FS7

I have never had any luck treating dropsy because it's a symptom of so many different things. As mentioned, dropsy is nothing more than an accumulation of fluids inside the body. In my experience, there are few treatable causes of this. Every fish I've had that had dropsy was just kept...

Three days in now and the fish still seem to be in good shape. The ich does not seem to have spread from the one affected fish. Also, the ich looks like it's about gone from him, so now I can start the timer on the two weeks before dropping the temp. I'll probably err on the side of caution...

I'm now at about 36 hours since bumping up the temp and adding the salt. So far, all of the fish seem to be doing just fine. The loaches and the rams are active, and the angels are doing well. The catfish I have only seen once, but he seemed fine also (he's since reburied himself in the...

Thanks for this information. This was my first time doing fishless cycling so it was (and still is) a learning experience. I read and read and read about it, but until you actually do it, it's hard to estimate it. My understanding was that when you do a fishless cycle and start with ammonia...

I was under the impression that after a fishless cycle, you are supposed to stock fully to support the established bacteria colony. In my younger (and not so bright) days, I had stocked a 35 gallon aquarium similarly without any sort of cycle and I actually only lost maybe one fish. This tank...

I recently stocked my tank, a 75 gallon, with six juvenile angels (about quarter sized), three small loaches (two inches at the most), one raphael catfish, and two blue rams. I stocked in two phases, and after losing one angel initially (I saw no outward signs of illness or stress, but I know...

So I've been cycling for a month now. I started with fish food for ammonia - I use crisps mainly and I "strain" my canister occasionally to get rid of the small pieces. I did this to load up the tank. After a few days, ammonia shot up to about 4-5 PPM. It stayed there for a week, which I did not...

When I bought my aquarium, it came with an All-Glass Versa Top designed for the aquarium (75 gallon with a center brace). As part of the deal, I got lighting as well. That's just a 48" single strip. The light just sits on top of the aquarium right now. According to the directions, the light...

That part I wasn't sure of. I was planning on adding fish food to the tank since the fish I have are staying where they are now. That tank has a lot of bacteria sources (a permanent filter pad, a large piece of driftwood, and the thick gravel on top of the undergravel filter) so I am not...

My plan was to replace the carbon portion of my canister filter, at least initially, with a used filter pad from my established tank. The bacteria colony is solid in my 35, and I plan to seed it with a well-used filter cartridge. Those two weeks were to establish the new tank (after an initial...

Getting ready to set up. I have all of the equipment. I bought a few pieces of driftwood (my existing loaches love theirs) and those are soaking in my spare tub to minimize tank discoloration. The floor is prepped and the stand is ready to go in as soon as the carpet dries. All of the tank...

Thanks. Adding the AC110 is easy enough - would you suggest it immediately at the start or would it be worthwhile to see if the canister can handle it? Also, I've never had a problem not having enough heat. I have actually been very fortunate in that regard - all but two of my heaters have...

I'm setting up a new 75 gallon aquarium. I currently have a 35 hex and I've gone through 10 and 15 gallon aquariums as well. All of them used the same setup - undergravel filter with a mechanical hanging filter. I finally decided to build the big aquarium like I've wanted to for years. I am...

Hello all. I'm not particularly new to aquariums, and I've had three over the years along with the occasional betta. I've had as many as three at one time, and I currently have one. It's a 35 hex, and I have two clown loaches and a striped raphael catfish. They're all over 10 now. I would...