Recent content by mmckinniss

Really? You think all I'd need to do is upgrade my lighting and go with low-light plants? Hmmm. Maybe this won't be as crazy after all.

My current substrate is sand, with a handful of large rocks and a long piece of driftwood. I've got a Golden Gourami, a handful of Panda Corys, a Bristlenose Pleco, a few Silver Flying Foxes, and a pair of Platies. I'm running a Aqueon Quietflow 55.

I would think I'd have to, ultimately.

Good points. One thing I'm realizing is that it's a huge task to switch over to planted without having a spare tank.

I'm pretty comfortable with weekly maintenance at this point. That's likely what I'll stick to. I probably will go with CO2.

This looks really helpful. Thanks Mr. Nowhere!

I've got a standard 55g that is currently unplanted. Looking towards planting before too long and my first step is to upgrade my lighting. I want to move into LED's and I'm looking for product suggestions. What do you use? What do you wish you had? What's ideal? What's the best value? Go!

Thanks. The tank isn't planted, so I haven't been testing for PO4. I'm not familiar with RODI units or RO water. Help?

Thanks for this. I think I will reduce the light exposure to ~10 hrs, see what happens. I've been doing weekly WC's of ~25%. My tank is not planted, so I haven't been testing for PO4. NO3 levels have been relatively low (~10 ppm).

I've had a recent unwanted boom in algae growth and on the lookout for creative solutions. What does everyone do to keep their algae in check, aside from merely scraping the glass constantly? Parameters: 55 gal, low light (12 hrs/day), 1 bushy nose pleco, 2 Platies, 1 golden gourami, 6 Cories...

Yes, I'm planning a planted tank, but I'm not interested in high maintenance CO2 set ups. Your LED solution is intriguing for its scalability.

Any lighting recommendations for a 55g freshwater tank? I'd like to stay relatively low maintenance in my planting (no CO2 systems) for now. A kid at the LFS pointed me toward the Deep Blue 248, but all the Amazon reviews are terrible. All ideas will be considered. Thanks.

While reading in preparation for making the switch to a planted aquarium, I saw an odd bit of info with no explanation. It was a recommendation to replace T5 bulbs every 6-12 months. I've had a T5 over my unplanted tank for 12 months now. In fact, it's second hand, so who knows how long it's...

Good point. "I don't care" was probably the wrong language. I'm not attached to these fish. They were gifts from some friends who didn't know they had the potential to unbalance my tank. I felt compelled to keep them, but I have no emotional attachment.

Kulih loaches are very interesting. I'll have to think about that one.