Recent content by Orca

I'd recommend a test kit to take the guess work out of it. When you have Nitrates and no Nitrites or Ammonia, you should be good.

As above, I also keep my algae bases covered with a combination of algae eaters. In my case I have Otos, true SAEs, and a Rubber Lip Pleco. I can only assume that fishyfanatic didn't have true SAE's, because mine are ferocious algae eaters. (Ferocious to the algae that is, not to other fish)...

I've had good results with Zebra Loaches. I've read that Yo-Yo Loaches are also good. Both of those will stay smaller than the Clown Loach from the research I've done.

You can definitely turn the water off after the siphoning has started, but as TomK2 stated, if the sink isn't much lower than your tank, the suction is poor and you can't do a great gravel clean. When I'm siphoning the water out into my lawn, I can turn the water off and still do a good gravel...

I swap out 20 to 25 gals of water every other week, and I can't imagine having to do that without my Python. I love it! Having lived in the UK several years ago, I think the biggest challenge you'll have with a Python is that most homes I saw have separate taps for the cold and hot water. But...

In my 404 I have polyfil in the bottom basket to catch the fine stuffl that the sponge filters miss. Then I have carbon in the next basket. And finally bio-rings in the top two. For the 2nd question: in my HOB Penguin 330 baskets I sometimes have Peat, but I always have an extra piece of...

I don't believe Otos care for Hair Algae. At least mine don't. I bought some Siamese Algae Eaters to take care of my Hair Algae problem, and I was not disappointed. They devoured it all in no time!

I'm also Zebra Loach fan. A very cool looking fish (IMO) that is entertaining to watch and does a fantastic job of getting rid of snails. And very peaceful as grlunderrainbow says. They like to chase each other around, but I've never seen them bother anything else. I give them two fins up!

A Rubber Lip Pleco, some Otos, and some true SAEs have been a successful combination for me in my 75gal. The Rubber Lip looked kind of ugly when first I got him from the LFS, but I wanted a pleco that would not get too large. Anyways, now that he's in my tank and I can get a good look at him...

I currently have 5 Silver Hatchets in my 75 gal community tank. They are great for filling in the mid-top range. Nice to look at, and usually all together in a school. They've been an excellent fish in my experience. Other than one that died soon after adding them to the tank, they are...

I have two small Zebra Loaches, and they cleaned up a bad infestation in 75 gal tank in a matter of days. I still have some snails in a 6 gal tank, but by being strict about how much food I put in, the population isn't growing, so I haven't bothered putting the Loaches in there to do their thing.

WhiteCloud, I was thinking the same thing about not having to pay for 2 shipments, so I ordered 12, and they threw in a 13th for free. I'm sure I didn't need that many, but I figured the more fish I got, the lower the price per fish. It was also my first fish shipment and I was worried about...

Update: the hair algae (or beard algae, or red algae, or whatever you would like to call it) is gone! Those little SAE's are amazing. I actually think they are a nice looking fish as well. Much more attractive then any picture I've seen would indicate. They also seem to enjoy playing as a...

I just bought some SAE's to clean up my 75 gal tank which had a bad case of hair algae. They've been in the tank less than a week, but I've already noticed a significant improvement. I couldn't find any locally, so I ended up ordering them online from Aquariumfish.net. Shipping was expensive...

From my own personal experience, I'd recommend Zebra Loaches. They stay small, are a fun fish to watch, and they cured my snail infestation in a matter of days. I haven't noticed any aggression towards other fish in the tank. They mostly just wrestle with each other, and sometimes hang out...