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I noticed condensation inside the casing of my heater. Is it done for? It's about 8 years old...I don't think it owes me anything.

I wish I could reply to my original post but it was too old, so I will summarize-- I had multiple fish deaths in my 10 g. Symptoms were darting, listlessness at surface or bottom of tank and heavy gill pumping. Water parameters were perfect- amm 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 5, pH 7, GH 4, KH 3. I use...

I am at a loss here. This is the third loss in my tank. I have no idea what is going on. Water parameters look pretty darn good and stable. No ammonia, no nitrites and nitrates look to be around 5. This is my second Cory to go in this exact manner- acting normal, combing the substrate and...

Hello, This is more of a comment than a question... I purchased this little guy as a $2.99 peppered Cory. It was still small when I got it but it's dorsal fin was a little bigger compared to some tankmates. Whelp, the dorsal fin has continued to grow with it! Not used to seeing a Cory with...

Ugh... I have no idea what is going on with my tank... This is a well established tank that has been going for about 7 plus years. I added 2 otos to my tank and they had stringy poo. I treated with prazi and removed carbon filtration per directions. I did two rounds. Filter is now back in...

Hello, I recently purchased 2 otocinclus catfish from a chain pet store... These 2 otos have had long, stringy poo for over a week. I am presently feeding peas (which no one seems to want) and a scant amount of Marineland algae tabs. I highly suspect that the chain pet store was over feeding...

Hello, I have a weird mystery. Today I went to do my weekly water change. Started my routine and noticed I was missing a Cory catfish. I noticed he looked a little sluggish earlier in the week but was still feeding quite vigorously, which was the norm. I see no evidence of the smaller cory...

Hello, I am still relatively new at aquariums, especially planted ones. I had a sudden die off of Java ferns. They are just planted in my stone substrate. They were doing rather well for the past 3 years, even reproducing more plants from their tips. Suddenly, in the past 2 to 3 months, they...

Hello, Any ideas about how to best remove this algae that is along the caulking on my tank? I tried getting at it with a toothbrush but it's stuck in there. Still figuring out some of these little things... Thanks for any advice you might have!!! Michelle

Hi Folks, I am going to be moving to a second floor apartment and of course I am taking my fish with me! I only have a 10 g aquarium. But, I still worry about a potential for leaks and hope to get my security deposit back when I leave. Is there anything I can put under my tank to capture...

Hello, I noticed that my java ferns have little black dots on the backside. What are these dots, anyone know? Just curious, thank you!! --Michelle

Hi There! I am a returning member (who needed to get a new email due to identity theft of my old email address.) This site was instrumental in helping me get my tank initially set up and properly stocked. It’s a good place to learn. Right now, I have a 10 gallon catfish tank— 2 oto catfish and...

Hello, Having a hard time finding a siphon hose I like. The stores in my neck of the woods all carry the same Top Fin siphon. The plastic tubing keeps getting hard and the vacuum end keeps falling off. I sniped off the ends to get to a more pliable section but I can only do that so many times...

Hello, I have a new issue in my tank-- my horn wart has been getting all full of algae. Its nice and warm and full of light up at the top, which has led to algal growth on all the needles. Any ideas about how to fix it? Thanks for any ideas you might have, Michelle

Hello, I just did a big water change in my tank. As I typically do, I stirred up the gravel a bit to eliminate dead spots. And I noticed a half dozen very tiny white worms in my tank, crawling along the glass on my tank. They are about 1-1.5 centimeters long and about the width of a hair...

Hello, This morning I woke up and was super excited to find out I have baby otocinclus catfish swimming around my tank!!! I heard these guys can be difficult to keep so the fact that I am a beginner and they bred in my tank means I am doing things right :cool: I need help because I have no...

Hello, Do otocinclus catfish typically rest with their dorsal fin resting flat against their body? Otherwise, they look healthy, have gained a little weight since I got them and are active at night. Just wondering if this is typical... Thanks, Michelle

Hello, I could use some help. I keep losing fish and this hobby is becoming disheartening. I lost a couple of platies for some unknown reason. Now, I have three mountain cloud minnows in my 10 g aquarium. My water parameters are great. But, one of them appears to have terrible fin rot and I...

Hello, I have a question. What GH and KH values should I be aiming for in a tropical community tank? What about a livebreeder tank? I understand what GH and KH are. I am just wondering what values I want in my tank (preferably in dH rather than ppm.) Thanks! Michelle

Hi Everyone, I'm having issues maintaining the pH in my tank, it keeps dropping on me. I have a 10 g tank with now two platies. I lost one yesterday. My KH level is actually high (close to 300 ppm) so this is a mystery to me. I had been using Seachem Replenish to maintain the GH in my...

Hello all, I'm still relatively new to this hobby. I've noticed that every time I do a water change, my fish's fins become clamped. I have 3 platy fish. One of them seems fine but the other two get clamped fins every time I do a change. I make sure the water gets primed, aged, then...

Hello, I feel like this is a silly question but I'm going to ask anyway...I'm new to fishkeeping. Today the nitrates in my tank was at about 40 ppm (I couldn't tell if I was in the 20 or the 40 ppm) so I decided to do about a 50% water change. I slowly added in the new water but one of my fish...

I bought the API Master Freshwater test kit. Is it just me or does the 10 and 20 ppm colors look an awful lot alike? I can't really tell the difference between the two colors on the card. I don't have issues with any of the other tests, just the nitrates. What do you use to test nitrates...

Hi Everyone, I am somewhat new to having fish and never had a planted tank before. I have been using Proper pH 7.5 in my tank. According to the manufacturers booklet, this product isn't safe for planted tanks and states that it will "stunt plant growth." Does anyone have any experience with...

Hi there, I've never had a planted aquarium before but wanted to give it a try. I purchased some java ferns today. The package I got had the root ball/rhizome with thread wound around it...it actually appeared to be a couple of root balls that had been tied together. Do I take the thread off or...