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Just did a water test.... total alkalinity is off the charts - above 300 ph level is within ideal range -- 8.4 or so water hardness -- between 150 and 300 (hard to tell) Will this work with a FOWLR setup? Or will I need an Ro/di unit? Or would a home water softener take care of it?

An aquarium enthusiast on our community message board told me I need an ro/di system to keep a saltwater tank because our water is very high in silicates and phospates, which are terrible for a saltwater tank. He said I will not be able to control algae outbreaks without using ro/di water...

Ahhhh ok gotcha. So there is more to it than just throwing in 10 to 15 drops of Prime and then dumping it into the aquarium. That make sense. I think I'll get that book, I'm reading the first few pages right now on amazon... a very interesting read for sure.

Why is it more work exactly? Define what you mean by work. With my freshwater, I've never had a problem as long as I do water changes weekly. Can't I just follow that same formula? What more is there besides doing getting the water temp and water mixture right? I guess I need a dummies guide.

I've read online its best to have a 55 gal or higher for salter water aquariums. Why is this? I know with freshwater aquariums, the size really doesn't matter, the more fish you have, the more often you need to do water changes. Why would it be any different for salt water? I'm asking because...

Ok... I've done freshwater tanks now for 10 years. Besides the different fish and inner dwelling, what is different regarding maintenance? Currently for my fresh water tank I do a 50% water change every weekend with the prime conditioner, wash out the filter like once a month, and besides...

I was at the fish store this weekend and bought one of the little Prime bottles and it says 2 drops per gallon! I'm using 3 just to be safe. I guess the bigger bottles assume you'll be doing larger water changes which is why they don't have the dropper top lids. I will now keep the small...

So if I was only going to to do, say 1 gallon, would that be 3-4 drops?

Which is better? In your opinion.... I have both, but I've really only used the Aqua Plus in the 10 years or so I've been keeping an aquarium. I notice it says 1 cap of the Aqua Plus treats 10 gallons, and the Prime says 1 cap for 50 gallons. That's quite a difference!! And if/when I use...

THere is no new home for the Danio... unless I just get a bucket and put him in that and I know he won't survive that. I 'd rather do an old fashion cycle rather than the fishless one for the Danio's sake. I think I'm going to follow this article... Tips for Cycling Your New Aquarium - The...

If you read my posts in the forums here you know I recently lost all my fish to Ich, and a poorly cycled aquarium. I lost all my fish but one.. I still have a healthy tiger Danio left. I decided to start over fresh and here is what I did... I purchased a new Fluval 305 canister filter for my...

With that said... I am heartbroken right now. I don't want to give up so I'm turning to this site for advice. Here is my situation... I've got a 29 gallon freshwater tank that has been up and running for about 5 years now with gravel, fake Plants, and other decorations you can buy at fish...

Thanks for the concern about my method, but like I said, it always worked for my friend growing up, and it seems to be working for me too. No fish losses yet since I've been doing this. I'd rather be certain that all the chemicals are out of the new water, and I prefer to have it at the exact...

What could fall into the tank that would contaminate it? Its seating in a closed environment under the aquarium.

Confirmed... it was the Cycle product that caused this! The water change the following week was clear as expected!

This happened to me last week. It was because I was using the product "Cycle". Everyone on this board said forget that stuff so I'm not using it anymore.

"Supplement it's diet with zuccini, tomatos, squash, etc." Are you kidding me!?!! haha. I had no idea. How much vegetables would you add? Like a slice of tomato you would put on your sandwich? I've never added anything to my fish tank other than the flake food, and I drop one tablet of bottm...

No I don't have any live plants, just plastic ones. I just plan to do weekly water changes. I didn't want to do any more than that. I was just curious what other people's experience was with this type of fish and if the extra poop spikes the ammonia up higher. I am hoping since I plan on...

I just recently bought a Plecostomus and he's got big long lines of poop. I've never seen that much come out of one fish. Hopefully that does not spike the ammonia up really high. I guess I don't need to worry about it as long as I'm doing weekly water changes, right?

I bought my first 10 gallon tank when I was a young lad. I had no clue what I was doing and bought fish the same day I bought the tank and I wondered why I had a hard time keeping fish alive. 20 years later (10 years ago) I bought a 29 gal aquarium and did things right the second time around...

Well this is something my friend did growing up and he always had a successful aquarium. As the water sits for a week, its like a mini aquarium underneath my tank. I don't think I'm wasting my time. I would have to go fill the bucket the next week anyway. When its time to do a water change...

Its a 29 gallon aquarium. No I don't think its me stirring up allot of waste. I pour it in at the same rate as the filter drops water in. Two weeks ago I did a 75% change to get on the right track, and prior to that I have never seen cloud like this. Like I said, I've had this aquarium for 10...

Thanks... I'll ditch the Cycle and salt.

I forgot to mention I also added about 3 caps of Cycle this morning. Its my first time doing this. I'm not even sure if its necessary to do it, but I thought it would be good since the pet store recommended it. I also bought salt based on his recommendation but I haven't added that yet.

I have a 29 gallon aquarium that has been up and running for about 10 years. I have always been lazy with water changes waiting until evaporation causes annoying splashing noise, and then I do my water change. I lose fish more than I should and I know its because of my laziness. I recently...