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Amazon swords? They're root feeders so saving the water won't be of any real benefit. My understanding is that plants inevitably use up all the nutrients in aqua soils at some point but that using root tabs can help slow that down a little. Siamese Algae Eaters will go after black brush algae...

I bought a solenoid and then opted not to use it. The reason is that, between day and night cycles, an aquarium will only shift about .3 pH. I've read that the rule of thumb is to set the flow such that, if the valve were to fail/jam in the open position, the livestock would not be harmed. I...

Ah. Bummer. Yeah, sumps are outstanding. Jones Welding Supply is the only place that I have found to offer fills on tanks. I've got the cheap knock off of Atomic but I love it.

You must live near Jones Welding Supply up on Sandy Blvd. They're the only place I've found in PDX that DOESN'T require you to do a swap/rental. Of there's another place that fills customer-owned tanks in town, please tell me! Traveling all the way out there is a real chore. I use an atomic...

You know the one I'm talking about. It's the one where you keep having fish die on you. Somehow you've let tank maintenance fall by the wayside and you come home to dead fish. You try, but you can't save them fast enough. There're too many or just not enough time. Often there are people...

That's discus territory. Dunno if you want those, though. If you are made of money, maybe you could look into a chiller like they use on marine tanks. That's just a crazy thought though.

DIY CO2 is pretty weak unless you've got a number of fermentation containers working for you. Even so, just acclimate the new additions properly and don't worry.

I've a similar fascination with float valves. I'm planning my future (realistically obtainable and sustainable) dream tank which will use a sump but no overflow. They don't make float valves that deliver 15 gallons a minute at 1 psi (gravity) so I've been buying them to dissect them and learn...

Also, I find Amano shrimp superior to ghost shrimp when it comes to appetite. Plecos will get big so I don't recommend them for your size tank. Dwarf Ancistrus might be an option but even they get to be over 4 inches.

Otos and Cory Cats are great cleaning crews. Otos are vegetarians so they won't eat protein flakes but they are great for algae. Cory Cats will go after uneaten flakes that make it past the other fish and get to the bottom.

Aquatic plants love ammonium and will absorb it as a fertilizer before nitrates (which their terrestrial relatives have evolved to prefer). Depending on which plant you have (some are hungrier than others), that could be reason your tank is cycling so slowly. I had a similar situation when I...

All aquariums benefit from a carbonate buffer to some extent but planted tanks, and particularly CO2 injected planted tanks, especially so. Generally speaking, stability of parameters is infinitely more important than accuracy. Fish adapt.

Wait, so you had a cycled tank and removed all your filter media? Unless you have enough bacteria elsewhere in the tank, you uncycled it.

Bubble counters are helpful if you're using an inline diffuser like my atomic one. It makes calibrating them for the right flow rate a lot faster and easier. For in-tank setups like yours, you can squirt a little water into the diffuser and it will actually double as a bubble counter. That...

Either: Dead Guarding an egg nest Jumped out I'd check every flat surface you can think of to see if she's there with eggs. I've never known GBRs to jump but you might also check the floor if you have an open top. Other than that, good luck!

Well, it'll add carbonate and bicarbonate which will bring your KH up to around 5 or 6 dKH. At least, that's what it has done for me.

10 ppm (or about half a degree), I'm assuming? Crushed coral. About a quarter-cup or so per 10 gallons in a filter sock will last a long time.

You'll probably have more success in finding info if you search for info on angelfish using their common name instead of their species name. ?

Wow. That's a new species for me. From what I just read, it sounds like it's fairly new to the hobby. I'll have to keep an eye out for it at my LFS. It looks kind they get up to 3" I think that, because snails aren't territorial, you're okay with adding a few more.

In not familiar with Wonder Shell but it looks like a branded source of Calcium Carbonate. The main reason to add Calcium Carbonate is to buffer the water against pH swings which are, at best, uncomfortable for your livestock and, at worst, lethal. You can probably buy crushed coral (does the...

Not a discus owner (yet) but that alkalinity seems low to me. How are you buffering your water? I'm a huge fan of crushed coral. Roughly a half to two thirds of a cup has given me about 6 degrees of carbonate hardness which I think is a little over 100 ppm. I particularly like it because it...

Ah. The reason you have a normal and high pH test solution is that the tests can offer higher resolution by breaking up the pH spectrum. If the test kit were to try and cover the full span of 6 to 8., it would be extremely hard to visually see the color difference between, say, 6.8 and 7.0 or...

I don't understand what your 2 different pH readings are but they're almost the same so it doesn't matter. You want to maintain about 3ppm ammonia to keep the bacteria fed and growing. So yep, add ammonia :) Also, SpaceFish is correct. The coral (and shells, for that matter) will both buffer...

Hmm...did you plant it in the substrate? Anubias plants don't do well that way generally. You can pull it off if you let the rhizome peek above the substrate a bit (that's actually how I generally do it) but typically they should be tied to rocks/wood or wedged in crevices. Is it new to the...

Are you fertilizing at all? Yellow leaves are usually a sign of nutrient deficiency.