What would you recommend for a clean up crew for a 55G planted tank? So far I'm thinking of getting 6 Jullii cory cats to take care of any extra food reaching the bottom. However, I'm still undecided what to get to take care of the algae. Is an Otto better than a SAE? Or do they just eat...

I'm assuming fluorite is still considered one of the best (except for price) substrates to u a planted tank, so I'm hoping to pick some up for my new 55G tank right after christmas (when it should hopefully be on sale). However, I'm not sure how much. I'm probably gonna be picking up...

Recently learned that my water is soft and is contrbuting to an unstable pH. Just wondering if anyone knows of any good buffers on the market that dont contain phosphates. Most dont list the constituents. Thanks for any info. John PS I dont really want to mess with baking soda...

Hey all, Was wondering something the other day. Now I know that to keep plants happy in a tank you want to keep trace amounts of iron in the tank. Now here is the thing, the house I live in was built in 1923 and has old iron pipes. Now is there going to be enough trace iron in the water or am I...

What's your average cost for each batch of DIY CO2 mixture? How often do you mix a new one. What size is your tank? I'm just trying to decide if there's big price difference between going DIY CO2 versus Flourish Excel (which is $17.99US for a 8-12 month supply). Thanks, Harry

Could someone recommend a good chlorine/chloramine remover to get, that works good, and is cheap in the long run? I'm thinking I'm gonna stick with a product that just removes the chlorine/chloramine/ammonia and nothing else (ie: no slime coat stuff, etc.). Which means I'm trying to choose...

Hi all, I have a CO2 reactor setup in my 55gal freshwater tank. I have a powerhead pulling water in through 4 foam filters (providing some biological filtration), exiting the powerhead into a 1/2" tube going across to the other side of the tank. At the end of that tube is a 1 litre soda bottle...

I just set up my pressurized co2 system and was wondering how many bubbles per second others are using. I have is set a 2 bubbles/sec. I know I should use KH and pH as a guide but, my phosphates are a little high(~1.5 mg/l) and I'm not sure if I'm going to get the proper results. Should I keep the...

How do I increase CO2, my current readings a PH 8.0, KH 9 and CO2 3 --- Dave Scott Hampshire, England Beware spam trap when replying

I thought I'd never see anything pearl in my plant tanks since I'm using Flourish Excel rather than CO2. This morning, the sun was shining on the guppy tank, and the Baby's tears and Rotala indica were both pearling in the sunlight. What a beautiful sight! -- Elaine T ...

Hi, I was wondering if those blue bulbs (actinic) have any effect whatsoever on the plants even though they have high wattage? Does it have the same effect as the "white" lamps?

Does anyone know if I can soak drift wood from the ocean for a couple of weeks to get the salt out and then use it in my fresh water aquarium. Or is there any other way.

Yes, another question ... When starting a planted tank with a few fish. How much aeration do I need? I want to minimize surface turbulence to keep the injected DIY CO2 in the tank. I am using a canister filter. When I make the spray bar move the water without disturbing the surface I get bubbles...

I am debating whether I need to put any bio-ball type media in my filter for the bacteria. Do I need to build-up a bacteria colony in my filter for a planted tank or will the plants take care of the ammonia, NO2 and NO3? I have only five fish in the tank and not very densly planted tank. My main...

I have used those Doc Wellfish water chemistry test strips a few times...while I find them somewhat hard to use (some of the color gradations are too slight for MY eye to distinguish between...), I seem to consistently come up with the following readings: Nitrates - 180 Nitrites - 0 Hardness -...

Hau kolas.. Question for the group.. I have heard from various sources that it may be advantageous to control algae to interrupt the lighting cycle during the day..say an hour "pause"..the theory being that plants can "react" quicker than algae can to interrupted lighting (?). currently I have 130...

Which plants grow big (bushy), but not too tall? I'm going to have to redo my plant tank soon, as my Sword is getting way to tall for the tank. I'm looking for something I can prune back, but that doesn't require too much maintenance.

I dose my planted tank with Tropica Master Grow and Flourish Iron... If I add activated carbon to my canister filter, will I simplying be removing the fertlizers by way of the carbon?? Thanks, Troy

It's a small batch Alder trees that once established they just go wild and, considered more like a weed in the Norhwest. Is there a product on the market where I could snip them young and rub something on the cut area and have it affect ***only*** its own root system? Is there a spike of some...

Hau kolas.. I've been battling black beard and hair algae in a 29 gallon planted tank for some time now..and basically losing. I've tried to find fish to control it.. a. splendens, pl*co, CAE all basically ignored it; I've recently added some SAE that at least nibble on it. I've removed affected...