Thank you Silurus. How will they fair in higher temperatures? My tank stays around 80 to 82 degrees. The plec seems to be doing well. I still haven't see it eat anything though.

Can anyone give me any information on these guys? Good information on them seems hard to come by. I've had mine for about a week. It's only about 2 1/2 inches long. I take it they are very shy and like it dark. I only catch him out when all the lights are out and I quickly turn on the main over head ...

Thanks everyone. I'm not sure how long the fish had been in the shop. There probably was a mixture of old ones with new ones. I think I'm better off leaving the pH and hardness alone. I started a discussion about that in the Tank Talk section awhile back, when my tank was still cycling (Tank Cycling ...

Hello Allan. I just tested the water parameters again to be sure. The readings are: Ammonia: 0 NitrIte: 0 NitrAte: 20 (a little high I know) Total Hardness: 120 Total Alkalinity: 120 pH: 8.4 The hardness/alkalinity/and pH have remained the same since the day I filled the tank. The betta stays mostly ...

Last week I purchased some new fish, 3 skunk cories, 2 Trilineatus cories, and 10 Neon Tetras. There fish were not added to the aquarium all at once. I started noticing one of the skunk cories was not schooling with the other two. I kept an eye on it. It would just sit by itself for hours and not ...

I think that behavior is normal in Albino Cories. I have 2 and they are always darting up to the top to get air. They swallow air bubbles that help in their digestion. I think the Albinos go to the top more than most Cories.

Thank you. Corydoras arcuatus it is.

I bought 3 of these guys yesterday. First time I've ever seen them in an LFS. Are they common or hard to come by? The owner of the place was calling them skunk cories. Thanks. Crystal http://www.angelfire.com/darkside/shadowolves/COryCat.jpg http://www.angelfire.com/darkside/shadowolves/CoryCat2.jpg ...

I used Clear Sea Mist ammonia. It worked well. I was able to cycle my 55gal tank in under 2 weeks. Here are a couple links I found helpful:

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/faustus/ni ... shless.htm
http://home.attbi.com/~kerorocks/fishless_cycling.htm

Thanks Barbie. Yes you are right, the bacteria is everywhere, but from what I understand a lot of it is in the substrate. My tap water has the exact parameters as my aquarium water as far as pH goes. I don't have any buffers added to change my pH. I think what went wrong was my water change. The ...

Have you tried doing water changes? Do small changes a day, about 10-25% until the nitrAtes go down. You want them around or below 10ppm if possible.

The reason for such a large water change is to dilute the nitrAtes. Cycling with ammonia causes a much larger bacterial growth then just with a few fish. Cycling with ammonia can handle a rather large bioload right off too, from what I've read (from half to all of the fish one plans on having ...

My 55-gallon aquarium finally finished cycling. I changed about 75% of the water yesterday. I was afraid to change too much because I disturbed the sand bed quite a bit. I took out most of my live plants (they were not doing well with my lighting conditions) and put in artifical plants. When I got ...

Thanks everyone. I'm still debating whether I should try to change it, or just leave it. What I'm worried about is consistency. I like the softener pillow idea. When it comes to doing a water change though, how would that work? Would I need to soften the water before hand, or whould a 20% or so ...

Thanks everyone. I went to the LFS today and talked to the owner, he seems pretty knowledgeable. He told me, the way the water is around here, I'd be better off to leave it be. He said the fish should be fine, and the only reason I'd have to lower the pH is if I wanted to breed, which I'm not ...

Thank you Silurus, I'll give it a try. It seems to be my only option for now.

I was thinking about the RO systems. I was looking at some last night. I can't afford those prices though. I'm just a poor high school student lol. Is there a way to make one, or something samiliar? I'm almost afraid to try rain water. I live out in the country, surrounded by farmlands, turkey and ...

Hello all. I've set up a new 55-gallon aquarium not too long ago. I've been doing a fishless cycle. My ammonia has now started dropping back to 0 everytime I add more ammonia. My other readings are: NitrAte: 40ppm NitrIte: 10+ppm (off the chart) Akalinity: 120 Hardness: 120 pH: 8.4+ I've added a ...

Thank you Coryman. Unfortunately no where around here sells java moss and I won't beable to make it into town for a couple days :/. So far none of the fish are showing any signs of sickness. I'll keep the aquarium dark and see what happens. I really don't like using chemicals on my fish. I probably ...

Hello all. I'm new here and need some advice. I just found about 10 pygmy cory fry hovering around a plastic plant. I've been having some water quality issues lately, and have been doing frequent water changes. Everything is fine except for my nitrItes :/. I guess the water changes is what got them ...