Recent content by erinbarbour

I am new to fish keeping and aquatic plants. We purchased a fluval flex 15 gallon tank that has been running for about 3 months. There is hair like algae that grows on all the plants, and the plants seem to be a little stunted. The new growth on the plants is green but the older growth is...

My son would like to get a snail and later, some neon tetras. I have read that neon tetras like soft water under 140ppm, but snails need harder water. Is there a way to keep them together and also provide for the snails needs? I have heard that adding a cuttle bone could help the snail for...

My water is very soft at 25ppm, and I have 4 guppies, and would like to add 8 neon tetras and a mystery snail. Would it be a good idea to add ''wonder shells" which are said to add minerals and hardness to water. Would they be harmful or beneficial to soft water fish like neon tetras?

Thank you for the link - they are offering a much better price! I just ordered some now.

Thank you for the incredibly thoughtful and informative responses! Before finding this forum, I spent hours searching out information on the internet, often to find conflicting information that left me more confused than before. Having a knowledgable person answer my specific questions has...

The prazi pro does not say anything about affecting snails. I did put aquarium salt in though after the last water change. Not sure how many water changes will be enough to get the salt out...

Thank you for the information about the cycling and adding new fish. The instructions on the prazipro say that one treatment should be sufficient but can be repeated after 3 days and can be used as a preventative. It treats fluke, tapeworms, flatworms, and turbellarians. I did give a second...

Thank you so much for your response Kyle. It was very helpful. I will look into getting the amazon frogbit and the co op easy green. I would love any advice about neon tetras and if they would do ok in very soft water (25ppm) in a 15 gallon tank.

Thank you for your response Kyle. How long does the filter sponge from my friend need to be in the tank before it is cycled? The mystery snail sounds nice. If I get more than one, will the snails reproduce and take over the tank? Could you give me recommendations for stocking fluval flex...

Hi Essjay, Thank you so much for all your excellent advice. So, I believe the fish store would take back the live guppies I have and I could exchange them for a different fish. It sounds like that might be better for the guppies. I really like the guppies, buy my son wanted neon tetras and...

Thank you so much for you quick response and willingness to help! I appreciate it sooo much! I found a water quality report from 2019 for my city (Worcester) which said hardness is 25ppm with a range from 18-31ppm. Could you tell me what those numbers mean? Symtpoms of 4 fish that died...