Recent content by Herbibore

I added a young betta male to an established 20 gallon tank with a school of 7 black neon tetras (and two lemon tetras I had planned to move, but are doing ok as a couple). No problems, except that the faster tetras get most of the betta pellets, which is ok, as the betta gets their flake food...

That's why I voted for it -- he needed that last bit 8').

I can see four shy black neons. Flipper's checking out the camera.

Yes! This is the vid (or part 2, the conclusion, as he recaps). I forgot he used six different soils!

I saw a great YouTube vid in which the person (wish I could remember their name) built a small tank with 3 separate compartments. In each compartment he put an aquasoil, one of which was Stratum. Without ferts, he left it for a month or so and compared plant growth from the similar plants in...

Stratum loses potency after a while, but it seems to be mainly to keep PH levels steady. For a year or so I just used liquid ferts (Seachem K and N), then as I noticed plant growth not as great as in the past, I added Flourish root tabs to the mix (but not many, maybe 3 or 4 on the first water...

This is my "living room" aquarium, a simple 20 gallon Aqueon bought cheaply at a half price sale, and set up over two years ago. I had read about a LFS in San Francisco that had to abide by earthquake rules, limiting tanks to 10 gallons, so the owner put an inch of gravel into each as a base...

Here's mine that won in 10/2022. A few months ago I decided not to do CO2 anymore (sigh, but not only a pain, but a bit scary to work with), so it is transitioning from that, and also will have a good cleaning tomorrow. But here it is today 8/6/2024. I doubt it will win any awards in current...

Thanks for the suggestions! I'm far enough away from the coast, and on a small hill, so evacuation due to flooding won't be an issue. A direct hit by a tornado or falling trees might, but then my tanks would be the least of my problems :(. . . .

Wasn't aware there were battery powered air pumps. That sounds more likely than the other three (I'd love solar power but I'm in a heavily wooded area without much direct sunlight). Thanks, I'll look those up!)

Obviously, keeping a tank alive after two weeks without power (thanks, Katrina) is not going to go well, but what about shorter periods? Yes, I could get a generator, but don't feel competent to keep it up. I have backup batteries (a distance away and covered in bubble wrap) that I have...