Recent content by rgatt74

This morning I woke to find that my Dwarf Gourami has a patchy white "fungus" on his body. Another dwarf gourami has a touch of white on the tip. of his dorsal fan. Any suggestions of what it could be and how to treat?

I really wanted to put driftwood in the tank but the guy at the store kind of talked me out of it. What he had wasn't cured yet. He said it would take months of soaking and wouldn't move the pH all that much. Not sure if I want the stained water look. How much bog wood do you have and what...

I agree. I've never really worried about pH in the past but I lived in an area where the water was neutral out of the tap. Since I've lived here the 20 gallon I had has done fine. I jut picked what I like and for the most part it worked out fine. As I said before, the tetras didn't seems to...

It made sense judging by the amount of tetras these store carry. I was quite certain they wereng treating all of their water. My "perfectionist" tendency took over and thought that maybe trying to fine tune pH would someone extend their lifespan, ignoring the environmental factors...that the...

Spoke to the LFS. They told me that their water is very hard and pH is at least 8.2-8.4, and they do not treat their water. Store was loaded with tetras and other fish that like soft water. So they are obviously acclimated to hard water. I bought a GH and KH test kit today. The GH from the...

I was thinking that most of the LFS in the area have similar, if not harder water, in the areas. And all of the stores around here a stocked with a myriad if Tetras. I imagine they aren't going through the degree of water treatment I have been trying to perform. The 20 gallon tank I have for...

I have actually been considering installing an RO system for purposes of drinking water. Our water here tastes pretty bad. So that would be another advantage to having them. How much of a difference would the RO make as far as pH and GH are concerned?

What is RO water?

I have recently set up the tank and my plan is to keep fish that like slightly acid water. My pH test kit tests as high as 7.6. So the reading I am getting is at least 7.6 if not higher. I wanted to do a mix that included several kinds of tetras. I have been trying to get the pH to slightly...

I live in a hard water area. At this point I have been using pH decrease for 4 days now. I've used almost the entire bottle which states it treats over 400 gallons and I haven't seen the pH budge. Is it possible for the pH to be so high that it still isn't anywhere near neutral? Is it...

They are good to have. They break the surface of the water, air gets trapped which aerates the tank. It also helps to avoid a slick on the surface of the water. If you are using a box filter or a powerhead, they also perform this function. But if you are using some kind of underwater box...

The last time I bred guppies I used a heavily planted tank and it worked well. Then I removed the adults to another tank. Not sure how many she may have eaten but I still had over a dozen fry if I remember correctly. If you wanted to use a trap probably would be easier to buy one. I don't...

Don't give up, whatever you do. Maybe try some hearty fish so they can withstand the New Tank Syndrome you might encounter. I usually feed the tank for a while and start with a fish like Danios. Then slowly build your community tank around them. Try to change a portion of the water once a...

Have you checked your pH? I noticed that since I lived in my new area that I have had pretty stable community tanks except I haven't had much luck raising any kind of tetras. I noticed they will live for a while, then they will all die withing a few days of each other. I found that I live in...

I once had a betta in my community tank. One of the other members of my tank was a Paradise Fish. What I learned is that apparently Paradise Fish and Bettas don't get along either. The Paradise Fish shredded the betta. His fins were completely chewed off. I removed the Betta to another tank...