Pet Forum / Aquaria / Freshwater / December 2003

Hi, I am a semi experienced aquarist who has just ventured out of my
comfort zone.  Here's the thing, I got 4 juvenile chinese firebelly
newts for free last week and I have some questions about them.  They
are about 1.25" long and mainly sit on the rocks / floating pads, but

I got two African Dwarf Frogs (Gary and Emanuelle) 2 months ago.   A month
ago, I noticed that one was flat stomached, while the other had a big belly.
Today, I noticed that one's actually grown twice the size of the other.
What's going on here?

Well, after 3 batches of guppies, and no male around after the first batch,
I was wondering how many batches of fry I would get from stored sperm....
I believe the answer to be 3 batches of 45 fry - there was a pregnance of
the 4th, but after 5.5weeks, there's been no babies, and ...

Is there a reason why a hood is so unbelievably expensive?  I'm hoping to
get a 55G All-Glass tank, which is a reasonable $130CND at BigAl's.  But
they want $150CND for the All-Glass hood (this is the full hood, not just a
piece of glass).  There's no way a hunk of plastic with a ...

Hi Guys... I can't figure this one out.
I have 4 aquariums... biweekly, 15% water change (including gravel vac
each time). Ph has been stable for over 18 months at 7.2 but now all
four aquariums have dropped off the bottom of the acid scale.  I did a

I've a 55G tank, but it sat forever before I set it up recently. I
noticed that the lights didn't work, and assumed the bulbs were
damaged over the years, but I replaced them and no go. This means that
either both switches went bad or both transformers went bad (there's

Every friday after work I go through the 20% water changing ritual, and
every friday I wonder if I should really be doing it.  The reason is that my
tap water is about pH 8 (even after leaving it for 24 hours) but the water I
am siphoning out each week is pH 7.3.  So here I am ...

The literature that comes with my filter said that the biological
element of it, ie the bacteria that live on the filter's sponge, will
die within four hours if the pump is switched off because the bacteria
require highly oxygenated water. Is this correct? I know that the

Hi folks,     I'd like to get a cheap canister filter for my daughter's 4'
goldfish tank.  The two likely choices are a Jebo 815 (1000 lph) or a Resun
AE308 (900 lph).  She complains about the cost of filters for her hang-on
filter.  Any advice which of these would be cheapest to ...

I've read that Garra pingi are good algae eaters, but the article didn't
have much info. Does anyone here know how big they get? If they are
agressive ? Any special requirements ?
Thanks in advance ;

I'm looking for opinions on the above filter.  I'm thinking of getting
one for my tanks as apparently, my fish poop way too much!  I've heard
decent things about this one and am curious if others have tried it.
(Or ones like it).  I'd like to make an informed decision before I ...

My mollies are contracting this strange disease that looks like dry
skin. The scales look like they are deteriorating. It started, on one,
behind the gill and spread to the point where she couldn't use her
left fin, and died from it (very sad day... she was our favorite). Now

I will be moving in a few weeks.  I'm moving from a place that uses city
water to a place that has well water.  I know that this well water is high
in copper.  Is there anyway to lower the copper or should I used bottled
water?

I have a tank of tropical fish. I wonder if they can hear. I hope someone
would tell me. Thank you.

Time for my nightly post! Seems like every night I have a question
that I can't find answered. I totally appreciate the help you all have
given me, this seems like one of those rare newsgroups where everyone
is actually friendly and willing to help!!