Pet Forum / Aquaria / Freshwater / July 2004

Not sure why mardel's test strips are reporting nitrate values of
great than 250ppm and my aquarium pharmaceutical solutions are
reporting only 5ppm.
Has anyone seen this before?

What's a good website to buy fish online?  Most of the stores around here
have very poor qualtiy (sick/dying) fish.

I have noticed several times the subject of the value of charcoal in a
filter has been discussed.  I have charcoal in the power filters for
five tanks, but don't change it very often.  I usually rinse the
cartridges and reuse them unless they restrict the water flow.  Then I

Whenever I go away (twice a year for a week usually) one of my
fish is always dead on my return. Usually something inconsequential
like a tiger barb or a cardinal, but always *something*.
My house sitter looks after them well and knows the routines

This morning I found a second black molly with a white spot on its
back near the head.  I found the first a month a go and moved the fish
to my quarantine tank to observe.  The spot neither went away nor
grew.  With this new one I decided to ask you all if it means anything

Anybody any idea what this is sticking out of the
anus of this fish. It's wriggling around so it/they
is/are alive.
This is a female wild caught N. anomala which

I have a question.  I have been through numerous turquoise/powder blue dwarf
gouramis and they all end up dead in two weeks.   They appear to be doing
fine but then I just find them dead one day.  No symptoms or signs of
stress.  Can anyone think of a reason why this is happening ...

For those of you keeping score at home, part of the original thread is
here: http://tinyurl.com/2damg
End result was that the tank sent to replace the original (scratched)
acrylic tank was packaged the same way: Tank hood packed unsecured

Is that normal or just a typical marking I'm looking at?? I've thought about
getting one for a 5g and just one female... The one I saw today, had lines
down from tail to head and I've NEVER seen that before... what will the
offspring look like?

I have a small pond (<100gallons its actually a large bath) with a lot of
plants and a couple of goldfish which have outgrown their tanks.
I added a filter, declorinated water, cycled the pond, put 2 fish in and
everything was fine, ph, nitrate and ammonia was perfect for a few ...

Those of you who have followed my posts will Know I am new to the hobby and
here is a scare.
Cycled 160l tank 5 weeks when time was right 2 weekends ago added some fish
everything ok.

Yet ANOTHER DIY yeast CO2 system question.....   when the old solution
in the jar is just about spent,  instead of seeding the new solution
with new yeast....  can it just be re-cultured with a little bit of
detritus from the old solution?  I was figuring that if this was

I posted thisin the tech group but it seems to be a bit slow.
I have a 37gal with the Eclipse3 hood. Filter and bio-wheel built into
the hood. Rated at 250GPH. I think it is less. Pump riser tube is on
the left side of the tank. 2 water outlets on the right side of the

My girlfriend has an 8 gallon tank that we are trying to decide what
to stock.  My tank has platies and swordtails, so we would like
something different in hers.  She's had goldfish and would like
something different this time.

I think I'd like to switch my 75 gallon over to fresh.
Can I use some of the same equipment? Do you still use
a protein skimmer with fresh? What about my sump with
the blue bio balls? Or my UV sanitizer? I know the water