(Finally a post!! Woohoo! Geez, long title huh?)
Some of you out there may be thinking of getting, or have bought, a the newer version of the Tetra, Whisper filter for your fish tank. The type that hangs over the back. The price of the filter cartridges that go with these new ones are expensive when compared to the old models that you can buy in bulk and assemble yourself. This might be putting you off. Or you have several old cartridges laying about you need to use up. Or you maybe your store does not carry the replacements (recently here). Well there is a solution! (Insert happy noises here!)
(more…)
(Last post of the year! Happy New Year!!!! I hope 2009 brings health, happiness, and security (in many
forms) to everyone.)
The other day I was researching how much salt to add to our main freshwater aquarium containing an adult Black Ghost Knife fish (1/2 teaspoon/gallon or a little less for an adult) and remembered a common mistake people new to the hobby tend to make. (Yay! Something to post!)
Common Mistakes (in no order):
- Using the wrong salt
- Adding salt to the tank the wrong way (directly to a filter or dumping in directly all at once)
- Adding too much salt after a water change
(more…)
I recently had to fight a gross (to me) problem with one of my tanks. It was a fairly new set up so it was in the final stages of cycling. I only had one cichlid (Green Terror) in this freshwater tank at the time. Over time I would notice the glass of the aquarium getting cloudy. It started with odd, puffy stuff growing on the sides and then….worms. When I looked very close at what was on the side of the glass, I noticed white lines moving. Lots of them. Some of these worms would float in the water column, though I doubt that was where they wanted to be. They covered everything. Over time they would get a little bigger. At first I thought of nematodes but the fish seemed like it was not being bothered by them and treatment for them did nothing. Also, unlike nematodes, their movement was very controlled and fairly slow. No side-to-side thrashing, even in the water column. I could just make out a head wider than the body on some of the bigger ones. Planaria. (Maybe some nematodes as well.)
(more…)
