I'm Janice, a novice aquarist; two 29 gal tanks (why aren't they just 30???!); plastic plants; HOT filters, submersible heaters, no major problems. About 20 years ago, I had several tanks up and running, but gave up the hobby during a long distance move. The technology has changed considerably: I used in-tank corner filters with charcoal and filter floss and glass non-submersible heaters. I don't recall any talk about triple filtration; oh, well; that was the olden days, eh? Maybe experts were talking about it, but I didn't know because I wasn't on the internet back then...most of us weren't!
Tank A, 8 mo old: 2 long-fin zebra danios, 1 serpae tetras, 6 neon tetras, 3 black skirt tetras, 1 gold algae eater, 2 julii corys. The algae eater has decided it's sick of eating brown algae, so, about a week ago, I removed all of the plants and bleached them. On the same day, I decided that, since I had grown to hate the light gravel, I might as well deal with it... So, I removed about 1/3 of it and replaced it with a layer of black gravel. By the time I was done, the water was like pea soup. I did a 10-20% water change on two consecutive days, added a layer of charcoal to the filter, and added some StressCoat. Also have changed out the filter "fluff" 3-4 times this week. Amazingly, not one fish bit the dust! Not one!! I am now impatiently waiting for water to clear completely (it's almost, but I want it crystal clear). I can't figure out why it's not completely clear yet; for goodness sake, it's been a whole week!
Tank B, 3-4 mo old: (My favorite!) 4 angel fish, 2 powder blue gouramis, 1 german blue ram, 2 julii corys. Substrate is eco-complete because I considered live plants and then decided I didn't want to deal with the lighting requirements. Lots of brown algae right now. (This tank is only 3-4 months old.) I just love watching these fish; they come right up to the front of the tank when I approach and seem to stare back at me. I think the fact that they are slower, makes them more enjoyable to watch. They don't dart around.
Looking forward to poking around your site and getting help and feedback from you all.
Janice
Tank A, 8 mo old: 2 long-fin zebra danios, 1 serpae tetras, 6 neon tetras, 3 black skirt tetras, 1 gold algae eater, 2 julii corys. The algae eater has decided it's sick of eating brown algae, so, about a week ago, I removed all of the plants and bleached them. On the same day, I decided that, since I had grown to hate the light gravel, I might as well deal with it... So, I removed about 1/3 of it and replaced it with a layer of black gravel. By the time I was done, the water was like pea soup. I did a 10-20% water change on two consecutive days, added a layer of charcoal to the filter, and added some StressCoat. Also have changed out the filter "fluff" 3-4 times this week. Amazingly, not one fish bit the dust! Not one!! I am now impatiently waiting for water to clear completely (it's almost, but I want it crystal clear). I can't figure out why it's not completely clear yet; for goodness sake, it's been a whole week!
Tank B, 3-4 mo old: (My favorite!) 4 angel fish, 2 powder blue gouramis, 1 german blue ram, 2 julii corys. Substrate is eco-complete because I considered live plants and then decided I didn't want to deal with the lighting requirements. Lots of brown algae right now. (This tank is only 3-4 months old.) I just love watching these fish; they come right up to the front of the tank when I approach and seem to stare back at me. I think the fact that they are slower, makes them more enjoyable to watch. They don't dart around.
Looking forward to poking around your site and getting help and feedback from you all.
Janice
