Hello! I am glad you're all here!

[Illdoitright]

Hi all, and thank you for being here!



I have had some FW and Brackish tanks quite a few years ago. I was recently given a 29 Gal setup by a friend who moved out of state.

I seem to have gotten the bug again as I have been feverishly gathering upgraded components in hopes of making a successful home for some fish.
My questions at this point;

Which test kit to purchase and if someone may have a log format they would send me?

How much coverage or thickness for the substrate in the botom of my 29 Gal? (I have a full UG filter and 2 201 Pwr Heads)

Also being a computer wholesaler and definately an online bargain hunter junky I wondered if anyone has links to good supply houses or such.

I also am rather dissapointed with the couple of LFS places that I have visited in my area.
My last venture into this hobby was based in Las Vegas and it seemed there were much greater variety of FW species and options than seem to be available in my newer location near Detroit.

If there is anyone located in my area that may suggest some of their favorite haunts I would greatly appreciate it!


mr.lick@gmail.com
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[ArkyLady]

I live in the country, so I have very few LFS choices within 2 hours drive of me. I buy most of my stuff online, so here are my favorite places:

Supplies:
www.drsfostersmith.com - decent prices, great service, awesome variety, catalogs that will make ya drool

www.bigalsonline.com - better prices (usually), decent service, great variety.

Fish:
www.liveaquaria.com - superb quality, great variety, decent prices.

www.aquabid.com - auction site similar to eBay dedicated to fish and supplies.

If I buy several items at a time, I can save quite a bit of money buying them online rather than locally. Usually if I just need one or two items, I'll pay the extra to get them locally. I've had excellent luck shipping fish as well. I like buying them from breeders (on aquabid) rather than through LFS. You get better quality fish that way. Shipping for fish can be expensive if you ship them overnight, so you have to factor that in and decide if it's worth it to you. I generally have my fish shipped using USPS Priority mail (2-3 days) and try to order them in the spring and fall. If I order them during the summer or winter, then I always go with overnight since it's too risky. I've also had limited success buying things from eBay, but it's not my favorite place for fish items.

Even if you don't buy online, it's nice to browse around and see what all options are available that your local LFS may not carry.

 

[daveedka]

http://www.bigalsonline.com/
http://www.aaquaria.com/aquasource/rtrrfug.shtml

The first link is for my favorite online bargain shop, you will get mixed reveiws, but they have served me well thus far and saved me a boatload of money. The second link is an article that you may want to read before setting up your UGF. I love UGF filtration and use it religiously. the article discusses some alternate techniques that I find to be fabulous and very helpfull. If you have any questions after reading the article just ask. the author frequents this site, as do a few other folks who use these filters like myself.

Test kits, I'm no expert because I only use one type. Aquarium pharmeseuticals brand. There are better kits out there (or so I've heard) but the AP kits are consistant and accurate enough for my purposes.
I would reccomend buying. Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, KH, PH for sure. GH is nice to have and Phosphate is nice to have but both GH and Phosphate levels should be available on your water companies website.

Substrate depth has a direct correlation to live plants. with a UGF your minimum IMO is 1+ incheswithout plants. With plants 2-3 is nice. If you plant a UGF definately go with the RFUG set-up.

Also if you haven't already, Read the cycle sticky in it's entirety. and I highly reccomend the fishless cycle method.
HTH
Dave