Inspired by this article "Killing them with Kindness"

I read an interesting article on an informative website about treating your fish with too much kindness. It's like how you treat your own child, when you baby them too much they tend to become weak.

This is part of the article I was so intrigue.

http://www.fancyguppies.co.uk/page68.htm

"One of the biggest hurdles the guppy hobby needs to clear today is that of loving them to death. Expensive trios that die when moved to a new environment with good water parameters before fry are dropped is, to me, totally unacceptable, as are fish that need constant medication to stay alive. A lot of eager first time hobbyists are lost forever after a bad experience with expensive fish. I was an experienced guppy keeper and was disgusted when I re-entered the hobby and found fish difficult to keep alive."

by Anthony Fischinger

That's when I got so excited to try on my tanks. I have a few 10 gallon tanks which are bare bottom and guess waht no plants! I started first on buying some substrate or gravel and you know me the cheap guy I decided why not check it at Walmart.

I also found some sale gravel on Petco when I was roaming around the Seekonk area. I saw this
CaribSea Midnight Black Floramax Premium Aquarium Substrate, I think this was 12lbs which was sold on original price of $19.99 guess what how much I got them $5.99. So I grab 2 bags for my project.





I also bought some plants from my friends I was able to grab some nice hornwort and java moss. Not the java moss you buy on ebay that they will say oh it's a golf size ball but when you received it it's a size of a grape or quail eggs...LOL. I also created some DIY lights for some of my tanks for this project which I will discussed on a separate post . I used CFL lights, socket adapter and a few 3-in-1 extension. You will really need the lights for the fish, specially the plants so they will stay green and grow fast.

I also grab those 2 sponge filter on ebay which are sold for $2.49 shipped but you have to wait a few weeks it's all coming from Hong Kong but it's worth the wait. A triangle sponge filter which was $3.49 each shipped also on ebay.





Well here's the result of this small project of mine after few weeks running on green environment.








Guess what this 2x15 gallon rubber maid clear tub is been running for a month now without water change this has Full Black Moscow, HB AOC and Blue Delta fry and they are enjoying the water. All the helpful bacteria colonized on the tank with the help of the substrate, sponge filter and the mulm. All the water parameters on my project are reading 0 Ammonia(NH3), 0 Nitrite(NO2) and 20-3o ppm nitrate(NO3).



Here's some points that helps my green water environment with the help of my helpful bacteria friends!

Ammonia, nitrites and nitrates are all byproducts of waste breaking down in an aquarium, and all are toxic at some level to your fish and plant life. A significant amount of fish and plant waste can accumulate in any tank, as well as uneaten food, algae, and bacteria. As in all environments, this waste needs to be broken down and either eliminated or turned into something which can be utilized by another organism. In an aquarium, there is a population of bacteria that is responsible for this process. The breakdown of waste is a four-part process:

1. First, the waste from fish, plants, and food breaks down and releases ammonia.

2. This ammonia is very toxic to fish and must be converted to nitrite by bacteria.

3. Nitrite is also toxic to fish, and must be converted to nitrate by bacteria.

4. Nitrate is not nearly as toxic, and is used by plants or algae to help them grow.


And yeah the article really works! Thanks to Anthony Fischinger and http://www.fancyguppies.co.uk/.