Indoor aquariums -

Hello Diane..
You've worked hard on your aquarium.
I'm glad you and your fish will have a merry Christmas and happy 2014.

Hello Diane , Glad to see your aquarium woes are getting sorted. I am a keen aquarist and as I like gardening ,I am also keen on plant growth in the aquarium. Its inevitable you get some algae but good plant growth will minimise nuisance algae and the right filtration(with plenty of benifical bacteria) and regular water changes will have your aquarium a joy to behold .Aquarium shops are OK but sometimes can give differing advice Iprefer the Practical fishkeeping magazine as it has a brilliant Q&A section as well as George Farmer aquatic plant expert.I have gravel in tanks for years and the plants keep it clean.If youve got internet look up Tashiki Amano a japanese aquarist.The secret it is even on a low budget you can have a low maintenance planted tank.

Nice to see you Diane and hear that your fish are thriving with the care they are getting ( snails get everywhere don't they!)
happy christmas x

I am just glad I thought all this out by myself, as have
taken too much notice of advisers for 6 years.
The plants are ok, might get some more.
No more gravel, the tiny bits of discarded food stick to
it, thats what caused the water snail infestation.
Its as clean as a pin today. Yippee !

Lovely to see you back Diane, and to know that you are happy with your aquarium, its frustrating when you cannot keep them clean, I find its very therapeutic to watch the fish in the tanks.
Merry Christmas Diane and Best Wishes for 2014.....

Happy Christmas Diane

Yes, Lincslass, I never thought I would get fond of fish, but they are pets too. I have new little frame covered with coloured plastic flowers in the tank, and 4 new Guppies all coloured with big tails, they give me much pleasure.

Think now its best to suck out any bits every a.m. and
clean the walls of the tank with the Algae Scrub.
Just switch the light on at noon - 8 p.m.

Another school of thought said to sterilise living plants in a thin bleach liquid as they bring in the pests, but the pet shop lady said they never put any kind of chemical in their tanks so I dont know how they deal with this.
Aquarium shops are not allowed to sell any kind of chemicals for fish tanks. (EU?)

Thanks Drc726 - hope for better health in 2014.

Hi Dianne, glad to see you back on here, I know nothing about keeping fish, either tropical or cold water, when I was at junior school, my father gave a huge tank full of tropical fish to the school I went to, and my twin brother and I were called to the headmaster almost daily, to identify the fish for him, unfortunately the school was used as a Sunday school as well, and someone unplugged the fish tank, so all the fish died, and I lost interest, but glad you have solved your problem, and hope you're feeling a lot better now, Derek

Thank you Derek. Sorry to hear about the school tank.
I suppose the heater burned out with no water in it.
My tank is looking much better now. I have to get some of the white base to fill the 1" pots I put the plants into. Potting Compost keeps emerging into the water so has to be sucked out every a.m.
They need to be heavy to hold the plants in position, as the roots grow out from the bottom. My tank is not in direct light from the window.
At the shop they have their plants in black base , but
I like the white best to reflect the light.
My mother used to go fishing where bushes hung over the river; she said the fish were there because they dont have eyebrows, their eyes are permanently open.
So thats where to take the children (anyone who is taking them fishing next summer) she said always teach them to take the hooks out of their mouths very slowly, as fish feel pain, the same as we do. She used to march along the bank and tell them to be very careful .

There is a lot of misinformation Dianne about plants, some plants need substrate to thrive ,gravel suits a lot of rooted plants as long as you feed liquid plant food aquatic fertiliser,( just gently gravel vac the gravel weekly or when you do your partial water change)but if you get plants from reputable sources like Tropica,or plant retailers like Aqua Essentials(on line) they are not expensive and guaranteed snail free.Pet shop plants in the main less good and carry snails or snail eggs. Plus the good advice given is free on line at aqua essentials.Bleach is lethal to fish and will result in fish being killed if entering the tank.Without gravel I recommend floating plants or Java Fern can be tied with cotton to a ornament or rock.