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Here's some pictures of the tank, not very good quality as I only have my phone for pictures right now. It's only been up for about 12 hours. The sand is still settling. I need to wash the sand off...

I have been wanting to get a saltwater tank for a while now. Have been keeping FW and Discus for almost 16 years so I'm no stranger to stringent water quality and maintenance.

Anyway, I saw an...

I would QT the fish in the 20. It's far more than just about cost of medication. There are so many uncontrollable factors when trying to medicate a large tank. Put them in the 20 with a bare bottom,...

But they don't have a brain. They have no central nervous system either. They have a ganglia which controls most of their non-motor functions, but no brain.

On this argument, a lobster is incomparable to any fish. A lobster has no brain and no central nervous system.

Pain to us in meaningless unless our brain can process it. Since a lobster cannot...

Has anyone successfully made or used a nitrate reactor and have any analytical data of their ability.

I'm not a skeptic on the process, but I haven't found a single bit of scientific data on how...

How do you process your seafood recipe?

I think the assumption here is, if I wouldn't eat it, than neither will my fish.

We have moderately hard, high PH water in Austin.

I've never had any problem keeping them in our water. Our monthly city water quality reports states 8.9ph, but it comes out of the faucet closer...

Definitely the case. You want lot's of water pressure on the pump intake to prevent cavitation (loosely defined as boiling, although it's normally due to pressure and not temperature). Same reason...

I've got them in my dining room, with extremely bright T5 lighting, ~4 WPG.

Lighting has never seemed to play any role in their skittishness. However, the height from the floor makes a huge...

Nerite snails, SAE's and shrimp large enough not to get eaten.

I've never seen ottos not latch onto discus like remoras when they realize discus slime is better than algae. I've lost more than 1...

If you did buy juveniles, make sure you change the water a lot, and feed them as much as possible.

Most literature I've read attributes discus stunting to water quality. I've personally raised...

If you can get a hold of some existing nitrosomona bacteria, you can completely prevent the cycle. Biospira used to make a freshwater version but they stopped about a year ago. There are a few...

You are safe using ferts and/or substrate fertilization in a Discus tank. I use the estimated index fertilizing method with CO2. They only time I had problems was a few months ago when my ph probe...

6 in a 55 is tight, so you may be doing a lot of water changes, but you "can" put 6 in there. Also, if you are planning on purchasing juvenile discus, you will need to change water daily, and feed...

I would go probably start with 5 - 7, and then move up to 8 - 9 or so. This is lightly stocked by most standards, but will definitely help reduce maintinence. You can always add more once you get...

Also, it's not uncommon for some adjustment period before they start eating like normal, especially if they have to go through a lot of adjustment in water and tankmates. I've seen up to a week or...

I would say up the water changes, and immediately add aquarium salt to the tank. I usually add at a rate of 1 Tbsp per 5 gallons. I have not ever lost a cory or a plant at this level, although I've...

The new batch. I've seen as many as 20 at one time, but this is the most I could get into a picture.

http://www.jestep.com/images/plecos/pleco-4.jpg
...

First batch last week.

One of the smaller ones.
http://www.jestep.com/images/plecos/pleco-8.jpg

The largest one, almost 2 inches now.
http://www.jestep.com/images/plecos/pleco-7.jpg

Some of the 1st batch about a week and a half old.

http://www.jestep.com/images/plecos/pleco-3.jpg
http://www.jestep.com/images/plecos/pleco-5.jpg
http://www.jestep.com/images/plecos/pleco-6.jpg

Point taken... Let me pre-apologize for the poor quality pictures. Not a good camera, and did not use a tripod, so these are a little rough. I took the picture of the eggs on the way out the door...

Should be fine right now, and definitely no problem at all when you upgrade. Usually, they can be kept if fairly large groups as long as the water stays very clean, and they aren't currently...

There's so many names nowadays that it's hard to group them all, but here's what I would look for. Also juveniles are not usually a good example of what they will look like as adults. Some gain...

I am strongly in opposition to the 55 gallon rule, but I do agree 5 discus minimum, and 7 recommended. Any less than 5 and they'll probably harass each-other to death, literally. I would say 75g is...