25 watts per 5 gallons is reccomended. Get one that has a control knob. The 7.5 says it is good up to 5 gallons and may be. But I don't think they have an adjustment on them. If a heater is overworked it will have a greater possibility to fail or worse over heat the aquarium. A 25 watt with an adjustment knob is the way to go. I like the freshwater master test kit by aquarium pharmaceuticals. I prefer the reagent type vs. multi test strips. In the long run the set is less expensive. The color cards are easier to read then some others, IMO. It has the vital tests you need pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. The strips ammonia test are sometimes skewed and are not accurate in some instances. It's like a Jr High chemistry set. You can get a small bottle of Prime by seachem or amquel+ ( I use prime, again a price thing you need less to treat more then amquel+, so it goes a long way) even though this is mainly for dechlorination it also removes ammonia and other crap. It can be double dosed to keep very high ammonia in check. Zeolite also helps. Usually just frequent water changes will dilute the water. If you read any of the bio-chemistry articles in the link I gave you you can see how pH plays a factor in the toxicity of ammonia and nitrites. Having well water is nice but you "could" have other issues to contend with. One major factor is pH, not so much for type of fish but it can really mess with establishing a nitrogen cycle. Water parameters will determine What% water to change and how often. After it is established, for regular maintainance IME with smaller aquariums I have found it better to do a smaller% more often, rule of thumb is 25% every 2 weeks minimally. If you have a Bio-wheel then you can change the cartridge part as the directions for it state. If you want to save a little$, make a slit in the blue fiber and dump out the activated carbon and replace it with new from a bulk container. I never had a problem in the past ( when I was a kid) establishing an aquarium. When I decided to start it up again (after 20 yrs.) I had alot of trouble. The city supplied water in the town I grew up in was pretty good quality and all I did was keep buckets of tap water on hand for water changes. I only had one test kit, pH, the litmus(sp?) paper. When that ran out I never replaced it. The only difference was water chemistry everything else I did was identical. The things I am mentioning are not gospel as the only way to do this. However, down the road when you may want to try different fish, live plants etc. it really helps to know how your system works and what is needed to maintain it. The only time I test the water now is if I suspect a problem or it has been a while since the last test. I always test new aquariums until I'm satisfied that they are OK. If Victoria's doesn't have what you need maybe Fredrick's ?? Also, don't get me wrong, I support independent fish stores but the link below can help for some of the things you may need that they can't order for you. Just click on the fish when you get there. Here is a link that might be useful: The good Dr.'s

Thanks everyone for the responses... I agree that nothing stands out when this was taken. I rescued the magenta phlox, liatris, coneflower, red hibiscus and knockout roses from this bed before it got eaten up by the obedient plant! It somehow seems to kill it all off. I think it grows so fast and so dense that it prevents the other plants from getting light. Last year I had decided to take out this bed so I let my sister come over and she dug up a ton of plants...This pic was taken moe then a month after everyone dug up stuff lol. I have tried digging it up (OP) but it is a losing battle. I can't get rid of it and it really has taken over everything. Not only that but that bed is now LOADED with ground ivy. What a nightmare. I really think I need to start from scratch, dig up my good plants and bushes (there are bushes in there but you can't see them because of all the overgrowth of OP. I hear what you are saying about the screen but there is nothing I need screening from. We had 18 acres and sold off a few but there is nothing on the other side of those evergreens but more trees for about a quarter mile. The guy who is building his house we can not see at all through the regular trees. He up a little hill then down it and way back further then our house. So we have privacy for sure on all sides even across the street nothing but woods. It is hard because I love the evergreens. I just wish when they planted them they had cleared out some land and put them further back. Yeah last year I got overzealous with my Scott's and killed off a lot of areas in the yard . DH is not the "yard" type of guy so all the outdoor stuff I have to do myself. Well I learned when they say one pass over an area, they MEAN one pass LOL... Finally TRUST ME...my ideal back yard would be nothing but gardens with rustic looking paths going through it all. That was my plan when we first bought the house 10 years ago when I had energy LOL...Now, at almost 50 I am losing steam. I have thought about killing off all grass, making raised beds everywhere and putting in pea gravel or mulch paths. Would LOVE to do it but would need some serious help. It is like pulling teeth to get DH to do anything manual. He is a "thinker" HA! I guess I am just overwhelmed. This house was pretty much neglected for decades when we bought it. No one had a landscape plan, put things in where ever...and worse, never did any cleaning up in the spring so there is out of control brush, downed trees, etc all over the place. It is way too much for me to attempt to make positive changes and work on the neglected areas as well. Sorry for the whining, just frustrated. Last question (for now lol) Once I pull the plants I want, can I rototill this all under then bring in the compost and amend? How will I know I got all that OP out? I would hate to do all this work then have it come back!

It is possibly true that flowering plants do one thing or the other as far as foliage and flower production is concerned. I noticed on some of my plants that once they start blooming consistantly, you don't see much new growth in the foliage. Having had hoyas for years not thinking they could flower outside of a greenhouse, I initially kept them because I liked the foliage, so getting a bloom here and there is exciting, but not a priority for me. I think if your main priority or reason for wanting hoyas is the flowers, then you should get the hoyas that are known for flowering young, because with alot of them, flowers on a young plant are the exception, not the rule. I have a kentiana that is several years old and hasn't flowered yet. I have hoyas that took over a decade to flower. Though it does happen early with some of the ones that notoriously take a long time, if you count on it too much you will probably lose interest in hoyas, because even growers with perfect conditions wait a long time for flowers in most varieties. But there are pretty reliable bloomers that bloom as young plants, like lacunosa, bella, multiflora, and a few others. Let your kentiana do it's thing and become a big bushy plant first - from a "decorative" point of view, you have to look at the whole plant, the flowers need some kind of background to show themselves off against, they really aren't as attractive if you just have a bloom hanging from a skimpy little plant. So, let it grow and in the meantime, look for the early bloomers, you might be able to find bella and multiflora at home Depot or Lowes, I would get those plants to keep me happy while I wait for the others to bloom!

I had planned my kitchen remodel intending to use a OTR MW. When I had all my ideas down I ran them by a kitchen designer who axed the OTR MW immediately. There were several reasons, one of which is the vent does not work very well. But the most important point I realized was the poor ergonomics of reaching that high. I am trying to keep ergonomics in mind. The Sharp OTC still sits up off the counter but not as high up as an OTR type. We are getting the Sharp R-1214. I also enjoyed looking at the following pictures of where others in this forum put their MW's. Hope it doesn't confuse you more :) see link below Here is a link that might be useful: microwave placement