fairy, now add a dell computer that hasn't worked for 9 weeks, and you can see how I have been ranting, lol.

This is why I buy much of what I need online... take care. Sherry

fairy, I live in a small town that has nothing either. I have to drive over a hour away to get anything...

Oh nooooooooooo, FTM. You be a ranting? :-(

Still~~~ you are much more civilized and make much more sense than some rants I have read in the past as well as recently. LOL!

I get a lot of my aquarium stuff over the Internet from:
thatpetplace.com

Very reliable. Very honest. Very good prices! Very fast delivery too.

Hmmmmm. That reminds me. I need to get a new heater. The glass cracked on the one in the 55 gal. tank.

the 3D Chick :-)

yep, that be me, chicka!
hey, should we start a support group and solicit local businesses? "hey, don't complain that about the internet and mail order...we try to support you...you don't support us or don't listen, think the customer doesn't know what they are talking about....ddadadadadadad" i know they may loose money, can't keep everything in stock, but i thought the sponge filter was basic! my fave pet store i no longer live near...never had a problem, ordered everthing you asked and right the first time...not a chain but neither is the one i am mad at AGAIN.

i am glad i am trying to do this ahead of time instead of waiting until i have a real problem instead of a potential problem!

gotta get a dell, eh sherry? :)

njdjs, if i had the time, i would drive to "MY" pet store. actually, i made a trip there to get my gravel and fish when i was going to a friends house.

I support local, independents as much as possible.This goes with any business. I realize that they cant compete with on-line shopping, but I find the quality independents often out price the chains. I just cant justify paying sometimes twice the amount for some supplies, I work to hard for my money and could never afford to have what I have now with some prices. I guess thats why I know my prices and best buy's, LOL. I just built a canopy to match my custom stand for the 29 Gallon in my kitchen. Supplies cost about $25 and the lighting I am installing will be 100 watt 6500K and 40 watt color-enhancing. The 100watt 6500K only cost me $10. A fixture other wise could cost $60-$200 depending on brand and options. Over-all the stand and canopy with lighting would have cost about $500-600, I did it for

why thank you for the suggestion! you can see i get easily frustrated! same as with projects. really, i DO support local business whenever possible...which is why i get upset when they don't have something- forces me to go elsewhere.

i am crafty and i can dig holes in the yard, but not handy :)

Oh my, I thought I was the only one that got frustrated because I couldn't get the supplies that I need and I live in the City. We have three big chain stores here.....and my latest problem is I can't get the fish food that I need. When I asked if they could order in the other foods they said no.....This brand of foods are cheaper and that is what all their customers want.....and that is all that there supplier carry. Ok then....They also no longer carry bio-wheel supplies...was told there are new filters....I should just buy one of them......uhhhh I don't think so. Aqua-clear media is becomming harder to get....although one of the three stores still carries it...when they arn't out. These stores also won't take extra fry ......their beliefs are that if they take fish in they will add disease to their tanks...(Well duh...breeders don't have disease in their tank or they wouldn't have extra fry.)..so head office won't allow them to. This is not good as their tanks are already full of disease......I can't remember the last time I bought a fish from a pet store. LOL. I quit even going into these stores.....because there was no point.

Sierra

I use a media-bag (or my wifes torn nylon stockings)in my aqua-clear instead or the pre-packaged ones. That way I can buy in bulk and use any brand media. I just got a new Regent filter sold by Wal-Mart (it is the penguin filter from marineland without the Bio-Wheel) I was pleased to find they changed the cartridge. It has a coarse pad used for collecting bacteria that is seperate from the standard blue polyfiber/screen/Activated carbon combo. It also has a big enough slot after that for a small media bag. It still doesn't hold as much media as the aqua-clear, but less chance of the "overflow" problems of the aqua-clear. I haven't had this problem yet with mine, I also have an older one. I have noticed more and more people complaining that the aqua-clear overflowed removing about 1-4 gallons of water onto the floor. May just be a design flaw with the newer models, maybe a slight change in design since they changed the model# ? Also forgot to add last post to Fairy-- If you are looking for non-iodized salt for aquarium use, well before I start a major debate lets rephrase. I have used tablesalt in aquariums since I was a kid. I was instructed to do so by a neighbor that was a chemist for J&J as well as a aquarium hobbyist. He had a tank room that was awesome. One reason I got into the hobby, I was freinds with his son and had access to his dads knowledge. Half the time I didn't understand what the hell he was talking about. Anyway, never had a problem then. When returning to fishkeeping and doing some reading I read many people speak authoritivly that it should be avoided because of the iodine. On the flipside alot have replied that the content of iodine in table salt is so minimal it is harmless. "Some" bio-topes of freshwater fish have a higher content of iodine in their water then tablesalt will add. I have never heard of a fish death resulting from using iodized tablesalt. More likely any death and use of iodized tablesalt is coinsidental. Most likely whatever was being treated did the fish in. My most recent use of iodized tablesalt was to sucessfully treat a betta I bought that ended up having ICH as well as Velvet/Gold Dust parasites. The betta is alive and doing great. Exposed to a high salinity, gradually, with iodized salt as well as increase of temp to 85F, also gradually. I also blacked out for the 15 day period of treatment, to assist in the Velvet removal. Gradually removed the salt content with partial water changes back to normal. If you want after all the CO2 and plant research you are doing check out this highly debated issue. As always this is just my opinion.

very interesting! i was following the advice of "MY" pet store owners from years ago, they are of retirement age. however, some cichlids (african) need iodine in their water or they will get goiter. i am sure more than what is in table salt, however. i am sure i can find debates on this issue, i had no idea.

btw, i am bad...is kosher salt the same as "pickling" and "non-iodized?" by grocery did have "kosher" but it was coarse. i actually found some of what i was looking for, by accident, in a tiny grocery in a smaller town than what i live in! mine was either a tiny flavoring packet or coarse kosher. i might add that i now have a larger container of what i was looking for....my little shrimps resurrections are near.

sierra, thanks for your input...hw can i expect to find stuff in you can't find it in the city...and i always compare every pet store to "MINE."

For salt I use sea salt bought in the bulk section of the grocery store.

Woe...I have had to be very creative in making filter bags and cutting up bigger sponges......I am not sure why the aqua clears would over flow......mine have a leveler thing on them....I wonder if they haven't rinsed out the media and it got plugged or the filter wasn't sitting level. Hmmmm

Sierra

fairy_toadmother,
It's a great bussiness opportunity for you.

dzguy, i have thought of that and it scares me to death! i would love it but then i wouldn't want to sell any creatures, want them all, get over protective, not to mention management skills. it was so tempting when "MY" pet store owners wanted to retire and sell(that was over 7 years ago and they are still there!). alas, i have no business sense. it would certainly teach me to stop whining about the ones here!

actually thought about that last night as a after thought, sierra. funny, b/c i use sea salt on my food! one of those "duh" moments.

woeisme, thanks for the idea of panty hose, another piece of info to file in my brain.

I believe what happened to the over flowed aquaclears was the "safe guard" where the media basket is supposed to float to the top if it clogs did work. But it leaked all over until the waterlevel dropped below the intake. I guess what happened was the media pulled up some water by capilary attraction and it drained over the side. "BIG AL's" you can order from I think in Canada (assuming thats where you live by your hardiness zone). I use the big aqua-clear foam blocks for the 110/500 for the smaller one ( a mini for a planted container. I trim them down and also use the excess for sponge or prefilters.

FTM,
You can always get pellet salts for water softener.

I recently needed Dimilin...I didn't even bother staying local I know the guy doesn't have it.

I have a customized whisper 30-60. I had to change the impeller magnet because the original was too soft to run in a sand bed. That was after I tossed the original bag set up and just replaced it with a piece of thin mat media on one side. I didn't want to prefilter it as I bought it to keep debris picked up.

Adrea

hello and thank you, adrea! one of these days, if you have the time...i am very curious of your set up. i know you keep the big boys. i assume sand was getting picked up and chewing up the magnet? i can't believe how many years my whisper filter has run on the same motor and impeller...but, it is past time to replace. very noisy.

Which one? lol

I have three big boy tanks and a large community.

40 gallon stock tank..This has my 4 malawi cichlids, a pair of bichirs, and a pair of violet gobies. Substrate is washed desert sand. Lots of caves (stacked flat granite). A nice clump of yellow iris and river rush. This is the one I'm running the whisper on. I had my oscar and two marbled gobies in there until I moved so it had a diy cannister filter in there in addition to the hob for some time.

50 gallon hex...I don't like this tank so much because it's not roomy on the floor space like the others. I have my two marbled gobies and the oscar in there. The filter is two under sink filter cannisters chained with matala type matting. It is run by a 10$ harbor freight pump. The whole thing is ugly as heck but works good. This tank is going to go brackish as soon as the fish get big enough to go with the clowns (this may be a long time). It has some parrot feather in it but it's not doing so well without my lights being up.

150 gallon..metal tank with liner. 2 clown knives, one jack dempsey, and whatever feeders they haven't eaten. Filter is a five gallon bucket full of quilt batting fed by a pool pump (I think around 400 gph). This tank has no substrate because I'm going to have to move it again. It has a large clump of softstem rush.

75 community is the same filter system as the clown knives. I have to be sitting at the tank to remember everything fishy in there though lol. Plants: draceana, taro, and a small waterlily. Plants on the filter: Pothos, more draceanas, and had a nice pitcher plant but mites got it. Substrate is rough tumbled stone (mostly jasper type rocks) with silica sand.

Adrea

i love it! are the larger ones outdoors then, since you are in ca and your water lily? i really need to learn diy's!

is your granite bonded together with aq sealant to keep from tumbling? years ago, stupid me, lost a baby red tailed catfish to internal injury b/c another cat got a bit frisky and knocked a rock onto it. my own fault. if i knew any more i may have been able to save it, but probably not. i think it died within a few hours. i kept hoping it was just stunned...was swimming a bit off. i knew the get extra large and ws going to have a pool just for it if i had to!

The only one outside right now is the 150. I do need to get in in the next few weeks but we haven't moved all the stuff out of the trailor yet. The water lily is inside. It's a tropical I got in an exchange that just never really grew outside.

My rocks aren't glued together but they won't tumble unless there's an earthquake in which case I think the fish will have more to worry about..

It's hard to save a fish with internal damage so don't feel bad about that one.

Adrea

thanks, adrea...it was my favorite fish, of course. funny that it didn't grow- the big boys produce a lot of big stuff!