Hi. I'm going to be switching from a 20g to a 55g aquarium. I have the 20g up and running currently. How do I go about switching my fish, water, etc. into the new tank without harming the fish? I have 5 tetra's, 2 tiger barbs, and 2 zebra's in the tank now, and it has been up and running for about 6 months with no problems. I have never had to switch tanks so if you could help me out that would be great!!

You may lose one or more fish--there's no way around it. The best thing to do is this: --While the 20 gallon is still running, set up the 55 gallon, and fill it with 30 gallons of water, leaving room for the contents of the smaller tank. --Catch the fish and transfer them into a bucket for temporary holding. Use some kind of fish slime coat supplement (like Stress Coat) for the bucket. --Transfer all the water, gravel, and decorations from the small tank into the larger one. --Depending on the filter used in each tank, it may be helpful to transfer this material. --Once everything is up and running, carefully catch the fish and put them into the 55 gallon. Do not use the water from the bucket, as it will be foul. These instructions assume that you need to do the transfer on the same day. If possible, it would be better to set up the 55 gallon completely, let it go through its cycle (1 to 2 months with hardy fish), and then do the changeover.

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I am setting up a marine tank, have added Water, Sand, Salt and Start Up Chemicals, Salt reading is correct. The Water is a Bluey/ Green Colur Why.. 7 hours later Still Same

Blue Green color could be the Start Up Chemicals, it could be plumbing primer in the lines (if used in the plumbing), or even residue from the aquarium manufacturer. If adding activated carbon to your filtration does not solve the problem, I might replace all the water and then see.

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What is required to maintain a live sand substrate in my 37 gallon fish-only setup?

In a fish-only setup, a true live sand bed will be very difficult to maintain, and is therefore not recommended. A healthy live sand bed requires a very large number of tiny invertebrates to work properly, and typically can't cope with the heavy amount of waste generated in the typical fish-only system. Your best bet would be to stock the tank as if it were a reef, minus the coral and macroinvertebrates. If that isn't the route you wish to go, you would be better off simply using one to two inches of sand as a substrate, and add a few sand-stirring wrasse to turn it over.

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We are planning to set up a 125 gallon tank, but we will be renovating the area the tank will be placed in at some point in the future. We're considering building some type of stand that will make the tank moveable, but I know the warranty on the tank will be reduced if we don't use the manufactuer's stand. Any ideas?

Stick with the manufactuer's stand. Moving any aquarium while it is set up is never a good idea. Aquariums are not built to withstand the stress created by moving them with water in them, and will frequently leak (or worse) as a result of this. A better method for moving a tank from one area of a house to another is to drain as much water as possible into some type of portable container, and discard whatever will not fit. Large plastic trash cans with wheels (clean, of course) are ideal for this. The fish may be placed in these containers as well, if it will be a relatively short period of time. Then, move the emptied tank and stand by hand to it's new location, and set it back up as soon as possible.

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Can I add a weight to my plants using a standard hot glue gun? It seems to be the only glue that will hold the plastic to the rocks.

If you are talking about plastic plants, then yes, that will work fine. You could also use silicone aquarium sealant or a commercial aquatic epozy like Two Little Fishies Aqua Stick.

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I currently have a 55 gallon tank with a 330 filter and two power heads running and one large heater. How hard would it be to convert this system to salt water?

That type of filtration is really not suitable for a marine aquarium. For saltwater, you should really use a wet-dry filter and a protein skimmer for best results. We have articles on the website that discuss this in more detail.

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I just bought a 10 gal tank. I was told that tetras are a good fish to start with but I'm not sure how many I can get in order to have a successful tank & happy fish. I was told everything from 4 - 10. How many can I have?

SOME tetras make ggood starter fish. We have an article on hardy fish for new aquariums that you should read. As far as how many, the rule is 1" per gallon total and you should start with no more than 25% of the total capacity which would be two to three inches of fish.

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What is considered SAFE wood to use as an ornamental piece in my fresh water aquarium. I keep guppies, swordtails, corys, and cardinal tetras.

The only wood that should be sued in an aquarium is driftwood purchased in an aquarium store. The wood may need to be soaked in water for several weeks first to make it sink and also to get rid of any tannins which may cause the water to turn brown or yellow.

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How thick should the glass of a 150 gallon tank be?

We would recommend using 3/4" tempered plate glass.

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i have a baby oscar and i want to set-up an aquarium than has land and water, what size tank should buy and what are the other requirements? also what type of reptiles will be suitable for that type of set-up?

This would have to be a very large vivarium, with at least 200 gallons of water (so perhaps as much as a 400 gallon tanks), as your "baby" oscar will quickly grow to "tank-busting" size, whether you like it or not. They are voracious eaters, and very fast growers, even in small aquaria. I grew one to over 12 inches in a 29 gallon tank by himself. As for the reptiles, given the humidity of the vivarium (with that much water, and the turnover you will need to keep the place clean), you will be able to keep frogs (arboreal ones only, as the oscar may make a meal of anything even slightly aquatic), perhaps green and brown anoles (as long as it isn't TOO moist, say no more than 45% humidity at any time, and remember they need a basking area to get dry as well), and a large tiger salamander. You could go the route of larger animals, however, and get some water dragons, but then forget about the frogs and anoles. As I already said, an excellent filter, like a large wet/dry and good mechanical filtration with a canister, is a must for oscars, and for the requisite tank size. For almost any reptile, including turtles, a basking area on land is needed, and it cannot get over 45% humidity for most animals.

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