Who Gives A Fish Forums

My pH is around 7.5, I still need to check the hardness though - I've tested it a few times before, just know it's classified as moderately hard, can't recall the exact degrees off the top of my head.
Gonna place that shell order next week, got my fingers crossed I can get the ones I want.
Also ...

Found some awesome deals on shells - 3 types, around 75 total, and they only set me back $80 with shipping. I actually needed them for my hermit crabs too, so it's a win-win. I'm sticking with coflake sand for now, mainly to buffer my water to a higher pH. Pool sand is a great option, but I need ...

Hey all, so I'm planning to turn my empty 36-gallon bowfront tank into a shellie tank and I'm kinda stuck.
I've decided on using coflake substrate, about an inch deep, and I've got a fluval 206 filter just collecting dust, so that's gonna go in too.

My main question is, how many shellies should I ...

That would be awesome goldfinch, on the stocking list.
As soon as I get home tonight I'm gonna roll up my sleeves and get to work on "loosening rocks".
Might just end up removing everything and starting over, this time grouping the rocks on the floor with similar heights so I can easily stack ...

Wife and I had a chat about stocking this tank, and she's got some ideas that I just happen to agree with. One of them is yellow labs - she thinks they're awesome, and so do I. I've always wanted them, but I'll give her credit for it.

Thinking of a four-species tank with a bit of a higher bioload ...

Quick update as promised.
Tank's set up, still need to add sand to the display tank, and I might reposition some rocks to hide the overflow. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the initial rock hardscape.

There's plenty of caves and tunnels in the rocks, but they're packed in fairly tight, so I might ...

Finally figured it out, the leak's been solved a couple of days ago. Got the pump all plumbed in now and it's circulating water like a charm. Next step, I headed out and picked up a bunch of rocks - 180lbs worth to be exact. Still need about 250lbs more, but I'll know for sure once I get them all ...

Few days have passed, still got water in the tank and no leaks on the tank itself, but that overflow issue is still bugging me. Think it might just be a cleaning issue, maybe some debris messing with the seal. Gonna drain the tank now and tackle the problem head-on. Updates will follow once I've ...

Small update on tank setup.

Got the tank on the stand and it's full of water, doing a leak test for the next 48-72 hours. First real snag I've hit - installing the overflow intake pipe on the overflow box. Got a small leak, need to tighten it more, but it's hard to get a grip on the fitting to ...

Got my camera working after finding it in my kid's room - it was covered in some weird jam-like stuff. That's a whole other story, though.

So, here's an update: I scored two brand new 300w heaters for $5 each at a flea market. They've never been used in water before. I also painted the tank's ...