I've heard good things about the Coralife NO T5 fixtures, but you don't want the one with an actinic bulb. You want this one http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS/ctl3684/cp18360/si1379085/cl0/coralifefwt5aqualightdoublestriplight30 (I'm sure it's available other places besides Big Al's; it's just t...

Thanks for the tips, I'll nix the blyxa. I saw Ecocomplete at Scales and wondered about it. I'll give the substrate some more thought, though it sounds like I can do fine with either. As for the lighting, per Judi's suggestion, would something like this work well: http://www.hellolights.com/index.as...

So I just got a 20g long tank, and a really nice piece of driftwood that fits perfectly, and is almost as long as the tank. I love Pearl Gouramis, and thought this might make a nice biotope tank, and wanted some sugestions for plants (nothing fancy or high maintenance, I'm a newbie after all). While...

So our first planted tank (a 20g high) has been going for a few weeks, with water sprite, java fern, val, and a "compact sword", as well as three fairly young giant danios, all purchased from Scales. They are planted in Fluorite, and I stuck Seachem Flourish tabs about every 4 to 6". ...

Quarantining new fish before putting them in an established aquarium is a standard recommendation, but I haven't seen anyone recommend quarantining new plants. Given that a number of fish diseases (particularly the external parasites that cause ich and velvet) can exist as cysts, isn't there some ri...