I knew for sure I was not wrong! YOU can keep any type of fish without the cost of those testing kits and the like. I have it on my site! I thought I was the only one? I guess not. I kept a pirahna, and a JD (now over 10yrs. old), weather loaches, (he flushed, out of spite),and the like without ever testing! Now they want you to go and test this and that! Just change the h2o. And siphon the gravel.
:o Just learn what you need to online if you have questions, I learned from buying books back then. MY pirahna and JD are still alive! The ex owns them now! Oh well, I am starting fresh again, this time with DSL and PC! :P

Welcome aboard and good to have you here!

Welcome to this forum. Glad ur here.

Welcome! Yes, it's funny how different things are now. Some things really do help though Others are just an unecessary expense. It is fun to try out new products sometime though. It's about tinkering sometimes. Here is something funny. When I first started reading about keeping tropical fish, the hot new thing on the market at that time was the undergravel filter! :lol:

Welcome to the boards. Enjoy :star: :star: :star: :star: :star: :up:

Welcome! :D

Welcome. :)

how could the UGF go through testing and such and not see how bad they are?

I never would recommend the UGF! They are completely useless. Do do nothing but sit there. Can you believe they are still on the market, or better yet they still sell them! All you get is filtered poop! Just sitting there on the bottom, the siphon doesn't pick it up! :angry:

by the way i don't even own testing kits

Welcome to the forums!

As far as UGF's go... some people STILL live by those things. Theres a store south of where I live and in every single tank that they have they have an UGF. Then again, they aren't the best people to ask for advice. Although they do try by grabbing a book to answer your questions... For example...

While I was down there doing a little shopping, I asked her what she kept the water in her tanks at. She promptly told me that she kept them at 7.0 on the dot.

I told her that my water was alkaline at 8.3 on the pH scale. She got the most puzzled, confused look on her face and said "Why in the world is it THAT high?!".

Of course, she doesn't sell cichlids, so I guess she didn't know that some fish prefer a higher pH. Maybe down where the petshop is, they have perfectly neutral water, and hard water is only in nightmares. Who knows. :rolleyes:

Or you could be like my ex-science teacher. He looked at me with an appauled look on his face as he asked me if there is really such a thing as a tank without metal framing. Why yes, they do. And they have power filter now, too.

His face --> :o

I never use testing equipment either except when I'm stocking a new tank and I want to keep an eye on my ammonia levels.

Priceless... :lol:

It's like someone getting into a time machine and coming to the future.

I love the UGF! The trick is to connect the HOB filter intake to the UGF, and make a DIY background on it... the power filter intake sucks it up fast enough that it actually does pick it up... well, if you have a large enough HOB filter.

As a primary method of filtration... uh, no. :down: As a base for a DIY background, OH YEAH! :up:

Just a thunk, UGFs work a lot, lot, lot better if you put a power head on the end rather than a tube with bubbles coming out. Man has harnessed the power of the sun, which is good, the power of wind, which is good, and the power of the tiny bubble, which doesn't work so well.

lol good point i have never even seen a UGF except once i briefly glimpsed at one in a pet shop there aren't many around here

What surprises me about them, is that they STILL fill those cartriges with carbon instead of bio-media. Of course I don't use them, but I would think they would at least try to keep up with scientific advances a LITTLE bit.

bartier Posted on Mar 1 2006, 04:53 PM
by the way i don't even own testing kits

I don't either. Never. I know I would if I had a SW tank though. I have a real quick set up on my site. This is just my way though. It is for easy fish fast, never failed me yet. Even used the same technique on Pirahna and JD. If you love fish, you'll find a way to MAKE it work! Money or no Money. :D

http://www.jdizine.bravehost.com/set_up.html

thats pretty much how i work my tank :)

Wow man I didn't realize you came from the other site. Cool, how do you like the site?

Welcome, I never use a UGF, I had a Fire Eel that had an unfortunate Affair with my canister filter (fount out how to pop off the protective cap) and I diddnt realize untill It was too late for the poor fella

sounds nasty kind of like finding nemo

I just checked out your website. very cool.

I guess I'm of the generation that can't imagine actually having to drive to the library every time you need to know something. (I'm 18)

I kinda think of the testing as a way to make life much easier. Just wip out your test tubes and you know in a matter of a few minutes what the problem might be. (You can get a full freshwater master test kit with everything you need for about 12-15 dollars on line. At least $23 in the store.

Another money-saving note is all the websites you can order supplies from. You don't want to actually order the tank or whatever because of shipping cost, but food, conditioners, heaters, filters, tubing, media, and stuff are SO much cheaper if ordered. I live in kind of a mid-sized town, and the pet industry is pretty much run by PetSmart- the large chain store. Prices are ridiculous and the employees will tell you anything to get you to buy something.

:star: The thing I'm wondering right no is how can I avoid the expensive hoods?

I want to start a 10 gallon tank for 1 betta and some cories. I want to do it cheap. I already have plenty of leftover gravel and decor from my other to tanks, I have a sponge filter that I just bought on sale. I have extra air pumps. Now, I'm down to the glass- I think I can get for probably 8-9 dollars and the heater.

The hood? Any hoods available are far more expensive than the tank! Any suggestions?

By the way, the tanks on your website look really cool! B)

CC, what site are talking of?

Your site on the link.

in australia test kits are rediculously expensive for a master test kit you are looking at spending at least $70