I'm suprised non of the shops sell biologicaly active filter media to get people started quicker. There must be a market for it

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Im sure there would be. but firstly, its more of a money maker for the aquariums to have problems, so they can sell expensive remedies/more fish for. and secondly, im not sure people who dont know about fish would pay for what would essentially be a bag of dirty sponges or water.

My platy is doing good today, and has picked up more as the day went on. Is it possible that he may have been frightened of the plec? It looked like a big ugly slug. It seems odd that he was ok until that thing appearred in the tank and a day after he left, platy is feeling ok again. Or perhaps it is the water changes that have helped him through this crisis? I just don't trust that shop any more.
They sold me the 2 plecs and 2 catfish . Catfish are about 1 inch long. What size will they grow to? The other plec is tiny with like leopard skin print, about half inch in length. What size will it grow to?

It's a bit of a short term way for retailers to look at it though. It needn't even be expensive all they would have to do is run a range of filters in their own system and sell them from the tank rather than off the shelf.
That was how I bought my live rock when I set my reef up, straight out of the shops centralised system fully mature and ready to go.

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the platy I had at the beginning of this thread hs now died. It became weaker and weaker, and was not eating, just wiggling back and forth. i put it in a little holder near the top of the tank and he just lay there on his side. when I moved the box he rolled over and over and over. Poor little thing. I feel so upset that I really feel like giving up now. This is the most stressful hobby that I have ever had. I spend most of the time watching the fish to see if they are ok instead of enjoying them, changing water, testing water, buying stuff to help the sick platy. The other one looks the as if it is going the same now - hanging around the top of the tank and not eating.Ammonia has gone up to .50 now. someone told me it has spiked because of one of my mollies having babies. I did a water change to day, to help the spike go away, but cannot stop thinking about my poor little platy suffering.this hobby is making me miserable
Anyone intersted in buying a180 litre tank and stand 3 months old with all equipment?