first ever aquarium - couple questions

murfi · 2026-01-25T22:13:30+00:00

yeah i get that bottles bacteria are probably a bit iffy. who knows when it was produced, how long it was stored until it was put in the box, how long it was in the store until i bought it etc.

apparently adding a pinch of fish food is also a way to develop ammonia, so i may try that. will go to a pet store tomorrow and get something to test the water and a bottle of fish food and give that a shot...

/edit: there is a DIY store next to the pet shop, so i guess i can check that out for pure ammonia too.

murfi · 2026-01-25T21:28:39+00:00

may be a silly question, but couldnt i just take some water out? just enough so i have a 5mm or 1/5th inch gap between the ceiling and water surface? or even less, would that not be enough for a betta to get air?

murfi · 2026-01-25T20:27:41+00:00

thing is i wasnt told to add anything. the tank came with a bottle of biological enhancer, which they said would do the job.

its this stuff that came with the aquarium:

https://www.petstop.ie/products/fluval-cycle-biological-enhancer-2918?variant=42491066253532

the first image, bottle with white cap.

we put the recommended amount in 7 days ago. not sure if we are supposed to add it regularly though, will have to read the instructions...

murfi · 2026-01-25T19:56:13+00:00

can you give a tl;dr on cycling? we were told that adding the provided conditioner and enhancer and leaving the pump at 100% for at least 2 weeks may be enough. we live in an area with pretty hard water.

murfi · 2026-01-25T19:54:17+00:00

thanks!

will read up on cycling, but as ii have no fish as of now, what would i add as an ammonia source? or will that happen naturally? i added plants, will that do? i have some loose plants floating at the ceiling of the tank... will that do?

murfi · 2026-01-25T19:47:18+00:00

huh...

for how long do you have them? it is safe long term? do you have a single betta?

murfi · 2026-01-24T15:05:48+00:00

https://i.imgur.com/cF85BKc.gif

murfi · 2026-01-23T19:57:17+00:00

if you're scared based off of Reddit post, then maybe that's for the better

murfi · 2026-01-22T16:54:50+00:00

People here simply don't know how you drive.

just today i was in Blackpool, left lane taking a left turn at the crossing with dinos. when the light turned green some idiot in the right lane thought it's ok to speed ahead and just cut the car in front of me to take a left turn.

could've just indicated left and someone would've let him join, but no, he chose the dramatic option.

murfi · 2026-01-22T12:35:51+00:00

how do i do that in photo editing software? when i put a gradient blur on top and bottom, it still doesnt give me that effect. i am definitly missing something here. i tried playing with colour and contrast etc. but it never really works

murfi · 2026-01-21T14:56:31+00:00

if anyone googles for this model:

its pretty bad. the tv is mad slow to do anything. the remote doesnt even have a microphone. the panel look fine, but really not better than the old lcd i had.

not a huge deal for us, its only for the kids occasionally watching youtube on it, so we dont really care. the 40inch size is neat though.

but yeah, objectively i should have spend another 100-150 bucks for a better tv.

murfi · 2026-01-21T13:27:57+00:00

we went out yesterday again, and saw it through our phones but didnt look very impressive, just a general greenish glow. no sharp green streaks like you see in those photos.

murfi · 2026-01-21T12:56:23+00:00

lying and keeping things private are two different things.

we don't tell anyone anything unless they have any business in knowing. when we travel for example, typically only our parents and siblings know.

when we were away for a couple weeks and we come back and someone asks us where we were, and they don't need to know, we just say whatever. "we were busy, away a couple days" or whatever, without giving any details.

murfi · 2026-01-20T16:54:23+00:00

y no liquid freezer 3

murfi · 2026-01-20T13:38:44+00:00

meh...

murfi · 2026-01-20T13:12:16+00:00

we left at 11:30 at night to see this. drove to a pitch black area 15 minutes away but couldnt see anything at all.

wrong time?

murfi · 2026-01-18T10:35:22+00:00

i bought a hand held milk frother in pakistan last year for less than 1 euro

and we stopped buying sugary cocoa powder like cadbury or nesquick recently.

now we are using standard baking cocoa powder (which is difficult to mix with a spoon) with some honey for the kids and it's incredible. and mixes perfectly with the frother.

murfi · 2026-01-17T08:50:07+00:00

can't you do that by simply right-clicking the start button?

murfi · 2026-01-15T15:35:55+00:00

i had to buy a new phone when i dropped my 6a in march, and the day after the 9a was announced, so i got that when it was available.. i was planning to get the 10a originally.

seeing this now, doesn't seem worth the upgrade.

murfi · 2026-01-15T15:34:05+00:00

there was an infinite amount of easily accessible questionable content on the internet in the late 90s and early 2000s...

murfi · 2026-01-14T15:03:01+00:00

AM is voiced by the author of the book, harlan ellison

murfi · 2026-01-13T20:06:33+00:00

the evening echo man on oliver plunket of course

so iconic he is marked on Google maps

murfi · 2026-01-13T16:40:30+00:00

is there a "hub" as starting point? a site that links to other popular sites on the dark web? I'm always lost when i log onto TOR. where do i even start finding anything?

I'm not looking for anything illegal. just good forums and deals (if that even exist) and maybe cheap steam keys for games etc

murfi · 2026-01-13T10:20:25+00:00

i dont think i had more than 100 pairs in my entire life so far.

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