I would just soak the piece of driftwood in a bucket for half a day, then dump the brown colored water and refill it and let it soak for several more hours. It might take a day or 2 or maybe a little more, but eventually when you put the wood in there and the water stays clear, then you will know it is ready.

As far as testing water, if you do water changes, vacuum gravel, don't over-feed, etc., like you are supposed to, then you shouldn't have to check your water. I checked my water on the 30 gallon probably 3 times out of the past year. I tested it when I first set it up, then I checked it again after the first water change, then was gone for about 2 weeks and checked it when I got back before a water change, everything was fine, but nitrate was somewhere between 40 and 80, little on the high side, but went down after the water change. I happened to check the 30 gallon after I set up the 125 gallon, and all was normal and had gone for several months without checking it, but I did do quite a bit of water changes. When I first got my 10 gallon, I went through a bottle of 25 test strips in a couple of months checking every other day for it to tell me that everything was fine. You can really just observe the tank and tell if there is something wrong, fish not eating or swimming about, etc., water cloudy, smell in the water, etc.

It is good to know how the water checks out with the test strips, but they can get expensive if you have several tanks and test the water each week so I'll save my test strips for emergencies when I observe something that isn't normal in the tank, but everything should be fine with regular maintenance of the tank.

Thankfully my pH is pretty good - 7.5 which is on the higher end, but still acceptable for the fish that I have. It is really soft - gH of 1, which I'm trying to raise to 5. I bought some sea salt, but I'm not sure how much to put in?

I tried to get a tamale pot! Target was out, I was sad = ( I got a regular 16g stock pot instead.

The name is from a Robert Jordan (Wheel of Time) book character. I play Warcraft as well, and it's caused some interesting times in Vent.

I've actually got a new dilemma, and if anyone lives in the LA area and would be willing to help out that'd be great! I bought a 120g fish tank today, which came with a lot of extras - and a number of rather large fish. I'm not sure if I want to keep them or not, and even if I did I'm not sure what to do with them in the immediate future. The tank is filthy and needs a serious cleaning, which I imagine will take at least 2 hours tomorrow. The stand is also in need of repair, which is probably going to take another 4. There's also the time that it will take to move all this stuff up from the garage and get it set up.

The owner told me they'd be fine overnight in a 20g (which he provided free of charge - three tanks and I only really started a week ago o.O) but I feel terrible having them so crowded. There are 15 total (I think) and these are not small fish - two 4-6" Plecos, I think he said one was an Oscar, and a bunch of Cichlids. He didn't tell me which specific kinds, but I think a couple might be flower horns? They all seem pretty peaceful right now, but I've heard they can get aggressive, especially when crowded.

Also, what would be the best way to fill a tank like this? A hose isn't an option, but maybe some kind of attachment for our sink? The 20g is sitting on the counter right by the sink, so it was easy to get it filled, but this one will be at least 7 feet away at the closest point. I've carried water back and forth before, but something faster, easier, and with less dripping potential would be much appreciated!

Thanks for the advice! I'm going to try and shop around for a used one, since we just spent so much on the new tank this weekend.

Would any of you want these fish, either just for a few days till we get the aquarium re-set up, or to house permanently? One of them has already died = ( Right now the aquarium is too heavy for just my husband and I to move, so we haven't even been able to bring it inside.