Problem: Article: You can purchase flake food at a pet store or fish shop to use as a basic, daily food supply. While guppies will eat any type of flake food, high quality brands that contain both protein and vegetable matter are best. Flake food intended for tropical fish often include natural color enhancers that will make your guppies appear brighter and more colorful. Do not purchase fish food in pellet form, as this will be difficult or impossible for guppies to eat with their small mouths. If you purchase more flake food than you will use in a month, freeze the excess to preserve nutrients. Thaw another month's supply a couple days before you need a refill. Drop a tiny pinch of flakes into the water and watch the guppies eat. They should be finished with the meal in about 30–60 seconds, and certainly no longer than a few minutes. You may decide to feed them once or twice a day, as long as you do so in appropriate amounts. It is easy to feed guppies too much food, and difficult to feed them too little. Guppies will continue to eat or search for food even when they do not need it. Do not feed your fish an additional meal because the fish appear hungry. In fact, guppies that actively seek food will prevent food debris from building up and dirtying your water. While guppies will survive on flake food alone, live or frozen plants and animals contain extra nutrients that are ideal for supplementing a flake food diet. Replace one flake food meal every 2–7 days with no more treats than the guppies will finish within 60 seconds. Any of the following are appropriate treats, and most can be found at fish shops:  Baby brine shrimp contain mostly protein, and are ideal supplements if your flake food is high in vegetable content and low in protein (40% or less). They are available in live, frozen, or flake form. Blood worms or mosquito larvae are good treats that you can catch yourself by running a net through standing water. Acquire small quantities of larvae at a time to prevent them hatching into mosquitoes. Earthworms are also appropriate, but must be shredded and rinsed before feeding to the guppies. Feed your guppies shucked peas, shredded lettuce, or finely chopped cucumber, especially if their flake food is high in protein but low in vegetable content. Many other types of fish food exist, and fish store employees or other guppy owners may recommend other types of treat. However, you should try to avoid tubifex worms and daphnia, even if recommended to you. While guppies will eat them enthusiastically, tubifex worms sometimes contain lethal bacteria. Live daphnia will only cause harm in large quantities by removing oxygen from the tank, but they are typically more expensive and difficult to raise than other live foods. Because guppies have such small stomachs but still eat large quantities of food if available, overfeeding is common. If you notice any of the following signs, reduce the number of meals you feed them or the frequency of their treats. Some guppy owners only feed their fish 6 days a week, letting them go hungry on the seventh for their health.  Tubes of waste dangling behind the fish are a sign of a blocked intestine from overeating.  Adult male guppies develop a "potbelly" or bulging chest if they have too much fat in their diet. Reduce the amount of food and replace fatty treats such as blood worms or beef heart with crumbs of fat-free ham. If your tank water gets cloudy and dirty frequently, excess food or waste may be the cause. As a general rule, you should change 20–30% of the water in your tank about once every 1–2 weeks, or more frequently for crowded tanks. . Healthy, adult guppies can last a week without food before experiencing any lasting effects, so if you are only going to be gone a few days, consider simply not feeding them. For a longer trip, one of the following methods is recommended:  Use an automatic feed dispenser to dispense food at regular intervals. Make sure you supply enough food for the whole time you'll be away, and set the dispenser to release food once or twice a day. Test a feeder block or gel feeder before leaving. These blocks of dry or gel-covered food are left in the tank and eaten slowly. However, the dry blocks may cause dangerous chemical changes, while the gel variety sometimes go ignored. Test either variety for a few days before leaving so you can be sure there are no problems. Have a friend or neighbor feed them their usual flake food once every two or three days. Because inexperienced feeders often give too much food, it's best to place each pinch of food in a pillbox or other container with the day of the week carefully marked on it. Make it clear to the caretaker that overfeeding could kill your guppies.
Summary: Purchase flake food made for tropical fish. Feed the guppies a pinch of flake food once or twice a day, preferably in the morning and at night, leaving a twelve hour difference between the two. Replace the occasional flake food meal with more nutritious treats. Avoid tubifex worms and live daphnia. Watch for signs of overfeeding. Consider feeding methods for vacations longer than one week

Problem: Article: Mounting hooks are ideal for vanity mirrors that weigh 15 to 30 pounds (6.8 to 13.6 kg) and have a frame made of wood, metal, or plaster. The mounting hooks will ensure the mirror hangs correctly and is well supported on the wall.  Weigh the mirror on a bathroom scale to ensure you get mounting hooks that are strong enough to support the weight. The weight restrictions for the mounting hooks will be noted on the package. Look for mounting hooks at your local hardware store or online. Place 2 D-rings horizontally along the top of the frame. They should 1 to 2 inches (2.5 to 5.1 cm) from the left and right sides of the frames. Check that they sit evenly across from one another with a leveller, then attach them with a screwdriver. Make sure the straight part of the "D" faces downward. Some mirrors will come with D-rings already attached to the back. If this is the case, you do not need to put any more on the back of the mirror. Use the leveller on the top edge of the mirror to make sure the mirror is level. Make sure the mark is easy to see, as you will use it as a guide when you hang the mirror.  Putting the mirror over a stud in the wall is ideal, as this ensures the mirror is well supported. You can use a stud finder to locate a stud. If you cannot find a stud in the wall, you can still hang the mirror with wall anchors as long as you have a power drill. Lay the mirror flat with the back side up. Loop 1 of the mounting hooks onto 1 of the rings and place the back of the hook flush against the mirror. Take a ruler and measure from where the hole in the mounting hook sits to the top edge of the mirror. Do this on the other side of the mirror, looping the other mounting hook into the D-ring. Measure that side as well. The measurements should be the same for either side. Use a pencil or painter's tape to mark the spots where the mounting hooks will sit, using the top center mark you made earlier as a guide. Line up the hole in the mounting hook with the mark you made and then use the power drill to put the screw into the hole.  The mounting hooks should come with screws that fit in the holes. If you are not using a wall stud as a guide for the hooks, put a wall anchor in first before you drill in the screw. Most hardware stores will sell screws and anchors together so you do not need to install them separately. Loop the D-rings onto the mounting hooks on the wall to hang the mirror. Make sure the mirror sits flush against the wall. Place the leveller on the top edge of the mirror to ensure it is level as a final check. If you are worried about the mirror scratching the wall, you can put bumpers on the bottom corners of the back of the mirror. Bumpers are small plastic bubbles that have adhesive on one side and can be found at your local hardware store.
Summary:
Use mounting hooks if the mirror is large and has a heavy frame. Attach D-rings to the back of the mirror if it does not already have them. Place the mirror against the wall and mark the top center spot. Loop the hooks onto the D-rings and measure to the top of the mirror. Mark the spots for the hooks and attach them to the wall. Hang the mirror on the mounting hooks.