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Putting away my tools. It looks like the aquarium co-op warehouse exploded in here sometimes, I trail from tank to tank, dripping water all over the place, leaving a bottle of prime here, a shrimp net there, a pair of planting forceps hooked on the edge of a shelf next to an abandoned test tube rack...And then I am interrupted by a family or work "emergency" that requires me to handle it, and there it all stays. I need to devise a caddy of some kind. A 5g bucket on wheels, with tool holders around the rim! I bet @Bill Smith has already designed one.

I’ve been playing a little musical fish tanks lately, here is a 40 breeder that I’ve finished up. Background is by Universal Rocks and I cut some slate type tiles for the tank bottom. I like the look.

What is that one task, job, or chore that you avoid, put off (sometimes until too late), or just don't like to do in your fishroom, or with your fish tank or tanks? For me the answer is pretty easy. I love breeding the fish, working on systems to make caring for them easier, feeding time, don't even mind separating the baby brine shrimp or cleaning the glass. But if there is one thing that is easier to put off or avoid it is cleaning the sponge or matten filters or gravel vacuuming if there happens to be gravel in the tanks. This chore I find the easiest to put off for another day or two or week or so. I would gladly have a filter cleaning person come by once a week, just like a housekeeper (I don't have one of them either), I'd trade for all the fish keeping/breeding experience. What is your one task???

Those are some sterbais that hatched about the same time as the discus. I added a few to their fry tray and they've been with them ever since.

They do make extension hoses for Pythons, if you didn't know

I am currently working on this DIY controller: reef-pi - An opensource reef tank controller based on Raspberry Pi REEF-PI.GITHUB.IO reef-pi - An opensource reef tank controller based on Raspberry Pi It was initially created for reef tanks, however I believe that it will adapt for freshwater just fine. Now that I think of it, I should probably start a thread and post my progress updates there. Automation for the win! 😄

I like to hang a large size Lees Specimen Container on a bucket to hold tools and stuff. This seems like a good cheap premade option. It won't interfere with anything inside the bucket and the pockets are mesh too which would allow tools to dry and not drip on the floor. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Fiskars-5-Gal-Bucket-Caddy-Bucket-and-Tools-Not-Included-394240-1003/206399030

I thought it would be fun to have an ongoing thread on Fish/Aquarium related news members may come across, old or new. I'll get the ball rolling. Home aquarium hobbyists are helping save 30 rare fish from extinction | New Scientist WWW.NEWSCIENTIST.COM The pet trade often harms wildlife but some dedicated amateur fish-keepers are working to keep many species of fish from extinction Newly Described Electric Eel Has Strongest Voltage Yet Measured WWW.THE-SCIENTIST.COM The same study also finds there are three species of Electrophorus, rather than one. "Smart" Tank Technology is the Future of the Aquarium Hobby WWW.RATEMYFISHTANK.COM Modern advances in technology affect every industry - even the aquarium hobby. Read on to learn about the top tech for aquariums in 2019.

I normally don't order lots of root tabs. I should; I have tons of plants that can use them. But they are more buoyant than anything I've ever seen in a aquarium, and it's really difficult to get them deep under the root of my plants (even with forceps) so that they'll stay there before the tablet casing begins to degrade! It sometimes takes me several minutes to deposit one tablet, and it's a task I really don't look forward to. When folks on this forum a couple weeks ago mentioned a very expensive, unavailable-to-the-US mechanism made just for this purpose, I hit the internets. But there was no way I could have something like this shipped to the US for less than $60! So I started researching the DIY route, and after some trial and error and lots of research, I've come up with this one-handed solution. It can be made for less than $10 in parts from your local Home Depot. In fact, you can make two for about the same cost! It is sized for Aquarium Co-Op Easy Root Tabs. PARTS: So let's dive in. These are the parts I collected together (non-affiliate links) : 1. Straight PEX Pipe: 1/4" ID, 5' length: $1.76 https://www.homedepot.com/p/Apollo-1-4-in-x-5-ft-White-PEX-Pipe-APPW514/301541226 2. Wood dowel: 3/16" diameter, 4' length: $0.70 https://www.homedepot.com/p/3-16-in-x-48-in-Wood-Round-Dowel-HDDH31648/204354369 3. Drawer pull: 1-1/14" birch cabinet knob: $0.98 https://www.homedepot.com/p/Liberty-Rowland-1-1-4-in-32-mm-Birch-Wood-Round-Cabinet-Knob-P10512H-BIR-C/204143998 4. Drawer pull: 1-13/16" birch cabinet knob: $1.88 https://www.homedepot.com/p/Liberty-Classic-1-13-16-in-46-mm-Unfinished-Birch-Wood-Round-Cabinet-Knob-P10515C-BIR-C5/100156480 5. Springs: 6-pack zinc-plated compression springs (used the 3/8" x 1-1/8" x 0.041" spring): $4.22 https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-Zinc-Plated-Compression-Spring-6-Pack-16087/202045468 TOTAL: $9.54 TOOLS: 1. Drill and assorted bits 2. Wood glue (or white glue) 3. 5-minute epoxy PREP: The 1/4" PEX pipe does not fit the Easy Root tabs. I made it fit by enlarging the first inch or so of one end of the pipe using a 5/16" drill bit. Now, the smaller end of the Easy Root Tab fits very snugly. If I don't push it in too far, it's a perfect grip! Next, I cut a 12" length of the PEX pipe and a 13" length of the dowel. I don't have very deep tanks, so this is fine for me. But this can be cut to any length you need; just make sure the dowel is always one inch longer than the tube. The wooden knobs already have holes drilled in them, which made it very easy to enlarge them to exactly the diameters I needed. For the smaller knob, I enlarged the hole to 3/16", making sure not to drill all the way through. I glued in my wood dowel with a drop of wood glue to hold it permanently: For the larger knob, I enlarged the hole to 3/8" diameter, this time going all the way through. I made sure to start with a 3/16" bit, and repeatedly went larger and larger until I reached 3/8". This ensured my hole stayed centered and I had a nice clean cut all the way through. I glued in the length of PEX pipe with 5-minute epoxy. This should hold well enough for my purposes. I'm using the shorter, wider spring for this project (3/8" x 1-1/8" x 0.41"). For good measure, I used some 5-minute epoxy to glue the spring to my plunger. This is totally optional, but gives me one less piece I can lose. That's pretty much all there is to do. I just inserted the plunger in the tube and I'm ready to try it out! I placed an Easy Root Tab in the end, just far enough for it to grip, but not so far that it won't push out easily. I inserted the tool with one hand into the tank, pushed the plunger, and voila! A deposited tablet in 5 seconds! But I am over the moon about how this tool turned out. I just placed about 20 tabs in two minutes. Even with coarse gravel, forcing the pill in was no problem. The two pieces come apart for drying, as that wood dowel won't last forever. Now I understand why the professional ones are so expensive. This makes things so much easier. I'm definitely making a longer one for deeper tanks. Hope you find this useful. Thanks for reading! Bill

So you need to start a thread somewhere so mine will start with yesterdays happenings in the fishroom. Not that little water spills happen all the time in a fishroom. But generally floods don't happen much as you hopefully gain experience. I even know the various little tasks I can get done while draining the brine shrimp hatcher, so as to not create a smelly mess on the floor. So may as well start a fishroom thread with water on the floor. Yesterday I was slow filling a 5 gallon bucket with a 1/2" line from my water change system. This generally takes about 8 minutes so I go about lots of other stuff in the process. But. . . yesterday my phone rang right after I started the water. You already know the scenario, I had to leave the room to get the person some information, it all took longer than expected, get off the call, and BAM!, it hits me, I'm still filling that bucket. Run down the hall to find the fishroom floor flooded. Didn't think to snap a picture, next time I will, my whole thought process was to keep the water from hitting the carpet (it was literally inches away). Attached is my text conversation I had with Randy whom of course said "post it to the forum", well here you go.

Welcome, fellow Coloradoan! Glad to have you on the forum. 🙂

I have Amano's which aren't really practical to breed. One of these days they'll be gone, maybe I'll replace them with ghost shrimp. At least these can be easily bred.

If I could only keep one of my current tanks it'd be my 220 - because it's actually a paludarium and houses my boa, not just fish. I think my beloved snake would be might unhappy if I took away his ability to have 'swimming pool' and had to go back to a smaller enclosure with just a water bowl in the corner. Its the best of both worlds for me, I get my fish tank and my snake enclosure, all in one space, which, were I in an apartment, would probably take up less space ultimately than a fish tank and a separate snake enclosure. Now, if I didn't have my snake that may be a different answer but as boas live 49 some years and my guy is only 5.... he'll be with me a long time yet.

I do live in a small apartment. I have several small tanks, but if I could keep just one, I would keep the 29gallon that I have currently, but the guppies would replace the current stocking list. I couldn't give up the guppies, and the 29g is the biggest tank I have space for. I would keep the guppies, the red cherry shrimp, the otocinclus and kuhli loaches. If I am talking pie in the sky, I would get a bigger tank and jam pack it with plants and still have the same fish but maybe add some angels and rams--which are in the plans for this tank...sort of. Maybe. Also this tank needs more plants, particularly anubias. Gosh, I am glad I don't have to stick to just one.

NUMBER TWO: total gallons 130 Tanks: Aqueon 75 gallon long (top), TruVu 55 gallon (bottom) Lighting: NICREW 48" RBG LED (top), 2X NICREW 20" RBG LEDs (bottom) Equipment : Cascade 1000 canister filter, XL Co-op sponge filter, USB pumps, Aqueon 300watt heater, Aqueon powerhead (top), XL Co-op sponge filters, USB pumps, Aqueon 300watt heater, Aqueon powerhead (bottom) Substrate: Caribsea African cichlid mix (top), Caribsea Aragonite sand and gravel (bottom) Livestock: Pseudotropheus Saulosi X12, Pseudotropheus Acei X7, Pseudotropheus Socolofi (albino)X5, Pseudotropheus Elongatis Likoma X2, Pseudotropheus Elongatis Ruarwe X2, Blueberry OB X2 (top), Neolamprologus Multifasciatus X20ish. This is one of my older and more established setups. Top tank is almost all Pseudotropheus Mbuna. Recently removed the cichlid safe fake decor and started trying live plants in this one. Bottom tank is a typical shelly tank, a bit of a work tank as I sell a lot of multies. They used to be in a 100 but seams aren't forever, so this is the smaller colony I kept after the blow out.

That ammonia is really high. I would water change a fairly large amount, and then add plants or an ammonia binding water conditioner like Seachem Prime depending on what you have available. If you have neither plants or Prime, just change water more often, it will work. Feeding a lot will cause the ammonia to go up like that. If you have just a single fry, you could contain it in a breeder box or some smaller container that you can float in the larger tank so that you can feed a bit less--not because the food costs much, but because it will pollute the water. You want to put the small bits of food right in front of him/her if you can, so he/she can find it easily. That is easier in a confined space. I would not advise shrimp in a hospital tank. Shrimp are great if you are raising a lot of fry, but not if you need to medicate fish because they are sensitive to a lot of the strongest medications. However, Neocaridina davidi are pretty easy to care for, they reproduce easily and are pretty hardy, should be compatible with guppies, swordtails, and platys if given cover.

I've never tried dosing ammonia. I would just have patience, feed the snails, and the cycle will develop naturally without any extra effort. Nothing good happens fast in aquariums. Cory has an old video about cycling with plants 👍

Would the Otocinclus be the only other fish in the tank? Mine will blend in with my rummynose tetras and school with them, and they are surprisingly fast. A bigger school makes an individual fish harder to badger.

My clothes don't always make it into the laundry hamper, and sometimes I just throw the siphon hoses on the ground (as you can see). How are other people storing their siphon hose(s)? First thing that comes to mind is something like this:

If you are not sure about this, you could put bristlenose plecos. They are also pretty decent algae eaters, but much bigger and sturdier

That's a really good point and I may break down and implement a system like that. Storage is my other big problem. 50 feet barely fits under my tank and for various reasons the closets in the house, the utility room, spare bath or garage don't really work. I think I'm starting to sound whiny. I appreciate the suggestions though!

But even a 100 ft Python doesn't have to be hard to manage if you use quick connects. That 100 ft hose is just four 25 ft hoses connected momentarily. As soon as I am done, I pop the hoses apart and they go back to being easy to manage.

Hi! I'm keeping Nanacara anomala with corydoras and most of the time the cichlids leave them alone. There is a bit of chasing when the female is guarding eggs. We thought there was some fin nipping going on but we're not sure since we haven't seen it. While not Otocinclus, I think the observations can carry over. I wouldn't hesitate to put otocinclus in my tank, especially since I added a few more plants to break up the sight lines even further. Your mileage will vary, I'm sure. Every fish can be a little different. Also keep in mind that brown algae is generally temporary and can be cleaned up manually too. I'm with you though. I don't enjoy how it looks and would want it gone. Editing to add that otocinclus are fun to keep whether they're in there to clean up a specific problem or not. 🙂

I actually just got one for my brine shrimp hatchery, different brand. I keep my house cold so it takes too long to hatch at room temp, and the heaters I have tend to fluctuate the temp too much in that small volume of water. I like it so much that I am tempted to get 7 more for my tanks, just for the safety benefit.

I use a heater controller but not that brand. I think its worth the cost for safety and ease of use. They can require a bit of calibration to see where it actually holds the temperature. The one I have has replaceable temp probes which is nice. I like using it to control two smaller heaters in the tank instead of a single large one. Reason being if one heater fails in the ON position it will heat up the tank slower but also the controller would shut it off too. I wonder if @Cory has ever considered bring a heater controller to the market?

I added the first fish to the tank. Three Vin Rio Tetras. I'm hoping to get more when my LFS can. It's a 75 gallon tank and has been seasoning since the beginning of May. I'm planning to add more botanicals back in to darken the water again. Next up out of QT will be a group of Lemon Tetras.

I mess around a little bit with Raspberry Pi. I would love to see a thread on a Raspberry Pi DIY controller system.

favorite line strain has to be the albino sky blue guppies. if im nitpicking it would have to be this hybrid albino blue/red guppy I made on accident my one of my albino red males getting into the albino blue side of the tank. i have him in with a non albino female that looks very similar to him, seeing if i can replicate this

So here are some pictures of my Super Red pair. Male is short fin and female is long fin. I usually get about 75% long fins which leads me to believe that my female is Aa for the long fin gene, assuming that the long fin is a dominant Mendelian trait (the male is aa recessive for short fin). I've been photographing the eggs for the past few days: This photo is 12 hours after fertilization. This photo is 4 days after fertilization. You can see their eyes and tiny heads attached to the yolk sack inside the egg!!!

Update! The eggs are hatching!

According to the guide on aquarium co-op the 24 inch variant is medium/high light here's the link to that guide LED Aquarium Lighting - Aquarium Co-Op WWW.AQUARIUMCOOP.COM One of our most asked questions is, which LED Aquarium Light should I get? In this quick guide I'll give my recommendations. Definitions: Low light = Undemanding plants, Anubias, Crypts, etc. Medium Light = Stem plants...

I don't actually know exactly what it is, it seems like the pic showed ragged edges, sorry. I was guessing it is either fungal or bacterial or both--one can follow the other opportunistically, and they have similar looking symptoms. It doesn't look like a parasite that I am familiar with--not that I have an exhaustive knowledge by any stretch. If it is not responding to a single dose soaking for a week, I would go with the full treatment dose for both IchX and erythromycin, especially since the dosing schedule for those two meds is the same. I think that is the beauty of the quarantine trio--they are compatible, so you don't have to know exactly what it is, you just have to be close. Hopefully the antibiotic will catch it with the IchX adding some antifungal support, and you will see a turn around fast. Keep us posted!

When I do my regular maintenance and think I‘m done and get everything cleaned up, there is always that random clump of algae to get or plant I needed to trim but missed. I just can’t let it go until next time and have to get it.

Very neat photos! Have you been successful with the fry? Or is this the first batch of eggs?

It’s funny you should mention Sergai Winogradsky. He was a hero of mine as I always admired his iconoclastic approach to science. Back in the early 2000’s I was interested in the oxidation of inorganic compounds by early forms of life. My son and I went down to a salt flat on the NC coast and collected mud from the anaerobic layer below the black needle rushes. We made a series of Winogradsky columns and were able to successfully culture Beggiatoa a genus of bacteria that can oxidize hydrogen sulfide H2S just like plants do with water H2O in photosynthesis but in this case it was chemo-synthesis. The cultured Beggiatoa from our Winogradsky columns oxidized hydrogen sulfide to elemental sulfur and the sulfur was stored intracellularly. It was unbelievable until you saw it for yourself in the microscope. Those are grains of pure elemental sulfur stored as a waste product inside the body of that Beggiatoa. The other cool part about this experiment was it was the perfect excuse to to buy a high-quality microscope with a camera port 🙂

Thats a shame! I have 4 of them currently and they are definitely my favorite snail species.

I've use Cupramine to kill snails in the past. Apistos and tetras should be no problem, but the otos and kuhli loaches I'm not sure, they are a bit more sensitive.

I don't know if I'll make any profit, but here are the 50+ dwarf red coral platies I'm raising. They come from two batches that are a few weeks apart. I've been feeding them live baby brine shrimp, Easy Fry Food, and Sera Micron, and they've been growing like crazy. The water sprite in the back is also starting to pick up, so maybe I'll be able to sell some of it as well. 🙂

Whew! Profits are tough. Actually bringing in more than you spent while probably not charging for your labor is hard to do with tropical fish. That being said, I think I pulled that off once back in the 1980s when I bought Jack Wattley cobalt discus from Jack, bred them and sold baby discus for $5 a piece. I lived in married student housing, the water out of the tap was good quality, the utilities cost next to nothing, and I grew my own food for the fish, so expenses where low. The key to profits is keeping expenses low. Angelfish sell well if they are of desirable breeds, but I don't think I have ever broken even with angelfish. On a totally non-serious note: To make a $1000 breeding tropical fish - start with $2000 and quit when you are down to your last $1000 Should a massive fire hit your fishroom - there is always the insurance money Start a wildly popular YouTube channel and work 24/7, you might just break even Ask @Dean’s Fishroom - he seems to know how to actually turn a profit

I'm loving this project. I remember reading about the concept of " balanced aquariums" in historical literature. Not too far from where we are now with the exception that they didn't believe in lots of water changes. Just don't use the film "The Incredible Mr. Limpet" as a reference. Goldfish, gouramis, silver dollars AND angels?! How about that gate valve though. The Trailer is worth checking out for a scenario we've all had happen.: https://youtu.be/bM4vR1B6xCk

Just found a 1934 movie where a key scene revolves around a Betta fight! Dragon Murder Case

I think I found one of the few things @Cory has yet to achieve in the hobby! 😉 Maybe he can make it a goal! 😉

Back in the day (1960s) we didn't have have all fancy smantzy choices you young whipsnappers have grown up with. We proudly put our Longlife box filters in our Metaframe slate bottom tanks and were amazed when we saw the first Metaframe Dynaflo HOBs (it was impossible to get those siphone tubes going). And in the winter we had to walk to the LFS (it was Barncle Bill's if remember correctly) uphill both ways in the snow.

Is 30 seconds of rinsing going to going to kill you? I rinse mine, I have great breeding and fry rearing success, but as they say, your mileage may vary. It's a choice you have to make. . . When I actually figured it out more closely and yes that sieve is more than 40 years old. Here's an image of the new one I have first time ever out of the box. Note it was a product of West Germany, do you remember the wall between East and West Germany? Oh, and they cost $4.00 each.

I really need to drive up to Edmonds and "transfer" some of those Rams and Koi Angels for an "emergency" tank I've been working on. The emergency was I really want those fish but didn't have a tank setup even remotely close to what they'd need. Just need to get the plants in and the weather to cooperate.

So over the last few days I found it necessary to set up a couple overflow tanks to raise up some ram fry. A little messy but will have to work for a while, only 10 feet from the laundry sink and 3 feet from the ironing board. (this is my wifes sewing table 😬 🤐, don't tell) Transferred a total of 296 midnight rams and 327 gold rams for growing out.

I visited my folks to add some snowball shrimp to the tubs. I went into the woods and found some dried moss that had fallen off some rocks for lack of moisture. New home in a 3.5:

I filmed a little tour of my fishroom/bedroom/office/studio. I have been working from home a lot, so my aquariums have been a key source of balance. Sorry for the air conditioning sound. The Italian tank brand is Askoll.

Just found this out with my care package from you guys at the Co-Op! New packaging looks great!