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Hey Everyone, This may sound like a bit of a commercial, and it probably is. However, Aquarium Co-op now has their new Brine Shrimp Eggs in stock. So over the years I've used tons of brine shrimp eggs going back over 50 years. I'm fairly picky about how I select the products that I use and I had warned Cory and Randy that it would take a really good brine shrimp egg to get me to use them. A disclosure, I did do some early testing of these eggs over a month of daily use before the Co-op team had even figured out how to get them packaged and in stock. So they are available on the Co-op site now : https://www.aquariumcoop.com/collections/breeding-supplies/products/aquarium-co-op-brine-shrimp-eggs I just wanted to let everybody here some positives that I've found with these eggs. They have a really really good hatch rate, right up with the best I've used in the past. They are packaged in a 3.5 oz/100 gram can and are quadruple sealed for maximum freshness. This size package makes really good sense for the majority of hobbyist, not a tiny amount like the little .2 oz vial, and you don't have to purchase a large one pound can to get quality eggs. The separation once hatched is the best I've ever seen. This is for me probably the number one reason to use these eggs, it's a huge time saver and just makes everything with daily hatching of brine shrimp easier. So there you go, it's my commercial, but it is for a really good reason..... Did I mention the new Aquarium Co-op Brine Shrimp Eggs have a really good hatch rate and the separation once hatched is the best I've ever seen?

If you're worried about it, put it out on a porch or driveway and fill it with water. Let it sit for a week. If it leaks, it happened outside so no mess inside to clean up. Doesn't leak? Drain it, bring it back in and set it up.

My suggestion is you can get a 10 gallon and get a pair of live bearers and all the fish that aren’t up to far you can grow out and use a feeder fish not the most humane way but at least you know what you giving ur fish is healthy and eating good

This is what I got from my first time doing shrimp summer tubbing. I put 40 shrimp into a 110 gallong stock tank with a bunch of crypts and a few water Lillies I have brought about 200 to a store to trade in for store credit and I still have hundreds left. This is a holding tank for them until I can bring the rest in to be sold. I would love to see some of your shrimp tubs. I will not be shipping. I'm just selling local in the twin cities area to stores for credit I'm still trying to stock my 300 hill stream 😅

The shell build out has begun after some false starts. One wall in the laundry/future fishroom in our 100 year old house is a hodge podge of framing, plaster and lathe. Today I got the drywall up and seams plastered. Before: After:

@Streetwise points out the Neptune Apex work with Alexa to control lights, heaters, pumps, etc., but even super inexpensive products live automatic fish feeder like the iLonda can be natively voice controlled through Alexa. Hat tip to @Bill Smith for this one. Just recorded this:

Green Tree Frog, North Carolina Found in a potted plant. Sat there all day.

I leveled up today! Through the Co-op's inspiration and focus on education I leveled up so much that now my merch wears merch.

It's not everyday that I get to build something in the warehouse, but when we needed to run an airline system to get circulation going to our newest plant tanks I was happy to play builder for a day. 1" PVC Ziss Never Clog Airstones Aquarium Co-Op Black Airline Tubing Aquarium Co-Op threaded individual air line valves and 2 Medo LA-45 linear piston air pumps. Each tank has 3 Ziss airstones to bring in a ton of air and move around a lot of water. My 2 tips will be 1) make your holes along the printed text to keep them aligned, and 2) use the drills chuck to screw in the air valves to save your fingers a lot of pain. 🙂

In louisiana, June July August are mostly 90 degree days. But now would be a perfect time I think, since weather is peaking mid 80s now.

@StephenP2003 we had a a week or so in the high 90s the tub probably got up to 95 would be my guess for the hottest it got. I did check the temps when I pulled the shrimp for the season. The water temp was 52 the night before I pulled them it got down to the mid 40s that night

Hello to everyone. I'm Waqas and live in Lahore, a city in Pakistan. Started keeping fish after watching Cory on youtube about 2 years back, and since then have watched everything from the Coop. I started with eight cichlids, two tin foil barbs, and 6 mollies in a 6g tank. Yeah, I know. Soon realized I was misinformed and got a 120g, and then to a 180. All the time, kept a 10g planted tank, trying to grow plants well, and once I was able to, I sold all the cichlids and converted my 180g into a planted tank as well. Now; The 10g has plants and cherry shrimps The 180g has plants, eleven cardinal tetras, twenty-four ember tetras, six black tetras, and six guppies... Yeah, I can add a lot more, but I am loving it. Will be adding amanos shrimps, and blue shrimps soon. Here are a few pictures of my tanks. Best wishes, and love.

I am so excited about this. I dont post much on FB because of the drama it seems to have. I got back in the hobby about 3 years ago. Started off with one 20 gal for my husband. Now we have 60 tanks. I love guppies and bristlenose plecos. I cant wait to start engaging with everyone. I have added just a couple pics of our kids. Be safe and have a wonderful day.

My favorite is not super rare but only available I’ve found on aqua bid. And I had no success spawning them. that makes them more interesting to me in my mind. But it’s then orange laser corydoras. Actually saw cory spawn them in a video and I had to have them. I have not been so lucky this far.

A tank that size actually looks great with a nice school of cardinal or neon tetras (think 20+) and one fish to aggravate them into schooling. Plant it up with some val, and bam you got yourself a great looking tank.

Thanks everyone who gave suggestions! I'm going to go with a blackwater scape. I'll post the results when I'm done!

@siniardem there is a filter actually for this! It is called Elive AquaDuo. It is designed to be used as a 'normal' filter, OR used with plants 😊 I just learned about this filter myself (i found one on Facebook Marketplace and got it!) i have not gotten to try it out yet though! They only come in sizes for a 10 and 20 gallon though I believe. Anywho - To add onto the answers already posted - I have Lucky Bamboo and Hosta as well as Pothos in my HoBs. My best friend has spiderplants in hers. Peace Lily is another popular one I have seen, as well

If he is not in any distress I would not euthanize him. I have had fish with various deformities who found ways to overcome their challenges and they led normal lives with the other fishes.

Haha I was just getting ready to reply! I've not gotten the whole "water from bucket back into tank" to work out but the removal of water is amazingly fast! I also don't use the little insert for gravel vacc'ing (I just use a regular siphon for that! - too much craziness to remove all my media just to insert the "bag" for that. But makes it easy for when I'm treating the tank and need to do a water change in between treatments or if I'm not gravel vacc'ing that particular day!

There are so many variables that can and will be at play. Would you tell us a little bit more about the transition? Are you moving? Is this within our own fish room? Are you going from well water to municipal water? Without details, here are some of the things I would do under certain circumstances: if I was moving from where I am at now on municipal water (7.5) and moving to a house in our area with well water (typically in the 8.2~ range) and the move to transport was less than an hour, I would most likely use a drip acclimation in a cooler. If I was moving somewhere in which the fish would be traveling with me for over 48 hours - 72 hours, I would consider doing the drop - n - plop method. If I was transferring from one tank in my home to another, I would use drip acclimation.

I vote we let him stay!🤪

I would say a scan I could use my phone for to identify diseases.

Hi everyone, Here's my fishkeeping story from Michigan. It's a long one...so I get it, if you don't want to read it all. I began this hobby in 2005. I found a great mom and pop fish store near the house that I bought as a bachelor that helped me tremendously get going in this hobby that I was always intrigued by. I was told that my Dad tried to keep fish when he was younger, but fish kept dying. Knowing what we know now...in this age. I can only imagine trying to keep even a freshwater aquarium in the 60s/70s - with no internet....probably little to no fish stores. So, part of my interest in this hobby is because my Dad was interested in it. And who doesn't enjoy watching a healthy aquarium...even if you're not in the hobby? It's relaxing and enjoyable. I digress. It was also pretty beneficial that this fish store was 2.5 miles from my house 🙂 Many, many trips were made to this place. They also had a really cool set up. One of the owners always went to a distributor to hand pick the fish that they sold at their store. So, they always had many unique fish that you wouldn't find at the big box stores. I'd always go on Thursdays when they'd add the fish to their tanks to see what they got in stock. Went there to get my water tested throughout the cycling process, they gave me many, many tips and tricks - ALWAYS willing to help me out, answer my questions, etc.. It was quick and easy to get to...and I enjoyed going. The owners were great. Anyhoo, I ended up buying a 60 gallon tank from them, and got going from there. It ended up being a community tank with fake gravel and fake decor. It worked...and I didn't know much better anyways. I enjoyed it though. From there, I found my wife, and the 60g tank in the family room had to go. I sold everything I had for a really good price in a city classified newspaper magazine at the time, got some gift cards for Christmas for the mom and pop fish store, and turned that into a 29g Biocube reef tank. That lasted for a bit and then we moved across the state. It was fun, as the fish store down the street sold me pre-made saltwater and RODI water. So, all that I really had to do was buy the RODI and pre-mixed salt, and do weekly water changes. So, I kinda got into the saltwater side pretty easily while still being able to enjoy it without having to do much extra work. We found an apartment, and I turned the Biocube into a planted tank. That was fun for a while. Had a baby...and he loved it. Would put him in his highchair after dinner right in front of the tank, and he would love watching and talking blibber blabber to it. Fast forward, bought a house, sold the Biocube, and bought a used 75 gallon reef ready tank from Craigslist for a future reef tank. Since I had the reef tank Biocube experience, I wanted to make my own salt and do everything first hand with a bigger tank. This was always my ultimate dream. Fast forward eight years - the 75 gallon was never used. Throughout the eight years, I was slowly buying brand new parts for it: RODI unit, mixing barrels, skimmer, refractometer, return pump, etc. But the tank just continued to collect dust - didn't know when I'd ever use it due to the amount of equipment that I still needed to get for it, and the price of each piece of equipment. Meanwhile, I found out that PetCo does their $1 per gallon sales during the year. So, one sale I bought a 20 gallon long a couple of years ago. I wanted to try a pressurized CO2 planted system since I had never done one, and didn't have a tank going in my house. Every house or place that I've lived in since being an adult, had a running tank at some point. It was time to get a tank up and running. Figured a small one wouldn't be much work. Set that up on top of a counter in my basement, with the canister filter in the cupboards underneath. Could never keep the CO2 going consistently. It would go for a while, and then suddenly stop. Was so frustrating. I asked questions on forums, and nothing. Called multiple LFSs for help. Nothing. I even had a local LFS come help me with it at my house. It was running for a bit....and then stop again. It ended up being an algae nightmare. There were days that I'd go downstairs to feed the fish...but in horror, knowing that the algae problem was out of control...and I couldn't stand to look at it. No matter what actions I took to try to fight it, it would be back in a day or two. I was scared of going down to my basement because I didn't want to even look at the tank. Was really sad....I was hopeless. On top of it, it didn't help that our children became busier. So, I had less time to try to maintain it. And as a fish tank enthusiast...it really got me down big time. I knew I wasn't out of the hobby for good...but wasn't sure when I'd ever get back into it. Was definitely the lowest point I've ever been in this hobby. And also knowing that I still had a ton more things I needed to buy for my reef tank (was my only fish tank hope at that time), and the equipment is that much more expensive than freshwater....I just didn't have any time table of when I'd have a tank up and running again. I also didn't know at the time that there were so many plants that didn't require pressurized CO2. I knew there were some...but not nearly as many as there are. Another thing that got me down, because I really wanted a planted tank. I didn't think it would be as hard as this was really being for me. Tore that tank down. Here comes COVID. I knew I needed something to keep me busy during quarantine lockdown. I knew that I had a stand and a 10 gallon tank that I honestly didn't know I had from something / somewhere in the storage area of my basement. I still don't know honestly. But, knew that if I set it up on the main first floor of my house, I would be more in tune to enjoy it, and stay on top of all the maintenance. So, found a good spot to do it. After doing some more research, found out that YES - there are TONS of plants that you can keep without pressurized CO2!! And came across a ton of quality YouTube channels including Aquarium Co-op of course! And it's currently the tank I have up and running. I have all the details of it, in my profile section if you're interested. I'm really enjoying it, and so are my boys - they're in turn learning a lot, and helping with feeding the fish and plants. A couple of weeks ago, I finally was tired of seeing my 75 gallon tank just collect dust that I decided enough was enough. I cleaned everything up, and listed it on eBay, and Craigslist. I had a watcher on eBay...but nothing really came of that. So, I sold it to a pet store about an hour away from me that I really like, for a good amount. I had a lot of brand new items that I had collected to go with it. They gave me a heck of a deal in store credit. And because I've always been wanting to keep Discus, used the store credit for a 90g tank - to set up eventually for Discus. And this is where I stand. Will I ever set up another reef tank? I honestly don't know. I've gotten more interested in freshwater now than I have ever been. As we all know, a freshwater tank is MUCH less to worry about when you go on vacation, or even an extended weekend than a reef tank. Even with automation now in the reef keeping hobby...there are still things you have to worry about. And if you don't know anyone in your area who has a clue about saltwater....you could run into some major problems while you're away. But who knows. Maybe when our kids have moved out of the house, and I have more time to invest and research, etc. Maybe. I still don't know if I want to get that involved with a reef tank. The benefits are gargantuan, obviously. But, they're a lot of work is what it comes down to for me. Never say never...so who knows? But, for now...just enjoying my 10 gallon planted tank and continuing to research for my 90 gallon future Discus tank. That's all folks!

What are some common fish you find at your LFS that beginners probably shouldn't get? I'm thinking less about the species that get bigger than you think, get aggressive, etc. -- more so, the overbred, high-turnover species (or those inherently fragile) where the deathclock countdown has begun by the time they make it to the LFS, or just those species that have a higher chance of success in an established tank (e.g., neocardina). I've witnessed friends and neighbors giving up the hobby immediately after losing their first purchase of neons, cardinals, fancy guppies, etc. It's often difficult to figure out what to avoid when a google search gives you a list of common beginner fish -- and often the prevalence of that fish is the very reason you're more likely to get bad stock. Just from personal (and limited) experience and subsequent conversations with employees at my LFS, the tough ones around here include: - Line-bred fancy guppies - Neon tetra - Cardinal tetra - Rummynose tetra - Rams - Dwarf Gourami What else would you add to the list??

I have recently been wanting to get a feeding ring for my tank to have open space in the floating plants. The ones that I found available online were not to my liking e.g. the color, size, or the price. I've tried the air line tube DIY and could never get it perfectly round, flat, and air tight. I later noticed that deli container lids and lips had a similar shape as some acrylic rings I saw online, only with some extra plastic attached. That lead me to this simple cheap DIY solution.

Secretly snuck in a water change on my niece's goldfish tank while watching her. Apparently the last time it was changed was around Christmas.

This may sound drastic but I usually cut open the bag with the fish and dump fish and water directly into their new home. There is a tiny amount of stress with an abrupt transition, but it is generally less stress than the alternatives because the are going from fouled water in the bag to clean water in the tank in as short of time as possible results in the greatest benefit for the health of the fish.

I don't have a lot of patience and most of the time end up attaching things to wet driftwood. I remember awhile back reading that cyanoacrylate is moisture activated, so water actually cures it faster (not suggesting you put it straight in your tank to cure wet glue, I have seen uncured glue release vapors under water) If you know exactly where you want to put things, I don't see any issues and I have never had a problem with it.

On a sidenote, I have found harvesting duck weed then putting it in the blender with spirulina powder or repashy soylent green actually makes for a really good shrimp food. I get small ice trays, fill it up half way with the mixture, and freeze it. Then i take it out as needed.

I've always wanted a Tardis.

We had a Honda Fit once and were able to determine that for some reason its inside dimensions were actually larger than its outside dimensions

I believe they're called plecos?🤣

Hello from Carlsbad, New Mexico. I am a 76 year old lady who kept fish for many years from 1970 until 2004. I was very much into my hobby, breeding some fish, working and managing a tropical fish department in Nebraska and Alaska. I recently got back into the hobby, with a 50 gallon acrylic tank and two 5 gallon tanks, and I'm already wanting more, but can't keep up anymore. There is NO place to buy fish or supplies here in Carlsbad, so everything I have done has been by mail, so a bit of a challenge. I am amazed at the huge change in knowledge and access to knowledge since I had aquariums years ago, it is fascinating to this old lady. I will probably not be able to share much, since I probably will not be able to get more aquariums, but I will love reading and hearing about all of your adventures, and wishing I could participate more.

Hello and welcome!

Hi everyone,I am new to the hobby. I started my first tank in March of this year. Thanks to YouTube and the many different aquarium forums like this one, now there are 5 tanks in my house. A 20 gallon traditional display, a 40 breeder Walstad tank, a 10 gallon neocardinia tank, a 10 gallon growout tank for the 40+ CPD fry I bred from 1 male and 3 females, and now there is a 20 gallon tank waiting for some special fish from Select Aquatics, Limia Peguria.I am looking forward to meeting some of you and learning as much as I can.Regis

I haven't used the one ACO sells before, but the package says to apply to a dry surface, and (ironically) not recommended for bonding parts that are subject to immersion in water. I have used the similar product by seachem though, and it works on wet driftwood, and says it can be used directly underwater. I believe they're both cyanoacrylates, so it may be that they both work similarly well and the ACO one is just under-advertised or overly-cautious. Given how it seems like Cory approaches product review before selling it I'd guess he's probably tested and confirmed it works fine attaching to wet driftwood, but that's 100% a guess.

I use a small Lee's specimen container with water in it and a hair pick. The pick is same width as the specimen container, so I scoop up some duckweed from the tank and put it in the container. I check the container for hitchhikers and try to get any to let go in the container. Then, since the container and pick are the same width it is easy to scoop out the duckweed and dispose of it. I'm not sure if that would be any faster than a fork. I also use a cup and surface tension to scoop up stray duckweed. I have successfully removed duckweed completely from two tanks using those methods. Duckweed can be such a pain.

Maybe we should start a thread listing what can fit in each type of vehicle "Hey, I fit a 40 breeder in my Ford Fiesta yesterday!" lol jk... kind of.

I recently realized that airline tubing fits PERFECTLY into the lip of those gladware plastic tupperware containers. Makes a great floating snail incubator! I love it when cheap DIY things work well!

I also removed the partition from my portrait and installed a sponge filter after the tubing came off from the return and pumped about a third of the water out onto the floor while I was at work. I have always used the pedestal and did not attempt to remove the vinyl, mostly for aesthetic preferences. I just keep a colony of green Neocaridina in it currently, but I did have a betta in it originally. Overall I think they are pretty great little tanks.

Thank you @Rikostan Planted tanks got me back into the hobby, and I'm enjoying running ecosystems. It was really cool having tubs outside this summer. Next year, I hope to start much earlier, and also plant smarter relative to the sunlight.

Welcome, Lynn. We are happy to have you here & look forward to hearing from you whenever you decide to chime in.😁

I vote for mixing with your current tank. I’ve done this in some tanks when I was low on appropriately sized plants. I’ve also done it in my living room when I wanted plants somewhere they would die 😉

More of the betta. She is right next to my bed, so I wake up with this cutie.

i planted the 4g last night and sorted the shrimp. threw a few baby culls in here and added live bacteria today. in a couple weeks i plan to add some ricefish in here, maybe the gold or orange. i think once the plants grow in a bit it’ll look pretty nice, i was going for a “grassy area around a tree” look, definitely a fan of the monochromatic look. working on organizing and cleaning today.

the water cleared up and it tested good so i moved the shrimp in. managed to grab some photos with my camera, i do like how large the shrimp look with the distortion. accidentally let some duckweed in when adding the shrimp in.. probably going to make a feeder ring to keep the center clear. i cant wait till the plants grow in.

mine already kind if exists but i want a more affordable apex system for freshwater but with ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, gh, and kh testing built in. i just want to have quick access to all my parameters all in one app with no more test tubes. you can monitor all of the levels in the tank quickly and you get alerts when ammonia goes up or if nitrates go above a certain preset level. you can plug an autodoser in to dose ferts that intelligently monitors the macro and micro levels that you can adjust manually to dose how much you want. maybe in 10 years haha. or check japan, i feel like they may have something being built.

@pedrofisk I want to see this when you build it. Seriously. That sounds awesome. Also, we need a mad scientist subgroup here soon...

I feel like a beginner. I haven't kept most fish or grown most plants. I have kept a few kinds of cichlids, and a few kinds of corydoras. The only deep dive I have done was bettas. I've grown a handful of easy to grow plants. My go to plant is hornwort. The hardest thing I ever tried to do was breed Heckel discus and that didn't work. But that is what makes it fun, lots to learn!