Leaderboard

Vienna Guppies!

I hope you don't mind this Lucas

anyone else decorate their tanks for holidays/special occasions? i wanna see! we can keep this as a running thread for future holidays 🙂 i put a mermaid skeleton in for halloween this year

Crypts are heavy root feeders. You probably need to add some root tabs. I know you said lots of mulm is there, but hearing they did well for 10 months then slowed sounds like the depleted the available nutrients in the substrate. Edit to add- assuming nothing else has changed in the tank, like if you changed your light, or increased the temp, or bought a fish that's started eating it.

I couldn’t resist, I did it. The original tank was just too small, especially for such a crazy active betta. And tonight was the one night that I didn’t have a 3 year old all over me lol. Before: After:

I thought I'd show off a few things our friend 3D printed for us. These hooks were brilliant. Just super-glued them on the inside of the door of the aquarium stand. This little moss dome was so cute, but I thought instead of gluing the moss on the top, I'd stuff it inside the dome. I'm hoping it will start growing out all the little holes. I call it my "BioDome". 😆 And this little plant basket was an uh-oh. I forgot to tell my friend that my tank has a rim. These were planned for a rimless tank. So...I popped off the little hooks and added/glued in 2 suction cups. They hold my pothos really great and even a stem of lucky bamboo too! I still have other goodies that I haven't had time to get to. I'll share them when I do! 🙂 Alesha (akconklin)

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, Aquarium Co-Op. You really made my day! Big smiles! I’ll have to send you a photo of me wearing my Murphy hat! Loved everything else too! I really appreciate the kind of people you are. Respect your business model and ethics. As many others do as well. Delighted to see your business expanding and being so successful. It’s such a wonderful thing to see someone’s love and passion blossom into support for a life style, and have a positive impact for those around you. When I settle in, to some free time, I watch hours and hours of your YouTube videos. (I prefer you to network TV.) I have learned so much from your engaging videos I have re established my love for the hobby. Excellent therapy, with all the hoop la that’s going on these days. I love fussing with my fish tanks (3 so far). Hoping to buy a new house with more wall space! All of your products you produce and carry online are absolutely top shelf!😃 I look forward to visiting your store with my first travel opportunity. Big hugs to you all Dawn Dare

Super-glued duckweed.🙄😁😆

You need a little piece of airline tubing to connect the airstone to the inside of the top filter mount:

Baby tears, bacopa caraliniana, pearl weed, java moss, and a red dwarf lily bulb. Most are going in a new 20 long that will house my growing family of guppies. Have 2 finnex stingray 30" on order that I think will get here today for that tank.

Danios

Taken with an iPhone 8.

I've thought about doing a tongue-in-check tutorial video on how to properly shake your hands and lower arms when retracting them out of Duckweed water. Aquarium jazz hands, if you will.

Actually it’s a 37 gallon tuff stuff that I was using as a hospital tank at the time, had it up on cement blocks for easier water changes with a sponge filter in it. Eventually it became my first attempt at a dirtied tank. my water system is a bit complicated, I have a 17 ish foot deep well with around 100 tds almost entirely accounted for as KH and GH 1500 gallon Rain water Cistern with around 25 tds mostly accounted for in hardness (only collects from third floor, I believe the gutters are copper lined, but they are very old gutters, and any copper that is picked up does not cause any issues for plants snails or shrimp): I use a little giant pump that I can switch between the two pretty easily depending on what water I need or how low I am running on one or the other. I was able to get the hose into my room next to the ac, have it running along the ceiling to a 55 gallon drum with a 300 watt heater: in the drum I have a 600 GPH pump plumbed to a 20 foot length of python that reaches all my tanks. everything is on smart plugs, specifically smart plugs that are normally closed so I don’t flood when the power comes back on after an outage, so I can remotely turn them on with my phone or Alexa. Maybe a little organized in that I set up a tripod/camera and cleared a space for recording the unboxing but most of it was things I thought of on the spot, like actually showing the plants, the platforms for the plants, or removing the flaps on the box. Thank you though.

What is this beauty?

There are quite a few threads on the site talking about heaters, but the general consensus seems to be that no matter what heater you buy, you should buy a separate heater controller. I learned that lesson the hard way a couple of months ago. My heater got stuck on and caused the temps in the tank to get close to 100F. It killed a few of my fish. Now I have controllers on all my tanks.

@Tedrock I got a setup for RODI from aquaFX. Seems to be the same quality as the Bulk Reef Supply RODI units. Mine is three stages -- sediments filter, carbon block and a mixed bed resin (well technically four? including the RO membrane itself). But, if I had to do it again, i'd purchase mine through BRS, because some of the AquaFX components aren't easily mix-able with some of the AquaFX ones, without modification. A simple entry-level, three-stage setup is perfectly good for Caradina shrimp. I make RO, remineralize it with SaltyShrimp GH+ and use Fluval shrimp substrate for KH buffering. I've raised hundreds of crystal reds super easy with this setup. More deep-dive-y things to know about RO in general that I've learned over the past few years-- A booster pump is not necessary if your water pressure is consistently above 40psi BUT I HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend one as your first upgrade. Boosters significantly increases the efficiency of the unit, and increased efficiency leads to longer term operating cost reduction. RODI units waste a lot of water. For every gallon they create, they send a jillion gallons (ok less than a jillion gallons) of waste water down the drain. This is a consideration if you're paying for city water. This can be remedied somewhat by using a dual RO membranes, as @MickS77 suggests. Depending on the makeup of your water, you could go through a lot of mixed-bed DI resin. Mixed-bed resin contains both cation resin and anion resins. Mixed-bed is the most typical resin in simple starter units. So, depending on your water, one typically depletes faster than the other and you're potentially throwing unused resin of the other type in the trash when you replace resins. To fix this, you can have separate canisters dedicated to each type of resin, so you're replacing them at the rate they individually get consumed. I'm guessing @MickS77might have this setup as well? Buy bulk resin and pack the cartridges yourself. Super-easy. Bulk Reef Supply sells it in bulk, but I'm sure you can find resin other places as well. Much cheaper over the long run to buy bulk. You can further optimize/reduce costs of your system by installing a flush (or auto-flush value). You can research these online, and at the Bulk Reef Supply youtube channel. Flushing the membranes helps increase the overall life of resin and RO membranes a lot. It also helps with something called TDS-creep, the details of which I won't go into here. If you're a DIY'er, you can recharge the resins yourself and save a ton of money over the long haul. Plenty of online threads about doing this -- typically these are on the reef forums. This involves making lye and muriatic acid solutions (and sometimes brine). But if you can wear rubber gloves and splash goggles, it's easy. Or you could be like me and throw caution to the wind and burn your hands! (Actually I just irritated them significantly cause I'm forgetful and rinsed my hands in the lye bucket instead of the fresh water bucket! Woops!). You can also separate and recharge mixed-bed resins, but that has some extra steps. The good of all this is all the units are modular and expandable. So start with a simple unit, and build onto it as your needs require. No need to start big. Anyway, that'm my brain dump after doing RO for a few years now. At this point, I only do it for shrimp which means I make maybe 5 gallons a week, tops. Also, I have found that Bulk Reef Supply's YouTube channel is the go-to place for learning about most of the above (except resin recharging). They have a TON of helpful videos on RO unit setup, usage and optimization, and as well as basic information about how all this stuff works. Sorry for the long response. It's one of my best or worst traits, depending on who you ask. Also you mentioned you like to 'geek out', so my feeling is that this is probably a good topic for you. Much to deep dive into here, if that's your inclination.

I agree with @Daniel I use their 6 stage water saver filter, which has a second RO membrane. It's been running great for for me, I'd recommend getting a booster pump for better efficiency.

@akconklin I was asking myself that on Wednesday of this week. Below is my baby sparkling gourami tank and I use the green water to feed the babies. My goal is to keep the water green. When I look at it under the microscope it looks like thin little green footballs. These are the free floating algae called phytoplankton. There are also quite a quite bit of rotifers swimming around and these are green also because they have been eating the phytoplankton. There are Daphnia in this baby gourami tank that also eat the phytoplankton so unfortunately if I don't add more green water, it begins to clear up. I get the fresh stock of green water from this tank below. The trick to keeping the water green is extra heavy feeding of the fish and plenty of light. I feed the swordtails several times a day with generous portions of Vibra Bites and blackworms and baby brine shrimp. I also run extra lights on the tank for at least 10 hours a day, sometimes more. And finally this tank does not have a Daphnia population (swordtails eat them all) to consume all the phytoplankton.

I will add something from my UPS experience. I tried to help out a local restaurant when they lost power from a storm. I went home and grabbed my UPS, about two blocks away. I turned it off. When I tried to turn it back on under battery-power alone, it would not start. I had to walk through a downpour to the fire department, a block away, and they let me plug in to turn it on. Then I was able to deliver the unit back to the restaurant so they could close all their tickets. TLDR: Never turn off your UPS with the power off.

Now I have room for 3 10 gallons!

I'm thankful for this thread @Ruud. It made me get down and check on my Blue Coral Variatus and I noticed fry for the first time!

It is often surprising to realize just how many of our aquarium plants are native to the United States and especially the Southeastern US. One of those exotic looking yet home grown plants is the lovely banana plant, Nymphoides aquatica. Found from New Jersey to Florida in ditches, still waters, and ponds it is one of my all time favorites. My first task was to locate where it could be found in North Carolina. I used my Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas to narrow the search down to specific counties. Craven County had a dot, and so was added to my itinerary for my aquatic plant collecting road trip. I thought surely I could not mistake banana plants for anything else, but you can never be too careful, so I brought my trusty, Godfrey and Wooten, Aquatic Plants of the Southeastern United States just to be sure. After several productive but non banana plant ditches I hit upon this site. Shazaam! Banana plants galore! Checking my Godfrey and Wooten for confirmation against what I was collecting I was sure I had success! Even a few baby banana plants. The eternal question always is: What do plants want? Knowing where and how they grow natively in the wild would go a long way towards answering this question, so I was determined to make observations and take measurements. Here was the temperature This is the water chemistry No nitrates, no GH, no KH and a very low pH. Surprisingly there seems to be a bit chlorine, but whatever the source, I guarantee it did not come from a water treatment plant as I was in a very remote unspoiled location. The substrate was 3 inches of mulm, over a couple inches of mud, over a sandy bottom. Most plants were firmly rooted all the way into the sand in about 1 to 3 feet of water. Some plants had lily pads nearly the size of my hand. Smaller plants on runners or nearer shore had more bananas. Some plants were flowering with delicate white flowers floating just above the surface of the water. I collected a handful of plants and headed quickly home to the 1930s Historically Accurate Planted Aquarium as these would be a very authentic addition!

I would love to hear how you guy/gal condition your breeder. Ill start it off: This is for my egglayer - I start by separating my male and female for a few weeks/months in advance. Doing this give the female a stress free environment to build up enough eggs at their own pace. - Both setup will have a airstone or a directional flow for water movement. This will keep them swimming since we are keeping them in a glass box, plus this will help burn off the high protein they are getting. Pretty much exercise, itll help with blood flow, working their muscles, and ect...I do add a bit of calcium to keep their bone stronger, i did notice since i been adding small amount calcium i haven't had a old female with bent back after the breeding season. - As for food Male gets their normal full balance fish food, nothing special. They just need to stay fit, healthy, and active. Female gets a higher protein balance fish food with Folate, vitamin B12, vitamin B6, and the amino acid methionine. Folate, vitamin B12, vitamin B6, and the amino acid methionine are very important in early embryonic development. Most better grade fish food will carry some of the vitamin but i add a bit more just incase the female need more, whatever they cant use will become waste anyway. Live food every now and then - Water quality should always be good The whole idea is to get all your princess in their best condition possible, to be making the highest quality eggs, hatching the healthiest fry If i can think of more ill add more.

Such a cool thread and a cool idea. I love everything vintage especially pre-war! The artwork on those vintage magazines are amazing! Please keep us posted on your progress @Daniel .

I live far away from a pet store and I have found 10 gallon to 55 gallon at Walmart if you live in the states if they do not have in the store you could order online and have it .. where it is shipped to your local store and where you can pick up .. They are pretty good .. but I always test it before i set it up for leaks .. usually they come as a kit .. the other stuff in the kit might not be the best equipment but the tank is usually pretty good

PMDD :: aquarium fertilizer :: Redfield ratio calculator AQUARIUM-FERTILIZER.EU

@DaveSamsell It's great that you're handy that way. I almost bought a combined power strip / UPS from the 'orange' home improvement store the other day. It was the cyperpower brand. It would be dedicated for one tank, but I only have two (at the moment). If things look like they are getting bad, I'll fire up my 5kw gen for the house.

(COMBO-030-B) M6 x 12mm BHSCS & Standard T-Nut for 30 Series | TNUTZ WWW.TNUTZ.COM 30 Series M6 x 1.0 Standard T-Nut & 12mm long Button Head Cap Screw, TNUTZ Part #COMBO-030-B. (CB-030-A) 30 Series 2 Hole Inside Corner Gusset with tabs | TNUTZ WWW.TNUTZ.COM Click here for suggested hardware 100% Equivalent to the following manufacturers: 80/20 - P/N 14073 T-Slots - P/N 671213 Bosch Rexroth -... I like using these type of connectors. The only hitch is that the t-nuts have to be loaded in the end, so if you forget to put them in you have to use these. The big t-nuts just feel more stable, but I don't know if there's any benefit. (QT-030) 30 Series Drop-In Quarter Turn T-Nut | TNUTZ WWW.TNUTZ.COM They are 100% compatible with the following manufacturers: 1/4-20 - 80/20 #13110 10-32 - 80/20 #13112 8-32 - Unique M6 - 80/20 #13117 M5 -... You don't have to get these specific ones, just find some at a hardware store or on amazon. Just stick the brackets on every corner and you should be fine. For the plywood, I don't see a need to fasten it down, the weight from the tanks should be enough. Maybe add some rubber grip stuff on the bottom if you want.

Wow... thanks @Cory for a ton of information and sorry for opening a can of worms...lol. You spent a lot of time giving us a lot of information during a time when you have so much work to do. You have a very good business sense and you run a company with awesome customer service. Nothing on this list will stop me from shopping at your site. Thanks again for the information.

Hello everyone, Just wanted to update everyone. Last week I couldn't resist buying this giant Halfmoon King betta but had no designated aquarium for him. For only a week until I could figure something to put him in, so he was in a very small 2g. He even succeeded to jumping out and landing on my desk. Thankfully I had a spare 10g in storage and just finished setting it up yesterday. And he loves it! Cheers!

I appreciate everyone's thoughts. I just don't think it is worth keeping up with removing them. Plus it is part of a healthy ecosystem in my opinion. @Dandy Pearl good 💡. I will keep this in mind.

I finally got around to working on my tank tonight. Here is a pic of the bubbles flowing. There is no way I'm going to get this nice flow under the substraight, but one can hope. Here is what 3x20lb bags of eco complete look like. It stars from about 2 inches in the front to about 4 in the back. The tank base is 12"x30" I had to stop work as the next step is the hard scape with Dragon Stone! I need to get a few tubes of liquid super glue. I already have the cigarette filters for gluing the rocks together. I just need the glue. I have plenty of what I call Pogostemon Stellatus Octopus, but my LFS calls them something else. I would appreciate if you folks can help me identify them! The inlet tube has been removed as with it and the pre-filter sponge installed, it would be buried in the sub-straight. I'll trim it to length once the scape has been finalized some more. You can also see the outlet lower than recommended by fluval. I want to have some floating plants (red root) and don't want the outflow to be pushing them around as much. I can always move it higher if needed. I also have an Anubias Coffeefolia in my main tank waiting to plant in here. now to place an order for plants (from the coop of course), which will force me to get the hard scape done this weekend!! 'till then, happy fish keeping 🐟!!

@KBOzzie59 posted a link to a webinar where I believe this was mentioned as the 'Redfield Ratio' Here is a chart And mg/l translates to ppm directly.

I feel like the Co-Op is only really going to be able to recommend wholesalers, like Aqua Huna. Otherwise they would have to spend a lot of time vetting stores that they wouldn't normally do a lot of business with. I do like the idea of a community sourced option though. Like a dedicated area where we could post about good and bad experiences with stores. I could still see an avenue for abuse there, but with this community, I feel that it would be pretty low. I'm in the same boat as you. I have a petco about an hour away, a petsmart an hour the other direction and that's it. The nearest actual fish store is about an hour and a half drive, so I have bought all my fish and shrimp online... granted that's a pretty small amount. I have only bought two orders of shrimp and two orders of guppies so far, but I am happy with the 3 different places I bought from and wouldn't mind sharing my experience.

@Daniel I have 2x 1936 Aquarium magazines and 1x 1934 Aquarium magazine I am more than happy to scan to you if you would like. One is the 1936 Tetra issue in which it talks about how Neon Tetras are an amazing new discovery and is sure to become a huge hit in the hobby. They even discuss how hard they are to breed and how they will likely hold their value at $150.00 a pair, imported. LOL! Oh, how times have changed. 🙂 I have the 1931 edition of Innes' book. Not too much changed from 1917 (the original) to my version. Have you noticed any interesting new fish additions between the public domain original and your version yet?

Historically accurate spousal bargaining The deal so far has been something like it's okay to put trash cans out in the yard full of mosquitoes, and keep worms in the refrigerator, but all the fish tanks must be confined to my room (the science room). That creates a problem for my 1930s style aquarium. I need a window to solve the lighting problem. I started dropping hints about this yesterday. This morning she offered me a deal. If I were to get all of my junk out of the spare bedroom so that it was clean and she could use it as her room (the exercise room), then I could use the window in the breakfast nook to set up my 1930s style aquarium. I took the deal.

That is a great question! Aquarium keeping in the 1930s seems pretty similar to what we do now, with pretty similar results. I won't do anything that isn't good for the fish. I might have to work harder though if I am trying to find live foods for example. And it's possible I won't have to work as hard as there will be fewer gadgets to maintain. From my initial reading of the literature, 1930s aquariums do not seem like they were worse for the fish/plants than now, just managed differently, certainly fewer fish per gallon than we tend to keep now. The living conditions of many economically important animals generally haven't improved since the 1930s. Ask yourself, if you were a chicken or a pig or a cow, for the short time you were alive on the Earth, would you have preferred to have been on a 1930s farm or in a 2020 Industrial production facility? I know it is not that good of an analogy but the point I would like to make is that while many, many things have improved in the last 100 years, some things are remarkably similar, and few things were possibly better a 100 years ago. I am prepared to end the experiment if I have to make compromises that would cause the fish to suffer, but let's find out together what it was like to keep a planted tropical fish tank in the early years of the Great Depression. And this vintage magazine just came in the mail today. Here is the cover for the August 1934 issue of Home and Gardens magazine. I think this will give me something to shoot for as I set up the tank.