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I caught the sun lighting up this little breeding jar and felt I should share. This jar is a no-tech jar with no light other than the sunlight and no filtration other than the pothos, Java moss, susswasertang, and hornwort. They’re real hard to get a picture of as any movement spooks them, but in the second photo you can see a bit of one of the females

@ Mudkicker Fishkeeping ethics will rest on what your worldview is, whether there exists objective moral truths, whether there exists objective purpose, meaning, and value in the universe. I think at rock bottom this is ultimately a religious question which I beileve we are supposed to stray away from that topic in this forum. All I will say is it is of great value to know what you believe and why you believe it, and greatly important to live coherently and consistently with your beliefs.

I am very cynical. I don't think fish are different from other things humans do. We do what we like and then come up with reasons on why what do is okay (or not okay). How good the reasons seem are usually correlated to whether you think the thing is okay. I keep honey bees and lot of people think that is unethical and cruel and unnatural. I don't agree with their reasons, but isn't that just what you would expect from a beekeeper? Naturally, I will think of all the reasons why I should be able to keep bees because that is what I already thought. But the anti-beekeeping people are thoughtful and reasonable people and make a coherent argument. I am not a big believer in teleology (things are made to serve an ultimate purpose), but then again, of course I wouldn't believe that, right? Humans are selfish, we do what we want, eat what we like, and if other living things suffer, we justify it somehow. One of my hobbies is botany and I love trees. But I killed almost a hundred trees to clear a space to build my house. I felt bad for about an hour and then gave the okay for loggers to cut the trees. I liked those trees, I have kept the logs even until this day. I look at them sometimes and remember the individual trees that had to die so I could have a house. I can't say any of this is ethical, it is just what we do.

I got started with fish keeping in 1995 when I was about 8 years old my parents bought me a 10 gallon tank and 4 guppies I ended up with about 100 in about a year. 🙂 I learned a lot about water changes and the cycle of life. We moved when I was 9 and my tank didn't come with us so the hobby ended there...fast forward 22 years and I was given a 55 gallon tank and I bought 12 rainbow tetras and 4 guppies. I fell out of practice over the 22 years and forgot all about the nitrogen cycle. I went on YouTube and found Cory's peanut butter M&M video (nitrogen cycle) and I was hooked. I then spent the next month watching Aquarium coops channel. I'm coming up on 2 years STT and loving my hobby. I really like being able to create an ecosystem in my living room for each specific group of fish I keep. I'm about to conquer African Cichlids and Haps. I have a 75 gallon (This is going to be the Cichlids tank) and my son now has a 55 gallon (Community Tetra tank) This hobby has really taught me patience and how to just leave nature alone and let it do it's thing. Any tips or suggestions in my new Cichlids tank I will appreciate the input. Glad to call myself a NERM! 🙂

Water sprite is a fern, but you can trim off whatever you would like, the rest of the plant will not die back. To promote aerial growth, just let it float. Any new leaves will unfurl up into the air with no need to drape over anything. Here is one my floating ones (growing in a patch of duckweed 🙂). This is the narrow leaf variety, there is also a broad leaf variety.

I wouldn't worry about the algae harming new plants, assuming it is just normal brown or green algae. If it is black beard algae or blue green algae, try to physically remove it as you have. Algae in itself isn't necessarily bad. It can mean you have an imbalance between light and fertilizer or some other nutrient. Both Java fern and Anubias are slow growing plants, so getting a faster growing plant in the system may help out compete the algae in your system. Also, make sure there is enough nitrates for the plants to grow and consume the other nutrients. I target about 20 ppm Nitrates in my water for planted tanks. Assuming this is a new tank, a but of algae at the beginning of a tanks life is normal. Give it some time to settle out before you take any drastic steps. And don't be afraid to add a few more plants.

She can. I used have Alexa to do water changes. But just like the cup conveniently already placed under the faucet, my system was already automated and all I had to do to enable Alexa was put a smart switch on the main water pump. The best Alexa thing I have done so far other than lights was to follow @Bill Smith's advice and get an Alexa enabled iLonda automatic feeder for the discus tank. It is very hard to get to the top of the aquarium to drop in fish food by hand. But now I just ask Alexa to do it whenever I think about it.

Water change day today. Did changes on the 47, 58, 65 and twin 29s. Trimmed some vals down that were getting too long and tangled in one of the 29s. Pulled a bunch of guppy grass out of both 29s. Fed that and the val trimmings to the rats who love their salads. Had a helper when I went to refill the 29s. Petting was required before I could add water.

Okay, you're a little understocked. Here's mine. 🙂 I buy multi-packs from Amazon, and there are countless times I've been really glad I had this or that doodad.

hey all, i love shopping through the garden section and picking up plants to use in aquariums that most people wouldn’t think of. the other day i came across some sweet flag and fountain grass on clearance (only $3 per pot!) which are both popular pond plants. here is how i prepped them to go into a tank. first you want to remove all of the soil from the roots of the plant. this while take some time and you want to be thorough, you really don’t want to introduce any of the ferts, bugs, and other stuff in the soil. i use a hose outside and blast the plants, these plants are pretty hardy and can handle a little abuse. i also trim the roots before i start washing to make it easier to wash and to plant later. once inside i spray the plants and roots down with a mixture of 50% isopropyl alcohol/water mix and a little dish soap. i let the plants sit and evaporate. this is actually how i disinfect my house plants as well, it’s a great way to kill off fungus gnats and eggs in the soil. while the plants are sitting i made some planters to put them in. 1/2 of the plants will be going into a planter and the other 1/2 will be in another tank planted directly in the soil. i bought these little storage containers from target, it was a 4 pack for $2 i believe. i used a puncher to punch some holes to allow tank water and flow. i used my favorite substrate mix which is fluval stratum and fluorite (dark or red). i had the perfect spot in the back behind the driftwood that fit the planter perfectly. i use the planters to keep these plants from spreading too much. i didnt do that with the charlie mint and creeping jenny on the left and they’ve taken over the tank (not complaining). i wanted this grass to be a bit more contained. i encourage everyone to branch out from just your lfs and see what you can play with in your tanks. experimenting with plants and emersed plants is one of my favorite parts of this hobby.

Anyone familiar with 'egg crate' - the plastic grid stuff usually used as a light diffuser in office buildings? Well it also makes a great lid for tanks that need that air exchange but you don't want jumpers or other escapees (like my paludarium). Well the husband was working on cutting some egg crate this evening and he dropped the sheet. Did I mentioned it has sharp edges when cut? Maybe he'll remember to wear a shirt next time.

I think the bewilderment is more due to that biology is complicated and it takes time to get a handle on what is important to keeping fish alive than mastering the technology is some sort of new barrier that didn't exist in the past. I worked in a fish store in the mid 1970s and people then where just as bewildered and bedazzled by 1970s technology. I think your @KoolFish97 point about the reef keeping community is spot on. The technology to keep a coral reef in your living room is as much of a draw as are the corals. Certainly the fish in a modern reef aquarium are almost incidental. I have been researching aquarium keeping in the 1930s and they basically had all the same stuff we do now. Here is an ad from 84 years ago this month, the November 1936 issue of 'The Aquarium' magazine, offering glass internal heaters, linear piston air pumps, and even an early canister filter. There were also ads for brine shrimp eggs and rice fish! And my favorite, 'Radio-Activated' fish food (right above the ich cure 😉) Have things really changed. Personally, I think we are as gullible as we ever were. I know I am 😇

I moved my juvenile danio erythromicron into their permanent home today. What a process! Poor things. They're now a bit on edge but they seem to be okay so far in their new home. There are 11 but they spend a lot of time separately so it's impossible to get more than a couple in a pic. Cleaned out the quarantine tank and it is looking mighty empty. Part 2: went to LFS "just to look" and came home with 8 harlequin rasboras.

I'm glad you've enjoyed reading this! I can't wait to see the plants get established. It's hard to see but I have Christmas moss, Crypt. tropica, mixed Val (jungle + leopard, I have a bunch of very short plants with runners that I'd been growing in 5 gallon buckets for the last few months!), and 3 Amazon sword plantlets. I wanted to keep my plants as low maintenance as possible since trimming in a tank this tall is a chore! It's 31" tall and I'm only 65" tall, when I was putting the plants in initially I had to get up on the stand so that I could reach in the tank 😂 Current stock: 2 Bolivian rams (M) 1 BN pleco (M) 2 adult angelfish (1M1F) 1 juvenile angelfish (unsexed) 2 bettas (F, this is an experiment and there's a pretty good chance they're going to end up in a divided 10 gallon for my own peace of mind) I'm pretty happy with the fish that are in there right now, though once things settle I'm considering quarantining in some albino cories or a fourth angelfish (I think platinum would REALLY pop). It's a 50 gallon tank but the footprint is the same surface area as a 20H so I want to make sure there's enough horizontal space for everyone.

Rim survived a 24 hour fill test with everything but the fish! Everyone has been moved in. My angelfish pair are already cleaning the glass like crazy even though they spawned again 4 days ago. One of these days I'm going to have to attempt hatching their eggs, they spawn too frequently to ignore! Confessions of a bad aquarist: since I had to move my 29g and didn't have a place to put it until December (yay estate sales) the fish were actually in an 18 gallon storage container on my bathroom floor for awhile. Luckily I didn't have any casualties but it was nervewracking for me and my angels DEFINITELY have stress induced fin rot. The water is extremely stained with tannins and I'm filtering out some fine particles, hopefully my bloom doesn't last for too long since I'm using the same filter media that was in their previous tanks.

I moved my juvenile danio erythromicron into their permanent home today. What a process! Poor things. They're now a bit on edge but they seem to be okay so far in their new home. There are 11 but they spend a lot of time separately so it's impossible to get more than a couple in a pic. Cleaned out the quarantine tank and it is looking mighty empty.

I agree. I disagree with all of this. IMO its a big jump to say this is probably a swim bladder issue, we should know water parameters, diet, tank conditions before making a judgment like that. Aeration would definitely help, they also have gills and if it's on the bottom that's the only way it is getting oxygen..

Thank you so much everyone! I read these responses as I went to sleep last night and I slept so much better knowing it will all be okay. I love this forum. Thanks again!

This makes me think of the commercial where you tell Alexa to fill your cup, which just so happens to be conveniently placed under the faucet, with 8 oz cold water. If only she could do water changes.

With such light stocking your cycle probably won't crash if you just switch them out without seeding the new filter, but I'd run them together for a week anyway to be safe.

I would leave both filters running longer the better. Leave then both at least for month then remove old one. But again longer the better.

Cooking, hiking/backpacking, video games (mostly Destiny 2 on Xbox if anyone else plays), knife collecting and knife sharpening. I used to also enjoy gardening and sailing, but we moved into our house to late to plant this year and I don't have a boat right now. After we finish the work we want to do on the house I'll start saving for a boat. I've only purchased one knife in the last year and it was a beater for work because I spend all my budget on this hobby and I haven't had a weekend to go backpacking since my 2 year old was born so I'm not sure I can still say I'm in those hobbies.

I draw/paint, and sail--when covid doesn't stop all the races--and I loved to travel...when we could. I can do most of the crafting type hobbies, and I used to garden, which translates into a thriving indoor jungle now that I am in the city. I am also a flitting butterfly like @RovingGinger, I hold on to a hobby until I have achieved a level of competence and then when it stops being challenging I generally lose interest. I have been getting into backpacking and that has been a stand in for the sailing and traveling, but I just lost my backpacking/hiking buddy, so learning to go it solo is both scary and awesome. I worry less about slowing anyone down now, and I am pretty good at not getting lost. I mostly just worry about getting injured somewhere alone. @Daniel's lab is almost better tricked out than my bench at work! Bacterial genetics are super fascinating, and molecular biology (synthetic biology) was my original career path until I shifted to a slightly different direction.

did an emergency tank move lol, i think my bettas accidentally bred

lol, reminds me of this quote @Streetwise “Engineering is the art of modelling materials we do not wholly understand, into shapes we cannot precisely analyse so as to withstand forces we cannot properly assess, in such a way that the public has no reason to suspect the extent of our ignorance.”

This one from Reddit gave me a chuckle:

Oh these species profiles are gold, I want to see more! Also the Princess Bride ones hold a special place of 'aww!' For me.

I would leave them in the water especially if that is where the plant put them.

As pointed out above, plants typically don't like salt, and I have found out over the years that guppy grass seems to be pretty sensitive to salt. I would pull the goby out and put into a separate tank and treat him, make sure he's eating good.

The purple is what is called coralline algae, it's something saltwater and reef hobbyists strive to get on the rocks in their aquariums. There are companies that make "fake" live rock for the saltwater hobby and they also color the material they use to make it appear as if it is covered in the coralline algae. By looking at this piece I am going to guess that this is what you have, as most natural live rock has a lot of small holes and crevices, whereas this piece is pretty smooth. Now, someone could have taken a piece of rock and thrown in a SW tank and it grew, so what I would do is put some vinegar on an area, let sit for a short time and see if it softens it up that you can scrape it off.

Does anyone know why aquarium co op does not carry fish nets? I always need quality fish nets and I end up getting them from my LFS because the co op does not carry them. I love the co op and would support them any way I could. I think fish nets would be a great addition to the website.

Plants typically do not like salt. You will run the risk of your plants suffering.

The anubias and Java Fern are extremely slow growers which also means they pull nutrients from the water very slowly and don't even really need ferts, the swords are primarily root feeding so they aren't taking much of the easy green, that leaves you with the Monte Carlo to use up all that nutrients you're putting in with the easy green. You're most likely over dosing the easy green. The dosing on the bottle is just a general starting point for moderately planted tanks. I'm pretty sure @Irene did a video on how to find the proper dosing for your tank recently but I can't find it. Basically after a water change test your water. Record your Nitrate level. Add easy green to increase your nitrate by 20 (1 squirt per 10 gallons). Test every day recording the nitrate level until it returns to the original number. You now know how long it takes your tank to consume a dose of easy green. I also like to keep my nutrient levels even so once I figured out how long my tank takes to consume a dose. I spread that dose out over that amount of time. For example rather than 3 pumps every 6 days I'd do 1 pump every other day. I feel like that also helps prevent algae by eliminating extra nutrients in the water but I have nothing scientific to back it up with.

I think my organic soil from the local composter comes in with beneficial bacteria.

All things outdoors, but as far as my obsessions. Plants and aquaponics (kind of fish related), I have chickens and quail for eggs, I guess health in general. So mostly keeping things and myself alive and thriving consumes a decent amount of my time. I'm extremely passionate about living soil and the carbon/nutrient cycles work! Phasing out mono-culture, and normal conventional farming with salt base synthetics is key to eliminating many of our current problems.

Would it be possible to use an airstone or sponge filter to create a standing wave a certain distance from the waterfall, which would act as a limiter for floating plants?

Finally got a decent photo

I suspect that some may even be present in the water from the tap. No water is 100% bacteria clean to my knowledge.

Depends on the substrate I guess, but if you are rinsing as recommended then there will still be bacteria. There are some you do not clean, Eco-Complete being one of them.

I'm into blacksmithing but havent gotten into it too much as I'm still setting up a blacksmith shop with my dad rn, I also really enjoy my job as a painter, I mean it is a job but i still kinda view it as a sorta hobby, and then i also am really into video games and collecting them. Those are really the three main hobbies besides fishkeeping, but I also love music and playing the guitar and piano, enjoy skateboarding, enjoy occasionally making lego creations like spaceships, and a lot of other smaller things that theres too many to list. Oh it should also be noted that I also like land inverts, and currently have isopods and slugs and had a mantis but it recently died, I also want a jumping spider. Anyways I enjoy too many things and I'm just glad my dad let's me indulge in them, granted hes definitely into the blacksmithing a lot and I'm paying for everything, I mean we're going 50/50 on the blacksmith shop, but hes even willing to let me turn part of the basement into a fish room once I get the money.

I am still struggling to get a good shot of my Killifish pair, and any shot of my SAE, but here are some photos from my 16 bow: I am trying out some Easy Carbon to treat this monster I pulled out: And unrelated, my Betta tonight, while I try to dodge the glare:

Bass fishing.

@Daniel Thanks! Very good response and explanation. Yea, I was thinking back on the first aquarium that I established with no added organisms, didn't add plants or anything. It took a good 2 months to get good hold... thinking back I should have reached out for some established media. It is a bacterial world, our bodies wouldn't function the same. We cant even digest food without them. @KBOzzie59 I think hands makes sense. But depending on the decor they may have some as well. Most substrate is intert, then we clean the heck out of it, so id imagine that has to reestablish if it had any to begin with.

Showing off a wide variety of attempted skills is not really a match for showing off a mastered skill, to @Daniel’s point. But I kinda like my patchwork resume, and I usually bring bits and pieces with me even after I’m not obsessed anymore. I don’t know if this fully falls under hobby, but I was briefly part of a community devoted to figuring out the healthiest hair care for long term growth. That community had a term I think this one would resonate with - “benign neglect”.

Dirty hands, substrate (yes even new), aquarium tools, plants, wood, decorations, fish.

Danios

These juvenile Super Reds are the best for taking photos of, because they actually sit still!

Apistogramma nijsseni in non-breeding colors