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Not quite fry yet.

White Cloud Eggs

I just discovered how cool sparkling gouramis are. Very inquisitive, lots of personality and quite undemanding.

I thought it would be fun to have a thread for sharing interesting things that are not aquarium related, but don’t need a thread of their own. Here is one. In Corvus Oscen’s livestream today, he was talking about some of the electrical work he was doing at the Co-Op, and there was some chat about other electrical topics. I was reminded about something I saw on TV, when ESPN was doing their annual ESPN 8 ‘The Ocho’ day, where they showcase niche sports and competitions, like lawnmower racing, cornhole, dodgeball, etc. The highlight was the IDEAL Electrician’s National Championship. The competitors work in identical framed structures with no walls, so you can see everything they are doing. It was really cool to watch.

@Streetwise Ha! I see your white cloud eggs and I raise you...ghost shrimp eggs!

If I could only keep one fish, it would be a Uaru amphiacanthoides. This specimen was wild collected from the Rio Tapajos, Brazil. I maintain several aquariums with U. amphiacanthoides including one breeding pair (that eat their eggs constantly). Cheers!

I was scooping out duckweed from my greenwater/sparkling gourami aquarium this week and I noticed every scoop had multiple sparkling gourami fry in it. This one was hunting a cyclops.

You guys, I'm dying over these floating wreaths... my LFS is gettin' festive over here! I'm a rookie in the hobby so if these are common excuse my excitement but enjoy with me.

Always impressed with the speed of shipping for the co-op! Ordered Monday, and recieved Thursday. From Washington to Florida, that's good time! By comparison, I placed an order that's coming from Michigan that is supposed to be USPS express and.... well they think it'll be here Saturday (tomorrow). But tracking says it still hasn't left Michigan... so I'm doubtful. Cory do you bribe USPS with Reeses to get them to be so fast? My order came in two boxes, the moss bridges and stickers in one smaller package with lots of padding, which was great, as it ensured the bridges arrived unbroken. The moss bridges arrived in nicely sealed ziploc bags wrapped in damp paper towels, resulting in the moss still being wet and green and happy. They went right into two of my tanks, where the inhabitants quickly took to them. They're a big hit! The larger box contained a myriad of other supplies, including new foods for me to try with my fish. We'll see what they do and don't like. All of it arrived nicely packed and secured. Nothing crushed or damaged.

I think using anesthesia on fish is more stressful then using salt especially on guppies. Just don't do that.

@Eden this is my 40 breeder. It’s stocked with Panda Corys, Kribs, Von Rio Tetras, and Brilliant Rasboras. There’s lots of movement throughout the tank and all the species are very hardy.

Posting again because I realized my two pinoys spawned. I only noticed because Relomia was hanging out in the corner for awhile. These two spawn like crazy but I haven't had any success getting the babies to wiggles. Any advice on pulling the eggs (they're on the silicone seal) and what to hatch them in? I have deli containers and methylene blue that I've attempted to hatch in the last time they spawned however none of the eggs hatched. They're definitely fertilized as I've caught them in the act a few times.

I am loving this thread! I will try and get some macro shots of my angelfish fry later today. 📷

Today I did the first water change (mainly to reduce tannins as light was no longer reaching the bottom of the tank). In 2 days if my nitrates don't rise I will dose Easy Green for the first time. Only my moss feeds from the water column so there is a reasonable chance that I won't need to dose liquid ferts for awhile. For transparency, I did turn on the lamp after doing the water change! The water is still VERY dark, I don't want to give anyone unrealistic expectations haha. My platinum angel is doing well in quarantine and has managed to put on some weight and the fin damage hasn't advanced so I'm calling it a win. It's currently on a diet of BBS and Vita Chem dosed to the water column. I'm considering picking up a second at the same store next Monday/Tuesday but I'm not certain. I'm waiting to dose meds after I make my decision on another angel or not. My main concern is having to relocate them to another tank (currently I have 3 tanks that are not set up but I'm unable to because furniture has been coming and going).

I have been told before that it is not uncommon to loose female kuhli loaches the first or second time they become full of eggs in home aquaria because they don't spawn in home aquaria. Because whatever conditions they require for breeding are not met, they never release the eggs, become egg bound and eventually develop sepsis and die because of this. If they would release the eggs, even unfertilized, they would be alright. Which seems to be what happens in the females who do live a long time in home aquaria - they learn to release their eggs even unfertilized. Now I found this to be a rather strange thing. Why would a female hold onto eggs until it literally killed her? I still don't have a good answer as to whether or not that is true, or just some wives tale. But, of all the kuhlis I have lost within the first couple months from the LFS that weren't already clearly starved or diseased to a point I couldn't save them, have all been females. Egg heavy females. Necropsy every time has found them to be full of green eggs.

Look at the dorsal fin of the gourami when you are at your LFS. The males have typically slightly longer dorsals that come to a distinct point. The females will have dorsals that are more rounded at the tip and shorter. Likewise, the anal fin in males will be pointed, the females will have rounded anal fins. Its best to compare between the same species because while this holds true for pretty much all gourami, the level of length and point varies between species. Also, the males are typically brighter in species like dwarfs or honey, but in species like three spots, paradise or sparkling I haven't noticed any appreciable color differences. Now most LFS almost never stock female dwarf gourami because they are not really colorful pretty fish like the males. But you can usually find males and females of other gourami species at LFS. ~~~ My order from Aquariuam CoOp came in today! I ordered a couple moss bridges amongst other things, and one went into my spiny eel/weird tank. It was quickly the hottest new piece of real estate in the tank. The eels took no time in checking it out. But then this group of eels has been extremely inquisitive as soon as they got over their initial 'ah we're being moved!' freakout. Butch the whisker shrimp also decided that he wanted this to be his new homestead claim. He's long since lost the fight to Cassidy (the other whisker shrimp) who has claimed the bottom of the pre filter sponge as her own. The eels and the whisker shrimp rarely pay each other any mind. They frequently sit on each other when there's food to pile around. Who's on top doesn't matter. I also picked up a 30 gallon tank with filter/lid/light/air pump/heater/food/a whole bag of plastic plants for $20 yesterday. Gotta figure out what I'm gonna do with that now.

@Nataku That was amazing advice!!! Thank you so much!! I will be taking all of that advice. I also appreciate everyone else that gave great advice!! I do have water lettuce now, and yes, The betta will be in there until January. He will go in a smaller tank that the students will help me put together. Ill teach them how to cycle it and take care of it. Then he will go home with a lucky student at the end of the year. My fourth grade winner last year got Casper the platinum crown tail. He was bright white with black eyes. It's been a way for me to keep the fish hobby alive! 😊

@Maggie Maybe today is 'Where do babies come from day?' Eggs Frisky teenagers When a Daddy fish really, really loves a mommy fish....

There might be disease, but why did the fish get sick? It usually starts with stress from poor water conditions. Think about it this way, in a household of people who are overweight, on a poor diet, and do not exercise (which could be my house come to think of it), if several people were to develop diabetes and heart disease, they might benefit from medications. But what would really help everyone in the house would be a healthier environment.

Odd, I thought I had done an introduction post but not seeing one anywhere so must be my memory going on me 🙂 Howdy all, I am Ken from Lewiston Idaho. I have been into fish keeping since a young age after discovering my parents old tanks/gear in the family basement. I have made several mistakes over the years (an Oscar and a 12" black shark in a 29G) and have even learned from a few of them. I took a several (20+) years hiatus after joining the army and then after working a job with a "Cory" schedule and a 3 hour round trip daily commute. Now I have a "part time" job (only 40 hours a week!) and find I have way more time to actually enjoy the finer things in life, time with my family, fly fishing and aquariums! About the time my daughter left for college I found myself with space and the itch to get back into the hobby. What started as a "trust me honey, just one 29 gallon tank" somehow managed to grow to around 30 tanks and taking over the old family room downstairs. While trying to figure out how to get more tanks crammed into the family room I stumbled across a random fish nerd on youtube that was showing how he was setting up his fishroom. Cinderblocks and 2x4s? I can do that! Once the room was setup I was headed to Bellingham to visit my daughter and figured I may as well stop in and visit that youtube nerd's store in Edmonds. There we picked up Gerald the Schoudenti puffer, after that my wife's only rule is at least one tank always has to have a puffer in it 🙂 Gerald has since passed away after ~5 years in my care (I will always hope it wasn't my lack of skill). I enjoy keeping mostly smaller peaceful fish, a few guppies/endlers but mostly kerri tetras, rasboras, white clouds, and such. I have met some very nice folks along the way and love the community that Cory has built, turns out a lot of us get along well with that randon youtube fish nerd 😄

Yes they can change within a day and they definitely trend from day to day. If you follow the trends, sometimes you can head off a problem before it happens. Here is an aquarium of mine that is currently building a population of beneficial bacteria, or cycling as it is called. The bacteria population isn't large enough yet to handle the waste produced by the fish. How do I know this? My ammonia and nitrites are a little high as seen here: By knowing yourself what is happening you can decide when to do a water change, not just change according to a calendar. It is like putting gas in your car. You wouldn't put gas in you care only on Saturday. You would put gas in your car when the fuel ran low. The more you learn, the more you can be in control. If I depended on my local PetSmart (which has good knowledgeable people working there), I would only be reacting to problems after the problems occurred.

Just my personal opinion but it sounds like you have a very happy tank. Given how well everything is going I wouldn't add anything else. It reminds me of the law of diminishing returns. At first each new addition means a lot. But after a certain point, you could add a large number of new fish and it wouldn't make the aquarium significantly more enjoyable. Hey, I am with you on this. My typically mode is to dig in and go fast! But sitting here at a keyboard 2500 miles away giving advice to someone else, it is easy for me to say 'go slow'. I am not sure I would listen to me if the roles were reversed. But going slow it probably the right thing to do.

@Eden If your tank is cycled, I would feel comfortable adding 2 - 4 fish every few days so as to give the beneficial bacteria time to bring their population in line with each increased level of nitrogen the new fish will cause. If you tank is not cycled yet, then it is too soon to add any fish. You can tell if you tank is cycled by monitoring ammonia, nitrites, etc. with something like an API test kit. I too thought I wanted hatchet fish for the top because you got have something for the top, right? Well, in the end I didn't care for the hatchet fish. They just didn't have much personality. Eventually I put in Endler guppies and they were the perfect top fish for me. How long has your tank been set up? And be careful with adding the maximum number of fish that could possibly be squeezed into one aquarium. With fish, less is more. A few healthy fish bring far more enjoyment than a large number of sick fish. It would be more exciting for your 4th graders to learn about the wonders of aquatic biology than the sad reality of competition and death. My teacher's aquarium help set me on the path that has led to a lifetime of enjoying tropical fish. I cherish the memories of a nicely planted tank with frisky colorful guppies cavorting around and the pretty little school of neon tetras.

CPD’s seem to be a common favorite so far. I’m liking this. The nano side of fish keeping ice really found a passion in something about having those schooling fish that just make a tank for me. Just wish CPD’s didn’t break the bank to get a decent school of them haha

Lego and Hamilton at a renaissance fair. Lego was born without front legs. Lego relaxing at home Our first cat Dexter. We found him abandoned in a park when he was 6 months old. Oliver, adopted from a shelter. Sir Bors, foster failure. Merlin, brother to Bors. Another foster failure Mama Kitty. She had a litter of kittens under a client's porch. Her kittens got adopted but she was too skittish for the shelter so she stayed with us. Beeeeeeeeees!

Doing an out cross right now, so their babies will be old enough by spring to be cross back

Least Killifish Ember Tetras Scarlet Badis

Celstial Pearl Danio Dwarf Corydoras Otocinlus Haven't had clown killies but I will add them at some point, they may make the list.

Ah ha......okay. My well water is crazy low pH, hardness, and TDS. I use just a few dashes of baking soda to add some carbonates to the water when cycling a new setup. Bacteria loves carbonates. Use a small amount of baking soda to get your pH up to, say, around 6.5ish or so. Then focus on the biology of your tank. Dial in the hardness etc.... at a later time.

@Cory Turns out I am turning 50 on Monday and evidently my family thinks they need to buy me crap, so figured they may as well buy me all of the Coop crap 😉 Is there any way to email them a link to my wish list? How else are they going to know I want a khuli loach sticker and more root tabs hehe. If the site can't do it no worries, I suppose I can always just talk to these people they are either my wife, daughter, father, or mother, etc. 😄

I purchased some nickel sized discus in July on Aquabid. They are 6 inches now.

This time of the year my #1 water test has been temperature. Our temperature crashed from the 70s to the 30s in about 2-3 days. I was so busy winter proofing the house I hadn't noticed my fishroom heater was still turned down for summer and several tanks were in the low 70s to mid 60's. This definitely led to a change in activity and feeding vigor. Long story short, while checking NO2/3 levels also take a look at temperature as winter may have hit your tank as well.

Cyclops are a much prized, first class fish food. I think almost every body of natural freshwater has cyclops in it, so even a drop of water introduced (when adding plants, shrimp, snails, etc.) to the aquarium could contain either adults or their eggs. Pruning away parts of the ecosystem of an aquarium leaving only the fish is probably counterproductive to the aquarium and the fish. Sure, I will remove dragonfly larva from my aquarium, but most of the other interesting biology that spontaneously shows up is likely beneficial or at worst neutral.

unless you have a huge amount of algae that many otocinclus could be a problem. Other than that sounds great!!

@ADMWNDSR83 I always go for beautiful Bettas. It is by far my favorite fish for a smaller tank, but my suggestion is that you do something that you love! 🙂

I moved my Apex pH and Temp probes back to my Aksoll 20.

Thank you Brian! For the response!! I will do a water change tomorrow when I get home from work! I was scared to do a water change because the water looks like it started up cycling again but I’ll do a water change tomorrow!

@Cory has a video on you tube about this very subject. The key is to breed what people want most not necessarily what’s unique or what you want I have a mated pair of oscars they breed twice a month but have only let them successfully raise young once cause the demands just not there for oscars

No, I'd do the water change now. In reality, it probably doesn't really matter but for some reason I'd feel better getting some of those chemicals out of there. IMO, do a 50% water change and leave the tank alone for a few days. Let the tank drift to wherever it's going to drift to for a few days then retest your parameters. Before you add anything new just update this thread with the results after a few days and go from there. It's really not very complicated. You will be fine, don't worry. Good folks here to help you.

If I'm not mistaken, those additives are made up of salts. Salts dissolve, and increase your TDS. The only effective way to remove them for home aquariums is through waters changes. Just a quick tip, focus on cycling your tank biologically before you mess with the chemicals. Going back and forth with acids and bases (alkaline buffers) is like playing mad chemist and usually results in less than favorable outcomes. What type of fish are you planning on keeping? Plants in the plan??

Thank you very much for the nice words. I'm happy to keep fishes like these C. kottae and others that are near extinct in the wild. As much as I do like thinking that I'm helping "preserve" the species, in reality the best way to help keep these fishes from extinction is to preserve their natural habitat. Simple measures can and should be put in place in their native waters that would far surpass any efforts put forth by home hobbyists, but those countries, typically, are not interested in anything but making money. It's such a shame. Meanwhile, I'll be happy to post up some new pix of these soon......they are growing like weeds! Cheers!!

the smaller lord of aquariums (on the right) stole the pictured filter cartridge from the box in a cabinet and has determined it belongs in this box instead. Why? I do not know. Neither does other, larger lord of aquariums. Animals are wacky.

Just one more thing under gravel filtration offers much more surface area for biological filtration than a sponge. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

The short answer is yes you will. Sponge filters are great biological filters but not so much on the mechanical filtration so there’s still going to be stuff in the gravel. So you’re going to have to do tank maintenance regardless of the type of filtration you use.

Yeah the 120 used to be discus several years back, but I found them to be to skittish for a living room tank. The rainbows don't panic when a visitor walks up to the glass to look at them, the discus occasionally would literally bounce off of the sides when not approached slowly. Not sure who was more stressed when they were in the living room, the discus or me 😉

I wouldn't worry about the pH of your water if you are getting some quality tank raised discus. The only time when I kept discus that I worried about messing with the pH was when I first got in my wild caught ones and when I was wanting to spawn them and the domestics I had. Otherwise, they lived in my normal tap water, which had a pH of 7.2-7.6. In a 75 gallon, you could keep a nice group of 6 comfortably. Good luck and be sure to post some pictures when you get them in.

So, these guys grow SUPER fast.... here's an update of this little guy 2 weeks later... Apparently can't take a picture of a different animal without something fish related in the background. Newly painted with fresh siliconed glass braces for corner matten filter 10 gallon tank....NERM

A Wincy burrito.

Go with the inexpensive version. The set used for grainsize measurements will have finer differences than what you need. ☺