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So it appears since I’ve started these conversations things are looking up. There haven’t been anymore deaths yet, and today there’s about 4 or 5 shrimp that are very visible as they appear to be constantly searching for something, and also a huge black shrimp that I haven’t seen for a while hiding under a leaf! feels quite positive but I don’t want to jinx it

Couldn't get any good photo of him...he is 6month and from a very small batch i bred this year

Toothpaste is a very bad idea since it contains all sorts of other things that are not likely to be good for fish or plants. You actually can use aquarium salt (never iodized table salt) at a low dose, 1 tablespoon per 10 gallons. That dose should not hurt even fairly sensitive plants and some species will appreciate it. Or you could move to Texas where we have liquid rock coming from the taps. 😝 Guppies are quite adaptable and I wouldn’t think you would need to do anything different with a TDS of 120.

My last order was acknowledged received by the shipper about 12 hours after the order was placed. Order was placed after 5:00 pm on a FRIDAY EVENING! I didn’t expect to hear anything other than the automated “We received your order” email until Monday. Nope, already at the shipper on a Saturday. Phenomenal service!

It's amazing and awesome that you traveled so far to attend this event, meet fans, chat with other fish nerds, etc. Much appreciated. I live an hour away, so attending is kind of a no-brainer.

Completely agree with everything from @Colu - spot on as usual. Here’s hoping for a bruise because a bruise should clear fairly quickly.

looks like hemorrhaging under the skin more likely to be an injury swim into something in the tank or got trapped there's always a possibility something else is going on like a growth under skin what I would do is treat with maracyn2 active ingredient minocycline has anti-inflammatory properties and add a small amount of aquarium salt 1 table spoon for 10 gallons that will aid Gill function and add essential electrolytes aid an extra air stone give an update if your seeing no improvement after a course of maracyn2

Day 12 Still need more plants but have added 18 coop plants plus something like 20 from other tanks to this "pond" All four cross rivers have posed tonight a bit. They ate pretty well yesterday. Their demeanor is more like fsirly interactive bull sharks in my set up. They rexognize me but when not full they are a little "sassy" and when hungry and food arrives they will chase and defend their meal. So far the plants work well and we have figured out our spots in the colony dynamic. I even caught two sleeping next to eaxh other this early am (no photo unfortunately)

I just placed an order this afternoon (like 2 hrs ago) and it's already been packed and shipped (well, a tracking number was provided-likely not out the door yet). Where else can you get service like that? I'm amazed every single time I order from them....

Hey everyone! So, I’ve had a marble angelfish who I dearly love growing out in a 29 gallon for the past year along with a Pearl gourami, a male/female pair of bolivian rams, and 8 panda Cories. All of these fish were tiny a year ago and I always planned this tank as a grow out for them all. Everyone gets along awesomely and the rams have bred for me multiple times. My plan was always to upgrade them to a 75 (my favorite tank size) but life happens and money is just so tight these days so I am moving home for the next year or so. Due to space in the new living situation, the best I could shake was a 40 breeder. its been set up now for over a month and ive been slowly planting it with trimmings from the currently heavily planted 29. anyway, since this new 40 breeder isnt as large as I originally hoped the next tank would be, im curious to hear your opinions on stocking options. If you were me, would you just move the existing fish over with no additions or could i get away with turning my pair of bolivian rams into a small group? or do i have enough space to add a school of larger bodied tetra species or peaceful barb like cherry barbs? I know the height of the 40B is pushing it with how tall angels get, but its the best i could do for now. last thing I want to do is something that would disrupt the harmony that has been shown over the last year so if you think im better off keeping the stock as it currently is then please let me know. i still have one more month before the move, and I will continue planting and fertilizing the 40B so that when I move the fish, there will be an abundance of plant life (a whole bunch of Bacopa caroliniana, as well as italian val, anubias nana, dwarf aquarium lilies, and Amazon frogbit) so that all these plants will aid the beneficial bacteria in processing ammonia in this new set up once fish are added. I just want to do what’s best for my current fish as I’ve grown really attached to them. Give me your thoughts on this tank size and if it gives me room to make additions or if I’d be better off keeping the stock the same as it is now and letting them continue to grow. sorry for the long winded post, and I appreciate your feedback!! -Chris

I've ordered on a Sunday afternoon and had it packed and already shipped by first thing Monday morning. I'm shocked every time it happens!

I have the same sort of predicament. 😞 I like the tumbler and ziss breeder because they both can be used inside the tank with the lids closed. For some reason I have some fish that love to jump and whatever box I end up using, I need to have them covered. In the tank, I think it's a bit more secure as well. For eggs only, I think using the tumbler is great. Then transfer that to whatever box/method you like. If you don't have a tumbler, then something like the ziss is nice (or the hang on marina/fluval ones) because they have the ability to circulate air. The "floating style" ones and mesh styles ones have their use, but I just prefer something a little bit more technically advanced. It makes it easier to clean. For most fish eggs you can add some neocaridina shrimp to the tank and they are used to keep the eggs clean. Keeping them in the box, goes back to that lid situation. Moss is also a big key point for me as well. The powdered food sticks to the moss and then the fry can graze on that. It works really well.

The two clubs I belong to Cichlid Club of York and Aquarium Club of Lancaster County host the Keystone Clash so that makes it all the more fun. If you got to attend share your fun please! I went with @Elodie Rose 🤗 @tolstoy21 brought me a stunning trio of Apistogramma Trifasciata. Amazingly healthy and well conditioned. Packed expertly in the box! Thank you 🙏 Some great folks were there. I started bagging everything right after my shower at 4AM 😲 Long day. BE KIND It was a hectic morning and I did not realize I never even brushed my hair after my shower 🤣 Father fish was there. Super nice guy! He bought some of my grindal worms off Jen at Smallworld Aquatics who I wholesale all my critters to. Jason from Prime Time Aquatics was there. One of the nicest people I ever met. Very down to earth. Dan from Dans fish was there. We talked about pricing and shipping some of my critters wholesale to him. @Elodie Rose got to chat with him about some fish she had previously purchased from him. Outstanding guy. Really lives up to his reputation of promoting small hobbyists. Got to say hi to @Bentley Pascoe Super nice as always So many great YouTube folks and awesome vendors! @Odd Duck I thought of you the entire time I shopped Jens massive selection of stunning moss. Picked up a few plants from Silvermoon Aquatics Some interesting wood from Jesse at Just One More Fish m. A few other plants from some vendors I did not know I took a bunch of photos of the aquascaping competition. Very interesting ideas. There was also I stand with fantastic terrarium stuff with water falls. For some reason I can’t upload those photos. I’ll work on it.

I had some friends attend and they really had a ton of fun!

I just recently started breeding these as well, so my answers will be those of a Corydora newbie. But this has been my process and so far it has been working . . . . After collecting the eggs I put them in a specimen container (aka catch cup) with tank water and 2 drops of methylene blue. I keep a gently running air stone in the container to provide circulation. After a couple days I begin monitoring the container for hatched fry. If I find any, I siphon those out with a pipette (one I cut a bit off the end of so the opening is larger) and then transfer these into a breeder box I have in the parent's tank. I did try the egg tumbler method, but I am finding I am having better success with the container and meth blue. I'm also trying to hatch them in half quart mason jars, since I need my catch cups for their original purpose. I am also going to start using Alder cones instead of meth blue, as per the advice of Robert McLure given in th presentation he gave for the Aquarium Co-op Club. Anyway, just sharing my neophyte experience for what has worked for me over the past few week. Still growing out maybe 2 dozen fry right now, so I guess we'll see how it all turns out.

Bulbs give "birth" to plants, you can then detach the plant and it will birth more plants. Here is my dwarf lilly bulb she's on her 5th&6th plant. When they do stop producing SOMETIMES drying them out and rehydrating will trigger them to produce again.

Indeed it will and another plant may emerge from the bulb given time. If another plant does not emerge from the bulb, toss the bulb and in time the existing plant may form another bulb.

I met with the bio teacher today on her tank. I have a few projects with this project though. The first is lighting as i need a good light to grow plants,and the second is power. There are 2outlets nearby but they are usually in use for experiments and a power strip isnt a good option. So the project is changing. Instead of a fish tank in a 20long, it will be a very little organism tank in a 15. Why the 15? Its right in front of a window so we should get good green water and algae growth. The tank will be stocked with little inhabitants like detritus worms and copepods, and maybe mini ramshorns. I think a micro-ecosystem like this will be pretty cool, and the bio teacher agrees. Especially when you think about the coolness factor of pulling out a cup of water, sticking it under a microscope and seeing so much life.

No new babies sadly…but I did order a bag of peat along with my sisters birthday present: Cecil the cherry tree:

I wonder how far you could take that with guppies 😅?

@HoosierJeff I hope that didn't come off as rude because it definitely wasn't meant to be, my 3 month old was not allowing me to be overly articulate 😂

This was my first Keystone Clash. I have to say, this event was a TON of fun. Lots of wonderful folks made it out, tons of small creators (myself included!) got to spend time meeting people, meeting each other, checking out some amazing vendors and wonderful talks. I love the social side of conventions, getting to meet people, learn what fish they love, just babble a bit and nerd out was wonderful. I'm pretty sure I helped sell fish for a couple people because I wouldn't stop talking about "Did you see those Bulgarian Green Angels?!" or "Did you see the person with the Red Empresses? They have better color stressed than any other Red Empress I've seen!" or "Go see the buce booth! His prices are the best deal I've ever seen!" Events like this are what make my entire year. Seeing people I only met previously at Triple Crown, catching up since then, meeting other new people. Aquarium Domain was there, sitting with him and Jason from Prime Time to just babble fish late Friday night was perfect. I could gush more and more about this, but I suppose that would ruin a video 🤣

The Keystone Clash with @Guppysnail was tons of fun! Really had a fantastic time. I’d been nervous about it, but all the vendors, guests, and really just everyone, was super kind, friendly, and approachable. @GuppySnail found me a lovely little baby GBR, Simon the Second, so that River doesn’t get lonely. He’s in a 5 gal QT tank for a bit, but to say that I am thrilled (and also somewhat terrified) to have him is an understatement! Least Killis! That was one of the fish I was specifically looking for, they’re the smallest livebearer, AND they’re native, AND I found out that @Guppysnail had had a colony and that Jen of Small Aquatics had the remainder! Six teeeeeny little least killis came home with me! Jen is such a sweetheart, and wow, did she work the heck out of that booth. I was able to help a tiny bit, and actually got to wait on Father Fish and sold him some grindal worms! Along with micro worms and banana worms. What a sweet guy! He’s lovely in person, and it was great to buy some of his supplement without paying the shipping for it. I joined the Maryland Aquatic Club!!! Suuuper happy about that! And I got some peanut beetles from them, to try out and see what I think. The neighboring booth had an aquarist from Tennessee who’d caught some critters, which of course came home with me, to get a pickle jar of their own to see just what they are and how they grow. Dan from Dansfish, who I am a huuuge fan of, was super nice and fun to talk to! I mentioned the goodeids I had, and it turns out the redtails aren’t eiseni, they’re doadroi! (Sp - I’ll check on that) So I need to correct my logs with that name, they were identified by Gary Lang. Dan is just the sweetest guy! His commitment to shipping healthy fish is fantastic, and while some heroes don’t hold up when meeting them, Dan from Dansfish really did. Delighted to have met him! (Thank you @Guppysnail, lol, I was too star-struck to approach him on my own!) Jason from Prime Time Aquatics was one of the judges for the fish show, and he was super nice as well! Didn’t see him until we were on the way out, but it was cool to meet him just the same! (But by that point it had been many hours, and I was pretty tired/overheated.) Okay the heat. Was nearly unbearable. Since it was chilly and rainy outside, I wore jeans. BIG MISTAKE. Don’t do it. Wear shorts. And sandals. So hot, omg. But that’s what the fish needed, so the people just got to sweat! Heh. It was tough to handle, but I wouldn’t have changed it. Those fish in bags needed all the help they could get! Jen from Small World Aquatics sold me a 2nd pair of the gorgeous violet mosaics she has. Violetta is growing, and becoming one of the most beautiful guppies I’ve ever seen. Victor and Victoria joined them yesterday! Ten or so blue dream shrimp joined the growing colony that I am attempting to build, from two different vendors. I didn’t know that I was joining one of the clubs that hosts the Keystone Clash!! Next year I really want to be more involved and help out more. Jen was very kind and let me keep all my stuff at her booth, and I retreated to the chair beside her booth a LOT when I was tired and overheated. She works HARD, I was glad to help out a tiny bit. Hopefully I can learn enough by next year to be a bit more useful while I enjoy the Clash! Because that was incredible, and I’m DEFINITELY going next year. Also came home with tons of plants and mosses, which I’ll have to take pictures of later. Fantastic experience. The fish community is so welcoming and wonderful! ❤️

Here are my findings from starting and being pretty successful with my shrimp breeding project. I started this breeding project before my new job in the month I took off. I wanted to see if I could start breeding similar color strains and crossing them to get some interesting color variations within that spectrum ie Orange Sakura x Pumpkin Spice(both orange spectrum). This is how I set up each tank... All are in 5 gal tanks... prob could improve those to 10 gal unless you want to do frequent water changes. I do them 2x a week, most tanks just need water top off but some require change of 50% or more due to the water becoming super cloudy. Substrate I started first 3 tanks with Fluval Stratum, but due to its dustiness in the start I moved to Aqueon Shrimp/Plant base. Its way better at keeping clean and during water changes/additions the water doesn't become cloudy or murky. Besides this substrate all have a AOC sponge filter inside, small size. I stocked each one with the following: Tourmaline & Red Bee Balls(Mineral balls), Almond & Jackfruit leaves(boil & let sit for 2 days to get a nice film on them, the shrimp love it!), Alder & Filao cones(Again boil & sit), Cholla wood pieces for little hotels(3 inch pieces again boil & sit), Catappa Bark(SURPRISE! Boil & sit) and all have at least 1 Marimo Moss ball in them. All have either additional Java Moss or Subwassertang inside as well. I have including feeding dishes which I alternate with dehydrated veggies of differing types that I get from my shrimp lollies guy from Etsy, canned(NO SALT ADDED) green beans & shrimp food alternating between Sera Shrimp Food & Pollen Granules. Lastly...3 of my tanks have exploded with success, 1 is close to those numbers while the other 2, one is thriving now and adding new babies with the last one having dead loss for some reason(I cannot explain it). 3 thriving(in video below...ENJOY!): Orange Sakura x Pumpkin Spice Blue Rili x Blue Jelly Blue Carbon Rili 1 close: Green Rili(I will soon add Green Jade to this mix) 1 gaining and doing well: Black Rose(4 berried and some new babies) 1 having issues: Yellow Goldbacks(This is the only one I bought female only shrimp to add in, after that they just died off to where now I believe its just 4 males...will add more to increase numbers after it cools off down here) Now before I drop that video I mentioned above, I need to now learn how to list and ship these buggers. Keep an eye in the WTB/WTS section as I might do some kind of free thing to test my shipping skills. Anyways, enjoy the info I included on my project...hope it helps others! 🙂 @nabokovfan87 @Guppysnail @Lennie @Chick-In-Of-TheSea @Fish Folk tagging y'all just cuz. ❤️ OH! and all have mostly red rooted floaters in them and some duckweed lol.

Good to hear @Seanwoodey . Keep an eye on them and hopefully you'll continue to see them thrive!

I’m fairly certain that my current babies are from one of your girls.

Panda cories are the first cory I've ever gotten, and the 2nd fish ever as well. Still to this day I've been breeding them. I've developed enough of a reputation in my state that I typically don't have enough to keep up with people asking for them! I'm a hobbyist not a business so I'm not worried about maximizing yield always. I will say they are fun. They are active, ESPECIALLY as juveniles and fun to watch. Like all catfish, they can at times have their shy moments and therefore appreciate places to hide but they aren't so shy that you'll never see them. Imo looks wise they aren't my favorite but there's worse ones as well. I had concolor cories for awhile. I struggled with these. I was so happy to get them initially because they are very beautiful. I found that no matter what I supplied them with, they were SUPER shy and hid almost always. It took me several months to get them to spawn as well whereas my pandas did on their own right away. When they were active, they weren't nearly as active and playful as the pandas. Eventually I rehomed them because I was not enjoying having 8 of them in a 20 gallon and never seeing them. Man, these have like 4 different common names. It took me a second to realize this is one of them haha. Simils, violet, smudge spot, and I swear there's another I'm probably forgetting haha. I had an obsession with wanting these for awhile but I've never had them. Have you had any success with them spawning at all?

@Guppysnail even without the sand below the rocks? I'm doing nothing but larger river rocks

@nabokovfan87 it is my first time with the filter, and it is small. For a 5 gallon tank that will be lightly stocked, I think it’ll be sufficient. I can add a small sponge filter if needed down the road, but I like the flow the BioCompact adds to keep things from getting stagnant. There’s no livestock in it yet. The smallness of the filter will limit what I can stock, but so does the smallness of the tank in my mind. What’s got me scratching my head is the nitrate/nitrite spike even immediately after a water change. Thanks, @Ben P.. I appreciate your input and sharing your perspective. I have a heavily planted 20 gallon that mostly runs on auto pilot these days. The balance is just perfect, and it is a joy to sit and enjoy. i know smaller tanks are harder to balance out, and I’m looking forward to figuring out what “balanced” looks like for this one. thanks again for your perspective…refreshing and encouraging for sure.

Black Rose and Green Rilis are both breeding A LOT now. So now all my tanks are really poppin off. Just hope I can figure out the selling them thing soon, as I am soon to be overrun. LOL!

Or a point for every year in the hobby?

Absolutely!

Arancia? (Italian for Orange) Im told that males typically get a more pronounced hump on their head; a bit like discus and angels.

Cheap fish keepers are often the happiest fish keepers.

Also makes for great hiding spaces for fish and ✨spawning spots✨.

We live in USA. FC Barcelona fans here. We love Ter Stegen 🇩🇪

Remember that most of my huge Endler colony got killed by a bust heater (cold snap)? I spotted some new fry from the 4 that survived! 🎉🎉🎉

Thanks Sora, not sure I can find these here easily but will check. Thanks Nabokov, I definitely don't want challenging plans. I am not sure what I am doing wrong but am always killing plants and tanks turning brown with algae... Yes to Valisneria and perhaps a Sword (though it seems swords to attract brown algae). I would love some carpeting but definitely the most easy possible. I want to start looking into getting some shrimp which would help too. I am able to get my water to PH 7-7.2 so that should still be doable for shrimp I feel. Thanks for the suggestions!

I love my violet cories. Really active and out and about all the time after they get comfortable. Their blue tails and polka dot heads are super cute!

The shrimps got a rosette sword from the Walstad jar. First I tossed it into the tank temporarily until I got a chance to plant it. I returned to the tank and it looked like this. Ok, everybody disembark! Time to plant it.

I finally got some easy green and I've been using it the last two weeks. I wish I had a before image because the plants have really started exploding! It's time for a serious trim... That limnophilia in the back middle seems to grow half an inch a day In other news, my daphnia culture tub has suddenly started having it's water levels drop dramatically. Which is odd since the weather has seriously cooled down. Well this morning I think I found the culprits! I'm pretty sure these baby raccoons have been playing in it. I've found a few of their treasures they took to the tub to wash off (chewed bits of garden drip irrigation line, kids toys, etc)

Everyone is enjoying the food that was magically provided (just add light!)

The anubias had their RR. Looking better. The shrimps are enjoying the green bean. Berried wild shrimp.

Once you have the plants in the tank my advice would be to get the shrimp in there prior to adding fish. I would suggest starting with a minimum of 10, but just make sure you are past the initial setup stages on the tank. (I can explain this a bit more in detail if you'd like, happy to help) The goal in my perspective would be to let the plants take hold, let the shrimp colony take hold, and then add in the fish so that the colony can handle a bit of losses from the fish eating the shrimp. If you're less concerned with having neocaridina shrimp and just want shrimp in general, amano shrimp are a great substitute and can be used in lieu of the neos here without concern of the fish bothering them.

The anubias is branching out now: I've managed to give away at least 40 guppies from my outside tank. This is just one of the batches: I'm wanting to get them out before they have another generation of babies...