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Hey all, I know many of you have either already stumbled across this, or have used it, but for those who are new to the hobby, or who just never googled around for such a thing ... I find this tool/webpage super duper handy in terms of understanding my water changes, especially when calculating the volume of my auto-water changes. But this works great even if you're just doing the ole' bucket brigade. It helps provide an understanding of your ratios of old-to-new water over time given your change volume and schedule https://www.hamzasreef.com/Contents/Calculators/EffectiveWaterChange.php Anyway, just thought I'd share for those interested.

New project! Growing out some cute little N. Rachovii @Slick_Nick

We don’t talk about susswassertang club. Don’t think about, don’t look at it, and don’t move it to another tank. Just let it be and it will either acclimate or perish. If it disappears, just wait. It could still come back. It’s a bit fickle sometimes, but if it likes where it’s at you’ll soon be pulling out handfuls of it. It likes a bit of flow, but nothing strong enough to batter it around. It doesn’t mind fish that don’t thrash around in it, but it’s not fond of living with big cories. It would probably be fine with dwarf cories. It’s great fry or shrimplet cover but good luck getting shrimp back out of it. It tends to fragment and will often scatter and spread if roughed up. It holds on to duckweed like mad if you have duckweed that gets pushed down into it by an HOB’s overflow (ask me how I know this). When happy, it will grow into giant mounds.

Hey @TeeJay! Great to see you and it’s exciting about emeralds. I’m glad the ghost didn’t get you because then who would take care of your fish tanks?

OK! Got a chance to talk to Intrepid Partner about the SPECIFICS of the tank he decided to order from Custom Aquariums. Thanks @Cory for pointing us this direction- at first we thought- geez that's a weird/obvious name for a custom aquarium company but looked into as well as many other companies (glass, acrylic) during this process, and they have been nothing but helpful and professional according to Intrepid Partner. They were aware what this build would be from the beginning (gigantic nano fish tank) and have been helpful with recommendations and build ideas. Information I have so far is as follows: Should arrive around the first part of December. Tank will be 7ft long x 22 wide (narrower for the space) x 24 tall this will equal 196 gallons....this is 2ft shorter than we had discussed before which is perfectly OK for me, that's 2ft less I have to scape! The other 2 dimensions are as we had discussed before. It will be low iron Starfire glass. The tank will be a framed version- he decided not to do the seamless/mitered glass look because well, we live in earthquake country and the frame will help keep it all together. They are painting the end that will be facing the wall and drilled for plumbing (sump), they are also leaving the bottom of the tank "rough" which is fine since we are using substrate. It will come with 2x MP40 wavemakers to help circulate the water since it's peninsula style- they are adjustable and since operate magnetically- easy to move - hopefully we aren't going to be blowing away the fish! He also got 2 corner sump pumps. Tank will come with its own lights and a lid. He also got the heater. They like to try and sell you substrate but Intrepid Partner passed on this and told them we would find our own. He was given max dimensions so he says he'll be ordering metal to start the cabinet. I can't wait to see what he comes up with. Admiration of Intrepid Partner's skills is a great understatement, he is not only an amazing car builder he's super crafty and artistic. Whatever it is - it will be awesome. He designed and made me this birdhouse for Christmas to give you an idea of the skill level: I'll be starting work on fish species and parameter requirements. Similar to @dasaltemelosguy and his massive tanks- considering all needs and trying to find a happy medium. Thankfully it shouldn't be too tricky for me- most of my dream fish are similar in needs just never had enough space to get them. Now it looks like I will!

ok, i have contacted the friend that agreed to take the genetically unfortunate cory, so the cory will be getting a new home later today. Fortunately the cory wont be too hard to catch out, and im glad the cory will be getting a good home as he really was outgrowing the breeder box, but i didnt want to move him into the big tank in fear of genetic contamination. I will also be sending the friend some plants. Getting rehomed today!^

+ + + Shhhhhhh, get it! 😉

Hello my fellow nerms. Who is ready for the first episode of the new coffee with TeeJay? It's been quite awhile so let's see if I still know how to do this. I'm sure in every post I won't be able to remember to talk about every tank but I'll always give you as much as I can. So as everyone has probably noticed my apisto borelli have made there new permanent home with @Guppysnail. So that left me with an open 10 gallon tank with a new adventure to be had! So a local friend from my fish club has been breeding dwarf emerald danios that I have always wanted to have. So I called him up and he had some ready for rehoming size. So he brought over a nice 6 pack of juveniles. I had them for a little over a week now and they have settled in very well so far.. of course they won't stay still for pics lol So I knew I would want another type of fish to go along with the new danios. So another fish I have always wanted to have is pygmy corys. So I figured they would be the great choice to pair with the danios. So from lemony and lunas first batch of babies I was able to take a group of 8 to trade in for store credit to get they pygmy corys. Those little guys actually just arrived yesterday.. since they were coming from a wholesaler I knew I would want/need to qt them away from the danios. So I sent them up in the 5 gallon piano snail and shrimp tank. Thankfully I just got the sand setup in that tank. It had been bare bottom since it's setup. The only thing in that tank are piano snails and shrimp. So safe for a "permanent" at tank I think. I don't figure I will ever keep fish to large that I wouldn't be able to qt in that size tank for a few weeks at a time with no issues. As well the substrate in the 10 gallon for the danios and pygmys has been switched over to the carib sea jungle river sand as well. So @nabokovfan87 I finally have sand! Ha! I know it will sound massive but I moved my modded tidal 55 onto there 10 gallon tank. Yes it will work I just used the first section of the uptake tube with a pre filter sponge out directly onto that. As well with the custom baffel I already had on it makes the perfect amount of surface agitation without being to stong. As well as a sponge filter. And if anyone knows me I always like to run 2 types of filtration on all my tanks. I was able to get a few pics of the new pygmy corys at least. So these are the two newest adventures I have been working on lately. I am up to 7 tanks now 😱 mts is alive and kicking. So thanks for tuning in for the first new addition to coffee with TeeJay! As always keep it fishy my friends.

Sharing a snail cookie The spirulina shrimp lolly from C.E. Is not a big hit. They like nettle and bee pollen from HarryShrimpStore though. Those would have been absolutely covered in shrimps, pushing and shoving. This one was a free sample, so it’s good to know what they think without having spent money. I just sat in my PJs and watched the tanks for awhile this morning. It was so nice. Today is the first day I’m not hacking up a lung upon waking. Finally got the Vicks vaporizer out of the closet and used that overnight (why didn’t I do that waaaay sooner? DUH). Almost 2 weeks dealing with flu. So annoying.

I had a very large colony of convicts once 😂 everyone hates them though, don't judge I was 14! Other than that livebearer

Very good point. I would extend that to simply say as well, try to have your own equipment for any QT tank for that reason as well. Keep it out of reach of the main tank and try not to contaminate. Excellent reminder @Chick-In-Of-TheSea , I totally forgot about that whole aspect of things. Agreed! Especially when using multiple at once.

Try not to share nets, siphons, etc between tanks @Jaspyjasp. If it’s columnaris it will infect other tanks that way. A mild bleach solution will disinfect your equipment. Rinse well then dunk in dechlorinated water. Bleach=chlorine. The dechlorinator will take care of any residual bleach.

Correct. so... in my instance, and please correct me @Colu There are some meds like bacterial meds (kanaplex is one of these) where you have multiple doses so that it can slowly build up to a level over time. That's why it's important to not do water changes and to absolutely do water changes in other instances. With your situation, I would: -good water change on the tank, clean the filter, check everything, then you start "day 1" -follow the directions to the letter on kanaplex, dose in ich-x only on day 1. -after 3 doses of Kanaplex (one treatment) then you do your normal 30-50% water change and you can give the fish a rest day or proceed to the next series of doses and another dose of ich-X. In the end. "One treatment" would be 2 courses of kanaplex, 2 doses of ich-x over 2 weeks.

Sterbai are one that you’ll need to pull the eggs. The ones I listed are ones I’ve or friends have successfully colony bred. Kribs - In a 75 there’s lots of room. They’ll take up 1/3 of the bottom and in general they’re warners not killers when other fish get into their territory. But they’re cichlids so you’ll not know till you try. Apistos - it depends on the type. Macmasteri are the ones that come to mind that are terribly territorial. I remember a talk where wild types can particularly be challenging in terms of tank mates and aggression if they settle in and start to breed. Bigger body type Apistos also tend to have bigger personalities but I just saw a video where a female nijsaneni was a real terror and ended 2 males after breeding. Cichlid’s man, Forrest Gump’s line about a box of chocolates comes to mind. You never know what you’ll get. 75 is such a good footprint you’ll be able to scape your way out of issues. A reset of the aquascape with cichlids can also reset aggressor behaviors as they have to spend their brain power in figuring out the new tank vs their perceived threat. But if there’s a color they don’t like or pattern they’re like a bull and the color red.

Sponge filters aren't the best at removing mulm when ever I have used a sponge filter in breeding quarantine or grow out tank I always seem to get a build up of mulm you could temporarily add a small hob or small internal filter to help with remove the mulm

Well, it ended up taking until the October meeting, but I finally made it out to my local club's meeting/auction. What a great experience it was! There was a guest speaker, I got to nerd out with a bunch of other nerms, and the auction was a lot of fun. Plus I got a big bag of narrow leaf Java fern for $14, and you can never have too much Java fern. Thanks again to everyone here for all your help, and to anyone else on the fence, definitely go check out your local club!

No no I'm at my limit right now..... technically one over. But the 2.5 is pretty much self sustainable so not much to maintain there. As well I live in an apartment so I have to be careful on how much I have going on. That's why I won't have a tank larger than a 29 gallon. Yes maybe someday I'll switch over the other tanks to the jungle river sand. Well mainly the 29. I do like the midnight pearl gravel that's in the 20 long and 10 guppy tank. If I were to change and the 29 would be first. But that seems like a huge undertaking in comparison to 5 and 10 gal tanks.

One thing I’ve successfully explored this year has been merging US native fish species with Swordtails. Now, Xiphophorus species are central American, so the distance in native ranges is not so vast as transcontinental species. But this opens up some lovely options for aquarists interested in combining selected, small local / native fish with a staple in the hobby. Here are a few combos I’ve been working with… Swordtails + Lowland Shiners Swordtails + Bluefin Killifish Swordtails + Gulf Coast Pygmy Sunfish Red Swordtails bring great colors to any green tank. US Natives bring interesting “personalities.” I use no heaters. Try it!

ok, i think i found a culprit to my aquaclear flow issues. So far ive been investigating Mechanical Filtration and components like those, however i think the issue is biological filtration. Allow me to explain. The bio filtration that i use in my tank is bio rings (the kind that ACO sells), those are fine and im not having any issues with them. However, the bag for the biomedia i was using was the bag that comes with the Tidal 35, it has rather fine holes. I noticed that my flow was very restricted so i cleaned out the filter today, i checked out the bag and it turns out the holes were clogged as i suspected. I have now replaced that bag with the bag that comes with the Aquaclear 50, that has much coarser holes, im thinking this will help with the flow prevention as the bag wont clog as easily. @nabokovfan87 i though you might find this interesting for your filter mods and testing.

I don't know what it is but that trim looks old fashioned. I would definitely leak test that tank before doing anything else with it.

Got a new tank .... 60x35x38cm (23.6x13.8x15 inch) and 80L (a little over 21G) 6mm glass and rimless. Plan for this one is to keep it mostly bare bottom, put in perhaps a Java Fern or Anubias and I want to have a small colony of small Lnumbers - depending on what I can find here in Spain, perhaps L397 or similar size Hypancistrus or Peckoltia pleco up until more or less 110mm size. I know a source who grows L333 but they might end up a tad big to hold a group of 5 Got a spare Aquclear HOB kicking around, plus this might be a good tank to try again my luck with one of the Ziss filters I have for added bio filtering.

The broom/mop hanger is a genius idea! Definitely one of those “how did I not think of that?” things!

I just made cold brew. Let's do this! 🙂

Wow! What amazing tanks! I would have to echo @Shadow about the pvc but knowing you from here I HIGHLY doubt you didn't engineer it out prior to this even being set up. I admire your skill my friend. They are absolutely stunning. That along with trying to make sure everyone is as optimal as they can be is definitely science and magic all at once.

#1 it’s a great big crypt that’s so happy it’s giving you babies. #2 that’s $$$ right there you could sell these easily as aponogetonifolia is rare I had them a couple years back from The Wet Spot. I think I’ve seen it for sale once since. #3 It’s the kind of plant to build a tank around. Angels could breed on these leaves. Any tetra would be in love with their aponogetonifolia blanket. #4 everyone above has indicated and you said as much, start trimming at the bottom of the leaf and it will spur new growth and keep it healthy. And I agree with @Odd Duck, I’ll buy a couple of those pup plants when you start selling!!

Acquired this radiused front corner 55tall from a guy for changing a tire on his trailer. I cannot find anything similar online. It measures out to 55gal, 3/8" all glass. It's in great shape, few light scratches and trim missing on the bottom but even the silicone looks great. Not sure what I'm planning for it yet (already ordered a bunch of stuff from the coop last night for it!)

It also leads to dirty media.... Each time I clean the filters, any brand and any bags, I end up dumping everything to the media and the ceramics/biological get cleaned first so I can see how clean they are doing for me. I appreciate it, thanks for sharing the insight!

I’ve been using the Aquael Ultra heaters in 4 tanks during the cold months (mid-Oct to end Apr) for the past three winters without any problems. If you are concerned, you could get an Inkbird thermometer controller for 34 pounds from Amazon.

I keep similar fish in a tank at room temperature (70-72F) with no issues. I keep the heater around in the event of a power outage where we lose central air/heat and I need to run the tank on backup power. As long as your not dealing with some crazy swings that happen regularly and fast I think your fine using a heater as an emergency backup. Most fish in the wild experience a range of temperatures with sunrise/sunset, rainfall, etc.

That cave idea is really cool. It looks pretty neat all put together like that. Maybe you could do baby tears, Monty Carlo, or micro swords to cover up the front rim without blocking the hole completely

no, but if you could breed the gene the opposite way to create a community compatible line of bettas, i imagine those would be quite popular.

Thats what I would do.

It's going to be a fun tank once the pygmys gets thru qt and everyone can be together.

Thanks. Just happened to be in dollar tree for my wife and was like hummm….

Does tap water conditioner inhibit the effects of Coppersafe? It says on the label that it detoxifies heavy metals but isn't the copper in copper-safe what makes it effective? if it does inhibit, how do I treat a tank of velvet if I can't use Coppersafe?

Well, looks like we are good. A day or two ago I found this on the surface which I believed was sneggs, but could have been sand. I was sure I knocked the sand off of things. Sneggs is more likely. (Looks gross, no?) Anyway, today see the floaty stuff? Empty shells. So.. happy birthday, snails! 🎉 I have found that bladder snails are important to my jar because they will eat the film on the top. They cruise over it upside down. I will probably add a small reptile heater to the jar like Walstad does, for winter. It looks like a tiny heat mat, but it is submersible. Here’s a photo of an adult snail. The dots to the left could be babies. Or dirt. Lol Hard to know at this stage.

All of the fish that you have listed as living in your tank will do fine in water temps of what most people keep their homes at. When you say that you normally keep the house fairly warm, then I would just go without the heater. If you are worried about it, and for peace of mind, you could get a low wattage heater, something around 50-75 watt and have it set at at the higher end of what the water normally runs, just so that if your house temp dips a degree or two in the evening or during a longer cold snap, it will keep the tank at the proper temp.

You just dont know what to do for the best sometimes with these things!!

Mine was a yellow dude. Named Logan. Named pretty much the day he went crazy and tore up half the tank of nano fish. Then we found out he was a he. The local breeder was very happy to home him for us!

Try putting the check valve higher up, or make a horizontal segment of airline tubing.

Cooking, computer things (hardware, building them when opportunity presents), engineering/design, Sharks the hockey team, sharks the animal, miami dolphins, and..... I really enjoy a good hike into nature whenever that is remotely possible.

This little tank is rad! The cave you printed is awesome. I’ve never even had the thought to have an open space where you could fill in with hardscape. Super cool. I think the moving the c02 diffuser is a good idea as well. Hopefully the output pushes the bubbles downward to keep them in suspension longer. Do you have a drop checker? Shrimp look pretty nice! They remind me of the Blue Diamond Shrimp colony my girlfriend is working on. We bought 10 from the LFS, and of those 10 only 1 was female. Once I saw her berried for the first time I knew we were on our way. Those shrimplets were successful and are now about the size that the original 10 started at. She has since had more babies as there’s 2 different sizes of baby shrimp in the tank. It’s gonna be awesome when the colony is giant and one single lady will be responsible for starting all of it. Best of luck with this tank! I really dig it!

These are the youtube videos that were absolute life savers for me when I got into planted aquariums! I find watching concise, easy to follow videos simpler for taking in all the information rather than reading text walls, so hopefully they'll be useful to you! How to Set Up A Planted Tank: https://youtu.be/29aKqiu0b7w Why Aquarium Plants "Melt": https://youtu.be/OFvIyc2j13E Five Things To Know About Planted Aquariums Before Getting Started (playlist): https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlBBJ7xBuqub-rl6z7cnGfSp_rUoyGN0U Guide To Planted Aquariums (Playlist): https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlBBJ7xBuquZWUAQTV_qV-4RT526rh1sy Maybe they can help you the way they helped me!

Just do it Filipe style using his mindset: Put stuff in and let it go where it wants to go and it looks good. Adjust accordingly. Patience, take your time, etc. etc. Here's another... such a versatile aquascaper.

All of my corydoras are "colonies" in pretty much all intent. There's an oto and some shrimp, but generally just them. I would think a hillstream species is a fun colony as well. The "king of the rock pile" battles would be ppv entertainment sometimes.

I think they like the Repashy community gel

AAAAND they are getting to work!

The shrimp are here! looks like 1 dead and 1... not blue? I would love an explanation if someone knows what is up with the odd one... My plan is to just put that one in my other, community, tank so it can't breed. As a shrimp novice, how do these look? Ended up with 9, healthy looking, blue ones.

I'm a HUGE nerd-- I'm very into Pokemon and animation production, so I travel and collect a lot thanks to that. Between that and my (currently reef) aquariums, it keeps me pretty busy!

I am into almost anything involving nature, outdoors, water, and growing things. Bonsai and Fish keeping are are my longest running hobbies that I am regulary involved in. Fish keeping is the only hobby that isn't seasonal, and allows me to put all of that into one package.