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We're in so deep getting excited over a plastic tube. 😄

Hi Everyone! The Easy Flow Upgrade Kits are now available at the retail store and online! Below are some photos of the contents and of it fully assembled. For more information on this product or to purchase it online, go to: https://www.aquariumcoop.com/products/easy-flow-sponge-filter-upgrade-kit

Seem to have stabilized and I think I was certainly overfeeding early on. 16 sterbai still going strong, everyones eating and haven't had a loss in a few days.

It’s really a great product. Super simple, but super effective. Even if they only released the air collar by itself I would buy it just to get away from air stones and fiddling with them all the time. The flow is just the added bonus, in my opinion.

Before you spend too much money on a Fluval 3.0, I would take a look at a WeekAqua P or L series lights. There’s no comparison. Pick any substrate you like that looks good to you. Keep grain size in 1 to 3mm range. White is nice, but can take a bit of extra work to keep it looking its best. Having a bit of color is nice. Look at Super Naturals Jungle river sand. See if you have a pond supply store near you for rocks. Fish stores are a rip off on rocks. Bottom line, a proper CO2 system with compressed CO2 is the better option. Keeping CO2 stable is extremely important and the generators struggle to keep CO2 consistent. Here’s my tank with Ace Hardware pool filter sand. They have a few colors available and it’s cheap.

I bought several to upgrade my ACO sponge filters. I'm looking forward to being able to hopefully better manage the funky stuff that collects on top of some of my tanks. Or at least better manage it. Also hoping it's a nice flow somewhere between nothing and a power head, which I almost always think is too much. Plus, I thought I had a couple of spare large sponge filters and when I checked last night I learned that I only had one spare medium and two empty large boxes. 😄 Last night I was relocating a seeded large sponge from one tank to another and the air stone fell off 67 times. Be gone, air stone, BE GONE!

Little guys going strong

Very few plants are actually “heavy root feeders” as the internet loves to say. Plants will take from both areas and the truth is some plants are just heavy feeders and they don’t care where it comes from. I wouldn’t cut back on column dosing. BBA is an issue with CO2 and general poor plant health. I’d up the tank maintenance and water changes. Here was my competition tank with pool filter sand and only column dosing. I just don’t see, or have found a reason to use root tabs.

Here’s an unintentional plug for the coop but I bought 1 portion of anubias nanji maybe 5+ years ago. It slowly has taken over my 40 gallon and has grown maybe 2 feet worth of rhizome. Over the years I’ve had to prune many leaves and lately it’s progressed. Between the pothos and anubias I can’t quite find the sweet spot for fertilizer. Here soon I’m doing a tear down of the tank and removing the anubias was the first step. I cleaned up the roots and cut off all the gravel. Next I portioned it off a bit and put it in 2, 20 longs. As you can see it doesn’t fit. I live in Eatonville wa and will need to find it all a new home. What a crazy removal.

It is insane how quickly she has grown back that bit of shell! You can see the old break and the translucent new growth.

Yep! 100ppm is ~5.5 degrees. 🙂

Fed some foods this morning. Spike was energetically wall surfing; lots of butt wiggles. He saw his own reflection and was just so enthusiastic about it, utilizing all levels of the tank. While I hate wall surfing and usually try to cover the wall (one side is already covered due to same issue) I just let him be. He was hiding in the log the last day or two, and I was just glad to see him having a good time with "the other fish" he thought he was socializing with. LOL Unfortunately too busy socializing with said fish to notice any of the food. Dropped Repashy in again before leaving so he has things to graze on. I hope he does. The fluctuations of the natural light coming into the room should reduce glare intermittently throughout the day.

You could do ember but it is not highly recommended; same for green neon - i have ember in my 10 and 29; and while they are not super active they do like to swim a little; green neon are more active than ember but also smaller. The same for most of the rasbora - some are less active - i think the smallest typically found is the chili but not sure how active it is. - shrimp would be a very good solution and maybe a single betta after the shrimp are established; sure the betta will eat a few but if the aquarium is well scaped the shrimp will multiple faster than the betta can snack. Just have hiding places. This is my 10; a bit bigger than a 5 but the cichild in there love snacking on shrimp but still the shrimps populate faster than the get snacked on:

This is how the eggs in the pouch looked the first time. He is hiding so I will take a pic tomorrow or the weekend. Some random pics

I don’t love the Fluval plant line. ACO light is great but I think it is not offered on the website at this time? Otherwise take a look at the kessil line if growing more exotic plants. They are pricey, but they look the most natural and have great plant growth specs You’re right sumps are less popular in the freshwater world, but I have always preferred them. They make great fry grow-out areas and they increase the volume of water held. I have used canisters and HOB but I am lazy when it comes to maintaining filters and sump is so easy to clean. Otherwise with HOB and canisters you will get tons of opinions but I really don’t think you can go wrong with whatever you choose. Just make sure you like the design and go from there. Heaters you can’t go wrong whatever you like! If you have a sump you don’t have to see it just saying 😋 Lid: I like open air for good gas exchange and I use clear mesh from BRS (bulk reef supply) comes in a kit or you can make your own. I made my own as I grow emergent plants. Also has maximum light penetration whereas acrylic and glass you will lose some light efficiency from reflection. For heavy planted I would use some sort of aquasoil. They are all very good I prefer ADA or UNS. Setup the areas to be planted with the soil and cap with sand you prefer. You can use landscape cloth to keep the sand from mixing with the soil, unless you have digging species like gobies or loaches. It is more cost effective to figure out the main areas with deep rooting plants and build the soil up there then use the white sand to scape the rest of the tank where plants are scarce or rhizome or carpeting plants are. Rocks/wood: unless you want a specific aesthetic just get some from native areas to you. Boil for safety. It’s free. Otherwise landscaping yards sometimes sell “sample” rocks in 50lb lots. That is your second cheapest option. Buying from an aquarium store is generally for more exotic stones or wood pieces like seiryu stone or spider wood. Fish species: Usually those coming from the marine world like cichlids. There are SO MANY species and special breeds, but they are all colorful and personable. Gobies are becoming more popular, while they need mature tanks, they boast similar color to their marine counterparts. Here are a few photos. Lastly I like barbs for heavy planted tanks, I think they are under appreciated fish and equally flashy especially with a green background: Black Ram Cichlid: Rhinogobius rubromaculatus: Gold barb- Barbodes semifasciolatus:

When I bag fish and take them to the LFS I’ve put a drop or two in the bag and haven’t had any issues. Fish are sometimes in the bag somewhere around 2 hours total, plus whatever time the LFS takes for acclimation and I’ve never had any issues. Don’t get me wrong, dechlorinators definitely use up some oxygen, but not ALL of the available oxygen.

I was fortunate enough to get one from Cory a few weeks ago, and I’m impressed with the flow. I have my test one hooked up to one side of the ACO dual outlet pump in a 55 gallon, and the flow is nice. Definitely more movement than without the flow kit, and less than a power head. I also noticed that the sponge itself collects more debris from the water deeper inside the sponge, which I think is a good thing. Seriously! The air collar is so legit.

I just got a daphnia magna and paramecium culture yesterday myself. I'd love to be able to feed daphnia daily, the adult ones in my culture were freaking huge (compared to BBS). I'm actually kind of excited for some meatier options for my fish as it seems like they need to eat a million BBS for a meal. Thinking I need a bigger container to culture in, though. I've got a couple of seed shrimp cultures going as well. What I REALLY need to do is come up with somewhere to put all of these, honestly. 😄

Daphnia feast…

It’s rewarding to put it together, watch the parameters come around, set up the hardscape and then put them in. I really think I should do a setup video. If I find a new container for it I’ll go for it and film the process this time. I’m amazed how something I setup in 2021 is still going and so happy!

I siphon fry boxes using airline into a Tupperware dish so if I do suck up fry I can easily rescue them. Zip tying the airline to a chopstick and cutting the vacuuming tip at an angle makes the entire process easy. It becomes like vacuuming the living room.

I picked up mine! Who else ordered theirs? I’m literally just days away from never having to fiddle with air stones ever again and I’m hyped! I also noticed that sponge filters went up in price, but now include the kit. Smart move, if you ask me.

I am so excited for customers to start getting their hands on these! I have one in my 40B and it is honestly the best upgrade for a sponge filter ever! I don't need enough for a full order yet, but as soon as I'm done water testing my freshly built tank, I will be kitting it out with some brand new easy flow sponge filters 😁

Grace the shark, sharkie, as she is affectionately called is my Red-Tailed Black Shark (sharkminnow to be precise). I couldn't tell you how long she's been cruising around in my tanks, but she is indeed part of the family as it were. She sticks her head out to say hello when I check on her each morning. She is protective of her fry, well her panda and corydoras pals. She likes cover, she enjoys caves, but hopefully she is happy with my efforts right now. I've spent a lot of time interacting with her, the family has, and it's one of the most cherished fish I own. Expected lifespan is 6-10 years and I do think we are on the other side of 6 right now. She's older now and I do want her to be comfortable and to have a setup where she isn't stressed in the slightest. The entire reason for the tank to be purchased was for her. She was in it for a few years prior to the move, but it's been sitting in the hallway for a little while. Thankfully it is indeed back up and running. This was years ago... I had picked out a nice piece of wood, ordered it and waited excitedly for it to arrive. The box never showed up, USPS lost it. Around here it is something that happens too often. The owner sent out a replacement, which wasn't what I had picked out, but I was really happy with the results. That initial piece of wood, years ago, was purchased with the intent to go into this tank in some form as we have the setup below. Being able to put that piece into place, to see how it looks and play around with the orientation a little bit has been something I have waited for. I do with it had a bit of a cave for her. Some more Seiryu stone or something that she can use as a tunnel. I am waiting on some plants to make it and I'm really hoping that I can get them to grow! I am planning to cover some walls on the tank with more of this moss and I do plan to get some of my slower growing plants going as well that are in tanks elsewhere. There are some plants to improve things for her, but.... I am basically working with limited/no budget for this. As such, there are some breeding projects in the works. Black Schultzei Corydoras and the Neocaridina shrimp being the big two. Plants being the third. The goal of getting things going happened in the prior tank. First, get the corydoras to spawn and learn how to get them to spawn. Second being, getting plants to grow again and feeling a bit more confident in working with plants. I learned a lot in that ~2 years with the tank and it's been the type of experience where it's been compounded by meeting much smarter hobbyists here on the forums who can offer their insight. I hope by the end of this journal I have a tank I am satisfied with. That's the mission statement here. Below I'll attach some shots from the tank and things that caught my eye today trying to get a tank shot. I find myself always admiring these little things. Stuck staring and admiring the beauty when they do find their way into my perspective. For @A3M0N here is the revised / updated spraybar install. One full pipe length, one marineland prefilter (cut to size) and one 'typical' pumphead shooting across the length of the tank. Let's get to it..... Edit: Previous Journal

Over the last few years, I have fed aquarium fish live foods. More recently, I have begun learning how to cultivate live foods. It is sometimes a challenge to get things right, but where successful, live foods is a game-changer with bringing fish into spawning condition and nurturing fry through their first month of life. I hope this journal will prove helpful for aquarists looking to get at least one view on several live food species. Call it a live-foods-cookbook. By all means, if you’re a cook, please share YOUR recipes too! Today, I time visiting with a friend just 1-minute away. He is a genius! He wanted to show me his Daphnia tanks. I was so impressed: no water changes. 100% Aquaponics. Here are a couple photos I took with his permission… Daphnia magna - 10 gal (feeding yeast, below) Daphnia moina - 10 gal (feeding yeast below) The substrate in each is Oyster Shells available for under $20 at Tractor Supply… The emersed plants (Pothos, Mint, etc.) used for Aquaponics zero out Nitrate, but also strip out out the minerals. The Oyster shells keep the water bslanced. SO! I was impressed enough, that zI immediately went to town today to set up a spare 10-gal I’ve had sitting around, cycled. Here was the process: (1) Get lights screwed in for plant growth a Daphnia multiplication. (Daphnia require light to multiply) Before… So I added several LEDs… Then I washed out the Oyster Shells… Started setting up the tank… After adding cycled lava rock and cycled sponge filters, sponge filter squeezing from other sponges for bio… I added 3x new Mystery Snails… They began enjoying the digs right away… (BTW… I threw in a bunch of Susswassertang. Because. Just love that stuff!) In the end… Pothos added to floating pot for starting aquaponics… (Mint will go in tomorrow) I keep it in my fishroom bathroom closet… After it settles, and I can test to ensure that there is ample bacteria keeping it all cycled, I will pick up a generous starter of Daphnia magna from my friend. My goal is to cultivate these so well that I have live Daphnia to feed to fish twice a day. To feed the Daphnia, a liquid solution of Active-dry Yeast is prepared… I will go into detail on that in a followup post.

I dont have pearls but my golds didn't work with honey gourami after some time in a 42g custom made tank. Problem arising from the gold gouramis' side of course. Honeys are way too nice. Anything that decides to not like them can bully them I think. Pearls are known to be nice overall but they are much bigger than honeys in size. If they decide to bully these angelic creatures, they can easily do it I think. If you ask me, I would not keep them together. I gave it a try in my case because I have plenty of options to make it work if it fails and it did.

I think that @Daniel has his aquariums on rolling tool boxes, but nothing that size, so it is possible. While the rollers could flatten out over time, the adjustable feet can only compress as far as that steel bolt lets them. 45 gallons of water (no sump)+ substrate + aquarium = about 600#. Still risky, but doable with helpers.

They are incredibly interesting. Thank you for sharing

They can burrow. And they tend to be fairly shy. I would wait to see. You would find bodies if something to that effect happened Watch the tank at night as well they tend to be most active in the early morning or late at night

Beautiful planted tank.

Prime consumes oxygen in water, so I think if you sealed it in a container right away, you'd have a bunch of water that has no dissolved oxygen in it. I wouldn't do that, personally.

Yep. I think I underestimated how low my plant stocking was and was mistaken that i could just leave the tank alone for months using the plants to filter and use up nutrients. Thankfully fish are thriving and water is free from harmful excess nitrites and ammonia but i feel like nutrients built up way too high that's why i am getting slow plant growth and lots of BBA. Will go back to once a week 50% water changes. I am using aquasoil so i probably also was going to heavy on the ferts. I will go to a half dose in the mean time.

Yes, I did get mine from Aqua Huna, though I have also seen them on the Dansfish website.

@Elodie Rose had these longfin. I believe she got them from Aqua huna.

That is a good idea I was trying to use a turkey barter but I was so afraid I was so afraid I was going to suck him up thanks

I’m not certain I’m seeing that right. You may wish to siphon out that fluffy debris if that is what I’m seeing. Airline works as a great vacuum I find that for corydora it eventually causes them fungus and bacterial issues on fins and barbels because they lay in it so much. Congratulations he is adorable

Thanks so much @ColuI will do that and let you know how the fish goes!

I will tag @Colu for the sickness portion of this thread and @JoeQ for the plant portion. Hopefully they can lend you some aid.

I began feeding some Daphnia to fish today. I was pleased to watch the Elassoma gilberti housed with a sorority of Brick Swordtails showing up… They really can camouflage well… They do not express full colors unless conditions are right. But hopefully I’ll see more as the year turns over the calendar… Bear in mind that the male E. gilberti are capable of nearly unmatched glory in spawning form…

I had my black corydoras for about 1.5 years before I reliably saw them eat. It's so tough to feel that way and I seriously feel the stress and concern. I hope he's getting something in his stomach when you're not looking. I did the Odd_Duck dewormer method and they were seriously like a whole new herd and very active and eating like crazy. Hoping for the best and you see some improvement. You can do it Spike!

It really does. The hob you're showing has very minimal mechanical filtration and a "good amount" of biological. That being said, if you have the biological with gunk all in the pores, you're not growing bacteria and you're not as stable as you could be. For the sake of putting a number on it, let's say you're 30% less efficient. I have seen bypass and all sort of things in filtration. There are ways to make things efficient, but honestly, this is literally a very easy fix and you can get things to work easier for you if you bag the rocks. You don't have to worry about them sliding in the way when you pull the fine pads and it just makes your life easier. Speaking in terms of efficiency, it makes you enjoy working on the filter a little more, which is a win-win. They make the cartridges in such a way that they stick out of the water. The water shouldn't ever go over the top of it. They typically build in places for the water to bypass when it gets to a certain level to prevent flooding, the tidal has them as well. Makes sense... However, in this situation the fluidized media would be taking up chunks of debris as opposed to bacteria (in some cases). To be clear, I totally understand what you're saying and I get your point. Simply put it does matter for stability sake.

My GBR do not use caves. Any flat surface suffices. Mine used to love to lay on the flat of an internal filter. Lay some slate in that corner and leave room at the back for them to dig a hole to move the wigglers to. I use these. They love them.

6" and it's still going to be a massive weight. Plus, wheels have a habit of not all turning together at the same time, or at all. you could end up with wheels working against you.

That's the one. Also, i'm apparently stocking a catfish. It's not even cycled yet.

I remember someone built a plywood aquarium and put casters on it didn't here from that person anymore after a couple of months. I personally wouldn't risk it.

Photo dump. Somehow my Daphnia are still alive…I think there’s about 15 small ones left in the holding tank.

Congratulations. I recently began with Daphnia magna and moina to add to my worm and microfauna cultivation. I chose to cultivate live chlorella vulgaris as the food vs yeast etc. I’ll grab photos tomorrow. I use crushed coral as the substrate. My Moina sits in a pickle jar on my kitchen window ledge with a 10watt bullet heater. The chlorella itself is the filter and the self replicating food for daphnia and moina. Only water changes are drain a cup or a gallon to replace the chlorella when they run out of food. These are my favorite cultures. The food for them and they themselves self replicate so almost zero maintenance. I had a fry explosion so had to feed out the daphnia to open the tank. Once these fry are grown and gone I’ll again reset my daphnia. Here is a thread with some of my “recipes”