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I thought some people might like to see how I retrofitted some Easy Flow kits to my UGF plates. The first step was going to the hardware store to find some fittings that might work. These 3/4 threaded adapter will fit just fine once the threads are filed down.. The air riser tube from the UGF is a loose fir. A little polyurethane sealant will take care of that one… The fittings are 69 cents each. with the fitting secured in the vice 5 or so minutes quickly files down the threads. rest fitting shows how much to trim down. snug but not overly tight fit. I used the vice to press fit the collar onto the adapter. It can come off by hand and the collar shows no sign of deformation. I cut off bit of the solvent fit edge as well. About 1/2 an inch of gluing surface. I cut two 1 1/2 inch section of air riser tube and deburred. You can see it will never work as friction fit. I applied a little 3M 4200 polyurethane sealant witha q tip and then fitted the air riser tubes and cleaned up squeeze out. I will let these sit overnight before fitting them in my tank tomorrow and fitting the easy flow kit on them. At most I may have spent a half hour on this.. the photos and typing of this post probably took longer.

Man, this guy that sells the filter baffles. Customer service 110%. I reported my Marina S10 baffle didn’t fit. Not only did he ship out my replacement same day… he shipped 3! Just in case! W😍W! Etsy: GalaxyGlowStudio

It’s “Plants Night” here at Fish Folk HQ. Started out snapping a photo here and there… and ended up with a bunch. For perspective: (1) I am _not_ an aquascaper. (2) I am a passionate amateur hobbyist fish breeder. (3) I do breeding _more like_ L. R. Bretz —without his skill— than other approaches. As an East Coast guy, I’ll admit that West Coast folks are generally WAY better with plants that we are. These plants are partly functional (context for fry, ammonia and nitrate absorption) and partly ornamental. Here are some shots with notes… (1) Riccia — fascinating top-water plant, excellent for top-water fish fry. It tends to grow best when attached to a matten wall, etc. with some gentle but constant water-flow or airflow. Buy a little, forget about it, and check on it after several months. (2) Java Moss. This stuff is essential fir breeding certain fish. It can multiply down low, or attached mid water column to structure. It is a moody plant that tends to explode when it begins in a large bunch. There are very different kinds. (3) Najas (Guppy Grass). This is helpful for live-bearer colonies, allowing fry to easily hide. I am not sure how to get it to stop growing! (4) Hornwort (Coon-tail). A bit prickly, this plant is considered “cantankerous” because if it is unhappy, it will drop it needles suddenly. Keys for me seem to be: keeping water stable, feeding some liquid fertilizer, and avoiding overly warm water. Female Bluefin Killifish sayin’ “heeeey!” (5) Valisneria americana. This is one of my more versatile plants. I like it in tall tanks a lot. It can grow hot or cold. I just like the way it looks. (6) Aponogeton (bolivanus?). This one is just big and fun. Left side of photo. It’s similar to a Sword — seen in background. (7) Amazon Sword. This one has done well in a cold water tank for years now. Occasionally I add a root tab. It’s actually a favorite of small fish, who love hiding between leaves. (8) Anubias. This one is rocking three flowers right now! Much more ornamental than functional, it may be the most beautiful plant in an aquarium when, after many years, it covers everything. (9) Bronze Crypt. This colorful plant is really pleasing to the eye. It grows long, long roots through the substrate, and will pass on from one aquarist to another fairly well. Get lots, and it won’t disappoint. (10) Java Fern. This had a few dead leaves, but it is a huge “mother-plant” that has given birth to J-ferns all over my fishroom. We got this one years ago at a fish club auction. (11) Water Lettuce (and duckweed). I had the WORST time finding Water lettuce for my tubs last spring. Never again! I’m going full-throttle, keeping my own alive here all winter long. These are excellent nitrate absorbers, and their long roots provide ample hiding places for fish fry. The duckweed is a bit annoying, but plays a part in the eco system. (12) Aquaponics herbs & Bamboo. I’m growing Basil, Oregano, and Rosemary to eat in this Aquaponics setup. Bamboo is more ornamental — for fun. This setup zeros out my nitrates completely. I feed plant food regularly. (13) Hygrophila polysperma (Indian swampweed). This is my favorite fast-growing stem plant. It has bright, light green leaves. It is easy, easy, easy! (14) Tiger Lotus. Entirely ornamental, this plant will either thrive or crash for you. I’m not terribly sure what conditions it needs, but it is stunning in some tanks… a failure in others. Of the “red plants” this is perhaps the easiest. (15) Pothos. My sister got us started with tiny cuttings… we have kept going for years and years. I use them to filter water in HOB filters, aquaponics baskets, or — here — in fry jugs. (16) Unknown … (sword species?) This plant looked nice with these Rainbow Shiners. Beautiful plants + beautiful fish = happy NERM.

I was trying to take a photo of the plants and afterward I looked at it and saw that Snoopy was being cute for the camera.

The worst part of having pets of any kind is having to experience the end of their life. It never truly becomes “easy” to help them along into the next life, but over time you come to realize you are doing them a final act of kindness. I myself had to euthanize a fish the other day, and even after having done the same thing many times before, it still sucks. In my opinion, all of us as caretakers of other creatures need to overcome our own discomfort in order to do the right thing for our pets in the end when their quality of life has degraded beyond acceptability. Take comfort in knowing that if your fish could talk, they would likely say thank you for not allowing them to suffer needlessly.

Oh that is so smart to keep a journal. I’m gonna start doing that! Seems like lifespan varies greatly and I just got lucky with a few of mine. Darn! I was hoping it was longer and the internet was using a conservative lifespan. Just like with the nerites. Thanks for the info.

There are juvenile shrimps in Geppetto’s tank. Despite that I tried to select all male shrimps for his habitat. Guess we have at least one lady in there! Shrimps are out in the open, and he’s not even bothering them. Sometimes he looks at them, but they also stare back and are lightning fast if they feel he can’t be trusted. Then he just does a 180 and carries on with whatever else he wants to do. Especially sitting on his leaf hammock and keeping a catappa leaf afloat with as many bubbles as possible. There is a catappa leaf carpet on the bottom as well that the shrimps go under and eat. Also a couple of hides and cholla. I did a water change for him this week but I didn’t siphon or move the hose around, so his bubble nest was not disturbed. Then I added his rooibos tea bag for 24 hr. I quite like the ease of those for adding tannins. He’s doing pretty ok with his fin health. I just keep up with the tannins and leaves. The Malaysian trumpet snails are sprinkled here and there, but they are not overpopulating, and they are not annoying or invasive. P.S. @Guppysnail Geppetto loves grindal worms! Oh, and speaking of catappa leaves, the pleco likes eating that! He has chewed a bunch of holes in the one in his tank. He likes the Soilent green Repashy a lot too. I gave him white worms but he doesn’t understand them and they are still squirming around in there from this morning. My grindal worm culture was crashing. It had ammonia smell and mites. But I split it and both containers are once again doing well. I split the white worm culture today too as that was starting to get a bit of a smell too. Everything seems good now. I use masking tape to label each culture with the date it was started. Also when I cut holes in the lids I reinforce with masking tape first and that way the plastic doesn’t crack when I make the cuts.

Lovely tank. Penny is my fav! I think you should consider having a black background tho. Imo, It would make the tank look much better creating a complete look with the black frames and hiding sponge filter and cables Curling leaves might indicate a deficiency maybe?

Spixii ship just fine using overnight ir second day air in wet papers towels. I’ve had great success doing so. Styrofoam insulation a styrofoam preferred or plastic deli cup with tiny holes and packed with enough paper towels to absorb and water that leaks out. Heat pack on side separated by cardboard and packing material between card board and snail container. This time of year with holiday delays I would not use usps priority. It’s taking 6-10 days for me to get things. Sign up to pirate ship it’s free with very deep discounts on ups and usps shipping making overnight and 2nd day air very affordable. My delay rate with usps is 9-10 times late to ridiculous late. Ups is usually always on time. Use videos from shipping mystery snails as a guide. The Spixii ship the same.

I've never shipped snails, but I've been on the receiving end of many snail shipments. A lot of sellers opt to ship them wrapped in wet paper towels in a cup or bag - I've always had a higher mortality rate that way. Not crazy high, but typically I'll lose none if they're shipped in a bag of water like a fish, as long as shipping doesn't take forever or something. The downside of shipping them in a bag of water is that they might be sloshing around, into each other, and chipping their shells. Shipping them individually would be the best, but of course it'd be expensive. Just my $0.02. I'm sure someone else has shipped way more snails than me.

18 months is average. Fir me some are 12 months some are 24.

I would think they would definitely carry it at local stores, including box stores. It would most likely be the API brand, E.M. Erythromycin.

6.6 ph looks normal. Im confused why you focus on ph here. Seriouslyfish says 5.0-7.0 for embers, 6.6 is even on the up limit side.

It’s a challenge. Every time I try to open it carefully so I don’t get spraying in the face. FAIL 🤣

Note to self.... Every single time you do it, you're gonna forget and realize it immediately and quickly, but the seltzer bottle is literally like opening a volcano and will get everywhere.

Enjoyed Mrs. Claus’s magical kitchen and Winter Wonderland on Ice at Sea World this evening.

Do you have calcium in the water and in their diet? I had to put some cuttlebone in my tank to help add calcium to the water, and toss some Crab Cuisine pellets in there every day or so, which contain calcium. No more deaths since I did that.

Today I noticed that one of my cherry barbs was spiraling very badly while swimming, was getting stuck on hardscaping, and was visibly barely able to breathe. Two days ago I noticed he was swimming a little oddly, but seemed to be fine a few minutes later. Due to how quickly things were progressing and how distressed he was I chose to euthanize him with clove oil so that he wouldn't suffer as much before dying. It's the first time I've had to put a pet down and I'm pretty shaken up, and scared that it might spread to my other fish. I took him to a local disease expert but she said that she doesn't have any clear idea to the cause. I could use some comfort/advice/encouragement. Thanks for being a welcoming and caring community.

Try using the magnifier app. Hydra look like the claw from the arcade game where you can win a stuffed toy. The behavior you describe sounds very much like hydra. Also hydra gets a bad rap but I’ve had it and never had any issue with it, not even with little shrimps in the tank. Mine turned green because it ate algae and the green powdery food I was adding to the tank.

I would have never started with dwarf hairgrass. Not only was it messy and didn’t want to stay in the substrate, it also yellowed and died out and I had to pull it all. Later I found out Walstad avoids carpet plants. I assume she had the same experience. I wouldn’t have put the driftwood in, in the beginning. Walstad has a reason for not using wood. I forget what it is. Less room for oxygenating plants? Carbon matter? Personally I found that it just took up too much space, and the jar has a small footprint. And I wouldn’t have put a rosette sword. That was the one I uprooted. It was compact enough but was surrounded by everything else in there and couldn’t be seen or enjoyed. Also it made one or two baby swords that it had on runners above the plant. Lastly, I wouldn’t have added shrimp. They were doing well in there but when the plants start getting thick, you can’t really see/enjoy all of them to check on them. Also they had shrimplets in there and grew the population, and I felt it was the right thing to catch them all to put them in a tank. But that was tedious because I had to work a net around the plants, and there were always shrimps I would miss. It took days… Overall I am happy with everything else! My friend made a jar in the same week, and her plants are now dead. I don’t believe she did water changes; only top offs. She used a vase, and I wonder if the height of that prevented the plants on the bottom from getting enough light. But she also had salvinia floaters at the top. I try to keep an eye on the water clarity, and if I can’t see through it, I do a water change. When I had the bladder snails and shrimps in there I tested the water every day. I did that for weeks. I got away from it because I never got a reading except like a 5 nitrate. I think I did test after the uprooting too, and things still looked fine, but something about the soil in the water column killed the bladder snails. I still have one though! It hitched a ride into a tank on the rosette sword, and I just let it be. It has never reproduced and is fun to watch.

If you were to redo things, add a plant or change the size of the jar or shape, etc... is there anything you'd change with what you know now?

Your flowerhorn is looking great. I just got another one after having to sell mine a few years ago in a move. I think the black sand is a great addition. I have a 75 gallon for mine once he is out of quarantine. I think yours would love the 75 too once you can get one. I've enjoyed reading through your posts. Keep them coming!

Fact check: ✅ Truth

What are you testing your water for GH and KH? KH def seems high, curious your pH? Is this the tap water you are testing or your tank water? Just curious.

Very cool journal bud! Gonna drop the follow on it, so I can keep the knowledge flowing. I have micro worms, white worms and banana worms all going...I also have two starter batches of black worms coming and have the tank ready for it. Daphnia have always daunted me, but I think seeing everyone else give it a go makes me want to give it a shot down the road. 🙂

Ill look into it, im just concerned a major snail die off could cause an ammonia spike that could harm the snails, so id probably need to remove as many as possible first.

There is some kind of suspended algae in the Walstad jar that I’ve been pretending not to notice. As well as some of the plants having crispy or slimy leaves. Finally I have a day off so let’s take care of it. So that’s what we got goin on. Despite this, lots of flower buds. I mean like, every single day. I tried to turkey baster the stuff out but it wouldn’t work. So I swirled a toothbrush around. I see it is a type of hair algae. It was easy to remove. Given I haven’t had bladder snails since my uprooting/soil disrupt mistake, I did a 100% water change to get some of the mulm out (plant melty stuff). I always use tank water as the replacement water (Walstad does too). After water change and plant trim: Much better. Then I noticed that I have limpets in there. Cool! Still got a bit of an ecosystem going. Three are pictured here on the wall. Maintenance time: 10 min. As you can see, roots are growing at midlevel as well as at the bottom of the plants, below the substrate. A bit unruly in there but the vines and flowers that emerged are nice to enjoy. I am still running a hint of air in there to prevent surface film. The ACO nano pump works well for that.

I’m going to link this video to two threads (live foods, and Aquaponics). I am very happy that this 10-gal is so well purposed right now…

Technically there are very few, if any fish that are fully safe with neocaridina shrimp. Gourami are no exception. They are definitely large enough to eat some and will get larger. Thick-lipped gourami are just as peaceful as honey but both gourami types will eat neocaridina shrimp. If you want to keep these fish with neocaridina shrimp you have to be ok with some losses. You will need lots of hiding places for the shrimp. It also helps a ton if you establish the shrimp colony first so they are producing faster than they are eaten although those who are good with shrimp can make it happen without this step.

My apistos just killed about four big spixi snails on me. It's been fine with just the female apisto, but I added a male and he darn near wiped them all out. There's four I rescued today, hopefully they survive. Not sure they'll have antennae. I could see danios and big tetras doing the same.

Nerites and usually rabbit snails are wild caught, as nerites are hard to breed as they require brackish conditions and rabbit snails don't breed prolifically, just one baby once a month if you are lucky to have a female that breeds. They grow slow and take considerably long time to reach maturity too, and their lifespan isn't so long. Rabbit snails need a bit warm water. What's your temp is like considering u r keeping danios? When I got my first batch of rabbit snails, I lost all 4. I think shipment during winter time did no good for them even tho there was a heat pack added. I would personally never order rabbit snails if the weather is not warm enough. They refused eating any food or veggie I tried. They were even scared of the bubble sounds sponge filter makes. A possible issue that comes to my mind is, your fish might be nippy to the antennas. Rabbits are even more scared than mysteries are if they are bothered. Being scared and not opening up mightve lead them to starve to die. Also they are bad at finding food and they are not like mysteries. I personally target feed mine. Also rabbits are not ideal tankmates for mysteries for three main reasons. Mystery snail males may bother rabbits by trying to mate with them, may result in injuries and bothersome for both sides. Secondly, rabbit snails like their tank a bit warm, warmer than the mystery snails ideally want. Third, mystery snails are pretty fast at moving, finding food and eating. They can easily outcompete rabbits if they are kept together. The time difference of eating snellos between rabbit snail tank and mystery snail tank is huge in my experience. As nerites are wildcaught, it is not easy to know about their age once collected. So old age is always a potential factor. I would also consider the chances of starving here if the tank does not offer enough algae and biofilm to graze on since you mentioned there are also many more nerites grazing around. Sometimes people add too many in a level a tank can't support their diet enough, or a tank that is not mature enough. Just thinking,, why is kh 0?

Very good hatch rate again on this batch of CPDs. Got SF strain eggs to hatch as well (TONS of air, thanks, @Guppysnail). Some of the CPDs at least ate pieces of them that they bit off.

I have black railroad board on this tank. Maybe it may work for you too, even though your tank is bigger?

There is a test of checking different methods post shipping for some snails. You may check it out

It is usually the same with most fish. Shrimp are food to most. Although big fish or predators, or let's say fish with big mouth overall tend to go for (and hunt) shrimp more. Majority of peaceful community nano tank fish leave juvenile and adult shrimp alone in my experience. They are more likely to show interest to tiny babies and snack on those but leave the big juveniles and adults alone. Having a lot of plants, hiding places etc would increase the survival rate of babies and let adults to have safe time when they are fragile like molting time. I dont think these two would specifically do more harm to shrimps than if you actually got honeys. They just look the same size on sale as juveniles. It is always good to observe their behavior and see if they show any interest to harm shrimp, just in case. @Cinnebuns has both honey gouramis and thicklipped ones so maybe she can help better for their shrimp topic. I only have honey, sparkling and gold gouramis, so I dont have experience with thicklipped ones myself.

There are so many to choose from. This year, and for the last few years, my favorite Christmas movie is the 1944 musical 'Meet Me In St. Louis'. Judy Garland is at her best in this classic, but my favorite character in the show is Tootie, played by the great child actress Margaret O'Brien. If you haven't seen this one you are missing out.

My view from the couch. I saw The Big Snail and both other black racers cruising around on the gravel today. I need to replant that floating val in the back right. Lol. I'm also thinking I might move the sponges to the back corners now that I've got the ez flow kits. I'm not sure I've got enough air line to make that happen though, so it might need to wait a bit until I can order some. And I'm not happy with the chunk of anubias closest to the sponge filter. It's not actually attached to anything and it's curved oddly. I think I want to cut off roughly half of it and toss that older growth, it's not nearly as nice as the newer growth. I don't know what I want to attach it to though.

Ok, I went back through my journal for purchase dates. My two other black racers I've had since July of 2022. My red onion and my two horned nerites I've had since January of 2023. (The horned ones are still absolutely tiny!) And it looks like I'd had the zebras longer than I thought. Probably 9 months to a year before they passed.

It looked like there was the start of some possible spawning behavior. She wasn't chasing him away like normal. Maybe the white worms and mildly tannin water are working?

I was trying to think of another option than removing her but I think that really is the best choice.

Yeah, I noticed that. And I kept them suspended, but it did take A LOT more air than I normally would use. It's also not in my normal hatchers because I can't really "afford" a bad hatch at the moment. I mean, I have frozen BBS that I hatched, but it's not ideal. Thanks for the tips, I will give them another shot tonight. By the time I get it sorted out they'll be big enough to eat the ACO ones. 😄

I would add some stability as you have to hand and I would get some prime that will help to detoxify any ammonia or nitrites plants are very beneficial you could add some floating plants such as water lettuce or Amazonian frogbit and quick growing stem plants like hornwort Elodie they will help to speed up the removal of ammonia nitrite nitrate daily water changes are the most important thing he's some information on protecting your fish from nitrite poisoning

Have you tested your tap water for nitrites or ammonia if you don't have nitrite or ammonia in your tap water what I would do is test daily and do 50% water change and add a double dose of prime every time you detect any ammonia or nitrite till it constantly stays at zero 30ppm of nitrate I wouldn't be concerned ammonia and nitire you need to get to zero you can also add a small amount of aquarium salt 1 table spoon for 5 gallons that will aid Gill function and add essential electrolytes

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, to all. 🎄

We have these huge stores that open only during the holidays, where you can shop for Christmas lights, wrapping paper, bows, etc. We have parades in almost every city. Whole neighborhoods decorate and people drive through at night to see the lights. Very festive!

Got her a voucher for Zalando, which is kind of like an online clothes store over here. Thanks for the idea @nabokovfan87! Tank maintenance takes soooo much longer with a broken arm, but hey… I spend more time actually enjoying the tanks. Beforehand it was just scrub, vac, WC, next! Aiming for the clean lidless look with these guys. There’s definitely gonna be a rescape soon, and I might take the opportunity to paint the sides black. WC with one hand is tough. 🫠 Von Rios enjoying the Val. I think I may have found a technique for stopping the eggs from fungusing. RO water -> rain -> snow and we’ve got plenty of the latter. I’ve realized that all the eggs are fungusing a lot more ever since my dad took down our rainwater harvesting system and my tanks have been switched back to tap water. Shrimp like it, tetra eggs hate it. 😑 Btw do you guys have Xmas markets in the states?

I just looked at my tank today doing maintenance and I've got a few females that have to be stuffed to the gills with eggs. It definitely is that time of year.

Aw ❤️ Cute little dude having a nap in his hide.

Thanks @Guppysnail. Doesn’t my dude look like he has a hillstream loach face? Here is @Katherine’s hillstream loach for comparison. But that will change when a bunch of bristles come in. I wonder when the bristles will develop. So the females don’t have whiskers?

Found yummy stuff! This is a snail cookie. Lots of kelp, spirulina, and black soldier fly larvae, etc. Mmmm! The pleco wasn’t the only one who got a cookie.