Leaderboard

@Fish Folk I may not be fully understanding what you need or what is acceptable but is an immersion cooler acceptable? I put a couple of pictures of a crude employment of such but there's a lot of options that can be had for under $100. It seems that it could work best with canister filters, or any filters coupled to the tank via hosing. In its crudest incarnation, a longer filter output hose used and looped into a bucket of ice can cool with amazing efficiency: For example, a typical 5-gallon bucket filled with ice with about 33% of the output hose length submerged, will reduce the temperature about 2*F/hour. It will last for about 25 hours before replacing the ice. But the longevity and efficacy are based on the GPH and affected by the environment. The ice bucket line is yellow, the cooler option line is green. Please excuse the typo, it should read "25 hours" for the green line. The above mentioned "cooler option" is a more permanent situation that can be had by replacing the ice bucket with a common camping cooler for about $50: The efficacy is relative and not based on the absolute volume. That is, the performance is determined by the GPH, and the percentage of the output hose submerged in the ice water. Without computing the requirements for better accuracy, if about 33% of the output hose of most canister filters was submerged in this device filled with water, the tank temperature would match the temperature in the cooler in about 5 hours. The temperature could be 'regulated' by simply immersing a lesser % of the hose. Alternatively, there's a Peltier device. Strapping a cheap Peltier cooler to the output hose could reduce the temperature more predictably: These run off of common, large, 12VDC 'wall warts'. It works but it's very inefficient and the fans are noisy. They are cheap though, like $20 or so. A more permanent solution could be done with a small, submersible pump in a camping cooler and an immersion cooler coil under the gravel. These tend to look like this as they are for home brewers and are known as Wort Coolers, but they also come in flat & compact shapes: The coiled cooler comes in a variety of flat designs and in stainless steel. Or it's easy to unwind them and reform them into a shape you can use. All of these devices are under $60 and enjoy superb efficacy except for the strap-on Peltier device. I may be way off base with your requirements and the amount of DIY desired, but I thought I'd mention this in case it proves of any value for you.

Mudminnows have a unique personality which I find very interesting. They hover in ambush position like a tiny pike, but "wag" their fins with the cuteness of an anxious puppy. Mudminnows aren't rare or protected, but not so common around here. I was able to get them through unique circumstances. I acquired the recently reinstalled 40 breeder tank to create a temporary educational display at my local library. I stocked the tank with Darters, Dace, Creek Chubs, Madtoms, and Suckers. Accompanying the display, I had educational signage about some of our less appreciated natives and did "Fish Talks" for the kids.

Nothing wrong with a fish in cycle, as long as you manage it appropriately in my opinion. We all start somewhere! Mistakes are just learning opportunities 👍. The forum is full of friendly people who simply want to help others succeed. Let us know what other questions you have and we’ll guide you to the best of our ability!

nothing wrong with doing fish in. fact is, anybody could have lost those 2 fish no matter their approach to getting a tank going. sometimes fish you buy just dont make it.

Appears to be a species of semi aquatic springtails. Despite their name they rarely truly submerge themselves and instead inhabit the tops of leaves on the waters surface. hard to tell from the pics. Could also be an aphid

Coloring up is definitely a great sign. There's two things that I would always encourage anyone to sanity check on their tanks, Filtration and KH. Yep, ammonia and nitrite should be zero, but if you happen to use an active substrate, you absorb KH into the soil and then you are left with very unstable water until you "cycle" the substrate and charge it up. You are showing kh, but it's slightly low. This means that we should double check the tap and see what KH should be, then we can adjust method accordingly. (Let's shoot for something like 50-80 as a minimum KH if possible) https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/ph-gh-kh The second thing we would want to check mentioned is filtration. Basically how is it setup, how is the Hob setup and is it good to go in future. We want to avoid something like a cartridge and go towards something reusable like sponge for mechanical filtration. The secondary thing often recommended for stability is to have some sort of biological filtration media, be it rings or biomax, matrix, etc. Lastly, welcome. Welcome to the forums and welcome to the hobby. Happy to have you here and it'll be great to see your journey unfold.

One more on cave structures. I see alot of tanks where people strategically stack up large rocks to make small caves. This is alot of rocks and finding the right combo of rocks which fit together can be frustrating. For my Mbuna tank, I will glue together a bunch of PVC condo and just use large rocks as a facade as shown below (work in progress). This rock wall will use foam between the rocks but for something more simple which just sit on the bottom of the tank may not require foam. To clean the condo, just remove the rock facade and stick a siphon hose in the condo.

Too many videos and info can be overwhelming for most people. I would avoid info dump and listing too many videos to watch or too many writings to read. If she is willing to read and learn, that is like already steps ahead compared to many others. Most people don't really wanna dive the fish world in detail, but may prefer just a good looking live decor in their homes and keep it healthy. Majority of us here are a bit nerds about the fish and stuff, so this is an important factor not to forget I think. I think this video is great and summarizes many stuff well. Especially considering it is also a mom-kid fish tank project, she may relate it more. Other than this, you may help her to understand the cycling concept, but if you are sure you have disease free tank, I think your help would be the best bet here. Besides sharing some good info and experience, you may give a handful of established media or run the filter she buys in your tank for some time while they do the researching, decorating and shopping. This way, she would still experience testing and slowly stocking, but with a lesser risk of running into ammonia/nitrite spikes and worrying about controlling them constantly, or starting from zero by introducing an ammonia source and constantly reading test results over and over again. Not to mention starting from zero takes much more time and the kid might be hyped about the tank already. It would be a quite delayed gift to have a Christmas gift setup and running for around 4-6 weeks from zero to establish a cycle. The gift would lose its meaning a lil :')

My name is Julia, and I am brand new to the forum! I feel so welcomed by the community here (far more helpful and nice than Facebook) I got into the hobby fairly recently and haven’t looked back! I have a 20g community tank with pea puffers (the little menaces), yo yo loaches, kuhli loaches, an assortment of Cory’s and some dwarf gouramis. I also have a nano with some endlers and ADFS that I would love to get babies from and a 10g with a dragon scale betta (the only one with a name, Bucephalus) I think my next move will be to get another 20g with an apisto pair and some friends and in the future I’d love to get into angels once I have more space for a bigger tank. so excited to be part of this community!

Cool. I ask because the actual evaporation is what cools the tank. I'm not sure if condensing the water with a hood would just add the heat back to the tank... (?)

What I think makes the one that I have work so well is that it has the 4 fans working in unison. Not done an official measurement of temp changes, but I know that my water was 70-72 degrees but is definitely well in the lower to mid 60s. The single fan output just might not be enough for that size tank. Just my $0.02.

I fish-in cycle everything including up to hundreds of dollars worth of fish. It might not be ideal for a brand new aquarist, but it's not the worst thing in the world. As stated above, some fish are just in bad shape when you get them. Do you happen to have a "water softener", @Manringjk?

@Rewcolee1 I loved going to RMS Aquaculture when I was young. They had two locations back then.

I typically go to RMS Aquaculture, but I also do like Something Fishy as well as Aquatica Aquarium Gallery. just wish there was something over here on the East Side. (Mentor)

@Manringjk Welcome aboard 😀 I'm also from NEO my favorite lfs is Something Fishy.

@sairving idk if you clicked the link I provided but it’s a tiny internal filter with a spray bar. It’s like 9 bucks. I took out the carbon and run poly fil in that chamber instead. Works great on my 20 long with the spray bar pointed across the long side of the tank. I have the spray bar pointed slightly up so as to not disturb the botanicals on the bottom of the tank. 9 bucks well spent for me.

Me too! You’ll have to share your favorite stores!

Welcome aboard from NEO

You might just bite the bullet and go for something like this: https://aquacave.com/jbj-arctica-1-15-hp-titanium-aquarium-chiller-dba-050.html

Well my tank has its first signs of life… a pond snail no idea how this thing is surviving in an aquarium with 4 or 5 ppm ammonia no detectable kh and a ph of 6.4 but here’s we are lol

After a month, there is a good chance that the tank has been cycled. As other have said, get an ammonia test. If that is zero (and your nitrites are already 0), you should be good. The "modern" approach to the hobby is to use an ammonia source other than fish to cycle. Also, now that you have a cycled tank, your next tank will cycle much more quickly if you bring over filter media from your current tank.

Hydra love bbs too and if you have any the population will quickly grow…

Whenever I hear "filter squeezings," it reminds me of Married with Children: 🙂

@nabokovfan87 I may play around with the UV Aquatop filter again. The flow rate is really high for a nano filter though. I even turned the the outflow tube into a spray bar. Something with a spray bar may be the answer at the end of the day.

This was extremely helpful, thank you!

I believe that often when plants are sold as bulbs they are sold dry and im pretty sure that is how many bulb plants survive in the wild. However personally if i could not submerge the bulb i would wrap it in a moisture holding material such as sphagnum moss or filter floss and not let it completely dry out, just to be safe.

I have a coworker who bought her son a fish tank for Christmas. Luckily she didn't get fish yet because I suggested holding off until things are ready. I'm trying to put together a list of videos to help cover the absolute basics. So far I have the nitrogen cycle video. What other videos and/or articles would you share with someone stating at square one? Edit: Actually... I just remembered the advice center on the aquarium Co-op page. It looks like they have a beginner information section: https://www.aquariumcoop.com/pages/help-center#/collection/5204

That's a great friend there 🥰 Make sure she keeps it wet and does not put it in the filter/tank without dechlorinating

I gave her a big handful of established filter media to hopefully jump start the cycle

MY son and I helped out a 5th Grade class set up an aquarium on two separate occasions. We made a video series each year. It's interesting to look back on now. Even when trying to explain the basics, it is easy to "nerd out" and over-share extra information. But if someone doesn't try to understand the WHY underneath all of the HOW in this hobby, things will fall apart sooner or later for them. Short Checklist to Explain to your Friend: (1) Treating Chlorine / Chloramine in tap water. Many people are unaware that tap water often is treated with broad-spectrum anti microbial chemicals that will harm fish. (2) Facilitating the Nitrogen Cycle. Fish live in their own toilet, and respiration releases toxic ammonia. Healthy bacteria colonies are essential, just as in a human G.I. (3) "Earth, Wind & Fire" (plus Water) -- learning how to manage parameters: Substrate & Hardscape, Aeration & Flow, Heat, and Water conditions (temp, pH, KH). (4) Encourage live plants, but understand that their needs. Light, substrate, flow, fertilization . . . plants are wonderful, but can be a lot to grasp at first.

Great tank set-up. I'm new to the forum so I started at the post beginning to try to see growth progress pictures over time. Got a chuckle when I reached the 1 year anniversary and you did a composite progress sequence. I guess I should have started at the punchline and worked backwards!

The tidal is on the left side of the tank. it's the other side that has been the issue. I added a Sicce micron nano on the right side. The canister filter was frustrating to try and get working. I may give it another try.

If interested, I made some caves. Here is the link: Tiger Barbs on Strike! They demand a cave! My current project is 75 gallon Mbuna tank which will have ~24 caves (I call them condos). I made the condos from 4" thin wall PVC shown below. This condo is 4.5" wide, 2 3/4" tall. So I cut a small piece of pipe and put it in the oven at 210 degrees. I made a form using 2x4". So heat up the PC, slide it over the form and press down. To make one with a back on it, you could cut a 8" piece of pipe and make the form 4" long ie: 1/2 the length of the pipe. Just push the back of the pipe together while it is hot. Note: if you want a bunch of caves on the bottom of the tank, I would think about connect a piece of pipe to the back of the condo and connect it to the water return line from the sump. FYI, this is the form I made, the round edges are optional.

I have! I currently don’t have any but I do have a floater corral I’ll be using. Was thinking either red root or frog bit!

put the new one on, and if really worried about losing your BB, drop the old one into the bottom of the tank for a few days.

Tbh out of all the schoolers i have had so far i loved my harlequins for the five years i have had them very much. Also zebra danios, fun fish and now i have white cloud minnows, also impressive behavior, not too dull for a schooler.

I’m going to the Scientists with this one… I may need to go fish-hunting in VA this spring…

Here is one shots from a home aquarium. Colors probably are dependent on (1) season of the year (2) water temperature (3) diet (4) spawning... Typically, they are reported to look more regularly like this...

Hello, Friends! Just your Weird Old Uncle Kenny here. I was an avid aquarist for almost 3 decades, but that was back in the 1970s, '80s and '90s, when I was a much younger lad! I'm retired and disabled with heart issues now, but this year I got back into it as a source of relaxation, and to relieve the boredom of living alone. It started slowly, rather strangely, and it's a long story I will likely get around to telling, eventually, cuz there's some educational, as well as entertainment value. But this is just the introduction, so, gonna keep it pretty short and sweet. Started with a 10 gallon tank, betta, a few guppies, and a few kuhli loaches. Now I have (2) 5.5 gallon, (3) 10, a 40 breeder, a 30 show, plus a 29 tall which is just waiting for its stand to arrive on Friday, and I'm picking up the 75 gallon tank that goes on top of it, tomorrow. I currently have plans for a total of 12 tanks plus a 100 gallon "pond" coffee table, all in the front room of my 1 bedroom apartment! My main thing is breeding guppies, which I NEVER would have guessed would bring me so much joy, but it sure has! Aquarium Co-op, and especially Cory's videos, were and still are a major source of my inspiration. While lifting a bucket full of water has become rather difficult for me, the rest of aquarium care knowledge, information availability, and products has VASTLY improved over the years. While I was very successful with many challenging and exotic "fin-babies" back in the day, the stuff and methods of care I swore by back then are just so-so (or less) compared to what's available today. Oh, but it certainly does cost a whole lot more now for fishies! Anywho, I can't wait to read your stories and tell some of my own! Fishy Holidays!! -Kenny

I have not read too much yet, it seems like this will be a weekend research project! 😁 I love the advice and suggestions, thank you!

@Rewcolee1 oh yeah 🤣 This whole fish thing has felt like a huge jump right into the water, good or bad! Lol

Here's another plug for joining your local club. At an auction last year someone brought in a Chromaphyosemion Volcanum. A few weeks ago I asked if anyone had any more (expecting to buy some off of them). It turned out there was someone in the same town as me who keeps them. He gave me a mop with eggs for free and I got the chance to see his fish room setup with lots of rare/uncommon killifish. There are at least two eggs in there. It will be at least two weeks before any fry hatch.

Quick updates The Fundulopanchax Gresensi seen to live their biotope! They're color really pops in all the shadows The Japan blue gold guppies population continues to grow rapidly: The Nothobranchius Eggersi are so going strong. I've added a spawning cup to collect more eggs before they're fully part breeding age: The Aphyosemion Ocellatum female seems to be fattening up. I think the white worms are helping. The Nothobranchius Guentheri have been reunited in a new tank. I tried putting him in a community setting again and it didn't work out (lots of nipped fins).

The Cameroon Biotope tank is basically finished now and I'm starting to put fish in: I got this guy at an auction last week: He's an Aphyosemion Ocellatum. I fed them the first white worms I've been able to collect. They devoured them! I'm going to get them conditioned for breeding. They're a trickier killifish to breed

@nabokovfan87. Exactly my point, it doesn't clog! So it's no biggie! . I really like the dropper. It's the easiest way for me to dispense Easy Green in my small tanks ...Now if you have a really large tank, I suppose it would take several hours to do drops! Don't loose count... dang, was that 165 drops or 195? ha ha

This morning I took some pictures to try and submit for the aquarium club's monthly photo contest.

Some males barely show the eye wrinkles, but nearly all will show the belly line unless they are very submissive to a more dominant male. For me, the males will very reliably show softer, blurry looking spots even if they aren't showing any of the other, more classic male coloring. Females will have more distinct margins to their spots and are very likely to have tiny speckles in addition to their larger spots. Pea puffers can vary their color significantly so if a fish is showing obviously male or female colors it makes it easier. When they don’t show clear markings either way, they may be getting bullied. I’ve very recently come to doubt the sex of one of mine that I was firmly convinced was a female when I moved it into the tank. It is a notably more submissive fish so I’ll wait to assess again after they have more room in the 29 gallon after the move.

Here’s a video my son made of a pair we kept a few years ago. Some tips here to help sex them — easier to watch and see than for me to describe…

Definitely look for the "eye wrinkles." It will take a few months for them to develop if they're young. Females will be a bit more spotty, rounder and lack the eye wrinkles. These are not my pictures, but will show what to look for, Male Female

These little guys are awesome fish! Mark's Aquatics has a nice video series on breeding them if you're interested. They do like snails. Also they like mosquito larva. We found that ours turned their noses up against dry fish food . . . so they can be a bit picky, definitely preferring live foods. Sounds like you're an awesome fish keeper! Here's two photos showing differentiation between male and female. In general, males are yellower, and females tend to have more contrast between the dark spots and light body coloration. There are little shiny marks on the male cheeks that the female doesn't have, as well as a stripe down the belly that is more defined on the male than the female.