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Started with a small algae bloom (hair algae?) and kept growing on the driftwood. I was going to clean it up, but then I noticed a bunch of baby shrimp in there, so decided to let it grow. Now I have a truffula tree.

This is Nova. She’s theoretically a calico fantail. Just a Petco fish, no pedigree whatsoever, could be a mix of anything. When I first got her, she was maybe 2”. Her body was the size of the last joint of my thumb. That was in June. She’s now roughly the length of my iPhone SE, nose to end of tail. And she’s retained a rather long sort of body shape. Definitely a long double tail, very long and ribbon-ish, even. And trailing. I have read that attempts to resurrect the Watonai breed involve crossing a Ryukin with a Comet, and the end result . . . rather resembles my random mutt of a fish. I am concerned.

What’s up everyone? Hope you all had a safe and happy New Years! My girlfriend’s family has gone back home, and things are starting to settle back to normalcy. Always nice to have them here, but I also enjoy my normal routine. Did just a couple of tanks that needed it last week. Got back to the full routine this week. Water changed everything, cleaned out a good number of sponge filters, and then I sliced my finger open mid-maintenance. I was cleaning a drop checker and I dropped it in the sink. Shattered it to pieces. Carefully removed those from the sink and got them in the trash can. Me being who I am, I didn’t want to waste a good suction cup as I still have a couple other drop checkers. Trying to remove the remaining glass from the suction cup my hand slipped and I got myself. Just one of those things. Gotta love it… I didn’t want to put my bleeding hand into the tank anymore than I already had to, so the remaining sponges will wait until next week. I’ve also noticed that a couple of my air collars weren’t putting out as much air as they were a couple of weeks ago. Really hoping it’s not the ACO dual pumps getting weaker already. Still need to do some testing to confirm. I will say that the sponges I cleaned today that are hooked up to the easy flow kit had by far the most gunk come out of them that they’ve ever had. The first one was even almost hard when I first started squeezing it. That Easy Flow kit works wonders. Still fighting some green water on the cube. When I did the water change today the water was definitely super green in the bucket, and the fish were hard to see in the tank. Going to need to do some additional water changes throughout the coming weeks on that tank to clear it up. Cleaned everything up, fertilizer every tank, and chucked some Indian Almond Leaves in the blackwater tanks. Speaking of those, here’s the water that’s coming out of those tanks as of today: 20 long. 29 gallon. 29 is definitely catching up to the 20 long. Gonna keep cranking ‘em and see what happens. Cheers, everyone. Thanks for coming along on the ride!

I’m new to this forum so I’m not sure which topic this would fall under but I joined because I’d like help finding a good stocking idea for my planted 40gal breeder tank. I was thinking about having a female gourami (maybe a powder blue dwarf one) or female betta as the centerpiece fish and some tetras and bottom dwellers but I’m not sure how many tetras or fish would go with it. I’d like multiple different kinds so maybe a school of neon tetras and a school of ember tetras with some corydoras (maybe panda) but I don’t want to accidentally overstock or get fish that aren’t compatible together. These are my parameters and tank info: PH: 7.0-7.6 (around 7.2) Ammonia: 0-0.25ppm Nitrite: 0ppm Nitrate: 5.0-10ppm Temp: 78-80F Plants in tank currently: Anubias, Java Fern, Hornwort & a mystery plant I got 2 years ago but I forgot the name of it (it’s attached to the rock in the left side) -Planted, has driftwood, rocks, rock hides, aquaponics on the top and bamboo on the top All and any advice/criticism is much appreciated. I don’t plan on adding fish until I fish getting all the plants in and I know the plants are alive and thriving in the tank so maybe in 1-2 months but I’d like to prepare so I can make sure the tank is suitable for the fish. Also currently I do have a male betta in the tank (he’s 6-7 years old) but only because recently it was given to me by a family member that moved to a place that didn’t allow pets (even fish) and it was my only cycled tank that fit the needs for the betta perfectly. Which is another reason I won’t be adding fish anytime soon because the betta in there most likely won’t live too much longer considering how old he is so to make sure he doesn’t get stressed and enjoy his retirement home to himself, no new fishies anytime soon.

Hi everyone! Happy holidays! Here's the new stock for this upcoming week after they are cleared from quarantine. Most fish are ready to go by Sunday/Monday (depending on how quarantine goes). All fish are sold on a first-come first-served basis. If you have any questions on these fish or other questions related to the store, please email us at: store@aquariumcoop.com ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Frogs, Shrimp, and Snails African Dwarf Frogs Leucistic African Dwarf Frogs Cherry Neo. Shrimp Orange Neo. Shrimp Red Rili Neo. Shrimp Blue Velvet Neo. Shrimp Medium Amano Shrimp Asst. Nerite Snails Assassin Snails Asst. Mystery Snails Blue Wood Shrimp Bamboo Shrimp Bettas Asst. Halfmoon Males Asst. Crowntail Males Asst. Plakat Males Cichlids Jurupari Electric Blue Acara (Locally Bred by Employee Phil) Large Assorted Angelfish (Local Drop Off Rehome) Gold Rams (Locally Bred by Christine) Corydoras and Other Catfish Panda Cories Albino Cories Sterbai Cories Reticulated/False Julii Cories Pygmy Cories Habrosus Cories Bronze Cories Paleatus Cories False Bandit Cories Leopard Cories Skunk Cories Striped Raphael Catfish Plecos Common Otocinclus Clown Plecos L128 Blue Phantom Plecos Assorted Small Bristlenose Plecos (Locally Bred) Loaches Kuhli Loaches Reticulated Hillstream Loaches Clown Loaches Dwarf Chain Loaches Tetras Neon Tetras Green Neon Tetras Cardinal Tetras Rummynose Tetras Ember Tetras Candy Cane Tetras Bleeding Heart Tetras Platinum Hatchetfish One-lined Pencilfish Barbs Green Tiger Barbs Danios Leopard Danios Danio erythromicron Glowlight Danios Gold Ring Danios Rasboras Emerald Eye Rasboras Exclamation Point Rasboras Other Cyprinids Reticulated Siamese Algae Eaters Badis Gouramis Sunset Honey Gouramis Powder Blue Dwarf Female Gouramis Pearl Gouramis Sparkling Gouramis Livebearers Asst. Fancy Guppies (Locally Bred) Asst. Endlers (Locally Bred) Asst. Mollies Asst. Platies Asst. Swordtails Rainbowfish Fork Tail Blue Eye Rainbows Spotted Blue Eye Rainbows Thread Fin Rainbows Killifish Clown Killis Large Florida Flag Fish (Local Drop Offs) Goldfish/Koi Small Black Ranchu Small Red & White Ranchu Ricefish Oddballs Elephant Nose Peacock Eels Schoutedeni Puffer Sales (While Supplies Last): -40% OFF All Non-Aquarium Co-Op Branded Rimless Tanks Photos 1. Jurupari 2. One-Lined Pencilfish 3. Skunk Cories 4. Large Angelfish 5. Furcata Rainbowish

I second this. My outdoor culture did amazing in late spring, slowed down during summer, exploded again in fall, and now that it's winter it's just barely dragging along. They seem to like cool but not cold. Also, bigger containers have been easier for me than small ones.

Hello Felicia, and welcome to the forum. Will this be a planted tank? I have a group of celestial pearl danios in a 5.5 gallon tank, but it's densely planted. It probably wouldn't work in an open tank. Believe it or not, a tank with just shrimp and snails is also entertaining to watch.

Great questions! How much I harvest depends on what method I use, how often I harvest, and how heavily I've been feeding the culture. I usually feed daily, but they can go 2-4 days without easily. From my 20 gallon, I get maybe a heaping tablespoon when I do a "heavy" harvest. That's enough to feed some to all the tanks that need it (~8 of my tanks? with inhabitants ranging from a dozen shellies to 50 small community fish). I use two methods to harvest. Easiest (lower yield) is to run a brine shrimp net through the tank. That gets me a few dozen to a few hundred daphnias, about what you'd get in a big starter culture. The (slightly) more involved method is with water changes. I use a 3/4" plastic tube to drain 5 gal from the 20 gal tank, aiming to draw water from the parts that have the heaviest concentration of daphnias. That removes maybe 50-60% of the daphnias in the culture. I pour that removed water through a reusable coffee filter then feed the daphnia to tanks. The equivalent from the 5 gal bucket culture is removing 3 gal, so more like a 60% change. In both cases, I just refill from any nearby tank. Refilling tends to disturb all the mulm and crud on the bottom, but it settles back out and the daph don't seem to mind. My airflow is from an open-ended 1/4" airline. Runs maybe 5-10 bubbles per second, enough to create an uplift and move the water around, but not enough to roil the surface. Certainly not the amount of air that bbs hatcher gets. If you're water is growing hair algae, dial back the light. I do get some clumps, and remove them periodically. Daphnia do eat algae, but only in the green water sense, and not in the grows like a plant sense. They cannot graze, and will not eat off surfaces. Some keepers try to keep daphnia in green water, and some claim to have succeeded. To make that work i think you'd need a significant amount of fert, at TON of light, and frequent harvesting. I've seen daphnia clear an outdoor pond with green water in just a few days, and that's powered by sunlight. So in an indoor setting, if you're lucky enough to have a green water tank, it's probably under super bright lights, and the daphnia will still clear it out fast. And make more daphnia so the green water can't come back. Unless you're diligently harvesting, keeping the density of grazers (daphnia) way below the growth rate of the algae. I find light doesn't hurt, but i don't rely on it for making enough algae to feed the daphnias. Anything between very low and medium brightness (in aquarium plant terms) is fine.

I don't know if mine were monster big like yours @Shadow, but my survivors also tend to be on the larger end of the Neo size scale and I assumed were female. They are also definitely Neos because they seem to interbreed with the other colors okay -- I keep a tank of mixed colors for culls (where my remaining Goldenbacks now reside), and I end up with goldenback mutts.

You can try Reverse respiration, if you’re willing to remove your Java fern from your tank. @Guppysnail

@Chick-In-Of-TheSea your garlic Ich remedy works like a charm (get a patent!): this guy had about 20 cysts on him yesterday.

I keep a 20 gallon daphnia culture, and a backup in a 5 gallon bucket. These larger sizes give great stability, and don't require a lot of water changes. Like shrimps, the culture is most sensitive when new. Couple tips: add some pond or ramshorn snails to help with cleanup. Basically, digested food (poop) is better to have lying around than undigested food (remember that daphnia are utterly incapable of eating food once it's settled). You'll get a better sense of how much food you're adding from the number of snails than from the number of daphnias. Snail explosion → dial back the food. Snails stable → good to go. Also, keep calcium up by adding a sprinkling of crushed coral on the floor, and toss in the occasional piece of cuttlebone. Just to check, when you do water changes are you using aged tank water, or treated tap? I've heard daphnia are not tolerant of dechlorinator. My food is around 3 parts spirulina to 1 part each of rice and chick pea flour. In my 20 gallon culture, I change around 5 gallons every 2 weeks. I don't see much/any ammonia, but I think the tank has a strong bb colony despite not having a filter. Eg they're on the glass, in the mulm, on the coral, etc. I vacuum around ever 3 months or so. Other thoughts: I think these guys are incredibly resilient to temps, ammonia and low O2 in nature. I wild collect a few every spring, and I watch the vernal ponds they're in diminish and disappear. The number and density of daphnia that persist in the late stages of that process is crazy. When a home culture crashes, I tend to think it's not ammonia or O2 or whatever directly, but rather those factors plus other conditions (light? temp? humidity?) are telling the adults to give up on survival and invest in the dormant egg type, as opposed to the live young.

When foods are a touch to big or to hard cichlids use their inner jaw to “tenderize” and gnaw iff bits. They spit the larger piece out while they chew up and swallow the bits they broke off. Then go back and gnaw some more.

Ok my question has been answered. They are tiger barbs. Their markings are clearly visible. Thanks to everyone who had an input. Day 14

Sure thing, was waiting for it to upload. Alot of the rocks and sand were collected at the same location as the shiners.

I did this for a long time for moina (like small daphnia). The water change easiness is nice, but there were two problems I ran into: After about 18 months the containers develop cracks due to fatigue and started to leak. I couldn't clearly see what was going on in the cultures. I shifted to 2.5 gallon aquariums, which are only marginally more expensive and allow a much better view.

hey, I'm new and researched keeping duckweed from getting sucked into my filter. I can't seem to find the thread.....but did what was suggested and made a little "boom" out of irrigation tubing. The idea was great and it worked, but I still have so much current from the pour-over filter. My tank is small.......5 gal........is this the problem?? It's a classroom tank, I'm a teacher and really want to get some cool tanks going with plants.

Yeah im ok with that. Im really just stumped on sizes and what all I can fit. Raphael + Bumblebee catfish are probably my "biggest wants".

too much flow to me is when the fish can never relax, and are constantly fighting being blown around the tank. in most cases, some light current is fine, but they do need to be able to find places of little to no flow that they can rest in.

Welcome to the CARE Forum! I like your tank. You'll get perspectives from all sorts of aquarists here. I'm more of a fish breeder than anything else, so my perspective is colored by that interest of mine. Those caves look inviting. You might consider some Apistogramma agassizii. Let's see if I can find a nice photo of a double-red / super-red male... Apistos love caves. That's what made it come to mind. Tetras are always fun. You might also like a lively school of Rummynose Tetras... There are a lot of cool Corydoras to choose from, so find one you rally like! I think that a few bottom-dwellers, a nice full school of shoaling / schooling fish in the mid water column, and 1-3 major centerpiece fish is a full, balanced tank if everyone gets along. There's an old rule of thumb: add 3x plants for every 1x fish. I'd love to see your entire tank loaded with plants, and then sprinkled with fun fish.

Dang! Excited to see what it comes back like! I’ve been contemplating redoing the Pea Puffer tank. Or, at bare minimum ripping out the sand in the middle and replacing it with gravel. I’m undecided, though. What was the tipping point that made you decide you were taking it all out?

I don't notice any of them struggling so I think mines ok for now. It's an AquaClear 50 so it's nothing crazy. Most of my fish are bottom dwellers anyways so I don't think they feel much.

Nah, it’s not terrible. Pretty small cut. Just more annoying than anything else in the middle of maintenance lol. For sure. Did a little more testing on the ACO dual outlet pump and I’m pretty sure the pump is just all of a sudden weaker than it was. Next and final test will be to hook up an all new airline. Pretty bummed that the pump diaphragm already seems to be pretty weak.

I’ve been battling Blackbeard in this tank a while. I’ve reduced it dramatically, but still have some problem spots in my Java fern. I’ve always had this black algae on my Java fern. Do I need to just heavily prune and cut all that out? Will the carbon eventually treat it? Thanks for your help!

Yeah that's more flow in my aquarium. Would something like what you have set up be ok for like a guppy or only high flow fish?

Seachem alkalinity buffer is what I use. KH above 60 ppm or how high did it get? What is your pH now?

The suction is basically the junk vacuum. Right now you're intake is on the far left all the way against the wall, just not quite optimal. That's all. The flow in the middle will also hit the front glass and then go along both sides. Better circulation and heat distribution and things of that nature. You can try to mount it on the side of the tank if you're having flow issues (too strong of a flow) or check into something to baffle the output.

Just to reduce flow I guess? I basically did it for aethetic reasons but I guess it's more "even" if it's in the middle.

Oh ok cool. What is your thoughts on the bubbler/HOB location? There doesn't appear to be like a "crazy flow" but there is def. some flow coming from the HOB end but none of the fish seem like they are "fighting" the flow.

ive kept guppies most of my life, 72-74 is ideal for guppies.

I moved it down to 75. I guess just because the guppies seem to like around 76+. Also here is a picture of the current aquarium. HOB filter/heater is on the left, bubbler on the right.:

Wish me luck! This is the 125 I re-resealed 10 days ago. I actually do not think I had a leak after the first reseal. There's some discoloration from the spray paint on the bottom. Oh well, it's better sealed this time, I think.

I have wondered if he needs to have a bigger tank with more dwarf redtails for companions. Right now he is in a 40b, and truthfully it seems cramped for him.

Thanks! I found a seller on Aquabid, who's sending me Microworms, Vinegar Eels, Banana Worms, and Grindal Worms. Should be here before the second round of eggs hatch. I agree. I love macro tanks, but they can be even harder to keep in good shape than reefs. I'd love to try some actual seagrasses, which is an actual saltwater plant (where macros are algae). http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2691511

I have done this several times. It works just fine.

Jealous. Starting to wonder if this type of plant growth is even achievable without CO2. At least I am not having any luck doing so. Slow growth and BB algae. 😞

@Kerri my apologies. Can you try to re-upload the photos? They aren't showing up for us. You can do that. Just make sure that the pieces all fit before you cut any sponge. You'd want it to snap together and doesn't fall apart when you lift it up or move it. You can also opt for more sponge and not having the uplift tube.

Is it possible the burrowing comes as some sort of sexual maturity occurs?

Unfortunately, your pictures are just showing up as black boxes for me, but that might be just a me issue. For the sponge filter, you don't need to have the uplift tube attached, it just makes it a bit more efficient. But if that makes it too tall, you can leave it off entirely.

Yesterday I got 8 pygmy corydoras, but they seem to be laying on the substrate and not swimming much. I don't know if this is normal, I've seen other people's pygmy cories and they seem to be swimming around the middle. If anyone knows please inform me

What's maybe a better temp? I have pleco's in there as well and guppies? Most stuff for corys I see says mid to high 70's? (Is it also bad the bubbler and the hangback filter are on different sides? im worried about flow causing disturbances) but I doubt bubbler affects flow much?

When i originally setup my 55 puffer tank it was on carpet and even with the stand on 1" thick hardwood boards it had a tendency to move a bit more than i would like, especially when working around it. in fear the puppy would jump up to see what was going on in there and take the whole thing down i secured to the wall with some unused furniture safety straps (like to keep cheap book cases from toppling over) i found at work. Definitely slept better at night having them on there. I would also suggest if you run airlines keep them high and use check valves just in case something gets yanked on!

I would suggest maybe try out a wavemaker/powerhead and play with positioning to try to keep the detritus suspended so the filter grabs it. I always dreamed of having a white sand planted tank and tried it out with a small 3.5 gal self contained like cheap top fin tank from petsmart and it has been a nightmare, the flow is so minimal and is great for the beta i have in there who is thriving but i just cant keep the sand clean and probably should just change the substrate. I went black sand in my 125 and while it is a bit heavy filtered after a little playing with the ACO powerhead i just have one or two spots where debris will collect behind rocks/driftwood structure that need gravel vac'd, otherwise everything is clean. I wish the ACO powerhead was adjustable/ tiltable but even going straight across the bottom it kept all the debris moving and for the price you really cant go wrong trying it out. i currently moved it to the top corner to "help push" my fx6 output across the 6' tank and its still doing a decent job but there is a bit more gathering places for the debris than when i had it low

Macro gives a real rockpool vibe to it…it’s a bit like a saltwater planted tank in a way… Tigahboy did an amazing thing with that tank. 😍

Wish I could overnight you some Microworms...if you end up ever needing more, I usually have 2 cultures going at all times. Don't mind dropping a culture in the mail for you.

@Mercfh That probably was very stressful for the Pepper Cory I suggest slowing the flow or placing a pre-filter on the intake. It's possible for that to happen again.

I’m guessing male and female showing off to each other for possible courting.Telling sex in the d is about the dorsal spots. I don’t remember the entire explanation but girls have more pronounced black and white. Left is girl right is boy my girl my boy

Def agree with @Cory low pH and low light aren't great for vale. I also make sure to dose properly with EZ Green and I also run a CO2 set up, as I see you use both these you are good here. Here are my specs for my Fluval Aquasky(I think that is what you are running), a break mid day helps for longer enjoyment hours when I am home while keeping the chance for algae minimal. I produce so much in my main tank its in that I have to prune every other month as there are more shoots than I need. Hope this helps. 🙂

Sorry to revive a dead post but this popped up when I was trying to see pothos vs potato information and I figured I should update this. the monstera definitely won, by a mile, the pothos is growing very strong and is as thick in the stem as my finger, but the monstera is fruiting, has 32 inch leaves (no sunlight) and has roots that span 6 feet by 3 feet, definitely the winner for large tanks but I would not recommend it for anything shy of 200+ gallons just because the roots will take over you tank, I can add way more photos if there is interest, there is very heavy plant load in this tank with the monstera but even when jam packed with goldfish the plants keep nitrates to basically 0, it got so strong I had to add close to 30 pounds of crushed coral just to keep the KH from crashing and it’s really done amazing keeping the water “clean”.

I think metro is the right play, but I'd suggest getting pure metro. Bump the temp to 93 (you might have to QT the discus to do this), 1-2 TBS of salt per 10 gallons. 12 days of metro (dosed every day) in water not food, usually they're not actually eating when they get to this point, black out the tank. Don't bother feeding him for at least a few days. Discus metro dose is 500 mg pure metro per 10 gallons of water. Again, you're probably going to want to put the discus in a separate tank. Daily do as large of a water change that you can do and still supply stable/preheated water, wipe down sides and bottom with a paper towel at least every few days during treatment before water change, and then dose the full 500 mg/10 gallons + salt you took out for 12 days. After the 12 days slowly bring the temp back down to your normal tank temperature. Your discus would be absolutely fine in a bare bottom 10 gallon tank on his own during this time. The temperature ramps up the metabolic rate, the metro is killing the hexamita, and eventually he'll start wanting to eat. Two of my discus were very sick with hex and this metro treatment routine saved one of them and he's actually one of the bigger fish in the school now. The other, unfortunately, was too far gone. This sounds like classic hex in discus, by the way. It might take the course of the full treatment + some days before the fish really starts to improve depending on how bad it is. Additionally, discus, like most schooling fish are most comfortable in groups. So it would probably be best to get him some friends. But first, get him healthy, he is a good looking discus! 🙂 30 ppm of nitrate is also pretty high for discus and it can take awhile for poor water quality to show itself outwardly. A lot of that can depend on your water. If you've got nice acidic water it limits a lot of bacterial overgrowth so you can get away with less maintenance. My water is 8.2+ pH and if I let my nitrates creep up much above 15, my discus start getting bacterial nodules on their fins. I don't let it get beyond that.