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I remain so happy with these temperate-species from Alabama, USA — Rainbow Shiners (Notropis chrosomus). This strain is a blue-caste from Alabama. Unfortunately, you cannot typically buy these in many fish stores in the US. In parts of Europe, they're everywhere.

I am not a big fan of the whole dimming your lights to battle algae program. I also have not had much success with algae eating livestock taking care if the issue. I tried those strategies for months and months with minimal to show for it, My greatest success battling Algae has been from optimizing plant growth and reducing preferred food for the algae. Healthy vibrant plant growth defends itself well from algae growth. Struggling plants leach waste organics from their leaves that Algae likes to munch on. I have found the best results with practices such as weekly 50% water changes, increasing flow in the tank, using the combination of a turkey baster to suspend detritus from the substrate while using a siphon to pull out the resulting cloud of debris stirred up by the turkey baster while doing the water changes. Clean your filter often, especially during initial clean up…. Doing water change clean ups more often than weekly in the initial phase…. Pulling out plants and soaking them in room temp seltzer water overnight and replanting them… keeping water parameters such as GH with optimum Ca and Mg levels and low KH optimized and stable as well as Nitrates in the 20-30 ppm level. Using these methods I have been able to Maintain a non CO2 injected tank free of visible algae. I have also utilized 15 minute hydrogen peroxide whole tank treatments to help knock down algae. The way I do it is to remove biomedia from the tank and let it set in a bucket of tank water during treatment. Turn on filter without media to have good flow in the tank assuming some sort of powered filter with good flow…. Add 4 tablespoons of 3% hydrogen peroxide per 10 gallons of water and allow it to circulate for 15 minutes and then do a 50% water change to reduce Hydrogen Peroxide levels. I would only do this hydrogen peroxide treatment a few days after having thoroughly cleaned the tank and substrate and soaking the plants in seltzer first. In fact I would personally do a few whole tank cleaning sessions first before doing the peroxide treatment. If you are not comfortable doing the whole tank treatment with peroxide I can understand. It can speed things up, but I bet you can achieve similar results over time simply with the cleaning and stability methods over a longer period of time. I would not reduce lighting photoperiod below 6 hours myself. All of the above is what works for me…

Congrats on making more swords! Yes you can do that, but I suggest waiting till the baby swords have bigger leaves before planting. I leave mine till leaves with the stem are about 2 inches.

I use silicone candy molds and mini ice cube trays. Here’s a pic of my Repashy worms

I think the employee was out of line. However I would probably have opted for6-8 myself on first stocking and pick up more in a week or two… generally I try to add fish in groups of 6-8 when starting a 29 gallon tank and wait a week or two before adding. I also tend to test for ammonia and nitrite after adding fish every few days for a week or so… in essence your tank may be fully cycled inso far as it can metaboloze all the bioload it is exposed to. Double or triple the bioload and it needs time to adapt…. And it might not keep up and could be issues. Now water changes will deal with those issues just fine…

I do get where the employee is coming from but I doubt that 12 Pygmy Cories would crash the cycle. Those fish are so tiny the mystery snail and other snails probably poop more than 12 of them.

Hi @TwoFace99 Did anyone ever mention the calcium-magnesium ratio (Ca:Mg) during that discussion? Since you were at Aquarium Coop I assume you live here in the Seattle area as I do. Seattle water (both Tolt and Cedar River) is very, very soft with minimal minerals including calcium and magnesium which are considered as secondary nutrients. The folks at Co-op were correct that insufficient available calcium will indeed cause plant leaves that do not form properly. Common symptoms are: "Margins of young leaves are scalloped and abnormally green and, due to inhibition of cell wall formation, the leaf tips may be "gelatinous" and stuck together inhibiting leaf unfolding. Stem structure is weak and peduncle collapse or shoot topple may occur.". I like to use Nymphoides hydrophylla (aka "sp. Taiwan") as an indicator plant in my tanks because it is typically the first to show calcium related issues. BTW, Banana Plants (Nymphoides aquatica) are a related species. What apparently was not shared it the recommended ratio of calcium to magnesium that is suggested for healthy plant growth. Typically a Ca:Mg ratio range of 3:1 - 4:1 is recommended for healthy plant growth. Many of us that grow plants in the local aquarium club, the Greater Seattle Aquarium Society, add both calcium and magnesium to our tanks to minimize growth problems. Many use Seachem Equilibrium in their tanks which has a 3.3:1 calcium magnesium ratio. Others of us add calcium and magnesium when we do our weekly water changes. With a dGH of 5.0 you have gobs of calcium in your tank but I suspect minimal (if any) magnesium. What leads me to suspect that insufficient available magnesium is the issue with your plants? I downloaded a couple of your pictures, enlarged and enhanced them, and noticed 'cupping' of the older leaves not only in the Wisteria but also the Cryptocoryne. Insufficient magnesium causes: "Chlorosis (yellowing) along leaf margins extending between veins produces a "Christmas tree" pattern. Veins normal green. Leaf margins may curl downward or upward with puckering effect. Necrosis may suddenly occur between veins. Potassium or calcium excess can inhibit uptake of magnesium" Look at the photo below see how the leaves emerge looking relatively healthy and plant (#1). Then as the leaves mature the margins are curling under causing the leaf to curl downward (#2). Lastly as the leaf matures further the margins are even more curled under (#3). Now nothing is going to change any of the existing leaves. If it were my tank I would 1) remove the Wonder Shells; 2) do 50% water changes twice over the next four days to decrease the concentration of calcium in the tank; and 3) start dosing Seachem Equilibrium to add the needed calcium and magnesium. How much Equilibrium? Enough to bring you dGH up to about 4.0. Over the next four weeks you should see an improvement in the new leaves as they emerge and mature. (Remember....existing leaves will not change). To deal with diatoms I use Otocinclus catfish in all my tanks....they eat diatoms like it is candy. One per 10 gallons will clean up a tank in a couple of weeks. Hope this helps! -Roy

Maybe try lighting up the area around the tank more to see if that changes behavior any.

These are Dope where would I get some of these Taeniacara Candidi ?

@Ken Burke Me too! I don't have many fish I'm feeding right now so to keep things about the right 'dose' (for lack of a better term) I went with the smallest candy molds I could find at Michael's Crafts...little stars. They work great, are super easy to clean, etc. I've been adding a little extra water to my repashy as I mix it up and I've had an easier time demolding as a result, though the reason I'm adding more water is not for demolding but to keep it liquid long enough for my not-very-coordinated hands to get it poured into the mold lol. I freeze mine (because again, not a ton of fish, so it takes me a while to get through even the smallest batch) and the molds are extra useful for that compared to just cutting in to squares....way easier to separate in my opinion. I did make a mistake the first time I made repashy and, because I'm using it to feed my otocinclus and they like grazing off rocks, painted some on some lava rock. No. I can now say for certain -- it will not set on the porous surface of lava rock. Came sloughing off in the tank within a day and was a bit of a mess to clean out. I haven't tried a smoother river stone or similar yet (because the stars are working so well tbh) but I've definitely heard it can be painted on rocks so, I assume that's what more experienced minds are using.

Well here is the finished product! Letting the micro sword get settled and good to go before I trim it. Steve the betta seems to appreciate the tank and is always busy exploring the plants and places to hide.

I only speak from my own personal experience. Your experience may vary. The ramshorn work well for me, with or without shrimp. They absolutely eat the algae and will make a big difference in the overall plant health in a tank.

My 75 has a UGF that covers about 90% of the tank, with 2 risers and powerheads. The powerheads provide water movement and aeration throughout. The tank also has a Marineland Emperor 400 HOB. Either filter is adequate by itself. It is a ridiculous amount of filtration, but the HOB was a gift, so I was required to use it.

Once they mature to ca. 9-months old to 1-yr+ this strain is always this color. This is not their “fired-up” color. Here is an example of one male from this strain fired up for spawning …

I second this. I’m still battling hair algae (which looks like what you might have) and by decreasing the intensity/period of light time and increasing fertilizer, the hair algae is slowly depleting!

It might seem counter intuitive, but I would up your nitrates with fertilizer to 20ppm at least, and consider root tabs for the plants that prefer to eat from the substrate rather than the water column.

Awesome! I love the arcade and retro type games, also modern games, I love those a lot, the outdoors are better tho imo. I am a big fan of baseball especially.

Sunburst Wag Platty are my favorite

Greetings! I have a group of white-tailed Acei- I have had 2 spontaneous spawns in my community cichlid tank (3 1st brood, 8 2nd brood). I can't determine what I did to induce them to mate/spawn, I only realized they spawned after I saw the babies. Last spawn was 6 mo ago. The community has gotten a bit crowded and I'm afraid they aren't breeding because of the density. I am trying to get them to intentionally spawn in a separate tank. I put (what I think?) are the male and female in a separate tank. I saw some "dancing" behavior between them on the first 2 days in the separate tank, and since then the female has been hiding in the corner ever since for the last week. I removed the male and now I see her swim out some but most of the time she still is hiding behind the driftwood. Is there a way to confirm if she is holding eggs? I saw her open her mouth (like a yawn) a couple times which made we worried she isn't holding, but most of the time she is hiding with her mouth closed and I don't see her come out for food. Thanks!

Just in case it's helpful in the future, a research lab found iodine to be more effective than both bleach and hydrogen peroxide for eliminating mycobacterium marinum. Apparently there is a lot of misinformation and many old wives tales in circulation about this disease, even among veterinary professionals. Especially concerning is that many people continue to think it's rare in the hobby, when in fact it's been found to be widespread. Iodine might be a safer and more effective choice than Lysol if you have to deal with this in the future. I really hope not, it's so awful. Here is a link to the paper: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1532045615001246

Thank you! I appreciate that! He is pretty cool if I do say so myself ☺️

How large is the aquarium? How well-planted? Female livebearers can carry milt from males for a long, long time. It is possible that she is gravid and may give live birth. The other livebearers may sense that, or even predate on fry. If she is "boxed" up -- bulky in girth -- she may be carrying fry. I recommend an aquarium of at least 20 gallons or larger.

Unless it is being harmed by the other fish, is still eating and acting normal, then I would not be overly concerned and just keep an eye out for it.

Thanks AFNB! I really appreciate the help!

I would also like to know. Chances are I may encounter the same thing. I hope someone can answer your question. I hope he is fine.

Thank you very much @Seattle_Aquarist, you and @Pepere have been a great help, and I’ll get back to you guys when I have updates on my aquarium plants. Enjoy the rest of your day.

Have you tested your tap water for ammonia? Are you only seeing ammonia after a water change, or all the time?

if your readings stay good, and you bump the amount of food up just a tiny bit to emulate what you will feed with the extra fish.... give it a few days to a week for the bacteria levels to grow, then add more fish.

Hi @TwoFace99, I used to test a bunch of different parameters: pH, dKH, dGH, phosphate, iron, etc. But I've been doing planted tanks for 16 years now and usually all I test about once a month is pH, dKH, and dGH and occasionally calcium. I've tested using several brands but now I use API pH, and API GH & KH combo kit, and Salifert Calcium Test Kit. I've checked the API test kits against calibrated solutions and are are accurate enough for aquarium use. BTW, with a dGH reading and a calcium ppm reading you can compute the magnesium ppm level. If you have a large tank, or many smaller tanks, Seachem Equilibrium can become expensive. After you get things under control I can offer some suggestions as to how to use calcium sulfate and magnesium sulfate to deal with low dGH using 'salts'. BTW, when I downloaded, enhanced, and enlarged your photos the most likely issue causing the interveinal chlorosis in your older leaves is insufficient available magnesium. -Roy

Hi @Arnam Anan, Thank you for the additional information. Is the pH of 6.4 the tap water or your tank water or out of the tap? If tap water is still that reading after allowing it to de-gas for 24 hours? I very much discourage the use of crushed coral (calcium carbonate) in increase pH since it is impossible to control the dissolve rate it adds a substantial amount of calcium to the water as it dissolves Not only does it increase the pH to levels that can effect nutrient uptake but it can impact the calcium:magnesium (Ca:Mg) ratio. Using sodium bicarbonate (aka baking soda not baking power) allows much easier control of the pH and does not effect the dGH or Ca:Mg ratio. NYC gets water from two different watersheds, and a multitude of different reservoirs, aqueducts, and pipelines. It is very like that depending upon the source being utilized the water analysis may vary frequently. Here is the most recent NYC water quality report, the water analysis is about 2/3 the way down the .pdf. -Roy

It’s fun to see this thread renewed by newcomers @ThomasFish. Platys are all about genetics and line breeding. Good strains are hard to come by and when you do hold on tight. I miss my teacup coral Platys.

Hi @TwoFace99, If it were me I would do the two (2) 50% water changes over the next few days, that should get you down to close to whatever dGH you have coming out of the tap and hopefully lower you pH as well. Then I would dose sufficient Equilibrium to increase the dGH by increase the dGH by 3.0 dGH to start. How much to dose? 1.5 teaspoons of Equilibrium per 10 gallons will increase the dGH by approximately 3.0 degrees (3.0 dGH) and increase the available calcium by about 16 ppm and available magnesium by about 4.8 ppm. Hope this helps! -Roy

Employee seems a bit misinformed and out of line, really. I tend to be fairly understocked in my tanks unless they're growout tanks with lots of fry in them getting lots of water changes, but 12 pygmy corys shouldn't be an issue I wouldn't think, though I have not kept them. It's not all bad staggering the loading, but water changes solve any concerns of ammonia or nitrite spikes.

I’m referring to my aquarium water being 10-11dGH with the Wonder Shell usage. Without the Wonder shell, it stays at 10dGH, but for how long, I never truly tested. My tap water itself is 12dGH (last time I tested was 8dGH). Additionally, I didn’t realize iron uptake by plants is reduced at higher pH levels. Interesting.

Maybe the bottom part isn’t getting enough light? I’ve experienced plants losing leaves on the bottom part of the stem because I didn’t have the light strong enough.

Hi @TwoFace99, Are you saying the water out of the tap comes out at 10 dGH or that is the dGH of the tank with the Wonder Shell usage? I was born in Chicago, grew up in St. Louis, and moved to Seattle in 1977. According to the Chicago Water Department Comprehensive Analysis the water is usually about 35 mg/l or 35 ppm calcium and about 11 ppm magnesium or about 2.7 dGH which is soft. The water for Chicago comes out of Lake Michigan and is very constant throughout the year. If you are outside the area that uses Chicago water check with your local water utility and get their water analysis. Many municipalities have well water and since most of the Midwest bedrock is limestone their water may be harder. I check the chemical water analysis of local utility at least twice a year spring and fall at the end of 'wet season' and "dry season" since that effects mineral concentration. The pH of 7.8 is likely effecting the uptake of iron in your tank as well (see chart below). Check out other posts I have done regarding iron uptake, pH, and chelates. Hope this helps! -Roy

You are absolutely correct @Pepere. I wrile against those that recommend adding crushed coral to a tank or filter. The quantity and rate that dissolves is typically an unknown and it's use results in easily overdosing calcium; making very difficult to bring a tank into balance. In addition it increases the pH resulting in the breaking of chelate bonds in most iron fertilizers causing iron deficiency issues. I personally use calcium salts and magnesium salts to increase the dGH and levels of those nutrients in my tanks.....much cheaper than Equilibrium when you have many and/or large tanks. -Roy

Excellent write up Roy.. the Magnesium issue is 1 reason I don’t follow the adding crushed coral to deal with soft water mantra so prevalent in the hobby. Crushed coral only adds calcium and carbonates, and your levels are constantly in flux, plummeting with a deep water change and rising from there… dosing Equilibrium, or calcium and mgnesium salts gives you a predictable level of calcium and magnesium that can be extremely close to the water being taken out…. Plants reprogram their leaves to optimize for the soup they are being served. A fair amount of energy and resources are used to reprogram. Stable levels allows the plant to use that energy and resources for plant growth and defending against algae instead…

Honestly, I hadn’t much paid attention to Platys until just recently when I was watching one of @Cory’s recent trips to the German wholesaler and he showed the Tuxedo Platy. Now I’m obsessed, lol.

Oh, I've always had a soft spot for platies, especially after having those vibrant red ones. They literally lit up my tank and made it look like a lively underwater party every day. And the way they just zoom around, minding their own business, always gets me smiling. But, you know, I've been eyeing the tuxedo platy for a while now. Haven't had the chance to add them to my tank yet, but they're definitely on my wishlist. There's something about that classy look they have — like they're always dressed to impress. Imagine having these little guys darting around, adding a touch of elegance to the whole scene. Can't wait to see how they'll mix with my current fish fam. Oh, just saw that this thread was a couple of years old....

Just wanted to give a quick update. Today will be the 4th treatment following the protocol Colu suggested (along with increasing the water temp to 81 degrees) One of the corys passed yesterday :( Today is the first day where I feel like things are actually improving. The corys no longer have excess slime coats, and I am not seeing any more of that fuzz on any of them. One of them had lots of fuzz over their face/eyes yesterday, but it is gone today :) They all seem to be doing a lot better, still resting a lot, but slightly more active, and I have been able to entice them to eat by soaking their pellets in garlic juice and letting them have lots of time to eat. Most of their fins (tail and dorsal primarily) are still looking ragged, but aren't getting worse. The tetras and betta both developed more Ich spots, but there don't appear to be new ones today. I realized this morning that I had accidentally been under dosing the Ich-X, for at least one day and possibly all of them - I ordered some new droppers to help out with that. The tetras and betta are still eating well. The betta seems a little slower and is definitely resting more during the day (or I am paying more attention and noticing how much he rests now). One thing that I think made a huge difference was going back and watching videos on how to properly gravel vacuum (the Aquarium Co-op one in particular) and holy moly I have not been doing it well for a couple months and it made a big difference last night. As a newbie, it's been really hard to deal with this, so I wanted to share some progress for anyone else that finds themselves in a rough spot. Right now, I really think it can get better, I really hope so anyway :) It has for sure been discouraging and really tough emotionally, but hopefully it will get better.

My sandwich container cracked.. so this is the new “Repashy Container “ 😂 This is how I spend my Friday nights… making Repashy and staring at my fish. My fish and C.A.R.E. Forums are my social life

Sorry to hear you’re going through it! What are you treating with? I’d probably be throwing salt at it and seeing what happens.

I ended buying tissue cultures of microsword and rotala. It'll be my first ever plants. I have a gravel substrate. I think I need to add some more to give depth. I got some flourish tabs as well since I don't have fish to give natural nourishment. One tab should be enough? I don't want an algae explosion if one is even too much.

@GoofyGarra omg right??? I was gonna use this photo but the resolution wasn’t great but he is a character 😂

Loving this guy's face, looks super derpy and cute

We also got in some super cute Small Fancy Goldfish this week as well! They are priced at $15.99ea 🧡 Do you have a favorite type? I particularly love the telescope butterfly tails 😊

@TheDesktopAquarium I had great success with frogbit in a low flow outdoor pond to the point it was trying to choke out the pond. I have had mixed luck inside aquariums. Is there a lot of flow in the tank? Many floating plants dont do well if their top surface gets wet routinely like overspray from an air stone. Could also be the water or nutrients?

Woah 😳 those are sick!!! What is happening?!!?🤣🤣 @Fish Folk

I did some more reading on it and some say it's extremely common, In as much as 50% of all freshwater and some say all freshwater harbors the bacteria for it but just won't affect fish that are healthy. While I'm not sure I'm convinced all water has it as then we would be seeing way more cases of it being transferred to humans, I think my chances of getting it should be slim to none considering I only have a few tanks and some people out there have dozens but I do know of a youtuber "the secret history living in your aquarium" who was recently hospitalized for a bad infection. Don't know all the details but we could all be at very high risk if that's the case. And people like cory should be almost guaranteed to experience it at some point... Not that I want that but when u spend years in a fish tank it makes your odds go way up. This is literally more freightening to me than covid ever has or will be.