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LUCKY! That's mosquito larvae and its an amazing fish food.

They look like Mosquito Larvae to me, if you have fish in the aquarium they will happily gobble them up.

The guppies made short work out of the mosquito larva, I no longer see any in the aquarium. I’m going to leave the guppies in the tank until this evening just to make sure.

Hello! I have an established 10 gallon tank. I ordered some cherry shrimp and they came smaller than expected, so I decided to start a new dedicated shrimp tank (I now realize I should have done this from the start). The shrimp are currently in a breeder net in the established tank with java moss. I'm new to the hobby and unfortunately only have a HOB filter running in my established tank. I purchased a new sponge filter that I've been running in the established tank for a day or two now. I'm planning on moving this new filter over to the new tank when I'm ready to move the shrimp over. How long should I wait before the new filter is seeded? I've seen anywhere from 1 week to 3 months... I'm also planning on moving over some plants, substrate, and squeezing out the filter juice from my established tank into my new shrimp tank.

I finally got around to building a stand for my UNS 7 gallon cube. I moved apartments and no longer had counter space for the tank, so I needed to build a stand to get it off the floor and finally had time this weekend to get it done. I free balled the design a little bit but I think it ended up coming out pretty decent. The only thing I may do is add a little shelf on the interior above the CO2 tank housing but otherwise I’d say it’s a finished product. I’m down to a geriatric 6 year old white cloud and two old chili rasboras in this tank, so it will probably be getting a rescape/restock in the near future now that it finally is off the floor. Just wanted to drop this here in case anyone needed some stand inspiration for their nano tank!

Ok guys, finally! I do believe the plant melt phase is coming to, or has come to, an end. Here’s when I scaped the tank. And here’s where we are now: This is the last of the melt that I can see. Most I siphoned out, and the guppies ate the rest. Heres some shots of nice, fresh and crisp green growth. And this plant is fairly new to the tank. Aquarium Co Op microsword; a real favorite of mine. I’ve had some in my shrimp tank for ages and it requires pretty much no care. I did give this guy a root tab though, tucked into his rock wool. I have seen some videos of tanks where the val is really rockin, and that’s my vision for this tank. We can call this The Grasslands tank, I suppose. And then some guppy pics (even though they already snuck into some of my plant pics). Not to play favorites or anything but.. this guy is my favorite. He is the only one with a purple body and spots. He loves cleaning the equipment. They are all really good at keeping everything tidy. Here is endler and ember as well. They are both doing pretty good. That little ember really utilizes the whole tank and is right there with the lot of them when it’s mealtime. Everyone got live grindal worms today. I turned off the filter this time, hehe. The side walls have algae for the first time, following the first dose of easy green. It was pointless to dose it during the plant melt, as the plants weren’t ready to take it up, but they did have root tabs during that time and now those are paying off. Update: I lied. This guppy has a pattern on his body too, but he’s so hyper, he’s very hard to photograph. Here are some stills from a video.

I think they are limpets. Great for your shrimp tank. They help clean the glass. Their population depends on how much you feed.

Yep! Mosquito larvae. Congratulations on growing your own live fish food! If you have a betta in any of your tanks, it would love them too. A mosquito deposited eggs there and they hatched.

That a species of melanotaenia rainbow fish not sure what species

For a prolapse I would fast for a couple of days I usually recommend treating with plain unsented Epsom salt baths 1 table spoon for 1 gallons for no more than 15 minutes for 5 days as Epsom salt acts as a muscle relaxant to help your fish reabsorb the prolapse I don't no how sensitive to salt Columbian wood cats are I wouldn't risk that level of epsom salt I would quarantine and fast and add a small amount of epsom 1 table spoon for 5 gallons direct to the quarantine tank for 5 days just remember to only put back in what you take out so if you do a 5 gallons water change put 1 table spoon of epsom salt back as salt only removed though water changes @Scotty

Thanks for all the reply’s guys. I have so many options I am overwhelmed lol. So helpful.

Here is Mysterio today. He is longer than the cherry barbs now. He has a couple of very fine red horizontal lines on his back half.

Let me start by saying I have not kept shrimp (but have too many scuds to count)… but have started tanks quickly using an established tank quite a few times 1) I would put the new sponge filter into the established tank as soon as you can. 2) I would siphon 2-5 gallons of water out of your established tank and put it into your new 10 gallon tank. Don’t be afraid to get some mulm out of the gravel 3) I would move the substrate and maybe a plant over to the new tank from the old tank and squeeze the HOB filter juice into the new tank. 4) Feed a quarter of what you think your shrimp could eat into the 10 gallon tank for a few days. (If you’re going to add snails and have them I’d recommend adding 1-2 small snail now) 5) After the sponge filter has been running in the established tank for at least 24 hours I would move it to the new tank. 6) 24 hours later I would test the water. If it test good I would move some of the shrimp over. 7) Keep feeding a smaller amount for a few days and then add the rest of the shrimp. 8 After a few days slowly start increasing your daily feeding amount. As I stated above I have no shrimp experience but this has worked for me with fish over a dozen times. Best of luck to you.

Pretty much what @Fish Folk said. I will add this from my personal experience: try to find that one species that is always in demand, isn't typically available in local fish stores, and returns a decent profit margin. Breed the heck out of those (if you can find a market to sell them in) and then use the money they generate to subsidize the rest of the fish you want to breed. Your 'hot ticket' item might not be something you want to breed, but it's the bread-n-butter fish. Keep your eyes on the horizon for the next species like this just in case your original species isn't the 'fish of the moment' anymore. Depends on what the laws in the UK are, and if you're selling in a marketplace that reports your sales at the end of the year. In the US, you didn't have to file taxes until you went over $20k in gross, annual sales. Recently they reduced that to $600 !! 🤯 You can write off a lot of what your pay for your hobby-side-hustle as 'business expenses', but you still, technically, have to file. On the other hand, if you're collecting cash at a swap meet or something like that, then --'wink wink' -- no you don't have to track taxes for filing. If you're invoicing an LFS, then you should probably consider tracking all this for reporting purposes

JimboMo, We've been running some studies here at Dan's Fish, and have found that 60% - 70% of the issues we have arise from flatworms, roundworms, or flukes. These often cause gradual die-offs over time. Its impossible to know without a proper diagnosis, and I'm not a veterinarian, but there is a product available in the UK that might help. Its from NT Labs and is called Flukasol. We've found it to be quite effective against many types of worms and flukes. If you finish your prazi treatments and things are not improving within a few weeks, it might be worth giving the Flukasol a shot. Its easy to find on Ebay. - Dan

4 inches of water in a 29 gallon is around 6 gallons… If I were moving a 29 gallon, I would be bagging up the fish myself and draining water to the substrate level before moving… Just at bare bones we are looking at: 29 gallon tank empty. 40 lbs 2 inches of gravel substrate. 50 lbs 4 inches of water 48 pounds.. that 4 inches is just the 4 inches above substrate level.. hard to determine how much, but there will be water in and amongst the substrate. easily lookin at 150 pounds.. and moving it the water is likely to jostle about..

Do you know how many pounds of substrate you have in your tank? Do you have live plants rooted in your substrate? I think an empty 29 gallon tank is around 40lbs. If you have 20 lbs of substrate in tank and around 5 gallons of water for your fish your at around 100 lbs. If your able to lift the tank and stand onto a furniture dolly and move it as one unit might work or even if it is just your tank. I have moved over 30 tanks in my life time. I've used furniture dollies and brute force. I've even dragged a tank and stand on a wood floor using a carpet runner. It is always easier and safer when drained and the majority of substrate is taken out. If you do keep the substrate and water in while moving it. Remember to only grab from the bottom, watch your fingers and keep the tank as level as possible. Keeping all that weight in the tank can put stress on the seems while you move the tank. I had a 40 gallon develop a slow leak from a bottom seem aftet I moved it keeping the substrate and some water in it. Have an action plan in place incase something goes wrong. Save as much water as possible in case you need it. Try and move the tank during the time your local store is open incase you need to replace anything. Such as tank, filter or heater. I would sometimes use a move as a chance to change my scape and substrate. Good luck!

I do this, too! I like how the bubble wrap rises with the water level. I also got this idea from somewhere in this forum.

i would do just that, drain it down just enough water left to keep the fish wet. remember #8 a gallon of water, plus tank weight, and substrate. now is that the absolute best way guarantee'd not to cause a leak way, nope. if you are gentle and dont go twisting/tweaking/dropping the tank, itll be okay.

I use these as fell. I stick the end of the hook into a filter sock to diffuse the water going into the tank so as to minimize substrate disturbance.

Greetings from Germany, Here are pictures from my last breeding attempt. I grew 200 puffer fish. They are born on 14 March 2024

Day 1 post spawning

My Super Reds used to love salad shrimp made for human consumption. Drop one in and they'd swarm it. I'd buy them pre-cooked and frozen and just pop one or two out and drop it in the tank. They also devoured freeze-dried tubifex worm cubes stuck on the glass. A lot of plecos are more carnivorous than expected.

I was under impression that these fish preferred a more carnivore forward diet than vegetarian. I have 4 of them in my community setup, but honestly I have no idea what food they prefer out of what I throw into the aquarium. With fish I never observe eating, I usually monitor their body shape, health and activity over the course of a couple weeks. I will also stop using foods that are obvious they wont eat, but only after introducing that food on multiple occassions.

Updating this thread to keep it all together.Spotted congo puffer project continues. I spent some time after the last lesrning experience coming up with a better design to get scatterer puffers to "collect their own eggs for me" and after some refinement with an expert in fish 3D printed items this pedestal was the first version we came up with from the fish lab. Turns out I did design it properly and was "thinking like a puffer". She was eating her eggs during this. My opinion is it looks a little more intense to us than it is for her. You can also note she holds standard patterning here no stress patterns at all: Tried snagging the eggs that missed with my no drip baster/egg retriever moving eggs with a disposable bulb syringe This is the result of the 1 collection today. MB in the coop specimine container hanging inside a 20gallon.

So I have a 29g I need to move from 1 room to the other. I was thinking of the best way to do this without removing all the fish. Do you think if I drained it to be super low (like just enough water for the fish to be ok) and me and another person lift it and move it it would be ok? I also thought about putting it on a rolling platform, then rolling it into the room that way the only time pressure would be on it would be lifting it down and then back up onto the aquarium stand. Thoughts?

Hi, I am David, I live in the UK and I'm fairly new to fish keeping, I have had community tanks in the past but I have recently bought swordtails which are my first livebearers, they have been producing fry and I am enjoying this experience rather than just having a community tank with no breeding. My question is how do I go about breeding fish to sell so I can eventually get more tanks and breed different species to sell as it will allow me to really live out my passion to keep different fish and learn about them and enjoy them while making a little money from them. I do apologise if this question was long winded but I'd really appreciate some help. Many thanks.

Hello plant people - I’m looking for more info on this plant (or just other similar Hygrophila species in general). There’s not a whole ton of info out there about this guy. Half the people say it needs medium - high light and CO2 or it’ll grow pretty slow. Some people say it grows like a weed in their low tech tanks. I’ve heard it’s also a potassium hog. True? False? I love the look of it and want a nice big, bushy background plant for my 29g. I’m not planning to run CO2 but am hoping to run medium light. I use Easy Green. I just want lots of fairly easy plants to make this bad boy an absolute jungle! Also - I’m going to try out floating my stem plants for a bit before planting them. Would this plant benefit from that? Or would it benefit from being planted with root tabs right away?

I’ve moved 75’s by lowering the water level and removing rock work. Then lift and move. Just be sure to have the muscle. Rolling sounds way better than lifting. I use professional grade suction cups to lift because of the weight, but in your case they aren’t necessary.

Is it possibly a sterile hermaphrodite (if there is such a fish thing)? Here it is with adult medium-sized pregnant females. Apologies for the photo quality, these are kept in a pea-soup outdoor 75g w no filter or water movement, and this fish is more cautious than the rest, hard to get a pic. Here is a colored up male for comparison, pbly not quite 2/3rd the size of the fish in question. And another shot with an adult female Any thoughts.

Pull that thing out, put it in a specimen container with clear water, and take more photos. Hard to guess without more / better evidence.

That depends on how strong you feel, and how coordinated. If neither of those. Roll it. Otherwise as @lefty o says. If you can pick it up with an extra 25lbs, it’s super easy…. Just don’t drop it.

Thanks Whitecloud, will try to work on some photos soon. Cheers

I use a media bag as well. Our water is hard, so sometimes will get the hard water bits come through. Using the media bag on the end filters that out.

I use a 16 oz plastic cup with holes all around to slow the flow. You could also get a cheap pitcher and drill a few holes on it. Use the handle to hang it on the tank. Just an idea.

I use a Python Water change hose...Lets you remove and then re-add water to the tank. No buckets for this girl. Did that back in the 70s / 80s, and my old back will just not put up with that now. Best thing I ever bought. I couldn't be in the hobby without it. Super easy to use. Link to a vid

Should be. I don't know the diameter of the ones I use. But really, that doesn't matter. Just experiment a bit with water strength when filling the tank and you'll be set. I started using these when I bred Odessa Barbs. I was doing 2 - 3x water changes a day and those were handy to not suck out teeny-tiny fry, nor blast them with a firehose of water when re-filling. Since then, they are all I use for water changes..

Nice. They are a fun puffer. Those photos awesome. Im always curious how the milestones and growth changes for me up here at +/- 2,804 meters (9,200 ft) vs lower elevations.

That’s the end goal for me anyways! Thanks @Lennie for the suggestion! Definitely might be able to make that work. I’ll play with it a bunch today and see what happens.

It would be interesting to know how much of each. That said, the test strip showed a GH of just over 1 degree. That is way low for fish like mollies. I’d imagine the fish store is using plain tap water. I would add more Ca and Mg to the tank if you are looking to keep those kinds of fish. Also, if this was me, I would bypass the block that adds back minerals when making water for the tanks. This way you can add GH at known and exact ppm. Having unknowns makes issues harder to troubleshoot.

I guess we are in the calm before the storm. Yep, that’s a real thing! Before every hurricane it’s a waiting game. Very unnerving. But hey! I made it to Monster Jam. No videos of trucks allowed, but I was allowed to take vid of the motocross that they had during the intermission - a delightful surprise! I love watching motocross! Kraken The mouth of ThunderRoarus Rex would open and close as he drove around. Megalodon had 1 of the 2 female drivers that were present tonight. Monster Jam has 13 female drivers that compete worldwide. Also you can’t tell in this photo, but Megalodon’s eyes lit up blue. This maneuver is called a “stoppie” Sometimes they drive backwards whilst in the stoppie and it is called moonwalking. Megalodon in the donut contest. Monster Mutt. The ears would fly up when the truck caught some air. 🤣 Excaliber Toro Loco had smoke that would shoot out the nostrils while it was doing stunts The drivers completed a series of skills challenges and we voted on our smartphones. The overall winner was Jamie Sullivan, a female driver who drove Monster Mutt. She was the only driver to do a backflip. Now her truck needs some repairs.. but, totally worth it! ^ Jamie Sullivan, winner

Solid advice here, especially @nabokovfan87. The only other food I would recommend is the Ebo sponge soft gran. From what I understand, a lot of the omnivore plecos eat a fair amount of freshwater sponges from the underside of rocks. The more variety of meaty foods and veggies you can give them the better. Zucchini (aka courgette) is often a favorite but most like it slightly softened. I completely agree with feeding right before lights out, then checking with a small flashlight to see if they’re eating. If you can manage it, somewhat dimming the flashlight will help, you don’t want to startle them off their food if you can avoid it. Plenty of hiding places are really important for this species and not just any cave. It needs to be the right size and shape. Too big isn’t comforting, too narrow is dangerous. They should have well-aged wood, too, with plenty of biofilm. The Ebo foods seem to do really well for plecos and they have a nice variety. Repashy is also excellent and soft foods like this are sometimes taken when algae wafers aren’t. I’ve seen posts about people moving smooth rocks into a shallow tank or tray of water and deliberately giving it too much light so it grows algae, then moving those into the tank and trading those stones out with others so there’s always a supply of algae. If my fish were being picky enough, I would try that. Usually the various Repashy foods or Ebo foods will get them eating sooner or later. Did you ask what the breeder was feeding? Maybe try that. @Guppysnail directly feeds baby brine shrimp to her bristlenoses that will lay on their backs to suck down the BBS as fast as they can. 😆 I’m not sure your Peckoltias will ever do that. They are considered a more shy species.

Thanks for the replies. I think I may have confused the issue. If I plop and drop the new fish will all die. If I drip acclimate they live much better. I am only 10 minutes from my aquarium shop where I buy fish. I have checked the water in the bag and my tank when adding and GH is the only significant difference and we are talking low hard from store to low medium hardness in my tank. There is no indication of ammonia in either and I acclimate about 45 minutes. The store ran every test known to man on my water in the tank and the RO. They were completely stumped. I’m just wondering if anyone else has trouble acclimating fiat between different KH and if I am maybe missing something else.

Thank you so much for this very helpful info. I get overwhelmed when searching for answers online.

I love my BioMaster. It's super quiet, well built, has a handle, and if you clean the pre-filter every week or so you don't have to open the entire thing up much to clean it. It also comes with a spray bar, and you can get a heater with it too so it stays out of the tank. I also have a Sicce Whale - which I wish was a BioMaster 🙃

Yes! I clean it regularly. After playing with our downstairs thermostat, I've determined that the tank is warm right now because everything and everyone is warm right now in Florida haha

Every time they get together it’s a whole lot of fun. My absolute favorite. I did actually lol when John announced it on his livestream. I’m talking my daughter to aquashella just to meet Jason. We’re very excited. And very freaked out. This is so unlike me. I think a lot like Brian Barczyk’s store. I know Jason didn’t like the multi pet thing, but that’s right up my daughter’s alley. Especially the lizards and snakes. She’s 9, they’re one of her favorite animals.

The package instructions on my eggs say to add water conditioner only if your local water has chloramines.

You could put water in a container, put in your water additive, then put an air stone or line in and within 30m/1hr should be good to go.