[Plant ID]

Thank you! 

[Plant ID]

Which plant is this? It grows ridiculously fast, and I bought it out of a “pick bin” of plants for sale (of which none were labeled). 

[Clean up crew for a breeding tank?]

On 2/23/2023 at 3:18 AM, Lennie said:

would severums be shrimp safe tho? 😄

Depends on the shrimp. Fully grown bamboo shrimp, maybe. Cherry shrimp - nope. 

[Hello from the Jersey Shore]

Your plants sound amazing! I bet you’re going to be great at doing a planted tank.

[Hello from Cape Cod]

Welcome! Those fish sound awesome!

[Ich?]

Generally, as fish in an aquarium can not escape the Ich parasite lifecycle, they can’t be left to just fight it off. If it were nature and they could swim away - that would break the life cycle.

you can wait overnight to see if it spreads and if it has you need to treat it. Unfortunately, Ich will cause havoc vs just being a nuisance. 

[Advice for balancing new planted tank]

I personally would maximize my fertilizer before I’d maximize light. I’ve found that water can be nutrient dense but doesn’t grow too much algae until there is too much light, plus with your water change schedule - you can get rid of excess pretty easy. 

[Need some help. Plants dying...I think.]

I would agree - what is your fertilizer schedule/types? That will help pinpoint your issue. 

[Clean up crew for a breeding tank?]

I think small shrimp would be the only animal that may be somewhat safe. I know any bigger or Omni snails are a no go. My mystery snails have straight eaten eggs. 

[Marimo moss balls back in stock o:]

I want one or five or I don’t know. They disappeared before I got back into the hobby this time, and honestly I want to get one to see what all the hype is about.

[New again!]

Beautiful fish! Gouramis are some of my favorites! My opaline is one of my favorites.

[Tree moss]

Give it a whirl. I bet it looks great once it comes back. 

[Huston, we have a problem. (The story of an accidental angel spawn)🤪😍🥸]

Adorable little babies! So exciting!

[Why?!?!?!]

Yep. That’s totally it. Why are you doubting the great google? 🤪

[Coop Root Tabs]

From my experience you can just load up. My only concern with putting them in first is that the plant has to have the nutrients to grow to reach that far (but the nutrients are in those deeply buried tabs). 
I have a pair of hemostats that I use to shove them down in the substrate without any floating issues. 

[Using duck weed]

I may fry this. I wonder if one could mix it into some Repashy for the plecos…

[Need solution for removing detritus worms. Might quit hobby.]

On 2/18/2023 at 7:37 PM, Odd Duck said:

Can you fill us in on why you want to get rid of them?  They are harmless and good fish food.  What kind of fish do you have in the tank?  Most fish will gladly eat them.  Maybe you could post pics to show us why you’re concerned?

These are excellent questions. What has you needing them gone so badly you might be done with the hobby? They are harmless and if any dare emerge around a fish - they are dinner. 

[Whats your favorite filter?]

I love used ACO sponge filters, these odd sponge/media filters (that operate like a sponge filter), aquaclears, aquaponics and Fluval 407s.

I personally prefer the 407. I like how easy they are to maintain and customize. Such as I devoted some of the space to crushed coral to supplement my KH. 
The aquaclears are ok. They don’t like to restart after being unplugged during maintenance. But they don’t have any weird dividers or anything that prohibits media alterations. 
Aquaponics is its own thing. It’s a type of filtration but not applicable to your average hobbyist. 
My favorite sponge filters are definitely the ACO. The other weird ones I found on Amazon- yeah, they are meh. 
 

Overall, I’d agree with the statement from @nabokovfan87 that no filter is perfect out of the box. I’ve optimized everything. I’ve swapped media types (such as I don’t run the charcoal or phosphate pads that come with the 407). I’ve added pre-filter sponges to all intakes. It definitely improves them. 

[Mystery snail genetics]

This is fascinating. I’m going to have to compare this chart to my tank tomorrow. I think I have most these colors in there and they just laid two more clutches of eggs.

[Mystery Snail and Easy Green]

Mine get listless after wondershell, I haven’t figured it out yet. But each time I’ve added it, the mystery just kind of sit around and slow way down. 

[The Great Tetra Debate]

I like the look of cardinals better. 
but I do love my little long finned serpae tetras. 

[I Saw Clown Killifish… Now I Want Them!]

I have a colony going in a 3.5 gallon aquaponics system. It was supposed to be a few nano fish in a tank to fuel that aquaponics system. I like the planted look, so I put a few in there. That apparently was the magic and now at almost a year later I have 12+ killifish colony breeding in that aquarium and am working hard to get the 20 long secured for their colony to move (so they don’t catapult themselves into fishy heaven). I wasn’t trying to breed them, but planted heavily enough - they will. I love them.

random care:

Food: xtreme nano, live & frozen baby brine. Nothing special for the babies. I just feed whatever is on the docket for the day (all the tanks tend to get the same type of food on a given day - be it live, frozen or dry). 
filter: Right now they are in an aquaponics system but will soon move to a 20L with a sponge filter

planted: yep. Both the submerged plants and plants in the aquaponic system 

temp: I have a generic thermometer that keeps it at 78

They are peaceful enough that they would be fine in a community tank - it would just have to be all nano fish - because so many species can eat them since they are so small (even full grown). They are definitely top dwellers. A lid is a must. 
 

I have actually found them to be one of easiest species I’ve kept and accidentally bred. 

[More cannister filter problems]

Which filter? I’ve got a particular “closing” protocol for my cannister filters to keep them from doing this. But how that protocol works is going to depend on your exact make and model. 

[Mollies, Gourami, and Beta]

On 2/4/2023 at 10:08 AM, Louise02 said:

Hello!  Someone else picked out these fish.  Honestly, gourami was never on my list of options, but the salesclerk sold it.  From what I can tell, it looks like a dwarf gourami.

I don't know what kind of betta it is, but it is a female.  She is so calm and peaceful that I don't want to bother her with a community, but she doesn't eat well.  I will need something to clean up her tank.  I have to offer her a little food, but, so far, what I have offered has ended up in the substrate.  Perhaps switch to live food?

Just about everything will eat when it gets hungry enough. I had a killifish that wouldn’t eat anything when it got to my tank. I tried everything. It finally started eating about a week and a week and a half. It just had to settle into the tank. 
you can try live food (I love live baby brine for my tanks) to get something in her, but you could always try waiting it out.

[African dwarf frogs risk of eating small fish?]

Agreed.
 

The generally rule of thumb in aquatics (save pure vegetarians and even then)..

If anything can fit in anything else’s mouth, it will eat it if given sufficient opportunity, regardless of the species involved.