ccc24

so…we have a pretty long list of prohibited fish, plants and snails in our state (and game fish are their own special thing)… But that I’ve actually wanted to keep… I’m pretty sure freshwater stingrays are illegal here. Not that they were on my short list, but maybe a future specimen one day…but not an option here.

1. What was the first fish you ever kept in some sort of an aquarium? As a teenager, I kept 3 bettas in unfiltered 2 gallon bowls that I changed religiously. First pets I bought and supported with my own money from my first job. Had a light orange guy named Phineas that I nursed back to health (still remember my 17 year old self picking out tetracycline at the big box store). Trained him to target and eat from my hand. Loved that little fish. 2. What tank are you most proud of and why? It’s a tie between the 55 and the 6g cube palidarium. It has been first try at both types of set-ups and I think they turned out well for first attempts. 3. How did you get here, specifically to these forums? Heard Cory mention its existence in live stream I was watching after the fact. 4. What is something you think you do to make the hobby easier for yourself that others can use? I have a infared thermometer that is “point and shoot” for water temps. It’s my favorite for balancing water temps during water changes. 5. What is something you specifically wish for guidance with in the hobby? fish disease. There’s like 3 constellations of symptoms and we just hurl the same things at them. Would be very helpful if we could learn better diagnostics. 6. What fish do you miss most? Phineas. He lived about 3 years. Not bad for a betta. He was a great little fish. 7. How often do you change water? Is this the same for all of your tanks? 20L with two total tiny fish - hardly ever. Top off, and leave it mostly 29 & 55 are heavily stocked and get changed and cleaned 1-2 a month depending on fry and plant growth 8. What is better, one big tank or a rack of 20Gs, why? one big tank. That’s a preference only because I would love one of giant “Tanked” tanks. 9. When was the last time you spent 30 minutes staring at a tank? Yesterday. We usually feed the display tank in the living room and watch the interactions of the fish. 10. What is your favorite food to feed your tanks? live baby brine.

I’m another vote for clown killifish. I love killifish, and clown killifish were my first foray into that world. They will colony breed with enough plant cover. I didn’t believe this initially as I am not a skilled breeder by any definition (just like the planted look so that’s the type of tank I put them in) - but my six killifish are now somewhere north of 15 and I haven’t done anything different. Go for the clown killis if you want something that can’t eat your other creatures.

The gourami will be fine. Betta - it will depend on the flow/filtration in the aquarium and the amount of finnage it has. Bettas have been selectively bred for more fins, with little regard to their ability to support those fins or swim in a meaningful way (whereas gouramis have not, and handle your average aquarium just fine). I have kept bettas in deep tanks before (such as a 55g) but I always went with female plakats to minimize any swimming issues or anggresion issues. You can try it and just be ready to pull it out (into those hospital tanks). If it is a male with significant finnage, your chances of success go down. It can still be done, but you will have to carefully manage the tank (heavy planting, areas of lower flow, resting spots, smooth decor that won’t snag the flowing fins, etc).

Yes, for the number of fish you listed that size tank is plenty. for getting more mystery snails - I lowered my water level a 1-1.5 inches so have a clear space for them to lay eggs and just left them be once they laid. We started with five mystery snails - we now have 15+. They don’t breed as fast as say, guppies - but they do eventually make more if you feed enough ( l specifically feed bottom wafers and crab cuisine to my snails).

African Butterfly Fish. They look amazing.

Personally, I wouldn’t if it were my tank (that’s not to say you couldn’t if that’s the look you wanted). I’d put some hiding places in the large tank and call it good. There’s 15+ mystery snails in the tank above (they bred) that happily coexist with the fish. Mine thrive being a part of an ecosystem as opposed to being a single occupant. Single occupant may be protected but the ecosystem around it (plants, scuds, fish) might be missing and making it harder to keep the snail happy and healthy.

I’ve used ACO tabs and Flourish. Hands down the ACO tabs. Yes, one does have to put them about once a month, but it take 5 minutes during your aquarium maintenance to do so. They aren’t ammonium based and work quickly. Plants thrive on them.

So I have housed this set of fish species together (and still do). I heavily planted the tank and have a school of mollies (they will reproduce), an opaline gourami, mystery snails and at one time a betta (died of old age). With a big enough tank and going heavy handed with the plants - you won’t need more than 1 tank. I personally house them with a myriad of other species as well. Heavy planting seems to be the pivotal aspect to keeping peace in the tank - breaking up that line of sight. I’d say the second reason keeping the peace, is I took a page from the African cichlid’s book and overstocked the tank. No one fish gets picked one since there is action somewhere all the time. Next, there’s no reason that the mollies can’t live with the gourami and betta. Many people say they can’t, because they assume you want the babies to survive. Maybe you do, maybe you don’t. I personally don’t protect the fry in this tank - some make it, some don’t. That predation keeps the numbers from getting absolutely ridiculous. It’s actually why I got the gourami to begin with - to predate on the live bearer’s young and keep the numbers down. He does an ok job, but plenty still make it. I’ve also found mystery snails to be pretty smart, they’ll learn who not to mess with, where the good hiding places are and where the food is. Assuming he does fine healing from getting his antenna nipped, he will probably be wiser for it.

True. It’s why I’m naming the whole school of the species one name (like a band or a public school). The kids absolutely love naming them but I need a few suggestions so they aren’t all just “fishy”😂

I’m really stumped… I need name suggestions, I can’t seem to come with anything unique for my fish… I need to name: - A collective name for a school of Mollies - A collective name for a school of guppies - A collective name for a school of swordtails - A paradise gourami male - A collective name for a “herd” of mystery snails - A collective name for a school of CPDs - A male & female bosemani rainbow - a male turquoise rainbow - a male neon rainbow Any ideas?

The only occurrence I am aware of is sanitizing a hospital set-up after a known (or unknown) pathogen or parasite has been within the space. Especially if the fish did not recover and return to the main tank.

What would you say is “plenty?” I’d love for mine to take off.

Can’t wait. Loved it last year!

Beautiful fish! I love their color 😍

Planted tank. Hands down so much easier. I’d rather balance light+fert so the plants can outcompete the algae and my live-bearer babies have a place to hide. Planted tanks make all the other maintenance easier.

Let’s do this! I would love to go to the killifish event in addition to Aquashella.

Some version of this would be a great brand shirt.

Forget the red vs blue pill. We’ve taken the green one. I admit to extolling the virtues of this brand to others perusing fish at the LFS. And I’d do it again 😜

I’m a fan of painting on a black background. That said a few species of fish color up better on a light background…so I have a piece of foam poster board cut to size ($1.99) to try a white background on one tank to see how we like it. If it works out great, if not I’ll swap it to black foam poster board. I’d say if you don’t know what you favor yet, but the cheap foam poster board, cut to size and tape in place. Then stare at it for a few weeks every time you walk by the tank. Switch to whatever other color - or if you have some exotic color in mind, paint the poster board then tape it in place. Easy to change out.

I agree with above. It could be any number of things. If you want to me ultra cautious…you could put in a quarantine tank and watch it for 30 days. If nothing ever comes of it/remains unchanged - then it may be an injury or birth defect. I’ve had fish that were born with curved spines and they have lived out perfectly happy, healthy lives. I’ve also seen it be an issue. It’s a case by case basis.

I want to establish a rainbow fish tank in my 29 gallon. It’s currently a grow out but I think a mix of the smaller rainbow species and maybe a few larger killifish.

I purchased a submersible pump that is meant to drain the tanks quickly. I can just fit the end of my Python in the adapter. It works brilliantly but I definitely had to purchase a good size pump. It’s right around $20-30 but for me it cut the time off the water change pretty drastically, especially for my tanks that gravity was no help for (like changing water on the tank sitting on the bathroom counter that is lower than the bathroom sink).

I run Purigen in my heavily stocked tank only. It is the polishing “ingredient” that tank needs to balance the overstocking on that tank. That said, I don’t attempt to refresh it, I replace as I am not confident on that process and the risks of it going wrong aren’t one I’m willing to take/pay for just yet. I haven’t had an issue with it taking out too much, it does seem to take “just enough” which I find bizarre (how does it do that?). I rather like it as a tool for the right application - I only run it on one of my 6 tanks but when it’s the right tool, it seems to work well.

I use a long pair of hemostats to grab them and drive them to the bottom of the gravel. The only floating I’ve had is if they escape from me before I’ve gotten them in place (slippery hands). Otherwise, I don’t have to poke holes and I don’t have them come floating back out. They’ve been very easy for me to use.