Bill Smith

In my experience, crushed coral is a perfectly serviceable substrate for freshwater tanks. Even though I also live in a place with hard water and high pH, my multi colony loves it: I don't think there is any harm in using as a full or partial substrate in a tank where your fish are suited to hard water and high pH, even if your water already has that. I don't really think it will make the water any harder or raise the pH to any noticeable degree, if they're already high. I think it will serve to increase your buffering capability. But for folks who want to use crushed coral for soft/acidic tanks, I've heard 1 pound per ten gallons as a common measure to help raise and buffer the pH and hardness.

I did the same thing with airline tubing, but a simple airline connector did the trick for me, instead of glue:

Hi there: I'm really loving using the water hyacinths in my ponds, but in a couple of them, I'm noticing some pretty heavy pest damage: I found some 1" sized back and grey caterpillars, so it's clearly a moth or butterfly of some kind laying eggs on the plants. My question is, has anyone had any decent luck with any kind of treatment or pesticide that makes them less appealing to the critters, but is also pond safe? I don't mind mixing up a spray bottle of something, but I don't want to poison my ponds. Thanks for any suggestions you can offer! Bill

Yes, in fact, I rarely feed mine live. I immediately rinse mine, strain into about 1/4 cup fresh water for a high density, pipette the mixture into these silicone cube trays: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07G8GN911 (non-affiliate link) One teaspoon bbs eggs in the 2-liter Ziss hatchery gives me between 125-150 cubes. I use them everywhere, as I'm a tetra/rasbora/danio fan. I'm also a believer in the notion that freshly hatched bbs are more protein-heavy than they are 12 hours later, so this preserves that extra nutritional value.

PLANTS AND LIGHTS! What did I find? Illumination... Time to light up the ponds. After much thinking and searching, I settled on this set of Jebao lights I found on Amazon for $53. They're a little expensive and fairly cheaply made, but I'm still really glad I did: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IM80AWK (non-affiliate link) The lights are separated by a 3-foot cord (wish it was 4 feet). The light itself can be separated from its weighted stand, although I ultimately chose to use the stands. As it turns out those stands are weighted by a big chunk of metal embedded in resin. This means they can be mounted or hung with magnets! I picked up some extra-strength magnetic hooks from Amazon as well: The hooks are attached to their bases with a swivel, and they held to the back of the lights' bases just fine. All I had to do was hook them on the rim of the planters at whatever height I wanted and angle them accordingly: I then secured the cords between the lights with some of that metal foil tape which holds so well. The cords were a little too short to disappear completely... ...but you have to look for them. All ponds, wired up for light! And when it got dark last night, I turned them on! Closeup of pond #1. The duckweed re-casts the white light as green: Less so with the guppy grass in #4: Here's a closeup of the Hawaiian blue Moscow guppies in #4: Pond #6 has a large Daphnia magna culture I picked up from AquaBid, and fed with green water from another bucket that gets all-day sunlight: The daphnia really flock to the light! The next things to do are to grow out the greenery more, try to get some better pictures, and put the light on a timer. 🙂 Thanks for looking! Bill

Nah, I think I've only posted 4-5 here so far. I also have a few I haven't posted, because I have lame photos...but I'll see what I can dig up. Can't stop the signal!

Challenge accepted sir.

LOVE LOVE LOVE this hack! Thanks, will try it out!

That totally makes sense, just wondering if there's less likelihood of wear on the diaphragms doing it that way versus cranking one down or turning it off with a control valve or check valve. At least the air has somewhere to go...

I have in the past just combined both outlets into one using a "T" connector for the airline or a gang valve. That always worked pretty well for me.

+1 vote for the "How To" or "DIY" category. I would love to browse people's projects to learn new things!

Cory answers this concern over in the other thread:

I think most snail-eating loaches are probably likely to eat your shrimp, or at the very least keep them from populating your tank. In my experience, assassin snails have not been very effective at curbing snail populations. Maybe I needed lots? But if you combine two measures, like assassin snails AND reducing the feeding, you might have better luck.

The most effective solution for me, barring snail-eating loaches, has been to reduce the availability of food. The snail population seems to dwindle pretty fast when there's less food.

If you have a quarantine or extra tank, you can always use it as a "toolbox" tank. Keep a few extra BBA-eaters in there (Siamese Algae Eaters, snails, Florida flagfish, etc.), and drop in a plant for a day or so when it needs to be cleaned off...

Sunburst platy. To the untrained eye, it looks goldfish-like. 🙂 And thanks for the shout out!

I notice your fish has clamped his fins down. Is he swimming like that all the time? If he doesn't look perky and alert, he's not feeling great. I might be wrong, but I'd probably give him a week off the meds, and if he's still not looking great, I'd probably give him another round of paracleanse, Also, what are all your water parameters?

Two downsides: 1. To fit it in an AquaClear 50, I had to dremel off some excess plastic. 2. I have to unplug the heater BEFORE I unplug the filter, or the level drops below the heater and it starts to sizzle. But for me, the upsides of moving the heater out of the tank, adjusting it more easily, and dropping warmed water right into circulation outweigh it. I would totally do it again.

Yep, get those plants in there right away. When I notice new plant growth I know the tank is ready for fish.

Fish poop turns green when they eat lots of plant or vegetable matter. Mollies especially love green stuff. Between the pellets and the diatom algae, I would bet that's why. I wouldn't be concerned.

I'm definitely no expert in this area, but logic suggests that since he's passing worms, your General Cure treatment is working. It's just a lot of worms. If I were in your shoes, I'd probably continue with the General Cure, maybe increase the rest period between treatments.

I have hatchetfish, and had the same concern. I position my feeder so that it's dropping near the side rim of my tank and cut the slot in the lid there. I position my airstone there as well, on the assumption that fish won't want to be jumping right at the position where there is a nozzle or bubbles moving current. It's not perfect, but it minimizes jumping opportunities. Having current right there also helps with the distribution of food.

I have to have the heaters because of the small water volume. If I was in the hundreds of gallons I probably wouldn't worry about it. Most nights in the summer drop into the low 60s and winter can sometimes drop into the 30s. The fish can probably handle the swings, but just for the sake of extra stability. The ponds adjust to air temperature relatively fast. If it weren't for tropical fish I'd probably rethink this as well. They're super cheap (200 watts for $14 on Amazon), so why not, y'know?

Heh, yeah. I just haven't learned to love shrimp...yet. I'm sure I'll hit that phase at some point.

The tanks vary wildly, so I was hoping for more of an occasional go-to. But now that I think about it, it's a crutch for being lazy, and I should beware. 🙂 Thanks for the flake food and switching plants recommendations!