Bill Smith

Correct. If I'm recalling my livestreams correctly, I believe Cory has stated that it can develop a little bit of a harmless water mold over time if exposed to light and/or air. I'm not worried about the clear bottles, I will go through it fast enough for this not to be an issue. That said, my sump is kept in the dark 99% of the time. I only turn on the light to work in there or snap pictures.

Thanks guys, just the reality check I needed. 🙂

Hey all: I've dabbled unsuccessfully with daphnia in the past, and I'm looking forward to trying again pretty soon. But I'm getting into a little "analysis paralysis" while trying to pick a strain. What is your experience with regard to ideal sizes for breeding? My biggest fish are full-sized congo tetras and my smallest are juvenile multies, rummy-nose tetras, and pea puffers. What's your thinking on the most optimal all-around daphnia strain for these circumstances? If hardiness is a factor, that would make a difference for me too. 🙂 Thanks!

Depends on stocking and feeding levels, so it will vary for everyone. I would expect to need to clean/change the floss every "x" weeks, then maybe rinsing the next layer every "2x" weeks, then the next layer every "4x" weeks, etc... But I will be probably making some form of light maintenance every week.

You're making me want to try one out...soon, I think....

Whoa, super cool! Perfect for a sump. Need to come up with a way so that eyes are protected in that kind of environment. Thanks!

Just wrap a couple rubber bands a few twists around the intake, and then you should be able to slide your medium pre-filter sponge on the end and it will stay. 🙂

Here's my other hack: I stole this idea from one of the hatcheries at Brine Shrimp Direct, and screwed some dowels into the stand so I could elevate it a bit:

MOUNTING THE ELECTRICAL PARTS Time to get sticky. Shorter update this time! As planned, I hot glued my black box to the base of the planter. The glue is holding very tightly. From the underside, you can see the ventilation holes that will equalize the air temperature inside the box and hopefully prevent condensation. Next, I bunched up the cords for the air pump and the heater near the box, and secured them with zip ties. After that, it was time to hot glue the power cords. I used the fake "metal strap" as a guide under which I hot-glued the cords. It is holding really tightly as well! I stopped at about the halfway point of the barrel shape, on each side. From here, each cord will make a "leap" of 1-2 inches to the next planter. Although I had thought gaffer's tape would be a really good option, it's not very weatherproof. Aluminum foil tape, on the other hand, is made for sticking through all weather extremes! I covered all the cords with this tape, for extra protection. It holds VERY tightly. I also tucked the coils of cords for the heater and air pump under the loops of power cable. And on the inside, all we see is the heater and a tiny clip for the air pump. I do think I will have to switch from blue to black carabiners for those things. 🙂 Next post, I will work on a second planter, connect the two together, and see how it looks in place. That's gonna take a few days. 🙂 Thanks for reading! Bill

Hi all: As I continue to work on my Six-Piece Nano-Ponds project, I wanted to try an alternative to the tried-and-true sponge filter: this 4" box filter from Jehmco: https://jehmco.com/html/box_filters.html (non-affiliate link) In the constant debate between sponge and box filters, the sponge filter usually wins for me, except for one big problem: that thing is a mess to clean, even using the baggie technique. So I thought I would see if I could get some nice layered sponge work going on in such a way as to make it easiest to clean and most efficient in polishing the water while I'm at it! The Jehmco box filter consists of three pieces. Water flow goes from top to bottom, and then bubbles back up through a tube in the center. So, rather than think of mechanical media and bio media as two distinct phases in filtration, I'm thinking of it more along the lines of a "gradation". Coarse particles get filtered out and removed first, and the fewest bacteria grow there, because that's cleaned and/or changed more often. At the end, I would have the most bacteria and the finest particles. And all the layers in-between would be a progression from one to the other. If I layer things right, the plan is to never change most of the media! So I went hunting on Amazon, and found this lovely pack of AquaNeat foam pads in various densities, designed for SunSun filters and others: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07VBQHKR1 (non-affiliate link) This selection provided me three pads of each kind, all for $13. It may seem like overkill, but I'm actually building SIX such filters, so it'll all get used! The pads are about 8-1/2" across, so I figured I could get 2-3 box filter pads from each one. I plan never to replace them. The replaceable part comes from this blue and white floss, $7 from PetSmart (sometimes discounted), and I think I should be able to get somewhere around 20 pads from this one piece! The final type of pad I wanted to employ here was also a piece of filter foam from Aquarium Co-Op, because it's so very coarse and a good first layer: https://www.aquariumcoop.com/collections/filter-media/products/sponge-pad-coarse After taking some measurements, I decided I needed four-inch circles, so I first cut a piece of cardboard to size, and I used that as a guide for cutting my pads. I punched each pad twice with a chopstick to make room for the filter tubes, and assembled my "Dagwood Sandwich" of a box filter! I ended up using TWO floss pads for the top, to help catch more detritus before it enters the pad assembly. Looks like the Aquarium Co-Op pad will catch a lot as well. One last bit of hot-rodding to do: The Jehmco Web site suggests that putting a real uplift tube on the filter will significantly increase the draw of water through it. So I purchased a 3-foot piece of 1/2" stiff tubing (also from Jehmco), cut it into six-inch lengths, and it fit quite snugly on my filter box: And that's it. I'm hoping that maintenance will pretty much consist of replacing the two floss pads, lightly rinsing the first couple layers of pads most often, rinsing the rest of the pads progressively less often. One souped-up, turbo-charged, hot-rodded box filter ready to go! I'll try to post a follow-up in coming months about how well this worked out. Thanks for reading! Bill

A betta would be thrilled to be in that environment compared to his cup on the store shelf, IMO. 🙂

Yeah, fair points both. Stands to reason! I guess maybe the bigger impact of that particular kind of modification is not so much to do with the gene pool, but what it does to the hobby. Hard-to-keep GloFish aimed at kids could become a barrier to those kids enjoying the hobby...

I think one of those "impairments" to think about is also the genetic weakness that can often result, and the risk that can cause to the species if those variants get back into the main gene pool. I mean, GloFish turned zebra danios into a hard-to-keep fish! what gives?!

Never done either. Thanks Mick, and thanks for digging out the YouTube videos and dusting them off! Must try!

THE "ELECTRICAL BOX" I use that term loosely. My idea here is to protect all the connections from the weather as much as possible by tucking them into a small makeshift box, and then daisy-chaining the boxes from one planter to the next, hiding them as well as possible while protecting them from the elements. After some testing, I settled on these "Tupperware"-style boxes from the dollar store. They were three for a buck. I then did some testing and fitting with some electrical parts that I had, ordered a couple more, and when I had my plan, I used a soldering iron to melt some holes in the box: two big ones in front for the cords to exit the box, and about five smaller ones in the back that will act as "air holes" to prevent condensation. I also cut through the plastic from the rim downward to each of the two bigger holes: To help hide it, I next spray painted the box on the inside with flat black paint. Painting it on the inside helps ensure that I won't scuff off streaks of paint if the box slides around on a rough surface. After that, I gathered my parts (these are non-affiliate links): 1. 200 watt heater ($14): This size seemed overkill, until I remembered that I would want the heater to occasionally compensate for an ambient temperature as low as 40-45 degrees. The cost was about $3 more than the 100-watt, so why not? 2. USB nano pump ($9): This will power my hot-rodded Jehmco round box filter. 3. USB adapter ($4.50): I selected this one because the ports are on the SIDE of the block, not the top. That's uncommon and a space-saver. 4. Cube tap ($2.50): For fitting several plugs in a tight space. 5. 8 foot polarized power cords ($5): Actually I only need one per planter, but each of the cords are shared between two planters: the inlet AND outlet of each cord goes into a box. These are not rated for outdoor use, but all connections will be in the box, and I have some plans to protect the cords themselves. I chose this kind of braided cord for its color, price, and the fact that it was a flat plug (space saver). Grounded three-prong cords are not necessary. (I will be dealing with lighting as a separate part of this project.) Next, I laid out everything and plugged in all the components. Then I took everything out to my garage and placed it all in the black box, with two cords sharing each of the larger holes. The smaller holes will be facing downward in the finished project, and will allow air exchange to prevent condensation. I lightly superglued the lid on. I may have to destroy the box to get inside it, but that's why I source parts at the dollar store! I'm going to try for some sort of drip-looping. But in case I can't do it across the board, I decided to silicone the cords as they pass through the holes, preventing water from seeping in at this point. Electrical box complete! Tomorrow, I hope to work on mounting it to the first planter. Lots of hot glue in my evening! Thanks for reading, Bill

I jam an airline up the spout; it's a very tight fit, and it doesn't leak. When I'm ready to drain, I use a low flat tupperware-style container below the spout and pull the tubing out.

Love it! Simple, cheap effective. I see no reason why that shouldn't work just fine. Only thing to watch out for is the potential of fry swimming into those holes, but I'm not sure that's altogether a bad thing. 👍

Wow, what a surprise! Just sharing my fish-adventures and not having to make my own YouTube channel has been reward enough. I'm grateful for that opportunity. Thanks @Lizzie Block and @Cory!

I have to admit, I'm more about the "appearances" aspect of it as a lovely piece of art, with the "pet" part being secondary. For me, each tank is like a diorama, and a technical challenge that if done right, can tell a story. Which is why I don't like unsightly things like prefilter sponges, sponge filters, algae, snails and other detritivores, etc., regardless of their benefits to the ecosystem. Takes all kinds, I guess!

Thanks Irene for the insights! I've had the same lack of results with hydrogen peroxide as well. I have very hard high-pH water, so I wonder if that affects it. Will definitely experiment the target treating with Easy Carbon!

I would think a Siamese Algae Eater or two (NOT Chinese!) would clean that up for you nicely. I've had quite a bit of luck with them myself.

Thanks Dave. Yep, for any cords exposed to the elements, outdoor use only. The rest I'll be protecting from the elements myself. 🙂

(That's the constellation, not the automaker!) After reading @Sliceofnature's barrel/mini pond build and becoming extra jealous of his 3/4 wine barrel, I went online to see what I could come up with where I could maybe maximize my money and spend a bunch of hours on new fish projects to play with! With the wife and kids out of town for a week-and-a-half starting next week, Dad needs an all-consuming project! I apologize in advance to those folks with slow connections, but this build log is going to get into gory detail and have far too many pictures! 😐 By the way, I welcome any and all suggestions, ideas, warnings, etc.: WHAT WOULD YOU KEEP IN SIX 15-GALLON NANO PONDS? Thank you! Off we go! PLANTER SELECTION After MANY HOURS of searching and searching, I came upon these low-cost 22" planters on the Costco Web site: https://www.costco.com/.product.1253881.html (non-affiliate link) They're $25 each, sold in 2-packs. I started with a single 2-pack. When they arrived, I first wanted to see how they looked in the space I had in mind. I have a walkway in my back yard along my bedroom wall that I thought would be perfect for maybe six of these planters. It faces the northwest, and gets 2-3 hours of low, direct sunlight each afternoon, right before the sun drops behind a six-foot fence. Which means I get to see them in bright sunlight when I come home from work. I live in the San Diego area, so I don't expect any temperature extremes except for a little heat a couple days a year. I placed the first two planters to see how it would look: Oh yeah, I'm sold. Imagining a row of six such tubs right there! But first, I have some serious planning to do around wiring, weatherproofing, and equipment. I placed some cables and cords and boxes behind them and walked around, trying to see how hard it would be to hide things behind them and how visible everything will be: Yep, I can make this work. ASSESSING MY OPTIONS The first thing I did with the first pair of planters was take some measurements and do some testing. The planter measures 22" in diameter across the top, 12-1/2" in diameter across the bottom, and is 14-1/2" tall. Rather than trust to my math, I filled it with water and determined the capacity to be a little over 15 gallons to the rim. Since I won't be filling to the top of the rim, I'm assuming these will hold about 13 gallons for my purposes. The material is about 5/16" thick and the plastic is admittedly a little flimsy, but at this price I wouldn't expect otherwise. Certainly sturdy enough for this project. I also tested adhesives: can I mount anything to the outer surface? After trying different tapes, I think gaffer's tape works not too poorly. Duct tape was too weak and clear packing tape was a non-starter. But hot glue adheres to this planter so well that I couldn't get it off! Great, now I know how I can stick things to it! That is actually a HUGE plus. SOME PLANNING & PREPPING In San Diego, the weather never reaches freezing, and the coldest winter periods usually last only hours and rarely drop below 45 degrees. I want to be able to run a heater in each planter, so that I can actually keep virtually any tropical fish/critter I want. Between that, a USB nano pump, and a light, I'm looking at somewhere around 4-5 cords/tubes for each planter. And it all needs a low-cost makeshift "electrical box" of some kind for each one. Each planter has a removable plug in the bottom: Even though my test of filling it with water didn't result in any leaks, I decided not to take any chances; I siliconed the plug just to be sure! So that's as far as I've gotten for one day. Next post, I'll share what I've been learning about how I want to handle equipment and electrical stuff. Also going to hot rod a Jehmco box filter for minimal mess and maintenance (I hope)! Thanks for reading! Bill

Wow, this is truly an amazing project. You've inspired me to start up something of my own!

Nice pepper pots! 😉