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Bill Smith

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Everything posted by Bill Smith

  1. Bill Smith
    There are some at the link I provided above that are wired for your wall and ready to go.
  2. Bill Smith
    30 years in the hobby, accidentally swallowed my share of tank water. I've never worried about it. 🙂
  3. Bill Smith
    Mine absolutely do, yes. My first batch of 7 multies in a 20-Long spawned multiple times with a school of 10 rummy nose tetras in the tank. A later batch in a 12-gallon Fluval Edge had no trouble spawning with a Siamese algae eater, 2 bristlenose plecos, and some clown killies in the top layer. I do recommend going with tankmates that occupy the upper stratum of your tank, or your multi "parents" may find themselves constantly chasing them away. Good luck!
  4. Bill Smith
    No, sorry, never tried them. But they seem plentiful online. Here's some with power cords already attached: http://autotopoff.com/Solenoids/index.html
  5. Bill Smith
    Awesome, sounds like fun. Please keep us posted! Since you've already done the plumbing, it sounds like you will always have the option of upgrading per tank or per bank if it comes to that. So it's a pretty low-risk thing to try. It might also be interesting in your case to try "stacking" cartridges, like using 1-2 cheap carbon cartridges before the carbon block, to extend the life of the latter. Good luck!
  6. Bill Smith
    Replacement rate it is going to vary wildly by use and the quality of the incoming water. I wouldn't trust any spec sheet that indicates numbers of gallons, for the reasons: 1.They can't know the quality of the incoming water. 2. They can't know how many stages you're using, of which kinds of cartridges before that one. 3. They're going to be extra conservative, regardless. In my case, I change over 100g per week, and I have not changed the cartridges once in over a year. I test the water every 2-3 weeks with a chlorine test kit and a TDS meter. This month I'll be switching out my cartridges for the first time. As I understand it, carbon filters don't technically "remove" chloramine. They break the bond between chlorine and ammonia, leaving both free to be removed by your carbon and bio filter, respectively. And for the anecdotal side of things, I use this water to change 12 tanks and 7 ponds weekly. I can't recall ever losing a fish the same day as a water change. I am hatching multi fry weekly. I think it's worth your time! Bill
  7. Bill Smith
    Don't the lids for the Home Depot 5-gallon buckets latch tightly and have rubber gaskets? They're designed for sealing paint...
  8. Bill Smith
    A NERM is the blending of the words "Normal" and "Nerd", which @Cory adlibbed off the cuff in a livestream. I think it is intended meant to apply to folks who are very nerdy about their aquarium hobby, but fairly "normal" otherwise. I've been working on an acronym proposal for awhile. So far I've got: Normal, Except Really Manic about something. Which makes me a fish Nerm! And a Star Wars Nerm!
  9. Bill Smith
    Additional note: These days, I do kind of feel that a sump is overkill for freshwater. What I would probably do next time is use a @Cory-style drilled drain on the back, and hook up the RO incoming line to a solenoid valve on a timer. Boom, water changes on demand.
  10. Bill Smith
    Thanks for the kind words! Yes, I absolutely use this for a continuous-drip system for my tanks. But I do it in the reverse style of most auto-water change systems: I use the draining to trigger refilling, not vice versa. I should probably do a real write-up, but here's the short version: 1. Drain Siphon: This is airline tubing, continuously draining water from the tank, through the kitchen wall, into the kitchen cabinets, to the drain under my kitchen sink. I use a Ziss valve to control the flow. I hooked up a medical IV drip inline, so that I can see and regulate the actual drip rate. 2. Refill Line: Using the same path to the kitchen, I run my tap water filter output back to the tank. 3. Sump Filter: The two tanks I have hooked up to this system have sump filters, which makes all the refilling hardware less visible. 4. Float valve: On the end of the refill line in my sump, I've hooked up a float valve that regulates when the water should be allowed in. As the water level in the sump lowers, the float valve opens. This has the added benefit of compensating for evaporation. Here's a pic (ignore the text callout...that was for a different post): If I wanted to convert this to an on demand auto-changer, I would simply enlarge the drain line and control that valve to change water as needed. Hope that helps! Bill
  11. Bill Smith
    Very nice! These are my Star Wars themed tanks: I was thinking the vehicles from the X-Wing Miniatures board game would be extra cool, because they are to scale with each other and have all the fine detail. Love the suspended fishing line!
  12. Bill Smith
    Great stuff! Glad you were able to find something useful and build a heavy duty version! It's not made of PEX anymore, so whaddya call it? Copper Piller? Love it!!!
  13. Bill Smith
    THIS. I HEAR THIS ALL THE TIME, regardless of tank size. And I think it's something those of us fishkeepers who care about building something lush and colorful are likely to hear more often. The last 20 years have really brought some amazingly colorful fish into the freshwater hobby (I worked my first LFS in 1990). People just don't realize how much life and natural color a freshwater tank can bring to those who invest some effort. 🙂
  14. Bill Smith
    Specs on the reserve capacity of that model seems to say 9Ah, or 9,000 mAh, which is very close to my test model. So you should get close to two days as well, I would think.
  15. Bill Smith
    Agreed, the design of these leans into the "tubes and pipes" aspect so common to fish rooms, and "really ties the room together." 😉
  16. Bill Smith
    This exists: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009M3M37O
  17. Bill Smith
    Really beautiful. I think it was particularly masterful to go with black angels; their silhouettes are so striking! Wonderful work!
  18. Bill Smith
    No no no, not at all! With your connections and setup you should wipe the floor with me. 😉
  19. Bill Smith
    Okay, you're a little understocked. Here's mine. 🙂 I buy multi-packs from Amazon, and there are countless times I've been really glad I had this or that doodad.
  20. Bill Smith
    Just a reversed-bottle-style fish catcher, sized down for multi fry... Hi all: Catching shell dweller fry can be a real challenge, unless a tank is set up with separating them in mind. But if you're like me, and you have a nicely planted and decorated tank with happy multies who are breeding like guppies, and just need to get them out to prevent massive overcrowding, it's pretty much impossible to catch the little buggers without decimating the tank. They don't run into their shells, they hide low to the ground, under the shells, behind plant roots, etc. And they can be pretty fast. So I wasn't sure an adaptation of the simple bottle fish catcher would work if scaled down...but it does! This was my process: First, I sourced the right size bottle. It needed to have an opening that was small enough to keep out most adult fish, and also not be too large for smaller tanks. I settled on this 8 oz squeeze water bottle from Crystal Geyser: After pulling off the pull-top cap, I removed the screw-top lid. It conveniently has a divider to filter for really small fry, if you want. I didn't need it that small, so I clipped it out with a small pair of snips: I then cut the top off with my bandsaw, although a pair of scissors would have been just fine: The top part needs a small slit cut in it, so that when it is reversed and jammed back into the bottle, the edges will overlap slightly and it won't buckle. The slit is about 1/4" long: Then, in order to promote good circulation, I punched small holes all over. Although you can melt some with a red-hot nail (heated over a candle), a narrow tip on a soldering iron or wood burner works much better. 🙂 The top jams tightly into the bottle. No sealing is necessary, making it easy to separate later. I added some micro-pellets as bait, and placed it in my tank. After 8 hours, I pulled the bottle out; it had caught 16 fry! Big success on the first day! Subsequent days I only caught 3 at a time, but I'll get them all eventually. Placement really matters. I ended up making two more traps, so I can catch them faster. Fun, quick project, useful for the breeder's toolbox! Enjoy! Bill
  21. Bill Smith
    Tough call. I normally do much bigger water changes after meds, but 50% will be more stressful than 25%. IMO, I would do the 25%, and probably then focus on lowering stress and heavy feeding as often as they'll take it. If you have it, maybe try a big chunk of Repashy?
  22. Bill Smith
    Sure thing, answered there.
  23. Bill Smith
    This is a tough one. I think if I were in your shoes I would hold of on additional dosing right now, and try to remove as many stress factors as possible. And feed him live or frozen bloodworms if he'll eat. As for the Paracleanse, are you sure it's internal parasites you're dealing with? I think I would give him a break from meds for awhile and try for stress-free conditions and ample nutrition for awhile. Good luck!
  24. Bill Smith
    I would do the water change first. I would also consider a waiting period of 2-3 weeks between rounds, for two reasons: 1. It'll stress their kidneys less. 2. It'll give you time to get any of the parasites that are currently protected from your meds in egg form to hatch out. Good luck!
  25. Bill Smith
    Nicely done! I'll have to keep this in mind.
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