NOLANANO

Are all the plants real? If they are, I'd suggest spreading the stem plants out a bit so they have more room to grow. They will also fill in more of your tank. I think the 5 plants you have are good and will grow to fill out the tank. Like Little Guys suggested, I would look for some kind of anubias or Buce or some other rhizome plant to attach to your wood. More wood and rock aren't a bad thing but don't feel like they are 100% necessary either.

@Seattle_Aquarist I wanted to come back and thank you. I purchased your recommended Fert and my plants look to be on the mend. They aren't perfect yet but they do have new very healthy looking growth!

If your parameters are fine, no need for a water change. I actually do water changes more to replenish the nutrients in the water for my plants than for my fish. Now as for the deaths: 1) How old is your tank though? The reason I ask is that newer tanks tend to have more deaths than seasoned tanks. 2) Do your fish act stressed or different after a water change? Its possible that the local water supply has something in the water that is irritating them and killing the weak. Usually an air stone can fix this issue.

Yall told me it was just a matter of time and you were correct. After 2+ years in service, my Sun Sun cannister filter sprung a leak over the weekend. I turned off the filter to do a water change and noticed a stream of water coming from behind my tank. Upon investigation, the filer was leaking out of the side. I guess the O ring had had enough and by releasing the pressure when turning it off, the seal broke. I thought about getting a new O ring and fixing it but I would constantly be worrying about it leaking again. Plus I have a fully planted 75G with Nano fish so I really don't need as much filtration as a cannister provides. I went to the big box store and settled on a Top Fin Pro 70 Power Filter. Its a HOB but it has a lot of bells and whistles. It has a pre-filter sponge, surface skimmer, and 2 compartments to put media in. I took some of the sponges and bio rings from my old filter and put them in the new filter and thus far I have had a seamless transition. No ammonia or Nitrite has been detected. The water is also as clear as ever. I can't speak to the longevity of the Pro 70 but I fully endorse the ability of this filter. The cannister leaking when I was able to mitigate the damage and quickly get a replacement was a blessing in disguise (I think).

I had a female Pearl Gourami do this. I had a trio 1 M and 2 F. After about a year, the larger female decided she hated the male and literally beat him to death. I saw his damage and removed her but the male died by the next morning. The other female is still in my tank and doing well but I feel bad that shes all alone. She is also the only Asian fish in my South American tank. I'm not sure why that makes me feel worse for her but it does.

My only thought is what would keep the arowana from leaping and landing on the island?

No this is a good question. I could be totally off base here but there was a store that used to carry them and they would sell out of them quickly. That store changed owners and the new owner went in more of a monster and odd ball fish direction than nano fish. I view endlers as a beginner fish that SHOULD be sold often times when a person wants a guppy. They are smaller and hardier. A lot of beginners get a 5 or 10 gallon tank and then get some guppies which grow to be too big for their tank and/or die from weak genes. My thought that if the LFS had a consistent, locally bred supply of endlers, they could push them instead of guppies or other nano fish that should be kept in bigger numbers to these beginners. Scenario: Dad comes in with his 7 year old daughter. They just bought a 10 gallon and are looking to stock it. They say they want 2 neon tetra and 2 guppies. The employee can point to the Endlers and explain that they are just as colorful and lively as guppies but are smaller, hardier, and locally bred. Instead of getting the 2 neon tetra they can try to sell them on shrimp. Came from the same local breeder as the endlers, matter of fact, they were bred in the same tank. The shrimp will be a nice little cleanup crew and will also have cute little shrimp babies. Maybe I am blinded by my affinity for endlers over guppies? I just feel like they are a better and more versatile than guppies. Could I get lucky enough to have @Cory give his wisdom and maybe explain why Endlers might not sell in fish stores? And impart any other critiques of my initial plan?

You might correct. From what Cory said, I should try to charge 1/4 of what they will sell for. I will have to do some recon on what they are selling guppies for. The reason I think I can sell them at that high of a price is because literally no one offers Endlers in our local market. But I will have plenty of time to figure out that side as I will probably be trying to sell the shrimp for a while before I even buy any endlers let alone have a large enough population to sell. Hopefully by that time, I will have a good enough relationship with the stores I work with to talk the price out. My angle is going to be quality, locally bred neocardina. These will look great and should have a good survival rate since they were bred in local water. And like I said, at $1.50 they can be priced to undercut the only other shrimp seller in town.

This is one of the things that Cory kind of warned about in his videos is that if you go in asking them what they would pay or what they want, the LFS will brush you off because it doesn't seem like you have your act together or know what you are doing. He said to go in with a price list on letter head with your offerings and to act like a business selling to another business. I definitely agree that I need to befriend the owner and be open to credit at least in the short term. The other part I forgot to mention is to get my foot in the door, Cory said to offer a sample of my product for free. This shows that I stand behind my product and they can see if it sells without any investment. I plan to start with just the shrimp. Java moss is slow growing so I think that I wouldn't be able to sell that for a good bit after I start selling shrimp. My idea of letting them know about my future plans is to try to get them to see me as a legitimate business with a plan to grow. I was thinking that would differentiate me from the average joe that walks in and says "my guppies are breeding like crazy can I sell you some?" The reason I was thinking of doing 2 shrimp colonies is incase one crashes, I will still have the other to fall back on. Or if one starts breeding like crazy but the other takes more time, at least I can get started with one colony. I already have a label maker and was thinking the same thing about the moss and the stems. Have them ready to sell.

Hello Everyone, I am starting a journal on my plan to breed shrimp and fish for profit. I am not trying to quit my day job or anything, just trying to make a little extra money. I have noticed a niche in my local market that I think I can fill. There seems to be an inconsistent (or completely lacking) supply of quality Neocardina shrimp, Endler Livebearers, and Java Moss. I think these are 3 things that I can easily breed and would be easily sold in the local fish stores. I have watched all of Cory's videos on breeding for profit and have also checked out some shrimp specific videos on the topic as well. I am still in the research stage of this plan but hope to get the ball rolling this summer. A few things I definitely learned from my research thus far is 1) to start small and keep the overhead as low as possible, 2) try to sell locally if possible because shipping can be hard and time consuming, and 3) Have a plan going in with set prices. Prices can be negotiated but asking them how much they would pay makes you seem like a hassle to deal with. My Plan: The Breeding: I plan to start with 2 plastic totes (preferably clear), a couple of sponge filters, some gravel, some rocks, some wood, and some Java moss in each tote. I already have some rocks, some wood (currently in main tank), some Java Moss (also in my main tank), and some extra gravel, though I may need to get some more. I plan to start with 2 color variants of neocardina shrimp. Definitely red (most common) and probably Yellow but possibly blue. I think long term I would strive to have all 3 colors but I want to start with 2 and see how it goes. Once the shrimp get established and I get my foot in the door with 1-3 LFS (I will discuss this plan in more detail below), I will purchase 2 strains of Endlers to add to one to each tote with the shrimp. Another of the points Cory made is to make use of the space you already have. I figure endlers stay small and won't affect the shrimp population much, if at all. Plus like I said, there just aren't many endlers available near me and I personally think they are better than guppies for beginners because they are small enough to fit in a 5 or 10 gallon tank. On top of these 4 offerings, I will eventually be able to offer Java Moss as well. I bought the moss almost 3 years ago and have never seen it in a LFS since. If I can get that going, that's more profit. Plus the fish store can sell all 5 of my offerings to a single beginner with a 5-10 Gallon tank. A 10 gallon with 5 endlers, 10 shrimp, and some java moss is an awesome little starter package. Also long term I plan to plant my Bacopa clippings in these totes as well and try to sell that as well. But again, I plan to start with just the shrimp and work my way up. The LFS: This is the trickiest part of the plan I think. I learned from Cory that I don't want to sell to every fish store within 5 miles because I will ruin my market. I plan to start with a single LFS in my area and then grow from there. In New Orleans (where I live) there is a lake that divides some markets so I plan to find 1 store on the South shore and another store on the North shore. The long term hope is to find a 3rd store in another area (I have an area in mind) but I definitely think starting with 1 and growing to 2 and then 3. This way I have multiple customers that aren't in direct competition with one another. I plan to make a flyer with my contact info and a brief description of my purpose and plan. I obviously have listed what I am currently selling. I plan to offer the shrimp at $1.50 a piece with the indication that they can retail at $6 a piece. There is only one store in our area that has shrimp (I dislike this store) and they sell them for $10 a piece so my price would allow the other store to undercut their price. And then list the hope for future offerings as the business grows. I can't decide if I should list the price that I am thinking for the future offerings or not. I am thinking the endlers could be offered for $2 a piece and be retailed at $8 and the Java Moss could go for $3 per portion and be retailed at $10-12. In the long term, if I can each store to buy 25 shrimp of each color, 10 Endlers of each color, and 10 portions of Java Moss each month, I could make $290 per month (gross) just getting 2 stores on board. If I can get a third store involved, that would increase to $435. I'm getting a little ahead of myself because starting out by offering just 2 color variants of shrimp, I would only make $75 per store I can get signed up but still that's more than nothing. I would love any feed back anyone has on this project. Particularly on specifics on my sales pitch. I am kind of nervous about that part because this entire plan hinges on getting at least 1 LFS in my surrounding area to agree to get shrimp and eventually endlers and moss from me. I will update this journal as I accumulate supplies, make my flyer, create a logo, etc. Also at what point do I need to create an official business? Can I just go about this as a hobby or do I need to register with the state? I'd assume making $100 per month wouldn't raise any flags but would making $300 a month be noteworthy and require it to be more official?

I am also interested. I keep Nano fish so I have no advice but am interested in how this turned out or how its going.

It also could be the local water supply if you use tap water (conditioned of course). I use tap water and in New Orleans (my home) they sometimes increase the amount of chlorine (or something) in the tap water. I had the same exact issue as you with fish breathing heavy at the top of the tank despite doing my normal thing. The solution was to add an airstone. More gas exchange seemed to rid the tank of whatever chlorine or whatever fairly quickly. I also tried to do smaller water changes more often as opposed to larger ones so that the "contaminated" tap water could be diluted as much as possible. The increase in cholrine (or whatever is added by the water department) could also explain the partial die off of your bacteria.

This is what I'm talking about. I have no idea how I made these guys spawn. I had the guy at my LFS tell me he has kept apistos for 3 decades and has never had a spawn...

Its the standard mesh breeder box, not very big. I don't have BBS but will get them for next time. We will see if the coconut hut works. a few more questions if you don't mind: 1) How often to they breed? Is there anything I can do (water changes, etc.) to influence it? 2) I have 3 females and 3 males. Only one of the females turned yellow and laid eggs. Will they all take turns or will just the most dominate female lay eggs? From what I can tell, they don't pair like Rams. The female turned yellow and claimed the cave and then the 3 males all competed for the ability to mate with her. it wasn't clear who she favored.

Yes but doesn't it mean she is preparing to drop eggs and entice a male to fertilize them? In my mind, I would put the coconut hut in the tank and then she would claim it as she is preparing for fry. Maybe I put the hut in the tank at all times? I wouldn't say I am necessarily trying to breed the apistos but if they are gonna breed, I want to give the mom a better chance at raising her fry than how this first round went. The sad news is the fry are all dead. I am not sure exactly where it went wrong but I think its because I couldn't find a low enough flow spot in my tank to hang the breeder box. My spray bar makes the top have decent flow and I think the flow killed them. IDK, I am grasping at straws.

Prior to me taking the fry and mom out of gen pop, the mom was aggressive toward any fish that came too close but she was not able to go after any for longer than it took to back them off because she needed to get back to her babies. I did have a rummynose turn up dead recently but they are over 2 years old so I chalked it up to regular attrition but maybe the mom killed it for getting to close. I will just release mom back into the tank when I get home for work and try to keep the remaining babies alive on my own. I have a sample pack of the below food so I will try to feed them that until the ACO fry food comes in. I don't have a brine shrimp hatchery or eggs. Maybe I will try to better prepare for the next batch of fry. LEGIT. Fish Food - #1 Best Nano Fish Food (legitfishfood.com)

Would it be of value if I see a yellow female in the future? I am trying to figure out a way to get a better survival rate than 5-10 fry before I notice them and can put them in the breeder box. On another note: Do I need to get a 10G tank for once they outgrow the breeder box or can I release them into the community tank at that point. The Apistos are the largest fish I own so I don't think they'd get eaten but maybe bullied? Also is frozen Daphnia small enough for fry? just curious.

Thanks for the information! For number 3, I was more referring to next time I see fry. If I put a coconut cave in the tank when I see a female in breeding colors, is it possible for her to raise the fry in the tank? I ask this because I am not sure whether or not I harmed the fry when sucking them up in the turkey baster and putting them in the breeder box.

I have no idea how I did it but my Apisto Borelli have fry. Seeing the mother on top of a rock with about 6-8 fry made me do a little research which taught me that she was most likely out in the open because the cave she chose to lay her eggs had too many openings and she couldn't properly defend her offspring. This makes sense since there were so few left. Upon my research I also found that the fry most likely wouldn't live in my 75G community tank because there are too many predators. being a good fish owner, I ran to the store and got a breeder box and a turkey baster and sucked up the fry and put them in the breeder box. I also cooped up the mom and threw her in there too so she could be with her babies. I think I messed up though because the babies are hiding under the plastic frame of the breeder box and I fear they will not make it. I have purchased a coconut hut and fry food from ACO so that I can give the female(s) a better chance of protecting their fry next time. I don't have any other tanks so I can't remove any fish other than into the breeder box. I do have a few questions though: 1) What do I do now? 2) Was moving momma and her babies into the breeder box a good idea? They don't seem nearly as happy as when they were in general population. 3) Is there any shot the momma can raise fry in a community tank if I provide a proper cave for her to shelter her fry? 4) How did I get them to mate? I have read that Apistos aren't as easily bred as Rams but I have never had rams get beyond the eggs and I have Apisto fry within a month of getting them with zero effort on my part. 5) were the conditions just right and this is likely a one time thing or once they start breeding is it likely they will do it again? 6) If I do get fry to live, what's the going rate to a LFS? @anewbie @Guppysnail @Lennie @tolstoy21 tagging a few people that I think have experience with Apistos.

2 CPO would work but you’d need either 2 female or a male and female. 2 males will fight unless you have enough room for them to spread out. CPO do well by themselves too. you could also put a CPO with Neocardina. They are too slow to catch the shrimp with any kind of consistency. Sure they make get lucky every now and then but as long as the shrimp are breeding, the CPO wouldn’t even slightly impact their population.

could also be a flow issue. Pearl Gouramis don't love a ton of flow so if the water is whipping around in the tank, she may be chilling in the lowest flow spot.

I looked more specifically for the history of home aquariums and didn't find much on the topic. I was curious as to how long ago it started, what kind of fish were kept, what they fed, etc. I did find that the first aquariums were salt water which surprised me.

How is the clearance/access to the 180? If it seems too tight do you have the ability to scrap the top tanks and remove the top section? The other reason I mention it is because access and visibility of tanks on top could be an issue as well. Not trying to be a downer, just pointing out some things I see. The 180, sump, and QT all look awesome and the Aquaponics is such a cool idea. What are you gonna grow?

Do you have a planted tank? If you do, I would honestly say the shrimplets would have a good chance of living in the main tank given the opportunity to hide in some moss or something like that so long as you don't have a ton of predators in the tank. In a net they should live no problem. Some shrimp get berried and drop their first clutch of eggs without hatching them. They get better at it as they get practice.

Very easy plants. Either attach them to a rock or a piece of wood with superglue or wedge them between 2 rocks or pieces of wood. If you bury them, the Rhizome will rot and it will die.