AllFishNoBrakes

My 6 gallon cube is dope, but I’m not sure I’d enjoy a cube just over 2’. Could be fun, but I prefer the more standard longer than taller tanks.

I’ve been using them for the past couple of years. They’re fairly inexpensive, and I use them all the time. I use them daily for feeding BBS, use them to portion out BBS I hatched and I’m going to freeze, use them to clean out air collars, etc. At like $0.50 per, and daily use, and each one lasts at least a month before I replace it, it is a no brainer for me.

Yup, I’ve experienced this. Here’s what I do now: -About once per month I now pull the collar off. I’m getting some buildup in the air collar, which is wild as my water is super super soft. So I first run it under hot water, and just use my finger to wipe away the gunk. - I have a 20ml syringe with a piece of airline tubing attached to it. -Hook the airline up to the collar, and use the syringe to draw vinegar through. Then, push hard to push the vinegar back out. I do that 3 or 4 times. -Repeat in a cup of hot water to clear out the vinegar. -Then, using just air, I pull and push HARD like 10 times to really clear everything out. Viola, air collars are like brand new. I’ve also noticed I need to clean my sponges more often. Pulling more and harder through the sponge thanks to the flow I’m collecting more detritus. I had one sponge that was glugging and it was driving me INSANE. I went down the rabbit hole. Clean the air collar, clean the easy flow, new easy flow assembly, new airline tubing, switched air pumps…. Literally everything I could think of. Then I cleaned the sponge and the glugging was instantly gone and I felt like an idiot lol.

Agree with seed shrimp or something along those lines. Harmless. You see then in shrimp tanks where there’s no predators. You don’t see them in fish tanks as they’re great snacks

Probably my fish breeding. Angels, Cory’s, livebearers, etc. it’s always fun to watch something just a little different and then see babies down the road because of it.

Yes, completely ditch the cartridge. All those are, are a money making attempt by the maker of the filter. Throw it away (which doesn’t make sense to throw your beneficial bacteria away), but more. Throw it away, buy more. The company is the only one winning by selling you more cartridges. You can buy sponge pad from Aquarium Coop, Amazon, or big box retail stores. Cut it to fit the filter and you’re set for life.

Hard water, an insane amount of buffer (at least compared to my water), and a higher pH (again, compared to my water).

Get rid of the cartridge and put more sponge in there. You’ll never have to throw the sponge away; just simply clean it in old tank water during a water change.

1: There’s nothing wrong with a fish in cycle, as long as it’s done appropriately. Test water every day, and be ready to do a 50% water change every day. Personally, anytime ammonia or nitrite got to .5-1ppm I would do a 50% water change. Test daily, water change daily if necessary. Cycles can take like 30-45 days, so it’ll be good water change practice! 2: Idk how long you could keep the Opaline. Long term, a 10 gallon is much too small. Lots of people say “I’ll get that bigger tank when I need to” and then they don’t. So, if you’ll legitimately get the bigger tank when it’s needed, then no harm no foul. 3: Personally, I wouldn’t mix Gourami species. Honey’s are much more appropriate for a 10 gallon. You could probably get away with 3 of them, and then another species of fish in the tank as well. 1 would be just fine, and probably wouldn’t get lonely. Personally, I would do 1 honey as my centerpiece, some kind of Tetra or Rasbora, and maybe a small Cory species as well. Like Panda Cory’s. That fish store is giving you some wild advice. Take what they say with a grain of salt, and if you have questions or want to verify things ask us here. We all just want to help! Feel free to send me a message any time. There’s no right or wrong ways. Aquariums are more like an art instead of a science. Some things work for some people, and don’t for others. But the things they’re telling you are just wild, lol.

I’m not trying to be overly harsh, but that fish store sounds out of their mind lolol. I’ve heard Cory recommend “1 or 3 or more” when it comes to Gourami’s, but that advice for a newer hobbyist with a 10 gallon tank is just wild. Personally, I wouldn’t put a 6 inch fish in anything smaller than a 29. 40 breeder would be even better. A 55 even better than that. If it was me, personally, I would take them both back and get a single dwarf Gourami instead. Probably much more appropriate for the tank size and your current experience level.

I agree that it’s probably territorial and won’t get better. I think it will be really hard to make it work for both of them in such a small tank. Both of them can get up to 6”, and that’s pretty big for a 10 gallon. Even for 1 of them, but especially for both of them.

I’ve kept mine in the 78 range and they’ve done just fine. I know they’re done with Discus a lot, as well as Sterbai Cory’s cuz they can both handle the heat that Discus need. 78 has worked well for the Cardinals, Angelfish, Albino Cory’s, and the Praecox Rainbows I have in that tank. I didn’t notice that your tank is at 71. Might wanna bump that up a bit. Even like 76 could be a good spot to shoot for. My Green Neons are pretty shy, but I don’t hate it. My wild caught Black Neons are also really shy. You give the fish a place to hide, behind plants and hardscape, and then they do. Just like I imagine they would be hiding in the plants, roots, branches, etc. in the Amazon. I’m curious to see if the Green Neons are just as shy when they’re a school of 15 instead of the 5 I currently have (started with 10, 9 made it through QT, and now I’m down to 5). I’ll know in a few weeks when the new batch are through QT and are added to the display!

Green Neons: The LFS that takes all the fish I breed stopped bringing them in as they just couldn’t keep them alive. Thankfully, I have LFS #2 that regularly has them. I started with 10, and now I’m down to 5. So I got another 10, and we’ll see what happens. I’ve had the original group for quite some time, so we’ll see how this new batch does. Cardinals: I have a group in my 55 Angelfish tank. Started with 20, or 24 I can’t remember. I’ve had them for probably 3 years or so. I have probably 8 left. They’ve been great. I’m trying to decide if I wanna beef up that school again, or try something new. I’m thinking probably something new. The Cardinals look great, though, and they’re definitely a bit bigger so that worked out well for me in a bigger tank with bigger fish. Hatchets: Like I said, mine were pretty boring. They just… kind of… sat there. At the top of the tank. I definitely had some jump out. It happened during maintenance a couple of times, and I was able to scoop them back into the tank. Definitely found a couple crispy on the floor. My hatchets also got ich in QT after the med trio. I was able to take care of it with salt, and that’s the only time I’ve had ich pop up like that. I also had 1 dead in the bag when I got home from the LFS, and that’s the only time I’ve had that happen, too.

For sure. I totally get it. I’ve definitely gotten my tanks pretty dark at times , where it’s hard to see what’s in there. But they’ve been nowhere near where yours is at, lol. I’m kinda jealous. If you plan to keep it as a Blackwater tank, Green Neons really flash bright in that environment. My Chili’s look awesome in that darker environment. Silver Hatchets could be RAD! I had Marbled Hatchets, and honestly they were a super boring fish. But, if you get a big enough group maybe they’ll display different behaviors, and their silver flashes against the light could be awesome in a blackwater tank.

I’ve had all 3 you mentioned. Neons were some of my first fish. Cardinals have been in my 55 gallon for the past couple of years. Their numbers have really dwindled over the past 6 months or so. I have Green Neons in my 20L Blackwater tank and I currently have some in QT to beef those numbers up. You can’t really go wrong. Comes down to personal preference. Neons are a staple in the hobby. Could be great in a big school. Green Neons can also be finicky. The LFS that takes all the fish I breed stopped bringing them in as they just can’t keep em alive. Cardinals are the biggest of the 3 you mentioned, so keep that in mind when making your decision.

Talk about a Blackwater tank! I love it. I have 2 Blackwater tanks, and they’re nowhere near that dark. kinda wish they were, though! All my tannins are coming from Indian Almond Leaves and other botanicals. They obviously contain a lot less tannins than your wood, though. I know what you mean about photos making the tanks look A LOT lighter than what your eyes see. Your pictures are Dark, so I can only imagine that tank is DARK in person. I love it! I’m excited to see how this comes together. The Buce and Anubias will be a sight to see a couple years from now, lol.

It’s Wednesday and we got back on track my friends! Felt good to get everything back to where it’s needs to be. It would’ve been real easy to skip another week after working 18 days in a row, so it’s a good thing I actually enjoy doing water changes and maintenance. I started the day off by cleaning out all the air collars. All of em. Every single one. I also cleaned the majority of the sponge filters, and all 3 pre filter sponges. Work is gonna be real crazy the last week of June and the first week of July as we do this, county fair, basically, where we operate 4 different sections of the park. 2 spots in the main food court, and 2 more promo/VIP spots. So, I figured I’d get everything nice and clean today to make up for basically skipping last week, and then I’ll do it again right before that county fair where I can guarantee I skip maintenance on one of those 2 weeks that the fair is going. Also removed a literal metric ton of plants from the 55 Angel tank. Tons of Water Lettuce, both shoots that were growing baby Amazon Swords, ripped off some Val ends that didn’t look so good, and probably 30 or so Amazon Sword leaves. I also found out I have duckweed in that tank again. Lucky me! There must’ve been a couple of pieces, and in the midst of me allowing that tank to become a jungle it really started growing again. Sigh… Oh well. Maybe after the fair we’ll try to eradicate Duckweed from all the tanks again. Right now, 4 of them have it. We’ll see how it goes. Snapped a decent amount of pics today. Hope you enjoy: Clutch of Bristlenose eggs. I didn’t even realize the male was sitting on these. Snails like to hang out in the cave, and I was getting low on snails for the Peas, so I lifted the cave. The male shot to the back of it, and really didn’t wanna come out. When he did, this clutch came flying out with him. 29. Black Neons out and about munching live BBS. Added a handful of leaves and 2 Lotus Pods. 55 Angel tank all cleared out. 20 long. Can’t wait to get the Chili’s and Green Neons added in here. Gonna be dope. 20 high that I rarely post. Kinda wild how this tank is half lit and half dark. Got a whole lotta Sword leaves on that right side. 6 gallon cube. Took this photo from far away and cropped it. 6 gallon cube closer up. Salvinia is dying. Don’t wanna add ferts. The last time this happened I added literally 2 drops of Easy Green and got green water. I’m hopeful that if the Salvinia dies off, it just means the tank doesn’t need it and I can run no floating plants and not get green water. We’ll see! Cleared out a ton of duckweed and water lettuce from this 10 gallon. Tank looks empty, but there’s probably 12-15 Pygmy Cory’s and an ADF in here. Patiently waiting for the LFS to bring in the Rummynose Rasboras for me. Any day now… 29 Pea Puffer tank is out of control. But they don’t mind, so I don’t either. Added IAL’s to the 10 gallon QT holding more Chili’s and Green Neons. Another week or 2 and I’ll move them to the Blackwater tank, so I’m getting them used to that environment. Feels good to have everything cleaned up and running at full speed. I hope you’re enjoying your tanks, friends. Cheers.

I obviously missed that. My bad. Just trying to be helpful. Hopefully you can figure it out.

Definitely not a live brine shrimp. Maybe @Biotope Biologist can help you out.

The only way I’ve been able to be successful with Guppies or Endlers is to get them to breed. Those fish born in your water should do pretty well. When that second generation starts breeding, and they have babies, those should be basically bulletproof. My water is lower pH, soft, with little to no buffer. The exact opposite of what Guppies want. It’s also entirely possible those Guppies were raised in Brackish water, so they’re having a hard time converting to freshwater. Also possible that the tank isn’t cycled. I know you used old filter media and Quick Start, but have you tested the tank? Parameters, including gH, kH, and pH could be really helpful to someone who is smarter than I am.

I love that your Anubias is flowering! Not telling you to NOT add a Krib, just simply saying that my female Krib constantly nipped my Angels, and there was 6 of them in a standard 55 gallon.

There’s no right or wrong answer. If you can select all females and wanna try it out, do it by all means. My only other advice is if you go that route, make sure you have other fish that don’t have long fins. Kribs can be nippers. I had a single female in my 55 angelfish tank, and she was constantly nipping the long fins of the Angels. Had to solve that problem by removing her from that tank, too.

For sure. These days, I can tell a male and female apart no problem. Years ago when I got them, it was near impossible. I started with a group of 6

You definitely wouldn’t have to worry about fry at that point. They can be tough to sex when they’re young and you don’t know exactly what you’re looking at/for

That would be my advice. Maybe the other fish will eat the fry, but Kribs are ruthless when it comes to protecting their babies. 2 fish were literally fighting off 30-40 others, successfully. In a 20 gallon high.