AllFishNoBrakes

When I was setting up all my tanks in 2020, I bought many of them second hand. I wouldn’t pay more than $1/gallon, and I got super lucky that all of them were water tight and in great condition. I still have all those tanks running and haven’t had any issues. These days, if I needed or wanted a new tank, I would just wait until the Petco 1/2 off sale. The piece of mind for the tank being brand new, and if there are any issues I can just exchange it is worth it to me. Financially, I’m in a much different place than I was 4 years ago and have the luxury to buy new. I’m still frugal, though, and would wait for the 1/2 off sale to get the most preferred price.

Right, so run that new sponge filter in the existing tank. Doing so will seed it with beneficial bacteria. And then move the sponge filter into the new tank when you get the shrimp to have a fully cycled, fully seeded filter for the new tank. Just like cleaning out the existing HOB into the new tank will seed the new tank with additional bacteria, mulm, and microorganisms.

Water doesn’t carry beneficial bacteria, so personally I wouldn’t move any water. What I would do is get the sponge for your shrimp tank, and let that run in the main tank. Personally, I like 4 weeks. During that 4 weeks I would also not clean the media in your HOB. Then, when the shrimp tank is set up, squeeze and/or “clean” the media in the HOB in the new nano tank, as well as move the sponge filter over. That should be more than you need for shrimp, at least to carry their bioload which is relatively small. What shrimp really need to immediately thrive is a seasoned tank. I’d get the tank set up, and just let it do its thing while you season the sponge in the main tank. You WANT algae and biofilms and other things for the shrimp to graze on. Moving substrate, decor, or really anything other than water from the main tank will also carry over beneficial bacteria, but the seasoned sponge and seeding with the media in the HOB should have you more than set.

It is very highly unlikely that shrimplets are swarming and cannibalizing adult shrimp. Not saying it’s impossible, just saying I’ve never seen it and don’t really think it’s plausible. Shrimp are grazers. They graze all day long. Some breeders only feed once per week and the other 6 days the shrimp graze and breed up a storm. Personally, I feed my shrimp only tank once every other day. Outside of that they graze. If I had to guess, the two that you lost probably just ran their course. The ones that are growing up in your water should be bulletproof, and when they start to breed you’ll really be set. When I see one dead shrimp I go, “well, that’s a bummer” and don’t think much else of it. If I was seeing shrimp constantly die that would be a different story and would indicate something is off and actually causing them to die.

What’s the max setting for time between feedings on the auto feeder? Even just a couple times while you’re gone, or one small feeding every 48 hours or something could provide a lot of peace of mind. As far as parameters go, the tank should be fine without maintenance for 2 weeks, assuming the tank is well seasoned and you have a healthy ecosystem going on.

My girlfriend bought me a Carolina Reaper plant for our anniversary, and I had always wanted to try aquaponics. This was peak COVID, and I asked her if she cared if I got a fish tank and tried to grow the plant via a media basket on top of the tank. She was down! I bought the tank, bought the aquaponics kit, and had SO MUCH FUN setting up the tank, cycling it, researching fish, doing water changes, etc. That first tank had me wanting to replicate it many times over, and got me researching other fish, plants, woods, rocks, etc. Thankfully, she was super down with me setting up a rack and doing whatever I wanted. She literally said “I don’t care what you do as long as I don’t have to care for them”. And it was off to the races. Set up the rack, set up other tanks, built a bunch of tools to help out, started hatching brine shrimp, etc. I continue keeping tanks because I thoroughly enjoy them. I enjoy watching them, I enjoy breeding fish, I enjoy growing plants, I enjoy doing water changes and maintenance, and I truly believe it has helped my mental health. My life is super hectic, always something, I’m a workaholic, and watching the tanks helps me decompress and chill out. It’s simply so much fun, and I have a nice balance. I know for a fact I don’t have more space or time to care for tanks, so the current load is exactly what I need. It’s not too little, and it’s not too much. I get to play, try new things, breed fish and sell em to the LFS, and I just thoroughly enjoy aquariums. I had work friends that got tanks and were setting things up, during peak COVID as well, and there’s only me and one other dude left still doing it 4 years later. I love it.

I too got the text about the brine shrimp eggs. SMS is a fantastic marketing tool. We use it all the time in our company and see great returns from it vs. other methods. I too am wary of links in general and would personally go straight to the website to cash in on the deal, but SMS is a great tool to get information to the masses in seconds at a preferred cost.

To the best of my knowledge, no, it isn’t necessary at all! This tank started as a shrimp only tank. After a couple of years of that, I was ready for a change. I had seen Blackwater tanks and had been looking at botanicals. It sounded super fun, so I decided I wanted to try a Blackwater tank. From there, I wanted some fish that you might find in Blackwater environments, so I decided on Chili Rasboras and Green Neon Tetras. I’ll probably never do a full on biotope, but I thought the Chili’s and Green Neons would really pop against the dark water. And they do!

Sounds like a stressful situation for everyone involved, including yourself, and it sounds like you’ve tried everything to get it to work. Sometimes, things simply don’t work and you can’t force it. If it was me, I would be taking the Gourami back to the LFS. It might not be what you want to do, but it should alleviate the stress for both you and the fish.

Comin’ in hella late with the update this week. Do the kids still say “hella”? Definitely showing my age a bit. This week was a weird one. My girl had her appointment with her specialist on Tuesday morning at 8am, and it’s a 2 hour drive both directions. Took Tuesday off so I could be with her, and then worked on Wednesday when I normally do the tanks. I had every intention of doing the full maintenance routine on Thursday. We had our appointment at the Post Office for our passports at 11:30, and on the way home a maintenance tech said he was here to fix our A/C. I figured once he was done I would drag out the hoses and get to work, but I made the decision to just… not. Life has been crazy, work has been crazy, and I took the opportunity to just rest for a minute. I filled up a single 5 gallon bucket, and just topped off some tanks. It felt good to just do 15 minutes of maintenance instead of the 4 hours it probably would’ve been. I probably needed to squeeze a couple of sponges, but that can wait until next week when we get back on track. The boss will be back from vacation, and I should have my (mostly) uninterrupted day to just play with the tanks. On a different note, I hit 10 years with my company (don’t remember if I noted that or not) and the love I received from my team was honestly overwhelming. One store got me a couple of cards, one team member made me a custom company logo out of a piece of metal on a plasma cutter CNC machine, and they got me a money tree to add to the collection of house plants. Another team got me a custom work shirt with our logo mixed with the Blink 182 smiley face logo, and a hoodie to match. The management team all pitched in and got me a gift card to pick a date to swim with the sharks at the Aquarium, and a gift card towards dinner afterwards. And I’m fairly confident the owner of the company is going to gift me and my girl a trip to Mexico (hence the passport appointment yesterday). I’m overwhelmed with appreciation from my teams. Truly at a loss for words for their generosity and thanks for the work that I do. I hope you’re taking care of yourselves, friends. I know I need to more often than I do. Here’s a pic of my Chili’s I snapped for someone else in a different thread. Thought this one turned out pretty well:

My Chili’s look fantastic in their Blackwater tank. They just take time to grow and color up. I currently have 15 in my Blackwater tank, and they look awesome. Super vibrant in that darker environment. I recently bought another 10 to beef up the school, and they’re tiiiiiiny, and basically with no color. When you see them in the fish store you go “there’s no way that’s the same fish”. The photos you’ve seen probably aren’t enhanced, they’re just fully grown and fully colored up. Here’s a picture I just snapped of mine: And their friends in quarantine who are younger and not colored up yet:

Nitrite at 10ppm is a little wild, but assuming you have no inhabitants it’s nothing to worry about. Nitrite SHOULD skyrocket as the ammonia comes down, because ammonia is converted to nitrite, but 10ppm is still a little wild. Over time, that nitrite will become nitrate. Assuming you don’t have any inhabitants I would just let the tank do its thing and give it time. Definitely biofilm growing on the wood. It’s harmless, although unsightly in my personal opinion. If you water change due to the high nitrite, you can suck it off the wood with the siphon or the tubing. You can also take the wood out and rinse/lightly scrub it off.

Personally I would probably leave them in. Just a heads up, that Pleco will definitely outgrow a 5 gallon tank. Hopefully you have plans to move it to a bigger tank when it’s necessary.

@Pepere Indeed. Does everything I need it to do.

I have this one: https://www.amazon.com/Fzone-Aquarium-Regulator-Solenoid-Cylinder/dp/B07QFT69P8/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_sspa?crid=1YZF0YGKK038W&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.vlQ1lKKMp8ixp2w34eL0uS7UCqBNcKSRtvb7UBhWll_8jLOlt9WnXzYZPlrCUNOqU0pSzrLZ1p1ec7NJEr3gX1E8R7xP7nclkV2zZZZUZIhCMhID9KcgOWh0raqGmoZO09AJJXUuSBlgwWXdvEq0yT6CyMsS0rmko3kg0X-tzGcmBqPkX0l2I3hGgiMms9kKVcBwKdQnVgC_Q1Q7ITpRcw.uWRcPDFLpvNaRFP9kIELvSg_TaJ0L7mM3pFBrAUWyHk&dib_tag=se&keywords=co2+regulator+aquarium&qid=1716483056&sprefix=Co2+regu%2Caps%2C129&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9zZWFyY2hfYXRm&psc=1 and I also have a ZRDR with 2 bubble counters as it runs 2 tanks. Both work just fine for my needs

Yup, discontinued. I didn’t go as fancy as @Pepere and I’m happy with the performance. All just comes down to what you need vs. what you’re willing to pay. In my case, I just need it to work well and not drift, so I didn’t feel the need to spend more than what I did.

Agreed with @Tony s. A month would be awesome. At least 2 weeks for me personally. Moving substrate will also help. Water will not. The filter and substrate will help. Definitely better than nothing! All just depends on what your goals are.

Agreed that it will be just fine. I keep nano sponges in my grow out tank with no air, and have no problems throwing them in a hatchery/initial grow out tank. My only comment is personally I would want the brand new sponge in there for more than 4 days to be seeded.

Agreed that it’s dope the company checks in. I don’t work from home, but instead I get worked to the bone with little to no thanks. I’d almost prefer to be isolated at this point lol.

Ya, I have a tank of murder beans. Here we go: 1. I have 6 in a 29. In a 10, I’d do one. Or maybe start with 2 and see if you get lucky. 2. Mine get bloodworms and snails. Snails are the only “live culture” I have. 3. I’ve never seen mine burrow 4. I’ve never seen mine jump. All my tanks have lids. 5. My tank is scaped and heavily planted. No caves. I’m sure they would explore it if I gave them one, though. 6. I have a sponge with easy flow kit, and an internal filter for the CO2. 7. I’m sure Blackwater would be fine, but mine is just straight fresh with no botinicals. I already have 2 other Blackwater tanks, and don’t want to maintain a third. 8. They are small. Smaller freshwater puffer in the world. About 1.25” full grown. 9. Don’t overthink it. I was super nervous about getting them before I did. Now having them for a couple years they’re mostly like any other fish. Bloodworms are easy for me as I use 1 cube per day and split it between like 5 different tank. Snails are good snacks. My Pea Puffer tank requires the most manual cleaning as snails are snacks, but the Nerites in that tank have helped, as well as the plants being as dense as they are now. Here’s the most recent pic of my Pea Puffer tank:

Probably a bacteria bloom, or, more likely in my opinion, dust from the aquasoil. Most of my tanks are planted in some fashion, and I’ve only ever really dealt with cloudy water from green water, or my blackwater tanks before I had internal filtration/water polishing filters. I bet over time, the dust will literally settle, and it shouldn’t be cloudy. Plants themselves should not make your water cloudy

I second the 20 Pygmies. My 10 hide all the time, but that tank is also in my bedroom so I see them hovering around and doing their Pygmy thing when they think I’m not looking. Every once in a while I see a fry or two in there. I’m hoping I eventually get to around 20 by passively breeding them so they hide less. I could totally pull eggs and go through the motions to hatch and raise more, but life is too busy right now and I like the surprise Pygmy fry every once in a while.

Definitely a broken or worn away shell. To the best of my knowledge, nerites are wild caught, and they often get damaged in shipping around the world. That, or the shell was worn away. Sorry the store you bought it from led you astray. As the others have said, your pH and gH will be important to ensuring the shell doesn’t continue to erode, and instead you can help strengthen it.

How far away is the LFS? I’m assuming a couple hours, or a couple hours in the bag total between catching and bagging all of them and then transport from the wording in your post Don't overthink it. I’ve taken 100 at a time to the LFS with 25-33 in each bag with a little chunk of moss in the bag. The shrimp appreciate something to hold on to during transport.

Agreed with @lefty o. You want a well established tank for your shrimp to thrive. You want algae and biofilm. My other biggest recommendation is get shrimp bred locally, if you can. Those shrimp will be used to your tap water, and will do much better much faster. I’ve bought local shrimp that thrived immediately, and I’ve also bought shrimp from the LFS that I’ve had to work super hard to get the colony established. Locally bred and a well-established tank and you’ll be off to the races.