AllFishNoBrakes

Ya, I bought both of my 5lb tanks from Amazon. Then took them to the local welding supply place and swapped them for filled tanks as it was cheaper to do that than just buy the full tank from them. You’ll need: -CO2 Tank -CO2 Regulator (most regulators come with bubble counters) -Airline Tubing -Check Valve -CO2 diffusor -Drop checker (most of them come with the solution you need to put in the drop checker) Optional, but very valuable in my opinion: -Some kind of filtration to keep the CO2 bubbles in suspension longer. Some people run a canister filter with inline CO2. I have 3 different setups, but they all basically do the same thing. 1) Canister filter. Outflow nozzle is pointed down with the diffusor below it, so the CO2 rises from the diffusor, and then gets pushed back down and around the tank. 2) Internal filter with a small spraybar angled down. Same theory. Bubbles rise, and then get pushed back down and across the tank 3) Small wavemaker in my 55 gallon. Same theory. Bubble rise, then get pushed back down and across the tank.

Agreed that a 5lb tank with a regulator is the way to go. I’ve had a couple of the citric acid and baking soda mix-your-own setups too, and they work well, but over the years I got tired of buying citric acid and mixing my own. Also agreed that sponges just need cleaned and not replaced. I’ve had some of my sponges for 4 years and they’re still chugging right along. Maybe at the 10 year mark I’ll think about replacing them. CO2 systems go: CO2 source ->Regulator->Bubble Counter->Airline Tubing into the tank->Diffusor. I would also recommend a drop checker so you know where you’re at and you can dial it in based on your goals. What plants do you have that are CO2 recommended?

Pond snail, I think. The little curly-q on the back of it has me second guessing myself though.

@LisaEHern Something like 2-4 weeks should allow the beneficial bacteria to colonize the new tanks.

A picture would help to confirm, but my guess is those leaves that are turning yellow are the leaves that were grown emersed (out of water), and the plant had to convert to submerged (in water). You are correct that they will not recover and should be clipped off. New leaves will grow from the center of the plant, and it will continue to bush out over the coming months and years. Swords are heavy root feeders, but it sounds like you have that covered with soil and a nutrient rich substrate.

So, when I completed maintenance last week, I had a little extra time and decided to do a couple extra things. One of those extra things was replacing a heater in the 20 long. It just hadn’t been holding temp like it was, it was much bigger than I anticipated when it arrived (even though it was 100 watt, and I’d purchased that one before), and I realized I had a brand new 50 watt that I had forgotten about. Out with the foot long 100 watt, and in with the new 50 watt. The next day the Chili’s and the Green Neons were hiding in the back, and weren’t frantically munching down on the live baby brine shrimp like they normally do. Something was up, but I wasn’t sure what it was. I started to retrace my steps. I put in water conditioner, right? I had to. They would’ve died if I didn’t, and the chlorine should’ve been gassed off by that time anyways. No bodies on the substrate. Was it the Poly Fil I replaced? No, I do that every week without issues. I just kept going down the list, and then the heater came to mind. It was the only change, so I unplugged it. Left it in the tank, but unplugged. The next day they were still hiding. Maybe not quite as much, but all still huddled up in the Pothos roots. Yesterday they were still hiding. I just couldn’t figure out why they were hiding, but weren’t sick and weren’t dying. I came home tonight, and they were way more out and about than they had been. Success! Not quite where they used to be, but we’re seeing progress. When I told my girlfriend about it, she said, “well, I did put that rain coat up. Maybe they were scared of the coat”. And then it dawned on me… It rained and snowed for a couple of days straight over here, and we had our rain coats hung on the back pole of the rack. Those big, scary, not moving giants outside the tank had them huddled up scared for their lives. Put the jackets away now that it’s not raining and snowing, and they’re out and about 🤦‍♂️. Heater is now plugged back in, and I’m assuming they’ll be back out in the front smashing brine shrimp in no time. This hobby is always full of surprises, lol.

Anything is possible, but it really depends on what your goals are, in my opinion. With your parameters, I would really look at Caridina vs. Neocaridina. Again, anything is possible. Based on my parameters alone, I should be keeping Caridina. However, I’ve only kept Neo’s and they’ve done really well for me. I too have a lower pH and little to no buffer. I would also take a look at shrimps ability to handle salt. Someone smarter or more experience with shrimp and salt will have to chime in as I’ve never experimented with that situation, but off the top of my head I would look into it before purchasing anything. If you wanna just have a couple of shrimp, go for it. But understand that they hide a lot, and in a big tank like that you may never or hardly ever see them. If your goal is to create a colony of shrimp I think that would be difficult based on your stocking, and not starting with the shrimp first to allow the numbers to really crank up before the shrimplets become snacks. Maybe some Amanos would do better for you as they get much bigger. Again, really depends on what you’re hoping to get out of them.

It’s possible. CPO’s are like bigger, more aggressive shrimp. I typically see some of my CPO’s with missing claws, so I know they fought at some point, and the loser lost a claw.

The best substrate for shrimp is whatever one you like the most. Probably not the answer you want, but it’s the honest answer. The shrimp won’t care what substrate they’re on, so pick the one you like the best. If anything, research what a light substrate vs a dark substrate does to the appearance of their color.

@Jeff I was able to acquire the other killifish sticker. However, I’m still pretty sure I have the purple mystery snail sticker I could hook you up with. Send me a message and I’ll get it in an envelope with a stamp on it

The short answer is yes, that’s way too many fish for a 6 gallon. Consider only the honey gourami and some shrimp.

Word. In my opinion, the single outlet pump is not strong enough to split 3 ways. You could maaaaaybe split it in 2 if you were only running sponge filters.

Most likely, yes. Which air pump did you buy? In the past I used to split a Tetra 150 into 4 using a 4 way metal gang valve. In recent months, I’ve taken that down to 2 valves and more Tetra 150’s

If you have a local fish store near you, go check it out and see what you like. So many different options of wood and rock that it really comes down to personal preference. It’s hard to do better than wood, rocks, and plants, in my opinion. Remember that with most plants, regardless of where you get them, you’re paying for the roots and hoping they adjust well to your water. Most will experience some type of melt, but if they bounce back you’ll be set. Remember that it takes months for my plants, in my experience, to really adapt to your water and start to thrive. The exceptions to that rule are rhizome plants like Anubias, Java Ferns, and Bucephelandra. Play around and find the plants that work well in your water. Like @Tony s said, having a tall tank can make lighting difficult. Try some low light plants like Anubias and Java Fern, make sure you don’t bury the rhizome, and see how they do for you. If you can get some PSO started and going it could grow like a weed in the tank and really take advantage of the height of the tank. Same goes for a Dwarf Aquarium Lily.

I don’t know the answer of how many eggs per sac, and how often they lay the sacs, but the good news is they’re excellent clean up crew and the population can be controlled by how much they eat. Too much algae and overfeeding? You’ll have lots of snails. Balance your tank and that population will balance with it. I have Ramshorns in every tank but my Pea Puffer tank cuz, ya know, Ramshorns are their favorite snack.

You talking about the air collars? I have a new way of flushing them out with a 20ml syringe and a piece of airline tubing. Im really diggin’ it. Glad you’re doing well. I wish the pups a speedy recovery!

Such a true statement, lol. I’ve only mixed up Repashy like twice, but I definitely found an old Tupperware and used it for that as I didn’t want to store anything in it after using it to mix some up.

I have 14 tanks, and I don’t wanna jam up this whole feed. So, I figured I’d share my favorite sized tank, the humble 29 gallon. Pea Puffer tank. I have 6 Pea Puffers, 5 Nerite Snails, and some cull shrimp that the Murder Beans allow to live. This tank has CO2, an easy flow kit on a large sponge filter, and an internal filter with a small spraybar on the right side. This tank also has probably the worst algae problems from any of my tanks. The Pea’s favorite snack is Ramshorn Snails, so the algae situation requires more manual removal, more glass scraping, and more siphoning away algae/small plant leaves/general detritus than any of my other tanks. Slowly but surely it continues to get better, and the Pea’s are worth it. I love those little guys. Blackwater tank. Botanicals and leaves at the bottom. This tank has 10 Albino Corys, a couple remaining Glowlight Tetras, and the wild caught school of Black Neons that were added to the tank today after an 8 week QT process. Shrimp and snails as well. This tank has CO2, the easy flow kit on a medium sponge filter, and a Fluval 107. That Anubius in the back right corner has been there for over 3 years and the Amazon Swords came from my mother Sword plant. This is the only tank I can grow a decent Java Fern in, the Crinum is the best of the few I’ve tried, and I’m hoping the Bacopa turns out well and in a year I can have a little Bacopa forest. Thanks for checking out my 29’s!

Sorry you’re going through it. I feel ya on working too much and other obligations. I work way too much, but have really developed a nice routine with the tanks over the past 4 years. Every Wednesday (my typical day off) I’m able to do maintenance to all 14 of my tanks in 3-5 hours depending on what all I have to do. If all I do is change water it’s about 3 hours. If I have to clean filters and tinker with other things the additional hour or two can get tacked on. Probably not the answer you want, but sometimes less is more. If it was me, I would cut back fertilizer to once, MAYBE twice per week with just Easy Green. I would also water change each week, but my water is super soft with little to no buffer, so I want to replenish those minerals and the little buffer I do have. Are you running C02 with high lighting that requires all those ferts? Dosing every 2-3 days with additional Potassium and Phosphorus just seems like a lot to me.

Crush the Krill flake and any other flake you have, baby brine shrimp (live and frozen, I hatch my own, freeze the vast majority, feed whatever is left live, and then use the frozen through the following week until I need to hatch more), and nano pellets are all you need. I feed that mix to all of my tanks, and even my Angelfish munch down on the nano pellets and crushed flake. Repashy should end up like jello like @lefty o said. Pretty sure you use boiling water. I have a jar of Repashy somewhere, but only ever made it like twice, and I’m pretty sure you use boiling water to activate it, just like jello

It’s Wednesday! Shocker that I’m back with another journal entry, huh? Lol. I hope you’ve all had a great day. Another round of maintenance in the books. Water changed everything but my girlfriends shrimp tank, got the Black Neons moved to the 29, cleaned all the pre filter sponges, and did some more air pump swappin’. The biggest news being the Black Neons in the 29. Stoked to finally have them in there, and they look great! They’re obviously still shy and hiding quite a bit, but we’re literal hours into it. I’m excited to see how they settle in over the coming weeks. When I’ve caught em out and about they look awesome, and I’m hoping they bring some life to this tank. EDIT: I think the Black Neons are going to settle in just fine. If I approach the tank slowly, they don’t scatter and school back and forth the tank. I’ve also observed them from the patio through the glass door doing the same. They ate well, and are definitely bringing some life to the tank. I continue to tinker with some air pumps. The last 150 with a 4 way gang valve was fine, but I decided to pull my girlfriend’s shrimp tank off the gang valve and close up that valve. That should give the other 3 sponges on that valve a little extra air as the two tanks on the end seemed like they could use just a little something. ACO single outlet air pump was busted back out and hooked up to the shrimp tank. Hopefully this is the last of the air pump shuffle for a while, lol. I stopped by the LFS a couple of days ago for some algae wafers and some blood worms. I noticed they were out of Panda Angels, and my boy Tyler helped me out at the counter. He confirmed they were indeed out of stock, and they wanted more. I have the last 10 or 12 from the oldest spawn grown out and I’ll take those up tomorrow. These boys and girls are a little bigger than I would normally grow them out, but they’re aware and don’t seem to mind. I got denied on the Bristlenose I have, as well as the literal metric ton of Java Moss currently in my possession. They said they could probably take those in a couple of weeks. I’m considering setting up the ol’ AllFishNoBrakes craigslist ad and trying to move some through that. Would it be a super bummer move to post my ad as *minimum purchase of $15 required* with Java Moss golf ball sized portions at $5 each, as well as the Bristlenose at $5 each? I really just want to avoid the “I’ll take one Java Moss” route. It sounds pretentious, but bagging a single fish, or a single portion of moss, communicating back and forth with the buyer, meeting up with the buyer, materials, etc. just isn’t worth my time for $5. More then happy to do it for $15 or $20, but would like to avoid 20 different $5 coordinations and trips. I’m considering picking up some Cherry Barbs for the 20 high tomorrow. I think they’d go well with the 2 Bolivian Rams and the Julii Cory’s in there. With only having bottom dwellers the tank just feels super empty, and I think the Barbs would hopefully act as dithers for the Bolivians. Those guys hide all the time and are super shy. Maybe some top dwelling active dithers in the tank would help them out. Similar to the Furcata Rainbows that used to be in that tank. Still wanting to add to the Green Neon school as well. I was hoping the LFS had them so I could grab them tomorrow with the Cherry Barbs, but they’re listed ans out of stock on the website. Oh well. Maybe I’ll have to go to LFS #2 next week. I’ve been considering something else for the 10 gallon in the bedroom as well. Currently home to 10 or so Pygmy Cory’s and an African Dwarf Frog. Much like the 20 high, the tank just feels barren as the Pygmy’s like to hide. I’m thinking maybe some other Rasbora or something small. Gotta make sure they don’t get snacked on by the Dwarf Frog, though. We’ll see. Not rushing any decision, but wanna bring some life to the tank. Snapped some pics and wanted to show some tanks that I rarely show: Male Bristlenose munching on an algae wafer. Dude has become a beast Left 1/3 of the 55 gallon grow out tank. Panda pair, and Bristlenose pair were all out and about. Obviously a lot of snails, but those just become Pea Puffer snacks. Right 2/3’s of the 55 grow out tank. That moss came out of a 10 gallon that it consumed, and it has only continued to grow once it was put in here. Between the other (2) 10 gallon QT tanks I have close to another 10 gallon full. Sooooo much Java Moss. Panda Angels munching. I thought it was fun to see all the different sizes. Backed up a bit to show the size difference between the ones that are leaving, and the ones coming up behind them. 20 high. I think the Cherry Barbs would add a nice splash of color and activity. Black Neons in the 29! You can see them in the back left. Excited to see how they settle in. Fingers crossed they don’t hide all the time. @nabokovfan87 hope you’re doing alright my dude. Haven’t seen ya around the forum lately, and then read in your journal you’re dealing with some pup issues. Hope it all works out and you and the dogs are alright! Cheers, everyone. Thanks for hanging out!

What would you consider perfect? As in, what numbers are you trying to achieve, and why are you trying to achieve them? Like @face said, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. Focus on consistency instead of chasing arbitrary numbers. My water is soft, with little to no kH, and lower pH. That being said, I do absolutely nothing to it. I’d rather keep things consistent and not keep fish that I know won’t do well (no African Cichlids for this guy), and I absolutely do not want to make water. Instead, my 14 tanks get the same water changes every week, I keep foods and amount of foods consistent, I dose Easy Green, and a few tanks have C02. Keep it simple, and repeat it over and over. Chasing numbers that really don’t matter most of the time will be harder on your fish and won’t create a consistent ecosystem. It’s a beautiful tank. I assume you have it so hot for the Discus? If it were my tank, the only thing I would consider changing is lowering the nitrates via water changes and/or less Easy Green. I used to run a couple of those citric acid and baking soda reactors. They’re fun, but I got sick of buying citric acid and mixing it up, so I upgraded to 5 lb tanks. That’s truly a special tank, in my opinion. One I would love to have. From the shape, to your stocking selections, to the tannins in the water. I love it.

Crazy. I throw leaves and other botanicals in like a mad man and get nowhere near that dark.

@anewbie Dang! I run a couple Blackwater tanks, but I’ve never been able to get mine that dark! What all did you huck in there?

Heard that. Makes sense. In my experience, the ammonia strips are pretty good. I still prefer the API test, but don’t always wanna go through all the steps and wait 5 minutes. My guess is that whatever caused the ammonia spike, the ammonia was already converted and showed up as nitrite when you saw it. Glad it wasn’t anything super crazy for you.