AllFishNoBrakes

In my experience with my Angels, the parents will defend the eggs and wigglers to no end. Then, they become free swimming. They will still defend them to no end, but the lights turn off and the next morning all the fry are gone. If I want to raise Angels to sell I’ll pull and hatch/raise the eggs myself. If I don’t want to keep the spawn I’ll still usually pull it and toss the eggs to return the tank back to the peaceful place I want it to be vs. allowing it to become the thunder dome.

I’ve always soaked my Spiderwood in a 5 gallon bucket for a week or two. I realize your piece might not fit in a bucket, but just sharing what typically works for me. I’ve never boiled Spiderwood. The soak in my experience has released any and all “fungus”, except for 1 single piece that continues to fungus years later. Gotta love it.

I’m in the same boat. After 3 years with my 13 tanks my girl now wants her own blue strain shrimp tank. I told her I’m happy to do it as long as she does everything for it. Next Petco 50% off sale it’s going down.

@nerdyaquarist While I can’t say definitively, they’ll probably be just fine. While it’s not ideal, that’s not a giant swing in temperature. People intentionally do cooler water changes on things like Cory’s to try to trigger them to spawn. When it rains in nature, it’s essentially a cooler water change. If it was me, I’d let the heater take care of gradually bringing the temp back up to the desired range.

When I had my Kribs I bought a group of 5 and let them pair off. I then kept that pair and moved the others. Had the Kribs for a while, but they spawned way too much and I flooded the market and was stuck with those guys forever lol

Let’s see your blackwater tank! I’m currently over here daydreaming about turning my 20 long into a blackwater set up. All in due time

Finished up the maintenance today and snapped some pics along the way. I absolutely despise water changing small tanks. Especially these little 2.5 gallon hatch/grow out tanks. To remove water I use 2 pieces of airline tubing with sponge jammed in the end so I don’t suck up any fry. To refill water, gravity is my friend. 1 gallon pitcher with dechlorinated water at the correct temp, and then a single piece of airline tubing (no sponge) inside a piece of 1/2” pvc. Pvc tubing gets clamped to the pitcher and the foam “lid” for the tank holds the airline tubing in place inside the tank. Get a syphon going, “clamp” in the tank with the foam lid, and walk away for 5 minutes. Marbled male and all black Female Angelfish spawn. Did not keep these eggs as I’m still working on the Panda juveniles and don’t want to get myself in trouble. A spawn is worthless until it’s sold! If only I had more tanks… You can see the few eggs that started to fungus. Mom was doing a great job of fanning all of these eggs until I so ruthlessly pulled the slate and washed the eggs down the drain. Female Panda that had Camallanus Red Worms is looking clear. 25% water change with a hard gravel vac per the instructions on the box and now this problem should be behind us. I’m looking forward to seeing how she does moving forward, and what their spawns look like moving forward as she had to have those pesky nematodes the whole time I’ve had her. Every fish that comes into my home gets the med trio and quarantined, but nothing new would’ve introduced the red worms. Shout out to Expel-P for doing its job! Cheers, Nerms. Hope you’ve had a great day enjoying nature.

I don’t know what is illegal in my state, but anything I’ve wanted to keep has been perfectly fine. Probably because we have really cold winters which would kill most plants/fish/invertebrates. That being said, I could see why dwarf water lettuce would be illegal where it would thrive.

Lol, was about to respond here. Before I had my Python I had a water pump and then pvc parts/vinyl tubing to still use buckets. Pump was in the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket and drew water through the tubing and out the pvc head into the tank. Some others here have done basically the same thing, but with cooler/better water fillers made from pvc. My suggestion would be to just get the Python. By the time you buy the pump, fittings, pvc parts, tubing, etc and then your time building, testing, and fine tuning you’ll spend the same amount of money if not more, and way more time.

I’ll play along! 1. What was the first fish you ever kept in some sort of an aquarium? My mom had a tank when I was a kid, but I barely remember and definitely never had anything to do with it. The first fish I bought for my first tank was 5 or 6 Neon Tetras. 2. What tank are you most proud of and why? My Pea Puffer tank is probably my favorite. I took all the knowledge I gained from my previous tanks and applied it to that tank. I wouldn’t call it a “scape” per se, but I definitely played with the hard scape and got it exactly as I wanted it before I flooded the tank. 3. How did you get here, specifically to these forums? From ACO videos. I was fortunate to find the Coop early on in my fish journey, but didn’t come to the forum until a few months ago. I got tired of the “perfect” tanks and elitism on IG, so when I took IG off my phone I came here to hang and chat with actual fish keepers, lol. 4. What is something you think you do to make the hobby easier for yourself that others can use? All the DIY things I built early on to make maintenance faster and easier, for sure. 5. What is something you specifically wish for guidance with in the hobby? Live food cultures. I’ve tried infusoria a couple different time and haven’t been successful. I’d like to keep other worm cultures too, but don’t really have the time and I’m not sure I can convince my girlfriend to let me keep worms around our house, lol. 6. What fish do you miss most? The female betta named Sushi that I accidentally sucked through a hose while doing a water change 😔. Lesson learned there, for sure. 7. How often do you change water? Is this the same for all of your tanks? Once per week for all my tanks. All the same. My water is super soft, low pH, basically 0 buffer so I want to replenish minerals often. If I’m on vacation or life gets in the way I can definitely skip a week, but then I just feel behind. Maintenance is actually fun for me and I’ve got it down to a science at this point. 8. What is better, one big tank or a rack of 20Gs, why? Rack of 20’s so I can breed fish and raise fry. Even if I couldn’t breed fish I’d still keep fish, but breeding is the most fun part for me. 9. When was the last time you spent 30 minutes staring at a tank? Daily. I have 3 tanks in my bedroom so those tanks get a lot of viewing time. I spend time with all my tanks, but the ones in the bedroom get the most time. 10. What is your favorite food to feed your tanks? If I had to pick just one: Baby Brine Shrimp.

@TheSwissAquarist Yup. BBS get put through the sieve. Quick rinse in normal tap water through the sieve, let that tap water drain out, and then into the Tupperware with tank water they go. From there, they get taken from the Tupperware to the ice cube tray with a syringe. Let me know if you have any other questions. Happy to elaborate!

@nabokovfan87 Thanks for the kind words. Every picture I’ve posted on here has been taken with my trusty iPhone. No extra lenses or anything like that. I wish I had the answer for @jwcarlson with their brine shrimp dilemma. I was trying to help out early on in that thread, and have popped in every once in a while since and I’m stumped. I know what works for me works very well, but I’m puzzled by their situation.

@cavdad45 Congrats! I’m currently raising up my first batch of Bristlenose fry as well

What up Nerms?! I’m over here daydreaming about turning my 20 gallon long into a blackwater/botanical style aquarium with Sparkling Gourami’s, Chili Rasboras, shrimp (neo’s might work as my water is already soft, low pH, 0 buffer OR maybe I’ll try my hand at some CRS) and a Nerite or two if I can pull it off. I see the scape in my head and I imagine almost a mirror image. Spider Wood on each side flowing towards the middle with most likely Seiryu Stone to compliment the Spider Wood. Then, Anubius and maybe Java Fern (Java Ferns haven’t don’t great for me in the past, but I’m willing to try more/again) attached to the wood and stone. I’d love either A) a double head light or B) 2 pendant style lights (one on each side) to light up the plants and also give a *dramatic* effect. I was searching around Amazon and found some double head lights or some more expensive pendant lights, but it seems that all I’ve found is intended for rimless tanks. Do you currently have any clip on/pendant style lights for your RIMMED tanks, or did you have to modify your rimmed tank to accept a light intended for a rimless tank? I’d love to not have to modify my tank, but I’m also not scared to do so if it’s necessary. I just measured the lip of my tank, and even if I cut out the piece intended to hold the lid I would need a clip on light that had a gap of at least 3/8”, and some of the lights I was looking at had like 1/4” at best. Here’s the links I was looking at earlier this evening: https://www.amazon.com/Senzeal-Gemini-Aquarium-Planted-Lighting/dp/B07TD3Z4JY/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?crid=EK6I6O7UUUGU&keywords=double+head+aquarium+light&qid=1675317514&sprefix=double+head+aqua%2Caps%2C240&sr=8-3 This light seems rad, is easy on the wallet, I feel it would give me the *dramatic* effect I’m looking for, but seems to have <1/4” gap that won’t work on my standard 20 gallon long Then there’s these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07236CXBQ/ref=sspa_mw_detail_4?ie=UTF8&psc=1&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9kZXRhaWw They have a gap just shy of 2” so they would probably work, but needing 2 of them, $100 for lighting alone when I’m gonna drop some cash on botanicals seems a little insane. Maybe I’ve just been privileged and feel like if im gonna spend $100 on lighting I might as well go with an ACO light, but wouldn’t get the spotlight/dramatic effect. Same brand as the previous link, but ~60% of the price: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B09TKMN1M6/ref=sspa_mw_detail_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9kZXRhaWw Claims it has a ~1” clip on gap, but not sure I love the light. Could work, but I feel skeptical about it. Essentially, I feel like I’m starting over with lighting. I was fortunate to find something I liked right off the bat 3 years ago and all but one of my tanks have the same lights. Am I way overthinking this? Is lighting even that important in a blackwater set up considering the tint absorbs a lot of light? Considering I wanna run with low light plants does it even matter? The main thing is, what clip on/pendant lights have worked well with your rimmed aquariums? Thank you in advance, fellow nerms. Show me what you got!

@Schuyler Thank you much! I wish I could take credit for the whole thing. The stand itself was someone else’s idea. I just modified it to hold the sieve. The sieve was bought from Amazon. I bet if you just search “brine shrimp sieve” you’ll find it. @nabokovfan87 For sure. My thought right now is if I’m gonna move it I might as well move it to the next step/tank in their life and let them roam free. Totally understand where you’re coming from though.

@nabokovfan87 For sure. With most fry I’d say that’s a great idea. These Pleco’s though, man… just getting them out of the Ziss tumbler was a nightmare as they just latch onto everything! Most fry you can just pour out of whatever container. Not these pleco’s who spend their lives scooting around everything/everywhere one suctioned mouth at a time! Compared to other fry these guys are huge! I feel supremely confident that they would do just fine in a 1/2 full 10 gallon. Mostly I just wanted to play with the new to me Ziss breeder box when it got here. And, I didn’t realize how big these guys would be once hatching and how fast they’ve grown in a week.

It’s Wednesday again, Nerms! Back with another journal post. Water changed every tank with the exception of the 2.5 gallon housing the 10 Cory fry. We’ll get that one tomorrow. Didn’t squeeze the sponge filters, but pulled the Ziss never clog air stones apart, squished the felt from the air stones in drained tank water and now all sponge filters are running efficiently again. The 55 grow out tank got the second and final treatment of Expel-P, and I’m happy to report that the female Angel that had Camallanus Red Worms looks clean. Fingers crossed this second treatment gets any and all stragglers and we can move on from this whole situation. The Pleco fry are killing it in the Ziss breeder box, but man was that a pain to deal with while water changing. Had to push the box down the side of the tank while draining water which wasn’t a big deal at all. However, trying to pull the box back up the tank while water was filling was a nightmare. The Pleco fry will most likely move to a 10 gallon grow out next week simply because I don’t want to do that again, lol. Overall, the box is awesome, but water changing with any box is a nightmare. Also harvested some baby brine shrimp, so figured I’d show off my process a bit. Let’s get it. I use the Ziss hatchery with 2 liters of straight tap water, 2 tablespoons of Fritz Aquarium Salt, a tiny pinch of baking soda as my water is super soft, a usb nano air pump, and a clip on desk lamp with a 72w bulb in the place of a heater. Works great for me! After 36 hours, 1 tablespoon of eggs have hatched and are harvested. Shrimp could be harvested at 24 hours, but I personally like 36 hours. When I’m ready to harvest I disconnect the air pump, move the stand with the Hatchery to the sink, run some water through the sieve and throw that in there, clip on the little LED light, and let it sit for about 10 minutes. Eggs/shells float to the top and the shrimp are attracted to the light so they swim to the bottom. Open up the valve and harvest the liquid gold! Picture showing the eggs at the top and the rest of the shrimp still in the water column. Once harvested from the hatchery the shrimp go into a Tupperware with ~120ml of tank water. Shrimp are then put into this tiny ice cube tray with a 20ml syringe. Once all the rows are full this tray goes into the freezer. Then, I thaw and feed 2 rows per day. Each hatch/tray lasts 8 days meaning I hatch baby brine shrimp once per week, or once per 8 days. My system currently allows for the last frozen rows to be fed, and then the next evening I harvest, fill the tray, feed the live leftovers, and the cycle continues. My tanks get baby brine shrimp on a daily basis. After filling the tray I’m left with this which gets fed out to the tanks! Love me some baby brine shrimp, and so do the fish. Cheers, Nerms. Hope you’re having an excellent day enjoying your tanks! I’m over here daydreaming about converting my 20 gallon long into a blackwater/botanical style aquarium! Stoked to try something new. Wish me luck!

@Gannon Any idea what the difference between them flowering in the other tanks and not in the 125 is?

@Gannon have you ever had your RRF flower? I can get the tops of mine super red, directly under the light, but I’ve never seen them flower. Again, I apologize from detracting from your initial post, lol. My bad. Feeling kind of bad at this point.

Heard on the light sand. Definitely wasn’t thinking of that. I guess it makes sense if it’s covered with botanicals, but I definitely wasn’t thinking of a light colored sand. The tank currently has black sand. I was for sure planning on replacing that, but I wasn’t thinking of anything light colored

@Gannon Dope. A 125 would be super fun and has so many possibilities. I’m kinda surprised it’s red root floaters! They only do well for me in one of my tanks I’ve tried them in. They’re just super finicky for me and only do well with like no flow.

@Gannon Rad! My only real “jumping” fish are my hatchetfish. When I feed that tank in the morning before work I’m always super paranoid about them jumping out. These guys, and my female betta that jumped out the tiniest hole of the lid on Thanksgiving 2021… Jumping fish, man… What size tank do you keep them in if you don’t mind me asking? Also, what floating plants do you use with them?

@Scapexghost Nice! What are you using to tint the water? From the pics it looks like you don’t have a ton of leaf litter/other botanicals but your water is super dark. Also, what are the plants growing emersed from the top of the tank?

@Gannon Chalk that one up to “fish are gonna fish sometimes”. Do you keep your water level low for them? Do you have a lot of floating plants as cover or anything? Have you ever seen/trained them to spit water at things to knock down and eat?! Archers have always piqued my interest but I don’t believe I have a tank big enough for them. Sorry to derail this post from the current issue you have with them; simply super curious as to what you’ve seen/observed with them.

@Gannon Heard that. I’ve never kept either the Archers or the Barbs, but it seems to be just “what fish do sometimes”. When I’m pulling out Angels from my grow out tank to trade/sell (that also has Platy’s that colony breed in there) some Angels almost willingly go in the net while the last couple seem to be super spooked and I have to chase them around to get them. Even fish raised from the same spawn seem to react differently to “scary” things.