AllFishNoBrakes

@PerceptivePesceYup, dwarf crayfish! They’ve been fun, but not sure I would do them again. Honestly they’re kinda just bigger shrimp, lol. When they were babies they looked exactly like shrimp. I wanna do a blue dream colony next.

I have 6 Pea Puffers in a 29 gallon tank. -They get frozen blood worms daily. I like the Hikari ones as they’re smaller. Frozen food shouldn’t be refrozen once thawed. I would recommend chopping off just the piece of the cube you need to use daily. -I haven’t been able to get mine on Vibra Bites. I also haven’t taken the time to soak the bites in the bloodworms and actively try to ween them off the bloodworms. I feed bloodworms to other tanks daily too, so it’s not a big deal to me. 1 cube feeds 4-5 tanks. -Mine started with a colony of orange shrimp that were a mutation from my cherry shrimps. The colony used to be huge, and then slowly over time it dwindled. I highly suspect that the Puffers were sniping down the shrimplets, though I never saw it with my own eyes. The shrimp have since been moved out to hopefully regrow that colony. -I have 2 small male Platies in the tank with them. The Platies were born in that tank and were the 2 fry I couldn’t catch when I got my Pea Puffers. I assumed they wouldn’t survive as they were never directly fed, but alas, here we are. They all get along, but I think it’s because they all grew up together and are about the same size. That could change over time, though. I’m no puffer expert, but this has been my experience over the last year to year and a half. Hope it helps!

An update on the latest Angel spawn. All black female with a male Panda. Seems like half have retained the Panda coloring, and the other half seem all black. Excited to see if the all blacks remain all black, or if they potentially get some different patterns from the Panda side as they grow.

I suggest doing whatever YOU think sounds fun and what you wanna try next. Probably not the answer you wanna hear, but is the most honest answer I can give. What sounds fun to you?!

Your call. Me personally, I would wait a bit. If it ends up being a cull, at least you gave yourself the time to be sure.

I love swords, but they get massive if left unchecked. I had one take over my 29 and when I moved it to a 55 it now takes up 1/3 of that tank lol

I’ve had this same debacle. I haven’t found a good way. I’ve manually removed all the Red Root Floaters and painstakingly tried to remove the duckweed, but haven’t been able to eliminate it. I’m just stuck with my early decision to welcome duckweed…. I can keep it tame, but can’t eliminate it

We all started somewhere! I got lucky with my first tank in that I did a lot of research and was able to do a fish in cycle pretty seamlessly. Everything is foreign in the beginning and until you’ve seen it it’s all confusing! Just trying to give my 2 cents to help you achieve a successful tank that you enjoy. That’s what it’s all about.

While I’m not there to get my hands on your tank and test personally, I believe your tank not being cycled, and definitely not seasoned is what was detrimental to your Amanos. It sounds like your tank is almost done cycling. Once cycled I’d personally add the tetras as they’re usually hardy. Shrimp would potentially be the last thing to add as they’re sensitive. You want your tank to be established before adding shrimp. Also, bettas are hit and miss with shrimp. Some go on a shrimp murder spree, others could care less.

I believe the moss helps as the fry can graze at their leisure. And then First Bites works for me. Seriously, a little goes a long way.

Why are you trying so hard to lower your pH? Is there a fish or something you want to keep that “requires” low pH? I made the decision early on in my hobby to work with fish that do well in my water. I couldn’t stand trying to alter water and then keep it there. I’d rather just have fish that have a good chance of thriving in my tap water.

I’d just leave it. Like others have said, your tank has worked through the ammonia and it looks like it’s almost done working through the nitrite. You’re so close! Are you getting any nitrates when you test for them? For me, I wouldn’t worry about the pH. I wish my pH was higher but I’m not gonna do a bunch of stuff to my tanks to chase numbers that my fish obviously don’t need. They’re all healthy and breeding and doing well. I’d rather focus on consistency than chasing parameters

Hey @Lindsey P! Ive bred a handful of Angels, and my best advice would be: Dont start feeding them until their yolk sac has been used up. As tempting as it may be to start feeding as soon as they start free swimming, their yolk sac will last them a couple more days. Once the yolk sac has been used up, they only need a tiny amount of food. I use Hikari First Bites for the first couple of days. I stick the end of a straw in the bag, and then give the straw a little rap releasing just a tiny amount of the food. That’s all they need. I do once in the morning and once at night. After a couple of days they can take baby brine shrimp, so I do First Bites in the morning and the baby brine at night. I also throw a handful of Java Moss in the container I hatch the eggs in as that has tons of microfauna that the fry can graze on as well. I know this doesn’t necessarily answer your question regarding something in the container to catch particles, but what I’m getting at is if done right, there shouldn’t really be any particles to catch. Hope this helps!

@Anjum Thanks! Ya, my girlfriend is a real one for sure. If I had more space and more time I’d have more, but I’m basically maxed out on both of those, lol. Best of luck with your fish shed! Sounds fun!

@Ogpulchra Ding ding ding! My girlfriend actually suggested the name when I made my IG and I was like, “it’s perfect!” Also, at the time I was going HARD on the tanks! It all made sense and has stuck since then. @Patrick_G Thanks! I probably could’ve gotten away with a much more low tech light, but figured I could invest in the light and it has all worked out. Here’s a pic from when I first set that tank up:

I’ve played around with Salvinia Minima, Frogbit, Water Lettuce, and Red Root Floaters. And duckweed… oh, duckweed. Much like you when I first began I took the shot with it and now highly regret the duckweed. I can keep it tame, but can’t get rid of it. For me, I still like the Salvinia, but I get bored with it. Frogbit didn’t do well in my water. Water Lettuce CRUSHES in my water, and the Red Root Floaters does well in one of my tanks with basically no flow. I try to spread plants out among tanks and some do well and some die off. I haven’t been able to discern why as I basically treat all of my tanks the same. I have lids on every tank and haven’t noticed any detrimental affects. For me a tank is going to have a lid or I’m not going to have that tank. Here’s some pics: Water Lettuce from above Water Lettuce Roots Red Root Floaters Water Lettuce out of the tank Salvinia. And duckweed…

I used to use Prime, but switched to Fritz Complete as they’re basically the same thing and Complete is the better value. Prime price has skyrocketed recently and I just couldn’t justify the price anymore. While I don’t necessarily *need* the ammonia blocking properties of either of them at this point, it’s still nice to have when you DO need it. Also, when I bag fish for sale it’s nice to put a couple drops in the bag. Makes me feel better anyways knowing that they’ll be safe in the bag for transport.

@Minanora Lol, for sure. My girlfriend was basically like, “as long as I don’t have to do anything to them I don’t care what you do or how many you have”. Every once in a while she’ll help scrape some algae, but that’s always at her will and I never ask her to do so. She enjoys the tanks, but doesn’t enjoy them to the level that I do. The tetras in the aquaponics tank are basically hers. I do the water changes and she prunes the garden, but she likes all the tetra species and picked out what’s in that tank. Same with the Endler now that I think about it.

@TheSwissAquarist Thanks! Funny how it’s one of my least favorite tanks, lol. @Minanora The aquaponics tanks and the Betta cube are in the kitchen, the 20 high/55 Angel tank/20 long/29 gallon/quarantine is on a rack in the living room, the 6 gallon cube/10 gallon Pygmy Cory/29 Pea Puffer tanks are in my bedroom, and the 55 grow out is in the spare bedroom. Essentially they’re all over the house and shout out to my girlfriend letting me set all that up all over the place!

Go with what will be the most interesting or fun for you! That’s probably not the answer you wanna hear, but it’s the best answer I have. If you end up going the Spotted Congo route I just might have to find room for the next tank and take a drive up the Divide

What up everyone?? The early part of my hobby was chronicled on Instagram, but I find myself using the forum more often than IG. At this point, I don’t even have IG on my phone, but I’m here everyday, so I figured this is just the natural evolution of documenting my tanks. Follow along if you’d like, feel free to comment/ask questions, and if you wanna see the early part of my hobby check out Instagram @allfishnobrakes. Let’s get it. Below is a picture of each of my tanks, what’s current stocked in that tank, what equipment is used, and if the tank isn’t complete I will share what I’d like to do to it in order to complete it. Tanks are listed in chronological order (for the most part). The majority of my tanks (unless otherwise noted) have Aquaneat full spectrum LED lights. The tank that started it all! In late June of 2020, the height of the pandemic, my girlfriend bought me a Carolina Reaper plant as an anniversary gift. Being the amateur scientist and tinkerer that I am, my only thought was “I’ve always wanted to try aquaponics. I wonder if I could grow this bad boy out of a fish tank?” And thus my fish keeping obsession began. This tank is still super fun, and my girlfriend takes care of pruning the garden. I do all the maintenance, and together we decide what we want to try to grow from it next. Currently, the garden bed on top is growing tomatoes, chives, strawberries, and flowers. Jalapeños have been one of the best things to come from this experiment, but we recently chopped down the jalapeño plants. I harvested some seeds from the last of the jalapeños and soon we will sprout new plants from those harvested seeds. This tank currently houses: 6 Gold Tetras, 4 Neon Tetras, 1 Ember Tetra (RIP the group that used to be in here), 1 Endler male, 2 female Guppies, and ~10 Endler/Guppy hybrid fry from the trio. I also have shrimp and snails in this tank. The Java Moss grows like a weed in this tank, and other than thinning that out when it’s an absolute jungle this tanks is mostly hands off. ~1 gallon evaporates per week, so that gets topped off instead of water changed, and I must use Easy Green at 3ml twice per week. Nano sponge filter is the only filtration besides what the plants up top uptake from the tank. The plants up top eat through a ridiculous amount of fertilizer each week, but it works and is fun to play with. The lights inside the tank are the stock LED’s that came with it, and an additional LED submersible bar. 3.7 gallon (almost) cube. Internal filtration with sponge and bio rings. A small pump in the back left behind the false wall powers everything. Home to 1 female Betta and 1 Nerite Snail. A couple bladder snails also reside in this tank. The Anubius tied to the rock is the second aquatic plant I ever tried. At time of purchase it was placed in the tank and hasn’t moved since. This tank gets a 1 gallon water change every 1-2 weeks. The light housed above the tank came with the kit when purchased. 29 gallon tank, and the first of my “big tanks”. Home to: 6 Albino Cories, 3 pairs of Praecox Rainbows, 1 pair Peacock Gudgeons, 10 Glowlight Tetras, and cull shrimp and snails galore. Coop medium sponge filter in the back left and a Tetra whisper internal filter in the top right. Spiderwood, Dragon Stone, a plethora of plants, and C02 in this tank. I’m proud that all the tiny Amazon Swords on the right hand side came off a runner from the first aquatic plant I every bought! It grew in this tank for ~2 years before it was moved to the tank next on the list about 4-5 weeks ago. This tank gets 10 gallon water change every 1-2 weeks. This tank holds a special place in my heart as it was one of the first, and has taken several forms over the years. Currently, I’d like to breed the Gudgeons and I’m looking to breed the Rainbows when they are old enough. This tank gets a 10 gallon water change every 1-2 weeks. 55 gallons. The first actual (kinda) big tank! It took a couple of years to get this tank where I want it, but currently is 99.98% complete as far as I’m concerned. Home to: 6 Angels (2 Marbled, 1 all black female, and 3 Pandas), 13 Albino Cories (that I hatched and raised), 20 Cardinal Tetras, and 2 Bristlenose Pleco’s. All the Angels I hatch and raise come from this tank. The massive Amazon Sword taking up the left 1/3 of the tank was the first plant I ever bought and was grown out in the 29 gallon above. This tank would be complete (to me) with a massive Dragon Stone in the left side. So close, yet so far. 1 large Coop sponge filter in the left, and a Fluval HOB in the top right. This 55 gallon has C02 as well. This tank produces the majority of the fish I breed (Angels) for store credit to keep my hobby flowing at a minimal price. This tank gets ~17 gallon water change every 1-2 weeks. The light above the tank with the black shade is to grow a Pothos out of the top of the 20 gallon tank next to this one. 20 gallon long. Home to: Red Cherry Shrimp, CPO crayfish (dwarf Mexican crayfish), and Ramshorn Snails. It’s fun to know that everything in this tank was “bred” by me. This started as a shrimp only tank, and after selling hundreds of shrimp I wanted to try the CPO’s. It’s been fun, but honestly this tank is just kind of there and does it’s own thing. No heater, and just a small Coop sponge filter. This tank gets minimal water changes. I siphon off the duckweed every 1-2 weeks, meaning it gets a 1-2 gallon water change every 1-2 weeks. Obviously, this tank holds the majority of my dry foods. Shout out to Xtreme! 20 gallon high. Currently home to: 3 pairs of Furcata Rainbows, 7 Julii Cories, and 2 Bolivian Rams. Small Coop sponge filter in the back left, and a Fluval HOB in the top right. This tank has taken many forms over the years, but I’m currently pretty happy with it. The Bolivian Rams would ideally be Black Rams, but I tried a couple of pairs and they all had problems. After feeling like I wasted a couple hundred bucks I switched to the Bolivian’s. The Bolivian’s do well, but I’m not sure I have a pair. I constantly think about switching out the Bolivian’s for some Blue’s or Black’s, but haven’t forced myself to try again. For now, I’m waiting on my Julii’s to breed, and when the Furcata’s are ready I want to attempt to breed them as well. This tank has a “mix your own” C02 generator and the plants crush in here. There is also a Pothos growing out of the top of this bad boy. This tank gets a 5 gallon water change every 1-2 weeks. 10 gallon tank. Currently home to: 9 Pygmy Cories, 1 African Dwarf Frog, Shrimp, and a ton of Ramshorn Snails. The Ramshorn become Puffer snacks in the tank next to this one. Dragon Stone and a few varieties of Anubius bring this tank together. I’d love to breed the Pygmy Cories, and I want to add a school of Chili Rasboras to this tank. This tank is in my bedroom and gets a lot of viewing time as it’s at the foot of my bed. 1 nano Coop sponge filter runs this tank. This tank gets a 3 gallon water change every 1-2 weeks. 29 gallon tank. This tank started as the “Platy Paradise” until I quickly got overrun (thanks to daily frozen BBS that I hatch myself) and I had to make a change. This tank currently houses 6 Pea Puffers and 2 male Platies that were born in this tank. The 2 Platies were the last of the fry I couldn’t catch, and I figured they wouldn’t survive anyways. Boy was I wrong! I literally never fed them as fry; they survived on microfauna until they could take down the blood worms I feed to the puffers daily. The Puffers and the Platies get along well; there’s no aggression and they swim around together. I think it’s because they all grew up together but who knows. All I know is it works and why fix what’s not broken. This tank has a large Coop sponge filter behind the big Dragon Stone (bad move, should’ve been a medium sponge) and a Tetra whisper internal filter in the top right (just like the 29 listed above). This tank also has a “mix your own” C02 generator. This bad boy gets a lot of viewing time as it’s in my bedroom. The Pea Puffers are fun. I’m hoping to breed them and have seen some breeding behaviors in the past week! This tank has also made me want to jump into bigger puffers, but I’m currently maxed out on tanks. One day! This tank gets a 10 gallon water change every 1-2 weeks. 55 gallon grow out tank. On the left is ~25-30 Kribensis. I learned a valuable lesson early on to not keep and grow out full spawns! I kept the full first 2 spawns from my breeding pair of Kribs and am still paying the price 1.5 years later. Still looking to move these guys. On the right I have 14 Panda Angels (from my 55 gallon) and some Platies I bred. Some of the Platies are INSANE and if I had the space and time for the 5-7 tanks necessary I would be starting my own strain. This tank is run by 2 medium Coop sponges (literally upgraded from small this week) and a cheapo HOB. The wall separating the Kribs from everything else is built from a fine aquarium sponge. Think of it as a matten filter without the flow. This tank proves that you don’t need lots of money or lots of equipment to grow and house LOTS of fish! This tank gets ~17 gallon water change every 1-2 weeks. 6 gallon Walstad cube. No filter and no fertilizer. Just a thin layer of dirt, a couple of fish, and a bad ass light (Fluval Nano)! Currently home to: a trio of CPD’s, 3 Amano shrimp, cull cherry shrimp, 2 Nerite Snails, Ramshorn snails, and bladder snails. This tank desperately needs a trim 😅. Definitely the “I’ll do it next week” and then never gets done tank. This tank has been fun, but I need to give it a trim and I want to add a pair of Sparkling Gourami’s. Not only cuz they’re awesome and I want to try to breed them, but because this tank currently has Hydra and I know they’ll eat them up. The last tank in my bedroom, and the last tank to come into the house. This tank gets a ~2 gallon water change every 1-2 weeks. A trio of 10 gallon tanks. Quarantine/grow out/whatever tanks. On the left I have my next batch of Angels growing up. Again, those came from my 55 gallon tank. In the middle I have a pair of Platies just keeping the tank cycled. On the right I have my breeding pair of Kribs. When the Kribs breed I pull the babies and they become a snack for the colony of Kribs in the 55 gallon grow out tank. All of these tanks are driven by small Coop sponge filters and 1 light is spread across all 3 tanks. These tanks get a 2.5-5 gallon water change every 1-2 weeks. Usually, all my tanks get a water change every week. However, sometimes life or my job gets in the way, so I’ll skip a week here and there and haven’t noticed any detrimental effects when that week is skipped. I keep community/planted tanks that I enjoy, and if/when the fish breed I enjoy trying to hatch the eggs and raise the fry. I am fortunate to have multiple LFS’s within 30-45 minutes around me that I work with when I have fish available for store credit. Welcome to my hobby! If you have any questions please go ahead and ask! I’m sure there’s some details I forgot and I love connecting with other Nerms! -AllFishNoBrakes

The cyclops will need to decay and rot to produce ammonia. Then your cycle will start. With the bottled fritz bacteria you should push through the cycle pretty quickly once the cyclops decay to produce ammonia. How long will the cyclops take to decay? I don’t have that answer.

Ammonia becomes nitrite, and then the nitrite is converted to nitrates. From my understanding and to the best of my knowledge, it’s 2 separate beneficial bacteria. 1 converts ammonia to nitrite, and the second converts nitrite to nitrate

2 phases. Your ammonia has converted to nitrite and now your ammonia is at 0. Now you just gotta work through that nitrite!

Yup. Either ride that nitrite to 0, or do a water change and then ride it out to 0 from there. My .02 anyways