Monkeypoint

Thank you. Unfortunately, he didn't make it, but I'll keep your instructions for next time.

Hi Colu, ammonia & nitrite - 0 nitrate 10 - 20 ppm pH 6.4 KH 3dkh GH 214 water temp 76 degrees Breathing appears a bit labored but wasn’t hanging out near the surface - just weak, looks thin and is lethargic. No stringy poop. I have him in a 2.5 gallon bucket with an air stone. I started treating with ParaCleanse.

I added 4 BRC to my 68 gallon tank about 3 1/2 weeks ago. This one is not doing well. Could it be parasites? I'm about to put it in a hospital tank.

I was just about to post my own Bolivian Ram question. I added 4 to my tank - a heavily planted 68 gallon about 3.5 weeks ago. Initially, I would see three swimming around. The fourth one stayed hidden for the first 5 days and then joined the others. For the last couple of days, I’m only seeing two of them. They’re very active and one even follows me if I move from the front to the side. I catch the occasional glimpse of a third one - always rising from the same spot behind a rock and a thick forest of plants. I haven’t spotted the fourth one. Is this normal?

Huh. I love the second suggestion. I have the flow on the canister filter dialed down as far as it will go. Splitter! This is the first truly problem solving solution I’ve found anywhere on the internet! Thank you!

I know!

Is there a way to reduce water pressure output on a lily pipe so it doesn't blow fish from one end of the tank to the other? The fish don't seem to mid it - especially my albino corys that spend the day being blown about like they're on a water park ride.

I have a black racer Nerite snail that goes on a walk-about at least 3 times a week. He's found a way to push the plastic piece of the lid that is used to cut spaces for peripherals and off he goes. I check around the base of the aquarium 3-5 times a day. I always find him in the same spot - in the back, stuck to the bottom of the glass. I gently slide him up, drop him back in the tank and withing minutes, he's sliding around again.

I know the feeling! I got a 15 gallon tank going about a year and a half ago. It looked great for a few weeks. Then I noticed it was developing this fuzzy brown thing. I went away for a long weekend and when I got back, the entire tank was covered in the stuff. So of course, I totally freaked out about it. I did a water change and also picked off as much of it as I could. Then I googled, what is brown growth on plants and learned it was just harmless diatoms. I’d like to say that from then on, I would ask questions first before doing anything to the tank but it took some time and several more freakouts to learn that lesson.

I didn’t know Amazon Swords flowered. I was away for almost two weeks and when I got home, I noticed stems growing from my anubias and sword. 10 days later, they look like this. The Pleco loves grazing on the flower.

It looks like brown algae, which isn’t really algae. They’re diatoms. Is this a relatively new setup? Diatoms aren’t harmful and after a few water changes they usually go away.

Success!

Thank you! Now I know what to look for.

How do you know when they’ve hatched? I realize this is probably a stupid question but as this is my first time hatching baby brine shrimp, I’m not sure what the hatchings look like. I’m seeing a lot of tiny brown eggs swirling around. I started with a very small batch - 1/8th of a teaspoon. I would have used less water but the heater isn’t long enough so I had to go with nearly 2 liters. It’s been running for nearly 24 hours.

I'll have to channel my inner neat freak.

Yeah, that makes total sense. I only have 2 tanks so I won't be hatching large quantities, just small batches, part of which I'll feed live and then freeze the rest.

Perfect, thank you!

I’m so glad I asked questions before trying this out for the first time. Great tips! And now I’m back to my original thought - seems simpler to just go with the rigid airline tube connected to the pump than using the airstone. Do you use a regular shrimp net or one of those nylon food grade nets with a specific micron number (100 - 400)?

Thanks, I think I’ll go with this as well. And thanks for the thread - very helpful!

I watched Cory’s video on hatching baby brine shrimp using the Ziss hatchery. The setup looked so cool I had to get one. I also watched a Prime Time Aquatics setup video for the Ziss. Jason set his up a little differently. I’m wondering if anyone has experience with this particular hatchery. Cory connected the airline tubing to the lid, then connected the rigid tube on the inside with a small piece of airline tubing to add some flexibility. He didn’t use an airstone - just pumped air through the tube. Jason used an airstone on the bottom of the rigid tube. Does it matter? Seems leaving out the airstone makes things a bit less complicated.

Had no idea what those were but if you had said "both prefer the soft water with the b. cupido pretty much requiring it" in the first place, then I wouldn't have had to ask twice.

Your gh is very low because of the RO. Is there a specific reason you're using RO, like your tap water is very hard? 180 - that's a lot of water! Cool. You could probably scale your water changes way back. I test fairly regularly for nitrates. As long as they're around 40ppm, I just top off. I'm only doing water changes like once a month now and mostly so I don't get a buildup of minerals but I also have wall to wall plants. In my shrimp tanks, I try to keep nitrates at around 20 ppm. Cory posted a great wc change video. I'll see if I can find it. I know Amazons like a lot of light. I wonder if you could adjust the light by moving it so the swords get more of it. Honestly though, it doesn't look like you have a huge algae problem. And you could always get a pleco. I have a couple of Bristlenose plecos and they're always busy munching away at the algae.

This is brilliant! Thanks - I can't wait to try this out. Do shrimp eat bbs? My Amanos got HUGE. And they're always hungry. I'm not sure they'd be able to catch them though. The pics are very helpful, btw.

Thank you, The Angelfish, Molly, and SAEs are always ravenous - especially the angels. They’re a little over a year old now and not super big. They charge across the tank like missiles when I walk in the room and stick their mouths out of the water. I think they’ll go nuts for them.

I just watched Cory's excellent video tutorial about hatching baby brine shrimp. I only have 2 tanks - well, 3 if I include the 3-gallon nano stocked only with neocaridina. The entire process looked so cool that I indulged in some retail therapy and bought the Ziss hatchery (total impulse buy). I have a few questions: How often do you feed fish bbs? Every day? My 68 gallon tank has Angelfish, Siamese algae eaters, one Molly, Neon tetras and a couple of Bristlenose plecos. I have a 15 gallon stocked with Amano and Neocaridina shrimp, Ember tetras and a Bristlenose pleco. Will Amano shrimp and Neocaridinas eat them as well? Is there a way to safely preserve uneaten shrimp, like dehydrating and storing in the freezer? Thank you!