Monkeypoint
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Posts posted by Monkeypoint
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On 2/12/2023 at 2:11 PM, MattyM said:
I love my olive nerites, or "army helmets" as I call them. Same experience as you - they like the glass, and I find them on my dragon stone from time to time. Sometimes I have no idea where they are for days, then they show up on the glass. I find with my water I need to add calcium for their shells - a bit of cuttlebone in the tank does the trick.
Same here! I have olives in my other tank. Days go by without a sighting. They do seem to come out when the lights dim, and then they're always on the glass. I haven't had them for very long - a few weeks and their shells are not in great shape. I've been taking pictures so I can keep track. Sounds like I should add cuttlebone.
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On 2/12/2023 at 1:45 PM, Lennie said:
Besides snex, it may also indicate either cleaning each others shells, which snails usually do, or they may also nib each others shells for calcium.
Can you see how the one on top has a perfect shell while the bottom one has erosion marks? The top one might be nibbing on the shell of the bottom one for calcium.
You may want to ensure you provide enough calcium for them!
I add Wonder Shell regularly (when one's dissolved completely, I add another). I also add Calcium Carbonate powder to the snello, which they're not all that interested in, although every other tank inhabitant it. The one snail came with that erosion mark. I've been keeping a close eye on it. It's not getting better or worse - just staying the same. Any suggestions for increasing calcium other than using the Wonder Shell?
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Funny, I was just about to post a Nerite question because although I think I know what's going on here, I don't want to assume anything.
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On 2/11/2023 at 3:50 PM, Lennie said:
Lucky you got this video today ;D
Okay, okay, okay - I think I'm starting to get it! It's the idea of balancing flow with bacteria, while considering bio load. It's making a lot more sense to me now. So, this may be a dumb question: when I clean my canister filter, I swap out the fine filter with a new one. Everything else - the sponge filters and the bio media, I rinse out with tank water. So, is this still killing my bacteria colony?
Thanks again y'all - this is really helping!
On 2/12/2023 at 9:12 AM, JJenna said:You could use the Matrix in your HOB as a substrate for plant cuttings, such as pothos, tradescantia, and spider plants. Plants help suck up nitrates.
I stuck a pothos cutting in my 15 gallon about a month ago. It's already sprouted a bunch of roots - one of which is grabbing onto a piece of cholla wood on the bottom!
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I have an Eheim canister filter (Pro 4+ 250) and I recently swapped my 15-year-old Whisper HOB for a Fluval C3. The Eheim is supposed to be good for up to 65 gallons and the Fluval C3 up to 50. My tank is 55 gallons but I figured that between the canister and the C3, there would be sufficient filtration. Last night I spent close to 2.5 hours scraping about a decade and a half of mineral deposit off the Whisper thinking maybe I'd sell it on the local listserve. But after cleaning it up, it looks almost as good as new. Which has me wondering if I could use it to maybe hold more bio media - something like Seachem Matrix, instead of getting rid of it. There's still room for another filter.
I'm also very gradually sprucing up the tank. I'm removing some of the old gravel and putting down Eco Complete. I love the black gravel. I'm doing it slowly, over weeks, one small section at a time. I'm going to scrape the mineral deposit off the back of the tank (it's a really tight squeeze back there but I think with a blade on an extension, I can get to it). After that, I'm going to add a black background.
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On 2/11/2023 at 2:14 AM, smm333 said:
My red rili shrimp have completely captured my heart, and have proven to be the gateway shrimp.....I now have a 2nd shrimp tank! 😆 This one is a 10 gallon and currently has 11 blue dreams and a mystery snail.
I don't know what it is about shrimp, but I'm smitten. I want every color, lol!
Me too! I've fallen in love with shrimp. They're addictive. I can't seem to pull myself away from my tank. I just sit there, staring, mesmerized and squealing with delight at their every move. I love the way they wiggle their tiny little legs. The long antennae and big eyes of the Amanos send me into paroxysms of joy. They're so cute I can hardly stand it. My television is jealous and whining,"You hardly even look at me anymore!"
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I've had SAE for a few years now. The juveniles will get to work on algae right away. It's a good idea to school them in a group of 5-6. When they get bigger, they start losing interest in algae, or at least, they're not as interested in it. I have one that's a few years old that eats anything I toss in the tank.
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On 2/8/2023 at 4:50 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:
@Monkeypoint all good! I’ve learned the most from my mistakes.
For what it’s worth, my water is soft, low pH, and like 0 buffer and my shrimp and inverts thrive.
That's super reassuring! From now on, I'm going to stop tinkering. I did a 30% water change today to bring nitrates down. Ammonia and Nitrite has been consistently at 0. I never thought I would love shrimp so much. I could literally just sit in front of the tank and watch them scurry about all day.
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On 2/4/2023 at 8:41 PM, nabokovfan87 said:
Let me try to find you a few resources, but generally speaking... no you don't feed them every day.
How new is the tank? You can also feed repashy in this fashion without turning into gel if the tank in question doesn't have a ton of biofilm growth.
I know it's a lot, but check those all out. Please feel free to ask any questions.On 2/8/2023 at 3:34 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:@Monkeypoint Feels like you’re fighting against yourself using a substrate that lowers pH and then trying to add crushed coral to bring it back up. Maybe they’ll balance each other out, but I believe that a stable tank is better than one that fluctuates all over the place.
Agree. It was a dumb move on my part. I regret having started with the Fluval but it’s too late for a do over. I’m hoping the PH will rise gradually and over time, the substrate is going to max out. But yeah, definitely at cross purposes over here in newbie land.
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I got a media bag for the same reason! I just didn't want to do anything at all until I checked with the knowledgeable people here. Thanks so much!
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My 15 gallon tank tests at 6.6 PH without fail. Is it advisable to add some crushed coral to raise the PH a bit? I have Neocaridinas and Caridinas (Amano), Nerites, and a Mystery snail. All the shrimp water parameter guidelines recommend a PH range of around 7 - 7.2. I was going to start with 1 pound of crushed coral. It's a 15g tank, but I'm assuming the rocks, driftwood, substrate and plants displace a lot of water. The Fluval Stratum substrate is what brought the PH down. My 55 gallon tank with regular gravel is always at 7.6.
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I was just about to post the same question. My 15g tank is holding steady at 6.6 PH, which I've read is too low for shrimp and snails. I have a couple of Nerites, a Mystery Snail and both Cherry and Amano shrimp. My KH is 3-4 and GH was at 14 a couple of days ago before I did a 30% water change. The API KH test is the only one I find really difficult to read because there's no sudden, dramatic change. I mean, how bright is bright yellow supposed to look?
I was hesitant to put anything else in the tank before checking here with more knowledgeable peeps. I've been adding Wonder Shell to the tank and I also add some Calcium Carbonate to the Repashy gels. But from what I'm reading here, it sounds like adding crushed coral to the tank would be a good idea.
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On 2/4/2023 at 8:41 PM, nabokovfan87 said:
Let me try to find you a few resources, but generally speaking... no you don't feed them every day.
How new is the tank? You can also feed repashy in this fashion without turning into gel if the tank in question doesn't have a ton of biofilm growth.
I know it's a lot, but check those all out. Please feel free to ask any questions.This is great - just what I was hoping for. I’m going to watch all of them. Thank you so much!
The tank is pretty new - about a month.
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I've been feeding my snails (Mystery, Nerite), shrimp, and plecos Repashy gel but I'm unsure about how much and how often to feed them. I cut the gel into app. 1/4" cubes and drop two of them in the tank. Within a few hours, the cubes are gone. This is my first time owning shrimp. Do I feed them gels every day? I also have a high quality micro pellet fish food and shrimp food. I'm just not sure how much food is too much. The tank is heavily planted and so far, nitrates have stayed below 40.
Any advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks, as always!
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On 2/2/2023 at 1:53 PM, lefty o said:
looks like its about to start sprouting baby plants from those spots.
Yup, the Googles confirmed. Sprouts!
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Does anyone know what these hitchhikers are attached to the underside of my Java fern? This is a new plant that arrived yesterday. I'm assuming they're some kind of snail eggs.
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On 1/24/2023 at 12:16 PM, xXInkedPhoenixX said:
You have now met one.
I think they're adorable.
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On 1/24/2023 at 7:47 AM, xXInkedPhoenixX said:
They require a much more established bio-system before being added to our tanks.
My 55 gallon has been running for 21 years (time, however is not an indication of experience. Most of what I've learned has come through forums, YouTube and Google since the pandemic when I got serious about learning what to do and what not to do). But if I give it another go with Otos, I'm going to take your suggestion and quarantine them first. But I'm also wondering if there are places that sell only tank-bred Otos. I mean, for the short time that I had them, they scraped some of the most stubborn algae off glass and equipment.
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On 1/24/2023 at 6:34 AM, Lennie said:
Hope you didn't get me wrong.
On 1/24/2023 at 6:34 AM, Lennie said:I didn't want to sound like trying to lecture or something.
Not at all! I appreciate being educated.
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On 1/24/2023 at 4:16 AM, Lennie said:
They don't do well in tanks, because they are not belong to there but nature.
Wow, I did not know this. If I did, I would not have gotten the Otos. Thank you for responding. I learn something new every day here.
On 1/24/2023 at 1:46 AM, Lennie said:How long has been your tank set up? Besides it being “cycled”
21 years!
For the 55 g, I'm just going to stick to fish that seem to be thriving and not put Cories through the stress of its parameters. The plecos and SAE eaters are doing a good job as it is, for the most part. I've also added more plants and some Nerite snails.
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I can definitely bring down the temp and I have catappa leaves I can add to bring down the PH, but I think I'm just not going to subject Corys to the 55 gallon. There is quite a bit of wood in there.
There are two Bristlenose plecos and they both seem very happy. They're doing a great job cleaning the glass and I give them Rephashy Bottom Feeder chunks around 1-2 a week. But all the fish go nuts for the Repashy, especially the angels and the SAE.
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My Corys and Otos keep dying and I have no idea why. I started with 9 Panda Corys (3 from my LFS and 6 from a reputable online vendor) and 6 Otos. Within days, most of them died (there's only 1 left). I drip-acclimated them. My tank is fully cycled with 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, nitrates between 10 - 30, PH consistently at 7.8, temp always at 78.3 at the lowest and 78.5 at the highest. It's a 55 gallon tank with 6 angelfish, 5 SAE, 2 Mollies, and 2 Plecos. The angels never bothered the Corys or the Otos. I have no idea what's going on. Could it be the gravel substrate?
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That's a great idea. I'll go ahead and do that. There's actually only 1 left out of a total of 9 (6 from Aqua Huna and 3 from my LFS). They were all fine - no signs of disease but they started dying almost immediately. Now there's only 1 left. Maybe it's the substrate - it's gravel. I have a second aquarium - 15 gallons with Eco Complete as a substrate.
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On 1/23/2023 at 11:46 AM, Remi de Groot said:
On the picture i only see happy shrimp!
Yay! That's what I was hoping to hear - happy shrimp!
URGENT! guppies died right after waterchange
in General Discussion
Posted
Wow - I have the same setup on my 15 gallon (1 HOB and a sponge filter with airstone). I'm really sorry this happened to you. I can totally see myself doing the same thing. I'm impressed by your sleuthing skills.