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3vi1p3nguin

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Posts posted by 3vi1p3nguin

    Re-mineralizing ro/di water

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by 3vi1p3nguin

    IMO, tds is a misunderstood tool that makes people chase non existent problems. 200 tds with ferts in the water is not the same as 200 tds of waste. If you want to use tds, find out what your tank is at after a water change, gh booster, and any ferts you use, and use that as a starting point. TDS will be higher for higher ph/gh water. For example, if your TDS after all the above is 150, then base any water changes off of that as a starting point.

    I target my re-mineralized water based on gh. I typically only use the R/O for one tank, my south american tank, and keep around a gh of 7, which leaves me with a stable ph around 7.2. I use around when re-mineralizing water because in my experience there will always be some slight gh/ph variation in the tank. I do use gh booster and ro for my africans and guppies seasonally based on how my well is, but it takes a significant amount to get there.

    edited for grammer

    Wires! Everywhere ! How do you Organize ?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I always coil or figure 8 them with twist ties, leaving the extra wire at the bottom of the drip loop when I have enough room to do so. Velcro tie wraps can be a better option than zip ties because you can take them off when you want to rearrange or replace something. I find any time I zip tie them, it looks cleaner, but that's when I decide to change something.

    • Like 1

    What to stock first?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    6 minutes ago, JettsPapa said:

    Hello,

    I'd add fish about every two weeks:

    1. Start with half the black phantom tetras (great fish, by the way)
    2. Then the other half
    3. After that I'm not real sure, but probably the rams.
    4. Finish off with the corys (all one species, but you probably already knew that).  I wouldn't be so presumptuous as to disagree with @Cory, but if you pick one of the smaller species I think you could do more than six.

    I second this order to add. I agree with maybe doing more corys if you do a smaller species. Should be a nice tank

    German Blue Rams Keep Dying.

    in Diseases

    Posted · Edited by 3vi1p3nguin

    How long has the tank been setup? I've never had much luck with rams in tanks that weren't well established. It's difficult to say for sure from the picture, but you may find that even in a 55, you may not have luck with more than one pair without lots of cover. Breaking lines of sight so that they can establish their own turf can make a big difference. They can be very territorial, and that can lead to some early deaths due to stress. Your QT process should help with any parasites they are carrying, which seems to be far from uncommon in fish from the larger suppliers.

    And just a warning from experience. I've seen a pictus eat full size platties and swordtails, so when it gets big enough, it might see the rams as dinner.

    MTS symptoms are showing

    in Photos, Videos & Journals

    Posted

    2 minutes ago, Alec2cool said:

    I've been made aware of this very early on and I've checked every day to see if one of these females is a hidden male. I've had them since April of 2020 and all 4 are still females. The two juveniles are past 5 months old at this point and neither of them are showing any male traits but man I am hoping one of them ends up being a male. They are about the size the females(and the male) were when I originally got them so my hopes aren't too high.

    Yeah, probably unlikely at this point.

    MTS symptoms are showing

    in Photos, Videos & Journals

    Posted

    On 11/22/2020 at 12:18 PM, Alec2cool said:

    I only have female Neon Swordtails. (My male jumped out back in May) 4 adults and 2 juveniles, they are fiesty girls and I've found them to be just as aggressive as the males if not more honestly. They'll fight eachother often but I don't think they really understand what they are fighting for.

    It's been said before that the dominant female swordtail can become a male in the absence of a male in the tank. I've also seen it argued, that it was likely that the male was not a strong male prior to developing more obvious traits. I've had one tank that started with 4 juvenile females, that ended up having one develop male traits after almost 6 months, and the weeks leading into that there was a lot of fighting in the tank. I can't say that it was truly a female that changed over, or a weak male, but this just made me think of that.

    • Thanks 1

    Canister filters yes or no

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Some people don't like canisters because in most situations, they don't do anything that a HOB doesn't for a much higher cost. I personally like canisters, mostly because I just do to be honest. I like the fact that the tank sits close to the wall I guess. Just don't forget to clean them regularly. It can be easy to forget, and the decreased flow can harder to notice depending on how it is setup.

    I got attacked by my angel this morning

    in Photos, Videos & Journals

    Posted · Edited by 3vi1p3nguin

    Started into a water change in my 65 community, and my angels didn't take too kindly to it. Turns out they paired up and laid on some of my bigger crypts. I'll give the mom credit, she didn't hesitate to go after my hand when I went to start trimming the plants. I'm not planning on pulling the eggs, I'll just let nature do its job. 

    It must be something in the water today, my rams are all colored up and causing a stir too, lol. 

    Edit: attack of the flipped picture, so I added another

     

    20201107_092008.jpg

    What did you get done today?

    in Photos, Videos & Journals

    Posted

    I decided that I wanted to cut down on the flow in my tank some as my angelfish have been getting pushed around quite a bit as they've gotten larger. I shut down my 306, and moved the intake for my 407 to make up for the dead spot. Everyone seems happy so far, but I'll keep on eye on my water for the next week or so. It's planted heavy enough that there's no way I needed that much filter on it.

    Heating/Insulating aquariums in Winter

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    8 hours ago, LadyoftheLake said:

    yes, that happened when I switched the tank to tropical. the trouble is that my apartment basically has no insulation, so the temperature swings are pretty drastic, and I don't want to stress the heater too much. we try not to run the heat much because it's basically trying to heat outdoors, so I was thinking of putting a black neoprene mat on as a background and maybe throw an emergency blanket over it at night.

    I live in Michigan in a house that's old enough the walls I haven't redone are still hollow. I run the normal sized heater for my tanks, and then I run a smaller heater a few degrees under it in any tank near a doorway or window, and I've not had major troubles with temp swings. A large enough volume of water helps keep temps stable. The only time that I can recall even noticing the second heater running is when I was having windows replaced in 50* weather.

    • Thanks 1

    Came home to a dead light

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I can't speak to the Finnex reliability, but I swapped one out to the Fluval 3.0 when I upgraded tanks and I have to say that I like the Fluval way more. I'm a big fan of running the 24/7 programs because of my work schedule, and I find that the Fluval is better. Less algae, and better color.

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