Birdsnstuff

Big box store had a fresh batch of bettas and I made the mistake of looking while picking up dog food. Cups were clean and the fish were active. So guess who’s in quarantine? “Assorted female” to be named later.

Are your tannins strictly from the wood? I’m slowly putting together a 40 breeder and I like that look. I’m probably going dirt substrate because of the 2 tanks I have my dirt substrate is the easiest to maintain.

@ColuThanks! I had planned to actually look those fish to see what they had. I keep little fish and I'm not familiar with a lot of the bigger ones.

Yesterday I went to a clinic that had a big tank setup for people waiting in the lobby. There were 3 people sitting 3 feet away staring at the fish go back and forth. It seemed to be clean and cared for - maybe a little crowded but not badly so. There was driftwood for the Pleco who didn't seem to be starving. The one little fish seemed a bit overwhelmed but I wonder if fish come and go in the tank over time. The tank maintenance business even included a handy sheet with types of fish and information about them. (though they did put a disclaimer that it may not match the fish in the tank exactly).

I will probably go by my LFS tomorrow but I struggle with them sometimes. Being a woman of a certain age, I feel a bit condescended to by the local fish bros at the better of the two stores near me. The owner is a bit nicer but he’s not always there. They carry salt and freshwater fish with some plants. I bought all but one group of my fish from them and I try to buy things from them if they have what I need. I think they make a chunk of their money on fish tank maintenance for saltwater tanks. When I suggested they become ACO partners one employee told me they didn’t focus on freshwater so it wouldn’t be a good fit. But their tanks are cleaner than the big box stores with healthier fish so that’s where I go. I take my excess snails to them - they have a foot long puffer so they can feed them to it or sell them. I try.

@nabokovfan87I've noticed air bubbles coming out of my heater as well as the clicking noise. I speculated the flow from the HOB had tiny bubbles that combined under the heater guard to create big bubbles that occasionally bubbled up. One heater is next to the intake of my HOB and in the other tank it's between a sponge filter and small HOB. Or does the way the heater heats water under the guard releases gas under guard? Who knows? The clicking does sound like things turning off and on. It isn't constant for me though. Some times it heats with the noise and sometimes it doesn't.

Do you use Indian almond leaves? I learned somewhere they can soften the water and drop KH … or did I make that up. I’ll look for my source but I’ve noticed my tanks seem to have lower KH since I started using them.

Set up a quarantine tub for a sick female black phantom tetra. She has some weird white growth and black lumps on her side. I treated her with a Maracyn / IchX combo and the white fuzz got better but it's back. She's a bit mutant - a little oddly formed and small but is eating well and seems to be holding her own in the shoal hierarchy. I put Indian almond leaf and a tablespoon of salt for a 10gal tote of water. Moved over the sponge filter in her home tank. Once the water reaches temp I'll move her to it and do another round of Maracyn. I'm going to the LFS tomorrow to pick up some kanaplex for back up. Yes the hair algae issue is loves my new co-op light!WIP.

I guess as long as she’s comfortable….

I don't have any recent experience with fresh dirt/potting soil aquariums but I do have a 15long that I set up with good ol' arkansas dirt from the backyard back in 2003. I had read the Walstad book in 2002 and decided to try it. I soaked the soil for a very long time and still probably added the fish too soon. My knowledge of cycling, ammonia, etc wasn't very deep. But eventually it settled down (literally and figuratively), I covered it with gravel, and planted it with plants that were available to me at the time. It's had its ups and downs depending on how much I was paying attention to it but I kept 3 of your basic corydoras (with a varying cast of friends) alive for a dozen years with very little algae. I have crypts that have been in the tank for years along with java moss and Anubias. I decided to cap the gravel with sand recently to be kinder to some Habrosus corys. I think the sand cap has improved the tank - It seems healthier. I did put a few flourish tabs under the current crypts to replenish the soil a bit and planted some new species of plants to mix it up a bit. It's still relatively algae free. I have a 40 breeder I'm slowly working towards setting up. I'm slowly moving towards a soil/sand substrate. I have a 20H that has ancient Flora Max soil - plants grow but it's fussier and the tipping point towards hair algae seems to be easier to get to. I'm always curious to see what others do/ try for their soil substrate tanks.

Any news? I was thinking about this fish today.

I have a big gob of it I can donate to the cause. For a while the the only things in my tanks were an anubias and crypt of unknown species and Java moss. The Java moss was almost half my 15gal. I’ve dialed it back but it’s still a big mass. I have some in my 20 that is happy too. I really don’t know what to do with it. I’m trying to plant new species and a friend keeps giving me cuttings to grow so the older plants need to make room for the new. But my anubias rihzome is as thick as my little finger and it’s hard to let it go. Even cut back it grows well. I have a 40 breeder I’ve recently bought (first bigger tank!) that’s waiting for me to setup. I want to hang on to any cuttings for that. Maybe I’ll set up my QT tote with just water and a light to throw plants into for now. Hmmmm.

@Robert Keeney Cool. It wasn't something I cared about then so I didn't look into it. Now I know.

@Robert KeeneyI live in Tornado country so I could conceivably being without power for weeks. But on the whole these things are thankfully few and far between. Back in 09 we had an ice storm and we were without power for a week. I covered up the tanks I had at the time and hoped. We heated the house with a generator and I didn't feed the whole time. But I didn't and don't have complicated expensive fish so while it would be sad it wouldn't be tragic if I have some losses. I do have the USB pumps and battery packs now so I have answers for short term outages. I spent $20 a piece at Office Depot for 10K packs that can power the nano pumps for a couple days at full charge. I can charge the battery packs in the car if necessary. I own a restaurant that is on the same grid as a hospital so it stays on in most emergencies. If I can get there I can charge things. But I think I'm going to get a battery powered pump for longer outages. I like that in the modern age we have more options. I didn't know about battery powered pumps back in 09. While I've had tanks for most of my life (58), I dip in and out of living a fish centric life. So sometimes I come back to fish land and Wow! Look at what's going on now! It's fun. Thanks to the forum and people like you who share what works for you, I'm going to be even better prepared for next time.

On the second day when the electric company said it would be two more, I bought a portable generator. We had high volume extension cords from a previous ice storm 13 years ago. The generator from then had died. So now I’m the proud owner of a generator and a kerosene heater. Our gas heater worked great once I hooked it up! I bet I won’t use as much as you do though. 😉

Electricity finally came back on Thursday. I slow walked the tanks back up to a normal temperature over 16 hours. Water looked pretty good so I lightly fed. Water change on one tank today. Made notes for next time.

I have to say I thought “chick peas would be great in chili!” …but that wasn’t the question. 😉😆

Now they're saying it will be Friday night before power is restored. It's weird - part of the neighborhood has power and part of doesn't. I guess it depends on which tree hit which line. So I've been running the nano pumps intermittently - I've been using the charging batteries for multiple things. But we now have a generator so I've plugged them in for a good long bubble. I've also run a cord to plug in a heater at a time - the tanks are down to 63! So I'm going to try to raise them to 68 before I go to sleep and turn off the generator. I have to alternate plugging them in so I'm aiming for warmer if not perfect. As far as I can tell, everyone is fine.

Okay so far. The tanks (15 gal long and 20gal H) are at 70 degrees - normally 76/77. (cold wet snow knocking down power lines). The power came back on for an hour so last night then went back off. The Habrosus corys seem happy. The cardinals in the same tank seem okay too. The Otos in the other tank are actually out - they have a habit of hiding. 4 out of the original 5 exist! 😉 The black phantoms are their usual hide when the lights are out selves. We have a small propane heater we have on in the house so hopefully it won't get too cold in here. The temp is supposed to get above freezing and the work crews are out. I'm in Arkansas in the US- we have above ground lines and we don't get these type of snows very often.

I guess I get to follow some of Cory’s advice on power outages. First, don’t panic. I have sponge filters in both tanks hooked up to nano pumps. I bought and charged two battery banks. Power is supposed to come back on later tonight so this all maybe moot but it does make me feel better I have a plan. And advice.

I bought some new containers to corral some of the fish chemicals, food, equipment, random things that were scattered around the house.Random picture of my 15gal for fun. It isn’t particularly aquascaped but it is planted. It’s been with me a long time. Cardinal tetras and new to me Habrosus Corys - I’ve never had those before. So tiny and cute!

I like the siesta photo periods I've set up for my tanks. I went for a 5 on 4 off 5 on for one tank - it's algae free so far (fingers crossed and throws salt over shoulder..). It has an ancient dirt substrate covered with gravel/sand. The other tank has a 3 on 4 off 4 on timer right now - ancient Flora max substrate. It is more finicky than the other tank - I fight hair algae in that one which makes me suspect it's more over feeding than anything else. I just replaced my lights with Coop lights - so far so good!

Did a small water change and planted the cuttings I was given. I’m not sure if this is their permanent locations but they’re out of plastic bags. The Tiger lotus should give my 20H tank a pop of color and new leaf shape. I need to start a list of the plants I have now. I’m not good at remembering these things!

I own a restaurant. Every time I read Cory breading I think, well, what would a Cory taste like? 😆 But seriously yay for the baby Cory!

Rage the betta! I love it - it's perfect for some bettas. Is he a betta with attitude?