Scaperoot
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Posts posted by Scaperoot
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On 12/15/2023 at 1:11 PM, BeeD said:
I start changing at first registration of nitrates because in the past I've noticed that once the buildup starts, I usually don't have a good enough log of events to predict how fast the climb will be. I had one tank evolve over the course of years without cracking 0. I went without testing it for a month (or 2 maybe), tested and it was at 20ppm. I thought back and realized a few things.
The biggest miss... I wasn't noticing deceased adult ramshorn snails, because the plant carpet was thick. There had been a snail population explosion after my gourami - a savage fry and larva hunter - passed. Many of those adult snails must have died within a short period of time. The plants probably picked up the ammonia spikes, because they prefer ammonia to nitrate, so I assume that compounded the nitrate buildup.
We lost two mystery snails in this tank a couple weeks ago, but I removed them the same day. We may have lost Nerites or some fish and not noticed. I'll have to check in hard to reach areas.
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On 12/14/2023 at 10:56 PM, Galabar said:
You may consider feeding less. The input to your tank (food) ultimately ends up as nitrate (less what is absorbed by plants).
Are you fertilizing the plants (and with what)?
I dose easy green weekly.
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I've read conflicting information on this, so I'm wondering, how do you gauge whether nitrates in a tank are too high? I'll use one of my tanks as an example. It's a 20 long heavily planted tank with White clouds, Guppies, false Juliis, a female betta, nerites, and cherry shrimp. If I'm using a master test kit, what's the threshold before I need to do a water change? I try not to over feed, but I've noticed lately that I'm getting higher readings. At last water change, Nitrates were 80+. The frequency was typically 7-10 days between water changes, but I've had to do them weekly for about a month now. I feed 6 days a week; frozen baby brine, pellets, freeze dried ACO food, and occasionally some crushed Krill flakes.
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On 12/12/2023 at 12:34 PM, LTygress said:
The last time I heard about them, there was absolutely nothing good coming from anyone. VERY late ship-outs, bad quality, wrong items constantly sent, etc - no one said anything positive. This was back in 2018-ish, so COVID was no excuse. I don't know if they have cleaned up since then.
BUT, I do know they order from the same exact wholesale facility as every other fish store in the country - Segrest Farms. (I somehow received an incorrect airway bill number from someone, and the airway bill was from Segrest Farms to AZ Gardens.) And Florida fish farms all tend to grow their plants above the water, so the plants can have a hard time adjusting to being submersed.Oh wow, good to know. That's unfortunate. Not worth the risk and likely disappointment it seems. Thank you
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I'm wondering if anyone has purchased crypts from AZGardens. I can't find much information on them. I've got my sights set on a few different crypts that they sell, and would like to make sure they're reputable.
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On 12/12/2023 at 11:47 AM, Guppysnail said:
I would have to say ask about the specific plant you wish to obtain and ask if anyone has purchased that plant from that vendor or if anyone else has used this vendor and you are wanting to confirm if they are legit. Avoid pricing things, links of any type.
The responses should be mindful of not speaking negatively of other companies and contain only specific items ordered shipping and packing. If the experience was not good responses can state specifically why they had poor experience and if the company made it right. just please do not bash other companies.Thank you
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Are we allowed to ask about a specific vendor? I found a vendor that seems to have some plants not currently available through ACO, but I wanted to ask if anyone has bought from them before. Not sure if that's allowed in the forum.
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On 11/15/2023 at 1:32 PM, Galabar said:
Ok, from those tests, it looks like you have ammonia, nitrite, and (some) nitrate present.
For the API pH test, do you have the high range pH test that comes with the master kit? The standard pH test cuts off at a certain range.
I do. So, it may actually be higher than 7.4?
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I set this up on Saturday with some Fritz 7 and used filter media from a seasoned tank. I have not done any water changes. I did add a pinch of food last night. These were my results this morning. Will the PH come down on its own?
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On 11/8/2023 at 12:41 PM, MattyM said:
Check out the 3d printed baffles from GalaxyGlowStudio on Etsy, they can direct your HOBs flow so you get better circulation in the tank. On my 20L I had an AC30 mounted in the back right, with the baffle directing left across the tank.
I ended up setting up an aqua clear HOB filter, and I ordered a baffle that should fit perfectly when it arrives. Thanks again!
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On 11/8/2023 at 12:09 PM, Jack Anderson said:
Hi, I’ve never kept one of those filters. I run sponge filters, they make sense for my set up so if you wanna save some money they’re frikin awesome! You can adjust the flow, especially good for bettas with long fins. I’m sure the SICCE will work out awesome tho. Let us know what you chose, I’d love to see the end result!
If you want some more flow, what I do is I have a powerhead on a timer to come on every few hours to increase flow and break up any dead spots in the tank (at least that’s the idea😂) so you could try that?
Have a ton of fun setting up your new tank tho!I'll definitely post a pic when it's set up. Thanks for the ideas🙂
On 11/8/2023 at 12:33 PM, nabokovfan87 said:I broke mine the first time I tried to clean the sponge. It "still worked" because of the magnets, but it didn't work for too long. They (Sicce) basically obsoleted this design and moved towards the newer one that looks boxy. I would start there and ignore the egg looking one.
That being said, internal hang on aqueon filters have a ton of options as well to look into. Given that you want to have Corydoras with a Betta please keep in mind the temps and lean towards something like a sterbai or false Julii corydoras species.
I'll definitely check out what Aqueon has. We have false Julii corydoras in another tank, and they're thriving. They even bred earlier this year, so I'm definitely considering using them again.
On 11/8/2023 at 12:41 PM, MattyM said:Check out the 3d printed baffles from GalaxyGlowStudio on Etsy, they can direct your HOBs flow so you get better circulation in the tank. On my 20L I had an AC30 mounted in the back right, with the baffle directing left across the tank.
That's definitely worth looking into. I always use HOB, but with a longer tank you need a little boost. This could be exactly what I need. Thank you!
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I am in the process of setting up a 20 long for a male Betta and some Corydoras. We have 3 other tanks with Bettas, but those have HOB filters. I would like to try an internal filter, since I'm not satisfied with the lack of flow in those tanks. I'm considering the SICCE Shark Adv 400 internal filter, and was wondering if anyone who has had one could share their experience, or steer me towards a different one. Thanks
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On 11/7/2023 at 11:22 AM, Pepere said:
This photo does not look like Pink Flamingo to my eye.
I bought my Pink Flamingo from the Co Op, but I believe they made a business decision to not carry them going forward.
I have pruned it back quite a bit as it was monopolizing the tank…. You can see it is migrating a bit as well to the front left and rear and a small plantlet establishing front right of center of mass.
This photo was before pruning it.
That's impressive. How long does it take them to fully mature?
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On 11/6/2023 at 8:33 PM, nabokovfan87 said:
I believe it's one of the main 3 that George Farmer uses in his main tank. Maybe it is a sword plant and not a crypt?
Here is the full list for this tank:These look even more amazing. I didn't watch the whole video, but I wonder if it's possible to get that color without CO2. I recently ordered some Pink Swords and Echinodorus Horemanii Red Swords, but I'd love to know if anyone sells these crypts.
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Anyone know what kind of Crypt this is? I asked the owner of the tank and he had no idea. It's incredible.
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On 10/31/2023 at 2:28 PM, Guppysnail said:
@Scaperoot thanks again. I picked up
my tank and talked to them. They honored the half off and fixed it even though I paid online. I would normally grab everything and go never being aware they were on sale 🤗
That's awesome! I got a 20 long for less than $30. If only I had room for more...😋
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Not sure if this is allowed, but just wanted to share that aquariums are on sale at Petco. Since ACO doesn't sell aquariums online so I hope it's ok to share. I've been waiting on this for weeks.
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On 10/30/2023 at 10:31 AM, Schuyler said:
From my limited experience, I've seen good deals on hard to find fish that you would normally have to order online and pay shipping to get.
Were those $13 corys a common species?
For dry goods it tends to not be that big of price difference. Maybe just more variety that you normally see.
I can't complain about the driftwood I found, because no LFS near me ever have this particular type (Manzanita/Ghostwood).
As for the Corys, I have only seen the bronze in person prior to this weekend. The fish farm I visit sells albinos, pandas, venezuelans, etc., for about $6-$8 each. I'm not sure if the skunk Corys are hard to find.
On 10/30/2023 at 11:00 AM, Tanked said:I 've never been to a show, but a visit to the LFS yesterday proved that some prices are spiraling upward. The $4. African Water Fern that I looked at last month was now $10. All of the shrimp were now $10. each. with no warranty. Almost all of the fish prices had noticable increases.
That's concerning. The cherry shrimp I buy are $5 each. Plants are tricky, because availability is the issue in our area. You can find almost anything online, but once you factor shipping it makes you really consider the value. There's a company (ACO competitor) I get plants from about 2-3 times a year. They offer great deals and free shipping once you pass a certain spending threshlod. If I just need one or two plants, I don't even consider ordering online. At that point, I'm at the mercy of the LFS.
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I went to my first fish expo recently, and was a bit stunned by the prices of certain fish, hardscape, etc. For example; $10-13 for a single Corydora, $15 for a small piece of driftwood (even though it was marked with a lower price in Sharpie on the wood itself), etc. Are markups normal at these shows? I got great deals on plants, but that had more to do with me being a long time customer of the vendor and being recognized. I'm concerned because I'll be attending Aquashella this weekend and now I'm wondering if I'll be able to get any fish. I was hoping to get more Corydoras. I know that they're not all the same, and some are harder to find. I saw 3 types while at the show; gold laser, skunk, and Bronze.
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On 10/22/2023 at 8:01 PM, Littlefish said:
I think you just want to show that tank! That looks really good.
Endler males shrivel to almost nothing when they jump, so if they were males I'd guess they're in the bird's nest fern.
lol!
My lingering theory is that there is a lizard hiding amongst the plants who helped himself to our endlers. We have tons in the yard, and they do get in sometimes, even with our cat on the prowl. Nothing else makes sense.
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On 10/22/2023 at 8:01 PM, Littlefish said:
I think you just want to show that tank! That looks really good.
Endler males shrivel to almost nothing when they jump, so if they were males I'd guess they're in the bird's nest fern.
We checked the plants, no sign. All 9 were males. This is wild. There's about an inch from the top of the water line to the edge of the tank, but I have no idea how far an endler can jump.
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I have a 5 gallon shallow tank that I recently stocked with 9 endler guppies. Started with 3 then added 6 more yesterday. The last time I checked, at around 9 last night, all seemed fine. This morning, there were only 5 guppies left. I checked for bodies, nothing. I checked the filter media covering the filter intake, nothing. I checked behind and around the tank, nothing. I have 3 Nerites and about 6-7 cherry shrimp as well. Is it possible that their bodies were consumed in less than 9 hours?? I'm so confused. I even moved stones around. Nothing. Wouldn't I see some bones at least?
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I finally found the right HOB filter. Hopefully it holds up.
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I ended up trying some filter media around the intake with a rubber band. It looks awful but it will have to do until I figure something out. I'm leaning towards trying out a small canister filter.
Nitrates and small fish
in General Discussion
Posted
I use the API liquid test kit. I don't know what to think anymore. Some people swear by the ACO strips, others go by API. I just do a water change if I see dark orange to red results. I stopped using the strips.