Winstons_estate

I recently bought aquarium co op test strips for the first time. Not sure if im doing something wrong or if they are from a bad batch or what but my results are just wack 😅 Im following the instructions exactly as told but according to the coop test strips my PH an KH are both so low as to not register a reading at all, On all 3 of my tanks. This had me panicking about a PH crash on all tanks due to low KH however besides 1 sick molly all fish plants and inverts are healthy happy and seem to be thriving. Can anyone help me? If my KH is truly 0, what is the best course of action? This is not representative of the api liquid tests, which tell me my PH is 7.6-7.8. I havnt tested for KH with API liquid test.

@Guppysnail You were absolutely right, some kind of fungal infection became visible on the fish that was being bullied the next day. Ive isolated her and began treating ich X. She didnt look to good when i left this morning though 😞 The bully isnt bullying anyone now lol

Ive never heard of Amanos behaving aggressivly to anone thats really something!! Cant say Shark Tale didnt see this coming though... 'Say hello to my little friends!!'

@redmare dont be too too critical of yourself i would be proud of those tanks they are beautiful! Every plant and fish is happy and healthy and the scapes look great!

I think you are right about this and thats what i'll try to do, although ive never seen it work either. he cant stay in the 10 as im trying to start a cherry shrimp colony in there lol. Its such a shame too because he is a beautiful specimen, jet black with yellow on his fins id hate to return him 😒

a few days ago we got 6 mollies 1 male, 5 females. They are all so beautiful and at first things seemed great. Except after a day or 2 we noticed the male was relentlessly bullying one female in particular. This is not being confused with normal mating harrasement you see with live bearers. He is nipping at her, not just on her fins but all over her body including her face and he doesnt stop. she cowers from him and runs and he doesnt stop. Im so confused because mollies have always seemed quite peaceful to me 😅 Ive seperated them and the mean guy is in a 10 gallon by himself until i can figure it out. All fish, inverts and plants seem healthy and happy besides this. Tank params are as follows: 55 gallon, established since october 7th 30 (ish) neon and cardinal tetras 5 honey gouramis 1 pearl gourami 9 amano shrimp 12 mysery snails 6 mollies (1 male, 5 females) 0 amonia 0 nitrite 40-60 ppm nitrate healthy and growing live plants

I love tiger barbs! I havnt kept any in years though. wish i had a spare tank just for them they are little bullies lol. A huge school of tiger barbs is a beautiful sight

my LFS charges $6 for cardinal tetras so i'd say 8.99 isnt too bad, maybe ive been over paying 😅

They look awesome im so jealous! Im currently sitting on my hands waiting for a tank to mature to order some shrimp lol. I might copy you these shrimp look beautiful!!

If it was me id run 2 medium sponge filters with air stones and call it good 😅 Especially if you are planting it

Those fluval lights are PRICEY! if im paying that much for a light there better not be any annoying noise! 😮 i bet if you email coop people they will replace it

@Wolfden Water sprite is fast becoming my favourite plant beacuse of how easy it is to grow and propagate. The way you have set it up to look like a clearing in the woods here is beautiful! although it grows so fast i doubt there will be a clearing for long 😛

Recently My wife and I set up a new aquarium. We got home from work yesterday and had the cloudy water thats of course sympematic of a new tank and that got me thinking, what is the cause of this? I know accepted internet wisdom on this is that its a 'bacteria bloom' but Ive never seen an actual study or solid info on this and it all seems a bit 'pseudo sciency' to me. I question this accepted wisdom even more because nitrifying bacteria does not thrive free floating in the water column, but on surfaces. (or at least that is my understanding). So what is the cloudy water really?

We do have a couple of things in the tank that are aged, the sponge filter and a ball of java moss specifically. The substrate has also been wet since mid november due to a 'dry' start with some seeds we wanted to grow. (awesome way to achieve a carpet FYI) The actual water also came from a tank thats been set up for 3 months. I put 6 Zebra danios in there last night too to get things going. We also over did it a little with Easy Green in hopes of setting off some algae lol @AllFishNoBrakesYour Java Moss is beautiful!

@JettsPapa wow that is some great info, thank you!