Kelly S

Thanks. I haven't hit it with anything yet except water changes, manual cleaning and Easy Green. I don't want to create a worse situation; that's why I'm trying to figure out the best option in hopes of finishing off the BGA with one treatment and not disrupting anything else too much. Also I like to overthink things. 🙂

Hey, I found multiple recommendations on the blog. I'm guessing the Fritz Slime-Out is the more up-to-date one ("After vacuuming the substrate and refilling the tank, add one full dose of Slime Out (which is 1 packet per 25 gallons of water), and let the aquarium sit for 48 hours before doing a 25% water change.") But there's also "Use one packet of Fritz Slime Out per 25 gallons of water, and let the aquarium sit for one week before doing another water change. Repeat the treatment one more time for stubborn cases." And "Use one packet of Maracyn (which is made of an antibiotic called erythromycin) per 10 gallons of water, and let the aquarium sit for one week before doing another water change. Repeat the treatment one more time for stubborn cases." I haven't been able to find an ingredient listing for Slime-Out, nor have I found it locally. I do have Maracyn. The BGA is mostly gone but I can see a little telltale color creeping back on some of the gravel and I'd like to kill it off. Is Slime-Out also erythromycin? If so, is it the same strength per packet as Maracyn? Can I use the Maracyn or should I order the Slime-Out? Which protocol is best? I had a rough second half of 2023 and I'm rehabbing my semi-neglected 40 breeder. Thank you!!!

Lol sorry! The SAE was a better worker when it was younger. The mollies and platies in my other tank are helpful too, but moreso if I feed less. At the moment I'm feeding that tank kinda heavily because of fry and shrimplets. Lol I actually kinda like it, and it's in my other tanks anyway. But this tank was my major duckweed producer before the barbs. My chickens and ducks are going to be sad!

Of course not! As I said, just very surprised.

I know they're omnivores, but I didn't expect them to be so thorough!

Is this a barb thing? Am I starving them? I don't think I'm starving them; I bumped the auto feeder to 2 feedings per day instead of one, but maybe they need more? A couple of days ago I pulled a big handful of hair algae out of my other tank (yeah sorry no show tanks here). This evening it's totally gone. There is a SAE, but the algae and duckweed did fine until I added tiger and glass rosy barbs. I'm not complaining, but I'm surprised! (These guys are fun to watch too; highly recommend!) The moss, and other plants seem to be doing well, but the moss is picked beautifully clean.

Thanks @TheSwissAquarist! I forgot to take the pictures when the cat finally woke up, but that's very helpful!

I picked up a pot of Red Devil Sword yesterday and now I have to decide where to plant the 3 plants that were in the pot. In the flow where my HOB pours in, or a lower-flow area is I guess the biggest question. I don't know how people manage to have a pre-plan for their tanks but I pretty much have been trying plants and getting more of things that seem to do well. In the process, I stick new plants wherever I see a hole. These swords are going to be large-ish for my tanks (29g and 40b), but I do still have some options. I do have a big fake Texas holey rock in the middle of the 29g that I'd just remove except that over the last 2 years it's really become a habitat, hosting anubias, algae, java moss, shrimp, fry, kuhli loaches, etc. But I could move that into the path of the HOB flow if the swords don't want to be right in the line of fire (Funny aside, one of my SAE's hovers in the HOB flow and grabs duckweed that gets dunked lol.) In case it helps, I can try to add photos of both tanks once the cat allows me to get up, but be nice; they are not perfect, pristine show tanks. Thanks!

Not a lot to say really; I just think this fish is awesome and I'm so glad I got him. I don't know why exactly. He's no Murphy of course, but I really like him. His temperament is not typical but I'm easing that tank toward more fish that "should" be good tank mates for a rainbow shark because I hope to always have one, even if this is the only one on the planet that can live peacefully with neon tetras and ghost shrimp. (I do have other tanks suitable for those guys if anything changes.) He pokes at the SAE sometimes but they're very similar in size and mostly simply stay out of each other's way. Related - I was researching barbs yesterday for the future of this tank and discovered Giant Barbs (Catlocarpio siamensis) and I love them. But I don't have a large indoor lake so, like many of the fish I admire, I'll enjoy them in pictures, videos, and public exhibits. Heck, I still have to enjoy Oscars and pictus cats in other people's tanks, and I'm ok with that - good excuse to go to some of the nicer fish stores! I also really enjoy watching shrimp, kuhli loaches, and nano fish, so there's plenty I can keep at home even if the biggest is a rainbow shark. 🙂

Thanks everyone! Gonna split my overly ambitious anubias tomorrow! 🙂

Just a random thought I had as I was scraping hard water deposits and trying to keep empty snail shells from plugging my siphon while listening to Cory talk about Wonder Shell - would these shells from my hard water be useful to someone with soft water? I'm guessing everyone around me also has hard water so this is likely just hypothetical, but I'm curious! Would those be the right minerals in the right balance? Thanks! P.S. thanks as always for uploading the lives as podcasts. I don't have anywhere near as much time as I'd like to watch videos, but I listen to tons of podcasts!

I saw this suggested in a video from a YouTuber who isn't Cory but is somewhat connected to the Coop. I'm just feeling paranoid, like it's too good to be true lol. Can I really put the glue on the rhizome and put it into the driftwood that's already in the tank?? That would be soooo much simpler! Thanks!

Thanks for posting this! I'm considering getting a school of tiger barbs for my 40b. I think you may have convinced me. 🙂

@Colu thanks, that's what I was leaning toward.

I don't remember where I got detailed information the last time I used levamisole and I'd appreciate some reminders or if someone could point me in the right direction. I bought 4 mollies, 2 nerite snails, and 4 java loaches yesterday. I have 2 10-gallon quarantine tanks so I put a snail in each (to hopefully see if either lays eggs) and separated the mollies from the loaches. (They were all separate at the store too, although I don't know if their water system is divided. It was Petsmart and the fish are in a corner, with the mollies on one wall and the loaches and snails on the other.) I've added the med trio to both tanks, but the last time I bought livebearers I treated with levamisole as well. I think I waited until after the trio was completely finished but I don't know if that's necessary. Should I do that, or can I do the levamisole while the trio is still "cooking"? Should I treat both tanks with levamisole or just the mollies? I can do whatever is best for the fish; I just think they'll be happier when they get to move into their new bigger tanks. Thank you!!