Lennie

For snails, the acidic ph causes damage to their shell, as it is mainly calcium carbonate, and in acidic ph, it dissolves in the water. Just like using crushed coral or cuttlebone in the tank. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232662023_The_concentration_of_calcium_carbonate_in_shells_of_freshwater_snails "The concentrations of calcium carbonate (mean % by dry weight) of the shells were as follows: H. trivolvis (wild), 97.0; Physa sp., 97.8; H. trivolvis (CO), 97.6; B. glabrata, 98.8; P. bridgesii, 98.2. Our data support and validate the previous claim that snail shells are comprised of 95–99.9% calcium carbonate." You can see the effect of it on the shells of snails in the picture of yours. Well, pest snails tend to tolerate lots of undesirable conditions in general. But ideally their shells should be like this instead: So I personally don't think snails can do that well in an acidic environment due to what I mentioned above, but they can survive based on the occasion. Especially pest snails. Until the erosion becomes lethal in extreme cases where the flesh is exposed. Otherwise it is kinda unsightly and usually not that harmful. That being said, I LOVE those rasboras. How colorful and red, even in such blackwater setup

They are known to escape. anyone who wants to keep amanos has to have a tight fitting lid to be fair. If you don’t have one consider getting one

From the title, I somehow expected to see lots of sword plants instead 😄

Can't wait to visit you and steal this panda garras :)))

Ive just seen this Gup Amazing🥰🥰 Keep updating us

If those are javaferns you gotta attach them on driftwood or rocks. When buried into substrate, they will die. Also if you are planning to stock with something that will likely graze around the rock, getting rid of the lava rock sharpness can be a good idea to prevent any potential i juries. You can use a sand paper to decrease the sharpness around it. I also found pouring hot water helping it to lose sharpness of it but pouring hot water over a rock can be risky.

@beastie can you please share you experience regarding your asian tank and pandas +hillstreams.

Dude I just wanted to text it in short,, I showed I mean agassizii fire reds 3 times above. You even said you would choose borelliis and macmasteriis over them above. I know fire red is not a species at this point :') I use catappa leaf in all tanks of mine. I can surely add botanicals. I have banana plants in my garden which are never exposed to chemicals. Maybe a banana leaf too? I also have some alder cones, not a fan myself so sitting unused in general. I can also get walnut tree leaves and oak tree leaves. That's all I can get my hands on

You zooming into the very tiny red on their tail made me laugh 😄 Ah dude, it was just a suggestion. Ofcourse you can keep the stocking however you like as long as you give them the ideal conditions, tankmates and swimming room. It’s your tank, you will look it everyday. Noone can make me buy something I don’t like just because they like them for my displays tanks. if you liked this fish, I would recommend checking white cloud minnows, or gold versions.They also like conditions of good flow, colder water, big school, etc. they can get their part of food in a tank wjth crazy eaters like barbs and danios too. Normal version: long fin version(im not sure how barb safe but looks majestic) Gold version: Also, If I were you, I would consider panda garras and Hillstream loaches too. They would like your lots of oxygen, good flow setup. They usually love non sharp rocks but whats that rocklike thingy u have there? Any nonsharp rocks in the tank? Panda garras: hillstream loaches: While checking fish species spotlights, always check Rachel O’Leary’s videos too!

That tank belongs to my bristlenoses, I just shared it to show the what tank diameters look like irl. I will setup a different one for apistos, it is just I have the same tank empty on hand I have tap and RO options. Tap: 8.0ph, 20kh, 0gh(due to softener), tds ~370. I buff this for my livebearers and snails with gh+ and mineral powder. RO: 6.0 ph, 0kh, 0gh. Tds 24-25. I only use RO to mix to reach aimed ph like 7 for my bettas. I have never used full RO water in a tank before. Only planning to use something like full RO for my black ram breeding setup when I remove them from my community tank. The guy who sells the all fish above except the fire reds said he keeps and breeds them all in his 6.0 ph RO water. So same with mine The person who is selling fire reds haven’t contacted me yet

Well besides loving their color, now I am even more interested of the “character” of the ag. Fire reds🙂 The problem with trifasciata, legitimately, every single picture in google seems different. This is kinda weird. It does not seem like light difference or so. They all look like different fish, or is it me? Look: + the pictures I shared above from the guy. Do you have any clue why is it like that?

Lfs= local fish store For catfish species, I like planetcatfish. for puffers, I like pufferfish enthusiasts worldwide for fish in general, I like seriouslyfish. seriouslyfish says 15cm adult size. That is a size of sae. I’m kinda surprised too, as they are being sold much smaller at my lfs. Well, also saes are super tiny at the store too. If I were you, I would try to have some contrast going on in terms on fish color. You will already have zebra danios which are not colorful. Again, SAE. These fish will help cherry barbs pop more. But I would personally not go for another silver toned fish myself. Also in length the tank can be a lil short for a 15cm schooling fish.

Okay, as the fish room is done, and I have spare cycled sponges and empty tanks for some breeding projects, it is time to resurrect this one. Rn I have empty custom made shallow tanks with the size of: 50cm x 40 cm x 25 cm high. 50 liters. Just a lil bit bigger than what I created this topic for, so I pass that one I believe. 110cm x 40cm x 25cm high. 110 liters. (43.3" x 15.7''x 10"high, 29g) That is a long shallow tank. Im sharing my BN breeding project to give an idea about the tank size: Based on the previous conversations, this tank size with lots of cover and some caves should be the best idea I believe. I have been searching for some apistos and the ones I liked so far from people who breed them close to me are as follows: Apisto Macmasteri ( the guy said they are red neck but looks like gold to me?) -The parents are sold. So he has his batch growing. He said he is waiting for the females to be certainly distinctable which would take around 15 more days. The parents of potential juveniles I can get are: Apisto ag. fire red pair: Apisto Alenquers: Young pairs (his words): Trifasciata: So, the questions: 1) the new tank size I have is good enough to set an apisto tank for a 1m:1f? Would it worth trying to go for 1m: 2+ female on anyone I shared above? 2)Given the pictures above, which one(s) would be a better option as an apisto entry drug, and which ones look healthier to you? As a person who LOVES orangeish colors on fish, I liked macmasteri and ag. fire reds much more than other two. Also according to my observations, my lfs never carries macmasteri, however, fire reds sell the best compared to any other apisto they have. 3) If I get juveniles, approximately how long does it take for them to reach sexual maturity? Thanks for the help. @tolstoy21 @anewbie could you guys please check when you have a free time? Thanks

Ohh! How can I forget mascara barbs. They look the most beautiful I think. But they are not as common and I have no clue about their behavior. They just look pretty

For bags, try to find ones without any metals. Metals will gradually rust

Ive used JBL Volcano Mineral under tropica aquasoil in two tanks. It works well for me. I’ve also used crushed lava-rocks from my lfs which is way cheaper and still worked well to increase the background level. Plus it helps plant roots to grow better in my opinion. It is just the stuff these lava rocks may include might vary and ofc JBL one was feeling higher quality. But had to be cost effective as at this point I have way too many tanks

I got 5 platinum juveniles at first. But they all had worming issues I think. Also probably a bad batch, because when I visited my LFS again, I saw two deaths on their tank. Only 1 has made it through quarantine. And that one was the only healthy active one during quarantine too. Meanwhile black angel was healthy as it is when I got it. You can see them on right here: How long does it take for them to reach sexual maturity?

That's a good point. I personally didn't check its circulation rate. I would personally utilise what I have on hand, and as an extra, I would add something like AC110 on one side, preferably water being levelled up to the HOB outflow, rather than a waterfall effect.

So the first question is, have you added any sort of ammonia to your new tank. If you go to Seachem's Stability page, you can obtain some more info on FAQ part. I will share some below. Basically, in order to start a cycle, first you need to have an ammonia source in the tank. The best is going for a fishless cycle. Especially considering you have high ph, that would be much much more toxic to have a fish in. Fishless cycle is better no matter what for the fish's wellbeing anyway. So, before using seachem stability, you should ideally started ghostfeeding the tank, which means adding a small pinch of fish food, let it decay and ammonia to come out. This is something I've used before and it works. However, a little messy, and you can't exactly calculate the amount of ammonia you wanna cycle with. You can also use ammonia for aquariums like Dr Tims ammonia and cycle with that. Also I usually add filter gunk and poop fish water after water change to speed up the cycle. However, you should be sure that tank has no health issues otherwise you can spread the potential diseases. So basically, let's say you ghost feed the tank with small pinch of fish food everyday, food decays and ammonia comes out. the bb will consume ammonia to and turn it into nitrite. And then nitrite, to nitrate. For it to cycle, you should be seeing all ammonia and nitrite cleared, and only reading nitrates. That's when you know your tank is cycled. If you haven't added an ammonia source then your cycle did not start. You might be reading your nitrite from your tap, and nitrate from the ferts/ or tap again. Ideally test your tap for these too see if you have any in your tap water. Usually, cycling with adding an ammonia source such as ghostfeeding + stability can take around 6 weeks but ofcourse only test kits can tell. Every tank is unique and maybe yours can take shorter or longer. However if you haven't added an ammonia source, then your cycle can't start. Because the bacteria in stability still need the ammonia source to start the cycle. From Seachem's Stability FAQ: "I have finished the suggested 7-day dosing, however, my tank is still not fully cycled. Why? A: Since every tank will cycle differently, it is difficult for us to give an exact time frame as to when your tank will be fully cycled. However, generally most tanks are cycled within 4-6 weeks. If I plan to do a fishless cycle and use Stability™, do I need to add an ammonia source to kick-start the nitrogen cycle? A: Yes, for expedited cycling times, you will want to add a pinch of food daily until you have an ammonia reading. At that point, you can stop adding the food and let the bacteria run its course." When it comes to water parameters, ideally, neons usually like softer water with lower ph. Choosing your stocking based on your parameters can be a nicer option however usually it works okay. Tank bred ones from local sources may help them to adapt better. Wild caught ones usually may struggle more for undesired water conditions. Can be straight up fertilizers too

As a vegan for a very long time, these sort of news makes me happy. And I hope it really works at least for some people to use as a replacement. If it works for one person, it still is something in my eyes. but I can tell, there is a hard path on ahead of them. People usually are not really accepting when it comes to new stuff about taste. Even the idea of having some sort of duckweed may be challenging for people to give something new a try I feel like. The problem is, majority of people are brought up being used to having the taste of animal protein and products in their life on a daily basis. And giving up at once was not hard for me but it can be for a lot of people and I understand that. The way to help people having easier transaction or substitutes is actually creating a similar taste I think. In this regard, Im not sure to what extend choosing something 0 flavor would help this in practice. There is already good vegan protein powder options. Maybe when someone eants to add a lil protein to their oats or cookie, it may be a nice additive but idk hoe much it would replace animal products. I have many friends that are meat eaters but trying to substitute some of their meals with plant based protein brands like Beyond Meat. Couple days ago, when we were chatting with @Cinnebuns, she mentioned that she has given a try to plant based meat options and actually liked it. I hear that a lot around me from my friends and it makes me happy. But I hardly ever hear people replacing their favorite protein powder with a plant based one for example. Or adding some flavorless animal protein powder into something, so they can benefit of using this as a substitute in that regard. My critism would be, I wish they did not try to put themself on front by putting other brands trying to work their best in this animal meat or product substitution behind. They are all working for the same purpose basically. They should be supporting each other instead I think.

they are pretty I agree. There is also an appeal for me with this red eye going on. Idk what people think of it in general but I’ve never seen these guys here before. I guess blues in general are rare here. Probably because they are fairly new to the angelfish keeping. And considering what anewbie shared regarding genetics, that explains why. That even decreases the chances of finding a pair sadly. Let’s say even healthier parents that are worth breeding. I would not like to spread whole local area with potentially weak gene angels with low quality of life. Maybe I should lean toward some other cichlids with that I can utilise what I have on hand or pea puffers. I already have a black ram pair I will be breeding. Ive considered apistos but they don’t seem to sell insane here, idk why

My tap( 0 gh due to softener, 8.0 ph) has 20ppm kh; but my RO, which has 24-25 tds, has 0 kh. Reads exactly 6.0 ph

One of my barteris bloomed ages ago and is still alive.

I don't exactly know about these products, but to be helpful all around, It may be nice to provide detailed parameter readings of gh, kh and ph. If your water is soft as you said, then you will probably need to increase gh. Kh is more about carbonate and bicarbonates. You probably saw these during your researches, it basically helps to keep ph more stable. GH kits for aquariums usually test the magnesium and calcium in the water. The higher the gh, the harder the water. The lower, the softer. Ph is about water being acidic or alkaline. Acidic < ph of 7 (neutral) < Alkaline. What's your gh, ph and kh are? Also, deciding on stocking may help to decide if soft water is good or not. Like livebearers, snails, lots of cichlids prefer hard water higher ph. But it really depends on the fish you want. That being said, as long as your fish are not wildcaught, and you get fish from somewhere local or similar parameters to yours, they should usually do fine. Aiming for very desired parameters are usually more needed for breeding action in my experience. But ofcourse keeping a guppy or snail in low ph low gh tank will impact them negatively for sure. Speaking of golden barbs, I only had a chance to observe them at my lfs. Even after a couple weeks, I have been seeing some nippy behavior towards each other at the store. But yes, cherries are usually well known to be on the peaceful side. My rosy barbs are also extremely peaceful. If you like barbs, maybe you can consider a huge tiger barb tank. What about that? They also come with green, albino, normal ones, long fins, etc. You can mix them together or stick with only one color if you like. Having a tiger barb only tank is a dream of mine for one day 🙂 I love the green ones a lot.

I can imagine the fry situation! But I think I can handle it with the new fishroom I built! I am between angels, pea puffers or any other mouth brooding cichlids rn. Going for something prolific can be nice for income. I considered pea puffers because they are cute, usually in demand, and sadly wildcaught mostly and endangered now. So I can help to spread tank bred ones at least I thought. I did watch the video before! I have been considering angels for 2 years by now. Couple months ago I got me a platinum and black for my display tank in my bedroom. They are very cute. Now I thought, what if a breeding project? My lfs already has kois, blacks, half black laces, platinums, altums, bulgarians, albinos and blushing ones. So Id rather not buy a par for these as they can easily source them I would Love to have them. Especially the pinoys 😍 But I’m from Turkey. So that really is not an option to get them really. however, I really appreciate your kind offer. Even you considering to gift them to me was enough for me. Many thanks