YYC Carrie
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Posts posted by YYC Carrie
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hey everyone,
I like to provide decor and plants for my fish to be comfortable but despite watching multiple vids explaining how to wrangle the little beggars when I need to move them, it seems like once a fish goes in my aquariums, that's it since I can not, for the life of me, get it out of there if I realize it needs to move.
Help please! Lol
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On 1/15/2023 at 4:15 PM, Up North said:
This is what I made with 1/2" pvc. It goes to the bottom of my tank and directs water up so it does not disrupt my substrate
super helpful! I have been working on figuring a way to pump replacement water into my tanks after a water change. I love the idea of the dual output directed up to avoid stirring up the sub.... thank you!
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hhmm.. my shark has dark dorsal and pectoral fins - only it's tail is red. Plus it's dorsal fin looks almost like a double fin. I wonder if I got a different fish. o.O.
not a very good picture and I will try to get a better one later but here is Sir Chum
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On 1/15/2023 at 3:17 AM, TheSwissAquarist said:
Welcome to the forum! Looks like you’re a fellow fish bargain hunter 😂…
I think maybe so! I picked up the little red tail shark today for 4.99, everywhere I have looked for the last 2 months has them at 14.99 minimum. He's happy with the convicts and parrot's right now. I plan to post a picture thread of all my little friends later on today. It's 3:20 am here right now lol
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On 1/14/2023 at 11:25 PM, Rita said:
Sorry I can't add much either lol. I came to ask you where you got your your gravel. I've been looking for a natural looking smooth gravel like that!
I was at the dollar store earlier and they have several types of gravel like that in the picture. It's marketed as decorative rock for succulent bowls and the like. It comes in smallish plastic box and I believe 2 of them would give good substrate depth in a nano tank (under 5 gallons). For anything between 5 and 10 of course you would need more boxes of the gravel.
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Hello from Calgary, Alberta (YYC - it's a thing.. that's our airport designation lol). I am so excited to find an ACTIVE aquarist's/hobbyist's forum. I have signed up for several, only to realize that the last post on the forum was at least 2 years old. So disappointing.
Brief version of my introduction for those who are not into text walls:
My name is Carrie and was gifted a 55 gallon aquarium for my birthday. Less than 2 months later I have that 55 with guppies, platies (fish in cycle because I didn't know there was a better way), super red bristle nose (purchased to keep algae down, these ones because they are super bright red, and only get to about 4 inches), Chinese algae eaters (because after the green algae was under control, some black beard started to grow on my driftwood), snails (because they came with all the Kijiji plants), super red neocaridina shrimp (because what's cooler in a home aquarium then shrimp?), and angelfish. I also have a 30 gallon with a single African red Jewel - and whatever snails survive his onslaughts when I toss some to him, the feeder minnow did not last long with him, and he enjoyed hunting it down, a 90 gallon with a breeding trio of convicts with their offspring of different sizes, some platinum parrot fish, some Sydontis petricola, a red tail shark - and two feeder minnows that have somehow escaped the notice of the big bad convicts, a 4.5 gallon with a male betta rescue and blue dream shrimp. Do you think I have been bitten by the multi tank bug? I also have an empty 30, 2 empty 10's and 2 empty 5's. My family is ready to revolt since we live in a smallish 2 bedroom basement suite lol.
Now that that's out of the way, here's the text wall - the "behind the scenes" version of the above information, along with some background info from when I tried fish keeping before.
Years ago - I refuse to tell anyone how many years ago - I had a 10 gallon tank with some guppies that just would not work. Despite regular maintenance and following all suggestions etc, I just could not keep fish alive to save, well, my life 😉. Suffice it to say that I gave up, tossed the tank - literally - tossed it into a BFI trash bin (BFI was the name of the waste management company for the city I lived in at the time). I was just plain disgusted and frustrated.
Several years after that I decided to try again. Guppies again. I had been enraptured with the idea of breeding my very own guppies. I had a 20 gallon tall tank and set it up. I experienced moderate success this time. I was able to keep my fish healthy, and they bred readily for me - however no matter what I did, the parents would eat them. All of them. No matter how carefully I provided hidey spots for the fry, the adults would inevitably find them and eat them. So, I again got rid of the tank - this time I gifted the whole kit and kaboodle to a local youth from the neighborhood.
Throughout the following years up till now I always dreamed of having a large tank - some day I will have an 800 gallon tank. I swear it! Cue the middle of November 2022 when my step son gifted me my 55 gallon start up set. It was on sale at my LFS - Pisces Exotica Pet Emporium. Great store, awesome products, etc. I digress.....
The tank came with the basics, very basics - a HOB filter, a heater, lids with lights - that's it.
I purchased a BOAT LOAD of planted tank substrates, mixing and matching - please don't ask what specific ones I put in, but I spent a metric butt ton of money!! (Wish I had known about your YouTube vids then Cory!) Then I went on a shopping spree on Kijiji for plants, driftwood, décor items, and surprising me the most - FISH!!!! I had NO idea you could purchase fish on Kijiji!! This has become both the best, and the worst thing ever for me! (LOL)
A lot of the tanks and décor items I have obtained have been tanks that are listed super cheap and have items already with them. Kijiji and Facebook Marketplace are both good (bad?) for this. I have obtained the 4.5 gallon to house the betta I rescued. The Betta was offered as an after thought when I purchased a 90 gallon with stand and substrate. The day after getting my 90 home, the guy messaged me and was like "you want a betta?". 🤭Do I want a free betta... DO I WANT A FREE BETTA???? My life will now not be complete until I have THAT BETTA!!! 🤪🤪 - enter the 4.5 gallon "undersea adventure" tank that was listed on - you guessed it - Facebook Marketplace. Everything that that kit comes with was inside it. Used, but cleaned up and repacked back into it's original packaging for ONLY 20$$😁. So I go pick up the 4.5 gallon, then make the 45 minute drive for my free Betta. The thought that occurred to me in that moment, only to be immediately dismissed, was "is it really a free betta if I'm spending money on gas to get there and back?" I think so. Of course it is... it's free!
My partner and I were looking over some ideas for stocking the 90, when what should appear on Kijiji you may ask? I'll tell you; 3 fully grown convict's and 25 of their fry ranging from about 1/4 to 1 inch for free. There are even some of the fry that are albino's. SCORE!!! Problem though, someone has already spoken for them and would be getting picked up the following Sunday. 😪I was sad panda for sure. What makes a person feel better more than another awesome fish for cheap? I had found some platinum parrotfish. After researching what I could about them - there's surprisingly not much information about them, at least where I was looking, because the searches almost always returned info about the Blood Parrot fish. I did find out that the platinum parrot's would only get to be about 4-5 inches. I was able to get 10 of them, with the thought that as they grew I could pick and choose my favorites and rehome them as they grew out. They were about the size of a dime. I pick up my awesome parrot fish - and who should message me but the convict guy. He messaged me to let me know that the person had not shown up to get them - did I still want them. Based on this story, what do you suppose I did? I looked up housing these two fish together, pro's/con's, how to do it safely, etc. then I got my handy dandy 5 gallon bucket and went for a drive, that's what I did!!! 😁 By this time, there was some algae growth on the 90's walls, and some hair algae that was on the very large lava rock I had purchased for 20$. I had soaked it and scrubbed it with vinegar, but I guess I missed some. I don't like using chemicals if possible so I looked up what kind of algae eating fish would work in this tank with these species and the Sydontis petricola catfish seemed like a good choice. I liked the look of them as well, which is always a bonus. Plus, my step son LOVES catfish. Sydontis cat's are (apparently) most comfortable in small schools of at least 3; enter the 6 Sydontis petricola catfish for 50$ (10$ each, buy 5 get the 6th one - yep, you guessed it - FREE). The day before we went to pick up the convicts, a lady on Kijiji had an African Jewel Cichlid offered for "free to a good home" as this guy was chasing and stressing all her other fish out. I'm not sure of the circumstances he was kept in, but I quickly set the 30 up for him with media from the 55 that had been running for almost 8 weeks. Other than one ammonia spike, quickly handled, he has been happy there and living life large on frozen blood worms, frozen mysis shrimp, Cichlid pellets, and the odd handful of snails (which seem to be his favorite?).
This is the story of MOST of my current aquatic room mates - all are mentioned but not all have all the details. 😉 The angels were a long time dream fish of my partners and I was able to get a group of 4 young black lace angels (the breeder said they were about a year to a year and a half old) for 20$ and a second group of 3 Philippine blue/pinnoy angels. They get to snack on the guppy/platy fry and keep my populations somewhat under control, and today I was able to get another of my partner's dream fish - the red tail shark (his(?) name is Sir Chum).
As of this moment, everyone is thriving. Absolutely zero fin nipping, for now. I am getting ready to start a daphnia culture, likely in one, or both of my 5 gallon tanks. I also will be trying my hand at hatching brine shrimp since I learned that these two live foods are the easiest to provide, and pack the largest protein punch for the fry and smaller fish.
Wish me luck with convincing my partner that the 3 55 gallon tanks for 30 dollars each, as well as the 55 gallon with stand for 50$, and the 90 gallon with stand for 100 that are all currently listed will fit in the bedroom on the back wall.
Also, please help! I'm addicted and don't know how to stop! LMAO
Nice to meet everyone and I look forward to learning, growing, and really creating some tranquil, relaxing views for myself. Also, sorry for the ramble. I'm just super stoked that I can finally get some of this out with people who may understand why I am so excited about my fish lol.
Catching/moving fish ... Does this get easier??!?
in General Discussion
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This is where I will be some day.... I just really started. I've made some newblet mistakes imo. For one example, too many of one species in a tank. I got 6 Siamese algae eaters in my 55 because "learned" they do best in groups of six and that 55gallons will be good for them. I saw one of them all alone at my LFS having been left behind as the last one individual. I felt bad for him and brought him home, bringing the total to 7 since he was of a similar size. I got the SIA's specifically because of black beard algae having "learned" that they are pretty much the only algae eater that will eat it. Problem was I already had a group of super red bristle nose plecos, again because I "learned" they do better in groups of at least 3. I like that they won't get big. Now I know a bit more and I have a 90 gallon that would benefit from some of them. I want to move 4 of them over there. In the 90 I have a metric butt ton of convicts that I want to get some of them out - can't catch those little beggars either. So much frustration lol. I am enjoying it though.
There are more issues I am learning about but for now, this is my biggest "problem". All my fish appear to be healthy and happy and I am counting the green hue in one, and a nice layer of milk building in another as huge successes for now. 😺
@beastieWhat is this bottle trap you speak of???👀