[Aquarium Bucketlist]

• Breed my hillstream loaches
• Set up a HUUUUGE discus tank
• Set up a brackish tank
• Hatch some killifish eggs
• Scale up my red cherry shrimp colony
• Move my favorite tank upstairs

[How did everyone find Aquarium Co-Op?]

A little over a year ago, I think I searched "planted tank for bettas" or something like that on YouTube and fell down the ACO rabbit hole. I tried out a bunch of Fishtube channels but Cory had the right vibes and I like his business ethic and transparency.

[Greenhouse]

I've never done this but it seems like a cool idea and I'm intrigued. What's the climate like where you live?

[White fungus? on neocaridinia shrimp heads]

The treatment seems to be working!

5 gal quarantine tank (symptomatic individuals) - 1 tablespoon Fritz aquarium salt and 1/2 teaspoon of Ich-X at 75F

20 gal tank - 2 teaspoons of Ich-X at 78F

The number of organisms that had colonized the glass of the 20L have been reduced to just a few spots. Only a couple of the QT shrimps still have parasites on their heads. There have been 4 deaths so far, but that is out of hundreds of individuals so I am very pleased. Copernicus (betta splendens) is doing just fine.

I'm glad I had the meds on hand (shout out to Cory). Big thanks to everybody on this thread. 🙂 I'll continue to post updates.

[White fungus? on neocaridinia shrimp heads]

I just went down to dose and now it has colonized all over the sides of the glass😔 It wasn't like that earlier today, so whatever this is seems to spread quickly and doesn't need to be on an animal. My plan right now is to treat the 20L tank with just Ich-X and the quarantine tank with salt + Ich-X. I also removed all the oak leaves. It might be too late to make a difference, but I figure it can't hurt.

I was also thinking of taking the 20L temperature down to 78F. Would you? My betta is my favorite fish and these shrimps are all culls, so I don't want to lower it too much. I think I'll take the quarantine tank down to that 72-74 range you mentioned. I keep my breeding colonies at ~74 and haven't noticed any of them affected. Thanks again for your help. I have been scouring the internet and not having much luck.

[White fungus? on neocaridinia shrimp heads]

These are neos but I can see why you thought they were caridina based on that photo. I have never owned caridinas and I think they would die in my water parameters -- I am in a region of the US with extremely hard water.

Tank: 20 gal long, gravel substrate with some crushed coral, planted with anacharis, water lettuce, guppy grass, java moss, salvinia, duckweed and Brazilian pennywort. Some of the plants are in terra cotta pots with Fluval stratum. I recently added some pin oak leaves from my yard, where I do not use any fertilizers or pesticides. Water temp is 80 F, I realize that this is a bit hot for neos. Surprisingly, they are breeding pretty prolifically in this tank. There is a photo higher up in the thread of parameters on an ACO test strip. Definitely possible that the oak leaves brought in a contaminant, they fell in a fenced in yard away from the roadway but I do have a dog.

I think I will treat with salt + Ich-X and see where that gets me. I really appreciate you helping me troubleshoot!

[White fungus? on neocaridinia shrimp heads]

To me, they look a bit like these fungal vesicles. This is from a Texas A&M handbook of shrimp diseases PDF I found through NOAA https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/36212/noaa_36212_DS1.pdf

[White fungus? on neocaridinia shrimp heads]

Yes, that is it. It has appeared on a handful of adults and 1 juvenile so far and always on that same area of the body.

[White fungus? on neocaridinia shrimp heads]

Thanks for the photos, I think scutariella japonica can be ruled out. Here is a sharper/closer photo. I really need to get a macro lens for my phone.

[White fungus? on neocaridinia shrimp heads]

@Colu @Shadow @Chick-In-Of-TheSea

I was finally able to get a photo:

[White fungus? on neocaridinia shrimp heads]

Hi all,

I just noticed some sort of fungus(?) on the heads of some of my adult neos. I will try to get a picture, but it sort of looks like a pale whitish color in the shape of little ginkgo leaves. These are all cull shrimps but I would still like to save them if possible.

Tank: 20 gal long, gravel substrate with some crushed coral, planted with anacharis, water lettuce, guppy grass, salvinia, duckweed and Brazilian pennywort. Some of the plants are in terra cotta pots with Fluval stratum. I recently added some pin oak leaves from my yard, where I do not use any fertilizers or pesticides. Water temp is 80 F. This tank has my aging Betta splendens so I have set up a 5.5 gal, bare bottom hospital tank using tank water for the sick shrimps. Parameters are in the photo below.

The meds/additives I have on hand are:

-Fritz aquarium salt
-Maracyn
-Paracleanse
-Ich-X
-Tetra Lifeguard
-SeaChem Stress Guard

If anyone has advice or could point me to a thread that might help, I would greatly appreciate it. Please let me know if additional information would be helpful.

[Corydoras melini eggs]

4ish weeks old. I turned them loose a couple of days ago and finally caught one up close to the glass this morning! 

[Corydoras melini eggs]

I was concerned that my honey gourami would eat the babies, but that was probably an overblown fear. I think I will just leave future eggs. I noticed panda cory fry pop up in another tank, so the corys don't seem to need much from me. 

A young shrimp did sneak into the breeder net and live with the false bandit fry for a few weeks. I looked at that little nipper so many times, I think I could pick him out of a lineup haha.

[Corydoras melini eggs]

6/8/23 - a 3-4 week old false bandit fry

[Corydoras melini eggs]

Fry update. There are 5-6 fry this size. A decent number of the eggs were infertile (I think I pulled them too soon) or grew fungus. 

[Corydoras melini eggs]

I've pulled about 30 eggs total. This is nerve-wracking.

I think the eggs look like they are developing normally but I would appreciate any insight. This tank runs around 73-74F, pH 6.5.

[Reticulated hillstream loach (Sewellia lineolata) journal]

I also brought the temperature down to 70F. I am thinking about going unheated. The basement gets down to 63F at night and stays around 68F in the day.

Feeding:
Repashy soilent green - main staple
Frozen bloodworms, baby brine shrimp, mysis shrimp
Freeze dried daphnia (I like how this floats around and settles all over)
Hikari sinking wafers for bottom feeders

[Reticulated hillstream loach (Sewellia lineolata) journal]

Oooh, thank you for the recommendation. I didn't realize she had so much content on these! I have watched her videos before and got a lot out of them.

[Reticulated hillstream loach (Sewellia lineolata) journal]

4/24/2023

This pair has lost a lot of their shyness! They seem to appreciate lower light levels. I do a point source of light on one end of the tank to create a lighting gradient. The main river rock pile area (far side of the tank from this end) is pretty dim.

[Reticulated hillstream loach (Sewellia lineolata) journal]

4/8/23 

Just finished a round of ParaCleanse. They had some sort of external parasites (skin flukes?) and a small sore developing on her underside from rubbing. Looking much better.

[Reticulated hillstream loach (Sewellia lineolata) journal]

Pictures from today, 3/28/23. Reticulated hillstream loaches continue to grow and color up nicely.

[Reticulated hillstream loach (Sewellia lineolata) journal]

So far, so good. They seem to really go for baby brine shrimp, bloodworms, tubifex worms, and Hikari sinking wafers. I have some Repashy soilent green coming in this week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I would be thrilled if they bred eventually (assuming I have even sexed them correctly, lol)

[Reticulated hillstream loach (Sewellia lineolata) journal]

3/10/2023

• 2 reticulated hillstream loaches (Sewellia lineolata) from Aqua Huna
• 10 gal quarantine/grow out tank
• Dosed with med trio 
• Temp - 74°
• pH - 7.4
• GH - 200 ppm
• KH - 100 ppm
• 12 hour day/night cycle
• Plants - anubias, java ferns, java moss, guppy grass, hornwort, duckweed. Mixture of emersed and submersed plants
• Mixed substrate - soil, leaf litter, gravel, river stones (just experimenting. I use a variety of substrates)
• HOB filter (hot rodded for better filtration and faster flow)
• Aquarium Co-op nano sponge filter

 

 

 

Photo 1: Looks like a possible M/F pair? Each individual is ~4 cm in total length. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo 2: Rock caves with smooth, "seasoned" stones pulled from another aquarium. These river rocks already had a nice layer of algae and biofilm going.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Please let me know if you have any questions or insights based on your own experiences keeping this species.

 

Thanks! 🌻

[Have you ever had dreams or nightmares about fish tanks?]

I just searched for this topic because I had a fish nightmare last night. An arowana ate my betta!

I have never even had an arowana.

[A Tale of Two Tanks: Miska's Journal]

On 3/9/2023 at 8:15 PM, Miska said:

Okay I am going to buy two and put them both in the 36 for now to watch them. Then I am going to move one to the 20 when it is done.

My Aqua Huna hillstream loaches are out for delivery as we speak. I will start a journal this weekend of how they do though quarantine and med trio.