ktk4beees

Definitely not a community member for an aquarium and they get big so 55 gallon or larger. Other bottom feeders will become lunch. I am on my second one in 6 years and both have only been with very large goldfish and a gold Pleco. This one loves his Escargot so I dump in problem Ramshorns regularly. Although it is now where close to Aquascaping, I built him a large opened driftwood area that he uses as a jungle gym. I also have the tank flow moving though his area because he loves the flow. They will eat almost every plant you try to put in but then so do the goldfish, large Java fern lasts the longest. I built the structure so I can see him on occasion and the new one knows when I come to the tank now it is to feed him not to eat him so he no longer hides. Still cannot get him on camera but this is a picture of the original as a juvenile. I grow dwarf hair grass for him and put in patches for him to eat and play with which are gone in about 2 days.

No Stockings on this tank but plenty of Nerites in the tank. Its a 20 long with an under gravel and han on the backs. Also no fish, only 1 and her or she is a Blue Pleco. This tank is all Sapphire Shrimp and a variety of snails. Mystery and Nerite on purpose and then a host of hitch hikers alias Ramshorns. If it is not some dangerous fungi, I wont worry. Nerites I thought would not breed in fresh water. My water is hard no question but far from brackish. If they hatch, Great! Love the Nerites.

Can anyone help identify the white spots that I am getting on some of my driftwood. At first I thought they might be snail related (like eggs) now I am not sure. I would like to know if I need to worry about them or if they are just plain polka dots. If I do need to worry about them how do I get them to disappear.

I like Country music just fine but it can be depressing at times. So when I am happy and just want to bounce around cleaning fish tanks I listen to the classics I grew up with besides what is more appropriate than Morrison's Cleaning windows!

Fish make me happy

I am looking into that myself right now. The good thing about the one I bought is it offers water prior to going through the last step and taking everything to 0. That way it can provide both Human and Dog mineralized water with the 'right' goddies in it for us land based air breathers and the 0 water level after the last step so you can custom mineralize it to you specific fish needs. As for the how? That I am working on and, as far as I have gotten in the process, I can see that it may be different depending on the species you intend to keep in you aquarium. At lease you will not need to have to deal with city water chlorine.

Yes with some varieties the also come in brown and white and be on the gray side if they are stressed out. Happy Black and White do indeed look like that one. They are better in a group of minimum of 3 but the bigger the better. Lots of room to move and better in an established tank with lots to eat.

Not being aquarium oriented folks here in Challis ID, the one they sent to me will not work at all so I sent them a water sample to test to see it removes the bad stuff for drinking water but here is the one I went with. LiquaGen 6 Stage Dual Portable (Alkaline + Deionized) Reverse Osmosis Water System (RODI) w/pH Alkaline Mineral Restoration Filter It will filter out the baddies for me and the dog and will get the water to 0 TDS for my fish and shrimp. Now I just have to figure out how to remineralize it properly for all my hard water species and for the ones that want it on the other end of the scale. I never got that deep into Chemistry but there is always time to learn new things. Luckily I got it on a great sale right from the site and not through Amazon or E-Bay. I will be able to set it up in the shower I do not use and two of my tanks that will need the softer water are right next to that room so it will make water changes easier.

You have to go through the same testing lab that the city does so when I started asking questions, it got back to the local BLM officials and the US Geological Unit. They want to know what was fractured during the drilling of the well and see all my paperwork. I was also on top of it at the time of putting in the well and got some core samples the drilling company dredged up. All of it is in their hands now and I am waiting to hear what they find. I have a legal permit for the depth they drilled so I am in the clear but inquiring minds wanted to know everything around here so I was happy to comply. Idaho is probably the tightest state on environmental things I have ever seen. There is a lot of thing we cannot ship into the state (ie potatoes, onions and even some aquarium plants). I still love it here and would not trade it for anything.

I am 15 miles outside of the actual city and on the other side of the river from them. This was an awesome idea though and I really appreciate it. Sure enough the city itself has to test quarterly and post their results. These results give me a hit list of what to test for. The some of the rest of what is in my water shows up on the glass, lights and lids of tanks. I have to scrape it off with a razor blade. Calcium. Which, no wonder I have some of the healthiest snails you ever have seen and the shrimp are all happily shucking shells with no deaths. So that is not a bad thing but some of the things they mentioned that are in the city water are scary and will have to go. 2 days ago when I first started this mess, the city gave me a personal RO that just hooks up to the sink and produces a gallon about every 5 minutes. I just had to pay for the shipping of it. Then I got a call today and was told they will help with the cost of a full system and help with the install when it comes. I looked at the one they want to point me to and it is not bad at all and thankfully within my limited budget. In the mean time, the local grocer has set aside 4 cases of distilled water for me and my helper is picking them up so, water changes will be happening in at least 2 of the tanks I am concerned about. I helps to live in a very small community!

I am about to set up a new tank as soon as I get my water situation under control. A 20 gallon long with a UGF and a hang on back canister filter with spray bar or dual flow. Not sure which flow I want yet. That will depend on which fish I can handle with my water issues.

I have a layer of smooth black gravel then a layer of Florite Black Sand on top to create a "real" substrate for all the bacteria over and above what is under the UDF. I have a colony of Pumpkin Shrimp, Blue Black Half Moon Dumbo Eared guppies (such a big name of a small fish), a dwarf Pleco and a host of snails contributing to the Beast on top right now. They seem to enjoy their home and I got that tank to 167 TDS with a PH of 7.2 for the time being. Also the hang on back filter and a bubblier help with the water movement when the tank is not cycling. Then there is a lot of water movement as the cycle drains about 1/4 of the tank when running. There is a warning sound when the pump is about to go into operation and it is interesting to see even the snails head to the bottom or at least lower in the tank when it sounds. It is quiet enough I do not notice it anymore unless I am working on the tank or plant.

Fair enough. Neither do I which is the crux of my dilemma right now. Wanted to try something new and opened Pandora's box with this one. Now seeing if I can get the lid closed without going into the poor house.

I know you have your system in place already but I would like you comments on this one if possible. I need something that is healthy for of course the fish but also my service dog and me. I also want to get out of the 363 TDS range and I saw the warning on yours and wondered how you are dealing with it. Now I know. That wont work for me unfortunately since I am A. disabled, B. Freezing temps in winter both of which make just hooking it to a hose for water for water changes impossible. https://nuaquasystems.com/products/nu-aqua-platinum-series-7-stage-alkaline-and-uv-ultraviolet-100gpd-ro-system I just don't know if this is the right one to go with.

I just scored 3 panda loaches from Aquatic arts if anyone is looking for them they just got then in. Get them before they swim out the door! Safe with Dwarf Shrimp, need a 20 gallon long minimum, but would not try them with anything with a big mouth to eat them (ie Oscars).

Location of the well and the fact that the government is involved in everything here in central Idaho. Drill a new well, government is involved with permits and such. Then they did the original water tests, such as they were, and declared the water drinkable. If I knew then what I know now, I would have had them do further testing. A true missed opportunity. I posted further down in the posts regarding the location factor. I put up the red flag so to speak when I started requesting further water test on my dime and gave facts about TDS to them.

UGFs have their beneficial uses and as far as I can tell are really no different than a deep substrate bed just different. I started my aquarium career with hydroponic aquariums. In other words, an ecosystem with the fish supplying the nutrients for the overhead plants to thrive. I live in a fairly remote Mountain Valley right at the 45th parallel. It gets cold here quick and some plants require longer to produce than we have weather to support them. So, I went to growing some things indoors. We are also really dry here with low humidity so the indoor idea was born of needing to up the humidity in my environment also. The way it works is there is just a basic pump sitting on top of the UGF. it takes water and nutrients from the UGF to the plant or plants sitting in a deep container over the tank. Sort of like a sump in reverse. I will put a picture of my 2 year old tomato that is still producing. The water goes up and the porous rock holds the plants roots and washes the water then returns the water to the tank. Works for me really well and in that tank I never have algae issues. I have had a variety of fish in the tank over the years, all got too big and had to be moved to other tanks so that tells me the environment in the tank is healthy.

Thank You and I will definitely look into it further. It does not say if it can handle a well but that does not mean it cannot so I will have to call them and ask. Are you on well water? Also we get far to cold (-35 is not uncommon during winter) here to do this outside so I will have to figure out a way to connect it to something inside to keep it from freezing. I have a Cullegan "pre" filter on the well itself now that gets rid of the big stuff like sediment and the pipes to the house are all PVC so no rust and such. My thinking, since both me and the fish have not died from it, is that it mostly calcium but that is a guess. They went through limestone drilling the well and it is down 165 feet so very little from the surface. There is a river less than a mile from my land that runs through the valley also so it is moving most contaminants down river constantly. However it is only 170 miles as the crow files from Yellowstone and the infamous Caldera so there is plenty of ground movement here and behind me is a hot spring. All these factors are why people are interested in what I drilled into when I had to put a new well in. The old well (1970 vintage) was 85 feet and collapsed when we had a decent sized earthquake. Still my immediate need is to fix it for both me and my animals. I have never used Craig's list to date, mostly out of fear of getting ripped off. But, maybe this will be a first and I will get lucky.

I am really new to doing things like this so, if I make a mistake please be kind and just educate me. My biggest obstetrical to fish keeping is WATER. I never thought about it before till I discovered information on YouTube. Boy was that an adventure! You could say I came down with "too much information itis". Then I got a TDS Meter and the shock of my life. Now all my fish and shrimp are alive and well. No big issues other than algae. My tap water comes out at 363 pretty consistently with a PH as 7.9 to 8. The water was professionally tested so no bacteria, nitrates, nitrites, ammonia, copper, pesticides so, I thought I was good to go. Now I have a bunch of governmental official types concerned but it will still cost me $3000 to find out what make out the 363 number other than the wet stuff. I am working on saving up for an RODI system but finding one for a well is also an adventure. If anyone has some "useful" knowledge in this area I would appreciate it.