Cheryl P.

Thanks everyone! I have a rack of 40 breeders and a rack of 20 longs that I'd love to have some kind of ivy to grow down and around. We might give pothos a try and see how it goes. That polka dot plant is amazing looking! I do have a spider plant growing in a tank that the kitties have no access to. I really want to get vines growing up the light though.

My husband and I did a small wedding at our house. I'm an introvert and the thought of being the "star" of the show really stressed me out. We invited close family and friends, about 25 if I remember correctly, mostly from my side as my husband has a very small family. It was just us, nothing fancy. No bridesmaids or groomsmen (besides our dog Nugget who insisted on being a part). We had a non-religious ceremony at our house and went out to dinner afterward. Then we went on a 3 week honeymoon to the Mediterranean. For us, having a really nice vacation was so much more important than the ceremony! It's really important to do what you and your husband feel comfortable with. I really hope you guys can come up with a solution without too much drama! 😊

I'm wondering if anyone has a recommendation for an ivy-like plant to grow out of an aquarium that is non-toxic to cats and dogs. I love the look of pothos but have some leaf munching fuzzbutts in the house and I'd rather not take the chance. I'm not much of a plant person. I usually forget to water them but growing out of a tank should help that 😆

I love these guys so much. I call the fans Jazz Hands. 🤣

Welcome! I can't think of a better place for a new aquarist to hang out 🙂

@IanB Those tanks are beautiful! I wish I could do open top tanks. I have a too curious cat that likes to play in tank water 😏

Wow! That looks great. Good luck getting some fry to raise!

Thanks for the update! I'm looking to start an infusoria culture soon because I want to start breeding tetras. It's always nice to see the different ways people do it!

I am thinking of just buying some RO water from one of my local fish stores. It goes for about $1.50 a gallon around here. Since I'm really only going to be playing with small containers at first I figured I'd get like 5 gallons of it to start. That way I don't have to install a unit yet if I don't need it long term. It's nice to see you have eggs already! Good luck with them!

I normally use flat black acrylic paint. I tried using a light blue/green color and the algae really stood out. I've been repainting those tanks when it's convenient. I do have one tank with a Universal Rocks background that was a total pain to install.

Yup, we've done that before. I like to use a couple of good coats of polyurethane inside and out to protect it. Works great!

Oh man, that sucks! I feel your pain. I told my husband if we're ever get out to Seattle again, going to visit Murphy is priority #1.

I've tried painting lighter colors but they always end up showing algae. Most of those tanks I've repainted black because the algae gets on my nerves. If algae is not a problem for you, I'd say go with a nice blue.

I looked all over for an alternative to Universal Rocks about a year and a half ago and didn't find any good sources. I ended up buying a UR background for my 220 gallon. It was very expensive and was a super pain in the butt to install. The tank is acrylic so I couldn't use their clips and silicone just doesn't stick to acrylic well so I really had to get creative to get it to stay up. I wanted it to be removable since I ran airline hoses and heater cords behind it. I probably wouldn't order from them again. Too expensive and too much effort. A smaller, glass tank that you can use the clips with might be a different experience though. I would really love to find an alternative as well!

Wow, I love the way you painted the background! I usually just do plain black but I think I'm going to have to try this.

Thanks, good to know. It looks like they are flexible then!

Most of them turned white a day or so after spawning. Last night (day 2) there were a handful good looking eggs but this morning there were only a few white ones left that the parents were still fanning. Unless I'm mistaken, aren't white eggs infertile?

I'm relatively new to breeding and I have questions! I bought 2 red spot gold severums as babies and just happened to end up with a male and female that have paired off. They have spawned twice in their own tank but it appears the eggs are infertile and they just end up eating them after a couple of days. I was reading different posts on breeding them and there was a couple of mentions that a lot of gold severums are infertile but the posts are 10+ years old so I'm not sure if the info is accurate. I'm wondering if anyone has experience breeding these guys to know if this is true. I do realize that they are a young couple and just might not be doing things right yet too. I'll let them do their thing a few more times to see if they are eventually successful.

Wow, thanks for the ideas! I'm just starting to dip my toe into breeding for my local club's BAP so these ideas are great!

I'm really interested in seeing your results. I've got some well established neons that I'm considering breeding the same way. KFS made it look rather simple! 😁

I'll strain using a brine shrimp net to get the stragglers when I'm emptying out the Ziss to set it up for a new batch. No rinsing. I don't strain or rinse the majority that gather at the bottom.

I'm pretty sure african butterfly fish like softer water. I've been considering them for my 220 gal south american cichlid tank so I've been doing some research on them.

I've had this guy for about a month. I noticed yesterday that he looked a little "rough" but I couldn't quite put a finger on why. This morning he didn't come out for food like normal. For the most part he's swimming fine but I saw him doing a barrel roll/corkscrew move a couple of times. It looks like his eyes are a little sunken in? He was in a 220 gallon tank with 6 silver dollars, 2 gold severums, 1 angel fish, 1 chocolate cichlid, 3 electric blue acaras, and a common pleco. Everyone else is swimming fine and looks ok. I tested the water and had 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and 25 nitrates. I put him in the glass to take pictures and transfer him to a 10 gallon hospital tank upstairs. I put 4 tbs of marine salt in the 10 gallon. Any suggestions what is going on and how I should treat it?

We were thinking maybe ratchet strapping it together as tight as possible and using an epoxy like J-B Weld to bond it back together. *sigh* We've already purchased everything to get the tank up and running, we were just waiting for the man power to move it into place. So frustrating!

We bought this 220 gallon tank used a while ago and just noticed that one of the rear bottom corners has a cracked rim. It's obvious someone tried to silicone it at some point. The tank has been sitting in our garage full of water for the past month and a half or so and hasn't leaked. We're having over friends to help us move it tomorrow and just noticed this. Is it just cosmetic or should we be seriously concerned about the crack? My husband thought maybe could run a metal strap around the bottom to help hold it together? Is it worth trying? I'd rather not have a 220 gallon disaster on my hands!