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Maggie

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Everything posted by Maggie

  1. Maggie
    Hi Ginger, I lived with well water for a long time. Is it possible your county or state water department might test your water for you? They might be able to do several tests on that list for a lower price.
  2. Maggie
    Thanks, Daniel! I saw the pics of Jessica's discus tank and it's gorgeous! Those fish are way out of my league in both size and difficulty but I think they are some of the most beautiful and graceful fish in the world. I currently have 11 danio erythromicron (dwarf emerald rasbora) in quarantine, and just finished fishless cycling in my 45-gal - what a process that was!! But I've decided the danios are way too small for the 45 (can't even count them all in their tiny 5-gal quarantine tank!) and they hang out toward the bottom of the tank and I feel like I'd never see them in a big tank. So i have a 10 gal set up but not cycled - going to do the fish-in cycling with that tank, since I've been doing really well with the q tank which is like half-way cycled itself! In the 45, I want about 12 or so harlequin rasboras, 6 cory cats and 2-3 pearl gouramis.
  3. Maggie
    Not a pet peeve, but it's been confusing for a new aquarist with the many vastly different opinions. There seem to be many ways of doing something right, and many opinions telling us that's wrong, do it this way (not on here but elsewhere). I don't want my fish to die because I made a stupid mistake or listened to bad advice. To me they are not livestock, but pets.
  4. Maggie
    Welcome! Pretty fish!
  5. Maggie
    My new "professional" (i.e. adjustable) heater came in today so that's in the quarantine tank now. My danio erythromicron like it in the cooler range of 70-75, and I needed a new heater for my new 10-gal anyway, so why not one that will do double-duty - make them happy and save money on electric bills by not heating it that extra few unnecessary degrees for half the year with a preset heater. Though it costs more up front, I think in the long run it is worth it. I like to turn the house heat way down at night in the winter, and dont turn it way up in the daytime either - like 62 at night and 66 in the day.
  6. Maggie
    I'm somewhat of a documentation junkie. It might have something to do with my prior legal career. But I've stressed and fretted over what to use to document the condition my two tanks (yeah, MTS struck early) and their occupants. I bought a spiral calendar, but you only get so much room per day. It worked while fishless cycling my 45, as there was nothing to document but the test result and how many drops of NH4Cl solution were added. I have a tablet of graph paper, but not sure that's going to work either. I don't want to do it on the computer because I am trying to get off the computer as much as possible. I presume just a simple spiral notebook will work best. I want to document notes, "how to" tips, etc., as well as water parameters and fish health/activities, etc. Im going to dive into all the responses and see what might work for me!
  7. Maggie
    Hi Cory! I love all my new coop products! They are danio erythromicron.
  8. Maggie
    I have 11 juvenile danio erythromicron (dwarf emerald rasboras) currently in quarantine and planning on matching them up with some yellow shrimp in a 10-gal. I've read that their max size is 1" and they are very shy so do well as a single species or with peaceful shrimp and snails. So maybe 6 or 8 of them in your tank, and a couple of interesting snails...?
  9. Maggie
    In September I ordered a clear 10-gal plastic tub to use as a quarantine tank (saw the coop's YT video on that) But since the tub was backordered, I bought a 5-gal mini-bow kit to use as a q-tank. Once I get the tub in and buy a filter, etc., I might turn that mini-bow into a second shrimp tank.
  10. Maggie
    Please post pics when you have them in there - seems like it's going to be gorgeous with 100 or so tetras!!
  11. Maggie
    I don't exactly remember the "spark", but have wondered over the past year what kind of hobby would be fun and sustainable (interest-wise as well as financially). So in early September just before I retired from a long career in the legal field, I started looking at fish and aquariums and suddenly got very interested. Maybe I saw an ad for something while perusing a pet supply company for dog food, or on tv, that was a spark at that moment when I was wondering "what am I gonna do with all this free time I will soon have?" I love math and science so the chemistry aspect is fascinating. I like biology in the sense of an ecosystem, not so much on the nitty-gritty details of individual life forms. I did a lot of reading before buying my aquarium. The more I looked at things, the more interested I became. The hardest part for me is the plants, but I feel they're necessary for the health and happiness of the fish that I want. I am happy to have found this forum.
  12. Maggie
    There's an article in thesprucepets.com regarding keeping your aquarium insulated for power outtages that seems could apply to your situation. In a nutshell, cover aquarium (but NOT the top - will suffocate fish, nor any electrical/battery operated equipment - could overheat and cause fire or damage) with towels, blankets or cardboard. Place thermometer where you can read it without moving the insulation. If necessary, use hot water bottles MAX TEMP 100-120 and monitor closely. However, it seems like an aquarium heater might be better for the fish as well as reducing your time and frustration (and not being able to see them when they're covered) trying to keep it at a stable temp.
  13. Maggie
    I have a group of 11 and they are really starting to show age differences. A group of 4 or 6 (I cannot count them bc they move too fast and hide) are now obviously older than the others. Just wondering how long it takes for them to mature. I got them last week and the oldest ones barely had the reddish hue on their gill covers. Now they're getting an obvious golden-pinkish hue all over. But the littlest ones are still grayish. Here is one from today versus almost the whole group last week. Sorry about cell phone pics. My regular camera has trouble focusing with the extreme closeups. (Any photography tips welcome - I have a Nikon Coolpix B500). They're getting a little bolder when I sit farther away from them. Exploring more of tank, chasing each other. I can't wait until I can move them out of quarantine!
  14. Maggie
    Almost finished planting and decorating my 10-gal in preparation of moving the new babies from the quarantine tank, and getting some yellow dwarf shrimp. Have a couple plants on order still, and have a coop sponge filter on order too. I love the shrimp cave! I'm too cheap to pay for just a shrimp dish plus shipping so am temporarily going to use the top of a nik nak dish, until I can make a trip to get something more suitable (ceramic pot saucer or something). Im also using a plastic tub top until my glass top comes in.
  15. Maggie
    I've had a rough time with my plants, too. Same thing with them popping out before they take hold, and several rookie mistakes. I'm waiting for some dwarf hair grass for my new 10 gal, and watched a video of a guy who separated each individual piece of grass and used aquarium tweezers to plant them individually, all over his tank. I wish i were so talented.
  16. Maggie
    In the past, I had a betta and a small algea eater. I re-homed them to a friend after 2 years. Currently, dwarf emerald rasboras are about 5-6 weeks old(???) Group pic is from 10/18 and solo pic from yesterday.
  17. Maggie
    I lived in a house built in the 1930s that still had the original glass windows. You could see the warped "drip marks" in the glass from decades of sun exposure and heat/cold cycles.
  18. Maggie
    Also consider the depth and how hard or easy it will be to do maintenance. I got an aqueon 45-gal which is a good size aesthetically (36x12x24), but at 24" deep it is hard to reach the bottom. I have to stand on a ladder and can only use one hand, as the other hand has to hold the wall since I end up in a precarious position leaning over the tank. Using the giant vacuum is a real PIA, too. I kinda wish I had gone with a max 18" deep tank. At my age I know I will need to keep up with balance exercises, but that I suppose is part of the emotional therapy this project provides.
  19. Maggie
    While assembling/ordering the products for hatching your own brine shrimp (if that's your plan), may I suggest Ocean Nutrition instant baby brine shrimp, available on Aquarium Coop's website. My juvenile danio erythromicron go NUTS over it (but I have to watch from afar or they hide).
  20. Maggie
    Welcome! Nice pics of your fishy and non-fishy kids, especially your feral cat! My daughter fed a semi-feral cat one spring, summer and fall. She named him Peter and over time he allowed her to pet him. When winter came (northern US), Peter decided he didn't really want to be feral anymore.
  21. Maggie
    I am looking forward to watching that happen! Note the coop brand sponge filter!
  22. Maggie
    Day five. I lost one baby on Monday for unknown reasons, and now have eleven remaining in quarantine. The lost one stayed off to himself when I brought them home and didn't hang with the gang much, so I think he was too stressed out. There was nothing on his body that I could see wrong. They're extremely shy and do not like being watched. I put a pile of java moss in there after the one death. None of them have any physical signs of illness. They love the moss and hide in there. They all appear healthy and are eating - its hard to watch them actually eat bc they dart back and forth and get very active at feeding, and there are lots of little black dots in the tank afterward! Plus they've grown a bit tho the view into the mini-bow is very distorted. I feed them 4x day and clean up with a turkey baster. Feeding live baby brine shrimp and powdered (by hand) flakes and freeze dried blood worms. Once or twice I've seen them nip at the larger pieces, but they haven't quite got the hang of that yet. I got a 10-gal for them because I decided they'd do best in a smaller tank with just some shrimp and snails and lots of plants, in my spare bedroom where it's quiet. I was thinking about getting a shrimp tank anyway. Plus they're so tiny I think I would completely lose them in my 45. I wish I knew how old they are. They appear to be about 3/4 grown lengthwise but need a lot of filling out. Caught this one cruising by and he/she didn't see me! Sorry about the cell phone pic quality.
  23. Maggie
    Kat, I have a question. Can you explain "buffering capacity"? My water pH drops significantly from the tap (about 7) to aging (6.8) to in the tank (no occupants yet except plants and hitchhiker snails) with driftwood (6.4) and I checked again and it's now fallen to 6.2. The driftwood leached a little color when soaking, but has not discolored my tank so far. My gH and kH are both ~89.5 ppm from the tap. Will Wonder Shells work to help keep pH closer to 7, and how do they work? Thanks!
  24. Maggie
    Kat, your explanation fo GH and KH in this post has helped me understand what they mean, and I don't have a water softener bc my water is already soft. Thank you!!
  25. Maggie
    Hi David! Welcome! Your tank is lovely. I just bought my second tank. I decided to keep my new baby dwarf emerald rasboras (currently in quarantine in a 5-gal mini bow) in the 10 gal instead of the 45-gal as I'm afraid they'll disappear from view and have trouble finding the food because they're so tiny! Also going to get some dwarf shrimp. Not sure how many tanks I can handle as my water changing has to be done by hand right now.
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