Tony s

High ammonia or nitrites. and you can do huge water changes. Upwards of 75%. African cichlid keepers often do this. As long as the temperature difference is not too great. But a 50% works just fine usually. Sometimes the only way out of a jam is a huge water change. As long as you’re careful it’s okay

Right. I agree and always advocate using the water you have. But sometimes we find ourselves really liking something outside of our parameters. Whether it’s South America or African or in this case, mystery snails 😁 and we adjust. now, me, I have hard water. Which is fine. But I have high iron and iron bacteria in the well. I’m stuck using ro and remineralizing everything. Which is why I advocate the other way.

@doktor zhivago she’s adjusting for the mystery snails. So any water change reverses her adjustment.

Your ph gh kh may dip for a bit because you’re adjusting your water to accommodate your snails. Over a few days to a few weeks, that shouldn’t be an issue either. It’s not permanent. And you have some time..you could test your ph every time, and redose your baking soda? To match the old ph.

Na. It’s actually very helpful. Clears any ambiguity. The solution here is just water changes. Probably close to 50 percent. And use prime afterwards. Just keep constantly monitoring it. And when you see any issues. Do a water change. You can also add in a bit of bacteria. That could help. It’s definitely not going to hurt. it may try to get worse and crash but since you’d be monitoring, it can’t. Eventually it will stabilize. It may just be increased bioload causing the issue. And the sponge needs a chance to catch up. Not a big deal.

unfortunately, i often do the same. but so far i don't have any expensive fish. and have been very lucky. only had ich once and columnaris once. But I realyy do enjoy both Jason and John. Having went so far as to subscribe to Jason's channel

I agree with the 10. been listening to this for a couple months now. they do a really good job explaining the basics. And I like their vibe and they're often humorous at the same time. But... a whole hour on quarantine. funny, but very possible overkill

hornwort likes a decent amount of nitrates. it actually can starve and deteriorate without it. when it does, it sheds those little needles like an old christmas tree. and makes a good mess. other than that, relatively bullet proof

I believe the coop sponge scrubbers are the same material as Mr. Clean magic erasers, unscented. (I could be wrong). and you can get those in bulk for relatively cheap.

Yeah I missed this the first time. I’d get them out of there until the situation has resolved. Even a bowl or pitcher with clean water would keep them alive for now And some of the others think their water is normal also. I have the ph 8. But have iron in the well. So am stuck using ro water and remineralizing everything.

That all depends on what part of the country you’re from. Ph around 6 is perfectly normal for parts of the east coast. Pacific Northwest. And gulf coast. And they can do things with fish that we cannot. There are a lot of South American fish that come from very low ph water.

And you’re taking water straight from the tap and not aging it, right. what kind of substrate? I have 3 tanks with the colored gravel still. And am not having these issues. I think we’ve covered most of this about 6 times now. you use api master test. I’m wondering if getting some coop ammonia tests would help get us a backup number

I would change water by half and get the ammonia down to 2. More than that can be toxic to plants even. If your plants or substrate dried out before installing in a new tank it died on you. It sound like you are barely starting a cycle at this point. Although you do have some nitrates. If you’re dosing ammonia, you could be using too much. I would try to get the ammonia down to 2 and see how many days it takes to clear. Without adding any more. If you’re cycled it shouldn’t take long. Hopefully by lowering the ammonia, your anubias starts to perk up. Above 2 may even stall or stop your cycle

Actually, this is a really common way to heat fish rooms. Especially for people with a ton of tanks. Imagine the heating costs of running 20 plus tanks. Usually it’s done with on a by room basis though. But in the summer I do keep my house around 78 degrees with ceiling fans. I’m usually outside though. And when I do come in I freeze if the temperature is set too low. Set at 76 right now.

You can keep females in a tank together. Called a sorority. There are a couple of ways to do it. One takes a large tank and a ton of females. Almost 1 per every gallon and a half. And lots of tall plants or site breaks. The idea is to overwhelm the betta and she then doesn’t know who to attack. If it was a male, he’s just going to attack all the time. the other way is to put 5 or 6 in a 20g with some dither fish. Spreading the aggression around if you get any. Females are naturally less aggressive. So hopefully you don’t. I have tried and failed this in a smaller tank. But I had spare places to put them. Just in case

Yeah. They do that. But most people get their start from there. And usually go back for supplies all the time. Without them, there may not be a hobby. At least it’d be much smaller.

Yes. Kanaplex will do just as well. Possibly better Depends on the store. And current conditions. If they’re off, you can tell. I get my fish mainly from two lfs. But I have an 8 yr old. And she likes glow fish. And I always look at the bettas. I figure at least I can get them out of the cups. They may not last long. But they’d be happier.

Actually not bad. They buy their fish from the same sources as a lot of everyone else. Only so many sources for commercial fish. I often do the same thing. Usually I have at least 4 in various tanks. for the finrot, I’d dose with maracyn2 if you can get it. Usually from a lfs. Adding a couple of catapa or Indian almond leaves. Following the directions on the box very closely for the meds.

If you’re planning to breed your fish, I might try something else. Fry are easily going up the intake. I have breeding angels, not sure if they’re being eaten or being sucked up. They like to lay their eggs close to the intake. Or on it. That would work fine. If you can find one big enough. I haven’t been able to yet, locally.

Yes, the intake is an issue. The grate openings are about 1/4 inch between slots. Depending on the size of the fish you could easily lose some. Doesn’t appear to have a whole lot of suction power at the intake because the filter intake box is wide open and probably 2” x3”. Gives it plenty of area to suck from keeping the pressure down.

I actually never thought of that. It should work really well. I just have no idea how to tap into the outlet hose to do that.

I have an fx2 that has been on restricted flow for 2 years. No problems yet…. Fx2 is capable of putting out a ton of flow in a 75. Smaller amount of flow may be better. It was kind of blowing my angels around. But, really love the build of the fx. It’s been reduced by about half. If reducing, use the outflow valve to decrease flow. Reducing the intake side could cause impeller issues

Depending on the size of your filter, they make refillable cartridges. Or more precisely, they make cartridges you can put stuff in. Unless you’re talking about a canister. Then you’ll need the bags

I might go up to the Tidal 55 and consider that the primary filter. with the sponge being more of a helper/backup

Yeah, that's not helping you. doesn't look like you have any high light plants. the crypts are more medium light. so, if you can cut your time down to 6-8 hours and possibly cut intensity, that could help. when cutting down light period, choose a time that works for you. fish really don't care about your light. but if the tank is dark when you're around it. that defeats the purpose of having it. the light is for your enjoyment of your tank and plant growth. I have one tank that gets about 6 hours of "light starting at 5pm just so I can see it