EggShappedFish

February 21

On 2/21/2024 at 10:25 PM, madmark285 said:

If you can put a plywood sheet on top of the stand, I suggest this

The reason why I didn't use a plywood sheet, is that the tank would sit on the frame even if there was one.

It's true that it may not be hardened glass though. I think that I've settled on not adding much more to it. I just need to re a range the rocks to make it look a bit more balanced

February 21

On 2/21/2024 at 10:11 PM, madmark285 said:

This guy from KG Tropical put ~600-800# of rock in a 240 gallon tank, tempered glass is very strong. The standard advice other have mentioned, put a egg crate ceiling light panel on the bottom to eliminate pressure points and to distribute the load. I Built The PERFECT Tank For Cichlids, Yellow Lab Aquascape

Another suggestion I have, using silicone caulk, attach a piece of PVC pipe to the bottom of the tank. Now set the rock on top of the PVC pipe. If you have fish which like to dig, no chance the rock will come crashing down on them. And this makes cleaning under the rock much easier, no need to dig the rock into the substrate. I did something similar for smaller rocks, I glue the pipe to the rock:

No, that's not a potato! It's a rock! End results:

So the rocks stay in place in the sand substrate.

Those are some great tips thank you!

February 21

I did take a few of the rocks offered by my neighbour, and placed them randomly inside the tank for now (after cleaning and treating them), but not sure if I should add more. I need to place them apart from each other, because my goldfish are great at getting stuck. I feel like its easier to visualise where they should go, once they are in the tank

In a way I kind of like the simplicity and don't think that more rocks would do much good. Maybe they just need to be rearranged

February 21

@beastie those are good points! I keep goldfish and they are not the brightest of fish. I need to place rocks with enough space between them, for the fish to not be able to get stuck between them. Also, I have pretty strong water circulation and do water-changes/vacuum every 10 days.
I am pretty optimistic that muck should not be an issue, especially because the fish even help whirl it up to be caught by the water moving around in the tank.

It indeed can be tricky though, to place the rocks so that they don't create current deadzones

February 21

On 2/21/2024 at 2:44 PM, Tlindsey said:

personally would place the rocks directly on the glass bottom if the fish like to sift or burrow

Yeah I was thinking the same.
Maybe place some Polystyrene plates bellow the largest ones. Do you think that weight-wise, there is no limit to how many stones I can put in it?

My neighbour has offered that I can take any and as many of the stones here, that I may need! Many of them I can't even fit in my car!

February 21

On 2/21/2024 at 2:26 PM, Tlindsey said:

@EggShappedFish It will depend on how much weight the stand can hold. If rocks are placed correctly the aquarium should be fine.

Thanks!

The stand will hold anything. It's a wooden frame placed on top of cinder blocks. It's the glass bottom of the tank that I am nervous for.

February 21

Hi!
I am in the process of setting up my 720lit tank (190gal) and currently considering how many rocks to put in it.
Is there a rule to how much weight a tank can carry?
It is an old styled tank with aluminium frame. It stands on a wooden frame with no top (I did not use a plywood sheet on top of the frame, so it is just resting on the edges of the frame).

February 20

On 2/20/2024 at 6:29 AM, jkh772 said:

1) I presume the rocks should go directly on the bottom of the tank and not sit only on the sand? Is there something else the Rocks should sit on to protect the bottom glass?

2) I was looking at some shaped bricks at the home store to save some money- will they be ok? they appear to be formed concrete.

3) Other than a thorough rinse- is anything needed to clean the rocks/bricks before putting them in the tank? Boiling?

Personally, I decide this, depending on the rock. I tend to place single rocks on top of the sand, but rock structures on the bottom of the tank. For african chiclids though, I would place them directly on the bottom, as they will dig around them and under them. To be perfectly safe, you could place them on a Polystyrene matt so spread the load over a larger area
Bricks can be a great option. Personally I like using clay bricks as they don't affect the chemistry of the water. Concrete bricks will affect the PH of your water and mess with the hardness at least to start with. You can maybe soak them in water and do many water changes over a few weeks before placing them in the tank, but do keep a good eye on the parameters when you do. Especially PH, KH and GH
Start with a thorough rinse under running water (this is easier outside with a hose). Then, if you use Prime or any other declorinator when you do water changes, you could simply just use a bleach solution to clean them, and rinse thoroughly with water after. Alternatively, you could use a Hydrogen peroxide solution and let them soak in that. This breaks down into water when exposed to UV (sunlight) so is maybe less dangerous than bleach.

Lastly, I will add one important advice. Make sure that if you do build a rock structure, that it is stable, and that the rocks can't fall or be moved by neither fish or you working on the tank.

February 17

Today I tried making gel food for the first time! I have previously made DIY food, using steamed eggs, but this time I went a bit deeper into this and made a proper batch.

I have used:

shrimp
cod
peas
squash
carrot
spirulina
kelp
agar

I don't have a food processor, so I just used a smoothie blender. I did have to blend the ingredients in two batches though, and mix them together after blending

This is the raw food blend that I then mixed some diluted agar powder into it and let it cool a little bit before bagging

This first try gave me two bags of approximately 450gr. each (16oz each). They are currently cooling and when they have settled, I should be able to freeze them and feed chunks of it to my fish without them breaking up when they enter water. Once I've tested these, and confirmed that it works, I'd be glad to share a recipe and instructions!

February 17

On 2/17/2024 at 1:14 AM, mynameisnobody said:

How they get them to stick to the ceiling like that?

Clearly this is from Australia!

February 17

What struck me with the first one, was the awesome sound/music. To be honest i wasn't blown back as much by the story/filming, as I was by the sound and music (watched it in a local theater). I'm still excited to see part two though. Also, the release of an expansion for Flight Simulator, themed with it helps to hype it!

February 17

@Fish Folk just a note. Although it is their Latin name, I believe that Geophagus means earth eater in Greek not Latin. Just a FYI.

February 14

What will the clean-up team be cleaning up after?

As others mentioned, no overfeeding is the best option but shrimp can be good cleaners if they are not threatened by the other inhabitants. Although a bit boring to look at, Amano shrimp are quite good at it

February 14

Ah very interesting! I didn't know that they lost their stripes when they grew older!

February 14

Today I moved 2 fish from the treatment tank back into the main tank that I have re-established by removing everything. I have been treating flukes for the past month

It is not yet cycled but I have moved a cycled filter over so it should be OK. Also there is a lot of water (720 lit / 190gal) so it will help the filters start up faster.

This is Sally and Clementine. They are both ranchu goldfish but nothing fancy. Just LFS quality.

I expect I'll move a few more over next week. In total I have 12 fish that need to move in. I might keep 2 of them in the treatment tank as they have swim bladder issues (presumably due to genetics)

February 14

It does indeed look like algae from here. I'd guess it to be diatom.

I haven't seen it grow in spots like this, but maybe its some imperfection on the glass or left over from before?
Diatom are pretty common in newly established tanks and is usually a phase that they grow out of. In some cases though, it can be due to high silicates in the tapwater or from the gravel/substrate or due to high phosphates (if I remember right)

February 14

I am not even close to being an expert with plecos, but I think that you are right to doubt that it is a gold nugget.
There are several species that have the dots, with no stripes on the dorsal and tail fin.

some examples:

Opal spot pleco
Vampire Pleco
Adonis Pleco
Blue Phantom Pleco
Peppermint Pleco

Then you have all the hybrids, so it can be difficult to say really

February 14

On 2/14/2024 at 9:30 AM, Fragilenanotank said:

Yes it is aquarium safe but I find PLA gets very brittle when waterlogged over a long time

I use PLA a lot, for things that aren't vital. I remember talks several years ago, about it not being aquarium safe, but I think that now, after people have tried it in use for some time, that maybe they realise that it maybe is ok. I do make the prints a bit stronger though (thicker walls, more infil etc) if I want it to last a bit longer

February 14

Just dropping in with a thought. It might not be relevant bu I am personally paranoid when it comes to stands

I'd place 4 vertical supports on eac corner simply to carry the weight of each shelf. From what I can see in the pictures, the weight is on screws where you ideally want It to be resting on something more bearing. Just an idea. Not sure if it is relevant to your stand. I'd just have peace of mind if the shelfs were resting on studs instead of being screed on

February 14

Very nice!

What type of filament do you use? Is it just regular Pla?

February 13

I have used clay bricks for a few years now. I originally started using them 4 years ago, as an attempt to give shrimp and fry a chance to hide.

After I transitioned over to keeping goldfish, I have also used them for baby goldfish. I eventually removed them because goldfish are not very bright and often get hurt with even very simple hardscape, so I wouldn't risk it. But the babies seemed to love them! I'd still use them even for larger fancy goldfish, but only as very simple constructions that they can swim around and not into.

Chemistry-wise I didn't notice them affecting the water quality in any way. If any, I'd expect them to offer substantial surfaces for the beneficial bacteria involved with the nitrogen cycle.

ps: I have also used sewage PVC pipes as elements in a DIY filter, but I am sure that you could use those too for them to use as caves

February 13

On 2/13/2024 at 12:29 PM, Tony s said:

I honestly wouldn’t trust anything that comes from Reddit. Ever.period

To each their own, and I won't try to convince others that what they are doing is wrong. Pesonally, I'd much rather trust a community, of people with experience in the subject, than what one person says (who has content about multiple species). the great thing about communities is, that if an advice is wrong, it will be challenged by the other users. Single way communications is self reafirming.

February 13

On 2/13/2024 at 8:47 AM, Tony s said:

Plecos are kind of cool. But poop machines. Still they consume much more than poop. Jason Adam’s says he wouldn’t be without them in his fish rooms. Prime time Aquatics. And one of the easiest fish to breed

It's just based on my personal experience. I was not aware of who Jason Adams is but just watched one of his videos on goldfish and I would not take his advice on that at least. He keeps 5 common goldfish in a 40gal and admittedly makes water changes two times a week. The goldfish community suggest a minimum of 75gal pr fish + 20/30gal for each after that

Quote

ingle tail goldfish such as commons, comets, shubunkins and even longer body fancies such as wakins need larger tanks due to their larger size. The general standard is 55-75gal (208-283l) for the first one and 20-30gal (75-113l) for each one after that.

quote from r/Goldfish wiki page;
https://www.reddit.com/r/Goldfish/wiki/starting_out/

The point I am trying to make is, not to trust everything a youtuber says just because they make videos, or even make many/long/good videos

February 13

If it's for removing algae alone and not because you particularly do want the pleco, I'd go with snails instead if I were you. They do a much better job at removing left over food, without adding as much bioload to your tank. In many cases I believe that plecos cause more algae issues than they remove.

February 12

I have been keeping an eye out for what people think about 3D printing for aquariums.

There used to be mixed feelings about PLA, the most common 3D printer fillament, not considered aquarium safe. Some said it was dangerous, others said it was safe. Some say that PLA may lose some strength in the long run.

Have these standings moved, now that people have had a chance to test things out and maybe have had 3D printed stuff in their tanks for some time?

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