JMC

I ran a 55 gallon with a cracked center brace for a few months. I put a pipe clamp on top of the tank tightened to the exact width that minimized the crack (or just measure the end widths and tighten the center to match). Having the water lower is definitely a great idea. My biggest fear was that the clamp pushing in from the outside was going to crack the glass. It also wasn’t the most visually appealing thing to have in the living room so after about 2 months I broke the tank down and disposed of it.

I’m looking at setting up my first tub of guppies this year as well. I live in USDA zone 8 so I won’t try to keep them out during the winter. If I can pump enough air into the water how warm of water have people been able to keep guppies in for short periods of time? I have a nice spot in the shade for the tub but do have tanks in the garage that I was wondering if I could keep guppies in over the summer. I know that most places say the low 80s is the maximum temperature for guppies, which should be possible in the garage, but I also know in nature there are a lot more variability then 72-82* F like most websites state.

I have a small (4 foot) piece of 3/4 inch pvc that I made into a manifold for my air system. It looks a lot like @jwcarlson setup in his side room. At first my pump was way oversized so I installed an extra valve and added a short piece of tubing (the vented air is quieter with tubing added then without tubing added) that I could open to vent off extra pressure. I have since added more tanks (and more air drops) so there isn’t any extra pressure! My advice is to research, plan and build… then don’t be afraid to tear it apart and build it better.

Yes, @HelplessNewbie that would be a better way to explain it! It is a 3D printed base to an under bio media filter box. Thanks for helping me find the right words!

I also make sure to squeeze the air out of my cheap off brand sponge filters when I place them in the aquarium. With the sponge filter’s weighted base they’ll sink without being squeezed but it seems like a sponge filter should be full of water so I want to get the air out. Squeezing the air out of them also obviously makes them less buoyant.

As part of my new 3D printing hobby I have decided to design and print a bottom to my DIY box (yogurt tub?) filter. This is intended to allow for a more even flow through the media then just putting the pipe into the filter and then dumping media around it. The printed green piece is out of PLA. It has plastic canvas #7 cut into a donut shaped silhouette on top of it to hold the biological media up. There is a single stainless steel screw to connect the bottom piece to a 3/4” pvc pipe. Then I have used both lava rock or ceramic as the biological filter media with filter floss on top. An airline with an air stone goes into the bottom of the pipe to draw water through the filter media and then up the pipe. I know this isn’t too new or interesting, but just sharing what I designed and made to get any feedback on PLA in an aquarium or other ideas on 3D printing projects for aquarium.

I’d be interested in some Panda Cories as well if you could let me know when they’re ready!

I’ve used three BN-LINK brand BNQ-T7B(H) temp controllers for over three years without any problems at all. I also have an Ink Bird ITC-308 for 6 years but it’s more complicated than most need because it has both heating and cooling controllers functions. It works perfectly as well though. Just more expensive.

Here is a short video of them swimming in a puddle of water.

I just hatched some mail order Rice Fish eggs from Hawaii. Here’s what I experienced. Day 0 -shipped Day 3 - arrived (started daily methylene blue 50% changes) keep water at 76* Day 10 - 8 hatched Day 11 - 6 hatched Day 12 - Day 18 nothing… started to freak out… rethought my decision to buy eggs through the mail… added a rigid airline tube slowly bubbling… moved eggs to a room with sunlight and placed on eastern side of room to only get first hour of sun each morning Day 19 - 5 hatched (blood pressure started to lower) Day 20 - 2 hatched Day 21 - Day 22 nothing… wondered why I had been able to see eyes in the last 5 eggs for over 14 days but they wouldn’t come out. Moved eggs to a shallower container. Removed the airline Day 23 - Acclimated last 5 eggs to fry tank water and dumped them in (kind of gave up on them ever coming out)… came back in 30 minutes and they had all hatched. If I was hatching more eggs I would 1) Try to keep them about 76*. 2) Place them in a room that gets sunlight but not have them in direct sunlight for fear of the water heating up to much in the sun 3) Start with “full strength” methylene blue for the first few days of water changes and then taper off to just clean water over a period of 10 days or so 4) Not be so stressed if it takes more then 3 weeks I don’t know that I’d do bubbling air again. Instead I’d keep the eggs in a shallow container (1 inch or so of water). The other thing I would recommend is not spending so time worrying about the eggs that you are not ready to take care of the tiny fry. Have a plan on how to remove the fry from the egg hatching container (I carefully used a turkey baster) My fry started eating Hikari first bites right away. By day 7 or so they seem to also be able to eat baby brine shrimp. I do agree that you should follow the directions included with the eggs… if there are any (mine didn’t have any). Good luck!

Thanks for the information. I will research seed shrimp more. Would seed shrimp kill a snail? I assume they’d eat it if it was dead. Are seed shrimp considered a type of water mite? They are too round in my opinion to be baby scuds (although I wish they were).

I have discovered some tiny (less than 1mm) brown creatures in my aquarium. They seem to like to swim just above the mulm layer. I also saw a lot of them on the foot of a dead bladder snail (not sure if they killed the snail or found the snail after he died). They are most numerous in my scud aquarium. They swim around some and seem to be attracted to light. The closest thing I can find online that looks like them is referred to as “water mites”. Any help identifying them and advice on if they are harmful to fish, scuds or snails would be greatly appreciated.