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Brandy

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Everything posted by Brandy

  1. Brandy
    ^^THIS. I don't run a fish store, but I have always been manager of people and things. My "boss" (a term I use loosely for the person who authorizes my paycheck, but actually has to listen to me) is a brilliant scientist. I am a solid scientist, but not brilliant. But without me, he would be ruined inside of a month. However, without him, there would be no vison for me to execute--I am too practical to dream as big. We are halves of a necessary team. If you learn project/people mangement and sales you can do anything. If you learn immunology you can only do immunology. Work in ANY retail store or restaurant or anything where you face the public and get to the point that you mange that job. Those skills transfer and are valuable. Even if you find that you suck in that role and eventually hire someone else to do it, you will understand the job that they do and be better at supporting them.
  2. Brandy
    Yes it is only the active reply box text that is too dark, published comments are fine--feedback for the developer, they missed a color code somewhere.
  3. Brandy
    Salt would be a good thing to try while you wait, you could also try API general cure (may be in a big box store near you) or Paraclense from ACO, they ship very fast: https://www.aquariumcoop.com/collections/fish-medicine/products/fritz-paracleanse If you do order from them the med trio is just smart to have on hand at all times in my book--I am not sure how I managed before meds and test kits. Though, I guess I didn't buy and introduce as many fish then. https://www.aquariumcoop.com/collections/fish-medicine/products/quarantine-meds-trio To be honest, not eating is pretty far gone, you may not be able to save this one. But look on the bright side, the levamasole will be good for heading off the next death, because parasites are usually in more than one fish. It is possible parasites have been the main issue all along.
  4. Brandy
    No co2. NOT baby tears! That's Monte Carlo, and the tree is Anubis Nana Petite. The floater is just water lettuce I had in there to make new fish feel safe. It is prettier without it but the fish feel exposed. The carpet took about a year to really cover. This tank is now so prolific that I hack mats out to put in other tanks, and trimmed about 16 Nana Petite plants to move to other tanks.
  5. Brandy
    You could supplement the moss with some natural light...
  6. Brandy
    Moss, all the way. Mine grows better in low light, tho if it is too low it gets less compact and more leggy. Also, reportedly profitable, and will hide shrimps and fry.
  7. Brandy
    All filtration in your tank is likely biological, unless you have some kind of charcoal or specialized "ammonia removing" media (usually zeolite) that you have added at some point. New filters come with charcoal (in a little bag usually) and the cartrige type often have charcoal also. If you have any of that in your filter you will want to take it out before adding medication. It is really good at taking chemicals out of the water when it is new.
  8. Brandy
    @Seattle_Aquarist very nice! I am going to try that technique with my next rescape, I have tons of that stuff. Unfortunately, I think I don't have enough light down low to keep it happy in most of my tanks. I will have to try anyway.
  9. Brandy
    There is also a video...
  10. Brandy
    check out this post by Irene, and see pic #2.
  11. Brandy
    I am not sure either--they are reportedly prolific, so they will have other chances.
  12. Brandy
    It would be tough. They might leave a carpet alone if it was already established...I don't know for sure. I think if I were going to try it I would have to have a way to exclude them from an area, OR you could try growing on a piece of window screen in another tank--which does not have to be a fancy tank, but just a tub of water with some light and fertilizer. I would get a small pot of monte carlo or similar, and cut a hole in the window screen and plant thru it. then let the plant spread over it, finally put the screen and all into your cory tank. If anything would work it would be that.
  13. Brandy
    How big is your tank? I don't think you will be able to establish some of the finer carpets with corys in residence but if you have a large tank you might get away with some dwarf chain sword or similar runner type plant?
  14. Brandy
    They still have girl parts--she doesn't have to have a male around to show that bit. Some fish don't have an external egg tube, but bettas do. It is easier to see on some when they have less full fins.
  15. Brandy
    @Wes L. here you go! Not the best angle, and I have since given it a hard trim, it is a little overgrown here. EDIT TO ADD: My water is everything poor--very soft, almost RO water. I use a mineral supplement too, and an occaisional shot of easy green. I did not build this tank, I inherited it from a friend, but it has thrived significantly in my care.
  16. Brandy
    Have you ever treated for parasites?
  17. Brandy
    I agree with @Squeegee79 I am not a fan of full on bleaching the tank if at all possible. If you pull out the few remaining fish, and treat them in a QT for a few weeks, and feed the empty tank in the mean time, fish parasites (likely culprit in the case of silent wild caught tetra die offs imho) will run their course and you will have a clean tank without needing a full reset. Diseases need hosts. I have done this when faced with a similar situation. It worked for me.
  18. Brandy
    Flourish also makes potassium alone and phosphate alone. Agree with @Wes L. that root tabs are the first step, but if you find you want to bump up just one component there are options. I have a tank with just anubias as a bonsai "tree" and it sucks up potassium and gets really cranky and full of holes if I skip the extra potassium.
  19. Brandy
    If you are on the fence between tetras and livebearers, I would consider pH/GH too. I keep tetras in soft water (30ppm or less) GH 7.2-7.4 pH, and guppies I shoot for at least 80ppm GH and 7.6-7.8 pH. For me the pH is what it is, it is 6.6 out of the tap, and virtually no minerals at all. My water is stellar for tetras, but my guppies have been adjustable within reason. They will be happier every bit I can nudge it up. Just something to consider, it is easier to get into the fish you can keep easily than strive for something that will always be slightly unhappy. That said, I have many more guppies than tetras, and I do not follow my own advice.
  20. Brandy
    Umm, aren't you in SC? yeah, that would be humid by most accounts!
  21. Brandy
    The fry have moved off the rock, and are against the front of the box. She (still not actually sure which is which, genders may be reversed) is fish-pacing, trying to figure out a way in, while the dad digs a nest and obsessively gaurds it, waiting for her to move them. I am glad I pulled these but I am looking forward to letting them raise a batch on their own.
  22. Brandy
    I think it is mostly the surface area banquet, and the size of your tank. I am fairly certain you could grow cherry shrimp in an unfiltered bucket with only java moss. In short I think it is a matter of preference. I have had tanks with one single sponge filter (10g), 2 single sponge filters (29 and 40g), no sponge filters--all in one type tanks, and a matten filter (20g). The one the shrimp and I love the most is the matten filter, but it is unsightly and takes up a lot of space in most set ups. If you were considering a divided 20g and raising 2 separate colors of shrimp though, I would highly recommend! I have always used 2 single filters at opposite ends of larger tanks for increased flow. The only reason I didn't go with the double barrel is that I felt they were more unsightly than the matten and single barrel sponges.
  23. Brandy
    I think angel fish look amazing with Vallisnaria, but it does take over. So does dwarf Saggitarius, but it is a little smaller and your 40 has less height. Java fern on the driftwood AFTER the val/sag have reached the surface will keep the new light from being too high on the JF and creating algae. Red or bronze Crypts in the forground...an anubias or two in 2 sizes (barteri and nana petite for instance) would add texture to offset all the lance-shaped leaves, and you would have super hardy low maintenance scape. Crypts and Val/Sag want root tabs, Anubias and Java Fern are water column feeders and want lots of potassium. Your main chore will be placing root tabs and trying to keep the Val/Sag from taking over. I find that moving runners, rather than cutting them, is the best plan.
  24. Brandy
    They figured out where I put the eggs in about 10 minutes. They are wicked smart. They transferred their aggression to the plants nearest the box, covered all the remaining rocks with mouthfuls of sand, and then took up posts outside the box and started guarding it. They are amazing parents.
  25. Brandy
    I have a small uv sterilizer from Amazon. (COODIA Internal Green Water Killer Filter Aquarium Tank U-V Light Pump) With no or low substrate I was able to place it vertically in a 10gal, but I suspect you could angle it also. My only concern is that the flow rate was quite high for 10gal It worked well for the algae, but I had to work out a way to diffuse the flow or trash the scape a little. Guppies and shrimp tolerated it, short term.
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