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Brandy

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Everything posted by Brandy

  1. Brandy
    And craigslist!! most "fast growing" plants are easy to get from hobbyists in your area because they are so fast growing they are overwhelming!
  2. Brandy
    I have 2 trios, and when I first got them they were each all over their respective tanks. Now the older larger trio just hangs out in a corner all the time, on some lotus leaves. I was looking at them like "hey guys, what's wrong? you depressed? sick? what?" but they are visibly larger than they were, clearly thriving...Maybe they are just sneaky?
  3. Brandy
    I'm sure you are trying to be helpful, but due to the fact that neons are the natural prey of angelfish, I would not consider this a peaceful pairing, at least once the angels reach full size.
  4. Brandy
    So, there is something called an aquatic earthworm. Also given where you found it, I would think it was unlikely a parasite. I do not think camallanus get anywhere near that big, nor do I think they hang out outside of fish for a long time. If they are leeches they typically will move in a weird way, sort of undulating to swim, like a snake might.
  5. Brandy
    This, with the addition of platys, was going to be my exact list. Guppies are just HAPPY. And so are corys, which look like Dr. Seuss fish, and move around like wiggly little roombas, something I had not appreciated until I had them. I will also second the sponge filter reccomendation. They really really are the easiest and safest and least problematic. HOB are convenient, but a sponge is really cheap peace of mind insurance, and if a fish gets sick you can move it to a quarentine tank with no effort, so I would suggest at least having one!
  6. Brandy
    You should wait out out. If you want any kind of snail in your tank now is a good time to add them. It's a bacterial bloom and will be gone soon, but feel free to knock off and remove any bits that are in your way or especially ugly. It is harmless and snails and some other things will eat it. Just part of your tanks settling in phase.
  7. Brandy
    @Steph’s Fish and PlantsI can second that. There also used to be a readers digest (of all things) book of home repair that was basically the "for dummies" version. As a young woman I often had trouble getting older male hardware salesmen to take me seriously. Knowing the right words and terminology for things went a long way towards remedying that. https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/complete-do-it-yourself-manual_readers-digest-association/265084/item/2088396/?gclid=CjwKCAjw2ZaGBhBoEiwA8pfP_sU1SWVS9bPn211mH5l-3MxxV_YoTrt-vQmP_S6-rAyOIwZj8Pm6AxoC4_YQAvD_BwE#idiq=2088396&edition=1671858
  8. Brandy
    And I just had mine. I quietly overflowed a tank, it ran down into a lower apartment, and the manager knocked on our door. If that was not bad enough, the trickle managed to also kill an $80 300w titanium heater. I literally have no idea what I am going to do.
  9. Brandy
    Just a few examples. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.solitudelakemanagement.com/blog/invasive-species-highlight-apple-snails/&ved=2ahUKEwjn8rHyyZLxAhUH054KHTz4DIAQFjAAegQIAxAC&usg=AOvVaw261oBrl77qbZcTt1-mCEWe https://www.lakegeorgeassociation.org/educate/science/lake-george-invasive-species/chinese-mystery-snail/ https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.fws.gov/columbiariver/ANS/factsheets/mudsnail.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwikoIWsypLxAhXSqp4KHQj4BYUQFjAAegQIAxAC&usg=AOvVaw0wARZGnnPXE3bVQQkaEbhy
  10. Brandy
    The only caveat is that if the rocks are really deep it might take a little more time to heat thru. Multiple shallow pans area better than one massive one.
  11. Brandy
    The only reason I say foil pan is that I wouldn't want color from the rocks to ruin anything, but if you wanted you could just line a pan or use an old one
  12. Brandy
    Ok. Here's what I would do. I would put the drained gravel in a foil pan in a cold oven. Cover with foil. Then I would set the temp at 350 degrees. At the end of the preheat cycle I would shut it off and leave the door closed. Let it cool. Repeat in batches if necessary. The snails will die in under 10 min, and any rocks that pop should be fairly contained, and you have enough to do. This is a bit easier. Could be a little smelly.
  13. Brandy
    Well, boiling would do it. It would be near instant. An outdoor pond is a very bad idea as the snails are not native and dependent on weather could become invasive. Scattering it in a driveway would likely work and get picked over by birds... Know anyone with chickens? If the gravel is a Crayola color that might not be attractive outdoors... Bleach will likely kill most, but mts are tough. Heat is your best bet. Oven?
  14. Brandy
    @CalmedByFish is the problem that the gravel is infested by snails you don't want, or is the problem that you don't like the gravel any more and you can't be sure to find every snail?
  15. Brandy
    No worries! it took me about 4 tries to figure it out when I first tried. Let me know if you have any questions, sometimes it is tough to make all the apps play nice, and lots of members are waaay more tech saavy than me!! Cheers, and welcome!
  16. Brandy
    I have re-learned that not all parasites are succeptible to all antiparasitics. I have been heavily researching this as there are a lot more options today than there were 15 years ago when I last left the hobby. It is both cool, and dizzying.
  17. Brandy
    I suppose that has to do with knowing your vendor. Much like choosing to drink raw unpasteurized milk. It is not inherently dangerous, but it requires a degree of trust in your local dairyman's expertise and accountablity that is lacking in the typical pooled milk supply.
  18. Brandy
    This is actually a great direction. Alternatively, floating plants that block light, if you like that sort of thing. The deal is, you just moved your plants from part shade to blaring full sun...at the equator...at noon...in the dry season... Not having feet, plants are not adapted to such rapid changes. Algae, being more mobile, are adapted to more rapidly take advantage of a broader range of conditions. If you gradually increase your light intensity and your fertilizer only WHEN YOU SEE YOUR PLANTS RESPOND with new growth, you will eventually have very happy plants. They just need to catch up. In the meantime a tiny bit of manufactured shade will help.
  19. Brandy
    It could be trapped air. It really could. But the enthusiasm is literally irresistible. 🙂 I am sure it will take time to prove anything, but there is no reason not to celebrate each positive development--as long as we don't get so wedded to an outcome that we can't accept negative results when they inevitably come, as they must if we do science long enough. Take the joy when you can @tonyjuliano, science is full of enough disappointments. I want to hear all the happy with the sad.
  20. Brandy
    It is not something you are doing...But they are usually wild caught. If they eat and don't thrive, then die slowly and sporadically, I would suspect parasites. We can treat for that proactively...Not that it is always easy. Mine have been solid little guys. But I also have excessively acidic soft water, which is basically their happy place. My little guys are basically living the good life and so they are ok, but if they came a long way, had a rough trip, your water is not to their liking, they have trouble finding their prefered food, AND they have a parasite load...well... sometimes it is just one thing too many. This is one of the species I hope to breed locally in the future.
  21. Brandy
    I have some in a dirted sand-capped tank with lots of light. It is nice and bright and colorful for me IF I fertilize heavily and don't skimp on iron and potassium (my water is essentially RO water--zero minerals at the tap). However, it is still easily shaded by faster growing plants, so if you have a jungle you will need to free it with your scissors often. Due to its diminuitve stature it won't stretch to reach the light, and that puts it at a competitive disadvantage.
  22. Brandy
    Long term, I like plants out of pots unless I have a very agressive digging fish in my tank. Personally, I don't like the look of the pots. I think the plants coming in are at their healthiest and should be situated where they are going to be to begin acclimating to your tank. Plants, as a rule, don't like moving, and will go into shock each time they do. So I plant them however I want them to grow going forward... I do make ONE major exception. Anubias have a mysterious disease known only as "rot" that is not totally well understood, but in my experience it is totally contangious between Anubias plants. I have had issues with them before, and so I QUARENTINE them. Seriously. I un-pot them and put them in a jar on a window sill in tank water with a little fertilizer. They have to make it a week or two with no squishy softness before I will let them near my tanks.
  23. Brandy
    It is a great plant, and you have enough light for it. In my tanks it likes a bit of heat as well as light, and it likes fertilizer--like most red plants it likes kinda a lot of all of it.
  24. Brandy
    I was hoping you were going to break the internet in exactly that way the second I saw the title of this thread! Happy dance!
  25. Brandy
    I mean, I don't think I need ponds...but I admit I might have priced the totes out. Not sure what I need to put in them, but I am going to go with "if I build it, they will come". But will they fit down the stairs?!😨
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