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Brandy

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Everything posted by Brandy

  1. Brandy
    Thank you! I have them in the order they arrived in, which made NO sense, and I wondered if that was the problem!! I have been so frustrated everything I was finding online and their website insisted that I HAD to put the biofiltration on the bottom and wanted floss on the top? I will rearrange. Fingers crossed.
  2. Brandy
    Hi all. I got my first canister filter for my larger 29g tank. It is a Cascade 500 and fitted with a spray bar, I added a pre-filter intake sponge from ACO, and instead of the carbon I added bio rings, purigen, and a polishing pad. My filter media, from top down, is a polishing pad, filter floss, coarse sponge, 100ml purigen packet, and biorings. I have been swapping out floss and pads every few weeks. and rinsing the rest in tank water. I have refreshed the purigen once. The tank has been set up almost 3 months. I have a large piece of driftwood in the tank, and a number of wood eating snails (not by design). It seems like no matter how often I swap out the floss and polishing pad, I still have a lot of mulm-y drifting particulates in the water. Is this a new tank thing, or a bad filter arrangement thing, or a swap them out more often thing? I could add a second polishing pad to the lower basket? Thoughts?
  3. Brandy
    I have always wished I had the guts to do this.
  4. Brandy
    Maybe it is just eco complete then?
  5. Brandy
    A Roomba. After a dishwasher, this is my single most beloved time saver. I love that my floors are just constantly magically clean. I am a confirmed cheapskate, and this is worth every penny, I promise. Her name is Martha, she is my second. Fabio passed away after my kid let him drink too much.
  6. Brandy
    I don't pour straight to the tank--but that is not because I think that isn't a good idea, it is because I am cheap. I treat my replacement water in a 5g bucket, and I only add 5g worth of prime to the bucket. Then I start my water change (removal). By the time the temp on the bucket is right, and the tank is cleaned, I feel safe to add my fresh water without dosing the full volume of the tank. If I really think ahead, I draw the bucket the day before and don't use prime at all. If I ever get a python I will just use the direct to the tank full dose method.
  7. Brandy
    I would not dip them in anything either. My favorite way to get plants is this: Bare root, completely wrapped in a damp paper towel or two, in an inflated bag with a few tablespoons of water in it, in a shipping box--I get both terrestrial and aquatic plants shipped from all over the country. Potted plants are harder, but generally if the bag is inflated, the weight of the plant will not do any damage to itself. They arrive damp and healthy and ready to grow.
  8. Brandy
    Clearly, I have no right calling my piece "giant" lol. That is going to be an incredible scape, @Taylor Blake.
  9. Brandy
    This went from a perfectly normal single tank to madness super-awesome level pretty fast for me too. It is a better coping strategy than some, but instead of my family putting on the brakes, I infected them so far. They make fun of me while egging me on. Still, focusing on the tanks we have and making them awesome-er is also a very cool strategy! 🙂
  10. Brandy
    Yeah, all fish can thrive in that water because is easy to raise the hardness with coral or aragonite. In a way, I feel like I won the jackpot, because you can make any water you want with out an RO system. It will just take a little tinkering and a test kit.
  11. Brandy
    I feel your pain. I got a GIANT piece of driftwood, too big to boil. So big that I didn't have to worry about it sinking because it is wedged into the tank under the rim. It was old and had been tumbled in the sea for a year or two. I scrubbed it and picked off all the remaining shreds of bark. It still turned the water coffee brown for a week of water changes, then strong tea for a month. Now it is like green tea. Right after a water change it is almost clear for a day or so. Sigh. I am ready for the clear water that was so beautiful the day I put it in the tank... day 1 day 56?
  12. Brandy

    Tannins

    Brandy replied to Seized's topic in Diseases

    I love the concept and can't stand the look. I know I should cultivate an appreciation, but I SOOO want bright bright greens and sparkling clear water. My driftwood is beautiful but the water still looks like iced tea. It is getting better. Very slowly. I am not a patient person, lol.
  13. Brandy
    Sorry, looks like you have a test kit, missed this line.
  14. Brandy
    Just change water until it is clear, and if you haven't already please get yourself a test kit or test strips--you wont be able to test for nonspecific toxins directly, but if the pH has changed dramatically that would be a good indication there is still a problem in the tank. Many chemical reactions will alter the pH of water as part of the mechanism. Do also watch that the dye hasn't disrupted the nitrogen cycle. Beyond that, the water changes should do the job, but adding activated carbon to the filter for a week would be excellent insurance as well.
  15. Brandy
    https://www.aquariumcoop.com/collections/water-care/products/seachem-prime-water-conditioner the fish waste was probably a good idea. You could also just have been feeding fish food to the empty tank. The shrimps will need a tank with lots of biofilm/algae to eat and really stable water conditions. I would not make them the first occupants.
  16. Brandy
    "Wigglement" officially just became my new favorite word.
  17. Brandy
    So, @FinalFins you sound like you are familiar with these fish--I noticed that there seems to be a more colorful variety that sports a blue eye (as In @Daniel's video), and another plainer one that doesn't. Which is the one that has the blue eye? Or is that an individual/lighting dependent thing?
  18. Brandy
    Hi and welcome to the forum! You may get a better response in the future by starting a new topic for each question, but I understand there is a recent glitch that is not allowing new topics to be started. What is your current ammonia source? How much algae build up are you seeing? The short answer is yes, it is likely way too early for cherry shrimp. The betta is a better choice, but you will need to test daily for the ammonia to come up and I strongly suspect it WILL. You will be doing a fish-in cycle, so you will need to add an ammonia/nitrite binder to the tank daily, like seachem prime, until you see the ammonia AND nitrite fall back to zero. The prime will bind the ammonia/nitrite for 24h in a form that will not hurt your fish but will still show on a test and still feed your good bacteria. You can keep adding the prime until the bacteria catches up. Don't over feed during this time, and don't skip a day. Hope that helps!
  19. Brandy
    Well, if it is a tumor, I don't think that is fixable. Asymmetry doesn't usually point to bloat. I think you can keep him comfortable and if he stops being comfortable it might be time to find some clove oil. If the salt baths aren't having any effect I wouldn't put him thru them. I'm so sorry, I don't have any better ideas.
  20. Brandy
    So that just happened... I always have a fine mesh on my siphon hose, except I was recently fully cleaning out the empty QT and forgot to put the mesh back on. I JUST went to do a water change on the betta tank, and glanced away for a split second while struggling to get the end of the hose to stay in the dang bucket. Betta went on the waterslide ride of his life.😥 I felt horrible, even though he came out of hiding for treats almost immediately, and seems ok despite a small amount of damage to his tail.
  21. Brandy
    Is it always asymmetrical like that, or is that just the angle of the picture? Sadly, I think you are doing all you can. Sometimes we are not able to save them all.
  22. Brandy
    It maybe out side the scope, but it is still super useful info that I, for one, am glad to stumble across--I had forgotten this about resistor coding! It has been a number of years since I needed to know. 🙂
  23. Brandy
    the stuff on the lily bulb is this: If you click thru to the ling there are pics.
  24. Brandy
    Anything that can fit them in their mouth will eat them. The shrimp would be fabulous for helping clean up. But why not try something like this in the 55g? At least until they are big enough to not be eaten. They wont be stunted by the net, it isn't space that stunts them, it is water quality. In the 55, you would have more room in the water parameters, and if you threw a few shrimp in the net with them they would even have local clean up crew. https://www.aquariumcoop.com/collections/breeding-supplies/products/penn-plax-deluxe-net-breeder
  25. Brandy
    Ok that is different. slow fry death doesn't sound like a feeding issue necessarily. It sounds like stress, kinda. How often do you feed though? and what temperature is the tank?
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