Brandy

Freezing generally kills the kind of parasites one would be concerned about, I think it is more a live tubifex worm that is/was the concern. I have some fish that LOOVE them and some that couldn't care less about them. I tried them as an alternate to blood worms since I am allergic to those. They are defintely less universally appreciated than bloodworms, but being fed exclusively on one thing is never a good idea, so I chuck a cube in now and then as a treat

Thank you @DShelton, this has been educational. I originally was a person who figured you could explain the ammonia question away by some catalyst that I was not aware of which would cause the NH3 to become NH4, and remain stable regardless of pH/temp. I was first picturing something like how EDTA works... but then reasoned that possibly a reaction increased the acidity of the water? Lol, I actually tried to struggle through the probable mechanism in an old post on here where we were talking about how a reduction reaction could potentially temporarily reduce available O2 for fish respiration (still pretty sure that part is true). I could not come up with a reasonable explantion for fixing ammonia to ammonium that would not have included a pH shift, something that would be rough on fish and likey impossible for water more buffered than my ultra soft rainwater. I am not a chemist, alas, only a molecular biologist turned immunologist, and I am more than happy to defer to your expertise. Of course, now I want to know how the bacteria do it...we can just wave our hands and say "enzymes" right? Hello, rabbit hole, my old friend...

Calling them MSDS is how you know you are dealing with someone with real life experience! 😉 I am old, I call them MSDS all the time, and my students sometimes look at me like "what?!" 2015 is like yesterday.

If we stop struggling with these things it is time to stop raising animals in any capacity. Short lives should be good lives, as any farmer knows. There should only be one bad day.

I *might* have elecric blue acaras for this reason. 🙂 I am fortunate in that I can let my fry get to the half grown stage and they are still gulp--gone if I put them with the acaras. This lets me cull on lack of color, but does make it a more deliberate decision, which some people might be uncomfortable with.

one of 3 things will happen--the parents will remove the unfertile eggs themselves, or the parents will eat them all because they get stressed/have the munchies, or the eggs might cause fungus. If your flow is good they will likely not fungus, and the parents will help this by fanning the eggs. If you disturb them they may abandon or eat the eggs. If they are parenting and that is your goal, I would leave them alone. The only way to pick off the non fertile eggs is to pull them all and hand raise them, but at that point you can use a pipette to go in an suck up the egg you want to remove.

I don't have any experience but it appears they have been introduced to southern florida and have become established in a few locations. I came across this remark on the web page while I was looking for a photo of these snails...It seems they may breed just like MTS, and I think would breed to the level of their food source. "Ecology: This snail lives in freshwater streams (Maciolek and Ford, 1987) and coastal brackish waters (Sri-aroon et al., 2004). Reproduction is parthenogenic (Thompson et al., 2009). Embryos develop into a shelled juvenile in a brood pouch fed by a yolk sac and a placenta-like epithelium (Glaubrecht, 2006). They have few young, but are well developed when they hatch (Glaubrecht, 2006). Remarks: Because of its mode of reproduction, a single specimen can start a population (Thompson et al., 2009)." (emphasis mine)

It could. the temperature works though. The endlers might self regulate, or you could maybe add an apistogramma. I think any larger carnivorous fish will likely eat fry, the key is finding one that likes your temperature.

what is your temperature range? a surprising number of fish will eat fry, including other livebearers. A couple of golden wonder killifish would do the job I suspect.

omg. I want all the things. just all. I need to make space...this is killing me. I want those apisto fire reds.

I haven't seen this in the US. My suspicion is that fish are living in a probiotic soup, and this is not necessarily useful, unless it is just extremely palatable for picky eaters.

Depending on your light, baby tears would look really nice--not DWARF babytears. If you don't have much light pick a moss instead.

I think the layout of the two islands looks best, but I really like the antler coral. I wonder if it can go somewhere slightly to the back of one of the islands so it is peeking out? or substitute it for one of the smaller rocks in the left island?

I love this idea, and can't wait to see it develop!!

I have heard the blue light on those moonlight settings cause no end of trouble in freshwater systems, where they promote algae. They are really designed for corals, I think. However, there are lights (such as fluval, I think?) that have programed settings for a "sunset" mode that shift thru reds and gradually dim. I think that would be an awesome way to drift off to sleep. My own bedroom tanks have fairly standard tank lights on a timer and have become my alarm clock. The sun comes up consistently in my room, even in rainy seattle winters!

Just watch for injury or being so chased that they aren't eating.

What @Colu said. Most parasites die rapidly without hosts, and need a fish host if they are a fish parasite. Two weeks is an arbitrary length of time based on the average and common parasite life cycles, but still a good rule of thumb. I would clean and vaccume the substrate during the few weeks you wait, and then you should be safe to reintroduce fish.

Many of us run a nano pump on each filter--I have 5 of the little buggers in my bedroom. The pumps are silent, all you hear is bubbling, and with an airstone even that is minimal. https://www.aquariumcoop.com/collections/air-pumps/products/usb-nano-air-pump

as a person who has low low pH, I appreciate this PSA. My tanks are heavily planted, and keeping nitrates in the tank is usually the issue, but this is a really good reminder for me not to get complacent on changing the water in the grow out tanks...speaking of which, I should go do that!

Ahhh, Ok, that makes total sense.

Hey that is a cool thing. But I don't understand the pH- column? what do those numbers refer to? Also are all these tanks with CO2 injection?

I have not had this happen yet, but I think the trick with all agression is sight breaks--tons of plants and nooks and crannies to explore and hide in. As long as the smaller females are still eating and are not being injured I would leave them to figure it out.

Hi @Dakotascott71, Thanks for noticing! Unfortunately we are not able to "fix" that from the forum, as the commercial website is a separate group. If you could use the contact form on the website, they will be able to get this info to the right folks. The way to contact them from the website is to use the "question about an order" form. For order number just use 0000000, and it will get through.

"large enough" is different things for different people. From a biofiltration, safe-for-your-fish standpoint, one will be enough unless you are wildly overstocked. From a water circulation (therefore algae prevention) standpoint many of us prefer 2, even if that means 2 smaller ones or one and an airstone only in the other end. If you mean spotlessly clean water with no water changes or vaccuming required, um...you may not be happy with sponge filters. Or possibly aquariums for that matter. The reality is that there is no such thing as a completely maintinance free tank. You just choose which chores are the least objectionable. Sponge filters are reliable low maintenance biofiltration that provide gentle flow, and they are cheap. You will still need to remove detritus or plant matter, or something, and add fresh water.

He will probably shoal with the diamond tetras--that is probably how he was caught. He likely came from the same location if these are wild caught and no one noticed?