BlackLabelCarling

We may have to petition to have the name changed to Day of the Nerms Bastille Day has had its chance, time for an uprising of the NERMS

I’ve been keeping my flowerhorn, Gucci Mane, in a bare bottom tank, but since his waste is so big and I don’t have a bottom skimmer like Foo the Flowerhorn, I want to add some substrate. I originally ordered sand that that is marketed towards cichlid (I didn’t buy it for that reason, it was 50% off 😊) but it is really fine and read multiple sources that advise against it because he will kick it up and that will ruin a HOB filter. I also bought just natural river stone small substrate (for another tank) and thought maybe I could use it instead of sand if sand is in fact s no, no. However, I read multiple comments that stated FH could end up swallowing the gravel. I did a lot of research but the info out there is not consistent and frequently contradictory case in point, nobody can agree on what substrate is best. hopefully one of my fellow nerms can give me some clarity. Honestly I’ve got my fingers crossed that gravel would be safe because it’s easy to install in an already active aquarium and it’s much easy to vac IMHO. thanks! P.as. Here’s a picture Mr. of Gucci Mane himself.

Here is an update of my sticker collection, I swear it is growing without mw knowing! I've also added hobbyists/FishTubers I have gotten fish from. I have a grip of duplicated stickers I'm saving for a rainy day! 😂 If I get anymore new ones I'm gonna have to find more room!

Reminds me of something the Heaven's Gate group printed on their literature about UFOs!

I had the opportunity to purchase some gorgeous fish from Trent (aka Wel-Don Tanks) and Peter (aka Guppy Guru) at The Waterfront where they are co-owners of a LFS along with another hobbyist, Louis. The shop is located in Murray, Utah. On a whim, I decided to drive the 8 hours from Colorado to Utah in order to pick up my fish in person. It was the first time I've been anywhere in a year! It was great to geek out on fish with other hobbyists and to see a shop started and run by true fish nerds. I drove 6 buckets of fish home with me and of course I utilized Co-Op Nano air pumps on each bucket. I service tanks professionally so most of the fish I brought home are tagged for client aquariums, but I ended up with a hate machine trio comprised of a flowehorn (aka Gucci Mane), a fahaka puffer (named Plum after the street the Waterfront is on) and a domestic bred (F1) schoutedeni puffer, now known as Murray. It's always exciting to get a fish you haven't kept before and in my case they are all 3 different than everything I currently have. I have a lot to learn about these fish. It was, for sure, worth the 16 hour round-trip in one day! The nano air pumps with zizz airstones (and of course the Co-Op airline) kept my fish haul alive and after a few days of pouting; Plum, Murray and Gucci Mane are doing great and they quickly figured out who the food lady is!

Is anyone planning on attending any of the Aquashella events? It seems a bit more gimmicky as opposed to catering to the hobbyists, but it would be a good excuse to finally get out of town.

I think the substrate looks great and you can easily grow plants in it 🙂 What's important is that YOU like it, because it's your tank and you should do whatever you want in it. That's the great thing about the aquarium hobby, we all have different tastes and get to express them through our tanks.

Looks like run of the mill bio film and it will eventually go away as the wood gets seasoned in the tank. I would dust off the moss with your fingers as you're doing a water change so whatever gets into the water column is syphoned out.

My money is on those mischievous corys 😂 I use small pieces of slate to create a barrier round plants that are being picked on.

It is a little spendy but it is high quality. They have 2 varieties targeted towards bottom dwellers/plecos: Morning Wood and Bottom Scratcher, but in my experience plecos will eat any repashy you give them. So if you want something that will be appealing to all the fish in your tank, Community Plus is equivalent to "one size fits all." I also use Soilent Green which has Spirulina as the main ingredient, it's great for plecos, snails, cichlids, bottom dwellers....TBH, usually when I make a batch I mix multiple varieties together with other mix ins like I mentioned above. Not sure if that's right or wrong, but my plecos, corys and snails seem to enjoy my repashy concoctions 🙂

Have you tried repashy? My plecos love it. I mix french cut green beans in it and some freeze dried bloodworms.

I put it in the blender with all the other veggies 🐌❤️🐌

I use repashy like @H.K.Luterman and @Kat_Rigel with calcium carbonate instead of Tums, however I've definitely thrown Tums right into the tank. My Mysteries love ❤️ 🐌 ❤️ I make snello which is blended blanched veggies (carrots, spinach...), calcium carbonate, spirulina, freeze dried blood worms/daphnia and sometimes I throw in duckweed, then mix with gelatin. Basically I food prep better for my snails than I do for myself! 😂

Are you using the Python water change system or one of their syphons attached to a simple hose?

If I were doing it I would use a mesh bag with activated charcoal and put it at the bottom of the tank, it can even be buried in the substrate. I would for an aquarium maintenance comp so I make my own with bulk materials, but here is a link to what carbon bags look like just for reference but there are definitely cheaper ones: https://www.amazon.com/NTnormal-Activated-Charcoal-Aquarium-Canister/dp/B00WW42ZS2 Also lots of small water changes will help too.