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StephenP2003

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Everything posted by StephenP2003

  1. StephenP2003
    I've had solo honey gouramis, just males, and even a "reverse trio" (two males one female), and all have been fine. They are not like other gouramis. Too peaceful for their own good at times, can easily be bullied and out competed by more assertive fish.
  2. StephenP2003
    That's awesome. Meanwhile, my 9-year-old daughter just wants to play Minecraft.
  3. StephenP2003
    Very cool! My wife wants to do something at her school, but she teaches the really little ones - ages 3 to 6 - so right now she just has a 10-gallon with live-bearers. One of the other teachers has a boyfriend who supposedly maintains the 55-gallon at the school's front office, but it's stocked with koi (yes koi) and goldfish and looks terrible all the time. Love to see classrooms learning about the hobby in a more advanced way.
  4. StephenP2003
    The old one. I lucked out with my Amazon order. I ordered them expecting to get the new stuff but ended up getting the classic tabs. I only have a few left, though.
  5. StephenP2003
    Yep! Just filmed today and put some clips together:
  6. StephenP2003
    I was asked in another thread to video this tank today, so here goes. The sera o-nip tabs featured here are the classic original kind. I only have 6 left 😞 Enjoy the music which was included with Cyberlink Powerdirector. Fun fact: every plant you see in this tank was purchased from the co-op, except for the cabomba.
  7. StephenP2003
    Well, what's your definition of overrun? In my experience thus far, my livebearer tank population is taking care of itself. I feed live baby brine daily plus an assortment of other foods throughout the week. It doesn't matter how much I feed, the guppies and platys always look hungry, and I never feed more when I see a new batch of fry. The fish constantly graze on microorganisms in the substrate, on the plants, on the filter media, as do the shrimp and corydoras, and the few BN plecos that escaped from my fry box a few months ago. Part of their grazing includes fry and shrimplet snacks. The platys seem to be the most voracious fry-eaters. I've posted this tank (a 40 breeder) many times, but it's constantly changing: That's a lot of fish. Anyone care to count them, 'cause I do not. This tank started off with the offspring of a dying female guppy. Any line-bred guppy I bought from my LFS wouldn't last 2 weeks, but the females (being always and forever pregnant) produced some slightly stronger offspring. Then my daughter's platy gave birth, so I added those fry to this tank to grow them out, then COVID hit and my wife had to bring her platys and guppies home from her classroom. In April, to introduce new blood, I bought some assorted male guppies from aqua huna, some additional platys from my LFS, and added tiger endlers (male and female) that I'd been breeding in another tank. This tank has also become a plant overflow, housing trimmings and whatever I decide to take out of my "scaped" tanks. Believe it or not, I don't really "need" to change the water in this tank, but I do it twice a week because I'm encouraging growth. I haven't added or removed any fish from it since April, but I'm planning to start selling off some adults after the holidays so I can give new generations an opportunity to grow. I feel like I see a new color pattern every time I take time to sit and watch the tank. The endler/guppy "hybrid" offspring really adds a new dynamic. Photographing is a bit difficult though: So, all this is to say... mutt guppies all the way.
  8. StephenP2003
    As opposed to a lot of a southern accent? Some people are surprised to know I was born and raised in Louisiana, but I can start sounding pretty backwoods when I'm around my extended family long enough.
  9. StephenP2003
    I always hear about the liquid being inaccurate even when you shake the heck out of it, but the problem is neither test (strips or liquid) is super exact (honestly, 10 vs 20 and 40 vs 80? My eyes can't tell). So how does one determine whether or not something is reading correctly other than having trust in some other test? Especially when all the tests are giving a reading of something greater than 0 (unlike OP's case).
  10. StephenP2003
    I finally got around to editing and uploading my first "official" youtube video -- one in which I do actual voice-over.
  11. StephenP2003
    Yeah, it's definitely overbred and easy to get weak stock. I usually have to buy a few extras to account for loss during quarantine. But in my experience, once they pass quarantine they're good to go.
  12. StephenP2003
    Just some anecdotal experience, but I would consider raising the light up a few inches off the top to maximize light spread, particularly for stem plants so you can ensure the lower leaves get some light. EDIT: just noticed you said rim with hood, so my above advice may not be feasible.
  13. StephenP2003
    Regarding the shrimp, copper problem or not, I would recommend waiting several months of having fish before even thinking about adding them -- much better success comes with a seasoned tank. Otocinclus in a 10 is not a problem, just not a big army of them -- problem is, they'll tear through the algae in a 10 gallon quicker than you think, and then you have the extra challenge of either making sure you're growing algae fast enough to feed them, or you're supplementing with algae-based food that they'll eat. They can be finicky eaters, so it's rarely as simple as dropping an algae wafer in the tank. Your best bet might be snails. The algae problem tends to improve as your live plants establish. Also, pygmy corydoras are great for a 10g.
  14. StephenP2003
    My tap water comes with phosphate, calcium carbonate (7 dKH), and chloramines. 0 GH. I have to add a lot of gh boosting products, and with 9 tanks and several with live bearers, I calculated I'm spending 10 bucks a month just to increase my GH.
  15. StephenP2003
    I also learned you can do the same thing with dwarf sagg, although the leaf melts when you trim it so it's a slower uglier process. Sorry, I don't know for sure what would happen if you trimmed all the leaves on your bulb - my gut is to say you won't kill it, especially if it's still attached to the bulb. Anecdote - I did lose all the leaves to my dwarf tiger lotus last year, and the bulb stayed dormant for at least a month before another leaf emerged. I have read that if you let all the leaves (or a bunch of them) reach the surface, it can be tough to make it do anything else. That's why I started trimming mine before it even opens if it's looking like it'll reach the surface. Gotta be paying attention because in a short aquarium it can sprout and breach the surface in a day or two. It may just require some patience while you let it go through a dormant or ugly period.
  16. StephenP2003
    Yep, catch them early before they even open up once they go beyond the height you prefer, and you'll teach the plant that danger lurks at the higher levels. Although it'll still try to send one to the top every now and then.
  17. StephenP2003
    This is what I would do. In fact, there are very few tanks in which I use easy green at all because the tanks make their own nitrates, and my tap water comes with 2ppm of phosphate -- and I've had some serious algae and browning/imbalance problems as a result of too much of both of those (or so it seems). I am pretty much down to dosing just potassium and micronutrients.
  18. StephenP2003
    Similar to vals, my dwarf sag sat pretty dormant for months before it really took off. I have so much of it that the offshoots are literally on top of each other, super dense like a suburban lawn. I have never bothered to clip the runners from the dwarf sag.
  19. StephenP2003
    No experience with those but eager to see how it goes. I'm fortunate to have relatively clean water that just needs some dechlorinator and a GH boost. How were you battling them before? Curious how the fish handled the nitrates, since only once or twice have I ever let anything get above 50-ish.
  20. StephenP2003
    I've heard that standard a few times, roughly. Some people say 90+ for high.
  21. StephenP2003
    I was doing a test of my own since I have a ton of plants I intend to sell online after the Christmas mail rush is done. One of the plants I tested was corkscrew val wrapped in damp paper towel and in a ziplock. Set it outside for about 6 days, two of which dropped below freezing, and it was in fine shape.
  22. StephenP2003
    I just made my own reactor for my fluval FX6 since no off-the-shelf reactor had the 1-inch barbs that I needed. Specifically, I built the one from this video (but I didn't paint it): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYSu_sQyPQc Despite his description and comment update saying it doesn't completely dissolve the CO2, it's still sufficient for the amount of CO2 I'm pushing through my 90-gallon, and would likely be even more effective for the FX4. The key is to make the reactor as tall/long as you have room for, and the diameter of the pipe as wide as you can. Mine is like 2 feet long and 2inch pipe. If I had room, I would've done a 3-inch pipe. Let me know if you have more questions.
  23. StephenP2003
    If you're sure you want to dive into CO2 (and it's really not that difficult, and your plants get really happy really fast) and you have the upfront funds, then I would skip all the DIY/bell/fluval kit stuff and just order a 5lb, 10lb, or 20lb cylinder online*, spend the $150 for the CO2Art regulator, get a WiFi timer, and you'll have a good set-it-and-forget-it system. Read articles about KH, PH, and CO2 and you'll get an idea how to make sure you don't kill your fish -- the key here is starting slow, and using a high quality regulator. *see if your local CO2 supply fills cylinders rather than exchanges them, might be able to get a used cylinder cheaply I just recently set up and dialed in the CO2 for my 40 breeder and my 90 gallon custom, so let me know if you have any questions.
  24. StephenP2003
    Is filling the bags with o2 necessary for shipping (if not using breather bags)? If so, what's an easy to procure this (assuming one is not shipping all the time, but maybe a few times a month)?
  25. StephenP2003
    Got "project: plants for profit" started.
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