Tanked
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Posts posted by Tanked
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On 1/4/2024 at 1:37 PM, Supermassive said:
Either that or I killed it with hydrogen peroxide but I only sprayed it and let it sit for about 15-20 minutes and I was spraying with water too.
The rhizome still looks very healthy. Its bright green, almost looks white in some spots. Could it recover from that even if it has zero leaves?
Unless your Anubia was actually 'dry' when it arrived that isn't likely to be an issue. For me, Anubia has proven to be temperamental and remained dormant for months. I would treat the rhizome as you would normally, and just wait.
Peroxide begins working in seconds, so If you were spraying straight peroxide, and straight water separately, for 20 minutes, it is up for debate as to what happened. Soaking in a 50/50 mix for 5-10 minutes would probably have been better. I have done whole tank treatments with no ill effects.
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On 1/7/2024 at 11:54 AM, Odd Duck said:
This is a new one for me, but I’ll be looking into this. Always looking for handier ways to feed veggies.
Talk to your local auto shop. As our vehicles get bigger, so do the wipers. The only down side that I know of is that they are actually are brittle. Once bent at a sharp angle, unbending will often break them. I also use them to build DIY ant-dams on the hummingbird feeders.
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- The plastic mesh bags that garlic bulbs are sold in can be stuffed with lava rocks to raise substrate, placed over the siphon hose, the HOB intake or inside the UGF lift tubes to keep critters out, and a diffuser if you are pumping water in
- A pond pump for pumping water back into the aquarium instead of lifting 40# buckets shoulder high
- Aerosol can lids fitted with a rubber suction cup acts as containers for plants and soil anywhere on the sides of the aquarium
- I have a 9" silverware cup from a discarded dish rack, fitted with 2 rubber suction cups serves as a water diffuser so I don't disturb the substrate, and as a corral for new plants, fish...
- Plastic jar lids fitted with a thin piece of Styrofoam and a 'donut hole' act as floating plant corrals.
- S/S stiffeners from your cars windshield wipers (my first hack) can be bent to hang on the rim, bent at an angle to recover tools, deceased animals etc. They can also be used as skewers for feeding and retrieving veggies in the aquarium. A skewer that is longer than your tank is tall will allow you to anchor one end in the substrate while they are feeding. Fitted with a wine cork on one end, it won't sink if you drop it.
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On 12/21/2023 at 2:21 PM, Tanked said:
The quick freeze we had this time last year, killed all of my potted trees
On New Years Eve. this year, the local gardening columnist decided to do a weather review for the year. On 12-22-22 Southwest Ohio was hit by a "BOMB CYCLONE!"😱 We had a 52 degree temperature drop in 12 hours. 20-30 degree swings aren't unusual, but +44 down to -8 was too much. That explains what happened to my Bonsai. The rest of the year we had a mild spring, dry July, and a wet August. I was still picking vine ripened tomatoes the week before Christmas this year, so I'm not complaining too much.
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On 1/2/2024 at 1:57 AM, nabokovfan87 said:
Don't fear the duckweed!
I embrace the Duckweed and then it disappears.
At the the LFS this weekend, I asked when they were going to get floating plants. They said I would have to wait until spring unless I wanted Duckweed. I told them I use only wild caught organic Duckweed. It just doesn't grow in my aquariums. When they told me I should stick to plastic plants, I held up the plants I had just purchased and asked them if they wanted them back.
This got me to thinking about whether all Duckweed is created equal. Is it possible that the Duckweed passed around in the hobby has adapted, or have I just managed to avoid this problem?
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On 1/1/2024 at 7:13 PM, CiderLovesFish said:
Have light white sand substrate in my 40 gal tank and feel like it is pretty hard to maintain.
- I used a Fluval small Gravel Vacuum Cleaner but it's very easy to get sand out of the tank when trying to suck the fish poops.
- I have a marineland water filter and I am not sure if I should switch to any other water filter for better flow over the sand.
- The fish poops seem to accumulate so fast after my cleanup.
Any advice? Shall I change my vacuum, water filter, or tank setup to make it easier for the cleanup? Just feel like it is really hard to keep up with the poop build-up in the sand ; (
Thanks!
Unfortunately white sand just doesn't stay clean very long My tan pool sand was cleaned 3 days ago and its already collecting debris.
When cleaning the sand, I use only the siphon hose (no tube). Cutting the tip at about 45 degrees allows more water to flow in from the side, pulling more debris and less sand with it. Whatever sand you do pick up can be rinsed clean in a shallow bowl and returned to the aquarium.
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It took two years for my JV to just give up in the back of the tank. It put out a few runners but neve actually grew. At present I have Italian Val growing in the front corner where it gets a few minutes of direct morning sun. It was planted mid-tank directly under the light, but has twice migrated to the front corner. It still remains very short but I now have six runners in that corner. I am dealing with low tech, hard water, 76 degrees. Ph is 6.6, but that is up for debate.
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I haven't gotten anything done today.
Yesterday:
- I added two more SAEs to the large community tank. The Silver Dollars have been goofing off lately. I'm not 100% on the SAE identification. They look right, but are considerably paler than any of the others.
- The 3 year old Amazon sword in the planted community tank has been replaced by a Dwarf Chain Sword. The new plant had enough runners to put one in all of the tanks. The Amazon Sword has never done well.
- Added a Crypt Lucens to the small planted community. The other Crypts seem happy so why not?
- Water changes for all.
- Thinned out some of the accumulated aquarium junk.
- Played chemist for about an hour. API test kits from 1995 are still good right?
- Plant growth in the project tank has stalled, so I added an air stone in the hopes of adding some CO2 to the water
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On 12/31/2023 at 3:42 PM, Guppysnail said:
I hope everyone rings in the New Year in a positive note. Remember all the things you did well this year and praise yourself for your accomplishments.
Stay safe and if your festivities are near your tanks take a few extra moments to make certain they are safe as well.
So far, so good!
The fish celebrated the new year with new plants, Brine Shrimp and Bloodworms. I had Egg Nog and Bourbon
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Had I known about using prime after a bleach dip, I might not needed to wait for a week of sun and air to kill the smell.
Hydrogen peroxide is an alternative to bleach as a disinfectant. Medical grade is the 3% H2o2 that you find in the grocery/pharmacy. Used correctly it is aquarium safe. Peroxide is highly susceptible to light. You could liberally spray your tree in a plastic bag and place in a dark room for a few minutes or hours. Exposure to light will cause the peroxide to break down leaving you with water. The CDC says that on hard surfaces you can spray it on and wait a minute or three and wipe it off. Be sure that your peroxide hasn't expired.
If you think you need to sanitize your rocks and gravel, you can boil them. Cover them with tap water and raise to boiling point 5-10 minutes. Most everything will begin dying at 150 degrees.
Any cheap mechanical timer will do for the lights, but for about $10. you can buy a digital timer which will allow you to set the exact time you wish the lights to cycle down to the minute. They are usually smaller, come with a single pushbutton override, and most importantly, a battery backup.
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I've always done fish in cycle. My opinion is that it gets a bad rap because of too many fish in the uncycled tank. When I plan on buying from a big box store, I make several visits. I watch for dead fish, and how many fish, dead and alive, are in the all of the tanks. Multiple dead fish means they are not being properly cared for.
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On 12/30/2023 at 6:10 AM, reefhugger said:
I've been gravel vacuuming under the probably mistaken idea it it keeps the water parameters in check from ammonia, nitrites. nitrates? When I vac during water changes it looks like I'm pulling out a ton of debris that would cause water spikes as it degrades. I do have planted tanks . I am getting better at not over feeding but probably still need to cut back more. By vacuuming am I reducing BB? Does the garbage in the gravel affect water parameters?
Yes to both questions. BB is everywhere Vacuuming alone won't reduce it enough to matter. The garbage (detritus) is part of the nitrogen cycle that your plants and the BB rely on. In a non planted tank or an overstocked tank you can get too much of a good thing.
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This conversation is never dead. Somebody, myself included always has these issues in one form or another.
I would not reduce the EG. Your plants are starving. I would add some root tabs. There is a nutrient deficiency chart above that will help explain some of what you are seeing.
Light duration might be an issue causing the algae issues. How long are they on?
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On 12/28/2023 at 1:19 AM, rongqingchemical said:
How is the use of magnesium sulphate in the aquarium?
Thanks for your answer.
Could you please advise where do you buy epsom salts?
Any grocery store/pharmacy should have them. Buy plain salts with no scents flavors or other additives.
Epsom salts are not expensive, and should cost about $1.00 a pound.
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On 12/27/2023 at 8:25 AM, JoeQ said:
What will these kids think of next????
Your plant will arrive via a sheet of treated paper and you will use a link to print the new plant.
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Welcome to the Forum.
My notes are unclear, but seem to indicate that light reduction was key for eliminating the Hair Algae. This goes along with regular water changes and spot Hydrogen Peroxide treatments. Use a test tube/bottle/tooth brush to physically remove as much as possible.
My greatest infestation was in an island of floating Hornwort closest to the light.
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On 12/27/2023 at 1:42 AM, Chris turtlerouge said:
Im just curious, cant the campfire rocks thats been in that fire be used also?
That's a good question.
Are you thinking about a real wood burning campfire, or the backyard gas powered fire pit? I'm not a chemist, so my best guess is that while the rocks are inert, campfire residue would wreak havoc on the water chemistry.
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Magnesium Sulfate (Epsom Salts) is a source of Magnesium needed by your plants. In my case it is used to prevent the curling of the entire leaf on some of the plants. If you plan on using Epsom Salts, buy plain salts with no scents flavors or other additives.
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On 12/14/2023 at 9:33 AM, Scaperoot said:
I've read conflicting information on this, so I'm wondering, how do you gauge whether nitrates in a tank are too high? I'll use one of my tanks as an example. It's a 20 long heavily planted tank with White clouds, Guppies, false Juliis, a female betta, nerites, and cherry shrimp. If I'm using a master test kit, what's the threshold before I need to do a water change? I try not to over feed, but I've noticed lately that I'm getting higher readings. At last water change, Nitrates were 80+. The frequency was typically 7-10 days between water changes, but I've had to do them weekly for about a month now. I feed 6 days a week; frozen baby brine, pellets, freeze dried ACO food, and occasionally some crushed Krill flakes.
No matter which test kit you use, nitrates <50 ppm are considered safe but not ideal. Test strips are not intended to be precise. They are intended to be fast and easy guide for everyone to use, for a lot less money. Their biggest draw back is that the ammonia test requires purchasing a different strip. The API tests can be more precise, but are also more prone to operator error. I've always been curious about how they determined that the Master Kit does 800 tests.
As to how to get the nitrates closer to to 30ppm, you could test your tap water for nitrates, feed less, and do more but smaller water changes.
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On 12/25/2023 at 1:47 PM, Chris turtlerouge said:
I have a full hood for the 40, plus the glass top. That glass top has a lot of calcium build up on it. I tried cleaning it off but i sliced my hand on the glass edge.
When removing calcium, vinegar can be your friend. Take the lid off of the tank, Submerge the lid in vinegar if you can, or place vinegar soaked paper or cloth towels on the deposits until they soften.
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BUON NATALE!
FELIZ NATAL!
FELIZ NAVIDAD!
FROHE WEIHNACHTEN!
GOD JUL!
JOYEAU NOEL!
MERIKURISUMASU!
VESELE VANOCE!
And for anyone I missed, MERRY CHRISTMAS-
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REMEMBER!
This one, short and sweet creeps into my consciousness all year long perhaps because a White Christmas is becoming a rarity around here!
🎄MERRY CHRISTMAS🎄
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Depending on how thick the plywood top is, your present design is probably ok. Thicker plywood will disperse more weight without sagging. Adding a third 2x4 in the middle would work, but I think that @lefty o's suggestion would be easier and faster.
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What tools do you use for your tanks that you never thought you'd need?
in General Discussion
Posted
I should have added that the for the small fish, jar lids also keep floating food in one location instead of blowing all over the tank.
I'm still part of the bucket brigade. All of the aquariums are in the the family areas on old hardwood floors. They suffer enough from drips and splashes. I do have a 32 gal. Rubbermaid BRUTE with casters that I used for wine making. I should give that a trial run..