Jump to content
Watch our video on the rules of this forum.

demicent

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    77

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Feedback

    0%

 Content Type 

Everything posted by demicent

  1. demicent
    I take a little piece of paper towel or one of the pads that comes with the Ziss Never Clog Airstone. I put the Anubias or Java Fern on a small rock. Wrap with cotton thread around and around the rock. I let the roots hang out to the sides, I don't wrap them under the rock. Then I take the little wad of paper towel or pad and glue THAT onto the bottom of the rock over the threads, to glue the threads to the bottom of the rock. Let it dry and put it in the tank. That way I'm not gluing the plant itself. Don't know if it makes a difference, but it seems to hold well. And If I change my mind for the first week or so, I can just snip the threads and put the plant on something else before it grabs onto the rock by itself.
  2. demicent
    Makes sense, thank you.
  3. demicent
    If I let my Water Sprite float, are the roots that develop OK being planted later? Or are water roots different than planted roots?
  4. demicent
    Sooooo many wires. How do you organize them? Any photos you would share? I'm being careful to include drip loops. How do you dress your mess? Currently my power supplies are on the lower shelves of the aquarium stands. All of my tanks are in my living areas. I could hang the strips from the wall behind the tanks and count on my tank backdrops to help hide them, I suppose. But they would be harder to reach when I want to turn off the filters and heaters for water changes. Is it safe to bundle up the wires and use twist ties or zip ties ? Is it safe to zig zag the wires into a bunch (like they come with a new item)? Any suggestions? Thanks
  5. demicent
    I have about a dozen USB Nano Air Pumps I purchased at Aquarium Coop. Some I have hanging off the clips that they come with. Some are just tossed in a bowl on the shelf of the aquarium stand. All of them are silent. No hum, no rattling. My laptop fan and refrigerator motor are much louder. I enjoy the quiet hiss and pop of the air bubbles breaking the surface. I strongly suggest putting a Ziss Never Clog Airstone inside the sponge filter. You can screw it down tightly to make nice fine bubbles. And of course you want to use a check valve.
  6. demicent
    Love the USB Nano Air Pump from Aquarium Coop. I have about a dozen of them. The price is great and they are silent. I also purchased a slightly larger air pump which will have 4 sponge filters ganged on but haven't had time to get it running yet.
  7. demicent
    What I really appreciate about this forum is how instead of immediately suggesting a "Nuke 'Em" approach to things like planaria, hydra, water chemistry, fish illnesses, people gently suggest more moderate or natural approaches and counsel patience.
  8. demicent
    I purchased a $16 polystyrene Plaskolite 24-in x 48-in 7.85-sq ft Louvered Ceiling Light Panel from Lowes and snipped it to size with diagonal cutters. Rested it nestled in the inner lip of the tank rim for a perfect fit. If you have rimless tanks, you could rest it on the top edges. It's really simple to snip out openings for HOB filters, power cords and air lines. I sanded the edges. I rest my saggy thin Lexan sheets on top to prevent evaporation or fish jumping. You can rest glass on it, too. I can feed through it, add water, and use a pipette to draw water for samples. I flip it up and lean the edge against the wall for water changes and gravel vac. It also just lifts out easily. I don't like the black hinges on regular tops because they are always in a bad spot for blocking light. One negative of the louver panel is that the light can't spread as evenly, it's directed straight down through the louvers when the light is sitting right on top of the lid. Also it reflects up a bright strip of white light that is distracting and harder on the eyes. When I raise up the light a little and turn up the power, I get more even coverage. I think the opening sizes on the grid are about 3/4 inch. There is black louver material available for a lot more money. I don't know if it would be safe to spray paint the white louver to prevent that reflection. Are there aquarium safe paints? Water condenses on it under the lexan and drips back into the tank. At any rate, this is a decent and cheap solution until I decide what I want to do long term.
  9. demicent
    Thanks for posting this topic. I am thinking of doing a male only guppy tank! I just don't want to deal with fry at this point in my life. I got my first guppy when I was 5 years old, and the last descendant died on my 16th birthday.
  10. demicent
    So the snail catcher...I don't want to smoosh them, just move them to another tank unharmed. Is that what it does? I had two pieces of spiderwood in my 10 gallon quarantine tank that were covered in a deep layer of white biofilm. Only took the "pest" snails about a week and a half to clear that off, as well as the brown algae on the glass, water sprite plants and java fern.
  11. demicent
    So pretty! I plan on putting a spare tank in a window and letting the algae run riot. Then I'll have spare algae for the cleanup crew, and I think it would make a nice quarantine tank. I can control the light with blinds, so the animals don't overheat.
  12. demicent
    Hello lovely people, I purchased the Finnex Pure 7 HOB sold by Aquarium Coop for the purpose of polishing the water in my rimmed 20 longs Unfortunately, the filter hangar is too narrow to push down low enough to meet the water line for proper operation. Do you have purchase suggestions for low powered HOBS that will fit over the rim of Aqueon 20 Longs? I have filter floss, bio material, and some other things I can customize them with if the need arises, I want to be able to use my own media. All of my tanks run sponge filters for the main filtration, the HOB will just be for polish and all that other stuff HOBS are good for. They won't be run constantly, only as the need arises. Thanks!
  13. demicent
    I want to move the Aqueon Pro 100 watt heater from my smaller tank to a new larger tank. I have planaria in the smaller tank and want to make sure there are no adults or eggs that get transferred over. Any advice on how to clean it are appreciated.
  14. demicent
    I'm so happy to have new, smart friends!
  15. demicent
    Thanks for the replies. I have seen more planaria than I can handle this year. I won't have fish until spring, so Anabantoids include betta, gouramis...? I will try and be patient rather than adopting the Nuke-em approach, which rarely works out well for anyone. But it was quite a shock, literally one minute nothing, next they are swarming on the hardscaping and glass.
  16. demicent
    So I've had my tanks for three weeks now, put some plants in there, and purchased some Olive and Horned Nerite snails. Just now I noticed what look like Planaria? This seems to be my theme for 2020, for the first time ever I have had small thin black land planaria, and the 8 inch long type in my yard. These are tiny. And threadlike. The head end is wider than the tail end but I can't tell if it's triangular or rounded. And they are climbing on my snails. I know the land type kill snails, are my new snails doomed? Should I buy Panacur C, and dose the tanks? After a few good water changes, will I be able to put my nerites back in? I have this feeling there will be a few planaria hitch hiking on the snails as I move them to a new container. Any advice will be appreciated.
  17. demicent
    Great write-up, thanks! I have a similar small battery power source, but I noticed the other day that my emergency car battery jumper thing has a USB port. Tried it out, works fine, I have no idea of the duration.
  18. demicent
    That's a great story!
  19. demicent
    I put some of my new Spiderwood in the quarantine tank, and the snails love the temporary white film that new wood gets. Right now they seem to prefer it to the algae on the plants, rotting plant pieces, blanched green beans & zucchini, Hikari Algae Wafers...go, little guys! Clean off that detestable nightmare slime!
  20. demicent
    I tried plants in my aquariums from age 5 through 35 when I took a break from the hobby. No love. Back then it was so hard to get good information, other than what I could glean from LFS folks and dusty old books in the library. Huge failure. I'm in my mid-60's now, almost approaching that desirable Granny demographic. About a month ago I fell asleep watching YouTube, and woke in the middle of the night to a video of some guy talking about planted aquariums. I blame it on subliminal marketing, but three weeks ago I decided to revisit the hobby . I purchased around 18 (and more on the way) plants from Aquarium Coop for my 4 low and medium light tanks that are brand new and doing fishless cycles. For the first time in my life, I think I have a chance for success with aquatic plants! My Vals arrived slightly melted, but immediately perked up and have both thrown off runners. The Cryps did not melt at all! The Java fern looked a little stressed, but it's throwing off plantlets from the leaf tips. Anubias are thriving and making new leaves. Everything else looks good, too. I'm leaving them in the pots until the hardscaping is done being shuffled around , and I have a better idea of the final positions of the filters, heaters etc. I'm so grateful for not only the good plant stock, but the loads on information that has given me the confidence to start again. I'm also confident that I can come here and get help when I need it. And I adore the bladder snails.
  21. demicent
    Thanks for your in-depth post. I use the API kits and Tetra Easy Strips. I am cycling four new tanks, 3 planted and 1 planted with snails. I keep meticulous records because I'm a geeky nerm and I can't trust my memory anymore. When I use the strips, it's to do a check to see if the parameters are trending up or down. The actual numbers are not as important, it's to show movement in the values that might need my attention. I do a quick dip on all four tanks and check the results against the previous readings. I use the API kits more sparingly and tend to base my actual numbers on them, mainly because "the internet" says they are more accurate and I have no way to know. In the end, I am hoping for consistent results that remain toward center of the "good" parameters and I probably shouldn't obsess over wanting to know the actual numbers. With only two weeks of data, my test strips and API kits are not producing close results, part of that may be me needing to train my eye to interpret the colors. I use a pipette to get as close as possible to 5 ml. When I was in kindergarten, the teacher asked us to draw a picture of what we wanted to be when we grew up. I drew a scientist working with test tubes. Between the aquariums and my miniature rose hobby, my dream has kinda sorta come true. Again, thanks for your thoughtful work on this topic.
  22. demicent
    Would it be better to have one sponge filter in a 20 long, or two smaller ones at opposite ends?
  23. demicent
    I am in the process of setting up a medium light tank. If I move over some of my low light plants, like Anubias, will they appreciate the extra light or curl up and die?
  24. demicent
    Can the glue be used on wet decor?
  25. demicent
    Hello lovely people, Somehow a video from Aquarium Coop ended up in my youTube. It reignited a desire to keep fish. I kept aquariums from childhood up through my mid-30's. Then I took a 30 some year break! Watching the videos and reading the articles on this website gave me the confidence I needed to dip back into the water. My main focus will be growing plants.
×
×
  • Create New...