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Schwack

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Everything posted by Schwack

  1. Schwack
    I've been keeping my little 5 gallon going by dumping fish poo and other detritus from my egg collecting dish into it. Seems to be creating enough ammonia to keep everything alive and and working in there. It's also got a bunch of bladder snails and what not rummaging through the substrate keeping things reasonably clean.
  2. Schwack
    I've been doing something similar. I don't have enough fish to burn through even 1/4 tsp of eggs in a single feeding. Sounds like I could be keeping them in the fridge for a day though? Be nice to be able to feed half my fresh bbs and put the other half in the fridge so I could start another batch of fresh right away. I've been freezing my leftovers in a tiny ice cube tray and the fish are into it, but not nearly as much as the fresh.
  3. Schwack
    I'm a bit concerned about the high level of nitrites present in the tank. Nitrites inhibit blood's ability to carry oxygen in fish and might explain why she jumped in the first place. 10ppm nitrite would be a "hair on fire" type problem if it showed up in one of my inhabited tanks. I think others have given the best advice in terms of fish first aid. Good luck!
  4. Schwack
    I looked into play sand for the last tank I setup. Read lots of stories that sound just like @Alec2cool's experience. Mostly that it was messy and took forever to settle out. I opted to try sand blasting sand instead and so far I've been very happy with the results. It did take a fair amount of washing, but I've seen people online who say they don't even bother to wash it anymore. The siltiest bits of sand settle out pretty quickly and can be gravel vac'd up. I went with Black Diamond 1630 blasting sand. $10 for 50 lbs is tough to beat. The 1630 is pretty fine, but I find it a bit easier to work with than some of the coarser sands I'm using.
  5. Schwack
    I've been keeping several bettas, both white, in 8.0 pH and very hard water. I don't use RO or anything and both fish have been thriving for coming up on a year now. One of them got moved into a 20 gallon since he's partially blind and doesn't seem to be bothered by other fish in his space. Rainbowfish and a pleco have done well with him, although the rainbowfish will steal his food if I'm not careful about feeding. The other is in a 10 gallon with a few corydoras and they do very well together. I tried adding some shrimp to his tank, but he saw them as a snack.
  6. Schwack
    They kept a few goldfish, but I'm not sure these particular rocks ever got much water run over them into the ponds. They were built by an amateur (putting it kindly) and leaked like a sieve, so the water features were almost never in use.
  7. Schwack
    Hi folks, hopefully this is a quick an easy question for more experienced aquarists. My house came with a bunch of leaky, broken ponds in the backyard. I've since dismantled them, but I'm left with a bunch of rock that was used to make up the various water features feeding the ponds. Some of them are visually interesting bits of rock and I was hoping to use them in a new aquarium I'm setting up for my wife. I've given all these pieces a good scrub in some clean water, and generally the water runs cleanly off them. If I really hit 'em with a scrub brush, they'll give off a bit of rusty tinge. They don't react to vinegar or anything like that and seem to otherwise meet the requirements for aquarium safe rock. Does anyone see any reason not to use this rock in an aquarium? A quick bit of research says the rust won't harm the fish, but I figured I'd throw the question to someone other than Google. Thanks all!
  8. Schwack
    Sorry to hear they didn't make it through your vacation. I'm sure you'll be able to hatch a bunch more once you've got the breeder box going. I've spent the last 2 weeks or so prepping to breed my CPDs, and collected my first eggs on the fifth. Over the last week I collected ~37 eggs and so far have something like 18 little slivers hanging around the breeder box. I've been using some weighted hornwort in a shallow tupperware dish to encourage them to spawn, and so far I've had eggs every day but yesterday. All my research says they shouldn't need me to feed them until they're free swimming, was that your experience? I've got First Bites on hand, and some baby brine (I'm guessing they're too small for these yet) along with freeze dried blood worms, flake etc I can crush. I started two separate infusoria cultures, but I'm at the 5 and 8 day mark and they're still cloudy and disgusting. I've been fussing over these little guys since I noticed them yesterday, but I'm trying to hold back on putting any food in until they actually need it. Looking forward to hearing more about how your next batch goes!
  9. Schwack
    I've only got an AquaClear 30 and I can't get the foam to stick. Any trick to it that I'm missing?
  10. Schwack
    My experience with my first cycle was about the same. Ammonia dropped to zero as bacteria to convert it to nitrite established a large enough colony. Once my ammonia was daily dropping to 0, there was a week+ of lag time before nitrite converting bacteria grew out in large enough numbers to make a dent in the nitrite in the tank. My nitrite was off the API test kit's chart, which was concerning, but it eventually came down. I'm not an expert, but I'm guessing you're just in that lag period. Nitrite eating bacteria won't start establishing themselves until you've got enough food for 'em in the tank. If it were me, I'd stay the course and be patient. I used ammonium chloride because the fish food method because I'm a bit of a control freak and the entire process, with no established media/substrate, took 5 weeks. The wait is a killer.
  11. Schwack
    The betta in my community tank did this for a while. My corys are slow eaters, and super shy, so even if I fed them across the tank the betta would wander over once he finished his food and scare them off. I've had the best luck following @James Black's advice and feeding my corys and plecos in the evening, once the lights have been off for a bit. Nobody seems to bother their food once the house is dark. Maybe try breaking up the wafers and dropping them around the tank? That would at least give the corys a chance to get some that the betta hasn't gotten to yet.
  12. Schwack
    What do you all use on the end of your refill pumps to spread the outflowing water? I picked up a little cheapy with just enough head lift on Prime Day, but even at the lowest setting it's still pretty violent.
  13. Schwack
    Willing to bet things got too hot. I had been using a 60w incandescent in a clamping work light and with an ambient temp of 72F I had to keep it ~12" away or my temps would shoot well over 86F. You might consider snagging a cheap infrared thermometer off Amazon. I use mine whenever "close enough" is OK.
  14. Schwack
    Collected my first batch of CPD eggs this morning and saw them heading back in to make some more. Keep spotting baby cherry shrimp in my 20 gallon, I like that they're zero effort breeders. My pseudomugil furcatus have also been producing eggs on their own. Gonna let them try unattended since that tank is already as full as I'd like it. I can see why so many people get into breeding fish!
  15. Schwack
    Hygger makes a small air pump and it's the only thing that I've found to be as quiet as the Aquarium Coop pump. It's also more expensive and you don't get much support after your purchase. The best thing it has going for it is that it can be suctioned onto your glass to keep vibration down. I'm not always able to find a great spot to hang the Coop pumps but they stay quiet even laying flat. Both are leagues better than the Tetra Whisper 20 I ended up with. That thing could wake the dead.
  16. Schwack
    I've used a few of the versa tops and they're a pretty solid fit for Aqueon tanks. The 10 gallon rimless lid fits a bit weird, but I think that has more to do with Aqueon's odd rail setup than anything. The only thing I dislike about them is the black hinge. I feel like I have to scoot lights around a bit to make sure the whole tank is getting even light since there's a big black spot in the middle of the lid.
  17. Schwack
    I'm glad I'm not the only one who has had issues with API's pH test kit. I've gotten readings from 7.0 to 8.2 from the same water. It doesn't help that the color scale is incredibly difficult to read. I struggle to differentiate 20ppm from 40ppm NO3 just about every time I measure. I found a lab done photo of each concentration, but it's still an incredibly minor variance. Like you, I got tired of guessing at my pH and bought an electronic meter. So much faster and more accurate. I wish there were relatively cheap ways to electronically measure other water parameters.
  18. Schwack
    I've had detritus worms in just about every tank I've setup. The first time I saw them, I freaked out (the same for most new fishkeepers, I'm sure.) All the resources I have suggest they aren't a problem, unless you really object to tiny worms floating about. My CPDs and rainbowfish seem to enjoy snapping them up when they move through the water column and everything I've found says they're entirely harmless to fish. I've also read that they have some beneficial impact as far as sifting through waste and uneaten food which falls into your substrate. I'm no expert, but as far as I'm concerned, they're just a normal part of an aquatic ecosystem. Actively fighting their existence sounds like an uphill battle for minimal benefit.
  19. Schwack
    I have white sand in one of my tanks, and I ended up buying the tank's eventual replacement because of it. My school of rainbowfish generate an enormous amount of poop and of course it sticks out on the bright white sand. Glad I'm not the only one bothered by bright, sandy substrates. I will admit that they look amazing for about 20 minutes until the fish poop all over it!
  20. Schwack
    I'm guessing it's because corydoras are scaleless. Consensus on the internet seems to be that they don't tolerate salt well as a result.
  21. Schwack
    This one is my favorite because it looks the most like mine! Random bits and bobs from around the house cobbled into something workable. The hardest component for me to locate was a halogen bulb for my trouble light... None of my LED/CFL bulbs would put out enough heat to keep the thing toasty. I did break down and buy a strainer, I couldn't find something fine enough for the little guys outside of a specialty shop.
  22. Schwack
    I think the common refrain is that a betta's ability to put up with tankmates varies fish to fish. I have one betta who is fine in a large community tank (he's also blind, so that probably helps) and one who barely tolerates the few mystery snails who share his tank. I've heard that some people have luck letting the other fish establish themselves in the tank before adding the betta, but some just don't tolerate other fish. Could try adding a few ghost shrimp to see if he'll put up with invertebrates.
  23. Schwack
    Aesthetics aside, this seems like it might be a cheap solution for a while. So long as you don't go nuts tightening it up!
  24. Schwack
    A quick google says that aquarium silicon uses a different chemical to begin the curing process vs. other household silicon sealants. I don't have experience with aquarium silicon specifically, but my experience with household sealants says that it will not function as much of a glue, especially with several hundred pounds of water pushing the brace further apart. If it were me, I'd be going crazy trying to replace the tank within a week, even if it meant downsizing temporarily.
  25. Schwack
    Seconding (thirding?) this! I've been using generic melamine sponges and they're fantastic. I do the same thing as @Kat_Rigel and cut them into small strips. Makes it easier for me to keep them relatively clean and together since they can get kind of crumbly through use. Cheap and super effective on stubborn algae.
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