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KoolFish97

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  1. KoolFish97
    My Fahaka loves hikari sinking carnivore/massivore Other treats is it loves frozen prawns cockles and clams. Very lazy just sucks the meat out haha. Also loves mystery snails just the right size.. not to big or it's like nope to much effort.
  2. KoolFish97
    Thank you Cory! Appreciate it as always.
  3. KoolFish97
    Wanted to get some guided wisdom. What temperature (day/night?) (average water temp?) do you all start bringing out your tropical/subtropical species outdoors for summer tubbing?
  4. KoolFish97
    I adore nature and in particular the aquatic environment. That's why fish tanks are so special to me and mean so much. In short. I truly believe that fish keeping keeps me from going crazy. Gives me a outlet and a focus.
  5. KoolFish97
    It sounds like your system is still cycling. Ammonia really would be 0 in a matured aquarium that is cycled and would only be present if still maturing or a problem has occured. The 5ppm nitrate is bugger all. You can have it reach unbelievably high levels (higher than you can test) before it has a negative effect on fish but it's defiantly a good indicator for water changing and for keeping low to control algae growth. If you have plants I'd actually say aim for 20 ppm nitrate always to feed them. If you don't have any plants I'd try to keep it as low as possible. But don't chase a number just keep it reasonably low. Maybe for you that's 20 others it's 10 etc. It's just about how quickly algae will growth. Tap water can have nitrates ammonia etc. Always good to just see what your working with in your water also to keep it as a baseline of what to expect. Just keep at it and watch that your ammonia only goes down not up as even small doses really can upset fish may not kill them but can damage gills/organs etc. This isn't to scare you just to advise you to let it keep going down before you add more. Many nutrients don't show much change with our tests for around 16-36 hours as it's the growth rate of the bacterias that control those waste products. So just test every day or 2 days to get the trends. Don't panic yourself it's just to check how it's travelling and keeping an eye out for anything major. Remember as said in this thread your building an ecosystem not just a tank so this is part of it and your learning your own home made one. Keep at it as Cory has said many times before the aquarium hobby is for everyone and we welcome you back and want to keep that passion growing.
  6. KoolFish97
    I'm starting up a pond breeding project here in the Aussie summer of Native glass shrimp. Peacock gudgeons and Red neon blue eyes. I can't wait to get my tank (picking up next week) and get it going ! I may even post a blog on it here on how it goes and what it takes and my successes/failures.
  7. KoolFish97
    They look awesome!! I need these to come to Australia so many of my customers would love these to help with their turtles/cichlids goldfish etc that they really want to plant in but can't as they get ripped out and dragged around. They look awesome! And everyone's is looking really great that I've seen.
  8. KoolFish97
    Also to add. Remember to RINSE THE TEST TUBES each time. Not just in the tap water but flush them with tank water a couple of times. I've had people panic about 8.4 pH when it turned out to be the residual hard hot tap water they cleaned it out with mixing with their water and throwing the test out. Rinsed it a couple of times in their water and then all looks normal again. It's a super common practice in any scientific water sampling even with brand new water containers to rinse no less than 3 times before taking water to test.
  9. KoolFish97
    I will say this is part of the hardest issues with multiple test brands with different standardized error margins. Some will be more precise then others. I absolutely second another opinion from a good solid LFS just to back you up. But in reality the general opinion (not just of fish people but water science proffesionals) is that liquids are generally are more reliable as the error marigin is less (this is changing with technology and many scientists are far past both technologies as they use light colourimeters spectrometers etc) My advice would be go of the more reliable liquid one. (Unless your test strips you use are known to be good quality) I would also assume the worst one is correct to be on the side of caution but this is where a second opinion really helps. I will say though I have used a API test kit where the ammonia always read a slight green-yellow no matter what source of water (I tried multiple tanks RO water tap water Rain water everything I could). Get a second opinion and then check yourself against your results with the closest one I would trust more. Then just keep a good eye on it regularly just doing maintenace checks from here on out. About the pH. It is a little confusing but I'll try to help you get it. Always start with the normal pH. If the test is any of the colours EXCEPT the bright blue (7.4) then it's that pH. If it reads bright blue (7.4) check the High range pH. If the test kit is light brown (7.4) then your water 7.4 if it reads anything higher than that is your pH. Remember a steady pH is better for nearly all fish then chasing a number all my tanks run as 7.4 and it's never caused me any issues in my fish keeping Sorry for the long message!!
  10. KoolFish97
    May I ask what video/build this was as i haven't seen it and would love to watch it to get some ideas or follow along. I think I get the whole concept and could do one myself but I know deans would be near full proof.
  11. KoolFish97
    According to many paint/enamel manufacturers most paints are completely inert and harmless once fully cured. That doesn't mean all however and that doesn't mean that if they get compromised (scratch, breaks, dents) that issues couldn't arise from the metal underneath. To be safe I'd most likely steer clear of things like that unless your absolutely sure of its origins and the impacts it might have on your closed ecosystem. Also I agree with Paul. Nearly all ceramic should be fine to use (bar maybe some tiny amounts of carbonates or other KH/GH/pH buffing changes but they are so minor and can easily be pre-soaked or water changed out.
  12. KoolFish97
    My pre - existing 300 Litre (80 gallon?) ,Made of a old glass aquarium, In the day resides around 23c (73f) and in the morning it's only dropped to the coldest of 20c (68f) degrees. obviously it will be getting much warmer as our day temperatures in Australia in my area in summer can average over 35 C (95f) and not get much colder than that at all at night. Thank you all for your advice I will be going as big as possible I just wanted to make sure if I could only get 40 gallons that it wasn't an instant failure. I do know to keep it in shade and provide a tone of plants and cover that is already in the works as I have the plants and decor at the ready just need the tubs. Cheers!!
  13. KoolFish97
    Hey all, Just chasing some advice from seasoned summer Tubbing experts I am from Australia and it's spring so I'm kicking of my summer tubs now it's warmed up. I was planning to attempt to breed 3 species. Paratya australiensis (glass shrimp) Tateurndina ocellicauda (peacock gudgeons) Pseudomugil luminatus (red neon blue eyes) So as you can see all quite small species and I realise each breeds a little different and I'm going to happily cater to that but I wanted to ask and see that would be everyone's advice for the smallest they would go for the ponds. Either as a rule for any breeding or for those species if you have experience/know They will importantly all have their own pond. I'm going to aim for the largest possible trust me just wanting to know my limits incase I can't afford/obtain larger sizes. I am experienced in keeping above ground ornamental ponds and tanks just not setup outdoor breeding ponds before so want some others advise who are experienced in it. Thank you all for your input ahead of time!
  14. KoolFish97
    Also to add an interesting read up. Manta rays (a type of fish of course) are shown to have self awareness as they are able to recognise their own reflection. Many criticisms of the way we determine animal intelligence and self-awareness is very humano-centric or another better way to put it is Mammal-centric as we often determine mammal traits and behaviours to be a response of their intelligence etc. That doesn't mean it's not true that it doesnt reflect it but that doesn't discredit that their is alternative ways in which intelligence and self-awareness could be used or interpreted.
  15. KoolFish97
    Ouch!!! That hurts to hear about the puffers!
  16. KoolFish97
    Yes that's definantly a Odonata (dragonfly nymph). I'd agree manual removal as painful as it was is the best decision as I've seen many of the chemicals go south quickly. Unfortunate but all part of aquarium keeping. Always curious how they came in. Plants? On a fish? Dragonfly laid in your tank? Devour? Always curious.
  17. KoolFish97
    Do you have any photos? I only ask as I Identify aquatic insects for part of my Uni degree I could help to make sure it's either a molt or body and try to make sure if it's a dangerous or not insect for your aquarium life. Only just offering! 😊
  18. KoolFish97
    Actually far from it haha. For the refugium I refused to use a light as dear or more expensive then my main tank light. It is just a cheap EBay hydroponic plant grow light that has 2 flexible arm heads and a timer built in. Importantly is is just the red and blue spectrum (hence the purple light) so it's definantly only good for that job. But is lasted me over 2 years and works amazingly.
  19. KoolFish97
    Thank you for the compliment 😊 If you ever are searching for advice or want to ask some questions always feel free to contact me. Sumps are one of my favourite filtration mainly because of the versatility! the refugium idea really has and I've been expanding on it and trying plants out and testing growth rates. If you want some plants I've found useful or any other questions about it let me know!
  20. KoolFish97
    I'm looking forward to more info and some more videos on this!! I also am keen how your development on the pond and where the water flow goes to and details etc. I realise its low on the list but can't wait to hear those developments!
  21. KoolFish97
    So I raised mine in a 4x2x2 the depth I think is really important! As that will in my opinion mean way more to it's overall happiness then the length. Bigger is always better and mine is in a 6x2.5x2 but honestly is no more active so I dont believe it was life changing for my Fahaka. But each can be different you may have to see what yours is like! Obviously the more water the easier it can be to sustain healthy water. But in all honesty regular maintenance good feeding loads of appropriate decor and I would ALWAYS recommend a sump (not that's their isn't other ways as there is many ways to filter well) I just love sumps as I use a whole entire chamber as a "refugium" for emergent plants to help reduce my bioload! So the 4x 2 X2 I think is appropriate if you take on the right management Photos below is my Fahaka and the "refugium" as example to what it is like. (Pardon the bad photo can always do a clearer one 😂) It made a huge reduction in my algae and nitrate.
  22. KoolFish97
    So I haven't kept discus for around 3 years now. But the last time I kept them I actually had a school of 20 Congo and 20 Buenos Aires tetras and I fell in love with the Congos. When I gave them to the petshop as hand ins when I swapped the tank around the Congos were near the size of my hand. The pet shop couldn't believe their size Really I would love to re-try one day using any of the rainbow fish species (particularly NG rainbows) as many of them are happy warmer.
  23. KoolFish97
    Thanks man! I scored some free glass 3 ft aquariums I was going to use as my "tubs" but would love to hear some feedback on what tubs you use? And if you recommend mops just the standard acrylic wool ones or do you use real plants also? I have actually only a few weeks ago signed up to join my ANGFA NSW so I'd be very keen to keep an eye out on them and score some amazing stuff hopefully! I really want to do the furcatus, Gertrudae and luminatus if I can get all of them. Plus probly a bunch of the larger rainbow species. But I'm starting with the smaller ones.
  24. KoolFish97
    Sadly so, may just be Australia's generally a little pricier with freshwater fish or maybe it's just due to lack of popularity/breeders. But regardless I love them and for a hobby I'm happy. I always thought the same but seems that even the native to Aus ones aren't that cheap by comparison to many exotics. I'd love to know any secret spots for rainbows and natives! I do already collect many species of native fish gudgeons, glass shrimp, riffle shrimp smelt etc. But not any rainbows of yet. From my understanding in NSW (not northern NSW) their is only 2 or 3 rainbow fish species. If I wanted any of the northern kinds it's 9+ hours of driving north for me 😂
  25. KoolFish97
    Knowing my luck I'll fall In love with them all and want to breed every type 😂 greenhouse/fishroom is most likely in the future. Rainbow fish are surprisingly pricey here in Aus so I'm getting a hold of what I can and breed what I get the chance too and of course I've fallen in love with them. Haha.
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