Eric R
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Posts posted by Eric R
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Live plants also provide excellent surface area for beneficial bacteria, in case you weren't aware.
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3 minutes ago, wilkyb said:
Yea I think the wind & surface area to the water is a thing; as well as how thin the plastic container is on its own. I think the problem is heat retention in this case.
Yeah, a storage tote isn't likely to hold heat as well as your pond, but it would be a cheap way to empirically establish a rough approximation for your conditions, and the pond is likely to perform better than a tote in heat retention, so if you designed your heating based on the tote experiment you should have a bit of extra wiggle room. Sorry, I can't suggest anything better at the moment!
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I don't know that there's a formula personally. And unlike inside, temps fluctuate a lot outside, so it's not just the low that will make a difference. Most heaters are sized based on needed increase over a stable indoor room temperature. Can you get a large storage tote of a similar size and place it outside with the heater and monitor temperature that way?
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I don't boil the rocks I collect in my yard that I use. I give them a scrub and a rinse if they have any dirt. If you're concerned they could affect your aquarium ph and you don't know what types of rock you have, you can always spray with vinegar to see if it reacts. Probably not an issue though.
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I love it when I can search for an answer and find that exact answer already posted in a thread somewhere! And in this case, the answer is from the man himself @Dean’s Fishroom. Also, thanks @Bentley Pascoe and Dean for taking the time to make a detailed video about your fry tank setup, I'm looking forward to trying it out myself.
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1 hour ago, JohnT said:
Hey folks, I just bought a second hand version of this co2 regulator: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SNCQ4WS/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=modernaqua-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B07SNCQ4WS&linkId=c6ea4ba9c511b136a7b5372176e3e1f2 and and I'm trying to remove the co2 tank to refill it and I've a question. The "Output pressure gauge" is stuck at 40 and doesn't go below that. Using the know I can increase the pressure but I can't turn the knob enough to make the gauge go below 40. My questions are: 1) do I need to get the pressure to 0 to before disconnecting the tank? 2) any idea why the pressure doesn't go down?
TIA!
I can't get your Amazon link to work personally.
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I keep so many old toothbrushes, just so I have something to clean aquarium parts with! More than I need probably...
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We don't run our softener, so I don't personally have experience with using water from a softener in my tanks. Enough people have done it without noticeable ill effects that it's probably not an issue. Sensitive fish could potentially have a reaction to the trace amounts of sodium left over after the softener. Two non-industry sources have the following to say about sodium levels of softened water:
"The exchange of hardness minerals for sodium adds 7.5 milligrams per quart for each gpg of hardness removed." -PennState Extension
"Softened well water in our area on average contained a 2.5-times-higher concentration of sodium than local municipal water, comparable with previous reports." -Archives of Internal Medicine
Here's some information from Practical Fishkeeping on the effects of salt on fish.
I think the bigger issue is that shrimp, snails, and plants all need the elements removed by water softeners, which are calcium, magnesium, and iron, so what you will likely need to do is add these back into your water for your aquariums if you do use water from your softener.
I would recommend testing the water before and after your softener for kh, gh, ph. If the pre-softener water isn't too hard and doesn't have a ton of iron in it, I'd recommend figuring out a way if you can to use the unsoftened water for your aquariums.
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Have you been able to test the water before and after the softener to see what water parameters you have?
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There's a member on plantedtank.net that kept them in a 100 gallon corydoras community, I believe his tank runs between 75-76. He had them breed in his tank, it may be worth reading through his thread to see if you pickup any useful info. https://www.plantedtank.net/threads/100-gallon-corydoras-community-formerly-40-breeder-high-tech.1201785/
Unfortunately, after he raised up 6 of the fry, he lost all of them along with 2 of the adults this past year. https://www.plantedtank.net/threads/100-gallon-corydoras-community-formerly-40-breeder-high-tech.1201785/page-19#post-11382233 He wasn't sure why, thought the tank maybe too warm in the end, though he did keep the adults for 3 years and they bred. So who knows?
What temp are you running the 55 and the 90? The 90 would probably be better if it's cool enough.
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14 hours ago, Jeff said:
Now that I feed live baby brine shrimp on the reg, I want to add another live food to the rotation.
Any suggestions on reputable places of where you get good Daphnia cultures from?
I don't have experience with daphnia, but I will say that I've found microworms to be a really easy live food culture. I use actual peeled, boiled, and then mashed potatoes (instead of the box mix) and find I can often go months between it smelling and having to change the potato culture media. Super easy, way more than bbs.
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22 minutes ago, Beardedbillygoat1975 said:
@erererThat’s a great book got the ebook and based most of my decisions on it. Was just fishing for real world experience from other tubbers. It’s an awesome community and really appreciate your time and input.
Well, I'll be trying out Water Hawthorne and at least one of the waterlilies this summer (looking at Sioux right now, though there are a few other varieties up in the NEC auction I might try instead if the price is right). This is my first season, so I can't give you any personal feedback yet!
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Something to consider is that in my experience, if you just place sand on top of the gravel, it's likely the sand will work its way down through the spaces between the gravel instead of staying on top.
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There are several varieties of hardy dwarf waterlilies available that work well in small tubs in zone 6 and like full sun. According to Dr. Ted Coletti's Tub Pond Handbook, Helvola works well for tubs less than 15" in diameter, Joanne Pring or Snow Princess for tubs less than 20" in diameter, Little Sue or Dauben for tubs less than 25" in diameter, and Chromatella, Red Spider, or Sioux for tubs less than 36" in diameter. There are other waterlily varieties, this is just a sampling of ones that have worked well for Dr. Ted. He lives in Northern NJ, which is also zone 6.
Water Hawthorne is also a very attractive surface covering plant, similar to water hyacinth (but unlike it, it's not considered invasive in many states), except that it blooms most frequently in the spring and fall, and goes dormant through the summer. It can flower even into winter!
I highly recommend his book if you're interested in tubbing, lots of info on containers, plants, fish, how to handle pests, timelines, how to overwinter plants, etc.
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Also, @Irene made a great series of videos documenting experiments with different cycling methods. You can find them here:
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I second the suggestion to add some snails as enjoyable critters for your current tank as well as future cleanup crew for any larger tanks. The problem with ghost feeding a tank is that you have to wait for the food to breakdown into ammonia and other compounds for the cycling bacteria to process. It can work though. Having critters like snails help to add some life to the tank, as well as the consume food and produce waste that can be more quickly used by the cycling bacteria.
I'll add again (though it's been said a few times), buy some lives plants if you can and get them started in your current tank, don't wait until you get the larger tank. This is helpful for a couple reasons. 1) It allows you to gain experience keeping plants without also having to worry about learning to keep fish. Keeping healthy plants helps in keeping healthy fish. Plants will actually use ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. 2) Your tank looks better with live plants! Also something fun to do until you get more fish. 3) Plants are an excellent surface for beneficial bacteria. If you buy plants from cycled tanks, they will bring beneficial bacteria with them. 4) If you buy plants for your smaller tank, they will grow and possibly reproduce so that once you have a larger tank you won't have to spend more money for a larger amount of plants!
One thing to be aware of with live plants is that since they will use ammonia and nitrite as well as nitrate, it can sometimes be hard to tell how much ammonia is being used up by your plants directly versus being converted by bacteria into nitrate, since you may never detect much nitrate with a small bioload and enough plants.
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@JoefishGofishfollowing intently and wishing you luck! Thanks for documenting your process, as well as failures/successes so completely. I really enjoy these beautiful native fish and hope to have the chance to keep and breed them one day, so please keep documenting your results! I'm hoping that some day I will make good use of them. And in the meantime, I can at least live a bit vicariously!
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I have A. hongsloi with corys (trilineatus, paleatus, and sterbai) and the apistos and corys never seem to bother each other, even while my male apistos are actively chasing each other out of their territories. The paleatus and trilineatus don't hide as much as the sterbai, which I don't see much except during feeding time, though they all have similar numbers. If you want to breed the apistos, keep an eye on what their tankmates are as they could be prone to eat some eggs. I'm going to transfer my pair of apistos to a 10g and try a dedicated blackwater setup to try to get them to spawn, which they haven't in the community tank yet, though I have been softening the water with RODI and adding botanicals to try to lower ph.
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My LFS may not be as awesome as the coop, but I'm still happy I can buy the Coop's stuff online easily, as well as that I can get credit at my LFS, which is only 20 minutes away. Still, yes I'm a bit jealous!
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2 hours ago, gardenman said:
I built an aboveground pond maybe thirty years ago now and have used a greenhouse cover on it every winter. The coldest water temp I've ever recorded in it was 45 degrees and I live in South Jersey where winter temps are often in the single digits. (It could have been coder at some point, but that's the lowest I've ever measured and I've never seen any ice on it at all.) The old, original cover was made in a sectional fashion with solid, insulated ends and back with a double layer of storm windows facing south. The last two winters I've gone with a hoop style cover made using 1/2" PVC pipe. The pond is made of pressure treated 2X4s and 3/4" pressure treated plywood. It's pretty much built like the walls of your house with 2X4's as the studs. The plywood forms the floor and inside walls. I used joist hangers on the studs to help make them even stronger. Here's a photo of it taken this morning. (Ignore the weeds.)
@gardenman did you use a pond liner over the plywood, or is plywood the last layer on the inside of the pond?
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I also vote for shiners, mostly because I'm not a fan of angels personally. Plus the temps sound ideal, and not having to pay the bill on another heater, or pay for the heater also sounds nice. And one less cord and less equipment in the tank! Plus, shiners are gorgeous and I can't wait to do my own shiner + darter tank someday.
The apistos + hatchet fish + tetras sounds great! Can't wait to see it. Also, I guess I'm still a newbie, as I didn't know this was a classic (and I even keep a tank with apistos and tetras already!).
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@Tedrock Dr. Ted recommends Buenos Aires Tetras, Flame/Von Rio Tetras, Colombian Blue Flame Tetra, Rosy Barb, Gold Barb, Odessa Barb, Zebrafish, Pearl Danio, Fathead / Rosy Red Minnow, White Clouds, Platies, Swordtails, Least Killies, Gambusia, Goodeids, Forida Flag Fish, a few types of rainbow fish, Gouramis, Paradise fish, rice fish, pygmy sunfish (Elassoma), as well as some cichlids, like Jewel, Rainbow, and Convict.
He says that either himself or one of his colleagues has successfully kept the above named species in outside tubs. He lives in Northern New Jersey, in USDA hardiness zone 6. He has more recommendations and details on each one of these species, including temperature ranges and containers sizes, in his book. I found it to be a really useful resource, as @GardenStateGoldfishsaid! I actually wrote a short review of it here:
And if you want to buy it, you can find it on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Tub-Pond-Handbook-Comprehensive-Container/dp/B091W9WLDP/
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crushed coral in a planted aquarium
in General Discussion
Posted
I don't see why it would, it will help stabilize the kh, which should be good for the plants.