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Wmarian

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Everything posted by Wmarian

  1. Dan's fish has some cool Corydoras equus (sp) that I have been eyeing...turquoise sheen to them.... Reading back thru noted your low kh problem. Crushed coral really helped me there, to buffer and stabilize my ph.
  2. Hello! My gouramis came to me pretty small. The behaviors described by others is consistent with mine (inquisitive, constantly exploring). But my 6 gourami alone in heavily planted 20g l tank are an argumentative bunch, constantly nudging or bludgeoning each other out of the way. Some fin and tail tears on occasion. Croaking for the first time today! I am starting to think I may have all males and or too high a flow for nesting. Favorite foods:baby brine, daphnia, grindal worms, frozen live (cyclops, bloodworms), and some nibbling of extreme nano pellets.
  3. You could add a small powerhead and/or have your filter flow lengthwise along the tank and do a small river tank. tinwini or other small fast flow friendly Danios to enjoy the flow and freshwater gobies or a clutch of rosy loaches for bottom feeding. I have my powerhead on for extra flow about 4 hrs a day, the rest of the time it's just my filter flow along the length. Lots of stone for a natural river bed, with driftwood and vallisnaria caught in a little pocket. Generally these loaches and Danios wouldn't need heat; you would want to really oxygenated the water with flow if your room was keeping them too warm. Keep us up to date, I want to see what you go with! As a completely different idea, I set up a one species tank for sparkling gourami s and some amano shrimp. Completely charming, elegant and very interactive with me and each other. And actively hunting through the plants all the time. I may never go without sparkling gouramis again. (I got mine from dans fish at getgills.com).
  4. Yes, I want to try D. Moina sometime. I ordered magna (although Sachs said they were the larger type) because I had to just pick one type to see if I could raise them and how they would work with my fish. Plus all the earlier/smaller stages in daphnia growth are edible too, so only the full adults are a challenge. My fish are micro Gobies, sparkling gourami and tinwinis Danios. All an inch or little bigger as adults...but with small mouths. I tried white worms for awhile and the Gobies and tinwinis Danios couldn't deal with adult white worms very well...and it's easier if I am raising foods that work for all. And although maintaining the daphnia is cheap, I should add that purchasing them from Sachs was not (particularly shipping). But was very successful culture with their food from the get go. I keep three 3 gallon containers with crushed coral and some floating water wisteria, snails, a light shining next to them 24 hrs, keeping them a little warmer. I change 50 percent of water about every month (straining out the daphnia using a cloth over a sieve), replacing with used aquarium water. And I use an air pump bubbling slowly in each (no air stone). I feed several times daily with Sachs food mix, but will eventually use a mix of spirulina, yeast and flours for feeding. A piece of Wonder shell added whenever I remember. I use a turkey baster to transfer to tanks. Some internet people say air isn't needed, and research has shown that too many fine bubbles can catch in their shells and keep them at the surface, thereby killing them. I figure small containers might be a little challenging to keep healthy, so I keep a slow air bubble flow going to keep it stirred up. Other advice from internet world: keep more than one culture. This I can endorse, three identical containers right next to each, my one that was producing the most heavily so that I was using it for food daily quickly crashed down to none. Other two are fine. Go figure. Other advice from internet world: don't be hesitant about using your cultures...daphnia multiply so quickly you have to keep culling them for food or they will crash their culture within a couple weeks (or even quicker) Would be interested if people have experiences that agree/disagree with these pieces of internet advice. And what food combos others are using.
  5. Daphnia are I think my fishes' favorite, although maybe it's just my favorite because the fish have to hunt and chase them down so its more active to watch. White worms are too big for my nano fish. Grindal worms (basically one size down) are just right size and I use same instructions for them as for white worms. But also the Daphnia and the brine shrimp. Even adult Daphnia are too big sometimes. Bought starter batch of Daphnia from Sachs Systems Aquaculture in Florida along with their daphnia start up food mix (although i feed a lot more than they suggest, 1 capful per 3 g tank 2-3x per day; and will be switching to my own food mix soon). It's been pretty successful, supplementing occasionally with a little live yeast or a little spirulina.
  6. Daniel...it was the dead cat in the tank reference....yooooour'e out! Or did I miss something worse? JK
  7. You could consider shading (patio umbrella?) and/or insulating with bricks or an outer layer, to try for a more consistent temperature/narrower range. And when monitoring the water temp, you might check what the bottom temperature is compared to top. Looking forward to hearing updates!
  8. Wmarian

    Resources

    Has anyone found the Merck Veterinary Manual online to be helpful? They have an array of information about fish health. Page on Fish Diseases https://www.merckvetmanual.com/all-other-pets/fish/disorders-and-diseases-of-fish?query=Fish Fish parasites https://www.merckvetmanual.com/exotic-and-laboratory-animals/aquarium-fishes/parasitic-diseases-of-fish?query=fish parasite Nutritional diseases https://www.merckvetmanual.com/exotic-and-laboratory-animals/aquarium-fishes/nutritional-diseases-of-fish?query=Fish Viral diseases https://www.merckvetmanual.com/exotic-and-laboratory-animals/aquarium-fishes/viral-diseases-of-fish?query=Fish Fungal diseases https://www.merckvetmanual.com/exotic-and-laboratory-animals/aquarium-fishes/viral-diseases-of-fish?query=Fish Bacterial diseases https://www.merckvetmanual.com/exotic-and-laboratory-animals/aquarium-fishes/bacterial-diseases-of-fish?query=Fish Also much more info on types of diseases typical for different families of fish, fish nutrition, fish anatomy, and fish health management, and the environmental factors that contribute to disease (e.g., tank parameters).
  9. I found crushed coral results in a lower* (correction: higher) ph,but very gradually over a couple weeks. Aquarium Coop recommends starting with 1 lb per 10 gallons. Don't know what amount of aragonite would be needed or pace of change.I put crushed coral in media bags rinse thoroughly and place behind stones and plants. My ph has slowly risen to 7.6. Aquarium Coop says leaching from the coral slows in about 6 mnths and needs to be replaced...I figured the bags would be easiest to change out when that time comes. Other products for raising PH are baking soda (does it way too fast, hard to keep consistent, can blow your ph up) and Seachem products (equilibrium, buffering additives, etc.). I found guidance about the Seachem products to be really confusing, though. Keep monitoring. The first thing that crushed coral and aragonite additives do is raise kh. And that impacts ph. Are you measuring kh and gh? Higher hardness (kh and gh) preferred by guppies and keeps them healthier. If your kh already high, coral and aragonite might not make much of a difference to your ph. Check the impact of the cholla wood on your tank ph. My tank, with no kh in my tap water, dropped below 6 ph when I added driftwood. Adding coral added kh which helped maintain a higher ph, even with driftwood. And what temperature and other parameters for your guppies' tank?
  10. I am sure you have all the same theories as I would....Maybe another lady spot gourami or two or three would cheer her up? Or dwarf gourami s....or sparkling... maybe she doesn't care about the mellow fish and wants something a little more fiesty or annoying to interact with. No fun chasing sheep... And from your experience, how long might she live? And any clues as to why other gourami died? I am glad you figured out something she can feed on once you've walked away from the tank. Maybe make sure the room lights are off to reduce your shadow so she can readjust? Nothing's changed in the room as far as lighting? Nothing else changed in the tank? I hope she calms down and begins to come out more
  11. I am soery to read about the recent losses...Some additional thoughts backing up those already stated: the heater doesn't sound trustworthy...and maybe confirm that your thermometer is accurate too. Also: I would establish a plan to address that kh. The tank is really vulnerable to a complete ph crash if no kh to take up ions produced from the nitrogen cycle; it might be slipping even lower at night or other times, as mentioned by Tre. I fill media bags with crushed coral and tuck them in the corners, etc. You can put it in filters or just scatter on the substrate. I think I have read for secure buffering 1 lb of crushed coral per 10 g is recommend. Also you might check the water out of your tap...sometimes seasonally city water is changed (in my neighborhood, the source of water changes in the summer, and base parameters change). Most test kits only go down so low on ph, so how sure are you about accuracy there? Might your ph be even lower? Hope things are looking up
  12. Found three daisy rice fish fry in the daphnia/scud culture bin. I had put an algae covered plant in there for scud clean up...and apparently it was carrying a few eggs
  13. Good question. Here is my approach, I just don't know if I am "really" raising such a culture or not...do we have a technical definition of infusoria? And what would we say is technical difference from green water (also useful for tiny fry?) I have only small set of fry, so my set ups are small. Infusoria: I started by setting water outside for two weeks. Moved it inside in to a half gallon clear plastic container, keep it on the windowsill with pretty bright indirect light, uncovered. Throw in a dandelion leaf, piece of banana peel, lettuce leaf or slice of zucchini (etc.) about once every week or two (once the previous leaf/food source is almost mulm). I can see lots and lots of critters zinging around in there when I hold a light to it. Use a turkey baster to clean out about a cup of mulm/waste at the bottom every week or two, and top off with aquarium water. Green water: Then I also took half of that infusoria mix into another container and topped off with aquarium water. Added a handful of grass clippings and fertilized heavily with Easy green. Keep on a windowsill with a few hours of direct sunlight, and got green water eventually. So far have just been feeding this with Easy green. So this has both floating algae and little critters zinging around in it. Looking forward to seeing other answers/tips
  14. For my tanks, I use a clipboard to gather the info (one per tank) and load the info into excel until tank established. The clipboard comes.back out if testing or fish/plants indicate an issue. I tried notebooks, loved them, but they keep disappearing right when I need them and so I would miss data. Setting up the clipboard/pen with just the right columns meant I didn't move it around to get lost. Trillo looks great! I am going to check that out
  15. People have been saying the blender doesn't work with an air stone, but I haven't had a problem there that I have noticed. Can anybody explain what the problem is?
  16. This advice sounds good. My addition would just be more plants more plants! And once they start growing, you'll know that they are doing their part with the nitrogen in the tank. For your consideration for next steps: maybe looking for a way to lengthen the input and output tubes of your filter so they get all the way down near the bottom. And a background (I used corrugated plastic for my latest...lightweight, easily taped and water proof) Good luck, keep us posted
  17. Congrats! Could use other foam or sponge to build a temp prefilter? I have used a very very fine mesh filter media bag too, in a pinch. Clogged relatively quickly, but kept the fry safe. Food is the other issue...Sera Micron is really fine grained...frozen copepods, frozen baby brine if the fry are big enough Good luck, keep us updated
  18. Okay. Luxury quarantine is right. As an ocean beast, I would think 74 would be good for him.
  19. Hello Still fine tuning using this thing, and wondered what ideas others are coming up with. Access: One issue noted in Zeiss hatchery reviews: getting your hands and a container underneath the low stand....for me, I just lift up the blender from the stand and hold it over a bowl or container. The valve is easy enough (so far) to open one handed. (Just make sure the container you are filling is big enough). Of course, I am doing half liter batches....doing a full 2 liter batch would feel like too long to stand there while it drains. Has anyone figured out if you can attach airline tube and a valve to the outlet or some other fix for this? Or some alternative to the stand that doesn't involve drilling holes in my kitchen wall? Guppy guru has a you tube video showing how he hangs it on his fish room wall using pvc pipe; and Cory appears to have hung a small rail in his fish room to hang three hatcheries on. Hatch Rate/Time: The other thing to fine tune: the amount of time for hatching. I have had clean batches where virtually all the hatched eggs float leaving a clean batch, when I leave it long enough and add a tiny bit of baking soda at the start. But the amount of time seems as if it will be unique to brand and age of eggs, and might be quite a bit longer than 24 hours til all/most eggs have hatched. And if you aren't patient, you have many unhatched eggs mixed in with the brine shrimp, because it seems unhatched eggs don't float to the top? Temperature seems to impact this, as it worked about 4 hours faster for me with a warm light on. Tips and tricks for complete hatching/clean batch of shrimp? Other tips or tricks for the blender hatchery?
  20. Am sorry to hear it is still lethargic. Salt sounds like a great idea! (Be careful with your plants). Here are just some brainstorming suggestions that perhaps you have already considered? Maricyn, an antibiotic, has never had problems with snails or inverts for me (or for Cory, according to his live streams). Maybe as a last resort, you might consider giving it a try, in case it has injuries that aren't healing? Also, the tank looks very clean, just checking you are feeding blanched zucchini or algae wafers? My nerite that I used to have preferred the skin side :) also, if you have driftwood or rocks from other tanks.with algae on them, you might bring them over for a guest appearance? And I do read that ph is something to watch, cause they go lethargic. And add wonder shell or something to help with gh. Since I moved and set up new tanks I haven't had luck with nerites.. from arrival they either die immediately or do this long decline, so I really sympathize.
  21. What I don't see in bookstores is a good beginner book that covers the basics, that isn't a self-published goulash. The one that worked for me was You and Your Aquarium, by Dick Mills which touched on everything from anatomy, cycling, common species, common diseases and how to set up your tank. Aquarium Coop should get into publishing and reprint this.one...a Classic from 1986 :)
  22. That's really interesting! Looking online it seems like ammonium is non Toxic, while ammonia is toxic, and that the balance between the two is impacted by PH and temperature (low PH tending to convert ammonia towards ammonium, the ionized form of ammonia).* Does Walstad consider the two interchangeable for her purpose in her discussion of the ecology of the tank? Are plants likely to take up ammonia as much as ammonium? Following up on the original question, I think it's likely that ammonia will be the concern for the new fishies. And regardless, I don't think the amount of plants described will make enough of an impact on any form of nitrogen in the tank to ensure fish safety. I think Walstad would agree with heavy planting to address this. Your quote of Walstad raises an interesting question regarding nitrites. I am going to explore if there is any more recent research regarding plant uptake of nitrites...but it seems odd that nitrites aren't part of fertilizers if so (well, toxicity level would be one reason). Also, (when closely monitored with testing) the bacteria appear to convert nitrites to nitrates, rather than nitrates being taken up by the plants prior to conversion. But maybe some portion is taken up by the plants? *https://support.hach.com/app/answers/answer_view/a_id/1011356/~/ammonia-vs.-ammonium-–-what-is-the-difference-between-these-forms-of-nitrogen%3F-
  23. Wmarian

    Resources

    There was an aquatic vet three day virtual conference earlier this year that I heard was great with applied research for our needs (basics and advanced). Resources from that conference are still available to those who registered. Just heard of their next event in August in Australia. I think this one will be focused on parasites? AUGUST AQUARIUM VET CONFERENCE https://www.theaquariumvet.com/confer...
  24. I agree plant surface will be a little help if taken from a well eatablished tank. Plants primarily great at using up the nitrates though, not with helping with ammonia and nitrite end of the cycle. IMO the twoplants will not be sufficent to help with the nitrogen in the tank or carry enough additional beneficial bacteria to replace the sponge filter while the HOB starts up. Suggestions: I agree more plants, especially floaters or things like water sprite and hornwort like you said. Maybe get extra sponges or foam that you zip tie around your sponge filters or just leave in tank or something, and then use those sponges to hot rod your new filter. Also, many people say Fritz 7 startup juice ensures a safe quick startup. I haven't had to test that hypothesis however (yet) good luck, keep us informed.
  25. Some suggestions...25% percent water change perday, while reducing feeding or even pausing feeding altogether for a couple days until nitrates low enoguh; adding some helper stem plants or floating plants (water wisteria? Hornwort? Frogbit?) And also, I think your report of the exact ppm for nitrates was autocorrupted...?
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