mynameisnobody

@TheMilkman that is anaerobic bacteria, it will grow usually deep in sand beds. One time, I had a 75 gallon with the universal rocks flat tan/ light brown background. After 6 months or so, I decided to remove the sand and replace it with something else. The portion of the background that had been buried was completely black. If the oxygen has been cut off, you’ll get pockets of anaerobic bacteria. You’ll hear @Cory speak about the different types of bacteria in our aquariums. Well, this is one of them. As for cleaning it up, you can scrub it, but if you have the patience, all you have to do is let it get a decent flow of water to anything stained black and it’ll take care of itself. Good luck and it should not harm anything.

@Guppysnail brilliant!

@Guppysnail the others will get to it, it has no chance seeing substrate.

@Colu thank you very much, I hope you win the lotto. I’ll update this if need be.

Personally, I cull deformities by way of feeding to larger fish. I don’t want to breed my culls because I don’t see it going very well nor worth the effort. I cull any deformities, other than that they all remain. If you’re going for particular traits then that’s a different ball game. From the research I’ve done, it’s basically up to you. Its all in what you’re trying to achieve.

BBS and it’s not even close for my collection. My larger fish aren’t as interested, but anything 3” and smaller love BBS. My bigger guys seem interested for a second or 2 and then they loose interest. When I say bigger fish, I mean Geophagus. If I could figure out a way to blanket the substrate with BBS, the geo’s would more likely go insane. Trouble is, the BBS never has a chance to hit the floor before being munched up by other smaller inhabitants.

Hello all, has anyone dealt with velvet? If so, what route did you take? I’ve read up on a few different ways (chemicals) to battle it, but I was curious if anyone has any real hands on experience with this nonsense. Thank you kindly

@FLFishChik I live in Florida and have platinum medaka’s and red king Yama blood medaka’s. If you have trouble locating any, let me know and I may be able to hook you up when the time comes. I also have mine in outdoor tubs all year and they are doing great.

I’d go with the coop led light, it’s proven and basically bulletproof. If those other lights crap out on you, good luck getting any sort of compensation or customer service of substance. ACO all the way.

Roots are the last thing you should worry about. If the roots aren’t long enough, they will grow. Personally, I agree with @Zenzo I would scoop up a coop light. Other than that, you already have the cheapest pendent light available. I’m sure Amazon has a ton of Chinese knock off brands but that would be an experiment you can conduct if that interests you.

@Nihal I had a betta in rock hard Florida tap water, way over 8 and it lived a long, healthy life.

@Leo2o915 Just measure the aquarium you want to build one for and build it to scale. If you’re looking for actual blueprints and dimensions, I’m sure you can find them online, but would seem like an unnecessary extra step. @Leo2o915 I just realized a 60 breeder and a 75 gallon are the same dimensions. I believe he does one for a four foot tank, just follow that.

@Leo2o915 look up some old king of diy videos, he has a thorough tutorial on YouTube

@Daydre I have 2 of those 110’s, they’re perfect.

@Daydre eliminate as many points of failure as possible. I would save up some money and get yourself a small stock tank. You’d be surprised how much easier the outdoor pond is with walls. You’ll get much more satisfaction and be able to enjoy it rather than constantly maintain it. Good luck.

I would try salt. If it’s a planted aquarium, remove the cichlids and give them a salt quarantine and see how that goes. It should help.

@Shaeff It also should be stated that with a 10 gallon and limited space, liver bearers may not be the ideal species. You can only breeder box for so long before those fry are old enough to get pregnant. If you have a means of getting rid of them, then problem solved. Good luck to you, and this is only meant to have you thinking a bit ahead.

This is an underrated thread, good stuff @Chick-In-Of-TheSea

@Fish Folk Good to know you’re on there too. Hopefully we can do business in the future.

A divider or a breeder box. If you move her, you’ll have mollie fry in both aquariums.

I would get the adequate sized one unless you plan on getting larger aquariums in the near future, then a larger one would make more sense. If no larger aquariums are in your future then I’d get the appropriate sized one.

@Tedrock looking without buying is a good thing, I consider it my recon before making a commitment to any species. I am extremely particular about what enters my home so time spent researching could mean the difference between getting something you really want as opposed to an impulse buy.

@Tedrock I usually browse even when I’m not shopping for fish because it familiarizes me with the sellers and what they carry. Always check the feedback section, this is a must. Also look for keywords, for example, if I’m looking for rainbow fish, sellers that state they got the original stock from Gary Lange or Heiko Blair will have my undivided attention over a rainbow ad without those names. It’s a very reputable place and although shady stuff creeps itself into everything, personally, I’ve only had excellent transactions for some pretty rare fish. Once you develop a knack for who the great sellers are, it may put a damper on the LFS experience, just my 2 cents.

@DaveP just to give you an idea, I currently have a 300 gallon stock tank in my garage. It only has 2 ACO 100 watt heaters. I just need it to get to 75 and it does this perfectly. Now granted, I’m in Florida, but this is what I do for our winters when it gets in the 40’s and I’ve never had an issue.

@Shadow I’ve always wanted a 220 gallon with 100 Melanotaenia Trifasciata ‘Goyder River’ and with 4-6 sunshine pleco’s. Literally the tank of my dreams, but it’s also close to $2,000 in stock. I’d also go with the Kali Tawa’s, either would work.