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Kirsten

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Everything posted by Kirsten

  1. Kirsten
    Don't know too much, unfortunately. It's an opportunistic infection like finrot that can occur in vulnerable fish: Red Blotch Disease In Corydoras Catfish PETCENTRAL.CHEWY.COM Pet Central explores diagnosing and treating Red blotch disease in Corydoras Catfish.
  2. Kirsten

    Sick Betta

    Kirsten replied to Kevin1127's topic in Diseases

    I would try some plants again, maybe a java fern, a moss ball, and a floating betta log to give him a nice place to sleep. Bettas are pretty intelligent and like things to do. Speaking of lights, how long are you leaving them on? Make sure you're giving him some lights-out time. Also try to check the ph and other parameters before doing a water change. It can tell you a lot! Edit to add: might want to hold off on food for a day or an evening, see if he's more interested in food after a brief fast.
  3. Kirsten
    I'm so sorry for your loss! It looks like it was a great cory. Looks like Red Blotch Disease to me, which seems fairly common in cories.
  4. Kirsten
    Welcome aboard! Nice aquascaping!
  5. Kirsten
    Welcome!
  6. Kirsten
    Oh man! Would you recommend looking for some quality in particular when I go to a LFS to pick one out? One active but out on its own? I feel like I'm picking a puppy!
  7. Kirsten
    And, branching beyond your local fish store, you might want to think about what's easy to ship with a high survival rate. Plants and hardy snails might be where it's at for ROI.
  8. Kirsten
    Just to follow up, Cory seems to agree that no nitrates in a planted tank = a good thing, if your tests are accurate. https://youtu.be/guT1GKJ7jIo
  9. Kirsten
    Ooh how about a pair of dwarf gourami? That could add a little drama and a little guppy control while still living peacefully with corys and a bamboo shrimp
  10. Kirsten
    I have a pretty heavily stocked and planted 10g filtered through a hydroponic bed of basil and my nitrite and nitrate levels are always at zero. I'm still more of a gardener than a fish keeper (but not for long!) and I think this is a good sign. It means that your plants (and probably algae) are making full use of those nitrates and could stand some more. If nothing's looking sick, your plants are growing well, algae's in check and phosphates are in check, you're doing well!
  11. Kirsten
    Welcome Greta!
  12. Kirsten

    Other Pets

    Kirsten replied to Cory's topic in Off Topic General

    Prince of my heart, μ (Mu), in his usual position: Helping with a puzzle: When it's warmer, I'll take him out for adventures with a leash and safety harness, and he still manages to terrorize the local chipmunk and vole population:
  13. Kirsten
    That's the only way to do it. Get some Anvil Chorus going, good times.
  14. Kirsten
    LOL yeah I've uh also kind of gotten big into opera since the Met started its free streaming. Funny, I'm not even that big of a Wagner fan, but the names are just crackin.
  15. Kirsten
    Thanks! There are lots of ways I'd design it differently, but it's going to keep me in basil through the winter at least!
  16. Kirsten
    Whew! That actually gives me a big load off my mind. That's about as yellow-very-very-slightly-green as my test tubes. I still think I'll pick up some strips for keeping a close eye on new tanks.
  17. Kirsten
    This is incredible. Thank you!
  18. Kirsten
    Speaking of wishes, I wish "planted" aquarium strata were actually "planted" as in full of seeds and spores to start nice carpets of moss and grass, with a few bulbs thrown in for fun. And I wish they sold root plants with a weighted root tab tied onto it to keep it in place until it roots. And I wish nerites reproduced (very slowly) in freshwater.
  19. Kirsten
    OMG just today I was wandering around a pet store wondering if anyone made such a thing. Not to mention it can be so hard to read liquid ammonia tests between 0 and 0.25ppm, like is this yellow-yellow or is this yellow very very slightly greenish? Considering how important 0 ammonia is to all fish tanks, you'd think they'd make an easy to read pregnancy test for it.
  20. Kirsten
    Wow I'm surprised there are any snails left with loaches plus a puffer! Good on those ramshorns for keeping everyone fed!
  21. Kirsten
    For an idea of how it's going, here's a pic of the whole mess! The betta, Don Carlo, the nerites, Alberich, Mimir, Fafner, Big Red, Little Red, and the three less-than-happy pygmy corys, the Rhinemaidens, who need a bigger home and more friends. The brick is for lifting up a side of the hydro supports to fit even my delicate lady-wrist in for vacuuming, trying to squish some of my plants back into the inadequate substrate, cleaning the lifesaver aquarium co-op sponge filter. But my basil is growing very well! I'm excited to get some Easy Green to support underwater plant growth while the herbs above hog the nitrates and phosphates.
  22. Kirsten
    Beautiful!
  23. Kirsten
    Hello from the old, rolling hills of Western Mass, where Africa collided with North America to create the Berkshire mountains, where the water is soft, the soil is rocky, and the rocks are only slightly radioactive. I raised bettas as a kid (in terrible conditions I now realize, sorry Mephistopheles!) and I am now crash landing into fish keeping by way of gardening and one expensive and probably terrible place to start: a hydroponic kit off amazon. But the brown, green and hair algae is getting under control now and everything's fine, just fine, thanks for asking! (It's not fine and I'll probably have to replace my plants, but that's another problem for another time). Of course I'm already planning 2 more tanks: a nano pea puffer desk-pet tank, willingly infesting it with MTS to keep my puffer active and happy, and a 36g community tank for all my peaceful fish tired of being hassled by my hydroponic betta, plus a few more. I secretly, desperately love nerite snails and their beautiful patterns and I'm so frustrated by a lack of local availability that I'm thinking of setting up a bare-bones brackish tank to start hatching them and selling them to my sorely lacking IFS. But I should probably get my feet under me with fresh tanks before I go crazy like that. How are you?
  24. Kirsten
    Fascinating! I never even considered angels, as lovely as they are, because it seemed like 36 was too small for a school of them plus much anything else. Are they okay being a lone specimen in a tank of smaller fish? Is there a variety that you'd recommend?
  25. Kirsten
    This tank plus my pea puffer desk tank have got to be it for new tanks for awhile! I'm going...a little overboard here with new tank planning. Thanks, COVID! But I'm seeing a nice 36g bowfront on sale at PetSmart right now with a nice cabinet stand (has a crappy lid but I can swap it out for glass + better lighting) and I think it would be perfect for a main (smallish) living room peaceful community tank. I currently have 3 somewhat unhappy pygmy cories that need more friends, so I'm thinking of moving them over. I love the look of endlers and would definitely like a school of those. I'm planning on using a nice, somewhat hefty sponge filter and heavily planting, of course. I think I'd also like to try a bamboo shrimp. So, what else should I put in there to play nice with my peacenics? Gold platys would look cool with endlers, as would harlequin or lambchop rasboras. But I'd love to make room for some nerite and mystery snails, too. This will also be my first experience with livebearers so I'm a little scared of getting overwhelmed with two species of them (but I guess I could always give extra to my carnivores!) Should I just start with endlers, corys, bamboo shrimp and snails for awhile and then add another fish later? And what about substrate? I'm a little afraid of using sand and having it get compacted, needing to add MTS and having them starve out my prettier pet snails. Any opinions on "planted" aquarium substrate?
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