Kirsten

That's so sad! Sorry to hear it. Fingers crossed for the new batch!

Congrats!! I got mine a couple weeks ago (Pfizer) and it was honestly the quickest, least painful shot I've ever gotten. No symptoms other than a slightly sore arm, but we'll see how my second dose treats me. My tips are to hydrate as much as possible the night before and the morning of, up to about an hour before the shot. I had good luck getting it in my dominant arm where the muscle is a little more developed, which may have helped reduce the pain and soreness. Then, move your arm around a lot afterwards. It may have also helped that we pigged out afterwards at a Wendy's for the first time in...years actually... Our shots were around 12:30-12:45 so we were getting a little hangry by the time we were done with the observation period.

I haven't kept them myself but I know some forum members like @Daniel have kept them for years. From how I understand it, discus are especially sensitive to nitrates and grow larger and stay healthier in a 0-nitrate environment. Since the temperatures they like are very high, higher than most plants enjoy, they're often raised in bare-bottom tanks with only hardscape, so all nitrates have to be removed manually. I personally think, as long as you stay regular with it and are getting plants to grow in your discus water, a weekly water change should suffice. But a more experienced discus keeper might have more info.

Got my Aphyosemion australe eggs from Thaliand in the mail the other day in a nice sealed foil-wrapped package with a hatch date of May 12-19, 2021 on it, and two capsules of fairy shrimp eggs. Yay! Problem is, the instructions are pretty poorly translated and are very hard to understand, so I figured I'd check my understanding with the experts here 🙂 On May 12, I'll empty out the packet of eggs and peat moss into a small, tray-like container (possibly adding in some coir fiber if there isn't much peat?) and cover with half an inch or so of aquarium water. I'll keep the dish on top of the aquarium to help it stay a stable, warm-ish temp in my cool-ish house. I'll check back in a couple hours for fry. Keep waiting until the 19th, I guess, until I see some fry. If no fry by the end of the window, let the peat dry out and try again in 2 weeks. Here's where I get different information: After the fry are hatched, the instructions seem to recommend moving them several times into larger and larger containers until they're large enough for the main tank. But others seem to pour the newly hatched fry directly into their final tank, which is what I'd prefer. If I have no other fish in the tank, just some neo shrimp, can I put the newly hatched fry right in their heavily planted, only sponge-filtered 15 gallon? I have a Ziss breeder box, but it's pretty large and will have trouble fitting in a small tank like this around the decor.

Mother's Day is right around the corner! I think Japanese Trapdoor snails may be my new favorite snails: 1) unique, natural colors 2) eat algae 3) slow livebearers with 9 months gestation!

I'll often see terrarium plants and pond plants sold for aquarium use with a stipulation that it can only be fully immersed for a certain length of time before it needs to be taken out of the water to take a break. So it can depend on the plant, but it is possible for some for at least a limited time.

Yeah, ich can supposedly survive up to two weeks without a host, but that hasn't been rigorously tested. So I'd let the tank go empty for at least 2 weeks, more if you're feeling cautious, before adding fish back in. But higher temps, like 82+ F, will accelerate the life cycle quite a bit and could lessen the time between fish, but again, not many solid answers.

If it were me, I'd drive them, and anything else fragile/super sentimental/perishable. Especially for the axolotl. Seattle to Milwaukee is 30 hours, which is 4 days on a conservative estimate. You know your own driving stamina best, of course, but every time I've planned a road trip, responsibly stopping every 8 hours, we always end up throwing it out the window and driving for 12-13 hours plus rest stops. I bet you could make it in 2 days if you have a friend to share the driving, especially for long, straight stretches. I don't even want to think about the stress and trouble of trying to bring a betta on a plane, especially right now, much less hoping and praying an axolotl survives shipping and handling.

Probably mating, though they look pretty close in size. You'll know for sure if you see an egg clutch near the lid in the next few days!

2 or 3 weeks should be safe, especially if you've kept the water at the higher temps that discus enjoy. But if you're really worried, you can keep the puffer in a quarantine tank for 2 weeks to watch for any illness it might have while giving them 40g even more time without fish.

I'm going out on a limb and saying no, even though it's used as flavoring/flavor enhancement on popcorn, pasta, cooked vegetables, bread, and seafood. Because it's really just a fat. It makes food tasty because it adds fat. A condiment is a sauce that adds a wide variety of flavors, like ketchup, mustard, mayo, bbq sauce, relish. In the same way that sea salt or a lemon wedge isn't a condiment, it's just the final seasoning to taste.

Well, there are a lot of fish out there that like hard water. You can watch Cory's video on it here: I don't know HOW hard they like it, but depending on the fish you get, you may be able to still use tap water for top-offs and maybe a mixture for water changes.

Oh man, that's so sad! I don't have a definitive answer, but I've been raising practically hundreds of endlers for months now and I haven't noticed anything like that. My feeling is it might be something genetic, especially for a rare colorway that's probably pretty inbred at this point. You might want to try breeding the male(s) out to some generic endler females (I'd recommend in a separate tank) to see if the problem's with him or one of the females. Fingers crossed it was just a bad first (or last) brood from a female. Otherwise, sounds like you're trying to give them the best! I'd also recommend a few more floating plants to hide under and around to help reduce some stress.

That must be it. Maybe also "proof" that the fish is actually there and they're taking their own pictures, since it's not very aesthetic a shot? If that's the case, wish they'd just put their hand in the water or something less stressful to the fish. Ah well!

Like, "here's what this fish looks like when it's dead, kinda..." Great, thanks man, glad to know it 😐

I generally love shopping for fish online. I like being able to take my time, do my research, and get the exact kind of fish I want. But one thing I don't understand is why so many sellers will have shots of a fish in their hand or a bunch of fish in a net out of the water. I feel so bad for the distressed fish, and still doesn't show colors or size very well, at least in my opinion. Why do so many fish sellers use them?

Wow! Judging from your KH as well, I think that means you have super duper hard water. One way to test, if you can get some distilled or RO water from the supermarket, try mixing it 50/50 in a clean container with some of your tap water and try another reading. Distilled water should be all 0, so whatever you read with this half & half mix is half your actual water hardness.

Yup! They look like a kind of killifish to me. Couldn't say which one. But one thing all killifish have in common is they love to jump, so make sure they have a tight-fitting lid!

hahah, well, my definition of "mess" is probably very minimal for most people. It's just a bit of a struggle to reach all the way in to the bottom and back of a tank, often among lots of tall and tangled plants, get it in a plastic bag that's big enough, then setting it back down without stirring up a bunch of debris. It also usually involves some splashing and dripping to get the lid off and get the dirty water up and out of the tank. So, not as easy to clean as an external filter. Still, the best filtration for the money in my opinion.

Totally! Potassium is important for young seedlings to develop strong stems, and the micronutrients are awesome. For a more balanced mix, including more N and P, I'd recommend watering them with seasoned tank water changes as well.

I'm pretty much all on ACO sponge filters and I love them. But I also have a fluval HOB for each of my 36g livebearer tanks because man there's a lot of fish in there and I want to keep the water flow brisk. But for all my other tanks with gouramis, CPDs, bettas, killifish, others that want little to no current? One sponge filter does the trick. Pros: Very inexpensive ACO's nano pump makes no sound at all unless I stick it next to something jangly Aerates and filters without strong waterflow Can be easily swapped into any new tank to help establish it Impossible to hurt fish, fry, or shrimp (unless they somehow get themselves stuck around it?) Cons: Takes up precious floor space Looks ugly unless you surround it with very tall, very fast-growing plants Is basically impossible to clean without making a mess, either in your tank or on your floor So, if you have fish that need a strong current and you have filters/pumps that you like, no need to switch, but if you have a lot of breeding tanks or QTs or fish that need still water, sponge filters are a great way to do it.

Fascinating! I wonder if the surface of the water formed some kind of Faraday cage such that the interior wasn't affected.

Ugh, that's awful. Sorry to hear it!

If you're trying to ship overnight, as an individual, yeah, you're going to get hit for a lot. But you can shop around with UPS, FedEx, USPS (hint, they'll be the cheapest, but a lot less reliable for super expedited services), to see their prices. For hobbyists trying to sell fish, I generally recommend USPS Priority Mail. No, it's not guaranteed, but if you package the fish up well, you'll probably be okay. Businesses who ship fish daily can often cut a deal with one or another carrier for lower rates. And as a business that ships fish daily, they see more of what can go wrong and are more often hurt by the odd mistake or delay. As individuals, we have lower risk. A 1/10 chance of a package getting delayed is unlikely to hurt us financially, but could put a huge dent in the profits of a business. Also, as someone who used to work in an immigration office with FedEx Next Day Air petitions going out every single business day, it's great, but it's not perfect. Better to go with a more normal service if you can and just let the hooks do their work.

Sure thing! Pretty sure it's a stem plant in any case, which all have more or less similar requirements. Good luck and happy tending! 🙂