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Gestaltgal

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Everything posted by Gestaltgal

  1. Gestaltgal
    I'm having some problems with super high pH. My tap water initially reads at a pH of 7.2 with a KH of 19 (woah, right?). It's well water that goes through 2 house filters and a softener. After 24-48 hours, the pH reads and stabilizes at pH 8.3, which I think is WAY too high for fish and/or plants. Even when I mix in some parts reverse osmosis water (pH 7, KH 2), the tank water still gets up to pH 8.3. I have 5 small Pogostemon Stellatus Octopus and one small Anubias Golden. Is this pH too high if I plan to be putting in guppies (I think so)? Is this pH going to hurt my Neocaridina shrimp (blue velvets)? I'll take any guidance I can get!
  2. Gestaltgal
    Temporary shrimp home while I'm playing chemist:
  3. Gestaltgal
    Glad to see you! Ittie-bitties really benefit from watching real-world movement and colors; I had never thought of having a tank that a little one could interact with. What a great idea!!! Good luck! As a beginner myself, I'm finding a lot of luck with a basic sponge filter and basic LED lighting. Nothing to fancy over here!
  4. Gestaltgal
    Hey all. I have 1 20 gallon tall tank that has been cycled with plants and has excellent new growth and water parameters. Now it just needs some livestock! The plan is to add 8-10 guppies (males), 2 nerite snails, and 3-6 neocaridina shrimps. Because they are all going into 1 tank that doesn't have anything but plants and hardscape at the moment, I wanted to know what kind of quarantining to do. Should I put the guppies in the main tank, and quarantine the snails and shrimps separately? Can I put the shrimps and guppies in the tank and quarantine the snails? Should I hold off on ANYTHING in the main tank until all have been properly quarantined? Help! Sincerely, New to the hobby and doesn't want to kill too much!
  5. Gestaltgal
    Me too! Someone on the forum recommended them, and they are so interesting to watch. I put them in a week ago, and look at those roots dropping!
  6. Gestaltgal
    @codriscoll92You asked the question verbatim that I was wondering! @gardenman Where do you typically gather this information? Do you have a resource you like?
  7. Gestaltgal
    @Patrick_GHow does the cat handle the tanks?
  8. Gestaltgal
    This took me on a JOURNEY. Thanks for updating. I want to see how the super reds do!
  9. Gestaltgal
    Hey all! I wanted to document my adventure, or I should say our adventure. My spouse and I are curating our very first fish tank for either of us. Getting to the actual planting took months! I'll be adding to this as it grows, and be sure that I'll be asking for help! We both have backgrounds in research, so research we did. First was to catch the sale at Petco for a nice tank and a few other supplies. Then we had to get a stand. I initially thought I was quite the genius and was going to use heavy-duty, 1000 lb. certified wall stud brackets to hold a vinyl wrapped board. I was WRONG. One needs 2 studs for these, and the wall for the tank only had 1. So instead, we purchased a 400 lb. per-shelf certified shelving unit and bracketed THAT to the wall. With paint and some vinyl marble over the wood shelf for water-proofing, I like how pretty it is. Hardscape was next on the list; we went to a local river with some cardboard cut to the size of the bottom and height of our tank. It was an adventure, and we ran into some very confused ducks who appeared to assume we were there to feed them. After some appropriate cleaning and testing for calcium, we had some fun actually laying out our hardscape. Working with heavy rocks inside a glass aquarium was TERRIFYING but well worth it. I even added some curtains to hide the "behind the scenes" supplies and electrics. Of course, I had to play with some macro then... FINALLY, I felt confident enough to purchase plants! I really appreciated the help from @lefty o, @FishyThoughts, @Andy's Fish Den, @Daniel, @Fonske, and others. We really appreciate the direction. We waited for our order to get in (lightning fast by the way) and were ecstatic to spend the evening planting away. I can't wait to see what this grows into! After we're comfortable with the plants growing and the water specs seem right, we'll be getting some guppies to hang out with us. Since we spend most of our lives in this office, we're excited to add life to the space.
  10. Gestaltgal
    I would love it! I appreciate all the tutorials and general aquarium community offered through the YouTube channel~
  11. Gestaltgal
    I feel like this is why folks start learning to build their own! What an adventure.
  12. Gestaltgal
    Finally got a suitable tank stand painted, wrapped in vinyl, and as an extra precaution, bracketed to the wall. Next, rock hunting to add some hardscape with the substrate!
  13. Gestaltgal
    @Maggie Thanks for sharing! I agree that it's gorgeous in your tank! I'm looking forward to putting in an order for my first plants. I'm looking forward to it.
  14. Gestaltgal
    I took advantage of the dollar-a-gallon sale to start my first 20 gallon tank.
  15. Gestaltgal
    I do production for development, too, and am integrating tanks into my home office. Glad to have you here!
  16. Gestaltgal
    Interesting! I'll keep that in mind for later. I have been reading that lower temperatures mean less overall breeding in general. Has that been your experience at all?
  17. Gestaltgal
    These are the kinds of stories that give me hope that I am not ultimately doomed to kill all fish! Thanks for sharing all!
  18. Gestaltgal
    Great! I'm thinking I'll start with focusing on keeping the adults happy. When I have some stability, I really do like the idea of breeding with some focus! We have a great LFS, and I would love to be a provider for them. Thanks everybody!
  19. Gestaltgal
    I'm going to be getting a few nicely bred guppies for a 20 gallon tank. I've never had guppies before (aside from that one terrible experiment in 7th grade where the science teacher had us keep sooooo many in a 2 liter coke bottle!). I would like to give them some nice aquascaping, but I haven't ever worked with live plants. Suggestions?
  20. Gestaltgal
    Does an LED close over the top eliminate the large shadows in back? Or is that not enough? I am wondering if providing enough top-down light will mean I won't have to add a background. A black piece of paper is a great idea though!
  21. Gestaltgal
    I want to see how this turns out, too! I would love a few pictures when it comes together. What kind of bird feathers are you thinking of using?
  22. Gestaltgal
    Thanks! It is a steep learning curve, and I appreciate the encouragement.
  23. Gestaltgal
    Hey there! I'm new around here, and I am starting the research process for a first time tank. I'm excited, but I'm really nervous. I started with Freshwater Aquariums for Dummies, which essentially taught me all the ways I could kill a fish! After recovering from the shock, I hopped online and started poking around, and found a wonderful corner of YouTube full of fish keeping information! I don't have a ton of financial resources, so I want to smart small, and I look forward to reading and watching what folks around here do!
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