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Socqua

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Posts posted by Socqua

    Substrate suggestions?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I have lava rock, driftwood and a bunch of plants in with some blue shrimp, among other things. Currently it's a crappy fake blue substrate, but I have some fluorite brown substrate I put in to see how it compares to the lava rock. I'm planning on setting up my new tank with the fluorite for the blue shrimp. The lava rock and fluorite look very similar.

    Personally, I love how the blue shrimp look on the lava rock. The darker color I think brings out the blue more. Plus, the shrimp will spend a lot (probably most) of their time on the plants anyway.

    Help identifying this light

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    As much as I love a good long thread full of nerdy info and discussing the many intracacies of aquariums and fish, this thread right here is all the reasons I already love this forum. And it was just four posts (before I ruined it).

    To break it down you have:

    1) A very simple question, but one that you couldn't just go to your friend and ask. It's a question I certainly didn't know the answer to, though I suspect a good number of people on here might.

    2) An incredibly quick, and perfectly succinct response with exactly what the OP was looking for. And then even included a price.

    3) A very appropriately grateful response.

    4) A hilarious response that I was certainly not expecting, yet very accurate description. During this long-winded post I keep scrolling back up for a good laugh 😆.

    I guess all we need now is a nermy individual to actually get a tin can, some electrical conduit, and a light bulb, socket and wire and actually build it! (I'm contemplating it)

    • Like 2
    • Haha 3

    Extend battery life on USB nano to 2-4x

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    1 hour ago, TheDukeAnumber1 said:

    I figured a cap big enough to do anything meaningful would change the form factor quite a bit. I was thinking a cap big enough to wake up the power bank and hopefully it stays on once the cap stops drawing power, or maybe it would create a situation where the bank would shutoff, the cap drains into the motor or resistor, then the bank restarts. Power supplies can be so all over the place in specs and quality, at least in my experience. Might be worth a test, I'm open to being wrong here though.

    Ahh I see what you're saying now. I think the battery bank would turn on to charge the cap initially, eventually the cap would fill, the power bank would detect low current and shutoff. The cap would then drain to run the motor, eventually need to be recharged, which would kick the power bank back on. Rinse and repeat, cycling the power bank on and off. Probably would end up being more efficient than the resistor, but might shorten the life of your pump?

    There's not much that isn't worth experimenting. In my experience you can only learn so much on paper. So do let us know how it goes if you open one up!

    Extend battery life on USB nano to 2-4x

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Hmm I'll have to think about this more, but I don't think a capacitor is going to give you the best of both worlds. In parallel it's just going to reduce the noise on the line, I think. And in either series or parallel it's not going to draw enough extra current to mimic what the resistor is doing here (drawing extra current, converting to heat, and keeping the dumb USB charger from thinking the system is off). Unless you mean a really, really huge cap.

    I'm probably wrong or misread your response @TheDukeAnumber1 so feel free to correct me.

    Mysterious shrimp deaths

    in Diseases

    Posted

    Good luck with the locally bred! I was going to suggest you steal some from shrimp from @Garrett Dare lol, if they have neos then surely they have some extra :).

    Is your pH about the same as Garrett's? Or compared to your tap water? Or could the leaves be lowering the pH down (especially with your softer water)? I would suggest not adding any buffer to your shrimp-only tank like leaves or driftwood for now and try to keep the pH above 7.

    • Like 1

    The Things You Can't See

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I've never been so fascinated while also being so grossed out! It's so cool what's in a tank, but also I kind of don't want to know! Please don't share a video of the mite walking around lol.

    Also, the sound in the video makes it that much more ominous 😄

    • Like 1

    Break from light?

    in Plants, Algae, and Fertilizers

    Posted · Edited by Socqua

    Lighting is discussed at great length in the Fluval 3.0 thread:

    From @Streetwise in that thread:

    Quote

    Siestas are great. From what I understand, plants ramp up photosynthesis faster than algae.

    I don't have any personal experience to share, but that sounds plausible at least! Just my gut tells me that slight differences in lighting doesn't cause any sort of SAD; Terrestrial plants outside regularly get cloud coverage and varying amounts of sun day to day and even hour to hour. Generally more sun = more photosynthesis = more growth, but there is certainly no one size fits all here... Some plants die if they get too much sun.

    Also, @gardenman, regarding your last sentence, "I don't think Algae would care, so I don't really see an upside to it," I'm curious why having a siesta ("two day/night cycles per day") would have consequences for plants, but not for algae? Just curious.

    edited to add (after just now seeing Daniel's post before mine): Forget everything I just said and listen to Daniel 😄

    Are there root feeders that can thrive without root tabs?

    in Plants, Algae, and Fertilizers

    Posted

    Thanks! I have some Amazon Sword that aren't doing too well without them, but I know they're heavy root feeders. Interesting that you had no issue growing them, so I'll have to think about my other conditions as well. I was thinking crypts, and I'll consider jungle val. I might be better off with something like java fern though.

    What about Pogostemon Stellatus Octopus? Would it grow okay without root tabs?

    Would love to hear others' experiences!

    HS Classroom Tank Journal!

    in Photos, Videos & Journals

    Posted

    Awesome project. I think you'll find most kids can find something with aquariums to be interested in. And the more you can engage them in the different aspects the better. I'm sure there are plenty of resources out there for ideas on relating the aquarium to different aspects of science, but engaging them in other non-science aspects will help too. Little things, like having them come up with some names and then voting on the winner, or even having them do some maintenance (water changes, plant trimming, etc can actually be fun!).

    Also, as @Streetwise mentioned definitely look around for any programs your state, city, etc might offer. Some retailers and websites also offer discounts to classroom aquariums, I'll try to PM you one such example.

    Love the project, definitely keep posting back here with updates!

    • Like 2

    What's your dream aquarium product that doesn’t exist?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    10 hours ago, HenryC said:

    A glass coating that inhibits algae growth

    That's wild... I don't have much algae problems, but I have a small 2.5 gallon tank I play with that has algae on the front glass. I was just cleaning it two hours ago and thinking some sort of tint or film should be able to inhibit algae growth.

    Then I come on here and see your post! I was even thinking of this thread, and all the millions I could make if I could design something like this 😁.

     

    • Haha 1

    Black sand substrate

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I have blue rili + offspring (that vary from almost ghost to close to blue dream). I also don't have this substrate, but I have very dark driftwood and some black equipment/areas, and I personally love the look of the blue against black. I think it makes the blue that much more blue, but of course it doesn't stand out as much against contrasting light substrate. 

    Not an answer to your question sorry, but hopefully a little helpful.

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