Fish Folk

Daphnia thriving!

Going to need some more information. What is the photo period? Wha are your water parameters in the 5.5 gal? How often / how much do you change water? What animal life is in the tank besides the plants? How well cycled is it? What you are describing sounds initially like it may be a cloud of bacterial bloom. I fI recall, it is heterotrophic, and arises because your ammonia processing bacteria and nitrite processing colonies are deficient. As it congeals, you may get these slimy, fuzzy bacterial concretions in your photo. You say you have a HOB and a sponge. Are you somehow decimating your bacteria colonies? Are you changing or washing out the HOB media? Are you squeezing the sponge filter to death? I run several 5.5 gal tanks. I rarely change water or squeeze sponges. I just top water off. I recommend you use FritzZyme 7 Nitrifying Bacteria for Freshwater Tanks as directed for your tank size. It will bringing some bacteria in cyst form that will help to establish the tank better. Dr. Tim's Nitrifying liquid bacteria bottles are also very good. I cannot personally vouch for others. (1) Build healthy, thriving nitrifying bacteria colonies. Use FritzZyme 7, or similar product. (2) Add lots of healthy plants, and maintain a regular photoperiod with a light timer. When you add Java Ferns, do not bury the rhizome (twiggy / stalk). Just set it on the bottom, and put a small stone or piece of wood on to keep it from floating. (3) Add some snails. Give the tank a few weeks to balance. (4) Add fish.

Do you want two more Marlieri? DM me if you do and live in the US lower 48. I ship with reasonably good success. I have two from a friend who had to tear down his tanks that are not breeding. Fish that won't breed for me typically do not stay long in my Fishroom.

@Shadow WOW! Those look awesome. Yeah . . . wet roots . . . not good . . . drat! I may DM you about that. Did anyone take you up on your shipping experiment with those Neocaridinas yet? Maybe there's a way to pack a couple in the box? Marmalade . . . all I can think of is this scene from Paddington . . .

Technical Paper added for NERMs to download on the CARE Forum: "Small-Scale Aquaponic Food Production" "Keep it secret! Keep it safe!" ~Gandalf

Alright @Shadow . . . you will be elevated to incontrovertible LEGEND status if you can figure out a way to get citrus trees to thrive in a quasi Aquaponics setup. Prove that your thumb is permanently green. I want to try this so bad!

@Guppysnail what is the brand / size / source of those lights you use along the wall? They look good.

Don't want to hijack your thread with unrelated connections, but @Guppysnail shared some impressive emersed growth from Aquaponics plants she's set up. They'd be appropriate to share here again, IMHO. She has glorious indoor growth! I do think that Aquaponics is going to become a major thing in the near future of the hobby. There are a lot of good reasons to keep fish that way. My friend, who designs Aquaponics setups, really never changes water on his freshwater tanks. He just tops things off now and then. Plant roots sort out chemical buildups wonderfully, along with micro-fauna.

Everything depends on your goals. Are you just trying to breed Bettas? Or are you selectively breeding for a particular result? Are you ready to rase all of the fry properly? Do you have micro live foods already prepared? If you are really ready, and have your goals totally zeroed in, you are ready. I have ordered Bettas in US from here. It will cost you, but plenty of Plakat Koi females are available.

I build mine hillbilly style. I use Rubbermaid food storage containers with a custom cut styrofoam collar to keep afloat, slits cut in the side for foam to fill so water flows through.

Set up a breeding tank. Set up an uncluttered, cycled 10-20 gal tank with sponge filtration and a couple inches of either marbles or large pea-gravel stones across the bottom for eggs to fall into. Add a Java Moss clump on top. Adjust water parameters, and ensure a cycled tank. Then add mature, adult Cherry barbs in ratio of 1:2 (male:female). Feed live BBS and live daphnia to bring into breeding condition. Probably not necessary to condition them separately. Once you observe spawning for ca. 24-48 hours, remove the brooders. As eggs hatch and begin clinging to the glass, wait until they are free-swimming, and then add half a dozen of more Neocaridina shrimp to chow down on the infertile eggs and fungussed-eggs fouling up in the substrate. Banana worms and New Life Spectrum GROW Fry powder are good starter foods. Live BBS and ACO Fry Powder are excellent going forward as they grow. Here is an excellent video...

I have used several different Activities-Flora substrates in tanks. I find that the different forms all present very differently. I prefer their line of Black substrates above others. It is finer (less coarse) than Eco-Complete, but you will end up needing a LOT of it for a 75 gal. If you're willing to be patient, and not add fish too soon, there are some ways to "cheat." For serious plant people . . . I apologize. This is going to sound like terrible advice. Please feel free to disagree. My son set up a very nice planted tank a few years ago by pouring in some Osmocote Plus into the lower layers of substrate to bury fertilizers early on. You could wash out some medium black diamond blasting sand for an inch-layer. It can be gotten at Tractor Supply. It is inert coal slag, and the dust is terrible. You'll need to be willing to spend a good hour washing out buckets of it in a tub. (My wife hates t when I do that . . . even in the basement bathroom). Once washed, it is an acceptable substrate that will stay low, beneath a cap of larger substrate pieces. If you spread _some_ Osmocote Plus powder on top of that 1-inch BDBS, and then add a second layer of BDBS, you can cap that with a third inch or more of your black Activ-Flora. That will still cost you a fair bit. The Activ-Flora will have a lot of nutrients built in, but it is basically going to just serve you well for initial set up. As far as I know, it ends up being an inert substrate. Over time, it will gather mulm, detritus, etc. to promote plant growth in a normal tank. When you add water, you will need to spread bubble wrap over the entire substrate surface, and pour water onto that in order to keep from stirring up all of the layers. It will be a cloudy, nitrate spiked mess for awhile. Lighting will be crucial for a 75 gal. Do not start with long photo periods. Add TONS of plants, and start with a narrow photo period. Dose liquid fertilizers regularly, and add root tabs for the Amazon Swords. Slowly, you can increase the photo period as plants begin to take hold and grow. Do not add any fish until the entire system is thoroughly cycled, and nitrates are being absorbed by healthy plants. If I may, I recommend som red Tiger Lotus plants for color, nice bronze Crypts (hardy, colorful), and some screaming bright green Hygros. I like Hygropila polysperma. The combination / contrast of greens, browns, and reds will make your planted tank an absolute stunner. Now . . . there are, of course, proper ways to prepare a planted tank. If you spend loads of money on excellent aqua-soil, your plants will of course thrive. Remember that what I've shared above is just a way to "cheat." Monte carlo needs quality lighting to thrive, carpet, etc. A 75 gal is deep enough that the light throw needs to be sufficient to really penetrate. Swords and Java ferns will survive fine without any extra work.

I love this! I really need to work on my outdoor gardening. It's hard, raising a bunch of boys, to find time to keep up with gardening outside. I do enjoy summer tubbing, and have had some beautiful flowering plants the last two seasons...

This is a touchy scenario to diagnose. I hope others weigh in, due to multiple factors here (e.g. high tech setup, Apistos, water chemistry details, etc.). I agree with your assessment of plant situation. Certain plants break down when CO2 / nutrient / lighting levels are imbalanced. Your strategy seems fine for plant resuscitation. Apistos can be tricky. I have never done exceptionally well with them long term. I've kept some Apostogramma cacatuoides and Apistogramma agassizii. If they can adapt to your water parameters while young and grow into that, they tend to do better. Most that I have bought at an LFS have brought home problems. Buying from breeders is preferable. Water parameters are serious considerations. Temperature + Nitrate + GH/KH can all be factors in how well they do. I'll tag @tolstoy21 and @anewbie for more developed experiences with the genus. If you can get Apistos to breed in your water, fry raised in your own water are typically much more likely to thrive there. Given your post and awareness, I'll assume that you keep a good eye on pH. I have very soft water. Even passive CO2 (i.e. inverted 100 ml turbidity column with daily CO2 injections) proved enough to strip away my buffer, and lead to pH crash -- from ca. 7.4 to below 6.0. But I'd suspect major change like that would affect the Tetras to some degree as well. It may be that your agassizii has been fighting long-term ailment. 40 ppm Nitrate does not necessarily sound unmanageable to me. But shocks of up to 80 ppm might be a lot to swallow. You might consider taking a longer up-ramp, and not pushing the ferts too hard / too fast.

Just took a couple photos of my “Precious Metals” Guppies. They’ve kicked out a purple mosaic fella, and I’m too intrigued with him to cull. Here’s how I set up a cool-light photo… (1) 55-gal LED gets propped up on empty large specimen containers (2) A clear ACO Specimen Container (the best, BTW!) is used in the middle under lights for photos. First shows uncropped. Second and third are cropped. And that is how to sell Guppies 😎

I had a bad experience with Neons as dithers once… they ate a whole batch of F1 Apistogramma bitaeniata fry… 😖 I have heard other folks describe Black Rams as very aggressive. No idea why that would be. Do you feed live BBS? I always found “Rams that eat together stay together.”

Good looking Rams! Have you bred and raised Rams before? The setup seems right. Sometimes a breeding bond can be reinforced with a few carefully selected dither fish. Nanostomus (e.g. coral red pencilfish) might work alright, but they can be hard to find. All of my males have been opportunistic spawners. They’ll spawn with any available female. Keep them separated awhile and let her heal and develop roe. Live foods - BBS, Daphnia, and black worms - will bring them into breeding readiness. If you don’t use RO water, you can buy clip-baskets online, and grow loads of aquaponic plants out the back side of the tank to zero out minerals and nitrate.

Fact check: ✅ Truth

I’m going to link this video to two threads (live foods, and Aquaponics). I am very happy that this 10-gal is so well purposed right now…

I’m going to link this video to two threads (live foods, and Aquaponics). I am very happy that this 10-gal is so well purposed right now…

It’s “Plants Night” here at Fish Folk HQ. Started out snapping a photo here and there… and ended up with a bunch. For perspective: (1) I am _not_ an aquascaper. (2) I am a passionate amateur hobbyist fish breeder. (3) I do breeding _more like_ L. R. Bretz —without his skill— than other approaches. As an East Coast guy, I’ll admit that West Coast folks are generally WAY better with plants that we are. These plants are partly functional (context for fry, ammonia and nitrate absorption) and partly ornamental. Here are some shots with notes… (1) Riccia — fascinating top-water plant, excellent for top-water fish fry. It tends to grow best when attached to a matten wall, etc. with some gentle but constant water-flow or airflow. Buy a little, forget about it, and check on it after several months. (2) Java Moss. This stuff is essential fir breeding certain fish. It can multiply down low, or attached mid water column to structure. It is a moody plant that tends to explode when it begins in a large bunch. There are very different kinds. (3) Najas (Guppy Grass). This is helpful for live-bearer colonies, allowing fry to easily hide. I am not sure how to get it to stop growing! (4) Hornwort (Coon-tail). A bit prickly, this plant is considered “cantankerous” because if it is unhappy, it will drop it needles suddenly. Keys for me seem to be: keeping water stable, feeding some liquid fertilizer, and avoiding overly warm water. Female Bluefin Killifish sayin’ “heeeey!” (5) Valisneria americana. This is one of my more versatile plants. I like it in tall tanks a lot. It can grow hot or cold. I just like the way it looks. (6) Aponogeton (bolivanus?). This one is just big and fun. Left side of photo. It’s similar to a Sword — seen in background. (7) Amazon Sword. This one has done well in a cold water tank for years now. Occasionally I add a root tab. It’s actually a favorite of small fish, who love hiding between leaves. (8) Anubias. This one is rocking three flowers right now! Much more ornamental than functional, it may be the most beautiful plant in an aquarium when, after many years, it covers everything. (9) Bronze Crypt. This colorful plant is really pleasing to the eye. It grows long, long roots through the substrate, and will pass on from one aquarist to another fairly well. Get lots, and it won’t disappoint. (10) Java Fern. This had a few dead leaves, but it is a huge “mother-plant” that has given birth to J-ferns all over my fishroom. We got this one years ago at a fish club auction. (11) Water Lettuce (and duckweed). I had the WORST time finding Water lettuce for my tubs last spring. Never again! I’m going full-throttle, keeping my own alive here all winter long. These are excellent nitrate absorbers, and their long roots provide ample hiding places for fish fry. The duckweed is a bit annoying, but plays a part in the eco system. (12) Aquaponics herbs & Bamboo. I’m growing Basil, Oregano, and Rosemary to eat in this Aquaponics setup. Bamboo is more ornamental — for fun. This setup zeros out my nitrates completely. I feed plant food regularly. (13) Hygrophila polysperma (Indian swampweed). This is my favorite fast-growing stem plant. It has bright, light green leaves. It is easy, easy, easy! (14) Tiger Lotus. Entirely ornamental, this plant will either thrive or crash for you. I’m not terribly sure what conditions it needs, but it is stunning in some tanks… a failure in others. Of the “red plants” this is perhaps the easiest. (15) Pothos. My sister got us started with tiny cuttings… we have kept going for years and years. I use them to filter water in HOB filters, aquaponics baskets, or — here — in fry jugs. (16) Unknown … (sword species?) This plant looked nice with these Rainbow Shiners. Beautiful plants + beautiful fish = happy NERM.

You could do Elassoma gilberti in a tiny planted tank like that… Followup on @Schuyler, I really like breeding Nothobranchius rachovii in little tanks… You might consider a pair of Betta imbellis…

I separated out Swordtails from my Elassoma gilberti this evening. Pygmy Sunfish appearing everywhere!

I’d just but a prefeb rack, saw off to desired height, move cap down, and replace any sus particle board with hardwood panel… OR… I’d custom build a rack using cinderblocks and hardwood boards. Personally, I luke to custom-build my own stuff; but it’s not cheap…