Fish Folk

The turquoise ones are hybrids, I was told.

I breed for BAP. Unfortunately, hybrids are disqualified. Maybe I’ll try those Hemis someday.

Beautiful tank! Hard to diagnose. I’ll raise a glass with you, though. I bought 18x Cardinal Tetras the other week to add to my Discus tank. Those Discus _ate_ them all… 😬 Brutal! Never dreamed that would happen…

I have observed that Neon Tetra health / transfer is touch-and-go. There are a few farms in US that are breeding them, but I suspect that most are still imported. So the thing to consider is how many different times these fish have transferred water. From where they were spawned, to where they were kept for grow out, to where they were shipped into US, to where they were shipped to LFS, and finally to a personal buyer . . . that many moves (and perhaps more) nearly guarantees a weakened fish. I salute those who religiously perform the MED Trio. In my view though, any fish that dies within a day or two of being introduced to a new aquarium is not suffering from Ich, parasites, or bacterial infection: it's just very weak, stressed, and collapses under various pressures from osmotic stress, temperature adjustment, Dissolved Oxygen variance, pH fluctuations, etc. Definitely save dead fish and get a refund if you can. I'm concerned a bit about your tank and an incomplete cycle. But it does sound like you know what you're doing. Adding an extra air-stone may help boost your autotrophic aerobic bacteria colonies.

What exactly is your question? From the subject line, are you asking _how_ to get multiple females pregnant? Just add a male. He will spawn with every available female. Add a male in with as many females as you like, wherever you like, and after about 30x days, they'll drop fry. If your temperatures are too warm, you'll have certain issues; too cold, others. I'd suggest about a 76-F range. If you let gravid females near dropping into the baskets, the fry will escape through the holes. Having multiple tanks is helpful, but not essential. Another approach is bending a piece of Darice plastic mesh to create a U-Shaped breeding / dropping area in a 10-gal. Fry will escape out through the holes... This allows for more room than the basket concept. My experience, however, has been that if you'll just add a lot of plants -- Najas, Hygrophilia polysperma, etc -- that Guppy fry will thrive. A few may be eaten, but you'll get plenty.

I never plant mine in substrate. Najas grows by uptaking nutrients in the water column. Indian swampweed (Hygrophilia polysperma) is an interesting alternative.

For a very short window, I kept a Hemichromus bimaculatus / hybrid. They did fine with Valisneria and forms of Hygrophilia… Unfortunately, because mine were hybrids, I auctioned them off. Pretty fish though!

(Apologies in advance for the ugly setups and terrible photos. I mostly just breed fish. My tanks are every aquascaper's nightmare. Look up great photos by other aquarists using the Latin binomials as search parameters.) Aponogeton boivinianus: Nymphaea zenkeri: Pogostemon stellatus:

You might try loading the tank with some fast-growing plants that the fish can choose and gorge on, aiming to allow _other plants_ to thrive. Anubias, Nana Petite, perhaps Java Fern -- these can be your "hardy" low-light plants. Cover the tank with Water Wisteria, Indian Swampweed, and Najas for the fish to gorge on.

As long as you keep the water reasonably consistent across water changes, your plan can work. Your Rams are just a color morph cross, not a biological “hybrid.” They’ll appreciate soft water. I personally pull Ram eggs and let them hatch in a floating flow-through container. I can explain more if you want. Rams can learn to raise their own fry, but after watching many pairs eat their own eggs, wigglers, and fry, I prefer to pull. Maintain common water — I pull and keep in the same water they spawned in. Rams like temperature around 80°-F. I find they get ill if I feed too many bloodworms. Gardneri killis probably do not _need_ super soft water. But they can adapt to a fairly wide range of parameters. You don’t need a heater, IMHO. Throw in a few spawning mops, and feed them well. Males can be brutal to females sometimes. Apistos will appreciate leaf litter, botanicals, and several caves to spawn in. Soft water is fine. I advise against pulling eggs. Female Apistos can be marvelous parents.

Behold! Pre-spawning display…

Looks good! Goldfish could be lovely. Underrated, I think. There's a channel I watch from an aquarist in Europe who plays around with a large tank, redoing it every year or so. His stocking ideas are interesting... I personally like his set up with Geophagus Tapajos...

Welcome back to the hobby! While I do not speak for ACO, as a customer I'd make the assumption that the given 2.1 watt measurement for the dual output model is based on the pump plugged into AC, and that the DC battery backup scheduled at ca. 8 hrs is not necessarily framed in terms of wattage, but provides an adequate supply of air. The main difficulty in presenting customers with more details is that everyone's application is going to be decidedly different. The same flow of air that perfectly powers a diffuser set at the bottom of a 20 gal long may show signs of difficulty from the bottom of a 55 gal. or a 125 gal. Additionally, a new diffuser will operate far more efficiently than a long-used, clogged diffuser. Running an old, stubborn check-valve will have an impact as well. These factors make it difficult to be more precise. I'd maybe reach out to ACO, and inquire about their return policy. Explain your situation.

This chart is posted on ACO Site here...

Until an aquarist has gained much experience, learned to streamline and simplify, the costs are significant. I always tell people . . . "For every 10 gallons, plan 100 lbs. weight and $1,000 over the course of five years." Keep electricity costs in mind. You can save money by selecting cheaper substrate and choosing your own natural hardscape. But those cost-cutting decisions can backfire if you're not ready. Selecting fish that do not require a heater is another cost-saving option. Once you have succumbed fully to MTS (Multiple Tank Syndrome), you'll be able to populate a new tank from plants you propagate in other aquariums. If you are into getting fish to breed, there is a way to claw back little of your expenses by selling fish. It is no day-job though!

So sorry to hear. Sadly, these sorts of things happen to almost every aquarist who has remained in the hobby long enough. It can be very difficult to diagnose the cause of your fish death. I will provide several possibilities. It may be due to something else entirely. I. AMMONIA SPIKE For beneficial bacteria colonies from your previous set-up to remain alive and healthy, they need sufficient oxygen. One possible cause of your loss is that the aerobic bacteria died off, leading to an ammonia spike. Fish release ammonia from gills via respiration. Their waste also releases some. But if there is an insufficient beneficial bacterial colony established, ammonia will become lethal. When you add a liquid bacteria, you are actually seeding the tank with bacteria that is in a cystic-like suspension. It takes some time for that colony to begin activating. I've heard some people say, "Just add Fritz-Zyme 7 [or Dr. Tim's, etc.] and add fish right away!" This assumes a number of things: (1) There is not already an ammonia-releasing buildup in the water; (2) The Ammonia release rate of the new fish will not outpace the bacteria colony multiplication rate needed to convert ammonia to nitrite and nitrite to nitrate; (3) Additionally, it assumes that there is sufficient oxygenation of the water to build up healthy bacteria colonies. II. OXYGEN DEPRIVATION That third issue, insufficient oxygenation, is another possible cause of your fish die off. If your autotrophic bacteria colonies were not healthy or large enough to dial in your ammonia spike, typically a bacterial cloud builds up in the water. This is due to heterotrophic bacteria -- the "cloudy water" commonly seen in some newly setup or newly reset aquariums. Heterotrophic bacteria in and of itself is not usually a problem. However, heterotrophic bacteria consumes a _lot_ of oxygen. I have lost many fish due to insufficient oxygen. As Cory frequently says, "add an air-stone." This keeps oxygen flowing into the aquarium, allowing autotrophic bacteria (the good colonies that you need) to catch up. The cloudy water will eventually disappear. Another important step is adding an ammonia-binding chemical such as PRIME or AMQUEL that will lock up ammonia spikes over the short run. III. PH / MAJOR CHEMISTRY CHANGE Adding wood and botanicals may draw down your pH significantly. Other chemical reactions are settling out in any new tank as well. Unless you're prepared to carefully comb through and test parameters: pH, NH3, NO2-, NO3-, KH, GH . . . perhaps even TDS and DO . . . you're gambling with any new tank setup or any tank reset. In my opinion, the safest way to manage this is to give the aquarium several weeks to settle, adding beneficial bacteria and oxygen. Test carefully and be sure you know your parameters before adding your fish. Now, I was able to shortcut that wait recently. Here's how... (1) I bought a 45 gal. from a friend. I asked him to leave the substrate in. (2) I added water and set up a canister filter, and then squeezed in a HUGE sponge full of beneficial bacteria. Here is what it looked like... After a day, it had begun to clear. All of that live bacteria was building up in the canister and in the substrate. I waited until the water was completely clear. Then added a fully seeded sponge filter, a venturi with pump drawn though another sponge filter, then rocks and java moss from the old tank. My aim: lots of beneficial bacteria! Only after this, I transferred the fish. But because the aquarium was already established, they all did well. Here are several videos of the aquarium up and running. I did not have to wait weeks. Just added very healthy bacteria, loads of oxygen, and tested parameters. These are native US Fish, not tropical... Now, the fish are spawning in here already...

Tried out a new creek on the east edge of our county today… It didn’t yield much over 90 mins of poking around, but we did come across one Greenside Darter (Etheostoma blennoides)…

I pulled a small haul from the tray tonight. Give it a week . . . we shall see how things go!

Again! July starting out beautifully…

Ah! I totally misread. Aqueon is not AquaClear. But you’re right. Shouldn’t be an issue.

Yes. That space should work fine as long as it's not applying too much pressure on the u-tube, blocking the overflow, pushing out the seal ring, etc. Here's a good look at the AquaClear HOB design, with some helpful instructions for proper maintenance (which most of us do well to review from time to time.) As I understand it, Crushed Coral should slowly raise your KH -- Carbonate Hardness -- sometimes referred to as "temporary hardness" because it will break down over time, leading to pH lowering. Adding Crushed Coral should, in theory, stabilize your pH. The crudest way to think of this is the old Volcano kid's science fair project: Acid + Baking Soda. Either Vinegar or Lemon juice reacts with sodium bicarbonate to achieve a neutral solution. On a much more complex scale, the carbonates (or bicarbonates) in water will keep natural numb acids that develop from plant decay from drawing down you pH. GH, on the other hand, is measuring calcium and magnesium. It's a measurement of these dissolved metals. Plants will benefit from and absorb both of these as nutrients from the water column.

Awesome 😎 1. Discus prefer quiet, zero stress, total focus when spawning. That’s why they typically are only spawned in a single-pair aquarium, not other fish. 2. Low, low mineral content is crucial for spawning viability. pH and temperature are less important than low TDS. 3. For first month, fry feed off parent’s slime coat. After that, as long as water is the same chemistry, fry can grow out in other tank sizes. Bear in mind — as already mentioned — that standard practice for Discus fry is heavy feed / deep & frequent water changes. 4. Discus can live 10 years or more. 2-year old adults should be in prime breeding condition. Hard to say how often they’ll spawn. Probably once a mon, depending on whether they’re raising fry. I recommend Gabe Posada at Jack Wattley Discus as a reference point. He does a lot of teaching online.

Much depends on how much time you want to spend, and what your goals are. If you want an absolutely pristine tank after feeding artemia nauplii, it is understandable why you might be eager to work with a sieve. The company provides som videos to diagnose various issues. Here's one. Honestly, though, I dislike this approach. Instead, I prefer to take air out of hatchery, allow hatched artemia to fall below and shells to rise up. Then I draw out Artemis with a baster, moving over to a specimen container with clean water in. This dilutes the salt content, and allows another stage of separation to occur. Live baby brine shrimp will remain suspended in the water column while unwanted shells and cysts either float or sink to the bottom. I then harvest with a syringe and feed. Very little undesired material pollutes my tanks this way. However, the process is not perfect. If you want perfection . . . I'd suggest trying something besides artemia.

I am a bit unclear about this. Was he falling down to the driftwood? Or darting down like he was startled or distressed? Did the white thing float, or sink? There are a few possibilities. Fish nibble / graze at things all day in their environment. Perhaps he was eating something else the got spat out. Sometimes fish get illnesses in their gills -- white growth that looks like fungus. If he ends up with something emerging from his gills, that's another issue. Keep an eye on him. If anything else happens, let us know!

Everyone needs to make that decision for themself. Personally, I do not typically spend much more on a fish in medicinal cost than I bought them for. That certainly will sound cruel to some aquarists . . . and I do not judge them for holding a different view. I try to think how things unfold in nature, where predators threaten the life of a fish daily. I try to set up my aquariums so that fish will thrive. If I fail, and fish get ill and die, instead of trying to solve diseases in every single fish, I try to figure out what is wrong with their environment under my care. I try to resolve that, give them a predator-free life, and typically try to let them "make more." Breeding fish is my thing. I'm no master, but I have enjoyed some successes.