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Ben P.

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Everything posted by Ben P.

  1. It would but there's two reasons I would not use it in this case. First is that if you put it in backwards you could stop flow. The worst thing you can do to a pump is block it's flow. Second is price and availability. I guess a third would be simplicity. It's pretty hard to screw up two valves This is how I have my fry system piped for the same reason. Just open the valve on the left and it empties tank. @tolstoy21
  2. Oh man there's a few that really would be sweet to have. Blue gularis killifish comes to mind. If you haven't seen them, they're stunning. I've had discus in the past but would do it differently than before, I was young and dumb then. Frontosas are a bucket list for sure. Each of them have a limiting factor. Blue gularis is extremely difficult to find, discus are difficult due to my tap water parameters, and frontosas require 200 plus gallons
  3. If I didn't live pretty much in the middle of nowhere I would look for something local, but the nearest club is about 3 hours from me from what I can tell. Pretty much stuck with online sources
  4. It's been a few years but I did them in the winter so I scooped a bunch of fresh snow and melted it and actually put a bit of snow in there too. Cold water with low tds did the trick. I did it in a 10 gallon. They did not live in the 10 gallon, just breeding
  5. My wife really wants to get some nothobranchius (don't kill me on the spelling) killis. I understand they don't live all that long but some places online say up to a couple of years in aquarium. I'm just wondering if it's a mistake to buy adults or experiences you've had with eggs? And yes I do plan on breeding them so any thoughts there I'm listening to as well. Thanks!
  6. @Shea Loner I'm not at home this weekend but this is the stuff
  7. I would set the tank on something called armorflex insulation. I don't necessarily know where a person would get it, I get it from the plumbing and heating shop where I work. It's used as insulation on piping and ductwork. About an inch and a half thick, black, very dense insulation. I set tanks on it a lot
  8. As far as temp goes I keep a lot of my tanks at higher than recommended temps, I find it makes disease less common and less long lasting. And what you want to do with the crushed coral depends on what look you like. Some keep it in a bag, other scatter it. Best of luck!
  9. I think your estimate of weight is pretty darn high. I dont use the metric system but if my conversation to freedom fractions is accurate you're thinking 30 gallons of fish tank is going to weigh upwards of 800 pounds? If you had 30 gallons of water weighing 8 pounds per gallon that puts you at 240 pounds. Regardless of whatever scape you use I think you'd struggle to have 500 pounds of scaping and equipment in 2 small tanks
  10. My normal approach is one of two things. My preferred method is to set the tank up as I want it, with all new stuff and let it run for as long as it takes. I feed the tank fishfood in the approximate amount that I think I will be feeding the tank when stocked. The water will go cloudy after a few days and stay that way for a while. Suddenly the water will go clear and you're good to go. Second way is to take a sponge filter out of a established tank and put it in there for about a month, assuming you have other filtration. I still don't go hog wild with stocking while it's relying on the sponge filter but after a month everything will be good. Also I only use the large sponge filters. I don't care that they're not pretty, it's about function. Again, preferred method is honestly all new stuff for me
  11. I do about a week to 10 days. Haven't had an issue but others may have more info
  12. I definitely second the using of the matten filter as a free side to do water changes. That might be the biggest win of this whole project 😂
  13. Two videos I would reference that might help to finish out any design ideas that you have, btw I'm not saying you need it because I love your design here, but Greg sage has one on breeding Odessa barbs and keeping fish simple has one on breeding danios. Both could be a great help for you
  14. I do really like ugf myself. Staying to switch to matten as I like them better for my needs but 100% use a power head with Venturi to add air. No matter what I always want air in my tanks for surface agitation and oxygenation. Also you never have to clean the mulm under the plates, that's pretty much a myth as far as I'm concerned. Plants growing into them doesn't matter either, water will still flow
  15. I would assume they would be the same as any other melatonea genus rainbow.... although I must say I'm super jealous, they've been on mine and my wife's wish list for a while! Beautiful fish
  16. I'm starting to build my fry system this week once the parts arrive in a couple days, going to heavily resemble Dean's. What I'm going to do is use a spare 55 as the base tank, use the aco power head to supply water to the drippers. I'm going to run the power head into a 1/2 PVC pipe with the opposite end of the pipe running the water back into the 55 so I don't build up too much pressure (will have a ball valve there to regulate pressure). Planning on keeping it at roughly 85 degrees, I keep all my tanks pretty warm. Another 1/2 PVC for air. I have some leftover 40ppi foam from a matten filter. I'm just wondering if anyone has some good photos of theirs or if they have any suggestions of things they would change about theirs or good photos? Any suggestions appreciated!
  17. I'm just seeing if anyone else has problems with the little green aco air pumps stopping working? I have 3 of them, this one I have had for some time as a spare and just started using it for the first time 3 or so weeks ago. They just seem to stop working, this is now 2 of 3. What is their actual expected lifespan? To be clear I'm not bashing the product at all, I love how quiet and small they are, I'm just wondering if this is common and I need to keep more on hand or if I'm doing anything incorrectly
  18. I just wish shellies were cheaper so I could just buy 15 or so and get a quick start on a colony
  19. What I do that works well for me is to go to a glass shop in the town I live in, bring them your exact dimensions and the exact sizes of everything you need cut into the glass for air lines, power lines, canister piping ECT and they will cut you a piece of glass that fits perfectly. I also have them cut and roughly 1 inch hole towards the front centered to feed through and put a small piece of clear plastic or small piece of glass over that hole when I'm not feeding. Has always been pretty reasonable price for me too
  20. I'm kind of torn on what my next tank will be. It's either going to be another African cichlid tank or another rainbow tank and haven't decided yet 😂 there's so many beautiful mbuna but also I would like to get some shell dwellers. Either that or one of the larger variety of rainbow. I have a spare 55 that just keeps looking at me and saying it needs to be set up!
  21. Depends on the type of eggs for me. I don't use methylene blue anyways, I just use ich ex. For small containers or jars with eggs in them, I take a toothpick and stick it in my ich ex and swish that around in my jar water and that does the trick. Both are anti fungal and ich ex works for me
  22. @Fish Folk yes very much so. I think they won't be too bad to sell, water is really hard here so quite a few cichlid shops about an hour and a half away. I do have 12 females so I should have plenty
  23. A little excitement today, I see I have mbuna holding eggs! This is a first for me breeding mbuna. You can see the females jaw area is pushed out and she isn't opening her mouth. Took a picture of one of the males that looked particularly good today as well. His black wasn't quite as dark as it was earlier today but the blue is pretty strong
  24. Looks like some form of cyprochromis leptisoma. Don't kill me on spelling. Aka sardine cichlid. I could be wrong but the body shape looks similar
  25. First I assume they are "msobo deep magunga". Also I haven't looked at that food but rule of thumb with mbuna is to keep protein in their food at or below 40% Also I have the best luck taking photos with the room lights off and my tank lights on. As soon as they see much movement, their colors fade extremely rapidly; like within 3 seconds and you can watch it happen. As they become more comfortable in their environment they will be more active. They will likely also take quite a bit of time to truly reach their adult color. Don't get discouraged as you're waiting for them to color up. Also I don't find them to get more personable with time and interaction. Mine are in my living room and even with nightly activity in the room they still panic when I stand up from the couch. They look phenomenal at 8 feet though 😂
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