[Pickles Are The Worst Thing To Happen To Humanity]

On 12/11/2022 at 7:42 PM, SennaTea said:

Pickles are not only gross, they are not only strong: they are small and they are sneaky. One can try to order their sandwich or hamburger without pickles, though perhaps if you are like me you might feel weird tacking on this additional request, though it does not even work half the time. All this personal shame goes down the drain as, despite your pleading, something goes wrong behind the scenes and the pickle finds a way. The natural response, then, is to remove it, but there is a catch. Unlike the tomato or the bacon, you cannot tell if it is there or not; it is too small to be noticed by a surface-level probe. So, I, the unsuspecting consumer, take a bite out of my burger, expecting a meal after a long hard day; but instead a … SURPRISE PICKLE! A sour bomb goes off in my mouth and takes my first impression as a casualty.

Like you, I also don't like pickles on a hamburger, and always order them that way.  On the occasions where I get them anyway I open up the hamburger, remove the slices of pickle, and eat them alone, then eat the hamburger.  I don't dislike pickles, but the taste tends to overwhelm all the other flavors.

I feel the same way about yellow mustard.  I don't really dislike it, but if it's on a hamburger it's all I can taste.

[Metal aquarium stand]

On 12/12/2022 at 8:32 AM, Lakb50 said:

Is the solid part stronger than the hollow side?  Thank you all for your help.     Lisa

The strongest way to set them up is with the holes running vertical (top to bottom).  That way all of the weight is directly supported all the way down.  If you turn them the other way and there's a load above one of the holes they can collapse.

On 12/12/2022 at 7:57 AM, Mynameisnobody said:

You can use cinder blocks with a 1” sheet of plywood running across it, this should disperse the weight over the whole board rather than 1 spot on the block. Also, you can paint the blocks to match. 

I agree about covering the cinder blocks with plywood, but I've never seen 1" thick plywood.  I'm not saying it doesn't exist, but if it does it might be difficult to find.  3/4" should be fine.

[Aquarium Physically Off- Balance]

I agree that as long as the top of the stand is flat, and I'm sure it is, there really isn't a problem structurally.  I don't think you'd run into any problems shimming both corners on the low side, but it shouldn't hurt to add one in the middle on the same side, like the image @nabokovfan87 posted.

[Crypts: I’ll show you mine if you show me yours!!]

On 12/8/2022 at 8:39 AM, Slick_Nick said:

That is amazing! Love the ruffled/hammered looking leaves. The fish just add to it! Looks so natural great photos!!

I'm glad you liked them.  It's difficult to tell from those pictures, but while the front/top of the leaves on that variety are green, the backs/bottoms are a reddish-bronze color. 

[Best number of fish in a 40G breeder?]

On 12/7/2022 at 3:44 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

You can obviously do whatever you want, but Angels prefer height as they are tall from top of dorsal fin to bottom of ventral fins. Consider a 55 gallon for the few extra inches in height 

. . . or a 65 gallon tank.  It has the same footprint as a 40 gallon breeder, but it's taller.

[Crypts: I’ll show you mine if you show me yours!!]

On 12/7/2022 at 10:57 AM, JettsPapa said:

Cryptocoryne usteriana is my new favorite, and is doing well in one of my tanks.  I'll try to remember to get a picture this evening and post it.

As promised.  Please excuse the photo bombing fish.

[Mysterious Neo Shrimp Marking/Death]

I would guess the parasite dip has a better chance of being the problem than parasites.

[pH question and water change equipment]

About your second question, getting a Python system is certainly an option, but not necessarily the only one.  Instead of a 5 gallon bucket I use one that holds 2-1/2 gallons.  I'm 61, and not as strong as I used to be, but I can still lift that much when adding water to the 65 gallon tank.  The top of the tank is about even with my shoulders.

[What music are you listening to these days?]

On 12/7/2022 at 9:51 AM, JettsPapa said:

I'm not a big fan of his, but I always liked that song.  It reminds me of another "novelty" song I'm fond of:

 

I always laugh at the line that starts with ". . . but he was a gentleman about it."

[Crypts: I’ll show you mine if you show me yours!!]

Cryptocoryne usteriana is my new favorite, and is doing well in one of my tanks.  I'll try to remember to get a picture this evening and post it.

[What music are you listening to these days?]

On 12/4/2022 at 9:37 PM, lefty o said:

an old classic!!

 

I'm not a big fan of his, but I always liked that song.  It reminds me of another "novelty" song I'm fond of:

 

[where to put fish while doing decor rearrangement]

I agree with the replies above.  I'm convinced that in most situations netting the fish, putting them into another container, and then netting them to return them to the tank causes more stress than just leaving them in the tank while you're working in it.

[Sanity Check: Is your tank "overstocked"]

Assuming I could get a count on the guppies, it would probably break that website.

[Betta tank mates?]

Hello,

I don't have much experience with them, but from reading posts in this and other fish keeping forums it seems like it depends on the betta's personality.  Some wouldn't bother the kuhlis but would eat the shrimp, some wouldn't bother either, and some will kill anything in the tank with them.

[Duckweed experiments]

On 12/1/2022 at 12:46 PM, jwcarlson said:

Does anyone know how to burn water with materials readily available at home?

No, but here's an alternative method you might like (I'm pretty sure I saw a video where @Coryused the same method, but I can't find it).

 

[Duckweed experiments]

On 12/1/2022 at 12:09 PM, jwcarlson said:

I'm not joking, I went to check my tank after this and found five big pieces of duckweed amongst the water lettuce.

This is not good, @Tanked.  We've got some bad ju-ju here. 🤣

. . . and there are probably 15 small pieces you didn't find.

[Shipping Breed Angelfish]

I've shipped quite a few guppies, shrimp, and plants, and I always use USPS Priority.  It usually gets there on the third day, but it's not unusual for them to arrive on the second day.  I remember one time I took a package to my little local post office in southeast Texas around 4:00 pm and it arrived in California just over 48 hours later.  I've had similar results shipping to Ohio, and other locations at similar distances away.

There have been a few times when it took longer, but those are unusual.  I do remember one time when I shipped a nearly grown pearl gourami, and it took seven days, but the fish arrived in good shape.

As a disclaimer, I suspend shipping anything alive in December.

[Cherry shrimp feeding while on vacation.]

They'd probably be okay for five weeks.  Five days certainly isn't a problem

[Guppy sourcing]

On 11/29/2022 at 3:13 PM, Theplatymaster said:

Where is the best place to get high-quality guppies? Is there a site? Or will the standard wholesaler stuff be fine at my LFS?

Try to find an LFS that buys fish from local breeders.  Those fish are likely to be healthier and generally more hardy than fish from the big fish farms.  I know I've struggled to keep commercially raised guppies alive longer than about 30 days, and I have read many reports from other fish keepers on this and other forums who have reported similar experiences.

[Any suggestions on where to pick up a 60/75gal or larger tank online?]

On 11/21/2022 at 11:28 PM, Brainsponge said:

Yea, we've been down in the mid 30's the last couple nights. I'm not confident enough to not heat when we get these cold snaps. Probably be back on the beach by the end of January. Even with a heater it sounds like those rubbermaid stock waterers out on the porch are the way to go for the Goldfish

I keep goldfish in cattle troughs to control algae and mosquito larvae.  They do just fine when there's a layer of ice on top for several days.

[how to feed fry in a community tank]

On 11/29/2022 at 12:51 PM, venzi said:

Oh i c.  So the fry tend to stay hidden.  So I need to ensure the foods reaches them.  The fry will likely not move out of the safety of their cover to grab food.

It depends on the species, and sometimes the strain within the species.  My dumbo mosaic guppies don't seem to bother fry at all, and it's not unusual to see fry feeding right beside adults.

On the other hand, albino koi guppies are relentless fry hunters.  I had three females and one male in the 5.5 gallon tank on my desk at work for quite a while.  The females would periodically be pregnant, and then not so much, but the whole time I kept them I only saw one fry, and I only saw it once.  The guy who owns the LFS where I got them told me they'd do that, but I did expect a few to survive.  I was wrong.

[Filter for a 40g breeder planted tank with nano fish]

I have a 40 gallon breeder tank with an Aqua-clear 50 HOB in one back corner and a sponge filter in the opposite one.  It works fine.  I don't have honey gourami in it, but I do have pearl gouramis.   The flow doesn't seem to bother them.  In a tank with a smaller footprint it might.

[Glutton for guppy punishment]

On 11/29/2022 at 6:56 AM, Guppysnail said:

I feel this but in the opposite direction. There are a dozen fish types that must have soft acidic water.  I want them so bad but have hard high ph water.  I’m not a water chemist either so I live through forum folks vicariously 🤣

Do you mind if I ask which those are?

[how to feed fry in a community tank]

The only fry I feed are guppy fry.  All the guppy tanks have a healthy amount of floating plants, so I feed the adults and juveniles in one corner of the tank and put the fry food toward the center.  It floats into all the nooks and crannies in and between the floating plants where the fry can find it and eat it in relative safety.

[Help me choose which tetras to add to my tank please!]

On 11/28/2022 at 10:38 PM, Karen B. said:

Do you have a video of your black neon tetras? 

I'm afraid not.  I've always been puzzled by the name though.  Mine have a horizontal stripe that's dark blue instead of black, with the neon lighter blue above it.

I've seen serpae tetras mentioned a few times.  They're another of my favorites, along with lemon tetras and pristella tetras.  They have all been very hardy for me in my hard 8.2 pH water.