Andy's Fish Den

https://www.amazon.com/AQUARISTS-JOURNEY-Rosario-LaCorte/dp/1717882927/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1HCBIN41DNA0D&keywords=rosario+lacorte+book&qid=1665656836&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIxLjUwIiwicXNhIjoiMC4wMCIsInFzcCI6IjAuMDAifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=rosario+lacorte+book%2Caps%2C85&sr=8-1 A good read of the early days of the hobby, by one of the most well respected "legends" of the hobby. @Randyhad him on his podcast a few times, always loved listening to him talk about what it was like keeping fish back in the day.

Check out Chris "The Mad Aquarist" Biggs on YouTube he has quite a few videos on isopods that he keeps. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3xy7F381_BDD_jgkrc1zQg

I have spawned discus in the past, but do not have any that are spawning currently. I have crossed strains to see what would come out, but have not made my own strain, as that takes a few generations to get them to the point where they will breed true, the most I have done is spawn a pair, raise their babies and spawned them, so had two generations spawned in my fishroom

Keep up the good work there! When I was in high school, 30ish years ago, I was spawning and raising angelfish to sell to a few LFS, it was a lot of work then, and I am sure it is now.

This is what I did as well. I used heavy duty clear packing tape, Going on at least 4 years and I have had to replace the tape on one lid. Fast, cheap easy and not have to make them any heavier.

It is called the lateral line. If I remember right form biology classes, it is a sensory organ and used to detect movements and vibrations, etc.

It is kind of half and half. The area my fishroom is in, gets enough heat from my dehumidifier to keep it mid 70s, even in winter in northern Ohio. I have put batts of insulation in the ceiling area to help hold in the heat. But, I also heat a few tanks that need to be kept warmer, such as my discus and ram tanks. Other than that, all mine are unheated and stay in the 73-78* range depending where they are , closer to floor or up closer to ceiling.

I would check the pH, as well as GH and KH levels.

What I would do is take a five galloon bucket of RO/DI water and add in the appropriate amount of cichlid salt of choice, either Seachem or Fritz both make good ones and let circulate fore a bit then test the water and see how it tests. If all the numbers come out good, then do it that way, if they're not quite right, add some equilibrium and see what happens. I have a feeling all you will need is the cichlid salts.

You most certainly could attach it to the ceiling than the wall. A LFS I worked in 20+ years ago had his hanging from the ceiling, and mine is actually attached to the floor joists above in my basement. What kind of ceiling do you have, drywall, drop ceilings? If drywall, you can just attach it the same way you would to a wall using some sort of anchors unless you can hit a joist (stud) when screwing it to ceiling.

I go in spurts where I will order once or twice a month for a few months and then not order anything for several months. Most of the time it is when I am low or out of something like root tabs, fertilizer. Now, a LFS that I love to go to is carrying the co-op products so it give me an even bigger incentive to drive the hour and half over to there, which I am going to do either this weekend or next, because I am out of root tabs and I need another sponge filter. I also saw on their Instagram page that they got some really cool fish in that I want to check out.

I have used for years both in freshwater and my saltwater reef tanks the cheap dollar store super glue gel that you can buy several tubes in a pack for a buck. Never had any issues that I can relate to the glue. Be sure to use the gel glue, as its thicker and stays in place better. It actually will set almost immediately when put underwater, I try to glue the stuff out of the water and then put in tank, but there are sometimes the piece of wood or rock is too big already in the tank, so put some glue on the roots or whatever then put in place, you'll have to hold it there for a moment or two, but it can be done. I have done it numerous times, especially gluing coral frags in my reef tank when I had it.

Instead of a bulkhead in the curved brute can, you can get a uniseal. it is a rubber gasket that goes in a hole that you drill in the side, then you slide a PVC pipe in, its very tight, and will need lube, and it pushes the seal out against the can to be water tight. I know a lot of reef keeping people use brute cans to store RO water and mix saltwater for water changes in and use the uniseals. Amazon.com: 1" UNISEAL Flexible Tank Adapter (Bulkhead) - 2 Pack : Industrial & Scientific As for the brute can dolly, they may only be rated for 250lbs, but we used a brute can with dolly in a LFS I worked in years ago to do water changes, draining the water into the can and then taking it and tipping it over in the parking lot outside. This was before anyone had heard of auto water change systems, and we dumped it outside to avoid it going down the drains because the city had a meter on the sewer discharge and you got billed accordingly for that as well as the water.

I have had great success with a lot of crypts, but then others, not much. I have several nice large wendtii crypts, in a few color variants, in a couple of my tanks, yet the pink flamingo, which is supposed to be a wendtii variant, I have not been able to get to grow in any of my tanks. My balansae crypts are growing great along with spiralis, but I also can't grow parva. I think you need to find the species that grows best in your water, it might take getting several and seeing which ones take off for you. Sometimes, it will take a while for them to establish, but when they do, off they go.

In my reef keeping days, I used a couple of these to make my own sumps. I used one for a 20 long and another for a 40 breeder. They were not from this particular company/ person, but very similar. I did not have any issues with them, but I remember the web page saying that they were made for Aqueon tanks, which I had bought at Petco to use.

I have used salt a couple times on plecos when I got some wild caught ones when a local club did a fish buy import. I got several different types, ancistrus, hypancistrus, and have used up to two tablespoons to five gallons with no effects on the fish themselves. Good luck with treating him, and hopefully he gets better for you.

If it's something I have used already and love and want more, it would be the large sponge filter. I want to try out one of the new co2 regulators, with a few of the add on manifolds.

1.) Favourite fish? My favorite has always been angelfish, they were the first tropical fish I got and the subsequently spawned and raised the fry when I was 12.2.) Least favourite fish? any of the ones that have been mutated through breeding to try to appeal to customers to sell, such as balloon body fish, tattooed or dyed fish3.) Favourite fish YouTuber? Cory, became a subscriber when he was under 10k subs. I also have really enjoyed watching MD fish tanks, Bentley, Prime Time4.) Favourite non-fish YouTuber? 10th Generation Dairyman, I have always enjoyed the rural farm life, so enjoy watching about his dairy farm. I also watch lot of cooking channels, Cowboy Kent Rollin is my fave of those.5.) Favourite food? a nice thick cut ribeye steak cooked over wood fire. 6.) What fish would you like to be the most? I feel like I would be one of those anglerfish that just lies and waits for a meal to swim past and then BAM! got a meal!7.) What was your scariest moment? I used to help some guys with a circle track race car, we were at a track testing a car we had just built, everything was going good, got it it up to speed, and something broke in front end, and it went straight head on into the wall between turns 1 and 2 at about 100mph. I was so scared running over to check on the driver that there was going to be a dead man, but he was awake. This was before all the safety stuff that was brought into the sport after Dale Earnhardt dying. He ended with with two broken ankles and many bones in feet broke, one legs broken, and lots of bump and bruises. Of course the car was destroyed, but I didn't have to call his wife and tell her to meet us at the morgue, just the hospital ER and that was bad enough. 8.) What country do you want to visit the most? Australia, and after seeing Cory and Dean's trips to Peru, I want to go down there as well, but I need to get in better shape if I want to do that.9.) Cats or dogs? Always been a dog person, have a Bernese mountain dog now, and love Golden retrievers 10) Describe yourself in 3 words. overthinker, NERM, 11) Pancakes or Waffles? Pancakes 12) What is your favorite song? any classic rock by bands like Kiss, Def Leppard, Motley Crue, Guns n Roses 13) What do you dislike most about the aquarium hobby, and why? all the people who think that the way that they keep fish or do something is the only way. There's more than one way to skin a cat as the old saying goes. 14) What is your favorite TV show? Gold rush 15) What is your greatest fear? my wife finding out how much I've actually spent in the hobby. When my son goes with me to club meetings, we have a talk on the way home of what is to tell his mom if she asks how much I paid for fish in the mini auctions we have, because she always asks what I bought, and wants to see. 16) What is or was your favorite subject in school, and why? Shop class, I enjoy working with my hands, and building things. Now, I wish I would have paid more attention in biology and chemistry classes. 17) Do you keep live aquarium plants? If so, what types? Yes, have a lot of differnt types, swords, crypts, anubias, val 18) Do you love or hate pest snails? I used to hate them, but they don't bother me anymore. Now, I just pick them out and feed my pea puffers 19) Do you enjoy gardening? Yes, I enjoy working outside growing plants and flowers, I would have a good size garden and grow a bunch of food, but summer and fall are my busy times at work, so I don't have the time right now to tend to the garden and then preserve the food, and my wife has no wanting to do it. 20) What do you love most about the aquarium hobby? all the friendships I've made, I've met a lot of great people in the hobby. Seeing families and kids wanting to get involved in the hobby. 21) What was the biggest mistake you've made so far in the hobby, and what has it taught you? Not planning out my "fishroom" I just started buying tanks on sale or cheap from garage sales etc and building stands or racks to hold them. My next room will be planned out with drain lines plumbed in, auto water change system. 22) Burgers or Pizza? Both! 23) What is your favorite aquatic animal? I've always liked Orca, Killer whales. I grew up about an hour away from where there used to a Sea World in Ohio and we went every year. I was always amazed at the size and how cool they looked. 24) What is your dream tank or something you want to accomplish in this hobby? I would love to build a fishroom like what Cory has done, in a garage or something, probably about half the size, I would like to win Breeder of the year in my local club, but I am not a person who breeds a species and turns them in and sells to put another species in that tank. I like to breed them and raise the fry to adults and get them to spawn, so I'm not sure that will happen. 25) Favorite candy? Reeses cups, and like them frozen or at least cold. 26) What is your favorite book? any aquarium related, not much of a reader 27) What other things do you do for fun outside of the hobby I enjoy woodworking, being outside, doing home improvement projects. Spending time with my kids fishing, riding four wheelers, watching Ohio State football.

I'd be down for this. I've enjoyed reading all the ones so far.

If you are stuck with using the 30" long tank, and want both fish, I would opt for the 29 gallon. This way, you can build a nice rock area for the julis to live in and they wouldn't be down next to the substrate competing for space with the similis.

That would probably involve messing with the circuitry inside the pump. It would be much easier in your instance to buy a regular air pump that doesn't have a battery back up built in.

Using the logic that whatever the prey item eats, the predator will then get as well, what if you mixed the med into some repashy and then fed the repashy to the snails. Feed the snails to the puffer and puffer should then ingest the med. it would probably have to be something that you put the medicated repashy in the tank overnight and first thing the next morning pull a bunch of snails out to feed the puffer.

I haven't sold fish to a LFS in several years, but when I did, I would get half of what they sell them for retail.

I made a simple tool out of 3/4" PVC, attaches to the end of my hose with a garden hose quik connect that you can buy at any big box hardware store. It's made of two 90*fitting to make a "U" shape, then has a "T" on the other side for the water to be dispersed two ways. I have seen people that have made essentially a spray bar, using PVC and drilling holes along the length to help disperse the water even more. With the T on the end of mine, it disperses the incoming water enough that it doesn't disturb substrate unless I drain it down to just an inch or so of water left over the substrate.

How recently did you set this tank up and move the fish into it? When I first got my multies, they were mature enough to spawn, but I didn't see any babies for probably close to six months. You probably won't see them spawn and the babies will be tiny slivers when they first start venturing from the shells, they are hard to spot, because as soon as movement outside the tank is noticed they dart back into the shell.