KaitieG
-
Posts
552 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Feedback
0%
Content Type
Forums
Downloads
Store
Events
Blogs
Gallery
Profiles
Posts posted by KaitieG
-
-
I have a tank with Black Diamond Blasting Sand, and I really like it, but I had a cloudiness issue. I tried super fine filter floss, water changes, purigen, etc.. I don't think it was related to the substrate at all. Turns out it was a mild green water bloom (not surprising since it showed up after I added a second light).
The tank water didn't look green to me, so I hadn't thought it would be that, and I actually couldn't really even see the green in a white cup, but when I stuck the white cup into the tank to get the water, then I could tell there was a slight green tinge. I got a UV sterilizer from Amazon, ran it for 3 days, and the water is crystal clear now and has stayed that way for about a week since running the UV sterilizer (new experiment--how long will the clear water last!).
-
1
-
-
I think the suggestion of feeding at night is a good one--I generally plop some sinking food in right before bed. Mine really like Repashy Community Plus and Soilent Green. They bit off big chunks of it. Mine are in with guppies (who also like the Repashy food) but they seem to get plenty to eat this way.
-
I have a pair of garnderi killies in a densely planted 5.5 gallon. They've done very well--haven't had any aggression issues and they look good. A little disappointed that we ended up with the "gold" version since we're all blue fans around here, but they stand out nicely against the plants.
-
I've liked my Dwarf Chain Loaches. They have taken care of my bladder snail issues. I still have too many ramshorns--I have issues with feeding since I have corys, hillstreams, mystery snails, and nerite snails that also need to eat (and love Repashy!). They've cut down on the Ramshorn population--just not as fast as the bladder snails. The smaller snails tend to also stay off the glass more since the Dwarf Chain Loaches are around. I think they know they're on the menu. The Dwarf Chain Loaches haven't looked twice at my mystery or nerite snails for what that's worth.
-
1
-
-
I lost all the Java Moss I bought in stores and then have had good success in a couple tanks with moss I got from a club auction...might be a submerged vs. emersed grown thing or maybe it was just used to the water around here. Not sure what the difference was, but this stuff grows like crazy, and the other attempts I couldn't keep alive no matter what! It does seem like plants have a mind of their own sometimes. Your moss doesn't look too bad at this point IMO, so I'd just give it some time and see what it does. You're doing everything right, so hopefully it decides to grow!
-
1
-
-
I'd second the Amazon Frogbit--I have super hard water, and it was fairly successful to me until I cleaned out the duckweed that came with it and then it slowly disappeared--no idea why--maybe a flow issue. Salvinia has stuck around well for me, too, but it doesn't have very long, cool roots. I'm giving water lettuce a try soon, so I can let you know how that goes!
-
1
-
-
I agree--he looks like a nice, healthy fish from what I can see in the picture. The betta I had with that kind of filter liked to hang out in front of and behind it, too. There seemed to be an attraction there with those filters in particular, but I don't have a large sample size to bear that out...just a single experience. My betta's now in a 20 with some tank mates and a HOB with sponge intake and sponge filter and he doesn't hang out near those. Like others have said, if he's swimming around well otherwise, I wouldn't worry too much about it.
-
On 6/12/2021 at 5:05 AM, Guppysnail said:
I have guppies..meaning I ALWAYS have fry. Even with a prefilter sponge over time the fine particle food crushes the impeller and kills them. I also have 2 tanks in front of windows and the clear design is an algae breeding ground I have to cover them.
I have mainly guppies in my 90 gallon with a Tidal 110, and I really like it. It's super quiet, and to solve the skimmer issue (which would definitely be a problem with fry--it should be designed to turn off) I just glued a thin (1/4 inch-ish) piece of coarse sponge over the skimmer portion. It hasn't gotten particularly dirty and I can kind of wipe it off with my finger when I need to.
Perfect? Nope (see skimmer issue). But the filter seems to be built with quality and quiet in mind, I don't have an issue with it taking me 15 extra seconds to cut funny shaped pieces of filter floss to fit the odd basket shape, and it self-primes which is a non-negotiable for me since we live rurally and have fairly frequent power outages.
I like cleaning it about 100X more than I like cleaning my sponge filters too--I still haven't perfected the scoop it into a bag method, and I always end up with fry in the bag that I then have to fish out of gunk water plus particles floating around the tank from the the holes that are inevitably in my bags, even when I inspect them first. Cleaning sponge filters is my nemesis. HOBs are definitely my preference, and the Tidals in particular do what I want HOBs to do--be quiet, allow for fine mechanical filtration, hold lots of media, allow ease of cleaning, and be self-priming.
-
3
-
2
-
-
Have you checked out Mbunas? They have some great colors and I think many of them would go well in a 90 gallon.
-
1
-
-
Fingers crossed! I sent an inquiry to the big box store and we'll see what they say. I really thought I had a decent safety net set up:
1. Angelfish (safety net delayed!)
2. LFS (closing suddenly)
3. Online Club Auction (Now in-person)
Sigh. I'm fine with donating, if that's what they come back with. But we'll see.
-
1
-
-
I really don't want to ship fish. I live in the middle of nowhere with a post office that's open like 4 hours a day and no UPS/FedX. I know the box stores buy from other local breeders because I used to participate in the online fish club auctions. Unfortunately, those have moved to in-person auctions, and they're over an hour away, and that just seems really daunting.
And unfortunately I don't have Facebook. The local(ish) fish club has an online forum, but it's pretty much a dead zone. I might try posting there anyway. Can't hurt 🙂
-
2
-
-
Hi All,
I needing to get rid of some fancy guppies (population boom...what a shock! LOL)--just mutts, but they are very nice looking and started out with stock from Twin City Guppies a couple years ago. My LFS used to take them, but they are closing in 2 weeks 😭 and therefore not taking on new stock. They are nicely colored up and about 1 1/2 inches long.
So, I've watched Cory's fish selling videos, but I'm wondering if any of you have tips/tricks for selling to big box stores since that's my only even semi-local option.
I do have 1 very small, very local pet store, but I've tried them before and they were uninterested.
Long term plan here is to have an angelfish to keep down the fry population, but I'm getting that from a local breeder, and they're not ready yet, so alternate population control measures are needed!
-
1
-
-
On 6/13/2021 at 11:24 PM, Stephanie I said:
I'm in Southeast WI. A few weeks ago I joined the Milwaukee Aquarium Society Facebook page to see what's going on locally. I think they've moved back to in person auctions as well. Since I'm not that far from Aquatics Unlimited, I tend to get most of my plants from them. Been looking for anubias nana petite and neither Aquatics Unlimited or Fish Factory have any. Figure its some weird pandemic thing. I will probably go to the next swap or auction in search of plants.
Java moss did not go well. It took me 2 weeks to get all the melted moss removed. Bacopa carolinia and moneywort had a hard time. Crypts are hit or miss. Dwarf hairgrass grows but is an algae magnet. Anubias does well along with bulb plants.
My tank is like a science experiment some days.
That's nice that you're in a part of the state with some decent LFS options! I'm South-Central, and Madison's only LFS (which was still an hour's drive) is closing in a couple weeks. Anubias are what does the best for me too, though I've also had really good luck with Amazon swords and crypts. There were several things I'd tried growing from either Co-op specimins or the LFS that neve took off but that have done really well from the club auction or local sellers on Facebook like hornwort, java moss, and val.
-
1
-
-
On 6/13/2021 at 11:02 PM, xXInkedPhoenixX said:
When I had Ich in my tank, I did smaller 20% water changes EVERY day and dosed Prime and meds.
This is another good option for a schedule--pick what works for you 🙂 The big idea is that you want to keep water quality as high as possible as your tank cycles--and Prime plus frequent partial water changes is a good way to do that.
-
Hello!
I'm a fellow Wisconsinite! I also have extremely hard, high PH well water--I've had some good successes with plants, but NOT Java Fern! I did finally get some Java Moss from a local club, and that did a lot better than my first 2 tries! Not sure where you're local to, but I've found that the club auctions and Facebook/Craigslist can be really good plant sources because the plants are already living in Wisconsin water! Also had better luck with shrimp that way!
Now that the club auctions (in Madison anyway) have moved back to in-person, I don't have good access like I did when they were online so that I knew what/if I won an auction before I had to drive to pick it up, but if you're close to a club, they might be a great source for you to check out!
-
1
-
-
Good question--No, I wouldn't. You don't want charcoal in when you treat with meds because it pulls the meds out of the water. Prime isn't a medication--it's a water conditioner. So, it will dechlorinate your water and it will bind ammonia and nitrite to make them non-toxic for your fish for a period of time. The dechlorinating part is one-and-done (once any chlorine is treated, it doesn't come back).
The ammonia and nitrite are bound up for about 24 hours, then they're re-released into the water as the Prime wears off, so you have to re-dose. One good way to do this might be to do every-other day water changes. For example:
Day 1: 50% water change, treat new water with Prime (dose according to the volume of water in your WHOLE tank, not just the "new" water).
Day 2: No water change, dose with Prime
Day 3: 50% water change, treat new water with prime as on day 1
Day 4: No water change, dose with Prime.
If there's an additional day where you can't do a water change (time, schedule, whatever) dose with Prime. You can stop dosing Prime when your tank is cycled (unless you have chlorine/chloramine in your water and then you'll want to use it to dechlorinate before water changes).
-
2
-
1
-
-
How about a 3 or so Hillstream loaches too--they're so cool to watch! 🙂 Or if you got the "right" group going, Angelfish are awfully calming to watch--and beautiful!
-
1
-
-
I think you made a good choice to not try to change the tank PH. I personally think anywhere from 7.0-8.0 is pretty safe for most fish. My PH is 8.2 and I keep neons, a betta, corys, and more just fine 🙂 I would avoid treating PH with anything other than water changes. Most fish can handle a wide range of PHs so long as they're stable.
A lot of the stress and health issues are probably from the tank cycling. I'm not sure what's going on with the cory, but it looks rough. It's hard to know where you're at in the cycling process without knowing ammonia/nitrate/nitrite readings, but I'd encourage dosing daily with Seachem Prime, which I believe you said you had, along with frequent partial water changes, at least until you see some good plant/algae growth. That's usually a good signal that a tank is approaching a "balance." Prime helps to neutralize ammonia and nitrate for about 24 hours, which will help reduce the stress from cycling and hopefully help your fish heal.
It's so discouraging to lose fish, but you're actually probably in a better place science-wise with fewer fish as you try to cycle the tank. The more fish, the higher the amount of waste they produce and the more bacteria you need to process it. It can be hard to build that all right away.
For what it's worth, I know what a stressful situation this is to be in--I started with a Betta, a brand new tank, and some bad pet-store advice before I'd done my research and learned about cycling, etc.. That betta didn't make it despite my best efforts to fix my mistakes, but I've come to really enjoy the hobby and have some good successes since. It can get better. 🙂 I'd do what you can to get the tank cycled and plants growing well--and to help any any surviving fish heal--and then you can start planning out what else you want to add. Another betta down the road when you've achieved a stable environment would probably do quite well and be very enjoyable.
-
1
-
1
-
-
Agreed! That's a boy!
-
My LFS (an hour away) is closing down in less than a month. Next closest is 3 hours away. There are a couple big box stores a little over an hour away. I rely mostly on club auctions and trying to find local breeders as well.
-
Too many--
- 2 kinds of Repashy
- Xtreme Krill Flakes
- Xtreme Spirulina Flakes
- Bug Bites Spirulina Flakes
- Extreme Nano
- Bug Bites Betta
- Some other random betta food
- Frozen daphnia
- Frozen Brine Shrimp
- Brine Shrimp eggs
- Vibra Bites
- Hikari Livebearer
- Algae Wafers
- Mini Algae Wafers
- Freeze Dried Tubifex Worms
- Homemade Bug Nugs for Shrimp
- Bug Bites Shrimp food
Guess they won't get bored with having only one thing to eat!
-
1
-
11 hours ago, Cheesehead said:
Hi…not sure how to use this (or any forum really), but am willing to try.
I'd never used a forum until a couple years ago, either 🙂 You'll pick up on it! By the way, I noticed your name and was wondering if you're a Wisconsinite like me?!
-
1
-
-
For me it would be...having an LFS 🙂 The only one within an hour's driving distance is closing in June. It was a good store and was my go-to for getting rid of my extra guppies! Only option now is a big box store that's even farther away and has no knowledgeable staff or driving 3 hours to a different city 😞
-
I used one of the Co-ops coconut caves and glued java moss to it--it's really filled in and looks like a grassy mound.
Blue Shrimp
in General Discussion
Posted
I also have good luck with my blue shrimp by adding in Indian Almond Leaves. They eat them down to nothing. Mine also like Repashy Soilent Green as @dublicious has experienced. Mine are in my oldest tank, and they do well in there, but I've struggled with shrimp in other tanks. They tend to be pretty sensitive to water quality issues.