KaitieG
-
Posts
552 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Feedback
0%
Content Type
Forums
Downloads
Store
Events
Blogs
Gallery
Profiles
Posts posted by KaitieG
-
-
I like "pretty" snails like mystery and nerites. I also think that ramshorns are pretty...so long as they don't get out of control. I HATE the bladder snails...sorry to all the snail lovers out there, but they drive me nuts. I added some dwarf chain loaches to my biggest display tank recently, and the cool thing is that while they've eaten some of the snails, there are still a ton left--BUT the ones that are left stay off the glass! It's like they know the "wolf pack" is hanging out watching for them. I figure that's the best of both worlds--I get the snails to do their job of cleaning up messes and I don't have to look at them all over my tank glass!
-
1
-
-
They haven't bugged my guppy fry that I can tell. Granted, if there were a few missing out of the hundred or so in the tank I probably wouldn't notice.
-
1
-
-
For what it's worth, I have only had mine for about a month and a half and I've only seen one out of three of them of them actually eat ONCE. They are coming out more during the day for me in the last week or so, so I'm thinking that maybe they take a while to settle in? I put repashy in at night several times a week, and I am assuming they eat then since they seem to be doing well, have plenty of energy, and are not skinny. There's also plenty of algae on the side and back of the tank for them--thought they might've cleaned that up by now!
-
8 hours ago, Lifeisgood said:
Thank you KaitieG! Now we all learned a new thing! I was just surprised because I watch this tank all the time and how did it get so big without me seeing it? Oh well, maybe it burrows under the sand a lot.
I've had tanks set up for quite a while and have just started spotting them in mine too. I've only seen 1 at a time, so they don't seem to be overrunning anything. Maybe the co-op has more going in their plant tanks--I've gotten a few recent orders there. Otherwise I'm stumped as to how they got there--so glad to know I'm not the only one!
-
1
-
-
5 minutes ago, Fish Folk said:
Hmm . . . maybe not . . . might be a red-rimmed melania. Check them out here.
I had a few similar snails surprise me lately too. It looks like from this article (down at the VERY bottom of the info) that red-rimmed melania are a type of MTS.
-
1
-
1
-
-
1 hour ago, chaseCharlotteNC said:
That floating plant idea sounds solid, thank you! I will go to the pet store tomorrow.
What do you think would be the target range with the crushed coral if I want a pretty planted tank compatible to most community fish?
As for the guppies, in retrospect, I think it was the crazy soft water. I was doing some moderate testing then but I feel like I didn't properly understand the results.
I think your evaluation about the guppies is probably correct--they use a lot of calcium building all those baby fish 🙂 There are several people here who keep guppies with soft water (they amend it in different ways) so there's some good info out there if you're interested in setting up for livebearers. I know Cory has been keeping guppies with soft water and uses crushed coral a lot. I have no idea how you "dose" it, since I'm always wanting to go the other way on hardness/ph. If we could mix your water and my water, we'd be in business, LOL!
One other thing with guppies and other live bearers that I've noticed is that they are quite susceptible to internal parasites. I was losing a couple males a month for a while and finally treated with paracleanse. The deaths stopped and things turned around quickly. Just something to keep in mind if you give them another try, though they're probably one of the more challenging options in your water.
The vast majority of community fish seem to prefer softer water, anyway (or at least it seems that way to me with my hard water!), but if you could buffer it somehow with the coral or wonder shells to get the Ph up to the higher 6s or around 7, you'd probably be able to keep the vast majority of community fish.
Let's see...what have I wanted to keep in soft water...discus, all the tetras, most of the rasboras--especially chili rasboras, angelfish...yep, those are the tops of my "what if" list 🙂
-
Sounds like you have good water for the soft-water South American fish--I'm on the opposite end of the spectrum here in WI with super hard, high PH water 🙂 Adding calcium to the water--wonder shells and/or crushed coral sounds like a good plan to me, especially if you're going to try to keep livebearers or snails since they tend to need more of those minerals.
Adding more plants would probably help with your algae issues since they can use up some of those nutrients--maybe try out some floaters if you can source any locally--they're nutrient hungry. I've had luck finding them on marketplace/craigslist. They don't ship very well at all (learned that the hard way), so it's really helpful if you can find someone local with them.
-
One other thing I would suggest here is to add the fish gradually. Maybe start out with 3-5 of something. Then add another group. It helps the bacteria population grow along with the bioload in my experience...plus, it's kinda fun to add new things, so it spaces the fun out!
-
2
-
1
-
-
How to Hotrod a filter
API Master Kit vs Tetra Test Strips
Care guides--you often have real-life experiences that are different than the "standard" info that is found everywhere else, so they're SUPER helpful!
The livestreams--though I wish I could find some of the topics in them easier--I can't ever remember what livestream talks about what--it's really helpful that they're edited to have the topics listed in "chapters" (no idea what you actually call these) at the bottom, so I love that feature.
The "easy" videos--Irene has been making some great ones, and there are older ones that are also great.
-
2
-
-
13 minutes ago, lefty o said:
you definatley need a step stool or something to stand on. i know im on a chair cleaning my 120, as it is tall and a fairly tall stand.
I do need to get a better step stool. I stand on a chair as it is. No way I could do it without standing on something!
-
Thought of this thread today when I was moving some things around in my 95 gallon. I LOVE this tank...but after messing around in it, the whole front of my shirt was soaked, I had a puddle on the floor, and I had duckweed in my armpits. It might be a little tall. 😏
-
1
-
-
2 minutes ago, lefty o said:
only you can decide. if it were me, nope, not gonna happen.
Well, I'm not a huge fan of non-nerite or mystery snails--some of the ramshorns are okay. Are these essentially bladder snails on steroids?
-
I have a variety of snails going in all of my tanks, but I had a couple NEW ones hitch a ride on some val I picked up from the local club auction today. Do I want to put these in my tank? They're A LOT bigger than any of the "pest" snails I have so far.
-
I've been very happy with my filtration/circulation setup with my 95 gallon project so far--running for about 4 months now. I have 1 sponge filter on each side (1 large and 1 medium b/c I already had the med. one in my stash) and 55 gal rated HOB on an end to help with particulate and run purigen since my driftwood is still leaching tannins despite being soaked with boiling water changes for 2 weeks.
The HOB isn't anything special--just a Tetra Whisper IQ b/c they have the internal impeller that will self-prime and are pretty quiet (though this big one is louder than the ones on my smaller tanks). I skipped the filter cartridge and just loaded with sponge, floss, and purigen. I wanted to try out a Tidal filter, but this one was a quarter the cost and my others have lasted 3+ years so I decided to just go with the cheapo option (like $25).
So far in the tank I have about a dozen adult guppies, 100 ish guppy fry (because...adult guppies), 6 swordtail fry, 5 adult green corys and 2 surprise cory fry, some nerite and mystery snails and about a gagillion (scientific estimate) pond/ramshorn/bladder snails which will soon become food for the dwarf chain loaches that are due to come out of QT by the end of the weekend! It's new so no guarantees on the long term success, but so far I've been very happy and it was pretty cheap to setup!
-
1
-
-
One other option would kind of depend on your final tank--you could just dose the whole thing when you pretty much have it "set," especially if your main concern is parasites. You may actually end up using LESS medication this way since you could do all the fish at once instead of having to run batches through quarantine as they come in. I've had not issues with Ich-X turning silicone or anything else blue.
I think the practicality of this would probably depend on the total cost of your fish and size of the tank.
-
1
-
-
Hi!
I'm not an algae pro, but what's your lighting like? For me algae seems to be very closely linked with my lighting.
If you had a fish that died and was pooping long stringy white poop, I'd suggest running your whole tank through a couple rounds of Paracleanse/General Cure dewormer. Livebearers like your endlers are particularly known for being susceptible to internal parasites and fish are pretty good at spreading them around. You could also consider adding a round of levamisole either before or after the other dewormers as that kills different types of worms (round ones).
-
Great question! I think with fry you have to feed--but maybe feed sparingly. I just ran swordfish fry (about 5-8 wks old) through quarantine, and I fed them once a day. Things seemed to go just fine--no losses or ammonia/nitrite spikes. But that's my one and only experience 🙂 Hopefully some more people will chime in!
-
1
-
-
12 hours ago, Cory said:
It needs different contact time, as well as it contaminates the other pads.
That is super handy to know--it's always driven me nuts that the ammonia test strip is its own thing. Now I can understand WHY!
-
57 minutes ago, Maggie said:
I agree with @1moretankin keeping stability. Many very experienced fishkeepers on here suggest that stability is much more important than chasing water parameters, and you can read their experiences with success in this regard. Also, adding chemicals and constantly testing and worrying can be highly stressful on the fish and on you as the fishkeeper, and that's not good either. You don't want to burn out on the hobby, especially if you lose them after trying so hard to make them comfortable. If you decide on angels, please post pics and keep us informed on their progress! I'm picking up my first angelfish this weekend and can't wait!
Thanks! That was the pretty consistent response when I posted my original stocking plan. After that phone call yesterday I was feeling very discouraged and like I was planning to do something "bad." So, I do think I'll be going with an angelfish that's been tank bred and hopefully raised in at least semi-hard water. Even a lot of the angelfish buy-direct from the breeder sites say that they'll adapt readily and that RO isn't needed, so I guess I'm going to give it a try.
-
42 minutes ago, Angelfishlover said:
I have liquid rock coming out of my taps and I have kept angelfish just fine for years I have kept many soft water fish like discus just fine in fact I keep more soft water fish than hard water fish with no ill effects
That's what I WANT to hear...thanks 🙂 I'm still open to 2nd (and 3rd) opinions though! 🙂
-
32 minutes ago, Brian said:
Have you any local pet shops keeping them? Do they have the same water parameters? Sometimes water ph and hardness doesn’t matter to the fish as much as the stability of the water. Also I have kept soft water fish (Discus) in harder water. But for viable eggs I needed to use soft water.
Good LuckYes, and that's where I've gotten the conflicting local advice 🙂 :
Person #1 who I spoke with about 4 months ago when I was planning the tank and wondering about needing deal with RO water, etc. said "Don't worry about hardness/ph--they're pretty adaptable and especially if you get them from us or somewhere locally, they'll do just fine."
Person #2 who I spoke with today at the same store when I decided to call in and order my fish (they only do curbside pickup) said "Long term, you need to soften your water for angelfish. They're not made to live in hard water, even if they're tank bred and it will shorten their lifespan." She strongly discouraged me from keeping one in my water.
I really don't want to do the equivalent of keeping a goldfish in a bowl or something like that that ends up hurting the fish. But if I have a reasonable chance of providing a pleasant life in my water conditions, I'd love to keep one.
I'm not looking to breed them at all--I'd like to get ONE, which from what I've been reading anyway should curb territorial aggressiveness, etc..
-
Well, I'm in a conundrum and have a controversial question:
I have hard water (Ph 8.2, Gh 300, kh 250). I have been setting up a new 95 gallon tank mostly for livebearers, which I enjoy and are well matched for my hard water. So far so good. Now the controversial part: I'd really like to add a single angelfish for a few reasons:
1. I have always wanted an angelfish--I think they're beautiful
2. Its large size will look good in the large tank--right now everything seems a little "undersized" and I think having a larger fish will make the proportions look more balanced
3. It seems like they're a good option for fry control without being too likely to attack my adult livebearers.
Now, I am well aware that angelfish are supposed to be kept in soft, acidic water. That's obviously the complete opposite of what I have. So, I've gotten multiple opposing views from my LFS (Ph/hardness aren't important vs. Ph/hardness are super important long term) and from what I've read online about the "okay-ness" of keeping angels in hard water, knowing that it's less than ideal for their physiology. I don't want to be a fish torturer--they're living creatures who deserve to be well cared for.
So, this is a pretty research/experience based group--what's your take on angels in hard water?
Oh, forgot to add...if it's a "no" for you--have another recommendation for me instead?
-
31 minutes ago, Colu said:
They can have it for a long time before showing symptoms when they get stressed and and weak the disease starts to become visible
Well, I guess I'd better get rid of the two who don't look good, especially since treating them didn't seem to work, and then I just cross my fingers and watch the rest?
-
Thanks for the reply--I've had these neons for over 6 months. Does NTD show up after that long? There are no bent spines/wasting/etc. and no one new in the tank. I'm finishing the QT in my temporary tub by tomorrow, so I'm thinking I'll pull out the 2 affected ones and put them in there to try salt and see how the rest do in the tank. I haven't seen any improvement with Ich-X and Maracyn.
I’m a killer!
in Plants, Algae, and Fertilizers
Posted
I had a terrible time trying to grow floating plants and was finally successful in one tank by doing a number of things...sponges to lower water flow from HOB filter, good lights, and local plants that didn't have to survive shipping. That said, I put the same plants in three tanks at the same time and had very mixed results. They've gone nuts in my 95, and I think its because there was plenty of room away from the filters for them to get going. The 5 gallon was a moderate success. Not much growth but still alive. The 20 gallon, which has the highest nitrates and has been established longest was a failure--AGAIN. This was try number 5 for that tank, so beats me why they work in some and not others. Maybe look for a local source for the plants and look at reducing surface agitation...and then cross your fingers!