KaitieG
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Posts posted by KaitieG
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We had a high nitrate well in our first house and had to use RO for drinking and cooking. Happens a lot in rural areas. Now we're at about 4 instead of 40 which makes me much happier.
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We're trying killies for the first time...one pair of Gardneri in a 5 gallon. Anyone have experience keeping them with cherry shrimp? I am finding different reports online.
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From a quick google, it looks like you're totally fine! Lots of people who have used them with shrimp--the amount of copper looks to be super duper low.
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7 minutes ago, Sandra the fish rookie said:
@KaitieGOH... now I am confused... LOL
so should I just add 1 of each then? which would make 3 of one species? Is 3 enough? My priority is to build their population first.. and over time, decide on a center piece fish.. and go from there.. but I really love these corydora's.. I mean LOVE them.. watching them make me smile all day.. I can't even imagine a tank with out them...
Personally, I would try to get to 6 of a species (said by me who currently has 5 of the 2 species I have!). So you can do a mix of bronze/albino/any other Aeneus varieties you come across but I'd personally recommend getting to about 6. The pepper cories are a different species (habrosus or paleatus) so you'd probably want to try to get 6 of those 2 or maybe just go with the aeneus species so you don't have to get so many?
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Just to clarify because I think it makes it easier--albinos/bronzes are the same species, Corydoras Aeneus (there are a couple other color variations as well--I have green for example), and you can mix the various colors to form your school, so maybe aim for a combined total of around 6 for those Aeneus varieties. I'd personally add them about 2 at a time if your tank is just finishing cycling, but I tend to be a slow fish-adder.
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He sure is a lot cuter than the pond snails I usually get as hitch hikers!! 😃
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Thank you for all of the responses! I went ahead and emailed the seller, too, since she was selling both platies and swordtails (and mollies) and asked for her experiences with this particular line of fish. She keeps them all together along with guppies with no issues except some male-male aggression within the species.
The lot for sale is 5 juvenile fish, so they're unsexed, but I do have an LFS that has been good about taking my extra guppies and 2 extra tanks where they could potentially go if there are too many males causing issues as they mature. I'm leaning towards trying the group of swords (they are SO darn cute right now!) and if I end up hating them and they're fighting all the time, I can find them a new home (or re-auction them, right?) I'd love something that gets a little bigger--the guppies beautiful but look kind of small. They're staying anyway, and I know the angel will eventually be large, but it'd be nice to have some fish in the middle size range.
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3 hours ago, Brian said:
Well, did you rinse and soak and the rinse then boil the wood? Ok, and then repeat that? And when I say soak, I mean for at least 24 hours maybe changing the water every 3 or 4 hours. And boil in large pot for 10-15 minutes.
I will repeat that over and over until i am satisfied with the color of the water.
Also I don’t know how well sponge filters will be with removing then tannins from the water. So at this point it is Water Changes.
Good LuckThat method definitely works well for smaller pieces of wood! I know I ran into the issue of not having a large enough pot to boil my larger chunks for my big tank. I poured boiling water over it instead several times and let it soak for over 2 weeks with 2-3X daily boiling water changes. It helped, but it still leached in the tank. I ended up putting a bag of purigen in the filter, and that cleared it up for me!
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I'm working on purchasing stock for the 95 gallon display tank we're setting up. There's a local club auction with some very nice livebearers. Last month there was nothing I wanted, and this month there are several appealing options. Here's the stocking plan (what I already have is in bold)
Guppies
Green Corys
1 Angelfish (added last after I have some less-edible size juveniles then serving as population control help)
Dwarf Chain Loaches
Hillstream Loaches
Platys
Here's where I run into my lack of decision. I've decided I want platys for a few reasons: the male/females both being colored; size; color varieties to complement my guppy strains; peaceful disposition, etc.
There's an assorted group of 6 platys available but there's also a really nice looking group of Koi Swordtails that keep catching my eye. I've heard swordtails are generally more aggressive and was therefore going to avoid them with the guppies and Angelfish, but I've never kept them. So, platys vs. koi swordtails. Any opinions? How aggressive are swordtails compared to platys? I'm open to any thoughts and considerations!
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I think I'd go the betta/mystery snail route--nice bright colors, good size for the tank, and large enough to see well.
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I've been using the nano pumps on a medium and a large sponge filter in a 95 gallon aquarium with an airstone, and they put out a lot of bubbles and seem to create a good flow. I did have one (out of the 5 I've bought for various purposes) that got really squeaky within about a week of running it on the big tank. It sounds like there's a lot of friction going on inside the pump--the other one I hooked up to the same type of filter in the same tank is doing just fine. I switched out the squeaky one to use for hatching brine shrimp and put a new (quiet) one on the big tank.
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That's a long drive! I've seen home-grown aquatic plants on Facebook Marketplace, Etsy, and Craigslist too as additional options to consider.
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Or maybe a local fish club auction? Plants bring some pretty high prices at the ones near me!
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Added the green corys and guppy pair I won at a local club auction a few weeks ago...finally finished quarantine! And the first baby guppies born in this tank from our stock this week too!
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I've been trying to decide what to do with mine too, and I'm leaning towards a decorating my one of my 5 gallon pails that I use for water changes.
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28 minutes ago, lefty o said:
imo, too many weirdo's on craigslist. i would try and find a local aquarium club, and advertise through them.
LOL--valid point 🙂
Craigslist can definitely be a pain to manage and is getting to be less popular compared to FB Marketplace (which doesn't allow live animal sales), but I think that some new fish-keepers might not know about local aquarium clubs. I know that's not something I was aware of when I started a few years ago. Maybe it's a more common knowledge thing in cities--I'm in rural Wisconsin.
I looked on Craigslist to see if I could find anyone with any guppies when I was starting out and would have been interested in a kit like this. You could possibly advertise through libraries or bulletin boards as well, though I'd think that would be more challenging with Covid. Etsy's not a great option if you're looking to focus on the local market. I think it's a great idea--just something that you'd have to experiment with to decide if it's worth it or not! I've had good luck with the few things (not fish related) that I've listed there.
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I just ordered plants from the Co-op a couple days ago too, and they're already almost here. Maybe they'll sneak through the ice blockade okay!
I just put in my first order to Aquahuna at the end of last week, expecting them to go out early this week. They've suspended all orders due to the nasty weather and poor shipping predictability, so I'm not any better at timing my orders than you are 🙂
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You could offer an add-on bottle of Fritzyme and some test strips for anyone who didn't have a cycled tank to start with--not the best way to start, but better than a sparkling clean brand new tank!
But overall, yeah--I think that sounds like a cool idea and one that I would have been interested in! The only way to know how well it works is to give it a try 🙂
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I'm certainly not a pro, but I ended up with WAY TOO MANY guppy fry just by leaving them with the adults and feeding the adults crushed krill flakes or Repashy once a day. I wasn't trying to raise fry to sell or grow fast, but they did just fine and turned out to be nice, large adults. I'm sure there are plenty of better ways to do it.
Now that I'm trying to get more fry again (gave away all those extras and now starting a larger tank) I'm feeding 3X a day mainly to keep the adults not-so-hungry so they don't go hunting. We'll see how that goes. I've seen the day-old fry eat crushed flakes, Hikari Fancy Guppy, and the Coop Fry food so far.
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Good news here--after giving him a couple weeks after the ParaCleanse treatment, he's acting happy and has gained back all of his lost weight and looks better than ever. He just hangs out with the neons and acts totally normal!
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I love corys as well--they are just some of my favorites to watch squiggling everywhere! I'm also very partial to our betta--he has a lot of personality and will eat out of my fingers, which is just cool 🙂 He's also been totally chill with his tankmates.
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Such cool tanks! I love what you did with the pathway one as well!
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We repurposed an antique buffet for our 95 gallon. My husband is a farmer and has some woodworking skills, and he said it would be "fine." So...
It's been fine!
It has about a 1 1/2 inch solid wood top, and he did reinforce the bottom with a couple 2X4s. He also had to make a substantial custom shim for it that went all the way across the front. (photo 1) Then 2 for the sides and 1 for the back as well. That was by far the most challenging part of the project. We made sure the weight could be distributed throughout the piece of furniture. The neighbor we got it from used to use it as a tool chest, so pretty sure that weighed about as much as the tank 🙂
What I like about it--
-We paid $10 for it 12 years ago, used it to store dishes, and now have a tank stand!
-It fits the tank PERFECTLY--about 2 inches on each side and a quarter inch front and back (plus the rounded part in front)
-It matches our other furniture and our old house.
-There's tons of storage (but it wouldn't work for a sump). (Photo 2)
-My husband plumbed permanent hot and cold water lines with spigots and a drain pipe into the side cabinets for easy water changes (note...cheap big box spigots are leaky...that still needs to be fixed!) (photo 3)
One last thing--I did learn the hard way with a couple smaller tanks...you NEED to put vinyl or something like that on top of the wood. It doesn't matter how neat you think your water changes will be. You WILL ruin your furniture. Don't tell my grandma who gave us the Ethan Allen end tables with our 10 and 20 gallon tanks on them! Shhhhh!
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I keep mine in the fridge, but for larger quantities, the freezer is even better. @Irene has a great video on her meal plan and keep-fresh strategy!
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How often should I clean my filter media?
in General Discussion
Posted
I swish out my sponges/floss about bi-weekly as it starts to look pretty dirty, but my biorings get rinsed much less often--they don't really pick up the dirt; they just house the bacteria (at least so it appears in my HOBs). Every now and then (6-9 months?) I rinse off the bag holding the bio rings in some water-change water or (gasp) under my tap since I'm on a well with no chlorine. When I had a cartridge, I rinsed that about bi-weekly too but didn't replace it until it fell apart (about 2 years) and then replaced it with sponge and floss.