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KaitieG

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Posts posted by KaitieG

  1. I still laugh at myself when I see wondershells.  I have crazy super hard water, and I'd never heard of them 'till a stash came with my 95 gallon.  I read the package (and alllllllllllll those things it's supposed to do 😋) and thought "this has to be a gimmick!"  So, I let my daughter paint them as a craft project.  🤣

    • Haha 2
  2. On 2/8/2022 at 10:51 PM, Jennifer V said:

    I don't have anything even remotely fancy as far as lighting, just the kit led lights, but I can tell you what I did and hope it helps in some way. I reduced my lighting to six hours with a midday siesta and that got rid of the BBA and staghorn. All I have left is the green hair algae but I think that looks pretty so I just keep it trimmed down. I am seeing some lighting issues with my swords, but again, I have pretty low quality lights, so that may not be an issue with better lighting sources. 

    I'll give it a try!

    • Like 1
  3. The light intensity varies throughout the day--it's on a sunrise/sunset program.  It's probably on a total of almost 12 hours.  It is on close to 100% for about 5 hours and is much dimmer on either side of that period.  The tank has been set up for almost exactly a year with the same lighting, but I can mess around with it.  It has the standard program and that isn't something I can change, but I could go to just an on/off timer.

  4. I am having issues with BBA, mainly on my val and a little on my crypts in my 95 gallon tank.  I know val is sensitive to carbon, so I've been hesitant to get too aggresive with that.  I haven't changed lighting or feeding or stocking, so I'm not sure why this is all of a sudden an issue.  I've been considering my options for fish that might help me out.  Right now the tank is Swordtails, guppies, dwarf chain loaches, corys, and a pair of adult angels.  Would siamese algae eaters (which seem like a marginal "might eat BBA" fish) or Flag fish (might pick on the guppies?) be an option with that setup?  Other suggestions?

  5. On 2/7/2022 at 5:36 AM, 2000tetras said:

    I bought 28 from aquahuna. They arrived alive and had to be dewormed. I honestly do not recommend them though. In my opinion they are a pretty boring fish. They spend most of the time sitting at the bottom of the tank not being active. It was rare when they would display their interesting social behavior. Mine were nipping the fins of other fish.

    Mine are actually quite active.  They are SUPER fast and like to zoom around the tank in a pack (or two).  They haven't eliminated my snails, but the snails are almost never on the glass since I put the loaches in the tank.  

  6. On 2/5/2022 at 5:54 PM, anewbie said:

    Well I would be concern if any captive bred fish had parasite. Some loaches are picky eaters; do you have snails in  your tank? They love snails...

    Yep--I got them largely for controlling the snails.  They do enjoy eating them judging by the empty shells.  The others have done well for the year I've had them.  

  7. On 2/5/2022 at 4:53 PM, anewbie said:

    All dwarf chain are tank raised as they are an endangered species; I would find it very surprising if they have parasite as that would suggest unclean tanks where they were raised.

    Guppies and other livebearers are also usually captive bred and are notorious for parasite issues.  I know that dwarf chains are captive bred, but I don't really think that precludes them from having parasites.  Maybe I'm wrong.  All I know is that I had a couple of really skinny ones shipped, they didn't fatten up like the others, and I didn't have success treating them with paracleanse.  Levamasole seemed to help one of them and the other died.  Not a huge sample size to generalize...just trying to share my observations and experience in case it might be helpful.

    Overall, I was impressed by the health and quality of the Dwarf Chain Loaches I bought from Aquahuna.

  8. I have dwarf chain loaches from Aquahuna.  I've had them about a year.  They got reaaalllyyyy delayed in shipping (not aquahuna's fault) and took 9 days to arrive.  All but one bag was alive.  I ordered 12 total.  They sent 14.  I ended up with 11.  I'd say go for it!  You will probably want to run parasite treatments through them when they arrive.  I had a couple that got very, very skinny even after QT with paracleanse.  They improved with levamisole.  So, just a heads up that you might want that on hand.

    • Like 1
  9. I use a norwex window cloth.  You can get some cheap on amazon too.  I wipe it off with a wet towel (usually wet from water changing) and then use the window cloth to get it nice and shiny.  No chemicals or spray.  I use them on all my windows too (you know, like twice a year when I actually get around to washing those 😉)

    • Like 1
  10. On 2/4/2022 at 9:29 PM, Greg Stewart said:

     

    I've actually forgotten, on a few occasions, to turn the controller back to "heat" after doing water changes and filter maintenance. I would have left it go all night without noticing if the thing hadn't started making noise. But, I'm an eejit, so there's that.

    I could totally see that happening!  I've forgotten to turn filters back on (more than a couple times 🙂).  One of the tanks I have the controller on is all plugged into 1 power strip, so I just shut off the whole strip when I do the water change, and then it's pretty easy to remember to turn it back on since there are no lights (the lights are what I actually notice), no filter, etc. if I don't.  The other one is a 95 gallon that is super tall.  Even with a 50% water change, I don't have to unplug the heaters because they're below the water line, so I just never turn them off.  Makes sense why the alarm would be handy in a different tank situation.

    • Like 1
  11. I use the same controller as @Guppysnail.  There's no need that I can see for a overheat alarm since it shuts off the power to the heaters when it hits temp (that's why I use the controller--it prevents cooking my fish).  I can see why you might want a "too cool" alarm, but unless it's a reeaallllyyy cold room and/or you have really sensitive fish, I think you'd likely have time to catch it before anything totally catastrophic happened if you're checking it a couple times a day (say, when you feed).  

    • Like 1
  12. Amano shrimp are pretty cool--I will say that I got 4 or 5 from my lfs a couple years ago and they all disappeared.  When I rearranged that tank a couple months ago, poof!  There was one!  No idea what happened to the others, but we call this one "the giant shrimp" because he's about 6 times the size of the neocardina in the tank.  It's always fun to see him come out and eat.  If you're interested in shrimp I'd definitely give them a try, and Aquahuna is a good source.

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    • Thanks 1
  13. Moving a few to the tank with dense plant cover is probably a good idea.  And keep everybody really well-fed.  You could also try a breeder box in one of your tanks for the fry after they're born to keep them safe, but I've personally had good success rates with decent plant cover and a consistent feeding schedule.  After about a week, it seems like they're big enough that their edibility seems to decrease for their parents.

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  14. I had the same thing happen with my original white clouds.  Ended up with one left who lived out its life with the neons for over a year after the others died.  Right now I have an emerald dwarf rasbora that apparently got mixed in with my order of ember tetras (as juveniles they look the same), and he seems to just hang as part of the school (though he is more skittish than the embers).  Glad they seem to get along with their adpotive families!

    • Like 2
  15. On 2/3/2022 at 11:00 AM, H.K.Luterman said:


    The betta may hunt the baby shrimp, and the cory most likely will. The best way to give the shrimp the best odd for reproducing and growing in number is to give them a rock pile to hide in. Something like small lava rocks in a few piles around the tank. It gives the shrimp small crevices to hide in where the fish can't get them. 

    FWIW, I have panda and habrosus corys with my shrimp colony, and it's continuing to explode.  I do have a lot of plants in that tank like pogostemmon stelatus octopus and hygrophila agustifolia, but the bottom isn't particularly well-planted.  

    I agree with others about filling out the numbers of the fish you have first though.

    • Like 2
  16. I don't have any data, though I'll be watching to see what others have.  I have similar water to you, though, and I top off with tap water.  I tried it with distilled water for a while, but it just got to be a hassle, and I haven't seen any detrimental effects so far (3ish years) with tap water top offs.

    • Like 1
  17. How old is the betta--as old as the substrate?  He could just be getting older?  I've kept mine in 8.2 PH for about 3 years with no apparent health issues.  He is also seeming to slow down at this point, and I've been thinking old age, but others may have a different opinion.

  18. I have a 95 gallon as by far my biggest tank.  We actually re-purposed and re-inforced an old antique dresser as the tank stand, and I LOVE having all the drawers to keep all my fish stuff in!  The tanks are really tall.  I'm 5'8", and the water comes up to my armpit when I reach in to the bottom (I know because there's a nice duckweed line when I'm done 😄 and my shirt is ALWAYS wet, even when I put on a tank top).  Just something to keep in mind.  I personally like the proportions in comparison to a 75, but maintenence is...uh...wetter 😄

    I really like how the plants have grown in on mine.  I have val along the back and sides, and it easily grows taller than the walls of the tank and floats on top.  I also have some nice swords and crypts in the front.  I was on a budget with the tank, so the driftwood, etc. is smaller than what I'd have chosen if I had an unlimited budget.  I built up a couple piles of river rocks (50lbs worth, and you really can't even see them now that the plants have grown in) with drift wood on top.  If I'd had more $ for hardscape, I would have probably gotten some larger pieces of spider wood to get a more vertical hardscape, but overall I'm happy with how it turned out.  

    My stocking is mainly livebearers, corys, dwarf chain loaches (to help take care of the snails), and a couple angels.  I really enjoy watching the tank--there's always something happening.  For lighting (again, on a budget) I got 2 Hygger 24/7 Planted lights.  They have been plently powerful enough to grow everything I've tried (plus some algae).  

    I'll grab a pic and post it later today--it's cleaning the tank day, so might as well show it off clean instead of having too much duckweed and fingerprinty glass from the kiddos.

  19. I think you'd be pretty safe trying cories.  They seem to adapt well for most people.  The angelfish I think it just depends on where they come from.  I don't know of anyone else who breeds in 350+GH water, but the guy I got these from (through the local club) has been doing it for years, and has beautiful fish.  He does plecos and angelfish in his basement, and that's it.  Gettling locally bred fish/shrimp was great when the local(ish) club was doing online auctions.

  20. I've bred Aneus cories on accident.  When I moved the adults out of QT, I ended up with a babies in the tank.  Otherwise they tend to eat their own eggs.

    The angelfish lay eggs for me, but they're in a commuinity tank and I haven't hatched out fry yet.  Haven't ever tried to breed the betta/tetra/white clouds.  I don't have an LFS, so it's really, really hard to get rid of anything when I get a batch of fry.  Unless I have room for it myself I tend to not breed them (except the livebearers which take care of that on their own!)

    From what I've read dwarf chain loaches have to have hormones to stimulate breeding and it's super hard to get them to breed in a home aquarium, so I haven't even considered that.

    I've had good success with blue neocardina shrimp.  Their colonies are growing all the time.

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