[22-Gallon Adventure]

You’ve got some great aquascaping and photo taking skills!

[Yellow Tuxedo Guppy Progress]

Those are some beautiful guppies! Excellent work with the photography skills too!

[most fish dont need a heater but which ones do?]

On 11/3/2022 at 8:26 AM, Robert Keeney said:

I haven't used heaters for years by avoiding fish that require them.

I also try to avoid heaters. I research fish that do well in a wide range of temperatures. Out of curiosity, what kinds of fish do you keep?

[What’s a good gravel/stone vacuum 🤔]

I’ve used Lees, Python and a generic one off amazon. I agree with Cory that they all pretty much do the same work. In my experience, though the hose that comes with the Python is really great. It’s very flexible, but I’ve never had it kink. For some reason with other brands they eventually kink somewhere and continue to do so at the same spots. I tried a thicker hose from Home Depot that didn’t kink, but they aren’t very flexible. I’m not sure if that is worth the extra cost to Python for some people.

[Are there fish out there that like a pH of 8.4 and a GH of 0 and a KH of 286.4 ppm (dKH 16)?]

On 11/2/2022 at 10:55 PM, KittenFishMom said:

In New York State, it is illegal to keep native fish.

I did not know that! There are a few native fish I am interested in and had hoped to keep in the future.

[Nitrite at 2 ppm]

I wish I had some great advice for you, but I’ve never kept rams before. I would just keep testing the water and water change accordingly. If you’re really off the remaining ram, maybe your local store will take it back or trade it for something else.

This kind of thing happens to everyone so hopefully you’re not getting discouraged. I get into a funk at times when something goes haywire. The rewards of fishkeeping usually pulls me through or I’ll see someone doing something that inspires me to improve things.

I hope everything works itself out for you!

[Quarantine Emerged plants?]

I’m probably doing it wrong, but I don’t quarantine plants. I try to rinse them as much as I can and then they go straight to tanks. I really feel the likelihood that a plant will bring in a fish disease is very low. Also, I welcome hitchhikers!

[FINALLY I got them to go red…..somewhat]

That looks really beautiful! Congratulations! Do you attribute the red you’re getting to the light you are using?

[Melanotaenia 'Kali Tawa']

On 10/28/2022 at 8:50 PM, Seattle_Aquarist said:

Thank you @OceanTruth, I hope to breed enough to be able to bring them to meetings of our local aquarium club so others can enjoy the species.

That’s so amazing! I wish there was an aquarium club near me that I could join instead of lurking on forums and youtube. 😂😂 Hopefully one day I can enjoy that aspect of the hobby. I’ve never heard of a person say one negative thing about joining a club and I’m always envious when I hear about all the experiences. Love the casual, oh yeah my buddy Gary Lange gifted me some rainbows on a club visit. 👍👍

[Melanotaenia 'Kali Tawa']

That’s a beautiful looking fish! Great job on the babies! 👍👍

[Medaka naming game]

On 10/27/2022 at 2:43 PM, modified lung said:

Blue sparkle should be white with a slightly blueish tint and have reflective scales that look like glitter (often called "lame") along their back and sides.

Platinum should be pure white with a very bright reflective stripe across their back.

I've noticed blue sparkles also usually have translucent scales while platinums have solid scales.

But there doesn't seem to be clear rules for translating that Japanese names for different characteristic into English names. So a lot of US sellers don't seem to know the difference yet and pictures on their websites are very inconsistent at times. So really you could be getting any variation of white or blue. I once ordered pearl galaxy which is basically the white version of blue sparkle but they sent me platinums instead (which was actually what I wanted lucky for me).

Thank you for the info! Seems like a muddled mess. I guess the Platinums I have are really Blue Sparkle since they do have a bluish tint to them. I read somewhere that Platinums do have that tint, so I didn’t think much of it. So much misinfo in this hobby… I bought them from what I thought was a reputable seller too.

I guess I’ll just try some random lines and ignore all the silly names for them.

[Medaka naming game]

I’m planning to buy a couple more different strains of Medaka ricefish. While looking through various sites I’m wondering if “Blue Sparkle” and “Platinum” Medaka are actually the same strain? From the descriptions and photos provided I cannot tell if there is a difference. A top view photo would help, but I can’t seem to find any. Google was not my friend on answering this question.

Anyone here happen to know or have kept both lines?

[DIY trickle tower sump on multiple aquariums?]

On 10/26/2022 at 9:19 AM, Jabberjaw said:

That makes me feel really good. I don't know about doing a 50 gallon sump though that's awfully large. I was leaning more along the lines of a 20 gallon. I can pack a lot of filtration in a trickle filter in a 20 gallon tank. At the moment I only have a total of 70 gallons between the tanks but even if I added tanks in that rack it wouldn't be able to fit more than 90 gallons. A 20 or a 29 I would think would be big enough, don't you?

I agree 50 gallons was definitely overkill. It’s just what I had on hand and I didn’t want to get something new just to use as a sump. In my opinion, 20 or a 29 would work perfectly fine. If both work space wise or ease of obtaining I would go with the 29. Nothing wrong with extra water running through a system. I’m no filter expert though, I just love sumps even though I’m not running any at the moment.

[Daisy Blue Ricefish]

On 10/26/2022 at 7:44 AM, Jimmy said:

Negative just the rice fish. I’m probably just gonna move eggs to separate tank or specimen cup.

I’m probably going to end up trying that out as well. Good luck with it!

[Daisy Blue Ricefish]

I’ve never kept Daisy’s rice fish, but I’ve read Medaka will take out fry while ignoring eggs. I was hoping to just colony breed Medaka, but I don’t think I have enough cover for them to hide out in. It looks like you have a good amount of guppy grass for fry to hide in, so I’m surprised you’re not finding babies.

Do you have anything else in the tank that might be an egg eater?

[First big DIY project]

That is very impressive! Really well done. I’m always blown away by people who can actually make their own fish tank.

[DIY trickle tower sump on multiple aquariums?]

I used to run something like that with a 90 gallon tank and a 50 gallon sump. It was pretty much my first DIY project with fish tanks. I thought it worked great and it was very easy to maintenance. I had no issues with it for several years. If I ever want to go back to using a sump I’d probably just do it again.

[best way to keep dry fish food long run?]

I usually just stick fish food I won’t use for a while in the freezer as well. Never vacuum sealed it or anything. I use a ziplock bag just to keep it all together. I don’t feel like I’ve had any issues storing it like that.

[Streetwise Indoor Aquariums]

Sheesh your tanks are ridiculous. The only way to see a more natural looking environment is sticking your head into a lake or river.

[Final leg of fish room build]

Your fish room is looking pretty incredible! Amazing work on it so far.

Duct tape holding together a cracked tank?? Seems pretty hardcore to me. 😂 Only a hardcore breeder would so that I would say. 👍👍

[DYI. Aquarium Lid Hinge Size]

On 10/11/2022 at 8:04 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

How do you guys cut your acrylic sheets?  We had bad luck with power tools. The acrylic broke and we ended up with shards.

For thin (1/4” or less) sheets of acrylic I have used an acrylic scoring knife. Anything thicker I use a table saw and never had much of a problem. Masking off where the cuts will run helped me avoid any chips at the very ends of the cuts.

[Mystery Plant]

On 10/10/2022 at 9:22 PM, Golden Rams said:

Yes, but they are about the third of the size floaters. I also have never seen floaters bloom. The bloom is so small that it can only be seen in the magnified photo. 

My red root floaters bloom time to time. They have tiny white flowers. You sound sure that’s not what you have, so hopefully someone can id it for you.

[Least killifish adventure]

On 10/10/2022 at 6:55 PM, Guppysnail said:

I’m in pa if my group overpopulates maybe I’ll have some for you if you are not to far for overnight shipping 

That would be lovely. I’ve always wanted to get fish from a fellow hobbyist, but I don’t really know anyone in the hobby even online. Judging from the local Petco, fishkeeping is pretty much nonexistent in my area. It literally must be the worst fish section in the U.S. The only independent aquarium store locally is actually 100% saltwater.

I was planning to start getting a tank ready for them after I get back from an upcoming vacation, so maybe our timelines will match up. NY here, by the way.

Also, random question, I’ve seen that there is a gold form of heterandria formosa, have you ever seen them being sold?

[Least killifish adventure]

On 10/10/2022 at 5:44 PM, Guppysnail said:

Are you on the east coast?  

Yes, east coast here.

[Least killifish adventure]

That is one cute and healthy looking population! I can’t wait to get some heterandria formosa is the near future.