[Placement for Lily Pipes?]

Hello all. I am still new to this natural aquarium thing. I just bought the spin lily pipe for my beta and a skimmer so i dont have problems with scum because of slow water movement. More plants will be comming over time so dont worry about that 🙂 Now my question was how it is best to place the glass pipes? I first placed the skimmer on the back left, but because it was a raised area it did not work properly cuz it was just a tad to high for it to work. Then i placed it at the left front ( where the spin lily pipe is now ) but it was to visible. I was wondering if my placement now is ok? On the right back side is an air stone, but it seems like the most dirt comes from the right side. So any of you have pictures or good placements for this 60p aquarium? I tried looking online but i dont find much info on where to place them.  Many thanks!

[Aquarium Mats for Rimless Tanks]

41 minutes ago, Ryan W said:

Contrary to popular belief, yoga mats ARE NOT an appropriate mat for rimless aquariums. I don’t care what anyone says. For a 60p, 5mm closed cell craft foam from a craft store like Joanne’s will work just fine. Buy a couple. Cut to size if you have to and use masking tape to join them if you want “one may”. Joanne’s also sells EVA foam sheets in several thicknesses. I’d get 1/4 inch. EVA foam is a little more dense than regular craft foam and may be a little over kill for a 60p but it would work. Honestly, wherever you ordered your 60p from should have had mats available too (unless they were sold out).

An appropriate mat is essential in my opinion. Rather safe than sorry. It doesn’t have to be an expensive ADA Garden Mat but it does have to have some density along with being supple enough to actually do it’s job: to even out subtle differences in the flatness of the plane that your aquarium is sitting on. Meaning: it fills in the little gaps of unevenness making the surface of your stand flat. 5mm closed cell craft foam/EVA foam is exactly what all of these manufacturers sell as “rimless aquarium mats”. They just put their own marketing on it. Starting with the flattest possible surface as possible is also crucial. A tradition rimmed tank takes pressure on the corners of the tank. That’s what the time is designed to do. When you have a rimless tank, all of the pressure is put across the entire bottom pane of glass. Say one corner of your stands surface is 1/8 of an inch higher than the rest. There is going to be much more significant amounts of pressure going between that high corner and the adjacent corner across the entire length of the bottom pane of glass. A thick enough proper mat will compensate for the difference in the surface topography of your stand.

Plywood makes a great stand surface because it’s flat and doesn’t warp and twist with environmental changes. Solid wood can also make a good surface but solid tends to move a lot with environmental changes due to its grain structure remaining intact and traveling in one direction. As humidity levels change, that grain can make the board twist and warp. Plywood doesn’t do this because it’s comprised of several wood veneer sheets that have the direction of the grain alternating with each sheet. So, one veneer grain goes | the next veneer goes - and there’s usually at least 5 sheets of veneer in a sheet of plywood (there are many different kinds of “plywood”).  Lumber prices are astronomically overpriced at the moment so a new build may not be feasible at the moment. Another thing that makes a great stand would be a kitchen cabinet and a counter top. Relatively cheap, especially when considering a manufactured pre-built aquarium stand, and sturdy as all heck. 
 

TL:DR     Yeah, you should use a mat for a rimless tank and a on flat surface is crucial. It doesn’t have to be an expensive mat. 5mm craft foam does great for 60p sized tanks. 

Awesome, thank you so much for the info. I should have known better but then again I learn from my mistakes. I ordered one from the same website where I got my aquarium from and it is ready to assemble tomorrow. Company was sweet to send them together with my aquarium today so I did not had to wait an extra day. I really appreciate the much info you gave and will learn from it. I'm still kinda new to aquariums but to learn along the way is great to far. Even though I had some major set backs like 3 days ago... 

[Aquarium Mats for Rimless Tanks]

My aquarium broke yesterday. I had him on a very heavy stereo furniture with just a yoga mat underneath.(they don't have aquarium mats that had my size in my area) when I went to my local fish store I could not find an appropriate tank size for my fish. So I had to order online and decided on a 60p Ada tank. When I talked to the shopkeeper of the store he said it probably broke due to pressure points. Since the crack is where my heavy stones used to be he could be right. He said as long the area it sits on is clean of dirt and is very stable you don't need to put an aquarium mat under it or even use a towel. Now since I made a big investment in Ada I wondered if he is right and if not if there are other possibilities? Like the yoga mat or I've read that mouse pads are fine too. I want to hear you guys opinions on what to do? 

[Is my killifish dying?]

1 hour ago, Colu said:

How old was the fish when you got him

A month maybe two? He was not adult yet. Even if it is old age I thought it was strange. 

[Is my killifish dying?]

20 hours ago, Colu said:

It could be a swin bladder problem

Well he died some time in the night. I can't find him anywhere so my guess is my shrimp and snails took care of him. Still wondering though. It only took a span of a couple of hours. I really am wondering what he had. 

 

[Is my killifish dying?]

I dont know what is happening. Maybe one of you guys know what is going on? I have a notobranchius rachovi beira. He was doing fine yesterday, but today i noticed he was swimming differently. He could not swim straight and would always wank from one side to another. He can still go up and down but sometimes its like he blocks and sinks and is going upside down. Then he would swim again like nothing is happening. He does not want to eat and is not shasing his ladies anymore. Wich he loved to do. I tested my water and is is completely fine. All my other fish are acting normal as well. Now i know these fish dont live for long but i bought him in december so he should not be this old? He is  not constipated as i saw him doing his business. For the rest i cant figure out what it can be or it is indeed old age?

[Neon tetra and super blue emperor tetra nips beta tail.]

On 1/8/2021 at 6:01 PM, devind0446 said:

I'm currently having the same problems and here's what I'm doing in my own situation:

I had 1 betta and 9 neons in a 20 gallon. I noticed the betta was having some tail issue and then noticed the tetras nipping on him. I removed my betta into my 5 gallon empty tank and I'm treating him with Maracyn for fin rot and to make sure any wounds on the tail don't get infected.

I have still noticed that now, the neons nip on each other since they don't have the betta to nip on. I had that issue one time in the past and I corrected it by adding more tetras to the tank to "overstock" with tetras which solved the problem.

So whenever I make it out to the store I'm going to get maybe 8-10 more neons and put them in quarantine and then add them to the 20 gallon. When this is done I will add my betta back in when he is all healed up.

I hope this helps and you can try and apply it to your own needs and situation!

Thank you very much! As I did not had an empty tank left I decided to give them away to a good home. The fin is now healing and the beta is feeling more comfortable. It looks quite empty now. But I will first do more research before adding stock again. As this is my first tank I don't want to make more problems. Thank you very much for the advice! 

 

[Neon tetra and super blue emperor tetra nips beta tail.]

I don't think it is fin rot since the rest of my fish are fine. Filtration might be an issue but I've upgraded it today to an external oase filter. My ph and ammonia are fine, nitrate is a bit on the higher side but I keep an eye on it and change water when needed. I feed in the morning flakes and pellets and in the evening frozen food. My heat I am at 25-26 degrees celcius. It's the same gravel and plants I used and today I have not seen any more chunks out. It's nice and Shiney. I hope this helps? I can't put the beta somewhere else sadly. But they left him alone in the smaller tank. I thought maybe because the tetras are not feeling safe anymore since I lost a few. But I just wanted to be sure and get advice. 

 

[Neon tetra and super blue emperor tetra nips beta tail.]

I started my aquarium since October. So far I always had a trail and error. First I had a 10 gallon aquarium. But because of the build of that aquarium the circulation was so bad my fish got ick all the time while my water was perfect. In that time I had 6 neon tetras and 5 super blue emperor tetras and they left my beta alone just fine. I now have put them into a new aquarium of 15 gallon but in the beginning I noticed they had not enough air. So I removed the lid and bought an air stone but it was to late for 3 blue emperor tetras and a neon. In these last few days I noticed my betta had huge fin tears. And now I saw the tetras nipping at them. My betta is just to nice to say to back off and I really don't know what to do anymore. Soon he will have no tail left and I was wondering what am I doing wrong? Any advice will help... I also don't know anyone who can take fish I have and store won't take Em back. I also spend so much money now that another aquarium can't help me now...