1moretank

@KaitieG @Levi_Aquatics you both might still benefit from Easy Green. I have high bitrates so decided to try not using any fertilizer, all my plants suffered and the only ones that grew well were the ones getting root tabs. After months of unhappy plants and high nitrates I went back to using easy green, the best I can guess is that even though I have high nitrates, I didn't have all the other components that help the plants to thrive. When I listen carefully to Cory's Easy Green instructions, he says to have 20-40 parts Nitrate "from the Easy Green". I think that is just the easiest way to know when you need to dose again. My nitrate reading does not increase after I dose Easy Green, and my plants are definitely doing better. @isaly that definitely looks like the blue-green algae, when I had that, I removed all I could with tweezers, then dosed the meds and it hasn't come back, about a week after dosing the meds I also increased water flow and fertilizers so my plants could out-compete the algae. Good luck to all of you.

I do not recall the source, but I read somewhere that blue LED is not seen or used by plants but algae can use it the same as algae can use the red and white. The source recommended turning off all blue LED if you had an algae problem. My lights don't have that option so I didn't pay more attention. As mentioned above, I think it would be worth trying to cut down any blue light. Good luck.

@KittenFishMom Endlers are great, I have a tank with plecos and endlers - its one of my 2 current favorite tanks. Even the tiniest endler is not afraid of the full size bristlenose pleco and zoom in under them to eat the pellets.

In my QT tank I keep several plants, each in a little black basket, that I have replaced the wool with gravel. When it is time to net fish I simply pick up the plants and set them in a bucket or other QT tank. I also move them if I want to use salt instead of meds. I keep enough gravel to make about a 2 inch hill in 1/4 the tank, easy to move or clean depending on fish, and about a dozen pond snails. When QT is empty, I usually keep 1-2 bent spine guppies or a couple shrimp in the tank so I feed the tank and keep it cycled. I QT every fish when I bring it in, and rarely have any fish go back to QT after its been moved to its home tank. You have very interesting tanks / fish, I have really enjoyed reading your posts.

@xXInkedPhoenixX I'm not as knowledgeable as Streetwise, but I have picked up all kinds of rock from outside and scrubbed them (hand or clean brush), put them in a 5 gallon bucket for a couple days to make sure nothing changes, then plopped them in a tank. I'll bet you could go one step further, and add a fish to the bucket with a plant and make sure it survives a week. We picked up a branch from the side of a lake, soaked it for a month - never did sink, placed it in a tank where we had to brace it to keep it under water - its been a year and it still hasn't sank, but the fish like it.

I have shrimp in every tank I own except the one with an Angel fish and no hiding spots. They are with mollies, platys, guppies, plecos, snails, white clouds, corys, endlers, otos, kuhli loaches, and several types of tetras. To be successful you need a couple things, (1) a place for them to hide from fish & feel safe - usually this is a rock pile (think rocks bigger than a golf ball and at least 8 of them stacked in a pyramid-ish shape) it could also be a pile of cholla wood or thick plant growth (2) a "seasoned" tank so there is algae, mulm and other stuff for them to snack on 24/7 - even though they will eat whatever you feed the tank, they need to eat all the time. If I was choosing from your list of tanks - I like your fry grow out (no divider needed) since you over feed it, or your oldest constantly running tank. Good luck and enjoy your new shrimp, they are wonderful to watch.

I don't gravel vac a planted tank, but on occasion I vac the surface of the gravel if there is excess mulm. I don't want to disturb the roots or the root tabs. Netting a fish in a planted tank is very difficult, requiring a lot of patience, an alternative is to use a "trap". I find that an old betta cup from the store with a pellet in the bottom of it, set in the tank for a while, will result in fish in the cup, you can then lift the cup keeping the fish in it. Generally you would not need to net a fish out if the QT has already been done. Good luck and have fun!

I have not kept mystery snails, but I know that fish can suddenly decide to eat snails when they haven't done so before. Good luck.

When I tried a betta sorority, I quarantined each in her own breeder box with them all next to each other so they got used to seeing each other, and I rearranged the breeder boxes every couple days. I had someone help me and we added all of them at exactly the same time. Later when I wanted to add 2 more, I put all of the originals back in breeder boxes for the last week of QT so they could all be put in at the same time. I never had visible aggression or injury to the bettas.

If you can upgrade to a 20 gallon long, you will double your available water and double your surface space, at a cost that isn't huge. Good luck.

Thanks for the info @dasaltemelosguy I didn't know there was any alternative to get rid of Chloramine except chemicals.

@PineSong Thanks for sharing, the video was really interesting to my son and myself.

I moved about 800 miles with multiple tanks. My best tip is to talk to your local fish store - even petco or petsmart - and ask them if you can pick up their styrofoam boxes - they usually will since they throw them away. I bagged small numbers of fish into 1 gallon freezer bags - 2 plecos, 2 angels or 10-15 guppies per bag. I used existing tank water to fill each bag 1/2 to 2/3 full. I packed the ziploc bags into the styrofoam boxes so they held each other upright, then I taped the boxes shut. I had some fish boxed almost 2 days before the drive and didn't unpack until the day after I arrived, so 5 days. I set up the tanks in the garage added new water, prime and dumped all the fish & water into the correct tanks. The next day I flew back and found I had failed to pack one box - so dumped them all back into a tank until the final move. Poor fish were bagged 7 days. None died. 2nd trip went just like the first. Over all, I moved 2 55 gallon tanks, 4-5 29 gallon tanks and several 10 gallons. I lost a black skirt tetra and a couple guppies. I gained endlers and platies between bagging and unbagging. I lost one angel about a month after the move. I did this between May and August. If you added heat packs and wrapped the boxes in blankets while they were warm you might be able to do it during the winter. If you narrowed down to just the fish you dont want to lose, you might be able to keep them in your car/into motel rooms - mine stayed in the back of a UHaul. Good luck.

@sk_s before you take any drastic action, it would probably be advisable to call or visit the store you think they came from and ask them if they know what kind of snail they are. The next step I would suggest, as did lefty, is to cut back your feeding. You can usually feed your fish half of what you normally feed for a week or 2 and see if the population starts to reduce on its own. This will have the added benefit of being healthier for your fish too! I have never had assassin snails, so I can't comment on them, but I would never suggest poisoning your tank as a first step. I do feel like we should all try to keep our aquarium water out of the sewers, especially since it can be so beneficial to house plants or landscape plants (as long as it doesn't run off into natural water sources). Take it slow, and good luck.

I have black skirt tetras (about 10) kept with guppies. I think when there were only 4-5 tetras they tended to nip at each other a bit, as I added more to the group they seem to nip less. I see them chase an occasional guppy, but have never witnessed fin nipping a guppy or guppy fin damage. I would expect as your groups get bigger there is less chance of group fin nipping behavior - BUT I always have a back up option in case the worse happens. I think you can keep to your original plan and know that you might need to split one group into your 10 gallon if things don't work. Welcome to fish keeping and the forum. Good luck.

I agree, as long as there are hiding spots for shrimp that fish can't access (I like a small rock pile) both populations will do well, even if a few shrimplets get eaten.

Whenever I have had particles or cloudy water, my first step is to setup an old hang on back and put a poly filter on top a couple coarse sponges in the compartment. Always have the poly on the top and check it a couple times the first day to see if its catching anything. In all but 2 cases this has cleaned the water column in a week or 2. Good luck.

I've left big chunks of zucchini and cucumber in tanks for 24 hours, I remove smaller pieces when they start to appear soft and floaty. Green beans rarely last long enough to worry about removing. Never tried kale, but I think I would remove it if it looked soft or fuzzy. Good luck.

I drop an algae wafer in the bottom of an old betta cup, then I slowly lower the cup into the tank so the wafer stays at the bottom of the cup. After 10-30 minutes, the cup is full of snails and I can lift it out. Generally I dump all the snails into a different tank that houses clown loaches - but I'm sure there are other ways to get rid of the snails. Good luck.

@darkG this is a wonderful journal, thanks for sharing, I hope you continue posting. I like your tanks and your writing style!!

I use a plastic flower pot, plastic cup, or glass jar, something between the size of a betta cup and a 32 ounce jar, depending on the size of the pleco. Some I can scoop against the side wall of the aquarium - others I have to bait the cup with a pleco wafer then wait. In the beginning I used a net, but the stress of worry when they got tangled just wasn't worth it. Simply lifting the pleco cave with the pleco in it, is the easiest when it's possible.

I agree with lefty O and streetwise, shrimp are fun, easy and interesting. Cherry shrimp seem to breed without any effort on my part. If your tank is new, and missing all those things streetwise listed, try adding a couple pieces of cholla wood and a rock pile as well as live plants - they provide hiding spaces, and Nano Banquet Food Blocks provides food until the tank provides is well established. I also find my shrimp love Repashy as a powder, ACO fry food, and floating plants for the food they carry. Good luck and have fun.

Hello, I'm not familiar with the strips you named, but in general if the strips were sealed tight and they are only 1-2 years old I would expect them to work. If your local store will test for free, that's a good place to start so you know if the strips are working. Once you know what your water is, that's your "base line". You just want to test occasionally to make sure your tank maintains the same parameters. If it varies too far from your "baseline" then you want to figure out why. Starting with fish that like the water parameters you have is one of the best ways to be successful from the start. Good luck and have fun.

Hello, if your filter is a "hang on back" try a pre filter sponge on the intake, if that doesn't help enough, see if you can put a sponge (co-op sells a big square you can cut to shape) where the water dumps back into the tank. If you can't get a sponge to stay there, can you float the sponge on top of the tank and let the water spill onto the sponge. If you are using air line and a sponge filter, you can add an air valve to the airline. I hope this helps. Good luck

@Zeb i keep endlers and white clouds in separate unheated indoor tanks - not nearly as large as yours. Neither school very much, although white clouds hang together a bit. My endlers breed much faster than the white clouds, but the clouds don't seem to breed for me nearly as easy as "they" say they should. I have my first 5 cherry barbs, I think 4 male & 1 female, and I am finding them to be quite boring compared to my other fish, but I keep them in a heated tank. I think what you are hoping to see in terms of fish behavior will help you decide what to get. Good luck!