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Odd Duck

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Everything posted by Odd Duck

  1. Odd Duck
    Mostly Texas Aquatics. They’re very close since I’m in North Richland Hills, and have always treated me right. You have a favorite?
  2. Odd Duck
    Thank you for sharing your recipe and your experience! Edited to ask, “How much calcium powder you add for snails or shrimp?”
  3. Odd Duck
    Definitely need this recipe! Pretty, pretty, please?
  4. Odd Duck
    None, yet. I’ve been collecting plants gradually to accumulate enough to plant heavy from the start. I’m almost there on plants, but we’re going to redo our floors in that room before I set it up. I just happened to buy a trio of 10 gallon tanks and other assorted stuff from a guy that was shutting down his fish room. He asked if I was interested in the “emerald cories” and sold the dozen adults to me for $25.00. I didn’t think they were emeralds, too dark on their dorsal aspect and just didn’t look quite right for emeralds, but I was fine with what I saw, anyway. It didn’t take me long reading on line to figure out they were bronzes since they’re a near lookalike but have significantly fewer rays in the dorsal fin than emeralds. So, I have far more cories than I need for the 100 gallon since I want a community tank with other bottom dwellers, mid, and top water fish. I’ll do a group of the bronzes, probably 7 or 8, and sell the rest since they’ve managed to double in number since I got them. Once the tank has completely established with its plants in, then cories will go in, then some mid and top, then more bottom dwellers, etc, until fully stocked. At least that’s the plan at this point, potentially subject to change. 😆
  5. Odd Duck
    Yeah, that would be tricky! Especially with the current weather. I plan to keep some, but I definitely don’t need to put 2 dozen or so in the 100 gallon tank when whatever I put in there will likely continue to breed. I expect their numbers will slowly creep up anyway, even in a community tank. I will probably sell some on a local fish Band and may take some to my lfs, too.
  6. Odd Duck
    Where are you? I have more than double the number of bronze cories that I need so I would love for some to go to someone I know will appreciate them. I’m in the Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas metroplex.
  7. Odd Duck
    Just when I thought I was done, I just caught one more! 😆 Big snail and snail babies back in the tank, cory released into the cory tank. Baker’s dozen, so far. I guess I’m keeping the fish trap in there even longer than I thought. 🤷🏻‍♀️
  8. Odd Duck
    12 baby cories out and rejoined with the parents. Nothing caught but snails in several days, now. I think I got them all! I’m leaving the trap in and baited for a while longer since snails have laid eggs in it. 🙄 I don’t mind the snail eggs that will stay in the puffer tank for food. I won’t have to feed much for weeks except to give them some variety. So, aquarist life lesson, super easy to make a DIY soda bottle fish trap that has worked very well for these small babies.
  9. Odd Duck
    I see rings around the body, and a very rounded body, which means more likely an annelid type worm. Leaches don’t have rings around their bodies (they can have markings) and they are usually somewhat flattened top to bottom. I vote for annelid (same family as earthworms).
  10. Odd Duck
    I have this for my 2, 6 gallon cubes. One has been running for several months very reliably, matches the thermometer reliably. The other has been running just a few weeks but is also matching the thermometer in that tank very reliably. They also make this in a 35 watt for a slightly smaller tank but I haven’t used that size so can’t speak directly to it, but this one has been good for me. I like the large display numbers and it is compact enough for me. I’ve struggled in the past with small heaters being less than reliable for nano tanks (years ago I had a triple row bank of 15, antique, 5 gallon, metal frame tanks). Newer heaters are soooooo much more reliable than the old days! This one is super easy to set the temp and has been dead on temp every time I’ve checked them. I usually check at daily for the first couple weeks, then least a couple times a week after that, and they’ve been rock solid so far. https://www.amazon.com/hygger-Heater-Aquarium-Digital-Display/dp/B08GFQT2QP/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiApY6BBhCsARIsAOI_GjZtUurWvRNBoHUZIcs3nAMm9Ik_nc_S-7vQz6tnlLaO98Lwp2g--qIaAubDEALw_wcB&hvadid=485526078180&hvdev=t&hvlocphy=9027285&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=2192513221383278721&hvtargid=kwd-1064103765589&hydadcr=22518_11335638&keywords=hygger%2Bmini%2Bbetta%2Bfish%2Bheater&qid=1612985658&sr=8-5&tag=googhydr-20&th=1
  11. Odd Duck
    Soooo, the latest in the cory retrieval and repatriation saga: I’ve had to modify the fish trap to make it harder for them to get out! Someone has figured out how to get back out and is using the bait in the trap for their own, personal supply. The giveaway was repeated sightings of tiny, cory poop inside the trap with no cories caught in a couple days. I’ve added a couple layers of plastic wrap around the top of the soda bottle held in place by the plastic ring. I’ve tried to keep them open enough s/he will still choose to go inside, but narrow enough to keep him/her inside without trapping said cory in the folds of plastic. It has now become a battle of wits and I’m afraid I’m going to lose! Worse, if I lose, the little cory is all too likely to become a pea puffer victim in the long run. Edit to add there are at least 3 cories still in there, the smallest seems runty compared to the others, not growing well at all.
  12. Odd Duck
    DIY soda bottle fish trap for the win! Eight out so far and back in the cory tank (big enough to not get eaten, now!). At least 2 more good sized ones still in there and probably at least a couple smaller ones, so fish trap is baited and waiting. I’ll leave that thing in there for the next 4 weeks while pea puffers are getting their deworming treatments. Hopefully I’ll get them all. I don’t want them to be puffer food!
  13. Odd Duck
    I have now seen at least 8 babies in the soon to be puffer tank! How am I ever going to get them all out? I just planted this tank on the 17th! The plants are barely getting rooted! I didn’t expect this tank to even be close to ready for fish by now, yet these babies are hanging in there! I’ve been using sticks to test because I only needed to watch for when the nitrites started coming down. So, on the first API drop test today shows ammonia at zero, nitrites at 0.25, nitrates at 10. Babies acting like they’re happy as clams, all over the tank like typical good little cories! 🤷🏻‍♀️ I’m quite certain they hatched at the height of the worst parameters, but I didn’t even test until a full week in because there was no point. There’s no way params *wouldn’t* be crazy high. Poor little baby cories swimming around in the goop like it’s no big deal! 😆
  14. Odd Duck
    I finally purchased silicon tubing in double the typical airline diameter pretty cheap online (3/8” vs 3/16” of airline). Then straight connectors to match. I make my floating hoops with that now. They are rather obnoxiously large but sooooo much more effective at containing floating plants than skinny airline tubing. I have tucked them around heater cords (floaters either inside or outside the ring), around airlines going to sponge filters (floaters outside the ring), or bigger ones around both the HOB filter uptake and outflow with floaters outside the ring. I’ve also cut the hinge section from the suction cup floating feeder rings and attached that section of the feeder ring to the floating ring to keep it where I wanted it. Superglue is my friend, lol! I have floaters in most of my small tanks but I like a combo of air driven sponge and sponge filled HOB’s (thanks Cory, for the idea to fill my HOB’s with sponge). Floaters seem to like flow below the surface but not too much surface agitation. Hence the rings around the filters causing the surface agitation. I have scads of frogbit and red root floaters sucking up those nitrates for me, even on my bare bottom hospital/quarantine tanks.
  15. Odd Duck
    Sometimes old tanks, or tanks that have been neglected, can have the glass etched by chronic algae or mineral deposits. Or it can be super fine scratches. Think about how polishing something uses finer and finer grit until it’s perfectly smooth. The scratches can be at “fine” to the point where we can’t feel it as an actual scratch, but not fine enough to be “polished”. I’ve had tanks that no amount of vinegar or scraping would clear that cloudy haze. It’s possible to have tanks polished, which is sometimes done on big, expensive tanks, but it wouldn’t really make sense for a small tank that’s much cheaper to just replace. If repeated vinegar cleaning doesn’t clear it, it’s not likely that anything short of polishing will clear it.
  16. Odd Duck
    Just spotted a new, baby in the main cory holding tank! Looks to be about 10-14 days older than the tiny ones in the soon to be pea puffer tank, but half the size of half-grown one already spotted in the same tank.
  17. Odd Duck
    I’ve got around a dozen bronze (AKA green) cories (Corydoras aeneus) and climbing. They are currently in a 20G high holding tank with lots of plants that are also in holding. Everyone will go into my 100G tank once it’s ready. Plants first, then cories once the tank is fully cycled. I have well-seasoned, mature sponge filters going in and HOB’s filled with matured sponge, too, for the tank. I will just need to wait until all the plants settle and the substrate (sand capped dirt) and wood pieces are done doing their new tank thing. I’m hoping for about 3-4 weeks, we’ll see. I’m not certain how many cories I have because I just spotted a youngster for the first time yesterday! It’s been pretty crowded with plants and my matured driftwood pieces. I’ve also spotted at least 5 tiny cory fry in the 20G long I set up for my pea puffers to go into eventually (also maturing sand capped dirt). It got some of the plants that were in the cory tank and must have had eggs or very tiny fry hitching a ride! I don’t have a decent pic of the half grown one, too fast! I’ll get a count when I transfer them to the 100 gallon. I still can’t believe it took so long to spot the half grown one! I watch that tank at least a few minutes every day to check on everybody. It’s the first time I’ve spotted this little one and I KNOW I didn’t put one in that was that small. They’ve only been in that tank one month today and it’s already an inch long nose to tail tip! They did spawn the first time for me just two days after getting into this tank. Fat and happy when I got them from a guy shutting down his fish room.
  18. Odd Duck
    Like this? Might not be long enough. This is only about 8” long but might be enough to let you reach. It will hold a capsule root tab, not sure about the tablet ones.
  19. Odd Duck
    Like a Roomba for the tank? I’m in!
  20. Odd Duck
    I tried this years ago when I raised a clutch of Betta splendens. I used an empty IV bag, cut open the top end leaving the hanging hole intact. I added old tank water and hung it so it got some sun (this was way before good lighting), added some pond water, and fed it tiny amounts of food until I had green water. It was very difficult to adjust the drip rate slow enough that the whole bag wasn’t in the tank by the time I got home from work. It was either dripping too fast or not dripping at all. IV pumps are small enough and accurate enough now that if you had a decent sized tank to supply the culture, you could have enough control that a single liter bag could last a few days. You probably couldn’t grow the culture fast enough in the bag to provide a continuous supply, but with help from a separate tank of green water (or rotifers, etc), you could run a continuous drip. You can buy an IV bag and administration line pretty cheap, open it, rinse it, and fill it with whatever solution you want. Easy to drop in an air stone to keep the culture from settling. An IV pump will run about $800.00 minimum, though, and would tend to mash whatever is running through the line. They also make in-line gravity-fed regulators but they would almost certainly clog with most any culture. They might manage green water.
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