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CT_

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Everything posted by CT_

  1. CT_
    I woke up to find one of my blue dream shrimp dead looking white as a ghost. Was this a failed molt or do they just look like this when they die?
  2. CT_
    Ohhhh! Congrats guys! You all are awesome 😄
  3. CT_
    I think these days that assembly is called the aerator. I thought they all came off, though I admit I don't know how on most. This random video I picked shows and explains all "standard" formats for them. I think python sells adapters for each style as long as you know what you have.
  4. CT_
    I used to be really paranoid about getting everything "right". @Cory's perspective on a lot of things has really liberated me. My view now is to research what people think is "right". Then do whatever I want and be willing to accept the consequences for it. I bought 3 because I was told I could only keep one alive (😄) and I love them and they're fat for some reason that I can't fully understand just by watching them mostly ignore the stuff I give them (I think maybe they eat it at night). Now I'm going back for 3 more because they hang out as 2 and 1 right now and I want to see what they'll do in a group of 6. For me the key is to get the number that I want (and can feed). Especially with otos since you don't have to worry about aggression (I've even heard aggressive fish leave them alone). Edit: If its the kind of algae they eat otos will DESTROY it in short order. my 3 polished off a 5g quarintene tank in less than 12hr and I let it get covered in diatoms. That said I'm currently fighting green hair algae and they don't eat that. I also have one nerite that I treat like a roomba, if he's not where i want him I just pick him up and put him there.
  5. CT_
    dechlorinator + chloramine => ammonia too. I'm not sure how the tests work but it may not show up until a couple min after adding dechlorinator.
  6. CT_
    What exactly do you have going on in your tanks? I'd be more optimistic unless you're keeping fish that have special needs. My guess is that everything's fine when you get home. For the future you can put a lid on your tanks and wrap a blanket around them to keep them warm for a bit longer. Since we had those huge Texas blackouts there's a lot of talk in those threads about preventative measures too. Edit: I just realized that in some places it can get cold fast without heat. In any case keep us updated on how things go!
  7. CT_
    I still can't tell the difference between O. vittatus and O. macrospilus. I got mine from ACO and Robert says they're O. macrospilus though. According to one guy on youtube who breeds them the vittatus is the "easier" kind to breed, but there's so little authoritative information on these guys. Here's one of mine. I'm hoping for breeding but not holding my breath 🙂
  8. CT_
    Do you have photos of mama and papa fish? I'm wondering which species you have.
  9. CT_
    Has anyone found a better cap for the API test tubes? There's a lot of capping and uncapping for the two part and titration tests that it actually starts to hurt my fingers. Frankly I'd take a cap that doesn't even hold itself on and just pinch the cap down when shaking over how tight these are.
  10. CT_
    Cool thanks Robert! You guys are the best. It'll give me another week to expand my shopping list 😁
  11. CT_
    I am a cold air human so I'd just move to my basement 😅
  12. CT_
    I thought I'd share my DIY brine hatchery. It's a standard inverted water bottle design but I wanted to make sure it had light and temperature control all in a standalone package. I definitely didn't need to make it this fancy but I had fun doing it and now I know I'll have a very consistent setup. I've got a 4watt LED strip light on the side providing hatch inducing light and a ring of LEDs on the very bottom to encourage the bbs to swim to the outlet at harvest time. I also couldn't find a small 12W heater anywhere so I made one from nichrome wire, sand, and a 12mmx100mm test tube. I also added a temperature probe and a controller to keep it at 27C/81F All totaled I think I spend about 10$ worth of parts that I already had laying around.
  13. CT_
    Riffing of that idea you could put a small submersion pump in your tank and run a loop or 10 or 100 loops, of tubing through the ice chest. As long as there is ice the chest water will be roughly constant and you can then adjust the heat exchange rate by adding or removing tubing submersed in the icewater. Also it occurred to me you probably would want to us a sponge filter or external motor HOB to externalize the heat from filtration rather than having the motor's heat go directly into your tank. IDK your setup but for me 5 watts is about 1 degree temperature rise.
  14. CT_
    I mixed up a small batch of this over the weekend. I mixed the water 1:1 (1/8th tsp) using boiling water, though in that small a volume I'm sure it hit room temp in 2 seconds. After mixing I smeared it on a river rock and let it sit for 5-10min. It didn't hold together as well as repashy but it was only slightly worse and frankly repashy doesn't hold up that well for me either. I will say my guppies were much more interested vs repashy soilent green. And the otos found it faster, they usually find repashy once its starting to break down a bit. Their interest is about the same as repashy I'd say, but I don't think they were super hungry either. Mine got really fat and I don't feed them that much because I'm lazy and stopped worrying after they looked okay. In anycase, I took a time lapse so you all can judge for yourself as well.
  15. CT_
    @Robert Did any otos make it though the weekend unsold? I was thinking of coming up today or tomorrow after work to buy more from you guys.
  16. CT_
    As far as I know the only options that don't need constant attention are Fans: blow a fan over the top and the evaporation cools the water. you can get a few degrees this way. A friend of mine gets away with a couple computer fans blowing during the Seattle summers. A water chiller: basically an AC unit for your tank. after that I've heard of stuff like adding ice, or cycling frozen water bottles too and from the freezer. These options are a bit less energy efficient than a water chiller but don't require investment.
  17. CT_
    Yes! I didn't know this until saw the 20$ hatchery dishes online. Freeing yourself of needing to make the "investment" in a hatchery makes trying them so much easier. I also used a coffee filter to strain and concentrate them the first few times.
  18. CT_
    I was skeptical about this, but wow it is a thing---and it even happens in the wild. Cool info! Though, I hope to never see it in person. http://www.aun.edu.eg/developmentvet/fish diseases/7_1.htm I'm curious though, if the equilibrium CO2 levels in a normal aquarium or somewhere in the 2-3ppm and the high tech folks run 20-30ppm, that's about 1000% saturation. How's that okay?
  19. CT_
    Yeah my major brand strips say my ph is 7.0 but the api test says 7.8. the strips I have have never worked well except for nitrate but mine is usually too low for the strip
  20. CT_
    There's is food safe epoxy and it comes in a thin formulation you can paint it on with a brush. If you've ever had anything in an aluminum can you've encountered it in the inner lining. Also since epoxy hardens with a catalyst it doesn't need air and cures uniformly at any thickness. But yeah I agree that's probably going too far for little benefit.
  21. CT_
    Yeah, I'm a bit concerned about this too. It makes me want to take better care of the 3 I have now. If what I've read about their growth is true then i may be able to split them into 6 by the year 2030
  22. CT_
    Yikes. That's grim. I guess the question is then why did they die. everyone looks happy and healthy. Some or all of the cardinals are wild caught, perhaps they just couldn't handle the journey to my tank. my pH is 7.8, which is pretty high relative to what i heard the wild areas they come form. gh is 6 so not super soft but not that hard.
  23. CT_
    Epoxy works. There are food contact grades. But really it's the crushed coral raising gh I think. My dragon stone only raised it a bit and it came back down with regular water changes.
  24. CT_
    I did the same thing but still found loose dirt. Good call on the ACO stone. I paid 3x as much as the aco price at another local store.
  25. CT_
    Ah good points but I have only 3 other guppies, 3otos, and some shrimp. The hob I'm running is a tidal 35 with all the intakes covered in aco sponge.
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