Jump to content
Watch our video on the rules of this forum.

Lifeisgood

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    363

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Feedback

    0%

 Content Type 

Everything posted by Lifeisgood

  1. Lifeisgood
    I have so much fun trying to catch pics of fish and critters and thought I would try some face on views. This is Maverick—who is very personable and wants to know “What’s up?”
  2. Lifeisgood
    I upgraded the size tank when we moved 2 1/2 months ago. Added some new pool filter sand and capped it with the old substrate—mulm and all. Used same plants, rocks and driftwood from old tank, hoping to keep the beneficial bacteria alive. I do not like to disturb the substrate much because I want the substrate to be enriched to feed the plant roots. I have been watching this white growth develop and hoped that it was benign and maybe useful for the ecosystem of the tank. But maybe I am letting things get carried too far in this direction? Can anyone tell me what this is and if I need to intervene and remove it for the health of my fish?
  3. Lifeisgood
    It looks like you drilled holes in it for water circulation (or else it is a reflection?). Why do you suppose they died? I was thinking about leaving it overnight but maybe that is not a good idea. Thanks for the caution.
  4. Lifeisgood
    I will give this idea a try and show you the process of trying it out. Thanks!😊
  5. Lifeisgood
    That is a great idea if I can figure out how to put a lid on it without scaring them away. They are quick swimmers and dart for cover. I am trying to figure out how to make a clear trap door that I can close with fishing line or something. I have wondered if a smaller version of a fish trap would work. But having never seen a small one ready made—I am faced with trying to come up with making one. Daunting task.
  6. Lifeisgood
    Currently I am dealing with a population explosion with my Sewellias. Started out with one female and two males because they were not sexed at time of purchase. We have hard water. I tend to keep temps at the cooler range. I have always had a HOB with a prefilter sponge and have a power head also fitted with a profiler sponge and hooked up to air for some added oxygenated current. Oh and one other airstone on the other side of the tank. Rock piles are enough to harbor eggs and fry. I have pool filter sand as a substrate and the loach fry glean a lot of food from the surface of the sandy substrate so I don’t think an under gravel filter is a great idea. Anubias plants are great for loach species because they tend to have a lot of edible biofilm on them for fry. The fry spend a lot of time in these leaves especially when they are small. I have a very large Anubias Barterai on the top of the primary rock pile in my tank. Other plants include Jungle Val, a variety of crypts, Java moss and they also seem to enjoy grazing on the drift wood. I try to feed a variety of foods. Algae and carnivore wafers, Soilent Green Repashy, frozen brine shrimp and blood worms, spinach, bug bites and krill flakes. Hope these ideas help.😊
  7. Lifeisgood
    I love them—but worry because more little ones keep appearing!!😅.
  8. Lifeisgood
    My three Hillstream loaches have been busy and don’t seem to be slowing down in producing fry. They are in a 125 with 15 Dwarf Neon Rainbow fish, six Rosy barbs, three Panda Garras, three Amano Shrimp and one Denison Barb who seems to be playing nursemaid to the Hillstream fry. He (or she) swims back and forth over the fry when they come out in the open spaces to feed and chases other fish away?? Does anyone have ideas as to how to catch the young adults out of the tank without emptying the water and destroying the plants and hard scape? I am trying to come up with some way to trap them and hoped someone might know of a contraption that might work for that. They are great to have and fun to watch but the population keeps growing!!
  9. Lifeisgood
    After living in a 17 gallon muck bucket for the last two months, Dot, Binky and Maverick (along with a few leftover guppies and some pond snails) got situated in their new 55 gallon digs today. Hoping to catch some of the Hillstream loach population that is exploding in the 125 to add as well to help keep the algae growth in control, so the rock piles are for them. The background is painted blue with a streak of black but I couldn’t do solid black or we would never see Maverick the Black Moor. Now I just need to bring the Axolotls in from their muck bucket in the porch and fix up something for the betta. Moving house is a challenge and I will be glad when everything is situated and I can get on with enjoying the new home. And I am hoping to make a connection with a local aquarium fish club.
  10. Lifeisgood
    Thanks for sharing. There is so much beauty in the detail isn’t there?😊
  11. Lifeisgood
    So we upgraded from a 55 to a 125 during the move to another house. We combined a few new members to the originally cool water no heater tank which we felt needed to have a heater. So we added one 100 watt heater for starters. My six male longfinned Rosy Barbs usually are all over the tank—but stayed in this proximity to the heater for a long time after placing it in the tank. Any ideas as to why they were doing that? Oh and feel free to add your odd behavior or interesting curiosities to this topic heading because it’s fun to try to figure these creatures out.😁
  12. Lifeisgood
    The silver “heart-shaped” heart of a young Hillstream loach ❤️
  13. Lifeisgood
    Received my first order from Dan’s Fish today. Added a school of Dwarf Neon Rainbow Fish to the 125 gallon. I have never had rainbow fish before. They are lovely to watch. Has anyone found a trick to lighting the tank to help show their side iridescence off a little more than the bare bones LED lighting that comes stock on hoods? I feel your pain Maggie—having spent the last couple of months under too many deadlines and not having enough bodies to get everything done. It is exhausting!! I hope you can take a deep breath now and settle in your new home. Kind of a new adventure with undiscovered possiblities, isn’t it?
  14. Lifeisgood
    I don’t know if this will help you or not. We just moved and I moved the fish into a bigger tank. I kept the “dirty” sponges from the filters in the five gallon buckets of water with the rocks and driftwood and plants to keep as much of the bacteria alive. And I transferred all this and the dirty substrate into the new tank too—putting it on top of the additional new substrate because the tank is bigger. It was foggy for a couple of days but is all cleared up now. So far the water has stayed healthy for them and nobody has died. Lost some Denison barbs in transit though. Didn’t realize how sensitive they are to oxygen levels. Happened real fast too. So I feel your pain about the Congos. We are always learning in this hobby. I am grateful for this community to learn with too.
  15. Lifeisgood
    I have been wanting to have some bamboo shrimp too. Do you know if they get along with Amano shrimp and whether or not you need to target feed them? My tank has a fair bit of current and I feed mostly frozen brine shrimp, blood worms some flake food and sinking pellets. From what you have learned, would I need to change how I feed?
  16. Lifeisgood
    Finally planted plants and added rocks a second piece of driftwood and a black background to the new 125 after the move to the new house. Everybody seems happier with the security of rocks and plants on the substrate. The baby hillstream loaches were trying out the frozen bloodworms.
  17. Lifeisgood
    Thanks for this insight. This is probably exactly what happened. I just wanted to gain understanding and learn from what happened so I am grateful that you shared it. And the grueling final days that we had to move the fish it was over 90 degrees. At least I had success at moving the Hillstream loaches with all of their tiny offspring. They can be difficult to ship due to oxygen levels as well, but no losses with them. Everybody appears to be enjoying the bigger tank.😊
  18. Lifeisgood
    Good idea!
  19. Lifeisgood
    So you think it might have happened because I had all six in one container? I know that they are a skittish breed too. Maybe they don’t transport well as adults because they freak out so bad—like they have heart attacks or something. I guess I am wondering if someone knows about them. When I purchased them a few years back-they were tiny.
  20. Lifeisgood
    So broken hearted today! Five of my six five inch Denison barbs died in a move when they were in a five gallon bucket with an air stone for just 3 hours. Rosy barbs and Hillstream loaches we’re in gallon bags and did fine. I started out with the Denisons in gallon bags with there own tank water but when they looked stressed after very little time, I put them in a five gallon bucket with the water from their tank with an air stone right away. I had no idea that they would be so sensitive to being caught and put in a bucket. Has anyone else had this problem or what should I have done differently?
  21. Lifeisgood
    So many things to consider! We are moving in the next couple of weeks to a new home. This would be a great time to upgrade the Rosaline Barbs and the Rosy Barbs to a bigger tank. (The 55 is looking to small). I hate spending money on the combo from the box store with the press board stand. The acrylic is a stretch for cost but would be lighter and perhaps stronger. But then the stand would break the budget for sure unless we can diy it and have it look nice in the living room. Any ideas or advice anyone can give? I would appreciate it so much.
  22. Lifeisgood
    I have two adult females in a 40 gallon breeder tank in Michigan. I have them on the bottom shelf of a rack made out of 2x4s and keep them in the coolest part of my house. I made a top out of appropriate sized powder coated wire shelving material so I can use a fan on the surface, and keep the cats from meddling with them.😅 Unexpectedly someone made a good offer for our house so we will be moving. The house we found has a basement living space so the Axolotl tank and the fancy goldfish we keep on the top level of the rack will go to the cooler basement space in the new house. Placement in a house can make a difference. I also considered a cold water drip system to keep temps cooler but so far they have been fine with cool water top offs (evaporation is a thing!)
  23. Lifeisgood
    Hard water has been fine for my plants. In fact they absorb the calcium out of it and I have to add Wondershells to keep it mineralized. Are you finding it hard to reduce the nitrates with water conditioner? I am searching for a 125 tank right now too so thank you for sharing your process!😊
  24. Lifeisgood
    Yikes! That is a hard one!😢
  25. Lifeisgood
    We discovered baby Hillstream loaches today! There is at least three of them but it is impossible to say for sure. 🥰
×
×
  • Create New...