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Daniel

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Everything posted by Daniel

  1. Daniel
    Me either! Back in my day 20 years ago this would have been competitive for best in show at the IBC (International Betta Congress) convention. I wonder what a show winning betta looks like now?
  2. Daniel
    Just got the book. Lots of good basic info and cool pictures of inspirational natural aquascapes from around the world.
  3. Daniel
    Definitely too young to sex. I often get several juvenile angelfish and raise them up in the same tank. Eventually you will notice that 2 of the angelfish hang out together all the time. At that point you have pair. It is still probably not clear with a pair is who is who, but once they begin breed, and I know this sounds obvious, it is the female that lays the eggs. It only then I know what sex my angelfish are. If anyone else on the Forum has better method I would love to know!
  4. Daniel
    In my book that would be a marbled angelfish, and a very nice one at that!
  5. Daniel
    I have a spotty track record as a fishkeeper and I am lazy. Usually I just want know the trends on water parameters and the strips work just fine for that. Most of the time I don't know and don't care what my water parameters are. It would probably freak me out if it I did and I might go dumping a bunch of chemicals in my aquarium sparking a vicious downward spiral of chemical chaos. The main test is are my fish happy. Do they eat? Do they breed? That's my primary yardstick.
  6. Daniel
    These numbers are very fluid. As of Saturday morning my numbers are: 640 total / 213 avg / 3 tanks But wait, I can rearrange the fishroom to accommodate more tanks! Presto! 10 more tanks. So by sundown, my total should be: 815 gallons / 62 avg / 13 tanks My wife's reaction to the new arrangement was "Just because cause there is room on the end of the board for 1 more doesn't mean you have to fill it." I said that I would throw out to the forum and ask if a empty spot on a aquarium stand necessarily implies a new tank? The three 10 gallons tanks on the upper stand on the right side will be used for the "Honey I Dirted My Tank" project where I will pit Walstad vs. Eco-complete, versus Normal gravel to see what really happens when you use soil as a substrate.
  7. Daniel
    The summer tub is wicked good fun! Turns out rice fish are the bomb. Those are just a few of the hundreds that suddenly appeared. And despite also having guppies, swordtails and cory cats, the pond also produces several tablespoons of Daphnia everyday.
  8. Daniel
    @Pekitivey This might not be a good time to ask seeing as your power is out, but how is it going? I suspect power outages are the 100% sure things* that will happen that we as fishkeepers are least prepared for.
  9. Daniel
    Sometimes as strange as it may seem it is socially and environmentally better for us to demand and keep wild caught fish (non-endangered wild caught fish that is) . How could that be? That sounds crazy! Wild caught cardinal tetras are a good example. Cardinal tetras are abundant in the Rio Negro and the ornamental fish trade harvest is literally next to nothing and does no damage to the cardinal tetra population. The damage to the environment comes from removing the economic stimulus the sustainable fish trade provides for indigenous and local peoples. With no income coming in from harvesting cardinal tetras, a local renewable natural resource, there is less incentive to protect the rivers the cardinal tetras live in. The local and indigenous peoples are forced find work in the logging and cattle ranching industries, or even gold mining ( @Cory witnessed this on his latest trip to Peru, where mining was decimating creek after creek wiping out huge populations of fish). Like most problems this one is complicated. Many, many species of wild caught fish should be avoided. But not all. Not if you care about the social and environmental impact of removing one of the few jobs that demands that the rivers and streams be clean and healthy year after year.
  10. Daniel
    Yes, I think that works. As long as pollen can get from the anthers to stigma on the pistil (kind a looks like a little vase with a pointy end), then the magic happens. Many plants can’t self fertilize, but lucky for us lots of Aponogetons can.
  11. Daniel
    Not all of my fish are 'pining for the fjords' at the time my cats eat them. I don't run tops on my tanks and was always amazed at how few jumpers I noticed. But then there was that time that my jungle val turned in a jumper And it was then I connected the dots. But to answer your question, no internal parasite transmission from fish to cat that I am aware of. My cats (all indoor cats) manage to eat skinks, honey bees, crickets, green beans, garlic and plastic wrap. I have been especially concerned about the garlic and the plastic wrap, but it is possible the cats were self medicating against the internal parasites as it seems to have worked.
  12. Daniel
    @Taylor Yes, could have been FOPS (forum over posting syndrome). You know it is time to go outside once in while when you have worn all the lettering off of your keyboard. My wife has mentioned an intervention and some sort rehab. So if you don't hear from me during the 2nd week of October...
  13. Daniel
    @Taylor, not strange at all! In yesterday's episode of 'Care Forum Investigates'. I experienced the same leak from the top rim of a "10" gallon aquarium. As the water reached under the top rim, capillary action caused the aquarium to leak slightly by going under then down the inside of the top rim. I notice the location of your leak is right under where the bubbles from your sponge filter reach the surface. My guess is that just little bit of water is wicking under the rim and then drizzling down the front.
  14. Daniel
    I love my hard-core German mechanical keyboard with the satisfying clickty-click as I type. Das Keyboard: Cherry MX Brown switches, high performance soft tacticle feedback, and best of all blank keycaps. My typing has gotten much, much better since I have been weaned away from depending on lettered keys on the keyboard.
  15. Daniel
    In the past my Aponogeton plants have flowered and produces fertile seeds. It was a slow but very effective manner of propagation.
  16. Daniel
    I get leeches in with my blackworms and seemingly tap water just seem to make leeches even stronger!
  17. Daniel
    In getting ready to formally install the 1930s Historically Accurate Planted Aquarium I am re-reading Innes' 'The Complete Aquarium Book' from the beginning. The first chapter is in on aquarium management and sounds a lot like what we do on this forum. We help people but try to do so tactfully. In July a few days after this Forum got off the ground one first posters with a 'stable tank' with 'normal water parameters' but dying fish mentioned: That's 91°F! Hopefully I was tactful when I suggested that the original poster might want to check their heater. There was never any update so we don't know what happened. Over the next few days I will review Innes' recommendations for aquarium dimensions and water changes and such and then I will get started with adding plants and fish.
  18. Daniel
    I feed them to my cats, sort of a pet recycling program.
  19. Daniel
    I like how obvious it is which one is your hospital tank 🙂
  20. Daniel
    I like the The Fish Room, both the one in North Raleigh and the one in Cary.
  21. Daniel
    One of the many questions @Cory gets is: How many... So, in today's inaugural episode of 'Care Forum Investigates', where average fish keepers of average intelligence attempt to solve simple problems, the question is… How many gallons of water can I put in a 10 gallon tank? I'm not the only one apparently. According to Google people have asked: Not having the fancy scientific equipment to answer the question 'How many gallons does a 10 gallon tank hold per hour?', in this episode we will confine ourselves to the 'how many gallons can I put' question. Equipment used: Non Affiliate Links Aqueon "10 gallon" aquarium: https://www.amazon.com/Aqueon-Aquarium-Fish-Tank-Size/dp/B01MRCNVSY/ref=asc_df_B01MRCNVSY/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=167116240456&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8960182847743316893&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9010107&hvtargid=pla-338193400514&psc=1 United Scientific Large Beaker: https://www.amazon.com/United-Scientific-BG1000-10000-Borosilicate-Capacity/dp/B007QO3RDA Medelco Small Beaker: https://www.fishersci.com/shop/products/pyrex-griffin-beakers-15/02540M The result after adding 37.85 liters of RO/DI tap water 25°C (but with no dechlorinator) is seen below: The aquarium began to leak at about 9.95 gallons apparently because of the lack of an unbroken seal along the top most part of the rim. Discussion: While technically possible to put 10 gallons of water in a 10 gallon aquarium, you may not be able to do so without a substantial leak. It is also possible that if we were to increase the total dissolved solids (TDS) by foregoing reverse osmosis water, that all the little solids in the water would plug the leak along the rim, thus allowing for the full 10 gallons of water. Next week on 'Care Forum Investigates': How many gallons of water can I put in a 20 gallon aquarium?
  22. Daniel
    Baby brine shrimp are the most democratic food. Not matter how pushy and aggressive the biggest, quickest fish are, with baby brine shrimp all have a chance to eat from the table. One of the reasons baby brine shrimp are so good for fry besides nutrition is that no fish can quickly gobble up the diffuse wiggly manna wafting through water. Like Lake Wobegone all baby fish are above average when it comes to feeding time with baby brine shrimp.
  23. Daniel
    770/85.5/9 4 out of my 9 tanks are 10 gallons (but the 1 big one skews the numbers).
  24. Daniel
    UV will help clear water. I used UV for a while and it helped. Eventually I pulled it out of the system and the aquarium achieved clarity on its own. If you have enough patience eventually water will clear. The killing/sterilizing of all microscopic life wasn't my goal either. If sterilization is your goal, achieving the correct flow rate is important and can be tricky to get it not too much and not too little.
  25. Daniel
    Hitting them with a big water change is not likely the answer. I would go with regular smaller water changes in an effort to have clean water and just stick to that. But on the other hand it probably wouldn't hurt to hit them with a big water change. The point is I don't think any of that really matters. I kept them in slightly acidic water with a temperature slightly above 80°F. But I don't think precise water parameters in terms of pH and temperature are critical either. I think anywhere between 6.6 and 7.4 will probably work just fine for pH. And any temperatures between 78°F and 83°F will work. As long as the water is clean, I think the most important ingredient is just a good diet. It's hard to go wrong with black worms, blood worms and brine shrimp. Variety in diet is always a good thing as is giving them a lot of protein. The fish will breed when you have a well-fed, healthy paired male and female who feel comfortable in their environment. That's the formula. Several hundred baby angelfish on an Amazon sword leaf being watched over by mom.
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