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Daniel

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Everything posted by Daniel

  1. Daniel
    Totally agree with @Aubrey. New posts bring out new ideas. Even if we talked about the topic in July, if it was interesting then, it is interesting now. Plus the mix of people and personalities changes day to day and month to month. For me I use search for the same reason I used to use a card catalog to find books in a library, it gets me to the information I am looking for more quickly. Anyway, if there weren't new post all the time whatever would we do for a social life?🙂
  2. Daniel
    @Will Billy Luckily for me I don't have to worry about whether I seem like I am a know it all. The answer is...yes!!! But we all know nobody knows it all. Just because somebody sounds like they know what they are talking about doesn't mean they do (especially me). I have given incorrect information more than once on this forum. For example in a recent post about snails mating I jumped in and said: Sounds like I know what I am talking about, right? Wrong! @Sapere_Ceta nicely, and gently gave the correct answer: The lesson I learned is to be careful repeating something you read somewhere as truth. Especially about something you haven't done personally. I have never had mystery snails or read up on them. I think I watched a PBS video on snails mating and was parroting that info. But one of the beauties of this forum is for every @Daniel who gets his facts jumbled up a bit, there is a @Sapere_Ceta to gently get the discussion back on track. Does anyone remember the old SNL skit with Dan Akroyd and Jane Curtain as debate partners where Jane would give a thoughtful answer to a question and then Dan would then turns to her and say 'Jane you ignorant &$@(...' That's not how we do it on this forum. I guess this is a very long way of saying don't worry or be shy or self-conscious about posting, but if possible speak from personal experience. It is hard to go wrong from there!
  3. Daniel
    @Lizzie Block has a good post on this: This post is in the 'How to Use the Forum - Tutorials and Guides' thread she started which is pinned to the top of 'Introductions & Greetings'. Lots of super useful stuff in there!
  4. Daniel
    Of course, it is expensive, but I tested several clip on types and was unsatisfied. The Moment lens brought satisfaction. Biggest downside is also its biggest upside. You cannot use the lens without the Moment case. That is part of the reason the starter kit cost $110. But this is also why is works so well.
  5. Daniel
    In a recent discussion with @Brandy we both noticed that the 'Search' sometimes doesn't return a result. Brandy said: Maybe this there is room for improvement with the 'Search' feature, maybe not, but you never know until you ask. If there are other suggestions for making the forum more useful please reply to this thread with your suggestions.
  6. Daniel
    Not necessarily, depending on your tastes you might really like it when your Vallisneria does this: I personally like that look. But if you don't like the look, you can trim your Vallisneria to look the way you want, just realize that you have ended the growth on that particular leaf.
  7. Daniel
    I use Black Diamond Blasting Sand in some of my aquariums. The Black Diamond Blasting Sand seems to be one of the most popular black sand type substrates used in aquariums. As pointed out by @Larrimore with tax the 50 lb bag that I purchased from my local Tractor Supply was $10.66 which certainly made it popular with me. As @CT_ points out I made sure the front of the bag indicated it was 'Coal slag'. I looked it up on the U.S. Minerals website's FAQ and got this description: What is coal slag? This stuff is boiler slag, which is a recycled product from coal burning plants. When coal is “fired” at over 2500 degrees it melts and produces a by-product called slag. When the slag is cooled through a process called vitrification, it crystallizes, forming sharp, angular granules in a variety of sizes. We reclaim this slag and put it through several screen processes to remove dust and unburnt coal, and then size the remaining crystals into five different “grit” categories. There was also a Safety Data Sheet which listed its composition: I thought to myself, is this stuff safe? But it was almost like U.S. Minerals read my mind because one of the next FAQs was: Is it safe? You’re darn right it is. It’s a recycled product, for starters—and it meets drinking water standards. Black Diamond Granules have been tested and not linked to any disease, including Silicosis. That’s because Black Diamond Granules contain less than 0.1% free silica and are low dusting and chemically inert. And if you’re worried about berylium, don’t sweat it. While our slag does contain trace amounts, an independent lab says we’d need to have 1,000 times more before we’d have to report. So rest easy. Fortunately, I learned, I don't have to sweat the berylium! I think they meant beryllium. I didn't rinse my BDBS and didn't have issues with cloudiness. Here is a picture of the aquarium on the first day.
  8. Daniel
    I would be surprised if the white algae were indeed an algae. Almost all plants (which includes algae) are green, purple, red or brown. This is because without the color pigments that are used for photosynthesis, the plants and algae would starve to death.
  9. Daniel
    I always liked this look (from my discus tank): It's just green hair algae, but it was my favorite aquarium plant in the tank.
  10. Daniel
    When giving advice in a post it can be helpful to explain the thinking behind the advice you are giving and your personal experience that leads you to feeling confident about the specific advice your are giving. I'll give an example. The original post reads something like this: Help! I think my fish have fungus, what should I do?? The next forum member giving advice says: 'Treat with salt' What is missing in the answer is quite a bit. Why salt? What does salt do to a fungus? Is there any situation that salt would not be appropriate? Have you personally had a fish with a fungal infection that you treated with salt, and if so, what were these results? Maybe something like this would be even more helpful: 'One common treatment for fungus is to use aquarium salt. My Serpae tetra recently had a fungal infection and I treated with salt. I left the salt in the water until the fungus cleared up (which was about a week). After that I did a water change. If the fungus had come back, I would have dosed with salt again at a higher concentration for an additional week. Salt works by dehydrating the fungus, which kills the fungus (but not the fish). Do you have plants in your aquarium? If so you need to know that plants are sensitive to salt so you might need to move your fish to a quarantine tank if you intend to treat with salt.' Not every post has to be this detailed, but the additional information can be very helpful and educational, which is one of the prime reasons we are all here.
  11. Daniel
    Yes. Some plants grow from a crown or a rhizome like crypts, but Vallisneria grows from the tip of its leaves. If you cut the tip of Vals leaves, that leaf will no longer be able to grow and might even die over time. Anything that damages the tip of Vallisneria leaves can have the same effect.
  12. Daniel

    parasite

    Daniel replied to Gina L's topic in Diseases

    If the white spots were about the size of a grain of salt, then it is very possibly ich. In ich's life cycle, the ich attaches to the fish and then drops off and multiplies and then comes back stronger. If I thought it was possibly ich, I would go ahead and treat for ich using a product like Ich-X.
  13. Daniel
  14. Daniel
    One thread or two, either sounds okay. What caught my attention was the tag search not working as tag searching on this forum is one my pet projects. Did you search on the tag . Anything that doesn't work well when using the tags is something I would be interested in.
  15. Daniel
    You should leave the extra roots as they still help provide much needed nutrients to the plants.
  16. Daniel
    I echo what @Streetwise says above. I don't worry about nitrites and nitrates because the plants will consumes those as soon as they are produced. But, you'll notice that in both tanks I keep the stocking load low. Having a filter allow you to crowd more fish into your aquarium, but with a low stocking level and plants, you will do just fine without one. If you go without a filter, strongly consider an airstone to help increase oxygen levels and also help circulate the water in the tank.
  17. Daniel
    Some water sprite and some very pretty looking green hair algae. In the previous incarnation I had gone overboard with plants. So after I got bored and changed up the tank I went hardscape only. I was skeptical at first that I would like it, but it turned out it looked okay. You never know until you try.. The overplanted version also had no filter.
  18. Daniel
    The majority of my aquariums run without any filters. A couple of my favorites are: The 1930s aquarium (no lights, no filter, no heater): My livingroom aquarium has a heater (because of discus) but no filtration: Both tanks are very low maintenance.
  19. Daniel
    That so cool!
  20. Daniel
    I am not sure how many Aqueon tanks I have had over time, but it is at least many dozens and I have never had one leak. And I think the fact the Cory spends his own hard earned cash on Aqueon tanks is a reasonably good endorsement.
  21. Daniel
    Isn't reptoguard some sort of medication?
  22. Daniel
    I understand what @OceanTruth is saying but as @Will Billy points out above there really are 3 species of Corydoras all rightfully referred to as 'Pygmy Corydoras'. Here is a good article on the 3 different species: https://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/features/the-littlest-hobos/ Both photos that @Tomhas posted look like pygmy Corydoras to me. The first being Corydoras pygmaeus in first photo and Corydoras habrosus in the second photo. It gets worse. There are actually even 3 additional species of 'pygmy Corydoras', Corydoras cochui, Corydoras multimaculatus and Corydoras piragua, but these are rarely imported. It is kind of like when I was growing up in the South any carbonated soft drink was referred to a 'Coke'. As in this kind of conversation. Me: You want a Coke? You: Yes. Me: What kind can I get you?
  23. Daniel
    I agree with @MDoc on the Vallisneria for the thin and Anubias for the broad leaves. Another possible id for the thin leaved plant could be Sagittaria, as it too has long thin leaves.
  24. Daniel
    @WhitecloudDynasty has shared their experience with breeding rainbow shiners earlier in this thread:
  25. Daniel
    The second one is definitely cyclops (you can see the egg sacs).
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