[Easy Flow sponge filter kit on stock tank pond.]

Have a 150 gallon stock tank pond outside with goldfish and floating plants. Had it running for a few years using two Aquarium Co-op large sponges for filtration. Has ran fine. Thought I’d get a couple of the Easy Flow kits to add to the sponge filters to see how well they worked. Just did a water change and clean up today so I added the Easy Flow tops to the filters. Had them set tall a couple inches under the surface and was surprised at the nice flow I’m getting. Probably just fine as they’re set right now. Will adjust if necessary but these really help to get more flow.

[Added more Cories to the tank. Now they're scaredy cats??]

I've had 7 Elegant Corydoras for a few months now. They always still hide when I approach. If I sit still a few of them might come out. I have Von RIo and Black Phantom tetras in the same tank that were added after the corys. Other corydoras I've had didn't seem shy at all. 

[Advice for moving tank]

With a 15 gallon tank I would think you could just take water down pretty low then hand carry it with two people. I had to temporarily move a couple of 29 gallon tanks a while back.  I took the water down low and used a hand truck that folds down into a little four wheel cart. Placed a small cabinet I had on the cart then pulled the tank onto it which was about the same height. Worked like a charm with two people. Just went slow and careful. 

[Critters eating fish from outside tubs.]

On 7/20/2021 at 6:17 PM, T. Payne said:

If plants were removed from the ponds, I doubt that any species of birds were the culprit.  That sounds like the work of a raccoon.

Stuff like frog bit and small parts of plants were out. Raccoons are rarely seen here but they are around.  

[Critters eating fish from outside tubs.]

On 7/20/2021 at 3:40 PM, Expectorating_Aubergine said:

I have scrub Jay's that learned how to catch fish from my smaller outdoor tubs. It only stopped when a cat took up residence by the tubs and ate one of their fledglings. 

We do have scrub jays around all the time here too. They are so smart. 

[First Co-op USB nano air pump fail.]

Had my first USB nano air pump from the Co-op fail after running for around two years straight. I have all my air running both inside and outside from these little wonders. I love them because they are totally silent and obviously reliable. Enough power to run to the bottom of my 150 gallon stock tank pond with ease. They are small and easy to move. At $10 each they are a no brainer for me. I just ordered a couple more. 

[Critters eating fish from outside tubs.]

On 7/20/2021 at 9:52 AM, Jungle Fan said:

I stopped setting up my deck ponds when I realized that herons in our area found that no snack was too small, or beneath them and that netting over tubs was no obstacle to them with their beaks. Herons I had to get up early to take pictures of and hike to see in the park, some of which were very elusive among them green herons, black crowned night herons, and great blue herons would come to my backyard for a quick snack and go. Had I been willing to offer up my precious finned friends as bait I could've saved myself a lot of mosquito bites and hiking, alas I'm not in a habit of selling out friends so the deck ponds disappeared, and off to the park I go. 

I did think the medaka would be too small for critters to bother with. I guess no snack too small is right! Haha! I guess the birds hunt tiny fish in the wild too and these were like an easy access buffet for them. Think I’ll make a cover for this tub too. Something I can easily take off when I want to look at them. I did discover one adult survived the slaughter too. Have to grow out all those fry now which us fine. 

[Critters eating fish from outside tubs.]

I was asleep early this morning. My dog was very restless and woke me up wanting to go out which is unlike her unless she thinks something is outside. So I let her out and found something had gotten into my medaka rice fish tub. My dog must have heard the critter at the tub. The 8 or so adult medaka were gone. Some plants were on the ground still pretty wet. Luckily there are still a bunch of fry. They’ve only been outside for a month or so. Last fall/winter I lost a couple goldfish from a 150 gal stock tank pond too after the plants had died back. I made a wire cover for that to use until spring and cover plants for them to hide come back. I’m thinking it’s been cranes or egrets. A neighbor had the same problem with birds. Could be raccoons but they are fairly rare around here or maybe cats. Anyone else deal with this issue?

[Favorite Tank Size]

I have 29, 10, and 9 cube inside. 150 and 20 tubs outside. I like my 29’s but I wouldn’t want anything deeper. The two 29’s I have are well established and on point now. I think 40 breeder is a great size. 30 longs look cool too.  Love my outside tubs. 

[Failed heater almost cooked my fish]

14 hours ago, quikv6 said:

Just curious....was it the newer Aqueon Pro (The one w/ the light in the top adjustment knob), or the older model which has the light on the body of the heater and the blue knob?

I ask because I am using both currently, and absolutely hate the newer model ones. They fluctuate way too much for my liking, and the calibration is way off. The older ones seem far better quality.

It was a newer one with the light on top that failed. I have an couple of older ones too with the blue knob on top that have been running longer. I like the lights better on the older one too.

[Failed heater almost cooked my fish]

Noticed one if my tanks was a few of degrees higher than usual a couple of days ago. Didn’t think that much of it as it’s warming up around here but we haven’t used the AC yet. Usually keep tanks 76-78. Went to do water changes today and as soon as I touched the water I knew that same tank was way high. It was 93. Pulled heater out right away and it was very warm. Got temp down with slow water changes to about 83. Leaving lid off and turned the overhead fan on to cool the rest if the way.  Fish seem ok. Guppies, lamb chop rasboras, and plecos. It was an Aqueon Pro 150 watt heater about two years old. Glad I caught it in time. Threw a 50 watt heater I had in there for now until I get another one. 

[Medaka fry]

3 hours ago, wendypizza said:

Congrats! Are you planning to keep them in a breeder box or let them roam the tank freely?

I have them is a separate 10 gallon where they hatched from a spawning mop. 

[Medaka fry]

Spotted my first red cap medaka fry today in my indoor tanks. So tiny! I want to breed some over the colder months and get them into outdoor tubs come spring.

[No Power - a test of my UPS system]

I do love the tool chests as tank stands. Nice way to organize all your aquarium stuff. 

[What did you get done today?]

Did some water changes where they were due. Thinned out rocks and plants in one tank. Thinking if getting more Easy Planters for it too. Been liking tanks without so much stuff in them lately. So that tank got a good gravel vac too. Been waiting for my young red cap medaka to breed. Saw one carrying eggs once and that was it. No fry yet. Left guppy grass in their tank for two weeks and just moved the grass over to another empty tank for eggs to hatch. Put fresh grass in the medaka tank. This is how youtuber Fish Boy has had great success with them. My new this year outdoor stock tank goldfish pond is started to get cooler. Seeing if the water lettuce in it will make it through our relatively mild winter. 

[Easy Planters]

14 hours ago, siniardem said:

That driftwood is amazing!

I love that piece of manzanita too. It was from a local guy on ebay.

[Easy Planters]

1 hour ago, Steph’s Fish and Plants said:

For those using the easy planters, are you keeping the plants in their rock wool? I was wondering if you do or would swap it with something like eco complete? Or is something like that even possible?

I just kept mine in the rock wool making sure any rhizome plants don't have their rhizome buried in it. I was thinking of putting plants I already had in them too with substrate and a pot. I think they'll be fine either way. To me the rock wool is a little unsightly so you could put a little substrate on top of it too I suppose to make it look better. 

[Easy Planters]

Noticed the Easy Planters for a while in coop videos. Ordered some as soon I saw they were on the website and got them in my guppy tank today. I like how easy they are and the way they look. 

[Snail removal]

I like to have some snails. Nerites are my favorite because they won't reproduce. The bladder snails I have aren't too bad. But the rams horn and MTS in my tanks are crazy over populated and breed so fast. I cut back on feeding and have been plucking them by hand.

[Don’t you hate it when . . .]

. . . you drop almost a full bottle of krill flake on the carpeted floor. 

Saved some of it with a few bonus dog hairs.

[Rice, rice, baby!]

Do you have then in the same tank as the adults or separate them? I saw my first medaka carrying eggs last week. 
 

[API liquid test kits]

I use the Tetra EasyStrips 6 in 1 all the time. I’ve tested them against the API master kit a few times and they are always very close if not the same results for me. If I get any reading that’s much out of the norm on the test strips I’ll do a API master test too using their exact instructions for conformation. This way works for me and I love the convenience of the test strips.  

[What did you get done today?]

Got some overdue water changes done Thursday as I had hurt my back and still 5 gallon bucket it. So that delayed them a week. Discovered one of my new red cap medaka carrying eggs for the first time which was cool. We had the grandkids stay over last night and discovered the 7 year old boy in the fish room sitting in front if the tanks watching the fish. It’s the most interest he’s showed in them other than feeding the goldfish pond. So that made me very happy. Other than that just enjoying my tanks and thinking about future fish stuff.  

[Will gold fish eat guppy grass?]

I have gold fish in an outdoor stock tank pond. They have plenty of floating plants in with them and they love to munch the duckweed to the point were it doesn’t grow fast enough to keep up. I do grow it in a separate container too. I had an abundance of guppy grass in my other tanks so I threw some in the gold fish pond. Just wanted to see if they would eat it too. Any one have gold fish eat it before?

[Interesting things found in your aquarium]

I collected some plants from our local waterways for my 150 gallon gold fish stock tank pond.  Hyacinth, frog bit, and duckweed. After a week or two I noticed some little fish in the pond. Thought they were maybe mosquito fish that had hitchhiked in with the plants as eggs or fry. As they got bigger I could tell they were common carp. There ended up being six if them.