[Plants that consume heavy amounts of Nitrates?]

Duckweed, but you’ll never get rid of it 😂

[Checking in from Michigan!]

1 hour ago, Alison said:

I remember going there when I was in college. Now I'm back in the gr area and my main lfs is water colors aquarium gallery and I also make the trek out to blue fish as well. I prefer water colors for livestock since they quarentine everything they bring in, blue fish is awesome for hardscape materials.

I’m going to have to check this out!

[Greetings from England]

Welcome Penny! I started fish keeping just this year, fell in love with planted tanks, shrimp, snails, and Bettas. You can quickly develop an obsession... and COVID didn’t help. I find myself buying new tanks quite often! 
 

This is a great place to get started, I’ve learned so much from Aquarium Co-Op and others on YouTube. 
 

Hope to visit England someday, another one of my hobbies is a fascination with European Monarchy!

[hello from Michigan]

Welcome Fellow Michigander!

[Checking in from Michigan!]

Agreed! Great store but they are at limited capacity and extra precautions due to COVID. Amazing store though.

[Stuff you bought and recommend (not fish related)]

6 hours ago, StephenP2003 said:

I came across an issue with my smart plugs (not the Kasa ones) and the Google Nest Wifi. My smart plugs only use 2.4ghz band, and the Smart Life app wants my phone on the 2.4GHz band in order to set up the plugs for the first time. Since the Google Nest system does not allow unique SSIDs, it's always going to keep me on the connection with the most bandwidth (5Ghz, unless I walk far enough down the driveway, across the street, etc. away from the router). I know Google's goal here is to make a smarter router that handles more behind the scenes, but I would definitely appreciate an "advanced mode" to let me separate the bands or temporarily disable 5ghz.

Do the Kasas support 5ghz, or at least have an app smart enough to bypass this issue?

According to Kasa the KC200 & KC120 support 5GHz bands... all other of their devices only support 2.4GHz which makes sense considering 2.4GHz has better distance over 5GHz and smart plugs and other similar devices don’t need the performance 5GHz offers. I use eero pro mesh WiFi and haven’t had any issues with connecting to Kasa. As far as Google WiFi, the issue you described (plus others) is why I jumped ship sadly.

[Stuff you bought and recommend (not fish related)]

On 10/2/2020 at 12:00 AM, Tetra Guy said:

Nest thermostat. Im not ordinarily a tech fan, but this thing is a massive improvement over everything that i had before (and Im old enough to remember the low tech thermostats that contained a little capsule of mercury). The Nest is intuitive to use, can be operated remotely via a phone app, can measure and control temperatures in different rooms / floors via remote sensors, etc.  DIY install was very easy, tech support for the install was outstanding. Worth every penny! 🙂

Love Nest products! When we moved to our new home I purchased their thermostat, protects (smoke alarms), and 4 outdoor cameras. All are still working great, cameras are a huge relief with 24/7 recording and have been through -40 to 100 degrees here in Michigan! Highly recommend Nest to anyone.

[How to get rid of snails]

Not sure if the situation calls for this yet but Assassin snail?

[Power vacuum recommendations?]

Has anyone used the Fluval Gravel Vac? I saw it in a Petco the other day.

[Checking in from Michigan!]

On 8/20/2020 at 5:07 AM, ForestJenn said:

Ooh, what makes them great for betta tanks?  We're playing with the idea of setting up a shrimp tank or adding them to existing tanks.  Just starting to get serious about the research though.

They are super flat to the glass so if your betta is a aggressive it is very hard for them to get to the snail itself. My betta didn’t like the Nerite snail we had in there but the limpet snail he acts like it’s not even there. So sorry for the long delay!

[Checking in from Michigan!]

Hey everyone, my names Josh and I’ve only been in the hobby since January 2020... right before COVID hit; which since COVID I now suffer from MTS (multi-tank syndrome).

I actually got into the hobby from seeing a really cool “blood shrimp” in a LFS (Preuss Pets, highly recommend you check them out in Lansing, MI if you are ever in Michigan).

Anyway, I scoured the the Internet and realized saltwater wasn’t what I wanted to get into, but then I found my love for neocardina shrimp and snails! I absolutely love keeping them, I have a few snail varieties: Mystery, Nerite (various), Devil Spike, Porcelain (great for betta tanks I’ve learned). I am starting to keep some fish, some bettas, a couple Koi Swordtail females... a lot has happened in 8 months!! 

I’m extremely greatful to have stumbled upon Aquairum Co-op’s content, along with many other YouTubers, it has really made entering the aquarium hobby easy, fun, and created a community of support. THANK YOU!