Biotope Biologist

I think I might! I have come to really enjoy Nate Bargatze (hope I spelled his last name right). Dry sense of humor with good comedic timing relatively new to the scene. Most of his bits appeared on one of the Jimmy late night shows where I think his humor was lost on the crowd. But he does have a Netflix special.

Oooh boy I haven’t posted in this journal in a minute… I became very bored of the way it looked and soooo I gave them a little upgrade! The background is goodstuff black on a styrofoam board. I blacked out the 2 walls with black silicone and gave them a broken tree to climb in. I will also be buying spores of random tropical ferns, mosses, and liverworts to spray on the background to give it more depth and hold moisture. Silver devil pothos was taken out and repotted, polka dot plant perished to neglect and I moved some baby tears in as well as this vine propagation I started off my mother vine. Getting better at this whole green thumb thing.

Good luck! Plants can definitely help!

You’ll want something like this: https://www.heatingelementsplus.com/5-w-ft-240v-self-reg-heating-cable-tpe-overjacket.html?gclid=Cj0KCQjwmouZBhDSARIsALYcouqprkFS1egHSVJrfPQW0DxRxbtEE3LOjIXwfmq7V7zwtV_QmPvoc0oaAmGVEALw_wcB be sure to max out at 5-10w it’s just enough heat to establish convection, not to boil your fish. These heat cables are often used in pool piping in the north to keep the water from freezing. They used to make this stuff for aquariums I thought but perhaps I dreamt it… itll go away it just takes time. It is unsightly though. Turns your sand into spoiled milk look 🤢

Yes I agree with @Guppysnail. Buying a decent heat mat with a separate temp controller is ideal. I always provide my herps with 3-4 temperature controlled zones in their enclosure as reptiles rely on external Sources for thermo regulation. Although I have to give a bad review to the Zoomed digital rheostat. I decided to splurge and it had 3 independently controlled outlets. Well the one for the basking sun uv bulb burnt out and it cooked my enclosure very quickly. Literally. I was lucky enough to have been taking my beardie out for a beach day when it happened. A infrared thermometer will quickly become your best friend to spot check temps!

I have read that ostracods can pass through a fishes digestive system completely unharmed. Thus that may be the reason fish tend to avoid them But I third the ostracods ID

Yup I’ve seen this before. In my experience it only happens with finer sands thus I tend to avoid them all together. The only solution I have that will work long term is burying heater coil under the sand. It will create a convection current which will keep your sand bed moving and the algae won’t have the photoperiod they need to establish.

I freeze portions in water and put them in shot glasses I no longer use for alcohol, then store them in the freezer. I tell whomever to feed one portion every other day. keep the portions small and ice cubes slowly disperse food across the tank so it’s easy. If you have live critters in the tank too it teaches your fish to forage and not rely on you for food.

Everyone is doing great have a little cyano bacteria bloom i will take care of, but otherwise the algae has matured and the bellies are fat. Just wanted to share a before/after of the maidenhair fern as it’s getting ready to spore. Before: After:

Go up the beach to find dry driftwood. Waterlogged wood will take months to cure. But yes I would soak waterlogged ones in a freshwater bath

Yes you can just make sure there aren’t signs for collecting and you’re good to go! also avoid state parks they usually have strict no collection rules. The ocean shores are some of the best places to find weird driftwood pieces.

125 would be your best bet just make sure you have an over abundance of caves and feed in multiple locations so as to minimize disputes. Pleco disputes usually are just flairing and sizing eachother up I’ve never seen them actually inflict damage

1)Oarfish, I have a tattoo of it on my left bicep 2.) Shortbelly rockfish. Grabbing one is like reaching into a bag of hypodermic needles 3.)@Cory 😋 4) Probably Tolarian Community College… I am a run-of-the-mill nerd 5.) all of it 6.) greenland shark 7) I crashed an ATV off the side of a cliff in Montana. Somehow escaped with a bruised ankle 8.) new zealand 9) both 10) insufferable, blonde, passionate 11) both 12) currently “all my friends” by knocked loose (hardcore advisory) 13) fish death, it’s just heartbreaking 14) Right now, gilmore girls (1st time watcher) 15) heights 16) marine biology still am a student 17) I’ve kept all sorts anubias, amazon swords, mosses, lotus, anachris, aponogeton, etc etc 18) love all walks of life 19) my green thumb is getting better. Currently growing 3 indoor trees, no mangroves yet though 20) the people 21) I moved my fish into my amazon biotope before it was ready and they all died. I put too much pressure on myself and lost fishy friends I raised from fry. Left the hobby for a long time after. It taught me patience 22) Yes 23) otter 24) Either a 3500 gallon Amazon biotope in the middle of my living room or an outdoor pool where I can swim with my pet fish 25) Mr Goodbar 26) Ew books! Huck Finn 27) Ski, rockclimb, MTG, your typical Seattleite really

I’d just turkey baster out food and poop and skip the large water changes. But as for plants that soak nitrates: lucky bamboo duckweed or frogbit sedge (dwarf species) bettas are a great first ‘first’ fish for youngins since they are a bit more interactive battery powered USB air stone might be good to have too attached to a nano sponge filter

What an interesting concept. I’d be willing to be interviewed who doesn’t love to talk about themselves 😋

@FishPlanet what inspired this I’m curious? what a fun thread!

Have you tested the rainwater? It may not be a rainwater issue and could be a crashed cycle. How big of water changes do you do and what’s your schedule? The other thing I’m noticing is your ceramic rings are not brown. They should be brown after 8 months. Are you cleaning them? If you do rinse mulm off them you should only use tank water as tap or rainwater could harm or kill your bacteria

They know what’s bad and what’s not and will spit it back up. Although I leave frozen foods in for a day and the fish pick at it as they feel hungry.

This is what we commonly use although it’s usually lined with a plastic liner and separated per fish so they can’t move. It might also be good to drug them the less respiration the better.

What fish are you keeping? 6.5-6.8 is a fine pH. Also it’s all the same stuff so just get the cheapest and toss it in. Once the pH, Kh, and gh has stabilized the coral will drastically slow down in it’s dissolve rate. personally I just toss in a wonder shell every few months to provide calcium carbonate for my snail friends.

I would not recommend aragonite sand for the above listed fish. If inert sand (will not change water chemistry) is what you are after it can be had for cheap at garden supply stores or home depot. There is nothing cheaper than organic soil which many aquarists here use for their planted tanks. It is called a “Walstad tank” and there are many articles on it. You can cap it with play sand so as to not cloud the water.

Styrofoam should be safe but it is unsightly. Most use acrylic rings which can easily be found at craft stores or plastic specialty stores just be aware some styrofoam is coated with chemicals that can leech into the aquarium. But typically crafting styrofoam is not coated with these materials.

Thanks for the tag @Guppysnail! Right now I have been busy getting ready to move (finally!) and doing research for some new additions to the fishroom! First, the creek biotope is getting upgraded to a stream! The gobies, loaches, and WCMs will be moving to a 50 gallon low boy after I move. I have moved fish tanks before and a partial transfer seems much easier even though I’m only moving 1.5 hours south. I will be upgrading the canister to a sump and upgrading the light to a kessil. For the 12g bookshelf I might keep it and do a nano blackwater tank with some anchor cats, cories, and rarer tetra. But still undecided as my SO has been infected with the fish itch and wants a betta we are keen on the 8 gallon bowfront. Thats all the news I got going on enjoy some old photos of “a face only a mother could love” gobies. Also I will tag @dasaltemelosguy

I do not have the issue you do as I live on the west coast and driftwood is plentiful. However, I refuse to buy wood unless it is unique. I gather mine all, wild caught. Boil them or bake them and you can kill most things. Bleach or salt treatment will do the rest. For getting it to be waterlogged I have a large tub outside that I fill with water and put the log in with a bunch of rocks piled on top. Takes a few weeks to truly be waterlogged. Some woods have taken a year+ just depends. Just make sure if you do collect you aren’t disturbing the habitat too much

If they are anything like marine snails their shells are formed within the first 18 days of being hatched. Mom likely is best protection against attacks, although not in this case. They devote alot of resources to this process, think molting but in reverse for arthropods. There are some cool pics of larval moon snails online: sorry about your baby though 😔