[Need to go out of town]

Hobbit's pill box idea is great. We have 1 that's a row of 7 boxes. There may be multi-week ones. Each tank could have a system like that, sitting on the lid perhaps. However you do it, I suggest writing the day of the week, date, and specific tank on each portion of food. 

[Hello from South Bend, IN]

Welcome! 

I just googled "N. Multifasciatus." Those are cute! 

[Art and Oddballs]

@H.K.Luterman I love Pooka's stink eye, and the young acara's pout. Looks like you just took away his phone. 

[Neocaridina Davidi hardiness]

I'm planning to try shrimp for the first time, and have decided that cherry shrimp will be the hardiest kind for my water.

I see that they come in other colors besides the common red, and I'm not finding any info on whether color affects hardiness. Anybody know?

[Hey. so i just got two new 5 gallon tanks for my male bettas. how to i cycle them?]

3 minutes ago, Alicia said:

ok, so wait for this fish? and wait for nitrite to be zero and nitrate is present. how much should the nitrate read? 

Yeah, the only ammonia and nitrite levels that are definitely safe for fish is zero.

Nitrate can be anything from 1-40. That's evidence that bacteria is "eating" nitrite (ie making it go away). But heads-up that nitrate higher than 40 can be dangerous. 

[Aquarium Memes]

2 hours ago, Travis said:

Some of my snails ☝️

 

[Hey. so i just got two new 5 gallon tanks for my male bettas. how to i cycle them?]

30 minutes ago, Patrick_G said:

You should be able to add them right away. You should see Nitrates but no Ammonia a few days later. 
 

More experienced fishkeepers: Does this sound right? 

I'd say to hold off on putting fish in until *after* ammonia reads zero. And nitrite is zero, and nitrate is present. While you wait for those 3 numbers to be right, drop a smidge of fish food in every day so the bacteria has something to eat. It has to "eat" for the cycle to happen.

But with using your old bacteria-covered stuff to help this get started, don't worry about it taking forever. You probably won't have to wait long before your numbers are right. 

[Hey y’all from Atlanta, GA!]

Awful about the hurricane, but welcome back! 

Your tanks look really good - even upside down. 

[Hey. so i just got two new 5 gallon tanks for my male bettas. how to i cycle them?]

2 hours ago, Alicia said:

Thank you for all the help. see the thing is that i just moved to my new house so i have the old tanks with some gravel at the bottom with water plus two plants that used to be in each tank. so i dont have a established tank to put the new sponge filters in. so from reading everything is this what i should do? put the old gravel and old filter cartridges in a mesh bag and let them sit in the tank for a few days WITH the planted substrate along side a couple of the old plants plus some new ones? lastly where can i buy those mesh bags? at a petco or petsmart?

If I understand you right, then yes. You set up the new tanks as best you can - substrate and plants in, and the filter ready to run. 

When you do that, use water that's been treated so it won't have chlorine or chloramine in it.

Then along with all your new and permanent items, you also add the old bacteria-covered stuff. Then turn your filter on. Some of the bacteria will move off the old stuff onto your permanent items. 

I don't know about where to buy bags, but I do know that the foot of pantyhose works! 

[Show me your livebearers tanks!]

@anewbie Sorry to hear about your fish and plants. Such a bummer. 

The color of your swordtails is impressively vibrant, and I love the gumption of that pleco. 

[Hi from Ireland!]

@Alan, you underestimate how well it would compare to my horrendous accent. lol 

[Hi from Ireland!]

Welcome! Those discus look like jewels - so pretty! 

(P.S. Too bad we can't hear your accent through written words. 😍 Yeah I know, not the topic of the forum. 😂)

[Leaking Tank Disaster]

Oh that's awful. I'm so sorry - but so glad you were able to save the fish. 

I understand your fear about the 190. I even recently posted a thread regarding my anxiety about tanks leaking.

For the future: If you do decide to fill the 190, maybe try what I'm currently doing with my new 55? I added a few inches of water per day, checking every day for leaks. Now I have it completely full, and I'm going to watch it for a whole week before I do anything else with it. 

I've also decided I'll never replace this new one, regardless of how long it lasts. All future tanks will be smaller. I'm even looking into ordering a custom-made acrylic tank with super-thick panels, just so I have a tank that can't possibly break or leak. 

I guess my point is that I understand. 

[Hello from central California!]

Sounds fun! I'm glad you're finally able to get going with it. Welcome.

[Tank inhabitants living in electric current for months.]

And it is now clear that I have no idea how electricity works. Come again?

[Tank inhabitants living in electric current for months.]

I have a 5 gallon with an in-tank filter. I was working on the tank today, and each time I touched the surface, it felt like the static zap you get when you touch a door knob in winter. After unplugging the filter and heater, one at a time, I realized the filter was letting a bit of electric current into the water. 

So it's in the trash, and a nano HOB has been ordered. 

But how are the inhabitants okay? The inhabitants are an African Dwarf Frog, a few endlers, and baby snails. All seem completely fine. Thinking back, I'm pretty sure I've felt that zap several times over multiple months, and never thought about it. 

I'm surprised. Have you ever heard of animals living in a low electric current and not having ill effects?

(Edit: I stuck a little air tube in, so they do have oxygenation until the HOB arrives.)

[Crazy hard water - Use it or remineralize? (planted tank)]

My GH is 10-11, though KH is just 6. Plants that are doing well are vallisneria, watersprite, hornwort, duckweed, and pothos (just the roots in the water.) If you do have an algae bomb, I hear fast-growing plants slow it. And ramshorns will clean flat algae off hard surfaces in approximately 3 seconds. 

For what it's worth, with my GH and KH, and a pH near 7.9, endlers seem to be doing very well. Just mentioning that since you'll have a 5 gallon.

[Apistogrammas + ?? in a 30g]

No info to share. Just wanted to say the borelli and diamonds are both absolutely gorgeous! 

[How do you know if a platform/floor is suitable for a tank]

4 minutes ago, lefty o said:

find a 200 pound+ person to sit on the counter and wiggle around. if it sags, groans, creaks or does anything a counter shouldnt, dont put a tank on it.

Bingo. My spouse and I have sat on surfaces several times, doing the "try to make it break" thing, and jumped up and down on floors trying to find any soft spots. As long as you don't video this nonsense, it's a good method. 😂

Edit: Also look under the counter to find the weight-bearing boards or panels. Sometimes just looking will make you able to intuit what it can handle.

[Empty Tank Syndrome! 😢]

1 hour ago, Kirsten said:

I'd recommend some fast reproducing snails like ramshorns or malaysian trumpet snails, which can survive almost anywhere there's waste or algae, produce some themselves, and can help feed the beneficial bacteria as the final stage emerges to turn nitrite into nitrate.

I'll add that ramshorns come in a variety of colors, and plow through algae on glass like they're on riding lawnmowers.

Malaysian trumpet snails have the perk of being almost impossible to kill, and can dig down through gravel instead of just cleaning what's on top. They also have a trunk like an elephant.

The only other species I have is bladder snails. I can't say anything about their usefulness since I just got them, but they look like they have gold glitter on their backs, and that's pretty nifty. 

Because mystery snails look so temptingly cool, I'll add that I've often heard they poo more than they eat. 😂 It's the only reason I don't have one... yet.

[Empty Tank Syndrome! 😢]

4 hours ago, Apple Cory said:

I had thought about that! But my closest, well trusted, aquarium supplier is 90 minutes away!

Ugh. In that case, a different idea.

Maybe when you do get fish or other animals, you could get species that will reproduce themselves. That way you wouldn't need to return to the store as often. That's what I'm trying to do.

Maybe livebearers that will eat most - but not all - of their fry. Maybe shrimp that reproduce easily, but the fish species could be something that will eat some. A lot of snails breed very easily, and their populations can be kept in check simply by feeding less. Surely there are more ideas for a continuous supply - that's just what I've landed on. 

Edit to add: Some species of livebearers will cross-breed with each other. The fry are often sterile, but seeing how the crossed fry look would add a little excitement.

[Empty Tank Syndrome! 😢]

Fish Folk's advice is good. 

I have a less-than-optimal suggestion to add. When you're confident you've got it cycled and safe, consider just adding one hardy critter first to be the "canary in the coal mine," and observe it for a couple weeks. My thinking is simply that it'd be less-bad to have an oops with one animal than with multiple. Not saying you should - just an idea. 

[Hello.]

At any age, it would've been so good for me to have a tank at school. It's great that you did that. 🙂 

Welcome.

[Several General Tubbing Questions]

Online, I found what appeared to be half-decent "fountains" advertised as being for bird baths. Some floated, with the solar panels on the floating pad. Others had a solar panel on a stake you could drive in the ground, with a cord leading to the pump that would need submerged a few inches underwater. Almost everything I looked at had reviews claiming that they didn't work without the panel being directed straight at the mid-day sun. I'm guessing a little water movement is better than no water movement though. The more expensive ones included a battery that would charge in the sun, and keep the water flowing a bit after sunset. 

Personally, I ended up deciding to put it in shade, and load the surface with hornwort to put oxygen in the water. (But I haven't actually done it yet.)

[Tank Leak Anxiety]

37 minutes ago, Hobbit said:

Do keep us posted.

Of course. Over the last few years my brother developed some very serious health issues so I’ve gotten a new perspective on the way disability affects a family. ❤️ If you ever need a listening ear just PM me.

If this acrylic idea turns out to be possible, I will definitely, giddily, post it somewhere on the forum! 

Feel free to PM me, too.