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Stef

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Everything posted by Stef

  1. Agree with @Tlindsey. Drop in a green bean or other Pleco wafer, wait for them to swarm and then net them out clump by clump. May never be fully gone but can help you get back to manageable numbers. You Pleco also needs wood to rasp on. They need fiber.
  2. Is there any other decoration or plant container that’s leaching? I had stacked some new paver bricks to prop up my lily pots. After removing them I still had chlorine readings. So I’m pretty sure it was the tub itself. Since I brought my pond fish inside for the winter, I’ll probably have to go through it again. Keep lots of dechlorinator and test strips on hand.
  3. @PluckyD hi. The chlorine issue was frustrating but it resolved itself after about a month of up and down chlorine readings. The chlorine never came back and the fish were fine. Are all 4 of your tubs reading chlorine or just the new ones?
  4. Dymax SlimFlo’s hobs are silent. I had one that made a buzz sound for a few days but is now completely silent. The slim design is nice though can be hard to clean. Flow is gentle for a betta and is adjustable.
  5. @TOtrees, that is a hot rodded hob! I Iike it! I did a water change tonight. The first since setting it up. There was sand on the seriyu stone and all over the fake moss ball. I brushed off the stones and shook out the moss ball and will check if it returns. I did see one of the fish scoot fast past the gravel vac tube and sand did rooster tail behind him about 2-3 inches. He’s a big fish and this sand is so light.
  6. The prefilter is a bit too big so I attached with a silicone rubber band. I will look into different hob style filters down the road. Thank you for the tip.
  7. I went with another AC 50. It was on sale and I have others I can use parts from the broken one. I didn’t extend the intake tube and placed a pre filter sponge. Looks crappy but hope that keeps the sand out. I don’t think I going to use the Imagitarium sand again. @Galabar how does a filter with an in-tank pump prevent sand getting sucked up?
  8. Ugh, so my 6 month old AquaClear 50 seems to be burned out. I’ve cleaned out the impeller and the area the impeller sits in and found some sand and sand dust. When I put it back together and plug it in, it runs for a day and burns out. Today I found a lot of sand granules under the media basket. I think it’s toast. I also had been using an intake extender. The bottom of the intake tube sat about 4 inches above the sand The tank is a 40 gal breeder with two large Ranchus and a black moor goldfish. I just upgraded them and the sand is new (Imagitarium black sand). The tank also has a large coop sponge and water params are holding steady. So should I replace the filter and use a pre filter sponge? Will the sand just migrate again? Should I just double up on sponge filters and forget about hobs? Remove one of the intake extenders? I was about to use more of this sand in the Ranchus now empty semi bare bottom tank with this same sand but that also has an AquaClear 30 and don’t want to be in the same boat. Just not sure if this sand was the right pick for goldfish. My first time using it. Or the extender tube was the problem.
  9. So I have two male honeys in a 20 gal long display tank. Their tank mates are 6 ember tetras and a BN Pleco plus a few amano shrimp and loads of ramshorn snails. I would love to get 2-3 more honeys and my lfs has lots of females. My question is more about not breeding. If I let nature take its course, what are the odds of being over run with fry? I don’t want to add more males. Both males have their own bubble nests on opposite sides of the tank. They spar occasionally and are absolutely adorable. I’d like this tank to be just for a gourami family but not overrun and overstocked.
  10. Swim in peace, big fish ❤️
  11. Hi All. So how do you ghost feed an empty tank without feeding the pest snails? Last week I moved my Ranchus to a much larger tank. I’m going to keep their former tank as a spare qt or extra plant tank. There’s still a bunch of ramshorns that I don’t want to have a population explosion. Do you drop a few pellets into the hob?
  12. Sorry for your loss. I lost my “Bolt” this weekend too. Such cool creatures.
  13. @Mmiller2001 wow that’s a gorgeous scape. Congrats ! I could stare at it all day.
  14. Agree with going big. I too have 3 big comets and a young koi in my 100 gal stock tank. Had them in there over summer. Brought them inside so I wouldn’t worry about them over a long cold Chicago winter. They’re in a 40 gallon breeder with two large sponge filters and a canister filter and I have to do weekly water changes. I can’t wait for spring to open up the pond again. I’ve added some lucky bamboo plants and a pothos to help with nitrates, but the big weekly water changes are my future for the next several months.
  15. Hi Everyone. I found my first berried shrimp today and am very excited to get my colony going. Currently 6 fire reds, 4 amano, 2 mystery snails and ramshorn snails in a 10 gallon Dennerle tank. Being relatively new to neocaridina shrimp, I wasn’t sure if the Oase filter is shrimp (shrimplet) safe. The tank also has a small co-op sponge filter and a Dennerle Eckfilter. Overkill filtration-wise but the tank was sort of an extra tank I kept running that morphed into an invert tank.
  16. One thing to try to help with your nitrates is to add a pothos plant. You can pick up a small plant for cheap at big box home stores. Pull it out of the pot and rinse off all the dirt real good from the roots. Then just submerge the roots of the plant in the water and leave the leaves and stems sticking out. If you have a hang on back filter you can put some of the pothos in the filter media compartment. They’ll suck up some of the excess nitrates. Not a replacement for water changes, of course. I too have some goldfish and a bristlenose Pleco that I brought indoors from my summer tub/pond. They make sooo much waste, I feel your pain. Some people use the egg crate material and cut it to fit the space/gap between the lid. How to Use the Pothos Plant as a Natural Aquarium Filter https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/pothos
  17. Looks like either a pond snail or bladder snail. They don’t eat healthy plants but will eat dead/dying parts of plants.
  18. 1. My BN Pleco digging non stop 2. Ramshorn snails going in and getting stuck in the uplift tubes
  19. On my “nice list”. Thank you@nabokovfan87 I have some Buce that are starting to loosen from their rocks.
  20. I’m taking some of my baby mystery snails to my lfs today. Several have forked tentacles (the ones near their mouth). There’s one that has tentacles on his tentacles. Just wondering if this is anything unique/special genetic-wise and worth passing along. I’m thinking of keeping this one. Also had to post a pic of his siblings in victory formation 😆
  21. • Super glue (my bottle is always clogged or dried up) • pipettes • mini razor blade scrapers
  22. If going the goldfish route be prepared for lots of poop and heavy bio load which translates to requiring a larger water volume/tank size and frequent and regular water changes. Orandas or any fancy goldfish can have their own set of health issues with their short/compact bodies and poor digestive systems, flowy fins and wens. “sporadic growth” is the least of your concerns. I have 2 Ranchus and a black moor in a 20 gallon long and I’m doing 50% water changes every 3-4 days to keep nitrates down. These 3 fish really need a 50 gallon. For a beginner, I’d probably stick to a plakat betta in a 5 gallon with a sponge filter and a heater and lid. Bettas like it warm (78F -80F). Add a few anubias plants (avoid any decorations with sharp edges/points). Get some water test strips too. Keep your water clean. This goes for any type of fish. For betta video basics, I like Irene from the Co-op and Sheila from Life with Pets. For goldfish, Jenny from Solid Gold Aquatics and Luke’s Goldies. And the Aquarium Co-op care guides and YT channel and other resources are top notch.
  23. Male. You can see the gonopodium trailing behind the dark patch under his belly.
  24. Found this little cutie (panda Cory) that some how made it without incubation. Nature finds a way.
  25. I can’t get any brand of these to stick. I’ve resorted to tightly wrapping a short piece of a lead plant weight around the cube. The corys then can nibble from either side, like a worm stuffed wheel.
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