Stef

That’s such a cute pose @Little Guys. I feel your joy. I’m new to shrimpkeeping and am gaga over babies. This is my fav picture from a newborn jumping in front of the giant bull dozing snail 😍

Todays pictures.

Happy to report all fish recovered and responded well to treatment of Ich-X and Maracyn in food. No more flashing or vertical bobbing. White spots and bruising are gone too. All vigorously swimming and eating. I think I’m going to co to us treatment for a few more days. Today is just day 5 of treatment. Thank you @Colu for the spot on diagnosis. I was really worried for these guys and the end of my pond season.

Hi @Colu things progressed for the worse and all fish seem affected with various conditions. I’m not sure if I should switch up meds as I’ve only gotten one medicated feeding of Kanaplex. All fish have clamped fins and I’ve seen two flashing against the glass and substrate. Two fish are hanging out vertically alongside the heater and seem to gasp at surface. The koi looks like some ich or white spots on his tail but the spots are not bright white or pronounced. I have on hand Expel-P, ParaCleanse, Maracyn, Ich-X, KanaPlex and Metroplex. I’ve only used the kanaplex mixed with soaked pellets once. No changes to the water params, they are same as above but I can do another water change prior to treating the water column if you think that’s next step. pH 7.2 Nitrates 50 Hardness 300 Nitrite 0 Ammonia 0 KH/Buffer 120 Water Temperature 72F

I keep some comet goldfish with a BN Pleco in a heated tank to 72F. Apart from the temp needs, I find it hard to feed just the Pleco. The goldfish constantly sift the substrate and eat all food on the bottom. I have to target feed him inside his cave or stealth drop some food in total darkness after lights out. Your guy is a cutie.

Water Parameters: pH 7.2 Nitrates 50 Hardness 300 Nitrite 0 Ammonia 0 KH/Buffer 120 Water Temperature 72F Above params from CoOp test strips This afternoon while feeding my pond fish, I noticed one has some red streaky bruises on his face and body. These fish are in a holding tank in my basement waiting for steady temps to go back outside. There is a piece of driftwood that has some stems that jut out. I wouldn’t say they’re sharp but they are branched out. There is one large koi (9 inches) in with him and the other comets. There is no aggression that I can see but the koi can really throw his body around and makes waves when food is coming. The holding tank is a 40 gal breeder but is their temporary home. They’re all going outside to a 150 gal stock tank in my patio in two more weeks. Does it look like bruising or something more nefarious? The affected fish is acting normal and eating normal.

Try canned green beans (no salt) or Repashy (snello).

For me, the bleeding always occurs when I dip the strip into a section of water that has any oily biofilm on the surface. It seems to coat the strip and when I pull it out all pads are smeary. I tested this tonight by intentionally dipping in between some floating plants where the water is still. Confirmed greasy test strip.

Is your betta picking on them? If harassed or their antenna are being nibbled on they will not want to come out.

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.

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.

@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?

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.

@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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

Swim in peace, big fish ❤️

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?

Sorry for your loss. I lost my “Bolt” this weekend too. Such cool creatures.

@Mmiller2001 wow that’s a gorgeous scape. Congrats ! I could stare at it all day.

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.

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.

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