Stef

Thanks @nabokovfan87, so even though Ammonia and Nitrite are zero, the presence of waste, and in my case lots of baby BN poop, and only for a week, still causes a crash? “Think of KH like a trash can. The higher the KH, the larger the trash can. If we overflow that trash can, then a pH crash occurs. Therefore, people with low KH in their tap water often use crushed coral to gradually raise the KH (or increase the size of their trash can) and prevent pH crashes.” Based on above excerpt from the article, the way to stabilize is crushed coral. Since my situation is temporary (i.e. Pleco numbers will steadily decrease as they are given away), is coral or more frequent water changes the best course of action?

Hi everyone. So I have a 20 gal long that I’m using as a growout for an accidental brood of BN Plecos born in April this year. There’s about 80 plecos remaining (I’ve been donating to lfs and anyone who wants one). I know it’s overstocked. I do water changes every week. I have 3 hob and two sponge filters. There’s next to no plants other than a stray anubias, floating rotala clippings, and an entire pothos split into mesh bags. Today when doing a water change, I used a test strip to test water before draining half the water. This was the first time I’ve noticed how low the pH and KH is. The KH was at 0 and pH at 6.4. My tap water is at pH 7.2 - 7-4. So my question is what causes the drop in pH and KH if other parameters are ideal range? The first pic is before water change. The second pic is the tank. The third pic is after the water change. After the water change, I also used the liquid test for KH and got it to 4 drops to change color.

Thank you @Odd Duck and @T. Payne this was very helpful. I saw some young super reds at my lfs and was tempted to get one. I have both male and female adult browns. Their offspring (all brown) are ready to go to new homes and I have been dabbling in the idea of breeding. But sounds like I shouldn’t intentionally mix the strains.

Hi. Does anyone know what color variety is possible if you breed a brown BN Pleco with a Super Red?

Thanks @Colu I will give it a try. I'm confused though. If the recipe is .5 grams levamisole to 7 grams of fish food, 7 grams converts to .246 oz. Is the math right? 4 oz. is a lot of fish food. Also does just the medication + water last 30 days in fridge and soak food as needed? Or is it medication + water + food lasts 30 days in fridge? Sorry I'm not clear.

Hi everyone. Looking for some help identifying what's going on with my betta, Venom. Am fearing the worst. He's a big box store Crowntail I've had since last year Sept 2021. Per my aquarium tracker for water changes, etc., symptoms appeared Oct 24 this year. He started having swimming difficulties (too buoyant) and there appeared to be separation/gap from behind his gills to his stomach per notes. By now I think this is emaciation. He's really thin. But he's been eating but maybe not able to process nutrients?? I normally feed daily, and he's got an appetite but seems to not be able to grab his food right. He attacks it but misses over and over. He cannot eat without help. For the past 5 days, I've been feeding his Xtreme betta pellet that has been soaked in tank water for feeding #1 and then at night after work frozen bloodworms using a pipette. His coloring looks OK (he was more black and now more blue), he has no bloat or dropsy or pineconing. No fungus or fin rot either. His eyes are clear and bright. His body is contorted in a "C" shape, though. When he does swim, it's not normal and he struggles. He perks up and wiggle swims every time I check on him. Poor guy. After reading posts here I'm thinking this is some kind of wasting disease or mycobacterium. Today he's gone from floating too much to wedging himself in the plants at the bottom. He ate his bloodworms. I dropped a few near him at the bottom and was able to pick them off the gravel bed. Water changes have been consistent at every 2 weeks. He's the only occupant in a 6 gal cube (except for a few ramshorn snails). Temp 78F Ammonia 0 Nitrite 0 Nitrate 20 pH 7.2 - 7.6 (cannot tell the difference on the strip) GH 300 KH Buffer 40 Chlorine 0 (water test results from ACO test strip today) Filtration is an ACO Nano sponge with air stone and a Dymax 120 SlimFlo Hob. Last water change was on Oct 29. The last photo of him in the sunlight is from March this year for comparison. All help appreciated. Thank you.

That’s a really pretty tank and I’d vote for more embers. The coloring on yours are fantastic 😍 in contrast against the greenery and dark background.

Floaters hate flow. If they’re getting blown around they will suffer. They are also probably getting nibbled on by your livebearers as well.

Since May, I’ve had a batch of goldust lyretail Molly fry. An unintentional breeding project. I think they’re close to being big enough to donate to my lfs. There’s quite a mixed bag of colors and fin shapes (regular and lyretail). Both parents are normal goldust lyretails. There’s about 17 in total. Two of them, however, seem to be longfin. Their tails and pectoral fins are extremely long. I’ve Googled a little and don’t see much on this. Only for swordtails. Is this some freaky genetics thing? Should I keep them? Does their paler color have a name?

He did not make it, unfortunately.

Thanks @Colu. I’m not sure if this is one of the new fish, but when I poured him into the net after drip acclimating from the plastic bag, one of the three got stuck in the bag a bit and I had to sort of shake him out of the bag. Could there have been some “rug burn” on the eye that caused this from the plastic bag?

Brought home 3 panda corys for my existing troop of 6. Four days later this eye issue appeared. Looks popped and has filmy stuff covering and hanging off. Doesn’t look like parasite. Removed him to qt with cycled sponge from another tank. Added 1 tbsp aquarium salt. Qt tank is 4 gal. Too much salt? I have other meds but thought of starting easy. First pic is the qt. Remaining pics are in his display tank while he was up close. Display tank temp is 77 should I heat the qt tank? I think they prefer cooler temps but room temp is maybe 70.

Has anyone used this filter in anything less than 10 gallons? I have one in a 10 gal and it seems just right for the betta flow-wise. I bought another one for a 6 gal rimless cube for another betta to help with gas exchange (film). On the lowest setting, the betta doesn’t seem to like it, so I turned it off for now. There’s still a nano coop sponge in there and I don’t intend to remove it. Would you try stuffing a thin strip of coarse sponge in the output tube? Or just go with an airstone?

@Flumpweesel I’m piggybacking on this post as I have a small Hikari sponge filter (fine sponge) that I squeezed out recently and it had a clay-like feel. It stayed in a clumped ball almost. Is this what you mean by “bounce back”? All my other sponge filters are the Co-Op and haven’t seen/felt this yet.

Hi @Matilyn, I have 6 bettas: Sonny, AngryGirl, Venom, Beast, Panda and an unnamed blue plakat.

Cute betta too.

My bettas like the Repashy community but it has to be in a tiny little ball otherwise they just watch it fall to the bottom and guard it. I mostly use it for my corys.

I removed the string (was fairly tight) and planted loosely as one plant.

Hi. I purchased an Amazon Sword plant from a big box store. When I removed it from the tube, it was three smaller plants tied together. I assume I need to remove the string before planting, right? Wasn’t sure if the string is biodegradable or not. I’m planting it in Controsoil capped with sand in a 20 gal long.

Bettas can be so naughty. Gotta love ‘em. Try feeding the shrimp after the lights go out and your betta has retreated to his sleeping spot.

@Wrencher_Scott I do supplement her with Xtreme sinking wafers and Repashy morning wood along with bottom scratcher plus canned green beans. She is doing major “burnouts” in the sand.

I have a single female BN Pleco in a 20 gal long who is constantly digging up the sand. The sand is capping an inch of Controsoil. You can see some of the balls of soil coming up. She’s been separated from a male since April when I unexpectedly got “blessed” by two back to back batches of babies. Will she ever stop digging? Is she egg bound? She has a cave and large driftwood pieces.

Just a comment on your new substrate if you haven’t already purchased. I’d steer clear of Seachem Flourite Sand. Their regular Flourite is a nice product but the sand version is very, very fine and dusty. I have it in one of my 6 gal cube tanks. It’s very hard to vac and after two years the fine particles still settle on the plants. Plants do well but I still supplement with root tabs and Easy Green.

Not exactly best buds but Mr Venom is such a grouch it makes me laugh at all his flaring efforts.

Any Fluval Flex tank owners out there who have encountered a water level drop in the pump compartment? The heater is back there and is too exposed. This tank is the 9 gal version that I’ve had up for about 2 years and has about 20 2-month old molly fry and their mom. Both upper and lower intakes are blocked with sponge (not coarse but not fine either) and one of the two outputs is also blocked with sponge. The intake compartment and the center sponge compartment have normal water levels. Is it all the blocked intakes?