Littlefish

Here is an interesting discussion by some O.G. saltwater aquarists talking about gfci's and grounding probes. The one works at Penn State with collegues who breed corals. S.W. has a different conductivity I think, so maybe it's not exactly the same w fw? If you don't want to watch, the gist is they strongly recommend against gfci on any "life support" systems (ie pumps, etc) after losing several large tanks due to sensitive gfci's. They do recommend it for heaters and u.v. Also they don't like grounding plugs due to potential for electrocution! They wear rubber boots when working in tanks. I'm not an electrician, but a remodeler/builder, and we have problems with the new gfci being so sensitive the trades can't run tools off them. Go to 42 min. What do you think?

Sounds like a great group of fish if you can feed all of them.

Now that you've brought the topic up, the thought entered my mind, why don't we use the dry rock that we use in salt water as fw media? That is all I use in the sump in my reef tank after the filter floss. Is there a drawback besides a softwater angel/discus type tank becoming too hard?

Good idea, oyster shells and barnacles should work, too Maybe some wallmart fire retardant-free pillow stuffing (filter floss) in front of them to keep them from filling up with gunk. One bag has lasted me 4 ys in a nano reef tank with barely a dent in the bag.

"Having said that", the pygmy sunfish is tiny and can be kept in small filterless tanks.

I've run a filterless 75g loaded with endlers and 1 cory outdoors for several years. Floating plants only as the water turns green and blocks the light. Aren't most Walstadt tanks filterless? I thought this was a well-known style of aquarium keeping.

@PineSongSouthern Tampa Bay. Temps every other year dip to the 30s a few nights, but it's the 1st real Dec cold front (high 40s) that catches me off-guard if I am out of town or forget to dig out heaters. Do you have to catch all the White Clouds and transfer them every winter? We are plannimg on moving to the Clemson area and not sure what I am going to do with these guys.

That sounds like fun. I've done that on grass flats here in Sarasota county and it's more fun than fishing, all the little things you catch.

Just something to think about, I had to shut down my planted 75g due to ALL my cuc being eaten by my pea puffer. Took over a year, but even large snails eaten a bit at a time, amanos eventually on 3, then 2, then no legs. The only thing he didn't bother was a large SAE which became such a bully I traded him in. Heavy input bcs of angelfish caused out of control algea after the cuc were murdered. A different style of tank would have been better suited.

I've been told the coloration is because they are raised in green water and eat lots of algae. They have a gold hue that doesn't come through in the photos, which may be from live oak tannins.

I've had black bar endlers for years but they've been in this 75g since it was broken down a few years ago. No water movement no filtration. Rainwater topoff and a cup of natural sea water a few times a year. There is a carpet of sulpher smelling algae that I pull off the bottom every month or so like a sheet of fabric. They have died back to just babies every few winters when the 1st cold front catches me off guard. Seems they are more cold tolerant than the adults. I wonder if they will select for cold hardyness. Also I've been considering gradually turning it fully saltwater to get rid of the frogs. They keep us up at night and cover the surface in spawn. Their metallic colors have become vivid and golden in this ugly water. Here is a juvie I caught while netting frogspawn.

I used the blue-green algae remover off Amazon, and while it did completely remove the cyano, without changing things in the tank or changing my routine, it always came back.

One pea puffer in my 75g took care of ALL my cuc, including snails and amano shrimp. The amanos and larger snails he would work over for days or weeks before they succumbed. Lfs said he was the largest they had ever seen. Tank became overrun with bba, hair algae, and finally, cyano and had to tear it down.

79 is, too!

Love those fish but they are so fragile compared with others for me.

Started out with citric acid diy on a 75g. It was so irregular the tank suffered algae outbreaks. Switched to a bought setup for a year, found it annoying to maintain after a while. If you like messing with equipment and tech the way some do, it may be for you.

Dwarf water lettuce is all over my FL neighborhood. Kind of pointless not to grab some and put it in the tank. That said, exotic fauna and flora has really ruined natural FL.

I had one in a 75 w 4 angels, 2 gbr, a sae, and assorted tetras. No problems and he was my favorite fish. Fed him blackworms and mosquito larvae. Well, he did destroy the shells on 2 nerites, but they kept living. Actually, I couldnt jeep amano, and he is pbly responsible for that, too. So cuc might be a problem.

Really interested in only the black corys being susceptible to whatever is killing them. Maybe genetically susceptible to this one problem due to lengthy line breading?

That 55 looks good, vaguely like a sw macro algae tank. Maybe just bcs of the blue lighting?

Killing time while I wait for tea kettle to heat my 3rd kettle of hot water for the outdoor tank. Forgot to add a 2nd heater last night to a 75g I keep bb endlers in outside (and one odd cory, a survivor from years back). I catch rainwater in this 5 g bucket and always have these red worms appear. The fish love them as well as mosquito larvae, but I wonder what they are. Anyone know? Btw, I put some natural salt water in the tank every once in a while from my little reef tank in case anyone was worried about the rainwater being too soft.

It's been speculated that some domesticated fish that have diminished coloration in contrast to wild caught may be affected by lack of natural light. I think it may have been Dean the fish breeder who said that, not sure.

Your puffers dont murder your amanos? Mine grew larger on my cleanup crew than any my lfs had ever seen when I turned him in.

Thanks for the replies. Would the betta be more sensitive to ammonia than the shrimp or gudgeon? They are fine this morning. I would think he would be much tougher than them relative to ammonia. Really, I was curious if anyone had one die due to eating too large or too many of an object

We got the betta before my 2 yo was born. He lived in a 75g, then a 3g bowl for 6 mo ~ In the bowl is a peacock gudgeon and a shrimp, plus maybe 3 pond snails. All are fine. This betta has always gorged himself on blackworms and tadpoles in the 75g angel tank. I've been feeding him tadpoles for a week or 2 in this bowl. Is it possible he got one stuck in his gills or simply ate too many? He was fine when I put these wigglers in 3 hs ago. No sign of disease, no pine-coning, etc. Being everything else is fine and betta aren't usually sensitive makes me wonder if they can kill themselves eating? Water gets changed 50% weekly, never out of balance. Right now No3 is 25, No2 is 0. KH is 3, the GH tab fell off the co-op test strip into the bowl. The only thing I can't test is ammonia. I haven't needed to in any reef or fw tank in years. Would the betta be more sensitive to ammonia than the shrimp or gudgeon? What do you think?