OnlyGenusCaps

Oh. Don't be. This is my first time trying to breed a fish where it is a puzzle to solve. In general I tend to gravitate to critters that have parental care for their offspring. Not sure why. Just a pattern I've noticed in my keeping. For the most part the fish I keep and am interested in are cichlids. So, getting successful breeding comes down to managing the social dynamics to the point where the fish can take care of their offspring themselves. These gobies do have parental care... Of the eggs. But this is the first time where I'm not going to get new fish out of the situation unless I intervene. It becomes a question of when I just in and take over care, and how to proceed with the most delicate early stages. I'll get there, and I'm finding it a surprisingly fun journey! Who knows maybe I'll expand my repertoire to other fish where I need to care for the eggs from the start as well. 🤔

I will make a suggestion, but I don't really know either. I suspect @Streetwise is far more qualified than I to weigh in. That said, I my guess would be cropping the photo works like rotating it. Both are modifications to the photo that are then saved with these modifications. For whatever reason, the file that has been saved in this way now uploads with the proper orientation. That's all I've got in terms of an answer though. Sorry.

Progress has been slower. I can't take PTO to accomplish massive things here all the time. 🤪 But with the weather warming and the light lasting into the evenings, there is promise of more progress. To finish off the current rack, I bought another 75, on sale - from the usual suspect. I'm water testing it now: I need to sterilize its partner with 12% H2O2, but that require ventilation (anything above 10% comes with a health hazard for inhalation). Then, I'll drain the new one, add extra silicone, put in the corner matten braces, spray the backs of both tanks, and back they both go on the racks. But I'm making one of their back BLUE! I've been interested in doing a blue backed tank, but I didn't really want to commit to a permanent situation. I'm using PlastiDip spray. That way if I really don't like it, I can peel off the backing and swap the matten sponges out. But in the meantime, I have plans...

You know, sometimes things like moving and rearranging take far more time, effort, and focus than the showier things. Despite that, I think it's highly important to make sure we are taking care of these details, even if it doesn't come with accolades of a new scape or new fish. It keep us happy in our space and makes this enjoyable, which is rather the point. Nice work on your space, and it's good to see you here when you have the chance!

I've noticed this too, and have been fixing it with your second fix. That seems to work.

We've had a couple of other sandgropers here. Sadly, not many seem to have stuck around long. It's a part of the world I truly love. I've never been anywhere so far, and yet instantly felt so at home. I'd gladly live out my days in SW WA.

So, I'm going to fully judge a book by its cover (or at least the text on the cover, and a bit the graphic), and combining it with your description to say: this sounds a lot like string theory to me. Is "hyperspace" similar to that concept?

Yes, I saw that as well. Simply amazing! And that there aren't wood eating organisms there has left the ship in a shockingly pristine state!

That's a cool little mite! Mites are common in still waters here in Minnesota. Most of the ones I've seen are locally blueish/greenish. I'm not sure about their natural history at all. I'd think they would make interesting tank inhabitants, but probably also quick snacks for fish. In a snail tank or a wasi-sabi setup like @Patrick_G and @Beardedbillygoat1975 have, they'd be lively additions though, I bet.

I'm even more impressed by that "empire grudgeon" (Hyseleotris compressa). And, also why don't I have those?!?!?!? 😍 Thanks a lot @PineSong, now I have a new obsession I didn't need! 🤪 Must get grudgeon...

I should think there must be interest there somewhere because we have some wonderful Swiss aquarists in the States. You could check with the owner of Swiss Tropicals for connections. He is genuinely from outside Zürich, I believe.

I don't want to generalize too much from a N of 1, but I have done one anecdotal experiment along these lines. I have a Rhinogobius species which are known to come from streams. Assuming it was DO that was going to be critical, I added a microbubbler behind the matten filter. I didn't really want to see it or impede their behavior. That saturated the DO. They were listless and not super enthused about food. They ate and survived, but seemed pretty lethargic. Not what I had expected. So, I decided to try something else. I cranked up the air on the JetLifter tube and pulled the microbubbler out. This created a serious flow in the tank. Really it seemed like too much! I'd decided to watch them closely because I didn't want them to suffer from exhaustion. However, and much to my surprise, the next day they were energetic! They ate like pigs, and the males started excavating for breeding sites. It was night and day. And the DO was lower in the second instance. Again, this is one example, from one species, in one tank. But I did at least want to toss this example out there as part of the conversation. My suspicion is that it's probably challenging to know a priori whether it is O2 or actually the flow a species is really after in moving water. Or whether some species from flowing water need it at all. I would guess there are species that are all of these, or some combination of them. All I know is that I now keep that JetLifter tube really clean to get maximum air for my Rhinogobius.

You could do one sump per tank and avoid the cross over issues. If you want to talk sumps, I'm in! You'll likely get differing views about how to set them up. And in my view that's actually one of the advantages of sumps - they are infinitely customizable. It can mean that people often mistake their opinions on proper sump design as facts. And I'm not pointing any fingers here, except at me. 🤪 I think the only really important question to ask yourself when considering whether a sump is out is: are you willing to drill your tanks? In my estimation, a sump needs a proper overflow (honestly I don't know why they make tanks larger than 60gal without a pre-drilled option, but I digress). If you are willing to drill, sumps are good options. BRS has loads of useful videos on them, but here is a more general one to get you started thinking about sump design (it's for SW so there are thing about skimmer to ignore if I recall correctly):

Looks like staghorn to me. Related. Another lotic FW red algae species. Has a bit more of an unkempt quality to my eyes as opposed to BBA.

So... I'm going to echo what the last two posts have said - seems like going canister might be better in this case. I know there are "siphon overflows" both commercial and DIY, but those two words shouldn't be used together as a long term plan. I'm less concerned about flooding the sump (although a 10gal for a 125 would be risky at best, in my experience). I'd be more worried about the siphon breaking, resulting in the entire volume of the sump being put into the tank and potentially overflowing the display. You can calculate for that so your overflow sits low enough that the tank won't flood, but then you end up with a dry sump, and if your heater is in the sump there is a fire danger there. It just has a number of risks that would make me nervous. Good sump design is based on the concepts of guard rails, fail safes, and backups. It stems from the idea that every piece of equipment in your tank will fail, it's just a matter of planning for it. All that said, if you end up drilling the tank, sumps are absolutely the way to go!!! Been a rough couple of days for me. I dislike canisters and love sumps, but I've recommended canisters to two people in as many days. All while I am working on a giant sump, and drilling tanks for overflows. Ugh. What's become of me?!

Just saw this. Glad the peroxide and brush worked! Not sure if this will work with your type of airstone, but compressed air can unclog them too:

A "quick mashup" for you is nicer art than I've ever made! That's a really nice depiction. Seriously. Wow! So, I'm the opposite of @ChemBob. I've never used a canister, and I really like sumps. From my perspective canisters are overpriced and don't provide the same flexibility. The one advantage I can think of for them, especially in your situation though, is that they are supposed to be very quiet. I'm just thinking about this being directly behind your couch that you mentioned was a place you send down time. That said, you can absolutely have a quiet sump, but it will take a bit more work. Drilling a tank really isn't that hard - go with Cory's freehand technique and not the BRS drill press approach. Don't let drilling stop you. But you'll likely need an overflow box, and then a few tweaks to get it really quiet. The big advantage I can see for a sump is that it could run both tanks. Yes, that would make them a single unit if you get a disease in the tanks, which concerns folks. But given that you are looking for making these seem like a unit anyhow with the same fish, I think the advantage for you is if you end up with fish of the same species who don't get along, you could just plunk them int he adjacent tank and see how they do there instead. Whatever you decide, this is going to be a very cool project! I'm really looking forward to watching it progress!

FWIW, I wanted to extend my radiator to have a zone in the room where my tanks are located. I figured that would be the safest way to heat the space. As it turns out, that was going to be fairly expensive and complicated; despite, I will note, the boiler being in the same room! So, I asked the heating guy for his recommendations, and read a bunch about fire dangers, because I am a bit wigged out by the idea of long-term use of a space heater. From both the recommendation of the heating guy, and from what I could glean online, oil filled radiators are about the lowest fire danger. They are fairly efficient. And their maintenance is near zero. The down side is they are not super responsive, i.e. if you need to change temperatures in a space quickly, they stink at that. But my goal is a stable 23-24C at all times anyhow, so in my case their downside is kind of a bonus too. That's what I am using anyhow.

Right?! Right! Such a difference! And yes, you can grab it on the App Store for like $4. It's called "Aquarium Camera: LED Light Color Correction" by John Ostler. Reef tank hobby recommended. Those reefers. They love their tech!

Quick update on the goby fry: they are all dead. They didn't die from the moving the tank around. Believe it or not. I just think the flow in "Fry Falls" was too high over time. The fry and teeny-tiny and I think they simply got exhausted and petered out. So, I have doubled the space in the receptacle of Fry Falls and added a few small rocks. It takes two clamps now, further proving the worth of always having extra clamps on the utility tub! I'm hoping this gives them a better chance to have somewhere to rest. Obligingly, the pair has spawned again, so I'll be able to test this new system soon. Plus, thanks to the last MAS meeting, I am now connected with another person attempting to breed these, which is nice. Here is the new setup: Mostly what I have been doing is bunging out the back area of the Subsclarium. The back bit under the stairs was a storage space for soil components for the exotic plants I grew. I don't need most of those things these days, so it was time for them to go. First, I had to unearth them from the other crap I had piled on top in the name of expediency to get the faux brick walls up. I am happy to report, after mush struggle and reorganization of the remainder of the storage areas of the basement and garage, the are has been cleaned out. It's looking like a nice new start if you ask me.

This will be the least update, update ever. But here we go. With the days getting longer here on the 45th parallel, I walked into the room with this tank before the lights came on and realized a couple things about it. The first is that the water is really sparkling clear. That just made me happy. But the other is just how badly my phone takes photos of the tank when the lights are on. Here is what the tank look like from above without the lights on (it's a bit blurry because of the surface agitation; the color is the point): Nothing like what I have been able to show. Actually, a bit bland in my mind. I do like what my lights do for the appearance of the tank. But it definitely makes it a challenge to take photos. So I finally bit the bullet and bought the photo app for aquariums. And I have to say: Wow! Here is the very first photo I took with the app, just using automatic settings: That, ladies and gentlemen, is what my tank looks like in person. I haven't learned how to use all the features, but with a default that good, I may not have to. Subsequent updates about this tank will look a lot more like this. Like how it looks in person.

I swung by Urban Dictionary for my semi-regular visit to give a thumbs up to @Hobbit's definition of "Nerm", and I noticed that now if you click on a link below it you can get yourself a Nerm mug! Sure, it's an expensive mug, and you can get one for any definition, but I still thought it was funny. Am considering...

"Anger, Mercy, Revenge (The Complete Works of Lucius Annaeus Seneca)" And for something a bit lighter, also: "The Rise of Early Modern Science: Islam, China, and the West"

Well, I finally got around to adding some smaller rocks to create smaller crevices for the fry and smaller fish to hide safely. Can you spot the new rocks? I think those new ones look like they'll eventually fit right in once they are covered in diatoms. I can't believe how blinding white those rocks are when new. I'd completely forgotten that. Plus, it's put into focus how much I enjoy how they have aged. They really have grown into looking like live rock in SW tanks in a lot of ways. It's just such a nice effect. I've been really happy that they haven't been covered in green algae, which would make them look very FW to me. The other new one I had to put in fits in a little less well, but you can only see it from the one side. I'm hoping it looks a little less contrived once it ages. That one I needed to put in to disrupt the dominance hierarchy in the Julis. It seems to have worked, too. So for the time being, that's been worth the weird bump in that pile.