OnlyGenusCaps

Tusind tak, @dasaltemelosguy!!! I already saw that. So, I must be doing it right. 😉 This is great to hear! I'm hoping my results are as definitive as yours.

Here is a great summary:

There is a reason this plant is invasive so many places! It's unstoppable. Probably also why it makes such a good houseplant. Thanks for sharing the photos, @Fish Folk!

So, I've just added Expel-P to... Well, all of my tanks with fish. I've not used the product before. Seems pretty straight forward, expect tomorrow when I am supposed to do a 25% water change it says I am supposed to take care to remove any expelled parasites. Now, how am I supposed to do that if they are tiny? I can't imagine I'm going to see large tapeworms that have come out of tiny fish. Are they just telling me to siphon the substrate? Is there something special I need to do? If anyone has experience with this, please do let me know. Thanks!

Thanks for the good thoughts and vibes everyone! Must have worked. The meds arrived today! There are already dosed. Feels good to at least be taking potentially positive steps. The sitting on my hands I was forced into there for a few days is most certainly not my style. And, @eatyourpeas, don't worry. I'm not giving up. I'm finishing tearing down the remains of the basement room so I can continue with my expansion plans. I'm going to continue to move forward, even if there are setbacks. 😁 Well, I'll keep folks posted if the meds work. I think I'll see it first on the Endler's. There are a lot in there and I was dropping a couple every day. The others, well, I guess if I don't lose any more I'm all set. Not sure how long I wait to declare victory though. Any one with any ideas on that?

I love this whole concept! I might steal the idea... 😈

A well setup sump, especially if it is a thoughtfully designed DIY, is so easy to maintain and clean it seems almost criminal. I look forward to seeing updates as you setup your tank!

So, I'm still waiting on the meds. Probably good I bought so much though now that I'm now losing fish in every tank but one. If this keeps up, I'll have more aquariums than anybody else - who doesn't have any fish that is. This is going to end up being one of those defining times. The ones you take loads of lessons from. You know, the ones your dad would say "build character"? Yeah, I never liked them either. 😝

What is that incredible background?!?! How did you make that?

Nice looking Sarrs! I have 4 tubs of them. They live outside in the summer and overwinter in the garage to prevent them from freezing. This autumn god cold fast, and they look a bit rough right now. Well, mine never look as nice as your display. I don't really keep CP in display setups. That's for fish! 😜 If you want to talk to some folks in your neck of the woods about CP, I can't recommend the Carnivorous Plant Society of Canada forum enough. I used to call it the friendliest place on the internet, but this forum pretty equivalent for kindness. There are a bunch of folks in and around Vancouver, BC on there. I realize that crossing international borders is more challenging, especially now, but they have similar conditions and would likely have useful input.

No. Too high a risk this unknown cause of fish loss is still in there. Everything is getting tossed and the tank will get a first run of alcohol, then 12% peroxide. And yes, I realize that rotting organic material adds to soil. My surprise is the rate of disintegration of the Malaysian driftwood. I've had this wood in tanks before, but never seen this sort of degradation at anywhere near this speed. I find the speed of the process to be the interesting component in this case, not the occurrence itself. I was thinking for those who do more ecosystem based tanks, that this might be of interest. I do not run any of those currently, so perhaps I have misjudged that. I was thinking that the process would be useful in an aquarium, but perhaps it would be detrimental if the rate of wood loss is so high? In any case, the fish would have kept the numbers of the carious critters in check and reduced the wood loss, but this process would still be going on in the background.

I mean the mulm is just build up. But I'm real confident you already know that, so that's not really the issue. The biofilm... Well, that can be caused by a lot of organisms. My first pass would be to spot treat a section with H2O2 and note what the reaction is. Does it bubble (more so than other stuff)? Does it change color in a few hours or over night? Does it disappear overnight or in a couple days? Does it come off easily before or after treatment? Basically what I am trying to figure out is whether it is a living matrix or an entirely excreted one, and then whether the treatment kills the organisms creating the biofilm. If it kills it and it disappears, you have and answer of possible treatment. If not, then some thinking about conditions might be in order. But the H2O2 info would help with that too.

I'm tearing down and sterilizing a 75 gallon right now that had a total fish loss situation. As I was doing that, I noticed something interesting. Despite the fact I only used river rock, gravel, and play sand as the substrate, I had dirt. Like humus soil! Here is a shot of it while I was cleaning it out and noticed it: And here is one that's a bit clearer after I drained the tank: As you can see, this is no small amount of organic soil in the tank. The only thing that could have been a source is the Malaysian driftwood I had in there. As I mentioned, all of the fish died in this tank. After that I turned off the light and left the tank for about a month to let any decomposition finish. In that time the other life in the tank took off! The driftwood in particular was coated with isopods and there were amphipods swimming like krill in the ocean, in swarms. These two I put in there as a live food source. I also had piled of ramshorn snails in there, which I have in no other tanks and I still don't know how they got in there. So, what could have created this soil? Well, the ramshorns, as mystical as their appearance was, don't seem like likely candidates as they live in many aquaria and don't do this. I'm thinking that either the amphipods or isopods, or a combination of the two, were able to degrade the driftwood to this extent in a little over a month! Certainly the driftwood was coated with the isopods when I took the pieces out. I know some people do Walstad and/or dirted tanks around here. I'm curious if any of you have noticed a process like this happening this quickly? Also, do you put in isopods and amphipods? "Bioactive" terrariums which include clean-up crews such as collembola and isopods that act as a snack for the focal species are all the rage now. Does anyone know of "bioactive" aquarium keepers like this? I'm curious, because if I ever keep a dirted tank, I think given the results here, I would absolutely add these little critters. I also feel like this entire area of discussion is right up @Streetwise's alley.

I'll second @Isaac M.

So both of the plants that @Patrick_G and @BeetleLann have are indeed Asparagus (italicized because they are both species in the genus, obviously not the culinary species though). They are just different ornamental species. There are a number of them used for that purpose. Not sure if these count as "house plants" because they are in special setups, but I have a few carnivorous plants:

Diatoms do "consume" silicon to make their shells (frustule), but strictly speaking they don't feed on it. It can be a major limiting factor in ocean systems in the end of diatom blooms though, so it can be limiting for their growth. Thus, in situation where we have provided an effectively unlimited supply, this limitation could be removed and may allow them to stick around longer under certain circumstances. I know I have them last in pool filter sand tanks with little light, and I am trying to keep them as part of the look in my P-Salt tank. So, I think you could be completely correct that substrate can maintain them long-term. I have to agree with some other folks in that the photos you posted don't look much like diatom algae to me. I think of it as more of a brown varnish on surfaces. You do have some interesting things growing in there though!!!

Great alternate name for this aquarium!!!

That's really an interesting finding! I have zero interest in keeping SW tanks because of the work involved, but I've learned so much from reading your updates on this tank. Everything from behavior and interactions, to chemistry. I must imagine the process has been trying for you at times, but it's been eye opening and incredibly informative as a reader. Thanks for keeping this journal going!

I'm not so sure about all that. I'm fairly confident I have very little I could teach anyone. 😛

That's wonderful to hear! And please do, when they inevitably ask where people are logging in from, let them know MAS is your "local" fish club. I'm really trying to make sure we stay at least hybrid, because there are so many places around us where there simply is not the population density to have a club like MAS. The Twin Cities is the largest metro between Chicago and Seattle. For most of Minnesota, the large parts of the Dakotas, and even big parts of northern Iowa and northern/western Wisconsin this area is the nearest "big city", and I want to make sure we can serve the folks in those areas as best as possible moving forward.

Do these stay in the water column long, or do they sink out quickly? I'm trying to find a near neutrally buoyant micro-pellet. I am using Hikari right now and once they get past the surface tension they drop like rocks. If these stay suspended for sometime, they might be just the ticket for me. Are you using frozen, live, or freeze dried? If FD, I'd be curious how you are feeding them. I have trouble getting FD daphnia and cyclops into the water column. The air under the shells seems to keep them on the surface, which means they don't get to my fry effectively.

Don't you just hate it when you order meds and then the USPS tracking says "In Transit, Arriving Late: Your package will arrive later than expected, but is still on its way. It is currently in transit to the next facility." 🙄 In other words, they have no idea where it is right now. Placed a second order for the meds on the evil empire shopping site. Still hope my Co-Op order gets here first though. Luckily no further losses in this tank. Did lose a fish on the rack above the initial infected tank, and pretty sure it's the same thing. I think at this point I might need to medicate all the tanks. If it works, great! If not, I guess I get to fix all the stuff I would have changed in hindsight when I start from square one. No matter the outcome, good things will come from this. I'll make sure of that.

Welcome to one of the kindest places on the Internet! This truly is a great community. In terms of your club access, please feel free to participate in the Minnesota Aquarium Society. The meetings are open to the public, and held over Zoom (and likely to remain hybrid for the foreseeable future) so anyone can attend. Indeed, we might be your nearest club. I'll often post about upcoming meetings here, and include a link to register. The in-person, social events might be tougher for you to attend, but if you see a fish on the auctions you can't find elsewhere, perhaps it would be worth the drive? Regardless, welcome here to this forum, and know you are also welcome at MAS too.

As usual @dasaltemelosguy, you have distilled down useful information with practical applications in aquariums. Thanks! I always look forward to your contributions!

Congrats to all of the new winners! What a great batch of folks!