OnlyGenusCaps

I suppose it all depends on what you mean by "goby". In broader definitions using the order Gobiiformes, peacock gudgeons (Tateurndina ocellicauda) and mudskippers (subfamily Oxudercinae) are both gobies. In terms of "true gobies" though, in the family Gobiidae, despite being highly species rich (something like north of 2,000 if I recall correctly) most of them are marine species, and the FW representatives are often drab. I think that is why we don't see more of them in the hobby. I love gobies though! I keep and breed the Australian desert goby (Chlamydogobius eremius) which is a true goby, and a true FW species. I think that specie should be more common in the hobby. They are small, not particularly aggressive, and the males are beautiful! I have had a larger FW species of Rhinogobius before, very similar to the ones @Biotope Biologist has now, and they were really cool, but I just never clicked with them the way I did the Ozzy species I still have. How's that for a start of "Goby Talk: ACO edition"?

My pfp (avatar?) is an image taken of Earth in 2006 from the Cassini space probe as it orbited Saturn. It was means to emulate the original image of Earth taken from Voyager in 1990 termed "Pale Blue Dot". The image is evocative for me of the immense isolation in which we find ourselves as a a species. It also serves as a reminder that all of our squabbles, our infighting, the lines we draw between each other, mean nothing to the universe. They are the minuscule concerns of the inhabitants of a fleck of rock rotating through a vast space. The original image inspired these words from the late, great Carl Sagan: "From this distant vantage point, the Earth might not seem of any particular interest. But for us, it's different. Consider again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there--on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam. "The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. "Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. "The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand. "It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known." My banner is less grandiose. It is a kangaroo lounging on a beach outside of Esperance, Western Australia. Just a funny picture of a part of the world I loved when I visited.

I am sorry, @PineSong. That sucks! As it has been explained to me, Prednisone is essentially an artificial stress hormone. I have been on it once. For poison ivy. At the same dose they give chemo patients, I later found out. The funny thing was I was at a dinner with a friend who knows me pretty well. My next dose needed to be taken with that dinner, so I had largely come down at that point. But about 30 minutes after taking the pill, I could tell it was back on! My friend said it was funny watching the change in me. She said for the first time since knowing me I "looked stressed out"! She had taken Prednisone (at a much lower dose) and found it to be a non-event. Her hypothesis was that as someone who just doesn't experience stress, I had never developed any coping mechanism for being stressed out before. 😂 Sorry. I am not trying to make light of your situation. When it sucks, it does in a serious way! I think you are there, and I hope that the course of treatment isn't too long. I'd offer advice, but I found nothing helped really. Just focusing on when it would be over. Good luck!

Please never apologize. Any input I get from you is something I simply feel appreciative. I hope you are on the mend! Perfect! I have these things on order. That's 3 votes for this coarse of treatment. It's settled. Thanks! I'll update here as I have outcomes.

^^^^This!!! Very well said! There is a huge debate in snake keeping about enclosure size and environmental richness. On one side are the folks who feel keeping a snake in a small drawer tub is appropriate because snakes spend most of their lives curled up and hiding in the wild, and say they feel more secure in small spaces (here I am generalizing as there are snakes with differing natural histories). On the other side are the folks who claim that snakes are only happy in the largest possible enclosures because they have the entire world to explore when they are wild, and the ability to explore a complex environment is what makes them happy. Both sides are rationalizing their arguments for what they themselves want, and trying to determine what makes a species that is very unlike ourselves "happy". As a fellow biologist, I realize how unlike our own the preferences of other species can be. Even species we think we know well. I therefore applaud anyone who is trying in earnest to care for their captives, and only feel I can truly rebuke those who display maliciousness, purposeful disregard, or contempt for the creatures in their care.

Thanks! I got a DM with a suggestion of another bacterial possibility as well, and behaviorally this seems to have neurological hallmarks to it. I'm going to try treating with antibiotics and see if I can save the younger ones. The other older one will be getting a clove bath tonight. I think he's just too far gone. He doesn't seem to recognize congeners anymore, which for such a feisty species is not a great sign.

Here is my question, why in the news video in the first link were they seemingly pouring more water on the situation?! I feel like 26,500gal was plenty. Were they concerned there might still be somewhere that was dry? Was this just insult to injury? What?! The world may never know.

Here are some photos of the poor unfortunate. Notice his color is reduced. And his lips seems to be gone! The wound on his side is from the battles with the other tank dominant when they were still fighting over who got what rock. No fights any more now that his rival is gone. And he doesn't have any fight in him right now anyhow.

I'll admit, that part is pretty nice. No shipping cost, and if I get an order in the night before, or early in the morning, for the most part I can go pick it up in the afternoon. The down side is how much more I end up spending because of how easy it is to get stuff there! Don't get too excited! I am still cleaning up from 8 inches of heavy, wet snow after the blade on my snow thrower broke in the first 30 seconds of my efforts to clear my driveway. So, that's a thing. 😜 Also, after two weeks, the tank finally looks like it has started cycling!!! 🥳🥳🥳 I've never had a tank take so long when I have used bottled bacteria. And with this one I also used "live" substrate. Oh well, it's started now!

Thanks, @Colu! Good to get your thoughts on this! Parameters are: NH4 - 0 NO2 - 0 NO3 - 15 GH - 300 KH - 150 pH - 7.8 Temp - 26C These are parameters they've been in for months. It's all been pretty stable. I haven't done a water change in a couple of weeks. I'm on well, so not chlorine (backed up by testing). The fish are generally cool with warm, hard water, so the conditions don't seem suspect. I did add a few plants from another tank about 3 weeks ago, and it introduced a fairly aggressive hair algae, but I don't think that's the issue. I've got another one that is going to be going in a few days. That said, I'm not in a panic. These are my problem child species (my Mexican pupfish - which I am embarrassed to admit I am struggling with again). I lost the first group to a wasting disease, which these came in with as well, but I successfully treated them this time. And this time, it looks like whirling disease may be an issue. Given how rare these are and the bottleneck they've gone through, I'm not sure how hardy they are. That said, others are succeeding with them. It's just frustrating. I do love these fish, but they are the only fish I have ever kept I couldn't breed, much less keep alive. They are becoming my white whale!

So I have a tank where two fish were exhibiting signs of whirling fish disease: swimming in corkscrew patterns around slowly. One has died now, and the movements of the other are starting to get more dominated by the same corkscrew motion. Here is the problem: these are not salmanoid fish, I have had them for longer than 80 days with no new introductions, it is a species only tank, the fish impacted are the oldest not the young ones, and I have fed out no worms to these fish. So, it can't be this disease, right? That said, this is the disease that most fits the symptoms. Any ideas what else it might be? And then how to treat whatever it is?

Betta species are aggressive fish. I think people have a more realistic view of cichlids and their level of aggression than they do with bettas. Maybe it is because bettas are mostly aggressive with conspecifics? Maybe it is because they can work in planted tanks? I don't know. But people should probably better understand they are an aggressive species. That doesn't mean they can't be housed together if you learn about the species and its needs, as @Biotope Biologist mentioned. If people took the same stance with cichlids as with bettas, there wouldn't be many (or any?) cichlids in the hobby. Certainly mbuna would be far less popular. Just as it seems to me a novice mistake to toss two mbuna in a 20 gallon tank together, I think doing as little homework on any fish, including bettas, indicates a novice level of understanding of this hobby. That's okay. We were all there. But, aquarists who stick around tend to learn quickly to really try to understand their captives' needs and that there are few absolutes.

Hello fellow boiler room aquarist! I suspect our circumstances are quite different, but with many common challenges. I too need to cool my space when it gets colder out. The majority of my tanks are in my boiler room in my basement, but I have a lot more control over it as it's in my house. Do you have a floor drain available? To me, the waste heat and the floor drain are the two big advantages. Do you know hoe cool the room gets in the summer when the boiler is off? This is part of my thermal paradox in my boiler room: I need to cool it in the winter and heat it in the summer (especially in the spring while the soil is still cool but the air has warmed).

I am so jealous! I have always loved cabomba, and I can't keep it alive for love or money. If I could keep only one plants, it would be that one. Sadly, no. Oh and for the original question: I have 9 tanks, 5 of them are 20gal for breeding or QT. Those are the smallest, and the largest (empty right now) is a 300. How will I count my various containers I have planned for rearing live foods, like phytoplankton, copepods, rotifers, etc? If they are in glass boxes does it count? How about equivalently sized plastic pretzel tubs? Where is the line between a "nano tank" and a jar?

Or worship? Aren't you the godhead bringer of food?! 😜

In terms of Asterina species, apparently it depends on the exact species you get (they are challenging to differentiate, and there are likely a number of cryptic species as well). A fellow member of my local club has a strain he has never had eat any of his corals. They are probably one of the biofilm feeding species. That said, he doesn't like them, but he also hates pest snails, so... 🤷‍♂️ Disagree. From all I have read, the potential danger from bristleworms also depends on the species you get. Large growing ones can eat corals, nems, and even fish. They all hurt, or are at least uncomfortable (but I, too, hear fireworms are far worse!). In terms of "pest" CUC critters, I'd rather chance it with the stars than any bristleworms. Just my preference.

Then get the lighting in the top photo! 😁

I've been enjoying, what I think of as, classic punk recently. The Offspring are part of my youth. Dexter Holland, the lead singer and guitarist of the band, and I both have doctorates in biology. I finished my degree before he did, despite him being older than me. Apparently though, a side hustle of punk rock can be far more lucrative than one of aquarium keeping. There he has got me beat! Choose your hobbies wisely, folks.

Well, I'm pretty lucky being here in Minnesota (never thought I'd say that sentence!). I've got a professor friend down the road who essentially funds his lab by the breeding of marine species he's done from it (including some species I think would be fun to breed like blue tuxedo urchins, cleaner and fire shrimp, plus cool fish!). Matt Pedersen who runs Coral magazine lives in Duluth, and though I don't know him yet, I am friends with his friends, and he has bred more species out of his basement than perhaps anyone. Chad Vossen, maker of the best larval traps, lives like a half an hour from me. I mean, BRS is even my local supply shop - I just drive over to pick up orders. Minnesota, unexpectedly, is a pretty good spot for marine keeping and breeding! Fair warning: it will be unimpressive looking. It'll probably be more like Kathy Leahy's setup in St. Louis than say like Matt's very professional setup. That linked vid is a good watch. She's inspiring that anyone can do it. Those are nice! I really like the gold tentacled one with the blue tips - someone was selling one at a show as "Simpson", which I assume is a reference to Marge. So expensive though! 🤑 Always remember, you don't choose your hobbies. I've wanted my hobby to be jogging for years. Never happens.

I have vastly less photo editing skill (and software), but because my mbuna are like vegan piranhas, I've thought tiny crocodile/goldfish would be cool! Maybe with African butterflyfish lazily cruising the surface, with anemone tentacles.

That song always reminds me of what a former president of the U of M (that would be the proper one, University of Michigan) said in the 70's about the streaking fad when interviewed one autumn 'Winter is coming. This is a problem that will take care of itself.'

Yup, I breed one FW goby with teeny fry and suddenly I think I am a master breeder or something. 🤣 In all seriousness, I am excited to work my way to pelagic spawners and planktonic fry that don't settle for a month or two. There are so many more tools available for that now than there even were 5 years ago, bringing many more species within reach of a home hobbyist. Yes, they are pretty awesome! They might be cuter than puppies. Just say'n. I don't think you are jumping the gun at all. I've been told the first thing to breeding SW is to learn how to culture live foods. To succeed, you need to have robust stocks of live foods, and competency with managing them. So, I have plans already! Rotifers have long been the go to with general greenwater. But it turns out that copepod nauplii are much better food, and there are specific strains of phytoplankton that bulk them up best. So, I think I am going to go that route. Essentially once I have the fish in there, I'll be constructing my breeding shelf in my basement and starting cultures of the live foods. That will happen even before I add any corals to the display! That is an amazing resource! Thanks so much for posting the link!!! And we can post links here as long as they aren't competitors - so until Cory starts selling corals. 😜 I do wish it had more of the varieties there, but still the best list I've seen in a single spot. Some of the naming seems like the wild west though. There are a few ones that I think have been named several times. Makes it a bit harder to sort it all out. I mean if Zoas are the wild west for identification and naming, then Scolys are just a post apocalyptic every man for himself wasteland. At least with zoas they can be fraged easily so you can have strains. With scolys it's just does the latest one ripped from the reef look like others, or will it sell better with a new exotic name? Because you can't really propagate them easily I haven't paid too much attention to them though. I am excited to see what I can afford! 😉 The torch corals are so popular right now that the prices are sky high for the nice ones. This is an interesting point! One of my fellow keepers locally drills holes in his marco just larger then frag plugs to hold the frags loosely in place. I didn't really set this up to go this route, but maybe I should before putting corals in?! Something to think about. Thanks! I mean are they really that much more than a skimmer? Or a nice torch coral? Actually, I think I'd rather have the coral. 😁 That's a fair concern!

My grandfather loved country music. Because I liked Weird Al, he bought a Ray Stevens album for me hoping it would get me listening to country. No luck! 🤣 But that song will always bring back good memories of him.

Breeding stuff if my goal too, but hopefully I'll be pulling eggs/larvae, so there shouldn't be a build up. I men the coals will grow... I hope. But that will be the big biomass addition over time. Oh, I know. I wasn't really worried about where the sand is in terms of hills, etc. I just wanted to make sure the pieces were stable. I won't be getting any large diggers, like fighting conchs or anything. So, I hope the larger rock structures will stay relatively where they have been set. But we'll see. I am aiming for about 26C, which will let the tank drop to about 25.5. That's suggested as a decent coral temperature. I mean, I want SW in large part for the Cnidarians! And the challenges of breeding inhabitants too, I suppose. But I am drooling over some of the corals and one nem!

Left the sock in last night to help clear the water. It sort of worked... Hopefully by the time the fishless portion of the cycle is done in a few days, it will have settled out and cleared up. Otherwise, a finer filter sock might be in order. Until then, I put in two kinds of bottled bacteria, and some ammonium chloride to feed the bacteria. One Ammonia Alert added, and then lights out! Once I can add ammonium chloride and have it disappear in a few hours, I'll be set to add the biodiversity bacteria, microalgae, coraline algae, and the pods. A couple weeks like than and the clowns go and, then I am on my way!