[Show Your Garden Pics]

Thanks @Shmaty! I have some neem but that hasn't seemed to help whatever it is that keeps attacking my Gerber! I've so far been able to fend off whatever it is by frequently (gently) water spraying the newer leaves and he's coming back again! This has happened so many times I've lost count in the decade plus the plant has been around. It clearly doesn't want to leave me. Here it is today: 

 

And thanks for sharing your recent garden adventure, oh my goodness!!

[Rando place where xXInkedPhoenixX posts about stuff....occasionally...]

Last night I decided it was time for the 4 new Black Neons to go into the  Angry Man. They were quite pale for a few minutes after being acclimated and put in the tank but colored up quickly. The 4 established residents were hesitant at first too, however because of their diminished numbers in the recent past they have not been acting themselves and mostly hide. Now everyone is happier. It was cute to see the 4 new ones school up when they were put in the tank and one by one the others came out and this morning everyone seems really happy. You can see the four new ones to the left of the pic below and the residents just starting to come out to see the newbies:

I would have added them a week sooner, but I'm only concerned about "Fin" one of the new Neons who came to me with pretty severe fin damage. Maybe they were born this way but to me it looks like the tail fin was ripped at some point. I watched for extra time to make sure the fin didn't go fungal or lead to body rot. I was also concerned about bullying but so far Fin seems to be holding their own in the tank, so I'm very happy about that. In the original pic you can see Fin's damage but here it is pointed out, just a tiny hook shaped tail fin at the top: 

Having succesfully added them yestereday this morning I decided to also release the Dwarf Flame Gourami (who has yet to get a name). He hid for a little bit but after a few minutes he started exploring. I was concerned about whether he'd make targets of the 5 resident Endler males but though they seem scared of him and have been kind of cowering here and there, the Gourami doesn't seem interested. I didn't realize how piggy these little ones are! He poops SO much and now is picking at everything in the tank that might be tasty! Hopefully he continues to ignore the Endlers and everyone settles in nicely!

[Splash less bleach]

I'm with @Odd Duck on this one, rinsing it will be fine. There are very few applications in aquarium keeping you can consider using bleach, but when you do you just have to be diligent about rinsing. For most things soap and water, vinegar and water or simply rinsing is fine. The only appication you HAVE to use bleach I can think of is when you use Purigen you have to use bleach to reactivate it, and as long as you are careful you should never have an issue. 

[Post dog pics HERE!]

On 9/17/2024 at 3:16 PM, lefty o said:

last ride today

I'm sorry for that @lefty o, that's a tough one. 

[Dumb/Foolish purchases]

On 9/16/2024 at 10:43 AM, Retrophyllum_minus said:

Cuttle bones are for birds.

Actually you can use them as people do crushed coral, they do add hardness to the water (ironically you say they're for birds- which yes that's what they are used for - but they do come from the water  not a dig, just find it amusing). 

 

I think anything med-wise with FIX at the end is a waste of money, it's not medicine and they don't work. 

[Kudos to Our Friendly Fish Monger]

That's awesome! I've never watched any of Dan's videos. Cory always talks about running canisters in rooms where he knows he'll be filming. I guess one never notices how sensitive microphones are until things are played back. I've noticed if I wear over the ear headphones even on streaming shows I can hear things in the background I never thought would be possible.  Every little noise counts. 

[CO2 Refill - Must Tank be Dry?]

In that case I might contact the manufacturer or seller and see what they recommend. I've had good luck emailing/calling companies with those kinds of questions. 

[Fish Tank Shuffle]

I think what you have planned is the best way to do it, why? Well because you are starting with a new tank set up and can move the inhabitants from a tank you need to move to that new tank. It will all be a game of tetris from there. Good luck with the move!

[CO2 Refill - Must Tank be Dry?]

Good question, I wonder if @Mmiller2001 knows?

[Just a big old pink ramshorn]

I get some royal honkers in my tanks too, some just over a half inch (just the shell). I think their shells are so heavy they can barely carry them, they are usually sideways unlike their smaller counterparts.

[Rando place where xXInkedPhoenixX posts about stuff....occasionally...]

Been working on the Accidental Tank to put the new inhabitant Dwarf Flame Gourami when he clears QT. So to make more room for him to move around I removed the Foo Dogs I had in there and one at a time placed the Anubias that was covered in algae in the Angry Man tank and let the SAE Bissell have at them, but surprisingly though Bissell did a great job cleaning, the red Ramshorns actually seemed to do the lion's share of the work. A good vacuum and the Accidental Tank now looks really nice: 

It's incredibly hard to take pics of this tank either for reflections or the brightness of the lights. It's much better in person. Here's some algae free Anubias: 

Meanwhile Suess, my newer longfin albino Bristlenose male has been hanging out in the Pleco cave a lot. Not sure if we've had any egg laying going on. He sometimes leaves the cave to hang out upside down on the small sponge filter, just like a Suess character would: 

[New Zealand mud snail eradication]

Hi, can't speak to experience but it seems even pea puffers aren't going to touch the snails you have. I'd be willing to try Assasin Snails, they've been known to take down even Mystery Snails if they were hungry enough. Probably a last ditch effort other than resetting the whole tank and discarding anything that might be snail infested. From what I can see only their own worm parasites will keep them in check. Makes me wonder what effect they'd have overall on the tank if they were allowed to stick around, but I've never had them. 

[Mastering Java Fern - Crowd Sourcing]

Personally I've found my Narrow Leaf has done well on wood and not quite as well on harder scape (rocks/decor). I have a piece of wood that is arched out of the planting substrate and a lot of Narrow and Windelov on it, seems to do great compared to other Java placement.

[Do you always quarantine? Sometimes quarantine? Do you medicate? How do you decide?]

The only time I haven't (QT'd) is when I get a fish from another fish keeper that I trust and has had no illnesses in their tanks. However, 99% of the time even in that case I will QT for at least 2 weeks and up to 4, as long as there are no issues then I put them in my tank. If one dies 2 weeks into a QT, the time is reset for me until there are no further problems, it is then I would consider medicating - if no issues, no meds are used during the QT process.

I have smaller tanks and typically only house 1-6 fish at a time, so I use 3 gallon tubs I get from Petco (critter keepers they call them). I don't medicate unless they need to be. I put in some plants from an established tank (something small and sacrificial like guppy grass), an airstone or small sponge filter and 1 dried Indian Almond Leaf. I keep a towel on top of the tank (the critter keepers are highly vented but it also keeps the lights lower and therefore stress down theoretically). I also keep some aquarium hides around for some fish that I can make certain species more comfortable by providing somewhere for them to hide.

[Duckweed snuck into my tank?]

Oh no! It's Duckweed. Start scooping it allllll out now or you are doomed! Or you'll love it, depends on what you want. 

[New User]

Welcome to the forum @Bubbletrouble! One of the great things about our hobby is that it's impossible to know everything and you get to learn new things all the time. It can be frustrating that there are several ways to do one thing- but also neat that we can- and on top of that share these ideas and experiences with other fish keepers from all over. Everyone has knowledge to share and questions to ask, so again, welcome!

[Rando place where xXInkedPhoenixX posts about stuff....occasionally...]

There's not been a lot going on with my tanks lately. Just maintaining as best I can while waiting for a big move to a 40 gallon in anticipation for the final move to the new 196 gallon. My SAE Bissell is doing a great job maintaining the algae in the Angry Man tank but he's gotten so big - he's one of the few that will benefit most from getting moved. 

Yesterday I took the Foo Dogs out of my Accidental Tank. I'm making more room for a new resident currently in QT as of yesterday. I put one of my Anubias that keeps getting covered in some sort of different algae (course feeling and easily taken off hardscape not so much plants) into the Angry Man tank, the SAE and Ramshorns snails really like it. I'll be rotating out plants for them to clean. 

Anyway, on a whim while looking around the LFS with Intrepid Partner we decided to pick up one of the beautiful Dwarf Flame Gouramis they had: 

[How do you make potted plants?]

Depending on your desired style, I've found terracotta pots are always safe. I've also used glazed bamboo pots with beautiful results. 

[Show Your Garden Pics]

On 9/4/2024 at 3:43 AM, PineSong said:

Gerbera daisies are annuals

Yes for whatever reason this one wants to stick with me, I've had others that have died. I got it in 2010, here's an old comparison photo of it: 

I don't like using chemicals either. I've been using something called Mighty Mint that seems to work for some things but not others. I water blasted the leaves after repotting it (the current picture that I posted earlier) this week. I had a master gardener once tell me to just keep water blasting plants to get rid of pests. It can be time consuming when a plant is big but the poor thing doesn't have many leaves right now -- BUT it has a CRAZY large root system. This is not the first time this plant has been attacked. I've also used Neem Oil. 

[Is amazon a good place to buy fish?]

@NOLANANO, I might disagree with the comparison between Amazon and Petsmart. You can buy from vendors on Amazon who are small businesses that pay to sell on Amazon. Whether you agree or disagree with Amazon and their business I can't deny that it's smart to use their customer base to help sell your products when you are small.

Having said that, whenever I'm buying from an "outside seller" on Amazon I check reviews for the seller. They usually direct ship to you and if there are returns or issues often you have to work through the seller. The better the reviews the more chance you will have zero issues. 

[Discussion of LARGE tanks: It's happening! 196 gallon custom glass tank....]

On 9/2/2024 at 5:10 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

CaribSea Jungle River Sand at Chewy!

Funny you should mention that. I have all 3 substrates saved on my Chewy app. I'd buy it locally but they don't carry it typically and/or are always out at the stores around me. 

[Show Your Garden Pics]

To answer your question @kevin222 this season we built structures in our yard. We're mostly container gardeners and some of them needed shade plus we wanted a hang out spot so up a pergola went: 

We put up sun sails and a plant bench along under the windows you see, but I don't have a pic of that yet.

We also took antique French doors and built a gate in the backyard to separate the backyard tools/equipment from the rest of the backyard. I put my Pink Star Jasmine (left) and Purple Trumpet Vine (right) along the frame we built. 

Next summer hopefully we'll get to a planned waterfall/pond feature and another smaller pergola in another area of the yard. 

Anyone have a good Aphid deterent/cure? My poor Gerbera Daisy keeps getting attacked, the plant is over a decade old and I don't want to lose it. 

[Discussion of LARGE tanks: It's happening! 196 gallon custom glass tank....]

So last week Intrepid Partner and I were at a LFS. The store had a big selection of wood (more than they usually had) so we rifled through their "Ghostwood" and found 3 pieces we really liked. Since I have a 40 gallon waiting for my move at home I started soaking the wood to get tanins out. I emptied and refilled the tank yesterday. 2 of the pieces are dark wood the other a nice 2 tone. They are good sizes. Whether we use all 3 pieces is up in the air at this point but the 2 tone is definitely playing a part in my plan so far being the biggest potential wood "centerpiece" if you will. One of the darkwood pieces is entangled in it right now (to help sink it), I didn't feel like disentangling it for the pics. The other darkwood piece has definitely sunk. 

THEN this week we went out on the hunt for rocks. Intrepid Partner was really gungho about this part, at this time. We went to 2 different rock places. At the 2nd one he was determined to leave with something. Thankfully for the both of us we found 2 pallets of "Mexican Pot Rock" aka "Mexican Bowl Rock". The pallets were both half empty so we were able to move them around and pick the ones we thought were most interesting. We picked what I'm calling a few "Crowning Rocks" these are the rocks that will top the Peninsula mound and be the main hardscape rock. It may be solo with supporting "actors" or possibly I will use one other so there will be 2. Time will tell. Here is the grouping - MINUS- the 3 rocks with X on them - 2 of those are yard rocks that are always there, 1 is a piece of Mexican rock that we might break into smaller pieces or use elsewhere in the yard. 

Our favorite and front runner for the Crown rock of the tank is a cool combination of a neat shape, has potential cave and/or overhang area and has other rocks "stuck" in it. One of these groupings of rocks looks like a fist coming out of the top of the rock, it has other formations from similar rocks on other sides. Very cool. So I think this is the rock that will make it at the top of the Peninsula mound: 

IF that one doesn't work we have 2 other fabulous rocks that could work as well. These have really good holes and shapes that will work well with the back wall and jut out nicely. Especially the one at the forefront of this picture, reminds me of a dinosaur head shape: 

Then of course we got a bunch of smaller supporting rocks. The idea is that we'd like to form the peninsula mound in a way that all of these rocks look like they are part of one large rock or formation sticking out of it. Then there will be other pieces scattered about that might looks like they were broken off of said feature. One of my favorite smaller rocks that might be a stand alone somewhere in the tank as a "broken off" piece is so far what I'm calling small castle rock. It's very cool standing up on end and has lots of fun places fish can hang out in: 

So we've been moving ahead with design. I think I'm going to go with Caribsea Peace River gravel. It has some of the tones the Mexican rocks have and is a nice size. We'll add some Caribsea Sunset Gold sand (yes I'm fully aware of other cheaper options for sand and substrate, however being as how this is a very large display tank I'm willing to spend the money on the colors and textures I want). I might also fill the drainage cells we're using to build up the mound with Caribsea EcoComplete in red and use that as a planter for any rooted plants I decide to put in the tank. The rest of the tank will have rhizome plants. 

Of course any of this can change at any point but I'm getting excited about the design phase!

[Self priming HOB]

I really love my Aqueon Quiet flows, they work after a power outage, are inexpensive, are easy to "hot rod", total work horses. 

[Discussion of LARGE tanks: It's happening! 196 gallon custom glass tank....]

It's been a bit since I've posted. Intrepid Partner, with some small support from myself, has been very busy doing other home projects so the aquarium is at a pause. It's important to take advantage of nice weather for outdoor projects and we can focus on the tank when being indoors is preferable. We have made some progress however. I've purchased some Aquascape Flo-Cell drainage cells that we will use to build up the peninsula inside the tank. An idea we took from a youtube video here at about 3 minutes in: 

 

Intrepid Partner has also done some work under the house where the tank sits. Despite the cement wall along part of the tank Intrepid Partner wanted to make extra, extra sure the floor will take the weight and did a bunch of construction research and shored up the underside of the house as well: 

Thankfully this man has a lot of inherent talent. He had to also modify the metal brackets so they would be angled right as the underside of the house got smaller and smaller. 

In the near future we'll start the process of rocks and wood gathering. 

 

ANYONE HAVE ANY ROCK SUGGESTIONS? What kinds of rocks look good in a large tank? Anyone have experience with Texas Holy rock or other sorts? Show pics if you got 'em!