[Advice to yourself]

Just now, Anita said:

@Krakens_tanks I believe something like that. Or more specifically, to give each reaction more weight and in that way make the reaction totals more meaningful. Having a limit motivates people to be more thoughtful about using their reactions. 

For example, what does it mean that someone received 3,145 likes compared to someone who received 2,921? The difference of 224 votes is around 7%, barely significant. So all those thousands of votes are, in a way, wasted. On the other hand, if someone received 12 likes and someone else received 2, the difference of 10 votes is comparatively quite large. 

😲😲😲 I never thought of it that way... Explains why I failed math alot lmao but definitely makes sense.

[Advice to yourself]

1 minute ago, Anita said:

There is. Although I do not know what the magic number is. You will know immediately when you have run out. 😎

I have read the counter resets every 24 hours, although no one seems to know when that happens. 

 

Yea oddly enough I ran out like 5 post after you mentioned that lol I'm curious as to the reason for that. I guess to limit spam?

 

@Anita no problem it was just a fun little question that was asked of me and couldn't help but wonder others answers

[Advice to yourself]

Ok I finally hit to many reactions but seriously all these are awesome 

[Advice to yourself]

2 minutes ago, Patrick_G said:

haha, yes! I’ve actually killed plants while trying to rid them of algae. I want my tank to look good NOW. My wife, on the other hand,  just waits patiently and her tanks balance themselves and start to look great with out much intervention at all. 

Yea my wife ain't in the forum but we recently started our 40g planted tanks on the same day and we both a little competitive about the look of our tanks. I'm a neat freak while she lets nature do it's thing

[Advice to yourself]

6 minutes ago, Daniel said:

Here are several ways to heat your tank without electricity:

 

My 1930s aquarium was setup to be heated like this:

 

That's crazy like I get what I'm looking at but still sorta flabbergasted

[Advice to yourself]

1 minute ago, Anita said:

ORD 💜

Is there legit a limit? I haven't hit it yet 

[Advice to yourself]

3 minutes ago, Daniel said:

Here is one place to find the best Aquarium Podcast on the web with our very own @Randy Reed:

https://aquaristpodcast.podbean.com/

 

@Daniel Thank you very much 

[Advice to yourself]

1 minute ago, SWilson said:

In no way discouraging him from sharing here on this thread 🙂 but I think he did in the "3 aquarium discoveries that changed my fishkeeping hobby" livestream and on episode 20 of the aquarist podcast, which I just listened to. 🙂 

Where can I find the podcast I keep meaning to listen to it??

[Advice to yourself]

2 minutes ago, Brandy said:

In retrospect I regret a lot less than I expected to, and the hobby has greatly contributed to my mental health during a stressful time. I needed this, and it really has been "cheaper than therapy". 

Considering that the tank aty therapist office is what triggered my fish keeping I feel this on such a deep level keeping fish has done wonders for my PTSD

[Advice to yourself]

6 minutes ago, Sal said:

Yeah mine would definitely be STOP TOUCHING IT (ie, leave it alone, let it be, etc...) which I guess is relevant in all aspects of life.  😂

I say that every day to my kids yet I still struggle with this as an adult lol

[Advice to yourself]

2 minutes ago, xXInkedPhoenixX said:

I'm ridiculously methodical. I had kept fish before but nothing bigger than a 10 gallon. You could call me a pandemic fish keeper but I've never been quarantined as my job is considered "essential" and so other than not going out as often my life didn't change much but for I was home a lot more on my days off. 

I did HOURS AND HOURS AND HOURS, (reading and watching videos) of research, but no matter how much research you do, you're never prepared for EVERYTHING (like my Otos breeding- I certainly wasn't prepared for that). For the most part I think I did things right. I had a fishy first aid kit ready and a quarantine tank. I picked my fish by the parameters and tank size I was going to get. I got live plants and drifwood. I battled (and won) against Ich twice in 2 different tanks (original and quarantine tanks). There are a couple of things I would have changed. 

I went low tech so I would have:

Not gotten a tank "kit". I should have done some more research on filtration and come to MY end conclusion that sponge filtration is the way to go- but I don't totally regret it becausee now I do have a back up HOB in case I do need double filtration in the future (as they say always have a back up plan). However I do have a hood I don't need. 

In my original tank I would have put more planting substrate. Not that it can't be changed but it would be a giant pain. 

There's probably more little things but those are the major ones. Now I'm on 20 gallon tank 2, waiting on my brand new fish to become acclimated to temp before I put them in (thanks @Krakens_tanks there's 6 Black Neons waiting for release). It's been really fun. Maybe I kinda wish I would have done all this sooner?

Hahahahahaha your welcome. I'm hoping mine come in Friday they are 2 weeks late

[Advice to yourself]

I would love to hear @Cory words of advice to himself in his early years of fishkeeping I'm sure that would be some earth shattering knowledge bomb lol

[Advice to yourself]

6 minutes ago, Emika_B said:

1. Buy at least twice as many plants as you think you’ll need.

2. Don’t chase parameters.  If your water chemistry is stable, you’re good.

3. Check out your local fish sources to see who carries what at what prices, both hardware and livestock.

4. Have a quarantine tank set up before purchasing fish.  Have it cycle while the main tank is cycling, or even before.

5. Do your research but don’t take just one source as gospel.  You’ll see so many differing opinions/rules that you may want to just split the difference and see how things go.

6. Document!  Take notes, take photos.  Having a record of what worked and what didn’t will be useful down the line.

7. Take your time.  Biology does what it wants, when it wants and there’s no rushing it.  Let your tank cycle, let your plants grow in, take the time to quarantine fish.

8. Don’t be afraid to fail.  Yes, it hurts to lose fish, even if they’re ‘just guppies,’ but what you learn from each failure will lead to future success.

9. Acknowledge that this can be an expensive hobby.  Set a budget and plan within that budget.  You may need to scale back or get creative.

10. Turn off the lights in the room, just leave the tank light on, and stare at your fish.  With each swish of a tail, feel your stress drift off.  Enjoy the slice of nature in your room.

Can we get this made into a brochure for fish keeping please 🙏🏻🙏🏻

[Advice to yourself]

2 minutes ago, Sandra the fish rookie said:

@Krakens_tanks AMEN!!! The ones you mentioned.. ROCK! watch them all the time.. always learn something new.. or how I can be a better fish keeper! 

Absolutely I try to join all there live streams as well cuz it's nice to fe able to interact and ask questions directly. That's what lead me here was I kept seeing cory talk about things he was talking about in here and I was sorta taken back like wait a content creator who actually talks with his followers.... I'm in! Heck I even joined the members page on youtube just to soak up every bit of knowledge I could

[Advice to yourself]

12 minutes ago, Kirsten said:

Hahah, I feel like I've turned so many corners since starting back in the hobby last summer, I'm something like a heptadecagon by now. My advice to myself 6 months ago:

1) Visit the aquarium co-op website, watch the videos, join the forum, buy easy green and root tabs.

2) Sponge pre-filters on everything in the tank that sucks. Glue them on if you have to.

3) Feed less.

I will be completely honest. I used to be sorta stuck up joey "king of diy" butt for youtube videos and I think that's what made me make alot of mistakes cuz at that time he was keeping very high level experience fish with sumps and all kinds of high end equipment and I wanted all of that so bad cuz it's all I saw and it made me not learn the basics to keeping fish. Finally sorta opened my mind to other youtubers and realized I missed like the first 50 chapters if fish keeping. Thankfully people like co-op, kg, prime-time, and a few others really made basic fish keeping fun and easy to learn I'm still newer to the forum but I can say hands down have learned a lot already.

[Advice to yourself]

5 minutes ago, Sandra the fish rookie said:

100% agree with @Krakens_tanks. BEST ADVICE EVER!!

I am new to the hobby (first tank Dec 2020) and I don't know why I was in such a rush? I purchases stuff that either didn't fit, or I didn't need. Each tank I get I learn from the first one what I liked or disliked, and have learned to (and force myself) to slow my roll a bit. Think twice do once and to stop being such a spaz and impatient. I am usually so chill and patient.. but for some reason.. I wanted fish and wanted them NOW! Cycling a tank? What is that? (#deadfish) is what it is.. I have learned to just relax.. it will get there. 

I also think I should have taken more time to learn MORE!  I am so thankful that I found all these YouTube vlogs, and this forum. I have learned more here than any other website! I am still learning from all of you. 

I think that's the "addictive" part if fish keeping is oooo pretty new fish! I need it now lol. And they say drugs are dangerous 🙊🙊🙊

[Advice to yourself]

5 minutes ago, Jennifer V said:

Wholeheartedly agree! Having a long-term plan seems to be so much better than a haphazard approach. I'm a big fan of spontaneity in my non-Nerm life, but this has taught me that preparation is key. 

@Krakens_tanks great advice! Taking it slow and being patient are two things I struggle with, but sitting where I am now as opposed to my younger self three months ago, I'm finding a lot of joy in just letting the process happen rather than forcing anything too quickly. 

That's awesome. And I promise you it only gets better from here. I won't say I have done it all cuz Lord knows I haven't but I can say I have dipped my toes in almost every type of water and let me tell you this hobby is one of the best things to ever happen in my life besides my kids lmfao but then again they are into the hobby themselves and all three are under 10

[Advice to yourself]

23 minutes ago, SWilson said:

That is excellent advice and something I have been working on the last few months. 🙂

Granted my "younger self" that is relevant here is like 5 months ago, but what I would tell myself is to really think about what I plan on keeping in a tank, and research accordingly what I will need - rather than getting the tank, plants, and some equipment first and then looking for fish or what not - inevitably, I have to buy more/different stuff to fit the needs of what I ended up putting in the tank.  

God if I had a dollar for every time I had to go through that. Especially because I traded fish like crazy for like 2 years constantly had new fish in the tank that needed all sorts of different perimeters or hides or all kinds of stuff lol. 

[Other Pets]

My fur children booker the lab mix and daisy the basset hound bluenose mix these two have some amazing personalities

[Advice to yourself]

Me and my wife were talking about past fish tanks and how many goods we have had along the way and she asked me probably one of the best questions ever..

 

"If you could tell your younger self one thing fish related what would it be?"

My answer take it slow. New fish and tanks are exciting but giving your full attention to a special tank or fish is 100x more rewarding. 

So I ask you the same question what's one piece of advice you would tell your younger self?

[Green hair algae help]

2 minutes ago, CorydorasEthan said:

Yeah that is what a lot of internet sources say. In my experience, they only grow to around four inches max, usually a bit smaller.

I remember in one video cory mentioned buying them then returning them once they get big like a rental program lmfao

[Green hair algae help]

Just now, Mmiller2001 said:

Sounds like you are on course then. Should resolve on it's own.

Appreciate it never had a legit planted tank before so always nervous I messed something up lol

[Green hair algae help]

2 minutes ago, Mmiller2001 said:

I've never used stratum, but if it leeches ammonia, you could back off Easy Green a bit. But if it doesn't, dose lean till the plants start to take off.

The only thing about stratum is it's just a good planted soil made with volcanic ash with a ph buffer. And I have multiple plants that are doing great actually even after only 2 to 3 weeks. My brazilian pennywort and java fern and one other plant I absolutely can not remember the name of lol. Only plant struggling is the crypt Wednii but I'm attributing that to melting as it's the newest plant.

[Green hair algae help]

7 minutes ago, Mmiller2001 said:

It's normal. There's a period when the bio filter is establishing and you will see a cycle of algae come and go. Let your bio filter develope and keep up clean water. Manually remove it if it's keeping lights off the plants. Stay the course.

Have you started fertilizers? What's your substrate?

Substrate is 3 parts Fluval stratum 1 part black diamond blasting sand (sand on very bottom.)

Ferts are easy green and co-op root tabs.

[Green hair algae help]

9 minutes ago, Mmiller2001 said:

New tank?

Yes. Set it up about a month ago added plants over the last 2 weeks. Been using easy green and root tabs. Most plants are doing great but the hair algae is growing like crazy on my Christmas moss.