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Torrey

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Everything posted by Torrey

  1. Torrey
    @ArtemisCai I am so sorry.... I know which company and that has become the norm. There are other great companies to work with, and while Cory has asked us not to name companies in the forum to prevent any issues, let me say that I have not had a single bad experience ordering from companies that offer an Aquarium Co-op discount, and that I have had wonderful experiences going through Aquarium Co-op videos to find various breeders to order directly from. Look for reviews from other Nerms on the company sites. Read reviews, and look for bad reviews (if there are no bad reviews, I don't order. A bad review gives me an opportunity to see a breeder or a company's integrity, as well as their customer service model). See who follows up. I'm next door to you. I only place animal orders in October / November, and March / April. Not worth the risk to animals in the summer, especially with covid affecting shipping times.
  2. Torrey
    I follow Cory's guidelines too, which thrills my lfs. One trick I learned: add a capful of H2O2 to the bag after packaging the plants. If any algae has started growing, it softens the algae so any snails, shrimp, algae eaters at the store can clean it off faster. Bonus is it tends to reduce pests. Has made my plants a fave at the fish club auctions.
  3. Torrey
    If you want a steady supply of live foods, I recommend a Walstad start. I followed Dr. Diana Walstad's advice and didn't sift the soil. I soaked in a 5 gallon bucket and skimmed the top to eliminate oil film, but I left the bits of wood and mulch in, as this is an easy way to introduce microfauna. I put in 3" of soil, and cap with an inch of sand, plant as many plants as I have available. As soon as the ammonia is fully converted to nitrates, I add blackworms, snail and amphopods (unless it's going to be a shrimp tank). Once there are close to a dozen blackworms per square inch, and the plants have completed their melt/grow/melt/thrive, the tank is ready for fish. I rarely have to supplement feed small batches of fry this way, and beneficial bacteria will grow in relationship to the fry. When it's time to take the batch to the LFS, rinse a blackworm culture in a sieve (so blackworms get stuck) and put the mesh sieve in the tank. The fish swim into the sieve to eat the worms, and are easy to scoop without destroying plants. Use liquid fertilizer until next batch of fry are ready, and watch your microfauna population bounce back.
  4. Torrey
    @CT_ you just answered why some of my plants are more red and I couldn't duplicate in another tank: the plants closest to the UVA & UVB light for the turtle have the most vibrant colors. As far as red and blue spectrum go, if people want to prevent algae growth, don't let the light exceed the CO2 availability. Either use a siesta after 4 hours, or use CO2 injection.
  5. Torrey
    @Guppysnail your plecos are gorgeous! Our lfs would probably buy from you and pay for shipping, the fish manager was just talking to me asking if I would start breeding bristlenose and panda corys for him. If you are still struggling to get the frogbit growing fast enough to keep nitrates down *and* not have guppies devour it, try putting it in the tote that isn't fish safe. Try lights on for 5 hours, 3 hours off, and back on for 5 hours, and add liquid fertilizer every other day. Once the roots are over 6" long, and new growth is solidly established, return to the tank. I literally just transferred almost a 5 gallon bucket worth from the T 4' tank to the turtle pond, because the frogbit finally recuperated from the guppy nibbles and took over the top of the tank.
  6. Torrey
    @Crabby red azolla, aka Mexican Azolla is indigenous from the Southwest down through Guatemala, I believe. I found it in high elevations in exceptionally chilly water, down to the cenotes and water as warm as 80°. Here's some in my tank, temp fluctuates throughout the year between 65° nighttime in the winter, to 74° daytime in the summer. New growth will be green, it turns red under **bright** desert sun. Or, under a Costco shop light in my aquarium 😅
  7. Torrey
    Amphipods are delightful little creatures. When you don't want them in your shrimp tank, they multiply like crazy. When you need a robust colony for fish to eat, they go to the store and buy birth control 🤣 I maintain 3 amphipod tanks now. Feed them heavier than you would shrimp, and drop in a cube of frozen carrot. As the food becomes more plentiful, so do the 'pods.
  8. Torrey
    Did you rewatch the video from Cory on when/ how he built the racks for the store? Looking good!
  9. Torrey
    I love all the updates! Yes, guppies are smaller eating machines than goldfish, and I have to keep way more plants than one would think to keep roots on any floaters🤣 For as small as they are, they sure do eat a lot! I need to get better at updates on my Walstad tank, except after I work on the tanks I am worn out and forget to journal 😅 Dr Diana Walstad has / had a bunch of interviews on a YT channel, and Grandfather Fish has a video with a great *condensed* version of the book. If that helps? I added those acrylic "gems" to my fry tank, and put my 3 moss balls on top of the gems. It's a bare bottom tank, and the addition of the 'gems' helped reflect more light so the growing zebra danios are well illuminated! Now, I need to figure out the GoPro and start recording.
  10. Torrey
    Add air stones to increase evaporation (natural cooling) and run a fan to blow air over the tank. Make sure that the heater is unplugged, as you don't want the heater to come on accidentally.
  11. Torrey
    NVM, I just finished reading the rest of the thread. Cardinals will forgive a lot, but they do not tolerate ammonia or chlorine. Try not to beat yourself up, you trusted your tools and did the best you could, and asked for more information. Cardinals will acclimate to water up to pH 8.2. Their eggs need more acidic water to successfully hatch, but the fish do well. I live with liquid rock.... like there is so much calcium in the water people and animals get kidney stones 😬 Find woods and leaves that help lower your pH, instead of relying on chemical buffers. Allow the tank time to stabilize (this is part of the reason I am doing a Walstad tank is to determine how much decomposition I need to get down to 6.8.... or if it's even possible to get there and maintain ....) Unless you are wanting to breed cardinals, I think your parameters (with healthy beneficial bacteria colony) are fine
  12. Torrey
    Have you contacted the store and asked them how long they had the fish, and if they have lost any from the same batch? Occasionally, fish can come in with a problem and the shock of shipping etc isn't quite enough to show up as a problem at the store.... but the extra shock of store to new home is the laat straw.
  13. Torrey
    There's a link here to a pubmed article on growth inhibiting hormones in fish and how they function. Apparently, depending on browser, there may be issues opening the link. It's NIH article /19735661 if you have to manually search it
  14. Torrey
    Thank you so much!!!! My brain kept wanting to call it reopens😅
  15. Torrey
    Mystery plant #3: Longer leaves, oblongate, paired at the node. Newer growth is pink, old growth goes green. Leaves up to 1.5" long. Grows 2" + each week, plants closest to the light source grow faster. Newest growth is the richest pink in extremely nutrient rich soil (osmacote + Miracle Grow) and low light.
  16. Torrey
    Mystery plant #2: I got this on clearance. Under high light the growth was slower and more red. In the Walstad, lots of new growth, but it's very green. Paired, alternating direction of paired leaves, internodal length is less than a cm. Propagates readily in all my tanks, looks healthier in tanks w/o heaters (I moved a weighted bunch to the Walstad to help it recover from a heated tank) Thank you @Guppysnail! This is ludwiga repens You can easily see the difference in coloration. Older leaves (high light, temp 80° F, hard water high in calcium, magnesium, and nitrates) were a pinkish red. New growth in low light is **very** green.
  17. Torrey
    In the spirit of eliminating stigma around not knowing: I have a plant that I have had for a long time, looks similar to hornwort, but it roots like stem plants... and I can't remember the name🤷‍♂️ Thank you @eatyourpeas for identifying this plant! Myriophyllum These are cuttings in the 10 gallon Walstad tank. Grows a woody stem, roots rapidly, and is growing ~ 3" each week under low light. Any ideas?
  18. Torrey
    I didn't know much about it until I got tired of killing it😅
  19. Torrey
    @s1_ has the gist of it, if we leave bad reviews they will be counted against the Co-op. I'm trying to find the live feed where Cory actually discussed the business selling Co-op merchandise. Someone answered that they drive from Virginia to Washington to buy fish from the store, and they order quite a bit during the summer to be delivered (sponges, etc) to VA for them to resell. While I agree that ethically it's a major grey territory, do we want to blast someone who is doing what they can during the pandemic to support the Co-op? Is there a more productive approach than trying to drag the individual, and then leaving Cory and Candi to deal with the person's hurt feelings? Just something to think about. The livestream was recent, so July or August? Cory noted that the sponge filters were Co-op filters, and the picture of the fish was his fishroom. The person was not in the live stream chat, but responded a day or two later. Typically, I have found that people either make decisions out of love or out of fear. The ones made out of fear harm everyone. The ones made out of love can lead to misunderstandings if conversations to clarify expectations, boundaries, and needs don't happen. 🤷‍♂️
  20. Torrey
    @SWilson I have ideas of what I want, but won't make any final decisions until I see where the tank stabilizes. I have learned (the hard way) it's better to buy fish for the water I have, than try to force water to match the fish I want😅
  21. Torrey
    Name That Plant Dawned on me that I might not be the only one in here with health issues that affect memory. For those who are not regularly active in the Live Chats, I had a pretty impactful TIA in February, and struggle with words sometimes now. I was recently asked what a plant was I have had for years, and while I could describe the care it needed, I couldn't name it🤦‍♂️ So, I figured I would look in here for a plant naming guide.... and I couldn't find one. I don't have room on my phone to download the university app to identify aquatic plants.... and thought maybe folks here would enjoy adding their plant images, descriptions, [and if you want, brief care info] of your favorite plants. Have a plant that you don't remember the name? I'm sure someone in here can help! I'll start with my favorite for lowering calcium levels in the water: Hornwort: Hornwort is a 'floating' non rooted plant. It has a central stem with 'collars' of flat, needle like leaves (similar to norfolk pine). It tolerates water as low as the 50's, thrives in the 60's and 70's, and tolerates the 80's. It is great in QT tanks that use low level of salt, and is prolific in delta waterways (where river meets ocean). It needs calcium in the water, and is a great way to monitor water quality for 'pods and snails, as the hornwort will start dropping needles if calcium levels begin to drop. If you have a microscope, hornwort has a single large chloroplast per cell unlike other 'worts' like liverwort. Healthy hornwort can grow up to an inch a day, but typically averages 5" a week under ideal conditions. It is a great home for daphnia and other microorganisms for fry to feed on. It has a reputation for being difficult, typically because people are not aware of the high calcium needs of the plant. Enjoy my friend, hornwort!
  22. Torrey
    Whelp, it is definitely summer time! I had to add air stones for water movement, because I found mosquito larvae in the new Walstad tank and I am not ready to add fish and not willing to do water changes. Plant growth is phenomenal! I cut several plants back and replanted the cuttings. I didn't have a way to take good pictures as I was cutting/ replanting due to the power outage. I ordered air tube suction cups so I can clean up the view in the tank, and I am debating buying a light for the tank so the tannins can stay.... or adding purigen in a bag so ambient light is enough. Water sprite, duckweed and azolla are fine. Three types of stem plants getting light reflected off the mirror are fine. The carolina bacopa and the water lettuce are struggling though. I know typically the Walstad method says let the plants sort it out, but this tank is doing double duty of growing out plants for my future 4' build. So I may need to supplement the lighting... at least until I finish the bigger build. 😅
  23. Torrey
    @Jimmy now that I know it's an external shop, I am super glad you opted for double insulation! For drainage, I would recommend considering an outside pond or tubs. Even a big enough stock tank will work. Heavily plant it in the spring with trimmings from your fish room, and it will remove the nitrates from the water. It will also give you outdoor breeding opportunities. It's just an idea, but it opens new possibilities for water usage/recycling for your tanks and can offer your wife quite the garden! Your work looks great so far.
  24. Torrey
    I thought I grabbed the quote questioning growth inhibiting hormones, apparently I did not. There is a plethora of research on the effects of gamma-aminobutyric acid and somatostatin functioning as growth inhibitors in fry, and the lasting impacts of stunted growth. Some of the research is open access, a lot is behind paywalls. Most indoor breeders will do daily 50% water changes (I did a 50% 2x a day with my Zebra Danio fry, just like I did when I bred discus), and feed 4x day to capitalize on growth. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19735661/
  25. Torrey
    My hobbies outside of fish: Before covid & my TIA I studied languages, read books, taught snowboarding, traveled, and sailed. Now I am relearning lots of things. Don't know if I will return to snowboarding or mountain biking. My balance is not what it once was. Teaching kids about aquarium keeping, and tying it in to biology/ecology, plus taking care of the tanks I have, is pretty much what I have spoons for these days. That might change in the future, but for now my health and my tanks are my focus. And the next generation.
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