Torrey

If you are a member of the channel, look at the video from Gianne (first Member's Only Presentation) she gave the best information on how to care for, identify, and even breed bettas.

This one has worked decently for me, took a little playing around to get good images. Once I got the hang of it, I could identify tiny bugs on a tiny duckweed leaf: Next trick is consistently getting it to focus. I learned the key is to use the pro setting on the phone, and play with ISO until you get the distinction you need. Then, you can put your fingers on the screen to magnify. Which helped me identify that one of my endlers had eaten a dog hair, and didn't have intestinal parasites. I could see the dog hair, but due to water movement in the tank it looked like it was moving. It wasn't. My stress was alleviated.

OOf. How to get a word by first *not getting* a word, lol Wordle guessed in 4/6! Can you do better? Try this wordle: https://mywordle.strivemath.com/?word=oidsd ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟩⬜🟨⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 #mywordle Here's one for you: https://mywordle.strivemath.com/?word=pskul Enjoy your travels!

ORD 😍😍😍

Speaking of the importance of oxygen....

ORD 😍

It varies by state, which is not going to make life easier. Go to the state you are wanting to ship to, and verify that the snails you are shipping are legal in that state. Same thing has to be done for fish. Need to know the Latin binomial name to check. Fish & Wildlife is typically pretty patient at answering questions, otherwise USDA is the next best option.

ORD😍😍😍 SWEET!!!!!

ORD 😍 "If I can be anything, I choose to be kind" I'm glad you are working in such an amazing shelter!

Sweet!!!! I'm letting my kiddos in Kamloops know it's working😁

It almost looks like she tried laying eggs on a heater. Is your heater in the tank? If yes, it is in a cage? Agree with Fish Folk, gorgeous pair!

And I have one last piece to add, that comes from work in the field: the bacteria require even more oxygen than our fish. Warmer temperatures will frequently see slower development of bacteria, because the bacteria are not getting enough oxygen. Otherwise, Odd Duck, Modified Lung, and Only Genus Caps already covered everything else better than I could.

Wordle guessed in 4/6! Can you do better? Try this wordle: https://mywordle.strivemath.com/?word=lidsd ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 #mywordle 😅 https://mywordle.strivemath.com/?word=cfrypp

Tank is looking gorgeous! Did you check the temp on the tank? I learned the hard way that people who want to turn on lights will frequently tuch anything that looked like a power cord that might be attached to a light, because thye really want to see.....

I can't wait!!!!

I'm ORD 😍😍😍 The hack to the upgrade (in my case) was honoring the squicks and being very, very, VERY careful not to accidentally trigger. It's taken living in the same place (since 2014), with fish in aquariums that I never asked them to look at or acknowledge, and *never* to watch me feed, before I got permission to put a 4' in their room for me to "build a practice scape" for the dining room tank. I scaped everything based on what they had shared over the years we have been together: Largest rocks closer to the bed, followed by gravel, followed by sand, to create more "depth" of view when they are relaxing in bed Carefully making sure no mold, mildew, water spills, etc No feeding live foods, or frozen worms, when spouse is home Keep clean so there's no smell Start their tank with so few fish (6 endlers in a 4' tank) they didn't get overwhelmed sensory wise with too much movement Plant heavily enough, sometimes all they see is plants ABSOLUTELY ZERO THINGS TO TRIGGER THE TRYPTOPHOBIA So far, so good! And they name the fish in their tank now, and even fed fish when I had surgery last fall. As in, they offered to feed the fish (flake food, but still!)

I can offer one suggestion that you may, or may not, find you like better. I have built this before, and for me it worked infinitely much better and decreased maintenance, when I added a plastic canvas mesh on top. I drilled the holes in the PVC with an1/8th inch drill bit, and yes the power heads were more effective. I had the heater mats back then, and the PVC would pull the water down through the gravel to the UGF, where it would get heated and sent out the uplift tubes. You can use pond sealant to make the PVC lift tubes look like sticks/wood under water, and in larger tanks, build a rock wall between them... or use some more canvas mesh and create a moss wall to cover the tubes.

Do you have a computer, or are you trying to do the forum & the programming on your phone at the same time? (recovering Luddite here, I get it!)

I love this house!!! My only issue is the contrast of rock against white plaster walls, it's... not soothing. The picture of the rock around the aquariums that shows the rock "hewn" hallway? Perfection. Of course, my favorite part of traveling in Mexico was spelunking the caverns around the cenotes and seeing the cool fish, so recreating that in a home would be awesome. I wonder if the HOA would prevent turning this into a Nerm BNB, if enough of us could put money in the kitty? With 6 bedrooms, we could have nermcations....

I am now out of the API drops to test dGH & dKH, so here's the Co-op test strips results. Co-op test srips on ammonia, nitrites & nitrates match my API measurements 0 ppm nitrites and 0 ppm ammonia 150 ppm GH 40 ppm KH pH fluctuates over the course of the day from 6.8 to 7.2. No CO2, fairly low tech. @Seattle_Aquarist our tap water is so high in calcium it causes kidney stones in people and animals. Hence mixing with ZeroWater. You helped me identify a magnesium deficiency before, which was resolved by adding 1/4 tsp pure epsom salts/gallon of water to the ZeroWater component, each water change. Obviously I don't use an entire gallon on a 2.5 gallon tank, I just replace what I take out with 1/2 ZeroWater & 1/2 tap water filtered through the Pur filter (keeping costs down, disability payments aren't matching cost of living increase).

Wordle guessed in 4/6! Can you do better? Try this wordle: https://mywordle.strivemath.com/?word=odfqri ⬜🟨⬜⬜🟨🟨 🟩⬜🟩⬜🟨⬜ 🟩🟩🟩⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 #mywordle I hope everyone who is on a vacation, or work has them away from home, is doing well! https://mywordle.strivemath.com/?word=ohvumee

I was looking for your thread while you were posting yesterday, lol

Best advice so far! The carbon bags at this point are home to a lot of beneficial bacteria, so can lay in there with coarse (<20 ppi) sponge to seed the sponge faster, Next maintenance day, take them out. @Woogie23 I have taken care of tanks where a spouse worked before, because as a human being it's our responsibility to take care of creatures dependent on us... like fish in an aquarium in a bar. If you are deriving joy from bringing the fish back, and it has a side benefit of improving the available hours for your gal, I would recommend easing the owner/manager into paying you for the maintenance. Keep receipts, including a time log. If you do this well, be prepared for people to ask you about your tank maintenance business, as barflys are the best at word of mouth referrals... even when we don't necessarily want the business. Tank maintenance can be a nice side hsutle, and can generate a niche so aquarium supplies become a tax write off. In the meantime: Stability is key. Much better to keep making smaller water changes until the tank and tap match. Power heads on UGF are a great way to obtain stability, and the canister becomes extra filtration. Adding plants will keep the nitrates down. I'm shocked the nitrates were that low after zero maintenance for 2 years. Indicates the fish have probably been chronically underfed. Maybe talk to the owner about buying the autofeeder from the Co-op, as long as barflys can't access the autofeeder, that will ensure your hard work taking care of the tank doesn't get sabotaged. I second the recommendation of placing a filter sock over the powerhead when you first hook it up to the UGF. You can tie it in place, and run the power head for 20 minutes to clear the UGF out and improve flow. Then remove the filter sock, rinse off the impeller of the power head, and you will see a marked improvement over the next week. Increased quality of food will also make a difference. Try sharing a Co-op video with the owner, and recommending frozen foods and high quality pellets and flakes. Thank you so much for taking care of these guys!

A heavy moss growth and a shrimp cave/ some cholla (yes, we saw cholla naturally washed into rivers while there after monsoon rains), and adding to the tank after a heavy feeding and they have full bellies (or feed on one end, and use a tube or your hands to get the amanos down to safe hiding on the other end) and the angels will *usually* leave them alone. Usually.

My upstairs neighbor discovered I had a patio pond and came down to visit/watch fish over the fencing. We were discussing male endler antics, and realized they are a lot like male anatomy 2 year olds who have just discovered the ability to have fully autonomous motion, and feel the need to share with the entire world. Endlers are very, very entertaining, and seem best behaved in very large groups. The boys don't seem to care as much as the ladies on whether the tank is mixed genders, lol They will literally dance for *anyone* and have phenomenal muscle isolation skills.😲😉🤣