Torrey

It used to be $59 in the order got free shipping. The post office did multiple fee hikes, and the Co-op didn't budge until this year when the hike was pretty significant. I want to say it was a $15 increase/box, just this year on top of 3 price hikes over the past 2 years. Honestly, I prefer an increase in the minimum order size to the flat $40/box shipping fees many other places have. Since I used to order every couple of months by adding my order to a FB friend nearby/adding to my sister's order in another state and then she combined with other items to send to me (before I got a membership), it's not a huge deal to limit myself to ordering once each quarter so I get the free shipping. It just requires a little more planning and a bit less instant gratification on my part. It also means I sometimes get awesome sales, because I am setting aside the money each month for a future order. If a sale happens after the first month but before it's time for my quarterly order, I luck out on the sale. If the sale happens 2 to 5 weeks after I made an order, I miss out. Over all it balances, though.

I have found that to be overkill, as in your plant cells will lyse. More effective is turn off filtration, net the plant parts that need to be treated (to keep fish away) or feed fish on the opposite side of the tank, and "paint" the BBA with H2O2 out of an infant liquid medicine syringe. After many, many, many years and hundreds of fish, I lost my first fish as she determinedly swam through the plant at the same time I squirted the H2O2, and the net has prevented a repeat. Wait 15 minutes, and turn back on filtration. This seems to be sufficient to soften it up so everyone can eat it.

I will pass the information on!

I didn't deworm one time, because I didn't see any evidence after a 30 day quarantine. I ended up with gill flukes.... Typically I use salt in Q/T, and observe. If I see flashing, odd stools, or any other signs (which I almost always did) I would treat then. When I was buying feeder fish for the turtle (5 year period when I wasn't breeding) I always did full q/t after treating for parasites to get the dewormer out of the fish, before I fed to the turtle. I do prophylactically treat a new breeders, before I get any fry, to reduce the risks of parents passing parasites on to fry. I try to treat 30 days before breeding to give best chance at success.

Mine will get more pink as they are drying out (I should geek out on this and actually film the timing) but that's not the accurate reading. At the 75 second mark, for me, everything is still covered by a drop of water, exactly as it was when I lifted it out of the tank and laid it flat on my "test plate".

Now, if I found those, I might get interested in swords again!😍

I don't have any surviving planaria (that I have been able to find) anywhere I have matriarch endlers. Typically have one matriarch per tank/ then 6 "aunties" who appear to have the job of disciplining the masses. I haven't found the males to be particularly effective hunters as they spend the majority of their days practicing jazz hands and gonopodium dancing. It's been too long since I kept mollies, I don't remember how efffective they were at hunting.

@Seattle_Aquarist I have a nutrient question...... Please ignore the floating plants, the snails (variety) and shrimp (3 Blue dream & possibly some shrimplettes) pick a plant each week that needs to be dug up, well cleaned, and then I am allowed to replant it and it grows a bit better until they decide to relandscape. Since this is a new experience for me (and I've been watching, they only eat damaged foliage... but that is making it hard for me to identify what's wrong...) and in the past I haven't cared as much about how plants were doing.... I'm at a loss. I overdid it for the various housing inspections, and it took a few weeks to recuperate. So I anticipated some plant loss, followed by recuperation. I got new growth, but it looks a little cupped on the new leaves? AR leaves are a bit curled, and plenty of roots at every node, snails removed the damaged growth already (no pinholes I could see, mostly melt from the initial transition on lowest leaves followed by 4 weeks of growth with insufficient ferts, followed by shorter internodal length after I lengthened the photoperiods, but snails still eating older leaves and leaving newer, curled leaves alone). This is a 2.5 gallon tank, 3 shrimp (and I think some shrimplettes, but everyone hid today when I tried to do a head count). I siphon any waste I find on the substrate off every other day-ish (chronic pain is not my friend right now), which results in about a 16 to 20 oz water change every other day. Plants were looking great until the flare mid-May. Once I got back into every other day maintenance, I saw new growth last week. Snails and shrimp wipe out a 1/4" length of green bean, or shaving of carrot, every other day. They also polish off Bug Bites shrimp pellets on the days in between, have a penchant for an Xtreme flake, and get frozen food 2x/week. I only allow algae on the uplift tube for the UGF and one area on the back wall. Up ntil my flare I was cleaning algae 2x/month, what you see in the tank currently is less than I had before my flare, so may need to feed more (shrimp eat flakes and pellets out of my hand now, so I can minimize waste in the tank). I add 1 cc of Easy Green with each water change (why I expected my plants to not do well thanks to my flare) and SeaChem (for the iron) 2x/week, temp is 68 F, nitrates are 15 to 20 ppm after ferts, 0 to 10 ppm the morning before the water change. 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. Water changes are 50% ZeroWater/ 50% tap (end result matches above parameters) until I get more Salty Shrimp for the neos. Planted back in February, and was seeing new growth that looked the best out of all my tanks until I flared in May. Crushed black lava and a black gravel for substrate on top of a DIY UGF, which has been running since the first summer of the pandemic? When I wasn't able to stay on top of the water changes and had to rely on the pellets and flakes (minus the every other day vegetables) is when the snails and shrimp started a concerted effort at unplanting *everything* in the tank. @Guppysnail they haven't stopped even though they are regularly getting vegetables again now. They only nom on already damaged or melted leaves, so technically they are still doing their jobs... just a bit more aggressively and Roy, I suspect this is because the plants are as healthy. My brain and my heart say something is out of balance, I just don't know what. I really thought returning to my microdose schedule would do the trick. Now, the rest of the tanks are looking better.🙄 Lights are the Walmart submersible I've posted pictures of somewhere. 4 hours on/ 4 hours off/ and I upped the second 2 light periods for a total of 10 hours/ 24 hour period. (4/3/3 with a double siesta) wondering if I didn't have enough light, and now the moss & pearlweed require trimming weekly... but my AR rose isn't looking very good and neither is my pogostemon. Cyperus helferi is growing and populated enough plugs to plant a second tank, but ever since I divided them, the snails and shrimp dig them up. Do I just have a tank full of willful teenagers? Or have I really messed up this tank?

Can't say our experience with bend was any different, if I'd known I would have encouraged you to check out UNM-H for their sign on bonus right now. I suspect you'll love working Seattle, Children's didn't have as many politics issues, Federal Way had good pay as well. Bellevue is a 20 minute drive or a two hour drive depending on time of day, with a lot more green spaces for the kids, the mall has a chess board with life size chess pieces, and maybe 30 minutes from the Co-op except rush hour. Kent and Covington have an awesome parade and very family friendly. Wishing you the best, and glad you have your betta cube to generate a nice LoFi chill vibe for you.

I'll only add one thing for the dwarfs, that a lot of experienced fishkeepers don't know: The Carinotetraodon travancoricus (sp) need to be kept in groups as they are technically a shoaling fish and depend on dynamics in the group to determine which fish will be male (typically first one to reach a certain size, but not always, will start producing a male hormone that will grow testes in that specific fish and inhibit male hormones from being excreted by any other puffer in the tank. They are very social creatures, and need their group.

I don't know what the correct reaction is.... 😍 Because I love any and all Pooka....😢 because I feel the pain of the limia... 😲over the bristlenose munching on Pooka.... or ::hugs:: for the full emotional roller coaster ride. It's good to read you in here again, and I 🥰 Pooka's new set-up!!!

Color genetics!!!! Yes, this happened with my discus (1989 through 1994), I did this with guppies and bettas (not to the level of geekdom Gianne has achieved), longfin zebra danios (rainbow, metallic light blue, and golds), and now my endlers. If you find a color morph you like, you want a minimum of 3 populations as quickly as possible. When we were breeding ducks and helping with genetic preservation of heritage breeds that had stable phenotypes, we didn't meet criteria for recognition until there were 50 different distinct populations (much easier with fish, btw). Let me take the dog out, and I'll be back.

@Cinnebuns I will ask my friend Max where he orders his breather bags from. They are excellent, and have miraculously kept fish (and shrimp) alive when they got lost in transit. It has been a while since I shipped fish regularly, so I appreciated all the time Fish Folk put into this tutorial a while back: Due to health issues, we did have access to oxygen when I was shipping fish (back when USPS still gave full refunds if a package wasn't delivered on time), but we didn't have breather bags back then. I think the breather bags are better for many species. Regular bags and oxygen for labyrinth and other surface breathers. A bit of floating plant typically gave fish and shrimp roots to hide in in the regular bags, plus some beneficial bacteria to help with waste management. I fasted fish 48 hours before shipping, so I caught them 48 hours before and kept them in breeder boxes until it was time to go.

So, they have these regulations *and* refuse to reimburse for the cost of overnight shipping when the rules were all followed but they failed to deliver within the 24 hours that was paid for??? I'm trying to wrap my head around some of the changes since I was last regularly shipping fish....

I ran out of reactions! 😍😍😍 I had stepped away, my spouse found the Monterey Bay YouTube channel. So my Patient Spouse™ just leveled up to Reluctant Nerm™, lol. Those crabs were huge!!!! I don't think they had those last time I was in California, my kids were excited to be allowed to put their hands in with the rays, lol. Definitely no isopod petting option. Thank you so much for sharing!!! How are the Bolivian rams at the lower (68 F) temps?

I'm spending more time lurking on the porch, a little out of sight. I'm sure I'll be meeting the individual so I can thank them for trying to be fire safe, and help brainstorm some alternatives that don't involve butts in my pond. People occasionally mistake my kindness for gullibility, as they overlook my tenacity to their own detriment. Management asked why I sweep my rocks outside, and collect all the debris and throw it away, since they pay for lawn maintenance. I showed them my porch, my plants, my birdcage to keep the cats out of my plants.... and expalined that I figure if I keep my area clean to my specifications, their lawn company has no reason to be on my rocks with their blowers or cigarette butts making it so I have to clean again. Since my apartment is "randomly selected" every time they need to show a property to the bank or investors/grant people (we're a mixed use property), they are obviously happy with how I keep it looking. So, by sharing some of the work I do, and why, hopefully planted a seed that will eliminate 2 problems at once... with zero complaints required. I did move it back from the fencing around the patio to reduce accidental butts. If I move it any further away, it won't get any natural sun at all and the fish and plants don't do as well.

So, last 2 weeks I've been cleaning off the porch (I get to replicate my actions, since everytime I got it really clean, a new lawn maintenance company came to show the apartments how not to use a blower). Finally got the pond well cleaned (meaning all the pine pieces out, and cigarette butts from I don't know where) only to discover that I was not imagining it: We had at least 3 females survive the winter, and they had fry!!! Caught what I could, returned the ones that are the epitome of healthy looking, with proper phenotype for my endlers. Minimal water movement has been added, temp of the pond is 75.5 F even with our 90 F days. Pond only gets~40 minutes direct light in the morning (on north half the pond) and ~30 minutes direct light in the evening (eastern half of pond) as the sun sets. No algae, even though it was getting more direct light for the past 2 weeks while I rearranged and cleaned the porch. pH was a rather surprising 8.0, especially considering all the pine needles that kept getting blown in🤷🏼‍♂️ Cottonwood branches are supporting some moss that seems to have survived the winter out there, as well. Lave rock on the bottom, I didn't do anything with it. Grateful for the miracle endlers, they've kept the mosquito population from doing anything. Sitting on the porch tonight listening to the water made up for not being able to walk my favorite trail on the river... forest fire 2 weeks ago jumped the river and did a lot of damage. My tanks are my nature outlet for now. The pond before I found out there were fish in there ^.^ Whale seems pretty happy in the retirement tank. Installed a breeder jar in my danio/bachelor tank. This is my bedside tank, and the danios already laid claim to the floating moss/plastci canvas for making out with a bit of privacy... but the bachelors would swim underneath and eat the caviar. Now, a flower vase with some plastic canvas cut to size, and 2 clear plastic cord clips are catching a good 90% of the eggs the danios drop. Hornwort is an experiment to see if it keeps water quality up and algae down in the glass. Day 1, the glass has caught 30 eggs. I don't have anyone interested, so I may still feed to the bachelors. The more important point is, yes this works! After I got the breeder vase established, I got the van towed tothe shop for repairs and tackled the porch: Can you see the fishies? Apparently floating terrestial plant parts are delicious. Easier to see the ladies from above. Nerm glitter is very prolific: 0 ammonia 0 nitrites 0 nitrates 150 ppm GH 180 ppm kH pH after topping off the pond on Friday and letting everything settle before testing again today? 8.0 pH still. Endlers swim the full height of the pond, except during the hottest part of the day. Top 3" of water fluctuate from 74 F in the early morning, to 78 F at the peak heat of the day. This morning I noticed the water with direct sunlight was a little warmer than the rest of the pond, so added a tiny Aqueon HOB purely for a little movment until powerhead arrives (wasn't actually planning on adding fish until after, but...). Endlers immediately started swimming in the current and playing tag with each other. Have a great week everybody!!! We have a patio/porch inspection tomorrow, so I spent this evening making sure management couldn't make any complaints!

I have always kept rocks and wood in my tank. I think if they exist in the natural habitat, and I prefer the activity of my fish more when I manage to semi-replicate the natural environment, then rocks and wood are going to happen. Of course, until *very recently* I kept fish, and used plants to keep my fish healthier and happier. Now, I actually have a few tanks with no fish, just plants and inverts. I went looking for a link on rocks and stones in the aquarium to explain my point better. Since I didn't find it (must be in my obsolete phone😢) peer-reviewed pH mineral/ peer-reviewed pH rock. Why peer-reviewed? Because otherwise it's a lot of inaccurate info to wad through first, lol My periodic table has all the info mineral by mineral, but most rocks aren't pure specimens.... Majority of rocks will quit leaching anything around 7.2 pH. The super alkaline minerals aren't likely to just be laying around on the earth's surface for us to casually pick up and put in our tanks (lye burns, anyone? alkali strong enough to harm our fish isn't going to feel good). This geology paper is helpful.... I, personally, don't like to chase parameters. I invested in the ZeroWater to see if lowering TDS would eradicate the cyanobacteria (it didn't, but did contribute to the H2O2 being able to knock it out, and keeping the TDS under 300 appears to keep it from coming back) and improve my shrimp molts (requires SaltyShrimp to be mixed in, so won't be adding shrimp to any of my big tanks). Rocks, stones, wood? They raise my TDS in my tanks, they provide enrichment for my fauna (as well as food sources for flora and fauna), and help recreate a little piece of nature in my home. If I ever get around to scaping my 4' for the ADA competition? It will still have stone and wood, a 7.0 pH, and a carefully sculpted disorganized grouping of whatever plants are thriving in my water. PS: My repens only died when I failed to identify a potassium insufficiency. Will post pictures of what's still surviving in the tanks, soon.

I suspect you feed them enough calcium in quality food. I have had experiences with livebearers that developed problems (it's almost always the females) due to insufficient calcium. However, you have gorgeous plants that aren't showing any signs of calcium deficiencies. Water hyacinth is a calcium hog on par with hornwort, so what are you fertilizing with? Are you taking plants out to fertilize, or are you putting ferts in your water? If your fish need more calcium, you'll see it in the ladies first... all those pregnancies will eventually take a toll. Otherwise, I would say you are meeting their needs and they are thriving.

Ursula was just breaking us all in to a little bending. Ursula Flerken will always be Ursula Flerken. I mean, who else could pull off that shade of lipstick? Plus, the extra cloud was rather glittery... Have you asked Ursula about their pronouns? (Spouse asked if Ursula was non-binary🐌🌿❤️🌿🐌)

It's like the perfect representation for anyone wanting to see cell division... without a microscope!

Most of the shops I have worked at in the past, and have nearby now, use another brand of test strips that I can attest are not as accurate. My LFS just switched to Co-op strips.❤️

So much all of this!!!!

You just named The Reluctant Nerm's™ childhood trauma. Abuelita had one of the illegal pomme variety that get big... like apple, or kid's fist sized big. Abuelita would reward it for coming up to say hello, by feeding it hot dog.... So on more than one occasion a very young person would walk by the tank and have a Lovecraftian experience.... We are now 8 years into our relationship, and one year of a tank in [formerly Patient Spouse™, upgraded to Reluctant Nerm™ this weekend] their room... and as long as I don't get goldfish (especially not orandas) or mystery snails (especially not giant gold or apple colored ones), my marriage [and tanks] are safe. Once I heard the full story of the snail feeding patterns and all the times the snail reached out and touched someone, I was much more empathetic. Of course, Houdini (zebra nerite) went on walk-a-bout first night here.... earning Houdini his name as well as his place in spouse's T4' tank: it has a locking lid😆

When I decreased food to decrease my snail population, I had a decrease in shrimp instead. As Guppysnail said, they tend to establish a homeostasis and kinda balance there... and will increase in quick response to increased food. I am seeing fewer population jumps now that I am feeding fresher foods more often, like green beans and carrots. Also allows me to do a visual body check on all creatures.