Torrey

I don't think @modified lung saw this Streetwise! My understanding is most people who use CO2 don't mess with siestas. The way the siesta works, from my understanding of reading Dr Diana Walstad's cited research, is in tanks that don't run CO@ ("natural" tanks, or "low-tech" tanks) a lot of water testing by various members of the Raleigh Aquarium and Plant Society, as well as students who helped with the research at NCSU, found tank water hit maximum passive saturation of the water with CO2 (from fish respiration and from ambient air) at the 4 hour mark after lights went out. They also found that maximum usage by plants of the passive CO2 available in the tank, happened within the first 4 hours of lights being on. The proposed hypothesis, which I have not seen definitive, peer-reviewed research released on, was if we turn lights off as soon as plants have utilized the available CO2 (so that 4 hour mark) then the plants will have a better chance outcompeting algae for the rest of the nutrients in the tank. My experience supports this hypothesis. I do not use CO2, so I can't speak definitively one way or the other. I have wondered if someone would be willing to test a CO2 system with the siesta method (which would probably require the CO2 being on a timer to come on an hour before lights turn on via timer, and turn off the CO2 an hour before lights turn off via timer) and see if the same "competition for resources" logic holds true, and algae growth is inhibited by the shorter light cycles (cramming 2 days of growth into one day, so to speak. Just a much shorter, and for those of us not running CO2 the shorter is more productive in plant growth). Benefits that many of us have noticed with the split light schedule, is vastly reduced stress in the tank inhabitants. Behavior is much calmer, less flitting and running into walls, and less aggression in dominance displays.

Sometimes you can get labyrinth bubble nest breeders' eggs to hatch outside of the nest in an egg tumbler. Most of the time, my experience has been either the eggs weren't fertilized, or simply weren't viable. It's always worth the attempt, however!

You just answered why my patio tubs didn't ever register chlorine... We are on the north side of the building, so only get sun for a couple of hours in the early morning and late afternoon, and that is only during the summer. Tomorrow I'll test in the sun, and then call my daughter and let her know her tubs probably don't have chlorine in them, lol

Orchard pesticides would have ammonium as a key fertilizer component, which is going through the full transition into the detectable nitrates in your well water... how does your well water test for ammonia? I am willing to bet (having lived on well water for years) the well water parameters change throughout the year. Ours would get detectable salt (NaCl) after the snow melted, high levels of ammonia in the early spring when slurry was sprayed on local fields, and nitrates in late spring/early summer. Testing the well water each time you fill the reservoir is one way of knowing what's going on. On the plus side, you could use your well water for awesome aquarium plants! You could also run a sponge filter in your water reservoir (or a couple) to have a permanent back up filter for emergency QT. The sponge filter will develop the beneficial bacteria to clear your well water of any ammonia or nitrites, and then add more plants to your tanks (or float some plants in your water reservoir) to deal with the resulting nitrates.

Spouse got me a 60x to 200x microscope lens that attaches to a cell phone camera. I am still learning how to use it, lol. My first discovery was watching baby scuds on hornwort leaves Then, I found bugs on my duckweed So I took it out and examined on an underlit glass table Are there aquatic aphids? Finally, I tried to get a good picture of a "snail trail" in the aquarium.... but I couldn't get it to focus... Not sure how to know what magnification the combination of the microscope lens and the camera lens yields.....

I'm not big into chasing water parameters, so if everyone is healthy and you have 2 bettas living in a tank together, I would say you are doing a better than average job... especially with fish that are 12 years old!

@MitchStavely I have liquid rock (300+ GH, with a TDS out of the tap over 300) and have been keeping tanks in our liquid rock for a few decades. I knew how to work with the water that came out of the tap in the 90's, left for a while, came back, and discovered the chemistry of the tap water had completely changed while I was gone. Learned new parameters and how to adjust... did well for the last decade, and started having problems in established tanks back in November. Nothing in our water report indicated a change in treatment, GH still over 300 ppm, TDS out of the tap still over 300, nitrates out of the tap still variable between 0 ppm and 40 ppm depending on time of day... but KH plummeted from 80 - 120 ppm out of the tap to not detectable. So I had some pH swings, even with my high GH. Two tanks dropped to 6.2 pH from my normal 7.8 pH. Water comes out of the tap between 8.2 pH and 7.8 pH... but after I tap water that had been aerated for 24 hours, it also dropped to 6.4 pH. At lower pH, ammonia and nitrites aren't as toxic at higher pH. Also, pH changes throughout the day... but shouldn't be changing by 2 full points, the fish (and plants) don't do well in that kind of stress. I use SeaChem Flourish, because (until recently) I had a high pH which was causing my plants to develop an iron deficiency, because plants can't absorb most of the iron available in the majority of fertilizers (exceptions being the SeaChem Flourish, and I believe the ACO EasyGreen Iron). If I have the initials correct, DTPA chelated iron is better absorbed above a pH of 6.8. I have had issues with ammonia spikes when fish (or Malaysian trumpet snails 🙄) have dug up Flourish tabs... just like I have had an ammonia spike when other tabs have been dug up... or once I forgot to poke a hole in a gel capsule and it wriggled itself free and floated ::facepalm:: You also said you don't have any chlorines or chloramines because you pretreat the water. Are you testing the amount of chlorine / chloramine before you treat the water? Because I use 2 drops/gallon of Prime to dechlorinate my water, most of the time. After the city works on burst pipes, it takes 8 drops/gallon to dechlorinate, because they flush the pipes with a much higher level of chloramines to kill any bacteria that entered the pipes due to the breach. I have had two bacterial issues in my tanks that I suspect were due to a contaminated water supply. The majority of the country didn't replace the pipes in our water infrastructure as the corps of engineers recommended, so a lot of municipalities are having issues with breaks in pipes. Any chance this could have happened in your area? I have a very good friend who lives in Michigan, who noticed issues in her tanks before water quality issues ever made the news. Obviously, your water is not an issue now, because you said several water changes have fixed the problem. My point is there are a lot of variables, some can be temporary parameter changes (like my ever fluctuating tap water), some can be due to user error (my floating gel cap), and some can be due to not having (easy) access to needed tests, or necessary knowledge. Here's the link I think Seattle_Aquarist shared with me to help me understand the complex interplay in various nutrients for plants. As a former health care worker, I know calcium inhibits iron absorption in humans, while vitamin C increases absorption. I didn't take any veterinary classes, so I can't speak on iron toxicity in fish. I can say I grew up in a house that had red rings in the bathtub from the amount of dissolved iron in the pipes, and we never lost any fish. Unless we have a device to test pH, ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, and oxygen saturation levels 24/7 (as well as chlorine and chloramine levels to precisely dose our water), we can't definitively say "x didn't happen". It's impossible to prove a negative🤷🏼‍♂️ I can say I personally haven't had problems with Flourish (liquid or tabs) with my fish... my shrimp and snails? They are much happier when I microdose and divide the liquid ferts into a daily dose routine. My plants give me more consistent growth, too. Due to my insanely high amounts of dissolved calcium in my water, I alternate between the Co-op Easy Green and Flourish. Once I switched from dosing once a week to (the same amount, but divided into 7 doses) to daily, my snails stopped moving to the top of the tank after I added ferts.

Not all bamboo will grow well in tanks. The "bamboo" that does well in tanks (Lucky bamboo) is actually a type of dracaena. Most dracaena will root in aquarium water, and do a great job at reducing nitrates. I recently went to pick up Lucky Bamboo I ordered specifically for my tanks, and it was a true bamboo, which can only tolerate the bottom 2 "nodes" being immersed... so I won't be putting them in my tanks, lol Light above the tank will determine the growth pattern and speed. If the roots *ever* get dried out, they won't recuperate. I'll try to remember to come back with a photo of my "palm dracaena" growing in my tank tomorrow.

@Karen B. in the first video especially, it looks like they are not comfortable on the wire mesh bottom. I don't think that is the cause of the belly being pink, as the reddest belly belongs to the largest belly... which tells me that the fry may not be getting equal access to food. Looks like some are eating more than others. They may also be stressed by the bottom of the breeder box. I ran into that issue, and covered the bottom with plastic "aquarium gems" which gave the fry more smooth surface areas to rest on/clean without negatively impacting water quality. How much and how often are you feeding? How long does it take for the fry to eat all the food? Are there leftovers? What's the age difference between fry? And how frequently are you changing the water? How much water are you replacing? Fry are far more sensitive to water parameters than their parents. Their gills are huge in proportion to the rest of their body, and if the water spikes ammonia after they eat, even for a short period, it will impact their health much faster than adult fish. I tend to keep a tiny sponge filter in with my fry, even if I cut a sponge prefilter down, and stick a plastic tube (for an uplift tube) and an airhose in with a small amount of air. It doesn't seem like much, but even that small extra amount made a difference in the health of my fry.

I just have to ask.... are you a Guthrie fan? Jack, if he's anything like my kiddos on the spectrum, will want his cory in a school so he won't be lonely, once fish dynamics are explained in a way that Jack can understand. The spectrum is very diverse, and how I explained it to one didn't work for the other, so it might take a couple of tries. I have learned 90% of the meltdowns don't come from being on the spectrum, but from the socially imposed "kids on the spectrum don't... <insert misconception here>" that leads to their perspective frequently being misunderstood... which leads to frustration... which leads to meltdown. Took me getting diagnosed at almost 50 before I understood why my kids and I didn't really have problems with each other, the meltdowns were pretty limited to when any of us had to deal with NT who presumed they knew our needs better than we did. I suspect you can have a school of S&P corys, and Jack will always be able to identify which one is "his" by some detail (fin shape, extra spine in the fin, specific row of dots, you name it) that everyone else will miss... if he has the opportunity. Aside from the corys probably being happier in the larger tank, I think you have done a lot of research and it shows! Welcome to the forum!!! Nermlandia😁 ♫You can have anything you want♫

Catching up here, so please bear with me..... Wordle guessed in 3/6! Can you do better? Try this wordle: https://mywordle.strivemath.com/?word=dsrwpv 🟨⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ ⬜🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 #mywordle Wordle guessed in 4/6! Can you do better? Try this wordle: https://mywordle.strivemath.com/?word=xotwpveo ⬜🟩⬜🟨⬜🟩🟨⬜ 🟩🟩⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩⬜🟨🟩⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 #mywordle (this was a great one!!!) Wordle guessed in 5/6! Can you do better? Try this wordle: https://mywordle.strivemath.com/?word=psjwd ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 ⬜⬜🟨🟩⬜ 🟩⬜🟨⬜🟨 🟩🟩⬜🟩⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 #mywordle (Perfect follow up!) Wordle guessed in 3/6! Can you do better? Try this wordle: https://mywordle.strivemath.com/?word=nvzczqa ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜ 🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 #mywordle Wordle guessed in 5/6! Can you do better? Try this wordle: https://mywordle.strivemath.com/?word=xoied ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 ⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜ 🟨🟩⬜⬜🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 #mywordle Wordle guessed in 4/6! Can you do better? Try this wordle: https://mywordle.strivemath.com/?word=cwcod ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟩⬜🟩⬜🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 #mywordle Wordle guessed in 3/6! Can you do better? Try this wordle: https://mywordle.strivemath.com/?word=zitnhiar ⬜⬜🟩🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟩🟩🟩⬜⬜⬜🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 #mywordle Good one @Tihshho!!!! Wordle guessed in 6/6! Can you do better? Try this wordle: https://mywordle.strivemath.com/?word=jsfflverzql ⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜🟨🟨⬜🟨⬜⬜ ⬜🟩🟨🟨⬜🟨🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜ 🟨🟩⬜🟨⬜🟩🟨⬜⬜🟨🟨 🟨🟩🟩⬜⬜🟨🟨🟨⬜⬜🟨 ⬜🟩🟩⬜🟩🟩🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 #mywordle Wordle guessed in 6/6! Can you do better? Try this wordle: https://mywordle.strivemath.com/?word=yvrqri ⬜🟨⬜⬜🟨⬜ ⬜⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜ 🟩🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩⬜🟨⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩⬜🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 #mywordle ::facepalm:: Wordle guessed in 5/6! Can you do better? Try this wordle: https://mywordle.strivemath.com/?word=kfxdy ⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜ 🟨🟨⬜⬜🟨 ⬜🟩🟨🟩⬜ 🟩🟩⬜🟩⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 #mywordle Wordle guessed in 3/6! Can you do better? Try this wordle: https://mywordle.strivemath.com/?word=nojezvw 🟨⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜🟩 ⬜🟨🟨⬜🟩⬜🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 #mywordle 🥰 Wordle guessed in 4/6! Can you do better? Try this wordle: https://mywordle.strivemath.com/?word=wbxhw 🟩🟨⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜ 🟩⬜🟨🟩⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 #mywordle Here's my contribution: https://mywordle.strivemath.com/?word=ebmhcxapideio And some interesting reading on nomenclature: https://www.gibellaquarium.us/aquarium-guide/nomenclature-and-distribution-of-aquarium-fish.html

I'm on the fence as to whether it's truly an addiction, as an addiction implies.... oh heck, I'm addicted to breeding and genetics. I won't ever be able to have enough tanks to do it responsibly, because I can't limit myself to a single phenotype. In pursuit of supporting wild phenotypes genetically being standardized without sacrificing the hardiness and disease resistance of the species, I invariably end up with a curveball that unexpectedly shows up that I think is amazingly gorgeous, andthen I need 6 more tanks to prevent inbreeding while responsibly linebreeding. I'm definitely addicted to genetics and breeding, lol

These are gorgeous. I imagine these tanks are for you and @Mmiller2001 what looking at Josh Sim's tanks is for me🥰

This I can actually help you with. https://lumecube.com/products/panel-mini It helps to have an extra tripod or three. Depending on your camera and the lighting on your tank, you may need more than one of these lightboxes to get the clarity you need in your photographs. This is the less expensive version of the light Josh Sims uses to photograph his award winning tanks. I learned about how to angle the lights properly (behind and above your shoulder, either with an assistant moving the light for you, or with a tripod you can adjust as needed) from a class on aquarium photography taught by Max Cardenas. To add depth to the aquarium, a second square light may be needed coming in from the side. For the judging on jungle style and nature scapes, a square light is used coming in above the horizon line at a 45° on each front corner. I'm not sure how the difference in shadow requirements affect the light placement for Dutch style. I do know that the lightbox by lumecube has excellent results for everything except highspeed video needs. The biggest difference seems to be cost, unless you are moving into professional film.

Why is it green water is easiest to get going *only* in display tanks? If only we could all have Dean's bathroom, with the bathroom window, perfectly growing greenwater, maybe our display tanks wouldn't feel obligated to grow it for us😆 Everything seems to be coming along!

After following Cory's videos for I don't even remember how long.... last year when the Co-op decided to limit chat during the livestreams to members ... followed by the announcement that Gianne was going to be presenting on bettas, I bit the bullet and figured out how to pay for the YouTube membership. Very next Livestream, Candi Overhuls posted the link to the Forum, and I've been here ever since! I stayed because of the culture Cory, Candi, Streetwise, Irene, Hutch and everyone has cultivated in here. The knowledge about the water chemistry and biology behind healthy plants from Mmiller and Seattle_Aquarist, medicine from Colu and Odd Duck, comradery from Guppysnail and pretty much everyone.... There's no other forum I have stayed in for longer than 6 months, stayed active, and been happy. We aren't a forum, we're a Nerm Family🥰

It's actually been 2 hours of work in my "fishroom" (bedroom), every day, for the past 3 weeks to combat my depression. I'm starting to climb back out, and my tanks have appreciated my new form of therapy. 1. Completely revamped my bedside tank at the beginning, they got baby brine shrimp today and were thrilled. Daily microdosing on ferts keeps snails much happier! Above is what it looked like 3 weeks ago, and below is right now I am loving Cyperus helferi as a ground cover. Planted plugs a couple of weeks ago, and already seeing growth. 2. Trimmed, reduced stock, sorted, culled the T4' tank as we have named Patient Spouse's™ tank. Today, I emergency redid filtration when the pump failed. Old age happens to the best of us.... T4', as of today, is on UGF + Co-op sponge filter, and waterfall will be back in commission by this weekend (waiting on parts) 3. Mostly completed the redo on the Walstad (how I discovered pump went out on T4', when I went to scavenge plants). Water is still pretty cloudy (it's a dirt thing), but looks 1000% better now than it did this morning or last night. Caught fish yesterday and sorted 163 endlers Moved majority of dirt into plastic canvas mesh Capped with lava rock Capped front dirt with larger rocks Planted the tank with milfoil, Cyperus helferi, watersprite, pothos, and Alternanthera reineckii rosaefolia Discovered this morning I missed 3 females... this afternoon discovered one gave birth Wasn't going to destroy the tank again to catch 3 females, so added back the 3 breeding males I had selected and 6 breeding females Set up "breeder box" to keep virgin females in, until I am ready to redo tank again/figure out how & who I want breeding to whom Set up grow out area for fry to be sexed out in Talked with a couple local Club members to see about helping breed the endlers because I don't have enough space to keep the genetics diverse while keeping the phenotype to standard 24 females left to decide if they are staying in the breeding program 18 males left that like to jump😁😁 w for the breeding program (6 bottom sword, 6 top sword, and 6 I may actually sell) I also followed up on some of the porch pond: scuds are replicating, plants are growing, and tree debris is blowing in to feed whatever fish I put in😆 (forgot to take pictures of pond) So, I am debating what I want for dinner and procrastinating having to cook (spouse is out of town, hence my ability to do more than 2hours of fish stuff today), and posting pictures of all my work for the past 24 hours🤣 Meanwhile, I have a question: Taking pictures of the 3 females that avoided capture.... All 3 *LOOK* like females (blondish color, fan tail, plump body, and MUCH LARGER THAN MY MALES) but one of the 'females' wiggled its gonopodium at me😲

I watched the Members Only talk with Karl, on livebearers. Then I sorted out guppies: Proven females that breed true 🤞virgin females in a grow-out (potential for some late blooming males in there, so checking weekly) Males I am keeping, I have the potential for 3 lines ~red & white ~true spade tail, 3rd generation is breeding true so far ~lyre ribbon tail Finished rescaping the 10 gallon on the rack Pictures/video will be going in the 'Argument for Architects' journal...

My best science teacher got permission from the state fish and wildlife department, and from the school, to take our class on a field trip to test water parameters and collect plants for a tank in our room. A month later, we had a second field trip where we caught fish for the tank in our room. Our class partnered up with Fish & Wildlife to breed at risk species each school year, and release with Fish & Wildlife after fry got to a specific size. With no local fish stores, this might be a more viable option for your kids and their club? I know that the program continued until the teacher retired, and I believe Fish & Wildlife helped the replacement teacher keep the program going.

I've been getting great results from using a zip tie to "wrap" the base of plants (even swords) and then gluing the zip tie in the place I want the plant. The roots grow down into the soil, or around the wood, or through the holes in the cholla. I stopped having melt issues with my plants when I started treating *all* plants like rhizome plants and suspending them at least ½" above the substrate. Yeah, it sometimes looks odd to see the roots above the substrate. But that sounds like what you want. With the Amazon swords and Cyperus helferi, the new growth will cover a small zip tie in about 8 weeks.

I too have fallen in love with the looks of Hygrophilia pinnatifida. I will be following to learn how to succeed!

I have a mixed school of longfin/shortfin zebra danios. I have been breeding them to get a more rainbow colored zebra danio, and the danios will even coral the bachelor endlers into the school with them. Occasionally, zebras will decide en masse that they don't like a specific school member. As long as you keep an eye out for bullying and one zebra trying to stay separate (meaning the glo zebra), the school should be fine with one a little different. They are less likely to bully the larger the school is. I can keep a single (bullied) zebra danio with a dozen male endlers, and all will heal up nicely and not stress. Or, I can keep 14 to 20 zebra danios together in a 15 gallon long (custom) and not have any bullying. Leave 3 to 6 together to long after breeding? Someone is getting bullied, and I need to put them in a salt treatment with the male endlers, again 🤦‍♂️

I found lowering the water level a little helps with lids, or replacing part of the lid with plastic canvas so they "breathe" better. I never have problems with my floating plants in the T4' tank, only the ones that have lids and I fill to the top.

Perfect end to the day. Thank you Cory and Co-op crew for trusting us to try this. May we all be respectful and responsible with the privilege. This is perfect, since after today's members only presentation with Karl, I figured out better "breeder boxes" so I can *maybe* recreate a livebearer I used to swim with... Thank you so much!

I felt silly! Got to 5 on my first try, then third try so 8/6 attempts, lol Wordle guessed in 3/6! Can you do better? Try this wordle: https://mywordle.strivemath.com/?word=lcegd 🟩🟩⬜⬜🟩 🟩🟩⬜⬜🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 #mywordle Went back to my first 5 tries, lol Wordle guessed in 6/6! Can you do better? Try this wordle: https://mywordle.strivemath.com/?word=lcegd ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟩⬜⬜🟩 ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 ⬜🟩🟨⬜🟩 🟩🟩⬜⬜🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 #mywordle Here's a great one that we all want to look out for: https://mywordle.strivemath.com/?word=jwkutxag