Jump to content
Watch our video on the rules of this forum.

Torrey

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    2,983

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    30

  • Feedback

    0%

 Content Type 

Everything posted by Torrey

  1. Torrey
    Female endlers eat planaria anytime they can catch them, I have watched them. My bachelor tanks have demonstrated that male planaria will not... or if they do, it's not with the same gusto. [EDIT: THAT SHOULD HAVE READ MALE ENDLERS DON'T EAT PLANARIA WITH THE SAME GUSTO AS FEMALE ENDLERS. I have no clue how to sex planaria, lol) Introducing more microfauna into the regular diet seems to increase hunting behavior in almost all my fish, I haven't kept the ember tetras so I don't know how they feel about eating planaria. I know my WCMM cleaned out the glass bottom tanks they were moved into after Q/T. I haven't seen a single one in that tank since they moved in. Here's my planaria reduction campaign materials, in case anyone didn't know what an infant nasal syringe was: I used to use 2.2 cc/ 10 gallon tank, 5 cc treats a 20 gallon tank. I keep my current Q/T at the 5 gallon mark, so only need 1 cc to treat my Q/T. One drop in a glass this size will immobilize planaria (and leeches) in less than 30 minutes, and kill them overnight. It remains this lethal for 3 days, so I am saving a lot of money, and protecting the environment of my tanks by doing it this way.
  2. Torrey
    I have a planaria in most of my tanks, because they exist in nature where the fish naturally exist, and planaria make a good clean up crew in addition to being a food source. Neither Guppysnail nor I have found planaria harming any of our healthy shrimp in all shrimp tanks.... however, without any fish to control the population planaria have multiplied exponentially in my 4' NANF tank that is still establishing itself with P paludosus and other North American inverts before I add fish. My solution has been an infant nasal syringe and a tumbler glass with a drop of PraziPro (something I keep on hand for my Q/T tanks, and it doesn't harm the shrimp when they go through Q/T). I put a drop of PraziPro in the bottom of the glass, and go catch planaria whenever I see any (shake the PraziPro first, it's very thick and settles when it is sitting on the shelf). Whenever the lights first turn on, I use the nasal syringe to suck up any planaria I find and add them to the glass, as well. I was able to keep the number of planaria under control this way until I got pneumonia, now I am playing catch-up. It is very important, imo, to at least give shrimp a "PraziPro bath" during drip acclimation, if you can't do a full Q/T, as planaria will come in on new shrimp whose health was compromised before they were even caught for you. Shrimp and snails move way faster than planaria do, and will avoid them, even during their molt. Only shrimp that are already compromised are at risk, or if you have an outrageous infestation. @Guppysnail taught me to use glass feeding dishes that suction to the side, to minimize planaria getting the shrimp food. That will also help reduce the population growth. I don't generally vacuum the bottom of my planted tanks, but I made an exception this weekend due to having had pneumonia and the planaria explosion. I put a 10 gallon dose of PraziPro in the bottom of the 5 gallon bucket, and gravel vacced last night. This morning all the planaria in the bucket were dead. The more I researched NoPlanaria, I simply didn't feel safe using it in my 4' NANF tank that I have spent the past year growing microfauna, including the endangered Large Ramshorn that is native to NC, in my tank. 1. I don't want to risk having to start over again 2. I am working on recreating a natural environment where planaria hold a specific place in the ecosystem 3. Planaria (in healthy sized groups) are not a threat to healthy shrimp or snails. My recommendation, rather than risk making the situation worse by adding something to the tank, help the shrimp be as healthy as possible by *improving* the tank. 1. Don't feed the shrimp on the floor of the tank 2. Feed the shrimp freshest foods possible 3. Manually remove the planaria you see 4. If they really bug you, look at Irene's video on using planaria traps I've been a nature observer for decades, and I have yet to see an environment improve when humans choose to chemically address a problem (including in our tanks). Learning more about how to recreate and work with nature has never harmed the creatures I have been responsible for, and has made my life easier in the long run. If you decide to try NoPlanaria, I would recommend testing in a gallon of water outside your tank, first. Use your cellphone to do a manual count of the microfauna, and add a pest snail and planaria to the gallon of water. Then treat the gallon, and see how everyone does, and how long it takes the planaria to die. Please let us know the results! Was there a decrease in microfauna? How did the snail do? How long did it take for the planaria to die? ~Torrey I forgot to answer that yes, if mass amounts of planaria and snails die, you will get at least a momentary spike in ammonia. If the NoPlanaria damages any of the beneficial bacteria, the spike will last longer.
  3. Torrey
    I wish I could get my snails so pretty 😍 But my shrimp clean up my snails faster than their hair can grow ...
  4. Torrey
    I learned that good parental care begets good parental care when I was breeding discus. Turned out it was infinitely healthier *for all parties involved* to let parents eat their young until they figured out the whole "parental care" thing. Hand raised birds and hand raised discus (and I am sure other species as well) are much more likely to be good parents, after they see good parenting modeled for them. I mean, egg scatterers like salmon are never going to get the opportunity, but my WCMM are turning out to be far more protective of their fry than I expected, chasing my hand out of the tank if I attempt any maintenance. AMEN!!!!
  5. Torrey
    Any chance some guppies hid in the guppy grass? They are sneaky little buggers, and move between tanks a lot easier than I thought possible (or would like to admit). I just got 2 baby guppies in with a shipment of shrimp, and the seller is pretty adamant that "couldn't have happened" but the babies absolutely were in the bag and even easier to see during drip acclimation. I used to breed cichlids, and used culled guppies and mollies as feeders. I had more than one remove itself from the gene pool by getting a guppy lodged (a desirable effect for me as a breeder, as it is almost always due to a genetic issue in cichlids). I've never heard of koi having similar issues, because the commercial breeders in Japan practice strong eugenics. Doesn't mean that koi are immune to the problem, though. Just because they are a tough fish doesn't mean impervious.
  6. Torrey
    I have not found any combination of pressure, pH, length of time, sealed container, etc to kill any of the lemna family (Wolffia, duckweed, etc). RR does clean the weird taste from duckweed and prep it to eat, overnight.☺️ Much better than soaking in frequent water changes for a week. Tastes better in the stir fry, and it's a brighter green, after RR. Used RR to eliminate some cyanobacteria on plants, only took an overnight soak. 2 months later, and minimal tank care on my part, and the cyanobacteria has not come back. Also used to remove the hair algae growing in my moss, and again, 2 months later it hasn't come back. Shrimp enjoy devouring the treated hair algae. I do have some new information to add: Using RR on floating plants, by sealing the plant in a bag of seltzer water (with air sucked out & bag sealed), in the dark, for 24 hours is effective at elimination of planaria, aphids, snails, and algae. There is an odd side effect on water hyacinth, however, that has not resolved after a month. The bladder/leaves get larger and separate, and root growth is ramped up. I need to find the original picture from a month ago, these 2 plants were almost identical. I treated the one on the right, the one on the left is untreated. Both plants had 7 bladder leaves a month ago, and roots were short. Treatment made the bladders larger, and separated the bladders (due to what appeared to be internal swelling from the RR treatment). A month later, the plant on the left (untreated) is nowhere near as large as the plant on the right and there is a large discrepancy in root growth as well. Both plants now have 9 bladder leaves, with the plant on the left being the typical compact growth of this dwarf variety. The one on the right looks like the dwarf gene 🧬 was somehow turned off with the RR (not actually possible). I have used the sealed bag approach (place plant roots in seltzer water & remove all air from the bag) on several different terrestrial and riparian plants (Lobelia cardinalis, multiple mosses, pothos, and "Bear's Paws" succulents) to eliminate fungus gnats, white flies, aphids, and spider mites. All plants survived, and everything but the succulents thrived. Cactus and succulents didn't like the bag touching the leaves. All pests did die☺️ I am going to test out a modified RR for succulents, that doesn't require sucking out all the air, and instead displacement of oxygenated air with CO2.... Eventually.😅
  7. Torrey
    It's been a while since my last update. Not everything is as far along as I had dreamed... which just means I am still having fun pursuing dreams🥰 Dining room, biotipish tank has dozens upon dozens of P paludosus... and ramshorns from NC. QT has breeding WCMM (also from NC) and some juvenile P paludosus (No clue why the image keeps re-orienting itself upside down) Patient Spouse's ™️ tank is a nearly self-sustaining ecosystem, and thrives with minimal input from me. We have gone on a few trips now that the pandemic is receding. We still wear masks (both of us are immunocompromised) and take precautions to reduce health risks, but are enjoying camping and traveling again. My favorite part on taking the time to set up ecosystems (instead of traditional species only tanks from my breeding days) is my tanks don't require the maintenance my breeding tanks required. I'm accepting that some plants thrive for me, others don't, and java moss will outcompete almost any other plant (or is this flame moss?🤔) Regardless, most tanks are overstocked with plants, which allows them to find equilibrium with more fish than I anticipated. The spouse's tank actually has the appearance of green water (great for fry), despite 0 ppm of ammonia, nitrites or nitrates. The plants that thrive... Thrive. The ones that don't, I am learning to stop lusting after 🤷 Might not be the aquarium journey I started on, and might not be where I wanted to be a few years ago, but it's working and all the fish, shrimp, snails and I are happy. And isn't that the most important part? My tanks have not just survived, but thrived in their little ecosystems, despite my being gone for a month at a time, and despite having pneumonia (and other health issues) and not doing any maintenance since October, beyond removing excess plant growth. Thank you @Cory and the entire Aquarium Co-op team for the Easy Green, Easy Iron, and Easy Fry (as well as the plants) that have enabled my tanks to thrive, despite me.😅 https://phys.org/news/2023-04-fish-reveals-clues-ancestors-evolved.html @Zenzo thought you might get a kick out of this article 😉
  8. Torrey
    It's spring, and she's going through the age old tradition of getting in breeding condition. You provide plenty of exercise options, you require that she hunts her food, and you ensure everything is gut loaded for maximum health. Honestly, everyone tried to tell me everything I did wrong for Karma the Turtle... yet, you have seen how healthy Karma is. Maybe a larger environment, not for 24/7 living but a playroom of sorts? Karma has a play yard I set up outside for her, maybe Froggin needs something similar? Mr third!!! **should have read "Me third" 🤦
  9. Torrey
    I know that not all of us have a mom, or know our mom, or have kids, and this can make today difficult. So, **especially** for anyone who struggles with today, Happy Fish Mom Day!!!!
  10. Torrey
    Exactly! The LED submersible light is only in my tub from November to March
  11. Torrey
    LFS & local fish club are safest places to sell for the fish, due to current shipping issues @Flying fox 6523 I don't put the LED lights in until the daytime temps are consistently below 50° F, and water temperature is staying in the low 50s at the end of the day. Otherwise, it gets too warm 🥵 for the fish. Not everyone has had success with hardy endlers surviving the winter, and my first spring to find endlers was completely accidental: I had gotten covid the year before, and simply didn't have the energy to fully break down the tubs. That being said, I noticed a much higher breeding success rate the following summer, I believe due to more phytoplankton and microfauna being already established in the tub before I introduced more fish (the handful of endlers who survived winter simply couldn't put a dent in the population). Everything has plusses and minuses, for me leaving the tub up year round with a submersible LED light for the winter outweighs the potential risks.
  12. Torrey
    I move my fish outside as soon as morning tub temperature is within 5° of morning inside tank temps, and do a slow acclimation. WCMM are much more likely to overheat, than struggle with lower temperatures, and the rainbow shiners (by all research, I haven't kept them yet) require very oxygenated waters. My outdoor tub gets no direct sunlight, and ~3 hours of reflected light, with 12 hours of indirect sunlight. My hard learning curve has been to ensure that I am supporting good microfauna growth before moving fish outdoors.... and to not be surprised when some of last year's fish spawns come up to say "hi" after the winter ice is finally all gone😏 Once I started dropping an LED light into the tub for the winter, I even had endlers survive the winter... with 2" of ice on most of the surface (water below the ice enjoyed the trapped heat from the LED, and didn't drop below 40°F) Look forward to following your journey!
  13. Torrey
    "I don't know if I make a difference, but I try to do the right thing." That's all any of us can do, and working together it absolutely makes a difference!
  14. Torrey
    @Ken Burke now that you have replicated success with angels, discus shouldn't be too far behind. Great looking brood you have there!
  15. Torrey
    I just left NC after spending 3 weeks there visiting fam, celebrating my dad's 80th, and having my MCAS develop into pneumonia 😝 UNC-CH was my mom's alma mater, my sis & dad went to NCSU, my sis for a forestry and wildlife management degree. I answered your survey, and would love to see you succeed! If you need some help getting started, info@traumahealingprevention.org has been helping people plan out their channel, learn about editing, and giving general support to increase the number of "positive impact channels" on YouTube after a study linked poor quality information with negative aspects and lack of mental wellness. Can't wait to see what you develop!
  16. Torrey
    That crick looks awfully familiar! I'm glad you had some success, and I love your adjustments to the cooler. I recently (April 4th - April 29th) drove from NM to NC, and collected some inverts and plants, as well as brought back 4 of my BiL's WCMM for the porch pond this year. We knew we would not have regular access to power (we camped at Kerr, Falls, and Meeman-Shelby), so opted for plants providing filtration and oxygenation with an LED light on a 4 hour timer. The WCMM aren't as sensitive to lower O2 as NANF, however, but the traveling method was sound: water stayed below 61° F in the cooler, LED light definitely grew the plants in the water with the fish, and the fish never came up to the top except when bugs went to check out a potential water source. My 4' tank isn't ready for NANF yet.... but we are definitely closer! By the time I am done, it will be a complete little biotope, and hopefully have enough live food reproducing in the tank for long term success. Thank you for posting so much helpful information, my spouse is actually excited for "what's coming next?!?" and willingly went camping with me to observe naturally occurring water ways. It was too cold and too rainy to camp in Asheville, so my folx surprised us with 3 nights at a hotel, nestled between 2 creeks, and a local FSW employee friend to show me what I can wild collect (legally) and what I can't. More trips in the future, and a few more adjustments to the fish cooler, we should be good to go! Maybe we can coordinate a "meet in NC to collect" sometime? I would love to introduce you to my BiL, he used to collect for the NC Museum of Natural History and Science.
  17. Torrey
    @Fish Folk I have that same faux oak half barrel. I dropped a submersible LED light in for the fall last year, and float a piece of styrofoam (hole in the bottom, but air current helps keep the surface from freezing). The subarctic chill froze 3" deep furthest away from the LED light, but a hole stayed open all winter, and temp near the light never dropped below 40° F...despite 3 weeks where the high was in single digits. I haven't seen any adult fish yet (last spring I found a half dozen endlers I had missed as fry fall of 2021), but the outdoor tub has plenty of healthy red ramshorns and some P. paludosus who appear to have thrived this winter. Can't wait to follow your summer tubbin adventures this year!
  18. Torrey
    I have similar experience to @xXInkedPhoenixX with spider plants growing in tanks. They were a favorite of mine in the HOB for my cichlid tanks, and really didn't need ferts😅 due to the messy tank mates. They did keep nitrates below 30ppm in the cichlid tanks with minimal (read "almost never") water changes. @Guppysnail your tanks, babies, and stories are a wonderful medicine for the soul! They've been bedazzled😆
  19. Torrey
    @Odd Duck due to my health problems, I don't feed fish regularly. Instead, I seed tanks with blackworms and microfauna, and plants like duckweed. I believe underfeeding/not feeding during a birthing boom in a new tank trained endlers in one tank to eat duckweed. Their offspring will eat duckweed (learning from elders, maybe?) Meanwhile, I have several tanks that grow duckweed faster than I have use for... Separate strains of endlers who never learned that duckweed could be food. However, I am selling duckweed to aqua farmers, because it is one of the few plant sources of complete protein. My dogs and turtle eat duckweed, I clean it and use it in place of sprouts... it's even decent in green smoothies. Not my favorite on salads, but a good addition in stir fry and soups. Who knew our aquarium nemesis was being researched as a solution to world hunger?
  20. Torrey
    Happy Holidays Everyone!!! Cory has the Christmas Story Livestream up and running
  21. Torrey
    Life gets more exciting as we get older, I suspect in response to all of our bored entreaties as children, lol The city acknowledged there were "punch outs" in the sewage lines that they will be repairing over the next 2 years, so we are on the way to solving the problems.😅 I am very grateful for everyone's grace, and look forward to getting more active in the forum again in December... I hope. May everyone have an uneventful year until the next Nerm Week!
  22. Torrey
    Funny, my snails devour all things beta carotene first!
  23. Torrey
    It's in the fern family, just like Süßwassertang. I would need to get my hands on it, but it looks like my Bacopa does under higher lights in cooler water. The brighter the lights, and the better the nutrition, the smaller and tighter the leaves in cooler water, until the tipping point is passed and the algae gets enough light to wipe it out. This summer has been my exploration deep down the rabbit hole of plant nutritional deficiencies as the leading cause of problems in our plants. For anyone interested, there's a lot of crossover from terrestrial plant research into our aquariums, if we are patient enough to take notes and apply the knowledge to our tanks. I have an experiment I started, that I'll give it's own dedicated thread as soon as I have it written up, and will document the plant growth in as real time as possible. Anyone interested: John Kempf, Dr Dykstra, and several others are linking poor soil with too much nitrogen, as well as disturbed soil, to poor quality "starving" plants. Interesting research that is easy to digest the information and then apply the knowledge! Crime Pays But Botany Doesn't has been another (highly entertaining & adult humor) resource. Wishing everyone an uneventful week!
  24. Torrey
    Hornwort is the biggest calcium hog I have found in the plant family. Which works for me, because my tap water has so much calcium drinking it gives people kidney stones! High flow can injure delicate leaves, and as TheSwissAquarist pointed out, can interfere with root development. Since hornwort has neither, flow really isn't an issue unless you are recreating forceful river flow (like for hillstream loaches). The amount of flow for a betta shouldn't harm the hornwort, and as long as you remain observant, you will pick up on growth changes (color changes, thinner stems, wider spaces between hornwort fronds) that precede the famed needle drop. My learning curve this summer has been around vitamin and mineral deficiencies in plants being responsible for snail predation on plants, as well as melt and pretty much all other problems we see in our tanks. Identifying the appropriate ferts for our pH would potentially solve 90% of my plant keeping woes.
  25. Torrey
    @nabokovfan87 Thank you so much for braving being the first to publish! @Chick-In-Of-TheSea, @Hobbit and @Cinnebuns I'm glad all of you entered. I had a friend print out each entry, but with the identifying information removed (best way I could think of to ensure fairness in judging) and scored according to: 1. Was the font easy to read on a phone and on the computer? 2. Were photos included to improve understanding? 3. Was there a: clear header, in a larger font than the rest of what was written? clear body with novel information/ clearer directions that were easier to understand than the original? 4. A bio of some sort? 5. Included biggest mistake? These content points were determined on Saturday 16th July, and voting by forum members was extended until Sunday evening to gain more participation. I extended collating the actual forum participation points until Sunday at midnight, points were scored 00:01 Monday 18th July.... At which point life exploded (technically plumbing exploded) causing some technical difficulties, and awards were not announced in a timely manner. I apologize. @FishPlanet, @Guppysnail, @Flumpweesel, @FlyingFishKeeper, @Minanora, @KimberlyDade, @Minanora, @dasaltemelosguy, @billango, @saphbettas, and @xXInkedPhoenixX thank you for your patience!!!! Everyone, please join me in congratulating the winners of this years Second Annual Nerm Week Rewritten Directions Competition!
×
×
  • Create New...