laritheloud

Aquarium Center in Blackwood, NJ

My favorite LFS within a half-hour drive from here is a beautiful store. Impeccable tanks, healthy and robust stock, a crazy selection including less commonly seen species. I think they are better for freshwater fish than saltwater fish, for saltwater it would be TSM Aquatics which is local to me (and if you're looking for high-end stock, they ship and have exceptional service, including an extensive quarantine and conditioning process for all their fish and inverts).

This store looks gorgeous. I'll have to stop in next time I'm in the Lambertville/New Hope area!

Hi there! I'm in South Jersey with similar water parameters, deep well aquifer water. GH 10-12, KH 10-12 depending on the day and the measurements with the kit, lol. Ph is actually 8.0 without CO2 injection. I keep tetras no problem, and my LFS uses tap water and offers tons of tetra varieties. The tetras I have in my tank are Diamond Tetras, and they even breed without doing anything special on my part. Buy your tetras from a LFS and they all should be fine.

I would probably get a 55 gallon (which leaves you enough room for 3 goldfish!). I've been giving serious thought to a goldfish tank, too, and I keep waffling. You can probably get away with a 40 breeder for 2, but 55 will definitely be more comfy and allow you the option of a third buddy.

This is so lush and green. I'm just trying out some Thrive for my tank, I can't wait to see if it has an impact on my results!

29 gallon SeaClear? I have the same tank! 🙂 The plants will be just fine for a few days!

I add Iron but not potassium. Perhaps I should get some...

I'm prepared to do that. Thanks!

More pictures. Baby came with the black spot on the bottom fin. Not sure if it’s an old ammonia burn or its markings.

Finished 1 round of General Cure and I'm planning on doing a second round -- should I start that 1 week after the first round or 2 weeks? @Colu any recommendations? The pair of sunset gouramis are active, eating, and very adorable. Baby golden honey is also active, but I noticed after the second dose of General Cure it seemed to be struggling to pass a very long poo. I'm not sure if it was a worm of some sort or it was just constipated. Water change is tomorrow, so I'll examine. The baby does eat, but seems to do better with flake foods and/or picking at the decorations and water sprite clippings. I have tried pellets, and when the youngest attempts to eat them, he tends to chew them and spit them out for several rounds. Flakes go down for the most part. I'm going to try some repashy next. Sometimes I catch the baby resting at the bottom at night but never on its side like the 'buddy' from the store that passed on day two. Of course, I'm concerned and watching like a hawk, and I have a cabinet full of meds to try if I need to. I'm debating trying a round of Levamisole on these guys. Not sure about antibiotics, because I'm not seeing any obvious signs of a bacterial infection...

It does say under the description for Seachem Flourish that it does not contain macronutrients and it is designed to be used in conjunction with Seachem Nitrogen, Seachem Phosphorous, and Seachem Potassium. EDIT: There's nothing wrong with fertilizing this way but Flourish is a micronutrient fertilizer and you need macros in addition.

I'd stick to Easy Green (+Iron IMO) or Nilocg Thrive. The latter is available for order on Amazon. I use both. The plants will be fine without fertilizer for a few days to a week.

Then if they are happy and spawning, there will probably be a couple of survivors every now and then. If we get too many survivors from the current spawn/later spawns, we'll have to trade them in to our LFS -- our Diamonds are extremely prolific!

As someone who has a few baby diamond tetras swimming around in the community tank, it's possible but your yield will be very low. We have two babies nearing the 1 inch mark right now, and when I checked on/fed the tank this morning the diamond tetras were spawning (and the corydoras were attempting to eat some of the flying eggs). I didn't intend to make them spawn or produce any special conditions. You might just get lucky! But if you do want a higher yield and a higher hatch/survival rate, you'll have to have a separate set up.

Well, they are at it again. I checked on the tank this morning and I found the alpha male and one of the plumper females scattering eggs all over the water sprite. Maybe I should have a plan about this?? Crazy, I haven't been trying to do anything. I water changed last night which must have triggered it!

I'm already planning a larger tank (75 or 90 gallons -- my husband is even on board!), and I'm pretty sure I'll be using regular old pool filter sand for that tank. Cheap, comes in huge bags, and it's easy to supplement with ferts of your own. I use eco-complete in my 29 gallon and I like it all right, but I'd love to try a sandy bottom next time.

Well, the plant is certainly alive and propagating, but I don't think it's easy at all to keep it looking pretty. 🤣 I much prefer my buce and my anubias... and my cryptocoryne tropicas most of all. Maybe Java Ferns look ugly in harder water? I'm not sure what's making it unhappy, but I run CO2 injections in my tank and fertilize every couple of days. To be fair, the staghorn is starting to get mowed down and cut back, but I'm not sure if it's what I'm doing, my nerite snails eating it, or my amano shrimp stealthily going to munch on it late at night when I can't see them! EDIT: I also poured Seachem Excel on one leaf and it killed the staghorn very well. I'm nervous to dose more because I keep vallisneria, mosses, and dwarf sag in the same tank.

Levamisole is a good Fenbendazole alternative that is shrimp and snail safe! I keep Metroplex, Seachem Focus, API Fungus Cure, PraziPro, and Furan 2 on hand along with Levamisole. I prefer to over-prepare.

I am also struggling with my Java Fern. Right now, it looks hideous, complete staghorn algae magnet. I'm just starting to get the algae under control so maybe someday it'll look healthy.

Patience, lol. I have 6 Amanos in my 29 gallon and they all either have a party under the Java Moss or behave like they're king of the heater.

There are a bunch of larger-leafed varieties that will look really beautiful as a centerpiece. Hope you love what you end up getting!

I'm obsessed with the Dark Skeleton King buce. I'll be putting it in a high-tech tank with harder water on the alkaline side, I'm receiving mine today. The dark, richly-colored leaves appeal to me a LOT. I believe the green skeleton king is a bit easier to maintain but the shape and size of the leaves are the same as the dark skeleton king. I just love the foliage, nice size, very eye-catching.

I'm gonna go against the grain and say anubias or bucephelandra. I have a Java Fern and I actually really dislike how it looks. It's alive and growing well (new leaves look okay), but most of the old leaves are.......... not fantastic. I don't think java ferns like my water much, even if they're alive and growing!

Colored up again!