Beccs410

Oh man, I love that about having a dry sense of humor...that's awesome--both about the diagrams and about slipping past the "review board of reviews". And I definitely think Frankenball needs to be a permanent name.

Khulis are another one I have on my "Have to Own Someday" list! Mini danger noodles!!! That's awesome your LFS held them for you! I ordered mine online because I couldn't special order them from the one decent LFS near. me, nor could I find them at any stores near me right now ☹️ So, they must chill out for a bit in the QT. Easier for me to spot the little spazoids to keep an eye on them for awhile at least lol.

@xXInkedPhoenixX Frankenball!!! 🤣😂 I love it!!! Great job on stitching that bad boy back up! Love the diagrams!!

I'd beg myself to not fall for the replaceable carbon filter cartridge trap! Don't do it! Toss them! Toss them all and replace them with coarse sponge or anything else but those damn replaceable cartridges! Money grab to the max!

@lmhicks101 I just got 7 pygmy Corydoras in today as well! I'm absolutely in love with them. They are too funny! All the charm of larger Corydoras in a teeny tiny little package. Mine are very small with some growing to do as well. Not much, but a little bit, anyway. They're in my quarantine tank for observation before I introduce them to my community tank. I can't wait to sit and watch their antics day in and day out in their new home once they clear quarantine! Congrats on your new fin babies!! Love your description of them! 🤣

Perfect. My tank is heavily planted as well. I pretty much tossed the media it came with immediately. We have nearly the same thoughts on that. I was planning on replacing it with mostly coarse sponge and some bio rings. Maybe Purigen. Haven’t decided on that just yet. I’ll be using the spray bar, faced toward the back of the tank, to reduce flow and a coarse pre-filter sponge on the intake. Thank you! I appreciate the input!

@eatyourpeas did you hot rod the filter in any way? I just got one for my pea puffer tank for the same reason and one thing I don’t like already is how the intake brings the water through the biological and chemical filtration first (I tossed the carbon filter and use Purigen or extra bio rings) instead of the mechanical filtration first…Did you attempt to switch that or do anything to perhaps make it a step above? Add filter floss for water polishing? Anything like that?

That's what I did when I added my Amanos to my betta tank. I drip acclimated them slower than I usually do since extreme changes in water parameters can sometimes not go too well for shrimp, but I didn't sweat not quarantining them for the exact reason @Guppysnailalready mentioned. I had no issues. If I do ever expand my colony, I would quarantine the new guys as @KaitieG suggests for sure.

I feel this in my bones. I just started to switch to the Co-Op strips, but I like to keep a good eye on my gH and kH and I'm used to reading that in degrees of hardness instead of ppm. I know API gives you a chart for conversion and I'll usually reference it, but there's something comforting in having a *nearly* exact number instead of a range. Same with pH. I find the pH on the strips a little difficult to discern as far as color is concerned; almost as difficult as API's pH test (the 7-7.6 on the low range is nearly the same to my eye. I just try to figure out if the liquid is more green or blue and go from there). My brain tells me keep using the API Master Kit for more exact results (my safety blanket), but after dislocating my rib, my body is begging me to keep doing the strips weekly instead; those liquid tests kill my shoulder and my side, and the strips are close enough to the Master Kit for me to feel comfortable. The first time I used the Multi-Test strips on a cycling tank that I knew was in the nitrite spike phase, the Co-Op strips showed a significantly higher reading for nitrite--close to 10 ppm--than my API test did, but I think the API test only reads up to 5 ppm. I'm crediting the discrepancy to the higher range for the strips. (Don't worry, fishless cycle...)

Let's see...losing a fin baby is always difficult, especially when you can't figure out what happened. I concur with the "anything regarding hair algae" for sure. And the API testing. I can remember all the steps and number of drops, but after dislocating my rib last year, my shoulder and side seriously hurt after testing 5 tanks. I ended up switching to Co-Op's test strips weekly and now only do API liquid tests when I need more exact results and once a month.

I've become a recent convert from the anti-snail camp, as @Guppysnailknows. I got my first Nerite (Zebra Nerite named Roomba) in July and fell in love with him. He's my only Nerite, so no "sesame seed eggs" to deal with as of the moment, which tells me he, indeed, is a he. He only eats algae and won't touch algae wafers, blanched veggies or anything of the like. He's a very picky critter. He has long, cute antennae that he curls up under his shell when he goes to sleep. It's quite adorable. They're very thin, so they're hard to see sometimes. Roomba lives peacefully with a Golden Mystery Snail named Cuzco in my 14 gallon. He's my latest addition to the family. I absolutely love Cuzco, too. Mysteries have got to be one of the most adorable creatures on the planet. I love their little antennae and how they seemingly glide across anything they're traveling over. Their little faces are just too precious for words. I actually just ordered another one--this one is a Jade mystery. When I first brought Cuzco home, he was also very picky. But, now that he's settled in, he's eating almost anything I throw in the tank. He loves blanched zucchini, Hikari Crab Cuisine, Repashy Soilent Green, and Hikari Algae wafers. I've been using a Nano Banquet Block to add some extra hardness to my water, which stays at a pH of 7.5, gH of 14 now and kH of 5. The Mysteries like to have some good places to nap where they feel comfortable and hidden. Cuzco loves my ceramic pleco cave and a 3D printed cave I bought off Etsy that has a viewing window so I can still see him. He also loves to sleep among the plants in the shade. So, I'd for sure make sure you've got some hidey-holes for them!! I don't quarantine my snails, but I do acclimate them and rinse them off with tank water, just as an extra precaution. Some people quarantine them, it's really just up to you and what you're comfortable with!!

Lemme' tell ya', when Big Mama has molted and released pheromones, my tank turns into a hot mess. Those little shrimp dart here, there and everywhere in a frenzy from it and I cannot help but sit and laugh my butt off. When I got them, they were teeny tiny little things that were hard to sex, so I unknowingly ended up with 1 female and 4 males. Boisterous is the best way I can think to describe this little gang! Or entertaining! I had extremely lucky timing to have my phone nearby when I noticed them riding Cuzco! Of course, they pay their bus fare by cleaning his shell for him. 🤣

Oh man, my Amano shrimp outsmart me and their tank mates every night at feeding time...They have a habit of grabbing my bottom feeder wafers/pellets and some of the frozen tubifex worms. One of my poor corydoras will swim over to start munching on their carnivore pellet or bottom feeder wafer and BAM! There's Big Mama (My massively huge female Amano who runs the boistrous gang) snatching up that wafer from the little much larger guy in 5 seconds flat. They see me come over to the tank to feed in the evening and act like they're voraciously foraging on the algae on the driftwood or Vals, lulling me into a false sense of security to drop the other fish their food...I've even seen one grab a pleco wafer and literally yank it to the side out of a corydora's reach. Mind you, they are not hurting for food. They have lots of algae I allow to grow on some of the plants, driftwood and rocks, along with supplying them with alder cones to grow biofilm and IALs they destroy as they decompose. They're not starving, they're just gluttons. They also take advantage of Cuzco cruising around the tank and use him as a bus. Little stinkers those ones are...Smart little stinkers, but stinkers none the less.

Aquarium Co-Op is the reason I feel so confident taking care of my fin babies after losing my first betta due to naivety and total lack of understanding of what I was doing. This community the Co-Op has set up is an amazing one, and the people here are super awesome, welcoming and helpful without making me feel like a bumbling idiot haha. @Cory has really built an exceptional business inside and out; one that I am absolutely thrilled to continue to support. And since we're sharing our sticker collections here as well lol, while there might be other companies' stickers on my fishy medicine bin, it's 95% Co-Op stickers!

Pancake hanging onto his favorite driftwood despite my needing to briefly take it out of the tank in order to glue on some java fern....Nope nope nope, not today mom.

Lets see....hmmm...well, if we're talking no shipping including (because we all know overnight shipping can be astronomically high, but totally worth it) I paid $25 for a L129 Columbian Zebra (aka Scribble Pleco or Fake Zebra) from my LFS. If we're talking shipping included, $6.99 for a pea puffer with a $39 UPS Next Day Air cost tacked on. No one near me has had any for a while, and I'm impatient so it was worth the shipping cost to finally get Sméagol.

@Karen B. Oh, Mr. Darcy is beautiful!! I LOVE his name!!! His colors are very striking! He looks so very happy in his home! Here's my Sakura:

Ditto for my tanks as well. I've done the "experiment" for determining how often one "should" change your water that Cory has posted on the Co-Op site, and I'm able to easily go a month or more between water changes. However, I like a tidy tank as much as possible, and I have lots of plants in all of my tanks, so I use a weekly, small (20%) water change as an opportunity for some trimming/grooming/adding new root tabs/switching in new IALs and alder cones. I'm a creature of habit, too, so I like the confidence weekly changes gives me. It's also a chance to really get a feel for what's going on in my tanks, how my plants look and how my fish are doing. I test my water weekly as well. I think that's more of a comfort level thing, though. And, I think that's what it all comes down to with water changes--what you're comfortable with and what works for your set ups!

I've actually taken to just adding it to the water column during water changes weekly. It doesn't seem to mess with my water quality and they at least absorb it through their skin. The back of the bottle offers that as an alternative or in conjunction with adding it to food/soaking food. I'll usually do 1 drop per gallon. But, for people with much larger tanks than mine, that can be a lot of drops and going through that bottle can be quick for how much it costs when using that method for sure.

Yes, he loves the zucchini for sure and the crab cuisine...He has also staked his claim to the pleco cave...it's his favorite hideout. So, I've been putting his food just outside of it and it's working wonderfully! Totally going to order a glass feeding tray for him, such a great idea! Parameters should be perfect for his shell growth too--pH of 7.5, gH of 11, kH of 5 (my tap has a gH of 2 and a kH of 1, so I add alkalinity buffer and equilibrium). He's becoming more and more active now that he's been in the tank for a week. Can't wait to introduce him to the Jade Mystery snail I ordered today...Kronk! More than likely, I'll probably end up with a purple one too; we need an Yzma of course!

I want to love Repashy soooooo bad because I know its an excellent food...I've tried Super Green, Soilent Green and Bottom Scratcher for my Amanos, emerald corydoras, L129 pleco and mystery snail (soon to be snails, plural. Thanks to @Guppysnail's advice, I talked hubby into adopting another mystery snail today to give Cuzco a buddy. When I told him Mysteries were social and Cuzco would be happier with a friend, he commented that that is "kinda' adorable"), and to not much avail. My Amanos seem to prefer stealing frozen tubifex worms, carnivore pellets, algae wafers and bottom feeder pellets when they aren't munching on natural algae. My corydoras ate the bottom scratcher (that I mixed some Vibra Bites in with) for about a week before becoming disinterested even though I mix up their food every night, never serving the same thing back to back...I've tried dunking rocks and pleco caves and betta logs (that sit on the bottom, not the floating ones) and nada. I've feed big rectangles of it, cut the rectangles into little squares and spread them across the aquariums and nope. Maybe I'll have to try garlic guard...I've added Vitachem too, but my corydoras won't touch anything that's come into contact with Vitachem. Picky picky picky! I don't even mind making it at all. I refer to it as making "fishy fudge." People kind of gawk at me when I explain to them I "cook" my fish their own food, but I personally feel like Super Fishy Mom because I do 🤪

Great topic to post about! I, myself, have been trying to figure out if hatching BBS would be worth it for me with three nano tanks, but this thread has really convinced me its totally worth it! I never thought about freezing whatever I didn't use up!! Brilliant idea!

Yes, I agree with everyone so far! Such a wonderful home for your betta!! I keep my betta in water that has a pH of 7.5, gH of 10 and kH of 5 and he's thriving and very happy and healthy. I think it's more about stability than looking to keep certain parameters!! Sakura also lives with a Nerite snail and a few Malaysian Trumpet snails very peacefully! Don't stress too much! You're gonna' have a very happy fishy! Congrats on your first betta, they make wonderful water puppies! Keep us updated!! 😁

He’s enjoying another piece of blanched zucchini this evening and he loved the Hikari Crab Cuisine!! Thanks everyone, and I am loving seeing everyone’s pictures of your snail babies!!

Well, I guess I was wrong about the zucchini! I tried it again last night and came out to half of it eaten away!