[Looking For a Tall Anubias]

Thanks.  I'm looking to stick with a common variety, and I guess I should have asked, what's the tallest of the common Aubias?

[Looking For a Tall Anubias]

I have a 29 gallon that I want to put an Anubias in an Easy Planter.  It's going in the back cornet to try and hide the heater and an airline.  Which one of the Anubias is the tallest?

[Tank background?]

I literally just added my first background to one of my tanks last night.  It made a huge difference.  Take a look at the picture.  I bought blackout window film and it is very high quality.  I plan on putting this on all of my aquariums.  Here's what I ordered.

[Brine Shrimp Question]

6 minutes ago, Schwack said:

Willing to bet things got too hot. I had been using a 60w incandescent in a clamping work light and with an ambient temp of 72F I had to keep it ~12" away or my temps would shoot well over 86F. You might consider snagging a cheap infrared thermometer off Amazon. I use mine whenever "close enough" is OK.

Exactly what he said...lol.  My ambient temp is about 73 or so.  I thought originally I had to be only about 4 inches away and I was close to 90.  Those lights get pretty hot.  I end up being about a foot away, maybe 14 inches. 

[Brine Shrimp Question]

3 hours ago, Billfromtx said:

I also was surprised by that top layer. However, I do not have any shrimp. It's now 48 hours and barely any hatching. Any ideas what I'm doing wrong?

 

My Setup:

1.5 TSP Aquarium COOP Eggs

Well water (Hardness, yes)

PH is 7.5 to 8.0.

1 L of water 

2 TBS of Aquarium Salt

Pinch of baking soda

 

This is my 2nd batch, 1st batch I got maybe 30% hatch rate.

 

What's your water temp?  I keep mine about 80° and I use @Dean’s FishroomFishroom method in this video.  I also only use 1 tsp of eggs, 1L of water and 2 tbsp of salt.  You are close enough with your recipe where your eggs should be hatching if your temp is ok.  To a certain limit, the lower your temp, the longer it will take your eggs to hatch.

[Brine Shrimp Question]

I use a construction type clip-on  lamp with the silver housing and a 60W incandescent bulb.  You could also use a flexible desk lamp.  I figured out that I needed to be about a foot away to keep the water at 80°.

[Brine Shrimp Question]

Using the small vial of eggs I got the first time from the Co-Op, I didn't see nearly that many shells.  I guess that's what they are talking about when they say 90% hatch rate.  Huge difference!  Great job @Cory!

[Brine Shrimp Question]

I hatching my 4th batch of BBS and my first using Aquarium Co-Op Brine Shrimp Eggs.  I'm about to drain them, but I've never seen such a thick layer at the top before.  Are those all of the shells?

[What's Wrong With This Java Fern]

I haven't done a GH test in a few months and I don't remember what my GH was.  I do know that I have hard water and that seems to be the consensus as to why the black spots are there. 

[Best thing to get your fish for Christmas!]

I ordered my first order of Co-Op Brine Shrimp eggs yesterday!  Using the the @Dean’s Fishroom method with the Essentia water bottle.  That thing is great for only a few tanks!

[29 Gallon Planted Tank Light]

Thanks @Jdogtrainer.  It looks awesome.  I got cold feet on the Planted+ from what Cory said earlier.  I'm going to stick with the Stingray.

[29 Gallon Planted Tank Light]

Thank you.  I will be placing my order through the Co-Op shortly.

[29 Gallon Planted Tank Light]

Just now, Cory said:

Just know we don't carry the other finnex lights due to the high defect rate. 6 month warranty plus undersized ballast issue on those lights leaves a lot of people in the dark. I had a whole store of those lights. Steenfott had a whole fish room of them. Essentially all burned out over 18 months.

Wow...thanks for the heads up.  @Cory do you think that the regular Stingray light will be sufficient for java fern, anubias, etc. and will light up a 29 gallon well enough to clearly see fish?  I have a Stingray 2 that's about a year old that is nice.  I just don't like the silver and I can't find a 30 inch.

[29 Gallon Planted Tank Light]

I found the answer to my question.  @Cory compares these two lights in a 20 high, which is close enough.  I'm going to spend the extra and get the Planted+.

[29 Gallon Planted Tank Light]

To give a little background first.  I have a 40 breeder with a Stingray 2 on it (like the light, but don't like the silver color), a 20 long and some other 10 gallons with the Hygger lights on them.  For Inexpensive lights, I like the Hygger lights, I just want something a little nicer on this since it will be in the den.  We are upgrading one of the 10 gallons to a 29 for Christmas and I am torn between the Stingray (1st version) and the Finnex Planted+.  I won't have CO2 and I don't think the plants will be anything too difficult (annubias, java fern, micro sword, etc).  My only concern with the Stingray is that it won't be enough light for the plants nor enough lights to illuminate the tank (I like semi-bright aquariums).  Any thoughts on these two lights.

BTW...my budget doesn't fit a Fluval 😒

[What's Wrong With This Java Fern]

Thanks.  For the first month or two, I was getting a bunch of plantlets, which was understandable and I haven't been getting too many, if any, lately.

[What's Wrong With This Java Fern]

They seem to be healthy only because they keep growing new leaves, they just don't look too great.  And the new leaves are nice and green.

[What's Wrong With This Java Fern]

I got them from the Co-Op about 6-8 months ago.

[What's Wrong With This Java Fern]

There are black spots on most of the leaves of the Java Fern and holes in a couple of the leaves.  My parameters are 0, 0, 30-40.  I dose Easy Green twice a week and they get about 10 hours of light a day.  The plants are growing and making new leaves from the rhizome, but they don't look great.

[Dwarf Gouramis in community tank?]

1 minute ago, Ohio Ron said:

Yeah... that's what I'm hearing too. How big is your tank?

This is my youngest son's tank (6 yr old), so don't judge me too harshly....lol.  And he's getting a 29 for Christmas, by currently, those fish are in a 10 gallon 😳. 

[Bio rings - need or not?]

They don't hurt anything and something is better than nothing, in my opinion.  I think that you should use any available space in your filter, whether it's with sponge or bio rings.

[Dwarf Gouramis in community tank?]

We have a Dwarf Neon that's definitely am eye catcher in a tank with a swordtail, 2 red eye tetras and 2 dalmation molly's.  I was told that adding more than one if you tank isn't large enough can spell trouble.

[Where to buy Multies]

I just got some last night from an LFS, but they were hard to find.  We had to drive a little over an hour to get them.  I have been actively looking for them for about a month. Before that, I was prepared to order them online and even then they were not easy to find.  I've had multiple people tell me they are hard to find because even though they can be prolific breeders, they grow slow.

[Where Can I Buy Multies?]

2 months later, I finally got 5 Multies last night from a sort of LFS.  They were pretty small, maybe about 1/2 inch, but they were pretty cheap. about $15 each.  They were in really good shape and we get to watch them grow.  The best part is that they said when they have fry, they will buy the fish for store credit!  The kids are super excited.

[Purchasing Plants from Aquarium Co-Op]

I freaked out the first time I saw pond snails in my aquarium (because my LFS freaked out).  Then I saw how well they team up with trumpet snails and mystery snails to keep my aquarium spotless.  Every once in a while, they get a little out of control and I use the Dennerle Snail Catcher to pick up some and move them to my QT.  Seriously, that thing works awesome - highly recommended.