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RyanR

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Posts posted by RyanR

    Java Fern Not Thriving

    in Plants, Algae, and Fertilizers

    Posted

    4 hours ago, Irene said:

    I had the same problem with my java ferns in the past where they slowly would lose leaves over time. Then I found out from Cory that plants like java fern and anubias tend to thrive in environments with more potassium. I got a freshwater potassium kit and found out my water had nearly 0 ppm potassium (despite dosing Easy Green up to 20 pm nitrate). I think it's because I bought a huge java fern from a local hobbyist and it sucked up every trace of potassium in the water. I ended up adding some Flourish Advance to supplement my potassium up to 10-20 ppm, and now my java fern is growing tons of new leaves again and isn't making plantlets anymore. (Seachem also sells Flourish Potassium, but Flourish Advance contains some other minerals/nutrients that I'm missing so that's why I'm currently using it.)

    986516627_20200915_143024Fullshotoftankmostlyalgaefree.jpg.592d9123d0bee52bbdd24366fed00d2e.jpg

    @Irene how long did you dose Advance for or do you still dose it?

    Breeding Mystery Snails

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    2 minutes ago, DaveSamsell said:

    @Lynze, Very well, thank you.  Had a number of egg clutches in my 55 gallon.   Some I left where they were placed; but most were moved to my DIY incubator.  Actually, have too many Mystery snails right now, lol.  Will have to contact my local LFS and see if they would like a snail donation.  😊

    We had the same issue with too many clutches.  I took the male out of the aquarium after about 6 or 7 clutches.  I put some of the clutches in a container in our QT tank that already has a ton of pond snails in it already.  The other clutches were laid under the output of the Aquaclear, so I left those there, to see what will happen.  Honestly, I have no idea if any have hatched or not, it's been about a month when we rubbed our first two clutches in the QT.  We gave one clutch away and we have about another 3 or 4 clutches still on the filter.  Actually, one of the clutches fell in the off of the filter and into the tank.

    So, we don't know if we have any mystery snails or not. @DaveSamsell, how long did it take for the snails to grow large enough to tell they were mystery snails, as opposed to pond snails?

    Kasa WiFi Timer

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by RyanR

    I don't have the Kasa, but I have 4 or 5 Leviton plugs, because I am invested in the Leviton infrastructure (I have a few of their WIFI switches also),  I'm not disappointed in them at all.  My lights function even without an internet connection.  If internet goes out, they automatically reconnect when it comes back on.  It is very nice being able to change the schedule if I need to from one place.  Also, another advantage is that you can have multiple schedules for all lights or each one could have a different schedule(weekend and weekday schedules).  If the lights are scheduled to be off and I'm home, I can turn on all lights or some lights with one click from my phone.  I consider my WIFI timers to be part of the setup costs for new aquariums.  

    otocinclus feeding

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I'm on my second go at Otos in one of my aquariums.  The first time, I only got one to try and it died in about a week.  It was a newly cycled tank, so that very well could be the reason.  About a week ago, I got 2 more for the same aquarium.  There's a decent amount of algae in the tank right now.  I put zuchinni and fluval algae wafers in there, long with the regular food that drops down to the bottom, but I don't see them eating either.  We will see how these fish do.

    Red or blue lights

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    2 minutes ago, Cory said:

    Just wanted to chime in here. Blue light doesn't grow algae any quicker than other light. Plants see Green the least, but our human eyes see green light the best. I'm not not sure what spectrums fish see the best/worst. Blue night lights "grow algae" because the light is on 24/7, the color it is doesn't really contribute to the algae grow, just the fact that algae is able to photosynthesize for 24 hours instead of a typical 8-12 hour period. Plants also can't really go past 14 hours, they have to rest where algae doesn't. 

    Thanks for clarifying that @Cory.

    • Like 3

    Show off your Betta!

    in Photos, Videos & Journals

    Posted

    56 minutes ago, Lizzie Block said:

    Your bettas are beautiful! My betta is called Derek. Named after Derek Zoolander because his tail looks like the big Z on the dvd cover hehe. 🤓

    2099704489_20191016194347_IMG_6653(1).jpg.ae375145c6251969d96a8bcd3e545f57.jpg

    1dd326ca-63cb-4b7a-9aaf-3a557d4da360.jpg.6b7ac9b6f21cde577457ef1c05e2227a.jpg 

    Hahaha...and his face looks like it's covered in coal...lol....Very pretty fish and awesome photography!

    • Like 1

    Quarantine tank ideas

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I know you wanted other ideas besides an actual fish tank and I love @Irene idea.  I use a 10 gallon aquarium that is always running.  There's a ton of pond snails and floating Water Sprite that help keep the cycle going.  The problem for me is that I don't use sponge filters, except in my quarantine tank.  So, setting up a tub and instantly cycling it is not an option.  I have sponge filters, but I only have them to use as backups with USB Nano Air Pumps  and these battery backups (mine are black) in case of a power failure (I live in south Louisiana).  

    How to properly propagate Java Fern?

    in Plants, Algae, and Fertilizers

    Posted

    It looks like it's a little too small to pull off and you'll probably get a lot more.  I've done a few things with my plantlets, but none of my methods so far have produced fast results.  I've floated them, I've attached the plantlets to rocks and wood and I've put the roots (not the rhizome) in Eco Complete.  They all grow, but slowly.  I've watched a few videos on growing them emmersed, but I haven't tried that yet.  Growing them emmersed seems to produce faster results, but I'm sure there will be some die off once they go into the water.

    • Like 1

    Where Can I Buy Multies?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    12 minutes ago, Mr. Ed's Aquatics said:

    So as far as I understand it, the extremely slow growth rate makes farming them less cost effective as wild collecting them. At the moment, no one's shipping out of Africa so wholesalers are having to get stock from local breeders like me, if at all.

    Wet spot may have them back in stock, but I have had 2 people last week asking me to ship them some because they couldn't get them from there and 15 a pop is kinda high. Great little fish though, even if they grow super slow. 

    That explains a lot.  I've never heard they grow slow, but I understand.  We will.be putting them in a 20 long, so I only want to start out with probably 3.  For only 3 of them, I don't mind paying $12 or $15 each.

    We might have an LFS about an hour from me in Baton Rouge that can order them.  I'm going to look into that route also.

    Do you normally sell and ship fish?

    Where Can I Buy Multies?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    If multies are so easy to breed, why are they so hard to find?  I'm going to be setting up a new aquarium in about a month and my son wants a pair of multies.  I can't find them anywhere.  I have about 4 LFS's that I checked and Aquahuna.  Does anyone have any websites they can recommend that won't change $40 for shipping?

    Help with Java fern

    in Plants, Algae, and Fertilizers

    Posted

    Mine were doing the same thing and I starting thinking back that I hadn't fertilized in a couple of weeks.  Even though your nitrates are at 40, you still need to fertilize, but it also means that you might need to do water changes more often.  High nitrates could be coming from rotting leaves or other sources that the plants can't use.

    Best Heater... Does A Good One Exist?

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by RyanR

    I started using the Aqueon Pro also mostly because it's solid black and doesn't really standout in the tank.  I have a Fluval M in our 40 breeder, but the silver shiny color is noticeable.  The one thing I don't like about the Aqueon Pro is how hard is to turn the dial to adjust the temp.  I haven't had mine for a long time, but so far, they are nice.  The Fluval E like Irene mentioned are very nice, but a little pricy.

    • Like 1

    Aquarium Co-Op Poly Pad

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I just ordered the fine poly pad to put in all of my Aquaclears and was wondering what others experiences with it are.  I know the two of these use different ways to accomplish the same result, but I'm hoping to use this as a replacement for Purigen.  I'm getting tired of cleaning the Purigen and I have a couple of AC 20's that I don't like the way the Purigen fits in there.  The only thing I don't think the poly pad will do is remove the tanins, which Purigen did an incredible job (but fouled up in a week).

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