Guppy Guy

It’s been awhile, but I figured I would share some new pictures of Michael.

That has happened with some of my other projects. I now force myself to have no more then three projects currently going on at once, or else I will never get anything done. (Don't ask me how I know! 🤣) This makes sure that there's always enough stuff to do so I will stay busy (if waiting on paint to dry or parts to come in the mail, I can work on something else). Currently, those three projects are the TV aquarium, fixing various electronics (just finished modding my iPod classic from 2005. It has Bluetooth now! 🤣), and deciding whether or not I want to try my hand with a small guppy pond (only thing holding me back is the 100 degree summers here in SC. I'll think of something though!). Also, is it just me, or is the projects to do list seemingly endless?!

I promise I haven’t forgotten about this! Sorry its been so long, but in the last 2 months, I taught myself how to manufacture my own Printed Circuit Board (PCB) on my CNC machine, and it wasn’t easy. This final result took about 20-ish tries to get correct, so thanks for bearing with me. Now that it is finally working, I should be able to move a lot faster with the rest of this project. This is the entire light control PCB, and it does nothing but control the lights. Basically, I took the circuit from the last update and put it on a final circuit board. The best part about this circuit is that I can re-program the control chip anytime I want and make it do anything I want. It is still pretty basic (only on/off), but I can incorporate timers and brightness control in the future. If someone wants more information, PM me and I will share the source files.

I know it has been almost 2 weeks, so I will give an update. Michaels mouth is looking a little better, and he’s not hiding any more. I have started medicating the tank and food every other day, and everything seems to be going good. I think this treatment knocked out whatever was causing my problems, so thanks for the help @Colu.

Ok, I will try that tomorrow then. Thanks!

Just got back from my LFS. They recommended kanaplex and metroplex mixed into some frozen food. I did that, and everyone ate it, so I'll update when something changes, hopefully for the better:)

ok, thanks. I’ll give it a try as soon as I can.

OK, thanks. One more thing. It is OK to treat the whole tank right? My whip tail catfish will be fine I assume? I would prefer to treat the whole tank if possible though, as it will permanently remove this problem, right? Thanks.

Could it still be columnaris if it only kills one fish every so many months (at least in my case)?

I hate to say it, but that makes perfect since. I had a molly die from columnaris a couple years ago in the same tank, and there is a good chance that it is the cause of some minor guppy deaths that I've had as well. Do you approve of this method by Michael's Fish Room? Long story short, you do a 50% water change, add 2.5 tablespoons of kosher rock salt per gallon, and dose methylene blue for the entire tank. Is this better then maracyn2 or kanaplex? I know I will have to remove my catfish if I go this route, but I would rather treat the whole tank since this seems to be a recurring issue. Any opinions are welcome.

The forum used to have a poll feature, but its not there anymore. I think I remember @Streetwise saying it was breaking other parts of the forum or something? I can't remember though.

@Colu, I don’t know if I am just being paranoid or if Michael (now my only angelfish) misses his friend, but he seems to be laying low today. Its not really hiding, but he isn’t out and about like he usually is. Also, his lips are a little white, but this has happened before and usually goes away in a few days. I’ll attach a picture though so you can judge. He gobbled up some frozen brine shrimp this morning, so I’m not concerned about eating. He occasionally chases the danios and guppies, so I am guessing that he bumped into something, as it has happened before. Thanks in advance.

I know it is too late now, but if you decide to do this again, something like google forms might be good (idk if its allowed though, so pls take with a grain of aquarium salt)

Thanks @Colu, I'll update in a day or 2 to make sure everything is good.

If I do need to treat the main tank, won't it kill my filter media bacteria? its not a big deal, as I know Dr. Tims one and only will fix it, but I just want to be safe. Thanks.

Another option is Aquabid. Cory swears by them, as it is like an eBay for fish.

I am going to say something completely different, and probably controversial, so please take it with a grain of salt. I wouldn't use equilibrium, or even crushed coral. Instead, I would go to your LFS and ask them if they have any locally bred guppies, as they will be used to the water parameters and have a better chance of surviving. I have kept guppies in very low pH(5-ish if I'm not paying attention), and very high (up to 8), and usually don't have a problem. But only with guppies I have bred. Guppies I buy that are farm raised or bred elsewhere generally don't survive without extra care, as they aren't used to the water. If locally bred guppies aren't an option for you, try the crushed coral, and once they start breeding, slowly remove a little bit at a time so they don't acclimate too quickly. I did the same thing except with guppies that were used to having salt in the water instead of high hardness, and I still have some from that strain today. If you have any questions, don't feel bad. I as well as many others here are more then happy to help, and we love to see new people joining this community, so welcome @SHERALYN! @Guppysnail, @Odd Duck, you might like to comment on this as well.

She didn't make it. I appreciate the help though. Before burying her, I looked at the gills, and they looked a little pale with a couple black spots. There was some black skin around that area (normal coloration), so is it normal for the gills to look like that? Also, one eye was a little cloudy, but I think it is just from where she had been dead for an hour or 2 before I took her out. Any ideas as to if those contributed to her death? I just want to figure out what happened so it won't happen to anyone else in that tank. Edit: Oh, and one more thing. Every fin base was red, as were certain parts of skin. I have never seen that before, and find that very strange as it was all fine yesterday.

@Colu, as I moved her to the quarantine tank, I noticed that her gills are very red inside. The quarantine tank does have an airstone, and I did add salt. I didn't realize thst my maracyn is expired, so I will grab some from my LFS later. Any other suggestions? Thanks in advance.

Thank you!

Hi all, Out of nowhere, my angelfish just stopped moving and floated around the tank. She isn't eating because it appears that there is no strength left. She was fine yesterday. My water parameters are fine (PH 7.5, nitrate 10, buffer 40, temp ) There is red around the fin bases, which I know from experience is an ammonia spike, but the other angelfish in the tank is fine, as are all the other fish. I also haven't added any new fish, or fertilizer recently so I doubt it is ammonia. There is also red around her mouth, almost like bleeding under the skin. I think it might be a bacterial infection, but again, no other fish are affected. I do have a quarantine tank on hand, but it is currently empty. the meds available to me right now are melafix, pimafix, prazipro, maracyn, focus, metroplex, and aquarium salt. Please help me choose what to dose, and how much if needed. Thanks in advance PS. in the picture, she is still moving her gills slightly, and her fins as well. I don’t know how much longer she will last though

Aww man! I only just found out about this! Oh well, at least I caught part of it 😛

Does hitting the bullseye mean I win another tank? 😆

Well, I finally finished the prototype circuit. That was painful. I had to learn how to use a darlington transistor configuration, and trust me, its as difficult as it sounds 😂. The attached gif is me testing it out, and seeing that it (thankfully) works. Now I have to import the schematic into the computer, and learn how to mill a PCB. I will give that a few attempts, and if it fails, I will just have to solder it all by hand. I know that hardware I used is complicated, but it gives me the freedom to fine tune light setting from the software, and even add a built in timer in the future if I wanted to. Plus, all those components cost me less than $5 since I made it myself, so that is a bonus as well. Let me know what you think so far!

This isn’t really a meme, but I thought it was kind of funny to see how much the aquarium co-op website has progressed over the years. Going clockwise from top to bottom, the dates are November 14, 2012; May 15, 2013; September 28, 2014; And today. There are tons more, these are just the most significant differences I found. If you want to see all the snapshots, all they are on archive.org.