CJs Aquatics

@nabokovfan87 I would have never thought to do that but I’m definitely going too… thank you

Sorry for your loss, honestly in my opinion things like this just tend to happen as a means to teach us things that work and don’t work in keeping the fish we are keeping. I once had a betta decide one day to swim into a piece of decor and not get out, the piece had been in there for probably a year without incident but one random day it was a problem, also had a pleco get stuck in a cave they had used many many times etc. it’s awful when things like that happen but oftentimes after minor adjustment like you made that’s the end of it. To answer your question I think that would probably suffice as a solution. If the sponge is slipping off the intake rubber bands can be used or fishing line, if the sizing is wrong more material can be added relatively easily, or if you just want to cut the area off completely without restricting flow perhaps a craft mesh cage or landscape mesh divider of some sort but honestly I think it was probably just a freak accident and you’ve already solved it in my opinion…

Ah that would make sense, no just one big puffer named Jabba lol I’m gonna try to do some maintenance when I get home from work just some water changing and organic plant matter removal just for a bit of peace of mind but I guess since nothing seems effected I won’t worry too much

Welcome to the hobby friend, I’m sure you’ll find it as enjoyable and addicting as everyone here most likely does, this is a great place for questions, the forum has saved me many times prior, can’t wait to watch your journey unfold

This is a single specimen planted dragon puffer tank, I want kuhlis though lol

I have a bad picture of what I’m referring too I believe, that’s an uplift tube on the UGF, it’s still flowing properly but something from underneath has caused this orange like pumpkin colored mystery, nothing seems to be effected as of now however I just figured better safe then sorry, @Expectorating_Aubergine thank you for the response

Hello all, just maintenanced a 40 breeder running a UGF and noticed an orange something built up in the uplift tube, anyone know what that is or what’s causing it by any chance?

Everything loves bacon I guess lol never thought of that, raw uncooked I would assume?

This is awesome

Hey everybody, just wanted to hear what the community had to say about how they fatten up there fish, specifically fish that just left quarantine and need to put on some weight, fry, or picky eaters that only like live foods?

Hello everybody, hope today was productive for you all. So recently I stumbled across a topic I haven’t heard about which was enriching live baby brine shrimp. The theory was that upon hatching they don’t actually contain much nutrition and to optimize there nutritional value products were added which they consume essentially gut loading them. From there when they are eaten by our fish the fish also take in all of the nutrients consumed. In the video I watch the gentleman was using a product by fritz I’ve never heard of. My question is can anyone expound on this topic more as it is very new info to me but sounded intriguing. I guess a sub question would be, could I use vitachem in a batch of them to essentially do the same thing if this is in fact something that works? Thanks for your time and any responses

I have some undergravel filters on 29’s with deep substrate as well. My first thoughts are you said you did water changes which is what I would do first, do you do them regularly? From there pictures of the tank would help with diagnosis but to tide you over in the meantime perhaps there are some very minor suggestions. Is the tank being over fed perhaps? Is it newly set up or has it been established? Has the stock level or plant level changed or has any additional filtration been added or removed? These are my first thoughts. If it’s newly set up it perhaps could use some time or additional bacteria to help things get going, if it’s been established and this is a new issue I would think to myself what’s changed recently and make a list. If nothing has changed recently perhaps the equipment itself needs serviced or something that’s been in the tank like the substrate is the issue. Perhaps if you use water that comes from a facility they added something to it and that’s causing the issue. I would monitor the inhabitants which it sounds like you are and increase water changes to daily until things become more manageable maybe 15% or so a day and see how that goes. Could be a number of things causing the issue, would need to know the complete breakdown of everything going on with the tank to properly diagnose however I think you are already on the right track, I personally wouldn’t fertilize bc I tackle one issue at a time and right now the focus for me would be water quality rather then plant growth unless they are in some sense main filtration… hope something in this helps random parameter shifts are always stressful

No experience with this particular situation however I’ve seen it done before. Without having kept those gouramis but some experience with other egg layers I typically let the parenting couple raise there first few batches of eggs before I start to play around with intervention, just to see how things go but I don’t see why it would be a problem if that’s the route you chose to take, things like these are learning experiences however they turn out and generally speaking your fish are happy with there environment if they bred outside of random happy accidents and will do so again, hope this helps some…

This is cool

This is incredible

@Odd Duck thank you

Not a professional opinion but I’ve had some success with white vinegar personally. It does wonders on glass, is cheap, and in my non-scientific opinion strong enough to eliminate most strains of yuckies. I’ve heard of people boiling things for cleaning as well as bleach being safe to use if recommended dosage and instructions are utilized. To answer your question out of the 2 you have listed however I would think the 3% hydrogen peroxide would probably be your best bet. People use it in tanks to battle all sorts of things such as stubborn algae so It should also work to disinfect. I would make sure med trio is turtle safe if you haven’t already I’ve never personally seen anyone use it on turtles, and make sure you rinse whatever solution you use off thoroughly and let dry before redoing the tank, but all in all I think anything you listed would work if applied properly, my vote out of what your comfortable with is the peroxide however, hope this helps

@Bentley Pascoethank you Mr. Pascoe, happy to report as of now everyone is back to normal and starting day 2 of a higher veg content diet per your recommendation, I appreciate it

@TheSwissAquarist lol I wish, no just real large dojos

@TheSwissAquarist weather loach or “dojo loach” @Odd Duck thank you for the advice, I haven’t dropped the water level but so far the flow seemed ok and there isn’t any gunk on the underside. That’s that floss that changes colors based on what it takes out of your water, my idea was more of a warning then a filter…It actually is registering that somehow there is aluminum in my water bc it turned bright red, which I’ve never encountered before so this odd experiment just got even more odd… is the water supposed to be at a different level? I will admit I haven’t read up on undergravel filters in years

I completely agree, It’s one of the only hobbies I can think of where everything can have a purpose and it’s awesome

Epic… this wasn’t my best work not very well thought out bc it’s a metal container but it shows I tinker as well lol

Haven’t tried it but would love to, and don’t see why it wouldn’t work if you dial things in correctly

could be a few things but I would register that as odd… first thought is possibly something leaching from decor or equipment, perhaps a paint or sealer or decoration itself? Could be something leaching from substrate if there is any, generally I associate blue water with medications, so if something was used in quarantine or meds were used in the room recently they could have gotten into the tank and stained the water, also I suppose it could be something in your water your using itself causing the blue color, if it’s tap oftentimes the facilities add diff chemicals at different times of year changing our water chemistry without much info. Could be something creating a blue look based on the lighting used or blue lighting… I’m sure it could be more things but this is what came to mind off the top of my head, hope this helps, perhaps a bit more info and we can dial in the exact cause…

Hello, welcome to the hobby, can’t wait to hear how things progress, best advice I can give that I didn’t take initially is “patience”… good luck on the journey this forum is awesome for everything fish related