CJs Aquatics

Cannot confirm that it’s bba but appears to definitely be the starts of some form of hair algae. With regards to combatting it it’s probably due to excess nutrients in the water column or too much light judging from the density of plants it appears you have. Depending upon the age of the tank this could be related to it not fully balancing yet. I would test my water to see specifically where the nutrient ranges lie, and up my water change game as a first step. Monitor things then I would take a look at my light schedule. You can use a diluted solution of hydrogen peroxide topically on decor to kill algae as well. Plants eventually usually out compete it with good maintenance. As far as your fish not eating it, there are probably other more appetizing things for them to consume ie whatever you feed the others. I have heard of people introducing the algae they wish to become a food source to the fish by drying and mixing it with the food they feed however I can’t speak for this credibility as I have never tried it myself. Recommendations: 1. test water to see if the bloom is nutrient related 2. up the maintenance schedule 3. Adjust lighting accordingly 4. monitor I hope this helps, algae is a never ending battle for all of us, dialing things in appropriately takes time and a delicate balance, I would avoid chemical solutions unless absolutely necessary

🤔 this is a good question. So as someone who has had little fish sucked into gravel vacs and had to rescue them before it’s definitely an understandable concern. My best advice would be to take your time and pay close attention. With regards to this, a filter sock over the uptake of your gravel vac would prevent most sized fish from getting sucked up, or I’ve heard of people using panty hose as well after they had been cleaned of dyes. It does as u discussed hamper the ability to get mulm a bit but I doubt it would be to a crazy extent. Perhaps another tip if it’s going to be the source of some anxiety would rather use a power head or something like that to essentially move the mulm to the water column off the bottom and allow for it to be filtered by your filter. This method isn’t full proof eighter as most of the time it would take a while and make some mess. A diy gravel vac for nano tanks using airline tubing and a pipeette would allow for much more control but takes much longer. I always gravel vac into a 5gallon bucket personally, this way if something gets sucked up, after it settles, I can see the fish and just net them back into there tank. Almost like a 2 step security measure in my opinion. I hope something in here helps…

Hello, sorry to hear about your fish troubles, a few questions may help lead to a solution for you. what kind of fish do you have that are struggling? what do your tank parameters look like? what type of substrate do you use currently? to sort of answer your question, with regards to substrate the 2 you have listed, although I’ve never used them personally are both inert from my understanding, (don’t effect ph) meaning they should be safe to use together in a tank. They would need to be thoroughly washed I’m sure. They could eighter be mixed, or I would use the pea gravel as the base layer and cap with sand bc inevitably mulm and detritus will fall down there and rather then get through the pea gravel and make a mess (which could be good for plants) it will be easier for u to gravel vac it as it sits on the finer sand. I must say though, very rarely have I heard of the substrate being the cause of fish sickness and death, I suspect there could be something else going on in your tank. Also if your not switching for cosmetic reasons a 50 Lb bag of pool filter sand is like less then $10 cheap at most hardware stores and is often used by Aquarists as a substrate.

@SalDepending on the type of pleco extra calcium would probably be more beneficial then detrimental, especially if his diet hasn’t contained it previously, and in moderation I don’t think it would be a problem. As I stated I almost treat the crushed eggshells as a treat of sorts as I sprinkle them across the top of the tank once to two times a week… @Guppysnailliquid calcium in repashy….. genius!

I have a 10 gallon tank, hard 8.2 ph water dedicated to cherry shrimp and mystery snails… shrimp are breeding like crazy and the snails have the most beautiful shells ever so your chances are pretty good 😉

Hello Aedan, welcome to the forum and the hobby. Very nice looking fish as well! Best of luck, can’t wait to hear about your future Aqua-Adventures

I’m newer to shrimp, I actually have been shrimp netting the babies and letting them grow out in a large breeder box within the tank so as soon as they are of size they are eighter added to the seperate cull colony tank if they are not of the quality I desire, or if they are they join the colony producing in the tank the box sits in, it’s made things pretty simple, hopefully this helps

😂

Dried coral I believe, I agree with @Fish Folk

I never have personally but I think the safest practice probably would be to do so honestly

Super cool

When I started this hobby the first success I ever had was with mystery snails, I love them, bought some from a big chain pet store and they bred for me, hatched, the whole nine yards. I didn’t know anything about what I was doing truth be told, I put them in our hard water with guppies and plants, and fed them. Long story short I tried to duplicate this years later after attaining a lot of knowledge and things of that nature. Expecting success I was confused when the same thing your describing happened to me. They were dying off. Recently I dedicated a tank to them, determined. I added crushed coral to my already hard water, and no other chemicals besides easy green for the plants, and prime to dechlorinate. I theorize that the reason they were dying off had little to do with the parameters or age however had everything to do with the combination of them using up the calcium or not enough calcium. I’ve been adding crushed eggshells that I turned to a powder once a week, and I’ve never seen snails this healthy. They literally appeared to have shedded the healthy shell they came with and revealed an even more pristine better conditioned one underneath. I’m convinced calcium is the answer to mystery snail issues, at least it has been in my case so perhaps play around with that would be my best advice. I hope perhaps something in this ramble helped it’s just based on personal experience, trial and error honestly and I wish u the best of luck…

Jealous lol visiting the Co-op/ meeting Murphy is definitely a bucket list item for me, sounds like an exciting experience 🙃

I’ve never owned a puffer I’ll preface by saying that,(want a dragon puffer so bad) however I have dealt with malfunctioning equipment, temperature fluctuations, things of that nature so If it’s anything like other fish which I think it would be similar, I thought I would chime in anyway. Don’t Panic… I would monitor him for signs of stress/ discomfort like you are, (rapid breathing, twitching, rubbing against things, lethargy, the usual suspects, as well as physical things). The stress guard and the air stone was a good call, can’t hurt, but in situations like that often it has been my attempting to overcorrect things that have made them worse then they would be just fixing what was wrong. I would gradually bring down the temp like you have and once it gets to where u keep it, double check your other parameters and just monitor. It sounds like MurderFace (awesome name) is very resilient and you may have been lucky this time if he is reacting normally.

Would anyone who had success with filterless be interested in giving a very broad “how to” on setting this up and what’s worked for them? I’ll preface this by saying I’ve done countless research, even attempted this a few times with little success, but perhaps hearing it from some other club members like those who commented might be what’s missing and also maybe I’m not the only one here interested who struggles with dialing things in filter less, thanks in advanced

I’m very impressed and appreciate the research, trial and error you put into this project

@Paul R I’m interested to hear if you may have something as well this was a cool question

Seashells and a large piece of coral used as decor, originally from Guam that belonged to my grandparents, easily 50+ Years old if this counts

i would listen to @Beardedbillygoat1975, I think his advice is the best advice you could take on the topic

Floor space will be ok in my opinion, you are correct both species prefer to have more floor swim room rather then swim height but it also kind of depends on how u plant it/ hides etc. I’ve noticed with caves my plecos get lazy so they haven’t needed as much space, Cory’s are usually pretty active but they aren’t hard to please. As far as won’t your pleco eat the plant that’s hard to say. I’ve never owned a pleco that even attempted to eat one of my many many swords. I’ve heard that as well that they munch on swords but I’ve just never seen it personally and I’ve had I don’t even know how many different types and variations of plecos, as well as swords. (Never a clown plec tho). Feed them well and I think your swords are safe, forget to feed them and they might be a snack lol again I’ve never had an issue with that I wonder if it’s individual fish specific. I ordered my mystery snails online bc my LFS never impressed me eighter and I love them, breed them, and encourage them…

Let us know how it goes, best of luck

So that’s a tough question to answer because I feel like it is directly correlated to your willingness to maintenance/ skill set. What I mean by this is absolutely I personally think there would be no problem with that amount of fish in the set up you described, I know it can be done, I know I have housed many many more similar fish without issues in the same sized tank in the past. However I’m diligent about my maintenance routine. As long as you do your water changes and tank maintenance, as well as watch for the leftover food/ mulm both species notoriously create, and monitor your parameters as things settle in, it shouldn’t be a problem at all in my opinion

Guppies Endlers Bristlenose Plecos Swordtails Mollies Tetras but if you love the Cory’s you may get more enjoyment out of a species only set up or a biotope for your specific Cory. There’s a really cool tour of I believe alloddball aquatics that Cory from aquarium coop did that may give you some inspiration it’s very corydoras oriented…

I agree with @Colu

First thought that came to mind is swim bladder disorder of some sort, were they quarantined or treated for anything? What are you feeding them? Do they otherwise look healthy/ act healthy as in no visible/ physical signs of anything wrong?