CJs Aquatics

very nice, gotta love moss

Looks like a baby ramshorn to me definitely plausible it came in on the last plant order

I’ve been thinking on this for a while, I’m not familiar with this system as I use the ziss brine shrimp hatchery, however it is a very nice diy. That being said I’ve had great success with the coop air valves for air, but I would be concerned over time a similar situation would happen regarding brine getting in the tubing when the air isn’t attached. If I’m viewing this correctly I’m assuming the check valve side is where you connect your air and the right tube is for harvesting the live baby brine? If this is the case the cheapest solution I could think of which might be worth a try is to purchase the ziss premium air valve from the coop website. It’s under $2 I believe and in theory if attached ahead of the check valve and below base where the tubing funnels from, it would allow for you to when using air twist open and the air pressure should keep the brine out of the tube, and then potentially when not in use twist closed making it impossible for any brine to pass through whatever point you set it at. Bear in mind this is just theoretical as I have no experience with the diy hatchery, however I think it might work and is cost effective, might be worth a thought at least, just wanted to at least chime in before I forgot

A cool project I will await the results

In this situation I would probably go with whatever you feed your other fish crushed into a very fine powder, no idea what the fry are?

I was looking at some elm pieces untreated as well as 2 kinds of birch both being stumps carved out into caves/ hides…anyone know about these woods with regards to tannin production or leaching of anything negative of any sort?

@Scapexghost when you thin your floating plants have you noticed nitrates going up?

I’ve always used a python and generally did 50% a week when I’m not lazy, however I decided recently to try to be a better aquarist and change more. That being said as crazy as it sounds I’ve actually been considering not using the python and going backwards towards pitcher/ bucket daily and very small working out to about 100% a week. I’ve had some tanks parameters for whatever reason that are so drastically different then what comes from my tap I want to gradually make it closer to that without chemicals. Just wondered other people’s thought processes

Hey all, so I’ve recently locally sourced some pretty nice pieces of wood. I’ve never played around with that much with regards to my planted tanks, however I’m considering adding a few pieces here and there to spice things up. It’s my understanding that wood overtime can swing ph to a more acidic concentration. My question is how rapidly does this occur? If I put a large piece of wood in a tank, should I be concerned that the inhabitants of the tank may be in any sort of jeopardy due to ph changing or does it happen so gradually that I will never really notice?

How much water do you change? I feel like it’s something everyone in the aquarium hobby does, a link which ties us all together. Sitting here looking through my tanks etc. it made me wonder how much water do you change and how often? Some aquarists monitor there nitrate/ nitrite levels and only change when needed. Some religiously change water weekly, daily, monthly, automatically, even never. It’s a general question to whomever reads this post, what have you had the most success with? Hopefully it will provide some insights into the simple thought process which determines how everyone goes about there maintenance…

It is my understanding that when anubias bounce back the leaves that we’re struggling do not recover rather it grows new ones which takes quite some time, this is what I’ve heard I haven’t fact checked it. That being said, it is also a slow growing plant in general so as long as your lighting schedule is set appropriately and reaches them properly, and your fert dosing is good as well, those in addition to stable water parameters and temp should allow for the plants to thrive if given time to recover from the move

They should keep the temp the same or within a degree or so of the tank you hang them on.

My honest opinion is it looks normal and fairly healthy to me in the pics provided. I would perhaps check with a more experienced goldfish keeper as I personally don’t (although I love them) as well as perhaps someone well versed in a wide spectrum of illnesses and treatments like @Colu but if it were me and parameters were good and he was acting lively and healthy and hungry, I wouldn’t do anything in this instance except continue to keep things stable…

I can’t wait to read more

Double thanks, I’m going to do some digging tomorrow if I have very specific questions I will reach out I appreciate it, my main concerns were the effect the meds would have on the bb in the tank as well as snails specifically, and essentially can I dose a display which seems to have unknown issues pertaining mostly to livebearers but also has lost a few adult plecos in past months safely/ would it be effective. The issue is there really isn’t any signs in the tank, and it’s one of my older systems, I’ve ran numerous tests and tried numerous things but it seems like it’s 50/50, if I throw a livebearer in if it will make it or not. They will act fine, then usually head to the bottom, then just die, less then 24 hrs after heading to the bottom and it’s always one at a time. It’s the oddest thing I’ve encountered. I mentioned it to the LFS as well as someone in charge of my local club and they said they have ran into similar issues before and the ONLY thing that worked was polyguard. I had never heard of it and I’m a big seachem fan so I looked it up (after ordering to get it on the way) and found very little on it. It sounds like a mix of various meds some of which I’ve used in the past to treat individual ailments set up as sort of a mild broad spectrum treatment. Long story short it arrives Tuesday and although there is nothing wrong in my tank currently I was considering dosing bc I know there is an underlying issue which will most likely present itself as soon as I add any livebearers so before doing so or treating I want to ask the forum

Thank you @nabokovfan87 it’s crazy how hard it is to find info on that product

Hey all, posted this in the diseases forum because it’s a medication stated to treat a number of things. I can find very minimal info online about it (video idea for any YouTubers listening). My question is hopefully to someone with experience in this section that can tell me about it specifically is it snail safe? Does it alter parameters or destroy cycles? Anything really besides what’s on the box. It was referred to me as a “preventative/ reverse” measure by a reputable source to help combat the unknown reason quite a few people in my area are randomly losing guppies in established tanks overtime (myself included). I have some on the way just to have, but before I go dosing I’m seeking some general info, thank you in advanced

Has she always been in the tank with the other fish or is that a new scenario?

Love things like this, they turn into amazing focal points wherever they are placed

I run black sand in 11 of my 15 tanks all planted, things grow fine for me. When your looking to grow plants they all tend to do better with a few simple things no matter the substrate: 1. Decent lighting high medium or low depending on the plant, I opt for higher to cover a broader spectrum, and a stable schedule 2. Adequate nutrients (water column feeders need it dosed in the water, root feeders in the substrate or at the roots) 3. stable water parameters/ temp 4. (co2 is an honorable mention, I don’t run it but it does benefit plants significantly) in my opinion depending on the plant and slightly adjusting these things, even though there’s exceptions to every rule, your plants will thrive, this is just my perspective, I hope it helps

I would run a checklist consisting of the following: 1. Parameters (which I think you’ve done) 2. Check equipment to make sure it’s not malfunctioning 3. ammonia/ chlorine ( tested when you tested parameters but fluctuates fast in 10’s and under, also I would test the water you use for water changes as it can vary significantly from time to time) 4. Temp/ lighting/ ferts/ water additives 5. Food (making sure it’s not expired/ has it changed or does she respond better to one then another?) 6. What’s changed since you’ve noticed the change? Is anything different, equipment foods, stock or stock level, etc. 7. It’s time for adjustments if all this is good i would closely monitor the effected fish as well as the other inhabitants and see if anything is off, I would personally choose option 2 you listed and move the other inhabitants and see if you notice any change, from there it’s time to consider alternatives. 8. Perhaps your water company has added something to your water to combat something like weather effects in your area that is negatively effecting your fish (I say this bc mine just did) perhaps she’s just being moody and something new will respark her activity level such as a mirror or a floating log etc. perhaps there’s been a change above she’s reacting too, or perhaps she’s sick and coming down with something and could use some medication whether it be natural like tannins from leaves or botanicals or medical like the med trio or other (the coop has great articles about this if it gets this far). Lastly depending on what’s in the tank the parameters may be suddenly different then those which she thrived in for example, perhaps the substrate was active and has lost its luster and it’s effecting her, or plants or algae are doing better or worse at there job, perhaps it’s age or as you listed maybe the tankmates are on her nerves the moral of this long long story is it could be the slightest thing in the world, I’ve always personally found it useful to apply essentially a checklist like you would when shopping for groceries and rule things out one by one so as not to miss anything, this is just my approach and has worked for me in the past countless times, sorry she’s not feeling well, I truly hope something in this helps in some way/ she makes a full recovery and is as good as new, my apologies for the long post…

Did you include a photo? If so it’s not showing up for me…

im sorry to hear about the crash, I was hoping you might be willing to message me your set up/ perhaps sourcing information on how you have cultured them in the first place as it’s something I’m extremely interested in. I would rather hear from someone on the forum doing it with relative success then the internet videos that’s info varies drastically. I will also stay tuned to see if anyone offers the advice you seek so as to perhaps prevent a similar situation in the future, I’m not well enough versed in the worms to offer any myself but I’m super interested in this…

I love this

Mine are successful at 77-78 however I’ve kept them at room temps of 70-72 as well.