JaredL

@Tony s It squishes. No artificial decor in the tank, just an old piece of driftwood. Did a 20% water change today to see if it chanhes. If not I might reluctantly dig into the canister filter and see what I find. @Biotope Biologist Thanks. I'm leaning towards a type of algae or organic also as it's only on the surface. Everybody seems happy and healthy so I may just wait and see. Curious to see how the mystery progresses.

@Tony s I don't use any purigen. Just coarse sponge and fine filter material, with a coarse pre-filter on intake. But that does make me think that possibly my filter is clogged and maybe just bypassing the filter media now.

@mynameisnobody Thanks for the feedback. Seems like way too much to be insect eggs to me. I haven't noticed any bugs flying around. Really need to get that microscope I'm always saying I'll buy.

Anybody seen this before? 29gal over 5 years old. Well planted and stable. Canister filter. Fish all happy. Sticks to the glass. Doesn't move so I don't think it's some type of microfauna. I'm familiar with the film you can get with still water, but I have alot of surface agitation as my outlet is pointed at the surface. Let me know if you have questions.

Has anyone run a HOB on a timer so it only runs during the day? I'm looking to add current and mechanical filtration to my tank, but want calm water at night. Tank is 29gal, seasoned, sponge filter running all the time. I have one of those Aqueon HOB that self prime, so that shouldn't be an issue. Looking to use it as extra mechanical filtration, so I'm not concerned about maintaining beneficial bacteria in the filter(although I'm also curious if it could survive). Just curious if there is any negative impact from this I haven't thought of. Please share any experience or insights. Thanks!

@Theplatymaster @jwcarlson Good news! I think. Placed a male in the tank last evening, about an hour before lights out, and topped off with slightly cooler RO water(tank was already low ~2gal). This morning I saw some interaction between them. Couldn't be sure if it was spawning or their typical scrapping, but was pretty sure I saw some really small particles falling. Can only see what I believe are eggs on the mop as the bottom is white pool sand. In picture, yellow arrows I think are eggs, red arrow is a piece of sand. If these are eggs, 24 to 48hrs before they hatch? Parents have been removed from the tank as well. Thanks for the help!

@Theplatymaster As requested, pre-feeding pictures. Also you mentioned almond leaves before. I do have 1 in the tank, but didn't want to over do it since it's only a 10gal tank. With such low kh in the water, would another leaf potentially crash my ph? Also the fish is approx 3 years old. Could she just be too old? Thanks again for your advice.

@Theplatymaster Thanks for the reply! I shouldn't have taken the picture right after feeding as she usually isn't round like that. I planned to do the cooler water change, but I thought that was just to trigger the spawning after the female was already holding eggs.

Having trouble getting my black skirt tetra to produce eggs. I have separated one female from the community tank to make sure she's getting plenty to eat. -Feeding live bbs, frozen blood worms, and frozen brine shrimp. It has been 2 weeks of heavy feeding with no visible results. -Tank parameters: Temp 72 (according to accurate thermometer, heater reading not accurate), TDS 190, ph 6.8, see attached pic of test strip for other info. Tank is a 3 week old setup using sponge filter and plants from a 3 year seasoned tank. I'm almost certain this is a female as I have 5 others and believe I can see clear differences between the sexes. It's an older female (probably 3 years) that came with a group of fish I adopted 4 months ago from a "less attentive" fish keeper. Pics are right after feeding, so she's normally not as round as shown. Hoping someone on here can give some ideas to trigger egg production as I feel I've hit a dead end. Let me know if there's other info I can provide.

Thanks for the info. I'm gonna give those a try. A+ for the Wild Kratts reference!

From what I've read, those worms still need to surface from time to time. Have you not found this to be the case? I have a 29 gal and it has a decent amount of depth that I don't think a worm could make it to the surface.

I am looking for some kind of organisms to add to my tank to help break down mulm accumulation on the bottom. I'm not needing to remove this as my nitrates are not a problem. My goal is to break down the detritus further so it can fertilize my substrate. Substrate is baked clay(oil dry) on top of a plenum, with a fine gravel cap. Planted tank. Inhabitants are Black Phantom Tetras, Harlequin Rasboras, Guppies, Yoyo Loaches, and a Pleco. I've tried ghost shrimp and small snails, but they got annihilated by tetras and loaches(no surprise). I'm thinking something more like a micro fauna or some kind of worms that might be able to sustain a colony despite some predation by the fish. I would be very grateful if anybody could share any experience you may have with this.

I have a well planted 29gal, heated, ph8, that needs a cool bottom dweller. Usually I'm a fan of schooling fish, but want to try something a bit more solitary and unique. I have guppies and harlequin rasboras, an otocinclus, and a hillstream loach. Was thinking of a some kind of synodontis catfish. I would appreciate any suggestions you guys could give me and if you could share some insight from your experiences with them. Thanks!

@Biotope Biologistthank you very much for all the information! Super super helpful. I'm going to do a "deep dive"(forgive the pun) on the live rock and bacteria cause I'm curious to learn more about that stuff. Also the info on some of the creatures is very helpful since I really have no knowledge about this topic.

I have a friend who has been struggling with his saltwater aquarium. I would like to be able to give him advice, but I have no knowledge of how these systems work(my only knowledge is regarding freshwater) . I've begun trying to educate myself with information online. However, everything I've read seems to be reliant on "brute force" to maintain their systems(eg. frequent water changes, additives, fancy equipment). What I'm really hoping to find is a resource similar to "Ecology of the Planted Aquarium" by Diana Walstad. My goal is to understand the natural ecosystems of marine life and how to replicate that in an aquarium. I hope that by doing that my friend can create a low maintenance, healthy system. If anybody could point me in the direction of a great scientific resource about this I would be very appreciative. Thanks!

No matter how reputable your source for information, try to find as many different opinions as you can. There is still so much to learn in this hobby that what works for one might not work for you. And don't be afraid to experiment(within reason).

I use a simple method of hatching bbs. Brine Shrimp Direct I believe sells a black circular tray with a hole in the middle of the lid. You add your salt water to the fill line, add eggs, and wait 24 to 48 hrs. The hole in the lid allows a scoop with mesh on the bottom to scoop out shrimp. That hole is the only light source, so all the hatched shrimp swim right into the scoop after hatching. Used to use a heat lamp, but I have success just doing it at room temp(~72°). Very simple.

Everything I've read about otocinclus says they are aufwuchs feeders, only grazing on algae, vegetables, and biofilm. Today I fed some bloodworms for my coryadoras and this guy started munching right along with them. I didn't get a great picture, but you can barely make out the end of the worm by his mouth. This is at least the second one he's ate. Just thought I'd share this with you guys as I was amazed by this.

@GuppysnailThank you! I would love to track the progress more, but I've been super busy with work so I've kind of just let them do their thing and throw some flakes in every couple of days. I'll definately keep updating this thread with pictures as I get more. I can already tell there's some other exciting color variations in there I'd like to get a closer look at.

@PineSongThank you! I started with 3 adult females, 2 juveniles and 5 fry that I couldn't identify gender yet. I'm not sure how many I have till the end of the season when I move them, but I can see tons of fry so I'm excited to find out!

This is one of the variations from the pond. I'm blown away. There's some more that look more blue/red. I'll try to capture one when this hornet isn't trying to kill me out there! Haha

Set up my first simple outdoor mini pond a couple months ago. I had some fry in my tank that I believe are a mix of a male endler I accidentally got with my plants from the LFS and some asst female guppies. I can't see in the water very good cause of all the vegetation, but during feeding I got this picture. I thought they looked amazing and wanted to share. Can't wait to scoop some out at the end of the season to get a better look at them.

I've heard some people mention having to much bubbles can cause issues. Have you counted the bubbles per second? I seem to recall it being mentioned somewhere that they recommend 3 per second. Need just enough to keep the water circulating. I personally don't hatch my brine shrimp that way so I don't have personal experience with this. Just throwing out an idea. Also, how hard is the water you're using? Some people with soft water add a pinch of baking soda, or use marine salt with minerals to raise hardness. I personally have very hard water and still add a pinch of baking soda to be sure, with no negative effects.

I have ~30 guppy fry in my community tank that I need to transfer to outdoor mini-pond. I'm uncertain how to catch them. The challenges are: Other inhabitants: Harlequin Rasboras, coryadoras, adult guppies, hillstream loach Planted: medium density, lots of surface growth I have some ideas, but I don't have much confidence in any of them. Please let me know if you have ideas or experience doing this. Thanks!

This works for me every time.