RadMax8

I was watching a video of Dean’s Fishroom the other day and he had a little feeder that he used to get frozen cubes to the bottom of the tank. I’d like to utilize that to feed my cories frozen worm or anything really, just to get it to the bottom so they can have some tasty treats. It was a DIY rig, and he and Cory teased they were going to explain how it was made, but I’ve not seen it. Here’s some pictures from the video that I pulled: Any idea what he used to put this together? Thanks, gang!

You’re making me want to track down some GBR again. Yours are fabulous. You may be having some breeding struggles, but at least you’re taking notes and you’re able to learn and try something for the next time. Progress! Much better than failures without causes, if you ask me.

I’ve got a 20L stocked with CPDs as well. They are absolutely stunning fish! Mine are very shy, not quite sure how to get around that. Long ago, I had some successful spawns in the tank, only realizing it when I saw a tiny little silver fish in the tank. Never captured the eggs and grown them out, so this is too cool to see! Hope you don’t mind me following along for the ride!

They go onto my water change bucket. Mine is an Ace Hardware bucket so they look pretty cool “swimming around”. They also double as a handy fill line indicator!

You could give Etsy a shot, I was actually looking at stickers on there today and there are some artists that produce prints. They may be able to get you something up north!

Thanks for the input, everyone. When they were younger they looked more like Sterbai to my eye (and were labeled as such), now that they’re more mature the look is a bit more defined. Thanks for confirming my suspicions!

Hey fish friends, I bought some gorgeous Sterbai cories and they’re doing really well in my tank. Got a small fleet of six of them and they cruise around with my two panda cories and the matriarch, a bronze cory that’s been around for around 5 years. Anyway, I’ve been looking at photos of Sterbai cories and these look a little different. Any chance on an ID? I’m thinking false julii but I’m not 100%.

Take your lid off and look at the surface. You may have a little film on there. If so, you can take a paper towel and soak up the film. Good as new!

I’ve cut mine with a set of heavy-duty kitchen scissors, and it was tough but doable with strongish hands. If you have access to a Dremel tool, or know someone who has one, I would probably recommend that. Just make sure that you mark the areas you want cut so that you can easily see what needs to go. And remember, measure twice and cut once 😁 Good luck!

How much H2O2 did you add? In my experience, you’ve got to be careful with that, as it can oxidize the gills of the fish (think what happens when you put H2O2 on a cut) and cause irritation or damage. Keep an eye on your fish, I would probably do another water change.

I really like your scape! The rocks and the plants together work really well. Other than cories, what else do you plan to put in here?

I have an extreme interest in finding some Pearl gourami for my 40b and was curious how I could make it work with my stocking, and your tank gives me confidence in success! Looks like a great group of fish.

My older cat used to drink exclusively out of a 10 gallon I had on our desk. I had to put a barstool next to the tank so he didn’t make a mess of the desk surface. The only fish my cats are interested in or their predator instinct kicks in is the corydoras. I don’t know if it’s just the way they move, or the fact that they’re on the bottom, but the cats are fascinated by them.

I’m sorry to hear about your fish. I wonder what caused the initial injury? Always disappointing to lose them, a feeling I’ve been going through too much lately. I’ve got a question for you: What types of resources do you use to understand and learn about the needs of a particular plant? What, in your opinion, makes a plant difficult to take care of? Your 75 looks great, I’m a big fan of the color variation in there.

It’s hard to see in the photos, but is the filament straight or does it have zigzags? Are there any nodes on the filament? If so it may be bladderwort, which is a carnivorous plant which you can just pull out. They can be tricky to get rid of, but not impossible. I wouldn’t put my money on a parasite, I don’t think they can survive outside of a host very long. Good luck!

Looks like I’m too late, the rainbow train has left the station! My personal vote would be for the Tiger Barb tank, I’ve always heard about what a rowdy show they are and I think it would be an amazing thing to see in a big tank. But, ok the rainbows are a good pick, too. Those look like they’d be great fish, too.

Ok, so I’m at a bit of a loss. I did three treatments of Expel P, however I still have fish which become so weak that they kind of float off to the corner to die. I honestly don’t think I have more than one fish who has gotten “better” this whole time, and it’s an older female with some type of either internal growth or she’s egg-bound. Regardless… what the heck do I do now? Should I separate the symptomatic fish and the asymptotic? Should I humanely cull the symptomatic fish so they don’t spread this mystery disease? How long could this crap be lingering in my display tank? I’d hate for it to be there and wipe out all my fish once I put them back. I have shrimp in there but no other fish currently. This is the worst case of fish illness I’ve ever had. It’s extremely frustrating. Wish me luck.

@Mmiller2001 So I water changed a few times, stopped dosing, and on Monday I started my EI adventure. It hasn’t even been a week, but I can already see a difference. My Staur repens, which was slowly and painfully dying, had begun growing new, healthy leaves. My last twigs of true Rotala indica (aka amania bonsai) are showing signs of life… some new growth and I can see some roots coming off the final leafless node. Heck, even my dwarf hair grass has some bright green strands. I know I need to make some adjustments, but I’m going to take a slow and steady approach and not make any changes for three weeks. After that, I’ll make adjustments based on what I’ve learned. Below are some adjustments I will make: I know my temp is a little low because my house is at 67 degrees and my tank is open. I don’t think 150W is enough juice to get me to 78 degrees My CO2 doesn’t hit the level I’ve got my controller set to, and I’m not sure why The flow in my tank is straight up garbage. I am going to make a spray bar and relocate my intake At some point, I will update my auto-dosing system, as I have a Jebao and it doesn’t seem to be flexible enough for solution-based EI. Dry salt isn’t very sustainable for me because I have a job that in normal times requires travel. I think I’ve found an affordable option but that will require more research. It’s early days, but things are looking up. Next reading project is checking out your journal!

I have used that same doser with mixed results, which I’m sure are all user error… To answer your questions: Yes you can. Depends on the concentration that you’d dose for your tank vs what the pump can provide. I use distilled water in my mixes, not sure if DI is necessary. Absolutely. I’ve got a bum check valve on mine and while I haven’t gotten tank water in, I have seen the fertilizer drop down the hose and then for my next dose I get nothing. Also, another tip: don’t let the fertilizer line get in the water. You will siphon excess fertilizer into your tank. I used some drip acclimation kit tube for my setup. Probably need to make some sort of holder to make it easier to keep out of the water, but it works alright for now. Also, I highly recommend you check this video out to setup and program your pump. The instructions aren’t helpful if you don’t read Chinese! Good luck!

In my experience swords react well to trimming. Granted, my experience is limited to the standard Amazon Sword and it’s little cousin the compacta. If the tank has no CO2 injection, growth won’t be crazy and you may be able to get away with it.

Just started my second dose of the Expel-P, and I noticed something in the bottom of the tank: Are the little red flecks among the poop the worms I’m looking to eradicate? I just want to check to make sure I’m on the right path!

@Mmiller2001 Thanks for taking the time for such a thorough write up. I will be spending some time rereading your suggestions and branching out and reading some of the other suggested material. If my path to success is through a fundamental change, that’s fine. I’m ready to go a different path, as mine has not yielded fruitful results. Thanks again.

Your plants that aren’t doing well appear to be swords. They are heavy root feeders and will benefit from some root tabs. I know Aquarium Co-op has some good ones. I also used to make my own using Osmocote+ and gel capsules.

I am a fan of “fishless” cycling. You’ll need to get some ammonia for sure, and maybe some bacteria as a starter. I found my ammonia at Ace Hardware. Check the link below for the bacteria starter. My process is to put 4ppm ammonia in the tank (you’ll need to find a calculator online) and wait until I see the ammonia disappear and nitrite come along, wait some more until nitrites disappear and nitrates come, do a large water change, add 4ppm ammonia and watch it disappear overnight. Then I know my tank is cycled and is ready for fish. Without bacteria supplements this usually takes 2-3 weeks. The reason I like this method is because everything is controlled, there’s no variable in the ammonia and no need to constantly test. Also, it builds up the bacteria so it’s very strong. Good luck. I know it’s frustrating but you’ll get it going eventually. https://www.aquariumcoop.com/collections/water-care/products/fritz-zyme-7-live-bacteria-freshwater

I use a homemade reactor with my Fluval 406. It certainly requires some imagination and DIY prowess to do it, but it’s worked very well for me.