[55g Tank Corners - Not Coplanar]

On 8/13/2023 at 10:50 AM, Dial_M_for_Mike said:

Background;

I had some juvenile discus in a 40b tank that started to leak from the floor sagging in one spot over a few weeks. I drained the tank and returned it, but the big box store didn’t have another 40b to exchange. 

They are now in a backup 29 I had, but it’s not ideal for space/parameters. 

Problem;

I was planning on moving them to an empty glass/plastic rimmed 55, the largest of my backups, but I discovered the metal stand I had for it had become warped and is now unusable. I also checked the tank itself, and low and behold one of the corners is not coplanar with the other 3. When on a perfectly flat surface, one corner is about 1mm raised. I filled the tank briefly to see if the weight of the water would force it to contact the flat surface, but it does not.

I have been scouring forum posts going back over 10 years and can’t seem to find a consensus on how to address the issue. Some suggest foam, others swear that will make the problem worse. Some say shim the tank, others say absolutely do not shim the tank. 

Does anyone have experience with this that may be able to weigh in? This is my last ditch effort before I go resort to spending too much money on a new tank/stand combo from a big box store. 

Maybe you can scrape all the silicone off for that panel and push the panel down and re-silicone it. I’m not sure if it will work but it’s just an idea 

[holes in dwarf lily leaves]

On 8/8/2023 at 7:25 PM, BlackCrappieLover said:

Hello everyone!

My dwarf aquarium lily has recently developed holes in its leaves, primarily the lily pads it's sent up, but also some on the submerged leaves too.

My tank is 20 gallons and my parameters are as follows: 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm nitrites, 5-10ppm nitrates, 75ppm gh, 80ppm kh, and ph is ~7. I dose 10ml leaf zone (5ml tuesdays+thursdays). 1ml flourish (sundays after water change), and there are ~3 broken up api root tabs underneath the lily itself (put there 2 weeks ago). I also use a hygger light that I leave on for 8hrs a day.

I'm trying to figure out if I have a nutrient/lighting issue, because I'm noticing stunted growth from my dwarf sag and swords as well. There are ramshorns in this tank so I'm not sure if they're not just munching on the leaves 😅

holes in the lily pads:

picture from july 14 (left) vs august 8 (right):

as well as a full view of the tank:

My first guess would be a potassium deficiency possibly. Especially if it’s not on new leaves and happening on old ones 

[Meet Larry]

On 8/8/2023 at 4:24 AM, Lennie said:

Very cool fish. Is yours aggressive? I have a gold trio and I haven’t notice any difference in their behavior compared to sparklings or honey gourami. Or I have a peaceful trio mayhaps?

No he’s not aggressive at all thankfully 

[Aphids]

On 8/7/2023 at 5:49 PM, dasaltemelosguy said:

Hi @Zac, we never specifically tested RR on aphids, but we did test it on several insects and insect larvae. The first thing we noticed was almost instant paralysis. Insects become immediately immobilized and perish in seconds afterwards, including ants. Eggs took longer but became inviable after 30 minutes.

These are snail eggs. The egg on the right was treated with RR for 30 minutes:

Leeches proved the most resilient and as above, they were instantly paralyzed but confirmed expiration took overnight. But leeches were the exception as all other insects we tested RR on expired almost immediately.

My guess is that as @Guppysnail said, the adults will asphyxiate in minutes or less and their eggs will either be killed or become inviable in a about 30 minutes. It seems that the extreme high pressure in seltzer helps it penetrate the eggs and some unusually resilient snails that normally can escape pesticides and poisons.

I’m no expert and someone else here may know. These critters below all expired in 2-3 seconds upon immersion in seltzer. I believe one is an aphid being consumed by a hydra but again, I’m no expert: 

 

Thank you so much. This is a very interesting study. I’ll have to give this a shot 

[Need help identifying worm]

On 8/7/2023 at 4:03 PM, Kevsoo said:

I am currently deworming some wild-caught fish with Paracleanse and saw this worm moving on the bottom of the tank on day 3 of treatment. Can someone please help identify it? The fish being dewormed are 2 Apistogramma Borelli Opals and 10 Cardinal Tetras, if that helps. 

I’m not sure on the type of work that is, but I think Expel-P would be better for deworming. I think paracleanse is used for thinks like flukes and lice

 

[Aphids]

On 8/7/2023 at 4:22 PM, Guppysnail said:

Hi Zac. Drowning the adults will work but I’m not certain if the eggs can survive. Reverse Respiration the eggs will not survive nor will the adults. Scoop out all the floating plants( I know duckweed is impossible to get all but try). 
Place the floaters in a mesh media bag and weight them down in seltzer for at least 4 hours.  Then return them to your tank  no need to rinse it leaves no residue  

I did test duckweed and dwarf water lettuce but not frogbit so that’s why I say 4 hours.  Not the full 12  at 4 hours water lettuce and duckweed did fine however the roots fell off the water lettuce  it recovered but those plants are not designed to be submerged.  We also did not specifically test aphid eggs but those also were not designed to be submerged so RR should do the trick  

 

Thank you so much. Will the 4 hours be enough to kill the aphids since it’s much less than 12 hrs?

[Aphids]

Welp…here I am with another issue in my tank😅

I noticed my duckweed was looking really bad a few days ago and it wasn’t making sense to me. It seems out of nowhere it started dying m. I do have some frog it too which is doing okay. Today I’m looking in my tank and notice these little buggers hanging out on my duckweed.

 

I know aphids aren’t aquatic..so could I just remove the plants and some tank water and push the plants under water for an hour or so with plastic or something? I know floating plants don’t like to get wet but since it’s only for a little bit I figured it would be okay. They seem to move too fast for my fish to eat them. I think they came from the frogbit I ordered a couple weeks ago. Any suggestions?

[Meet Larry]

This is Larry. His favorite hobby is eating…

 

That is all

[Marineland Silicone]

Hey All,

So I jerry rigged a little floating plant ring for my tank with marineland silicone. I essentially took airline tubing and siliconed it onto suction cups I can stick to the tank. Since it was only a small amount of silicone holding everything together, I put it at the surface of the tank about 26ish hrs after I applied the silicone

Since it was such a small amount of silicone and it’s only at the top of my tank, would it be safe after a bit over 24hrs? I didn’t smell any vinegar or anything which means it’s cured but I just want to be sure. This ring is just temporary until the one I ordered comes in the mail. So back to my original question…could small amount of silicone kill my fish if I didn’t wait 48hrs? 

[Guppy Grass Pros and Cons]

On 8/6/2023 at 10:17 AM, Guppysnail said:

I find it helps my slow growers. Having a bit of shade without completely blocking light sort of protects my slow growers from algae and gives them a chance to really shine. 
Some slow growers of mine that benefited are Java ferns, anubias and newly planted crypts. 

Do you plant it or float it? I’d like to plant mine if I get it. What’s a good way to trim it to keep it looking nice? Last time I had a stem plant it grew 2 new shoots every time I cut a stem and I’d like to limit that if possible. I know I can’t really control that thought. Does guppy grass do this when trimmed?

[Guppy Grass Pros and Cons]

On 8/6/2023 at 9:33 AM, Guppysnail said:

Guppy gras is fabulous. It a go to for me. It grows in almost any tank parameters and temps. I can use a plant weight for a bush or let it float to make a nice top cover. It’s needs no fertilizer or co2 and likes both high and low light. It grows fast  

My fish love it more than hornwort to swim through I’m guessing because it’s not so pokey. It makes a great fry hiding cover. I just have found no downside to guppy grass. Plus I think it looks beautiful 

 

 

Is there a good chance it would starve out my slow growing plants since it grows so fast?

[Guppy Grass Pros and Cons]

I found this brief pros and cons list about guppy grass on Reddit and found it pretty funny. I was debating on getting guppy grass for my tank but after reading into how fast it grows and crazy it grows it doesn’t seem like a low maintenance plant😅

I’d appreciate any stories about your experience with guppy grass and how it worked out for you

[Odd Ammonia/Nitrite Readings…]

On 8/4/2023 at 9:31 PM, Galabar said:

You can try running the test with tap water (or distilled water) and comparing it to the test with tank water (if you have two test tubes).  Comparing your tank water against a known source that has no ammonia makes things more obvious.  I find that, for the API Ammonia test, it really helps.

I did try that once a couple weeks ago with my sink water and the reading stayed the same. I’ll have to try again to see if that’s still the case

[Odd Ammonia/Nitrite Readings…]

Hey all,

I’ve posted some pictures of my ammonia and nitrite readings.

The ammonia looks yellow, but not quite a bright yellow. Almost like it’s a very very dull green or mustardish yellow

The nitrite looks blue, but not quite a bright blue

Just last the other week I was getting bright yellow and bright blue results. The kits were brand new. I’ve noticed this “problem happening with my old test kit. I rarely ever got the bright colors unless the kit was basically brand new. I’m wondering if it’s due to opening the bottles and them being exposed to moisture or something. The thing is…I don’t know if there’s ACTUALLY ammonia and nitrite in my tank or if it’s a fault with the kit. I added 2 doses of fritzyme last week and it didn’t seem to help.

I did have antibiotics in my tank a couple weeks ago and I’m sure there’s a little bit of residual medicine left over. I’ve done 2 20% water changes and put some carbon in there for about a day since then. Maybe there’s residual meds killing bacteria? I never had any spikes when I was adding the meds. I find it hard to believe that that would be the case. Especially since I’ve added 2 doses of fritzyme.

I have a 30 gallon tank with maybe 20-30guppies and a dwarf gourami and the tank has been up for well over a year. It also has a fair amount of plants. I feed them once a day. Medium sized feedings. Very rarely does good get to the bottom and if it does it’s only a couple pellets or something like that which I have snails that will eat it.

Any feedback on this situation or other’s experience with the API kits would be appreciated

[Large white lump on betta’s head]

On 7/31/2023 at 11:03 PM, Phoenix1391 said:

So maracyn? And if he’s the only inhabitant couldn’t I just treat that tank? 

You could treat the tank, but you have to be careful with the salt since you have plants if you decide to use it. Maracyn should be fine. Is he acting normal otherwise?

[Large white lump on betta’s head]

On 7/31/2023 at 7:35 PM, Phoenix1391 said:

The bump has been quickly growing this week. I was thinking it was a tumor as he may not have the best breeding as he has diamond eye. But upon feeding him today I noticed it turned white maybe looking like it developed into a lesion? Before it was just a bump under scales. Is it possibly a cyst or abscess that popped? And how should i treat?

the tank is a 14 gallon heavily planted, well established for months, filtered with an aqua clear 50. Ph stays between 6.5 - 7.0. Nitrates are usually pretty low as I do weekly 70 % water changes with remineralized RO. 

This is just me but I feel like 70% per week is very stressful for the fish. If you manage your ferts well, you should really only need like 20% weekly. My guess is it’s something bacterial. You could quarantine him with water and treat the quarantine tank with antibiotics if you want.

[Is Butter toxic to fish in small amounts?]

Hey all,

So I fed my fish a deshelled crushed up pea that was left over from last nights dinner. I forgot that there was a little butter put in the peas. 
 

Obviously you shouldn’t feed your fish things with butter. But I’m wondering if it will have any ill effects if it was a minuscule amount? I don’t believe it would be a problem, nor could find anywhere that said it was toxic in small amounts but still…I figured I’d ask. Obviously there’s nothing I can do about it now but just reassurance is good😅

[USB Nano Air Pump with long 20 gal?]

On 7/31/2023 at 4:20 AM, Thundercracker said:

I have a long 20 gallon tank with 3 dwarf frogs; will the USB Nano Air Pump be able to sufficiently filter it on its own? I purchased the pump originally for my 10 gal with the nano sponge, but due to many factors, did not use it for that tank. If it is able to filter the tank sufficiently, should I get a different sized sponge than the nano? If so, what sizes of sponge is the nano compatible with?

It should be fine but the nano pumps didn’t work for me long term. They kept crapping out after a couple weeks. I think they’re more for temporary usage or traveling. I use the normal coop pump instead and it’s much better 

[Sad Looking Anubias…Maybe?]

On 7/30/2023 at 9:50 PM, Fish Folk said:

I'd ditch the duckweed entirely, or clean it all out weekly. I use this kind of a tool (search "aquascaping net"

With desirable floaters, you might consider building a floating ring out of airline, and putting your red-root floaters all _inside_ the ring. I'm guessing your Anubias is struggling with getting enough light with the surface covered over. I might be wrong. Just a theory.

 

Could I just superglue the ends of the airline tubing together to make a ring?

[Sad Looking Anubias…Maybe?]

On 7/30/2023 at 9:40 PM, Fish Folk said:

Doesn't look too bad to me. You might be dealing with an excess of available nutrients leading to a slight diatom algae bloom. Maybe trim the feedings back to once a week. Remember that Anubias is a  S.  L.  O.  W.  growing plant compared to stem plants. "Feeding" it heavily with ferts will not make it grow much faster.

I have frogbit and duckweed as well. Should I still try to lower my feet schedule?

[Sad Looking Anubias…Maybe?]

Hey all,

Here’s a photo of my anubias. The old leaves look a little wilted and dark. Not sure if there is some sort of deficiency going on here. I’m not running CO2 currently. My light is on 7 hours a day at 90% brightness. I dose easy green twice a week. My nitrates are between 10-30ppm. It’s difficult for me to read the API oranges on the chart. It’s growing new leaves and isn’t rotting at all or turning brown/yellow. I believe the lighting is making it look yellowish along with the tannins. The stems and leave still seem sturdy. I’ve had this anubias for probably a year or so. It’s not new…but I’d like to make it look more bright and vibrant if I can

Any suggestions as to what’s going on?

[Pesty little trumpet snails]

On 7/29/2023 at 3:16 PM, Ashlyn said:

How do you get rid of your pesty trumpet snails? In the tank there are yo-yo loaches, chain loaches but they ignore these snails. 
 

whenever the tank is cleaned we syphon as much as we can out of the gravel but they are thriving. 

You could make a DIY snail trap. Put some cucumber or something in a container with holes big enough for the snails to go into. Or you can reduce feeding in the tank to reduce the population or snails. Because snails only populate to how much food is available 

[Question about dropsy]

On 7/29/2023 at 6:46 PM, Henry the fish keeper said:

Two of my platies recently died from dropsy. I wanted to ask you guys, what can you do to cure dropsy? And what can you do to prevent it in the future?

The first thing to do is eliminate possible stress factors from the tank. Make sure water parameters are stable and safe, feed them a balanced diet, and make sure they’re happy and disease free. 
 

Dropsy is hard to cure. It’s essentially guild buildup in your fish because its organs are failing. Your best bet is to quarantine the fish. You can add salt to the tank to persuade that extra fluid to leave the fish. You can also feed deshelled peas that act as a laxative or just feed very lightly. You can also use antibiotics if you suspect a bacterial infection

[Minimizing water changes]

On 7/30/2023 at 12:18 AM, Louise02 said:

Has anyone figured out the ratio of pounds of substrate to gallons of water needed to have a chance at stabilizing the bacteria that minimize the need for water changes?

I’m not sure substrate has much to do with it rather than how established your tank is. If you’re able to create a thriving ecosystem in your tank you can minimize water changes. But you have to be careful of old tank syndrome. Some water has important components in it that will be lost and not replaced unless you do a water change. Regular/semi regular water changes is always a good idea even if they’re small 

[Small nitrite spike]

On 7/29/2023 at 3:01 PM, Shadow said:

Don't freak out, how old is the tank overall? These things happen even to well established tanks and honestly, .25% is barely readable and only should require you monitoring it and your water parameters. I had a small spike about 2 weeks ago in my all Kitty tank because they were being very wasteful and I was slightly delayed in my weekly water change. Did a partial one day and two days my usual 20%, after that all was well. Also, why are you dosing your tank with antibiotics? Have you had an issue?

The tank is about a year old and I was dosing antibiotics because I had brought a new fish in without quarantining (dumb mistake) and I had ich along with a secondary bacterial infection from the ich. I’m not super worried it’s just odd. All the fish are acting fine though so I’ll just keep an eye on it and perform my weekly maintenance as usual