meadeam

It occurred to me shortly after posting it that I was probably mistaken about the eggs. I haven't kept shrimp for very long.

A community tank with some fish that can prey on the eggs and shrimplets will keep them under control, even if the residents cannot eat a full size shrimp. Feed the tank a little less on occasion.

Definitely this.

So I have decided the mollies have got to move out. I have to basically overfeed the tank in order for the cories to get anything to eat because the mollies are such gluttons. I don't want the little piggies to start getting sick from overfeeding, and I need to control the population. I have some supplies on order and will be setting up a divided 29 gallon with M and F sides. The tiny fry will go in a spare 10 until they are grown. I'll setup a molly tank at some point, and in the meantime I may have to rehome some of them. I have 20-25 right now counting the fry. I have no idea how I am going to catch them without tearing the tank apart. I guess I will have to trap them, which could take awhile.

Whatever I use needs to be thick enough to span the width of the tank across the bow front without sagging. Or, I need to fashion a rim clip that will fit onto the curved glass. Perhaps if I heat one up, or cut it down to half size I can get one to snap onto the curved edge. Here is one clipped on to a straight side. It just occurred to me that if I want to have a hinged lid, I have no choice but to fix rim clips to the curved glass unless I put the opening at the back of the tank. I'll figure something out.

If you've made your own plexiglass lid, can you share the details of the plexi you used successfully? I looked at plexi-glass at a home improvement store last week, and for the size and rigidity I need it would cost a fortune. I have appropriate rim clips for the sides and back of my rimless bowfront, but they will not fit on the curved glass at the front. The material needs to be stiff enough to support itself along the curve. I know I could cut the lid larger and rest it on top of the rim, but I'm really trying to seat it down on the rim clips and keep a cleaner look. I also thought about trying to deform a rim clip to seat on the curve.

If your nitrite was 1/4 of what is, I would suggest that you needn't do big water changes. You want to leave some nitrite in the tank (provided you are dosing with Prime accordingly) so your beneficial bacteria colony grows to meet the demand. But your nitrites are really high. I'd be doing big water changes until it is under 1ppm. This is what I have done with success. I am willing to be corrected though.

I can't remember what this plant is, but I decided to grow it floating. I like how the current pushed it around the driftwood branches. It has a very jungle vibe, which is what I want. I really like how it is sending roots downward in to the water. The photo doesn't really show the roots that well, but it definitely has a rainforest feel. I just noticed a floating stem plant in this photo. Thanks, snails. I'm turning on the CO2 today. I don't need it as the plants are all doing great. I just can't resist pushing values and seeing what happens. I've got the CO2 and airstone on programmable wifi outlets with an alternating schedule. It would be nice if I could turbo-charge the plants enough to consume more nitrates. After a couple weeks of testing, it seems I'm on a 5-day, 50% water change schedule in this tank now. I'm curious to see if the aragonite I added to the filter will indeed buffer pH as the CO2 levels go up. Without CO2 it stabilized at 7.5. There are a dozen molly fry in addition to the 10 adults, so some of them will definitely be moving out. I'm also contemplating removing shrimp again, then adding a centerpiece fish that will keep the mollies in check. I may also reduce the snails from 8 to 1 or 2.

Thanks for all the ideas! I recently learned the pothos will grow in and under water, so I could probably just poke a few cuttings in and let them go. I'll see what I come up with.

I always think Gourami's are underrated fish. I have kept them, but don't currently have any. I'm kind of stuck on the idea of housing fish together who are from the same continent even though it isn't necessary. All of my current fish are South American. I remain blissfully unaware of my plant's origins, so I can mix those up. I like the garnet sand. I ordered some agate from the same seller. I don't know what to do with it yet, but I like it.

Great thread. I don't lose power often, and luckily the last time it was out long enough to matter was during a time of year where heaters weren't necessary, and I had enough USB power to keep some sponge filters running for quite awhile. I need to come up with a contingency for cold weather outage.

I have similar water to OP, a little less KH and pH. I've been able to grow everything but carpeting plants due to my lack of high-light. My plants tend to be leggy, because they're growing in a tall-ish tank, but they do grow. When I inject CO2, bacopa and penny wort will grow right out of the top of the tank, and lilies completely take over what's left of the surface. Plants have a way of making you think they aren't doing much, and then one day you realize you have an untamed jungle.

I really wish the entire hobby would stop keeping bettas in cups. I see even experienced fish keepers doing it when they breed for profit. I go back and forth between wanting to keep a few betta in a divided tank, or avoiding them altogether because I don't want to perpetuate the production and mistreatment of this fish.

In addition to all of the above, I'd also add an airstone to the 10g. You probably want to use a sponge filter with your betta anyway.

I actually don't have any decent fish photos I haven't already posted, but here's a snail macro

Interesting. I'll see if I can notice. The problem is all of the snails in this tank are the same color, and they are usually hidden in the plants. They go up on the glass at night though. I'll have to sneak up on them.

Do I need more Mystery Snails? I caught this one looking for a place to lay eggs. Sure enough the next day there was a clutch. No lid on this tank yet, so I don't know if they'll hatch. I've been keeping them damp with a syringe a couple times a day while I try to decide how many snails I want. I am curious to see if there will be any other colors in this batch. I've had brown, white, and golden. All of the offspring have been golden, and both parents of this clutch would have to be as well.

Just ordered some nano block and wondershell!

Very Nice. I am contemplating a 6' tank myself. It would go in an addition I am having built right now. I'll enjoy watching yours take shape in the meantime.

Thanks, will do!

This poor snail's shell is looking pretty bad. I've read that the cannot repair damage to shells. I can't imagine how this snails shell could have been damaged, so it must be from a deficiency. None of my snails have had this before that I know of. They eat mostly what is in the tank, and broccoli + carrots because that is what I have in the freezer. I guess I'll have to give them more sources of calcium. Invertebrates in general have been reproducing and growing well in my tanks, hopefully this on is an outlier. Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate - 0, 0, 40ppm pH - 7.4 GH - 200ppm KH - 50ppm Temp - 77F

I have bred the ones where you just add water:mollies, red cherry shrimp, and mystery snails. I'm not tired of any of them, but I need to control reproduction to keep from overstocking. I want to breed most anything. I have loosely forming plan to start a 6ft tank and breed all of the inhabitants. It would be based around Angels, unless I change my mind.

I went to a big box yesterday and showed incredible restraint. They had some fish I wanted, but my quarantine tank isn't running and I don't have a spare cycled sponge filter to throw one together with. I did receive a big (for me) ACO order yesterday though, so I had some new things to play with. I'm going to need a lot more fish to put this brine shrimp hatchery to good use.

How would you go about planting this? The opening is 3cm. I think it would be cool to house a shrimp colony, but maintenance would be a challenge. Pint glass for size.

Yeah, definitely don't want to heat the room unless I finish and put up insulated exterior walls. I think I will get an inexpensive energy monitor and see what it costs to maintain a single insulated 10g. Then I'll decide how many times I want to multiply that before I'm not comfortable with the energy consumption. Actually might be an interesting project if I start it now, I can plot the rise in cost as the outside temperature drops. I do love the cooler weather.