KittenFishMom

@Streetwise and anyone else doing dirt tanks, please take a look at this. My new 55 gallon, mostly Walstad tank style, was built about a week ago. It has slowly been getting cloudier, I would say the color is whitish, like a like fog. Is this normal and I just wait it out, or is this something that needs treating? (I will add a photo.) Water Parms: Nitrate = 10 ppm Nitrite = 0 ppm Hardness = 25 ppm Buffer (KH) = 100 ppm pH = 7.2 Lots of plants, some still planted, some replanted (due to corys and loaches), others still floating or in pots. I put mesh bags of organic soil on the left, and loose soil on the right side and capped with larger black sand. I added 1 large Wonder shell after the pH got close to 7.0 The tank is stocked with peppered corys (2 adult, 9 small), 9 adult neon tetras, 1 male betta, snails and a few scuds and 6 black kuhli loaches (loaches added over the last 3 days as I could catch them from the other tanks) The fish seem happy and normal. The betta is sitting on the bottom hunting scuds under the java moss. I moved the moss and the betta followed, twice. He also swims near the top a lot when I get close to the tank. I have been feeding lightly: sinking pellets for the corys and Xtreme nano for the neon tetras, and Bug Bites pellets for the betta There is a heater set at 75f, an air stone, a large sponge filter and an HOB (The betta will move to a warning tank as soon as I can.) What do you think? Does it just need to sit and cycle some more? Does it need something added? On my shelf I have: Equilibrium, Easy Green, ACO root tabs, Turbo Start 700 (in fridge), Complete, Ultimate, Stress Coat, Acid buffer, Alkaline Buffer, and probably a few other things I can not bring to mind. I haven't added these things, but I do have them on hand. What should I do at this point?

@Mynameisnobody 6 female flagfish are arriving. @Pepere My well water has a KH of 286.4 and a pH of about 8.4 and no calcium. I can do a well water change, mixed with some spring water. The KH is off the scale on some hardness tests, and the lack of calcium gives a hardness of 0 on other tests. I was confusing for a while until I got all the API extra tests, and cut the well water 1:1 with distilled water to get readings. All my hardness is magnesium. If you measure hardness with calcium my water is completely soft. If you measure hardness as the total of calcium and magnesium, my water is off the hard end of the scale. The seller said the water was very hard well water with a high pH, but did not give me numbers.

@NOLANANO I asked the seller for their water parms and and bringing the quarantine parms to match the sellers. Then small water changes will give the fish time to adjust to my new RO water with Equilibrium.

I'm getting fish through the mail for the first time. They should arrive on Thursday. I have set up email and phone text alerts so I know when they get here. I have never gotten fish through the mail and would love advice, tips, and tricks to help the fish arrive and settle in here. I am dropping off 27 male guppies Wednesday which will open up a tank as a quarantine tank. It has been cycled and running smoothly for months. I know the seller fasted the fish and they will arrive hungry, and will not have seen light since Monday. I am going to start a batch of brine shrimp eggs tonight. Any advice on what to feed them, how much and how often as they settle in? There will be 6 4-month old, female flagfish. Should I add anything to the tank before I open the box? I have "Complete", "Stress Coat" and "Ultimate" on my shelf. Should I float the fish in their bag before opening it? The tank has a sponge filter, an HOB and an extra air stone. It also has some algae and snails in there.Some hardscape, not too many plants because I moved them to the 55 gallon tank. I could move some back into the tank because they are not all planted yet. All thought are welcome. Thanks in advance.

It all depends on the well. I normally like well water, but this is a messed up well. It has ammonia and everything but calcium.

Hope it keeps working.

it sounds like you need 1 or 2 tips that go on ends of the axle of the impeller. Sometimes buy a new impeller to get the tips is cheaper than buying 2 tips. Tips are different colors for different companies. When a red tip falls in the aquarium, it is easier to find than when a back tip falls in. The tips keep the impeller in line. When I hear that grinding noise, I think the impeller is not seated properly. Sometimes the tips stay on the axle, other times they stay in the socket, other time the split and disappear.

@Hally M. Yes, our well water is very alkaline with high KH and pH and no calcium, so we could not add calcium. The RO system arrives on Tuesday, and we will be remineralizing the water. The snails will look much better after that.

I found these snails in my aquarium. and wouldered if they are a normal variation of the brown ramshorn snails, of if they something different that arrived on a plant of some such. on the glass: 2 on an ornament

The first adult cory was easy to catch. It was resting in the deli tub half full of sand. I just slowly lifted the tub and lowered it into the other tank. After the first adult disappeared, the second started hiding, so I figured a few small ones would keep the first adult company until the second one come out of hiding. I rushed to net 3 corys in shallow muddy water once, 2 died, I think from cory toxin. I am very very careful moving corys now.

@nabokovfan87 I got 2 adult corys and about 7 little coyrs in the 55 tank with a heater and a sponge filter. The adult were so happy to find each other and they are watching the little ones with a very close eye. They seem so glad to be in a good size school again.

I'll move things around in the tank and try syphoning/vacuuming that area and see what happens. I have been cleaning the filter media in the HOB 2 or 3 days, so the intake filter doesn't slow down. I put a lot of plants in planning to use them in my build. I'm sure that slowed the water too. Thanks so much for you fast help !!!

@nabokovfan87 Roger Roger. The substrate is in. Please see my post tonight about filling the tank.

@SandSea So I shouldn't eat my pets? @nabokovfan87 I feed xtreme nano, Betta bug bites, sinking pellets, algae wafers, frozen blood worms, frozen brine shrimp, freshly hatched baby brine shrimp, a lot of snails from other tanks. Just not all at once, each day it is a little different. I put an algae wafer in a slotted ladle in the other tanks to attract snails, and remove the ladle while there is still wafer left, It is an easy way to thin out a tanks snails. Those snails go in the yoyo loach tank. Most don't seem to get eaten, but I am seeing more empty shells. @Patrick_G most of the plant in that tank are from the lake. I shake the water out, but the lake has HABs so it make sense that they made it into the tank.

I have substrate and some water in my new build in my 55 gallon tank. I have filled it about 1/4 full and am putting in same plants before the water gets very deep. (I have been taking photos and will start a journal shortly.) The RO system won't arrive until Tuesday, so I am using a mix of well water and spring water. One gallon at a time. I did put down a plastic bag, so the substrate wasn't disturbed. I'm wondering how much I should plant before it is full? Should I fill it enough to cover the plants and then wait for the RO water? Should I add turbo start 700 before the filters are in place? I have fishless fuel, but hope to move some fish in soon. The 2 adult corys are rather cramped in their tall 10 gallon hex. Should I add prime? Should I be circulating the water with sponge filters and air stone as I fill it? I'm just not sure how to proceed from here. The end with the tall vase. I filled it with water after I took the cover off.

@SandSea Is it harmful? Does it need to be removed or treated? @Patrick_G Will it resolve on its own or will it always look bad?

I put white pool sand in my half cylinder tank 6 to 8 weeks ago. The first time I tried to vacuum, things got very messed up and most of the plants came out. Originally there was a slop, low in front, high in back. Since them, I have been careful to just hover the syphon over the top of the sand. I have lake seaweed that drops leave like hornwort, 2 yoyo loaches, 3 kuhli loaches, a male betta and a ton of snail and empty snail shells. Now the sand has been leveled out by the loaches. The area at the front of the tank is turning red. It is looking rather dirty and gross to each side. You can see the line that was the original surface. I feed the fish in this middle area. What is causing this, and how can I prevent the substrate up against the glass from getting this dirty look? red in middle original right edge of color change left edge of red left edge of color change from a distance

@nabokovfan87Do you think I could let the corys in during the 2 week test with random hardscape and filters and some piles of gravel here and there? Maybe it is best to wait until the substrate and plants are in place.

I don't have ohko stone. just organic potting soil and sand as a cap. Then lots of plants and drift wood. A friend is coming to help clean the tank and take photos in 8 hours. I need to head to bed. Keep your fins crossed for me and my fish.

I will probably do a full test tomorrow after I do a final cleaning. I want to be sure there is no water between the glass bottom and the glass ponds. I want to rush now, but I think slow and steady is the way to go.

@Schuyler The "ponds" are 2 clear glass bowls. one about 3 inches tall, the other about 6 inches tall, and a clear glass vase about 12 inches tall. I used aquarium sealant to seal the glass bowls to the glass bottom, so algae and such does not get between the glass. I will need to vacuum or wipe out blast out what falls into the bowls during the lighted hours so the bottom are clear when I turn on the lights under them after the tank is dark. I won't have the underneath lights on very long, 15-30 minutes. then I will turn them off and go to bed.

Bluegills and sunfish nest in front of our cottage. They are very aggressive to anything that gets too close to a nest they are protecting. So are the bullheads a little farther out. The bullhead will chase some small fish out of bullhead territory into sunfish territory and the poor fish then gets chased from nest to nest. The protector spread their gills so the gill spots look like eyes, set wide apart. I had a 120 gallon tank in my garage. I stocked it with fish I caught. I had an aggressive bluegill chase another all over the tank end to end until I put him back in the lake. 120 gallon was way too small for 2 males. I never tried breeding them. but watching them court and breed in the lake gives me the feeling you should add the female at the farthest spot from the nest after the male builds it and stay there with your net in hand to see if he accepts her. if not try the next day, or with a different female. In the wild the males seem to be picky. I would bet you can find videos of bluegills mating on youtube. One of the 2 often swims sideways as they circle the nest. The male here won't leave their nest to eat. They really enjoy having worms tossed to them. Wiggling worms don't fly straight, so it can land between nests and the fish will chase each other if they get too close. I try to make sure all the males are pretty well feed so they can keep themselves healthy.

What plants are safe in a tank with yoyo loaches? I bought new plants for my 55 tank. The tank my yoyo loaches are in are full of plants from the lake. The yoyo loaches dig the snails out of these plants, but don't seem to bother the plants. I was just reading that they like to eat a lot of differents plants. What have you had happen with yoyo loaches in a planted tank? I should add that someone in the tank, either yoyo or kuhli loaches are uprooting the plants, but they are not eating them. I do feed sinking wafers and algae wafers, so that might keep them from wanting to eat more plant material.

@nabokovfan87 I only have adults peppered corys left from the 6 I started with last winter. I bought all the shop had this fall when they had tiny mixed regular and hifin corys. I think it is about 12. They won't stop moving at all, so are hard to count. The little corys are in with the male guppies in a regular 10 gallon. the adults are in the tall hex. It is nearly impossible to catch fish in the tall hex, so I didn't move the small ones in there. With luck, all but 10 of the male guppies will leave tomorrow. I will have to wait until those 10 leave when their tank cycles to put the adult corys with them. Once the plants are rooted, or I can't wait anymore, they will all go in the 55 gallon. All the loaches will go in the 55 and the neons. I have 2 betta, but I think they scare the Kuhli loaches so I may keep a tank for each of them. I think the yoyo loaches will uproot plants, no matter how long I wait to add them. They are big fish now 2.5 to 3 inches now. There are only 2 of them. They were so small when I got them (this fall), I thought they were dwarf chain loaches. As they grew, I could read "yoyo" on their side. They were sold as dwarf chain loaches. Oh well. They are starting to eat a lot of snails. The tank is littered with empty snail shells. I have some adult neons about 8. I want to get some more when they move to the big tank. I also have 6 flagfish that will be shipped to me on Monday. After dealing with hundreds of guppies this summer. I am so ready to be lightly stocked.

@Emily M I'm so sorry this happened.I hope you can find the support you need here from the community to help you get through this. Let us know how we can help you.