KittenFishMom

@AndEEss What is/are BB? I'm feeding baby brine shrimp, but they don't live long in the freshwater. The big box store told the yoyo loaches were dwarf chain loaches. It took me a couple of days to figure out they were yoyo loaches. I didn't think they would be easy to catch in a planted tank, and the store did not want them back. I am planning to do a build on my 55 tank as soon as the guppies and their bio load were gone, so the yoyo loaches would be moved to the 55 in about 2 or 3 months. if you go up 4 posts or so, I comment on the over stocking.

@TeeJay The fish are very happy, healthy, and thriving. I have only had 3 guppies die since May. Far less than 1%. I'm the one that is miserable. I am burned out on constantly testing water and buying and changing water. The bottom line is I have 4 very overstocked tanks and no time or energy to start cleaning and building on my 55 gallon tank. I have given away a lot of guppies, and the only place left that might take more, the LFS, is having very slow business with a new chain pet store opened across the street and LFS may not take any more guppies. I was trying to solve the wrong problem here. I was an accidental breeder and all breeders must cull. I will probably start culling tomorrow, after the bbs hatch. I figure I will put the guppies in a bucket with some plants and the bbs and then dose with clove oil until the guppies stop moving or the clove oil is gone. Not sure how much water the little bottle I have will treat. Once the guppies are gone, I will either build the 55 or get out of the hobby.

just started reading this morning. @TheSwissAquarist I forgot to mention that all tanks have IAL, crushed coral, wonder shells, 1 or more HOB filter, 1 or more larger sponge filters, driftwood, and extra air stones in them. The big problem is the overstocking. After reading the thread on culling. I think that is what I need to do first. I never meant to have the guppies breed out of control for months. When I bought clover oil and asked for advice on culling in March (I think) people said add plants to help with the water quality. The guppy population then exploded, and I didn't get it to slow down until mid-summer when I took out all the plants that reached the surface or floated, including the duck weed and added the bettas to all the tanks. In hindsight I should have culled the guppies when I first got the clove oil, but we didn't know at that point that Mom would be ill for months and not recover. If you breed fish, you must cull fish. I was an accidental breeder but I still need to cull the fish. No one has unlimited tank space.

The LFS has not been doing well since a chain pet store opened across the street. I think I will find out tomorrow if my guppies are heading toward clove oil. Any advice for using clove oil on a large number of fish? It will have to be all the females and most of the males. I would guess well over 100 fish. I only want to keep one 10 gallon tank of males, and 15 I am shipping out.

I in the same boat.

I’m trying to fix up the pH and KH in my fish tanks. My bottled spring water test readings are strange after it has been in the tank for a day. Test results: My GH stays red-purple, which means it is above 300 My KH drops to yellow which is zero My pH drops to yellow with a hint of orange which is below 6.4 Chemicals: I ordered a bottle of Seachem Equilibrium hoping it would fix this problem. The back of the bottle said “To maintain KH, we recommend Alkaline Buffer” I ordered a bottle of Seachem Alkaline Buffer hoping it would fix the problem. The back of that bottle said, “In order to adjust pH gradually, use Alkaline Buffer with Acid Buffer.” I ordered a bottle of Seachem Acid Buffer. I also called Seachem and they recommended ½ teaspoon Alkaline Buffer (dissolved in water) per tank the first day and testing and adding ¼ teaspoon each following day as needed until the Acid Buffer arrived. The Acid Buffer arrived after business hours on a Friday. Now I have 3 bottles in front of me (better than 3 frontal lobotomies, I think) The ratio chart says it is based on RO water. Use a ratio of 1:1 (equal part) of Acid buffer to Alkaline buffer to get a pH of 6. Use a ratio of 1:1.3 to get a pH of 6.5. Use a ratio of 1:2 to get a pH of 7. Use a ratio of 1:2.5 to get a pH of 7.5 Use a ratio of 1:4 to get a pH of 8 Tank Stocking: In 2 10-gallon tanks, I have too many guppies, a male betta, too many snails, and 1 Amazon Sword plant. In third 10-gallon tank, I have too many male guppies, a male betta, 3 large corys, neon tetras, Kuhli loaches, Yoyo loaches, ghost shrimp, too many snails, and lots of plants. In the fourth tank, I have too many male guppies, a male betta, very young corys, Kuhli loaches, ghost shrimp, too many snails, and lots of plants. Questions: I guess the first question is “What pH am I aiming for, given my current stocking of the tanks?”. Given that the guppies are over stocking each tank, I think I should be aiming at the lower end of any pH range to prevent danger from ammonia or nitrite. I’m doing at least one water change almost every day due to nitrite. I am rehoming the guppies as fast as I can. The second question is “How much of each buffer do I need to use to get to the correct pH in a 10-gallon tank?”. The third question is “How many days should it take to reach that goal?”. I don’t want to change the pH too fast for the fish to deal with. (I think this may be tricky with all the water changes.) (I will be slowly transitioning to well water starting in about a month but let’s just start with what we have right now.) THANK YOU TO WHOEVER GETS THIS FAR IN MY POST !!!!!!!!!!!!

I sold my 120 tank a few weeks ago. My max is 55 now. I haven't even started the clean out before doing the build, so It will probably be too big for a 55 gallon tank soon.

This pleco is posted for free in the Syracuse NY Craigslist today. It doesn't say how big it is. I'm not familiar with plecos, so I thought it would be interesting to see what the forum thought. How big is it and what size tank would it need. I'm just curious. Thanks KittenFishMom

Victory is ours! I watched the flagfish eat for a while and decided to let her loose in the tank she came from with the other flagfish. They were so happy to see other ! They keep checking on each other and the one I was worried about is much rounder and was eating algae wafers on the bottom of the tank.

The yoyo loach in the floating breeding box started feeling his oats and kepp swimming straight up and hitting the box cover. I took the cover off and a few minutes later, he was doing it again. I tip the breeder box on it's side and he darted out and under one of my big cory fish. I looks around and found him there, eating. I hope he shows himself tomorrow.

I had the willow in tanks with west exposure and north exposure, right against the glass. They slowly died. The ones outside in the tote on the north side of the cottage grow like crazy. I might try taking some cuttings before the leaves on the willows turn and stick them in a heated tank by the sliding glass door and report back. But then, there isn't a grounded outlet on that wall. (old knotty pine cottage) Maybe I can set something up at the house? I'll look around there tomorrow. Bought some more turnips for the fish tanks today. I bought sweet potatoes too.... I think Cory should sell floating spring bulbs for people to force in their aquariums. A ring of Styrofoam, some netting, maybe a bow? Crotuses don't grow too tall, or those mini daff-a-down-dillies.

The yoyo loach has been swimming every time I looked in today. This evening he looked like he was trying to swim up the corner and out. I might float him in a floating breeder box in the tank with IAl and some substrate and see how he does there. I am waiting for bbs to hatch so I can feed him. I put some blood worms in the container while I clean out the HOB breeder box.

The flagfish is doing better. She is eating some and swimming more. I put her in the container to photo. I am just waiting to see if I can catch the active flagfish in a baited net. Unfortunately my "fish control" super power is not working. (It never works.) I will clean up the breeder box now that the 3 fish are in the container. I would like to see how the flagfish interact in the container. and maybe put them in the half cylinder tank. It could use their help.

The yoyo loach is hanging in there. The ones that I got at the same time have grown so much. I hope this little guy catches up with them over time. It doesn't look like it have changed much, but it is not getting worse. For more details see:

@Fish Folk and everyone. The less active flagfish seems to be looking better. I know I promised Fish Folk some new photos. but I just felt it was best if I didn't stress her any more than I had to right now. The HOB breeder box in on the back of the half cylinder tank. I have to stand on a stool and take the lid off the tank and the breeder box and reach over the tank and hold a built in bookcase and look over the main fish tank to look down on her. I can't get a look at the side on the box because of the wall and the angle the half cylinder is at. (It is a small cottage). She seems to be swimming a bit more and eating the bbs I have been putting in. I am also adding a bit of easy fry food, first bits, a sinking mini pellet, and Xtreme nano. In the morning, I ladle about 80% of the water out of the breeder box to get as much of the old food out as I can, and let the uplift from the tank (which runs non-stop) refill the box and I add bbs. Then later I add a second food and later a third food, and so on. This seems to be about all the pestering she and the little yoyo loach needs right now. If the yoyo loach is on its side out in the open for more than an hour, I use the bbs dropper to get a bit of current to move him. everytime, he moves into hiding. He doesn't look much better, but he doesn't look worse. It is really hard to judge how they are acting when there is so much commotion involved in getting a look at them. I am testing the tanks' water once or twice a day. We are still using bottled spring water. Hopefully the well water will work better in the tanks, when we get there. We have shocked the well and are waiting for the chlorine to work its way out of the hot water system. Given that we have a limited amount of room in the septic holding tank, we don't want to run the hot water down the drain until it is cold a few times. (The lake is 25 feet from our door, and we conserve water in the cottage like mad.) Everyday, we are getting closer to transitioning the tanks back to well water. I have SeaChem Equilibrium and SeaChem Alkaline Buffer on hand if we need it to make the transition easier. I'll replace the last gallon on spring water with well water for a few changes, then the last 2 gallons, and so on.

@Fish Folk they are both female, with the spot at the back end of the top fin. I will try to photo the active female, but she is going to be hard to catch. She looks very healthy and active. I may wait until morning to try to photo the active one. All the lights are out on the fish tanks now. It is hard to tell if she or the yoyo loach are eating. The breeder box in hanging on the back of the half cylinder tank. I have to stand on a stool, and then take the lighted the main tank's cover off, then the breeder box cover off then shine a flashlight into the box to see what is going on. That is a lot of warming to the fish that I am going to be pestering them. By the time I get a good look at the fish, they are running and trying to hide, they are not interested in eating. The breeder box has the small sluggish yoyo loach that I think got trapped under something and I am trying to get to eat. I added a tiny guppie I found in a bowl I had been growing java moss in. It has doubled in size. and I added the flagfish today. I was hoping the guppy might give the yoyo a bit of company. I put the flagfish in there because I caught her close to the surface and wanted to monitor her. I'm hoping the breeder box will keep her from spreading parasites to the tank, if that is what she has. I will set up a small tank for the flagfish tomorrow with more plants and see if anyone recommends that I remove her from the breeder box. It will be easier to observe her in a tank at eye level. At the fish store, they were swimming around with a male flagfish that I did not buy. They were very similar in size and activity. I didn't notice any differences between them at the store. Once they got settled in the female guppy tank, the active one started eating and has grown a lot and filled out. I will try to get more photos in the morning. It should show if she ate in the night. Will also try to get photos on the active female flagfish. I hope the yoyo loach is doing better too. Thanks for your help.

@Fish Folk The fish looks bad in these photos that are much bigger than the fish. She has been in the breeder box with lots of freshly hatched baby brine shrimp. She doesn't looked like she has been eating much lately.

@Fish Folk I brought them home Sep 24th, so I have had them 6 days. Everything was the some for both fish. I brought them home in an insulated minnow bucket with a bubbler, in my water. I had dropped off guppies and didn't think to ask the stop keeper to replace my water with the shops water. I don't know how much my water differed from the shop's water.

@Fish FolkThanks for the quick reply. I'll get some photos. When I first got them home, I put them in the male guppy tanks, and the boys went wild. I quickly (like 10 minutes later) moved them to the female guppy tank. No males in there besides the betta. None of the fish seem to be noticing the flagfish. The active one sometimes spends time with the less active one. I don't see the less active one hunting. I'll get some photos and post them shortly: near the surface, side view top view blurry

@Fish FolkThanks for the quick reply. I'll get some photos. When I first got them home, I put them in the male guppy tanks, and the boys went wild. I quickly (like 10 minutes later) moved them to the female guppy tank. No males in there besides the betta. None of the fish seem to be noticing the flagfish. The active one sometimes spends time with the less active one. I don't see the less active one hunting. I'll get some photos and post them shortly.

I got 2 very small flagfish. One is doing very well and growing. The other is litter in color and was hanging out up in the Amazon Sword plant most of the time. I was able to net it out today and put it in the breeder box with the yoyo loach to feed it bbs without competition. (The yoyo seems to spend most of its time in the same corner under or near its IAL. I'm hoping it comes out to eat in the dark or when no one is lifting the lid. ) I didn't quarantine the flagfish because they had been in the store for awhile. I had been checking them every time I went. Now I am wondering if flagfish are apt to have problems and made this one needs quarantining. I could set up mini tank and try to split the quarantines doses into 1/4 for the smaller tank for this fish. I don't have a good spot for another 10 gallon tank right now. The active flagfish is actively hunting sinking pellets and eating them bits at a time with gosto. The inactive flagfish hangs out in the plant, is paler and is not growing nearly as fast as the active flagfish. It did seem interested in the bbs for awhile. I know using the quarantine trio can put stress on fish. I have all 3, but not room for a 10 gallon tank, so I would have to divide the doses. What do you think would be the best way to treat this little flagfish?

@Colu He has had IAL pieces since I took him out of the tank. He hide under them yesterday, took me a while to find him because he shifted around under them as I lifted them. He was eating some yesterday and today. At least it looked like eating, digging his nose into the substrate I put in the breeder. I put in torn up blood worms and a little Easy Fry and a little First Bites and a mini sinking wafer. I'll have fresh baby brine shrimp in the morning. I don't want to bother him when he is under the IAL, so it is hard to tell how much he is eating for sure. I thought he was dead this afternoon. He had been on his side out, in the open, for awhile. Then I move part of an IAL and he swam to the other side and watched the fish tack for a while, then swam somewhere else under the leaves.

@Colu The found yoyo loach is in the HOB breeder box. He seems stressed. I wondered if he might do better in a floating breeder box that floats around the surface inside the tank so he doesn't feel all alone. I thought about adding a fish to the HOB breeder box, but I don't think I could catch either yoyo loach with all the plants in that tank. I might be able to catch a neon tetra or 2. I think the male guppies might be aggressive, and a female guppy might give birth. I don't want guppy fry finding their way into that tank. The big corys are at least 10 times the found yoyo's size, maybe bigger. Do you think feeling surrounded by fish while floating in a small breeder box might reduce or increase the stress on the found yoyo loach?

@Flumpweesel Mine were not hatching at room temp after 76 hours. my room temp was about 66f = 18.8c. What is your room temp in winter?

I set up my bring shrimp to hatch and the incandescent light bulb blew. I figured I might as well let them brew at room temp (66F first frost warning last night). Yesterday, 3 days after I started the hatchery, the new light bulbs arrived. I checked for hatching while I put the new light bulb in the goose neck lamp. Not even a hint of orange in the still water. I turned on the air and the light and they all hatched in less than 2 hours. The water just seemed to flip from brown to orange in an instant when the water got warm. I am not sure if this is really useful, but if you are trying to save electricity, or trying to keep a room cool in the summer, you might try it.