Allan B.

I just wanted to take a minute to thank the folks at Aquarium Co-op as well as the community here in the Forum for all the support and information you've given me since I started in the hobby last spring. Before setting up my first aquarium, I did what I thought was a lot of research on other sites about they hobby. It was pretty rough goings there. There's a lot of contradictory information out there, and there's a lot of websites that seem more interested in maximizing ad space and affiliate links (no hate—gotta get that money). The quality of the information on Reddit and YouTube can be hit or miss, and if you know next to nothing about the hobby (as I did) it can be really hard to sort out what's true and what's clickbait (like, who takes the time to post videos about shy baby brine shrimp are BAD). As for TikTok, maybe there's some good stuff there, but most of the videos I saw on that platform bordered on animal abuse. Needless to say, my poor fish and wallet suffered from this keeper's lack of knowledge until someone recommended Cory's videos and the store's products. Luckily my first fish were zebra danios, so they survived everything I inadvertently threw at them. As for the C.A.R.E. community, I can't say enough. Everyone here is really supportive and collaborative, and I really appreciate the time and effort the moderators and more seasoned aquarists put into answering questions and sharing their experiences. So thanks everyone!

The Airline tubing needs more love—it's grrrrrreat! The only downside to the towel is that I can't figure out how to convince my wife to let me clean it in the washing machine. She must think fish water is yucky or something...

My favorite Aquarium Co-Op branded products are the sponge filters, air line tubing, and Easy Green (note to rookies like me, Easy Green increases your nitrate readings, so don’t freak out like I did). My fave non-Aquarium Co-Op products the Ziss line-up or BBS hatchery, breeding box, airstone, and egg tumbler. They cost more than other brands, but they are a really really good long-term investment.

Today I hatched out some BBS for the crew... ...and harvested about 15 more celestial pearl danio eggs.

Thanks! There's really nothing special about them besides the fact that I use CO2 in my 20 gallon to grow plants faster so I don't have to but new ones from the store. Weekly water changes and Easy Green also keeps everything looking fresh and clear. Here's a picture of the 20 gallon before added the egeria densa, water sprite, and scarlet temple back in November: Egeria densa is a pain to keep under control, but it's a great background plant:

When your order of BBS eggs finally arrives

Taking a break from work to check on all the fish before feeding time this afternoon. I've got a couple small projects I'm working on today... Celestial Pearl Danio Breeding Yesterday, I started collecting eggs for a second attempt at breeding my CPDs. My first batch of 4 fry is about 2 months old now, and they've been happily living with the adults of the colony for about a week and half now. I started out with 30 eggs, managed to hatch 25 of them, and have only managed to keep three survivors alive. The fourth and largest fry was actually hatched in the main tank and grew to a decent sized free-swimmer before I netted it and put it in a breeding box with the fry I hatched. Here's three of them hanging out in the plants: Since celestial pearl danios are egg scatters, I've been collecting eggs in deli cups with spawning media and plant weights in them. I've tried DIY spawning mops, as well as water sprite and egeria dense trimmings, but I've found that a dense ball of java moss works best as a media. I usually put two cups in the aquarium to increase egg yields, but I've opted to go with one this time just to see how that goes. Here's where all the magic happens: I should note that the adults in my colony are mostly female, but my population of 5 males is a little to big for optimum spawning—the little buggers spend waaaaay more time interrupting each other during attempted spawns. I've thought about selectively pulling some of the males out of the colony to see if that helps, but I haven't tried that yet. The colony seems pretty happy with the way things are, and I'm more interested in happy fish than I am in maximizing breeding efficiency. I started harvesting eggs yesterday and I've placed those eggs in a Fluval 0.3 gallon hanging breeder box that I painted white to help me see the fry better. During my first attempt to hatch eggs, I found that placing eggs together in a cup and putting them somewhere with gentle flow helped prevent fungus growth and keep track of where they were in the box. I supplied a constant flow of water from the main tank to the breeder box with a mini water pump. I also dipped the eggs in methylene blue for a couple days before moving them to the breeder box (unfertilized and unviable eggs tended to turn slightly blue in the dye, which allowed me to cull them from the viable eggs). This time I decided to try something a little different. First, I filled the 0.3 gallon breeding box with water from the main tank, taking care to remove any detritus and hitchhikers with a pipette. Then I placed a plastic blue lid from a small Ziploc jar (weighted down with plant weights) into the box. I find that eggs contrast nicely with the blue lid, which also keeps them from moving around too much in the breeding box. To oxygenate the water in the box and provide a small amount of flow, I added an air stone and secured it to the side of the box with a suction cup. Then I added a small 20w constant heater to the box, and connected it to an Inkbird Digital Temperature Controller to keep the water heated to 71-73°F. Finally, I used a pipette to gently place the eggs into the blue lid, then dosed the water 3 times with 3 drops of hydrogen peroxide every 12 hours. Fish Folk suggested using 1 ml of hydrogen peroxide per 1 gallon of water 3 times every 12 hours in another post, and I've also read that proper dosages of H2O2 are temperature dependent, too. This is all to say that this all experimental until I find the dose that works best. All said, this is what my egg hatching set up looks like: And here are the eggs in the plastic lid: So why did I decide to eliminate the water pump that provided fresh water from the main tank this time around? Simply put, no mater how clean the main tank was, the pump ended up introducing detritus and hitchhikers into the breeding box. I'd like to keep things as clean as possible during the first few weeks of life, so we'll see if this works. I could also use distilled or RODI water in the breeder box, but I've had bad experience with using "new" water with my CPD fry in the past. Yes, there's a higher chance of developing egg fungus with tank water, but I'm hoping that if I can keep everything clean enough while using hydrogen peroxide the eggs will be okay. German Blue Ram Habitat Improvements The GBRs are happily settling into their 10 gallon aquarium in the garage, and I've decided to name them Carl and Marie after Carl and Marie von Clausewitz (I was a doctoral candidate studying War & Society back in the day). Like the famed military strategist, Carl spends a lot of his time contemplating the complexities of life. On the other, Marie seems to be the one who makes things happen in the aquarium, much like her namesake who edited Carl's magnum opus On War. I've never kept GBRs before, so I can't be sure, but I think these two are pairing up nicely. They aren't fans of the terracotta caves I made them from pots, so I'm on the hunt for a decent piece of driftwood that might have a cave-like crevasse they'd prefer. They're still 3 days into a prophylactic 7-day medication bath, so I won't be adding the wood until after that's all done. I don't really have plans to breed these two at them moment, so I haven't put any flat rocks in their aquarium. However, Marie has started digging a little hole next to a plant, and I've heard that this can be a nest behavior. What's funny about this is that she'll dig a little, then go find Carl and pester him until he goes to the hole to do a little digging. Here's a picture of what they've been working on: These two have really grown on me pretty quickly. They've got great personalities and are very smart, curious fish. Since I'm working from home right now, I like to take my lunch out in the garage and feed them small amounts of baby brine shrimp. They're already recognizing me, and there's something very dog-like about a GBR staring at you begging for food.

Hi everyone! Welcome to my journal! I've been keeping fish for almost a year now, but I helped my dad keep fish in a 50 gallon bamboo-framed aquarium he got in the Philippines when I was a kid. I'm 39 now and I decided to set up an aquarium for my 4 year-old daughter Zoey when her baby sister was born last spring. Don't get me wrong, Z loves the fish, but the aquarium quickly became a Dad Project. I joined the Army when I was 17 and was mobilized twice during the Iraq War. I had a very hard year in Iraq in 2004-2005, and finding healthy things to keep me centered has been a struggle ever since. Over the course of 15 years or so, I've gone from being homeless to getting married, having two kids, and getting a great job in tech—all while struggling with PTSD, addiction, and all that jazz. Keeping fish and raising them up, from collecting and hatching eggs to growing our fry, has been one of the most cathartic activities I've ever found. It's so rewarding to take a group of tiny, shy, and stressed-out fish and build an environment for them that nurtures them to the point that they're natural behaviors and colors bloom before your eyes. I love watching all my fish, learning about their species, and getting to know their personalities. And there's nothing better than rearing a new generation of fish in a little world you created. But enough about me! Let's meet the gang! Celestial Pearl Danios These were the fish I've wanted since I first started researching what kind of setup to get my daughter. I've got a colony of 12 adults and 4 fry. These is the first species I've ever bred. These guys live in a planted 20 gallon long aquarium in my living room. I'm currently harvesting eggs for a second attempt at breeding. Amano Shrimp There's about nine of these guys in my 20 gallon long. I bought these on eBay when they were babies, and months later I've discovered that there's only one female in the bunch. We've named the female La Reyna, and he's berried at the moment. I'm hoping to be able to pull her in a couple weeks and try to grow out her babies in a brackish tank. The Great Snail War In November, I purchased some plants from a LFS and inherited an exploding population of ramshorn snails. This wouldn't be a problem except I have a feeling that they're eating the CPD eggs before I can pull them out and they're overrunning the tank. I've been pulling them out manually and giving them away to other hobbyists, but it's Sisyphean task. Last month, I hired some mercenary assassin snails to help me out, but they're having trouble keeping up. Here's a video I recorded the first time I saw one of the assassins hunting and eating a rams horn. German Blue Rams These are the newest addition to my household. They're currently living in a 10 gallon tank in the garage until I can get my hands on something a little bigger. I've only had this male-female pair for four days, so they're still a bit shying. I'm really excited about learning more about this species because, from what I can tell so far, these are very fun fish to watch. Plus, they're absolutely stunning. Here's a wide shot of their current setup (they aren't using the caves yet, but I've heard that can take some time). That's all I've got for now. Thanks for visiting my journal, and if you have any tips for creating a great environment for GBRs, please let me know!

In my experimenting with heated vs unheated so far, I have definitely noticed a correlation between temperature swings and less spawning. Unheated, my aquarium swings about 3-5°F as well, and I'm definitely harvesting fewer eggs than when a heater was keeping the temperature stable at 74°F. I'm going to try to maintain 70°F and how they fare. I'd love to try to keep some fry outside next fall and winter here in the Bay Area—I've heard they love ponds and green water.

This is kinda funny because I was a little worried about how much food they’ve been missing during feeds since I got them. Xtreme flake (which they eat and spit out), frozen daphnia, frozen BBS…the only thing that gets them excited is live BBS. They’re pretty shy right right now, so I figured they weren’t eating because I was watching them. I painted three sides of their tank yesterday and put a dimmer on their light, so hopefully that will help them feel safer. Thanks!

Awesome! Thanks for the help!

One of my neighbors is moving so I adopted his kid’s German Blue Rams. I don’t have a lot of experience with this species, so I’m not sure what their gender is. Can y’all help me sex this pair? Here’s GBR #1 (the larger of the two): Here’s GBR #2: I’ve currently got them in a 10 gallon with sand, almond leaves, and a couple pot caves I threw together yesterday (they aren’t using them yet). Any advice to a new GBR keeper?

I’ve recently read that some people keep their celestial pearl danios in unheated aquariums kinda like white clouds. Evidently their natural environment runs the gamut—near freezing in the winter and very hot in the summer. I’ve got two questions I’m hoping my fellow CPD breeders can help me answer. 1). I try to keep my CPDs at 72-74°F, but has anyone had any luck keeping them below 70°? 2). What temperature do you hatch and raise your fry in? If they can be kept in an unheated tank, I’d love to pull my heater out since it doesn’t get very cold or hot where I live in California.

I’ve been hatching baby brine shrimp in a Ziss hatchery, and I’ve had a couple batches where the water has turned cloudy—normally the water is clear. Is this cloudiness a bacterial bloom? Is it safe to feed BBS from a cloudy batch to my fish? Or should I chalk it up as a failed hatch? I’m using tap water, with 1 tablespoon of aquarium salt, 1 tablespoon of Aquarium Co-Op BBS eggs, and incubating for 24 hours at 23°-28° Celsius.

I'm with you—I've had no luck culturing infusoria or paramecium in any reliable way. I've been using New Life Spectrum's fry powder, but it makes a mess when you're using a hanging box. I switched to a Ziss once the fry got to big to slip out because I felt like it could maintain better water quality, and so far it has. Fingers crossed! Here they are in their new home (I swear there's 20 in there):

Can fry kept in a Ziss Breeding Box access infusoria from the rest of aquarium? Background: I'm raising about 20 celestial pearl danio fry in my 20 gallon long. They're about 2-3 weeks old. Until now, I've hatched them in a Fluval Multi-Chamber Breeder Box, but I've just moved them to a Ziss BL-3T Breeding Box like the one sold at Aquarium Coop: Out of curiosity (and this may be a dumb question), can fry housed in a Ziss box access infusoria from the main tank? If so, would that give the Ziss an advantage over a hanging breeder box? For reference, water from the main tank is sucked into box via the channel on the left side of the Ziss box in the attached photo, before circulating out of the three mesh walls on the sides and bottom. I also plan on feeding the fry powder for another week before switching them to BBS.

Hi everyone, I just harvested my first CPD eggs (first fish eggs, really) yesterday and I had a couple questions. Background: I’ve collected the eggs in a cup, floated them for a couple hours in methylene blue, then transferred them to a painted Fluval breeding box (photo attached). I added the egg trap to the main tank 24 hours ago, so none of the eggs are more than a day old. 1) How much water circulation and aeration do eggs and new fry need? I’d like to keep them in methylene blue to inhibit fungus growth, but I don’t want to get any of the dye in my main tank’s water. Can I hatch them in a cup, then transfer the fry to the breeding box? 2) I had a fry hatch only 24 hours after I collected the eggs. Is this normal? I’ve also attached a photo of the fry.

Lol, I’m generally not adventurous enough to put bleach on anything that goes in my tanks, but I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t endangering my livestock by skipping the bleach. Thanks for the advice!

@Fish Folk From an article in Tropical Fish Magazine: “Now both of us do something that most people don’t do. We add three drops of plain, unscented chlorine bleach. In the wild, mats or rafts of floating brine shrimp eggs can become rather nasty before harvest—they serve as a home to many types of bacteria and larger critters that can be harmful in our aquaria. Our friend and mentor Rosario LaCorte mentioned that he started adding the bleach to help lower some of the potential biological load that comes along with the brine shrimp eggs, and to kill any nasty hitchhikers that might be on the outer casing of the cysts. Even with the best processing methods, some undesirable critters can get through. The drops of bleach kill anything on the outside of the eggs without wasting the time of completely decapsulating the eggs.” “Without the chlorine, when hatching larger quantities of eggs, you might notice that the eggs get scummy and may even start to clump together because of the bacteria. The chlorine evaporates fairly quickly with all of the bubbling of the eggs, so it’s not around to harm the brine shrimp when they hatch.”

I started hatching baby brine shrimp last month. While researching the hatching process, I found a source that recommended adding 3 drops of unscented bleach to hatchery after adding the eggs. The author argues that this will eliminate any potential contaminates the eggs may be carrying, and that the bleach will evaporate before the shrimp hatch. Do you use bleach when hatching your BBS?

I’ve read that baby brine shrimp (BBS) hatched from decapsulated eggs are more nutritious because they use up less of their yolk since they don’t need to break through a shell. This logically makes sense, but are the nutritional gains worth the time and effort it takes a fishkeeper to decapsulate the eggs?

@johnzheYeah, that’s exactly what I had growing in my aquarium. I definitely have a small bloom when ever I use Bacter AE, so I’ve cut back to using it once a week. My Amano shrimp and pleco seem to get enough to eat without adding it to this tank, so I’ve decided to use it sparingly moving forward.

Update: After some research and asking around, this is likely a vorticella or zoothamnium boom caused by Bacter AE overuse. Basically, they’re feeding on the excess bacteria and they’re already starting to die off or get eaten by my cleaning crew.

I have no snails—only amano shrimp, celestial pearl danios, and a brittlenose pleco. May not be related, but I’m on day 3 of treating my aquarium with Maracyn, Paracleanse, and Ich-X. I also use Bacter AE to help feed the shrimp. Ammonia: 0.25 Nitrite: 0 Nitrate: 10 PH: 7.0 - 7.2

This is my first time adding CO2 to an aquarium. Were the CPDs reacting poorly to the CO2? If so, are there ways to safely introduce CO2 to an established aquarium without killing or stressing out its inhabitants? I’ve got a 20 gallon long aquarium with amano shrimp, 12 celestial pearl danios, and one brittlenose pleco. I also have several Java fern, Java moss, and Anubis plants. Yesterday I introduced CO2 to the aquarium at 1 bubble per second, but after an hour 10 of the CPDs started schooling in the top right corner of the aquarium above a sponge filter. They were still very active and they didn’t seem to be gasping for air at the surface, but I stopped the CO2 and added a HOB filter to agitate the surface as a precaution. The CO2 drop checker was still blue, and my water parameters were all normal (zero ammonia and nitrites, 10 nitrates, 7.0 PH, 7 GH, 4 KH).