Ken Burke

@AllFishNoBrakes, love those angels! what have I bred? Pink convict cichlids (about a billon years ago), panda corydoras, red sailfin corydoras, bristle nose plecos, mollys, plattys, endlers, and angels. Oh and a few accidental goldfish! what am I tired of breeding? Endlers, definitely endlers. what do I want to breed? Apistos of sole type, rams, one of the less-common pleco, …..

I colony breed corydoras in a couple of my community tanks, so you don’t need to go too far down the rabbit hole to have baby corydoras. It looks like you have a lot of plants to provide cover for the babies, so feed them well, and you may end up with this.

Define “deep cleaning”. I’ve taken tank down, rinsed the gravel thoroughly, and restarted the tank without an bacterial bloom, so I wouldn’t start assigning causality to your deep cleaning right off. It sounds like a bacteria bloom, but that could be from several things. There are several commercial products that have beneficial bacteria. You might try cleaning the tank (to make sure nothing died in a back corner) and adding something like fritzZyme. You probably already realized adding fish right now is not the best idea. Baby it along until the nitrites are back to 0.0. If the water hasn’t cleared up by then you may need to think through a few other things like filtration or lighting.

I’ve only shipped once, but it went very well. If you have questions about the angels I shipped just ask.

Like @Fish Folksaid, what the hobby needs depends on many factors including local aesthetics. I recommend figuring out what interest you and what you local fish can sell. I breed bnp in part because I can’t stand common plecos sold to the average fish keeper. They readily spawn, and my lfs can sell 10 - 20 of them a week. I also breed red sailfin and panda corydoras. My lfs has trouble getting them in, and they sell like hotcakes.

Wiggly cat fish!

We all have our things that make the hobby (read as obsession) harder than necessary, often without any improvement. And sometimes resulting in a net detriment. as hobbyist we need to be careful not to express opinion as fact.

Here is my best guess….

Sounds like one piece of lit review complete!

@Gannon that’s one of the reasons I abandoned sand as a substrate.

@abstractpro hasn’t quite been around long enough to get my sense of humor, but @Minanora blood orange pleco is another great name.

I’ve said it before, but I think it bares saying again: I would love to see this as a peer reviewed article. I see applications far beyond The Hobby like removing invasive species like zebra muscles form equipment.

Petrified iron is awesome. U can even find pieces that still look like branches.

I’m hoping for an unboxing post.

OKAY! Taking the plunge and mailing a few angels to @Beardedbillygoat1975! after 18 hours fasting the kids are eager. Sorry, not just yet guys, water change first…. box is ready. The Styrofoam I have on hand is 3/8”, so I doubled it up. I also cut a few pieces of that pig stuff 2 for lining the outside of the box. I was able to net out 1 of the largest and one of the smallest with 2 right is the middle. to keep the bags from touching, I put a piece of scrap insulation and a couple pieces of the pig stuff. all ready to go!

note: mom and dad are photo bombing…. heading it the UPS store when my wife gets back. posting more picture over in my shipping fish thread…

First and foremost: don’t panic. Your tank looks great, but new. sometimes it takes a little while to get things going. I don’t suspect the purgen in the least. I have used it with planted tanks in the past without any issues, and don’t think it impacted your nitrate level. I don’t see any fish in the tank, so suspect the bio load is very low. I’ve noticed that in my new tanks it takes a little effort to get the nitrates up. Further, you likely don’t have mulm built up in your gravel, so the only nutrients in the substrate are from your easy root tabs. I recommend floating your stem plants for a few weeks before planting. This will enable the plant to put out roots. Your scarlet temple already has started putting out roots, so it won’t take too long. I circled the the spot below. You guppies and betta will enjoy having a few floating plants as well. I keep water sprite floating in a few of my tanks, and in my summer tub. Crypts can be tricky to get started, so keep trying. Once you get them established, they are great. Your water flow is fine, and I suspect your lighting is gtg as well. As with most things aquarium, patience is key. Stay the course, and keep trying.

Interesting question, but I think it depends on what you are trying to do.

ummm. What do you have in your clan?

Thank you. For once I was not picked last! my fish room is ready to transition, well maybe evolve is a better word. Over the last year I have successfully community bred panda cories, venezuelanus cories and plecos. And more recently I finally was able to breed my angels by pulling the eggs. I don’t know where to go next, but it probably will involve shipping fish. (He says nervously) My first Guinea pigs are @Beardedbillygoat1975 and @rockfisher, so tag your it. Oh, and here are a few pics of the angels.

No. Just Bob. Why mess with perfection?

Not Bob?

Only thing worse then not paying attention to your fish is over reacting. Keep an eye on it, and if really, really feel compelled, add a little salt.

@modified lung, both nickels? Then what would I rub together?

Listen to this guy first.