AnimalNerd98

As long as it stays warm enough and humid enough where they are kept, you should expect babies in 2-3 weeks. When I got eggs, I just followed Rachel O’Leary’s guide here:

Do you keep it covered and have ventilation holes on the sides? How wet are you keeping it inside the container? It only needs to be moist and humid, not sopping wet inside the hatching container. Are you just floating it in the main tank? Could it be too hot or cold for incubation? How long are incubating for? The last time I did it, it only took 2-3 weeks. I just followed Rachel O’Leary‘s guide for them. Let me know if you’ve tried her method.

I knew I had to visit Ocean Aquarium while I was in San Francisco on vacation. Did not disappoint! I bought some of their süsswassertang too! I got to meet the store owners and had a nice discussion. I told them I had seen their store in a video on the internet and they asked: “Was it Cory?” These were their words of wisdom to me: Maintain an ecosystem, and disrupt it as little as possible by just topping off, having deep sand beds, and keeping the pH at 6.8. Hopefully I can hit up the Co-Op soon. Does anyone have any other suggestions for fish stores in Northern California?

Sorry to hear about your betta. As @xXInkedPhoenixX said, photos or video would be a great addition for help/opinions. When you say he stays at the top of the tank on his side, do you mean that he is floating at the top of the water? Does it seem like he is struggling to stay upright / swim down? This could be a swim bladder problem. Google the symptoms for swim bladder problems and see if that is close to what he is experiencing. I would advise caution on using lots of meds without knowing exactly what you’re betta has since they can take their toll on his kidneys. I would recommend putting some marine salt in his hospital tank though, for some electrolytes. Maybe 1 tbsp per 2 or 3 gallons, depending on how severe his condition is (2 if he is really not looking good). I have had my bettas in as high a concentration as 1 tbsp per gallon for popeye and serious infections, but you may not need to go there yet.

I like the ones who are either single or bi-colored. I have a red female and a platinum male. Here he is eyeing his tank mates from the safety of his Hobbit House.

I have heard of some people who just dump some live black worms in the aquarium substrate when they go on vacation. I’m not quite sure about this idea as I’ve only heard it from online sources, so I’m not sure if they will just die and spoil the water. If someone could weigh in, that would be great!

Hey everyone, I’m going to be on long road trip (11 hours there and 11 hours back). I was thinking of downloading some of the old livestreams from the Co-Op (in podcast form). What are some of your favorite livestreams that I should download before I go?

For the most part, yes. They will not go after full grown Neocaridinia, Amano, bamboo, or ghost shrimp (from personal experience). But they may snipe down some baby shrimp if given the opportunity. As long as you get a big colony going before hand, I think it should be fine.

Haha, I was just doing some research on this topic. Generally, people don’t recommend keeping axolotls with anything else, but as Cory says, anything can be done with enough time, effort, and money. Disclaimer: none of these are 100% guaranteed compatibility, they are kind of a try at your own risk. Axolotls will just bite at things that move and will eat anything it can fit in its mouth. 1) Other axolotls are possible, but they MUST be of the same size. If one is larger than the other, it will probably eat it. Now, this may also not always work out since they can take chunks or limbs off each other. 2) White cloud minnows. These are cold tolerant and are USUALLY fast enough to dodge your axolotl, but even if they wind up being a snack, they are not toxic or anything. Any fish that are quick and cold tolerant would do the trick, zebra danios are super hardy, but I would not advise goldfish since they get quite large, they can hog the food, and they can either harm or harass the axolotl until it stops eating. 3) Large snails like Japanese trapdoor snails or large mystery snails. Get ones that are big enough that can’t be accidentally swallowed. My advice is to first determine how you want to set up the tank with your current livestock before adding anything else. For example, are you going to keep it bare bottom or on sand? Do you want to include any live plants like Marimo balls or something above the tank like pothos? Giving them some cover can be beneficial, etc.

I have also bought fish and shrimp from Jay's Jungle, but I haven't got anything aquatic related from them in a while. I am going to have to ask them at AF if they could order some Scarlet Badis. Thanks for the recommendation on the Waterfront! I have never been and will definitely visit when I get the chance.

I don't have experience with this exact scenario, but I have had betta fish with eye injuries in the past. It looks like it has started to heal already, but I would move it into a QT tank to be safe (especially if you notice any erratic behaviors). This is easier said than done because it may be difficult to keep the weight on an Oto in a newly setup sterile QT tank. If you can, get some algae growing in there first (leave a light on 24/7) and add some fertilizers. The second option is to move some algae infested plants/decor in there. I would recommend dosing Maracyn to fight bacterial infections and Ich X for fungal infections. If you see it worsening, I would also recommend dosing a little salt (maybe 1 tbsp per 2/3 gallons). I used salt when my bettas got popeye and serious eye infections. It would usually clear up in a couple days with the salt. I am not sure how well Otos deal with salt, so if anyone could chime in, that would be great! As long as you keep the tank warm, put in some meds/salt, give it some algae to graze on, and keep the water clean, I think your Oto should be just fine.

Haha, that is awesome! I actually get tons of my fish from there, the most recent ones being some pygmy corydoras. Sadly, I already have a nice colony of cherry shrimp going, but if I ever need to add some new bloodlines in, I will definitely get them from there! I also like going to Fish4U in Murray whenever I get the chance. Which are your favorite stores?

1) I would say about 2-3 weeks at minimum, a month is where I would feel more comfortable in saying it is well "seeded." 2) By bottom, do you mean the bottom of the canister filter or bottom of the aquarium itself? Either way, I would take that sponge and wring it inside the 20 gallon with some dechlorinated water. Get it all mucky and cloudy, that will seed it very nicely. Bring over some of the substrate from the 75 gallon, that would help jump start it as well. An aside: when I set up new tanks, I just throw in an extra sponge filter from my established 20 gallon planted tank. I will toss in a handful of gravel from the 20, and a bunch of plants (especially fast growing or floating plants) to suck up nitrogenous waste. I stock lightly with snails or shrimp first, get some poop going, watch for plant/algae growth, and then add fish.

Hi Ursus, Welcome to the forum and the hobby! Here are some thoughts to help guide you in the right direction: 1) First things first, I would not put too much stock into the "ideal" parameters that you see online. I would say to just work with the water that comes out of your tap, unless there are lots of harmful substances like Copper or Mercury OR you are trying to maintain a very specific plant/fish. The reason I say this is because most plants may "prefer slightly acidic pH" but will grow just fine at higher pHs like 7.4 or even 8.0. Trying to chase an ideal parameter, especially as a beginner, can be difficult and discouraging if something goes wrong. So get a test kit and see what your water is like out of the tap, and make adjustments to stocking or substrate based on your water. 2) Plants and bacteria have ranges for pH tolerance. This goes for fish as well. Beneficial bacteria can probably go all the way down to about 6.0 pH before you have serious die-off (someone correct me if I'm wrong), but anything above that will be fine if you want to establish a "cycle". Those beneficial bacteria will live in your filter, on the walls of the aquarium, in the substrate, and on the plants. Some people don't even run filters and just have gravel and air stones. In your case, it will be even easier since plants will also take up calcium, magnesium, and nitrogenous wastes like nitrates. I have kept Kuhli loaches in the past in a planted tank where the pH was 8.2. Like I said, living things are adaptive, and as long as there aren't a ton of stressors like poor nutrition, bullying from tank mates, improper temperature, or high nitrates/ammonia, fish can adapt to your water. I would like to add that Kuhli loaches are especially sturdy and resilient. 3) As you learn more about planted tanks, you will also learn about other parameters called GH (general hardness) and KH (carbonate hardness). GH is basically how much minerals you have in the water like magnesium and calcium, this is what makes "hard water". KH is how many buffering compounds you have (like carbonates and bicarbonates). The reason why this is important is because you can have "hard" water with a pH of 8.0 but be subject to pH crashes because you like buffering components like carbonates/bicarbonates. 4) Having a balanced and aged tank is more important than having a "cycled" or "ideal parameters" tank. With fish tanks, we are trying to establish ecosystems that are resilient against change. It can take months for your aquarium to balance out, but when you reach that point, it's almost bulletproof. Cory coined the term: "Seasoned Tank Time". Here is a video explaining that concept: 5) Let me know if you have any other questions / your questions didn't get properly answered. Cheers!

I live in a hard water state and keep Otocinclus successfully. I’m waiting to get my aquarium coop test strips, so I can give you more accurate parameters later, but my pH is about 8.2-8.6 depending on the time of year. It is definitely doable to keep Otocinclus in hard water. Cory talks about how fish can handle a certain number of stressors at a time. So as long as you do your best to avoid putting them with aggressive tank mates, keeping nitrates low, the right temp, and feeding lots of quality food, there shouldn’t be a huge problem. What I was concerned about with Oto cats is that many of them come in starved, and never start eating. So here are my tips: 1) Find the healthiest Oto cats you can, they should have little round bellies and not sunken in. Ask the store employees if they’ve been eating, if they are, your chances are good. 2) For the quarantine tank, set it up a couple weeks before you get the Oto cats. Grow some algae on the walls or decor of the tank, or throw in some algae infested decor/plants. What you should do is give them some algae to graze on while they are in QT. 3) Feed them up super well! As long as they are eating, you can keep them going (even breeding in my case). I feed them Xtreme Algae Wafers, Hikari Algae Wafers, Zucchini, and Green Beans. You will probably have to keep supplementing/feeding them since they will scrub your main displays clean of diatoms in a matter of days. 4) Keep them in planted tanks. Plants will take in Calcium and other minerals, dropping the pH slightly but more importantly, taking up nitrogenous wastes in the tank.

Hi Nanci, Welcome to the forum! I know exactly how you feel about Cory’s videos. They have changed my attitudes towards fish keeping and gardening as well! Hi to Ken as well! It’s nice to see some fellow Utahns on here, I live in Orem/Provo area!

Thanks! I think so too.

I couldn’t resist getting these guys the other day from my LFS who listed them as Neocaridinia ‘Orange Bee’. After doing some research online, I saw that these shrimp usually get mislabeled and are actually a Caridinia species. Could anyone help me confirm if I have Neos or not?

Hey everyone, this might sound odd, but I actually want to have an aquarium with planarians in it. I work as a teaching assistant for an animal diversity class at a college. My boss gave my free rein over a 50 gallon tank and asked if it would be possible to keep planarians in there (since we cover Platyhelminthes every semester and it is tedious for us to go out and collect them every time). I want to stock the 50 gallon with cherry shrimp and some variatus platies, so I might just have the flatworms going in our spare 10 gallon filled with pond water if they get hunted down. Does anybody have any tips to keep them alive in an aquarium? Specifically: what species do well at room temperature, water parameters, and other special care requirements? We haven’t had much luck keeping them in a 10 gallon tank with pond water and an air stone (plus some fish food). I also vaguely remember Cory saying that he intentionally let them reproduce in some of his tanks to try out medications/treatments for Planaria. Does anyone know what he did?

Back in high school, I was inspired by The King of DIY and Cory’s 5 gallon bucket filter video and decided to make one for my turtle tank. I used mostly scrubbies for the media, but on the top, I had a plastic colander lined with some Poly-Fil. I patted myself on the back and set it up. The next morning, I hear my dad yelling from the main floor to get downstairs quick. I run down and find the dining room area flooded with about a 1/4 inch of water. Apparently, it also started leaking down into the basement. Turns out, the PolyFil got clogged from a single day’s worth of turtle poop, backed up, flowed out of the bucket, dripping down the sides, onto the ground where all the power cords were. I’m surprised my dad let me keep the turtles and my revised DIY filter which I watched like a hawk every hour for the next week 😂

Sorry to hear that! I have never stored BBS in the fridge so I will defer to whoever has experience with that. I have heard of people storing adult brine shrimp in the fridge in salted water for 3-4 days however. 1 - Yes, they need to remain in the saltwater if you want to keep them alive. 2 - I would err on the side of caution and say no since I have no idea how quickly they spoil after they die. If you really don’t want to waste them, you could try it in little doses as long as they don’t smell rancid, but I wouldn’t try these out on your prized possession fish/most expensive tank. 3 - Yes, that is totally possible! I believe Dean only runs air with his brine shrimp, but he said that the key is to find the right air flow. If it is too high, the BBS will smash against each other, break their limbs off, and die.

Out of all the other suggestions, this looks the closest to it. Thanks!

Here’s a better photo.

It was floating in the tank, it didn’t have much current.

I saw this interesting plant floating around in a tank at my LFS. I asked them what it was and they thought it was Java Moss, but I highly doubt that since I have Java moss at home and it does not look like this. I was thinking it is a type of Fissidens moss. Could I get some help IDing this plant?