Lizzyduff

Usually the pond waterfall does the trick but last week it froze the top 3 inches solid regardless and poured water out on top of the ice and eventually the porch. Took hours and a hammer, and lots of whisky to open a small hole for gas exchange. Looking at buying a pond or birdbath deicer for the next short deep freeze but most seem to have mixed reviews. From overheating the actual water instead of just a small ring, to electric shocks. My goldfish and i are both too old to deal with 3 inches of ice next time so I thought I'd ask you all. In the winter the goldies do their hibernation thing in a 45gallon tub on the patio- got tired of hungry critters eating them every winter- so once the water temperature is in the low 30's I move them to their winter tub. Still outside but protected on the porch from birds and raccoons. I keep the waterfall filter going but that wasn't enough this time. Thoughts?

I suppose I could train my chickens to eat the snakes...🤔 there is no way that could possibly go wrong. I'll try the garlic first though... thanks!

Anyone else have this issue? The net keeps out the birds but garter snakes keep getting in and eating my white cloud minnows. I pulled a 3 foot long one out of there last night and it was almost too full to move. I'm tired of feeding the local wildlife. Anyone have tips or suggestions to keep snakes out?

That is a really good explanation of a very complicated situation, thank you, that makes a lot of sense.

Oooh that sounds interesting... blue and green... huh. I guess I don't need any more arm twisting... time for another tank! LMAO 🤣 Oh! How have I not seen this graphic before?!? This is brilliant, thank you!!

I've been told orange and yellow shrimp can't inter-breed, is this accurate? I currently have 1 blue dream tank, 1 red cherry tank, and a yellow tank. Would it be safe to add some of the gorgeous orange shrimp from ACoOp into the yellow tank without risking them mating and producing wild types? I've spent a long time culling and improving my colors so the last thing I need is some genetic roulette game screwing it up. I guess I could just get another tank for the oranges... 🤔

Excellent! Are you local to the Snohomish area? Private message me the details ($$, location, etc) and we can set up a date and time for me to drop by, if so! I only need a few, around 4-5. Thank you!

Thank you! Last I checked they only had orange, blue, and red. But it can't hurt to peek since it's been a month or so since I've been. Thanks!

Hello, I'm looking to add some genetic diversity to my group of yellows but I'd like to find someone local to the Snohomish area who'd sell me 5 or 6. I've had so so luck in the past with shipping so if possible I'd prefer to buy local, but haven't found them anywhere. Any help appreciated.

Well I'll be... huh. Learned something new today. That's really neat!

Oh! I just put in a new light... I'll turn that down. Last thing I need is algae.

There's a steady stream of bubbles coming out... WTF

Plus, eventually they will eat all the bladder snails. I also recommend breeding ramshorn snails for food. My puffers ate the entirety of my bladder snail collection in a matter of weeks. I'm dangerously low on ramshorn snails now too, but my next order should be arriving any day. I also supplement with blood worms, brine shrimp, and neocaridina shrimps. They love picking through the Java moss for critters too. Never in my life did I imagine I'd actually be paying for bladder snails. Yet, here we are. This month, approximately 50% of their diet is some sort of snail, followed by various frozen worms 30%, and the rest make up the remaining 20%. I figure the more variety the better but honestly, good luck getting one to try something new once it has a boner for whatever its decided is it's favorite 😆 🤣

Anyone in the Snohomish WA area have bladder snails they want to get rid of? My puffers are going through mine faster than I can breed them. Just set up a new tank for snail breeding but that will take a while to get going. They will eat the ramshorns but seem to prefer the bladder snails.

Are any of yall in the Seattle area? I could use some bladder snails, or anything small enough to be puffer food. They're going through mine faster than they can reproduce.

Update: within 24 hours I've observed the giant amanos absolutely destroying the bit of blackbeard algae I'd fighting in a corner on some moss for ages. They've also been seen (presumably) playing football with some empty snail shells, and tug of war with some bloodworms both the shrimp and and puffer wanted at the same time. They're holding their own against the pea puffers and have cleaned up the leftover food in a day. Tank looks better than it has in ages. The nerite snails are presumably just steering clear of all the activity and working on the glass. Great idea guys!!

Will do!

Ooh! I've always wanted to try a few amanos in one of my tanks! I'll pick up a couple of those this weekend to start, and maybe add in a nerite snail one they settle in. Thanks!

I have a 10g nano with a pea puffer, and puffer friendly parameters, and you know how messy they can be. I'd like to know what sort of 'maid service' I can house with him. Pygmy cories would probably get chewed up, and so would neocaridina shrimps and ramshorn/bladder snails (his normal diet) which are my usual go to clean up crew in other tanks. I'm looking for something nano size, but... that won't take sh*t from the pea puffer either and is comfortable in similar parameters. And will contribute enough in cleaning services to make the additional bioload worth it. I'm wondering if there are any shrimp that he can't/ won't torment? Since it's a 10g, my options are limited, obviously. (Insert tasteless joke about how I could probably fit at least 3 plecos in there, surely that'll fix everything!) 🤣😆😂

Well, unfortunately none of the meds worked 😕 it started to cover his mouth and he was having trouble eating, losing weight. As I was looking at having to euthanize him anyway, we tried a hail Mary, anesthetized him with clove oil, waited until he was swimming sideways, and did a bit of quick cosmetic surgery, and put him into a wee recovery bowl with fresh water and an air stone. Much to my surprise he perked right up, got his colors back, and has now rejoined his buddies after a few days of prophylactic antibiotics, and is gaining weight. It might come back... but maybe we bought him a little time at least.

God help me...everything ELSE in this house is having babies so why not these too??? 😆 🤣

Um. So. I've had these neons for about a year and never seen this behavior before. I temporarily put them in a quarantine tank to dose with some meds and I planted some dwarf hair grass to make them feel more comfortable while they're in there... and...well. I've observed some weird behavior. I have my suspicions but I'd like to confirm. They're sort of rubbing and twerking all up one another in the hair grass. At first I thought they were fighting but there was no fin nipping or chasing. 😳 were they doing x-rated stuff??

I'll do that asap. Thank you!

Please post update after you treat... I'm following closely since mine has a white bump on it's nose...

pH 5.5, nitrate 10, nitrite 0, ammonia 0, hard water, buffer 0, quarantine hospital tank roughly 3 weeks now. Short story: my blackwater tank exploded so I rescued the inhabitants and put them in the quarantine tank until the new tank i just bought is fully cycled. Noticed this fuzzy white dot on one tetra's face. 1 week of pimafix to no effect. 1 week of paracleanse to no effect. No behavior change in any inhabitants. Great Appetites and very active as usual. No new plants. No new fish etc. Had these guys for about a year. Ideas?