BeeD

Not done with it yet, but it is an entirely different experience. I think the main character is less relatable. I get why he may have wanted to delve into that side of humanity, but yea.

Community betta? I don't think anything in there would nip at it or cause it to flare and attack. They stand out, and it looks like there are plenty of resting spots for him out of the current. They're usually easy to train, too, mine always swam over to a feeding spot where I could drop them a betta pellet or live food, but they'll munch on community flakes too.

Finished Scorpio Races a while ago, I thought it was good. Currently reading Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy (The Road). It's still weird reading dialogue with no quotation marks, but it works. It's a gristly story, but I needed a change of pace.

Maybe the loaches will get it.

Oh really? Well then I must make room for the precious...

Any of the Nothobranchius Killi fish, and similar. I would love to have a few hatching rotations for a main living room display tank. I can put the culls in there, then add the breeders when they're done doing their jobs.

Very enjoyable thread.

Is it possible to store it somewhere out of sight? That way you can wait until inspiration strikes.

Guppy float 2.0 will include emergent Christmas Moss. Definitely only one float per tank, otherwise the guppy grass gets all tangled together. This way I think even lazy people like me can actually manage it nicely. If anyone was actually curious how the other guppy floats went. Well.... See pic of yellow bag above, lol. But they will float even with a massive amount of plant attached to them, that much I can guarantee.

No pictures this time. If anyone has been following along, I can finally say that I have stretched my denitrification system past their limits with this guppy population. Kind of expected that, although the bio load in the desirables tank shouldn't have surpassed the plenum's capabilities...in theory. Mneh... So. Back to the good old tried and true method of using water changes to inhibit nitrates, at least until the population is reduced.

My wife suggested The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater a couple of years ago, and I finally dedicated myself to finishing it. I like the concept. It's fictional Earth, relatively modern era, focused on a tiny island with very Celtic scenery, climate, and lore. There are magical "water horses", the only place in the world where they can be found. They're bloodthirsty, but of course people race on them once a year for bragging rights and a decent haul.

Ideally. For now I have all the 'desirables' in one tank. They'll stay together for a while until I get one or hopefully two males I think I can start a new tank with, and so on.

I was trying to get a decent shot of them today. I started with 3 males and 7 females. The tank is a mess of fry right now, and I see a few 3rd Gen prospects. There is one really colorful 2nd Gen male giving me some encouragement, but because of the common genes in the line, his tale is not very uniform. There are two 2nd Gen males of the correct phenotype who are much smaller but with small roundish tails, and I am going to start a second tank with them. If that is the direction the line is headed, I would like to see if they will produce more of their type or if all of their male offspring will be a reversion to the common phenotype. Even if they're tiny, I would happily take a more common type tail as long as the rest of the phenotype holds.

Yea, so, guppy grass. I've been using strips and beakers, and I use various sources of water to make sure my test kits are working, and I read zeros for the full nitrogen cycle, even after pulling a pile of guppy grass. So I don't need a massive guppy grass bog, but it's what I get. I do a weekly weeding to keep at least 1/2 of the surface free for swimming and oxygen exchange, but twice a month now I have to do a major pull like this to keep at least 3/5ths of the water column freed up for the adults. Obviously the fry think it's the perfect world before I start weeding. I know most guppy grass people already know that it takes over everything, but I just can't stop laughing at this. Originally I intended to use those guppy floats as focal points and then do weekly trimmings to keep them tidy. Well, weekly isn't nearly enough. Maybe daily would have worked.

Yea I forgot to tag you in my other post, so I ended up luring you in without context. I want to try the organic soil system this winter.

I will tag some people from my notifications who I don't think are in here yet. @Flumpweesel@JettsPapa@Patrick_G@dasaltemelosguy Also @redfish

Well I after splitting up my guppies and then watching a babies show up like tribbles, I mostly just maintained the status quo throughout the summer. One thing that still blows my mind is this Christmas Moss. I thought it all died in a 10 gallon that I took down, but here it is. From spring when I put all the male culls in this tank to now it has escalated from "oh I didn't even know that was there" to "uh please don't swallow my tank." In that same tank I have a Java Fern that didn't benefit at all. It has been a stunted little thing for four years. This tank has more suitable conditions, but I couldn't even find it today. It'll pop up eventually when a guppy jars it loose from wherever it is currently lodged.

They are definitely fancies, but that doesn't mean they weren't crossed with commons, also known as feeders. I have some cross strain males who look very similar. They come from combining a Red Tail Green Cobra parent with a first generation 50/50 Fancy/Common parent. All accidental. If there are any common genetics in their genes, you'll for sure see it in the next generation.

This is in a covered tank filled about 3/5ths. Typically the Pothos leaves don't melt as long as I don't let them stay submerged. But this year I've seen some melt on leaves above the water line, so maybe there has been more condensation. Which makes me wonder if this stuff is black mold. If it is... Any advice? If I were to submerge it and let the snails take it on, will that affect the fish?

Well one question has been answered in my male cull tank. None of my tanks have ever been this heavily stocked, and I guess that must be why Guppy Grass has never survived with Pothos. I had one little piece with three leaves in there, and it has grown. Along those same lines, I've had trouble with moss over the years. Best guess... This is Christmas moss from a ten gallon. I can't remember what I moved from that 10 to this tank, but I know it was like years ago... So this moss was sitting in the back of the tank, suppressed by the Pothos' heavy nutrient absorbtion, until I started adding so many guppies. Now it is a healthy healthy clump back there, creeping toward the sponge filter on that side. So this last picture I could use some help with. Does that look like black mold to anyone else? I forgot to circle it, but it's kind of in the middle of the frame, growing up the leaf base... I keep the house down to 45% humidity, but if that's mold it still isn't good. I always assumed the snails would deal with it, but I'm not liking how this looks. The roots have always grown a fuzz, but I think it's plant not mold. That black stuff though...

All that color and the thing that made me smile the most was your SAE school.

You know what, that makes me think. I had thought that my females were holding back because they were finally hitting the population wall. They dropped a huge number of fry when I moved out all the males and renovated their tank, and I thought it was the population reduction. But the gold gourami died around that same time. I never felt like it was very successful at catching fry, but I wonder if the pressure was all that mattered.

Woh hold up. Can you tell me more? I had a gourami who didn't quite accomplish this. I don't know if that's because it was more interested in newly hatched snails, or if it just wasn't that proficient at catching baby guppies. Do the guppies recognize them specifically as fry eaters and they just delay giving birth?

https://www.popsci.com/environment/do-fish-like-living-in-tanks/ Spoiler alert, I find articles like this both interesting and annoying. This isn't the first time I've heard about a fish's lateral lines picking up vibrations in the water, but I hadn't realized that scientists believe it gives fish a 3D map including size and volume of an object. That was definitely interesting to think about. It reminded me of Daredevil. I could write a short essay in response, but I don't know what the point would be. I do just have one question that I will set up really quickly. I can admit that living in a box must feel different. But is it really over stimulation compared to 400 square feet of shallow white water rushing over rocks and lapping at the shoreline? Many aquarium species come from that environment. Should I assume, per the articles comparison to constant loud noises and deafness, that these fish are rendered "deaf" by the natural environment they evolved in? I wish they would just call me when they have something concrete instead of planting that people are doing mean things seed. If we definitely are, okay, I'll change. Until we know, my fish look pretty happy and stress free. I can't remember the last time any of them acted like they know what a predator is.

I actually cycle my tanks with pest snails. My most stable tank had nothing but snails and plants for two months. I should say all my tanks are stable, I'm not arguing for cycling for two months. But I do think the pest snails are great for the job. They produce a low bio-load and they're tough. They give you just enough to establish some of the bacteria you need, if you have enough of them. Then I just slowly add fish.