nabokovfan87

This might be helpful:

Is there any difference between the two tanks with regards to maintenance?

I don't think it matters. What you have is pretty good. The main thing is using a piece of plastic to cover the "window cutout" section of the basket as well. The water is going to go through the path of least resistance, being that cutout. Future posts moved to the new filter testing thread:

In case you missed it, here is the original thread: I want to start off by specifying a few ground rules here and clarify, succinctly, about some of previous results here. How to improve the Seachem Tidal Filters: Phase 1 (No tools or permanent mods) -Replace foams in the filter basket -Verify basket is not overstuffed -Remove air from media bag and tuck as much as possible -Set flow down one "tick" Phase 2 (Easy mods, no power tools needed) -Requires All Phase 1 Mods -Cut bottom grates of basket to improve input flow -Seal basket "window" cutout and all small bypass holes in the filter basket Phase 3 (Full mods, major change to how filter functions) -Requires All Phase 2 and Phase 1 Mods -Seal skimmer grate with silicone -Seal pump housing grates with silicone -Cut slots in bottom of Intake tube -Add prefilter sponge "What's the goal for this project now?" you might ask..... The goal is that I need to verify things we tested previously on a larger filter. This gives us a larger sample size, more information, and a different pump/impeller design to work with. This also has some slight variations compared to the original mods. I also plan to get the information for each phase of upgrades to be more clear and easier to reference for those interested. This is one of the filters I originally did some testing with. You'll see some remnants of that testing here. Holes in the base of the basket Added Coarse - Medium - Fine Foams Skimmer eating plants Basket tab broke one me 😞 Here are some of the things we're going to use for the mods on this filter: First, to clean everything, I use 91-99% Isopropyl Alcohol. Before adding silicone on anything, it is usually recommended to remove oils and prep the surface this way. For the more permanent mods: I will go ahead and add more details here shortly with the mods completed. Needless to say, we're basically ready to go any second now!

A recipe to try for you! Method of less water, some ice, it takes away a little bit of the intensity. You can also do this with tea! I'll have to think on some bean recommendations for you! They have cold brew available at the grocery store and that might be another avenue to get your taste buds jumping the right way to coffee and having it be less intense. (less intense = less concentrate, more intense = more concentrated)

@PerceptivePesce I found this, related to your question:

@Colu any ideas on the growth? It looks like a few issues compounding here. @Starburst welcome to the forums! What is your filtration like for this tank?

Does the tank have a lot of stone and you're seeing leeching from the hardscape? Crushed Coral in the tank? If you're changing that much water, I'd fully expect parameters to be close to or slightly lower than the tap water you're using.

Yeah... snail eggs.

This is OTS - Old Tank Syndrome. Second half of the video explains what's going on and why it's an issue. Ultimately, you can test TDS and KH/GH but you're also building up other things you can't test for. Sometimes that's ok, sometimes it isn't.

What a beautiful shrimp! Alright, this is one of the newer females. Warning, video was recorded while being attacked by a puppy so bear that in mind for the shakiness. This one I think is one (of maybe two) that are berried. It's crazy considering it went through shipping and didn't drop the eggs. What is also fun to see is the difference in the shell. It's a bit darker and gives me an idea of what to look for when it comes to timing out their molting. Note: still trying to get the color/exposure settings dialed in on this tank, hopefully viewable.

sounds perfect! Yeah, these are the ones I had as well. Beautiful species!

I would be sure to paint/cover the back glass. Especially with a HoB this is the most high flow area and they usually feel really comfortable around the water movement. I also highly recommend trying to have a rock or flat surface to target feed them. They will handle the algae and be on glass. If you get ones that are a bit more outgoing and on the substrate and if you ever do need to feed meds or anything, then it might be useful to train them in that method to get food off of that section. I used to use the top of a ceramic cave. Last thing I'll say is that whatever amount of air and filtration you have going on, consider adding one more airstone just for their tank. They won't mind it at all.

It might be perfectly fine, but just something to consider and research into. 🙂 It might just be a matter of time and adding buffer/coral to get through the initial buffering impact.

ORD very exciting! If you need help with the editing please feel free to send me a DM.

Clearly she will work for food then. 😂

Well at least one fish understood there was a camera 😂 A lot of Neo shrimp available! I would love to be able to visit the store one day. I'm sure so many of us here look forward to that.

Beautiful fish. They remind me a lot of SAEs.

That's awesome! Congratulations. 🙂 Beautiful fish. I hope they do well for you!

Awesome that you added an airstone. Floating plants can/will limit gas exchange if covering too much of the water surface. upload it to youtube under "unlisted" and then post the link here. Temp seems slightly low, so I would just verify it is indeed 71 (and not lower than 68) due to the indicator being off. I try to target 72-74, but 71 is absolutely fine. PH seems pretty low. I would opt for trying to raise KH, increasing PH, but I don't know full scope of this tank. For most fish you'd want to keep the PH above 6.5 and for corydoras below 7.5. Planet Catfish lists 6.0-7.5 which is within range. I don't know how perfect of a resource that website is, but I think it's the best one available for corydoras. https://www.planetcatfish.com/common/species.php?species_id=271 1. you can dose prime once every 24 hours if need be. 2. you have floating plants, and a good amount, so I don't think ammonia is the cause here. 3. likely not a good factor here, but might not be the full scope. 4. what sort of parasites? 5. would need to see the video to get a feel for what is going on.

We need to verify parameters and setup for the fish, verify what happened (if anything) to cause a fish death. Perhaps there is something overlooked. I agree with Ken that sterilizing everything may or may not be the best method. If that's what you want to do, I would dump a ton of salt and let it run for a week. What is in the tank, is there any other fish? plants? Did you see something that makes you think there is a severe disease needing sterilization?

how did you treat the worms? How many times with what medication? those worms are usually red in color. This looks like waste. I am not sure if you're saying this is a worm? A lot of this could be due to adding aquarium salt or other meds, not adding additional aeration, and the fish/inverts being stressed out. -------- I've gone ahead and reviewed all photos and video. I honestly, genuinely don't think anything is abnormal about the betta, but I would like to request the above clarifications before speaking further on that topic. The way the platy was swimming in the video is a little weird. This makes me want to dive into PH, Temperature as a reason for weirdness. Betta: https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/betta-fish-care-guide PH: ~7.0 Temp: "Betta fish prefer temperatures around 80°F and tend to be much more active when kept in warmer waters." Platy: https://badmanstropicalfish.com/platy-fish/ , https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/platy-care-guide PH: 6.8-8.5 = generally ~7.4 is what I am thinking as "good" Temp: 68-79F (I would use the middle value of a range) Once we establish the temperature of the tank and PH, then we can discuss further. PH seems really low, which can cause all the symptoms you're seeing in the platys.

a lot of times.... you'll run into issues with corydoras doing this if the waterline is a bit too close to the lid. It happens. Think of it as a concussion or something. They get stunned and get a bit "out of sorts" for a little while. I hope he perks up and the damage isn't permanent. I can't say this is the cause without confirmation on the water level, but it wouldn't concern me (I would add air and salt). When you can share full parameters and all that. Show the tank as well as filtration so we can get a better grasp of what's going on.

Really cool thread. Nice work!