nabokovfan87

I actually did this on my 29G. Running 2x large ACO sponge and then running a HoB for the sake of polishing the water (seachem tidal 35). Basically my method is to take the ceramic media and set that in the tank on top of the sponge filter. That helps to keep the bacteria in the water. Not mandatory, but it helps. I actually did that process a few times. I had issues swapping lids which meant the filter was in and out of the tank for a little bit. I ended up having to move the tank 3x as well due to a variety of random household issues. 😞 So.... The tank cycle is generally fine with the above method. What happens if you just pull the filter? As long as bioload doesn't change you should be fine. In my case on this most recent removal (filter and media removed) I did have a very small bioload increase and I've been dealing with cloudy water for two months since then. Not a massive issue, just an annoyance. Why? Well. Those sponges have had a few "bacteria in a bottle" solutions, lava rock in the tank, and there's basically no reason for it to not have a cycle. The cycle is fine. It's just cloudy from the sponge porosity and texture. I can pretty much guarantee, if I add on that HoB for a few hours, water will clear up and after 24 it'll be very clear. I have used other sponge filters, they have a different texture to the sponge and different porosity with their own pro and cons. Hopefully that helps.

Doing more research on this. When an ingredient list says "whole fish" usually listing a species, should we assume this is bones and organs and everything? I am guessing that for some species that's fine, for others it's not. Just trying to sort through a few things. Edit: I also found another in my search for an algae wafer or spirulina food that boasts so highly about the quality of everything, but literally does not have the ingredients list anywhere on their website or easily available. Not sure what to do with that.

Probably impossible to find parts. But this is the method. Replacing with glass works just make sure it's strong enough. There's all kinds of calculators out there for people who build tanks. I bet a 75 would fit there! 🙂

It's been a few hours reading a bit of posts, doing some research, trying to track down some details and I stumbled upon this blog. It goes back to 2015! So I went back to the beginning, saw a few into posts and kept reading a bit more. I think I really enjoy the way this author writes, the style, the tone echoes softly in my brain making things a bit easier to read given the dyslexia issues. Honestly, all I can think about is how I would enjoy a "talk" by the author about his view on the hobby. Not a TED talk or anything, but just something along that. I think Cory and this person would have a really good conversation or just be casually talking about something and those of use in third person watching this happen might really enjoy it. https://tanninaquatics.com/blogs/the-tint-1/38718657-taking-a-more-focused-approach-to-aquarium-keeping-a-better-way If you haven't, I would also encourage you to head here, pick a topic, and just read something interesting... https://goliadfarms.com/blog/ It's the type of thing where I just want to sit down with an espresso, a nice hot tea, and it's a rainy day outside.... That tone (and literally that atmosphere) is going on around me and I am intrigued for more. Amazonas is another good one and then I found Oceanographic as another interesting one to check out a while ago looking up shark stuff. Which authors, blogs, or journals do you enjoy reading related to the hobby or related to aquatic species in general? Sidenote from my research effort this morning. I was trying to translate some articles and book descriptions from german to english and I came across the word Süßwasser-Aquarien which could have a two fold meaning. Translating german to english this does happen where some words have a dual meaning (famously in a rammstein song). I then thought of Süßwassertang and so I went down the rabbit hole of finding a german translation website which has a really detailed breakdown of potential meanings for words (in bits or in full). The first word literally means "freshwater aquariums" but the word "Süß" refers to either the something warm or calm. Interesting use there..... The second word is "freshwater seaweed" or "calm water seaweed". We use that term for a type of plant famously shown off at Ocean Aquarium in San Fransisco for most of us. It is just interesting to discuss, translate, or break down the origin of some things.

Maybe add some garlic. Hopefully someone has some indications or experience with that!

Take a 12" tall tank. 8 foot long, 4 foot deep. Manzanita, stone, moss on the rocks and wood sticking out of the surface. Maybe a waterfall on one end that scapes down into a pool of high flow and a "gentle river" follows for the rest of the tank down into the sump. Corydoras, shrimp, nano fish, just a very nice "indoor pond". Yes please. (Still some design issues to figure out, but it would be pretty majestic) One day.... Edit: Test results from Wednesday testing extravaganza Black Corydoras Tank: Temp: 71.6 Phosphate: 3.0 ppm Ammonia: 0 ppm Nitrite: 0 ppm Nitrate: 5-15 ppm (Difficult to read!) PH: 7.0 KH: 60 GH: 150

Ignore the cloudiness. When I have it I resolve it with water changes over time. As for the eggs and the water change, it's entirely possible and entirely will be fine without moving the eggs. If you're concerned or you feel like it's going to take longer than you're comfortable with prepare a spray bottle with tank water and spray the eggs every 5 minutes or so. Just do your normal water changes, leave the substrate alone with the siphon, but..... When you put the water back in just try to go as slow as you can as to keep from thrashing the water around extremely hard. 5G buckets aren't great for that.

Can confirm.... They like mysis and it's a good fry food when they get to a certain size.

Same thing happened to me and I had just under 30 at one point. More spawning this week so fry will be soon. Keep em happy, you'll get a few more in no time. Very unfortunate on your losses there, glad they are doing ok.

We'll have to see if it gives him some deeper orange or red coloration. 🙂 Rams are just so interesting to watch.

It's definitely a freak accident. There are sponge filters that have finer ppi sponge, entirely up to you if you feel it's a concern moving forward given the size of those fish in particular. Potentially, review how much air you're pulling and dial it back a bit to decrease flow. I don't think flow sucked that fish in, but that is just something to note if you're pulling a ton of water in a small tank with tiny fish. Another way to view it and probably why I haven't seen this, even with very small fry in the tank.... I tend to just always run big sponge filters. If you're pulling a lot of air and the thickness of the sponge isn't big enough, you can have an easier time to pull the fish into that central point. (as size goes up, the sponge is thicker)

I went ahead and did the usual maintenance on the tank today. CURSE THE REFS for that blown call in the dolphins game, or the bunch of them. UGH. The time to breathe was much needed. I walked into the room to get things going and heard the filter acting up. Upon video review I can actually see bubbles releasing to the surface, extremely weird, and now I know to look for them next time around. I literally hogged out the end of the intake tube, but somehow this thing found a way to trap some air. Maybe all that moss trimming clocked the intake? Who knows... I'll check it before bed, hopefully back to silent and all is good. The corydoras are growing really well. I seriously see what looks like 3 week old fry and if you've been following the timeline that's got to be spawn number 4. It's very likely some holdovers from spawn number 3 (the one that was 2 weeks after the big one this winter) and maybe that is some of those fry that jumped out of the box and down the intake tube. Siphoning is difficult when the corydoras are dark grey on the dark grey substrate, but I can't help but just be in awe when I see them in there. I try to find the original group of 5 and compare those sizes to the fry, but man they are getting big and it's hard to tell on some of them. All wonderful signs. I did a bit of a rescape after the moss work, which just means that the big seiryu cave is wider and has a little bit more clearance there for the herd/horde to sit under cover and get away from the flow. A lot of the food tends to get pushed to that side of the tank because of the spraybar which goes right into the S. Repens and into that cave. They like to sit there and get their food, the smallest fry hang out in the S. Repens and get their food that way. I'm going to end up grabbing some new foods here shortly, but more on that after we figure out if secret project stuff is successful or not. Parts ordered, items on the way, I need to refill my backup CO2 tank and probably dial things up at that point. I am noticing the algae take hold again. Let's talk through it... A. Lights have been cut. B. Dosing has been constant and I've added slight bit of iron due to the issues of PH climbing and low Iron. Some anubias showing some deficiencies and it's hard to pin down which it is because I'm not an expert. A slight amount of iron won't hurt much and I have it on hand. C. S. Repens in spots is showing pinholes and the old growth is getting covered in the algae. D. The moss was cut, so growth is slightly slow for a week or so. E. The concept of using the toothbrush to clean the algae. I give it an F after seeing the tank and the lights. It doesn't work well. F. It is difficult to decide how to prune+propogate out some plants because of this algae. Do I trust the corydoras not to uproot everything.... or do I simply try to get a bit taller stalks so I can plant them a little bit deeper when I do trim them. G. I am back to the point of "going full circle" where I was a few months ago and not sure if I need to increase light / dosing and push the plants to grow, or if I need to cut something to choke out the algae again. My gut tells me one thing, but I know the algae will also bloom and take off. I will probably just end up making an appropriate thread with the photos needing to ID things. I don't have the means to test very specific chemistry items, but it's clear something is still dramatically off. I have been running the current settings for long enough to know that it's time to change things. In the past month alone I've seen that BBA just climb. Very likely due to nitrates due to feeding due to fry. Maybe a few extra WCs will clean it up and I'll start there. I want to see the growth on the moss, Hygro, add some plants in, but that takes time. There also might be some dividends of secret project, but I would need to setup the 75 to go that route and then setup a tank at a business site for that to be feasible. Just have to think it over and decide the root cause and the best path forward. I'm extremely excited to see where the tank goes in the next 2-3 months. Genuinely, I do feel like it's the setup I've wanted to have, the QTY of fish I've wanted to have, and it all leads to the ability to sit and enjoy the tank a lot more. As I've been trying to, I do still have to get these quirks hammered out, but it is a vast improvement from when things first went to chaos in this setup. (those photos in the first post) Sidenote, no testing this week. The tank is happy, doing well, and again, I'm considering changing a lot more water than normal just to try to get parameters down to nothing (and replace food waste with plant dosing chemicals).

This isn't funny.... and reminds me of just how annoying this algae is. 😞 I'm so sad now! 😂

@TeeJay After the mod to the mod to the mod.... It's back again for a second time. If you look at the left where the skimmer usually is, you can actually see bubbles rise up to the surface as the noise pops. Very weird.

I have a video I'll have to send you. It's a mod you can do, make a siphon where it's impossible to get fry and it's using something I guarantee you have around. Just stick to mid-water siphoning until you're confident and can see the fry. No big deal. They need the food on the substrate anyways. Feed brine shrimp, repashy and help her get some strength back. Repashy overnight does wonders. Just keep an eye out. If she's still lethargic add an air stone and check the pumps and what not to ensure good flow.

They get fins after about 7-10 days. And then at about 3 weeks or so they are pretty good size.

Most normal fish aren't going to "glow" so to speak. As an example, my RTBS looks like a globetta or something under certain light colors. Completely washed out and pale even though she has the dark black color. Her orange/red tail is more of a yellow orange. Some fish, like the glowlight tetras, orange laser corydoras, rams, neon tetras, they have that same iridescence under white light, but under blue or red or other lights you're going to get different colors and a very different appearance. It won't be "neon" though so to speak like cosmic bowling, but some can be funky. Green neons under white light: Under blue light: Another way to make those types of fish pop is blackwater.

Found two more that are a bit fun to check out. First is a discovery of a new neo species: https://zookeys.pensoft.net/article/29332/ Second is a re-discovery of the native species in the wild: https://assets.researchsquare.com/files/rs-1448326/v1/0b50441e-92a2-4339-a88d-f72bbac09fb3.pdf?c=1648137137

I am doing a bit of research, trying to understand some things about a species I am interested in. I've done similar things for Corydoras and found a lot of interesting papers. THIS ONE I thought was really worth sharing. It's a study on organisms and other factors in your ecosystem (Aquarium) and how shrimp introduction impacts that environment. Please enjoy, let's discuss! https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0075951116300354

Technical term is light diffuser.

What is your PH? Iron issues usually coincide with a particular type of iron being dosed in as well as PH being higher. I'll try to track down the post with the details.

False Julii do a little better warmer. Might be the way to go over the pandas 🙂 Maybe the store can let you trade some in for credit or something given the issues (or give you some advice as well)

YEP! I think northfin has one. Some omnivore cichlid food should have that. Hikari Discus food is a pellet version, slightly better ingredients. 🙂 I am working on transitioning from vibra bites to try some of the bug foods, Good to hear that yours are doing well with it!

Without much context, it's a yes. Some fish need certain PH water to breed or trigger breeding. It's just one of the things that does that. Some fish need high PH, some need low. Just really depends what you're talking here in terms of specific species. In the wild, some fish go through "flash flood" habitats after a storm. The PH of the water shifts and then you have a swing in water parameters. Some breeders replicate this. Some species of corydoras need the KH/GH to be high and then have a certain type of water change to trigger spawning. It's due to evaporation increasing hardness, PH, KH, GH, and then the rain comes and triggers those behaviors.

I would recommend adding some microsword and moss to your tank. Glue it to the wood and that will help increase that load to capture out those nitrates. Another option, @Mmiller2001 has a moss wall on his tank and you can see that in his journal, it's a really elegant way to go about that plant and will work well for your setup too (on one of your side panels, potentially) The plants you have are very nice, but slow growing, which is just why you're having lingering high levels. Some plants that grow a little faster is what you'd want to look into.