nabokovfan87

You could take out the top layer and bleach it similar to how you'd clean a CO2 diffuser. Because the substrate is getting algae like that, literally just cut the lights in half and you're probably fine to solve that algae issue. The "beige colored" brown diatoms can be some of the easiest things to remove and get rid of compared to the others that could show up. Second option is a toothbrush to scrub it and a very good siphon to remove it. Gravel vac and do that every maintenance cycle and you should be able to get rid of it with all of those tweaks. I definitely wouldn't use white gravel because it shows everything, but depending if it's gravel vs. something like pumice.... I try to avoid those because it can mess with water parameters if the white is calcium. Just a heads up.

When I get my tanks to this point I basically wait 1-2 weeks. Feed it food to build ammonia, but seeing nitrite and nitrate, that's when I feel like it's progress, but not necessarily the "ok, time to add fish".

Let's say you could picture a fish, any species, any variation, any coloration, what would your fish be? What is the fish you wish that you could walk into the local store and find? I think for me..... A very very very black Corydoras would be it. I really cherish the ones I have, but a Black Cory that isn't a dark grey coloration or have splotches of other colors would be amazing. I'd love to start with a panda Cory and slowly expand their black coloration until it was this unique, amazing pattern. A close second would be a dark green / black variation of a green laser. Sometimes the green's come off like a yellow, but I really like that eemerald/dark aqua coloration that you see ssometimes. Having that on a black corydoras would be awesome and make it pop.

Yep, exactly what Odd Duck mentioned, go ahead and set it to what you're wanting. If the target is 81, get the temp to 81 and then go ahead and adjust calibration. Let me see if I can find a video, but the one you showed does have calibration. https://youtu.be/9HsAq0E__E0 You're looking to basically adjust this red square left of right so it moves the arrow to the right spot to calibrate. Super easy 🙂

Welcome to the fun! This forum is legitimately awesome. I HOPE you make a journal for your puffer, it's a pretty special individual! Awesome pattern and looks like a great tank!

As far as CO2 goes... the "best" method is going to be a spraybar for circulation. I think, but have never seen someone mod a sponge filter to make that happen. The ACO sponges with a ziss stone would work a bit better in terms of circulation because the bubbles are finer compared to some of the other designs and you can control the size. Regardless of CO2, that's just where my thought process goes to get atmospheric CO2 into the tank as well as other means, directly with pressurized CO2. With anubias, java ferns, I think you'll be better off with a hang on back, literally anything to push flow around. I opted for a Sicce Nano pump that I modded with a spraybar and it wasn't straightforward, but I think it'll be a constant on all my tanks moving forward ~20G or smaller. I really like the use of that type of an output much moreso than any others (hob, etc.) compared to previous methods I have used. That being said.... the "easiest" or cheapest is going to be using a hang on back on the side of a tank as opposed to the back. This forces the water across the top of the tank, then down into the diffuser (hang on back on one side, diffuser on the opposite side). It isn't an option for every tank, but that's worked very well for me previously to get good circulation. Very dependent on tank geometry of course. EDIT: Clearly, the "best method" is a canister with in-line diffuser.... potentially, but a good spraybar setup is still beneficial in that situation for dispersing the co2 across the tank.

@Pepere interesting stuff! Have you ever used a UV system on a tank?

aw see... panda horde lined up in the glass today in the front of the tank as soon as I put the bucket to refill the tank back. LOL..... too adorable, it was like they could smell the cold water!

In the EU for that stuff, they hold the leaf and use a powered toothbrush. Crazy, but I'm sure it works. I've got a few brushes in my kit not for that type of application. KYLO REN! LOL. Sith Trooper looks awesome. I love how they did his entire suit with the robes down to the ground. Impressive artwork for sure.

For sure. I think breather bags are a lot more.... we'll say "easier" to handle because you know the fish has less of a chance of getting knocked all over. I with I could've kept the bags vertical or something, but it worked out.... so now I know I can do it. I was watching Greg Sage talk about it, and his biggest issue is that some shipping companies just refuse to do it outright and it's difficult to do it without going directly through USPS.

I think a 50 lowboy is like.... 10" tall? There was one I found that was a 60G Lowboy, not crazy in terms of size or anything but it gives you a full 12" height. Might be an awesome centerpiece for our column in a peninsula type of setup. No joke.... that's my dream tank, to have something like that for a massive home of corydoras. 12" tall and as big as humanly possible that would fit.

Totally makes sense. ORD, but yeah, I totally understand. Maybe Guppysnail has some recommendations for how low of a salt dose some snails can take? I would assume it isn't much or any salt. I can totally tell you that the shrimp would gravitate towards these areas pretty much daily. They would have an easier time cleaning things if it was trimmed / shorter for them, but stuff like the anubias roots hanging down, they sit there like monkeys in a jungle and go to town on them and they do a great job of removing the algae. If you've ever seen a video of bamboo shrimp sitting right by the outlet of the hang on back with their fans out waving at the current.... that's what shrimp love. To have a place to sit midwater, they can just do their thing. In other situations too they are like army ants and just march around following eachother trying to chase whoever has the biggest algae cookie 😂 I saw my coffeefolia today when I was cleaning the tank and it had a new leaf. Made me feel so happy because the plant isn't rotted (knock on wood) and it's doing ok with everything right now. I moved the scape around, decorated some things, and just enjoyed seeing the progress from where that plant started to now.... yours looks epic. Very big and doing well in that tank, even though it doesn't feel like it!

yeah exactly. Get a gang valve and a few of them if you wish. I tend to lean towards the moss / flat surface for shrimp. Mopani they seem to love, ghostwood, and malaysian driftwood too. I don't know if you do videos or anything, maybe a journal thread. but I think we'd all love to see and benefit from seeing your fish room!

Welcome to the forum @Andy Carter Can you show a photo of how the lights attach to the tank canopy? Marineland might have what you're looking for. It's definitely not easy to find some of those lights here locally or online.

That is unfortunate! Is the setup a situation where you can have two of them, swap them weekly or bi-weekly? I guess in my head I picture putting a new matten behind the old one, and then pulling out the dirty one to clean it? I would love to have a matten style tank for some low flow fish. One day!

I did notice that too.... they added the glo-betta to the left side of the display and then prices looked exactly like what I was seeing online from hobbyists and sellers who would let you pick your betta. Maybe that is how they view it? Or they just did a study that said, this is the average price so let's do that? Hard to say. I keep waiting for Aquahuna to have one that catches my eye and staring at my room on where the tank would go 😂. Have you ever kept a bolivian ram? Me too! Very cool to see. Well said. Sometimes the fish in themselves is the reward and not a breeding colony or an amazing tank. Bettas are the original "centerpiece" and they have gotten a lot of eyes on them for better or worse. The pop out and stand out against so many tank designs and that's before you get to even know them and how they are. My grandpa was going through his cancer treatments and every day he would wake up and talk to his fish and feed em. It was so nice to hear and see that happen despite everything he was going through at the time. Bettas will always be a special fish, and hopefully things improve so more people can enjoy them in future.

LOL, exactly. This is why he is the one doing all the big brain thinking! I totally love his selection though. I enjoy anubias in all it's many forms. ORD, but very much enjoying this!

Very very helpful bits here. When you take the stuff outside of the tank and soak it, what is your method for this? I do have some ideas on "how" but clearly when I did the treatments before I didn't do a great job.

That's unfortunately what happens with a lot of the ghost shrimp. Even as a kid, young hobbyist, I can totally see someone seeing a molt and getting very dejected with the shrimp. I wouldn't be worried, especially if you're just talking about some amanos or some of the caridina species. All depends on what water is, which you mentioned a moment later that you're in the awesome world of neocaridina! Beautiful shrimp. If I was trying to do some sort of "this is how shrimp work" type of a list this is what I would point out: -They like constants, not parameters that jump around. -They are forgiving if things are constant, so be diligent with testing and with maintenance -They are pigs, and no piece of food is too giant for them. They literally will take food and you'll laugh and get upset, but that's just their nature. -If you don't feed them big cookies of algae, then they will graze a ton. Having a scape that benefits that behavior is great for them. They can do fine in basically empty tanks as @tolstoy21 had just showed with their setup and a bazillion beautiful shrimp, but they absolutely love to have things to climb and swim through and on and around.... (which means you need a lit, and not big holes. Try to get it to fit tight, especially when there is flow. -Surfaces that shrimp like: Wood, ceramic, flat rocks, moss on any of those, as well as plants that are easy for them to graze on (larger, flat surfaces). Something like PSO, yeah it has some flat leaves, but once they get to a certain size they can't be bothered. Also, when they get their cookies, they kind of want a place like these mentioned to go and hide out in and eat it. -Feed shrimp specific food ~2x a week or more for their overall health (something specifically for them with calcium and other minerals that fit your variety of shrimp). sidenote: Let's say you had a tank where you want to have an airstone, for me I go back to the gravel filter days and it's one on each side left / right in the back corners. When I have shrimp or need the lid to fit tight, I'll push those in 2-3 inches and use very small cuts on the rear trim piece (or glass) and then try to make sure the lid can close in as many gaps where there are things leading the shrimp out. Especially when new.... kind of a key step until they discover there isn't lakes around the house for them to explore from one place to the next. Snails can do this too.... but they kind of dig the high humidity, lower water level, etc. Shrimp will straight up go and use the HoB like a spa resort if there is an issue in the tank. I can't say it would help, but this is sort of why I always force myself to suffer through the "treat the tank" mindset when something pops up. I guess I don't trust myself enough to identify it and know that it's not going to be something hiding in the substrate or somewhere in the tank waiting to pounce on a weak fish right when it goes back in the tank. Because you're consistently seeing the tank itself rebound back to illness, potentially that's a course to go or something to consider. Even a dose of salt might be all you need. I wouldn't say less..... Given the tank has snails and shrimp, I would almost say more? IDK. I try so hard to keep the substrate clean and I got worms. So there's that. They can, but they can also totally ignore it. If you're feeding them, they will probably ignore it and just go after things on the surfaces of those plants. Not necessarily the plant itself.

It could be a secondary fungal issue. Pretty much any tank in question with illness, you would be safe to add ich-X and treat accordingly. Re-dose after a water change until you're comfortable with the status of all the fish and have treated things effectively. Normally you're talking about 1 week of treatment and ~4+ doses for something bad. For minor issues, you can probably do 2-3 treatments over ~2 weeks.

you definitely, absolutely want to have a diffuser for CO2 and not use something like the sponge (or HOB) to feed in the CO2. If you use a HoB in the method that Cory has shown, the key there is that the CO2 feeds into the intake of the HOB and then the impeller breaks the bubble into micro bubbles. The flow pushes the bubble around the tank, and then that diffuses into the water. What you're looking for is to get the bubbles as fine as you can, diffusers are cheap and extremely easy to care for. They seem intimidating, but it is literally the most visual part of having pressurized CO2 and what is attributed to the "beauty" when it turns on for you each day. I find myself enjoying watching the bubbles come out, especially when it's doing it's thing and the tank is doing well. You likely don't want to have the CO2 next to the sponge, but you probably want to have a pumphead or some sort of spraybar type of output to push the flow across / around the tank pointed towards the diffuser in some capacity. The sponge will simply push the bubbles up and they likely won't go back down / around the tank easily. Especially without being diffused beforehand.

I would start with..... what kind of substrate? what kind of plant? For just about everything my tips would be to use your hand, try to gently get your fingers underneath the plant (about 2-3" around the base) and feel where the roots are going. gently release them and move the substrate around until the plant can be uprooted. Then, you might want to trim the roots if some are very long and/or split the children off the runners, then replant. I toss those into a bucket of tank water to keep them wet (or specimen container) and then go ahead and move them to where need be.

Not a joke... but a serious comment about "overstocking" and such. I think you just need a lot more surface area for them. Wood, something like ghostwood or mopani would be great, especially with moss glued to it for them to hang out with. Barring that... about 50+ moss balls would be epic.

Some swordtails 🙂 I have a pic of the male in my journal, more coming soon. I started the algae experiments thread where I will definitely have some more pics and video. I didn't have a specific box / set of supplies, as it was my first time shipping these. The plan was to have a "breeding colony" of sorts, just meaning the request was to have the option to have fry. As a result of the supplies I had on hand I could fit 2 bags in there, potentially 3 if I had cut the bags in half. Rachel O'Leary's video had suggested doing the whole "shake" to release the toxin and I really didn't want to do that to these. I understand the logic behind it, but ultimately I wanted them to arrive unstressed. I had 2 females per bag, then filled in the males as needed. One bag had 4, the other 5. In a perfect world, I would have individually bagged and then put all of those into a larger bag (the bags I had) and then done it that way. They did ok. It definitely wasn't perfect, but I did Dean's trick of taping the corners and stuff so they couldn't get tossed into a seam.

I am pretty sure they won't grow in brackish conditions. Hopefully someone with some experience there can confirm or explain why/why not for us!