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nabokovfan87

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Everything posted by nabokovfan87

  1. nabokovfan87
    Why do I get the feeling @Chick-In-Of-TheSea knows someone who has one of these or has one in the broom closet. 😂 Honestly, I'd love that job!
  2. nabokovfan87
    One more, sorry, I had to re-glue some anubias before I could snap the photo. These are all the same 2 cheap pieces of wood and the same two rocks. Just very interesting placement options! Fish enjoy the tank to be moved around too and when you see them to have a place they like, especially the centerpiece fish, you'll find a good spot and everything will settle scape-wise. @Cinnebuns ^^ It really, really depends. I typically try to find 20lb or larger "lots". Larger lot meaning, you have a good chance of getting a much larger stone. If you get a per lb box, you might get something like: Ultimately, it really depends on what size stone you're looking for and how much / many of them. The ones I got from ACO were WYSIWYG style, but they haven't had that for a little while. There is other places to check out and you can get similar or "random" lots. The same type of rules would apply generally, more lbs = larger stones overall. Home depot and Lowes used to sell them from lifegard aquatics in lots like this for crazy cheap. Once youtubers got wind, the masses knew, and now that's not as readily available.
  3. nabokovfan87
    yes! A natural tank! The wood looks pretty awesome. Moss on the top / surface of the mopani is a great start if you like the "grassy hill" type of a look. The nice thing about the driftwood you have is that it provides verticality. Especially in a 29G. Let me show you something...... brb (snapping photos and moving hardscape for demo) Alright, because of the shape of the wood you have, you can do something like this and potentially use rocks in such a way to give it movement. It's "active" wood in terms of it's a branch with texture and twists and branches and not a stump. It makes your eye look along it, rather than at it. I have 2-3 pieces that were just dirt cheap but they are what I had available and what I started with. Pop on some plants and you turn that into an amazing little environment for a lot of plants, fish, and it's visually interesting. It looks much better in person 🙂 Current setup: Adjusting it to be "taller" to fit the tank better: I can flip these things around and there's a ton of ways to place them and visually make it interesting, but to give the fish a cave/hide as well. It's how I use the random bits of hardscape that don't quite work well, but I just like the look of each piece individually. It's 1/2-1/3 the price of going out and buying some designer WYSIWG pieces, but I really like having this type of a tank and seeing what can be done with some effort and futzing around.
  4. nabokovfan87
    Let me know if you need anything. As you know, basket is very very easy to mod. so is cutting sponge for said basket (or making sure the sponge you have actually fits well enough).
  5. nabokovfan87
    I have tried peroxide once. Directly. Out of the tank. It didn't do anything. I had the anubias / hardscape out during a deep clean and drenched it with the spray bottle of the peroxide, brand new bottle. I let it sit, definitely didn't do things correctly, and it literally did nothing. Sometimes algae is just a pain and the recommended method is always to fix the issue you're having, understand what's causing it, then remove it (using a variety of methods that work best to do so) and then continually doing removal if it blooms.
  6. nabokovfan87
    Very situational and algae dependant. I honestly don't know, but I've dipped some stuff 2-3x and still had issues. It's not a magic bullet so to speak and there's a ton that goes into fighting algae and actually removing it from the system. RR as a dip is probably a great way to view it to treat plants coming in, but in an infested setup, very different story. @nabokovfan87 I've seen it, but I appreciate it. Definitely one of the things to try.
  7. nabokovfan87
    Looks beautiful. I really love the 21:9 proportions on a tank.
  8. nabokovfan87
    Once you get to 50 posts there is a section on the forums where you can also try to rehome the fish. 🙂
  9. nabokovfan87
    Try making a snail trap. For the loaches, I usually use a specimen container when things get real bad and pretend it's a net. They will eventually go in the box. I just use my hand and they tend to move away from it. Hopefully that helps in some way! Please feel better, stay strong, and try to recover as best you can.
  10. nabokovfan87
    Be safe please!
  11. nabokovfan87
    Ah.... ridgecrest is a nice road to drive! They work really well depending on room size.
  12. nabokovfan87
    I totally agree. My issue is that "stuff that got stuck" more often than not was wide body fish (green tiger barbs and odessa barbs) @TeeJay I woke up and the flow output seemed a bit wonky. I checked the sponge, it shifted slightly or something. Water level seemed slightly higher than usual, but I didn't see much of an issue with regards to the sponge. I need to either do a better job of setting things up, but the 35 is back to running the basket and sponges that I cut myself. Potentially viewing the basket as a chute / holder and nothing more, even if you cut everything off and stuff the side with sponge..... it might make a lot of sense to leave the chute section there, adhered in some way, if you really need it. Because the Tidal 35 is a bit more of a pressure fit, it would (or should) be able to sit in there without much hassle. If I had an extra basket I'd chop one up. For now, I can simply recommend for the tidal 35: A. Start with all phase 1 changes, specifically cutting your own sponges, preferably bumpy B. Make sure you stuff the weight in there as even as you can so the water level is as low as you can make it during each cleanout C. Use a piece of fine sponge / pad to cover up the window cutout. For the tidal 35 specifically.... those 3 things work really well to get it running nicely in my experience without much hassle. This is quite a bit less hassle than trying to stuff the Tidal with sponge without a basket in there to hold things in place.
  13. nabokovfan87
    I literally feed the amanos, then feed everything else. That's just how they are. "MINE!" *run scared into a bush and eat it* They are brave for 5 seconds and then they are little chickens. 😂 That Amano loves the anubias, it's looking really good! Please feel better, I'm sorry about the injury and pain you're going through. Interesting! (I'll send a DM) I just got some water bottles to try to deal with the heat. Drop those into the tank and hopefully those help out. I totally can relate, wishing for the best for you!
  14. nabokovfan87
    Question for my own knowledge. On a tank in this situation trying to operate after a water softener. If the softener system does use salt, would the tank have issues because you're literally dosing it with salt whenever you do a WC and that would be the issue with plants? I looked at the photos and was expecting a ton of algae, but didn't see too much. Please excuse my ignorance for what the softener machines actually do. I haven't used one and always lived with hard water my entire life. I have been to other states and experienced the difference in water feel, but not used it for keeping fish or understood what is going on chemically.
  15. nabokovfan87
    What kind of gravel? Does any of it have white pebbles or marbling on the rocks? I don't think oxygenation would raise it that much. Because there's a discrepancy between the tank and the tap I would run an off-gas test. A. Take a sample from your tap and test that for everything you can. B. Take that same sample and aerate it with an airstone for 24 hours, re-test. (this is what your tank would see when you do a WC) C. Compare test B results to your tank parameters.
  16. nabokovfan87
    If it's been 12 hours, I would do a second WC. When I have severe issues I will do one in the AM and one in the PM as need be. Whenever I spike nitrite / Ammonia really high I immediately do a big WC and then dose salt (helps with the burn). I generally don't dose prime or use those to detoxify anything. I am not saying it's a good or bad idea, just that I personally don't do that. It is added as part of the WC, but I won't go out of my way to dose 5x dose or anything, I would verify the pump and impeller are working at full force, go ahead and do a deep clean on that, and then keep an eye on it. Sometimes you'll get that bacteria snot and that will delay the ability for the bacteria to take hold (snot it really hard to get through is the best way I can explain it). If you're specifically able to, I would also dose in bacteria in a bottle after a few days of severe issues. Especially if you're seeing the snot, that usually "helps" when I get to that point in a bad crash / equipment failure. Final thing I would suggest, is dropping in an airstone if you haven't already. Especially if you're adding salt. Test the tap water also for nitrite / ammonia. Chloramines could show up as ammonia, so if you see ammonia, run an off-gas test. Perfect If you're removing the fish / snails you can just do a full WC and you don't have to worry about much of anything until you get parameters where you need to.
  17. nabokovfan87
    They literally could've used a tidal 55 and just put a pump that was smaller on it. Which is funny because every difference between the tidal 35 and the 55 is not great. I don't even understand why they "added a skimmer" because the entire pump is literally in the water and not covered on 65% of it's sides. -Worse leveling piece -Worse flow control dial -No intake filter -"Skimmer" -Basket doesn't have the side cutout so 1 section of the sponge is literally pointless -no tab to lock down the basket from floating, it's a pressure fit, so it actually works slightly better than all the other tidals in terms of bypass because it is a tighter fit As a designer, I can understand partially, some of the filter changes. But then you dig deeper and see this stuff: They literally use the Tidal 55, all existing parts, ZERO design cost or time to change this..... They assign a new pump part number with a modified impeller design. "Done"
  18. nabokovfan87
    To add onto the conversation of the Tidal 35 and it's very specific design issues I wanted to use mine to run a test which should be a very simple and straightforward method to operate these filters. This will work for literally any of them. Let me break down the setup and then we'll dig into a few assumptions prior to running tests with this setup. Note: All I have is bumpy foams to cut up. You can use other foams, they will work fine, I just don't have anything on hand. 2 notes: -All sides of the sponge are generally going to be curved or beveled in some direction. It is much easier if you have a big chunk or AC70 sponge, for instance, and then can whittle it away. This is what makes it easier to clean and trim to fit. -When you have the chute guide (basket) missing there is a section to the right of the blue chute cover where the water can easily bypass and move to the output flow path. This is the downside of every single R-->L or L-->R design typically because the pump is on the top of the water level and not the base of the HoB. (yes, this even applies to AC filters). In the video I try to show and demonstrate this section. Ultimately, you have a shim of plastic to try to hold all of this fine pad into place and you don't want it to cover the chute itself. I will run this for a little bit and report back, especially on ease of maintenance. Best of luck to @TeeJay and hopefully this helps to setup his filter!
  19. nabokovfan87
    It won't let me quote the vid sooooooooo..... That's very cool. I like the setup and the rube golberg type of mechanism to get all this to work. I counted 5? 5+ things you had to purchase just to get a water fill done and not destroy the scape. I am at a loss for words how we go through all this hassle just to get products to work. I am sure, certain, marineland, aqueon, Top fin, Fluval, Seachem, Sicce, Python, Caribsea, Imagitarium, and ACO could easily take the problem solution and make a kit. Add on something that just works, it all works well enough to make us not to have to go to 5+ different sources for parts, it's manufactured and assembles easily, etc. It's been what is it, 5 years and I'm still trying to get a filter to work well enough so I don't have to clean it every 3 days. I just don't get it!!!! Ok... / rant aside. I am totally going to have to get this functioning for when things hit the fan and I have my 75 back up and no method at all to do a water change. (note: the current method would be to run 100' hose with no way to control temp, to disassemble a window and screen and run the python over a computer and bunch of electronics and still have no way to control temp, or to disassemble a shower every time) It is such a hassle, such a pain, when you don't have a utility sink in a fishroom and want to have an easier time than buckets and ice cubes to get water changes sorted. I really dig the setup, and the effort to get all that done. It's one of the things a lot of beginners never consider, but tank placement is such a huge factor to success and enjoyment.
  20. nabokovfan87
    It's a 2 pack. I use versatop. They are amazing quality, thick glass, fit well. I believe I ordered them online and had them shipped (usually cheapest at the big box store if they don't have them in stock) Current price $55 on the website. 48" x 18" lid set.
  21. nabokovfan87
    I totally understand that. In the first post in the journal link in my signature there's the pic of my 75G. It shows the setup. I had 2 HOBs and stuff on the sidewalls. I like the ziss because it specifically doesn't take up plant space and keeps the floor of the tank available. I'll be intrigued to see what you end up with! Marineland penguin pro might be a good option for your situation.
  22. nabokovfan87
    "Whale tail" pandas are just too much. You take the awesomeness of the panda and their personality and they just look like little Orcas when they grow up 😂 Love it. So cool that you have some!
  23. nabokovfan87
    I would go with the 24" light. I had a 24" on a 30" long tank and had some issues with it. The key here being.... the light is 24" long, but how long is the LED section itself? 20"? 22"? So you might end up with a 24" long fixture that fits the tank well and have the right length of light.
  24. nabokovfan87
    I use 1-2 Ziss bubble bio moving bed filters for that case. It does slightly polish the water and are easy to clean (remove the sponge into a bag, clean it off, etc. If y It runs on air, you can run 1-3 pretty easily as well. Sponges, depending if you're looking for fine filtration. If you want a cheap, reliable, HoB option I would just run something with a pump in the tank and then run it with filter floss. This doesn't help the bacteria issue, but it would be the polishing filter you're looking for. Marineland also sells an internal, specifically for the purpose of internal polishing. As a sidenote, potentially you might just need to adjust how the canister is setup? Have you checked to see if pondguru has a setup guide for that one, how does it compare to your setup?
  25. nabokovfan87
    I have used that stuff too, works fine. I had some False Julii's on it, which will nestle down in the substrate a bit more than the pygmy corydoras would. Just keep an eye out if you start to see the paint removed, I never had issues with it, but others have reported that happening on some batches. I just added a video I found for a long time photo I reference for the Tidal 35! So that's cool. As always, if you have any questions please feel free to reach out. Best of luck with the tank, I'm excited to see it once you have stuff all setup.
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