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nabokovfan87

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Everything posted by nabokovfan87

  1. nabokovfan87
    Exactly. A lot of things are easier to spot if you spend the time to do so. It's something where you may wish you had, but it's just a situation where if you have the ability to do so, do it. You can also take wood / rock from the established tank and move it to the shrimp container / QT tank / Tub to ease that transition.
  2. nabokovfan87
    Especially with manzanita I'm familiar with that powder you're talking of. When I was using a razor to scrape off hard attached bits of the algae it was essentially that same layer and it was basically mulm, but still attached to the wood itself. On the mopani, we'll see what happens, but it's a bit different externally on the structure of the wood itself. I'll have the two pieces side by side, so it'll be nice to see the difference. Top of the wood is light, bottom of the wood is very dark which provides two methods to see the difference in change as well. Fun stuff! First batch is done, sitting in the freshwater now. 🙂
  3. nabokovfan87
    The stuff I was using was very flexible, very thin. I went to pull the basket out and just completely forgot it was there. The silicone itself isn't great at bonding to the plastic. Very smooth, molded plastic, and the cover piece is very smooth as well. There's a few ways to handle it, bonding holes is the easiest way, or prepping the surface properly. Typical bonding prep: 1. Clean the surface well (usually isopropyl alcohol or Acetone depending on material) 2. Scuff the surface wish a metal brush, scotch brite pad, or some other media 3. Re-Clean the surface 4. Apply the adhesive 5. Clean off excess I think I found some better plastic to use in the cover, but something like super glue compared to silicone for this use might be a better use for something flexible. the only reason to avoid use of that right now is because it's mostly destructive and melts plastic when it bonds it.
  4. nabokovfan87
    I just opened it last night and have a second bottle unopened. 1.5L+2L
  5. nabokovfan87
    One tip to mention also, especially for new CO2 setups.... Always check your CO2 daily, for the first few days. It's going to equalize and pressures will slightly shift. Your bubble counter might change and you might miss that your bubble rate changed ever so slightly. This could lead to you using too much CO2 or too little CO2 and either case is a waste!
  6. nabokovfan87
    I can absolutely try it if someone says "yep it won't pose a risk" but it's in my panda tank. I can run it, then leave it out of the tank for a few days after just to be safe? My only real concern was that it would leech into the wood and then slowly leech out if I add it to the tank. I'm guessing I would see a lot of discoloration on the wood as well if this was the case and there would be some sort of indication. Do you think it's worth a shot or is the wood going to absorb some and retain it? Also of note. If this is worth it, then I have one piece of untreated wood in the same tank and will be able to track progress as well that way.
  7. nabokovfan87
    When you say "my tap water" above do you mean immediately from the tap or is this after things have off-gassed? To test the off-gassed parameters of your tap water, you would have a more accurate view of the water after it's added to your tank and what you can expect to happen when you perform a WC. Essentially you'd take the tap water, aerate it for 24 hours with an airstone, and then test it at that point. Compare that to your water parameters in the tank. As for what someone told you, it's incorrect, regarding API Quick Start Regarding why your PH crashed, please read this and feel free to ask any questions you may have. https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/ph-gh-kh Essentially, you can use up ONE bottle of beneficial bacteria source and then check your status. Right now, you're doing so many things that it's difficult for the tank to do what it needs to. Because the tank is understocked you can easily control ammonia / nitrite levels via water changes and not need to use ammonia lock. Adding the crushed coral is going to be the easiest way to help the situation, so will aragonite sand (same stuff). the issue is you could be starting at a very low PH and going up to 8.0 as a final result and that will definitely stress the fish. They'd need to be moved to somewhere else while the tank adjusts or you can run a test in something like a 5G bucket if you have a pumphead / airstone. I don't think you want to remove all of your rock substrate and replace it with crushed coral / sand, but that is the easiest way for longer term stability on the tank. Cory's advice will be to find a species that does well in the water you have.
  8. nabokovfan87
    I broke it.... I have to dry out the modded basket, reattach the window cover piece that broke off and then let that cure. The fluval mech ceramic media did fit into the bottom of the tidal 55 without issue, didn't help one lick to stop the bypass on the window piece. I'll have an update when I have some progress.
  9. nabokovfan87
    @dasaltemelosguy@Guppysnail@Odd Duck@OnlyGenusCaps I have a mostly unused bottle of fresh seltzer and a piece of wood with a few anubias on it. Has this been tested at all with hardscape and wood specifically? Thoughts?
  10. nabokovfan87
    I would build a frame on the top of the cabinet with 2x4's or something oriented vertically, preferably loading the actual sides of the cabinet itself. Then the coundertop attaches to that frame, then the tank on the countertop. If the casters are plastic, no. You'd literally just remove them and then it "might work" but that's assuming the steel itself is strong enough to take the weight. This is also another option. But I don't know if you really want to go down the route of trying to move a loaded fish tank. That's why I was trying to understand if the wheels were necessary or not. Looks to be similar in construction to this one, but I don't see specs for weight limits. https://medlinecapitalquote.com/products/steel-crash-cart-by-waterloo-healthcare/ I found one on amazon, lists it as Load Capacity 300 lb I don't trust that to be reliable, but just wanted to note it.
  11. nabokovfan87
    I got some seltzer...... I'll be sure to edit this post with details and what not here shortly. I have 2 plants to run. AN ENTIRE TANK, but I'll start with these 2 😂. Anubias Nangi (been struggling for a while) Susswassertang on mesh (new to me, already ruined by BBA) Anubias Nana (from the Panda tank, not nearly as bad as the others) This is the setup for me. I ticked some holes in the top and then I covered the entire thing with a towel as well. The entire room is dark also.
  12. nabokovfan87
    Expel-P: Typically for internal parasites Paracleanse: Typically for external parasites I have run both, no issues with either. Of note, when you run Expel-P, be sure to black out the tank for 24 hours. Light breaks down the medication (Levamisole) With both of these you're typically going to want to run 2 treatments, sometimes 3 if you see the parasites directly. I had some fish that seemingly never were interested in being fish. Layed on the bottom, etc. After about a year I decided to run them for internal parasites. They never really showed an interest in food and that can be one of the symptoms. It's just something to note, as you see the fish behave you may wish you did treat them. I do appreciate the approach of only treating them when it makes sense to do so. You would do one med, then give the fish a rest, then do the other. Cory has a really awesome video on the topic.
  13. nabokovfan87
    At the old house my KH was just high enough to be stable and it was AWESOME water. It's just finicky right now. I use Seachem Alkaline buffer when I do WCs. I wish I had a giant container to precondition water and just do it that way, much more stable. Just run both! ACO has their version of the sponge filter and might work well for you too. I highly recommend the Ziss air stones and a metal gang valve as well (or metal valves in general. It's not too bad, just finicky. I modded mine, not bad at all. I WISH I still had it.
  14. nabokovfan87
    This might be causing stress. It's something to look into. I don't know who keeps them for breeding here or anything like that, but I would be interested at what "optimal" PH is for these guys. We know what caused the initial stress and that should all be resolved. Just a note. That sucks. I don't know if it's worth the risk of sanding given how full and gigantic his fins are normally. Someone else can comment as well, but they don't look like detritus worms, or.... I should say.... These look very different than the worms I had. They look flat, but they don't look like planaria. They look like the rhabdocoela type to me. Depending on how you want to handle it.... I would start GB on the Neolplex as soon as you can in either tank. That is to give him the best chance to get rid of this thing once and for all. If that doesn't work after 1-2 doses, then you'd be looking at the final antibacterial med. Adding Ich-X as well during this treatment would not be a bad idea. Salt, also is very typical in this situation. As for the worms..... I treated mine with Paracleanse (I was treating with paracleanse, then the worms showed up). It did not make a dent with that at all, but due to just general discovery of the issue and manual removed I got rid of a lot of the worms. Then I dosed salt and that seemed to work, but I did still see a lot of them active. I am now finishing treatment for parasites with Expel-P and I haven't seen any (fingers crossed). I would recommend starting with a big cleaning, check the pump impeller, clean everything really well to make sure. These buggers look like almost nothing, but it's actually a giant stack of worms. this was where I saw mine. In your case, I would start with the big cleaning as mentioned but use something (not your hand) and try to disturb the heck out of the substrate and gravel vac and clean everything as much as you can. Use the pinch method that Cory uses to vacuum the heck out of the sand and you'll see a ton of them get removed. At night is also the best time to look for them, that I've found. Hopefully someone can provide a better ID, but that seemingly worked for mine.
  15. nabokovfan87
    So.... This might be the issue you're having. At minimum you're going to want to have Seachem flourish and seachem trace. I highly recommend an all-in-one like easy green. Plants like PSO / Water sprite in my experience enjoy light. If you have the light on high, whatever light it is, they will usually grow really well and either one can be grown in the substrate as mentioned by @Chick-In-Of-TheSea or floating. In Cory's tubs he uses these two as floating plants and you can see the progress over time and how well it grows! I am just guessing the plants didn't have enough of whatever they wanted. Anubias is a very low light plant, floaters get a lot of their stuff from the water and air, but might not be as sensitive as other plants. Anubias especially can grow extremely well in some pretty low conditions (low nutrients and low light). Other plants like stems, PSO and water sprite and others, will require a bit more care and attention. Things like root tabs help, water column fertilizers, and a decent light. If you would like to, please feel free to share your light so we can see what plants might work best. As for the Seachem, how often are you dosing the chemical? How much? and what is your water parameters for nitrate when you test it? Finally, welcome to the forum!
  16. nabokovfan87
    Legitimately thought that first photo was of the most amazing bolivian ram I've ever seen! Then I saw the tail. 😂 Absolutely awesome photos and fish. Nice!!!
  17. nabokovfan87
    Won't let me upload a video. Please try to upload it to youtube and post the link here. You can upload it as unlisted so only people here with the video in this thread are able to see it if you wish 🙂 This might just be them chewing the food to get smaller bites. ACO has the fry food in a squeeze bottle as well as nano pellets. I would recommend either of those for you in future to make it a bit easier on you. Try to get the flake into a fine powder and it should be much easier for them to eat without chewing.
  18. nabokovfan87
    YEP! So you have the same, very annoying water that I have where the KH is just low enough to cause total Chaos. From the tap PH is probably 6.8, but after the tank gets a hold it drops to 6.5 and then 6.0 pretty quickly. Chasing the KH (to keep PH stable) is where I run into issues. The short version is, your KH (buffer) is 40 ppm right now and you want it at about 80 if you can get it there. Your PH will be around 7.0-7.2 at that point. If you want to keep certain species with lower PH you can run it at 60 ppm for your KH and PH is about 6,8 and will stay stable slightly longer for you. https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/ph-gh-kh Now the question is, how to do this.... If you can, the easiest way is to add crushed coral to your substrate. it can be pretty sharp so I don't recommend it for some bottom fish, but generally it wears away and is pretty mild. It is also sold commonly as aragonite but you don't necessarily need to have "that much" to get your KH up 20-40 ppm. I added ~1 lb to my tank and was in the 60's pretty easily. I would recommend adding 1-2 lbs to your tank and you'll be "fine". It's a pain to run it in the filter, but that is an option if you wish. FILTER: Right now you're running the 10G version, you can easily upgrade to the 20 or 30G version whenever you choose. I would always recommend to replace the cartridges with sponges at the very least. If you wish, you can also add ceramic media. Here is the thread with some examples on how to do this! Modifying your filter will mean that you have a more stable setup because of how some cartridge filters work they don't really support a ton of bacteria to keep ammonia low.
  19. nabokovfan87
    YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hahaha. It looks like there's some contamination on the results. Here's a video to help out with that! The tank looks awesome! What filter is that and how do you have it setup?
  20. nabokovfan87
    Update. I am also looking at this one shrimp in my tank with heavy suspicion now. The big box store might've had some Aussies. I'll attach photos, but the big thing for me is that this shrimp is MASSIVE.
  21. nabokovfan87
    I would QT them for at least 30 days and then go ahead and monitor them for signs of issues. One of the most common is going to be a thing on their nose / rostrum. Because they are translucent you can see worms internally also.
  22. nabokovfan87
    Because of all of the struggle and trying to sort through issues, I want to take a step back and recommend something very specific. 1. Keep up with weekly 50% water changes, keep an eye on the fish for signs of weird behavior or breathing issues, and if you see foam at the top of the waterline. 2. Run carbon in your filter for now. 3. Buy some test strips, Either the Aquarium co-op multi-test strips or the tetra test strips is what I recommend. 4. Test your water, report back so we can get an idea of where you're at. 5. Find a bacteria starter (something like seachem stability or Fritz Zyme 7) and start dosing that daily. Day 1 is a 2x dose, every day following is a normal dose. 6. Get some aquarium salt and have that on hand 7. Add an airstone if you don't have one already. ^^ In terms of test strips there is one set for ammonia, one set for everything else, you NEED both when you first start out, but in terms of trying to sort through everything right now, if money is an issue, get the 6-in-1 test strips. Please feel free to attach photos so we can see how things are looking and get an idea of your setup / filtration. Yep! Just because of the lights, but this is great to help out the ammonia issue right now. Set the light to as low as you can, for about 8 hours per day. I highly recommend the kasa smart outlets.
  23. nabokovfan87
    This is the same for us in SoCal. This is what I'm used to. I've seen people wanting to sell a 100ish gallon aquarium for thousands of dollars because it "works" too. Essentially, what I usually see, is you can buy something beat up, dirty, contaminated, for the price of shipping or going to go drive to get it.... or you see the opposite end of someone selling something that is so broken down it might as well just be recycled, but the person is trying to get a buck for it. That's when you have the "I don't know if it works, buy at own risk, parts only" type of listings. Aquabid is also a great place to check for equipment.
  24. nabokovfan87
    I've used Aqueon's, Seachems, Fritz, Microbe-lift, and Tetra and all of them worked fine. Whenever I have any issues with ammonia I fall back to using Seachem's version due to the ease of use and directions. Honestly, check the dates on the bottles in the store, whatever is "the most fresh" is the one I'd recommend. I prefer the method for Seachem's because it seems to work well. Day 1: Large dose (2x normal dose) Day 2-7: normal dose
  25. nabokovfan87
    In his vlog, cory positioned his above the tanks. Nice work. Someone had to run the test for us! Welcome to the forum also!
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