nabokovfan87

Absolutely! The pandas are zooming around, I saw one holding eggs. 2 sponges and 1 ziss in a 29G seems to make them very excited and after the water change, 2-3 days or so, a big feeding, and they are off and running again. What I wouldn't give to get the black corys to act like my pandas 😂 I post videos sometimes and it's of "breeding behavior" but sometimes I don't know if it makes sense. There's definitely a difference!

Make sure it's aerated or that will alter results.

I don't know the landscape, but is there any way to put it out of reach of the butts? Maybe having it against the wall or something would stop whomever is flicking those in from doing it? Maybe a sign that says "beware of fish"? 😂 😕 Hopefully everything is ok given the fire. It's always slightly concerning and went outside today to that all too familiar smoke smell. I found this thismorning, It might not be exactly what fits the role, but I do enjoy a lot of these from this channel just for the sake of having the picture and noise. Might be worth running some carbon due to the butts. IDK. I feel bad that it's happening to the little fish. Very cool of you to share the pond. One day I'll be able to enjoy one. I'm glad you had the fun surprise of finding the fish!

I have 2 bottles of Ich-X which are "expired" based on the date on them. I had both of the API big tubs as well that had some left, but I opted to replace. For whatever reason I had read that Ich-X doesn't expire. Same thing with Methylene blue and a few others. Is there someone here with better knowledge than me that can put me at ease or provide some guidance on how to dispose of meds if they are indeed expired? For Ich-X this is what I found: For the API meds from the Trio I read that they will work, but just likely will be "less effective". I also have Prazipro and Cupramine which are very likely going to both be past due on the date on the bottle. For Prazipro: For Cupramine:

My preference is for Rasboras / Barbs, BUT..... There are a few tetras that make the cut for me. I would definitely push you to go check out chili rasboras 😉 I tent to not like the flat bodied tetras. I prefer more of the emperor tetra for size/shape or the neon varieties. Aquahuna does have some albino neon's in stock, something cool to check out that might not be around often for some hobbyists. Neons, Green Neons, Rummynose, Embers, and Emperor Tetras would be my go to. Also on Aquahuna and I wish I could get some: https://aquahuna.com/collections/tetra/products/black-emperor-tetra-8-pack

The only way to explain is to show you. LOL. *goes to dig in tubs*

Quite amazing fry too. Charles (goliad) might have some relevant info on his website for his livebearer issues he's had. I don't know if any is tied to water parameters.

I'm gonna end up digging out my giant piece of Seiryu aren't I. LOL My S. Repens seems to be slowly growing. It's so on the edge and the new growth is so small. I feel like I have some micro/nana petite version, but I know I don't. I'll snag photos one day, but I ended up breaking a stem to plant it and it actually looks normal again instead of just a stalk with a few leaves on it. Slowly but surely..... Very impatiently waiting to hit the button on CO2.

Kind of a difficult one to answer, but I equate it to this... Some people prefer beef, some prefer chicken, some seafood, and a lot of that is based on regional cuisine based on what they grow up around. In terms of how species adapt to their surroundings with diet and preference, they also adapt in many ways to the environment in terms of PH, KH, GH, etc. Best example I can give you from the hobby is discus. Many people say they need very specific parameters, are a very sensitive fish, and ultimately "can only be kept" in that type of an environment. Shrimp are the same way. But then we hear across the pond they have them under completely different parameters. The problem is that we live in a world where information is available, but not necessarily the information we actually need. Plato's Cave. We can only make opinions and gain knowledge based on what's right in front of us. I might go to the store, see one set of requirements. Then I'll check online on a trusted website and find another set of requirements. Then I talk to a friend and they tell me what they use with the same fish. Unfortunately, one of the biggest things we cannot control and don't know is what is the fish actually used to. I had a new species come in and I had pretty much no information on them whatsoever. I didn't know if they preferred warmer water or cooler water. I didn't know what type of food they preferred or how much light they preferred. I don't know what type of a scape to give them to make them feel comfortable and it wasn't a species where I could just look online and find out. Ultimately, I started with what I thought made sense, and I watched. Then I would raise the temp or try different things and try to listen to what the fish did. They wouldn't eat when the temp was a certain point. Then at one point they did eat, but then they wouldn't swim at all. Then they would only eat one type of food and not others that I assumed they would enjoy. That is where all of this information is coming from is people trying things, trying to figure it out, and then trying to bounce that off of what does the natural environment tell us. Same thing when people ask if corydoras must have sand. Not at all. Is it better for them? Pretty much, yes. Do the fish need a PH of 6.5 or 7? I mean, my water changes that much daily it seems like. Do they need "hard water" or just "slightly hard water"? I'd refer to shrimp, discus, and cichlids as to why they would or wouldn't. But I think we all agree stable tank, acclimating to those parameters and being able to thrive, that's what matters. I also don't know if having fry equals success. You might start seeing deformities down the line. This is probably a really good question to ask Goliad Farms.

I've been re-watching the "how to" videos on meds because I am about to go through it all again. One thing Cory mentioned was that with some treatments you want to treat multiple at once because you may cause one issue when you fix one thing. Example being, ICH, you could have open sores as a result, you need to then treat bacterial infection wounds. https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/how-to-treat-ich-on-freshwater-fish Just something to keep in mind. The first 2 fish still have Ich as well, so you're going to need to keep treating the tank. From the Cory video, feed every 3-4 days. lightly, spirulina or some brine shrimp so it helps them clear everything out internally. Depends how you're using it, and how much. It took me about 3ish weeks to see it. By raising KH, PH will raise slightly. You can use wood or other things to lower PH, or some of the products designed to adjust KH+PH at a ratio. Something like Seachem Alkalinity buffer and Acid buffer are designed that way.

They have them on amazon. I can't speak to quality or how any of them work. bi-weekly I will suggest shaking the heater in the tank to remove any detritus. It gets caught in the guard and can end up blocking the flow.

I made a thread to break down basically everything step by step as I fix things. I have used every model of tidal for a while and done a lot of these same "fixes" on all of them in order to get them to work a bit better. Please feel free to ask me any questions you may have specifically. Despite the issues, they are still the best HoB for me on the market. A lot of other people have moved to using the Fluval X07 series canisters for larger tanks as well. What did you use to adhere it?

As for the feeding question, this video has a section to discuss this.

As mentioned above, yep! Depending on the "power" of your pump you should be able to hook up two stones. More flow, more surface agitation, more aeration. That's what it would do.

No matter where you buy them from QT is recommended. Part of that, for me, is to protect the rest of your fish by using the med trio as that QT methodology as well. I would let the fish acclimate for a week, up to two weeks before meds if you can. This basically helps you from wasting meds and gives the fish a chance to survive, given the high risk of issues you're experiencing.

The key is to know what the parameters of the water going in the tank are, as well as what the parameters of the tank are. Those two things give you an idea of what your WC will accomplish or result in. If you have water with nitrates in it for instance, some even have water with ammonia. If you had a lot of rocks, you'll have GH/KH changes as well. There's a few variables that can change from the tap to the tank, so it's good to know what your water parameters are after it off-gasses.

Definitely worth doing, so you know what the parameters of your water are after off-gassing

Agreed. I think I prefer the brown stems.

Makes sense. I think for the shop it makes sense to treat with meds right away, especially given their QT setup. For the home hobbyist, it makes a lot of sense to let the fish acclimate for 1 week, then treat with meds. Again, assuming the tank is cycled.

I don't think there was anything wrong with your method. The tank just wasn't cycled. I think you treated the fish with meds correctly, but needed more time for the tank. Here's a vid on QT tank setup if it helps you.

Would you do the 30-50% WC indicated on the meds, then redose, just to finish treatment and then do the daily 50%? I don't know if it's better to stop treatment and re-treat with meds in a week or so or to finish it out for 3 more days.

I have used Ich-X, General Cure, and Erithromycin. I will receive the fritz versions tomorrow for treatment. On sensitive species, shrimp, I drip acclimate using a specimen container/cup method you're describing. You can set up an airline hose and literally "drip" acclimate with a valve as well. those are generally the recommended methods. If the fish are stressed then there is the plop/drop method that can be used as well. Here's a good video to check out. What is your PH, KH, GH out of the tap? what is it after you aerate that same cup of water from the tap after 24 hours? The main thing is to have it stable, let the fish adapt to your water.

Welcome to the forum! How did you introduce them to the tank? Can you please let us know your water parameters? Typically something like this happens when the fish aren't happy in the store and then the stress of acclimation usually just ends poorly. It happens to a lot of people far too often, unfortunately. I have done the med trio a few times and didn't have any issues like that. ACO has done it a few thousand times and I think their experience speaks for itself. Hopefully this makes sense.... you can wait for petco to get a new batch or check out something like aquahuna. what are the water test result values? what are the status of med treatment? Did the filter dry out in the time you placed it into your water? How long was it in the tank before adding fish?

red root floaters (pecktec has a video on them) and then Salvinia (there's a few species) but those are the ones that "look nice" to me.

Makes sense. You said you reinforced the back where shown. Did you reinforce the front? If the topmost surface is strong, it might crush something weaker underneath, that's my concern. So the cabinet is a skeleton/shape, but you'd basically be reinforcing it the same way that they do roll cages for cars. 4 posts on the corners to the floor, crossbeam to those to provide rigid support, then you have the post in the middle rear, is there something middle front? That's all I'm asking. Again, probably fine, I'm just trying to understand what you did in terms of structure. Especially with the Ikea materials being there to take no load whatsoever. Something similar would be like covering a steel stand with magnetic panels to hide the frame. The panels do absolutely nothing for strength. The way it's constructed right now reminds me of this video below, especially with the question of whether or not you were going to attach to the wall. I like the idea of taking something and repurposing it. I'm intrigued. Hopefully the question above makes sense. Right now the rear seems to be supported, but I'm trying to understand it all in terms of what is original / potentially weak materials, what is solid. I would think it would start to deform ok the front edge and over time, if unnoticed, would then collapse when there is a shock / Shear off something. Especially on the front I'm trying to understand the load path you have that protects it from the strong top and carries that to the floor.