nabokovfan87

They live and do things at different levels of the tank. I'd definitely recommend both, but there is one pretty big hesitation. For Otos, you'd want a pretty seasoned tank or to have the food they enjoy. That just means a tank that is at least 4-6 months old and that it is going to be a good environment for them. If that fits your tank, I'd recommend both. This. And some amano shrimp! 🙂 Some wood in the tank, and you're set to go. (in the wild, otos tend to be found on wood or where they have a place to rest and graze on surfaces like that.

It basically happens when the bacteria explodes in numbers. This means there is an ammonia spike which points to a spike in BB growth. A few things I would do. 1. Daily, or every 48 hours clean out the filter box and sponge as best you can. 2. Dose bacteria from a bottle every day for a week. You might not even need to do a full dose, but slowly adding bacteria will ensure the slime lessens and the bacteria itself can get a hold on the media. 3. Slightly reduce the flow on the HoB. You have the ability to do so, and it will keep the slime from getting pushed into the tank. 4. Daily or every few days be sure to go ahead and manually remove slime from the wall/decor as you need to.

Light is on the way, so I'll do a before/after breakdown and try to sort out if this is the critical dimension for the tank to prevent dead spots. Thanks again.

Awesome. Thanks

You have to basically remove the slime for the most part (especially in the filter area) and then dose in beneficial bacteria and the tank should stabilize slowly. What filter are you running on that tank, can you post photos of the filter itself? @KatJac

The slime is likely because of bacterial slime. Can you share your water parameters? I had my tank crash and the slime lasted right up until I went and did a deep clean and started dosing in the bacterial in a bottle for a week. Very frustrating. What filter are you running on this tank? This is what the bacteria stuff would look like.

Sorry about that. This is what I'm looking for:

yep. it's a mid-water cory aka the pygmy cory

I'm surprised you decided to switch off of it! Very awesome. I want a tank that reminds me of a kelp forest one day (I have the shark to go with it). That's a place that inspires me.

I imagine there is someone on staff that does 3d modeling for you, especially for prototyping purposes. If this product "works" would you ever consider modifying the top attachment of a sponge filter? (essentially, the piece you have on the current design where you attach the small piece of tube and airstone to produce finer bubbles) You could sell something as a "mod kit" and then update the products in manufacturing if that's something you want to carry long term as a design improvement for your filters. Edit: For context..... This is what we are talking about: Style 1 - External connection Style 2: Internal connection As a sidenote. If you look at the photos here, this is another similar "option" for something that I keep getting ads for from the amazon robots.

I found this.... Probably the perfect canvas. Totally slipped my mind, but maybe an old aquarium/zoo might have a tank you can find. This is from long beach aquarium and used for jellyfish.

There's a very philosophical way to word it, but I'll just say for my own experience it helps me feel like I'm at a place that gives me calmness and some sort of peace amongst the noise around me. You have a lot of talent, I hope you know that., despite wanting to do better. It's been awesome to see your efforts and I'll be anxiously waiting for the next photo you decide to share with us.

I might end up grabbing the slightly longer version of this light for my 29G aquarium. I have the 48" in the hallway for the 75 and needless to say, I'd LOVE to be able to set that tank up. I currently have a 24" light, which is really 20" on a 30" long tank. It's..... frustrating with the amount of dead spots. Can someone who has the Fluval 36" light measure the actual "true" dimensions for me on the LED strip and let me know what it is? Based on everything I have here it would overhang the tank, but be slightly at or slightly over 30 by about 1/4-1/2". I'd like to verify it. If you have a 29G handy as well, I'd appreciate a photo with the light on the tank in the usual position, diagonal as well if possible.

I usually give it a week.

Hey hey. I am new to seeing all of the amazing photos and your tanks. I wanted to ask, and I apologize if someone has already asked this elsewhere, what is it about this specific style (dutch style) tanks that captivates you? I get the feeling that's the right word to use, and I know my own personality, that is one of the dreams is to have tanks filled with plants and vibrant colors. There's so many ways to make a tank and I'm just curious about this one, your tanks, and what you enjoy or feel when being around that artwork. Really amazing stuff, can't say it any more than that. I also really love the bench right outside the 75G so it's easy to sit and enjoy. Very nice touch.

Some powerheads will let you inflow oxygen, you can also use those to receive the input from the CO2. BUT.... here's the video from Cory regarding how he adjusts the outflow on the CO2 and some tips regarding letting the CO2 dissolve before it reaches the surface. Obviously, much easier with a tank that's a few feet tall.

yeah, that works. but you specifically need to have something in there to support beneficial bacteria. Pump aside, you'd want to have enough media (ceramic or sponge) in there to make sure you don't suffer from ammonia spikes. If you can. Focus on the filter itself, let's work through setup and get it going for you. The goal being to either stuff it with sponge or sponge / fine pad / ceramic (in that order).

In my CO2 planted tank I had.... 2 Hang on Backs, 2 Ziss bubble bio moving bed filters, and off and on I had sponge filter in there to seed for another tank. I also had sand substrate which is another big thing people point to with issues in planted tanks. It all worked fine. Adding CO2 increases growth and gives plants some of the resources they need to grow. The growth comes with everything in balance and there isn't really a big difference between what you're running and "how" you're running. Meaning.... If you're not using in-line CO2 or something like this..... Then you're gonna have some loss.

See if you have a metal shop or hydroponics store locally for a tank

https://www.amazon.com/Eheim-AEH7633100-Impeller-Aquarium-Water/dp/B004PBE1T6 You might be able to glue it with some pretty crazy glues, but I don't think anything that would work for that load would be fish safe. I'd definitely just replace it.

the co-op has their own regulators either released or about to be which will let you run multiple tanks. It's based on the CO2 Art products in spirit I would say and has a lot of similar design features. Here is a breakdown of how..... but I'll explain a bit more. Adding CO2 is extremely easy, I really think it's a great thing to do as long as you can run it on the tank in question. Here is the latest video from the co-op regarding setting up CO2 and the diffuser. When I added Co2 I had a lot of the same reservations you did. I always had issues with cost, I wanted to make sure I didn't get something cheap / crap and end up replacing parts. On Cory's recommendation I got one of these to go with the regulator. https://www.amazon.com/Midwest-Homebrewing-Winemaking-Supplies-RLC02LSC/dp/B0064OFAQU The main thing is to take your time, do the soap test and check for leaks. Be careful because a lot of the parts are glass or acrylic and take a gentle touch to make sure you don't cross thread. As for results and if the tank can handle it, I was dumping CO2 into my tank and I didn't have things pearling. I had some balance issues. I had slow growth, but I absolutely enjoyed the process and having that in the tank to help with algae. I never had a concern about fish health, and I had enough flow to make sure the CO2 was mixed through the tank. When my CO2 did crash, so did pretty much everything because I wasn't doing things to take care of the plants. I screwed up..... needless to say and that's a tough lesson to learn. I'd recommend having a small bottle (for big tanks) to hold you over, but I highly recommend not being afraid of running CO2 with a planted tank. It's just fun and gives you quicker results.

I am sorry for that. I'll see what I can find on my side and send you a message if I find anything else that'll fit what you're looking for. For now, I'd suggest the ACO air pump, but I'm not sure about how the price / specs compare to the tetra. I know bentley pascoe has a few videos comparing the two of them. Edit: I found this.... 6 or so items off one air pump. Not bad. Obviously it depends *what* each item is and requires, he got the 7th in there, but had some reduced flow to what the user preferred.

The way I stumbled on the A150 was I was searching for a "deep water" air pump and found out there is some pond air pumps that are available. You might be able to find a different brand or something that isn't currently overpriced. On amazon they have the a300, which is a lot more powerful, and it's actually lower price right now. For the A150 though, I think it's usually 45-55 dollars when in stock (not from a third party seller or something). Might be available at another pet supply place. Sorry for the rambling, to your question, I would always use the "low number" and understand that it's a pretty useless number at best. It matter more about what the output (flow) is and the pressure of that flow. Sometimes it might be a higher "air volume" pump, but doesn't have the pressure to handle what you need it to. This is why I ended up looking for the deeper water versions. Similar to other suppliers, this is the one you were looking at: Eheim has a "400" air pump with dual outuput that might work. I'm checking the fluval one as well. I found another one that was single output but higher pressure. Yep. Fluval Q2. Here's the specs for comparison sake. For comparison: the AP150 is 2.5 l/min from the one port. The AP300 has 2x of these strength ports. Here's the gang valves in question. They come in 2, 3, and 4 valve options, and as shown up above in the reply by fish folk, you can expand those as need be. The one you have looks to work well. If you ever have any issues check internally for any small plastic bits that might be obstructing flow. https://www.aquariumcoop.com/products/4-way-metal-gang-valve

I can definitely see the little guy on the right poking his head out. Super awesome! Thanks 🙂 Very nice use of the ceramic. I love the look of these compared to the traditional pots. Awesome for little rams and fish that like a little house.

Using one of these now on my tank because I am trying to run a bit "lower flow" for a short period. This thing works great, BUT I would avoid dual output. I have one output that works fine, the other is pretty beat up and barely runs an airstone. Even trying to replace the diaphragm I've never gotten it to be repaired once they get to that point. I've gone through 4-5 of these just because of age and they don't last as long as I'd prefer. The Fluval ones are a bit more "omph" but only slightly. The fluval one I had lasted about 2-3 months trying to power a ziss bubble bio moving bed filter and at some point you get those things with slightly reduced flow and they just stop working. Edit: to be clear, I love the design of this pump. I just wish it didn't have the issues I've run into.