nabokovfan87

There's a thread about pumpheads that we're working on gathering information, testing basically, if it's actually pumping out the right amount. Just a note. you might be doing one pump and getting a half dose or something. Keep an eye out! Awesome. For some reason I was under the impression it wasn't growing! 🙂

I do have a peltier plate sitting around... You know, things one keeps on hand. I swear this is straight out of a Jayztwocents video (youtube overclocker guy for PC parts)

I made a thread about shrimp foods and I specifically didn't recommend which I prefer, but it's a fun discussion. I feed shrimp king complete and I like to rotate 2-3 "main foods". I also am a fan of once a week foods like bee pollen or powdered foods for baby shrimp. Please feel free to reach out via DM or to bug me with questions in my shrimp journal (or if you make one!) and by all means, I am happy to help and excited to do so! Ask away. 🙂 This thread, apart from my own journal, I do dive into some care techniques I use for my shrimp. Shrimp food thread: My journey with Neocaridina Shrimp: In terms of setup, mentioned in that first link: -Add some wood -Add some air -Fine sponge filter -Add more air -Use a feeding dish -Moss is awesome and extremely good for shrimp! -Plants are great, bigger leaves are helpful too for grazing. -Use a feeding dish -Feed a "complete" food intended for shrimp in said dish

Any other version of pogostemon would be better. PSO just gets way too massive. Erectus would be my choice. I would focus on raising the lights that you can and the if you can't control the intensity of light, trying to get into a situation where you can (control it). Hopefully that makes sense. The algae you're seeing can be controlled with a variety of methods, but the most likely issue will be lighting being too strong (and too focused) on the plants that don't need that intense PAR. It does happen with stems. Having GH that high could be the reason, but it's tough to say. If you're unable to get bacopa going, then it's one of those situations where I would tend to avoid a lot of stems. Things like rosette plants or stems with extremely minimal demands would be the ones I go to first. (Pearlweed being the main, extremely easy one) Very interesting. This indicates very low fert levels.

Reminds me I seriously need to clean my grinder and box it up. (needs new burrs, which are the cost of a new grinder) The one I gave is for espresso, Italian mazzer burrs that seem to be unavailable now... Which is frustrating. So cost went up from $45-65 to about 5-8x that price. Getting a drip coffee grinder is anywhere from $80-250. So.... Time to retire it for now. Lots of cold brew these days! I appreciate it. Hopefully a simple GH fix and I just need to be better about keeping an eye on that. Sundays were bee pollen day. They will end up being GH+Pollen day now.

Day 3, another lost female. KH was fine. GH dropped to 5.5-6 degrees on me. For some shrimp keepers that is "optimal," but as you can see it's showing some sort of stress signs and issues in my experience. I added in a little bit of GH powder which I'll likely end up needing to do following big water changes. Not a major issue or concern, but it's something to note. When you run into a thing, test, try to understand what's going on. Even if nothing did change, maybe your liquid water rock isn't anymore.

Alright this months "bonus clip," that had me thinking a lot but really appreciating the moment is NOT from a documentary, but just an episode of a show that was enjoyable for me and had a really impactful series of moments that a lot of us can relate to. As most people know I enjoy sharks. This episode was focused on, "we're going to go swim with whale sharks" and that's the premise. There is so much more that goes on and I don't want to say what those moments are! If you feel intrigued, please be sure to check it out! Platform: NatGeo (Disney plus) Show: Never Say Never with Jeff Jenkins Episode: 03 - Swimming with Sharks Edit: I forgot to mention, this is absolutely a family friendly episode and it's one that I think younger hobbyists would really enjoy. It's targeted towards that type of an audience, but can absolutely hold the interest of someone who isn't still in school!

I wonder what that noise was and if there is water (or fluids) somewhere I need to find. Maybe it was just the mini fridge.... Maybe it was just an air bubble..... Mysterious water noises. Always fun.

I would stick to a lower limit of 25C. Keep in mind the thermometer might say one thing, but need calibrated. The heater might say it's running at one temp, but there is a range. Usually +/-2 degrees F. Increases temp, bigger tote for swimming space, good oxygenation, and then having the salt and botanicals in there would be a great start. Temperature being slightly high or lower than desired leads to stress and that leads to diseases or symptoms popping up. Hopefully you see a quick improvement. Keep us posted. Regarding the peat pellets. I can't see it hurting at all, especially adding a spoonful or something to the bottom of the QT bin. You can also add a porous rock like lava rock (no sharp edges please!) or ceramic media to give the fish some bacterial stability. Wood would be a good place for the fish to rest and provide a little cover.

I know the common complaint about sand will be it showing the waste. It also makes it really easy to tell when you need a good siphon. Often more than you would think. I can show you what visually looks clean, but I know it has a ton of gunk in the sand itself. Same applies to any other substrate. Choose what you visually enjoy and just put the work in to make yourself happy with it.

The temp is slightly high, so dropping that slightly adds oxygenation to the water, reduces stress. That also indicates the need for added air. I have small tanks with 2-3 air stones and so I will always recommend "add another one." And see if that helps the fish. I would think you have either some sort of kidney issue, lack of energy from making eggs, or a swim bladder issue. Once you have a few days with good oxygenation and the temp lowered slightly, then I would proceed to treat for internal bacterial infection. This is essentially the most common reason you'd see something like bloating pop up. Swollen abdomen will be what you look for on the box of meds. Maracyn, maracyn 2, or kanaplex. Would be the meds to look into. You don't need to move the fish, but if the fish passes, you don't want others to bite on it. Sidenote, in addition to adding air, you can add a mild dose of salt. 1 tbsp per 5 gallons and it should be ok with most plants as well. It will help reduce some stress and increase gill function.

I definitely don't want to! 😂 When they sleep, I think they rest on the bottom, keep one eye open and then get booped and go "oh look, snack". It all depends and with time they might realize it isn't a food source because it moves and takes too much work. Simply put, give the shrimp some time before you add fish. A few months is best.

You'll have to get some bottom scratcher during those magical holiday sales. Good to see him getting the veggies and that specific version going well. Awesome news.

You right, you right. It might be Riddick's tank if she has issues getting food from the shrimp. Indeed! But I already broke down that 29G tank (that was cycled). Kind of funny how there's only ever one pack they sell to people on Amazon and not really individual sheets either. It's just the 3 types, pond foams, all 11x17. You'd figure someone would try to get in on the action one of these days. What filter are you having bypass with?

Heck yeah. Now we all need to know what kind it was! 😉

Given all the moss.... You likely have a tank that needs that iron dosing. What is your GH and KH in this tank?

That's awesome. Congratulations!

Cut the light to 6 hours until you see the anubias thriving and be sure to dose in your ferts. 8 hours is about the max you want to shoot for with 10 being about as high as I've ever been comfortable pushing it. That being said, anubias is all about placement. If you're seeing green spot algae, the plant might just be too close to the light. BBA could be indicative of too much flow hitting a struggling plant and then it spreads from there. Looking at the photos you have a very heavily caked in algae plant as well as leaves that are curling. I would recommend the above light time changes as well as finding a riser for the light (if it is one that is on top of the lid). These are on Etsy or you can make one out of Legos if you're feeling creative. Essentially, you'll get a lot better spread for the floating plants and won't burn them. You'll back off the intensity of the anubias and give it a chance to recover. So... 1. Let's fix the light window, drop light settings to 15-25% power (lower is better), and install a light riser. 2. Let's make sure ferts are happening. 3. Let's absolutely make sure we use something like a toothbrush and clean leaves off. You can also use an art brush and "paint on" hydrogen peroxide. To do this, just pull the wood, or drop the waterline, and then paint on a section. Repeat that for a few days and you'll be good to go. You should see that alone make it easier to clean off any stubborn algae. 4. Remove any dying leaves and check the rhizome for any brown mush/rotting parts. 5. Make sure you're cleaning the substrate and filtration. 6. Consider attaching the anubias to other places so it's not sitting directly under the strongest part of the light. 7. Consider trying something easy in the foreground. I am not sure what works with goldfish. I would say microsword could.

Alright so, step one is that we need light to be consistent. If you mean random as in, not on a timer.... That's a pretty major first step. In terms of plants that you've had success with vs. struggled with, I would keep the above in mind if that is an issue. Bacopa is generally an easy stem. Dwarf sag is where I was going to start as well as something like microsword or the other one you mentioned. I tent to choose just one because they all grow and act very similar. PSO is going to be extremely too big for a tank with only that height, you need 20+ inches tall at best and even then you will have to keep it from overtaking everything and being too big. Staurogyne species (esp. S. Repens) can be a good place to start for a stem plant that works as a foreground or midground. Small crypts and stems would be a good choice as well if you're looking for that texture. Salvinia and your dwarf sag is going to be the primary focus for the sake of reducing excess nitrates. If you just want interesting visual plants val, crypts, and something like S. Repens would be a good choice. I would also recommend pennywort, pearlweed, or baby tears.

If it's in the red you just keep running it. It's a sign for you to keep an eye on it. Check it every morning. Maybe weeks, maybe a month left.

Maybe sourcing is an issue. Check this out if you haven't seen it before. I would make sure you have wood in the tank, seems like you do, as well as try a food like repashy super green or soilent green after lights go out in the evening. Can you share full water parameters with us? How is your filter setup? Tank temperature?

I've ended up switching to a liquid GH and KH kit to verify things long term as I had struggled to interpret results.

I was considering some medaka for my tank, I don't think they will be safe long term in a new colony and in my experience those types of fish (guppy and swordtails behavior) will go after baby shrimp pretty ferociously if they want. Something like white clouds or very small nano fish might be ok, I just recommend caution with the rice fish or to specifically make sure the shrimp are 100+ in colony size before you do that.

For reference.... mine are at: Water Parameters: Temperature: 73-74 degrees TDS: 159 PH: 6.7-7.0 KH: 4 dH (71.4 ppm) GH: 9 degrees (160.7 ppm) Ammonia: 0 ppm Nitrite: 0 ppm Nitrate: 10 ppm I would make sure you have some wood in there as well.

The neocaridina shrimp can handle up to 1 tbsp per 5G of water. Any higher and I ran into some issues. I am unsure about the kuhli loaches. Salt would be a good place to start. I would treat the betta by itself if you can. Preferably I would get a sterilite tote that can hold a little bit more water and swimming space as a QT area. 1 tbsp per 2G for just the betta fish as well as adding in some botanicals would be a good place to start.