nabokovfan87

I'm using a co-op large prefilter and a net to hold it up against the end of the python. I also use styrafoam on the water surface when need be. As far as "commercial products" it would be great if python had one. Unfortunately your best bet is a place like etsy. I've seen videos where someone had what looks like a standard plumbing part, but I am not sure what it is. It almost looks like a sink stopper (black rubber with holes in the end). I've also seen a lot of people shove an aquaclear input strainer on the end.

It's a very good option and generally speaking you're supporting a local hobbyist. Plenty of people will sell plants "per stem" or try to get them to grow out as options to have more rare plants available for their area. As always, the easy stuff is a great option and the main thing is for both sides to be happy with the sale. It can always be hit or miss and the real challenge is just making sure that you do things on your end to avoid algae and pests on the plants themselves. One of the big things I would be on the alert for is snails, especially if it's a snail that you don't want in your tank. Other common things is planaria. Just use caution. That being said, I would not be hesitant, especially if the bundle makes sense for what you want to try.

Can you show some photos of what you're seeing? How are the shrimp doing with the salt dose? Do you see any signs of stress on them or just normal behavior? If you're not seeing any improvement you may need to dose the tank itself with salt. Let me do a bit of research on Ich-X usage for this disease just to double check everything. From another forum, here is a recommendation for using hydrogen peroxide:

Not even kidding... Stuff like that I would have to make photos / explain to customers how to use the product. JUST SAYING Fluval. 😂 Pictures, and how you say things really helps explain things. "as shown in figure 1" etc. Picture for one of them, AWESOME. I got the thing open! (victory dance) and then had no idea about closing it or what the words even mean. So then... "lift-lock" clamps = the top of the clams and "lock-lift" clamps is the bottom of the clamp? Very confusing, maybe it's just a random typo, who knows. I would totally add it to the box / videos and add a photo of how to in the manual.

Here is a couple of relevant threads. The second one has a reply from Cory as well.

Looks good. I would love to see the aqua soil tank!

I'll add 2-3 notes here and let colu advise in terms of the correct treatment for everything going on. Firstly, I think with the "featheryness" on the edge of the fin here you might be dealing with a mild case of fin rot. It's very hard to see, but it's the type of thing where I would treat for it accordingly. I also wanted to extend this bit of information which might be applicable. The dark color on the head may be an external protozoan type of parasite. This fishkeeper has their fish autopsied and they found a few issues. It is a very helpful video for understanding that there is a lot of common diseases we just simply aren't aware of as hobbyists. One final note, I would be sure you are using aquarium salt in addition to other treatments. for external issues it can do wonders. Just make sure you add an airstone to help move water around and add oxygenation (yes, even for a betta).

My brain wants to say that it's BBA, but I don't really know. Telltale signs of BBA (or something similar) is that it almost always starts on the edge of the plant leaves. I think it may just be a matter of light, but it depends on if you're seeing the algae in other locations. Water changes are your friend with this type of thing to remove the spores from the water. (Algae trying to preserve itself in the environment, propagating elsewhere)

Works perfectly well and "as designed" is the best way I can put it. I can get into a lot of technical speak, but the just of it is exactly as mentioned in the conversation previously.... use the handles to do the work, even if it's very unclear specifically that it's a feature of the product. After initial setup, and you know the o-ring is installed correctly (preferably lubricated as well) then you go ahead and center the lid of the canister and proceed to hook on and pull it into place. I went ahead and checked all around, the closing gaps all around the o-ring seem to be good. From the engineering side of things, if you see leaks, this is literally the filter telling you it's time to replace the o-ring and not to "push down" as others had explained they did (myself, hearing it from the internet advice out there) because that causes misalignment and potentially damage to things like the impeller or other items. As a sidenote, I also removed the previously installed fine pad as it was used and clogged. I have no idea how much it helps to increase flow (necessary for my use), but I wanted to mention it for the sake of anyone else out there that just isn't sure. Every 3-4 weeks would be when I pop open the filter and check the floss to see if it needs changed. Especially if you're using the fluval branded ones that compress a bit more than something like polyfil.

Thank you for taking the time @Tanked !

Looks beautiful. Nice work!

That's awesome! I am excited for your future success. 🙂 1. I think a lot of people forget that some fish need left to right space. This is why one of my favorite things is longer tanks as opposed to tall tanks for certain species. A 20 Long or 29G standard tank should do well for those fish, but longer is better in my eyes. Barbs especially enjoy that in their tank setup. When it comes to rummynose, I do believe they are a bit more "brisk" swimmers and do so more than something like green neons or cardinals. Green neon tetra max size: 1.4 inches Rummynose tetra max size: 2 inches It's a subtle difference, but longer fish... longer tank. Usually. 2. I usually tend to prefer to start with the general advice of 6-8 is often recommended. My general guideline and my experience with somewhat feisty fish is that having a little more works out better long term. Say, 10-12 if you can, but a minimum of 8-10. The reason for this is bluntly that if you lose 1 or 2, you still have "enough" whereas when you start with a very small group if you lose any you might run into issues with behavior, feeling secure, gender ratio, or aggression.

It must be a blessing the cats can't bark like crazy pups at the fly. 😂 They are officially trained now to react to pointing at the ceiling and thinking it's a bug! Awesome. Hopefully it's not too much or not too noisy. Looks great, as always.

You can run a soap test on the bottle / regulator and then try to fill it again.

I'm really not sure. Given the way google search has been updated for me it's practically useless. (Due to AI) and all I get is articles about adding baking soda and chlorine to a pool. Hopefully there's a chemist out there that can explain the nitty gritty on the test and what's going on. 😞

Saw the video today on the channel and it sparked an idea.... I don't know if it's worth it, but one potential improvement could be a duck-bill style output on the end of the tube. I don't think it would restrict anything, but it would spread out the flow across the surface to create slightly more surface movement. Looking forward to seeing them in the wild.

Yeah.... Once you get ~20+ the behavior changes slightly and they get more like a pod of little whales. They (corydoras) can definitely get bigger than people realize sometimes! Very cool to see them full grown and doing their thing though. I look forward to seeing what you do! It's a really unique setup and that's always fun to see what people come up with.

Well.... I know from experience there's about a hundred different ways to filter a tank and it's all about trying to make it work for you. When you mentioned smaller filters, I imagine it's because of a visual thing? In a 55G I would run 2-3 of the large size sponge filters. In my tank I ran those in addition to the ziss bubble bio filters. Maybe there is a setup we can work on that makes your experience with what you have better. Can you show the way you have it setup and what you are talking about having to swap out every 2-3 days. My gut tells me to recommend the marineland penguin pro filter for you as well as 2 of their prefilter sponges for that filter. (one goes on the tube, the other goes inside the HoB itself) Then you add whatever bag of media and sponge and fine pad you want to use. Very easy! I'll try to get some photos later, but understanding which model you are using helps. I tend to cut my own foams and use fine foam as opposed to the filter floss. Just less waste and seems to do the job just as well. I think one of the issues will be temperature. Depending what it is for the Betta, ram, and angels, that might be indicative of why you see the corydoras not doing well. I don't know what the reticulated ones are, but species like the trilineatus/false Julii can handle the heat a little better that others like pandas or similar. Sidenote, that new potted plant looks AWESOME!

I do the same thing. I just added heaters this week. I keep a minimum of 71-73 and when things get warmer in the new year I'll pull heaters out. The main thing is that if the nights are cold, then you can generally check and maintain heat through the day. Once it's cold during the day and night, it's usually time to add a heater and keep the floor where you think is safe. Glad to see everything is working out well for you! Nice work.

If you can move the neons, everything else in the tank is a river type of species that likes a bit cooler temp, higher oxygenation, and that's likely one thing going on. If you can't, I highly recommend a bubble wall or adding an additional air stone ( or filter). Keep in mind that those fish and inverts will handle about as much flow as you can put into the tank without issue and that replicates some of their natural origins. PH seems a bit high, especially for amanos. Mine got pretty upset with me when things were 7.6-7.8. Normally range for me is 6.8-7.4, normally around 6.8-7.0. it could've been the jump and change in the pH, but I do see a few sources out there recommending 7.4-7.6 as a high end limit for amanos. I've seen up to 8. Let's say, if you're seeing them with bright red shells, it's likely a PH issue as well. They can get a mahogany brown, but the bright red is a stress sign, normally PH indicative for me. If possible, please just verify the KH/GH via liquid test in future as well. Having the inverts and shrimp it's a great, affordable test kit and very easy to use. Thankfully quick!

The shrimp will pretty much only do this if there is an issue. It might not be clear what the issue is, but there's some tips we can incorporate to make things a bit better for the shrimp and their vacation plans. That being said, I roll up a towel and lay it over gaps in trim when need be. What are all of your water parameters and how is filtration setup?

Yep. GH and KH? For me, green algae is almost always tied to light duration or phosphate/organics being a bit too plentiful in the tank.

If the pump is legitimately an issue, maybe the fix is to use the dropper style or similar cap and then bundle it with the easy measure. Once you have the measure, obv. you can just get the bottle by itself. We'll see. I look forward to seeing others test out their pumps!

It wouldn't. same size diameter, and I can tell you from my own history with cable design classes, the bend radius isn't sufficient for either one. Thankfully the clamps don't compress anything, but they are guides. Agreed. I was thinking about this today. I was thinking about the way the canister flows and the media path and what would be "optimal" to increase the flow. I am not joking when I say that I need every ounce of flow out of this pump. I wish I could upgrade it. I am 1000% certain fluval could by selling a better impeller design and leaving all other components the exact same. I agree with your premise. However, there's no way at all for the smooth tubing to have the amount of flow reduction compared to the ribbed version with proper maintenance. This means cleaning the interior of the pipe as need be. The pipe I plan to use is a dark grey, they have dark green, and this is all common in practice to reduce algae from forming. Yes, it can and will form, but I can guarantee you from experience and with my tank that the ribbed hoses will just be a hive for BBA to grow on me. That's just how my tank is. Light not even required.

There are plenty of hobbyists that do this. Yes. Try this out. 1. Setup the QT tank as normal. 2. Get all the equipment running, air, heaters, and all of the things you need running and functioning. 3. Take a filter from an existing tank, grab your ceramic media and "rinse it" off in the QT tank. This will be like active very strong bacteria to that tank as well as some detritus to feed it. You can also wring off a sponge as well if you have some. 4. Add in your beneficial bacteria and wait as long as possible to do any sort of a water change, min 12 hours or so. 5. Add the fish, monitor things daily (test AM and PM) and do a 50% water change if you see ammonia or nitrite. Following the water change add in your dechlorinator as you normally would as well as your bacteria dose. Day 1: double dose Day 2-7: normal dose.