nabokovfan87

QT could simply mean they are in a tank by themselves. It may not mean anything beyond that.

So up and down the tank, you "see" this white mark. I am trying to understand.... This could be silicone that is simply "oozing" out of the glass panes when it was installed and there is a discoloration between the cured silicone. It could be silicone removing itself from the bond. If it is the second one, then you have to look at the % of the seam that is "failing". In that photo about, it's nearly the full length of the seam, at least 85-90%. That's a lot. In this photo we can see detail but it's difficult to really interpret where the glass panels are. is the open edge to the left of it it facing us? Based on what I can see, it looks like the panel directing the camera extends fully to the left edge of the tank, which means, where those two pieces of glass meet is where the seam is failing. The bond that is used to waterproof the tank (the one on the right side, solid black) looks fine and isn't being pulled apart. The one that is actually a structural bond of the glass (bonding the two panels together) looks to actually be the one failing. I could be interpreting things wrong, but that is what my eyes are showing me. Yeah, I saw the same thing mentioned above, but which one is actually structural? Meaning, if one fails the glass pops off vs. the other fails and you have a pinhole style leak and water on the floor.

With those type of corydoras I think you'd do good with any sort of minnow species, rasboras, barbs, or danio fish. If it was my tank personally, then I would start with 3 schools of fish and some additional "algae eaters" to ease the cleaning. -School of Odessa Barbs -School of Melon Barbs -School of Rummynose Rasbora -Pleco (rubberlip or bristlenose) -Otocinclus (4-6) -Amano Shrimp (15+)

So... there's a few things going on here. A. What is the TDS in your tap? (75) B. What is the TDS in the tank itself (200?) C. What volume of water are you changing and how often? D. Are you topping off with tap water or RO water? E. What is the GH and KH of the tank vs. tap? Ultimately TDS means "stuff" so you can use the fancy word document tools and just replace "stuff" where need be to better understand your water and what you're seeing. If you have TDS consistently climbing, what that means is that you have old tank syndrome setting in. This would be where PH drops, GH goes up, and you have a big difference in your tap vs. tank. Planted tanks will use up minerals, evaporation will raise up TDS, adding anything to the tank will raise TDS, and of course you have stuff in the tank already which do dissolve over time into the water. TDS is of value right before that water goes into the tank and after it comes out of your RO system. Even if you're measuring the tap and you say it has 75 TDS, without GH, KH, and a water test report it's very difficult to know what is actually in that water. My last question and bit of info here, why do you want to measure TDS? What is the goal for tracking it? If you do a 50% WC with RO water you will dilute it. I would expect ~40% or so of the TDS to be removed. Then you add in dechlorinator and other ferts and that will raise it back up. In terms of algae.... 1. GH should be about 2x your KH if possible. 2. Test your phosphates for high phosphates. 3. If you're seeing organics and mulm and detritrus en masse, then you need to siphon a bit better and clean your filtration.

EL meaning "End of Life" It's just a code indicating that it's reached a certain amount of hours of use. It's not "broken" or "dead" or anything, but it will flash that code until you replace it. For reference, you can DL the manual here on the website: Also, welcome to the forums!

You can run and get a tank/tote and set it on the floor potentially. The petco 1/2 off sale is on right now too. That being said, you can also run the meds in the tank you have barring other options. They both should have minimal impact on the filtration, as long as you are running strong, robust filtration. I am sorry about the struggles.

Mostly all "colors" of Neo shrimp are based on neocaridina davidi species and can definitely interbreed. Some of the newer ones are based on newly discovered Neo species and this is mainly only attributed to Snowball shrimp. Right now, Red.... all forms..., green, blue, orange, or yellow are generally from the same line.

Take a piece of wood from an established tank, (or wood + rock) and that gives them everything they need for QT. Yes, I would QT every single time you can. You will want to give them a week (maybe 2-3) to recover, then go for a deworm on them at minimum.

Very well done. Nice work!

Me too! It's hard to know if this info is accurate because I can't say it's perfect or verified over and over again, but it's the best I could find. I found the river data with conductivity, and there is some math you can do to go ahead and convert that (in some method) over to GH/KH, but it didn't seem foolproof to me when I dug into it. I've had mine up to about 11-12 (close to 13) and they were "fine" but I don't know that they weren't showing some stress signs. My amanos, heck, they've been much higher for most of their lives. A sort of "new years resolution" for myself to try to learn moreso. I really appreciate the compliment!

Sera Micron is the real MVP. 😂 IDK.... that repashy soilent green is pretty close as a contender. 🙂 Both seemingly really awesome powdered foods though!

^^

It's a little hard to see what's going on. If it is what I think it is, the silicone looks damaged and is starting to break down, no longer adhering on those spots you can see.

It can be pretty common, yes. I am not sure about the polish though.

Colu can indicate better than I can, but I second the notion here of treating for external parasites as a concern. Ich, Epistylis, or some sort of protozoan issue being the top on the list here. All of them have similar treatments, thankfully. The usual recommendation being: ich-x + Aquarium salt for ich or kanaplex + Ich-X + aquarium salt for epistylis. Let's wait for Colu to chime in again though once we have full details. What is the temperature of the tank?

As a general resource I highly recommend checking out the livebearer articles over on goliad farms' blog. He does some wonderful things over there, despite losing most/all of his work over the time. The archive is there as a resource of hidden gems. It's good to see the PH and stuff you're keeping yours at. The conditions you have are near identical for my own tanks and I've been running into issues. There's a potential reason for it, but I just feel like my first set of livebearers compared to my second have been such a different experience. Looking forward to learning, seeing the work, your process, and your decisions along the way.

Sorry for the confusion @nic I wasn't thinking a small tank! There is a nano "clip on" light from a variety of brands, including nicrew or any brand you're looking for. If the riser style things don't work there's always other options too, probably similar cost as the risers themselves. https://www.amazon.com/NICREW-Aquarium-Clip-Light-Lighting/dp/B08QRB8ZWH/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1J92UIFX2VWLH&keywords=nicrew+clip+on+light&qid=1694320682&sprefix=nicrew+clip+on+l%2Caps%2C344&sr=8-2

I would tumble them, it's a lot easier to control flow. Once they hatch, then I move them to the breeder box or grow out tank. There isn't really a defined answer here. If you know a storm is coming, prep them for about 2 weeks with heavy food. Pending the storm coming in a few days that's usually when the big water changes help. I like to do one the day before and the day after the storm.

It shifts. It's not constant. That is why the timing is there in the directions and even waiting 5 minutes as opposed to 3 can give you an incorrect test. There are some strips available, even photometric (I'm sure that's not the right one) tests that use lasers and microcontrollers which will feed to an app which logs things over time. Android has a cool notes app that lets you record it as well, I'm sure it's on Apple too.

It is. 🙂 No idea what the second one is.

Dean's video, Rachel O'Leary's video are ones I watch before I ship fish. There's a ton of guides but the main thing is to take your time and to do so intently. It's not worth rushing if you make a mistake or if you miss something critical. I am not great, or flawless at shipping fish, but I've sent two bigger boxes or corydoras and done alright. Because of the toxin it's an incredibly stressful species to ship. That being said... my biggest tip would be to make sure you tape the corners (see dean's video) on the bags and double bag. I have thicker bags and I use two of them each time I ship. The goal is that the bag doesn't get tossed all around the box and arrives safely. How things are inside the bag is a whole different puzzle sometimes.

Etsy has a few risers, you'd have to check your specific light. I don't know if nicrew has a mounting kit, but there's ceiling mounts that run off cables and there is clip on ones that rest on the back of the tank and have arms to extend over the tank.

Under blue lights, dark room, they should be a bit easier to notice and active. Usually they have the spots they hang out at and it's just about getting the net on them. Have a specimen container and such ready for them to go into once you catch them. Essentially, they swim backwards to escape, but they dart and they are extremely quick. Go slow, let them guide themselves into the net and they should go in there for you pretty easily. I use a 5" net. Hand over it, or trap them inside the net when you're moving them out of water, they absolutely will jump a lot.

Very cool to see them. They seem so different, and I'm sure it's to help hide as they are younger while they grow up and gain their patterning. It's also interesting in the adults that the females stay lighters, potentially for the same reason. I definitely need to work on gaining some knowledge and care skills with smaller fish. Using powdered foods even has been an enlightening change for me.

I am very sorry for all your struggles. I couldn't imagine. Definitely double check, test, have redundancies. There is a lot of great information out there and some brilliant hobbyists out there with information. If only we could find it easily!