Steph’s Fish and Plants Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 This is gonna be my spot to sort of update my buildout. I’m moving into my first ever apartment at the beginning of August and will be setting everything back up. I have 2 bristlenose plecos, 3 pea puffers, and a few tummy nose tetras at my parents house for now that they will be shipping me once I’ve got the tanks setup. In storage rn I have a 20long, a 10 gallon, and a 5 gallon. I’m thinking of putting everyone I have right now in the 20long and getting an alien betta for the 5 or using it to quarantine a few new puffs for the 20. The 10 gallon I could also use to quarantine the new puffs but I want it eventually to become a mantis shrimp tank (saltwater). Any advice on shipping fish or what you would do would be great. I have limits on how many tanks I can have setup so whatever I do will be limited to that. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph’s Fish and Plants Posted July 14, 2020 Author Share Posted July 14, 2020 For now here’s my girlfriends 5 gallon tank which will also be coming to the apartment. It normally houses her Betta, Dragon, but he’s at her house rn in a temporary tank. It currently has 2 Amano shrimp and a Nerite snail. It’s been pretty neglected since we both went home at the beginning of the quarantine so I’ll be cleaning it up and Dragon will be returning soon. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph’s Fish and Plants Posted July 14, 2020 Author Share Posted July 14, 2020 Also peep the avocado growing out the top, has anyone ever grown avocado plants? In or out of a fish tank? Any advice would be great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wmarian Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 I think consensus would state that pea puffers are angry fish and want their own tank...usually. going to be a fun build out! Dan's Fish had a you tube video with shipping advice you might hunt out. If possible, I would recommend waiting for fall weather. Ice packs and insulated box might do you but even the slightest delay would be tough now that summer is here. In the meantime you could cycle the tanks, get plants established... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph’s Fish and Plants Posted July 15, 2020 Author Share Posted July 15, 2020 Thanks @Wmarian , the fish would ship at the earliest late august/early september. And as far as the puffs, the three I have right now are with the two plecos and the rummy nose now and I haven't had any issues so far, and that's in a 10 gallon at home. (semi temp setup, normally the 2 plecos were in the 20 long, I had to make some emergency choices when I moved because of quarantine). Thank you for the video suggestion, I will definitely hunt that down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taylor Blake Posted August 22, 2020 Share Posted August 22, 2020 I had At one time 5 tanks in my college dorm they had no rules about it until I was gone. I just drove my fish their and back and I would buy tanks while I was there and sell the tanks before I had to move out for the summer. I would trade up on craigslist a lot. That is how I ended up with a lot of tanks bigger tanks cheap. I think in all trading buying and selling I made 500 bucks keeping fish and selling tanks. This is a 58 gallon native tank I had 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph’s Fish and Plants Posted August 24, 2020 Author Share Posted August 24, 2020 @Taylor Blake wow those natives look gorgeous! I need to start playing around on Craigslist a bit more. My apartment technically doesn’t allow stuff over 20 gallons but my dorm didn’t allow over 10 and never noticed... but my gf is the main restricter for me tho 😅 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph’s Fish and Plants Posted August 24, 2020 Author Share Posted August 24, 2020 Here’s the first tank setup. It’s a 5.5 gallon that houses a Nerite snail, 2 Amano shrimp, and my girlfriend’s betta Dragon 🐉 who is sick rn so I’m gonna start medicating for his eye (I have a disease post about it, advice would be great) I’m currently running a co-op sponge filter off the USB nano. I haven’t found the lid for the tank yet so I’m using my stingray from my 10gallon since it’s all disgusting from being used w/o a lid and my usual light is still nice and clean and I’d like to keep it that way. I just ordered some stuff from the co-op including some equilibrium and crushed coral and stuff to buffer since my Kh and pH are super low out the tap. I also got some water sprite to add some more plants since many died during the move. It’s been running for 2 or 3 days now, but the sponge has been cycled all this time in a bucket with the shrimp and snail. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph’s Fish and Plants Posted August 31, 2020 Author Share Posted August 31, 2020 I recently moved my 10 gallon from my storage unit to my fishroom in my apartment. I was taking out driftwood to clean so I could scrub the glass since it’s quite nasty and I found a dead rat 🤢 so now I get to take out all the substrate and rinse it for forever and scrub the glass. Wish me luck. I also got some water sprite and some crushed coral from the co op to go in the betta tank and it looks so much better. Excuse the cloudiness, I just dosed meds and used some seachem equilibrium (also from the coop) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph’s Fish and Plants Posted September 8, 2020 Author Share Posted September 8, 2020 Did some Major work on the 10 gallon today. I emptied out all the eco complete into a bucket and Scrubbed with dish soap in the shower. The 5.5 betta tank is doing well. Dragon is still hanging on despite his eye which I think now is a tumor since it hasn’t responded to meds. Lost my two Amanos and my nerite snail though so I did a water change, added some crushed coral, and am temporarily running a HOB with carbon to pull the meds that are left, I’ll take that down in a day or two. Plants are doing well tho. Don’t mind the cloudiness, it’s from the crushed coral and the equilibrium 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph’s Fish and Plants Posted October 5, 2020 Author Share Posted October 5, 2020 Got a Lot done today. Did a water change in Dragon’s 5.5 gallon betta tank. I recently trimmed the water sprite I got from the CoOp because it’s going absolutely bonkers rn. I cleaned out some hair algae and scrubbed the beginnings of brown spot algae off the glass. I’m propagating pothos in the back right now and I started an avocado pit floating. I had some success with the avocado in the past but I tried transplanting it to soil and it died, so now I’m starting another one. I also am getting my 10 gallon tank underway (finally) because im going to do a bit of a swap. I’m gonna dose KanaPlex and aquarium salt in the 10 gallon and move Dragon over to help with his Popeye, and I’m gonna grab a betta at my LFS (which I just got a job at) and put it on Dragon’s tank while I get either my 20long or my other 5.5 from my storage unit and clean/set it up. There was still some leftover from the dead rat in the 10 gallon so I’m gonna run it with carbon and do some rounds of water changes over the next few days while letting it cycle. When I’m satisfied with its cleanliness I’ll do the swap. Ive also thought through what I wanna do stocking wise, and I think for the 20 long in addition to the 2 Plecos and the 3 pea puffers from home, I’m gonna try to do some celestial pearl danios. I also wanna try a species of corydora but I’m not sure which (I am open to suggestions so lmk). Now that I have a job I’m much more motivated to get things moving in the fish room since money has been really tight for me for the majority of this year due to losing my job because of covid-19. I also realized that my hang on back has adjustable flow, I’ve had it since 2018 😅 shoutout to my roommate for essentially giving me all my supplies for our first tank. Anyways, I setup the air pump and am running both tanks off this blue tetra pump so I can have my USB nano one free in case of emergencies. Stay tuned for when I start setting up my other tanks and get this fishroom further along in its journey. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Streetwise Posted October 5, 2020 Share Posted October 5, 2020 Nice stuff Steph! Congrats on the new job. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wmarian Posted October 8, 2020 Share Posted October 8, 2020 Dan's fish has some cool Corydoras equus (sp) that I have been eyeing...turquoise sheen to them.... Reading back thru noted your low kh problem. Crushed coral really helped me there, to buffer and stabilize my ph. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph’s Fish and Plants Posted October 9, 2020 Author Share Posted October 9, 2020 I’m running some crushed coral. I’ve also been trying out seachem alk buffer and that’s been helping a ton, along with smaller water changes. And oooh I’ll have to check those corys out for sure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph’s Fish and Plants Posted October 9, 2020 Author Share Posted October 9, 2020 But of an update. Unfortunately, Dragon passed away, but we have gotten a new betta named Khal Drogo. The 10 gallon is currently in day 5? Of cycling, ammonia is going down, gonna test it later today. Im not quite sure yet what I’m going to be putting in it, I’m thinking perhaps some CPDs to quarantine while I setup and clean out the 20 long (which is still in storage) 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph’s Fish and Plants Posted October 16, 2020 Author Share Posted October 16, 2020 Bit of an update, Drogo is settling in well. I unintentionally put pond snails in the 10 gallon QT by moving a heater, and I forgot to plug in Drogo’s new heater when I figured out the old one I put in wasnt working. Can verify the old one is for sure broken because it was plugged in sitting dry on my desk for a week 🤦🏼♀️ I seemed to have hit a sort of mental block in the hobby. Here I have an empty, cycled 10 gallon tank, so much possibility, and I can’t decide on anything to get. Some advice here would be great. I have to get my 20long out of storage and start overhauling that, and I need to get a stronger air pump. But my main issue is stocking. There’s so many things I wanna do, but I have to consider the fish I have at home that will be coming back in a few months. I have 2 bristlenose plecos, 3 pea puffers, and some rummy nose tetras. I’d like to use the 10 gallon as a quarantine tank for the first month those fish are here, but until then I’d like to use it to quarantine new additions that’ll be in the 20 with those other fish from home. I’ve entertained the idea of 3 more pea puffers, or some celestial pearl danios. But with the pea puffers it’ll be a wild card, I’m not sure what to do. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph’s Fish and Plants Posted October 19, 2020 Author Share Posted October 19, 2020 Update time! I FINALLY got the 20 long out of storage and into the apartment. The substrate is quite a mess and I think I’m just gonna throw it out. It’s a mixture of random types of inert gravel and fluval stratum. While in storage since March it seems some sort of mold or fungus or something has made its way in, and I’d really rather not deal with it since I’m gonna swap it out with eco complete anyhow. I also did a water change on the 10 gallon, and the 5.5 betta tank is doing well. I have a coop order coming soon, gonna try out the easy planter, as well as got myself a Crinum calamistratum and some stickers. Gotta get the fridge out of storage and into the fishroom too. Still a lot of work to go but it’s coming together. Still playing around with stocking ideas. I may keep the peas in the 10 again after everyone’s done in QT. Need to make that call soon tho. If you have any ideas for stocking see my previous post and feel free to weigh in 🙂 also, random note I’ve had pea puffers for a year today 😁 and this African fern is doing great 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAC Posted October 19, 2020 Share Posted October 19, 2020 I'd like to help you with stocking ideas, but unfortunately I can never decide myself what it is I want haha. I have a few tanks running empty for who-knows-how-long until something jumps out at me. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph’s Fish and Plants Posted October 19, 2020 Author Share Posted October 19, 2020 @MACi feel ya haha 😂 I normally have the opposite problem. This is the first I’ve had tanks and not known what fish. In the past I’ve speed setup tanks so quick 😅 I think having to consider my fish back home is whats making it so tough for me this time around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveSamsell Posted October 20, 2020 Share Posted October 20, 2020 @Steph’s Fish and Plants, I have seen dedicated toothbrushes in some of your photographs. 😁 That's one of my favorite cleaning tools, especially for HOB filters, lol. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph’s Fish and Plants Posted October 21, 2020 Author Share Posted October 21, 2020 Yes @DaveSamselltoothbrushes are a must, I mainly use them for algae removal, but now I’ll be using them on my HOBs too... thanks 🙂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph’s Fish and Plants Posted October 21, 2020 Author Share Posted October 21, 2020 Got my CoOp order today! Nothin too crazy. Did get an easy planters tho, I’m super stoked for that. I got my Crinum too and set it up in the easy planter in my 10 gallon for now. It will be going in my 20 long once that’s setup and going. I also got a banana plant to go with Drogo in the 5. I got a dennerle snail remover as well for when I have my pea puffers again (my last one got broken by a rambunctious pupper haha). And finally, I got stickers! I thought I only got the super red pleco one, so I might’ve gotten the rainbow one free? I don’t remember. Someone like @Randylmk if putting random stickers in boxes is a thing rn lol or if I’m going crazy 😂 and yes that’s a root tab. I hope I did that part right. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 Hey @Steph’s Fish and Plants, glad you got your order as expected! Yes, we do randomly include a free sticker/piece-of-awesome in orders. Regarding the root tab placement, I believe the idea is to actual place the root tab inside the rock wool and make a "root sandwich" if you will. Crinum is a little different since it is a tuber, and I would think you might be ok if some roots were poking out the bottom of that rock wool. Given how it appears, I would put the root tab inside the rock wool. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveSamsell Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 10 hours ago, Steph’s Fish and Plants said: Got my CoOp order today! Nothin too crazy. Did get an easy planters tho, I’m super stoked for that. I got my Crinum too and set it up in the easy planter in my 10 gallon for now. It will be going in my 20 long once that’s setup and going. I also got a banana plant to go with Drogo in the 5. I got a dennerle snail remover as well for when I have my pea puffers again (my last one got broken by a rambunctious pupper haha). And finally, I got stickers! I thought I only got the super red pleco one, so I might’ve gotten the rainbow one free? I don’t remember. Someone like @Randylmk if putting random stickers in boxes is a thing rn lol or if I’m going crazy 😂 and yes that’s a root tab. I hope I did that part right. Nice products for sure. Am still waiting for my 3 packages (couple of days overdue). Maybe later this week they will arrive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph’s Fish and Plants Posted October 23, 2020 Author Share Posted October 23, 2020 It’s update time! Did some water changes today and I redid the root tab in the Crinum per @Randyadvice and the CoOp video (thanks 😁). I added my betta floating log to Drogo’s 5 gallon, and moved the avocado to the 10 gallon for now. The biggest project from today is definitely pertaining to my 20 long. I put the mat under it to make sure it’s as level as possible, added half a bag of crushed coral I have lying around, and the eco complete I had in the 10 gallon a while back. It’s filled and running on one aqueon HOB with a carbon cartridge. I did not dechlorinate because I’m not cycling yet. Right now I’m running it like this in order to pull anything I can out from the substrate and the tank. Upon filling, the surface of the water was covered in gunk. I’m definitely going to be doing several water changes and cleaning before I add anything. I’ll also be hopefully be getting some new livestock tomorrow so stay tuned. I’m planning on getting some blue dreams and some Amanos to put in the betta tank, and I’ll be getting something I’ve had my eye on a long time for long term the 20 long, but for now will be in the 10 gallon quarantine tank. I’ve decided that as far as long term stocking, I will most likely be planting the 10 gallon for some pea puffers, but I won’t until after I bring everyone up and quarantine. Oh, and I also setup the light and timer on the 20 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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