Atitagain Fish Room

[Atitagain]

PEAT PLANTERS FAIL?

On Tuesday I planted my grow out tank with plenty of peat seedling containers (11) used as pots in ACO easy planters. 

Now that the shrimp have had at it for 5 days 

and the bristlenose as well

you can see the damage, especially on the pics with the shrimp. I have two medium sponge filters in here and they look like this.

I’m gonna clean sponge filters and cut back the peat pots to ground level. But going forward I’m doubling down on the peat pots! This time I will pre cut them to desired height. I’m also thinking of turning planter over pack soil inside and trap with some plastic canvas. This way roots can bust through peat pots and have plenty more soil to feed from on a gravel substrate. My original idea was to let plants get their roots established in these peat pot planters. Then I would transfer peat pot and plant to desired spot leaving the peat pot to absorb away or could cut pot open and easily access roots. I think the peat seedling idea is solid if I didn’t have bristlenose in there.

Edited January 16, 2022 by Atitagain
Speling

[Atitagain]

I do not recommend peat seedling pots in an aquarium. Atleast for what I was using it for. It’s like wet tracing paper, fell apart and whoosh into the water column. 
gonna be a multiple day clean up! 🥴

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Whoops! 😯

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

Sorry @AtitagainI guess I’ll stick with the plastic ones or go with the glass ones @Guppysnailswears by. 

[Atitagain]

On 1/17/2022 at 2:43 AM, Beardedbillygoat1975 said:

Sorry @AtitagainI guess I’ll stick with the plastic ones or go with the glass ones @Guppysnailswears by. 

I thought I was on to something with this one. 🤣😂🤣 In theory it works so well. 

[Hobbit]

Oof, bummer. Hey, it was worth a try!

[DaveO]

I would have never guessed hey would eat those pots. Wow😳.

[Torrey]

@Atitagain my spouse is wondering why I am chortling, your written word gives such awesome visuals 

Have you ever put peat in your tanks before, to help soften the water? Snails, shrimp, and just about every pleco (and most corys, and according to a friend, even otos) will be grateful for their equivalent of chocolate cake. I can imagine how they responded to their equivalent of manna from heaven. 

The funniest part?

I didn't think peat pots would be viewed the same as peat moss by any of these creatures, and I easily could see myself doing the exact same thing, with the exact same results. 

So, thank you for taking one for the team!

[Atitagain]

On 1/19/2022 at 1:27 AM, Torrey said:

@Atitagain my spouse is wondering why I am chortling, your written word gives such awesome visuals 

Have you ever put peat in your tanks before, to help soften the water? Snails, shrimp, and just about every pleco (and most corys, and according to a friend, even otos) will be grateful for their equivalent of chocolate cake. I can imagine how they responded to their equivalent of manna from heaven. 

The funniest part?

I didn't think peat pots would be viewed the same as peat moss by any of these creatures, and I easily could see myself doing the exact same thing, with the exact same results. 

So, thank you for taking one for the team!

Yes it was a huge mess. I still have one more cleaning to do. It’s all behind/ under decorations my sponge filters are full again.🤦🏻 Live and learn I guess. 🥴

[Odd Duck]

On 1/19/2022 at 3:52 AM, Atitagain said:

Yes it was a huge mess. I still have one more cleaning to do. It’s all behind/ under decorations my sponge filters are full again.🤦🏻 Live and learn I guess. 🥴

Try blowing it out from behind stuff gently with a turkey baster while siphoning.

[Hobbit]

On 1/19/2022 at 1:27 AM, Torrey said:

just about every pleco (and most corys, and according to a friend, even otos) will be grateful for their equivalent of chocolate cake.

Ohh I have some peat pots… maybe I can use them to feed my baby plecos! 😮

[Atitagain]

A LOT OF LITTLE THINGS

Haven’t had much time in the fishroom last couple of weeks, squeezing in a 1/2 hour to 1 1/2 whenever I could. Here’s some of the projects I worked on and some previews of a few upcoming projects.

had to pull all the Anubias from here (3) they were to close to waterline. Evaporation is real on this probably 1 cup a day. So waterline would expose leaves and it was causing damage. I’m gonna let land moss fill in while I figure out another plant to use. I’ve added 3 guppy fry.

Added an air stone to both then I redid the container on the left same Anubias, added more driftwood, couple different plants, and a platty youngster. The tall container on right I added 5 cherry shrimp. 

had to redo my hanging roots again 🤦🏻 Of course I got the wrong magnets and they were rusting all over. I made a wood center support and screwed branches with treated screws.Funny story about the lids if you put that hot shop light directly on the glass it will bust it because of the heat. And if you do it twice it will bust the back piece and then the front piece 🤦🏻🤦🏻🤦🏻😡😡😡.

this is my 55G plant grow out, the planters stop just a little past half the tank. The whole left side did have a bunch of vallisneria and PSO. I removed all of it and transferred to ⬇️

this is the start of my “dock tank” really just getting it going with plants and start seasoning the system. The hardscape and outside theming will both change stocking as well. Right now I have moved my neighbors KOI in there.

got this 20G tall set up for some fish I will be getting later this week. Ohhhhhhweeeeee I can’t wait I am truly excited to get these fish in my tanks again. I am much better prepared for them this time for sure.

got this tank felt like I needed to raise it so I built a box. Haven’t made any decisions on aquascape or stocking just thought it would fit the space nicely. One plan is to do some plants around the outside. I’m thinking something tall and grassy either tapering from back to front or hugging tank tightly where some patches/ strands are in front of tank.

this is my makeshift workbench. I made it from the cabinet door and some blocking. This is temporary, just a mock up because I will be building new cabinetry that is more fishroom oriented and a workbench top. I took the time to set this up so I could check spacing in room, adjust height, figure out easier where certain drawers/ cabinets/ openings will be placed, and to make sure it will be useful. I’ve had it up over a week now and I really like it and definitely moving forward with this. This will be expensive tho so it will take a while, I will probably have to build in sections. Base cabinets then workbench top then upper cabinets.

[Levi_Aquatics]

Looking good @Atitagain! I can't wait to see how these projects go!

[Torrey]

ORD🤩

[Hobbit]

Uh… wow!!! 🤩

Everything looks amazing! I love the little shelf you built for that tall tank, and I love the jars. So pretty. Oh and I love the workbench. I love it all!

On 1/23/2022 at 10:56 PM, Atitagain said:

Funny story about the lids if you put that hot shop light directly on the glass it will bust it because of the heat. And if you do it twice it will bust the back piece and then the front piece 🤦🏻🤦🏻🤦🏻😡😡😡.

Oh nooo bummer 🤣🥲

[Torrey]

@Atitagain when aquarium building companies were exploring tempered glass, my ex & I had moved cross country and decided to purchase new 10 & 20 gallon tanks so we only had to pay for moving the customs.

Got into the apartment and set up tanks and waterbed... used python to refill waterbed while tanks adjusted to indoor temps, and ran a juryrigged filter in the cooler holding my breeding discus (only fish we chose to keep, as no-one else had duplicated my line).

Filled tanks with gravel on top of UGF, and as soon as the waterbed was filled, started filling tanks...

My custom had no problems. 

His custom had no problems. 

The 55 he got on sale because it was cheaper to buy the 55 than 5 of the 10 gallons?

I was unloading more bedroom and kitchen boxes out of the moving truck when I heard a loud *pop*

Went running into the apartment to find the front glass of the brand new 55 had done that really cool shatter effect that tempered glass is known for 🙄

We never figured out why or how it popped. Ex 'decided' that a 55 was a bad idea, as we had no safe way to test tanks outside, and went back for the 5 gallons we had originally agreed to.😏

10 gallons of water on the floor is much easier to deal with than 50🤣😳🤪

[Atitagain]

On 1/24/2022 at 3:31 PM, Torrey said:

@Atitagain when aquarium building companies were exploring tempered glass, my ex & I had moved cross country and decided to purchase new 10 & 20 gallon tanks so we only had to pay for moving the customs.

Got into the apartment and set up tanks and waterbed... used python to refill waterbed while tanks adjusted to indoor temps, and ran a juryrigged filter in the cooler holding my breeding discus (only fish we chose to keep, as no-one else had duplicated my line).

Filled tanks with gravel on top of UGF, and as soon as the waterbed was filled, started filling tanks...

My custom had no problems. 

His custom had no problems. 

The 55 he got on sale because it was cheaper to buy the 55 than 5 of the 10 gallons?

I was unloading more bedroom and kitchen boxes out of the moving truck when I heard a loud *pop*

Went running into the apartment to find the front glass of the brand new 55 had done that really cool shatter effect that tempered glass is known for 🙄

We never figured out why or how it popped. Ex 'decided' that a 55 was a bad idea, as we had no safe way to test tanks outside, and went back for the 5 gallons we had originally agreed to.😏

10 gallons of water on the floor is much easier to deal with than 50🤣😳🤪

That’s crazy, it had to be such a mess to clean up! In the middle of moving no less.😦

I feel like I got lucky both times. The glass only cracked through 1st time on back panel, just split it in two. The front broke into 4 pieces but the root structure I have hanging caught it all, so nothing fell into the water.

[Atitagain]

UNBOXING

Got this shipment last week from a breeder who did an excellent job with packing,shipping,service, and the fish are amazing. Hardly any signs of stress, color was down a little but their settling in very well.  Day of shipment 12F I intercepted package at post office so it didn’t spend the day on delivery truck. Seller added extra heat pack and all went well (also added 2 plants)😁

First off I received 2 pairs of some very nice mutt guppies. These were also free added as a box filler. (Again 😁) I have them in a 29G it is their QT as there is no other inhabitants yet, this will also be their permanent home. And will be rescaped soon.  I’m excited for them to breed I may introduce my guppies I already have or find others to diversify the gene pool.

 

Then I received 2 pairs of German Blue Rams. These are amazing fish and I am so excited to get them back in my tanks I am much better prepared for them. I’ve learned a lot about maintaining water parameters to better suit them, what their diet should be, and habitat. All 4 of them are in a 10G QT, in a couple more days when I’m fairly sure I won’t need to medicate I will select a pair for a 20G tall I have set up with a couple cave features some flat rocks and a lot of plants. They will be alone so can finish quarantine there. Other 2 will stay in 10G QT till I’m absolutely positive I don’t need to medicate (4-6weeks) then go into my 125G.

1st day

4 days

the GBRs are fairly skittish and difficult to get pics of, I don’t want them to keep darting all around being stressed so I don’t have great pics yet. The color is very nice on both the males you can see it on the females also. 
Will update more as they get through quarantine.😁

[Atitagain]

FISHROOM UPDATE

Reworked my workbench, this is still temporary but the next stage to have a good plan to build cabinets. Of coarse I want to build final bench just don’t have the funds right now. But it is good to have temporary benches to work out a couple issues.

went from this:

to this:

Cut length down by 10 inches, replaced bench top with plywood covered with removable cloth, built in a couple small shelves, ran air and electricity to end of bench, and added a 20G tall that will be used as a snail grow out. 
 

also in fishroom I rerouted a bunch of electric hook ups. Although tanks are running from 4 different outlets all 4 are powered by same breaker. So I ran 14g power cords from other outlets from outside the room. 
Tanks all seem healthy overall, only a few issues to deal with this week. Need to clean all lids algae build at lights like always. 1 platy in QT part of tail missing, salt treatment going well need to monitor. Plant grow out tank needs tidied up and needs more plants.😁 Blackworms going great both tanks are multiplying well. Bowl and containers all doing just ok, need a little tlc. Still have some BBA in  a 55G, been treating whole tank with liquid carbon ready to do some spot treatments and should finish it up. Will be ramping up for another attempt to breed the rummys, will be during the introduction of the GBRs.

MY AQUATIC VIVARIUMS 

[Atitagain]

Up grade to water filling hose. Added a small plastic measuring cup with plenty of holes drilled to Python hook with a couple rubber bands. Then attached a thermometer and placed the node into cup. Keeping a much closer eye on temperatures when doing water changes.

 

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

@Atitagainjust caught up on your thread. Excited to see what comes of these new fish. It’s very exciting!

[Hobbit]

Even your temporary bench looks amazing. It’s inspiring me to clean up my fish area. 😅

[Atitagain]

On 2/1/2022 at 12:21 PM, Hobbit said:

Even your temporary bench looks amazing. It’s inspiring me to clean up my fish area. 😅

Thank you. 

[Torrey]

Looking fabulous!!!

[Atitagain]

Few more things completed today. Been collecting snails from most of my tanks to populate the snail tank. It’s so crazy how fast 3 pea puffers will go through what looks to be an insurmountable amount or pest and pond snails.I probably on collected 30-40. 😬

after wrecking havoc in my plant grow out tank I had to basically reset. (I’ll sound out my name At-it-again) This time on left will be a couple rows of vallisneria and a couple rows of PSO half the tank long. These are two plants that grow well and fast for me. In center top I’m using a breeder box to keep fragmented and floating plants. Then on right I’ve elevated the back row using egg crate with suction cups and some caves. Then another row of planters down front.

I took down some of the flying blocks in hulks Escape tank. Let in so much more light and I was having problems with food getting  stuck/ caked on the blocks.

Set up 5G tank, not used to working on such a small scale. Then the tank is taller than wide, again not used to it. Was fun and I’m happy with lay out. Fairly sure that I’m gonna go with a big group of chili rasbora. And a mystery snail or a different shrimp than cherry.