Adventures in the Fishroom

[Tihshho]

Figured it was time to throw together a post of some projects going on in my fish room. Right now I've got more tanks than projects as I thinned out some of my previous projects right before COVID as I had plans and then... Well the pandemic hit, wasn't able to go out and get new species, shipping was all over the place and unreliable for live stuff, and things kinda just maintained from there. Now things are able to be shipped and my LFS's are getting things in I've cleaned up the open tanks and am planning on some remodeling of the room to save on power and consolidate; specifically an air loop. 

As for what I'm currently keeping and breeding/working on breeding here is a list:

- Neocardina Sp.

• Red Sakuras
• Orange Sakuras
• Blue Diamonds
• Green Jade (waiting on them to arrive actually)

- Snails

• Yellow Rabbit Snails (Tylomelania sp.)
• Black Rabbit Snails (Tylomelania sp.)
• Pagoda Snails (B. Pagodula)

- Panda Garras (G. Flavatra)

Some previous projects included:

- Moth Catfish (H. Jerdoni)

- Peacock Gudgeons (T. Ocellicauda)

- Farlowellas (F. Acus)

- Ancistrus Sp.

• Super Reds
• Blue Eyed
• Calicos

- Medusa Plecos - L034 (A. Ranunculus) 

- Clown Plecos - L103 (P. Maccus)

Figure a thread is useless without current pictures. Here are a few of the shrimp and snails tanks and one of the three 40's that have been cleaned up and waiting for new projects. Sorry in advance for potato phone pictures.

 

[lefty o]

tanks look good!

[Tihshho]

Thanks, I try to keep things simple and functional in the room. If I could keep the shrimp in bare bottom tanks I would. That said, the culls seem to be doing fine and breeding in the spare 40B's. 

[Tihshho]

Well was hoping to add some fun things to this post today, but it might only be a semi-fun post. Got an order in from Aquatic Arts with some more Pagoda Snails, Assassin Snails (for another tank to be used to control a bladder snail issue I've got going on), some plants, and some Green Jade Neocardinia that I've been waiting on. Grabbed the box from the UPS guy (working from home has definitely made this hobby a bunch easier) and got to unpacking. Per checking the contents everything seemed great, extras of everything added like usual from them, and only one DOA in the shrimp bag which isn't that big of a deal. But something didn't seem right... Checked the shrimp bag again, and well... These are not Green Jades... The shrimp in the bag are a dark blue almost like the Blue Diamonds that I previously ordered from them and mixed with a few lighter blue that are almost like Blue Dreams. I've had shrimp change color on me before in transit, but it's always been them becoming lighter in color, never a complete color change... I checked the label on the bag, and everything looks right there, but the color... It's way off from what was pictured. I've reached out to Jeff at Aquatic Arts to get more details. I just hope these guys changed color as I don't have a place to put them if they are not what I ordered unless I put them in a breeder box covered in netting (handful of berried females in there) or put them in the cull tank which would be a waste since they are pretty even though they are not what I ordered. Hope to get some more info back from him later today on what might be going on.

So far everything is acclimating, got a few things on drip as I type this. Got my fingers crossed that we can get this worked out.

[Tihshho]

Well, more bummed than I thought I would be. Finished the drip on the shrimp and moved them to a floating breeder box in the tank that was setup just incase they ended up not being the exact color morph I ordered. The tank cycled and ran for a few months prior to finally having the shrimp I wanted in stock and available to ship. Oddly enough, the colors came back slightly, but the advertised hues are far off. That's not the bad part... For the longest time, I've been thankful that my invert collection has always been parasite free and the nasties that are coming in on some imports have never touched my fishroom... Until today... Putting them in them in the tank, even in the breeder box was a mistake. I should have done the right thing and put them in a Lee's specimen container and given them a once over. Here's some horrible shots from a janky macro setup on manual focus (only way that I could semi get close enough pictures.)

First picture (of the stringy green/yellow) is parasitic dinoflagellates/ellobiopsids. This is going to be a problem so far I see it on one shrimp. Before someone comments, no this isn't a berried female with eggs, the shape is all wrong for eggs. 

Second picture (white object on rostrum) is Scutterlleria Japonica also just known as Scuts.

With the current weather it seems the closest LFS's are closed due to immense flooding going on. Seems I'm going to have to dig through my stash of meds to see if I have anything that I can use let alone something that isn't old and/or expired. Scuts should be simple with a 30 second dip of 1 cup tank water to 1 teaspoon of aquarium salt. It's just risky being that the shrimp are stressed from travel and I already lost a second one when I came back to check the drip. As for the dinoflagellates, I'm going to have to get/find some formalin and malachite green to create a dip. At this point I'm just going to have to dip all of them. They not only have been exposed prior to being bagged, but they have been cooped up in a bag for 24 hours and more than likely have the spores and eggs from each of the problems. 

I'm still waiting to hear back from Aquatic Arts, if this is their new standard for 'captive bred' shrimp I hate that I've lost a reliable place to order from that packs amazingly and ships quick. 

 

***Update***

Jeff, the owner of AA got back to me a few moments ago and went way beyond what anyone would expect in levels of customer service. I won't get into too many details, but lets just say that if there is an issue they have you covered. Not only did he provide some solutions to the issue, but also credited me back just incase the this bag order was lost due to how they showed up. As much as it sucks to be sitting here medicating, I can't be upset about it.

Before he came back with recommended solutions of how he's dealt with these issues in the past from import shipments, I had already jumped the gun and done a partial treatment on the tank with Ruby Reef's Rally. I forgot I had a jug of it from my reefing exploits. Hopefully this will clear up the parasites after a few days of treatments. If not, I'll do a decent water change and re-assess with a new med cocktail. This is the one part of this hobby I hate the most, medicating. At least I have visual queues on what was going on.

Edited September 1, 2021 by Tihshho

[PineSong]

So frustrating to have problems but glad the seller made it right. Medicating is nerve-wracking!

[Tihshho]

24 hours with the first round of Rally and the second dose has been in for a few hours. Not 100% sure, but the ellobiopsids seems to be reducing. Once I get this taken care of off to dip and get rid of the scuts!

Figured I'd throw in some pictures of the rest during feeding time.

[ChemBob]

On 9/2/2021 at 5:32 PM, Tihshho said:

Figured I'd throw in some pictures of the rest during feeding time.

Is the last picture pagoda snails? They look great! Also, what color shrimp are with them? They are striking! 

[Tihshho]

Much appreciated @ChemBob!

You are correct, those are Pagoda Snails (B. Pagodula.) I've had the initial group I had spawn with a few offspring since I've had them and just recently added to their population to start producing more of them since they are not exactly a common species being kept. Definitely slow to produce unlike my Yellow Rabbit colony.

The shrimp are Blue Diamond Neocardinia, I'm working on cleaning up the genetics currently and am trying to get the blues a bit more dominant than the rust as well as removing the stripe from the line as much as I can. Unlike Cardinia you have to wait a bit to cull, but the line to cull if fine because by the time they are showing the traits I want to keep and those I don't they are basically ready to go and spawn. Cardinia on the other hand come out looking more like their adult coloration. I had setup part of the rack on the other wall for Cardinia, but I'm changing plans and working to move another set of tanks against the same wall I have my Neo's, at that point I can be 100% inverts on one side and the other will be fish only (with invert culls that I've pulled and put into the other tanks for cleanup crew.)

Edited September 3, 2021 by Tihshho

[StevesFishTanks]

I like the potted plants and caves cool setups

[Tihshho]

On 9/2/2021 at 10:17 PM, s1_ said:

I like the potted plants and caves cool setups

Thanks! I wanted to be sure that I could still get some benefits from plants as well as give natural hiding spaces and have areas for infusoria to naturally culture all while still keeping the tanks with fish easy to maintain with a bare bottom. It doesn't help that I've got various Crypts out of my ears from propagating them for the past 3 years and they needed a place to go... It all worked out.

Edited September 3, 2021 by Tihshho

[Tihshho]

While getting some measurements for the PVC air loop parts list so I know what to pick up tomorrow, I couldn't help but take this picture of this one 40B that I still need to overhaul. About 18 months ago I had chucked the a nice little clump (smaller than a golf ball) of flame moss in there after tearing down a Nano I had. I figured it would survive and allow me to use the moss later. The tuft never grew while I had a small group of some Redhump Geophagus (G. Steindachneri) in there. Little did I know it was going to turn into this after they were rehomed...

Since the mat grew out of control it, as well as all of the vacated project tanks, has been a home to the culls from my Neocardinia projects . With plans in the room changing and my inspiration to get back into fish breeding projects and not just inverts, sadly this mass of green is going to have to go. I hope I can find some local hobbyists who would enjoy taking some of it home before I show up at the LFS trying to bargain for credit. 

[StevesFishTanks]

that moss is epic

[Tihshho]

Got part of the loop mounted and test fit, seems I should have read my notes more so that try to base my shopping list off of memory. Original plan was going to be a rectangle above where the tanks are, but I changed it up to include the rest of the room just to play it safe, and I'm pretty sure the original number is what I was basing my bill of materials off of. While getting the fittings I was originally planning to put 2 drops for pumps in case of expansion. While looking at everything I snagged a third T, bushing and barbed fitting figuring more is less just incase if I end up ordering a second pump I'll just throw on a third not for pressure but incase one ever goes out I'll have a backup. Would you guys recommend capping the barb fitting and putting a hose clamp on there, or just threading in a plug rather than the barb? 

I hope to grab some pictures tonight of the loop, meanwhile back off to Lowes to grab more 1" thin wall and then I should be done with the test fit.

**Update**

Was going to post pictures, but being that there are PVC pipes going everywhere I'm not sure how helpful any of that's going to be. 

I was planning on painting the PVC pipes with Krylon post drilling to make them stand out incase I ever need to service the web of other pipes and make it obvious to myself or a professional what pipes are air only. Will PVC glue work on painted PVC or is it best to paint post gluing? I ask because taking this out as one piece is going to be impossible, haha. 

Edited September 5, 2021 by Tihshho

[Jimmy]

On 8/30/2021 at 7:56 PM, Tihshho said:

Figured it was time to throw together a post of some projects going on in my fish room. Right now I've got more tanks than projects as I thinned out some of my previous projects right before COVID as I had plans and then... Well the pandemic hit, wasn't able to go out and get new species, shipping was all over the place and unreliable for live stuff, and things kinda just maintained from there. Now things are able to be shipped and my LFS's are getting things in I've cleaned up the open tanks and am planning on some remodeling of the room to save on power and consolidate; specifically an air loop. 

As for what I'm currently keeping and breeding/working on breeding here is a list:

- Neocardina Sp.

• Red Sakuras
• Orange Sakuras
• Blue Diamonds
• Green Jade (waiting on them to arrive actually)

- Snails

• Yellow Rabbit Snails (Tylomelania sp.)
• Black Rabbit Snails (Tylomelania sp.)
• Pagoda Snails (B. Pagodula)

- Panda Garras (G. Flavatra)

Some previous projects included:

- Moth Catfish (H. Jerdoni)

- Peacock Gudgeons (T. Ocellicauda)

- Farlowellas (F. Acus)

- Ancistrus Sp.

• Super Reds
• Blue Eyed
• Calicos

- Medusa Plecos - L034 (A. Ranunculus) 

- Clown Plecos - L103 (P. Maccus)

Figure a thread is useless without current pictures. Here are a few of the shrimp and snails tanks and one of the three 40's that have been cleaned up and waiting for new projects. Sorry in advance for potato phone pictures.

 

What plant in the pots? Beautiful breeding tanks.

[StevesFishTanks]

For the unused barb end I would put a valve. You can close it if not using the barb. You can also open it to bleed excess air. 

[Griznatch]

Beautiful tanks! I've been eyeballing the orange for over a year now, just need to get a tank set up for them. I finally got some green babaulti but didn't plan very well, and... they ended up in my yellow shrimp tank. You can imagine the difficulties I'm going to have when I try to move them over to my CPD tank.

Sorry to hear about your new shrimp, how's the treatment going so far?

[Guppysnail]

On 9/3/2021 at 10:24 PM, Tihshho said:

While getting some measurements for the PVC air loop parts list so I know what to pick up tomorrow, I couldn't help but take this picture of this one 40B that I still need to overhaul. About 18 months ago I had chucked the a nice little clump (smaller than a golf ball) of flame moss in there after tearing down a Nano I had. I figured it would survive and allow me to use the moss later. The tuft never grew while I had a small group of some Redhump Geophagus (G. Steindachneri) in there. Little did I know it was going to turn into this after they were rehomed...

Since the mat grew out of control it, as well as all of the vacated project tanks, has been a home to the culls from my Neocardinia projects . With plans in the room changing and my inspiration to get back into fish breeding projects and not just inverts, sadly this mass of green is going to have to go. I hope I can find some local hobbyists who would enjoy taking some of it home before I show up at the LFS trying to bargain for credit. 

Your culls are living in shrimp paradise. This is gorgeous no way could I part with that beauty 😍

[Tihshho]

On 9/5/2021 at 1:15 AM, Jimmy said:

What plant in the pots? Beautiful breeding tanks.

I've got various crypts growing in them from when I was propagating them from tissue cultures. Started down the TC route to make sure I was keeping my room sterile from pathogens as well as to keep out duckweed and bladder snails... That lasted for 2.5 years until I was forced to get tank grown frogbit and both of what I was trying to avoid happened to be hiding in them.

On 9/5/2021 at 9:46 AM, s1_ said:

For the unused barb end I would put a valve. You can close it if not using the barb. You can also open it to bleed excess air. 

Hrm, this is an idea! At that point I won't have to pull plugs and I can just pop the new/additional linear piston pumps on quickly. I'm going to look into this, specifically might need to look into a muffler as to not have the droning noise of rushing air escaping that isn't bubbling.

On 9/5/2021 at 11:06 AM, Griznatch said:

Beautiful tanks! I've been eyeballing the orange for over a year now, just need to get a tank set up for them. I finally got some green babaulti but didn't plan very well, and... they ended up in my yellow shrimp tank. You can imagine the difficulties I'm going to have when I try to move them over to my CPD tank.

Sorry to hear about your new shrimp, how's the treatment going so far?

My oranges didn't start out pure, as you can see I have various grades in there. The camera doesn't do them all justice as it shows some as yellows. After three years I've finally been able to cull heavy enough that I'm not getting red babies or patchy red and orange babies. 

On 9/5/2021 at 11:49 AM, Guppysnail said:

Your culls are living in shrimp paradise. This is gorgeous no way could I part with that beauty 😍

That 40B is nothing... I pulled my trough that I had in the room that I was throwing all of my additional Christmas Moss into. Previously I had my shrimp tanks setup differently with pool filter sand, driftwood and moss. The moss grew so fast I was pulling gallon bags of it weekly. At one point I was able to sell a bunch of it off to locals, which was nice to be able to get rid of it, but I was producing mats of it fast than I could get rid of it. I've attached a picture of the trough from a few months back before I tore it down and got rid of 90% of the moss. 

 

[StevesFishTanks]

You can buy a slip to thread valve and screw in either a barb in the future or an air muffler 

[Tihshho]

Started gluing pipes today as well as spraying on some satin black Krylon to the parts I'm not going to drill and tackle those pipes with some coats of paint post drilling. Obviously the first piece of pipe that got painted ended up being a part that is going to get drilled for the air taps... Of course this happened haha. Nothing a cover coat won't fix if I scrape it up. 

Protip, tested a painted piece of PVC to an elbow to see if the PVC cement would still work, negative. Paint stuff after gluing. What I ended up doing after that experiment was marking the PVC after inserting it into the elbow/union/T that it was coupled to and then putting a skin of blue painters tape over that area so it wouldn't get painted. If you're fighting space while setting up long runs of PVC this is the best way to get them out as to not spray bomb stuff in the fishroom/house. Once everything is drilled and painted it's just down to installing the valves, doing the final gluing of joints, running airline and mounting a shelf for the pump(s). 

Edited September 7, 2021 by Tihshho

[Tihshho]

Hit a holding point in the room. At this point I need the valves so I can move forward with drilling and painting (want to confirm drill size with valves prior to punching holes.) Got the two parts of the run that didn't need drilling painted and semi mounted and just waiting on the rest of the hardware prior to drilling, painting and installing.

Went to put my order in at AC's website and found a snag... Can't add anything to the cart. Had to reach out to support to get that looked into before I can order. Once that's fixed I'll be moving onto the next steps. Per my math I'm going to have around 100 drops (providing extras because at some point I'll need them, if not it's better to have them than to not) and should only have 45-55 running at once. The additional drops I'm tapping in are so that I can have air available for Ziss breeder boxes (giving myself a limit of 1 per 10, and 2 per any tank over a 20L) and additional sponge filter or fluidized bed filters when necessary. The fluctuation on the 45-55 is going to be due to the fry system that will have drops turned on/off as needed. 

Went through and diagramed the space simply with a topographical view as well as per rack has definitely helped out with planning. Sort of tempted to go back into this with Microsoft Office or Fusion 360 and making everything to scale, but I'm trying to turn off that part of my Engineer brain so I'm not wasting time.

 

***Update***

Seemed the account issue cleared up on its own, regardless Candi got back to me pretty quick from the stores website support.

Order placed so I hope I got enough valves. Between that, the new linear piston air pump, the 300' spool of airline and other bits and bobs I should have this rolling by next week. According to the site the order will be packed and shipped tomorrow, so I don't expect it to show up anytime before next Monday. From there I'' coordinate my bits to the valves and get those going. Longest part on this is watching the paint on the PVC to dry.

Edited September 9, 2021 by Tihshho

[eatyourpeas]

On 8/30/2021 at 7:56 PM, Tihshho said:

May I ask where you got those great planters and what they are made of? Are they for bonsai?

TIA 🙂

[Tihshho]

On 9/9/2021 at 3:00 PM, eatyourpeas said:

May I ask where you got those great planters and what they are made of? Are they for bonsai?

TIA 🙂

For the life of my I honestly can't remember. Was either some big box store or a nursery? They are some form of concrete and they didn't sizzle with the vinegar test on the initial ones I bought, to which I returned to clear them out. I'm actually looking around for more, so if I find them again I'll let you know. Only thing I remember was getting the question of "Why are you putting all these pots in the cart/why are you pushing a cart around with a bunch of pots?" and getting an eye roll from the girlfriend when I explained what I was doing. 

[OnlyGenusCaps]

On 9/2/2021 at 9:06 PM, Tihshho said:

You are correct, those are Pagoda Snails (B. Pagodula.) I've had the initial group I had spawn with a few offspring since I've had them and just recently added to their population to start producing more of them since they are not exactly a common species being kept. Definitely slow to produce unlike my Yellow Rabbit colony.

I may need to ask you questions about your snail propagation methods for those two.  Very nice setup!