Minanoras adventures in fishkeeping

[Minanora]

On 11/5/2022 at 12:34 AM, TheSwissAquarist said:

When I bought 6 long fin guppies from my LFS (who were being kept with tiger barbs) I dosed some Methylene Blue into the QT tank to stop any fungus issues if that helps...?

Not a bad idea. Thank you. When I was looking at my arsenal of treatment options I considered using some but decided to use the Indian almond leaves instead. Colu thinks it's bacterial so I'm starting with water changes, IAL tea, salt, and kanamycin. We'll see how it goes. Little man is still eating so things were looking good yesterday. I haven't checked today yet. Fingers crossed that he's still improving.

[Minanora]

Yesterday I was a busy fish mom. I got a lot done.

Changed water in the 75, trimmed some plants, removed some snails, and added IAL tea and more leaves.

Changed water on the shrimp sanctuary, worked on the plants, cleaned the little filter I put in. It was so full of mulm that it was hardly moving water at all.

Removed a good bunch of eco complete from the 40B, changed water on it, added some plants. The castle will not fit in there, sadly. However this means we may get to see the clown pleco more often. By "often" I mean, at all... I never see him except when I shine a flashlight at just the right angle to barely see a fin, when he's in just the right spot. 😂

Cleaned the filter on the chili ruins. 5 of 7 female shrimp are berried in there. These are the ones with the opaque orange on their backs, like golden back shrimp, but orange. One has even more opaque orange on her, I'm hoping to get solid opaque, painted, orange shrimp over the next year or so. It's a small project so we'll see.

Today I change water in the quarantine and my son's 20H. Maybe trim some of his plants... It's a jungle tank.

 

Also this little guppy is getting his colors. He's beautiful in person. A very light orange and yellow with blue iridescence. Came out more orange in the photos but he's a pretty guy.

The shrimp after I disturbed them yesterday.

[nabokovfan87]

A few more fry dropped today. 🙂

How often are you feeding them, 4x a day, small powder type foods?

[Minanora]

On 11/5/2022 at 2:34 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

A few more fry dropped today. 🙂

How often are you feeding them, 4x a day, small powder type foods?

Feeding who? 😂 I need specifics.

I just found guppy fry in my son's tank.... I guess I'm not done having babies. I knew it was roulette, putting the three little girls in there when I broke down the grow out.

More babies!!!!! I'm sorry they're still dropping. I really tried to get ones that didn't have contact with males. I'm excited though!!! I'll take as many as you want to get rid of. Maybe wait until you have another drop or two to keep shipping cost lower for me. I'll send you the box whenever you're ready. 💚 My husband is excited as well. Which is odd. Lol

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/5/2022 at 3:50 PM, Minanora said:

Feeding who? 😂 I need specifics.

Sorry, I mean the black swordtail fry!

On 11/5/2022 at 3:50 PM, Minanora said:

More babies!!!!! I'm sorry they're still dropping. I really tried to get ones that didn't have contact with males. I'm excited though!!! I'll take as many as you want to get rid of. Maybe wait until you have another drop or two to keep shipping cost lower for me. I'll send you the box whenever you're ready. 💚 My husband is excited as well. Which is odd. Lol

I think one of the females keeps trying to hunt all the fry down. There's a few surviving, but they are afraid of the pandas and so they are staying at the top. I added some cover and we'll see how these do.

I am also going to have to keep an eye out for some cory fry to see if any eggs hatched out. The ones I had moved didn't seem fertilized.

[Minanora]

I didn't get much done Saturday or Sunday. Entertained human guests so had to focus on people things and recover yesterday. But I spent time looking at the fish, it was nice. 

The IAL tinted container has that little guppy in it. He's hanging in there. Still eating, and acting okay, but he's still a pinecone.

Pandas waiting for breakfast. They got brine shrimp.

Cute little mama in my 75. White, tiny patches of orange, orange legs and red blushed cheeks.

 

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 11/7/2022 at 4:41 PM, Minanora said:

Entertained human guests so had to focus on people things and recover yesterday. But I spent time looking at the fish, it was nice. 

Shows how interesting those human guests were 😉!

[Minanora]

I did something stupid. I decided to boost my son's new tanks good bacteria by shaking out his Bio rings into the tank.... These live in his job filter in a bag.

Little did I know.... The thing was full of Malaysian trumpet snails..... I spent a full half hour squishing them in his new tank. I added "no planaria" was well. Hopefully I can kill them off. I don't mind bladder snails and ramshorn.... But mts.... Loathe them.

There were also shrimpletts in there 😂 so now there's some orange shrimp in the new tank. I'm still going to do yellow shrimp, but I'll have to keep an eye out for the few shrimp that snuck in. I haven't seen them all day so maybe they are in the canister or in the guppies...

 

On a sad note, that little guppy boy passed today. 😔

[nabokovfan87]

Very unfortunate.  I'm sorry for you loss. 

I have no idea how the pandas will do trying to play trumpet. Very strange image thinking about little panda whales playing trumpets now. 

From earlier, how often would you normally feed your swordtail fry?  Do you always move them from the parents?

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 11/8/2022 at 5:21 AM, Minanora said:

On a sad note, that little guppy boy passed today. 😔

You can't save all of them 😢

[Minanora]

On 11/7/2022 at 9:23 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Very unfortunate.  I'm sorry for you loss. 

I have no idea how the pandas will do trying to play trumpet. Very strange image thinking about little panda whales playing trumpets now. 

From earlier, how often would you normally feed your swordtail fry?  Do you always move them from the parents?

I only separated fry if I was selling them later.

If I'm trying to raise fry, I feed 4 times a day and cycle food types across feedings.

For mim and Merlin, I let mim drop fry in the 75g and didn't start pulling fry until they were at least a month old. Mim was always too busy to search out and eat her babies.

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/8/2022 at 6:25 AM, Minanora said:

For mim and Merlin, I let mim drop fry in the 75g and didn't start pulling fry until they were at least a month old. Mim was always too busy to search out and eat her babies.

Makes sense.  The fry are getting more comfortable now, which is good because they are almost impossible to see against the dark wood.

[Minanora]

On 11/8/2022 at 12:52 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Makes sense.  The fry are getting more comfortable now, which is good because they are almost impossible to see against the dark wood.

That's part of how they survive as tiny fry. 😂

They generally stay low and slow. Sometimes they go up top but they stay close to wood surfaces and plants. They move in short bursts. It's adorable!

[Minanora]

I'm on a snail murdering spree. I feel bad, but it's time. Currently killing the snails off in the chili ruins, quarantine, and the 40B. These have the fewest snails, so I'm starting with them.

I'm going to do the shrimp sanctuary starting on Thursday. Then next weekend I'll hit the 75 since it will take the most water changes and dosing.

This weekend I'll move the fish out of my son's 20H and wipe those snails out before I move plants. I'm also carbonating a 5g keg of water to do RR on the tanks plants before I move them to the 40B.

And yes, I know how to control my snail population. 😂 I don't have that many snails except in my son's tank thanks to the mts invading and just getting insanely out of hand.

The 75 has a bunch but it's not too bad... But that tank gets fed pretty heavily.

 

Last year I had a bad snail infestation in the 75 and accidently murdered them ALL with "no planaria" when I was trying to get rid of hydra and well, I learned a lot from that experience.

Moving forward all plants will be treated via RR. No more pest snails.

[Minanora]

-_- if it's not one thing, it's another. Months go by and every tank is happy and fine, then out of nowhere issues pop up randomly in various tanks. Good news is that the 75 is back in balance and the fish are happy in there.

I put the durpy female in the new 40B on Sunday, she was fine until today. Now she has something going on. I made a thread about it in diseases. I think it's both columnaris and fungus of some kind. The new tank has the same parameters as her old one, I check the parameters every day, seeded it with mulm from the chili ruins filter and then my son's 20g bio rings yesterday. Never seen ammonia in this tank only 5ppm nitrate before my first water change on it on Friday. Been at 0 across the board since that 90% change.

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/8/2022 at 8:38 PM, Minanora said:

I put the durpy female in the new 40B on Sunday, she was fine until today. Now she has something going on. I made a thread about it in diseases. I think it's both columnaris and fungus of some kind. The new tank has the same parameters as her old one, I check the parameters every day, seeded it with mulm from the chili ruins filter and then my son's 20g bio rings yesterday. Never seen ammonia in this tank only 5ppm nitrate before my first water change on it on Friday. Been at 0 across the board since that 90% change.

Not a joke, it's like there's just something in the water sometimes.  I removed a filter, got a bottle of stability and am finally getting rid of the haze in the tank from the added bioload.  IDK what it is, but it took over 3 months for the sponge filters (2x large) to adapt to the panda horde.

If you're seeing stuff pop up, I would donate my bottle if I could, but it's 30% off or whatever on the site right now which means you can have them price match if need be and it might help out with everything you have going on. 

[Minanora]

On 11/8/2022 at 11:24 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Not a joke, it's like there's just something in the water sometimes.  I removed a filter, got a bottle of stability and am finally getting rid of the haze in the tank from the added bioload.  IDK what it is, but it took over 3 months for the sponge filters (2x large) to adapt to the panda horde.

If you're seeing stuff pop up, I would donate my bottle if I could, but it's 30% off or whatever on the site right now which means you can have them price match if need be and it might help out with everything you have going on. 

... Now one of the cories has a patch and white mouth in the quarantine tank. 🤦‍♀️ God keeping me on my toes I guess. Nitrates were at 50, so that may have been the cause for him. I just did a water change for them this morning, added a fizz tab and kanamycin. Grr.

What level of nitrate do you let your panda house get too usually?

I know I'm keeping them in harder water and higher pH... GH 18°, pH 7.8 right now. Temp is higher as well, 76° on the warm side, about 74° on the cool end. Was hoping to keep them with Mr Swimmy the Betta. Maybe he'll just have to stay in the 75g.

Good news is that the fish in the 40B is improving quickly. Only one tiny spot this evening. Swimming happily, in her durpy way.

[Minanora]

It finally happened, that fear..... It became a reality. I let a tank overflow! 😭 Not bad, but I totally had the python overfill my son's 20G while I was turned to the 40B.

Ugh.... Anyway... Ugh!!!! 🤣

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/9/2022 at 8:20 PM, Minanora said:

... Now one of the cories has a patch and white mouth in the quarantine tank. 🤦‍♀️ God keeping me on my toes I guess. Nitrates were at 50, so that may have been the cause for him. I just did a water change for them this morning, added a fizz tab and kanamycin. Grr.

What level of nitrate do you let your panda house get too usually?

Sorry, just now seeing this. 

I try to keep nitrates below 10.  With "heavy feeding" they usually end up 20-40 on any given week depending how heavy I feed.  I seriously try to stay below 20, but I'm not very specific with it.  They have definitely seen high nitrates before.

Adding oxygen, salt (1/2 cup per 10G), etc. is usually what they like and should respond to.  Lower temps, etc.  They've been treated recently with the erythromycin, salt, ich-x, paracleanse.  I am pretty sure they had prazipro as well because of all that worm stuff I had going on.

As far as how, I'm guessing it's just the bare bottom tank.  It might be carryover from the BDBS issues I had or shipping.  It happens, but I'm sure the little one will pull through.  🙂

On 11/9/2022 at 8:20 PM, Minanora said:

I know I'm keeping them in harder water and higher pH... GH 18°, pH 7.8 right now. Temp is higher as well, 76° on the warm side, about 74° on the cool end. Was hoping to keep them with Mr Swimmy the Betta. Maybe he'll just have to stay in the 75g.

Is there any way to drop PH or not easily?  I don't think they've seen PH that high for an extended period.  7.4 yeah, but not ~8.  7.6-7.8 they have seen for a few days, but not constant.  I don't know if that helps you navigate the fungus stuff, but I wanted to mention it as a precaution.

They were at 76 pretty much all summer so they've been acclimated to the warmer stuff this year.  Right now my tanks are set to 71.  It got chilly, so it was in the 60's for a day (silly me forgot to turn the heater back on).  Just not used to having them back in, but no issues in the tank.

On 11/11/2022 at 6:47 PM, Minanora said:

It finally happened, that fear..... It became a reality. I let a tank overflow! 😭 Not bad, but I totally had the python overfill my son's 20G while I was turned to the 40B.

*Knocks on wood* That's unfortunate!!! I usually resort to flooding a bucket or letting the stinkin' siphon hose slip out and just stare at while I try to figure out how on earth to stop it.  Gallons of water on the floor this week.  Hopefully yours wasn't that bad.

 

Edited November 12, 2022 by nabokovfan87

[Minanora]

On 11/11/2022 at 7:41 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Sorry, just now seeing this. 

I try to keep nitrates below 10.  With "heavy feeding" they usually end up 20-40 on any given week depending how heavy I feed.  I seriously try to stay below 20, but I'm not very specific with it.  They have definitely seen high nitrates before.

Adding oxygen, salt (1/2 cup per 10G), etc. is usually what they like and should respond to.  Lower temps, etc.  They've been treated recently with the erythromycin, salt, ich-x, paracleanse.  I am pretty sure they had prazipro as well because of all that worm stuff I had going on.

As far as how, I'm guessing it's just the bare bottom tank.  It might be carryover from the BDBS issues I had or shipping.  It happens, but I'm sure the little one will pull through.  🙂

Is there any way to drop PH or not easily?  I don't think they've seen PH that high for an extended period.  7.4 yeah, but not ~8.  7.6-7.8 they have seen for a few days, but not constant.  I don't know if that helps you navigate the fungus stuff, but I wanted to mention it as a precaution.

They were at 76 pretty much all summer so they've been acclimated to the warmer stuff this year.  Right now my tanks are set to 71.  It got chilly, so it was in the 60's for a day (silly me forgot to turn the heater back on).  Just not used to having them back in, but no issues in the tank.

*Knocks on wood* That's unfortunate!!! I usually resort to flooding a bucket or letting the stinkin' siphon hose slip out and just stare at while I try to figure out how on earth to stop it.  Gallons of water on the floor this week.  Hopefully yours wasn't that bad.

 

I'm going to use peat. I sat and had a long chat with my local seasoned keepers. I figured it was a good idea since we all have the same crap tap water. One of the guys breeds angels and all of them have or do keep discus. But we're all plant people and don't use r.o. the tanks are too big, we don't have the space, or the time to use r.o.

Also going to set up a co2 system for his tank as well.

A number of my peers use water softening pillows as well. I'm going to try that in my 75.

The pandas have made a quick recovery, just like durpy girl. We're all good!

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/11/2022 at 8:33 PM, Minanora said:

I'm going to use peat. I sat and had a long chat with my local seasoned keepers. I figured it was a good idea since we all have the same crap tap water. One of the guys breeds angels and all of them have or do keep discus. But we're all plant people and don't use r.o. the tanks are too big, we don't have the space, or the time to use r.o.

very cool.  The tank they were in has always *technically* been blackwater, but it's in wood only and the water is tea colored. 
The PH was never too far off the tap, but I just mention it so you're aware what they have been kept with.  I swear... and I don't understand it, but it's very strange the water we have here.  It changes a lot and on parameters you would think would be very stable (like GH).  I don't know how much of that you go through, but it's thrown my tanks through a loop since we moved to the older home.

[Schuyler]

On 11/7/2022 at 8:21 PM, Minanora said:

I don't mind bladder snails and ramshorn.... But mts.... Loathe them.

What's so different about them? I'm only really familiar with Ramshorns.

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/11/2022 at 9:53 PM, Schuyler said:

What's so different about them? I'm only really familiar with Ramshorns.

bladder snails are more similar to pond snails (I think bladder snails can survive a bit easier out of water, but don't quote me on that.  Bladder / pond snails are the most common things someone thinks of when they say "snails" that isn't a hobbyist and they have the traditional shape and look.  They often first appear as if it's a little brown pebble where it shouldn't be and then you realize it's moving.

Ramshorn snails have a very specific shell shape (more conical like a ram's horn.

MTS = malaysian trumpet.  They are basically a spike of a snail shell and can be extremely sharp to fish and anyone digging in the sand. 

Nerite's are nice.  They are the chill peeps of the snail world.  Smooth shells, cool colors.  Unless it's @Chick-In-Of-TheSea's koopa trooper snail and then you better be careful!

[Minanora]

On 11/11/2022 at 9:53 PM, Schuyler said:

What's so different about them? I'm only really familiar with Ramshorns.

I hope you never get trumpet snails....

 

They burrow, they give birth to live snails.... They clog EVERYTHING!!!! they do churn the substrate, but holy moly, at what cost?! Just their bio load....

 

My word of the day "ugh". 🤣

You know mts are a problem when you get replies in less than five minutes. 🤣 I had a sixth sense.

[Minanora]

On 11/11/2022 at 8:58 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

very cool.  The tank they were in has always *technically* been blackwater, but it's in wood only and the water is tea colored. 
The PH was never too far off the tap, but I just mention it so you're aware what they have been kept with.  I swear... and I don't understand it, but it's very strange the water we have here.  It changes a lot and on parameters you would think would be very stable (like GH).  I don't know how much of that you go through, but it's thrown my tanks through a loop since we moved to the older home.

Dude, I get it. 😂 My tap water can come from three different wells that go to our areas holding tank, then we can also get water subsidized from the lake. I get a lot of different parameters, but the lowest hardness is 280 in the early spring. At the driest we are at 400+ hardness.