Minanoras adventures in fishkeeping

[Guppysnail]

I used to use my hubbys old cooler lunch box to go the the LFS. I’ve upgraded to one of the big daddy cooler on wheels.  They do work wonderful for fish. 

[Minanora]

I got one of those python no spill water changers.... Wow. It used to take me 2-3 hours to change water on the 75G. Now a 50% water change takes me 36 minutes. Took me 11 minutes to change 70% of the 20G fry tanks water. Dude. Such a time saver. It already paid for itself.

I got the one with the 50' hose. I run it out to the lawn to water it. I can't put tank water down the drain. It's great for the garden and the lawn, and all of my plants. I put a net over the end with a rubber band to keep fish and shrimp out of it. Worked like a charm!

[Minanora]

Well. Something happened to the fish in my sons tank. Randomly there was just a dead fish that I had no idea died until several days later. Great, right? So I caught the tail end of an ammonia spike caused by the fish and removal of the intake sponge. Fish flashing all over the place like crazy. Actually just two guppies flashing but still. One of the other girls is looking a bit worse for wear and they're not eating like normal. Nobody is. Some of the girls are looking a bit thin as well. Changed 50% of the water. Just dosed the tank with the med trio and added an Indian Almond Leaf. I am also feeding nitrofurazone medicated food in case it's an internal columnaris infection. I fear for the worst. 😞 

[Minanora]

I've decided that this python no spill water changer is one of the greatest purchases I've made. Sure, I could use a powerhead to move water but with this thing I don't have to plug anything in! Doesn't seem like a big deal, but it's nice to only have to deal with one thing.

I can change the water in the 20G tanks so fast! It's amazing! Painless and FAST. I am on board!

Still working on the algae issues in the 75. I think I'm making progress. Where I've removed the algae, there is no algae growing back. Most of the areas where it was growing in excess, it's slowed down to a near stop. More plants come tomorrow. Hopefully this really helps with the nutrient consumption. I am almost doubling the mass of plants.

The shrimp tank is forever cloudy. I don't get why. But that's fine. If it clears on its own, great. If not, I'm just going to live with it.

One berried shrimp in the 75 has either hatched their eggs or dropped them with a shed. But I think they hatched. I did add few very, very berried females to the 75 on the last addition. I'm thinking the shrimp a saw was one of them. I haven't gone looking for tiny shrimp. Don't really plan to. I doubt I'll be able to find them if they are alive. If they start overpopulating the 75 I'd be shocked.

[Minanora]

Micro update.  More plants in the 75G.

 

[Guppysnail]

On 4/19/2022 at 2:49 PM, Minanora said:

If they start overpopulating the 75 I'd be shocked.

Don’t be too shocked. Tiny terrorists sneak up in population until one day…Why is my entire substrate moving? 🤣

[Minanora]

On 4/21/2022 at 5:51 AM, Guppysnail said:

Don’t be too shocked. Tiny terrorists sneak up in population until one day…Why is my entire substrate moving? 🤣

I would not be upset. Tiny moving dollar signs at that point! I am excited to share my shrimp with my local shops.  I've never seen shrimp this hardy at our last. Mine are proliferating in liquid rock. 

[Guppysnail]

On 4/21/2022 at 9:03 AM, Minanora said:

I would not be upset. Tiny moving dollar signs at that point! I am excited to share my shrimp with my local shops.  I've never seen shrimp this hardy at our last. Mine are proliferating in liquid rock. 

Mine do great in liquid rock. I was selling them to a local LFS who sold very few shrimp. They could not keep mine in stock once they caught on. I made $1 each to do nothing 😁 love it!

[Minanora]

On 4/21/2022 at 6:05 AM, Guppysnail said:

Mine do great in liquid rock. I was selling them to a local LFS who sold very few shrimp. They could not keep mine in stock once they caught on. I made $1 each to do nothing 😁 love it!

That's awesome! I was so nervous to start shrimp. I hope my hardy shrimp can help beginners enjoy them with less stress.

Oh and I bought some ludwigia super red... It's one of my new favorites!

[Minanora]

Added more tissue culture plants. I still have one pot left but I'm holding out to let the ones that are in there fill in a bit. Also hit a bunch of the algae with easy carbon and hit the bba with some peroxide.

[Guppysnail]

Your tank is looking lovely.  I always end up with way to many plants because I’m to impatient to wait for them to fill in.  I want them all full and lush right now 🤣

[Minanora]

On 4/25/2022 at 8:12 AM, Guppysnail said:

Your tank is looking lovely.  I always end up with way to many plants because I’m to impatient to wait for them to fill in.  I want them all full and lush right now 🤣

Thank you! I really like how it looks. Now I can just hope it all survives my care and I don't get invaded by algae. I'm leaving for vacation for two weeks on Sunday.... I fear for the plants. Not the fish... the plants. So ironic.

I would have waited for things to fill in themselves but I was told on my "new plants, co2 and algae" thread that I needed to up the volume of plants to be 70% of the tank. So, I took it to heart in the name of battling algae!

I am the same though, I like the instant gratification. I paid for it, but it was worth it 100%. I will probably add even more when I get home from vacation. 🤣

[Minanora]

I took my co2 tank in today to get it filled back up before I leave.... It had been running for three weeks. A 5lb at 6bps/40psi. Tank is still full. It weighs in at just over 13# right now. I should have weighed it myself! But I thought it would be closer to empty so I didn't feel the need. Then the guy grabbed it from me and he said it was awful heavy... I asked him to check before filling it and explained my situation. They know me so well that they comment when I drive a different car. 😂 We use co2 for our brewing/serving keezer in our garage. They definitely overfilled my tank last time but it's well within the pressure rating. But I got probably 4lbs over label on the last fill.

 

Anyway, photos of the 75 and it's occupants today.

I'm going to miss my kids while we're on vacation for two weeks. I may set up an Arlo to watch them....

Edited April 29, 2022 by Minanora
Autocorrect likes to turn "co2" into "cow".

[Minanora]

OHHHHH!!!! I'm so excited! I was pretty sure that my corydoras were spawning, but I wasn't 100% sure. Today while I was doing my last water change before we leave. I FOUND AN EGG! However... I did totally find it by pulling the tiny pot out of the tank to coat it with easy carbon.... So it got covered with easy carbon.... it is totally not viable now. Poop.

But lookie!

 

Here's how I get them to spawn. Lol

Edited April 29, 2022 by Minanora

[Guppysnail]

Woohoo! Cory babies coming soon! Sorry that egg got carbon on it.  I found my first on on a plant clipping on my work tray half dry.  They will make more. 

[Minanora]

Seeing some cool stuff on vacation so far!

 

[Tihshho]

That's one nice looking longspine urchin! Make sure your feet are clear!

[Minanora]

On 5/3/2022 at 10:15 AM, Tihshho said:

That's one nice looking longspine urchin! Make sure your feet are clear!

Agreed. Saw lots of them and tons of gobies in various tide pools but that one was huge.

Yesterday we went up into the hills to a tiny town with a bunch of art galleries. One of them had a small fish pond tucked outside a window. Surrounded by ferns, mosses and various tropical plants with a small waterfall going into it. So of course I spent a good 20 minutes just watching the pond. Lovely shubinkin goldfish, a bunch of guppies and one swordtail. So of course I had to talk to the owner. I wish I had taken photos. Was in the moment though. Apparently the swordtail was exiled from his wife's community tank. 😂

I would love to live where I could keep a pond like his year round. One of the highlights of the day for me.

Edited May 5, 2022 by Minanora
"ride pools" really autocorrect, really?

[Minanora]

Oh I also forgot to update about my son's tank. The mystery battle went on until two days before we left. Seems like it was a parasite. I'm still not 100%. But as of Saturday they were doing better. Still not back to normal, but much much better after a dose of expel-p on that Thursday. I have no idea how they would have gotten a parasite if that's what it was. Unless it came in on a plant. I don't know though.

[Minanora]

There's so much flora here... It's frustrating to see so many beautiful mosses that I've had to remove because of algae. 🤣

 

But I'm loving all of the plants. Sideways uploads today I guess. *Shrug*

[Tihshho]

Looks like a nice tropical place you're visiting!

[Minanora]

On 5/6/2022 at 11:58 AM, Tihshho said:

Looks like a nice tropical place you're visiting!

Big island of Hawai'i and Kauai.

[Tihshho]

Ooo, my family is from Oahu.

[Minanora]

I miss my fish. 😭🤦‍♀️

[Minanora]

Lots of duckweed!! I've seen duckweed in the wild twice in Kauai so far. We go home tomorrow afternoon, arrive tomorrow night and get home close to midnight. So I won't be able to check on the tanks until Saturday. Hoping all of my fish are alive and well. I'm sure that there are baby swordtails. Hoping for baby corydoras. Shouldn't have any baby guppies. I will probably be able to take a bunch of fish to my lfs next week if I can catch up with my work quickly. But based on my bosses interruptions and complaints over the last two weeks that's unlikely to happen. He's now on vacation. I will not do what he did to me. Pretty annoyed about it still. Trying to relax and feeling like I need to be chomping at the bit to get back to work... Not cool.