The Don’ts & Do Nots of Fishkeeping - Chad’s Journal

[Chad]

Thanks @Levi_Aquatics! Yeah, she's looking pretty good. I was worried about her when I first put her into the new tank. The previous 20 gallon was so thick with plants I never saw her. Right after, I noticed her fins were frayed and some little dark spots at the ends of her tail and body where her fins were growing out from. There's still some frayed fins but overall she's looking better and is neat to look at. IF she's not hiding and comes out:)

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Queen Mab, legendary Queen of the Faerie. Does she exist? Maybe, for those lucky enough to see her.

[Chad]

On 1/12/2022 at 9:58 AM, xXInkedPhoenixX said:

Queen Mab, legendary Queen of the Faerie. Does she exist? Maybe, for those lucky enough to see her.

That opens up a whole bucket of worms. If you're a fan of Butcher's "Dresden Files" books like I am then where do you stop? I can't name her Mab and not have a Harry in there too? The panda cory's can be the Alpha pack tho. Good stuff, thanks @xXInkedPhoenixX.

[Chad]

And here's what I get when I feed my fish and try to sneak some sinking wafers into some crevices for the Panda Cory's 🙂 

[Guppysnail]

That is way to awesome 🤣

[Chad]

Those darn Platies are as derpy as Guppies. I've been feeding micro pellets vs the flake food this week. I think their sinking nature is giving the Cory's a fighting chance but boy oh boy do those Platies eat!

[smoore]

On 1/8/2022 at 9:55 AM, eatyourpeas said:

If the tank makes you smile every time you spend time with it, that is all that matters. I stopped obsessing over a pretty tank a while ago, after realizing it is the home of the critters, and as such, they get the privilege of redecorating to suit their needs. I just wish some of them had a little better design sense. 🤪

Your tank is beautiful, thanks for sharing!😍

I agree!😍

Edited January 14, 2022 by smoore

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

Love the whimsy mixed with a lot of care. Great journal so far @Chad!

[Chad]

Thank you @Beardedbillygoat1975! It's been fun and I'll happily share all my mistakes/experiences that I can 😉

[Chad]

A Peroxide Dip for my plants

I've had some black hair algae on a few plants. Nothing terribly out of control but I read elsewhere that a peroxide dip can work nicely to remove it. Just follow these directions: 1. Remove plant from tank. 2. Three minutes in the peroxide. 3. Rinse. 4. Put plant back into tank.

Since I have no rooted plants this seemed worth a try. I tried it first on some Buce. I had three bunches so why not try it on one and see what happens. A week later, here were the results:

Nice right!?

So I dipped the others two bunches o' Buce and threw in some Anubias' for good measure. Again, the Buce is fine. But the Anubias' are not! I wouldn't say I killed it, but I would say I killed half of it. See for yourself:

So yes, it works. But there's a good chance it will kill your plants too. In my case, I can live with it. I suppose "kill" is too strong a word. Killed some of it, but not a total knock out. Oh well, chalk this up to another Don't or Do Not. 

I'm sure most of you already knew about this. But I just learned it first-hand and have the photographic evidence to share so here we are.

[Torrey]

On 1/14/2022 at 2:39 PM, Chad said:

A Peroxide Dip for my plants

I've had some black hair algae on a few plants. Nothing terribly out of control but I read elsewhere that a peroxide dip can work nicely to remove it. Just follow these directions: 1. Remove plant from tank. 2. Three minutes in the peroxide. 3. Rinse. 4. Put plant back into tank.

Since I have no rooted plants this seemed worth a try. I tried it first on some Buce. I had three bunches so why not try it on one and see what happens. A week later, here were the results:

Nice right!?

So I dipped the others two bunches o' Buce and threw in some Anubias' for good measure. Again, the Buce is fine. But the Anubias' are not! I wouldn't say I killed it, but I would say I killed half of it. See for yourself:

So yes, it works. But there's a good chance it will kill your plants too. In my case, I can live with it. I suppose "kill" is too strong a word. Killed some of it, but not a total knock out. Oh well, chalk this up to another Don't or Do Not. 

I'm sure most of you already knew about this. But I just learned it first-hand and have the photographic evidence to share so here we are.

I'm betting that it was straight up H2O2?

Because I had the same results when I tested H2O2 on my red repens.

Did you know what red leaves carry a little more iron, and the cool bubbling of H2O2 is the interaction between the H2O2 and the iron? 🤦‍♂️

I knew this, as I taught my kids at home, and a cube of raw meat in H2O2 was one of our experiments. I just failed to think my "kill the algae" experiment all the way through, the first time. 🤷‍♂️

Now, I paint the plants with out pulling them out of the tank, infinitely much easier for me. 

 

On the bright side, the anubias is doing a great imitation of a lace leaf😅

[Guppysnail]

The three minute dip I believe is a very diluted solution. I mist the H2O2 on plants straight for 1o-30 seconds depending on the delicacy then rinse.  Others I spray easy carbon on outside the tank and let sit for 5-10 minutes. Found out the hard way Val and elodea do not appreciate that 🤣

[Chad]

That's not how I read it @Guppysnail, but that's likely how it was instructed. I thought it said 3% solution which is what I get right out of the bottle. Both yours and @Torrey's methods sound like the right way to do it. I will try those great ideas once my leaves grow back and share how it went.

But let's all take a second to thank ME, for showing what NOT to do 🙂 and what happens when you go overboard. Thanks, and you're all welcome! 😉 

[Guppysnail]

Thank you kindly Sir 😁. I read those same instructions but I thought it meant mix standard grocery store hydrogen peroxide (3%). As 97% water 3% that 🤣🤣🤣🤣 Keep the 2-3 best leaves cut the others off now at the rhizome. They won’t recover and steal resources that could otherwise go to producing new leaves. 

[Chad]

Oh, you're right about the leaves. I forgot all about that tip, will do! Thanks again @Guppysnail. 

[Torrey]

On 1/15/2022 at 9:03 AM, Chad said:

That's not how I read it @Guppysnail, but that's likely how it was instructed. I thought it said 3% solution which is what I get right out of the bottle. Both yours and @Torrey's methods sound like the right way to do it. I will try those great ideas once my leaves grow back and share how it went.

But let's all take a second to thank ME, for showing what NOT to do 🙂 and what happens when you go overboard. Thanks, and you're all welcome! 😉 

ORD

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Thank you so much for your sense of humor, and your gracious determination to take one for the team!

[KatFish]

On 1/15/2022 at 10:03 AM, Chad said:

But let's all take a second to thank ME, for showing what NOT to do 🙂 and what happens when you go overboard. Thanks, and you're all welcome! 😉 

A true hero to us planted tank newbies  ❤️

[Chad]

So I mentioned earlier...

When I added my Panda Cory's I worried that they weren't getting enough food and made a joke earlier about how the Platy's were forcing them out and hogging everything. While true, I should've realized that was just new neighbors getting used to the neighborhood. This pic doesn't do any justice as to how aggressive my Cory's have gotten when the buffet opens so I added another depicting the scene as it unfolded in my head more accurately ;). They're now fine bumping elbows, reaching over and under the sneeze guard, and just that general "all in" approach toward chow time. Patience. I'm reminded that patience, once again, is the key. Give it a week and it all worked itself out.

What I saw in my head:

[Guppysnail]

ORD 🤣. I have seen my pandas nose shove my biggest guppy girl off wafers and eat the wafers my snails are holding with their feet. I’m glad it worked out. I love the comparison pictures as that is so often the case. 

[Chad]

I have to share my confounded joy about some guppy mutts that are growing in my tank. Originally, I added a pair of 24k Golds and Blue Galaxy's to my tank. They died early on minus one galaxy female. Her offspring were definitely gold-touched. But it ruined the pretty body pattern and the mutts looked a little like washed out tuxedos? Pale yellow tail and head with blue-black bodies. They weren't ugly, but I felt like they looked a bit boring. I kept two males and put the rest in a grow out tank to sell to a lfs that offered to take them once they sized up a little. As they got a bit older something amazing happened. To each their own, and pretty is a matter of opinion, but I couldn't believe the transformation! I've grown out guppies before but I have never seen a juvenile to adult change this drastically. Guppies are something else, now I have to rethink my decision of what goes in my tank. I don't think I want to lose these beauties. 

Here's a before, juvenile size:

The two in the back are a better indicator of what most of them looked like.

But now:

I'm not saying they're the most beautiful guppies I've EVER seen. I just can't believe how much different they look from a few weeks ago. My wife even asked when I added new fish to the tank? I loved telling her it was the same old fish. Anybody want to share a similar story? Again, no idea guppies could change THIS much.

[Jennifer V]

This journal is so much fun! I got to the end and was bummed out that there wasn't more to read. Love your sense of humor and adore the graphics. I wish I had that talent! Canva is the extent of my ability but I still enjoy it. 

Keep on posting! I'm excited to read more about your journey! 

[Chad]

That’s super kind of you @Jennifer V! And by the way, Canva can get you quite ways. But I tend to let clients know I can do a lot better for them;)

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Maybe I'm just weird but I don't mind the plainer guppies (or fish for that matter) in fact I usually just let the LFS net out the number I want and don't bother picking them out- sometimes I tell them to pick the ones they don't think other people would. The reason for that is that as we all know fish are not their best colors at the LFS- they usually color up when they're happy and often surprise us. Baby fish aren't always pretty- but it looks like you definitely got the surprise ending- I think they are gorgeous. 

[Chad]

You’re not weird at all for that @xXInkedPhoenixX. Quite the contrary, you’re easy nature is admirable. Me, not so much. Bit too much a control freak to just let someone else pick my fish. I will say though, if I had, that I think there would’ve been several instances where the outcome would’ve been much better. “Yes, could you net that colorful guppy that’s just slowly hanging out in back corner of your tank? Thanks, he’s so peaceful!” Yeah that didn’t end well but it did end quickly.

[Torrey]

On 2/12/2022 at 6:53 AM, Chad said:

That’s super kind of you @Jennifer V! And by the way, Canva can get you quite ways. But I tend to let clients know I can do a lot better for them;)

Yes, there's nothing like a human touch! 

I would love to see more of your work if you are willing.