Rando place where xXInkedPhoenixX posts about stuff....occasionally...

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 7/19/2023 at 5:39 PM, xXInkedPhoenixX said:

I think high. The ACO aquarium strips don't have a color for whatever mine is 😬

Both tanks have plenty of oxygenation, the Parent tank has 1 HOB and 2 sponges. The Medieval has a sponge and airstone

It’s fine. Mines like 180.

 

[nabokovfan87]

On 7/19/2023 at 2:39 PM, xXInkedPhoenixX said:

I think high. The ACO aquarium strips don't have a color for whatever mine is 😬

It may not be. Mine was showing different values via the strips compared to the liquid tests. This led me to thinking the GH was fine and it was not. I tried to verify what I was seeing on the strip and it ended up being 50-60% of the value on the strip at its lowest color indication.

Even with snails, GH test kit is a handy thing to have.

On 7/19/2023 at 2:39 PM, xXInkedPhoenixX said:

Both tanks have plenty of oxygenation, the Parent tank has 1 HOB and 2 sponges. The Medieval has a sponge and airstone

That's what I mean! It's a good setup for them.

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

On 7/19/2023 at 3:24 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

GH test kit

I have one and Hardness has always been on the harder side even before wondershell. But I admit to not using the liquid tests in many months. So long that I would just buy a new kit at this point

[nabokovfan87]

On 7/19/2023 at 3:48 PM, xXInkedPhoenixX said:

I have one and Hardness has always been on the harder side even before wondershell. But I admit to not using the liquid tests in many months. So long that I would just buy a new kit at this point

I've seen GH ranges listed from a minimum of 6, I recommend 8, and then the maximum I've seen is 14-16 degrees. (250-286).

From everything I've had hands on and conversations with hobbyists neos are a lot more sensitive to GH being too high than amanos but both of them have a very generous range. Getting them "shrimp food" is helpful with molting issues and often recommended when you run into them.

Hopefully these ones do better for you. Every strain has some pretty unique differences and tolerances for some reason. There's about 4-6 strains of amano shrimp I've seen in a research paper and that resulted in 4 different preferences for salt when the zoes are trying to hatch (preferred range for best survival rates).

Maybe it's an origin thing.

As far as "most hardy" shrimp @Minanora has the orange ones and was in the planning stages for working on a few more. Similar in care to my own where it's a bit looser on the rules of shrimp keeping and very hearty. She has them in a community setup I believe and has basically kept them in a variety of parameters. If you want shrimp that will go through just about anything and he alright, that's where I'd start.

Edited July 20, 2023 by nabokovfan87

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

On 7/19/2023 at 11:51 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Do you ever think Epic has RBF... just a bit?  😅

He gets it from his cat mom. 

Edited July 20, 2023 by xXInkedPhoenixX

[Minanora]

Yeah I have still not changed any water in my tanks since March. My ACO test strips sensitivity to GH isn't enough to read 3 of the 4 tanks. That includes my primary shrimp only, Shrimp Sanctuary. That's the home of my main orange colony. I haven't seen any dead shrimp in at least two weeks. The water is so hard that I lost all of my Hydracotil Tripartita. And my red plants fizzled out.

I haven't been feeding mineral junkie due to it bringing up the harness. Only really been feeding shrimp dinner and shrimp baby. My chickens devoured my kale so I haven't been giving them kale either. I don't even have kale to feed the humans in the house. 😂

The yellow shrimp colony is doing great. I haven't tested that tank in a few weeks.... I should. I want to do water changes this weekend. Though nitrates are always below 10 in all of the tanks. Even with the billion guppies and panda cories.

I've just been insanely busy this year. I'm over it. But it's not letting up.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 7/20/2023 at 9:10 AM, Minanora said:

My chickens devoured my kale

You need to go over here and put some photos of your chickens!

 

[Minanora]

On 7/20/2023 at 6:18 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

You need to go over here and put some photos of your chickens!

 

Done! 💚

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

So in all the hubub of Shrimp and trades with other fish keepers I was remiss in mentioning that I found yet another baby Black Neon Tetra. How does this even keep happening, lol. I imagine there were probably more but likely got eaten by the Bolivians or the Harlequins or their very parents. This little one is hanging out mostly at the top 1/4 of the water now as he's big enough not to be too harrassed. Here is a short google video: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Gy7jaZck2pdJWj7E6

Here is the little one:

So that's pretty cool. They are stupid cute. 

I've only see 2 shrimp still. Both in the Medieval Tank. No sign of them in the 20 gallong Parent Tank but that doesn't shock me. My long finned Albino Pleco is getting big and so stinking beautiful. Totally in love with it, thanks to @Guppysnail for making me like the long fins so much. I keep wanting to get a pic but they are good at hiding from the camera. Anyway here are the 2 shrimp I see. 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 7/21/2023 at 4:27 PM, xXInkedPhoenixX said:

So in all the hubub of Shrimp and trades with other fish keepers I was remiss in mentioning that I found yet another baby Black Neon Tetra. How does this even keep happening, lol. I imagine there were probably more but likely got eaten by the Bolivians or the Harlequins or their very parents. This little one is hanging out mostly at the top 1/4 of the water now as he's big enough not to be too harrassed. Here is a short google video: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Gy7jaZck2pdJWj7E6

Here is the little one:

So that's pretty cool. They are stupid cute. 

I've only see 2 shrimp still. Both in the Medieval Tank. No sign of them in the 20 gallong Parent Tank but that doesn't shock me. My long finned Albino Pleco is getting big and so stinking beautiful. Totally in love with it, thanks to @Guppysnail for making me like the long fins so much. I keep wanting to get a pic but they are good at hiding from the camera. Anyway here are the 2 shrimp I see. 

Some of the eggs are sliding between your marbles where they cannot get eaten. You’ve unintentionally made a breeding setup of sorts. 

& look at your shrimps! They are doing well!

[Guppysnail]

I’m so glad you love the LF plecos. There is something so graceful about them. They look like living art to me. 
Cute little baby 💕 I found baby badis badis 1 inch big in my 29. I never even fed fry food. Surviving young without assistance is the key indicator of a very healthy ecosystem for me. 🤗

[nabokovfan87]

Congratulations on your tetra.  I had no idea how to breed fish like tetra and barbs when I had them.  I miss them.... 

I am hoping that one day soon I have some barbs and I can encourage them to breed.  It seems to be my way.  Not have enough to purchase the full 20+ shoals, but to breed them and end up with a good amount.

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

On 7/21/2023 at 2:16 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Some of the eggs are sliding between your marbles where they cannot get eaten.

Yes high probability, but I do really think it might be the Subbwassertang as the Neons occassionally suspiciously hang out in the dark corners with it. It's very well known for being good for fry and shrimp to hide from predators. The smallest of the ones I've discovered are always near it. Of course some of them may have been hatched in the marbles, they probably get picked off rather quick, Punk tends to hang out there during the day. It's his space. 

On 7/21/2023 at 3:04 PM, Guppysnail said:

Surviving young without assistance is the key indicator of a very healthy ecosystem for me. 🤗

Yes, it's cool how nature takes care of the little ones. I occassionally feed all my tanks Cory's fry food, everyone seems to like it so I thought what could it hurt. I usually crush a lot of the flake I feed too. My fish are small so little mouths I'm sure appreciate smaller foods. 

On 7/21/2023 at 4:07 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

I had no idea how to breed fish like tetra and barbs when I had them.  I miss them.... 

Clearly I haven't a clue either, it just happens.....🤪

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 7/21/2023 at 6:04 PM, Guppysnail said:

I’m so glad you love the LF plecos. There is something so graceful about them. They look like living art to me. 
Cute little baby 💕 I found baby badis badis 1 inch big in my 29. I never even fed fry food. Surviving young without assistance is the key indicator of a very healthy ecosystem for me. 🤗

I was watching my black neons eating microfauna the other day. They were chomp chomp chomping at stuff I couldn’t see. I got out the macro lens, looked like they were eating ostracods.

On 7/21/2023 at 9:27 PM, xXInkedPhoenixX said:

I do really think it might be the Subbwassertang

Cool!

Edited July 22, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

This weekend after some thought I decided to bulk up the Ember Tetra population in the Medieval Tank. There are 5 who came from the now decommissioned Flex9 and they seem much happier in the Medieval. I would like them to be even happier and I think with a boost to their numbers this could be achieved. So I got 4 more over the weekend and they are currently in QT, very pale but seem to be pretty healthy and coloring up slowly over the last few days: 

One big change in the Medieval: I removed the Subwassertang shelf. Since Valere is no longer there and it was for him I felt it would be ok to remove it. If there were no problems I would have left it however I've been having big hair algae issues with the Subwassertang and it looked terrible. Plus some of the floaters would get caught up in it. I may still use some in the Archway area but for now it's been pulled. It looks very sparse. I'm thinking of leaving plants out of that area because anything over there is getting a heavy infestation of algae- so maybe some hardscape like rock or wood. I don't know. Any ideas?

Also the Monte Carlo- not really working out. It's also getting strangled by the hair algae. In the end it's the light mostly. I've been fertilizing and ACO liquid carbon'ing it and no good results (I've also used Reverse Respiration on a couple of plants but of course algae comes back because clearly I haven't solved the problem), I'm going to see if a dimmer switch I have will work but it's usually to the detriment of the light. The 2nd option may be getting something to partially cover the lid but it's going to look crappy. I want the full light on the left side- no issues there since the floaters cover, but I wasn't planning on letting the whole tank be covered by floaters. Maybe I should just give that a try and see if I hate it. Like I said, ideas are welcome! 

Here's what it looks like at the moment: 

Speaking of which I have 3 shrimp for sure that I've seen in the Medieval as well. Usually only seeing a couple at a time, today I saw 3 at one time! Whoohoo! I also finally saw 1 shrimp in the 20 gallon Parent tank! Here is my lovely shrimp collage the Parent tank Shrimp in the top left corner: 

Then this cute little guy or gal on the Arch: 

The 4 Nerites in the Accidental Foo Dog tank (yeah still haven't decided on the name) are doing well. Lost one of my Endlers sadly but 5 still chasing each other like there is no tomorrow- while Serket just kicks back. Pictured you'll see Little Red, and then BFG who moved in from the Flex9 along with a photo bomb here and there: 

Invictus doing well. Have some Red Root Floaters doing ok in the tank right now and slowwwwwly multiplying. Took a lot of his Dwarf Water Lettuce out this weekend so he can get to the surface in other places in the tank besides near his tunnel and feeding ring. Those often end up in the Angry Man where surface aggitation and humidity typically strangle them. LOL. 

I added a piece of Crypt Wendtii to his tank, it doesn't really stand out. I also added 2 pieces to the Medieval tank, same issue. Those were given to me by the keeper I traded the Flex9 to. They appear really healthy though- we'll see if they grow. My AR though, is not doing too bad for a low tech tank. It gets a little leggy but manages to keep its lower leaves and the top leaves are a pretty pink. This is the biggest I've ever seen it at about 3". I didn't think to take a pic. 

Lastly the inhabitants in the Angry Man doing well, the baby Black Neon growing nicely, it's so funny they are just little mini-me fish with the adults. Got a pic of them in the same position as the adult nearby, both jerking with their movements to stay in one place. It's comical. Punk is doing fine with Industry. She seems totally unbothered by him still and he still chases her but he's much more social and moves all over the tank now. Hopefully that means he's happy. He's very interactive with me. She doesn't care to interact with me at the glass- too busy finding food or things to chew and spit out. I do enjoy that behavior. 

Edited July 25, 2023 by xXInkedPhoenixX
Typos suck.

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Well, I'm pretty amazed, I was able to spot all FIVE of the shrimp in the Medieval tank this last week at the same time! So Batman and Bruce Wayne are 2 different people! 🙃 3 smalls and 2 large. I'm assuming the 2 larger ones are females and the others males from what little I know of shrimp. Hoping that's the case because that seems like it might be a decent ratio for potential babies. I still have more work to do on the tank since removing the Subwassertang shelf. I put a little bit of the Subwassertang in the tank for the shrimp to play in. There has been some speculation about Wondershell so the experiment continues. When I added the shrimp there was one in there. It has disappeared/been used by the tank. So this last week I put in a new one. It at least so far doesn't seem to bother the shrimp thus far, and one of them was crawling all over it later. Time will tell I guess. Not seeing any signs of molting. Here I caught 3 in the frame. 

P.S. I have also spotted a couple in the Parent Tank! 

[Mad_Genes]

 

I miss my Bolivian Ram that I had a few years ago. Thanks for sharing your photos!

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Things are plugging along in my tanks. 

First I'll mention the Parent Tank. It's the current pain in my rear- part of it is the wood in the tank I believe- detrius from it deteriorating. Then we have the fish making messes with the Repashy. The detrius from both eventually lands on all of the plants. Plus I'm still battling some algae from the lights I was using before and switching to the ACO light- I may need to turn it down once more though. I believe they are at 40% at this point, maybe even 30. I cannot remember! I pulled a bunch of leaves out that were negatively effected and have been squeezing out 2 of 3 filters every week (they've been DIRTY) from all the cleaning. 

The fish seem happy though. I had to get up at o'dark-thirty this morning and turned on ambient lights to check on fish, the Otos were all over the place. The Julii Cory have also given this tank a lot of life/movement so they were also out. The Longfinned Albino Pleco who has yet to have a name is growing up nicely. I'm not sure but I think at this point it should be sexable? If so it's a girl. No bristles to be seen, but the cutest belly: 

I caught her mid-poop- looks like a good one though. Always happy to see this. 

Don't think I mentioned this but I did lose one of my 3 Mystery Snails in the Parent Tank. That was a few weeks ago now. The 2 I have left seem good. Shells look healthy. They were mud wrestling in the Repashy dish though. They are not helping my cleaning situation:  

The most changes have been happening in the Medieval Tank. Since I pulled the Subwassertang shelf I've been slowly adjusting things. I Reverse Respirated 2 of my Anubias on rock and let the floating plants pretty much take over the top to try and help block out some of the light that's causing algae issues. Now I have to be extra careful pulling floaters since I've got shrimp in there- but they're prolific plants for sure. Even the Dwarf Water Lettuce. All of this to say since my Monte Carlo has pretty much failed, and I've pulled more out in this tank I got some Cryptocoryne Parva to try. This was planted a few days ago.

Hoping that does well. My new Embers are doing pretty great. They've colored up so that I can't tell the new from the older anymore. More activity from them as well though I would maybe like to get a couple more to make 10. See if that helps their behavior even more. 

I've discovered that one of these things is not like the others: 

Yes I see a ramshorn snail- likely hitchhiked as an egg on plants given to me by the fish keeper I got the shrimp from. He/She is not the only one I've seen. 

Last but not least my shrimp seem to be doing ok. I've not seen all 5 at once in the Medieval Tank for some days (I've seen at least 2 in the Parent Tank) but the ones I see are bright and seem to be doing well. 

This one in particular seems to be doing very well: 

Not super bright in that picture but when she turns to her side......

Check that out! I've got a preggo female! I hope I get to see some shrimplets! 

In recent days I've also done some Good Samaritan things for fish. I have 2 coworkers who are woefully ill-equipped to take care of the fish they have. Firstly there is a Betta in a 1 gallon unheated jar. I try diplomatically to get this fish upgraded. So far it has been a no go. However this week I managed to get this person to try more plants. Thankfully they already had a moss ball. Now they have 2 of my plants, an Anubias Nana Petite and some Java. 

She said the fish looks really happy about them. I personally think the fish would color up more if it had a better environment. I'm trying folks. Sometimes its an uphill battle. 

Then I had another coworker who won 3 goldfish at a fair. Yes. Collective groan. She described to me a couple months ago the contianer she was keeping them in which seems like it was about a quart or pint sized container. Yes, groan again. Sadly she lost 2 of them (not surprisingly) and was doing daily water changes WITHOUT WATER CONDITIONER. Ugh. I at least convinced her to leave water out overnight in hopes of gassing off (she never went to the pet store as I advised her for the conditioner). She was talking to me again this last week about the fish and how much her very young daughter loves the fish. So I took the opportunistic view of using her kid to upgrade the fish's situation. I asked her if she would be ok if I asked my local forum for a tank if she would take it. She agreed but of course would not take anything larger than a 5 gallon tank. One step at a time people. So I asked. The kind people of the forum instantly stepped up and I picked up a tank later that day......sadly it was the ugliest tank- plastic which is fine BUT it was all scratched up- only good as a QT tank in my eyes and I KNEW it wouldn't meet my coworker's standards. What was cool is that fish keeper gave me some other things with the tank. So between that and extras I had I was able to piece together the guts of a decent tank. I still had a tank issue though. I drove to the petstore and bought her a 5.5 gallon tank with a lid. It set me back but I'd do it for the fish. It deserves better. Maybe in having a nicer tank, they will be more motivated to care for them. I included some floating plants and Subwassertang but I know the goldfish might eat them which is fine. Fake plants were in there too. Different foods (because she was feeding the fish what the fair people gave them) and proper filtration. OF COURSE I got her some water conditioner. I hope the fish is doing better now. 

The upside to that was that the first coworker asked how much a set up like what I gave the other might cost, telling her, I hope, will result in her upgrading her Betta's house as well. We shall see. 

Edited August 17, 2023 by xXInkedPhoenixX

[Guppysnail]

On 8/17/2023 at 11:08 AM, xXInkedPhoenixX said:

I'm not sure but I think at this point it should be sexable?

Yes at that size and shape a bit most likely would have bristles. The sides of the belly look a bite more white-is which could be eggs developing. I’ll share a photo of dads pudgy belly and one of mom just before spawning. 
Also here is one of there male offspring. You can see the pink V shaped patch on the head. This should be seen but maybe not so bright on albinos if it is a male (Angel was “in the mood for love”for that photo) 

[Odd Duck]

@xXInkedPhoenixX YOU are a good soul!  Let’s hope that generosity on your part will convince your other co-worker to do the right thing.  Maybe see if you can luck into a used all-in-one unit?  The one I’m using for my night light/shrimp only 3 gallon in the bathroom is absolutely dead easy to do water changes.  It’s the first pic and I think I got it for $20.00?  Along with a few other bits and bobs.  It was in decent shape and came with one filter cartridge but now the 2 compartments before the cartridge both have filter sponge in them braced forward against the overflow slots with small pieces of foam top and bottom to keep the shrimp inside the visible part of the tank as much as possible.

It has the multi-color neon seals but that would likely appeal to a kid (I’m pretty certain that’s their target market with this tiny tank).  I wouldn’t consider a 3 gallon an ideal size for a betta but it’s way better than a 1 gallon jar and there’s room to add a heater in one of the compartments and low flow enough for long fins.  I think once she sees the difference in color and activity, she’ll be amazed.  There are loads of 2-3 gallon all-in-ones out there in lots of different shapes.  It’s rare that they have enough light for anything but the lowest light plants, but it would be immensely better than what she has now.

I wish you were closer, there’s a guy just listed a couple 2.5 G all-in-ones last week.  Try looking on the Band app for a local group and see if there might be something.

Edit to add other pic which is a screen shot from a local Band in my area.  This guy had these for $15.00 each with spare cartridges.  He had other stuff, too, but decent price for what looks like gently used all-in-ones.

Edited August 17, 2023 by Odd Duck
Forgot to link the other pic.

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

@Odd Duck I very much appreciate that. I'm kind of keeping my eye out on my Band for the local aquarium club for a cheap tank. The coworker and I aren't the best of friends, but I wouldn't mind upgrading the fish if i can find the right setup. Thing is, with fish keepers like my coworkers they prefer "pretty" (let's face it they aren't keeping the fish for much more than that, at least until I can convince them) and sadly most tanks I've seen for sale used are not well kept (you should have seen the tank I was given, it was free but oh my!). So I have to be a little discerning, or the gift would not be well received. I will also keep my eye out for sale tanks. 

I'm all about strategic, diplomatic education, especially considering who I'm dealing with- don't want to rock the work boat. 

[nabokovfan87]

Aqueon has a new set of filters that is pretty cool in how "easy" it makes water changes and stuff.  Given the ease, it might make it easier for them to do so as well.  This is one of the kits, but they have the filters themselves as well in various sizes.  They also have a shrimp version with a prefilter
 

https://www.aqueon.com/products/filters-media/quietflow-internal-power-shrimp-filters-with-smartclean

Edited August 17, 2023 by nabokovfan87

[Odd Duck]

On 8/17/2023 at 1:24 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Aqueon has a new set of filters that is pretty cool in how "easy" it makes water changes and stuff.  Given the ease, it might make it easier for them to do so as well.  This is one of the kits, but they have the filters themselves as well in various sizes.  They also have a shrimp version with a prefilter
 

https://www.aqueon.com/products/filters-media/quietflow-internal-power-shrimp-filters-with-smartclean

This is pretty much exactly how my little shrimp tank works, too.  Lift the arm to shut off the flow, turn it 180 and drop it to pump water into a pitcher or other handy container, lift again and swivel back to normal position, drop into place and it’s running again.  It’s the easiest tank I’ve ever dealt with.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

@xXInkedPhoenixX I literally face-palmed when I read some of the things, and my cat looked at me quizzically when she heard the smack noise. 🤣 It’s tricky to talk to non-NERMs without overstepping. You are a kind soul for helping to guide them and spending your time and money to help the fish.

& I knew your shrimp would be fine! You were so doubtful at first. Now you are about to have like 40 more. 🦐🦐🦐 It’s awesome how you can see through that shrimp to view all the eggs. 🥰

On 8/17/2023 at 2:24 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Aqueon has a new set of filters that is pretty cool in how "easy" it makes water changes and stuff.  Given the ease, it might make it easier for them to do so as well.  This is one of the kits, but they have the filters themselves as well in various sizes.  They also have a shrimp version with a prefilter
 

https://www.aqueon.com/products/filters-media/quietflow-internal-power-shrimp-filters-with-smartclean

I looked into these once as I thought the idea was pretty slick. But they have a tendency to overheat with just a light. Creative pets (?) I think was the YouTuber that had to evac fish from them hurriedly so they didn’t cook.

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Been uber busy lately. Tanks always get time but other things not so much. Everyone seems to be doing well including the Julli Cory in my Parent tank. Whiiicchhhh....continues to have parents. Pretty sure I've spotted some Julli fry in the tank. Sadly also caught a deceased one not long ago. Still in a tiny stage. Going to be hard to clean the tank and keep from damaging fry they are fast, small and camouflaged. I think I saw one last night, they scoot like a little tadpole along the bottom of the tank (the Otos have never been known to do this so my presumption is they are Cories). Oi. That tank is a spawning scurge! I know so many of you WANT their fish to multiply, not I! I mean it's cool and fun for about 5 minutes for me, but fry are so much work! Plus it was never my intention to breed. Oh well, here we go, again!

Speaking of which. No baby shrimp seen despite egg carrying females being spotted. Now in the Medieval tank maybe that's because the White Guppies are menaces and probably eat them. Or Kulis eating them? Do they? I have no idere. I haven't seen the fat female in a while, but I think I saw that the other possible female in there was carrying as well. I was not able to confirm for sure. 

In the Parent Tank I've seen up to 4/5 of the shrimp I've put in there at a time. They hang out on the Apongeton which is great because I'd rather them not hang out on the tank floor since I'm down there frequently, cleaning. Sadly with recent shift change at work I'm usually up before tank lights come on and home after they go off. The only time I see my tanks in the light is on my days off and more and more frequently ONLY when I have time to do my weekly maintenance. Anyway, here are a couple of shrimp on the top of the tank (tank lights off). 

Hope all goes well in your tanks out there!