Coffee with Teejay

[TeeJay]

As I  sitting here having coffee contemplating the mysteries of the galaxy,something occured to me. I have journaled my shrimp sanctuary, Cory breeding adventure and learning how to hatch and raise mystery snails. But I have never done anything with my main tank! How did that slip by without me noticing?! I mean I have mentioned it in my other journals but never put a lot of focus on it. How rude of me for those tank inhabitants.

It has always been a guppy kingdom with a few randoms in the mix. I think it was easy to overlook a nice it has been setup the longest and is established and stable. Then with the help of my main partner in crime @Guppysnail and other accomplice's @Chick-In-Of-TheSea@nabokovfan87 @Cinnebuns just to name a few. They have opened me up to so many other types of fish and other critters. Different styles of setups and modifications. As well as loads of tips and tricks. Out of that it has given birth to my next addiction, I mean adventure. The least Killifish!

I have always enjoyed my guppy's and always will but I have a new vision for my main tank. Right now it's a few guppys, 2 mystery snails 1 nerite, my newest crew of 6 paleatus corys and my last solo variatus platy. I have had so many generations of guppy's through this tank. But I think it's time to change directions with a new fish.

I love livebearers of all kinds. And the suite the type of water I have very well. Very hard water out the tap. 12-15 gh but surprisingly 0kh. I have a few more guppy's to rehome but I'm going to try and keep my main male guppy gumball and my solo platy brownie. Both names by my daughter. And of course my snails and corys will stay as well. Ever since @Guppysnail introduced me to the least killifish I have been fascinated with them. So I thought my 29 gal would make an awesome killifish mansion. I think with there size and slow rate of reproduction in a sense would work wonderfully. 

NOw a bit about the tank itself. Standard 29 gal moderately to heavy planted I would say. I took out the driftwood I really like the look of just a planted tank. The only other decor is a smallish fake rock cave. I run 2 med co op sponge filters and a tidal 55. Yeah I'm an over filter junky. Gravel substrate with some crushed coral mixed in and some in the tidal 55 to keep my kh at a 4-5. Lighting is a hygger 24/7 light. Plants are Java ferns,Pogo's, Amazon sword,dwarf aquarium lilly,dwarf sagataria,Anubias nana petite and gold coin. Along with a good amount of floating water sprite.

I'm hoping to get my killifish delivered to me in just under 2 weeks. But in the meantime I have a few things to work on. I have some modding to do to my tidal 55 to get it killifish safe. My aquarium silicone will be here today to so I can work on that tomorrow. @nabokovfan87 has done the heavy lifting on that so I know exactly what needs to be done to get it Killifish safe and running at optimal conditions. As well I'm going to order a diffuser for it as well found by @Chick-In-Of-TheSea.

I know this is probably the longest post I have ever made on the forum. Sorry not sorry 🤣 but I don't think I would have come this far in 6 months time in my fishkeeping passion if it were not for the people I have mentioned and countless others. Lastly I will post a pic of what the tank looks like right now.

 

 

 

 

Edited July 6, 2023 by TeeJay

[Guppysnail]

It is so much fun being your partner in crime for new adventures. The least killi will love it in there. Let those plants fill in as bushy as you can. The LK stay in plants hunting microfauna. They may be a bit intimidated by the guppies though I’m not real certain as I am new to them and they are in an invert tank. I find I’ve been spending more time watching the LK than other tanks. They are forever busy and always seem intently focused on what they are doing. 
Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to sharing in your adventure. 

[TeeJay]

On 8/27/2022 at 9:26 AM, Guppysnail said:

It is so much fun being your partner in crime for new adventures. The least killi will love it in there. Let those plants fill in as bushy as you can. The LK stay in plants hunting microfauna. They may be a bit intimidated by the guppies though I’m not real certain as I am new to them and they are in an invert tank. I find I’ve been spending more time watching the LK than other tanks. They are forever busy and always seem intently focused on what they are doing. 
Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to sharing in your adventure. 

Yes I am a bit concerned about it to. I'm hoping the plants will give enough site breaks and hiding spots for the killifish to feel safe. I may try and get a few more plants on my next coop op order this upcoming week to add to the mix. It would have to be more of the same plants I figure. I know the Anubias barteri never work for me. Not sure why the other variants work ok. I am in love with that pink flamingo they have right now. The cryps do pretty good for me and that would add a nice splash of color.

[Guppysnail]

They ADORE guppy grass and it grows like mad. 

[TeeJay]

Amazon just delivered my silicone for the mods to be done on the tidal 55. I want to start right now but I leave for work in a couple hours and I don't want to get started without finishing. Even though I'm itching to get started lol. Will start with the mods first thing in the morning! @nabokovfan87 your on speed dial tomorrow since your my wingman in this part of the adventure.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Very nice! My main tank is a 29 gallon as well. 

On 8/27/2022 at 9:26 AM, Guppysnail said:

They may be a bit intimidated by the guppies though I’m not real certain

@TeeJay you are now conducting an experiment and must report your findings. 😉

 

 

On 8/27/2022 at 8:51 AM, TeeJay said:

my main male guppy gumball and my solo platy brownie

Gumball and Brownie! ORD😍

And then don’t forget Carmello in the other tank. The big chonker baby snail. (Your daughter must like sweets) 🍬 

I saw a beautiful guppy in the LFS a few weeks ago. A brilliant red one. The whole body was royal red, and I think the tail was snowy white.  Almost bought it, had it not been for the qt tote already being occupied with a confirmed sick resident. Alas, I had to pass on that opportunity.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

@TeeJayyou should start putting your journal links in your signature line now that you have a couple journals.

Go to first entry of a journal, above that click share, copy link. 

Go into your account, in the settings, find signature.  type some words into the signature line, highlight those words, then click the little link button (looks like a chain) and paste the link there. The words you typed should then have an underline and be clickable.

—

But on a smartphone you might have to click the … on the initial journal entry to get that journal link.

[TeeJay]

On 8/27/2022 at 11:28 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

@TeeJayyou should start putting your journal links in your signature line now that you have a couple journals.

Go to first entry of a journal, above that click share, copy link. 

Go into your account, in the settings, find signature.  type some words into the signature line, highlight those words, then click the little link button (looks like a chain) and paste the link there. The words you typed should then have an underline and be clickable.

—

But on a smartphone you might have to click the … on the initial journal entry to get that journal link.

Oh this sounds like a first thing in the morning task lol. I have only ever used the forum on my phone. I'll have to take a look at it on my laptop and see if it's easier to do it that way.

[TeeJay]

On 8/27/2022 at 11:45 AM, TeeJay said:

Oh this sounds like a first thing in the morning task lol. I have only ever used the forum on my phone. I'll have to take a look at it on my laptop and see if it's easier to do it that way.

Yeah I tried putting the link to it in my signature but when I go out to click on it it says it can't be found 😥

[nabokovfan87]

On 8/27/2022 at 7:18 AM, TeeJay said:

Even though I'm itching to get started lol. Will start with the mods first thing in the morning! @nabokovfan87 your on speed dial tomorrow since your my wingman in this part of the adventure.

I almost got the mod desk clean to work on modding a Tidal 75. An attempt was made. Whatever need be, I got you covered 🙂

EASY project.

[TeeJay]

Good morning my fellow nerms. Welcome to coffee with TeeJay. For today's morning task we are doing our mods to the tidal 55 filter brought to you by @nabokovfan87. So I took the filter out of the tank and got all of the media in it put into a 1 gallon pitcher of tank wanted with an air stone running in to to keep the bb going while we do the mods. I'm sure when the lights come on I'll place them up n top of the sponge filters while we wait for our parts to dry.

After that I got the filter itself disassembled and clean off for Sealing. As well I went ahead and used a utility knife to cut a few of the cross bars out of the bottom of the basket to help with the water flow coming into the bottom sponge. The basket is fairly flexible so take you time on cutting out the braces. A nice sharp blade makes pretty easy work of them.

Next I cut a piece of the plastic that comes with your glass aquarium lids to fit the overflow opening at the top of the basket. It's actually a pretty good match in size. Not much cutting down to make it fit.

After all cutting and dry fitting of the pieces are done it's GO TIME! We are ready to silicone all the skimmer slots and put in place the plastic to cover the whole in the basket. I just used some aqueon aquarium clear silicone. Just cut the tip to the right size bead you want and fill in the slots. Amazingly it all went on without an issue and I didn't even get any silicone on my hands!

All in all it took me 1 hour from the time I unplugged the filter to the time I set the pieces up to dry.

P.S. mystery for the day. If a frog had wings would he bump his butt when he hops? 

Edited August 28, 2022 by TeeJay

[nabokovfan87]

Looks right!

Gotta deal that hole where the dial was, then the little slots in the media basket on the front / back where you added that plastic cover.

Came out super clean which is awesome.

[TeeJay]

On 8/28/2022 at 11:08 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

Looks right!

Gotta deal that hole where the dial was, then the little slots in the media basket on the front / back where you added that plastic cover.

Came out super clean which is awesome.

Yes it went super smooth. But when you have great directions to go by it makes life and much easier.

[nabokovfan87]

On 8/28/2022 at 8:34 AM, TeeJay said:

Yes it went super smooth. But when you have great directions to go by it makes life and much easier.

That's awesome to hear. I'm definitely going to clean things up a bit and make a concise post once I'm done testing.

[TeeJay]

So while I wait for all of the parts to dry I went ahead and cleaned out the pump so it will be ready. I had this filter set up for 5 months and I have to say that was the first time it's been taken apart for a cleaning. Other than the filter basket and cleaning the media. And for that amount of time it wasn't to bad as far as gunk and buildup. The silicone says to let it cure for 48 hours. In the meantime I still have 2 med sponge filters doing there job until the tidal is ready to be reassembled. That will most likely be Tuesday evening after work.

[TeeJay]

So when getting ready to do the weekly water change on the 29 gal my oldest daughter says hey dad you know we have a baby snail in here. I scratch my head and say no we shouldn't. So I take a look and she has found not 1 but 2 ramshorn snails!. Now I baffled because I have only ever put mystery and nerite snails in this tank. I mean I don't mind and I have been wanting some I'm just trying to figure out how they made it into this tank. But here they are.

[nabokovfan87]

On 8/28/2022 at 10:48 AM, TeeJay said:

So while I wait for all of the parts to dry I went ahead and cleaned out the pump so it will be ready. I had this filter set up for 5 months and I have to say that was the first time it's been taken apart for a cleaning. Other than the filter basket and cleaning the media. And for that amount of time it wasn't to bad as far as gunk and buildup. The silicone says to let it cure for 48 hours. In the meantime I still have 2 med sponge filters doing there job until the tidal is ready to be reassembled. That will most likely be Tuesday evening after work.

I definitely recommend just "checking" on the pump housing every 2-5 weeks, especially while you're getting used to the changes.  You don't necessarily have to take the pump apart, but just the cavity with the pump to make sure it's working and not clogged up.  The nice thing about the Tidals is you can clean 95% of the gunk off the impeller without doing too much more than having a hose blow water through the chamber.

 

 

On 8/28/2022 at 11:11 AM, TeeJay said:

So when getting ready to do the weekly water change on the 29 gal my oldest daughter says hey dad you know we have a baby snail in here

Maybe you had one on your hands or plants that moved over?  Snails get everywhere and are so small it can be hard to see them.  One day you look, yep, you got the snails now. 😞

[TeeJay]

I believe we may have a mommy shrimp in the shrimpy sanctuary everyone. Best I can tell her eggs have dropped down underneath her tail. Of course the camera on my phone stinks. I really need to get a decent camera. 

[TeeJay]

On 8/28/2022 at 2:42 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

I definitely recommend just "checking" on the pump housing every 2-5 weeks, especially while you're getting used to the changes.  You don't necessarily have to take the pump apart, but just the cavity with the pump to make sure it's working and not clogged up.  The nice thing about the Tidals is you can clean 95% of the gunk off the impeller without doing too much more than having a hose blow water through the chamber.

 

 

Maybe you had one on your hands or plants that moved over?  Snails get everywhere and are so small it can be hard to see them.  One day you look, yep, you got the snails now. 😞

Oh I'm not complaining I've been wanting ramshorns so it was a fun suprise. So I'm up to 3 types so far lol

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 8/27/2022 at 12:03 PM, TeeJay said:

Yeah I tried putting the link to it in my signature but when I go out to click on it it says it can't be found

Your links are working fine for me! 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 8/28/2022 at 8:28 AM, TeeJay said:

So I took the filter out of the tank and got all of the media in it put into a 1 gallon pitcher of tank wanted with an air stone running in to to keep the bb going while we do the mods. I'm sure when the lights come on I'll place them up n top of the sponge filters while we wait for our parts to dry.

Sometimes when I know things need to be kept in tank water for a period of time I will throw those things into a breeder box. I do it a lot for plant clippings that I’m waiting to sprout. It keeps things kinda organized so you don’t have a bunch of random stuff floating around the tank. @TeeJay you can throw your filter media into a breeder box to keep it wet while keeping the tank tidy.

Edited August 29, 2022 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[nabokovfan87]

On 8/28/2022 at 5:22 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Sometimes when I know things need to be kept in tank water for a period of time I will throw those things into a breeder box

Speaking of.....

Someone invent a slightly better version of this. There is an EHeim "work thing" where you have a slightly designed space to put things for maint. And it hangs on the tank. I am on the verge of talking myself into the crazy price for it.  Or the metal fish cart......

[nabokovfan87]

On 8/24/2022 at 11:54 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

That was so very exciting @nabokovfan87  🤣

Attempt 2.

They literally are like a pack of manatee. 😂

The one I zoomed in on is the little dude that was the most sick.

https://youtu.be/LyH7thE57pg

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 8/28/2022 at 9:34 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Speaking of.....

Someone invent a slightly better version of this. There is an EHeim "work thing" where you have a slightly designed space to put things for maint. And it hangs on the tank. I am on the verge of talking myself into the crazy price for it.  Or the metal fish cart......

I think @Hobbit has some kind of nifty thing she made or got from Ikea to hang maintenance tools. 

Also you could use one of those rolling bathroom carts next to the tank as well.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 8/25/2022 at 7:29 AM, TeeJay said:

The food dish is completely empty

Isn't it nice when they do their own dishes?

On 8/28/2022 at 10:38 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Attempt 2.

Much better!  :04 - :10  we see Bissell in the front vacuuming up the noms. 

Your sand is so clean!!!  How are you doing that?  Why does mine always look like the apocalypse?  Are they keeping it clean for you with their sifting?