Coffee with Teejay

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 5/21/2023 at 9:43 PM, TeeJay said:

No fish in there yet. This is preparing for the future if I have apisto babies in the not to distant future. Or for any other fry that may come along 

You mentioned a fish was being given to you with the tank?

[TeeJay]

On 5/21/2023 at 9:45 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

You mentioned a fish was being given to you with the tank?

Oh yes the 2 that were in the tank did not make the trip well 😔

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 5/21/2023 at 9:46 PM, TeeJay said:

Oh yes the 2 that were in the tank did not make the trip well 😔

Aw, I’m sorry to hear that.

[TeeJay]

On 5/21/2023 at 9:47 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Aw, I’m sorry to hear that.

Yes it was very unfortunate. I think maybe there were not doing so hot already and the stress of the move was just to much on there little selves.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 5/21/2023 at 9:49 PM, TeeJay said:

Yes it was very unfortunate. I think maybe there were not doing so hot already and the stress of the move was just to much on there little selves.

In your fish ID post the one you took a picture of did look pale. Might have had a weakened immune system.

[TeeJay]

Afternoon fellow nerms. Feel like I got a fair amount accomplished today. Water changes on 3 tanks and some work upgrades on the new 10 gallon grow out/vacation tank.

I picked up a couple of real nice crypts from a fellow hobbyist and he even drove 50 mins to bring them to me. One of them is absolutely massive to say the least. It may even be to large to put into the 10. I may have to put it somewhere else. The second one will def work. Right now the are in rr until around 5 so they are halfway done. 

Next I just didn't like the amount of light the built in leds were given off on the lid that came with the 10 gal tank. I'm not complaining just explaining. For the price of free99 it's all good. So I popped them out very easily. I took one of the 12" hygger submersible lights I had from the tote tank setup from the mystery snails. Drilled a few holes in the lid and zip ties it to the lid. Much better light output. And I can adjust and dim them as needed.

After that my new aquatop Forza 3 arrived. I love how it just has a nice open compartment to add your media of choice. So I cut a piece of the green sponge I had left from the 207 canister fill. Fits nice and snug in the compartment. So I fired it up and got it running. Has a pretty decent "flow control" I keep it turned down a bit because when it's on full the water gets really close to the top of the filter box. It does come with a pre filter sponge so that's an added bonus. But it's no where near the quality of the co op pre filter sponge. So that will be upgraded on the next order 

So now it's just a waiting game for the new crypts to come out of rr. All in all a pretty productive first half of the day. Time to relax until my oldest daughters last choir concert of the year. Keep it fishy my friends 

Ps I'm leaving the link I made for @Guppysnail to see the flow rate on the new filter.

 

 

 

[Guppysnail]

That crypt is a MONSTER ! Total score. 

[TeeJay]

On 5/23/2023 at 2:50 PM, Guppysnail said:

That crypt is a MONSTER ! Total score. 

Yes and I'm pretty sure that's all submerged growth so I don't expect to have much melt fingers crossed.

[TeeJay]

So I got the plants out of rr and into the tank. That cryp was so big I had to split it down a bit. So I have a few sections of it floating in other tanks. But the main piece is in the new tank as well as the other crypts I got today. After the pic I told I decided to slip the big crypt down behind the fork in the mopani wood so you can't see the plant weights. The other one I planted in the front right corner. The glare is horrible from the light so I got the best pic I could.

As well the pair of apistos are doing very well. Every time I see them they are usually together. Swimming with each other and playing not fighting. So I'm pretty sure I got the right female out of the tank. Still deciding on there names.

[Guppysnail]

On 5/23/2023 at 5:55 PM, TeeJay said:

Still deciding on there names.

Well you have June and Johnny so why not Tammy and George. 

[TeeJay]

On 5/23/2023 at 6:03 PM, Guppysnail said:

Well you have June and Johnny so why not Tammy and George. 

Oh sweet lawd that's brilliant....George Jones was my Dad's all time favorite...no need to look any further George and Tammy it is!

[TeeJay]

The new grow out vacation tank is staring it's cycle. We have ammonia ground control!::and some nitrates. But that's from adding some easy green for the plants. 

Hoping to get a decent cycle established within a couple of weeks. Once it's ready I'm going to add a trio of male least killis to help keep it seasoning well. Never know when George and Tammy will decide it's prime time for babies but I'll be ready.

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 5/26/2023 at 3:39 AM, TeeJay said:

George and Tammy will decide it's prime time for babies but I'll be ready

My agassizii pair have started spawning after I did a 30%ish water change…livefoods also help. What are you planning to feed the fry btw? 

[TeeJay]

Made a small video of the cpds and aspidoras just now. I'm very happy with how this tank is doing. The plants are filling in well especially on the right hand side of the tank.

 The pink flamingo plant has sprouted it's 3rd bright pink leave since I put it in the tank about 6-7 weeks ago. I feel like that is really good growth in that amount of time. I can def tell putting the light closer to the front is helping it. Downside I'm getting some alge on the front glass. It's a fair trade off for how it's doing. 

I hope within a couple more weeks I'll start to see some new blue shrimp from the couple berried females I have/had. Plenty of java moss and cholla wood to hide in until they are big enough to venture out into the tank 

 

https://youtu.be/Ke0y_h_zgyk

Edited May 30, 2023 by TeeJay

[TeeJay]

We now have 3 new bright pink leaves on the crypt flamingo! It has only been in the tank since about mid April. I'm sure the leaves that were on it were grown out of water so it's getting a it's underwater leaves now and doing very well. The aspidoras are crazy wigglers as usual.

The cpds are all getting along well squirt is still a teeny bit smaller than the rest but not by much. Found another berried blue jelly. So I have a feeling I'm a few more weeks I should see a pretty big population increase with them. They have a big wad of java moss a cholla wood to hide the babies in until they are big enough to come out for adventuresm

[TeeJay]

As I was feeding the cpds and wiggle butts I noticed a couple of juvenile blue jelly shrimps. So I think we are on our way to getting the colony established. 

As well I noticed a couple of the female cpds are getting nice full bellies. So I hope to start seeing some eggs in the near future. 

Mochi is doing well and has grown a little since bringing her home a couple of months ago. She still is really small but I know she won't get huge either.

Oh and a new 4th bright pink leave is starting to open up in the flamingo plant!.

[TeeJay]

The new 10 gallon apisto grow out tank is doing well in the cycle process. Finally hit the nitrite stage and the tank took 3 days to digest it. So today I'll add a bit more food to see how fast it can process now that made its first cycle thru.

George and Tammy are doing well. They like to stay in "hiding" most of the time but always come out to eat. From time to time I will see them swim together. Other times he will chase her around a few minutes then they go there separate ways. Just awaiting game now and keeping them well fed. 😁

[nabokovfan87]

On 6/6/2023 at 2:05 PM, TeeJay said:

As I was feeding the cpds and wiggle butts I noticed a couple of juvenile blue jelly shrimps. So I think we are on our way to getting the colony established. 

That's awesome.  Where do you usually see the baby shrimp?

[TeeJay]

On 6/6/2023 at 6:01 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

That's awesome.  Where do you usually see the baby shrimp?

One was In the java moss jungle and one was on the back glass.

[nabokovfan87]

On 6/6/2023 at 3:05 PM, TeeJay said:

one was on the back glass.

Yeah, that's where mine are always at when I first saw them.  They used the heater cover as their cave and hung out there.  Congratulations again though, good signs!

[TeeJay]

On 5/27/2023 at 1:18 AM, TheSwissAquarist said:

My agassizii pair have started spawning after I did a 30%ish water change…livefoods also help. What are you planning to feed the fry btw? 

A combination of hikari first bites and bbs will be there staples for the first couple of weeks.

[Guppysnail]

On 6/8/2023 at 10:31 AM, TeeJay said:

A combination of hikari first bites and bbs will be there staples for the first couple of weeks.

First week maybe week and a half they need sera micron. They are too small for bbs or first bites. 
I like to also use Kens foods golden pearl 5-50 then 50-100 micron for variety. Then I add .1 mm fry green then .2mm

[TeeJay]

Good morning fellow nerms. It's been quite awhile since we had coffee with Teejay has it not? So why dont you grab a hot cup of mud and join me.

It's been a little while since I have posted in this journal. I have sent out a few batches of killis as the population increased. It was awesome to see them go to new homes. Especially a friend that is putting together a really nice 55 native Florida fish only tank  that's where a good number went to as well as another local fish nerm.

So to be honest the tank has gotten a bit boring lately so I new I wanted another group of fish to intermingle with the rest of the tank friends 

I had thought about mauve a group of cardinal tetras and other choices as well. I knew we had a fish swap coming up this weekend and was actually going to pre order them. Then my partner in crime @Guppysnail said hey hold of until you get to the swap and see all the choices you might have. 

So I took my girls to the swap yesterday and we looked at our options. Most were different plecos some tetras and angelfish. This was one of our smaller swaps so there was not a ton to choose from.

Then we came along to the table with some galaxy blue guppy's. Now I know I have had guppy's in the past but something just drew me back to them. Imo you just can't beat the colors and patterns you get with them. So I snagged a nice bag of 8.

I really wasn't worried about a qt since they come from one of our best local breeders but I figured I have the new 10 gal setup and cycled for when my apistos have babies to I put them in there for a week or two before the go into the 29. Just to be sure since that's where lemony and luna my lemon bristlenose pleco pair is.

I'm sure it won't be long until I have tons of fry but that's ok I enjoy having the babies and I have plenty of local folks that will be happy to take the offspring 

So hard to get good pics of them since they are constantly on the move so I made a small video and took a couple of pics to show how well lemony and luna have grown 

 

https://youtu.be/7EuNmmBL3B0

[Guppysnail]

Luna is really coming into her femininity. She is so pretty 🥰

Lemoney is becoming the chipendale of plecos 🤣

Oh and if you did not notice Luna is pointing out the empty veggie plant weight Dad. 🤣

[TeeJay]

On 6/11/2023 at 9:19 AM, Guppysnail said:

Luna is really coming into her femininity. She is so pretty 🥰

Lemoney is becoming the chipendale of plecos 🤣

Oh and if you did not notice Luna is pointing out the empty veggie plant weight Dad. 🤣

Yes I know I wish I could get my human kids to eat there veggies the way my fish kids do 😁