Coffee with Teejay

[TeeJay]

On 11/9/2023 at 9:07 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Check this out @TeeJay. I saw this booth at Aquashella https://plecoceramics.com/collections/ceramics

I have the ones I want picked out already. Just waiting for the pay to hit the bank account tonight and going to get them ordered.i just got a metric ton of java moss so I figured I'll cover them to blend in better and more areas for babies of all types to hide and snack on yummies.

[TeeJay]

On 11/9/2023 at 9:12 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Oh sidenote, I am being given a bnp; Idk what color or anything yet, or even when - LOL! - just, my friend's friend bred them and has too many etc and so, one will travel with her from South FL to me and will come help eat my driftwood and stuff.  Technically I could get as many as I want at no cost. I've not researched about bioload yet, so I just said one for now.

Oh yes quite the poop machines they are. I know having 2 in a 29 gallon is already pushing it. That's why all of my tanks have 2 types of filtration on them. I either run hobs with sponge filters or canisters with sponge filters. That way as my bioload increases I have extra room in my media to build up to the amount of bb that I will need.

I know once lemony and luna get a bit older I'll need to move the Cory crew out and just let the 29 be them and the least killis. I'm ok with that since the killis have a very small bioload. This tax season I want to get the 29 off the stand it's on now to an actual tank stand and add a canister to it as well. Most likely another fluval. I run the 207 on the 20 long so I think I'll go with the 307 on the 29. And keep the penguin pro 125 and the two med sponge filters going as well.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 11/9/2023 at 10:15 AM, TeeJay said:

Oh yes quite the poop machines they are. I know having 2 in a 29 gallon is already pushing it. That's why all of my tanks have 2 types of filtration on them. I either run hobs with sponge filters or canisters with sponge filters. That way as my bioload increases I have extra room in my media to build up to the amount of bb that I will need.

I know once lemony and luna get a bit older I'll need to move the Cory crew out and just let the 29 be them and the least killis. I'm ok with that since the killis have a very small bioload. This tax season I want to get the 29 off the stand it's on now to an actual tank stand and add a canister to it as well. Most likely another fluval. I run the 207 on the 20 long so I think I'll go with the 307 on the 29. And keep the penguin pro 125 and the two med sponge filters going as well.

Yep I run the Penguin 200 on the 29g tank. It's actually for tanks up to 50g, and I sure put it to work w/ all those snails. I have 3 new juvenile snails; some of the old ones have passed, sadly. 3 old ones are left now and I don't intend to add any more, just the BNP.  Also I always run a sponge filter in there too as well as extra air. And then I do lots of plants, hornwort, and the emergent pothos, so my last month of nitrate readings were like 5-10.  I still do the weekly water change anyway to keep the detritus level down.

Edited November 9, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[TeeJay]

On 11/9/2023 at 10:23 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Yep I run the Penguin 200 on the 29g tank. It's actually for tanks up to 50g, and I sure put it to work w/ all those snails. I have 3 new juvenile snails; some of the old ones have passed, sadly. 3 old ones are left now and I don't intend to add any more, just the BNP.  Also I always run a sponge filter in there too as well as extra air. And then I do lots of plants, hornwort, and the emergent pothos, so my last month of nitrate readings were like 5-10.  I still do the weekly water change anyway to keep the detritus level down.

Oh yes you know me all of my tanks are like a jungle with the guppy grass and hornwort 

[Guppysnail]

The really wide mouth one I have for my mom n dad is in stock on plecoceramics webpage even though out of stock on Amazon m. Saves $ of purchasing the intermediate size

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/9/2023 at 5:40 AM, TeeJay said:

Thank you... Going to try and get some new larger caves ordered this pay. I know they are right at the edge of being to small....I don't wanna see another pleco in a apistos cave incident like before 😆

 

On 11/9/2023 at 6:07 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Check this out @TeeJay. I saw this booth at Aquashella https://plecoceramics.com/collections/ceramics

I was just talking with @Odd Duck about these!  Trying to find what is the "go-to" source for certain things.  I think the co-op ones come from plecoceramics?  (Not sure, but they look similar) and they do have a ton of really natural looking, awesome decor.  They also do sell on amazon, which does help cut a bit of the shipping cost too.

I have some from this place, Love em. I just have the basic rectangular at different sizes. From the last time I checked, they do get expensive to ship, but I like the selection / style they have.  I have the darker brown shade to try to hide them a bit better into the wood, but they do have 3-4 colors AND.... they do have "packs" where you get a set of varying sizes and colors.

https://plecocaves.com/

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/9/2023 at 6:12 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Oh sidenote, I am being given a bnp; Idk what color or anything yet, or even when - LOL! - just, my friend's friend bred them and has too many etc and so, one will travel with her from South FL to me and will come help eat my driftwood and stuff.  Technically I could get as many as I want at no cost. I've not researched about bioload yet, so I just said one for now.

You'll have to tell me about these. 🙂  I need a pleco again. (why I can't go to the LFS to buy one is beyond me)

[TeeJay]

On 11/9/2023 at 2:51 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

You'll have to tell me about these. 🙂  I need a pleco again. (why I can't go to the LFS to buy one is beyond me)

If shipping wasn't a million dollars I would send you one or some from my next batch.

[Guppysnail]

On 11/9/2023 at 2:51 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

You'll have to tell me about these. 🙂  I need a pleco again. (why I can't go to the LFS to buy one is beyond me)

I taught Teejay how to ship correctly and safely 😉 

[nabokovfan87]

😂 I don't know why the lemons / albino types of fish freak me out a bit.  Maybe I was scarred from the white bat in ace ventura as a kid? No idea.  I seriously appreciate it though.

I was trying to get some of OD's Red BNP or just find some local.  I do plan to get barbs from Dan's fish and might be able to get one from them as well.

[Odd Duck]

On 11/9/2023 at 3:18 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

😂 I don't know why the lemons / albino types of fish freak me out a bit.  Maybe I was scarred from the white bat in ace ventura as a kid? No idea.  I seriously appreciate it though.

I was trying to get some of OD's Red BNP or just find some local.  I do plan to get barbs from Dan's fish and might be able to get one from them as well.

I wish I had some super reds ready for you!  I’ll have more of the L519’s (pigmented, and honeycomb pattern, don’t look naked 😝) ready fairly soon.  They need to grow up a smidgen more.  They also stay smaller overall by quite a bit compared to other bristlenoses.  They max out at 3.5-4” vs the 6-7” of an adult male BEL, or super red bristlenose.  @nabokovfan87 Remind me what size tank you want them for and what type fish to go with?

Pic of a couple from the first clutch of L519’s.

 

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/9/2023 at 1:29 PM, Odd Duck said:

@nabokovfan87 Remind me what size tank you want them for and what type fish to go with?

It's for the 75G. Just something that loves to clean up glass is best. My go to last time was the Rubberlips.  I also had a normal / black BNP.  Pretty much they just have to be able to go with corydoras, barbs, and my RTBS.

The smaller tank with the shrimp is a 29G and has a clown, but I am considering something specific for pleco breeding if I ever figure out how to sell fish online.

Edited November 9, 2023 by nabokovfan87

[Guppysnail]

On 11/9/2023 at 4:18 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

ace ventura as a kid?

Your a young whipper snapper 🤣🤗

On 11/9/2023 at 4:29 PM, Odd Duck said:

honeycomb pattern

First I’m seeing these. I love them 😍

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/9/2023 at 1:31 PM, Guppysnail said:

Your a young whipper snapper 🤣🤗

LOL.  Definitely unsure about that, but yeah. I definitely don't want to be "old" yet. 😂😂

[Odd Duck]

On 11/9/2023 at 3:31 PM, Guppysnail said:

Your a young whipper snapper 🤣🤗

Just what I was thinking!  I was most definitely well past “kid” when that came out.  I was graduating vet school that year and I took 7 years off between high school and college, and college for me was 7 years.  😆 

On 11/9/2023 at 3:34 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

LOL.  Definitely unsure about that, but yeah. I definitely don't want to be "old" yet. 😂😂

It sneaks up on ya!

[Odd Duck]

On 11/9/2023 at 3:31 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

It's for the 75G. Just something that loves to clean up glass is best. My go to last time was the Rubberlips.  I also had a normal / black BNP.

The smaller tank with the shrimp is a 29G and has a clown, but I am considering something specific for pleco breeding if I ever figure out how to sell fish online.

Super reds are “hot” right now, but so are honeycomb pattern plecos.  L519’s are one of the smaller species with that pattern but there’s at least 3-4 others that I can think of right off.  I’ve also got Rio Paraguay’s that I’ve been waiting patiently on them to breed (also a honeycomb pattern but get almost a inch longer than the L519’s) but I need to get some young BEL’s out of their tank.  Then there’s Wabenmusters that get to about 5” that have a slightly more open honeycomb pattern.  Plus L037’s (Hyposomus faveolus), “Honeycomb” plecos that seem to trend a bit more yellowish in their spots and get to nearly 10” long.  There’s at least one other I can’t remember right now.  But nothing stands out or is quite so distinctive like a super red.

But rubber lips are supposed to be about the best for eating algae and cleaning glass.

Edited November 9, 2023 by Odd Duck
Typo

[Guppysnail]

On 11/9/2023 at 4:34 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

LOL.  Definitely unsure about that, but yeah. I definitely don't want to be "old" yet. 😂😂

Being in the Father Fish age bracket is not great physically but I get to be cranky 🤣

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/9/2023 at 1:44 PM, Odd Duck said:

Super reds are “hot” right now, but so are honeycomb pattern plecos.  L519’s are one of the smaller species with that pattern but there’s at least 3-4 others that I can think of right off.  I’ve also got Rio Paraguay’s that I’ve been waiting patiently on them to breed (also a honeycomb pattern but get almost a inch longer than the L519’s) but I need to get some young BEL’s out of their tank.  Then there’s Wabenmusters that get to about 5” that have a slightly more open honeycomb pattern.  Plus L037’s (Hyposomus faveolus), “Honeycomb” plecos that seem to trend a bit more yellowish in their spots and get to nearly 10” long.  There’s at least one other I can’t remember right now.  But nothing stands out or is quite so distinctive like a super red.

But rubber lips are supposed to be about the best for eating algae and cleaning glass.

Yeah.  They are glass cleaning machines once the lights go out.  Fun to watch and always named "bubba."

I really do love most / all plecos and not picky at all.  I would love to breed flash plecos one day in the shrimp tank, but it's not something that would happen soon.  One day I'm sure you'll have one for me, no worries at all! 🙂

I was so indecisive in my pleco purchasing when I first had the 55/75G setup I had 5 species in the tank and enjoyed all of them.  They all behaved uniquely and just had their own behaviors.  At that point I didn't even know what L numbers were or "fancy" plecos.  Discovering places like planet catfish and other cool resources, learning about more species, it's really inspiring and makes you want to have a rack and a fish shop.  It's the catfish bug in me, I like plecos and corydoras a whole lot.

 

[anewbie]

On 11/9/2023 at 7:40 AM, TeeJay said:

Thank you... Going to try and get some new larger caves ordered this pay. I know they are right at the edge of being to small....I don't wanna see another pleco in a apistos cave incident like before 😆

My apisto never bother with the caves i give them - they always just make their own and ignore the ones provided - here is an example:

 

In this picture you see the back of the tank with a piece of drift wood that curves towards the front. The bottom of the driftwood actually touches the substrate in the front and behind it she dug a little cave and declared to all that this was her home. The male can't see her from the other side which makes it perfect; sadly i couldn't get closer to her to get a better picture as it made her nervous (she is a D50 female).

 

[TeeJay]

So I have a new larger caves coming today for lemony and luna. They should have plenty of room to spawn in for the next time around. I thought he might have already had eggs in the cave a couple of days ago but he has left the cave alone for a day now. Maybe he did have eggs but they were not fertile.

As well I caught a great deal on Amazon this morning and picked up another penguin pro 125 for the 29 as well. It already has one on it with an original penguin 150. I just hate this design. So I will be happy to run dual pro 125s on it as well as keeping the 2 med coop sponge filters as well. It will be here tomorrow so it will be a fun day off adding the new filter and changing out to the new larger cave.

[TeeJay]

Well it's water change day. I think today I'll try and get a new pic of each tank and give a list of all different fish and friends in each tank. We shall see how it goes 😆

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Hooray!  Someone brought in peppermint mocha creamer to share. I added just a hint of it to my coffee [with TeeJay]. Mmm! 

[TeeJay]

Ok for the morning edition of coffee with TeeJay is the 20 long tank. This is the home to my colony of 11 cpds and 7 aspidos spilliotis aka wiggle butts. As well as the home to the wizard small family and the blue jelly neo shrimp. Rounding out this tank is moonbeam one of the plecos from lemony and lunas first fry and mochi the hillstream loach.

Equipment on this tank is a fluval 207 with spraybar, med coop sponge filter and a coop heater. Mopani wood slate rock caves for hardscape and midnight pearl gravel for substrate. Plants include crypts anubias java moss and floating guppy grass and hornwort.

[TeeJay]

Are you ready for that second cup yet..Up next is a 10 gallon setup for the dwarf emerald danios and the pygmy corys. There friends in this tank are a crew of piano snails and mixed neo shrimp. I will have at least 3 of the pygmys out of the original six for sure. But I haven't found any body's so I'm optimistic that I still have 5.

Equipment in this tank is a tidal 55. Yes I said 55 lol. It has a custom baffel to make a gentle flow. Along with a small coop sponge filter. Plants include anubias crypts a ton of java moss and floating guppy grass and hornwort. Heater is a titanium hygger with a controller.

[TeeJay]

There coming in fast now whooo! Up next is the 10 gallon guppy tank. As you guessed it this is the home to my blue galaxy guppys. I think I'm down to just males now. I have rehomed all of the females I have for sure now. I have a couple of fry that I have to wait another week or two before I know for sure what they are. This will eventually be a new adventure tank. Along with there friends the piano snails. 

Filter is an aquatop Forza along with a double stacked coop nano sponge filters. Noticing a trend yet? All my tanks I run dual filtration on. Mainly for power outages when they happen. All tanks run on battery backup air pumps. So at least I know I will always have surface agitation and air if I do loose power. Plants are anubias, java fern along with guppy grass and hornwort. Enjoy!