Coffee with Teejay

[nabokovfan87]

On 8/15/2022 at 3:12 PM, TeeJay said:

Just taking out the couple of wood pieces and just gently mixing the sand with the gravel then adding the wood back

Yeah, you can just use a small cup or something and gently add in the tank.  I would imagine..... you'd push the gravel to one side or clear a spot, then add a region of the tank with sand where you can feed.

The other way to do it is to just remove a good 70-80% of the gravel, then add the sand and decorate the surface with the gravel. 

If you cap it, then you'd just cap a part of the tank with the sand. 

On my 29G I used a 20lb bag.  It's about 1 lb per gallon (obviously footprint matters) to give you a good base layer of sand.  I think on a 55G I used about 60-70 lbs of sand.  It seems to work out.  But, this is for a sand base not necessarily a gravel base.  The "rubble style" of a scape would be a section or the base of the tank with sand (or aquasoil capped with sand) and then the small gravel and pebbles along the surface.

[TeeJay]

On 8/15/2022 at 6:20 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Yeah, you can just use a small cup or something and gently add in the tank.  I would imagine..... you'd push the gravel to one side or clear a spot, then add a region of the tank with sand where you can feed.

The other way to do it is to just remove a good 70-80% of the gravel, then add the sand and decorate the surface with the gravel. 

If you cap it, then you'd just cap a part of the tank with the sand. 

On my 29G I used a 20lb bag.  It's about 1 lb per gallon (obviously footprint matters) to give you a good base layer of sand.  I think on a 55G I used about 60-70 lbs of sand.  It seems to work out.  But, this is for a sand base not necessarily a gravel base.  The "rubble style" of a scape would be a section or the base of the tank with sand (or aquasoil capped with sand) and then the small gravel and pebbles along the surface.

I wonder if it would look silly if I literally mixed the two together not so much separate areas. But so it's a uniform sand gravel mix. Or would I have an issue with gas buildup in the substrate?

[nabokovfan87]

On 8/15/2022 at 3:26 PM, TeeJay said:

Or would I have an issue with gas buildup in the substrate?

If you mix it well, I don't think you will.  Keep in mind, you're going to move things around anyways just by gravel vacuuming.  I would try to avoid making it ~2 inches or thicker.  Especially given the difference in particle size.  When you get the sand, play with it on a seperate container and figure out what gravel mix looks good, then go from there 🙂

 

 

Edited August 15, 2022 by nabokovfan87

[TeeJay]

On 8/15/2022 at 6:28 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

If you mix it well, I don't think you will.  Keep in mind, you're going to move things around anyways just by gravel vacuuming.  I would try to avoid making it ~2 inches or thicker.  Especially given the difference in particle size.  When you get the sand, play with it on a seperate container and figure out what gravel mix looks good, then go from there 🙂

That's true  I didn't think about future gravel vacuuming. I could just do a about a quarter inch sand across it. Then as I gravel vac over time it will naturally mix together. 

[nabokovfan87]

Would this be the first time for a tank with sand?

[TeeJay]

On 8/15/2022 at 6:32 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Would this be the first time for a tank with sand?

Yes I've never used sand before. So big learning curve for me lol

[nabokovfan87]

Very cool.  Check this out, let me know if you have any questions.  What I meant by "things will get mixed up" is what she mentions regarding the chopstick and moving things around.
 

 

[TeeJay]

On 8/15/2022 at 6:38 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Very cool.  Check this out, let me know if you have any questions.  What I meant by "things will get mixed up" is what she mentions regarding the chopstick and moving things around.
 

 

I have seen a bit of her work. She does a great job. No so many other ideas popping into my head. I def want to go with the sand you recommended. Maybe get 2 5lbs bags. I may not need it all but would rather have it. I don't want to get into it and get halfway thru and find out I'm short. I'm liking the idea of removing like 80 percent of the gravel then doing like 1/2 layer of sand to the whole thing. Then sprinkling a bit of gravel around for more of a natural look 

I only have 1 red flame sword planted in the actually substrate. The rest are attached to wood and rocks. If I go that route would it be better to net the Cory's and put them in a breeder box with air while I do the substrate change. And I don't figure that would mess with my bb since it has the sponge filter and hob fully seeded.

[Anjum]

I like the mixed substrate look, I think it looks most natural. I just broke down my 5 gal tank that had all substrate pulled from my creek - a mix of sand, small gravel & larger rocks. I'll have to see what I can get for pics when I get home. I'm going to pull more substrate from the creek, so if nothing else I can show you that. 

[TeeJay]

On 8/15/2022 at 7:28 PM, Anjum said:

I like the mixed substrate look, I think it looks most natural. I just broke down my 5 gal tank that had all substrate pulled from my creek - a mix of sand, small gravel & larger rocks. I'll have to see what I can get for pics when I get home. I'm going to pull more substrate from the creek, so if nothing else I can show you that. 

Sounds good I'll look forward to seeing it.

[TeeJay]

Since we have rain moving in tomorrow evening I think I will wait until the evening to do the water change. I keep the tank set at 77. So I'll go with a couple degree cooler water and then give them a feast of frozen blood worms. Maybe we will get some fun action going on after that. 😎

[nabokovfan87]

On 8/15/2022 at 3:58 PM, TeeJay said:

Maybe get 2 5lbs bags

I believe they only sell 20 or 10 lb bags, not sure what your local store has.  It might be 5 and then 20.

[TeeJay]

On 8/15/2022 at 9:32 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

I believe they only sell 20 or 10 lb bags, not sure what your local store has.  It might be 5 and then 20.

This is what I found on Amazon I believe it's the right stuff

[nabokovfan87]

Yep that's it 🙂

[TeeJay]

Ok someone talk me out of it. I was thinking about going to my lfs that I got my Cory's from and picking up a couple more. 😉. I have six right now so maybe 2-4 more. For a total of 8-10. Now if I don't see any responses by 2pm when they open on telling me not to then I'm on my way!

[TeeJay]

I think I have made up my mind to switch over to a sand substrate for the corys. I know it's not necessary but I have always wanted to try a sand substrate at some point. I think for this tank it would be a good for a first time sand tank. And only being ten gallons I won't break the bank in getting enough sand to do it. So I can to buy the sand within the next week and swap it out when the next water change is after it comes in. 

My plan is to remove about 70-80 percent of the existing gravel. Then lay down about 1/2-3/4 of an inch of sand then sprinkle around a bit of small gravel as accents.

[TeeJay]

Ok so I went to my lfs where I got my first 6 Cory's from. Turns out there retiring and going out of business within a month. Sooooo I got the last 11 paleatus Cory's they had for a steal of 25 bucks! So I got the home and acclimated. I knew wouldn't be a big deal because they are kept in the same water supply at my own house. Our params are almost identical. So I took a group of 6 and put them in my 29 gal tank. The other 5 went into the Cory tank for the breeding experiment. 

So I still plan to make the switch to sand put we will put that on hold for a few weeks to let our new friends get used to there new home.

[TeeJay]

Looks like we have a second saddled female in the shrimp sanctuary! So that should make 2 that I have for sure seen so far. So everything seems to be going in the right direction. 

Ever seen nice adding them the ammonia and nitrites have stayed at zero. Nitrates at a steady 10-15. So all parameters are staying right where I want them to be. The first almond leave I put in there for them is just about all gone. So I'll start another new one floating in the tank so it will sink by the time the first is done. By only adding one at a time I haven't noticed much tannin releasing into the water. I don't mind if it does I know it's good for them.

[nabokovfan87]

On 8/16/2022 at 9:12 AM, TeeJay said:

Ok someone talk me out of it. I was thinking about going to my lfs that I got my Cory's from and picking up a couple more. 😉. I have six right now so maybe 2-4 more. For a total of 8-10. Now if I don't see any responses by 2pm when they open on telling me not to then I'm on my way!

As long as they look good. Do it.

 

Very unfortunate the local shop is going out of business.  😞

Hopefully their inventory goes to a good home and some new hobbyists take advantage of it to find something at sale prices.

You officially have a Corydoras Horde now!

[TeeJay]

On 8/16/2022 at 5:59 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

As long as they look good. Do it.

 

Very unfortunate the local shop is going out of business.  😞

Hopefully their inventory goes to a good home and some new hobbyists take advantage of it to find something at sale prices.

You officially have a Corydoras Horde now!

Yes I got the big lol. They always keep there fish in great conditions. And I loved that there tanks were filtered independently from each other. All of them are healthy and have nice full bellies. Most a a bit younger but one female is ready to go. Yes they been in business school once I was a wee lad. So there ready to retire. At least it wasn't a case of had to close down.

[nabokovfan87]

On 8/16/2022 at 3:05 PM, TeeJay said:

Yes they been in business school once I was a wee lad. So there ready to retire. At least it wasn't a case of had to close down.

Ah, that's awesome though.  They were successful and did thing the right way, the best way possible!  Maybe someone younger will buy the store and keep it going 🙂

[TeeJay]

On 8/16/2022 at 6:09 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Ah, that's awesome though.  They were successful and did thing the right way, the best way possible!  Maybe someone younger will buy the store and keep it going 🙂

If I had the funds it would be me lol

[Anjum]

Yay I'm glad you got them!!! I was going to encourage it 😁

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 8/16/2022 at 5:30 PM, TeeJay said:

The first almond leave I put in there for them is just about all gone.

Did it decay or do they eat that?

[TeeJay]

On 8/16/2022 at 9:37 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Did it decay or do they eat that?

From best I can tell it pretty much decayed. I'm not going to say they never munched on it because you can't watch them all the time. I did break the leaf down into about 6 pieces to start .2-3 pieces are still pretty intact. The rest are about decayed away. 

This second one I put in I left whole so I hope to get a better guage on if the nom nom it or just let it waste away. Either senario it's still beneficial.