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On 8/9/2021 at 12:34 PM, Stacy Z said:

I’m sorry you lost your Dragon Boop and that you need to downsize the fish. I’m grateful to know you were able to share to all of us. Please don’t be discouraged. You should like a water sign, like you were meant for the hobby. I do hope you can keep going with some nano tanks with it being less work on your body! 

Awww thank you. 29 is as large as I can do but prefer 20l I look on the bright side it’s a new challenge 💪🏻

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@Guppysnail my kids recently taught me to put the kitchen sponge in the microwave while wet, drop of soap is optional. 

Heat until steaming to kill bacteria and mildew.

They were right, it works!

New adventures in fish keeping is right!

I used to have several large tanks (a 55 g was my smallest), and a farm.

Now I am in an apartment with more tanks, but less water😅

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On 8/8/2021 at 12:49 PM, Daniel said:

There is a lot hornwort growing in the brackish intercostal waters here in North Carolina. Also Vallisneria, Bacopa, Myriophyllum, Anacharis, etc. I was a little surprised when I first saw it, but there it was.

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Wait..... you are in NC?????

I grew up in Raleigh, my BIL knows Dr Diana Walstad, and my first foray into SW tanks was because I spent summers OBX and when my mom brought me home to Raleigh with a cooler of live crabs we discovered an octopus hitchhiker 😅

 

Tiny guy survived me for years.... but didn't survive the 2 week power outage....

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So excited about this new project a month or so in the making. This is where I’m going to start journaling my projects.  I made this decision today as I was getting ready to do maintenance on the tank I’m going to use for this. I want to be transparent with it because that’s the type of person I am. I decided to take starter pictures before doing maintenance so you could share in all the messy glory of this 😁.  I’m not going to pretty things up to make it or myself look better. I want it to be a real day in the life type journal.

10 g guppy grow out/ plant grow out from oh my I need another guppy tank to fish residing in this was 2 hours. I grabbed the tank an old roller stand I redid 20 years ago with 3 coats of boat varnish (still actually looks good boat varnish is way awesome  for fish tank stands.) grabbed a coop nano from one tank I kept as a backup power outage air filtersupply. Grabbed a coop med out of another that I had and a hob off another. ( I run extra hobs in some tanks and always extra sponges in tanks because I forever have projects or need a tank now and I have ZERO patience 🤣) I grabbed a cup or two of gravel out of each tank. I grabbed plants and wood out of each tank. I had spare heaters and an old inkbird.(I use inkbird thermostat controls on all. Good old days I had too many fish get poached I know heaters are better now but a cooked tank and floor littered with fish suicides is traumatizing) I already had a black background on it it’s in front of a window that receives way to much sun from 2pm until dark  had some scraps of backing (that don’t match 🤣) pasted them on the sides they didn’t even fit but worked  guppies adore green water I do not  

boom have tank add water add a few mystery snails scrounge a handful of bladder snails add 46 guppy fry and test test test yup we are rock and rolling. I think this was like early February.  This tank has been stable since inception and has reared many guppies to lfs delivery age.

I was inspired by @StephenP2003 guppy mayhem tank.  I was in love had to have it! So same scrounge tanks procedure bought 29g and stand started moving guppies, I’ve raised enough want to do something new but keep my guppies. Added panda Cory colony mystery and bladder snails…stopped today is day 5 my BN won’t show his face just tail so I think eggs are viable may need space for babies.
the project is a Pygmy corydora species tank 😁. I got a batch in from Aqua huna along with some CPD and panda Cory to amp up the genetic diversity in pandas and my CPD now boys outnumber girls 3-1 😬 needed more before the bloodbath began. 
thanks to usps delay only 4 of 6 Pygmy made it but oh are they healthy little bugs. 🥰 currently residing with 2 week old guppy fry happily. Probably the only time they have ever been the biggest fish in a tank 🤣

I have had several different corydora colonies but never Pygmy.  I’m so excited!

Thanks to @Rob E. info on starting numbers I ordered a 10 pack last night.  I chose august 18 as delivery date from a different supplier only for genetic diversity. Hope they are as good as Aqua huna. They are tank born and raised.  He gave me awesome ideas for setup to convert the habitat. (And he has the grooviest shag carpet sponge filter ever!🤩)
 

about a month ago I bought weird little ornaments to tie all my Java fern babies to to make Java fern bushes hopefully they work as spawning area. Guppies we’re going to go to the LFS on the 17th so I had a day to redo and remove snails I was going to “qt” in tank (don’t judge I have never medicated new catfish of any type unless needed I just feel it’s unnecessarily hard on them…guppies alway catfish never) if it went sideways I would just nuke the tank and start over. LFS manager is going on vacation and help can’t receive private deliveries 😕 so up goes a 5 gallon tub qt. Other choice is a 25 g tub which is too much I’m not digging through my storage for a 10.  
im yanking every stitch of hornwort for the qt I’ve already started all the elodea in the tanks to replace it. 
 

More to come…..here are the messy tank pics pre maintenance 🤮 and beautiful guppy boys headed to forever homes. 

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On 8/10/2021 at 1:29 AM, StephenP2003 said:

Looking good! Now, if you want the type of sustainable mayhem that I have going on in my 40 breeder, you'll need some patience, as well as about 3 or 4 times the current plant mass in that tank. 😁

Oh this is the 10. The 29 is pretty full of plants in a month I won’t have any open space at all. I have 6f/1m guppy and 11 panda Cory right now. This is the 29 at start it’s filled almost the entire way in. My guppies mutilated all the extra fanwort getting at the Cory eggs 😡 so I’m prepping 25 stems of anacharis elodeo densa to replace. I’m guessing a year to a year and a half until sustainability with minimal maintenance thanks for sharing your video. 

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The bloodbath begins ****sigh***. 2 non dominant male cpd missing multiple scales this morning. Both dominant males in tank are full aggression color and flared. All others hiding (mine never hide) The first order I have in qt now only 4/8 made it due to usps shipping delay. New batch of 10 I ordered I chose medium. Original 4 should be to med by then. Going to run qt separate then introduce both groups prior to adding to community. Hopefully the number of additions will chill my bullies. Would really stink if my bullies went on a total rampage killing spree of my new fishy’s! 😵🤨

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After I calmed down a bit of excitement from seeing eggs I added almond leaves. Two weeks ago after Boops I used his 1 1/2 foot grapevine log bark intact tied to river rocks in this tank.  I wanted to grow all the amazing yummy film it’s reported to grow and get some tannins. I put some IAL in as well. Got a bit of color but not as much as I wanted. And absolutely nothing grew? I never used wood that has not grown some great stuff and this is supposed to be fabulous. Either my critters are fabulous housekeepers or it’s a dud. I snapped a picture of the log while refilling the tank today  

Today I put plant weights on the stems of a bunch of IAL and lined the back and both sides about half an inch from the wall. Kind of figured this would triple my grazing area from both sides of the leaves and grow some extra biofilm for the baby BN when they come out. My bladder snails are right on schedule population is increasing in all the tanks I dropped the new elodea in and doing a mighty fine job of cleaning up all the melt.  I’ll probably harvest the bladders before they are done for LFS because I want a bit of extra decaying plant matter for the babies and a little is actually good for water quality and binding any lurking metals etc.

I wouldn’t be honest if I didn’t admit I am actually nervous about baby BN. I’ve only ever kept different single BN in tanks so this was my first pair. Never raised the babies. LFS is excited and will actually pay for these…my first actual cash not bug payment! (I traded  for live foods for my dragon that I didn’t have colonies for)

some of my worries are bioload concerns. Filtration is 307 fluval stuffed to the gills with coarse coop matrix bio max rings and a layer of coop fine so  coop med prefilter on both canister and hob. aquaclear I keep for projects and coop nano for airstone.  So the issue is not filter action it the actual accumulation of poo!  I that tank already gets bad quick. If this is a crazy large hatch my contingency plan along with my plan of already dispersing fry to other tanks is a 25 gallon tote. So I’m covered. But it’s a new adventure so a bit of nervousness.
 

Also realized my first blunder with the new Pygmy project. I find value in hydra in my fry tanks. Yup I sure do! New fry eat a lot of powdered food and more recently BBS. The hydra consume the extra so it does not rot in the tank. (Plus I find great entertainment in watching my hydra eat with my magnifying glass) I love weird growing stuff in aquariums. Usually almost as fun to watch as fish. When my guppies are past the powder stage, food gets cut down a bit, meals are farther apart and my guppies happily chomp away at hydra for yum yum and entertainment.  Then I cut back BBS to a few times a week then once a week and whatever hydra managed to escape my voracious guppies cyst up and patiently wait for new guppies.  
in my excitement and wanting to hurry them to the LFS 2 weeks early for the weather prediction and shipping dates of Pygmys I continued feeding BBS daily forgetting guppies need to be hungry and stay in the tank long enough to run population control. I still don’t have crazy hydra it never gets out of control so it’s not an issue. Since Pygmy are now getting qt in a separate home it shouldn’t be a problem I adjusted to adult feeding schedule earlier than I would have and am feeding a little less. I might just keep guppies an extra week now to balance it. 
 

Hope everyone had an amazing fish keeping day today 😁

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My beaten up Cpd this morning had been ostracized from the group.  No sign of infection but his swim had a slight jerk to it typical of this type of injury. With possible baby BN on the way I did not want to risk infection in the tank. Unfortunately in my group even rehabilitated he probably would get beaten again repeatedly I’ve tried to reintegrate injured several times after healing….it’s not pleasant. I made the choice to remove him from the colony. He did not attempt to evade the net letting me know I made the right choice.  
I got to see the eggs again..they look bigger? I couldn’t get a picture he hid them again. Mom is still staying near the cave warding everyone away 😁

Based on the aggression already being displayed and not wanting to rearrange furniture because of BN eggs I’m going to move the cpd in my 2.5 qt to a 5 tub tomorrow and use that to qt the 10 pack new arrivals with them when they arrive Wednesday. Hoping they will grow together and form a cohesive group so when they are introduced to my bullies it shakes it up enough to avoid too much conflict.  
 

3 of the male guppies in my Pygmy project tank still had dark tails and not the orange  Today all 3 have the deep purple of my little boy.  These are the first I’ve gotten that express his tail so of course I want to keep one.  My only option right now is the funny tank on top of the dresser in my dressing room until they are big enough for the 29.  This tank is the most ridiculous tank I’ve ever had! First baby snails and plant grow out..add two stunted growth boys that were stuck in my pothos planter then add unexpected guppy fry..then 4 Pygmy cory waiting on new home.  Dresser almost as tall as me step stool and massive maintenance now a juvenile….ugh…

My one girl juv guppy today lit up with the most beautiful blue like her mother. Unfortunately my two sweet girls always give plain Jane colorless girls but stunning boys  so I’m shocked this one has blue on the body and tail. Even the moms had no blue in the body.

I found 2 hydra in that tank behind the intake that were cool one must have eaten at least 3 BBS it was so fat while the one half an inch below apparently got none.  I couldn’t get the camera to completely focus but I threw the picture in anyway. 
 

Any top secret success tips for raising baby BN can be shared here 🤣.  Does anyone know how long I should wait before moving them to other tanks?

Hope your day went swimmingly 🤩

 

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Bristlenose hatchlings just emerged! I couldn’t get really focused pictures they are too small. I seen something on my snail this morning and woohoo babies. They look like eggs with a tiny wiggly tail. I feel like they should not have been out so soon. Dad poked his head out and was acting like he was frantically looking for something before he dashed back in. So I don’t know if the early birds have any chance with survival? Anyone with experience know?

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On 8/12/2021 at 11:58 PM, Hobbit said:

Yaaay! Very cool! Haha sounds like my Dad Fish who’s always constantly chasing down escapees. He brings them back to the bubble nest in his mouth. I have no idea if plecos do that. I feel like their mouths can’t close?

I’m not sure if they could do that. The (lips?) close but I don’t know how effectively. I know mom fish hung in the main escapee area all day. I have been removing all the bladder snails I find in that tank even though it’s not overpopulated since the breeding behavior began as you are trying with your new tank (cute bowl scape btw) I didn’t want them in the cave they get to big for dad to eat. I don’t think the fry would hold still long enough to get eaten in their wiggler new hatch phase. The few escapees stayed visible until lights out then the went hidden somewhere.

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Got a lot done today.  CPD are moved to the 5 g QT yesterday. Tomorrow I add gravel from their permanent home to make sure nothing in my tank is going to attack them.  I could not catch a sick cpd in that tank with the pleco wrigglers safely I don’t think. 
pulled the last of the hornwort from all my tanks and any plant that is not hornwort from the funny tank. Have them in bowls on the shelf hubby built for me with tons of easy green.  My plants love that stuff. Eat it like candy.  
got everything ready to set up the second QT for the Pygmy Wednesday I’ll add plants and extra coop sponge I have in their permanent home tomorrow to get the bacteria party started. I’m going to put all the extra plants I pulled today as well from that tank for qt.  I left what I intend to use to decorate their home. Added a sprig of ludwiga super red and a sprig of purple cabomba fanwort. Rethinking that though I need high light for both and the Pygmy do not seem to enjoy the bright light
 

inreally want to make this tank look nice. Like actually look like something not just what washed in on the current and took up residence.  I’m the WORST ever aquascaper so I never try to hard as long as plants are healthy and doing their job keeping the water good.  I have been inspired by everyone on this forum. So it’s time for an old dog to learn some new skills. Even pulled out the old Walstad ecology book to find companion vs deterrent plants. I figure if I can do it with my veggies garden I can figure it out for tanks. 
The roots of my pothos have grown almost to the substrate so I want that as my background.  I’m going to put plant weights on the bottom of stems of Indian almond leaves so the round part stays up and make that the wall background the entire wall and beneath pothos roots. Replace as they deteriorate.  Centerpiece is going to be manzanita pieces intertwined with anacharis elodia densa then my two Java fern bushes I have growing on either side. With Brazilian pennywort in the back.

I’m actually going to add enough gravel that it covers the entire bottom I was thinking of mixing peace river with the black in there. Not sure how that would look? Has anyone done it? How did it turn out?

Excited someone gave me the idea I could safely siphon the baby pleco out of the tank so I can disperse them and put the majority in the 25 gallon tub much sooner than I feel I could safely net them. This is going to save me so much work save my poor shrimp from insane water changes AND SAVE MY TANNINS! WOOHOO!  
here is how:

large siphon hose for babies..I have done it accidentally a time or three 🤦‍♀️ To no I’ll affect on my poor guppies but never occurred to me to do it on purpose 🤣

i never thought of this but to remove tons of snail and pleco waste gravel vac then let the water sit in the bucket and debris settle. Readd used water (assuming not poor quality that needs replaced) with tannins in so it remains that glorious amber coloration! 🤩 and I won’t lose the benefits those tannins provide to my critters.  Such an easy solution I was sooooo overthinking as usual! Thank you @Streetwise and @Brandy for your help. 
talked to lfs manager about the BN babies he is excited to buy them. First ever cash not bug payment for fish 🤣 talked him into letting me bring my guppies while he is on vacation (he wants those BN babies cheap 🙃). So I’m keeping two boys and let them grow in the new Pygmy home with no competition.  Decided I’m adding two instead of one so if there is aggression from my spastic boy it’s spread out a bit. Drops me to 2-1 ratio but in a month the two girls I’m adding are going in. 🤞🏻
 

Happy Hobbying!

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Really enjoying your long and usual updates!
Thats a lot to acheive in one day, all I did today was feed the fish, and start another hatch of BBS.

Sometimes I like my tannins, and other times not so much. I have lots of tannins with the new no-tech shrimp bowl on my desk, and I'm seriously in love with the tannins. However there are some tannins in my community tank and I HATE them in there. All though I understand the pros of tannins, I dont like the look of them in the community tank. 

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On 8/13/2021 at 11:58 PM, James Black said:

Really enjoying your long and usual updates!
Thats a lot to acheive in one day, all I did today was feed the fish, and start another hatch of BBS.

Sometimes I like my tannins, and other times not so much. I have lots of tannins with the new no-tech shrimp bowl on my desk, and I'm seriously in love with the tannins. However there are some tannins in my community tank and I HATE them in there. All though I understand the pros of tannins, I dont like the look of them in the community tank. 

Thank you I have never kept a journal or diary and my hubby is not a fish person so I am having tons of fun writing about my adventures. It’s like having a friend to fish keep with!  I’m actually new to keeping tannins. I fought them always until I found the forum and realized how beneficial and beautiful they are. For all the nonsense I found on good old google about fish keeping this forum is legitimately the best thing to happen to my hobby in years!  
I tried tannins in all my tanks and decided I like them at different levels in each tank and some I still like the crystal clear sparkling water.

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On 8/13/2021 at 11:58 PM, James Black said:

Really enjoying your long and usual updates!
Thats a lot to acheive in one day, all I did today was feed the fish, and start another hatch of BBS.

Sometimes I like my tannins, and other times not so much. I have lots of tannins with the new no-tech shrimp bowl on my desk, and I'm seriously in love with the tannins. However there are some tannins in my community tank and I HATE them in there. All though I understand the pros of tannins, I dont like the look of them in the community tank. 

Here are2 other pennywort tanks. I like it to grow full and crazy. I also got a pic of new baby growth pennywort 😀

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