Semi-budget 40g Breeder Aquascape Journal

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 12/2/2022 at 7:30 AM, Schuyler said:

In case you're curious, this is what it looks like if you let a garlic flower go to seed:

Ha! Thanks for posting that! Can you read minds?😂

[Schuyler]

On 12/1/2022 at 11:32 PM, Minanora said:

That is the most interesting garlic I've ever seen.... It looks like a flower, on a stalk. I grow a lot of garlic and mine does not look like that. What garlic variety is that? 

That's the dried out flower after going to seed. It's a purple rough neck variety. The cloves themselves look pretty normal. If you leave them in the ground the other cloves will grow their own shoots and it will spread like a grass almost.

Don't worry about being thorough, it's my fault for reading it too quickly while at work

On 12/2/2022 at 1:33 AM, itsfoxtail said:

I'd second a round of Prazipro after the Expel P as well! 

One more thing to add to the fish pharmacy...

[Minanora]

On 12/2/2022 at 7:29 AM, Schuyler said:

That's the dried out flower after going to seed. It's a purple rough neck variety. The cloves themselves look pretty normal. If you leave them in the ground the other cloves will grow their own shoots and it will spread like a grass almost.

Don't worry about being thorough, it's my fault for reading it too quickly while at work

One more thing to add to the fish pharmacy...

You mean to tell me that there's tiny garlic "cloves" under my seed pods? That's so neat! I've only ever let my chive garlic go to seed and I didn't disassemble the flowers last year. I haven't trimmed the stalks this year yet.

I have some purple hardeneck garlic growing in my garden that I grow every year, and California white soft neck. I plant my cloves in October for earlier summer harvests so I can set late bush beans.

We don't get below 20° here for more than two hours at a time and only once or twice in the season. Zone 9b, but in a weird micro climate. However it's been significantly colder this season.

My beds are currently covered, I turn them into hoop houses over the winter and fold the plastic down to the side during storms. But they still get frost and light freezes even when I close them up. I grow carrots, brassicas, radishes, beets, spinach and lettuces in the late fall, winter and early spring. I have volunteer cilantro, chamomile and basil that I let spread like weeds all over the place, even outside the garden. I'm trying to crowd out weeds with eatable "weeds" for pollinators. My cilantro and chamomile are very productive into the summer and then the basil takes over until the first freeze then the cycle starts over again.

Not that you asked. 🤣

Having a fish pharmacy is not a bad thing. I have a whole two shelves dedicated to meds in my hanging closet organizer. The whole closet organizer is pretty much all aquarium related items... Foods, tools, fertilizers, meds, backup parts, breeding supplies, and dog treats of course.

See, I ramble. 😁🫣

[Minanora]

I may let a head of my garlic go to seed to see this interesting flower you shared. Does this happen in the second year, like onions? I assumed they'd be just like onions... I never let them get to seed because we use soooooo much garlic in our house. Between eating it roasted, in almost every food dish we make and then using it in canning.... 😂 I have to remember to set cloves aside to plant or else I use it all. We even still have to buy garlic. I'm making more garden beds specifically because I need more room for more garlic and more beans. Lol

Also, I didn't see the part where you said "...garlic flower go to seed..." Durp.

[Schuyler]

On 12/2/2022 at 8:34 AM, Minanora said:

I have some purple hardeneck garlic growing in my garden that I grow every year, and California white soft neck. 

My beds are currently covered, I turn them into hoop houses over the winter and fold the plastic down to the side during storms. 

Not that you asked. 🤣

Having a fish pharmacy is not a bad thing. 

See, I ramble. 😁

Hardneck... Yeah that's the one I meant lol 

I have a makeshift hoop house for one bed but the garden got a bit neglected once the aquarium got going. Which is fine since it was time for it to die off.

I have some fava beans and peas growing as a cover crop. Plus a random assortment of other sad kale, broccoli, and a few garlic.

The main things we actually do well at growing are peas, pole beans, and pumpkins (when is not a weirdly cold year).

This is our garden last year when it was starting to take off (garlic is kinda visible off to the side):

I'm hoping next year the the water change water will help things grow. Gardening and aquariums feel like a they have symbiotic relationship plants to feed fish and fish feed the plants.

I wonder how many people here do both.

[Mmiller2001]

If you suspect wasting disease, I would use 

Panacur C Canine Dewormer Dogs 1 (3 Packets) Gram Each Packet Treats 10 lbs https://a.co/d/bQ45qiL

 

 

[Mmiller2001]

I'd also follow that up with Levamisole.

[Patrick_G]

On 12/1/2022 at 9:44 AM, Schuyler said:

Calling on people who have been following along (@TheSwissAquarist, @itsfoxtail, @Minanora, @Patrick_G😞) Does this sound like it could be wasting disease? Should I treat the whole tank with paracleanse and some beneficial bacteria?

I noticed that two of my Nothobranchius Guntheri males also have the sunken belly so I was going to ask you the same question. 

[Mmiller2001]

http://www.selectaquatics.com/Levamisole.htm

[Schuyler]

On 12/2/2022 at 3:35 PM, Patrick_G said:

I noticed that two of my Nothobranchius Guntheri males also have the sunken belly so I was going to ask you the same question. 

Interesting... Do you have a ballpark for how old they may be?

Are you planning on trying to medicate them? What do you feed?

Online I see the main indicators for are are fading colors, sunken belly, tattered fins, and a bent spine. But a lot of those also sound like symptoms of stress or disease. I guess the question now is how to differentiate.

Looking on Google it seems like if it's age related they basically look like they are falling apart when they get old.

Image source: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/acel.12757

[Patrick_G]

On 12/2/2022 at 4:29 PM, Schuyler said:

Interesting... Do you have a ballpark for how old they may be?

Are you planning on trying to medicate them? What do you feed?

@Fish Folkwill know exactly how old they are.

 So far I’ve been feeding pretty much just live baby brine. I think my problem might be more related to stress from breeding competition. I removed them from the stress and I’ll watch for a week or two before trying any meds. 

[Schuyler]

The Expel-P arrived early today but I suspect it's still too little too late. Cindy spends half her time lying on the bottom looking dead. She shows no interest in BBS. We'll see in the morning if she's still around.

There are some weird poops going on in the main tank.

I did a big water change ~50% and trimmed a bunch of plants. While doing that I noticed some little wigglers! A guppy has it's babies! So far we have managed to catch 8 and we know there are at least two more that have managed to evade capture. Looks like Cindy's BBS won't be going to waste.

@Patrick_G the LSF had she samples of Omega one cichlid pellets and the killis went nuts for them. Though they are on the bigger side.

[Schuyler]

Kept the lights off and a blanket over the aquarium most of the day except to feed the fry and Cindy some BBS.

She's still alive but you have to watch for a bit to know for sure.

Going to do a 25% water change per medication instructions

[Schuyler]

  Baby fry are looking healthy and eating some rapashi. Still at least one loose on the tank but it's a quick one and always manages to escape. It has plenty of hiding spaces so hopefully it will manage ok.

I found a large group of hydra ok the gap between the glass and pre-filter sponge. I think they manage to avoid getting eaten and all the food gets drawn to them.

Cindy is still alive but her body is permanently bent to one side so that she swims on a corkscrew pattern.

[Minanora]

I'm sorry you're having to watch her decline. It's not fun. Congrats on the guppy fry though and also that moss in the background is looking incredibly good!

[Schuyler]

On 12/5/2022 at 9:02 PM, Minanora said:

I'm sorry you're having to watch her decline. It's not fun. 

Thanks. The part that gets me is not really knowing if it was wasting disease, a picky eater that I just wasn't feeding right, or that she was just old and it was her time.

Whatever it was she's didn't make it. Hopefully I'll be able to apply lessons learned to help future fish (and maybe some of the current fish at the LFS).

RIP Cindy

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 12/6/2022 at 6:50 PM, Schuyler said:

Thanks. The part that gets me is not really knowing if it was wasting disease, a picky eater that I just wasn't feeding right, or that she was just old and it was her time.

Whatever it was she's didn't make it. Hopefully I'll be able to apply lessons learned to help future fish (and maybe some of the current fish at the LFS).

RIP Cindy

So sorry to hear that she passed 😢. You tried your best! 

[Schuyler]

Caught that illusive guppy fry just in time to notice that another female's gravid spot is missing.

I think the blackout for the meds killed off a bunch of the string algae. Or at least it looks pale and dead now.

I dosed fertilizer two days ago and the nitrates are already basically back at zero. Also total alkalinity barely even budges when I add Equilibrium.

[Schuyler]

Nitrates are back down to unreadable on the strips. I added another 3lm of Florish. I also added a teaspoon of Equilibrium.

Also the hydra population has exploded... I'm debating a chemical solution

Plus baby fish pictures:

the pygmy fry are getting more comfortable.

Edited December 8, 2022 by Schuyler
Pictures

[itsfoxtail]

On 12/7/2022 at 10:20 PM, Schuyler said:

Also the hydra population has exploded... I'm debating a chemical solution

If you do decide to go that route I'd suggest No Planaria which is betel nut powder. While it does harm snails it is very safe for fish fry.

[Minanora]

I've used "no planaria" to eliminate hydra several times. It works well but you will likely lose snails.

I'm using it to kill snails. Just monitor ammonia closely when you treat. Dead things =ammonia spike

[Minanora]

FYI, I use my aquarium water to water my garden. I also compost my plant cuttings and pest snails.

[Schuyler]

Fairly boring update today.

Watching all the fish closely for any signs of disease.

Nitrates are finally reading about 20 ppm 

Total alkalinity: 100

pH: 6.8

Keeping an eye on her anal fin (?) Because it looks like it may have a bit of fin rot.

These pics are mainly for having a baseline for comparison later but here's a fun one I got of a derpy little smile with blood worms

This is the one I'm really worried about 

 

[TheSwissAquarist]

Does that look like fin rot to you @Colu?

[Colu]

On 12/9/2022 at 10:44 AM, TheSwissAquarist said:

Does that look like fin rot to you @Colu?

Looks like a case of mild Mild fin rot you could quarantine and treat with Aquarium salt 1 table for 2 gallons and Indian almond leaves as they have antibacterial and antifungal properties  and keep good water parameters it should grow back without the need for antibiotic medications @Schuyler