AllFishNoBrakes’ Journal

[TheSwissAquarist]

It’s probably the best uplift tube going if you have a mattenfilter. 🙃 The swords will probably like the extra circulation. 

[AllFishNoBrakes]

It’s here!

 

Definitely impressed with the packaging. I thought for sure it was just going to be in a plastic bag. The box is a nice touch. 
 

Pieces fit the box well and the new sticker is fun. 
 

Out of the box, and assembled. 
 

5 individual pieces. 
 

Bottom 3 pieces do not seem to slide into each other, meaning the top 2 pieces are the modular ones. Makes sense, if you ask me. 

Fully assembled with the top 2 pieces pushed all the way into each other, meaning fully assembled at its smallest height using all the pieces. 
 

Fully assembled with the top 2 pieces fully extended, meaning fully assembled at its tallest height using all the pieces. 
 

Feels like you can also take any of the middle pieces out, and the top 2 modular pieces slide in to the pieces below it to really make it any height you want. When doing this, the fit doesn’t seem “perfect”, but it doesn’t feel like any air would escape. Should function well at an height you need. Definitely going to play with this today and see how it goes. 
 

Super excited to play with this today. It showed up the morning of my usual maintenance day which is perfect. 
 

I’m gonna throw just the air collar on first, and see what that’s like. From there, I will assemble it as necessary. Gonna start this bad boy in the Panda Angel tank. It will eventually probably move to the Angel display tank, but seeing as that tank has BBA that should be its final home. Starting it elsewhere gives me the opportunity to try it in a couple of different places before finally settling it in the display Angel tank and not risk spreading BBA to other tanks. 
 

Special thanks to @Cory again for sending this bad boy out! You know I’ll be reporting on it as I get some time with it. Stay tuned!

[Cory]

Awesome, glad to see they are getting into people's hands. You're exactly right that the first pieces are the pieces you can add or remove. So with 2 kits you could make a crazy tall one. Or you can shorten to 2 lengths. You can go even smaller if you saw the pieces down.. Our hope is that if you had a super tall tank and a normal shorter tank, you can take pieces from the shorter one and add it to your taller one. Or if you only have small tanks, give your peices to a friend or forum member who has all super tall tanks.

[AllFishNoBrakes]

Done with maintenance for the day. 
 

I took some pictures of the Easy Flow kit in action. I have it hooked up to an ACO dual outlet air pump, unrestricted. 

Before starting maintenance.

Popped the lid off and got a shot from above. 

~5 gallons taken out of the 55.

At ~10 gallons taken out, the air pump is not strong enough to continue pushing water out of the curved piece. I can imagine that if you had a linear piston air pump these things could CRANK. If you have a standard air pump, you’re obviously at the mercy of the pump. Regardless, it functions well on a standard air pump.

Overall, I’m pleased with it. The air collar is awesome and I’m so stoked to not have to mess with an air stone on this filter ever again! The flow is a nice addition. 
 

When these launch I’ll definitely be getting a kit for each sponge filter I have, as well as updating the 2 nano sponge filters I have in use to work with the air collar. I’m not sure I’ll use the entire flow kit for every tank (who knows, maybe I will) but to not have to take apart filters and “never clog” air stones every week has me sold.
 

Also took some pictures of the water that came out of the blackwater tanks. 

Mature 20 long blackwater tank. 

Newer 29 gallon blackwater tank. 
 

Each bucket has 2 gallons of water. The 20 long has just been going longer. 
 

Hoping to get the 29 equally as dark and took some steps today to make that happen. Post water change I dumped in ~1/2 of the blackwater tea I have been making and saving. I then boiled a new batch of botanicals. 7 or 8 big Indian Almond Leaves, 3 acorn caps, 4 Birch pods, 4 of another pod that I can’t remember the name of, and 1 Sweetgum Pod. 
 

All 3 acorn caps went into the 29 as those are said to release a TON of tannins, as well as a couple of the pods, and the majority of the leaves. The Sweetgum Pod and the remainders went into the 20 long. 
 

Excited to see what the 29 looks like tomorrow when the lights kick on! 

[AllFishNoBrakes]

I forgot I had been tracking this Anubius and its new leaves. I’m not sure if the additional suspension of c02 bubbles thanks to the 107 is responsible for it, or the Anubius is simply adapted to the new environment. 

You can see the brand new lime green leaf in the front, and the new “spike” of a leaf forming behind it. Funny that these pics were taken seconds apart. One angle looks super dark, while the other the plants are super vibrant. 

Leaf starting to open up. Again, pics taken seconds apart. That second angle is just lovely. 

Leaf almost now almost completely open. These plants are crushing in the 29 blackwater tank. Again, I’m not sure if it’s the c02 being kept in suspension longer or they’ve just adapted to the environment. 
 

Some other fun pics I snapped tonight right before feeding time:

Sweetgum Pod looking epic. Color is just insane in the 20 long. Also love the tiny Dwarf Crayfish peeking out from the plant pot to the right. 

Acorn cap looking awesome in the 29. 

Albino Cory eating snacks out of a different Acorn Cap. 

[TheSwissAquarist]

Those sweet gum pods look like some kind of alien!

[AllFishNoBrakes]

I’m surprised I even get to make this post. Been super busy at work as we get to launch our next restaurant on Friday. This will be location #10 for this concept, and we’re super excited. At this point, I’m just ready to get it open and stable. 
 

The new spot is literally 2 doors down from the LFS that takes all my Panda Angels, so that’s pretty rad! Hard to complain about that, and as we move to the future it’ll be cool to just grab anything I might need as I’ll already be right there. 
 

I got an email that the Blue Axelrodi Rasboras were back in stock, so I picked those up last night. Brought em over to the restaurant while we finished up for about an hour and a half, and then got them home and acclimated, and into the QT tank they went. Left them overnight, and then administered the trio on them today. Fingers crossed they all make it through QT. I can’t wait to have them in the cube. 
 

Also talked to the manager at the LFS about hooking his team up with lunch, and asked if he could bring in some Black Neons for me. He said no problem, probably about 2 weeks, and then asked if I wanted wild or tank bred. I settled on the wilds. I’m not too concerned considering they’ll be going through a long QT regardless. The future is exciting both professionally and personally. 
 

Water changed everything today, and worked on the 29 Pea Puffer tank a bit. I’m starting to get some brown string algae, which I’ve never had to deal with before. Busted out some hydrogen peroxide today as well as manual removal; we’ll see. I wish it was as easy as “throw this fish in there that will eat it” but I’m not sure how that would work with the murder beans. In the meantime, I’m going to keep up on it, and hopefully this Val and the 2 swords I put in there will take over in time and outcompete the algae. Always something with this hobby. 
 

Also cleaned out the 107 and it was definitely due. For all the canister horror stories you hear, I actually think they’re pretty easy from what I’ve experienced so far. Im not running out to buy 10 more, but for what I'm using it for it has been great. They definitely have their purpose, just like everything else. 
 

I hope you’re enjoying your tanks, friends. Cheers!

20 long

29 gallon

Pea Puffer tank

Future home for the Blue Axelrodi Rasboras 

Edited November 9, 2023 by AllFishNoBrakes

[nabokovfan87]

 Congratulations, that's really awesome news!  It'll be good to see the relationships develop over time and how things develop with the LFS.  Are they a partner store?

Always good to see when people at the stores work with customers.  I had some folks at the big box store that absolutely had the mindset to do so, but the management wouldn't allow it.  Tried to bring in cool fish, anything non-common was a once every few months occasion.  I remember the day they brought in SAEs and my jaw dropped.  I think I made 4-5 trips that week just to research, try to ID if it was the True SAE or the False SAE.

I'm excited for you, that's awesome. 🙂

[AllFishNoBrakes]

On 11/8/2023 at 7:53 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Are they a partner store?

Unfortunately, they are not. I wish they were. Maybe one day, but I don’t really see it happening. 
 

They’re definitely a store that focuses on fish and variety of fish. Meaning, their dry goods and equipment selection leaves something to be desired, in my opinion. But, if I need to snag some bloodworms, or some algae wafers, or I see a cool piece of hardscape in the window I can snag it real quick without “making a trip” to the LFS now. 

[TheSwissAquarist]

Glad to hear you’re doing well! You could probably set up a tank in your new restaurant…😅 just a thought. 
Wild caught fish definitely look better and “appreciate “ tank environments a bit more IMO. 

Edited November 9, 2023 by TheSwissAquarist
Clarification

[AllFishNoBrakes]

On 11/8/2023 at 11:54 PM, TheSwissAquarist said:

You could probably set up a tank in your new restaurant…😅 just a thought. 

Lol, nah. I already have my too many tanks, I don’t need to be doing maintenance on any restaurant tanks, too lol. 
 

Ya, I’m hoping the wild caught black neons will appreciate the blackwater tank. I’m excited to get them in there, but they’re gonna go through a long QT

[AllFishNoBrakes]

What up what up?

Did maintenance to every single tank today. Most just water changes, but also topped off my girlfriends shrimp tank, and I still continue to get the Pea Puffer tank cleaned up. Trimmed off some algae covered leaves that were too far gone, mixed up some new c02, replaced some c02 tubing, and we just continue to work on it to try to get it looking its best. One day my friends, one day. 
 

Boiled 7 or 8 Indian Almond Leaves but didn’t save any of the tea. However, I did add some of the saved tea to the 29 gallon and put all the leaves in there. I just wanted the leaves to sink quickly so I decided to boil them instead of just chucking them in there and waiting for them to become water logged. Slowly but surely that tank is darkening up. 
 

I love the look of all the leaves piled on this side. Makes the green from the plants really pop. 

The Cory’s don’t mind and the shrimp love it. 

Snapped a pretty rad pic of a few of the Chili’s. Such a good looking fish. 
 

Took the meds out of the Axelrodi Rasbora tank with a 50% water change and quarantine continues. They’re looking and acting great. Gonna leave them in QT until I either need to move the baby Panda Angels to their next tank or the Black Neons come in. Should both of those happen, I’ll have to move the Bristlenose to the 55 gallon tank. I really should just donate those guys to the LFS. I have no clue what I would do otherwise and selling them one at a time for a couple bucks each on Craigslist just sounds like a hassle. 
 

I’ll trim the cube before putting the Axelrodi in there, and once they’re in that should be some motivation to not let it get to insane jungle status as we move forward. Also stoked for the Black Neons when they come in. It has been a hot minute since I’ve had some new fish so I’m pumped. 
 

Enjoy your tanks, my friends.

[AllFishNoBrakes]

As I’m sure you know, the pics that we take of our tanks don’t quite match up with what our eyes see in real life, right in front of us. I’ve found this to be especially true for my blackwater tanks. 
 

The tea and IAL’s I added to the 29 really darkened her up. I get excited to take a pic, and then when I look at my screen it looks nothing like what my eyes see. I decided to take some pictures, duplicate them, and then take the brightness down to try to make it more like what is right in front of me. 

Unedited picture. 20 long. 

Brightness down about 70%. 

Unedited picture. 29 gallon. 

Brightness down about 70%. 
 

I’ve never been one to edit my photos and try to make my tanks or fish appear greater than what they actually are. However, unedited pictures of the blackwater tanks are just not what they actually look like. 
 

I doubt I’ll do this moving forward, but this was a fun little exercise to try to get them to what I actually see and hopefully show off how dark these tanks really are. I’m also a little surprised that the Aquaneat light (my standard light on 90% of my tanks) is able to penetrate the 29 gallon as it’s so tall. Im definitely glad I don’t need to change lights, and I can still rock the tank as dark as I actually want it. The Black Neons are gonna look great in there, I think. 

I’m kind of shocked that I had to turn the brightness down ~70%, but I’m also not terribly surprised either. I’ve thrown in soooooo many botanicals into these tanks, lol. 

[AllFishNoBrakes]

@nabokovfan87 and myself were talking about shrimp and Neocaridina vs. Caridina in his journal, and I figured I’d document and talk about it here as well. I really shouldn’t even be thinking about changing a tank, but hey, new things are fun. If I finish quarantining all the fish on mine and my girlfriends list, and I donate these Bristlenose to the LFS there is every possibility that I could try something new, and still have a QT tank available. Who knows if I’ll actually do it, but it’s fun to think about. 
 

I also hadn’t tested my tanks in forever. Like, seriously, I couldn’t tell you the last time I tested them. Probably good to document where things are at, but honestly they’re still how they’ve always been. I feed, fertilize, and do my maintenance the same all the time. Consistency is key for me. 
 

Here’s where the tanks are at:

 

20 Long Blackwater tank. Tons of shrimp in here. Highest TDS of all the tanks I tested. Makes sense as I’ve put I don’t even know how many botanicals in here since March 2023. Tons of Neo shrimp in here. 

29 blackwater tank. 
 

Quarantine tank. 
 

Pleco grow out tank. 
 

My girlfriends Blue Diamond Neo shrimp tank. Honestly thought the TDS would be higher as I too this tank off once every 5-6 weeks. 
 

Pea Puffer tank. 
 

6 gallon cube. No filter, no ferts, just dirt. 
 

55 Panda Angel pair/grow out tank. Also thought TDS would be higher in this tank. 
 

Tap water TDS as control. 
 

As you can see, my tanks are generally the same. Lower pH, little to no bigger, soft water, low TDS. Gotta love that Rocky Mountain snowmelt water!

General internet search says this about Neo vs. Caridina parameters:

Neo

Caridina. 
 

If I followed general internet advice, I should be able to keep Caridina straight out of the tap, right? Also, I SHOULDN’T be able to keep Neos as basically every parameter is off. Nowhere near enough gH, kH, and not even close on the TDS. According to the information above, I should ONLY be able to MAYBE keep my neos in the Pea Puffer tank, yet I’ve made and sold hundreds of them from lots of other tanks. My girls shrimp tank should not be able to keep neos, yet that colony is growing by the day and thriving, just like my cherry shrimp only tank did for years. 
 

Gotta love conflicting information, and this is why I don’t chase numbers. I know my water is soft, so I don’t try to keep African Cichlids and Livebearers (but I do have an Endler/Guppy hybrid tank that’s bursting at the seams with fish). Instead, I focus on consistency. What do you think about trying to keep Caridina in this tap water without buffering substrate? Would you try it? Curious to hear what you guys think!

Also, I stopped the stopwatch at exactly 1 minute while I was testing those tanks. I love when that happens. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/19/2023 at 9:42 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

What is the GH you're seeing?

On 11/19/2023 at 9:42 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

For the sake of comparison... I don't think a lot of people realize how low down you want that PH to be.

https://aquariumshrimpkeeping.com/caridina-cantonensis-crystal-red-shrimp/

Quote

B. Water parameters for Caridina shrimp

Water parameters refer to the various chemical and physical characteristics of the water in your shrimp tank, which are critical to your shrimp’s health and well-being. The water parameters required for Caridina shrimp can vary depending on the species, but for soft water bee shrimp, the following parameters should be maintained within the following ranges:

1. pH: 5 to 6.5 (Over 6.5 is no good for breeding IMO)
2. Total Alkalinity (KH): 0 degrees (You need this number to be near zero to allow the ph to drop low)
3. Total Hardness (GH): 0 to 6 degrees (I prefer 4)
4. Temperature: 68°F to 78°F (20°C to 26°C)
5. Ammonia: 0 ppm
6. Nitrite: 0 ppm
7. Nitrate: Less than five ppm (In a well-cycled tank with plants for bee shrimp)
8. Conductivity: 200 µS/cm (What I use)
9. TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) This depends on the ratio used to change the conductivity into TDS. (You can see this on your tds meter) There are two. 0.5 and 0.7. Let me show you an example based on my conductivity.

 

Edited November 20, 2023 by nabokovfan87

[AllFishNoBrakes]

On 11/19/2023 at 10:44 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

What is the GH you're seeing?

Honestly I just need to buy the liquid kit, but I’ve never really had a reason to even test gH. I know my water is soft and I don’t buffer it. Instead, I just stay away from fish I know that would prefer/need hard water. 
 

To me, it looks light blue in person. Either that, or off the chart, but it doesn’t look like what others have posted as off then chart, and the TDS meter would back up that thought. I know TDS is all the “stuff” in the water and not just Calcium and Magnesium, but if the total of all everything is between 50 and 190 wouldn’t that mean that gH would be low, even if total TDS was ALL calcium/magnesium?

pH of 5-6.5 should be easy enough to achieve. I’m already in the 6.4 (or maybe a little lower in some tanks according to the strips) to 6.8 range. Most tanks already have little to no buffer, so taking the kH to 0 to drop the pH shouldn’t be that big of a challenge. My mind goes to “maybe just a little bit of peat will do it” or “this is obviously why people use specific substrates”. 
 

I honestly thought the 20 long blackwater tank would’ve sunk in the pH category, but according to the strips it’s just like all my other tanks that don’t have botanicals. kH is low (but it’s low in every tank, some even show 0 but the pH is always the same), but it must have just enough kH to stave off any additional pH drop. 
 

Water chemistry is weird, and it’s probably the Cardinal Sin that I make over and over and over again as I don’t even really mess with it. That being said, I keep fish that work well with my water so I’m not forced to make water. Making water just simply doesn’t sound fun and it’s an additional step I don’t want to have to do. Especially for the number of tanks I have. 
 

That being said, if all I had to do was add a different substrate, I don’t think it’s too far of a stretch to image that I still wouldn’t have to make water. If the substrate could strip the little kH I do have to drop the pH just a little I could be set. Essentially, the substrate could potentially “make” my water for me. 

Edited November 20, 2023 by AllFishNoBrakes

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/19/2023 at 10:03 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

To me, it looks light blue in person.

Yeah, off the charts is more of a magenta color (pinkish-shade of purple) as opposed to what you have.  That pad looks like when I ran into some issues and couldn't tell if it was ~100 or ~200.  I now use the liquid kits and it's made a difference in knowing what on earth is going on (and very cheap, especially when you're only using a few drops).

That all being said....

On 11/19/2023 at 10:03 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

I know TDS is all the “stuff” in the water and not just Calcium and Magnesium, but if the total of all everything is between 50 and 190 wouldn’t that mean that gH would be low, even if total TDS was ALL calcium/magnesium?

This isn't necessarily true.  I'll go ahead and pull some tests tomorrow for the sake of conversation and check TDS to see what it is.  Adding anything that dissolves in the water would up the TDS.  I have this set of data from a previous water test setup.

TDS: 159
PH: 6.7-7.0
KH: 4 dH (71.4 ppm)
GH: 9 degrees (160.7 ppm)

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/19/2023 at 10:13 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

I'll go ahead and pull some tests tomorrow for the sake of conversation and check TDS to see what it is. 

WELP.  I'm officially annoyed at my water today.  First one is the shrimp tank, second is the 75G).

GH: 13 degrees (232 ppm)
KH: 4 degrees (71.4 ppm)
(Total = 303.4)

TDS: 393 ppm

........

GH: 16 degrees  (286 ppm)
KH: 5 degrees (89.3)
(Total = 375.3)

TDS: 353 ppm
(added ferts more recently in this tank)

[AllFishNoBrakes]

@nabokovfan87 I really just need to buy the liquid test, but I feel like I’d use it once and then just tuck it away never to be used again. 
 

Still pondering the idea of Caridina tank. Still a long ways out as these Angel babies are getting bigger, Blue Axelrodi’s need moved, Black Neons are already planned for, my girl is looking at some rice fish or WCMM for her shrimp tank. Lots of other plans before I would even consider making one of the QT/grow out tanks into a dedicated Caridina tank. 

[AllFishNoBrakes]

Yo yo,

I hope you’re all having a great holiday week!

Busted out the tanks today, per usual, and then some. In addition to water changing and resetting all the air stones, I also cleaned some sponge filters, scraped some glass, trimmed some plants, and had an impromptu re-scape/adjustment on the Pea Puffer tank. I had a rock fall over, so I had to move things around a bit. Also pushed back the big rock on the left side to pull the plants away from the glass. I think part of the reason I’m dealing with this algae issue is the plants were right up on the glass, where the algae grows. Idk for sure, but it makes sense in my head, and since I was already adjusting things I figured it was time. Also trimmed the cube in preparation of the Blue Axelrodi. As long as they stay looking good over the next week I’ll move them in on Wednesday, and move the Panda Angels to where the Blues currently are. Slightly turned up the heater on the cube as it has been set about 74 and I wanted to bump it up to 76-78 for the Blues. I’m glad I got the urge to check just a little bit ago as that tank was at like 85°! Idk how a small bump on the heater was a +10° adjustment, but I bumped it back down a bit and we’ll see where it’s at tomorrow. Pulled out some Amazon sword leaves from the 55, fertilized everything, and cleaned some outside glass on a few of the tanks. Another maintenance sesh is in the books. 
 

Amano with eggs. Man, I wish these would just hatch in freshwater!

Mr. Bristlenose poppin’ out of the coconut hut. 

Cube all trimmed up. 
 

Pea Puffer tank. Had I not told you it was rearranged you probably wouldn’t even know. Really hoping I can get this algae issue under control. 

Pea Puffers being murder beans. 
 

29 Blackwater tank water starting to darken up. 

Plants in here are doing really well. Not sure if it’s because of the light dimmed down from the addition of the botanicals, the added benefits of c02 and the canister filter keeping the bubbles in suspension longer, the tannins, or a combination of all of it. Whatever it is, I’m pretty pleased with this tank. 

After years and multiple attempts, I’m actually growing a Java Fern, lol. Again, I’m not sure why it’s finally working, but I’m glad it is. I’m hoping this thing will explode so I can propagate it to other tanks and see if I can get some more going. 

The lone piece of PSO. This was a scraggly little guy that I left behind when I converted this tank. It has exploded, and I really dig the look of the single plant. I’ll probably top it and replant, but it’s looking good. Same with the Anubius in the corner that’s been growing for like 3 years in this tank. 
 

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving! 

Edited November 23, 2023 by AllFishNoBrakes

[Guest]

@AllFishNoBrakes, Beautiful and stunning pics👏👏👏 I hope your Thanksgiving also goes well and I wish you a happy one at that!

[AllFishNoBrakes]

@Kaiju Thanks for the kind words. Much appreciated. Pics aren’t half bad for a standard iPhone, no training, and no editing. 

[AllFishNoBrakes]

I’ve been temperature testing the cube today, and noticed something interesting:

As you go up in the tank, the temperature gets higher. Bottom of the substrate (not pictured) was ~70, then 73 at the top of the substrate, then 78.6 about the middle of the tank, and 79.6 at the very top. Makes a little bit of sense considering the heater is in the back right of the tank, and the light is positioned in the middle of the tank. Square light on a square tank. No filter or air stone, so no circulation to help even things out. Temperature is just stratified through the layers of the tank. 
 

I’m not worried about it at all, I’ve just never really checked out the layers of the tank. The thermometer (before the batteries died; typical problem I have and I’m too lazy to replace the batteries) was in the front left corner, and was always at a steady 74 which is what I was going for.  
 

I just found this interesting. This tank is almost 2 years old, and I learned something new about it today. 

[TheSwissAquarist]

How bigs your cube? My next tank is definitely either gonna be a saltwater one or entirely plant-focused. 

Could the temp strata just be infrared reflected off the plants and then dissipated by the water? 

[AllFishNoBrakes]

On 11/24/2023 at 1:55 PM, TheSwissAquarist said:

How bigs your cube?

6 gallons. I wanna say it’s 12”x12”x12”, but don’t quote me on that. 
 

On 11/24/2023 at 1:55 PM, TheSwissAquarist said:

My next tank is definitely either gonna be a saltwater one

When I was first setting up my tanks I really wanted a saltwater tank. Then, I realized I didn’t wanna make RO water, add salt, and pay waaaaay more money for saltwater fish. Maybe one day!

On 11/24/2023 at 1:55 PM, TheSwissAquarist said:

Could the temp strata just be infrared reflected off the plants and then dissipated by the water? 

I don’t think so. I was running my hands up and down the tank. Definitely colder on the bottom, and warmer as you go up.