AllFishNoBrakes Posted January 18 Author Share Posted January 18 On 1/18/2024 at 3:26 PM, nabokovfan87 said: Might be indicating some of that store credit towards having just a little bit of GH booster on hand if you need it occasionally! I really don’t wanna get into the chase numbers and “make” water game. It’s also really hard for me to not look at what I’ve accomplished in the last 4 years and want to start changing it now. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllFishNoBrakes Posted January 21 Author Share Posted January 21 (edited) New/second Tetra Whisper 150 air pump and 4 way metal gang valve showed up today. I’ve installed that on the rack and it now runs the (4) 10 gallon tanks on the bottom of the rack. This allowed me to move the air pump that used to run those 4 tanks to the bedroom, and it now runs the Pea Puffer tank and the 10 gallon next to it. This move means that all 3 of my ACO air pumps are no longer in use. I’ll keep them charged for if I ever need them for a power outage, but as of right now they’re not in use. Super nice upgrade and I’m happy I finally pulled the trigger. Almost too happy. I’m now going “should I get 2 more of them? One for the bedroom and one for the 55 grow out?” And the answer is no. It’s not needed. Wanted, maybe, but needed, no. For now I’m happy with where we’re at and excited for all that’s to come. Edited January 21 by AllFishNoBrakes 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllFishNoBrakes Posted January 25 Author Share Posted January 25 Yo yo, Woke up yesterday really not feeling well. I always just power through it and try to tell myself “you’re fine! You feel great”. I’m not horribly sick but still not feeling good. Crushed through the water changes today, though. No scraping glass, no squeezing filters, no getting rid of algae in the Pea Puffer tank, and I didn’t trim the cube. Simply took water out and put water back in. Glad I still accomplished that, though. Pea Puffer tank continues to do better. I feel like I’ve gotten a handle on the algae, and the Val is starting to spread again. I think I’ve turned the corner on the green water in the cube, too. Still looked pretty good today with the last water change being a week ago. If I feel better tomorrow I may trim the cube and give it another water change. I’m only slightly worried that trimming it will bring the green water back. Only time will tell. On a more fun note, I picked up a psvr2 today and I’m stooooooked. Resident Evil 4 is my favorite game of all time. The remake is incredible, and they dropped a vr upgrade back in December. I can’t wait to get home and get dropped into my favorite game of all time that I’ve been playing since the GameCube. Cheers, homies. 1 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chick-In-Of-TheSea Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 (edited) Sorry you’re not feeling well. Super dope about the game in VR though. I love horror games. Conquered Outlast and the Whistleblower expansion. Everyone else I’ve talked to that tried to play it quit because it was “too intense”. You have NO weapons in Outlast. You have to sneak and hide and yep! It is intense. But satisfying when it’s accomplished. I didn’t bother with Outlast 2 because reviews were saying it’s a bunch of scripted scenes and running. Bleh. The last Resident Evil i played was 5. Played co op with my husband. That Wesker was a real piece of work! Lol We looked for more co op ones but many were single player. I should still play them anyway. They are fun. I think they would be so epic in VR. I don’t think I could do Outlast in VR. That was terrifying enough on desktop. Also I recommend Dead Space (the first one) if you’ve never played it. Great job with the water changes. I do the same when I am just beginning to get sick, in case I get weak and can’t do it again for awhile. Edited January 25 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chick-In-Of-TheSea Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 On 1/17/2024 at 8:32 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said: Rad little shrimp I saw in the Pea Puffer tank today. I know this was a cull from my girlfriend’s shrimp tank, but where the orange on the shrimp came from I have no idea. Super cool, though Wild/cull shrimps are my favorite shrimps. On 1/18/2024 at 5:39 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said: I really don’t wanna get into the chase numbers and “make” water game Same! & if you screw it up the animals could die. No thank you. (Same situation occurs with the ph up ph down stuff). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllFishNoBrakes Posted January 25 Author Share Posted January 25 On 1/25/2024 at 3:24 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said: Sorry you’re not feeling well. Appreciate it! Woke up feeling better today. Not cured by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s nice to feel better instead of worse. On 1/25/2024 at 3:24 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said: Super dope about the game in VR though. It’s insane! Not only is it crazy to be immersed into this world I’ve been playing for like 20 years at this point, but to draw your gun you have to reach down and grab it off your hip. To reload you have to reach down into your pouch on the other hip and slap the magazine into the gun. You draw your knife off your chest, and the then you have to actually stab and slice with it. It’s insane! On 1/25/2024 at 3:24 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said: The last Resident Evil i played was 5 Resident Evil is my absolute favorite series. Fell off pretty hard with 5, 6 was an absolute joke, and then they brought it back with 7. The remakes for 2, 3, and 4 are INCREDIBLE! Village was awesome too, and apparently there’s a VR version for that as well so I’m stoked to check that out! On 1/25/2024 at 3:32 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said: Same! & if you screw it up the animals could die. No thank you. (Same situation occurs with the ph up ph down stuff). I don’t chase numbers at all. I just keep things consistent. After 3.5 years I bought a gh/kh test kit. Tested all the tanks and went “yup, soft water with little buffer…” 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chick-In-Of-TheSea Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 (edited) On 1/25/2024 at 1:04 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said: It’s insane! Not only is it crazy to be immersed into this world I’ve been playing for like 20 years at this point, but to draw your gun you have to reach down and grab it off your hip. To reload you have to reach down into your pouch on the other hip and slap the magazine into the gun. You draw your knife off your chest, and the then you have to actually stab and slice with it. It’s insane! That sounds awesome! What if they made VR stench where you could smell the zombies nearby? Lol! But then also smell flowers in a field or pine needles in the woods etc. Do you game on Pc at all? Ever play 7 Days to Die? Edited January 25 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllFishNoBrakes Posted January 25 Author Share Posted January 25 On 1/25/2024 at 11:06 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said: What if they made VR stench where you could smell the zombies nearby? Lol! But then also smell flowers in a field or pine needles in the woods etc. Do you game on Pc at all? Ever play 7 Days to Die? Smell-o-vision at times would be awesome. Other times, not so much lol. Would be wild. Nope, no PC. I am but a humble console and controller guy. I don’t play a ton of games. Instead, I find the games I REALLY like and I master them. If I had a PC I’d be speedrunning for sure. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllFishNoBrakes Posted January 25 Author Share Posted January 25 Just got an email from the LFS that some wild caught Black Neons should be coming in today. LET’S GOOOOOOO! Sounds like they’ll hold em til they get nice and healthy, and then I get to bring them home. Should be perfect timing to move the baby Angels to the 55 and QT the black neons. Can’t wait to see those guys in their Blackwater tank. Feeling hype! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllFishNoBrakes Posted February 1 Author Share Posted February 1 It’s been a little more lively than usual this week. Mostly because I made a mistake and only slightly panicked. When I turn off the 107 to feed the 29 Blackwater tank I always flip the lever to stop the flow in addition to unplugging the filter. I do this as I don’t want to go to remove the hoses to clean the filter and forget about that lever. I figure it’s best practice for me, that any time I unplug that filter I also flip the lever. Well, the other night I plugged the filter back in, but forgot to flip the lever back down. Didn’t recognize it until the following night when I went to feed and the lever was already flipped! It was plugged in and running, just not actually moving any water through it. I flipped the lever down and a bunch of stuff came flying out of the outlet. I’m assuming it was dead beneficial bacteria. I decided to not feed the tank, and if there was ammonia from the dead bacteria I figured the tank would process it. The rest of the night the fish looked fine, and the following evening no ammonia registered on the test strip, so it was back to business as usual. I was also worried about the motor and impeller, but that all seems fine, too. Crisis averted, thankfully. Today I did all the water changes, moved the baby Panda Angels to the 55, and moved the 2 Pandas I have been growing out into the display tank. Cichlids gonna cichlid, and there was some pecking and hierarchy establishing but as of now everyone seems to be doing fine. I really wasn’t planning on moving anyone quite yet, but the manager of the LFS hit me up and said the Black Neons are looking healthy and are ready to go! Gonna go pick those up tomorrow and will run the trio through them. I might do a second round of dewormer on them as they’re wild caught, but we’ll see in a couple of weeks how they’re looking. Looking forward to picking those up, and I think we’re gonna take the dog to the park and I’ll probably hit the skatepark right next to the dog park before we pick them up. My girl’s Ricefish are looking good, too! I’m excited to have some new things going between the Ricefish, the smaller Panda’s in the display tank, and obviously the wild caught black neons coming home tomorrow. I took just a couple of pictures today: Blue Axelrodi Rasboras in the cube. Just as I suspected I gave it a big trim and the green water came back a bit. Back to doing a couple extra water changes and we should be good. Pictures really don’t do these guys justice. They’re so metallic under the light. Pea Puffer tank continues to do better. Java Fern on the left still has some algae, but I’m working on it. The Anubius next to it is actually looking green and not black, lol. The Val is starting to spread again and I’m happy about that. Swords are doing well, and I continue to trim back the older leaves that aren’t doing so hot. Slowly but surely we’re getting there. Do you guys ever get self-conscience of posting the same pictures all the time? I feel like I go through phases where I post the same tanks all the time, and then I remember that I started this journal for me to track my tanks. I appreciate those of you that regularly comment on my journal, and I hope the pictures don’t get repetitive, but this is also for me 🙂 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 On 1/31/2024 at 6:38 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said: They’re so metallic under the light. Video one day!? On 1/31/2024 at 6:38 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said: Do you guys ever get self-conscience of posting the same pictures all the time? I feel like I go through phases where I post the same tanks all the time, and then I remember that I started this journal for me to track my tanks. I appreciate those of you that regularly comment on my journal, and I hope the pictures don’t get repetitive, but this is also for me 🙂 Yes and no.... I hate showing the bba, especially when it's bad. I also really hate it when I can't capture the image clearly enough for the sake of showing things well enough. (basically, my phone camera sucks sometimes and I don't have a "proper" camera) Every day / post is something new. I def. don't think things often get repetitive, but I get where you're coming from. I think it's often overlooked how the scale of some people setups isn't quite clear. I couldn't tell you if you have 3 tanks or 30 tanks, but I have no real idea how the room looks or each individual tank. It's just something I mention for the sake of keeping that in perspective. You see the tanks often, we don't, so getting a glimpse of someone's setup is usually just fun and enjoyable. A break from our own for a moment. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllFishNoBrakes Posted February 2 Author Share Posted February 2 They’re washed out from being in the bag and travel, but the wild caught Black Neons are home! 24 for the price of 20 as the LFS does buy 5 get 1 free. I still have $125 in store credit after buying these guys, some more algae wafers, and the stockpile I came home with last time. Not too shabby! Excited to finally have these guys here. Might seem like a “basic” fish, but I’m stoked to have them wild caught and in a Blackwater tank when they’re done with QT. Gonna run the trio through them, and then I’ll start putting some Indian Almond Leaves in the QT tank to get them ready for the display tank. Cheers! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllFishNoBrakes Posted February 2 Author Share Posted February 2 Got lost in the VR world for a bit. It’s so crazy, lol. I’m stoked to be experiencing my favorite game ever for the “first time” again. Snapped some other pictures today: The Bristlenose babies are doing well since the move to the 55. I really gotta figure something out with these guys. 29 Blackwater. Future home of the Black Neons. Boiled and chucked some IAL in here yesterday and the color of the water is looking on point. All the plants doing well. I love this tank. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chick-In-Of-TheSea Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 The plecos are just darling. ❤️ The tannins looks awesome in the blackwater tank. Are you just doing wood & leaves? I cheat with organic rooibos tea bag left in tank overnight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllFishNoBrakes Posted February 2 Author Share Posted February 2 On 2/2/2024 at 4:30 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said: Are you just doing wood & leaves? Spiderwood, Indian Almond Leaves, and a mix of other botanicals. The wood has been in there since the start of the tank when I didn’t even know what blackwater was. I put the IAL in almost weekly. Sometimes I boil it so it sinks, sometimes I don’t. The leaves break down quickly compared to the other botanicals that are littered across the substrate. On the rare occasion that I don’t chuck more leaves in, I have some blackwater tea that I save from boiling leaves and botanicals that I’ll dump in there. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllFishNoBrakes Posted February 8 Author Share Posted February 8 (edited) Another round of maintenance down. I took some pics along the way and figured I’d share my process and routine with how I do 13 water changes and only have it take a few hours. Maybe someone will see this and get some ideas, and overall I just wanted to share something a little different. I start by gathering all my little supplies. Dechlorinator, thermometer, infrared temperature gun, and the 6ml kids medicine dropper. I also grab a little metal ramekin. I pour my dechlorinator in the ramekin, get out my little hoses, and rinse out my buckets. I start by filling up (2) 5 gallon buckets with the correct temperature water. I use both the thermometer and the infrared gun to make sure it’s at the desired temp. All the buckets filled out of the sink get dechlorinator as the bucket is filling up. All tanks that use the Python I squirt in dechlorinator as soon as the water starts flowing into the tank. I always dose for the whole volume of the tank, regardless of the percentage of water change. I start with the 10 gallon aquaponics tank. I shove a little piece of sponge in the end of my 3/8” hose, clamp it to the tank, and start the siphon into the bucket. I have a little mark on this tank to the desired amount of water I want to take out. Once it’s at the line, I pull the siphon out. My bucket gets put on top of the fridge, and then I use that same 3/8” hose without the sponge to fill the tank back up. Gravity is your friend. I then move on to the betta tank below. Shorter 3/8” hose with a sponge shoved in the end removes 1 gallon of water. Bucket gets taken down off the fridge and put on the little ladder. Hose into the bucket, start the siphon, and refill the tank. Gravity is your friend. I then move on to the 10 gallon tanks on the bottom of the rack. Gravity is not your friend, here. So we get some assistance from a little pump. Again, a 3/8” tube. This tube is a little thicker which fits into the pump nicely. Into the tank to suck out the water, then into the orange bucket to pump back in fresh water. Rinse and repeat for the remaining tanks on the bottom. I could use a bigger pump or bigger tubing and move water faster, but water only comes out of the sink so fast. Also, I don’t want to put water back in too fast and stir up the tank too much. This little pump is about perfect so that once I empty an orange bucket I can start it filling in the sink again while pumping water back in as I have 2 orange buckets. It’s a nice little rhythm. From here, we move into the bedroom. I start on the 10 gallon tank with a plastic cup to remove duckweed. Once I’m happy with that, I throw in the pvc siphon and hands free do the rest. Little 3 gallon blue bucket is perfect. It ends up being a full bucket without overflowing. Dump the bucket and rinse out any remaining duckweed. Pour fresh dechlorinated water in the bucket, use the pump again (this time with the sponge shoved in the end) with the bucket on the corner of the dresser in front of the tv. Plug it in, and we move on the the cube. Same as the first 10 gallon. Long 3/8” tube with sponge and a clamp to pull water out hands free. The step ladder gets brought into the room. Once the pump is done on the 10 gallon, it gets moved to a bucket with fresh water. Bucket on the stool, clamp it into the cube, and plug it in to refill. Almost done with the small tanks at this point. One more to go. PVC siphon is hooked onto the 20 long, and 2 gallons of water are sucked out. I have a mark on this bucket so I know when I’ve pulled out 2 gallons of water. I then pull out the little internal filter. Pull off the bottom and squeeze out the sponge. Pull off the top and replace the poly fil. Reinstall the filter, and fill er back up using the step ladder and the pump one last time. Once this is done I rinse out all the hosing, and clean up everything I no longer need. Take a couple minute break, and then get ready for the big tanks. I hook up the Python to the sink and start getting the water temp close to where I want it. It’s finicky and I’ve found that it takes a while to get it right where I want it, so I get started there first. Once I have it close, I grab the bigger siphon, and start on the 55 in the back room. Start the siphon, and alternate buckets as they fill up. About 17-18 gallons comes out of the 55’s. I just let them go until the siphon no longer has a vacuum and stops pulling water. Once this tank has been drained, the Python goes in to start filling it back up, and we start draining the next tank. Pea Puffer tank in the room. 10 gallons get taken out of this tank. I also pull out the internal filter, and squeeze the sponge and change the poly fil. C02 gets unplugged when I start to pull water out. Then we move onto the 29. 5 gallons of water taken out of this tank. 2 more tanks to go. I intended to keep taking pictures, but I was also messing with some air collars. Same process, though. Siphon gets moved to the 55 Angel tank above and 17-18 gallons are taken out. Siphon moves to the 20 high and about 7 gallons are taken out. Typically, I can take out most if not all the water from the second 55 before the first one is refilled. Once it is, I fill up the Pea Puffer tank, then the 29 Blackwater, then the 55 angelfish tank, and finally the 20 high. C02 and filtration (not the sponge filters, but the additional filtration) gets turned back on as tanks are filled. Once everything is filled I break it all down, clean it all up, fertilize, and then take a shower lol. If I only have to change water, I can get all of this done in about 3 hours. If I start cleaning filters, scraping glass, or generally just doing other things it can take in the 5-6 hour range. Really not that bad for 14 tanks, in my opinion. Basically 2-4 tanks per hour depending on what all I have to do. I try to keep things in rotation so that it’s like 3-4 hours every Wednesday. Just listen to some podcasts or a podcast and then a couple hours of music and it’s done. Today I also noticed that several of the easy flow kits were not functioning as well as they should be. Keep in mind this is after I’ve upgraded some air pumps at this point. I figured something had to be getting clogged in the collar, so I ripped out the worst ones and soaked them in white vinegar. Most of them cleaned up pretty nicely and easily, but one was a real big pain. Must’ve just gotten some detritus down there or something. Finally got it worked out though, and all the collars are back to being excellent. Next week I’ll do another 3 collars, and then the following week I’ll do the remaining 4. From there I should be set for another 90 days or so. I’m hopeful that maybe the additional air flow from the new air pumps will help mitigate the need to clean them again in 90 days, but only time will tell. A couple other pictures I snapped from today: PSO is starting to grow roots into the foam divider in the 55 grow out tank. Makes sense that it would do that, just the first time I’ve seen it. Pothos vine is finally big enough for me to wrap it up on top of the 55 and start growing it back across the top tanks. We’re about 6’ shy of making a full circle back to where that bad boy started. Long journal entry today, but wanted to share something a little different and maybe this can help some of you cut down on your maintenance time. The quicker you can get maintenance done the less of a chore it feels like and the more time you have to enjoy the tank. Cheers. Edited February 8 by AllFishNoBrakes 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted February 8 Share Posted February 8 On 2/7/2024 at 9:17 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said: First time I've seen this in particular. Nice trick. On 2/7/2024 at 9:17 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said: I wonder how much one of the 30gal brute on wheels would help you out and save you wear and tear over the years. It's not the full size brute, but it works. I would imagine one for drain one for fill if you were trying to be speed lightning, but you could likely get away with just one and be able to use everything you have now just more easily. You've definitely go things dialed in. Thanks for sharing. It's a lot of work! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllFishNoBrakes Posted February 8 Author Share Posted February 8 (edited) On 2/8/2024 at 12:29 AM, nabokovfan87 said: Nice trick. The sponge in the hose? Thanks! It was born out of a traumatic experience, unfortunately. The Betta tank was the second tank I ever set up. Had a gorgeous blue/green female betta in there while the cycle finished. On literally the final water change to finish out the cycle, I looked away for just a couple of seconds, and the female betta got curious and got sucked up the siphon. Unfortunately, she didn’t make it. I was super bummed and upset with myself. Then it dawned on me that I could put sponge in the end and the water would still flow, but I wouldn’t suck up any more fish. The pvc siphons I showed above have sponge in the end, too. That way I can confidently work on multiple tanks at once, do things hands free, and not have to worry about harming any of the fish in the tanks. Edited February 8 by AllFishNoBrakes 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllFishNoBrakes Posted February 8 Author Share Posted February 8 On 2/8/2024 at 12:29 AM, nabokovfan87 said: I wonder how much one of the 30gal brute on wheels would help you out I’ve definitely thought about it, but idk where I’d store it. I’m also not sure how it would roll over the door thresholds, over the carpet, etc. I’d also need a new pump to at least pump the full trash can down the bathtub or something. With a 30 gallon can I’d have to empty that 3 times. Maintenance is about 70 total gallons. Between the can, the dolly for the can, and a pump it’d be a little bit of an investment. I’d rather take that money and put it towards a new c02 tank and regulator for the Pea Puffer tank or something, lol. 5 gallon buckets are pretty easy. Or, I’m just a creature of habit and routine and don’t wanna change, lol. Honestly storing it is the biggest thing as we don’t have a garage or anything. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllFishNoBrakes Posted February 15 Author Share Posted February 15 (edited) What up fish friends? It’s Wednesday. You know what that means. Woke up this morning and threw 1 tablespoon of brine shrimp eggs in the Ziss hatchery, took the dog out, generally woke up, threw my contacts in, and started going for it with the tanks. Small tanks done as normal, and I did a water change on my girlfriend’s shrimp tank. Not really sure why I still refer to it as her tank as I said I’d never do any maintenance to the tank, yet I’ve done all the water changes lol. She set up the scape, and removes some duckweed and snails every once in a while. Maybe I’ll start lovingly referring to that tank as our tank, instead of my tanks, lol. Once I was done with the small tanks (I literally can’t type that sentence without Blink-182’s “All The Small Things” playing in my head) I cleaned up everything I could, and then ripped out another 4 air collars. Plopped them into a cup of vinegar and took the time to get those cleaned up and out. I’m glad to have most of them done. I’ll do the last 4 next week, and I’ll be excited when those are all done. Hopefully I won’t have to do it again for another few months. Moved on to the big tanks and it was business as usual on those. Didn’t use the small Python hose to suck any algae out of the Pea Puffer tank. Fingers crossed we’re through that algae phase and I can save a little time each week by not having to suck up algae. I took apart the 107 on the 29 blackwater tank and cleaned that out. I don’t know why everyone says canisters are so horrible to clean. I could see if you waited many months that it would be a nightmare, but once a month is easily doable. Takes me maybe 10 minutes tops from the time I disconnect to the time it’s hooked up again. I pulled out some “baby” Amazon Swords from the 55 Angel tank, and trimmed back some of the Jungle Val. It was definitely a jungle on that side of the tank, and now some light is actually getting through. Snapped some pics over the past couple of days: I noticed I have some moss growing in the aquaponics tray, lol. Must’ve come up through the drains and now it grows in here. I thought this was pretty cool, and was probably way more excited when I noticed it than I should’ve been. “Baby” Amazon Swords I pulled out of the 55. This was just one of probably 5 runners. Check out the roots on that one to the left! What Cory said in the last livestream that eventually you’ll have more Swords than you know what to do with is totally true. Normally I chop these up and take em to the LFS with Panda Angels for them to give away to other customers. I will still have plenty to give them next time, but these guys needed to go to let some light into the tank. There’s actually some light on the right side of this tank now! Angel gang hanging out in the Mother Sword. The 2 Panda’s on the right are the ones I grew out and put in here a few weeks ago to replace the parents I removed from this tank. The 2 on the left are some of the first fish I ever bought. They’ll be at least 4 years old in a couple of months. 4 years from when I bought them, anyways. 29 Blackwater cruising right along. The wild caught Black Neons are looking great, and will look even better when they’re in here. I added some Indian Almond Leaves to the QT tank today to start to get them ready for this tank. I think I’m gonna hit them with another dose of Paracleanse next week. Let that marinate for a week, water change it out, and then 2 more weeks of QT. If they’re looking good from there they’ll be in this tank. 3 weeks away from today if all goes well. 20 long Blackwater tank. Chili Rasbora’s looking great. I think I’m gonna get another 6 or 8 Green Neons for this tank. They look awesome in here, and I wanna beef up the school a little bit. 6 gallon cube. Still working on this green water. I did a water change yesterday, did one again today, I’ll do one again tomorrow, and then I’ll do one again on Saturday. I’m hoping after Saturday we’ll FINALLY be through this green water. Time will tell. I also only counted 11 of the Blue Axelrodi Rasbora’s today. Hoping one is just hiding. Again, time will tell. Pea Puffer tank. Starting to come around. Val is propagating around the sand, Java Fern isn’t covered in alagae, and the Swords are starting to get some height. I think I’m going to buy a 5 lb c02 tank and a regulator for this bad boy. I’ve been running the citric acid and baking soda mix your own c02 on this tank for a while, and upgrading to a 5 lb tank will be cheaper in the long run. $79 for the tank on Amazon, $15 for the tank to be filled, and $58 for the regulator. I’ll have to swap the c02 tank once or twice a year for $15, compared to $30 bags of citric acid that don’t last as long. I’m also considering upgrading to 2 more whisper 150 air pumps. One for the 55 grow out tank to run 2 Easy Flow kits on medium ACO sponge filters, and the other would run the Pea Puffer tank and the 10 gallon next to it. I don’t necessarily “need” to, but it would be a nice upgrade. With those and the 5 lb c02 tank I think the tanks would be maxed out and wouldn’t really need any further upgrades. Cheers, homies. Thanks for coming along for the ride. Edited February 15 by AllFishNoBrakes 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 On 2/14/2024 at 5:33 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said: I don’t know why everyone says canisters are so horrible to clean. I could see if you waited many months that it would be a nightmare, but once a month is easily doable. Takes me maybe 10 minutes tops from the time I disconnect to the time it’s hooked up again. The engineering team loves to read stuff like this. Imagine a little cover, cut the flow, then pull open the cover, then pull up the prefilter and clean it. Come on fluval.... you can do it. I don't wanna move hoses unless I have to! LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllFishNoBrakes Posted February 16 Author Share Posted February 16 @nabokovfan87 for sure. I’ve been doing the pre filter sponge weekly or every other week, and then the canister itself every 4-6 weeks. Agreed that I don’t look forward to taking the hoses off and doing it, but it’s really not THAT bad compared to what you hear people say. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllFishNoBrakes Posted February 22 Author Share Posted February 22 Well friends, today is my birthday. Didn’t stop me from doing maintenance, though. Slept in a little bit and then got to it. I read in another thread that someone suggested using a syringe and airline tubing to clear air collars, and I thought it was genius. I rigged one up, tested a couple of them, and was so impressed that I did 11 of 12 air collars today. Love it. Such a good idea. They’re all back to brand new like they were out of the box. Quick and easy. Definitely one of those “why didn’t I think of that?” moments. I also bought (2) Tetra Whisper 150 air pumps and got those installed. Now every tank runs on those. I have (2) on the living room rack with each pump running 4 tanks. Another in the bedroom running the 29 Pea Puffer tank and the 10 gallon next to it, and the fourth on the 55 grow out tank running 2 sponges in that tank. The new pumps along with the freshly cleared air collars are running like a dream. I love it! For my birthday, my girlfriend got me a 5 lb CO2 tank, a regulator, and a new diffuser for the Pea Puffer tank! Super stoked for that upgrade when it all gets here. I also purchased some different airline tubing connectors. My plan is to use the straight ones to replace the airline tubing below the water when it’s time. If I cut the tubing just outside the tank and put on the connector I’ll only ever have to replace a couple of feet instead of the entire line. I’m also going to use some 90° connectors for the airline that runs the CO2 on that tank. That way I can run it down the back corner, 90° towards the front, and then 90° back down to the bottom of the tank. I think that’ll make it look much better than the diagonal piece of airline I have right now. With the new Tetra 150’s, and once the CO2 tank is hooked up I can’t fathom any further upgrades I could want. It will feel great to have things “complete” after nearly 3.5 years. Everything will have easy flow kits run by Tetra 150’s, 3 tanks will have CO2 run by 5 lb tanks, every tank that I want to have additional internal filtration or canisters will have it, etc. I literally can’t fathom another upgrade I would even want at this point. Feels good. The journey to get here has been fun! Outside of that I water changed and fertilized everything. Removed some Sword leaves from the 55 and the 20 high. Worked on some of the remaining algae in the Pea Puffer tank. All is well. Snapped some pictures from today: The 20 high that I never post. Removed some Sword leaves to get some light in here. Panda Angels are breeding. Caught em in the act! Cheers, Nerms! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllFishNoBrakes Posted February 25 Author Share Posted February 25 Had a day off work for my birthday. Ran a couple of errands, did a couple of things, and tinkered with the tanks a bit. The airline connectors showed up so I got those installed. Now when I have to replace air lines it’s a small run instead of the whole line. I also changed the CO2 line in the Pea Puffer tank so it comes in, goes down the back corner, 90° towards the front, 90° a couple inches down, and then the diffuser. Now the airline doesn’t run diagonally across the side of the tank and is more hidden, as well as it’s all the way to the bottom of the tank for maximum amount of time in suspension before hitting the internal filter and being pushed down and across the tank. I also installed a Kasa timer that has the internal filter for the 20 long, the 107, and the internal pump in the Angel tank. So now when I feed I can turn them off all at once instead of unplugging them individually, and when it’s time to turn them back on I can do them all at once regardless of where I’m at in the house. Pretty cool. 5 lb CO2 tank showed up so I’ll get that swapped when the last of the citric acid CO2 is close to running out. Regulator is here too. So close to being fully upgraded. ACO package might come today, or it might not, lol. It says it’s out for delivery on the ACO site, but ups shows it’s delayed. All good. It’s just foods and dry goods. I just want my 2 year coin! A couple of pics of the Chili Rasboras looking rad: Caught a couple Green Neons, too. Looking forward to upping their numbers when I move either the Rice Fish or the Black Neons out of quarantine. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted February 25 Share Posted February 25 On 2/24/2024 at 7:13 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said: my birthday. Happy Birthday!!! On 2/24/2024 at 7:13 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said: I also installed a Kasa timer that has the internal filter for the 20 long, the 107, and the internal pump in the Angel tank. So now when I feed I can turn them off all at once instead of unplugging them individually, and when it’s time to turn them back on I can do them all at once regardless of where I’m at in the house. Pretty cool. Dear Kasa / TP-Link... please make a battery powered "button" that I can push and acts as a switch so I don't need to use the app or install something in the wall! Would love to add a feed mode to my tank. 🙂 Congrats on the upgrades. I use them so often. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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