AllFishNoBrakes’ Journal

[AllFishNoBrakes]

On 2/24/2024 at 8:45 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Happy Birthday!!!

Thanks, man. Birthday was back on Wednesday, but got the floating holiday from work today. Appreciate you!

On 2/24/2024 at 8:45 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Congrats on the upgrades.  I use them so often.

Again, appreciate it. I currently have 6 Kasa timers installed at home for the tanks. 3 on lights for multiple tanks (2 for the lights on the rack, and one for the bedroom tanks), 2 for CO2, and now the one for the filtration. I use a ton of them at work, too. For our open signs, neon signs, keg batch cocktail mixing pumps, etc. Started using them at home and then brought them to our restaurants for certain things. Such a good product. 

[AllFishNoBrakes]

What up what up?

Kept it pretty simple this week. Just water changed everything and added a bit of Indian Almond Leaves here and there. 
 

Black Neons have made it through their final round of dewormer. 2 weeks and they’ll be added to the display tank. I’ve been adding some IAL’s to their QT tank to get them ready for the display. Stoked to have them in there soon!

Really not a whole lot to report. Tomorrow I need to swap the CO2 tank so that’s ready when the final create-your-own tank is empty. Once that’s set up we should be on auto pilot for a hot minute. 
 

Here’s some pictures I took today:

Bristlenose kicked a clutch of eggs I didn’t even know they had. I’m thankful they kicked it as I don’t need any more Pleco’s.

Boiled up 8 large IAL’s. 

Lotus Pods finally sank after a boil and like 2 weeks in the tank. Moved those bad boys front and center as I love the way they look. 

29 Blackwater tank cruising right along. Stoked for the Black Neons to get in here. I’m going to take another picture tomorrow after the tannins from the leaves leech into the water more. It’s usually a pretty drastic transformation, to the eye at least. We’ll see how it shows up in the pics. 

Got my 2 year coin that now rides around in my pocket on the daily. Fun to have a new one!

Cheers!

[AllFishNoBrakes]

Another Wednesday, some more water changes, and a couple of things shuffled around. 
 

Got up this morning and decided to start by working on a few air collars. The one from the 10 gallon aquaponics tank, and the 4 on the top of the living room rack. Got those cleared out, reinstalled, and it was time to start moving some water. 
 

Got all the water changes done in their usual order, and gravel vac’d the 10 gallon in the bedroom. The additional flow from the upgraded air pump had pushed all the mulm to one side. I also trimmed the cube as the Pearl Weed was near the surface, and the Blue Axelrodi Rasboras were hiding behind the jungle. Once everything was changed, I cleaned it all up, put everything back in its usual spot, and fertilized all the tanks. 
 

I’ve been thinking about one last upgrade to the system. A Tetra Whisper 300 to replace a 150 that’s powering the top 4 tanks on the living room rack. It works, it’s fine, but I know what these Easy Flow kits can be and do when they have the air I’m looking for. I’ve been debating it for a week or so, and I’m glad I decided to give myself some time to think about it. 
 

Instead of buying 1 new pump to power the 4 way metal gang valve, I decided to just use an old pump. The washed up Tetra 60 was dug out of the air pump graveyard and installed to run the 20 long and 20 high. The 150 was moved over, next to the other 150, to power the 29 and the 55. Now, all tanks are exactly as I want them to be, and I saved myself $80 by waiting it out and continuing to ponder the purchase. 
 

With the 5 lb CO2 tank installed on the Pea Puffer tank, and these air pumps shuffled around I think were exactly where we want to be. At least, until I notice the next thing that could be just a little bit better. 
 

Some pics I snapped throughout the week:

Here’s the 29 the following day. It was too close to the original shot to post its own update, but the tannins definitely darken up on the second day. 
 

New pair of Panda Angels’ first spawn. The Male Panda broke his bond with the all black female in favor of a younger model. One of the Panda’s I grew out and added to the tank paired up with the male, and this is their first spawn. 
 

Male Bristlenose was out and on display the other day. Pictures truly don’t do this guy justice. 
 

Pea Puffer tank as it sits today. Still getting somewhere, and still enjoying this tank. 

[EricksonAquatics]

I love all your tanks, but especially the 20 long blackwater tank 😉This is my next goal, a 20L with chili rasboras! In your opinion, are they more on the shy or outgoing end? I assume the more you have, the happier and less hidey they'll be?

[AllFishNoBrakes]

@EricksonAquatics Excellent question. One that I’m not sure I have the answer for. 
 

I turned this 20L into a blackwater tank knowing I wanted to go the Chili route. I have at least 20 of them (started with 22, and I don’t count them everyday) and they mostly stay out, swimming back and forth across the tank. There are other times where the tank looks like it doesn’t have any fish, but then as soon as I pop the lid to feed they all come racing to the front. 
 

My suggestion would be to get the biggest group you can afford, and do the rest of the tank around them to give them the greatest chance of being out and about instead of hiding in the corner. 

[EricksonAquatics]

Interesting! I wonder if not having a centerpiece/tank boss helps them feel a little more safe. They are such tiny little guys, I don’t blame them for hiding😂

[AllFishNoBrakes]

@EricksonAquatics Probably. It’s them, a handful of Green Neon Tetras, shrimp, snails, and CPO crayfish. I intentionally didn’t put any bigger fish with them. Technically the Green Neons are bigger than them, but I think you know what I mean. 

[EricksonAquatics]

Good to know! I might have to pick your brain about chili’s in the near future if I end up with a certain 20L tank😏😂

[AllFishNoBrakes]

@EricksonAquatics Please do! Always happy to help! I also have to problem saying “idk, but this is what has worked with me”. 

[AllFishNoBrakes]

It’s Wednesday! Shocker that I’m back with another journal entry, huh? Lol. I hope you’ve all had a great day. 
 

Another round of maintenance in the books. Water changed everything but my girlfriends shrimp tank, got the Black Neons moved to the 29, cleaned all the pre filter sponges, and did some more air pump swappin’.

The biggest news being the Black Neons in the 29. Stoked to finally have them in there, and they look great! They’re obviously still shy and hiding quite a bit, but we’re literal hours into it. I’m excited to see how they settle in over the coming weeks. When I’ve caught em out and about they look awesome, and I’m hoping they bring some life to this tank. 

EDIT: I think the Black Neons are going to settle in just fine. If I approach the tank slowly, they don’t scatter and school back and forth the tank. I’ve also observed them from the patio through the glass door doing the same. They ate well, and are definitely bringing some life to the tank.
 

I continue to tinker with some air pumps. The last 150 with a 4 way gang valve was fine, but I decided to pull my girlfriend’s shrimp tank off the gang valve and close up that valve. That should give the other 3 sponges on that valve a little extra air as the two tanks on the end seemed like they could use just a little something. ACO single outlet air pump was busted back out and hooked up to the shrimp tank. Hopefully this is the last of the air pump shuffle for a while, lol. 
 

I stopped by the LFS a couple of days ago for some algae wafers and some blood worms. I noticed they were out of Panda Angels, and my boy Tyler helped me out at the counter. He confirmed they were indeed out of stock, and they wanted more. I have the last 10 or 12 from the oldest spawn grown out and I’ll take those up tomorrow. These boys and girls are a little bigger than I would normally grow them out, but they’re aware and don’t seem to mind. 
 

I got denied on the Bristlenose I have, as well as the literal metric ton of Java Moss currently in my possession. They said they could probably take those in a couple of weeks. I’m considering setting up the ol’ AllFishNoBrakes craigslist ad and trying to move some through that. 
 

Would it be a super bummer move to post my ad as *minimum purchase of $15 required* with Java Moss golf ball sized portions at $5 each, as well as the Bristlenose at $5 each? I really just want to avoid the “I’ll take one Java Moss” route. It sounds pretentious, but bagging a single fish, or a single portion of moss, communicating back and forth with the buyer, meeting up with the buyer, materials, etc. just isn’t worth my time for $5. More then happy to do it for $15 or $20, but would like to avoid 20 different $5 coordinations and trips. 
 

I’m considering picking up some Cherry Barbs for the 20 high tomorrow. I think they’d go well with the 2 Bolivian Rams and the Julii Cory’s in there. With only having bottom dwellers the tank just feels super empty, and I think the Barbs would hopefully act as dithers for the Bolivians. Those guys hide all the time and are super shy. Maybe some top dwelling active dithers in the tank would help them out. Similar to the Furcata Rainbows that used to be in that tank. 
 

Still wanting to add to the Green Neon school as well. I was hoping the LFS had them so I could grab them tomorrow with the Cherry Barbs, but they’re listed ans out of stock on the website. Oh well. Maybe I’ll have to go to LFS #2 next week. 
 

I’ve been considering something else for the 10 gallon in the bedroom as well. Currently home to 10 or so Pygmy Cory’s and an African Dwarf Frog. Much like the 20 high, the tank just feels barren as the Pygmy’s like to hide. I’m thinking maybe some other Rasbora or something small. Gotta make sure they don’t get snacked on by the Dwarf Frog, though. We’ll see. Not rushing any decision, but wanna bring some life to the tank. 
 

Snapped some pics and wanted to show some tanks that I rarely show:

Male Bristlenose munching on an algae wafer. Dude has become a beast  

Left 1/3 of the 55 gallon grow out tank. Panda pair, and Bristlenose pair were all out and about. Obviously a lot of snails, but those just become Pea Puffer snacks.

Right 2/3’s of the 55 grow out tank. That moss came out of a 10 gallon that it consumed, and it has only continued to grow once it was put in here. Between the other (2) 10 gallon QT tanks I have close to another 10 gallon full. Sooooo much Java Moss. 

Panda Angels munching. I thought it was fun to see all the different sizes.

Backed up a bit to show the size difference between the ones that are leaving, and the ones coming up behind them. 

20 high. I think the Cherry Barbs would add a nice splash of color and activity.

Black Neons in the 29! You can see them in the back left. Excited to see how they settle in. Fingers crossed they don’t hide all the time.

@nabokovfan87 hope you’re doing alright my dude. Haven’t seen ya around the forum lately, and then read in your journal you’re dealing with some pup issues. Hope it all works out and you and the dogs are alright!

Cheers, everyone. Thanks for hanging out!

Edited March 14 by AllFishNoBrakes

[nabokovfan87]

On 3/13/2024 at 7:19 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

@nabokovfan87 hope you’re doing alright my dude. Haven’t seen ya around the forum lately, and then read in your journal you’re dealing with some pup issues. Hope it all works out and you and the dogs are alright!

Doing alright!  Life stuff just happens. 🙂

I got a chance to take apart my easy-super-duper-flow thingamajig and checked it based on your recommendation to do so.  A little bit of gunk... knowing my tank, worms, but it was cleaned and no real issues.  It was essentially just minimal stuff.  The sponge is set to churn so much air that I swear the sponge weighed a good 5 lbs. 😂

I appreciate the kind words.  Trying to get them healed up and healthy!

[AllFishNoBrakes]

On 3/13/2024 at 11:33 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

I got a chance to take apart my easy-super-duper-flow thingamajig and checked it based on your recommendation to do so. 

You talking about the air collars? I have a new way of flushing them out with a 20ml syringe and a piece of airline tubing. Im really diggin’ it.
 

Glad you’re doing well. I wish the pups a speedy recovery! 

[nabokovfan87]

On 3/13/2024 at 10:46 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

You talking about the air collars? I have a new way of flushing them out with a 20ml syringe and a piece of airline tubing. Im really diggin’ it.

Yep!  I got a "green" tube cleaning kit for the 407 tubes, it lasted 2 uses and the python tubing killed it.  It was also blue, so there's that.  It came with two little brushes for straws, I just used that, worked fine.  It was working at... 95% capacity?  never been cleaned before.  Might've reduced some sort of back pressure, but it wasn't restricting flow in any way. 

I need to find a new tube cleaner, but yeah... project for another day!
 

On 3/13/2024 at 10:46 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

I wish the pups a speedy recovery! 

I will let them know!  🙂 

[AllFishNoBrakes]

So, when I completed maintenance last week, I had a little extra time and decided to do a couple extra things. One of those extra things was replacing a heater in the 20 long. It just hadn’t been holding temp like it was, it was much bigger than I anticipated when it arrived (even though it was 100 watt, and I’d purchased that one before), and I realized I had a brand new 50 watt that I had forgotten about. Out with the foot long 100 watt, and in with the new 50 watt. 
 

The next day the Chili’s and the Green Neons were hiding in the back, and weren’t frantically munching down on the live baby brine shrimp like they normally do. Something was up, but I wasn’t sure what it was. 
 

I started to retrace my steps. I put in water conditioner, right? I had to. They would’ve died if I didn’t, and the chlorine should’ve been gassed off by that time anyways. No bodies on the substrate. Was it the Poly Fil I replaced? No, I do that every week without issues. I just kept going down the list, and then the heater came to mind. It was the only change, so I unplugged it. Left it in the tank, but unplugged. 
 

The next day they were still hiding. Maybe not quite as much, but all still huddled up in the Pothos roots. 
 

Yesterday they were still hiding. I just couldn’t figure out why they were hiding, but weren’t sick and weren’t dying. 
 

I came home tonight, and they were way more out and about than they had been. Success! Not quite where they used to be, but we’re seeing progress. 
 

When I told my girlfriend about it, she said, “well, I did put that rain coat up. Maybe they were scared of the coat”. And then it dawned on me… It rained and snowed for a couple of days straight over here, and we had our rain coats hung on the back pole of the rack. Those big, scary, not moving giants outside the tank had them huddled up scared for their lives. Put the jackets away now that it’s not raining and snowing, and they’re out and about 🤦‍♂️. 
 

Heater is now plugged back in, and I’m assuming they’ll be back out in the front smashing brine shrimp in no time. This hobby is always full of surprises, lol. 

[AllFishNoBrakes]

Comin’ at ya on a Tuesday as my work week is all jacked up this week. 
 

Simply water changed everything today. Didn’t mess with any air collars, didn’t swap any air filters, just good old fashioned water changes. I did gravel vac the 10 in my room a bit, but other than that it was just water out and water in. 
 

Biggest news is really 2 things. Dealing with green water on the cube again since the trim. I turned the light down by about 20%, so we’ll see if that helps. I really didn’t want to do that, but I’m just tired of messing with the green water every time I trim the thing. I’m hoping turning down the light, and the little bit of Salvinia I threw in there last week does the trick. Only time will tell. 
 

I had the LFS hit me up yesterday. Unfortunately, my Pandas are dealing with some fin rot, and they sold a couple (as they ship) before they noticed. They were hoping I had a couple more ready to go for them so they could still fulfill that order. After some emails back and forth, and then telling me a smaller size was okay, I bagged up 5 of the biggest I had and brought them up. 
 

They seemed super thankful that I was able to help them out, and I was happy to do it. I told them I’d do it for free just to help them out, but they weren’t having it. The manager told me to find something I wanted and it was on the house. I took a lap, but didn’t find anything I needed, so I just settled for some store credit. Super unfortunate that they’re dealing with the fin rot, and I’m glad that we have the relationship we do. They were very clear that the fin rot wasn’t from me, and I’m glad I could help them out of the jam they were in. 
 

Build relationships with your LFS, my friends. You never know when they might need your help, just like they tend to help out all the local hobbyists!

[AllFishNoBrakes]

Really switchin’ it up this week and tuning in on a Monday!

I’m off work this week, so I spent the last couple of hours giving the tanks some extra love. 
 

Pulled all the air collars and ran them through the vinegar/hot water/air push with a syringe and an air line to get them cleaned up. I’m surprised at how these “clog” up for me despite my super soft water. Pictures at the end. 
 

Swapped an air pump on my girlfriend’s shrimp tank to quiet down the living room rack a bit. I love the battery back up of the ACO pumps, but they are a little noisy. Also spot treated some hydrogen peroxide  in the Pea Puffer tank, and got the front glass cleaned up on a couple tanks. 
 

Did a water change on the cube as I still have some green water going on because, well, why wouldn’t I at this point? lol. Turning down the light, adding the Salvinia, and an extra water change should help out. I’ll do another water change tomorrow with the rest of the tanks and take it from there. 
 

Tomorrow I’m going to water change everything and squeeze out all the sponges. Again, just trying to take advantage of not having to work and do some extra stuff. Should be a real good reset on everything before we go to the mountains for a couple of days. I wouldn’t stress squeezing all the filters anyways, but with a 3 day fast for the fish I’m extra not worried about it. 
 

Some pics from this week:

Second Panda Angel pair had their second spawn. Disregard the BBA. Sprayed that down with hydrogen peroxide before I put the slate back in the tank after disposing of the eggs.

Gunked up air collars. Again, I’m pretty surprised these get as clogged up as they do with my super soft water. Curious to see how we go moving forward now that they’re cleaned out again and have more air running through them.

Cheers, homies. I hope you have a great week! I know I will being away from work and getting some much needed R&R

 

[EricksonAquatics]

On 3/13/2024 at 8:19 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

Sooooo much Java Moss. 

That is the most beastly clump of Java moss I’ve ever seen😂but so epic!

[AllFishNoBrakes]

This afternoon I went and swapped one of the two 5 lb CO2 tanks for a fresh one. We’ll get that hooked up tomorrow with maintenance and be back in business. 
 

Speaking of CO2, I turned up the gas on the Pea Puffer tank just a tad. I got the biggest color change I’ve ever gotten out of a drop checker. Definitely green. Keep in mind this is after like 9 hours of CO2. It’s not like the lights turned on and we were already there and just maxing out all day. 
 

[nabokovfan87]

On 3/25/2024 at 12:39 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

Gunked up air collars. Again, I’m pretty surprised these get as clogged up as they do with my super soft water. Curious to see how we go moving forward now that they’re cleaned out again and have more air running through them.

Note of difference between yours and mine. I'm running fine sponge.

Maybe abrasion of "stuff" in the water column is causing it as the air lifts the water through the chambers?

[AllFishNoBrakes]

@nabokovfan87 entirely possible! That’s really my only guess as to how it happens. 
 

FWIW: I’ll take these air collars over the Ziss air stones all day. Even having to clean them once a month is better than having to do it every week. 
 

Good to see you around, my dude. Hope you’re doing alright!

Edited March 28 by AllFishNoBrakes

[nabokovfan87]

On 3/28/2024 at 11:30 AM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

FWIW: I’ll take these air collars over the Ziss air stones all day. Even having to clean them once a month is better than having to do it every week. 
 

Good to see you around, my dude. Hope you’re doing alright!

For sure! I like having the tap outside of the tube. It helps with just moving things around.

[AllFishNoBrakes]

Tuning in on a Thursday evening this time! My posts have been all over the place between getting ready for vacation, being on vacation, and then being sick af starting Thursday last week. Normally, I can give it a few days and it clears up on its own. Not this time… Had to get some assistance and get some antibiotics (erythromycin, ironically enough) to clear things up. I take my last dose tomorrow, and I’m finally starting to feel pretty good. 
 

Still did all the maintenance yesterday and just cruised through the water changes. Besides scraping some glass on the Pea Puffer tanks, filter maintenance, and air collar cleanings things are basically on autopilot and it feels pretty good! It’s been a long time coming over the past several months with filter upgrades, air pump upgrades and swaps, CO2 upgrades, etc but it has all paid off and things are cruising. 
 

Still looking to acquire a couple fish. I was actually gonna go pick some up last week and then I ended up being super sick and not going. Oh well, the fish will come home when they come home. I’m wanting to boost up the Chili Rasbora and Green Neon schools, and I’m patiently waiting for the LFS to bring in some Rummynose Rasboras. Outside of that, things are happy, healthy, and moving right along. 
 

Some pics:

29 Blackwater feeling complete with the wild caught Black Neons. They love hiding behind that PSO and the Swords, but man do they look good in this tank. The Java Fern has a nice little baby growing up in there and I’m stoked for that! I’ll probably grow it out in here, and then maybe move it to a different tank and see if it takes hold. Java Ferns elude me for whatever reason… Also picked up a new drop checker and popped it in here this evening. CO2 levels are fine, but the $6 security that tool provides is worth it to me. 

20 long Blackwater. Looking forward to beefing up the fish numbers. Could probably move 10-12 of the CPO’s out of here, too. 

Pea Puffer tank. CO2 is pretty dialed on this tank where I’m constantly getting a solid green from the drop checker. Not a bright lime green, but definitely a decent green. I still deal with some algae issues in this tank, but that’s just the nature of the beast with the Murder Beans. 

6 gallon cube. Salvinia is actually doing quite well in here. Those roots are wild! The 8 Blue Axelrodi Rasboras are cruising right along. Still a little bit of green water going on, but it just is what it is at this point. 

55 grow out tank. Ton of fish in here! I tapped the lid and they all came swarming to the top. The Java Moss jungle created some cover for some Platy fry, so I’ve seen a good chunk of tiny ones growing up. The Java Moss has died back a bit, and that’s alright as I don’t want a ton of Platy fry. They’re hard to move for me, so a couple here and there is nice, but I don’t want a ton. 
 

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

Edited April 12 by AllFishNoBrakes

[AllFishNoBrakes]

Howdy!

Remember when I said I was done tinkering and had everything I could ever want and need? Ya… we all know how that goes. 
 

The Tetra 150 I had hooked up to the grow out tank started acting a little weird. It’s a single outlet, with a T, to be able to run two lines. Out of nowhere, one side was barely pushing. So i put some control valves on there, and that worked temporarily, but I was always having to balance it. Not sure why it happened, but I got my Q1 bonus, and decided to try a new pump. Hygger 10 watt dual outlet. Someone else on the forum tried it out and was pretty impressed, so I figured why not. Especially at the price point. 
 

The thing is a beast! Absolutely cranks some air and I love it. Now, the opposite easy flow kit is “glugging”. I know why it’s doing it, but I’m having a hard time getting it to stop. The top piece of the Easy Flow kit is not quite straight up and down, so the bubbles are jamming up, and glugging out the top. Looks like I’m not quite done tinkering…

Other than that today was just your standard maintenance sesh. Just water out and back in and I was done in less than 4 hours. Felt good! It’s been a while where I didn’t have to do something extra, so the speedy water changes were nice. 
 

Some pics from the week:

My Pothos vine is easily over 10 feet at this point, and I had a section that lost all of its leaves. I decided to cut that out a few days ago, and today I noticed perfect water droplets coming from the stems where it hadn’t healed over yet. I thought it was pretty cool. 
 

Lots of things blooming in the aquaponics tank. From top to bottom, the start of a jalapeño, a baby strawberry, and some lavender starting to bloom. 
 

Panda pair in the community tank had their second spawn. No eggs kept from this one. 
 

Color on the 29. It has taken a lot of time, but we’re where I wanna be!

My girlfriend was awesome enough to pick me up an Anbernic RG405V emulator handheld console. It arrived today, I got all the ROMs on the SD card, and I’m having SO MUCH FUN playing all these games from my childhood on a portable handheld console. Anything from NES through PS2 and GameCube. So sick! I’m loving it. 
 

Cheers, friends. I hope your tanks are well and you’re having fun!

[AllFishNoBrakes]

It’s Wednesday. You know what that means. 
 

I’m gonna start this week with the things I learned. 
 

I learned that you can leave your canister filter off for 24 hours and not have an ammonia spike. I turned my canister filter off to feed, and forgot to turn it back on. I didn’t realize until the following day (last night) when I went to turn it “off”, and it kicked back on. I figured today was maintenance day anyways, so I turned it back on after feeding and let it ride. This morning, I tested for ammonia and the test came back 0. This leads me to believe one of two things happened. Either the bacteria in the canister didn’t die, and therefore didn’t create an ammonia spike or any ammonia that was produced was converted by the tank overnight. I’ll never know which one is true, but one of them is.
 

I also learned that a sponge filter can become clogged in a fashion that makes your air collar/easy flow kit glug. One of the sponge filters in the grow out tank has been glugging, and I just couldn’t figure it out. From everything I tested, I figured it had to be the air pump. So, this morning I ripped off the Hygger 10 watt and put it out on the rack to run the 55 and the 29. Hooked it up, and both ran like a dream. Thought it was strange, but whatever. Hooked the grow out tank to independent Tetra 150’s, and what do you know. No glug! The one that was glugging wasn’t pushing as much air, but I chalked that up to the pump starting to go out. 
 

All day the filter was fine. I go to feed tonight, and it starts to glug worse than it ever had! I could visually see the bubbles coming out of the air collar going hard, stopping for a split second, and then going again, causing a massive glug. I figured it had to be the pump so I opened it up, inspected everything, took a couple of things apart, and put it back together. Hooked it back up. Same thing. I figured it had to be the airline. I thought maybe there was a kink or something. I ran a whole new line. Still glugging. Figured it had to be the air collar so I popped that off and cleaned it. STILL GLUGGING! At this point the only thing that was left was the sponge. I popped the air collar off and noticed (this time, finally) that it was producing air at a steady rate with no glug. Cleaned the sponge, hooked it back up, and voila. Running like a dream with fill air and flow coming out of it. I feel like an idiot as I literally bought that Hygger pump because of this issue and it took me weeks to figure it out when all I had to do was clean the filter. It’s just literally the last thing that made sense to my brain. The more you know…

Outside of that it was a normal maintenance sesh. Water out, water back in. Cleaned all the pre filter sponges (and the one sponge in the grow out tank lmaooooo!). Boiled some Indian Almond Leaves and hucked those in the blackwater tanks. 
 

Next week I’ll probably clean all the sponges. I guess with the Easy Flow I’m collecting more detritus and need to clean them more often. Lesson learned. 
 

Still having a ton of fun with my RG405V as well! Crushed Pokémon Silver, and learned that there’s a second half of the game AFTER the Elite Four that my little 8 year old brain didn’t know about back in 1999. Moved on to Killer7. It’s another game I played when I was super young and never beat. So far, I’ve only found one game that doesn’t run very well. I think I might have to turn up the speed in the settings just a little bit. Audio is perfect, but game runs like it’s in slow mo. Still having tons of fun. 
 

29’s looking nice:

I love the Black Neons schooling around in the back. 

This thing is turning into a jungle and I love it. Java Fern finally growing some, too. Some tips have BBA, but baby Ferns are growing out of them so I’m gonna see if the baby Ferns becoming a thing before I go chopping. 
 

I hope you’re having fun with your tanks!

[nabokovfan87]

On 4/24/2024 at 7:49 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

I learned that you can leave your canister filter off for 24 hours and not have an ammonia spike. I turned my canister filter off to feed, and forgot to turn it back on. I didn’t realize until the following day (last night) when I went to turn it “off”, and it kicked back on. I figured today was maintenance day anyways, so I turned it back on after feeding and let it ride.

Whenever I do this... I clean the sponge / filter then turn it back on.  The media stays wet so you have a lot more time than on something like an AC where the waterline drops really low at times.  That sucks though!  Glad things are ok.  *continues reading*

 

On 4/24/2024 at 7:49 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

I also learned that a sponge filter can become clogged in a fashion that makes your air collar/easy flow kit glug.

Yeah.  I have one filter with one of the collars and it's increasingly slower than I would imagine and like it to be.  It took me weeks to figure this out (details in the shrimp journal)

On 4/24/2024 at 7:49 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

Still having a ton of fun with my RG405V as well! Crushed Pokémon Silver, and learned that there’s a second half of the game AFTER the Elite Four that my little 8 year old brain didn’t know about back in 1999. Moved on to Killer7. It’s another game I played when I was super young and never beat. So far, I’ve only found one game that doesn’t run very well. I think I might have to turn up the speed in the settings just a little bit. Audio is perfect, but game runs like it’s in slow mo. Still having tons of fun. 

Earthbound!?