AllFishNoBrakes’ Journal

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 5/22/2023 at 4:47 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

I’m not sure what it is and I didn’t ask. They were doing maintenance on the tanks in this section and I already felt in the way enough just taking a peek and snapping this picture. I just assumed it was algae, but you might be on the right track with the marimo moss ball pieces.

Either way it’s algae 😂. 
Those Chili rasboras are looking great! 

[AllFishNoBrakes]

On 5/22/2023 at 11:17 PM, TheSwissAquarist said:

Those Chili rasboras are looking great! 

Thanks! Really looking forward to seeing them in the blackwater tank. Gonna be fun!

[AllFishNoBrakes]

We have fish in the blackwater tank!

I believe all 22 made it through quarantine. I got them all out of the 10 gallon tank in one scoop and didn’t count them. 
 

Had to turn the lights up a couple clicks or else I seriously couldn’t see them, lol. They’re mostly schooling together across the back, but feeding time they were in a frenzy. Hoping that as they adjust to their new tank they’ll spend more time towards the front. I really dig the dark water, but I also wanna see my fish. 
 

We’re opening a new restaurant to the public on Thursday, and then we’re right into the biggest event of the summer. The tanks are definitely about to take a back seat, and I just wanna keep up with my weekly maintenance, and I also know that some weeks will need to be skipped. I’m hoping for at least every other week over the next 6 weeks, and when I can do it two weeks in a row I will. 
 

Things should settle down after the Fourth of July. Cheers, Nerms! I hope you’re enjoying your tanks. 

[AllFishNoBrakes]

What up fish friends? Finally got a day off today after I don’t even know how many in a row. Store openings are brutal. 
 

Water changed everything and squeezed a whole bunch of sponges. Also siphoned out the majority of the mulm in the Pygmy Cory tank. Left some behind as I believe they will continue to spawn, but it had reached the point that I was over it lol. Removed a bunch of duckweed too. Thinking about throwing some Indian Almond Leaves in that tank and tinting the water a bit. Definitely not going to go as dark as the other blackwater tank, but I wouldn’t mind having some more tinted water around!

Crazy water colors today:

The 6 gallon dirted cube has gone a little green. Probably because for a few weeks I was putting a few drops of Easy Green in there trying to help out the red root floaters. They were falling apart… now they’re deep red and thriving, but the water is going green… I think I’m going to hold back on any extra nutes until they start to struggle again, and then do one dose of like 6 drops and see what happens over a couple of weeks. Might do an extra water change tomorrow to help get rid of this green water I have going on. 

 

Blackwater continues to be super dark! No wonder I can barely see the Chili’s in there! Gonna hold off on any other botanicals for a minute. I’m in a weird place where the leaves and other botanicals are breaking down into nothing, so I want to add more because I love the look of the leaves in the bottom of the tank, but I also want to be able to see the fish! Just like everything else in life though, it’s a balancing act. I’m hoping that the Green Neons will show a little bit better. The chilis come to the front for a feeding frenzy at meal time, but outside of that I have to really peer deep into the tank to see them. 
 

Panda Angels continuing to grow out nicely and the next batch of 10-15 will be ready to go in a week or so. 
 

My girlfriend finally busted open her box of slate for her shrimp tank and I’m excited to see what she does with it!

Outside of working way too much all is good. Hope you all are well! Cheers. 

Edited June 8, 2023 by AllFishNoBrakes

[nabokovfan87]

On 6/7/2023 at 7:09 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

 

Blackwater continues to be super dark!

On 6/7/2023 at 7:09 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

My girlfriend finally busted open her box of slate for her shrimp tank and I’m excited to see what she does with it!

Outside of working way too much all is good. Hope you all are well! Cheers. 

That's exciting!

Get some rest, hopefully things settle down for you at work.

[AllFishNoBrakes]

On 6/7/2023 at 8:30 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

That's exciting!

Get some rest, hopefully things settle down for you at work.

We’ve played with the rock structure to create a shrimp hotel and just moved all the rocks over near the tank. Time to put them in! It’s super fun watching her have fun with her tank. She also has a super rad idea for a “moss trellis’ wall/background. If it works it’s gonna be awesome! I’ll definitely share pics here in the journal as her tank takes shape and evolves.

Appreciate the kind words regarding work. This is my sixth or seventh store opening so I knew what was coming up, just never makes it easier. The real kicker is that towards the end of this month and through the 4th or a July we have a two week big county fair festival where we sponsor/cook/serve/vend 3 different sections of the park. Super fun, but tons and tons of work. My boss also took a 2 week vacation right before this store opening. So, all in, it’s like an 8 week marathon for me of early mornings, late nights, too many hours to count, and not much time to rest. I’ll make it though! I always do!

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 6/8/2023 at 4:09 AM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

Blackwater

Schooling fish are supposed to get more vibrant colors in black water…might be because they need to see each other more to stay together? 

[AllFishNoBrakes]

@TheSwissAquarist For sure. I have 22 of them, and they school around the tank together. The tint is literally so dark and they’re so small that they’re just hard to see, lol. I could turn up the lights, too if I wanted. It’s all a balance between the aesthetic I want for the tank and the amount of tannins and seeing the fish as often as I want to as they tend to school around together towards the back of the tank. 

Edited June 8, 2023 by AllFishNoBrakes

[AllFishNoBrakes]

I’m 99.99999% sure the free, small, reusable bag is tied to Easy Green 

For this order, I bought the Nano Pellets, the Complete, the Easy Green, 1 small bag, and 1 large bag. 2 small bags showed up, which leads me to believe it’s tied to the Easy Green as the rest of the order simple doesn’t make sense. 
 

Go get your Easy Green and your free reusable bag!

[AllFishNoBrakes]

Yup, another update. Sorry, folks. Really just trying to squeeze it in while I’m not at work. 
 

Went by the LFS today and they’re starting to recognize who I am. I walked, saw a familiar face, and said, “what’s up man?” I was greeted with a, “hey, welcome back!” this time. I asked how my Panda Angels did that I brought them last time and they said really well. I started to browse, and the dude asked me, “what else do you breed?” Feels good to start to develop a rapport with another LFS. Them asking what else I breed tells me the Panda’s did well and they’re interested in what else I do.
 

Was hoping to pick up some of their Blue Velvet shrimp for my girlfriends tank, but what was left was the remnants, and if this hobby has taught me anything it’s that patience is key. We’ll wait until they have excellent specimens in again and we’ll snatch em up. 
 

Some pics from today:

My girlfriends tank on all its glory! Definitely different from any of my tanks, but that was her plan. Excited for her to put in the moss wall in the back and fill it up with blue shrimp.

Albino Cory’s spawned. Any hatching and raising is still on hold as my life just isn’t in a place to handle it right now.

Bag water from my new friends 👀. Pretty close to the tank water.

Tank water the new friends will be going in. Softer than the bag water, slightly more buffer, and about the same pH.

New friends. 10 Green Neon Tetras for the blackwater tank. Just beginning the acclimation process and completely washed out from the drive home. Some lady cut us off, causing the bag to fall off the passenger seat… We were none too pleased about that.

Started adding some tank water and they started to get a little color back. Hard to capture in a picture, but they already look so much better.

Out of the bag and into quarantine. Med trio dosed and we’ll let that sit for a week. Then, we’ll do a 50% water change. From there, these guys will stay in this tank an additional 2-5 weeks. 3-6 week quarantine total. Excited to get the next group of friends into the Blackwater tank!

Until next week, Nerms.

Edited June 9, 2023 by AllFishNoBrakes

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 6/9/2023 at 3:45 AM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

Albino Cory’s spawned. Any hatching and raising is still on hold as my life just isn’t in a place to handle it right now.

Take it from a guy who’s struggling to raise Cory fry : do it!!!!

Nice neons! I can’t wait to see them in all their splendor in the black water tank. Are there any live plants in there? 

[AllFishNoBrakes]

On 6/10/2023 at 9:17 AM, TheSwissAquarist said:

Take it from a guy who’s struggling to raise Cory fry : do it!!!!

Nice neons! I can’t wait to see them in all their splendor in the black water tank. Are there any live plants in there? 

I’ve successfully raised a couple batches of the Albinos. And a couple batches of the Julii’s. They’re fun, but slow growers, and I really just don’t have the time right now. 
 

Just a couple Anubius in the blackwater tank. 

[jasper5150]

Wow!! You got bit hard!  Tanks look great!

[AllFishNoBrakes]

On 6/12/2023 at 9:22 PM, jasper5150 said:

Wow!! You got bit hard!  Tanks look great!

Lol, for sure. I never imagined I’d have 14 tanks in my house, but I do, and I love it. The @ wrote itself. Appreciate the kind words regarding the tanks. 

[AllFishNoBrakes]

Howdy fish folk!

Yesterday I water changed all the tanks and reset all the air stones. I really hope ACO comes out with a true never clog air stone as I’m getting real tired of having to do this every week to maintain the amount of air coming through the stone that I want. Don’t really think it’s a hard water issue  as my water is super soft and there’s never any calcium or other mineral build up on the felt. Almost seems like the air coming through felt dries it out and then it doesn’t work as well as I want it to. Fingers crossed ACO solves this problem for me in the near future.
 

Green Neons have the meds removed from the water with a 50% water change and are chugging right along. Couple more weeks (at least) of quarantine and then I’ll move them over. Stoked to get them in the blackwater tank. 
 

Still dealing with a little green water in the 6 gallon cube. Did an extra water change on that tank today to try to combat the problem. 
 

Some pics I snapped today:

6 gallon cube got a fat trim yesterday and an extra water change today. Once the Green Neons come out of the quarantine tank I’m gonna get another handful of CPD’s for this tank. The lone survivor from the first group of CPD’s from a year and a half ago could use some fish friends.

Albino Cory’s spawned. Again, lol. The female looked suuuuper plump this morning and everyone was zooming around the tank. The only reason this spawn was as surprising is because they just spawned last week, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen it two weeks in a row.

Elsewhere on the forum I saw someone mention tannins, and to have less of them to “boil botanicals for 15 minutes and then let the botanicals steep for an hour”. Tried that today and the extra boil time plus steep time definitely removed more tannins. This will allow me to have a deeper concentrate for if/when I want to replace tannins from the blackwater tank when doing water changes. I have also thrown a couple leaves in another tank, so if I wanna darken up the water I could definitely use this. Keep those eyes peeled 👀 

Added 3 giant Catappa Leaves yesterday, and then boiled 3 more today along with 3 Pear Pods, 3 Twisty Pods, and 3 other botanical something or anothers to the tank. Boiled everything for 15 minutes and then steeped for an hour to get the concentrate above. This allowed me to add a bunch of visual appeal to this tank (as all the old leaves have basically decayed to nothing) without adding a ton more tannins (hopefully) as the water is already super dark. Also, the Chili Rasboras are continuing to settle in and will swim/school to the front of the tank now, instead of just at meal time! This allows me to actually see them, have the dark dark water I want, and really enjoy this tank more. Their coloration is beautiful. Need to get the Green Neons in here and the shrimp feeding dish out and we’ll have a tank I’m super happy with. 
 

Cheers, everyone! Thanks for rocking with me and my tanks. Until the next one. 

Edited June 15, 2023 by AllFishNoBrakes

[TheSwissAquarist]

Wow you can actually see the fish!🤣

[AllFishNoBrakes]

On 6/19/2023 at 11:54 PM, TheSwissAquarist said:

 

Wow you can actually see the fish!🤣

 

I know, right? Lol. The Chili’s have gotten a lot more comfortable and are out and about. They come up to the front of the glass and say what’s up and then disappear into the darkness. 
 

Stoked to see the Green Neons in there! Their super bright stripe down the sides should really pop. 

Edited June 20, 2023 by AllFishNoBrakes

[AllFishNoBrakes]

What up?!

Work, as described earlier in this journal, is crazy right now so I took it easy on the maintenance today. Water changed most of the smaller tanks, and then just topped off all the bigger tanks and reset the air stones that needed it. Fish haven’t been fed everyday like I normally would, but I’m leaving my house at 9am and getting back between 1-2am. Thankfully, fish are resilient and we’re halfway through this county fair event that we do every year. Few more days and we’ll be back to normal. Felt good to give all tanks their normal meal tonight, though.
 

Was able to make it to the LFS today. I got an email notification that Sparkling Gourami’s were back in stock and I’ve been pondering over/trying to find those guys for over six months at this point. Got up there, told them I was there for them, and they told me “sorry, those are still in quarantine”. Kind of a bummer, but I understand it and appreciate it. They were cool enough to let me check them out in the quarantine room, and of course I looked around a bit in there too. I didn’t go down each row, but as I walked in and out I definitely tried to see what was in there. 
 

On the plus side, we picked up my girlfriends Blue Diamond shrimp!

They threw in a little Susswastertang (I know spelling isn’t right, lol) so I’m excited to see if I can get that to take off as well. 

Bag water test

Tank water test. Little harder with a little more buffer at the LFS. Probably a little higher pH as well.

Drip acclimating the shrimp as we speak, and we’ll have them in the tank soon. 
 

Sparkling Gourami’s will have to wait until they clear their quarantine at the store. The good news is they have a ton of them, so I’m fairly confident I can snatch some up. Maybe I’ll take some Panda Angels up next week and see if they’re ready. 
 

Green Neons can come out of QT and into the blackwater tank next week anyways, so maybe this was my sign to just be a little more patient. 
 

Cheers, Nerms. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 6/28/2023 at 8:15 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

On the plus side, we picked up my girlfriends Blue Diamond shrimp!

Just a heads up, half of those look like Blue Rili.  I'm having the exact same thing in my shrimp tank where I'm getting about a 30-50% cull rate because I have a lot of rili in there somewhere.  The last photo I put up in my journal was of one of my bloody mary's that has a normal BM genes plus the rili shell pattern.  I see a few of these, but you have the big female in the center thats 100% blue rili all the way.

I would start up two tanks if you can! 🙂

Excited to see the shrimpfest and updates!

[AllFishNoBrakes]

On 6/28/2023 at 11:50 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Just a heads up, half of those look like Blue Rili

For sure. This is definitely her tank, and she’s aware that the blues will need more work than the reds we’ve had for years. She’s looking forward to “having something to do” with her shrimp as the colony advances 😊.

[AllFishNoBrakes]

It’s that time again. 
 

Made it through the madness that is opening restaurants and the 2 week county fair. Stoked to be on the other side of it where hopefully things should settle down and I can fall back into the normal routine. 
 

All the fish did surprisingly well being on a sporadic feeding schedule for 2 weeks. The fair is in another city 45 minutes away, with late nights and early mornings, and I took advantage of the owner of the company’s offer to put me up overnight through the weekends. This allowed me to work until 1am or later, and be back before 10am without having the combined 1.5 hour commute, but that meant the fish didn’t eat for several days in a row. During the week, the fair closed at midnight, which meant the fish didn’t eat most nights. I fed in the mornings when I could, but at night is usually where they get their baby brine shrimp, bloodworms, and a mix of dry foods. To the best of my knowledge I didn’t lose a single fish and nobody is skinny. Kind of shocked, but also not at the same time. My fish are well cared for 50 weeks out of the year which allows them to take this 2 week stretch with ease. 
 

Water changed all the tanks today and had a little 1.5 hour power outage. Shout out to the ACO battery back up pumps! I was mid water change when the house went black, and the pumps switched to batter power immediately. Another click or two and we were in power saver mode. Once the power was back on it was a quick and easy switch back to full power.  4 of 14 tanks were on the battery pumps, with 1 more having no filter at all, so that means 9 tanks were without air for 1.5 hours, but thanks to the knowledge provided by Cory and also being able to see the guys working to get the power back on I knew it was going to be a walk in the park  

Also moved the Green Neons to the blackwater tank. Unfortunately, one didn’t make it. I was using my little pump to move out some water and started removing the heater, sponge filter, and the moss to more easily net the fish. With the tiny little pump being the last obstacle to hide “under” one little guy got stuck to the inlet grate and unfortunately didn’t make it. As much as I hate making “mistakes” I’m more seeing it as an opportunity to learn and won’t make the same mistake twice. 
 

Green Neons are hiding currently, but over time should become accustomed to their new surroundings and I’m looking forward to seeing them in the tank!

I was able to crank through an office day pretty quickly and then got to see my favorite band of all time. Blink 182 put on an excellent show, and it was so rad to see Tom back on stage with Mark and Travis. 🤘
 

Hope you’ve had an excellent week, Nerms. Cheers!

Edited July 6, 2023 by AllFishNoBrakes

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 7/6/2023 at 5:53 AM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

Blink 182 put on an excellent show,

You’re so lucky to have seen them live! They’re definitely one of my faves. 
Those Green Neons are gonna look AMAZING! 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 7/5/2023 at 11:53 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

It’s that time again. 
 

Made it through the madness that is opening restaurants and the 2 week county fair. Stoked to be on the other side of it where hopefully things should settle down and I can fall back into the normal routine. 
 

All the fish did surprisingly well being on a sporadic feeding schedule for 2 weeks. The fair is in another city 45 minutes away, with late nights and early mornings, and I took advantage of the owner of the company’s offer to put me up overnight through the weekends. This allowed me to work until 1am or later, and be back before 10am without having the combined 1.5 hour commute, but that meant the fish didn’t eat for several days in a row. During the week, the fair closed at midnight, which meant the fish didn’t eat most nights. I fed in the mornings when I could, but at night is usually where they get their baby brine shrimp, bloodworms, and a mix of dry foods. To the best of my knowledge I didn’t lose a single fish and nobody is skinny. Kind of shocked, but also not at the same time. My fish are well cared for 50 weeks out of the year which allows them to take this 2 week stretch with ease. 
 

Water changed all the tanks today and had a little 1.5 hour power outage. Shout out to the ACO battery back up pumps! I was mid water change when the house went black, and the pumps switched to batter power immediately. Another click or two and we were in power saver mode. Once the power was back on it was a quick and easy switch back to full power.  4 of 14 tanks were on the battery pumps, with 1 more having no filter at all, so that means 9 tanks were without air for 1.5 hours, but thanks to the knowledge provided by Cory and also being able to see the guys working to get the power back on I knew it was going to be a walk in the park  

Also moved the Green Neons to the blackwater tank. Unfortunately, one didn’t make it. I was using my little pump to move out some water and started removing the heater, sponge filter, and the moss to more easily net the fish. With the tiny little pump being the last obstacle to hide “under” one little guy got stuck to the inlet grate and unfortunately didn’t make it. As much as I hate making “mistakes” I’m more seeing it as an opportunity to learn and won’t make the same mistake twice. 
 

Green Neons are hiding currently, but over time should become accustomed to their new surroundings and I’m looking forward to seeing them in the tank!

I was able to crank through an office day pretty quickly and then got to see my favorite band of all time. Blink 182 put on an excellent show, and it was so rad to see Tom back on stage with Mark and Travis. 🤘
 

Hope you’ve had an excellent week, Nerms. Cheers!

Repashy is a good food to feed during busy times because it doesn’t foul your water and the fish can pick at it throughout the day. You can even drop it in when the tank lights are off and it will be waiting for them when the fish wake up.

They will eat it same day so it doesn’t help when you’re gone overnight, but at least when you are home you can drop something in no matter what time it is.

Edited July 6, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[AllFishNoBrakes]

@TheSwissAquarist I’ve been fortunate enough that was my third time seeing them. The first time was when I was a teenager, right after the Self Titled album came out. Then again in 2019 with Matt Skiba for the 20th anniversary of Enema Of The State where they played that album in its entirety. And then again the other night. 
 

@Chick-In-Of-TheSea Excellent idea! I need to up my Repashy game. Most tanks got fed most mornings with some flake or pellets. My Pea Puffers are who I felt the worst for as I’ve never taken the time to get them off bloodworms. But all 6 of them are cruising around and we’re back to normal at this point. Thanks for the Repashy reminder!

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

For awhile I was cutting it up, or putting it into cute molds or whatnot. But lately I’ve been busy so I have just been doing it this way. So easy!

I measure with a tablespoon instead of the tsp she uses so I can have a little bit more prepared.

Edited July 6, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea