AllFishNoBrakes’ Journal

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 11/13/2022 at 4:48 AM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

I’m also completely aware that TDS is basically useless as it doesn’t tell you what the dissolved solids are actually comprised of, but after nearly 3 years in the hobby I thought it was worth the 10 bucks to have a toy to play with. 

You should see me with a pH meter! 😂

[AllFishNoBrakes]

Let’s hatch some Angelfish!

I noticed 2 of my Angels (old pair, but obviously they’ve paired up again) being super aggressive. Seeing this before, I knew there had to be a spawn of eggs somewhere. Finally found it on the back side of a big Amazon Sword leaf, so I immediately set up the hatching station. 
 

I use a 2.5 gallon tank, but only use 2 gallons of water  the “lid” is a piece of foam that I cut around all sides so it sits in nicely. I leave a space so the foam doesn’t touch the water. I also use a seed germination mat instead of a heater. Works well for me. 1 gallon of fresh, dechlorinated water that matches tank temperature. Now we harvest the eggs. Shout out to my girlfriend for letting me take up some counter space in the kitchen when I set this bad boy up!

Clipped off the entire Amazon Sword leaf and took 1 gallon of tank water with it. This additional gallon gets me to my 2 gallons needed. Trimmed down the leaf, and here’s a shot of the eggs.

Tank now has 2 gallons of water, and literally 2 drops of Methylene Blue. A handful of Java Moss from my grow out tank, a couple Ramshorn Snails, a usb nano air pump connected to a never clog air stone dropped through the hole I cut in the lid. I use a clip to secure the leaf in place with the eggs facing me so I can watch them. Now, we wait 👀.

Edited November 15, 2022 by AllFishNoBrakes

[AllFishNoBrakes]

First picture taken this morning:

A couple unfertilized eggs, but it’s all good. That’s exactly what the Methylene Blue is for. 
 

The second picture taken this evening, about 24 hours from when I pulled the spawn:

A few more eggs have turned white and will not produce viable fry, but once again it’s all good. I’m not trying to, nor do I have the space for hundreds of Angels, nor do I have the time to sell all of them. Once again, we wait. Probably 2 more days 👀

Edited November 16, 2022 by AllFishNoBrakes

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 11/16/2022 at 4:50 AM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

First picture taken this morning:

A couple unfertilized eggs, but it’s all good. That’s exactly what the Methylene Blue is for. 
 

The second picture taken this evening, about 24 hours from when I pulled the spawn:

A few more eggs have turned white and will not produce viable fry, but once again it’s all good. I’m not trying to, nor do I have the space for hundreds of Angels, nor do I have the time to sell all of them. Once again, we wait. Probably 2 more days 👀

Still quite a good spawn! My angels only ever did 3/4 of that!

[AllFishNoBrakes]

Home from work today, and definitely have more infertile eggs. 

You can see a whole section where the ol’ boy missed, but like I’ve said previously it’s all good. I’m not shooting for hundreds of them and these smaller spawns of Angels keep my hobby going for nearly free. They’ll be looking like the batch in front of them in no time 

Edited November 16, 2022 by AllFishNoBrakes

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 11/16/2022 at 11:10 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

Home from work today, and definitely have more infertile eggs. 

You can see a whole section where the ol’ boy missed, but like I’ve said previously it’s all good. I’m not shooting for hundreds of them and these smaller spawns of Angels keep my hobby going for nearly free. They’ll be looking like the batch in front of them in no time 

How many do you sell per spawn (on average)? That bottom pics great!

[AllFishNoBrakes]

@TheSwissAquarist I usually go for about 20. It’s pretty easy to hit up the LFS and say, “I have 20 of X, are you interested?” Vs. I have 200 of X, can you please take them all. 
 

I’d pull spawns and raise them up just to give them to the store if that’s how it worked because I enjoy it and am still blown away that I can literally make more fish in my house. The store credit and trying new equipment/foods/fish/hard scape is just an added bonus for me. 

[AllFishNoBrakes]

Houston, we have a problem. The whole spawn was infertile/unfertilized. I haven’t failed this bad since the first time I tried to artificially hatch a spawn, lol. While I’ll never be entirely sure, I have some theories. 
1. The “pair” hadn’t actually paired back up. The female was full of eggs, laid them, but the male never fertilized them. 
2. The pair is indeed a pair again, but again the female laid them but the male obviously hadn’t fertilized them. 
 

I noticed the spawn after dinner time, which is the same time I normally see it. The only thing I didn’t do this time was wait until they were just constantly fanning the eggs. I noticed the aggression, saw the eggs, and pulled them. 
 

I definitely understand now when Cory says “I can do something 100 times but as soon as I go to show it on the internet it fails” lol. I’m also seeing this as I need to just focus on the Panda pair, and I should start playing with the Rainbows. 
 

You win some, you lose some my friends. But we can always try again next time. 
 

On a more positive note, I noticed today that the first batch of Endler/Guppies are starting to color up. Excited to see what they turn into as they mature.

Edited November 19, 2022 by AllFishNoBrakes

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 11/19/2022 at 4:18 AM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

Houston, we have a problem. The whole spawn was infertile/unfertilized. I haven’t failed this bad since the first time I tried to artificially hatch a spawn, lol. While I’ll never be entirely sure, I have some theories. 
1. The “pair” hadn’t actually paired back up. The female was full of eggs, laid them, but the male never fertilized them. 
2. The pair is indeed a pair again, but again the female laid them but the male obviously hadn’t fertilized them.

Sorry to hear that!! There’s always another time though 😉 .

[AllFishNoBrakes]

Another Wednesday, another day of maintenance. Had to skip last week as my life is crazy right now, but felt good to get back at it today. Not much going on, just maintaining. Did a couple massive trims today, though. Here’s some pics I took today:

Red Root Floaters turning dark red right under the light.

Walstad cube got another big trim. This Pearl Weed is taking over!

Pea Puffer tank got a massive trim on the PSO, too. There’s actually other plants in here!

Angel gang doin their thing.

Julii Cory and one of the Bolivian Rams straight chillin’

Edited November 24, 2022 by AllFishNoBrakes

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 11/24/2022 at 4:45 AM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

Another Wednesday, another day of maintenance. Had to skip last week as my life is crazy right now, but felt good to get back at it today. Not much going on, just maintaining. Did a couple massive trims today, though. Here’s some pics I took today:

Red Root Floaters turning dark red right under the light.

Walstad cube got another big trim. This Pearl Weed is taking over!

Pea Puffer tank got a massive trim on the PSO, too. There’s actually other plants in here!

Angel gang doin their thing.

Julii Cory and one of the Bolivian Rams straight chillin’

Have you ever been able to breed your Bolivian Rams?

[AllFishNoBrakes]

@TheSwissAquarist I haven’t. That was my whole intention, but I’m not even positive I have a m/f pair. 
 

I started with a pair of black rams from a LFS. They spawned almost immediately but I was unsuccessful in hatching the spawn as it was my first time trying to hatch eggs artificially. The black rams didn’t do well for me and I lost them shortly after that. 
 

I then moved to the Bolivian’s and they’ve thrived for me, but like I said I’m not positive I have a m/f pair. I’ve thought about trading them in to try GBR’s, but I have other fish in the tank that won’t thrive at higher temps so the Bolivians stay and just rock it out. 

Edited November 24, 2022 by AllFishNoBrakes

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 11/24/2022 at 8:56 AM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

@TheSwissAquarist I haven’t. That was my whole intention, but I’m not even positive I have a m/f pair. 
 

I started with a pair of black rams from a LFS. They spawned almost immediately but I was unsuccessful in hatching the spawn as it was my first time trying to hatch eggs artificially. The black rams didn’t do well for me and I lost them shortly after that. 
 

I then moved to the Bolivian’s and they’ve thrived for me, but like I said I’m not positive I have a m/f pair. I’ve thought about trading them in to try GBR’s, but I have other fish in the tank that won’t thrive at higher temps so the Bolivians stay and just rock it out. 

As long as you enjoy them!

[AllFishNoBrakes]

Alright fish friends, let’s try to hatch some eggs!

I took my phone flashlight to the spawning mop in this 20 gallon high, and noticed a couple of eggs. After an audible “ahhh!” I noticed some more eggs on the glass. I assume the eggs on the glass are Cory’s, and some of the eggs in the mop might be Furcata Rainbows. Only time will tell. 

 

I picked through the mop and plucked every egg I could find. I then pulled the eggs off the glass and added them to the tumbler. 
 

Here’s the weird thing: I smelled ammonia while I was picking the eggs off the glass. An API master test later I tested at; .25 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and ~80 nitrates. The only thing that had changed is my C02 kit ran out of gas a couple of weeks ago and I haven’t been able to recharge. Normally this tank runs <5ppm nitrates. Because of the ammonia, I dosed Fritz Complete and it’s obvious I need to recharge the C02 reactor. If only the company I work for didn’t open another restaurant to the public literally today…

Eggs are in the tumbler and we’ll see what happens! Fingers crossed for the best of luck, but even if it fails it’s just another opportunity to learn  let’s learn together!

 

 

Edited November 29, 2022 by AllFishNoBrakes

[TheSwissAquarist]

Fingers crossed for these eggs! 🤞

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/23/2022 at 7:45 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

@Chick-In-Of-TheSea has some ram competition.  Beautiful photo of the corydoras!

Based on that clump right there, I vote they are corydoras!  We'll see, exciting stuff 🙂 Best of luck with a fantastic hatch.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Ram journal in my signature line. His name is Snoopy (because he is nosey about everything I do like tank maintenance or taking pictures- he photobombs most of them). Lots of personality! He has a gold snail friend named Woodstock.

[AllFishNoBrakes]

@nabokovfan87 Agreed with the clump being Cory eggs. There’s definitely a couple eggs I pulled out of the mop that are smaller than any Cory eggs I’ve personally seen, so I believe those are Furcata eggs. Only time will tell!

[nabokovfan87]

Woot Woot.  I am very excited for 48 hours from now and getting the magnifying glass out.

[AllFishNoBrakes]

Update: Eggs still look good! I don’t see any fungus and will continue to keep an eye. 

 

Also about 95% positive my Angels spawned again. I watched the female fanning the back side of an Amazon Sword leaf and chasing everyone away from that area. I’m too exhausted to set up the hatchery tonight, though. We’ll do that tomorrow before starting water changes and maintenance. 

Edited November 30, 2022 by AllFishNoBrakes

[nabokovfan87]

It was so scary for me to do maintenance with eggs on the glass. Definitely a choice and I don't know if it cost me some fry.

You have a busy tank, that's awesome.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

One of the reviewers for the snail remover on ACO shop said that it’s a great tool to remove cory eggs from glass with no damage.

[AllFishNoBrakes]

@nabokovfan87 The Cory’s and Furcata’s are in one tank, and the Angel’s are in the next tank over. Now, if the Panda’s I’m working on pairing again in a separate tank decide they’re a pair and spawn then I’ll be in trouble 😅

[AllFishNoBrakes]

Take two (publicly) with the Angel eggs. Same set up as earlier in the journal. Fingers crossed this is a fertile spawn this time! If it isn’t I’m assuming the female is not paired up and is just laying eggs herself. Couple days and we’ll know!

[TheSwissAquarist]

The suspense is killing me…😂