Request: Cool Things you in particular need

[nabokovfan87]

I imagine something along the lines of "a thingamabob that" but let's try to keep this going. What is something you specifically wish you could have to use in your aquarium keeping?

For me.... Give me a spirulina version of vibrates and call them corydoras bites.

If I can't get my old onip spirulina tabs, I need those to exist.

[itsfoxtail]

Something I need more than life itself is a net/intake cover/grid/thingamajig that fits over the python water changer hose but actually also sucks water through it. I've rigged a hot-glued bit of craft mesh but I know it won't last forever... Gonna ask my 3D printing-inclined friend if he can manage to cook me up one but until then I live in constant fear of sucking up fry.

Yes! Spirulina pellets?! Why don't they exist?

[Guppysnail]

On 12/1/2022 at 5:44 AM, itsfoxtail said:

Something I need more than life itself is a net/intake cover/grid/thingamajig that fits over the python water changer hose but actually also sucks water through it. I've rigged a hot-glued bit of craft mesh but I know it won't last forever... Gonna ask my 3D printing-inclined friend if he can manage to cook me up one but until then I live in constant fear of sucking up fry.

Yes! Spirulina pellets?! Why don't they exist?

I just saw this post yesterday for this exact 3d printed cover 

 

 

As for my want someone on here is working on a tank length HOB to be used as a planter. I have always wished for one so I’m hoping their idea pans out well. 

[Tactical Error]

Hhhhhmmmmm……How about an easy way to catch a fish so you can move it to a different tank - without making a disaster out of the tank you’re trying to get it out of?

[nabokovfan87]

I can't say it's easy but.....

 

It is pretty hilarious

[itsfoxtail]

On 12/1/2022 at 5:42 AM, Guppysnail said:

I just saw this post yesterday for this exact 3d printed cover 

 

 

As for my want someone on here is working on a tank length HOB to be used as a planter. I have always wished for one so I’m hoping their idea pans out well. 

ooOOH my gosh it exists!! My dream has come true! Thank you thank you thank you so much for this link! 

[mynameisnobody]

@Guppysnail I don’t know of a hang on back easy planter, but I have bought 3D printed pothos for planters that hang on the side of my aquarium. My HOB is full of sponges, a sponge filter and a pothos holder thingy and I never experience water quality issues ever. Check Etsy…

[Guppysnail]

On 12/2/2022 at 8:23 AM, Mynameisnobody said:

@Guppysnail I don’t know of a hang on back easy planter, but I have bought 3D printed pothos for planters that hang on the side of my aquarium. My HOB is full of sponges, a sponge filter and a pothos holder thingy and I never experience water quality issues ever. Check Etsy…

I use HOBs as planters on all my tanks not actually as filters though I filter with ugf and canisters. I would love one that extends the full length of the back of the tank instead of using egg crate and putting roots in the tanks. 

Edited December 2, 2022 by Guppysnail

[mynameisnobody]

@Guppysnail I have A few that have a closed bottom with various small openings for water to pass through. Eventually you’d probably have to trim the roots that’ll pop out but it’s much more limited than an open bottom concept. 

[Tactical Error]

@nabokovfan87- that’s both hilarious and ingenious!    I’m sad I’m not going to get to make my fortune by inventing something like that!

[nabokovfan87]

I was totally going to sketch up a "bucket for fishkeeping" but let's just toss this one here.

1.  A 5G bucket with a base that isn't sharp, but does have a bit of a "handle" for pouring.   Current buckets have a pretty shallow, 1/8" thick ring around the base that serves as the outer lip.  Can we just make that an actual proper base that is a 1" thick piece that actually gives you some grip when trying to pour in water.....?

2.  Some form of a spout that actually works, even if it's a piece you add on to the bucket rim (if you want a funny time go watch james hoffmann complay about coffee makers having terrible spout designs) Bonus points if you can also make this spout work so that it doesn't uproot the entire decor. Showerhead design?


3.  Make the handle robust enough so you don't jab a metal wire into your hand with a rolling plastic handle or feel like the bucket is going to split open with a full load of water.

4.  Markings for each gallon line that you can read internally

5.  A flat side for suction cups (heater, filter, etc.)

6.  A section to clip on an air pump belt style clip without extremely deforming the clip (little hook or something?)

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 12/2/2022 at 8:45 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

I can't say it's easy but.....

 

It is pretty hilarious

Tad messy, can’t be used in larger fish, but a good idea 👍!

[MattyM]

On 12/2/2022 at 7:37 AM, Guppysnail said:

I use HOBs as planters on all my tanks not actually as filters though I filter with ugf and canisters. I would love one that extends the full length of the back of the tank instead of using egg crate and putting roots in the tanks. 

I love how this looks and have been thinking of doing something like it - can you give some more details/pics on how you do this? 

[Guppysnail]

On 12/9/2022 at 1:40 PM, MattyM said:

I love how this looks and have been thinking of doing something like it - can you give some more details/pics on how you do this? 

Page 38 of my aquarium journal linked in my signature I have step by step with pictures. That’s how I do them when I’m feeling detail oriented. 
Other times I rinse the roots and cram them straight into the media in the hob. I use all sponge so that is very easy. 
 

The rest is jammed into light crate cut to replace the plastic back in the lid. 

Edited December 9, 2022 by Guppysnail

[kcochran]

On 12/1/2022 at 4:44 AM, itsfoxtail said:

Something I need more than life itself is a net/intake cover/grid/thingamajig that fits over the python water changer hose but actually also sucks water through it. I've rigged a hot-glued bit of craft mesh but I know it won't last forever... Gonna ask my 3D printing-inclined friend if he can manage to cook me up one but until then I live in constant fear of sucking up fry.

Yes! Spirulina pellets?! Why don't they exist?

Have you tried a piece of panty hose and a rubber band?

[rockfisher]

They work good and act as a wick to keep them damp.

[tolstoy21]

On 12/1/2022 at 5:44 AM, itsfoxtail said:

Something I need more than life itself is a net/intake cover/grid/thingamajig that fits over the python water changer hose but actually also sucks water through it.

I take the tube off the hose and then slip a small COOP intake sponge over the end of the hose. This is probably the best method I have used in general. Before that I would put a media bag over the end of the vacuum tube, but I have found that the flow is better through an intake sponge.

For tanks with very very very small fry I will put the vacuum tube into a cotton filter sock that I clip to the edge of the aquarium. This way I don't suck up any teeny tiny little guys and gals. Then I pump water back in the same way, using the filter sock as a buffer against any flow that might damage little fry.

Edited December 10, 2022 by tolstoy21

[Cinnebuns]

I honestly need a lot right now. My financial situation has gone down and therefore I'm behind on a lot of projects. 

What I'm wanting the most right now is some plants for my shrimp tank and faunus ater snails for my main tank. The shrimp tank only really has flame moss and marimo moss balls for plants. I'm thinking of going with bacopa and pogostemon Stellatus Octopus in there. Idk if the bacopa will do well planted in sand or not. The faunus ater snails are intended to help stir the substrate in my 29 gallon main tank now that it's heavily planted. Both these items a friend has been telling me he is going to ship me but it's been a couple of months and nothing so idk. 

2nd to those items on my mind is setting up a 15 gallon tank. I have filter and heater for it but it would need gravel, eventually plants (although some can be moved and propagated from my main tank) and fish. All of my tanks have some sort of breeding element to them. Even if they aren't intended to grow out fry, I typically will have adults I pull eggs from. I'm hoping to make this one have nothing to do with breeding. I'm thinking a betta or gourami, a school of tetras, and maybe some cories. The reason I hesitate on the cories is because I will get tempted to pull eggs to breed them haha. I would def add nerite snails as well but I already have some I can pull from other tanks. I have a feeling this project will take several months, if not a year, to get the funds to accomplish. 

On 12/1/2022 at 6:33 AM, Tactical Error said:

Hhhhhmmmmm……How about an easy way to catch a fish so you can move it to a different tank - without making a disaster out of the tank you’re trying to get it out of?

Omg I feel this with some of mine. Sometimes it makes me regret heavily planting haha. 

Edited December 10, 2022 by Cinnebuns

[Tactical Error]

@Cinnebuns- SAME!

On 12/9/2022 at 9:04 PM, Cinnebuns said:

Omg I feel this with some of mine. Sometimes it makes me regret heavily planting haha. 

 

[nabokovfan87]

On 12/9/2022 at 6:04 PM, Cinnebuns said:

Idk if the bacopa will do well planted in sand or not.

Worked fine for my sand tank. PH below 7.5, hard water, CO2.  It was growing without CO2 as well.

[Cinnebuns]

On 12/9/2022 at 9:33 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Worked fine for my sand tank. PH below 7.5, hard water, CO2.  It was growing without CO2 as well.

My PH is 8.0 and no co2. Water is about 14 Gh in that tank although 21 out of tap and in most other tanks. 

[BeeD]

On 12/1/2022 at 6:33 AM, Tactical Error said:

Hhhhhmmmmm……How about an easy way to catch a fish so you can move it to a different tank - without making a disaster out of the tank you’re trying to get it out of?

Something like Star Trek IV when they beamed up the whales? There's gotta be a tutorial somewhere... 

[BeeD]

I want someone cleverer than me to design an internal sump that slides onto the standard glass lid of a 40B, or any tank I suppose. It would have 4 or 5 chambers with optional settings and access lids. No evap because it's designed to fit and seal, pluggable holes for airlines, and I also want to be able to attach modules to any chamber.

Modules I have in mind...

• fully sealed above-waterline tubes for pothos to grow into, with a light that actually clips onto the top of the tube just for the pothos. 
• Another module would be a dry phase habitat for nerites. Or if I want to keep a colony of springtails that will occasionally drop into the water (just a theory).
• Similar idea, but this module would be like a baby brine shrimp dripper. Just fill the dripper with bbs, maybe a little spirulina for them to gut load (hopefully), and over a couple hours they drip into the outlet and shoot into the aquarium where the fish can hunt them down. 

Maybe I could kind of slop this together diy, but I know it wouldn't look pretty. 

[itsfoxtail]

On 12/9/2022 at 1:08 PM, kcochran said:

Have you tried a piece of panty hose and a rubber band?

I do use a piece of panty hose over the intake tube for itty bitty fry but it takes a hot minute (or hour) to actually get water out, so for small tanks this is fine but larger ones... not so much.

On 12/9/2022 at 7:21 PM, tolstoy21 said:

I take the tube off the hose and then slip a small COOP intake sponge over the end of the hose. This is probably the best method I have used in general. Before that I would put a media bag over the end of the vacuum tube, but I have found that the flow is better through an intake sponge.

For tanks with very very very small fry I will put the vacuum tube into a cotton filter sock that I clip to the edge of the aquarium. This way I don't suck up any teeny tiny little guys and gals. Then I pump water back in the same way, using the filter sock as a buffer against any flow that might damage little fry.

I have tried the sponge method but haven't really been able to get water to come out... maybe I need to use more course sponge?

 

On another note I actually bought and received the little python intake grate thingy to keep (somewhat larger fry) out and it works WONDERS! I would definitely recommend for anyone who wants one to go visit that little Etsy shop and make a purchase!

Definitely beats my very janky alternative...

 

[tolstoy21]

On 12/16/2022 at 3:25 AM, itsfoxtail said:

I have tried the sponge method but haven't really been able to get water to come out... maybe I need to use more course sponge?

Yes, definitely course sponge. Anything else won't draw water properly.

Honestly, in every method I've tried, a cotton filter sock works the best (these are typically used in reef-tank sumps).  But, you do have to clip it to the side of the tank and it's only for extracting water, not vacuuming out mulm.  I use this with some pretty microscope fry and don't lose any.  I also use this on my shrimp tanks.