Return of the Hobbyist: A Fishkeeper's Journey

[Shadow]

On 4/2/2023 at 11:43 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

I think there's a ton of weird information on corydoras.  White vs. Beige sand, I don't really think they care what it is as much as how it is.  Too small and it sticks to them are irritates them, causing flashing.  I've kept mine on 3 different kinds of rocks, 3-4 different types of wood and they generally interact with it all the same as long as you prep it right to reduce damage on them.  They like cover (sit in shadows) but they also like to have some open space.  Think island style or triangle style aquascape that leaves 25-50% of the tank open or with just plants.  Depending on what you choose will determine how they interact with it.  The only thing I'd recommend or comment on based on the video above is that they would enjoy having a more open "grazing section" when you feed them. 

Busy week!  Best of luck with everything.

Yea its why I got a bigger tank and will go with little less plants or at least keep up with trimming them. LOL! Right now they have to compete with the shrimp and snails for feeding space, so yea...was already thinking that with expanding it to a bigger tank. Appreciate the heads up though on what your experience with them has been. Was worried my rock choices might be wrong or would harm their barbels. 

[Shadow]

T minus 3 days and counting until the big move...

 

I cannot lie when I say I am very anxious about moving everything and hope the best for my fish buddies. I am fully prepared and have a game plan ready for the move to the new home/fish room. Also, the fry seem quite big and fully formed so I do think they can survive the move, so fingers crossed next time I comment on here we will be in new realms! 

[Shadow]

Moving madness, shrimp death and ammonia spikes...that is the name of this weekend. Not sure what has happened with the tank. I did start a bit more regular water changes a couple times a week just when I was cleaning up the bottom/corners of the tank as I have about 20 fry in there. I started noticing a couple days back the guppies hanging on top of the water a bunch and the shrimp swimming a lot(which is abnormal as of late). So I did my bi-weekly parameter test to check things, saw my nitrites were up slightly but my ammonia levels were spiking high. Did a water change and added Ammonia Detoxifier. Next day, same thing...but this time several shrimp perished. I haven't added or changed my routine bar cleaning the sponges in tank water to free them up a bit as the heavier than normal feedings with fry powder tends to slow it down after a day or so. Tomorrow I will be starting the move and had planned to set up their new, bigger tank with new substrate by Activ Flora, which has beneficial bacteria while allowing for instant cycling. I am taking water from the tap, treated of course, from here in 5 gal buckets so that the pH parameters are the same as they are different at the new house. Don't want to overly shock them when I move them to new home/tank. Also adding new plants to it and putting a small canister filter plus Co Op sponge filters in it. Will drip acclimate the fish and fry, remaining shrimp, for about an hour just to be safe. Question is, @nabokovfan87, should I go with fresh water from here in the transport buckets or use tank water that possibly has a bit of ammonia already in it? Anything else anyone can think of, I would be appreciative. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 4/9/2023 at 7:16 AM, Shadow said:

Question is, @nabokovfan87, should I go with fresh water from here in the transport buckets or use tank water that possibly has a bit of ammonia already in it? Anything else anyone can think of, I would be appreciative. 

Fresh, safe water. Verify ammonia isn't coming from the tap.

Maybe something happened with equipment causing excess stress and lowered the oxygenation on you.

Adding the dechlor lowers oxygen even further, causing more issues. Just keep all that in mind.

[Shadow]

On 4/9/2023 at 12:28 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Fresh, safe water. Verify ammonia isn't coming from the tap.

Maybe something happened with equipment causing excess stress and lowered the oxygenation on you.

Adding the dechlor lowers oxygen even further, causing more issues. Just keep all that in mind.

Okay....here's parameters for the tank water currently.

pH 6.4-6.6

Ammonia 1-2 ppm

Nitrite 0 ppm

Nitrate 5 ppm

TDS 378

Temp 74.4

 

I tested the water I am prepping for their transport and am enclosing a picture just to see what you think. I have a heater and sponge filter inside on one of the Co Op battery back ups. I also added a sponge filter into the tank to add more oxygen, displace the ammonia. I lost all my shrimp it seems during this, snails except for one. All the fish seem normal bar a couple mornings before I changed the water they were all hovering at the top of the water seeming to need air. The Corys never have, they just chill at the bottom. Also all the fry seem unbothered. I haven't fed them since this morning before the water change and plan to fast them until they are acclimated into their new tank. I transported all the cured rocks and wood plus new plants over today along with all the stuff I will need. I took 22 gal of water from here there so the parameters would not be too off. So here are the readings...FYI no ammonia in the tap water. Should I drip acclimate them as the temp of the water I am transporting them in is the same as the water in the tank or no?

 

pH: 7.2-7.4

Ammonia 0 ppm

Nitrite 0 ppm

Nitrate 0 ppm

TDS 78

Temp 74.8

 

Anything else I should worry about? Thanks again! 

P.S. Thanks again for the help!! 

[nabokovfan87]

On 4/9/2023 at 4:10 PM, Shadow said:

pH 6.4-6.6

Ammonia 1-2 ppm

Nitrite 0 ppm

Nitrate 5 ppm

TDS 378

Temp 74.4

Given the PH, you may have little to no KH in the water.  I would just verify you're at or around 60 ppm minimum (if you can).  Ammonia you'd want below 0.5 at best.  Something like polyfilter or ammonia guard will be advised and you can plop that into the bottom of the bucket with minimal risk to the fish.  Given you're running heat and air, might not be a bad idea.  (seachem sells bags of it, but get what you can)

For shrimp, hitting certain minimums might be critical, considering the new setups for everything, it might be worth looking into adding something under the substrate (coral) or others if your KH is an issue.
 

On 4/9/2023 at 4:10 PM, Shadow said:

Should I drip acclimate them as the temp of the water I am transporting them in is the same as the water in the tank or no?

Going to a 5g bucket, temps will slip, generally, but you do have the heater in there which is awesome and really will help that out.  If you can drip acclimate shrimp, that's always best.  For fish, I would not worry about it.  An emergency 80-95% water change is common in situations you're in for fish.  Match temp within a degree and it's good.  You can bag/float them as well if you choose.  Temperature is one parameter, but the point of dripping is for OTS symptoms where the other items in the water are vastly different than the tank and it gives parameters the ability to slowly change over time.  Changing water gets the PH to a safe level, increases oxygenation, lowers ammonia, all great things for the fish right now.  You can do big water changes like that once every few days, and daily 50% water changes as you need to. 

For the two tests you have above, TDS goes from 380 down to about 80.  Major swings.  Temp swing of 74.4 vs. 74.8 isn't one I am concerned with regards to moving shrimp directly, but the TDS (KH/GH) swings is.

(see video at the end)

On 4/9/2023 at 4:10 PM, Shadow said:

Anything else I should worry about? Thanks again! 

The big thing is vibrations, shadows, making sure buckets don't tip, and then using lids.

Try to limit the amount of "big fish" in each if you can.  spreading out the load as much as possible. Most of the ammonia comes from respiration.

On 4/9/2023 at 4:10 PM, Shadow said:

I lost all my shrimp it seems during this, snails except for one.

UGH, man, I am very sorry.  There is a lot of great shrimp available on the forums (pretty much any color) in the buy/sell/trade section! 🙂

Here's a video regarding water changes.  I can't even prepare someone for the story, but it's well worth the watch.  You can do water changes in the situation you're in to help.  I would limit them to one 50% WC every 24 hours, one major change every 3 days if possible.  There are other situations that demand increased water changes....
 

also a good sanity check:

 

Edited April 10, 2023 by nabokovfan87

[Shadow]

Thx @nabokovfan87 I will take some of my OG tank water with me to add into the tank as well so that its not so much of a transition. I will ask, should I even do that tho with the fish as the shrimp are gone? Also, TDS on bucket is 79. I had a Seachem Purigen pack in one of my boxes, so I will use it to transport them. I am only going about 40 mins away, so they shouldn't have long to stay in the bucket. Will add month old fry to one bucket and the Corys/Guppies to the other. Only have 2 buckets, so will be hard to get both to temp to transport perfectly, but should be able to get the temps very close at least. Praying for an easy trip and safe move. Regardless, it will be a learning situation. 🤞

[nabokovfan87]

On 4/10/2023 at 5:17 AM, Shadow said:

Thx @nabokovfan87 I will take some of my OG tank water with me to add into the tank as well so that its not so much of a transition. I will ask, should I even do that tho with the fish as the shrimp are gone?

Definitely not. It only matters critically for shrimp. Most fish just want the clean water and will acclimate.  If you have something like 8.2 PH African cichlids, even then you'd just add aragonite to the new tank and still use fresh water.

[Shadow]

@nabokovfan87 thank you, really. I will send you some of my awesome canned items...I am always jarring and pickling things that are in season. Definitely helped while I was in crisis mode. 

SO status as of now. I set up the new tank with water I prepared, set up new canister filter(smallest Fluval...thinks it 107?) and added brand new plants that I had in a small holding tank separate from the one I had. I did thoroughly clean the taller plants and a couple of the red ones that I saved from the old tank. I didn't use anything else from it. When I got home to get the fish, my favorite female Blue Dragon Guppy had passed or was almost dead(on her side on top of the tank). For the life of me I have no idea what turned the tank. Checked ammonia this morning and it was 0.5, no nitrites or nitrates(barely nitrates...5.0)...temp was fine and nothing new added. Lost every snail and shrimp as well as I said before. I was able to get all the Blue Dragon fry that are about a month old and the one Albino fry that was the oldest I think at a month. The 3 Albino guppies(2 f/1m) all survived as did the 4 Corys. I was able to transport them all safely and the tank water as well as the bucket water were within 1 degree...really almost identical. Added them all in, I added a little crushed coral to the filter media and the pH was holding steady at 7.4 when I left. Seemed like all were ok, but the Corys as usual were hiding under the hardscape until they get use to the new surroundings. They did that when I got them and added them to my tank at first then within a few days were showing off. FYI, they are the hardest fish to catch...took me forever to fish them out both the tank and the bucket. They even tried to almost jump out the tank trying to evade me. Anyways, I am beat...going to sleep. Last move day is tomorrow and I am ready for it to be done.

I will leave you with this picture of the new tank after I added them to it...you might can see some. LOL!

[nabokovfan87]

On 4/10/2023 at 9:31 PM, Shadow said:

@nabokovfan87 thank you, really. I will send you some of my awesome canned items...I am always jarring and pickling things that are in season. Definitely helped while I was in crisis mode. 

😂Happy to help.

Hopefully everything improves and the ammonia/nitrites balance themselves with the filtration.

I know exactly how exhausting that process is. Keep us posted!

[Shadow]

On 4/10/2023 at 11:56 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

😂Happy to help.

Hopefully everything improves and the ammonia/nitrites balance themselves with the filtration.

I know exactly how exhausting that process is. Keep us posted!

Well its a brand new set up completely, I used Activ Flora and Flourite as the substrate, did away with anything that messed with pH. Also the Activ Flora substrate says it instant cycles...not sure on that but the quality of the substrate was reallllly great! I added 4 inches of substrate this time as opposed to 2(was a problem to plant in before) and practically all new plants, plus new hardscape. I am heading to the new house shortly, so I am hoping the fish are all well. I didn't feed them after adding them, as I wanted them to acclimate properly first and I heard its not good to feed them right away after adding. I fasted them for 24 hours, so they should be good and hungry if all is well with the new tank. 🙏

Thanks again buddy! Last day of move then the unpacking begins!! 

[Shadow]

Well if things weren't stressful enough, the 800 lb rated(per shelf/1400 lb total) storage shelving I bought to use for the tanks...the shelf is bowing with the weight of a 20 gal tank. According to what I read it will bow but it will hold. I don't trust it...I got some markers in the cracks to tell me if it bows more in the coming days since I am off. If it does, I am going to move the tank to another rack I know will hold it. At least the tank parameters are normal and the fish that made it all seem happy/healthy. Shouldn't be the worst ordeal, but def not ideal. Move is over and now I am sitting here half dead looking at everything that needs unpacking. More to come...

[Shadow]

Post move 2nd tank move complete. All looks good bar I had one of my Corys jump out of the tank overnight...they were all fine and doing their usual routine when I went to bed. Sadly lil buddy perished before I awoke. RIP Gold Laser Cory. Besides that things are looking great parameter wise. 

Numbers this morning...

pH 7.4

GH 150

KH 80

TA 40

Nitrite 0

Ammonia 0

Nitrate 5 

 

Think the canister filter with sponge on other side works pretty well. Some slight cloudiness still post move of the tank last night, but added a slight bit of clarifier to it and slowed the flow speed down so the floss will get it better. Filter media I used some crushed coral, about a pound in a media bag. Also added Seachem micro media to it. Hopefully I won't have a redo of the first tank's issues before my move. Lessons get learned daily in this hobby, but I am enjoying it regardless of the heartache at times. 🙂 

 

 

[Shadow]

Yoooo, hope everyone is well. Big life changes continue for me including the new home/fish room. My mental health hasn't been great for years, most of this is due to the post office and the high amount of stress I am under daily working at such a busy, yet short staffed, office. I decided to save money and take a break about 6 months ago, now that I have put a little money away, made some off the old home sale and about to sell my old car I don't drive, I decided now was the time to do it. So I am on a 1 month leave at work using up all my sick and annual leave before turning in my notice. I will begin at my old job from decades ago working in beer sales and doing less stressful, hard labor. 

 

In other news, my fish room is shaping up. I have several projects working, several YT videos I am recording and all is going well. My 20 gal that I had to move and emergency move due to the shelf issue seems to be close to cycling. I also planted a new 10 gal, which I have added bloody mary shrimp...CPDs and Cardinal Tetras too. The idea was a bonsai on a hill overlooking a grass valley(for egg scattering hopefully...might start a breeding tank for the CPDs or both). Lastly, I had found an old rain barrel in great condition at a yard sale and intended to use it for my old raised garden boxes before I moved, so now I have to use it for something. I decided to use it for a water preparing barrel to easily water change my main tanks and some of the breeders I have. I plan to monitor and set its pH, keep an air stone in it for oxidation and I bought a sump pump plus plumbing gear to make it easy to bring the hose in/out of the fish room from right outside the window. You can follow that project here. Below is the near finished Bonsai 10 gal and some other pics from around the fish room. 🙂 

[Shadow]

LOTS going on during my leave of absence before I start my new job back at my old company from almost 2 decades ago LOL! Anyways, the last 2 days I set up my plecocentric tank for a breeding project of L134 Leopard Frog Plecos. Its still a work in progress as I wait for its plants, but the pleco colony(5 of em!) will be here today. 🙂 

 

I also set up my plant grow out tank which will be mainly for growing plants. I am adding a couple Dalmation Mollies, Odessa Barbs and Siamese Algae Eaters as I cannot have a tank that is plants only plus these all should work well together at feeding my plants while making it visually appealing. Right now I have a large section of Pink Flamingo Crypts and Ludwigia Sedioides plus the Bonsai tree from my nano 10 gal, which was the good and bad news of today's post. Once again even after reinforcing the shelving graded at 1400 pound limit, I noticed the particle board I was using had bowed some and it made me nervous, SO, even though the tank was fully cycled and going good, I decided to add the nanos into the newly planted and started 48 gal rimless for my stepfather in the living room(pics coming later). That tank is doing amazing BTW, but back to current topic, I broke down the 10 gal and atm its an empty spot which I am not sure what to do with but I reinforced the shelving this time 3/4 inch water proof particle shelving. 

 

Anyways, back to a few projects and I will post more later! 🙂 

[Shadow]

So here are some pics from around the house upcoming...later on or tomorrow I will share my pic of the big 48 gal I did for my stepfather, it's come out really nice! I get my last shipment of fish today from Dan's Fish, whom stated due to our email exchanges that I will be his first heat pack(less) shipment of the year as the temps here are starting at around 55-60 F(13-18 C for our EU/Canadian friends) but shooting to 80-85 F(26-29 C) by early afternoon. Basically with heat packs, the last package I received of Angelfish from a friend, UPS waited on a clearly marked overnight shipment saying LIVE FISH to deliver at 7pm and leave ALL DAY on the un air conditioned truck, came in at 98 F inside with the packs. Half the fish were DOA, the other half miraculously made a huge comeback in my QT tank(aka my plant project tank) so I added them in with their black Angel buddies(these are blue Angels that made the recovery). My friend is sending me more as replacements, which is nice of him. The other fish in that big 48 gal will be all nanos, Cardinal Tetras, Chili Rasboras, CPDs and Glowlight Danios along with possibly some cleanup fish or assistance fish like Siamese Algae Eaters(I have a few in another tank already) or a couple bristlenose plecos & some shrimp/snails for cleaning purposes. Happy I was able to seed this tank with my sponge from the 20 gal that has fully cycled and is doing well in my fish room/office after the move from a 10 gal at the old house then an immediate move due to a stand bowing issue, @nabokovfan87 will remember that all too well lol. 

 

Other projects going well, I have five 5.5 gal neocaridina breeding tanks going well...they include yellow fires, blue carbon rili, blue rili, orange sakura & emerald greens(otw). I am adding some blue jellies to the blue rili side to get some differing colorations along with adding orange pumpkins in with the orange sakura. Hoping to get something cool out of them while keeping the others regular in bloodlines. I also have a planted only 20 gal long which I successfully hooked up to co2 thanks to the tutorial provided on co op dot com by @Irene. 🙂 I added a 2nd manifold and now have it in my 20 gal that is my main tank I moved from the old house mentioned above. Both our on a 2 hour before light, 2 before light ends co2 cycle and the plants seem to be flourishing along with me doing them twice a week with Easy Green. All water parameters from TDS with shrimp tanks to the nasties in the big planted tanks are all under control. Weird to have a feeling of ease as things go well(then to have that impending feeling of doom and worry in the back of your mind LOL). Anyways, that's all going on atm...I do plan a few more projects in the near future, but now I need to edit 5 hours of footage of all these projects to put on my YT and mind what I have going on before I move to anything new. I have to admit, the bug got me and I have to remember not to overwhelm myself to start. What I have in front of me is doable with my daily schedule but that is the key, knowing your limit and when to proceed or slow it down.

 

Anyways, here's some pics from around the fish room and I will post pics of the big boy, aka THE BEAST, manana. Hope this finds everyone well...until next time!!! 

[Shadow]

Odd n end projects in the books. Now onto the next ones....(pics below of some of everything I have been doing)

 

1-Prepared two tanks in the fish room and now both are running smoothly with CO2. Kasa smart plugs are legit awesome inventions and I will use them for life now lol. 

2-Set up my biggest tank yet, 48 gal. Seeded it and seems to be all but close to cycled inside of 5 days with the last stocking of nano fish/angelfish yesterday, later today. 

3-Cut the inside shelving on open side to hide a CO2 tank(pictured) and drilled a hole just enough for the 1/4" air tubing to go through the back so nothing is visible as its in the living area. 

4-Purchased(from China of course and in Celsius, but I will live lol) a aquarium water cooler, small and not too expensive($110) to cool and prepare water for shrimp tank water changes, as well as the pleco tank. Running smooth even though the directions were a bit janky to understand.

5-Got some cultures from Dan's Fish for Banana Worm & Micro Worm...used @Cory's method on starting them with flake potato and yeast...they have been in a warmer area but none seem to be alive. Tbh, they didn't look to be very lively if at all when they got here. So might have to procure some more cultures sadly unless it takes a while for them to colonize and move up the container. Hmmm...

 

Next plans are to create a large 30-40 gal long catfish only tank I will name 'Kitty City'. I have written/doodled plans of how I want it to look. Now I need to build a custom rack prob as this will be waaaaaay too big a tank for these super reinforced(supposedly 1200 lb graded) shelves from Lowe's. I decided if I go any larger I will buy lumber and use my woodworking knowledge(however little it may be) along with YT to get a proper diagram for one wall. Tired of worrying if the shelves on these current racking systems will hold or not. After learning my lesson it seems if I reinforce with waterproof 3/4" plywood, the racks will hold 20 gal longs well. Not going to push my luck on anything bigger though. I also plan to add more catfish only species to the L134 tank but not sure what would get on with them without worrying them or harassing. Would any other bristlenose or corys work well in there with them @Guppysnail @nabokovfan87? Curious what you all think...

 

Anyways, onto tackling the day and huddling inside as today is the only nasty weather day here this week. We've been blessed with perfect mid 70s weather and full sun until today, so I have been out in my work shed as much as possible...even had time to use my former New Orleans pastry chef days to make some amazing Bread Pudding with Rum Sauce for my Uncle and Aunt who are coming for lunch. Hope everyone has a great weekend!!! :)

P.S. That bag floating in the CO2 pic...those are Odessa Barbs that are going into my plant grow out tank with Siamese Algae Eaters and 3 Dalmation Mollies(already there). 🙂 

[Guppysnail]

I’m not familiar with L134 behavior. Corydora fit anywhere the other fish will not pick on them.  My Pygmy hide behind mom bn pleco and under her long fins. The bandits are oblivious to anything but eat and play. My pandas are the same. 
I like the bandit more than the pandas these days. They do the midwater group and swim the way the Pygmy do. The pandas never swim midwater. They always skim glas and hardscape. My bandits are also bold and fearless and nosey as anything. I love that about their personalities. 

[Guppysnail]

PS yes I will take a large slice of your delicious looking baked goodies 😁

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/5/2023 at 10:09 AM, Shadow said:

1-Prepared two tanks in the fish room and now both are running smoothly with CO2. Kasa smart plugs are legit awesome inventions and I will use them for life now lol. 

YEP!

On 5/5/2023 at 10:09 AM, Shadow said:

4-Purchased(from China of course and in Celsius, but I will live lol) a aquarium water cooler, small and not too expensive($110) to cool and prepare water for shrimp tank water changes, as well as the pleco tank. Running smooth even though the directions were a bit janky to understand.

There should be some way to convert the units.  I can try to research it if you need any help.
 

On 5/5/2023 at 10:09 AM, Shadow said:

I also plan to add more catfish only species to the L134 tank but not sure what would get on with them without worrying them or harassing. Would any other bristlenose or corys work well in there with them @Guppysnail @nabokovfan87? Curious what you all think...

I would try julii / false julii corydoras.  They are beautiful once the pattern gets going and the temp range is spot on for them.

[Shadow]

On 5/5/2023 at 12:30 PM, Guppysnail said:

I’m not familiar with L134 behavior. Corydora fit anywhere the other fish will not pick on them.  My Pygmy hide behind mom bn pleco and under her long fins. The bandits are oblivious to anything but eat and play. My pandas are the same. 
I like the bandit more than the pandas these days. They do the midwater group and swim the way the Pygmy do. The pandas never swim midwater. They always skim glas and hardscape. My bandits are also bold and fearless and nosey as anything. I love that about their personalities. 

They seem super reclusive and only active in low light times, very nocturnal. Don't seem really fussed when I am in there messing about during water changes. Thinking I might add a new group of pygmy corys to it, maybe a group of 6-8 to start. Then I might add some bn in & some larger corys. Test the cat only tank before I build the big one eventually. 🙂 I am thinking horseman corys for the larger ones. 

On 5/5/2023 at 5:17 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

YEP!

There should be some way to convert the units.  I can try to research it if you need any help.
 

I would try julii / false julii corydoras.  They are beautiful once the pattern gets going and the temp range is spot on for them.

Yea I am sure there are, but this was so cheap compared(it can really only run one small tank) to the others I was looking at I went with it. I am also only using it when I am awake and to change/add water to neocaridina tanks. Eventually I will get a larger one and use this smaller one for a caridina tank I want to attempt(been prepping the tank over a month now to get perfect pH, GH and TDS....getting close to where I want. Also made the tank slightly tannic which is helping drop the pH to where I need it. Been a fun little project. :)

On 5/5/2023 at 5:17 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

YEP!

There should be some way to convert the units.  I can try to research it if you need any help.
 

I would try julii / false julii corydoras.  They are beautiful once the pattern gets going and the temp range is spot on for them.

I will check them out as well, not sold on the larger cory school I will eventually add in with pygmies. I also do not want to overcrowd the tank even if it is a 20 gal long. So might just go with either or on the corys and not add both. Add in a couple bn plecos as well and that be it. Also, thanks for the video love buddy. Got a whole 33 views in nearly 24 hours! 🤣

[Shadow]

On 5/5/2023 at 12:38 PM, Guppysnail said:

PS yes I will take a large slice of your delicious looking baked goodies 😁

Well as an ex pastry chef of 20+ years(most of it in New Orleans), I should know a thing or two in the kitchen. 😅

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/4/2023 at 7:34 AM, Shadow said:

I have to admit, the bug got me and I have to remember not to overwhelm myself to start.

This is where you have to let the bread sit and rest so to speak.  Let things fill the space and make sense in the day to day.  I can imagine that having 3+ shrimp tanks is about similar work as having 1, but for me I am always very aware of getting one too many tanks.  I have had a large amount and then set myself up to fail because I was doing it all myself.  The only advice / caution I would share is that I wouldn't set up a new tank if you aren't enjoying the ones you already have regularly. 

Make it easy on yourself with the rack system (which you are) and just work on the day to day efficiency with everything (which you are) before you end up with 20+ racks and a "noah's arc" style room.  🙂

I enjoy my 1+1 tank setup.  It's beautiful.  Especially when the one big tank is so jam packed with life.

On 5/7/2023 at 8:13 AM, Shadow said:

Well as an ex pastry chef of 20+ years(most of it in New Orleans), I should know a thing or two in the kitchen.

I can only imagine how many wonderful things that started from the cuisine there.   That's an awesome place to learn a few things in the cooking world.

[Shadow]

On 5/7/2023 at 3:39 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

This is where you have to let the bread sit and rest so to speak.  Let things fill the space and make sense in the day to day.  I can imagine that having 3+ shrimp tanks is about similar work as having 1, but for me I am always very aware of getting one too many tanks.  I have had a large amount and then set myself up to fail because I was doing it all myself.  The only advice / caution I would share is that I wouldn't set up a new tank if you aren't enjoying the ones you already have regularly. 

Make it easy on yourself with the rack system (which you are) and just work on the day to day efficiency with everything (which you are) before you end up with 20+ racks and a "noah's arc" style room.  🙂

I enjoy my 1+1 tank setup.  It's beautiful.  Especially when the one big tank is so jam packed with life.

I can only imagine how many wonderful things that started from the cuisine there.   That's an awesome place to learn a few things in the cooking world.

Response to the first part, I am definitely starting to become more aware like I stated previously. IF and when I put together another, it will be a larger one for myself and I am thinking a larger version of the mini kitty city I am creating with the L134 colony tank. I just want to enjoy the tanks I have at the moment and work on mini projects to make life easier. That new 48 gal near 4 footer in the main living room is taking almost half an hour to water change each day, but its moving along the cycling track as all the rest, so should be g2g by next week I think. On the L134 tank...I have 6 Gold Laser Corys(bcuz I love them) coming in and I will add them to the later today prob. If all goes well and everything seems right, I will prob add a small school of Pygmy Corys and maybe a couple BEL plecos at a later date. I have saw what you or someone else said about having too many pleco caves...they really enjoy the HOLY(LOL) piece of wood I put into one side...they really like to feast and hang out on it. They haven't touched any of the wafers I added, so think they are happy feasting on what is in there right now. Might try some zucchini(thoroughly washed of course) in there later in the week. 

 

All I can say about being a chef, the time I had creating with some incredibly talented(and several well known, famous) chefs was one of the best and worst times of my life. The work is very hard, abrasive at best. If you are faint at heart to bad language, alcohol/drug abuse & sexually inappropriate things, I highly advice never working professionally in a kitchen. Also, have to remember you make jack shit income wise for a LONG time and most the time you have little to no benefits or healthcare. Artistically and fun wise, it was a couple decades to remember but I am happy having the chill, non crazy life as a now ONCE AGAIN beer/wine salesman is much more my speed. Plus it allows me plenty of time for fishy things and to cook at home(AND ENJOY IT)! 🙂 

[Shadow]

In today's news...

 

I have 6 brand new Gold Laser Corys that just arrived in the mail from the previous person I purchased from...he is an incredible Cory breeder and has a real nice set up. Think he currently breeds 8-10 different ones plus some other nanos. Will be converting the L134 into a Mini Kitty City until the day I decide to do more tanks, it and the others will do right now. I timed my tank maintenance this morning and with prepping the water overnight in 5 gal buckets, I am about at 45 mins after water tests then changes then feeding. With the shrimp tanks I am working on getting them all at the perfect GH/TDS while water tank prepping 1x 5 gal for a future Caridina set up. I am looking at getting some Blue Bolts for it, but first I want to get another water chiller to assist with keeping it cooler water. I about have the water conditioned to the optimal parameters, I would say by next month it will be going. Besides that and the kitty tank, I am working on adding plants as I find unique ones I want for the planted tank. That tank is going well and the Odessa Barbs are super funny to watch. I had the unfortunate happen tho and one of the three Dalmation Mollies(one of the females) was dead when I came in morning before last. Parameters and temp of the water seemed near perfect, nothing jumped out at reasoning. None of them have disease that I can see and there wasn't anything out of the ordinary I did that could have caused it. I just take it as the shock of the shipping must've just never warn off and she succumbed to that, as the rest of the fish in there seem fine. I will say the Siamese Algae Eaters might end up in the big tank...they just dont have a lot of space to hide and graze on, so think they aren't too too happy in there as there isn't any hardscape really just plants. Dunno, maybe you all can tell me what you think with your experience with them. My project list is as follows right now: 1) finish off the kitty tank with one or two more livestock additions(TBD) 2) Find more plants I like for the planted tank and decide on the Siamese babies 3) Prepare Caridina tank 4) Hit parameter goals for Neocaridina tanks 5) Begin researching a hand built lumber racking system for future projects( @nabokovfan87 @Guppysnailif you two have a link to some chats in here on that for schematics n such it would be appreciative or YT as usual lol) 6) finish the water change barrel for the fish room. 7) Create more cultures from the banana worm/micro worm colonies I have already and get better at brine shrimp hatching/rinsing. 

 

Besides that, just enjoying my last off week before I begin my new job...then after I start it, get into my daily routine, I can see how or if I am able to add anymore tanks. For the time being I am happy and content with what I have in front of me. Hope you all have a great week!