GoofyGarra's Journal

[GoofyGarra]

ok, did not get around to the tank at school today, my friend and i miss communicated and the tank wasnt there. I left all my stuff there though, and ill set it up tommorow.

my friend cleaned out the tank well, and it really looks different, i wish i had before-after pictures, but now i just have an after picture, believe me though, its a big improvement. Also turns out i have lots of rocks to work with. The window will lead to some algae, but ill use lots of bladder snails to keep everything clean. I also dont mind green water, it will help with breeding.

also now less stocked, the main tank is looking good, less cloudy too. Im also hoping less stocking will mean the aquaclear clogs more slowly, but im not sure yet.

Vulcan is doing fine, seems healthy, as long as nothing gets worse ill throw in some de-wormers next week and keep him in qt for however long that takes then move him into the main tank.

Edited November 1, 2023 by GoofyGarra

[GoofyGarra]

shrimp party!

[GoofyGarra]

got the bio tank setup, itll look better once the plants have grown in, they are all small right now:

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 11/1/2023 at 5:30 PM, GoofyGarra said:

The window will lead to some algae, but ill use lots of bladder snails to keep everything clean. I also dont mind green water, it will help with breeding.

You can also add a background as well or even one of those window privacy films, etc.  Like this perhaps, protects from UV light.

[GoofyGarra]

On 11/2/2023 at 12:38 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

You can also add a background as well or even one of those window privacy films, etc.  Like this perhaps, protects from UV light.

i would like to get some lighting from the window

[GoofyGarra]

Treats!

also put some BBS in for Vulcan, i dont know if he can eat them with his mouth type, but i figured it couldnt hurt.

[Guppysnail]

On 11/5/2023 at 6:59 AM, GoofyGarra said:

also put some BBS in for Vulcan, i dont know if he can eat them with his mouth type, but i figured it couldnt hurt.

I use a coral feeder and spray some on the bottom for my pleco they go crazy. Over the years they learned to suck on the end of the coral feeder to get max live bbs. They come running when they see the feeder. 
 

I also freeze some so it sinks fast for my cories and plecos 

[GoofyGarra]

Got in touch with my friend today, he found a guppy breeder willing to donate some fish to the school. Normally guppies wouldn't be my first choice but as they are from a local breeder they will probably be much easier. Ill go in today at lunch and make sure the tank is ready, then he'll drop off the fish this afternoon. He also got us a mystery snail, which will be fun for everyone to watch. The tank should be nice and cycled as im using a established sponge filter. Today im bringing a siphon, and some fritz complete to live at school. Im also bringing some more val and guppy grass and possibly a fake plant to get the tank nice and planted.

Edited November 7, 2023 by GoofyGarra

[GoofyGarra]

ok, there has been a small delay, the livestock will be arriving later this week, or next week.

[GoofyGarra]

ok, doing an update.

The tank is doing much better since i moved out those cories, i hope i dont undo that when i add Vulcan to the tank. The water is clear (to a point, the tannins keep it from being crystal clear) and the aquaclear is not having clogging issues.

Vulcan is doing great. Im treating him with paracleanse in case of anything i cant see but he seems perfectly healthy. He likes to hide behind (attachedto the back) of the heater. The tank is 78 so temp shouldnt be an issue, im assuming he just likes to be vertical. He is eating repashy and xtreme wafers, i can see him eating, i  just cant get it on camera, he is too shy.

the other fish also got repashy this morning:

and also the mystery snail got some:

shrimp are fine, i havent seen any deaths. They are very good at hiding. They seem to have shifts on who is out in the open every day, as one day ill see 4, the next day a different 4, the next day a different 4, the next day the first 4.

[GoofyGarra]

fish went into the lab tank, i was expecting mutt guppies as they were free, but no, we got super colorful red/pink guppies, some males and some females:

the person also provided 4mystery snails, i expected one. So 1snail went to the tank, two went to my friend (he has a 37, a 75, and a 20 so he'll have somewhere to put them, he's wanted one since he saw mine) and one of them is for me. I chose the one with the worst health condition as im hoping ill be able to get it healthy as i have good experiences with my other mystery snails:

this will be nice as i recently lost a mystery snail, and my other mystery snail appeared happier when he had a friend. Im hoping this is not a female as i dont need a billion mystery snail babies right now.

[GoofyGarra]

mystery snail has been in the tank for around 2hours now. Exploring and doing well. His (her?) shell should start healing fast as i have hard water, high pH, and cuttlebone in the tank.

the shell is in bad condition now but with time will hopefully heal nice and healthy.

[GoofyGarra]

Ok, got home today after being out since friday on a family vacation.

The tank was looking suprisingly good and there were more mini ramshorns out then normal so i suspect in lack of food the snails ate the algae and thats why the tank looks good.

Also noticed that Garra Guy had much higher yellow then usual when i saw him just now, ive read this can be a sign of irritation or agression, he's the only panda garra in the tank, should i be concerned and whats a good way to deal with this?

[GoofyGarra]

ever since i got back yesterday the tank has been crystal clear, really shows what a difference proper stocking can make.

Feeding frenzy:

The platies really weren't eating any bottom wafers anymore as the cories always got them first, but with my absence causing a fast for 2-3 days, i think that helped them get hungry so they are willing to take wafers again, and the cories no longer control that food source as there are now less of them.

[GoofyGarra]

Ok, houseplant holder attempt #3.

Attempt #1 cut into the strainer and put suction cups in the holes, the suction cups did not stay and the strainer fell, this design did not work.

Attempt #2 took attempt #1 but used hot glue to secure the suction cups, but i used too much hot glue and couldnt get the suction affect by the suction cups so it didnt work.

Attempt #3 is so far the best design. It uses a fresh strainer but instead of cutting it, i just stretched the strainer a bit to fit in the suction cups. It took a bit of force but the cups are not coming out. This is the best design as i get the suction of the suction cups, and the suction cups work. Its also the simplest design, something ive learned sometimes works best:

I built this now as a friend will be giving some Pothos for my tank in a few days and i want to be ready. This will also be nice as i can move it around as needed if i needed nitrogen export in a particular tank.

Edited November 14, 2023 by GoofyGarra

[GoofyGarra]

ok, it had been 2weeks and Vulcan was doing very well, he was looking and acting very healthy. At that point im calling him healthy and moved him to the main tank.

Also got a better picture of the school tank, im really liking the guppies:

Edited November 14, 2023 by GoofyGarra

[GoofyGarra]

ok, checked on the school tank today, lost a guppy which is sad but the m:f ratios were off anyway so not a major loss. A few of the students came over to check out what i was doing and started naming the fish and the snails. I taught one of the girls who was curious how to tell male from female in the guppies, she thought that was cool.

 

Ive been busy the past few days so havent had a good chance to post about my tank. I planted in some brazilian pennywort two days ago and the cories haven't uprooted it yet! Im hoping they dont and it does well because i really would like a jungle of pennywort in my tank, it sounds super cool.

Other thing i did around the same time was move a gravid female into the 2gallon. The female is acting very healthy and is starting to look squared off so birth should be soon. Ive been feeding her high protein foods like grindal worms and easy fry to help with the fry

 

.

[Guppysnail]

Brazilian pennywort is one of my all time favorite plants. 

[GoofyGarra]

On 11/15/2023 at 6:54 PM, Guppysnail said:

Brazilian pennywort is one of my all time favorite plants. 

it has very nice leaves that fill in space very well. It grows far too fast in my terrariums so i just pull it out and convert it underwater whenever i need more. I havent had such success in the past as it didnt get as much light and got uprooted, but now i have larger plants and less cories so im hoping i can get it growing well. Really uprooting isnt an issue once the roots get growing as they hold the plant in well, i just need to keep it rooted up to that point. This reminds me, i should go dose some Easy Green...

 

Also Vulcan is doing great in the big tank. He mostly hides but a few times a day he comes out into the open, its super fun to watch him swim around "tasting" things. ("hmm... let me try this coconut hut, is it food? Is this anubias food?")

Edited November 16, 2023 by GoofyGarra

[GoofyGarra]

I have sad news .

I lost my Male betta John. I've had him for two years so i think he lived a good lifespan for a betta fish. Its a hard loss to me as John is the fish ive had the longest. I thought i'd share his story:

Two years ago i set up a tank for someone else who wanted a betta, so i got John from my LFS to put in their tank. John lived happily in that 10gallon (alone) for a few months when something came up and the owner had to tear down the tank so i found myself forced to adopt this Betta. I named him John after KGtropicals John because he sells bettas. I never really wanted a betta for my tank and for most of the time i had him i didnt appreciate him. I always wanted a fish that wasn't compatible with a betta, and really didn't pay much attention to John, but he got along fine anyway. He was a very peaceful betta, on the shy side and didnt bother anybody. The past few months ive been paying him more attention because he was a cool fish. It brought me a lot of joy to target feed him flakes and make sure he was fed amid the chaos of feeding time in my tank. He was a very nice fish and im sad to lose him, and ill miss seeing him resting in his tube or sticking his out of some plants.

Here are some pictures:

 

 

Edited November 18, 2023 by GoofyGarra

[GoofyGarra]

Started with the sad news, now i have happy new too.

@Guppysnail

I have shrimp eggs!!!! Its in my 5 gallon tank which has 3 shrimp in it now (1m, 2females) and im very excited as i should have baby shrimps soon!

How long is gestation and how many babies should i expect?

[Guppysnail]

On 11/18/2023 at 7:32 PM, GoofyGarra said:

Started with the sad news, now i have happy new too.

@Guppysnail

I have shrimp eggs!!!! Its in my 5 gallon tank which has 3 shrimp in it now (1m, 2females) and im very excited as i should have baby shrimps soon!

How long is gestation and how many babies should i expect?

Roughly 25-30 days 15-50 eggs. She looks full 🤗 Congratulations 

[GoofyGarra]

On 11/18/2023 at 7:42 PM, Guppysnail said:

Roughly 25-30 days 15-50 eggs. She looks full 🤗 Congratulations 

Im surprised how easy these guys were to breed. These three were in as i didnt feel like catching them out and i was just ignoring them in the tank, and dealing with Vulcan in QT. They got lots of food in the process and i kept the water quality high so i guess i made them happy. The second female in the tank is around the same size as the berried one, so im guessing she will become berried in the near future. Hopefully ill have some berried tank in the family tank as well where i have most of the shrimp.

[GoofyGarra]

@Guppysnail better picture

honestly im really liking the 5gallon now. Fish are a natural part of an ecosystem but they are predators, but now the tank is just shrimp and snails so im seeing super cool little creatures like worms and copepods showing up that i dont see when i have fish in this tank. Its also super fun to watch a berried shrimp run around the tank.

[GoofyGarra]

ok, small shrimp update, as i suspected would occur both females are now berried. So even more shrimp babies!  🦐 Really hoping to see some berried shrimp soon in the family tank.