What did you get done today?

[CornAndCrawlers]

Bought some Anubias from my LFS and glued them to a piece of hard scape. 

[Odd Duck]

On 12/19/2022 at 6:53 PM, anewbie said:

I suspect he has a 20H and 8 black phantoms 😉

 

Obviously I missed that. 🤦🏻‍♀️ 😆 

@Birdsnstuff, I wouldn’t reduce the number of tetras from that.  It’s likely to have the opposite effect from what you’re looking for.  You could try adding some taller plants, work at encouraging your vals to grow faster so there’s more cover.  I like your wood and plants in the center.  They look great and help break up sight lines for anybody getting picked on.

Any chance you could add some intermittent current?  It doesn’t need to be massive.  Just something to give the fish something else to think about than going after each other.  Tetras and otos should handle it fine.  Just prefilter it so nobody gets sucked into a pump.

There’s also a decent chance you still have all your otos.  They’re masters at hiding.

[Odd Duck]

I got my BSP pair moved into the 20 high so if they decide to lay more eggs for me there won’t be anybody eating them.  No pics today since I turned the light off for them for the rest of the day.  They had enough light from other tanks in the room to be able to explore the space and get started adjusting.  I’ll post a pic tomorrow.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 12/19/2022 at 8:22 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

 

Holy smokes, I was not prepared for all that cuteness! 😍

[gogomarigo]

My fiancé and I live in WA but are originally from HI where our families are. I’ve spent some time with my future in-laws here and there but I’m not that close with them (yet).

My fiancé’s dad is introverted and quiet in group settings (like me) but I know he’s been keeping fish at least since my fiancé was a kid so I got him a Co-op gift card for Christmas. I told him how I followed the Co-op on YouTube and enjoyed learning from Cory and then I learned that the store is just a short drive away from us. I also recommended the Co-op line of products and gave him a link to the Murphy-cam.

His reply (see photo) made me smile 😊

Despite what people may think, we don’t actually have many options for fish stores in HI (and the Waikiki Aquarium is lackluster, I def don’t recommend it lol). I don’t think Aquascapes 808 or Mastah Bettas are Co-op partners yet either, though I may try to convince them once we move back in a couple years lol.

I was worried about moving back that I wouldn’t be able to continue my planted tank/nano fish hobby once I move back cause HI has really strict import laws due to the sensitive endemic/indigenous ecosystem but I discovered those two stores when I visited a couple months ago (first time home in over three years!) and I was surprised at the selection available.

So far that makes three people I’ve turned on to Aquarium Co-op 😊

On 12/19/2022 at 5:22 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

 

Omg the little tuft of hair 😭💛

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 12/16/2022 at 8:21 AM, gogomarigo said:

I love finding a shrimp shell molt in a single piece. It’s fascinating how it has all of the details of the shrimp, right down to the antennae! This is one from my Amano shrimp.

Sometimes I find cicada molts outside.  I always think I'm looking at the actual bug, as the molts are usually just sitting attached to a leaf.

(Not as cute as shrimp)

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 12/12/2022 at 11:12 AM, Odd Duck said:

Really kids?  This is how we’re playing today?  We talked about this while I was adding the new swords.  I told you this was unacceptable behavior.  Things were fine last night when I went to bed and now we have this, this morning when the lights come on.  Ugh.  Angels are still cichlids.  🤦🏻‍♀️ 

 

add a little plant weight around the base and bury it.

[anewbie]

On 12/20/2022 at 7:38 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Sometimes I find cicada molts outside.  I always think I'm looking at the actual bug, as the molts are usually just sitting attached to a leaf.

(Not as cute as shrimp)

When i was a kid living in the midwest we got hit with a wave of billions of those things and i was told it was a once in a life experience. Then we moved to the south as my Dad changed jobs and i was just a kid going where my Dad went; and well 2 years later we got hit with a wave of billions and billions of those things and i was told it was a once in a life experience a 2nd time. I then noted i got to experience a once in a life experience TWICE and therefore i must have already lived two full lives in my short 7 years !!!

[mountaintoppufferkeeper]

Got a quick picture of one of the adult hairys guarding his cave in spawning coloration with what is probably an infertile egg on 5he csve floor middle of the shot 

[Matt B]

After soaking for a week, I placed a piece of wood in my 20 long guppy tank ! My wife and I have been collecting driftwood at the beach for years. And I finally found a use for it!!  I'd  never have guessed back then this is where it would end up. 😄 

[nabokovfan87]

@Matt Butzin That looks awesome, very unique piece!

In my case, I spent the day watching the fish be silly and pester the new tank inhabitant for no reason.  They were fine with him yesterday, but today they decided to chase him around.  I did a very late night water change (skipped the filters as usual on this tank) and dosed in all the appropriate things.

I realized... I'm going down a rabbit hole and I really don't understand why or what's going to actually matter long term.  I am currently dosing in 1 item, might need to be dosing in 3-4+.  This led me down a rabbit hole of researching a variety of dosing chemicals which are stupidly NOT AVAILABLE locally simply because they don't sell in high enough volume at the big box stores and never will.  Paying 3x the price on amazon isn't a great solution either.  Between the alkaline buffer, acid buffer, neutral regulator, alkaline regulator, acid regulator, equilibrium, trace, and whatever might actually be useful, it's been pretty weird to just tangentially look into the back of labels and sort through what might be useful and what isn't really worth looking at for the situation I'm finding myself in and needing to have on hand.

So then I randomly went looking into some of the brightwell aquatics items.  It's definitely a rabbit hole of it's own just to try to find out what on earth the product actually does!  Buzz words and label hype aside.  It's just been a frustrating few hours trying to sort through the muck and find quality information about items. 

Even a bag of substrate, literally had me confused between gravel size vs. sand size, the exact same item, but one is marketed to buffed water by upping your KH/PH by 0.1-0,5 and the other is marketed for 8.5+ PH and african cichlids.

I'll figure it out another time, but that's been my day.

[Odd Duck]

On 12/20/2022 at 7:48 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

add a little plant weight around the base and bury it.

I’ve done that before but it’s staying down, this time.  I suspect the pair were the ones to loosen and float it, and they are now in their own tank.  It’s also possible it was the plecos or the cories, or a combination of everything.  🤷🏻‍♀️ Either way, it seems to be behaving now even if my fishy friends weren’t.  😆 

[Odd Duck]

A day late since I promised pics yesterday, but here’s the happy couple.

Whole tank, the pair with the female already showing interest in the breeding cone, then the pair together.  They really are quite sweet together.

 

That’s the Anubias that I recently treated with RR.  The BBA is now looking very rough and ragged where it was once very dark and dense.  Might still have to RR it again, but I’m waiting to see how it does.  I probably need to pop a couple more ramshorns in the tank for cleanup.

[cavdad45]

I got my latest shipment from Aquarium Co-op. Plants are in, pleco cave washed and set. Other items put up for next project.

However, I do miss the decals.....Cory, come on, Bro, bring those back. My grandkids enjoyed them as much as I did.

:)

[nabokovfan87]

On 12/22/2022 at 12:12 PM, Odd Duck said:

That’s the Anubias that I recently treated with RR.  The BBA is now looking very rough and ragged where it was once very dark and dense.  Might still have to RR it again, but I’m waiting to see how it does.  I probably need to pop a couple more ramshorns in the tank for cleanup.

Looks like that dreaded stuff I'm dealing with.

One tip I will recommend to help out is to try to cut it off of all of your equipment and then do a big clean.  If you can, some SAEs in there would be really useful.

In terms of equipment, I had similar issues to what you're showing here. I used the type of sponge used for dishes, took the filter to the sink and went as hard as I could at it.  (that way all the little tufts didn't float around the tank and spread further)



There's some on the sponge too, maybe the angels are eating it and it got sucked into the prefilter?

[Odd Duck]

There was some BBA in the tank before the angels went in.  Most of what’s on the pre-filter is loose bits of the Java ferns that were in the tank before I moved them.  I did clean the pre-filter of the few bits of BBA it had (laid it down in peroxide, turned it every 10 minutes or so).  There were so many tiny fernlets floating around, I’ve just let them settle on the sponge.  I don’t mind if there are fernlets growing on the sponge.  They add to the biofiltration.  I’ll peel them off later if I feel the need or decide to make another fern-on-wood piece.

I have scrubbed the filter itself a couple times.  I will probably treat it again with some peroxide at some point.  It’s not enough for me to worry much about at this stage.  Might even hit it later today if I can build up enough ambition to get out of my chair.

Very busy caseload the last couple shifts with some rather wacky cases and some very critical pets.  Worked hard to save a very unstable, critical dog last night with some very bad injuries, only to have the owner decline further care and decide to take the dog to his old-timer vet that’s dirt cheap.  The dog may be OK in the end now that he was at least mostly stabilized, but dang it!  How ungrateful can you be?  😡 He wouldn’t even let us keep the dog overnight on a barebones estimate so the dog could at least continue to get pain medications and antibiotics, then transfer directly to the cheap old-timer.  Emergency work can be incredibly satisfying them incredibly frustrating between one minute and the next.

[Birdsnstuff]

Yesterday I covered my 15 long ancient dirt and gravel substrate with about an inch of sand. I wanted to move my Habrosus Corydoras into it eventually and sand would be kinder. Not to mention the sand keeps the liquid soil from floating everywhere. It’s a gamble but what are these water boxes but in home experiments anyway? Spiral snails - MTS? - immediately started working the sand. Today I decided the corys were ready - various reasons. So far, so good. The original inhabitant cardinal tetras seem nonplussed but all good. Currently staring at the tank with a glass of wine.

Edited December 23, 2022 by Birdsnstuff
Words.. so many words.

[rockfisher]

On 12/22/2022 at 6:16 PM, Odd Duck said:

There was some BBA in the tank before the angels went in.  Most of what’s on the pre-filter is loose bits of the Java ferns that were in the tank before I moved them.  I did clean the pre-filter of the few bits of BBA it had (laid it down in peroxide, turned it every 10 minutes or so).  There were so many tiny fernlets floating around, I’ve just let them settle on the sponge.  I don’t mind if there are fernlets growing on the sponge.  They add to the biofiltration.  I’ll peel them off later if I feel the need or decide to make another fern-on-wood piece.

I have scrubbed the filter itself a couple times.  I will probably treat it again with some peroxide at some point.  It’s not enough for me to worry much about at this stage.  Might even hit it later today if I can build up enough ambition to get out of my chair.

Very busy caseload the last couple shifts with some rather wacky cases and some very critical pets.  Worked hard to save a very unstable, critical dog last night with some very bad injuries, only to have the owner decline further care and decide to take the dog to his old-timer vet that’s dirt cheap.  The dog may be OK in the end now that he was at least mostly stabilized, but dang it!  How ungrateful can you be?  😡 He wouldn’t even let us keep the dog overnight on a barebones estimate so the dog could at least continue to get pain medications and antibiotics, then transfer directly to the cheap old-timer.  Emergency work can be incredibly satisfying them incredibly frustrating between one minute and the next.

Some BBA is not a huge deal. I get more Angels than I know sale and give away and my breeding tanks are not what most people here would find expectable. As long as the fish are breeding I don’t change much. I did recently change substrate in the one out and added the lava rock to the filter/moss substrate tank because the fry were swimming through the filter sponge never to be seen again. Now with the lava rock I hope it helps.  I’m sorry that some pet owners are that way. You do great work for a great cause. 

[anewbie]

On 12/22/2022 at 4:59 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Looks like that dreaded stuff I'm dealing with.

One tip I will recommend to help out is to try to cut it off of all of your equipment and then do a big clean.  If you can, some SAEs in there would be really useful.

In terms of equipment, I had similar issues to what you're showing here. I used the type of sponge used for dishes, took the filter to the sink and went as hard as I could at it.  (that way all the little tufts didn't float around the tank and spread further)



There's some on the sponge too, maybe the angels are eating it and it got sucked into the prefilter?

I honestly wish i understood bba better; i had a nasty problem with the stuff; then one day it all ran away and i have no clue why. Now  i just have to speculate how long till it comes back home.

[nabokovfan87]

On 12/22/2022 at 3:16 PM, Odd Duck said:

Very busy caseload the last couple shifts with some rather wacky cases and some very critical pets.  Worked hard to save a very unstable, critical dog last night with some very bad injuries, only to have the owner decline further care and decide to take the dog to his old-timer vet that’s dirt cheap.  The dog may be OK in the end now that he was at least mostly stabilized, but dang it!  How ungrateful can you be?  😡 He wouldn’t even let us keep the dog overnight on a barebones estimate so the dog could at least continue to get pain medications and antibiotics, then transfer directly to the cheap old-timer.  Emergency work can be incredibly satisfying them incredibly frustrating between one minute and the next.

Very understandable. Same thing happens in engineering, but just less important issues. My mom is a nurse, works in one of the most rewarding and difficult departments, has worked a lot of different ones including ER. Your work doesn't go unnoticed or underappreciated. Hopefully the next day, week, and moments are better.  Keep doing what you do, needless to say the world needs more nurses, medical staff, and vets who just actually care.  It's a very heavy job.... But there is a world of good there too.

On 12/23/2022 at 6:49 AM, anewbie said:

I honestly wish i understood bba better; i had a nasty problem with the stuff; then one day it all ran away and i have no clue why. Now  i just have to speculate how long till it comes back home.

Essentially, usually, it's from a specific kind of breakdown in the chain. Usually CO2 and or flow/equipment. It is what I would say the most difficult to remove once it's.there.

[Patrick_G]

On 12/10/2022 at 2:36 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

 

I installed cable raceways. 

 

Show off! 😆 

I’m so tired of looking at my cable octopus, but I’m not a great organizer. You’ve inspired my to get my act together! 

[JJenna]

We had about a 1-hour power outage here with a temp of -6F outside. Threw blankets over the aquariums and waited to see. I tested the water in my tank and everything looks good, tank didn't take too long to get back up to temp. The 125 tank is still on the chilly side so we threw a 3rd heater in to bring the temp up a bit faster. Was grateful that we have an alarm that goes off on our home security when the power goes off.

[Goldfishgirl]

@Matt Butzin beautiful piece! I am setting up a 40g and wanted to use driftwood. I was not sure if it would be safe.

[Matt B]

@Goldfishgirl  I've been beach coming for years, always picking stuff up. 😁  Just down the road, the Mad River dumps all kinds of cool wood onto Clam beach. It collects in big piles and drys. But this is the first time I've actually put wood in an aquarium.  Before this, it was just putting floating wood in our wine barrel pond for frogs. I think a lot of the really old hardwood is safe. I just soaked it for a couple of weeks, filling the bucket dumping it and refilling. I figured doing this would remove salt and anything else it absorbed.  So far , so good 😁  We'll see what happens 🤞

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 12/23/2022 at 3:14 PM, Patrick_G said:

Show off! 😆 

I’m so tired of looking at my cable octopus, but I’m not a great organizer. You’ve inspired my to get my act together! 

Thanks! Link to the raceways I used https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07C9ZWH1H?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Edited December 24, 2022 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea