What did you get done today?

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 1/14/2023 at 2:27 AM, mountaintoppufferkeeper said:

The magazine frame arrived up here.... So I framed the amazonas article. Final placement to be determined.

 

Huge congrats on making it to a magazine! 

[PineSong]

On 1/14/2023 at 7:50 PM, anewbie said:

Picture? I actually have some 'dwarf sag' that has grown nearly 14 inches high; but it doesn't look much like italia val (which is one of the common narrow leaf vals).

Here it is (both pics). I found out it is valisneria by going back to the original shipping email from ACO. Mine has grown to the top of the tank (20g long) and I usually trim it before it goes across the top but at the moment it is starting to. It spreads by runners and at a nice rate without being obnoxious.

I also have some dwarf sagittaria; in my tank it stays under 3" tall and spreads very slowly. I have a patch about the size of a playing card and it was planted July 2021 but I never gave it root tabs to hurry it along, either.

[anewbie]

On 1/15/2023 at 7:29 AM, PineSong said:

Here it is (both pics). I found out it is valisneria by going back to the original shipping email from ACO. Mine has grown to the top of the tank (20g long) and I usually trim it before it goes across the top but at the moment it is starting to. It spreads by runners and at a nice rate without being obnoxious.

I also have some dwarf sagittaria; in my tank it stays under 3" tall and spreads very slowly. I have a patch about the size of a playing card and it was planted July 2021 but I never gave it root tabs to hurry it along, either.

That second picture looks more like dwarf sag than italia val; the big difference is val has flat leaves and dwarf sag is more round. My italia val looks like this:

 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Added background to 29g. Before:

After:

Edited January 15, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[JJenna]

Lazy day for me pretty much. Made vegetable soup and while the pan de cristal was resting, I read the first 5 chapters of "Ecology of the Planted Aquarium." Picked it up at the second-hand bookstore for $10 and it looked like it hadn't even been read. Tank wise my nitrates are beginning to pick up, they measured at 15 today! Small water change to bring my gh down. Removed the crushed coral at the last water change and it's now down to 10. 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 1/15/2023 at 6:56 PM, JJenna said:

I read the first 5 chapters of "Ecology of the Planted Aquarium.

It’s a good read.

[Birdsnstuff]

Yesterday I went to my first local fish society meeting. Much fun! Today I stared at my fish, moved a gang valve from one tank to another, talked about fish with one of my employees, shared the idea of snello with him as well. Introduced Repashy - now if I’d just make some of the bottle I bought.

[Ninjoma]

On 1/15/2023 at 3:30 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Added background to 29g. Before:

After:

Wow, what a difference! I've never had background before, but now I really want to try it.

[James V.]

Got this cube last week and now it’s all set up waiting for an occupant

[JettsPapa]

I've been at work all day today, but yesterday I reset one of my 10 gallon tanks.  The hair algae had gotten out of control, and I wanted to change out the substrate anyway.

I've been watching some Father Fish videos lately and I've at least sipped the Kool-Aid regarding deep substrates.  The last few tanks I've set up I put a layer of mixed dirt and old cow manure (probably mostly cow manure) on bottom, topped with 2" of sand.  Plants are doing really well in those.

I know it sounds like 3" of substrate takes up a lot of room in a 10 gallon tank, but I attach about as much importance to plants as I do the fish and invertebrates, so I don't mind.  It's not really that much anyway.

[AlexL]

I created another vase aquarium.

I wasn't planning on this, but I had a Cryptocoryne wendtii and extra Bucephalandra pymaea that were left over from the first planted vase I created two weeks ago, and they've been living in a small bucket since. Yesterday I bought another vase and today the cloudiness cleared:

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 1/18/2023 at 1:06 PM, AlexL said:

I created another vase aquarium.

I wasn't planning on this, but I had a Cryptocoryne wendtii and extra Bucephalandra pymaea that were left over from the first planted vase I created two weeks ago, and they've been living in a small bucket since. Yesterday I bought another vase and today the cloudiness cleared:

Pretty. Now for some shrimp or some bladder snails!

[A3M0N]

Water change, cleaning, plant trimming. And coffee! 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

I made a swim thru for Geppetto for about 2 bucks. I used Pvc, fishing line, and plant weights, eliminating the need for annoying suction cups.
 

I tied the fishing line in a loop around the PVC. The fishing line and the plant weights hang outside the tank while the PVC stays in there. No glue required as the fishing line stays tight against the pvc from the weight of the pipe. Hence no risk of fins getting caught.

This method allows placement of the pvc at the top of the tank since the pvc does not float. Once I slide my lid closed it will also keep the fishing line in place, although this seems redundant. The weights are doing the job.

This is a bottom tank, and placement of the swim thru at the back of the tank hides it from view. You must crouch down to look at the tank to see the pvc is there.

 

[Birdsnstuff]

Did a small water change and planted the cuttings I was given. I’m not sure if this is their permanent locations but they’re out of plastic bags. The Tiger lotus should give my 20H tank a pop of color and new leaf shape. I need to start a list of the plants I have now. I’m not good at remembering these things!

Edited January 22, 2023 by Birdsnstuff

[anewbie]

Well... I had a bit of an opps last night around 1am. I woke up - went to the office - didn't turn on the lights since the fishes were asleep and stepped on a mystery snail that had left his home and broke a portion of his shell. So.... i put it in my loach tank and this morning i had happy loaches and well not much of a mystery snail left. 

Now i know some of you are going to be upset with me but people are constantly saying you should feed your fishes live food occasionally and his shell was badly cracked - and you can't have it both way that is feeding your fishes live food and well not feeding them live food....

Anyway hopefully the other 30 or so will stay in their tank.

[CJhilljack]

I did a lot this weekend, including my 2nd week of clearing my 2 gallon jararium of as much duckweed as possible (I have nothing against duckweed, I just prefer frogbit), setting up an aquatic plant nursery from some tissue culture plants I picked up and a little something I hope will prove handy as I gather the things I'll need to set up my new 14 gallon tank, which I hope to set up in March. I laminated the "new tank checklist" I picked up on my first visit to Aquarium Coop. I have made notes & checked boxes of the things I have already using a Vis a Vis marker. I'll be able to erase it all when I'm done & reuse it down the road when I set up miniponds, new tanks or reset tanks. As a noob to the fishkeeping hobby & as someone with a poor memory these days, things like this are super handy. 

The top down tank photo is my 2 gallon jararium - just showing how effective the duckweed removal was. (will those tannins from my wood piece ever settle down?).

 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 1/22/2023 at 3:44 PM, CJhilljack said:

I laminated the "new tank checklist" I picked up on my first visit to Aquarium Coop. I have made notes & checked boxes of the things I have already using a Vis a Vis marker. I'll be able to erase it all when I'm done & reuse it down the road

I love that idea!  Very nice planning!

[JJenna]

I ditched the day sim program on the 40 breeder today. I couldn't get it higher than 20% output before I started growing algae like mad on all my plants and my foreground plants are suffering as well. I'm going to try dual siesta's to see if I can get the light intensity up a bit. 

[JJenna]

On 1/22/2023 at 11:17 AM, anewbie said:

Now i know some of you are going to be upset with me.

It's the Circle of Life! I bet your heart just sank when you heard that sound tho...sorry for your loss. Now I'm wondering if the egg crate lid will be sufficient on my grow out tank. Assuming my 2 clutches survive that it. 

[nabokovfan87]

I setup a QT for my Corydoras affectionately named Riddick now. (the one that has some eye stuff going on)

 

I got my order of botanicals on and in expecting something that is of volume. I ordered the "bigger pack" and it's supposed to be 50 cones. They are supposed to be 1/2"-1" in size. Supposed to be 5 -8 used per 10G.

Well. I imagine I'll toss in the entire pack and it won't do much.  I splayed these out on a plate so I could sort them, about 1/3 were crushed entirely, about 1/3 of them were extremely small and not what I was expecting. I have about 15-25 that are what I would call "what I actually expected and can use".

Just frustrating the disconnect between customer, website images, shop details, and what you get as a result. I had the same issue with order IALs and they were basically mush in a matter of days. I ordered these because everything tells me they will last, are a lot more substantial, and will do the same thing. I am going to have to find a different supply and try them out in lieu of these ones.

 

[Birdsnstuff]

On 1/22/2023 at 6:13 PM, JJenna said:

I ditched the day sim program on the 40 breeder today. I couldn't get it higher than 20% output before I started growing algae like mad on all my plants and my foreground plants are suffering as well. I'm going to try dual siesta's to see if I can get the light intensity up a bit. 

I like the siesta photo periods I've set up for my tanks. I went for a 5 on 4 off 5 on for one tank - it's algae free so far (fingers crossed and throws salt over shoulder..). It has an ancient dirt substrate covered with gravel/sand. The other tank has a 3 on 4 off 4 on timer right now - ancient Flora max substrate. It is more finicky than the other tank - I fight hair algae in that one which makes me suspect it's more over feeding than anything else. I just replaced my lights with Coop lights - so far so good! 

[CJhilljack]

On 1/22/2023 at 5:34 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

I setup a QT for my Corydoras affectionately named Riddick now. (the one that has some eye stuff going on)

 

I got my order of botanicals on and in expecting something that is of volume. I ordered the "bigger pack" and it's supposed to be 50 cones. They are supposed to be 1/2"-1" in size. Supposed to be 5 -8 used per 10G.

Well. I imagine I'll toss in the entire pack and it won't do much.  I splayed these out on a plate so I could sort them, about 1/3 were crushed entirely, about 1/3 of them were extremely small and not what I was expecting. I have about 15-25 that are what I would call "what I actually expected and can use".

Just frustrating the disconnect between customer, website images, shop details, and what you get as a result. I had the same issue with order IALs and they were basically mush in a matter of days. I ordered these because everything tells me they will last, are a lot more substantial, and will do the same thing. I am going to have to find a different supply and try them out in lieu of these ones.

 

Oh my goodness, we have those all over the place here - by which I mean outside, on the ground. So many alder trees. Maybe I should start collecting them?

[A3M0N]

Out with the old ... 

 

In with the new...

 

And I refilled the DIY co2 bottles. 

[Birdsnstuff]

I bought some new containers to corral some of the fish chemicals, food, equipment, random things that were scattered around the house.Random picture of my 15gal for fun. It isn’t particularly aquascaped but it is planted. It’s been with me a long time. Cardinal tetras and new to me Habrosus Corys - I’ve never had those before. So tiny and cute!

 

Edited January 24, 2023 by Birdsnstuff
Clarity