What did you get done today?

[ADMWNDSR83]

15 minutes ago, Krakens_tanks said:

Finally finished setting up my planted 40G 

Update on the 40g finally got everything set up

Full spectrum lighting ✔️
300w heater✔️
Large sponge and aqua clear hob ✔️
Fluval stratum and black diamond sand ✔️
Brazilian pennywort ✔️
Java fern ✔️
Christmas moss ✔️

Now just to get my stock in the next few weeks my idea is 30 black neon tetras and a pair of dwarf cichlids on the bottom as showpieces.

Looking nice!  Can't wait to see the plants grow in some!

[Krakens_tanks]

Just now, ADMWNDSR83 said:

Looking nice!  Can't wait to see the plants grow in some!

Thanks! Me to I just received my order from co-op yesterday so they are freshly planted exited to see the growth myself

[DSH OUTDOORS]

My two new 40 gallon breeders are cycled and ready for fish. The first with all black substrate has 8 Platy, 10 albino cory, a few otocinclus and an amano shrimp.

The second with white sand dividing the black planted areas will be filled with red eye cauliflower swordtails and gold lazer cory. The weather here gets nice for the week come Monday so new fish will be shipped on Monday!

Both are heavily planted, looking forward to the jungle getting fully established.

 

[Ben_RF]

While doing my quarterly gravel vac on my planted 35g tank, I found over a dozen juvenile panda corydoras under a set of rock piles.  Absolutely excited in one hand but now not sure what I am going to do with all these panda cories as I have no LFS/LPS that will even take them for free once grown (maybe they are grown enough now they are about 1/2 the size of an adult).  

[H.K.Luterman]

I usually never clean the side panels on my tanks, but I wanted to try out my new large-sized Magfloat from the Co-Op on the 75. It took some scrubbing, that was a tough, thick layer of algae. It got it done though.

[TheDukeAnumber1]

Not really something I got done today but super cute and involves a Murphy hat.

I get home from work and my little girl grabs my hat n glasses and says "look I'm daddy now"

[Lifeisgood]

On 4/1/2021 at 3:38 PM, Ben_RF said:

While doing my quarterly gravel vac on my planted 35g tank, I found over a dozen juvenile panda corydoras under a set of rock piles.  Absolutely excited in one hand but now not sure what I am going to do with all these panda cories as I have no LFS/LPS that will even take them for free once grown (maybe they are grown enough now they are about 1/2 the size of an adult).  

I see another tank in your future!😁

[Emika_B]

Did an emergency full water change on my quarantine tank using tested water from the big tank.  I’d lost all but 4 of the 15 rummy nose tetras I’d picked up Wednesday.  Wasn’t sure if it was a bad batch of fish (there were some questionable fish in the tank at the store) or an ammonia spike in the quarantine tank.  The other quarantine residents were fine, so I think it was the fish but figured it’s better safe than sorry.  Couldn’t rely on water test because it was medicated.

And added water to the big tank to replace the water put into the quarantine tank.

[Anita]

Wee-ee! Local temps hit 77°F yesterday! 😎

Getting ready for summer pond season. And also, prepping "driftwood" for the aquariums. Cleaned the winter sludge out of the plastic pool, filled it with clean water. Weighted down some roots that have been soaking since last fall.

Dug up some dead roots and got them soaking.

[ChemBob]

Planted some crypts in both tanks today. Also have a future aquarist in training helping out. 

[Hobbit]

I bought a new honey gourami from a fish store on our way back from some medical travel! Mom Fish is slowing down and I’d like to get Dad Fish a new mate. I could save a female baby for that, but I’d like to keep at least some genetic diversity in my stock. I’m not sure yet if the fish I got is a boy or girl, but either way, it sure looks healthy and energetic! When the employee was trying to net it, it leapt out of the tank. Then lo and behold, the lady caught it in her free hand! It was quite impressive. Less impressive was when I left my purse in the bathroom (they had a bathroom!! With a cleaning schedule!!) and didn’t realize it was gone until we were 40 minutes down the road. 😛

The new gourami currently in quarantine until I pull one last batch of babies from Mom Fish and Dad Fish. Then I’ll add the newcomer to the 55 and see what kind of chaos ensues. 

[MattyIce]

With 15+ tanks, when taking a bunch of samples, I tend to loose track of which one came from which tank, so I came up with an idea today.  Using some multi wall lexan I had left over from making lids, white plastic cover still on it so the colors stand out better, I used a sharpie to write out my tanks, and hung it up.  The freshly dipped strips stick nicely:
 

The only negative I’ve found so far is if they are too wet they can drip onto other strips and change their readings.

a lot of room for improvement, like using a more opaque white so the strip colors stand out even better, but really happy with how well it works.

[Struggle]

We had our three sons all together for the first time in about three years this weekend and we were able to get a rack built to hold the 180G, 20s & 10s. We really enjoyed spending quality time with them, the rack was just a bonus!

[Hobbit]

So this happened!

 

[Anita]

On 4/5/2021 at 6:48 PM, MattyIce said:

With 15+ tanks, when taking a bunch of samples, I tend to loose track of which one came from which tank, so I came up with an idea today.  Using some multi wall lexan I had left over from making lids, white plastic cover still on it so the colors stand out better, I used a sharpie to write out my tanks, and hung it up.  The freshly dipped strips stick nicely:
The only negative I’ve found so far is if they are too wet they can drip onto other strips and change their readings.

a lot of room for improvement, like using a more opaque white so the strip colors stand out even better, but really happy with how well it works.

ORD 💜 This is brilliant! 😃 How about laying the lexan flat and horizontal until the strips absorb some water? Then tip the lexan vertical for easier viewing. 

[gogomarigo]

Update on indoor pond (ignore the dead plant in the corner that did not survive shipping😅)

Image: black plastic bin with water, floating plants, and small orange and white fish

[Emika_B]

A while back I’d purchased 15 rummy nose tetras from local fish shop A.  In quarantine, all but 1 died.  I don’t think they were doing well to begin with and I shouldn’t have picked them up.  Oh well, lesson learned - don’t buy rummies from that shop.

Today I was thinking I’d add a few more fish to the quarantine tank before starting the med trio.  I have the 1 rummy nose and 5 dwarf neon rainbows that were purchased at store A.  There’s also a ‘bully’ dwarf neon rainbow and a ‘bully’ male guppy.  I tested the water a did a small water change then ventured off to another fish store, we’ll call it B.

Store B didn’t have any more dwarf neon rainbows (bummer) but they did have rummies.  Did I dare try again?  Yes, yes I did.  Brought home 15 rummies and a small batch of anacharis.  So, fingers crossed I’ll have at least 10 rummies at the end of quarantine.

I’ll give the new kids a couple of days to settle in, eat a bit then start on the med trio.  Send my new finned friends good vibes!

[Jungle Fan]

So I finally got something worthy posting on this thread, after several years of faithful service my old API Filstar L canister filter kicked the canister today, the motor just didn't want to motor any longer.

Early morning panic but there was still a little bit of flow coming out of it. So after a quick inventory I took the sponges out the  API Filstar L, and transferred them to a quickly set up Aquaclear 70 that had been sitting in my garage for a while,  I left the Sera Siporax, and the Eheim pre-filter running on the API Filstar L.

After a short search of what's out there and available I settled on a Fluval 407 of which only one was available in the larger area at a Petsmart 21 miles away in the next town, so after prepping for the tank overhaul I got in the car and picked it up, they even had the spray bar kit in case I wanted more flow, I got both but I'll see how the flow turns out without the spray bar first.

First time ever I actually had one of their $25 coupons of any purchase over $100 when I could use it, and it also happened to be on closeout and reduced by $87, woohoo, jackpot.Transferred the sponge from the Aquaclear 70 to the Fluval 407, and the Siporax from the API Filstar L, then began the fun with the Fluval hoses, after I figured it out it really was no big deal.

The Eheim pre-filter needed a tubing piece from an even older Rena Filstar to be a connector to fit. 53 years of fishkeeping have taught me to hang on to miscellaneous tubing, and parts, so one trip to the garage, the Fluval tube shortened with a plastic tube cutter , and the 407 was souped up to my liking.

Priming went faster than any other canister, and oh horror, I had looked at the page and overlooked that in and out flow were opposite of what the API Filstar L had been, so unhook the hoses again, drain the filter again, switch the hoses around, in and out flow reversed, airstone, Surface skimmer, heater, and CO2 diffuser moved around, filter primed again and working, tank refilled, plastic pieces on the lids re-cut, and we're back in business.

I'm glad I had kept the Aquaclear 70, and miscellaneous parts from my Aquarist pack rat collection special edition, and that  I build my substrate bio-filter with plenty of crushed lava rock, also glad I chose to do my jungle and not an Iwagumi. Water quality is same as before, and it seems disaster was averted and my bestest beneficial bacteria buddies in my filter, my fish, and plants were saved by quick, and exhausting action.

However, tomorrow will be another water test, and I will keep checking for the next week. For tonight I need a hot tub soak to relieve the knee pain from crawling around on the floor while fixing hoses. Little souvenir from my time working for Uncle Sam.

Edited April 10, 2021 by Jungle Fan

[Anita]

32 minutes ago, Jungle Fan said:

First time ever I actually had one of their $25 coupons of any purchase over $100 when I could use it, and it also happened to be on closeout and reduced by $87, woohoo, jackpot.

The stars were in alignment today. Did you buy a lottery ticket? 😁

[MattyIce]

On 4/6/2021 at 11:27 PM, Anita said:

ORD 💜 This is brilliant! 😃 How about laying the lexan flat and horizontal until the strips absorb some water? Then tip the lexan vertical for easier viewing. 

Thank you, the strips are most accurate after a min so I can’t really wait for them to dry and not needing to have it flat saves a lot of space.

Been using it daily for certain tanks, 6-7 strips a day, and have not had any issues with drips messing up readings, instead of putting it directly on after dipping I’ve been waiting 5-10 seconds, seems to work well.

[Jungle Fan]

12 hours ago, Anita said:

The stars were in alignment today. Did you buy a lottery ticket? 😁

I had both probability, and statistics classes in college. I knew that both of these events occurring on the same day had about as much probability as three super novas and a complete eclipse of the sun occurring on the same day - so, uh, no. I'd rather invest that money in some tacos. 😄

[Maggie]

I've had some back problems the past week or so, but found guppy fry in the quarantine tank today, there's now 6 or 7 danio fry large enough to eat BBS, my lily has sent one leaf to the top and is sending another, 2 of my anubias have new leaves, a stem plant I trimmed has a second branch on it, and all but a few select plants are currently doing much better than I! 

[Jungle Fan]

Update:

So after two days of fiddling around with the Fluval 407's flow control adjustment and in-flow nozzle, trying out the Fluval spray bar kit as well, I decided to replace the Fluval 407's nozzle which adjusts only from side to side with the nozzle of the Filstar L because it rotates on a ball joint and allows for up and down adjustment as well as side to side. Now the flow is just right to produce just enough surface agitation for the Kessils to produce their sunshine imitating shimmer effect again. CO2 and ph are stable as well. All is well again in the mini jungle. Running exchange from one filter to another without the slightest change in water parameters, mission accomplished. Sure glad I kept the Aquaclear 70 for just such an emergency.

[CalmedByFish]

On 4/10/2021 at 3:34 PM, Maggie said:

I've had some back problems the past week or so, but...

Isn't it amazing how some other part of life can be a pain in the... back... but something cool with the tanks still brings joy? I love that about them. I found teeny bits of duckweed today that must've ridden in on other plants I recently bought. It felt as if a living thing appeared magically. Fish tanks are real-life sci-fi. 🙂 

I hope your back improves soon. 

[anewbie]

Yesterday i replaced the substrate in one of my 29. The old stuff had gotten foul and was producing a lot of gas - still a bit of a mess but will give it a couple of days to settle before cleaning up. Everyone has settle back in but the kuhli who haven't calmed down yet:

 

Tank is well established - about 18 months old well  - before i replaced the substrate. The new stuff is a bit coarser so hopefully it will breath better. Gotta tell you those dwarf lilies develop massive root systems - put my sword plants to shame.