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I think temperature and age of the sperm packet may have something to do with it, maybe pH but thats just a wild theory.
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Jun 15, 2021 18:16
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The tragedies never stop in my tanks! Apparently, my mostly empty 10 gallon came down with a nasty case of anubias rot. Over ~48 I lost 1 large, very established a. barteri, a. nana and a. nangi. They were super healthy when I did a water change last weekend, but today they were nearly all rotten. The barteri has the best chance of coming back, but there wasn't much healthy rhizome left to save. The nana had a few leaves untouched, but I'm guessing the plant has been too damaged to save. Huge bummer, as I love anubias, but I think I'll be going all crypts in this tank moving forward. From this a few weeks ago:  To this today:  On a positive note, my CPDs are horny as hell. I've been pulling dozens of eggs a day for a week or so. Maybe this time I'll be able to let go of my babies and sell them to my LFS. https://thumbs.gfycat.com/NimbleDefinitiveGuillemot-mobile.mp4 edit: oh my god the video is huge. Schwack fucked around with this message at 21:23 on Jun 15, 2021 |
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Jun 15, 2021 21:08
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The bigger the video the better imo, I wanna see the microbes
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Jun 15, 2021 21:29
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Schwack posted:
I just moved my CPDs from quarantine last night and they're still schooling with my ember tetras. I can't help but think they're asking the ember's "are you my mommy?" Anywho! If for whatever reason you can't sell to LFS and they're reasonably shippable, I'd be happy to buy some from you! I have 18 now and would like another 12 or so. They're cute little stinkers 
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Jun 15, 2021 21:43
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BONGHITZ posted:The bigger the video the better imo, I wanna see the microbes I think I need a macro lens and better lighting, but this is the closest I can get to microscopic life:  Pulled 91 eggs this afternoon. Far and away the most I've ever gotten from them. I'm betting the water change I did yesterday triggered some serious spawning behavior. Feel like I'm gonna have to pull the mop sooner rather than later. candystarlight posted:I just moved my CPDs from quarantine last night and they're still schooling with my ember tetras. I can't help but think they're asking the ember's "are you my mommy?" Maybe! I'm nervous enough buying fish online, selling them online is sort of terrifying. I was supposed to sell my first group of ~50 to my LFS, but I just couldn't part with them. They're definitely one of my favorite fish. I always hear how skittish they are, but mine are crazy friendly.
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Jun 15, 2021 23:29
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In my experience with guppies it is very temperature dependent, my tank where heater broke tended towards female fry whereas my other tank was more balanced. Maybe in the cool season the females are born so that they're old enough to have many more babies of their own by the time food is more plentiful in the warmer season? I haven't tried running my guppies in a hot tank to see if it tips towards more male fry.
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Jun 16, 2021 01:44
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Schwack posted:I think I need a macro lens and better lighting, but this is the closest I can get to microscopic life: How do you collect the cpd eggs? My LFS won't give me credit for them, I'm a bit bummed
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Jun 16, 2021 03:03
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So far, a big hole eaten out of one of my german rams. I guess he got beaten and/or eaten. Same with the big goby. I'm going to run tests, refill tank and change the water. Wouldn't I see a dragonfly nymph at all They breathe with their butts so they have to do that.
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Jun 16, 2021 03:13
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DeadlyMuffin posted:How do you collect the cpd eggs? I keep a small plastic tub in their tank with susswassertang/hornwort/guppy grass/anachris to encourage them to spawn. I've gone to a yarn spawning mop lately, however, because it's a bit easier to reuse and clear out. Just lift the whole thing out, shake the mop out a bit and slurp em up with a pipette. Mine will take them, but they want em to be a few months old. Typically, the fish they get are just starting to show color and are ~1/2" long.
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Jun 16, 2021 03:20
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Stoca Zola posted:In my experience with guppies it is very temperature dependent, my tank where heater broke tended towards female fry whereas my other tank was more balanced. Maybe in the cool season the females are born so that they're old enough to have many more babies of their own by the time food is more plentiful in the warmer season? I haven't tried running my guppies in a hot tank to see if it tips towards more male fry. Thanks. This certainly is consistent with conditions here. They've been in the cooler end of their range so far. Heated, but underpowered.
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Jun 16, 2021 03:40
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I love how CPD look once they're grown up. One of my favorite danios, ever. I may see what my bioload is. AqAdvisor didn't have the fish I have.
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Jun 16, 2021 04:10
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Yeah is this heatwave bringing on a bunch of snails or something? I hadn't seen a single snail until just today and there's a bunch of them. Now granted, I know maybe I need to help curb algae or something to take away a food source, but should I be worried that these little snails in my tub pond are just going to kill everything? Some videos online seem to say they're okay or I can remove them with traps or just physically picking them out. And this brings me to another newbie question: can I just buy algae remover stuff from a local store and drop it into the water with what few mosquitofish I have living in there? I don't know if I could ever remove my fish just to kill algae and put them back.
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Jun 18, 2021 20:41
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Warmer water = less oxygen, so snails are coming to the surface where more oxygen is available? Just a guess. Personally I wouldn't use a chemical algae remover, there are barley straw based algae suppressors which I believe are less drastic in their action to stop algae getting out of hand. In the same way katappa leaves are anti-fungal it seems that barley straw is anti-algal, it releases useful compounds as it breaks down. You've got a good chance of snail apocalypse using a bottle of chemical algae killer, which would foul up the water in no time (depending on which ingredients are used) and the process also deoxygenates the water so you'd need a way to add a ton more oxygenation to try to save the inhabitants of the pond. It depends on how bad the algae is, I kind of like algae as a nutrient exporter but you don't want it choking things up.
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Jun 18, 2021 21:44
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Do mystery snails make a legion? I kinda want one of the purpley.
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Jun 19, 2021 06:55
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Aerofallosov posted:Do mystery snails make a legion? I kinda want one of the purpley. Females will lay egg clutches above the water line. If you don't want babies, scrape out the clutch and toss it. I'm not sure how long they can remain fertilized prior to laying if you buy just a single one, but Mystery's do require a male and a female. Females also occasionally lay unfertilized clutches. Beware, Mystery's are known to climb right up and out of the tank in search of a suitable laying spot, so if you don't have a lid just check around the tank daily. They seal themselves up well and can live (IME) ~2 days out of water. Purple and magenta are my favorite
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Jun 19, 2021 07:14
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Cowslips Warren posted:what else is in the tank? have you gotten a new source of water? how often do you water change? Hello again, sorry for the late reply. My water source has not changed, I have been doing a weekly 20% change as recommended for an axolotl. I just have a ceramic plate and two flat stones (pet shop brought) for Giger to stand on. Desert Bus posted:Can you please smell the water that is going in? I just smelled both my tanks and it's more of a planty/organic smell like you get from badly made marijuana food. The water going in has no scent, our tap water is good quality here, all I add is the conditioner to remove the chlorine. I did give the filter and it’s media a “clean” following instructions from a fish keeping website to keep the bacteria alive, but I am wondering if I have done it badly and managed to wipe out the colonies.
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Jun 21, 2021 08:03
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Extra row of tits posted:Hello again, sorry for the late reply. Did you clean all the filters at once? If so, you are probably going through a cycle again. I'd nix the bare bottom. Put sand in, it gives the good bacteria somewhere else to colonize. Also, any plants, even fake ones? Tank sounds a bit bare.
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Jun 21, 2021 14:39
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Hello again, It was a single internal filter. I have already started cycling again. The tank is a fairly small one we have been using while setting up the perminant much bigger one.
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Jun 21, 2021 22:26
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I have thought of another question.. My new tank will be 65L with a filter suitable for a 75L tank. I will still have my old filter (40L). Do you think it would be useful to also keep it in the tank for bacteria growth? I thought I might baffle it so it does not bother the axo to much.
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Jun 21, 2021 23:55
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Extra row of tits posted:I have thought of another question.. That's probably your best bet for getting the new filter seasoned relatively quickly. Anything you can bring from the old tank to the new will help move things along. If you're worried about blowing your critter around with too much filtration, I'd only run the new filter.
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Jun 22, 2021 00:06
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Can also put a filter sponge over the inlet of your pump to slow the flow down a little on the way out. If you have that type of filter.
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Jun 22, 2021 00:15
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That's great advise, thank you everyone. I'm off to an exam now, can I perhaps ask your advice on the best way to set up my new filter when I'm back? I will link the model and the contents I have.
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Jun 22, 2021 01:39
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Good luck on your exam! There's a series of videos on YouTube "Pimp my filter" by pondguru which go into different filter models and how to set them up for better filtration, you don't have to copy exactly how he does it, but he explains what he's doing and why, so that can help to work out your own filter situation.
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Jun 22, 2021 02:51
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Got down to some practical re-configuration to improve circulation, speed up cleaning, and remove as many deadzones as I could this weekend. Replaced a lot of the smaller rocks with a couple nice big rocks to reduce clutter and help channel water better, plus a circulation pump which stirred up a ton of debris. Aside from generally cleaning up the tank these changes have made the shrimp much more active foraging out of hiding. Next up is to try setting up air cooling to drop the temperature a couple degrees if possible. The redbelly dace have been really good aquarium fish so far. They look great with some super bright reds and black markings when they're excited (e.g. brine shrimp time), school together constantly, eat pretty much everything really well including diatom patches (hooray super high phosphorus tap water), and leave everyone else alone. Even the little cherry shrimp don't seem to attract their attention at all. Now they even swim up to the glass now when somebody comes near the tank. The stonerollers have finally started taking some flake food after I started feeding brine shrimp. They've started to understand that human + stuff falling down from the surface = tasty food. Their primary mission of destroying all algae has been mostly successful (as seen in the background above diligently cleaning up the driftwood) and while they can't quite keep up with the growth they're at least keeping the anubias leaves clean enough. Warbadger fucked around with this message at 03:46 on Jun 22, 2021 |
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Jun 22, 2021 03:31
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Warbadger posted:Got down to some practical re-configuration to improve circulation, speed up cleaning, and remove as many deadzones as I could this weekend. Replaced a lot of the smaller rocks with a couple nice big rocks to reduce clutter and help channel water better, plus a circulation pump which stirred up a ton of debris. Aside from generally cleaning up the tank these changes have made the shrimp much more active foraging out of hiding. Next up is to try setting up air cooling to drop the temperature a couple degrees if possible. Those are really cool. They remind me of the Patagonia fish logo.
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Jun 22, 2021 16:03
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Desert Bus posted:Mini Rabbits! Stay small, will breed if you're into that, and mine don't really burrow, which is nice. Sorry just wondering whether this means dwarf rabbits? Seems like there are several breeds? I don't know how many places around me in Vancouver will have them actually. You can't mail livestock in Canada.
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Jun 22, 2021 21:29
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Stoca Zola posted:Good luck on your exam! There's a series of videos on YouTube "Pimp my filter" by pondguru which go into different filter models and how to set them up for better filtration, you don't have to copy exactly how he does it, but he explains what he's doing and why, so that can help to work out your own filter situation. That was a good suggestion, annoyingly he reviews the filter model above and below the one I got but he provided good tips for setting up my new one. Another foolish question, do the aquarium rocks constantly crumble? I realised today I am always removing tiny fragments which I had always assumed was simply food waste, but today I realised there is a lot of the particles in the cave I made out of the rocks. I’m wondering now if much of the particulates in the water are from the rocks.
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Jun 22, 2021 23:35
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Extra row of tits posted:That was a good suggestion, annoyingly he reviews the filter model above and below the one I got but he provided good tips for setting up my new one. What kind of rock is it? Never had one flake - maybe sandstone or some other sedimentary rock with limestone in it that's slowly dissolving?
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Jun 23, 2021 01:13
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Depending on what rocks you used - I've seen dragon stone /ohko rock that does have a lot of debris stuck in it and needs a lot of work to get clean. Where did you source your rocks? Suitable rocks for aquarium use shouldn't be crumbling but it might just be debris that is coming loose, and if so it will settle down over time. Got any pictures of your set up?
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Jun 23, 2021 01:16
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They are large flat stones I brought from our largest chain pet store in our country. They were advertised as being for a fish tank. Potentially I could ask the store if they happen to know what they are. At the moment the tank is effectively empty, just the rocks, internal filter and a bag of bio noodles (to place in the new filter when it arrives). I have noticed the water is definitely clearer than it was a couple of days ago so with any luck you are right about the cycle restarting.
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Jun 23, 2021 02:33
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For the aquarium co-op's sponge filter, will I need two if I want to use the floss (debris catchin') together with it.
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Jun 23, 2021 04:43
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Extra row of tits posted:They are large flat stones I brought from our largest chain pet store in our country. They were advertised as being for a fish tank. Potentially I could ask the store if they happen to know what they are. If you buy bagged seiyru/dragonstone/etc from places such as Petco/chewy/etc, that stuff needs to be cleaned and soaked and broken up a fair amount before it can go into an aquarium without flaking and releasing a fuckton of mud. There’s a lot of caked mud in those rocks, particularly the dragonstone. It’s worth breaking up the big pieces with a hammer and spraying everything down with a hose for a good while. You’ll often find soft mud pockets deep inside the rocks that won’t be easily soaked out, plus that’s where the prettiest rock shapes and striations are. Also get a big bucket and soak them shits. Soak em overnight before you spend an afternoon getting them tank-ready. I should’ve said that sooner. And do collect all of the shards, those are excellent for blending your rockscape into your gravel. I use a bunch in my tanks and for bonsai and they need a fair amount of cleaning and breaking before they’re usable, but they look really nice when you’re done. But also do expect that like 10% of the volume is just mud (but there’s usually a lot of excellent shards in there too. Shards are very important for rockscaping) trilobite terror fucked around with this message at 14:59 on Jun 23, 2021 |
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Jun 23, 2021 14:55
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If it’s any use the sticker on the rock states they are “schist”
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Jun 24, 2021 01:01
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One of my denison barbs managed to get itself wedged behind a heating rod, and I have no idea how long he was stuck there before I found him. He's swimming ok, but has some damage on his left side.
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Jun 24, 2021 01:23
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Extra row of tits posted:If it’s any use the sticker on the rock states they are “schist” Assuming it's actually schist it should be perfectly safe for the aquarium, but given it's made of thin layers of sediment baked together I'm not too surprised you see some flaking. Give it a scrubbing in a bit of aquarium water to break up anything loose and see if that helps. Enos Cabell posted:One of my denison barbs managed to get itself wedged behind a heating rod, and I have no idea how long he was stuck there before I found him. He's swimming ok, but has some damage on his left side. Well, if he's swimming and eating ok he might be fine. Two of my little red crystal skrimps are currently exploring the inside of my pre-filter. Kinda worried they'll end up wedged in there or get sucked up. Warbadger fucked around with this message at 01:33 on Jun 24, 2021 |
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Jun 24, 2021 01:28
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Enos Cabell posted:One of my denison barbs managed to get itself wedged behind a heating rod, and I have no idea how long he was stuck there before I found him. He's swimming ok, but has some damage on his left side. poor dude I’d watch him closely, probably even quarantine him separately for a few weeks right away to be safe. Burns in fish/kept underwater are no joke and he’s gonna start growing bacteria/the other fish are gonna start picking at it like crazy real quick if he’s in a community tank
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Jun 24, 2021 01:30
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I'm going to keep a close eye on him, but it appears that it's not burn damage and actually physical damage from struggling to get free. I'm thinking the heater probably wasn't on, since I keep the tanks at the same temp as my house at 76F during the summer. In any case, I've got a hospital tank ready to go if he needs it.
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Jun 24, 2021 13:34
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Cowslips Warren posted:Did you clean all the filters at once? If so, you are probably going through a cycle again. Hello, It seems you were exactly right. I just checked in and the water is close to crystal clear again. Thanks for the help.
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Jun 24, 2021 14:56
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Warbadger posted:Two of my little red crystal skrimps are currently exploring the inside of my pre-filter. Kinda worried they'll end up wedged in there or get sucked up. I've heard multiple stories of people going to clean their filter only to find a colony of shrimps happily living and breeding in there.
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Jun 24, 2021 15:39
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I did a write up about my pond for my mother in law who’s interested in me making a pond for her. Please let me know what you think! https://imgur.com/gallery/22fSct4 E: I’m looking at the imigur post and not seeing the write up, so here it is if it’s not visible in the link. In the short video I’m basically saying what I wrote. I circled the main components you can see in the picture. This is a breakdown of the self cleaning mechanisms of my 110 gallon koi pond. Two young butterfly koi, two large minnows, a population of vector guppies, and a population of 30 ghost shrimp originally. There is of course a huge population of round pond snails, and Malaysian Cone Snails that live in the substrate, stirring things up by diggin. I also put in several portions of live blackworms, which for some reason also seem to be key to the pond, I think it’s because they’re fed microorganisms called daphnia that colonize the water, creating another step in the food web that keeps the water crystal clear. Red = Cover: this is the main area that is like the koi living room. The cover is important to limit two of the main components of the pond, sunlight and phosphorus. This area was designed to be 2/3’s of the surface area. The bottom of this area is the all important substrate that I’ll get to later. Yellow = Cinderblock and shore: To make the underwater environment interesting I put in cinderblocks, stacked in such a way to create a planter that never really worked right, and a simulated shoreline and some underwater “tunnels” that make the fish feel safe and create places for the shrimp to hide that isn’t hyacinth roots. It’s only a thin strip in the picture but think of it more like a slice of the pie. On the surface it’s a place for me to add washed “play sand” you can buy at Home Depot, to create something like an eroding shoreline. I add the sand to the layer of “Mexican beach pebble” because in nature there’s shoreline and added sediment. The simulated shoreline is where I sprinkle fish food so the koi and the minnows have something interesting to do that brings them into contact with humans, trying to grab food on the shore while still having a place to escape to quickly, the “underwater tunnels” made by the cinderblocks. The bottom of this area is all cinderblock. Dark Green = Clearwater Pool: This is where I add water and interact with the fish, this area is blocked from duckweed by the pressure of the water falling off the spillway and the shoreline, a big chunk of hyacinth plugging the small channel on the surface. The bottom of this area is all large rocks from the size of nectarines to the size of grapefruit, to keep the bottom stable against the huge pressure of me dumping a bucket of water in. When I dump in water, a little sloshes onto the “shore” area creating cool lookin erosion patterns like miniature cliffs, and more importantly, dislocating aerobic bacteria that lives in the surface sand as part of the cycle. This way there is mainly large rocks and a bit of washed in sand at the bottom of the pool area. The intake for the filter is also located here in this mostly plant and dirt free area. Blue = Spillway “filter”: Something I learned having a freshwater fish tank is that the “filter” is less of a filter and more of a place for aerobic bacteria to live. The bacteria turn ammonia from fish waste into phosphates the plants can absorb, the action of the waterfall mixes in oxygen that binds iron to the phosphates and causes them to sink into the soil, and in my pond design, causes them to settle into the still “plant cover” slice that has the super important substrate bottom. The spillway is filled with pea gravel, washed play sand, small Mexican beach pebble and topped with large Mexican beach pebble. The spillway can be changed to a bog garden filter in a larger design. WHAT YOU CANT SEE - THE VERY IMPORTANT SUBSTRATE Under the cover layer, the bottom is about 3-5 inches of layered substrate. At the very bottom is a vermiculite free topsoil, mixed with compost that has had a long time to grow ANAEROBIC bacteria. Anaerobic bacteria is harmful to fish and full of nutrients, it’s what makes the swamp gas smell and is primarily a facilitator of necessary decay. If you don’t have a separate place for the anaerobes to live happily, they float free in the water causing all kinds of problems and making the pond look gross af. The substrate is the soil compost mixture that sat in water I pulled out of the bottom of my freshwater tank, long enough to be inoculated with proper cultures. This makes a stinky mud you put down, then cover with washed pea gravel to keep locked in place, the inch or two of gravel making a permeable screen that junk sinks down into the mud through. On the gravel I layered an inch or so of washed play sand as a top layer for two reasons. I planted rooting underwater plants in this sand, and the koi like to dig in it. After observing my tank being much happier once I added a top layer of sand, I felt that it would be good based on how much happier it looks. I think the cone snails do something in this sand layer I’m not completely aware of, turning it and burrowing as they go through their life cycles. The ghost shrimp keep everything groomed with their little pinchers, and they’re deliciously edible to everything larger than them, they also give live birth which means they’re replenishing their numbers. I don’t know that the blackworms survived in the “shore” area, but after I added them everything bloomed with life, so for whatever reason they seem very important. I don’t test anything, ever, I feel it’s a waste of time, money and effort. If it looks like poo poo something is wrong, that’s enough of an indication for me. Early on I had problems with pH that I solved by tossing in wadded handfuls of peat moss into the Clearwater pool area. The action of the spillway pounded the moss into the water, mixing it really good and making the water softer. Cinderblocks are way too alkaline typically, but after they’ve soaked for a while with the peat to balance their pH, the problem went away. Solvent fucked around with this message at 17:32 on Jun 24, 2021 |
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Jun 24, 2021 17:13
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