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Not Your Senorita posted:ShaneB, just something to watch out for in case you didn't already know since you mentioned the plant looking a little funny: Cryptocorynes like your plant tend to go through a melting period where the leaves turn mushy and fall off after a major (or sometimes minor... one of mine started melting when I added an extra dose of Excel a week to help my amazon swords grow better) change in their conditions. It looks like the plant is dying, especially if it starts losing a bunch of leaves at once, but it's not. It just looks gross for a little bit before it grows new leaves to replace the ones that melted off. It's kind of annoying but mostly harmless as long as you don't let all the melty leaf bits rot in your tank. Right now a few leaves look a little "fuzzy". Is that melting, or something more insidious?  Also, all my rams do is this:  It's depressing me. 
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Oct 13, 2015 15:11
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Yeah, the ends of some of those leaves definitely look melty to me. It'll spread through the whole leaf and then the stems will go mushy, too. Fortunately, established plants usually grow leaves back really quickly after a melt, even if they lose all of them. I'm hoping yours won't lose too many since you moved it to much better conditions than it was in!
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Oct 13, 2015 15:41
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Not Your Senorita posted:Yeah, the ends of some of those leaves definitely look melty to me. It'll spread through the whole leaf and then the stems will go mushy, too. Fortunately, established plants usually grow leaves back really quickly after a melt, even if they lose all of them. I'm hoping yours won't lose too many since you moved it to much better conditions than it was in! Should I just pull all the stems with bad leaves off at the base? Some aren't super attractive and I was just hoping they'd perk up. I'm completely new to growing anything, aquarium or otherwise. Edit: poo poo. There seems to be a fungus starting on my driftwood. I'm concerned I have a fungal infection starting... that might be on the plant leaves as well? ShaneB fucked around with this message at 15:49 on Oct 13, 2015 |
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Oct 13, 2015 15:44
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ShaneB posted:Should I just pull all the stems with bad leaves off at the base? Some aren't super attractive and I was just hoping they'd perk up. I'm completely new to growing anything, aquarium or otherwise. Yeah, if you see leaves that have mostly turned to mush or are slimy/fuzzy like that, you can just pull them before they disintegrate into the tank since they're as good as gone. If it's a leaf with a tiny bit of melt at the tip, maybe wait and see what happens since sometimes those don't keep melting.
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Oct 13, 2015 15:51
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ShaneB posted:Should I just pull all the stems with bad leaves off at the base? Some aren't super attractive and I was just hoping they'd perk up. I'm completely new to growing anything, aquarium or otherwise. Is it green? Could just be algae. Snails and shrimp love that garbage.
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Oct 13, 2015 16:07
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SynthOrange posted:Freshwater Aquarium thread E/N edition. Nooo it wasn't anything violent haha. The design of the filter makes pebbles get stuck down inside it all the time, he was trying to get them out by holding it upside down and knocking on the bottom with his fist, he slipped and his hand went right through the very thin shell of the filter. It's this decorative thing that's supposed to look like a rock waterfall and it's really fragile. I think it can be fixed using aquarium sealant to glue the broken piece back in the hole that's now there, but it's a good excuse to just go ahead and upgrade the filter since my crap machine/turtle needs more filtration anyway. republicant fucked around with this message at 16:18 on Oct 13, 2015 |
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Oct 13, 2015 16:13
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ShaneB posted:Edit: poo poo. There seems to be a fungus starting on my driftwood. I'm concerned I have a fungal infection starting... that might be on the plant leaves as well? Just saw this! I see what you're talking about on the plant leaves in the picture, and it looks like it might be a bacteria or fungus growing on the decaying plant matter. I don't see it on any healthy leaves, so removing the dead/dying ones should fix it. As far as the driftwood, I know sometimes new driftwood does get a weird slimy bacterial growth on it (I don't remember what it is exactly) after putting it in a new tank and tends to clear up on its own. Yours isn't new, but since you tore down the tank and re-established everything, that could be what it is. You can try scrubbing it off if it's really bothering you, but it'll probably grow back until it goes away on its own. Shrimp, snails, and sometimes fish will eat it if you want a more natural way of controlling it until it goes away.
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Oct 13, 2015 16:56
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Got back home from thanksgiving, lost two more guppies. Remaining one seems to be doing alright, as the previous signs of disease have receded. My parents had a couple of old filters and a heater from when they kept fish which still work, although all we coated in calcium and who knows what other minerals from the water there. After adding the second heater I was finally able to push the tank temperature to 30c, and the ich seems to be getting under control (No new cysts, and the ones that have them seem to be losing cysts and not developing new ones), although it will be a few weeks or more before I can be certain. One thing I did not check in my initial testing of the filters was the seal of the pump to the filtration container, and despite several attempts to reseat it, it constantly drips water out. I have read a number of approaches that might fix this, such as smearing vegetable oil on the gasket to rehydrate it, or to straight up replace it, but has anyone had to do this before, and if so have any tips? It is an old aquaclear, for reference.
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Oct 13, 2015 20:55
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republicant posted:Also I got a new Marineland Penguin 350 filter. With both the Marineland and the canister filter I keep reading people talking about "priming" the filters, what exactly does that mean? I'm still getting used to using anything besides those 10 gallon Tetra filters you suction cup to the side of the tank. It means you have to suck some water into the filter manually the first time before you kick it on. Just YouTube it and you'll be off to the races in no time. Welcome to the cannister club!
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Oct 13, 2015 21:57
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I think the male guppy had a normal case of finrot and then tore his tail open. Both females are showing signs of stress as well. However, the fry and my (very lonely) cory cat are showing no signs of illness. The fry have gone from a pair of eyes and a tail to tiny fish which seem to be showing signs of sexual dimorphism. I believe that the initial guppies are recovering from shipping as everything else seems to be fine. Water parameters show ammonia and nitrites at 0 at nitrates at around 10 ppm. Parents are being kept in the main tank (although they were in a hospital tank initially. I am dosing a small amount of aquarium salt (has not bothered my plants or my cory) and Paraguard. As for why there is only one cory cat, I really wanted Sterba's as they can handle warmer water temperatures. The LFS only had one. I purchased the guppies before getting more sterbas because I'm adding pearl gourami (and more sterbas probably from liveaquaria) and I wanted to have the other fish established first.
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Oct 13, 2015 23:12
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I was having some second thoughts and it hadn't been prepared for shipment yet so I went ahead and canceled my Amazon order for the canister filter... and changed it from the 100 gallon model to the 150 gallon model instead.  Can't wait to see how clean this thing is going to keep a 55 gallon tank.
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Oct 14, 2015 01:31
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Picked up 5 clown loaches and 6 skunk cories today. After QT the loaches will be joining the 3 I have in the 180, and the cories will hopefully keep my single orange laser cory company in the 90 planted tank.
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Oct 14, 2015 02:20
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One of these things is not like the other... 
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Oct 14, 2015 06:35
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No kidding, $7 for duckweed? Really though, that's pretty amazing on the marimo balls. I have two incredibly disgusting sponge filters in a bucket in my backyard. What's the best way to clean them up that doesn't involve too much bleach? Alternately, should I just toss the sponges?
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Oct 14, 2015 06:55
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Rinse, squeeze, repeat.
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Oct 14, 2015 06:58
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SynthOrange posted:Rinse, squeeze, repeat. They've been out there for months though. I've just been avoiding dealing with them.
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Oct 14, 2015 07:00
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Depends on how much it would cost to replace them. It may be easier to just pay like $7 and chuck the nasty ones instead of having to go deal with a biohazard. I have decently planted tanks now but I don't even want to begin trying to deal with C02 injection systems, so I ordered a bottle of Seachem Flourish Excel to try out. It seems to be basically bottled carbon. We recently started using regular Seachem Flourish too, it's trace elements and nutrients to keep the plants healthy. I'm just a fan of Seachem products in general. I'm reading a bunch of reviews that say that Flourish Excel kills algae without harming fish, as opposed to the never-used bottle of API Algaefix (along with the Melafix and Pimafix I got "just in case" back when I didn't know anything) I've had sitting around for over a half a year now because I've heard that it kills inverts and fish. People also say that Excel kills anacharis, which apparently I have, I bought it advertised as "egeria" but I only have four plants of it so I'll just put them in my turtle tank and see if my turtle eats them. Hopefully it won't hurt Marimo moss balls since they're made of algae, I'm going to keep doing research. Ooh cool it won't: quote:There is absolutely nothing harmful in Flourish Excel that would cause it to harm your moss ball; in fact, the ball can actually utilize the nutrients contained within Flourish Excel, thus causing the moss ball to out-compete any potential algae for growth. When used as directed, Excel is completely safe for both your moss ball and your red cherry shrimp. Please keep in mind, however, that we do not recommend overdosing Excel for the purpose of algae control; simply dose as directed on the bottle. republicant fucked around with this message at 08:12 on Oct 14, 2015 |
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Oct 14, 2015 07:01
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Bury the sponges in the dirt and put some nice bushes over them. Seriously just throw them out. All right goons, redoing my 90. Do I want to keep it a pleco tank or move the BN swarm and put in leleupi and calvus?
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Oct 14, 2015 11:07
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SynthOrange posted:Rinse, squeeze, repeat. But seriously, chuck em if you've been avoiding them for that long.
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Oct 14, 2015 11:33
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Didn't know what leleupi or calvus were, but from Google I see that they are very striking looking fish and I think it would be a cool set up to see some of their natural behaviors if you are into that sort of thing. If you're doing a big clean up/ redo, why go back to more of the same?
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Oct 14, 2015 11:34
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Cowslips Warren posted:Bury the sponges in the dirt and put some nice bushes over them. I'd spread out the plecos and do the leleupi and calvus, and then you can sell me calvus fry if you get them breeding. I'd like to get some for my fronts.
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Oct 14, 2015 14:24
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republicant posted:Flourish Excel I’ve been using Flourish Excel in my aquarium for about 5 years, and for the purpose of adding CO2 to your tank, in my opinion, it can’t compete with a DIY yeast bubbler. There are some pretty good videos on YouTube about what Flourish Excel really is, but it’s basically glutaraldehyde, the chemical they use as a disinfectant and sterilizer for dental and surgical equipment. When added to aquarium water, it biodegrades very quickly, creating the carbon dioxide. If it is your only method of putting carbon in your aquarium, you have to dose it every 24 hours because it breaks down so quickly. One thing to keep in mind, is that most of the evidence of it helping plants is anecdotal; that doesn’t mean it doesn’t do anything, but there aren’t any official scientific studies (that I know of) on the effect of putting it in aquariums. These days, I only use it after a water change to keep the carbon level up for my plants. In the past, I’ve tried using just Excel without generated CO2 injection, but my plants didn’t respond nearly as well as with the CO2. Also, I've had more effective algae control with CO2 injection than with Excel. My plants grow way better with CO2 than Excel alone, and really out-compete the algae.
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Oct 14, 2015 16:08
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So for once I am finding something that Amazon DOESN'T have the best prices on, and that's AquaClear supplies. Where do you all suggest getting your monthly carbon refill and such? This seems pretty cheap for a monthly subscription option. Edit: oh, wait, $7 shipping lol. And edit again: looks like Amazon has 3, 6, or 12 packs with Prime that are reasonable. Amazon always wins. ShaneB fucked around with this message at 16:35 on Oct 14, 2015 |
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Oct 14, 2015 16:21
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ShaneB posted:So for once I am finding something that Amazon DOESN'T have the best prices on, and that's AquaClear supplies. Where do you all suggest getting your monthly carbon refill and such? I don't bother with carbon filtration. edit: interesting bit about the Excel. I may try doing a yeast bubbler again.
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Oct 14, 2015 16:55
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Dogwood Fleet posted:I don't bother with carbon filtration. Yeah I'm reading some don't even run it. I've also read that it essentially eliminates anything you add to your water to combat algae or the like. Not that I want to add chemicals willy nilly at this point. Seems like my bacteria housing could sit more fully in the water if I pulled the carbon anyway.
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Oct 14, 2015 16:59
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The only time I run carbon is after I'm finished medicating a tank. I think a good idea is running extra sponges in the filter (which you only ever clean in tank water)
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Oct 14, 2015 17:32
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Enos Cabell posted:The only time I run carbon is after I'm finished medicating a tank. I think a good idea is running extra sponges in the filter (which you only ever clean in tank water) So, for freshwater fish-only tanks, bio media is still generally "good" right? I went down a rabbit hole of reef people talking about how they are nitrate factories and just collect bad things, etc.
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Oct 14, 2015 17:39
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When I'm running carbon I skip the pre-made 3/$$$ packs and use a refillable bag with a couple scoops from a big 40oz container of marineland carbon. Saves a lot, and isn't much added work.
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Oct 14, 2015 18:06
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ShaneB posted:So, for freshwater fish-only tanks, bio media is still generally "good" right? I went down a rabbit hole of reef people talking about how they are nitrate factories and just collect bad things, etc. A lot of those people also don't do regular water changes, so for them extra nitrate production would be bad because they would be forced to do more changes or eventually let the nitrate level get too high. Alternatively, they are pulling the media out of it while the filter is running, and then yelling about how all the crap that was filtered is now pouring into the tank again. I can also see some not understanding how carbon filters work and just leaving them in the filter for extended periods which results in them no longer being effective at chemical filtration, and then wondering why levels of toxic chemicals are rising when they have nothing to remove it (The whole leaching thing only happens if large shifts in pH occur, which is already a bad thing for your aquarium regardless). Pretty much any filtration of some sort will result in a biological filter occurring in some capacity (except UV filters and protein skimmers), which makes it pretty hard not to have some sort of bio-media even if you don't intend it to be one.
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Oct 14, 2015 18:33
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Replace the carbon in your filters with Purigen IMO, it's a bit of an investment up front money-wise but Purigen lasts much much longer than carbon and can be regenerated by soaking in bleach for 24 hours and then soaking in dechlorinated water. Seems to be better for plants than carbon because I've heard it doesn't remove the trace minerals that plants need like carbon does. It's awesome at removing tannins too.
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Oct 14, 2015 19:12
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I got rid of the bioballs in all of my sumps a few years back, and instead run a few much smaller bags of Seachem Matrix. I also removed my wet/dry boxes and use filter socks only now. I always had a TON of detritus get trapped in the bioballs, and they are a pain in the rear end to clean. The Matrix works just as good, and is much easier to keep clean. On my new 180 tank I will also be running a large refugium section in the sump, to help with nitrate export. I've always done 50% weekly water changes.
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Oct 14, 2015 19:22
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So I'm looking at setting up a cheap bootleg rubbermaid container QT for future use as I start adding fish. - small sponge filter I run in the DT hidden behind driftwood. provides filtration and aeration. - old 50w heater from DT - PVC pipe pieces for shelter - one of those sterlite ~7 gallon containers with clasp handles to keep the lid on Drill holes in the lid, cut a section to run the filter and heater through, plop PVC in, good to go. Basically I can just remove the sponge filter from the DT and plop it right in the QT, get the heater in the QT and get the water to the right temp, and then drop fish I want to quarantine or treat with medicine, right?
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Oct 14, 2015 19:25
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Yup, that will work just fine. edit to add: I think Petco is running their $1/g tank sale right now, so if you wanted to grab a 10 or 20g tank instead of a rubbermaid tub it wouldn't cost much more.
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Oct 14, 2015 19:35
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Enos Cabell posted:Yup, that will work just fine. So, in an effort to not hose everything after the big clean and change of gravel and such in my tank, I'm trying not to rush out and add fish. Right now I have the 2 rams in there. They've been in since Sunday night. I tested the water Sunday when they went in and last night. Ammonia is 0, nitrites are 0, nitrates are at like 10ppm. The dude at the LFS told me to hold off and wait until I'm sure the tank won't cycle, and that nitrates continue to rise. Then do a water change and add fish. I feel kind of at an impasse right now. I want to seed a QT filter, but I'm not sure if it will even properly seed in the tank right now. I want to add new fish, but I should probably QT them first. Am I really risking a lot adding 4 swordtails into a 55 gallon tank showing good water quality right now without any QT? My impatient mind is telling me that that will just help get things more fully settled in.
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Oct 14, 2015 19:48
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ShaneB posted:So, in an effort to not hose everything after the big clean and change of gravel and such in my tank, I'm trying not to rush out and add fish. Right now I have the 2 rams in there. They've been in since Sunday night. I tested the water Sunday when they went in and last night. Ammonia is 0, nitrites are 0, nitrates are at like 10ppm. The dude at the LFS told me to hold off and wait until I'm sure the tank won't cycle, and that nitrates continue to rise. Then do a water change and add fish. Keep in mind that with very few fish in such a large tank, you're probably not going to see dramatic changes in those levels simply because there isn't much in there producing ammonia (I think you just have the rams in there, right?). Given the enormous amount of problems I had due to not quarantining my fish, I would highly recommend doing it even if you're really tempted not to.
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Oct 14, 2015 20:11
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Strictly speaking, you don't really even need a filter in a QT tank. You just need to monitor ammonia levels and do frequent water changes on it.
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Oct 14, 2015 20:40
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Coolwhoami posted:Keep in mind that with very few fish in such a large tank, you're probably not going to see dramatic changes in those levels simply because there isn't much in there producing ammonia (I think you just have the rams in there, right?). Given the enormous amount of problems I had due to not quarantining my fish, I would highly recommend doing it even if you're really tempted not to. Well, that's my issue. What am I quarantining a small school for at the moment? I have 2 fish (that honestly are only in there because I feel bad for their stressed out life and don't want to give them away to anyone else) in a tank that is running with a filter that certainly has a ton of bacteria in it from running for a while in the old tank.
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Oct 14, 2015 21:00
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Man, I still miss the HUGE 3 INCH MONSTER betta listings on aquabid. There are still silly listings, but nothing quite like that double entendre.
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Oct 15, 2015 01:43
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ShaneB posted:Well, that's my issue. What am I quarantining a small school for at the moment? I have 2 fish (that honestly are only in there because I feel bad for their stressed out life and don't want to give them away to anyone else) in a tank that is running with a filter that certainly has a ton of bacteria in it from running for a while in the old tank. It's a tough call. You could quarantine for a short period and see if they have anything obvious, at least that way you have a chance to spot it.
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Oct 15, 2015 02:11
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I have a little dwarf gourami in one of my 20 gallon tanks along with a male betta (and other fish). The betta usually keeps to himself in a nest of floating plants and the gourami keeps swimming up there, being seen by the betta, and getting chased across the tank. The betta doesn't actually hurt the gourami in any way and is never able to catch him, and he gives up after a couple seconds and goes back to the nest. It doesn't seem to bother the gourami all that much to keep getting chased because he just goes back up there anyway and doesn't look stressed at all. Should I separate these fish? There's no actual biting going on but I'm not sure how sensitive fish are to stress, it may be stressing the gourami to get chased or it may be stressing the betta to harbor such dislike for the gourami. I have a female dwarf gourami in a different 20 gallon tank and her personality seems really compatible with the other gourami, they're both curious little peaceful fish, but I've heard that dwarf gouramis tend to hate each other so I'm not sure if I could put them together. Maybe since the bigger fish is female it would tone down any aggression, I dunno. The betta doesn't chase anything else in the tank and usually minds his own business, he just really really hates that gourami.
republicant fucked around with this message at 03:03 on Oct 15, 2015 |
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Oct 15, 2015 02:55
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