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B33rChiller posted:Dang, I really do intend on getting some together to send off to yah, but haven't gotten around to figuring out how to ship those suckers across the country just yet. Been having some personal issues here, and am a little disappointed in myself about the whole thing. Sorry for being so impatient but i went to my local aquarium to get an anubias for their black friday sale and it was just more convenient to grab some critters at the same time. I'm keeping my snails single so he'll need replacing eventually.
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Nov 30, 2021 03:38
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This may be a stupid question but I'm working on cycling and the guide linked in the OP suggests you're aiming for 4ppm ammonia while you're building up bacteria. Obviously I can add/wait/test but ~10 drops of ammonia from a pipette in 13 gallons seems to only yield about 0.25 ppm which would make 4 ppm a fairly significant amount. I was hoping for a sanity check before I dump a bunch in and pee-burn all of my plants to death.
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Nov 30, 2021 03:44
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I think dosing a lower amount of ammonia is fine, it will just take longer to cycle and will mean it's a good idea to stock the tank lightly and gradually once you do add fish/livestock. Cycling with plants in can confuse things since they will also consume ammonia, nitrite and nitrate so you might not see the test results you expect. As long as you put ammonia in (and I would say at least 0.5ppm to make sure you're not just getting a ghost reading from chloramine) and then that ammonia level goes down to zero and you don't see any nitrite building up, you've got biological filtration happening.
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Nov 30, 2021 04:37
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I'm back in the snail game baybeee https://i.imgur.com/514lou9.mp4 Uh he's named Ribbons because he's a zebra nerite. Impulse buy because I was at a petsmart already grabbing cat food and I wanted to try a snail in my shrimp tank, had two from horrible water conditions years ago that didn't last long. This one seems happier, but the ammonia in the tank he came from was almost 6ppm.
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Nov 30, 2021 06:07
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Desert Bus posted:The first time Aquatic Arts hosed up and sent me a wrong thing I had a new box in the mail a couple of days later, free of charge. It was just because they sent the wrong size Marimo Balls. The second time they hosed up it was because a fish got caught in a fold in the bag, but it was the 9th one out of the 7 I ordered so whatever I still got one extra. I know I am biased as I supplied them with stock, but they've never done wrong by me, and at this point a good 75% or more of my fauna came from them. My electric blue and marbled crayfish came from aquatic arts. Good communication from these guys. I recommend them.
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Nov 30, 2021 17:19
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LFS actually had a SAE in stock. He's tiny, but pretty busy chomping on algae around the tank. Nobody seems to bug him, he actually looks very similar to the central stonerollers but hasn't been hanging with them as of yet. I had another jumper two weeks back so I've built my own jump guard around the edges of the tank using some mesh netting and powerful magnets while I wait for the more permanent solution. Seems to work pretty well, had a few bounce off it already! I've also figured out the conditions where they jump. My fish are all super friendly and come up to anyone who approaches the tank, and will even follow my arm around the tank while I clean the glass... while the lights are on. When the lights go out and things start getting a bit dark in the tank, though, they get spooked very easily. Warbadger fucked around with this message at 03:30 on Dec 1, 2021 |
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Dec 1, 2021 03:08
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Warbadger posted:LFS actually had a SAE in stock. He's tiny, but pretty busy chomping on algae around the tank. Nobody seems to bug him, he actually looks very similar to the central stonerollers but hasn't been hanging with them as of yet. My current SAE is a teeny tiny little thing living in my 10g and I can't wait to be able to move it into the 29g where it can actually do some good. I also can loving wait to deal with actually having to catch it though lol. As a solo of their own kind they just get huge and fat and lazy and I love them, glad to hear it's working out so far. I've been in this hobby forever and catching and moving SAE's is the most it has ever pissed me off and made me scream obscenities. They are super fast... when they want to be. I do glass lids on all my poo poo so I can't commiserate on the jumper front.
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Dec 1, 2021 03:57
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Desert Bus posted:I do glass lids on all my poo poo so I can't commiserate on the jumper front. Yep, if this doesn't work I'm gonna have to buy a full polycarbonate lid.
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Dec 1, 2021 13:42
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I made my own. Get those double walled greenhouse panels and cut to size.
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Dec 1, 2021 13:46
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I make screen tops out of the window screen parts you can get at box hardware stores. Super cheap and easy.
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Dec 1, 2021 15:26
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My 36g has been dying under a thick coat of blue-green algae. I tried shutting off lights for a week, no good, scraping and cleaning, no good, using maracyn oxy….a little good but then no good, and finally UltraLife Blue-Green Slime Stain Remover - which did the trick. I think. Recent reviews for maracyn oxy say they may be skimping on active ingredients, which would explain why there was initial success, but then everything came roaring back. In the end the solution was turning your water to the pH value of brick to shock the algae to death. Fish have been happy as clams the whole time though and my water parameters (besides the pH value) have never looked better. 
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Dec 2, 2021 15:33
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Krispy Wafer posted:My 36g has been dying under a thick coat of blue-green algae. I tried shutting off lights for a week, no good, scraping and cleaning, no good, using maracyn oxy….a little good but then no good, and finally UltraLife Blue-Green Slime Stain Remover - which did the trick. I think. I have found that the best defense against algae is shitloads of plants. Also useful is a FW clean up crew: Siamese Algae Eaters, Bristlenose Plecos, Nerite Snails, Amano Shrimp, Farlowella sp. all help. Even if I wanted algae my giant swarm of Panda and Spotted Garra wouldn't let it happen.
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Dec 2, 2021 16:01
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Desert Bus posted:I have found that the best defense against algae is shitloads of plants. Also useful is a FW clean up crew: Siamese Algae Eaters, Bristlenose Plecos, Nerite Snails, Amano Shrimp, Farlowella sp. all help. Even if I wanted algae my giant swarm of Panda and Spotted Garra wouldn't let it happen. I actually have most of that in the tank, but I injured my arm so badly I couldn’t lift more than a couple of pounds for months so RIP any tank cleaning. A pile of dead vegetation in a far corner of the tank was my undoing. Nothing likes to eat blue-green algae either. In desperation I tossed 3 bucks worth of ghost shrimp in there and I’m pretty sure they starved to death surrounded by a plethora of algae.
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Dec 2, 2021 18:09
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IIRC for blue green algae you want plain ol' Maracyn. That's just erithromycin which you can also get as API EM Erithromycin. Maracyn Oxy is sodium chlorite, there aren't any antibiotics in the Oxy.
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Dec 2, 2021 18:14
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Enos Cabell posted:I make screen tops out of the window screen parts you can get at box hardware stores. Super cheap and easy. How do they attach to the rim?
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Dec 3, 2021 08:07
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DeadlyMuffin posted:How do they attach to the rim? They rest on the inside lip of the frame like this  If it's a rimless tank, then I don't know of any good options. Putting anything on top kinda defeats the purpose of going rimless. I love the look, but I've had too many jumpers over the years to really consider it.
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Dec 3, 2021 15:17
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Just got my order from AquaticArts! Very pleased. Everyone arrived alive, and they sent at least 1 extra per item ordered so I'm up 3 cories, 3 nerite snails, and 2 mystery snails. They also included a hand-written thank you card and their own detailed instructions on how to plop-and-drop, which I thought were great added touches. I'm shocked at how active the pygmy cories are, they're up and zooming all over the place every time I look! Comparatively, my false julii's are super lazy and I hardly see them leave the tank floor so I'm guessing the added activity is part of their "schooling behavior".
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Dec 3, 2021 21:18
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candystarlight posted:Just got my order from AquaticArts! Very pleased. Everyone arrived alive, and they sent at least 1 extra per item ordered so I'm up 3 cories, 3 nerite snails, and 2 mystery snails. They also included a hand-written thank you card and their own detailed instructions on how to plop-and-drop, which I thought were great added touches. Did they send you the stickers? I have a whole pile of the stickers.
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Dec 3, 2021 21:31
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Enos Cabell posted:They rest on the inside lip of the frame like this Interesting.... Do you do cutouts for cords and stuff?
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Dec 3, 2021 21:58
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Desert Bus posted:Did they send you the stickers? I have a whole pile of the stickers. Yes, I forgot about those! I got two, one of their logo and the other was of Killifish. My husband promptly swiped them, he's the king of stickers.
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Dec 3, 2021 22:02
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DeadlyMuffin posted:Interesting.... Do you do cutouts for cords and stuff? You can, but it's hard to do small cutouts because of the corner pieces that hold the frame together, they end up being a lot larger than you need. What I did was make the side with cords just a hair shallower, so it still rests on the inside lip front and sides with just enough gap in the back for a cord to make it over.
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Dec 3, 2021 23:13
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Enos Cabell posted:You can, but it's hard to do small cutouts because of the corner pieces that hold the frame together, they end up being a lot larger than you need. What I did was make the side with cords just a hair shallower, so it still rests on the inside lip front and sides with just enough gap in the back for a cord to make it over. I'm thinking of doing it for a tank with a sump. The way I normally do that is drill a drain hole, and then bring water in with a PVC tube hooked on the tank edge, so I'd want a corner cutout of 1.5-2" or so. I'll play around with it. Home depot or the like?
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Dec 3, 2021 23:50
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Craft stores sell this tool that is like a combo wood burner/x-acto knife specially made for cutting through plastic. I'm sure the fumes are not healthy but I keep borrowing my moms for aquarium poo poo and it kicks rear end. The X-Acto razor saws are also useful and nice.
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Dec 4, 2021 01:19
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DeadlyMuffin posted:I'm thinking of doing it for a tank with a sump. The way I normally do that is drill a drain hole, and then bring water in with a PVC tube hooked on the tank edge, so I'd want a corner cutout of 1.5-2" or so. Oh yeah, that'll work perfect then. In that pic I posted, if you look at the back left corner that's exactly what I did with the PVC return coming over the side. Home Depot will have the frame parts, but I ordered the plastic mesh screen from Bulk Reef Supply.
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Dec 4, 2021 04:35
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I've seen a few tiny little snails lately in my ~13 gallon that must have come in on my plants. None larger than that, though one of them had a much lighter color to its shell. How worried should I be and should I do anything beyond removing them? 
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Dec 4, 2021 18:37
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Wallet posted:I've seen a few tiny little snails lately in my ~13 gallon that must have come in on my plants. Looks like your usual pond snails that always hitchhike into planted tanks. They're largely harmless and don't really attack live plants much, they prefer algae and biofilms and stuff that's decayed a bit. They're a bit of a clean-up crew honestly, though some people find them unsightly and they can add a little bit to the bioload if you're at all concerned about that. e: if you really wanna get rid of them, there are chemical solutions that'll take care of them, though I think they tend to be rough on plants. Assassin snails will chew through a population of them quick, but then you've replaced your helpful snail population with a smaller prettier freeloader snail population, so kind of a lateral move.
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Dec 4, 2021 18:47
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Just don't get 2 assassin snails or 1 pregnant assassin snail. But yeah, if you don't want snails you can probably just pick them out at this early stage, before the population explodes.
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Dec 4, 2021 18:56
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Pond snails you can just crush with your finger and most fish will eat the remains.
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Dec 4, 2021 19:07
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Asterite34 posted:Looks like your usual pond snails that always hitchhike into planted tanks. They're largely harmless and don't really attack live plants much, they prefer algae and biofilms and stuff that's decayed a bit. They're a bit of a clean-up crew honestly, though some people find them unsightly and they can add a little bit to the bioload if you're at all concerned about that. Sounds like it's not a big deal so I'm not sure I care as long as they don't take over. There's no fish in there for now so I guess they have free reign.
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Dec 4, 2021 19:35
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Wallet posted:Sounds like it's not a big deal so I'm not sure I care as long as they don't take over. There's no fish in there for now so I guess they have free reign. Their breeding is largely limited by their food supply, so in a tank with fish the traditional advice is "feed less, they're eating the fish' leftovers," so as long as you aren't dumping a lot of food in there when/if you get fish in it, they shouldn't turn into too much of a roach problem
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Dec 4, 2021 19:38
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They make this most satisfying "crunch" when you smoosh them.
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Dec 4, 2021 19:42
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Desert Bus posted:They make this most satisfying "crunch" when you smoosh them. Sorry but this is really hosed up that's a living animal like your fish, shrimp, etc.
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Dec 4, 2021 19:47
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I had so many I was pulling out 20 pond snails a day from a 10g tank to feed pea puffers and then the population completely crashed because it got too big. I'm trying to keep my current ramshorn snail population going by over feeding the betta they're sharing space with. It's kind of cute when a snail floats to the top upside down to nom nom on flake food.
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Dec 4, 2021 19:52
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VelociBacon posted:Sorry but this is really hosed up that's a living animal like your fish, shrimp, etc. Strong agree here it is 100% hosed up. Watching fish swarm their corpses and eat them and enjoying that is also hosed up. I do both. I see it like taking antibiotics to clear up a bacterial infection. Where do we draw the line here?
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Dec 4, 2021 19:52
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VelociBacon posted:Sorry but this is really hosed up that's a living animal like your fish, shrimp, etc. By the same logic, ich is a living animal. So are camallanus worms. The line is drawn somewhere.
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Dec 4, 2021 19:53
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Cowslips Warren posted:By the same logic, ich is a living animal. So are camallanus worms. The line is drawn somewhere. Yes thank you! Smashing pond snails and giving them a quick and clean death AND using their corpses to feed other animals? Do you want me to go vegetarian and/or make other animals suffer? Do I need to stop feeding fish food made from dead fish? Do I need to stop eating beef/pork/chicken/etc? I would happily eat human/dolphin/panda meat, how wrong is that???
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Dec 4, 2021 19:58
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In terms of karma, it's probably not as bad as squishing a house spider*, but worse than squishing a cockroach. It's a fine line you gotta draw *dependent on how actually dangerous your spiders are
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Dec 4, 2021 19:58
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I am allowed to think that killing animals is bad AND also allowed to enjoy a sensory experience. I run my tanks as bio-active as possible but sometimes you just gotta kill poo poo off. Enjoying it is a plus not a minus. It's loving rare that you can do that.
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Dec 4, 2021 20:02
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It's already un-loving-ethical to keep fish in tanks. Where you wanna draw the line, and what creatures are you prioritizing and WHY are they better than others?
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Dec 4, 2021 20:05
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I'm not a vegetarian and have no moral high ground to say that killing living things is evil, just creeps me out a little to hear that someone would enjoy it.
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Dec 4, 2021 20:47
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