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I do not enjoy killing pond snails but I do enjoy the feel and the sound when I smoosh them and keep a tank from being over run by them.
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Dec 4, 2021 20:52
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Desert Bus posted:I would happily eat human/dolphin/panda meat, how wrong is that??? Shrimp and prawns instead of halibut.
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Dec 4, 2021 20:59
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I confess, I would do it more myself if the fish didn't turn their noses up at it, leaving me to just shamefully scrape a snail carcass out of my tank before it gets lost in the substrate and rots somewhere
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Dec 4, 2021 21:00
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I went the assassin snail route, smooshing just wasn't my jimmy jam but I agree there's a line somewhere. I started with 8 adult assassin's last October and have well over 100 (that I can even count) between my tanks. I put 1 single one in with my Betta about 3 months ago and counted 40 babies in there the other day.
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Dec 4, 2021 22:02
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Acquire a puffer fish and watch your tank immediately become a snail graveyard. I feel no guilt about watching my puffers kill snails for sport.
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Dec 4, 2021 23:03
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Puffers will kill snails even if they’re not hungry. They’re angry at the concept of snails. Eating them is merely a side benefit.
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Dec 4, 2021 23:24
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Are Python Siphons worth it/can anyone recommend them or an alternative? Ideally 50ft.
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Dec 4, 2021 23:33
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Bacon Terrorist posted:Are Python Siphons worth it/can anyone recommend them or an alternative? Ideally 50ft. 100% worth it. I spent 3x the cost and an entire year trying to make my own for cheaper and clearly it wasn't worth the time or effort. You do have to make sure you have a sink that it will work with, or buy their adapters. I could not find any sink that would work with what it comes standard with, but it did work with my garden hose so I went that route instead of draining it back into my bathtub or sink.
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Dec 5, 2021 00:04
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Oh my god. I don't even like squishing bugs because of the crunch. I can't imagine crushing a snail. Mind you, in my on-and-off fish keeping, I've never had a tank get overrun with snails, so I've never had to face this conundrum.
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Dec 5, 2021 00:20
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candystarlight posted:100% worth it. I spent 3x the cost and an entire year trying to make my own for cheaper and clearly it wasn't worth the time or effort. Thanks, I figured they were worth it but thought I would ask 
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Dec 5, 2021 00:22
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Darters will obliterate all snails if you need a freshwater snail murderer.
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Dec 5, 2021 00:53
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The Pythons are great, but yeah modern sink usually do not work with them. I dump water out using the outside spigot, put warm water back in using the upstairs sink that at least works with the aerator removed. It's a hassle and it's annoying, but it's the most efficient and cleanest way to move a lot of water.
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Dec 5, 2021 13:56
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I'm planning on adding some shrimp to my 10 gallon tank and noticed that Aquatic Arts has a pretty decent deal on a mixed bag of colored shrimps. What I'm wondering is, can shrimp of different color morphs breed, and if so, what color are the offspring? E: unrelated question but I also want to add some snails, but do not want them to reproduce. Would 1 mystery snail and 2 nerites be ok for 10 gallons? Mikey Purp fucked around with this message at 03:01 on Dec 6, 2021 |
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Dec 6, 2021 02:59
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Mikey Purp posted:I'm planning on adding some shrimp to my 10 gallon tank and noticed that Aquatic Arts has a pretty decent deal on a mixed bag of colored shrimps. What I'm wondering is, can shrimp of different color morphs breed, and if so, what color are the offspring? Breeding neo shrimp is like breeding mice or guppies: a blue and yellow shrimp/guppy breeding won't give you greens. You'll get a mix of mutts, and several of them brown, sometimes in a generation, sometimes in several. I would not buy a mixed bag of shrimp if I wanted to keep the color strains going.
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Dec 6, 2021 03:20
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Mikey Purp posted:I'm planning on adding some shrimp to my 10 gallon tank and noticed that Aquatic Arts has a pretty decent deal on a mixed bag of colored shrimps. What I'm wondering is, can shrimp of different color morphs breed, and if so, what color are the offspring? If they're all the same species of Neocardinia shrimp, then I believe different color morphs can interbreed, but the resulting offspring will be mostly wild-type, a muddy grayish brown. If you want to keep them colorful, you need a single-color population and not a bag of shrimp Skittles. As for the snails, I think you're safe from having them spawn, although the nerites may attempt to breed and leave unsightly blobs of eggs glued to any hard surface that will never properly hatch outside brackish water.
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Dec 6, 2021 03:23
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There are a few people near me who do Skittles tanks, but it requires constant culling. I'm not willing to kill any of my critters because they're not perfect, so I've been letting my shrimp turn back to wild colors. I do the same thing with my slightly off fry. They can't live with the breeding group, but they can live happily ever after in my oddball tank.
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Dec 6, 2021 04:03
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Desert Bus posted:I do not enjoy killing pond snails but I do enjoy the feel and the sound when I smoosh them and keep a tank from being over run by them. I thought I was the only one…
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Dec 6, 2021 08:23
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 Fishes got swapped around. Hopefully baby fish will be made soon.
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Dec 7, 2021 00:23
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I got some very small corydoras in the mail unexpectedly early this morning. Box life didn't seem to have agreed with them but they're all dooting around doing whatever it is fish do now. They're cute but they don't listen to instructions very well. 
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Dec 9, 2021 00:13
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I love the fishes here. For some reason, all my surprise snails just ... up and died, so I hate to pick out shells via tweezers. I also love Corydoras cats. The Habrosus gaggle was always hilarious. Sometimes the catfish 'wink' at their people. A group of cute loaches and corydoras are awesome. I never thought I'd keep the loaches, but these guys are great.
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Dec 9, 2021 05:40
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How precise do I need to be with dechlorinator? If I'm just topping up I don't really have a way to measure it super accurately.
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Dec 9, 2021 18:33
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You mean like Prime? You don't have to be super precise. It just detoxifies the ammonia though, doesn't remove it or something.
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Dec 9, 2021 18:36
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It's Frit'z complete conditioner specifically
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Dec 9, 2021 18:47
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Wallet posted:I got some very small corydoras in the mail unexpectedly early this morning. Box life didn't seem to have agreed with them but they're all dooting around doing whatever it is fish do now. They're cute but they don't listen to instructions very well. What do you expect from a cat?
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Dec 9, 2021 19:38
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Wallet posted:It's Frit'z complete conditioner specifically You can be pretty loose with your measures. Overshooting a bit won't hurt anything.
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Dec 9, 2021 20:56
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I have not kept fish in a very long time (almost eighteen years), but I used to enjoy it very much and have been doing research in preparation for getting back into it. Thought I'd post in here for advice and suggestions before I actually start acquiring tanks and equipment and things. I want to start with just one tank at first, and I'm thinking somewhere in the 20-25 gallon range (I have a 40" wide space I'm eyeing for it where a tank of around that size would fit perfectly). I want to go with freshwater and definitely want to do a planted tank, with plenty of live vegetation. For livestock I really want to do a multi-species tank if possible, with the main inhabitants being a group of a small schooling fish (probably corydoras, unless people have other suggestions), at least one species of shrimp, at least one species of snail, and a few additional fish of other species if tank space permits it. If that's not workable with that tank size it's not too big a deal, I can just do a single-species tank and work up to it with another tank later. My plan for this is to acquire the equipment, scape, substrate, and plants first, plant the tank, and then let it run without livestock in it until I'm confident I can keep the tank running without killing everything in it or letting it get overrun with algae. Once I'm feeling good about it, gradually add livestock. I'd like to stick to stuff that is suitable for a beginner at first, and am willing to take it a bit slowly if necessary to ensure everything in the tank is healthy and well cared for. I'm essentially relearning how to do this from scratch. With that plan in mind, does anyone have any advice? Any species of animal or plant that would work particularly well, or species to avoid? Any common mistakes to be on the lookout for? Is that tank size suitable, or should I go with something else? Mister Bates fucked around with this message at 23:49 on Dec 9, 2021 |
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Dec 9, 2021 23:46
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I feel like the shrimp/snail clean up crew combination is a good place to start, both because the bioload is very small and because they can help get a planted tank and algae into balance (especially if amanos are available to you). The first thing you should do is work out what kind of water you have available to you right now; if you have soft water you can pretty much keep anything (by adding hardness as necessary) and if you have hard water you can still keep most things and a lot of easy care plants prefer harder water too. If there's nitrite or nitrate present in your water already it can complicate your water testing later when you wonder why your levels aren't going down, so knowing in advance will help avoid confusion. Anyway avoiding fighting with your water chemistry is one way to simplify fish keeping and you might already know that, but I think it's so important that it's worth mentioning again and again. Having a known water chemistry makes selecting suitable plants and livestock a lot easier. 25 gallons should be able to house a decent school of small bottom dwelling fish as well as a decent school of small top/mid dwelling fish (and as you say, add one species at a time, allow tank to stabilize, add the other). Most fish will appreciate the vegetation but corys will appreciate a bit of open sandy ground to snuffle in. Depending on where you live you may have access to a variety of small bottom level fish but corys are such a solid choice that I wouldn't recommend anything else. Small rasboras seem to swim together so emerald eye, espei, hengeli, maybe kubotai, would all be compatible. I don't have too much experience with tetras apart from seeing how violent their internal school bullying can become if the school is too small. Neon tetras, unless wild caught, are so inbred and prone to disease now that they are best avoided. Glowlight tetras, black neons, and other small tetras would likely be fine, maybe pencil fish too. Some tetras are zoomers (I'm thinking rummy nose) so make sure to get low activity level tetras for a smaller tank. I'd avoid gouramis due to aggression, guppies due to population problems, and small barbs due to feeding aggression incompatibilities. I wouldn't mix tetras and rasboras and I wouldn't mix corydoras and kuhli loaches. Small danios or barbs might be tempting but I think they are too zoomy and want longer tank space. Rasboras tend to be jumpy so you'd want a decent lid to help prevent losses there (and in my experience, bigger rasboras can go fast enough to kill themselves on lids and walls, similar to the way cyprinid sharks do). And if you're looking for something fancy a pair or two of peacock gudgeons could fit in a peaceful tank of this size no problems. You could get a lot of satisfaction out of a simple tank with a couple of carefully selected schooling species and easy care plants. 25g is not too small, and I would always recommend taking the biggest tank you can over a smaller tank just for the advantages in tank stability and increased real estate for fish. The larger the tank, the easier it is to maintain ie to physically get your hands into it, and also easier to work out a layout of plants and hardscape that doesn't feel cluttered.
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Dec 10, 2021 09:00
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Thanks for the advice! I actually had someone offer me a used 40 gallon tank for 50 dollars, and it would also fit in that space so I'm considering it over the 25-gallon, although I'm not sure.
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Dec 10, 2021 09:31
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Mister Bates posted:Thanks for the advice! I actually had someone offer me a used 40 gallon tank for 50 dollars, and it would also fit in that space so I'm considering it over the 25-gallon, although I'm not sure. Go for it. The classic line in aquarium keeping is the larger the volume the easier it is to maintain water quality. As with any used tank, though, make sure the silicone is still good.
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Dec 10, 2021 10:55
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40g breeder tanks are pretty ideal for a first tank if you've got the room. Opens up a huge amount of options for what you can keep.
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Dec 10, 2021 15:30
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Enos Cabell posted:40g breeder tanks are pretty ideal for a first tank if you've got the room. Opens up a huge amount of options for what you can keep. It’s pretty much my favorite standard tank shape, too. The 40gal breeder is the first standard tank size that’s 18” front to back, and they don’t get any bigger in that dimension till the 180gal goes to 24”. It seems silly, but that extra six inches makes a huge difference in aquascaping, particularly for reef tanks. Cube/square tanks forever.
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Dec 10, 2021 15:56
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40 breeder + a canister that can do like 60-75g. Always overfilter.
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Dec 10, 2021 17:00
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Hey all, long time no chat. So I've got a 20 gallon planted freshwater tank with about ~20 Neocaridina and Amano shrimp and nothing else in there right now. It's been pretty stable for a while and everyone is healthy so I was thinking about adding some small fish. If I don't want my shrimp getting eaten, am I pretty much limited to "nano" sized stuff like tetras and rasboras, or are there any other fun options? (I don't mind tetras and rasboras, I just thought I'd get some more ideas first.)
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Dec 10, 2021 18:11
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You can do smallmouth livebearers, but be sure to have places for the small shrimp to hide.
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Dec 10, 2021 18:17
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Is this brown algae, and will shrimp take care of it? This is a pretty new tank, only about 1.5 months old. 
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Dec 10, 2021 20:53
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Mikey Purp posted:Is this brown algae, and will shrimp take care of it? This is a pretty new tank, only about 1.5 months old. If I'm looking at the right part, that looks like black beard algae.
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Dec 10, 2021 21:23
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ChickenMedium posted:Go for it. The classic line in aquarium keeping is the larger the volume the easier it is to maintain water quality. The caveat is that water changes are easier on small tanks. I love my 10 gallon reef (probably 15g actual, including sump) because I can do a significant water change weekly without much hassle at all. I have a 90 too, and it's a loving chore in comparison, and so only gets done monthly or so
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Dec 10, 2021 21:29
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Stoca Zola posted:I feel like the shrimp/snail clean up crew combination is a good place to start, both because the bioload is very small and because they can help get a planted tank and algae into balance (especially if amanos are available to you). The first thing you should do is work out what kind of water you have available to you right now; if you have soft water you can pretty much keep anything (by adding hardness as necessary) and if you have hard water you can still keep most things and a lot of easy care plants prefer harder water too. If there's nitrite or nitrate present in your water already it can complicate your water testing later when you wonder why your levels aren't going down, so knowing in advance will help avoid confusion. Anyway avoiding fighting with your water chemistry is one way to simplify fish keeping and you might already know that, but I think it's so important that it's worth mentioning again and again. Having a known water chemistry makes selecting suitable plants and livestock a lot easier. I just want to add to this with my own personal experience with the same "I've been doing internet research and want to do a planted tank" a few years ago. Don't listen to the internet about substrates. There are many crowing about how awesome ada aquasoil is. Or maybe talking of their sand capped potting soil setup. Don't do it. Just get normal gravel. Or as hinted if you plan to do cories, sand. Inert substrates will save you a lot of headaches. You can still just hit the roots of your plants with root tabs to be equally effective. But without worrying any spare nutrients encouraging single celled plants to take up residents for a bonanza party. Capped soil setups are neat and cheap and effective. But just stating out, there is a possibility of wanting to move plants around. Something you can't do with capped soils. And ada just pours out nutrients where if you don't have a lot of high growth plants (that'll need high lights and co2), algae or even cyanobacteria will take over.
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Dec 10, 2021 21:32
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Mikey Purp posted:Is this brown algae, and will shrimp take care of it? This is a pretty new tank, only about 1.5 months old. Actually, after closer inspection, could this possibly be roots/the start of a new rhizome? Weirdly, there seem to be a lot of young leaves growing from the tips of the old leaves on this and the other java ferns in the tank. Is that a thing? Very confusing.   
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Dec 10, 2021 22:28
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Mikey Purp posted:Actually, after closer inspection, could this possibly be roots/the start of a new rhizome? Weirdly, there seem to be a lot of young leaves growing from the tips of the old leaves on this and the other java ferns in the tank. Is that a thing? Very confusing. Yes, they make new plantlets by growing roots out of their leaves. The bit that's rooting eventually breaks off or can be removed and it becomes a new plant. (To be more accurate an entire clone is growing out of the leaf but whatever—it's how they replicate whereas the rhizomatous growth just spreads an individual plant further.) Wallet fucked around with this message at 22:55 on Dec 10, 2021 |
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Dec 10, 2021 22:51
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