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So I think what ultimately did my reef in was my own success. I intended it to be a small reef with hardy corals that was small enough to A) not need a skimmer or a sump and B) maintain water parameters with 25% water changes every week. In retrospect I think I hit a tipping point where the montiporra mass was suddenly enough to start starving everything else out. I started dosing with 2-part yesterday. We'll see if anything bounces back. I guess with certain corals one thing you have to keep in mind is that they don't ever really reach stasis, they grow until they overwhelm their environment? Obviously not an issue in the ocean, but is an issue in a glass box.
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Jun 3, 2022 18:40
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Bulky Bartokomous posted:So I think what ultimately did my reef in was my own success. I intended it to be a small reef with hardy corals that was small enough to A) not need a skimmer or a sump and B) maintain water parameters with 25% water changes every week. In retrospect I think I hit a tipping point where the montiporra mass was suddenly enough to start starving everything else out. I started dosing with 2-part yesterday. We'll see if anything bounces back. I guess with certain corals one thing you have to keep in mind is that they don't ever really reach stasis, they grow until they overwhelm their environment? Obviously not an issue in the ocean, but is an issue in a glass box. Nothing reaches stasis, you need to trim and export.
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Jun 3, 2022 20:20
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Enfys posted:My adventures as a new snail owner continue. I am worrying less about my new rabbit snail falling off everything (he laboriously climbed up to the top of my tallest rock and then immediately fell off), but while watching him chow down on some kale I discovered a new worry. It does look a bit like a tiny snail leech, but kind of hard to spot anything that is really diagnostic. Leeches move in a very particular way, stretching from anchor point to anchor point, flatworms tend to glide more, etc. The down side is I think anything you could use to get rid of leeches would also be harmful for the snails - the upside is that I think leeches are like fleas, it is in their best interests as a parasite to not harm their hosts too much. I’ve seen leeches in my tanks very rarely and when I do, I siphon them out. I’ve seen what I think are some really interesting commensal worms on some of my snails, Chaetogaster limnaei limnaei possibly - they live in the snails mantle and provide protection to the snail from flukes. So, weird snail friends aren’t always parasitic. Anyway in your case I would just watch and wait, if you see that speck drop off the snail you can siphon it out for your own peace of mind.
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Jun 3, 2022 20:47
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Bulky Bartokomous posted:So I think what ultimately did my reef in was my own success. I intended it to be a small reef with hardy corals that was small enough to A) not need a skimmer or a sump and B) maintain water parameters with 25% water changes every week. In retrospect I think I hit a tipping point where the montiporra mass was suddenly enough to start starving everything else out. I started dosing with 2-part yesterday. We'll see if anything bounces back. I guess with certain corals one thing you have to keep in mind is that they don't ever really reach stasis, they grow until they overwhelm their environment? Obviously not an issue in the ocean, but is an issue in a glass box. They will keep growing if they environment is right. As they get bigger they will need more. Usually if calcium drops off it slows things down unless its SPS or something sensitive. But if alkalinity starts to drop off then corals can start to die pretty quick. Previously I had a tank with clams, SPS and a few LPS. It was taking so much product to keep parameters up its one of the reasons I have almost all soft coral and no clams now. Dosing pumps are so much more affordable now than the used to be. You could get a Jaebo doser and some milk jugs and call it good.
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Jun 4, 2022 00:47
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This is my new royal pleco. My son named him Coffee cause he's coffee colored. The thing I learned about Coffee is he's quite the abundant pooper and it's white so its messing up my otherwise pristine black aquascape. Other then that he does a good job of cleaning up the statue and driftwood in the tank.
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Jun 5, 2022 13:05
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The Nastier Nate posted:This is my new royal pleco. My son named him Coffee cause he's coffee colored. I love him.
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Jun 5, 2022 19:53
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The Nastier Nate posted:This is my new royal pleco. My son named him Coffee cause he's coffee colored. They are beautiful when full grown. I just lost mine to what I think was old age?  Do you have a powerhead you could point at the substrate so the poop will get to the filter?
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Jun 5, 2022 20:03
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The Nastier Nate posted:The thing I learned about Coffee is he's quite the abundant pooper when is Coffee getting an account?
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Jun 5, 2022 20:47
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The Nastier Nate posted:This is my new royal pleco. My son named him Coffee cause he's coffee colored. Very majestic
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Jun 5, 2022 21:32
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Beauty, but he's not a royal pleco. Looks like a farlowella to me.
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Jun 6, 2022 01:23
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I’ve seen those called royal whiptails, or whiptail plecos, I can see how you’d get royal pleco from that. I think an actual royal pleco panaque would poop even more than a farlowella!
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Jun 6, 2022 01:45
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 Found fairy basslets at an LFS this weekend, and picked up a trio. I also hastily Jerry rigged a cover for the tank since I think they're prone to jump.  I'll do covers for the other tanks once I have access to a table saw. Assuming I don't lose anybody, I am now complete on broodstock. Next steps are rigging up an ATO, getting some chaeto in place in the sump, and growing everybody out! My plankton is also really going well now, so I'm thinking of trying to start rotifers in the next couple days. 
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Jun 6, 2022 02:05
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The Nastier Nate posted:This is my new royal pleco. My son named him Coffee cause he's coffee colored. Ah, a whiptail. Had two of those in my tank for five years. The only issue I had is it was heavily planted at the time and hard to ever find them. Occasionally one would come out and rest on an anubias leaf
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Jun 6, 2022 02:28
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Cowslips Warren posted:Beauty, but he's not a royal pleco. Looks like a farlowella to me. i think your correct, it said royal something i couldnt remember on the tank so close enough for me. I'm still relatively new to all of this SocketWrench posted:Ah, a whiptail. Had two of those in my tank for five years. The only issue I had is it was heavily planted at the time and hard to ever find them. Occasionally one would come out and rest on an anubias leaf i have lots of plants there but they are all sectioned together so he has plenty of places to hang out on the bottom so he's easy to find. i'm thinking of getting some kribensis cichilids to round out the bottom of the tank
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Jun 6, 2022 03:06
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It's a Royal Farlowella which strangely are not real Farlowella sp. but Sturisoma panamense, which makes them a Whiptail Catfish with a confusing name.
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Jun 6, 2022 04:38
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Important to note: it’s not just being picky to get the name right of these fish, it’s important to know what you have so that you can research and give it appropriate care. For example some “pleco” type fish require meaty foods, and some require driftwood to gnaw on for digestion and if you give either of them just algae wafers it isn’t good for their quality of life. (This is aimed at Nate who has said they are new. The more you research the easier fishkeeping becomes!)
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Jun 6, 2022 05:41
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Stoca Zola posted:Important to note: it’s not just being picky to get the name right of these fish, it’s important to know what you have so that you can research and give it appropriate care. For example some “pleco” type fish require meaty foods, and some require driftwood to gnaw on for digestion and if you give either of them just algae wafers it isn’t good for their quality of life. Yes. That was something I read too, they need some driftwood. Zucchini is something they love too
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Jun 6, 2022 08:56
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Stoca Zola posted:Important to note: it’s not just being picky to get the name right of these fish, it’s important to know what you have so that you can research and give it appropriate care. For example some “pleco” type fish require meaty foods, and some require driftwood to gnaw on for digestion and if you give either of them just algae wafers it isn’t good for their quality of life. If a fish store can't tell you the scientific name of something so you can research it first, don't buy it. Even most chain stores have proper labels with scientific names (if not fully accurate information). Smaller LFS's usually don't but they will check their order forms, ask the weird old autistic guy who's worked there for decades, or just be able to tell you. Online stores usually come with at least a basic info sheet. https://aquaticarts.com/collections/plecos/products/royal-farlowella-aka-whiptail-catfish
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Jun 6, 2022 10:02
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Stoca Zola posted:Important to note: it’s not just being picky to get the name right of these fish, it’s important to know what you have so that you can research and give it appropriate care. For example some “pleco” type fish require meaty foods, and some require driftwood to gnaw on for digestion and if you give either of them just algae wafers it isn’t good for their quality of life. Thanks. It was labeled correctly at the fish store I just forgot the name and I’ve just been calling him a pleco cause it’s easier for my kids to remember then Royal Farlowella. He does get an algae cookie once a day and he did have some cucumber when I put it in his tank. And I do have driftwood which I see him attach to once in a while. Gonna try zucchini next time i go to the store.
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Jun 6, 2022 10:55
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The Nastier Nate posted:Thanks. It was labeled correctly at the fish store I just forgot the name and I’ve just been calling him a pleco cause it’s easier for my kids to remember then Royal Farlowella. I love my farlowella. It's amazing how such a long fish can just vanish, but he's just so cool looking that I happily forgive needing to search form him now and then. He keeps the driftwood clean and the banjos take care of the substrate, for the most part. Just tell them his name is Farley.
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Jun 6, 2022 15:24
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I've just created a new tank, since I had lots of guppies in an outdoor pond. Long story short: bought a $10 plastic water barrel from a hardware store, filled it plants, a solar pump and 4 guppies. Now I have over 40 guppies. Had lots of rain, lots of summer heat and birds drinking/eating the bigger fish. Now the water is putrid and I don't want the little ones to suffer, so I moved them up inside to a nice tank. Tank is 52L, 3 days new at this stage. My tap water is really bad so I'm constantly fighting dodgy ph levels so far. Everything else seems stable. Only have 9 guppy fry in at the moment, but they're slow getting more comfortable in the clean water. Only issue I have is that the pump that came with the tank has an output nozzle/valve that I imagine would be connected to an airstone, but has a constant strong flow. Really aerates the water which I like, but can be a bit much for such little fish. They hide out in the plants and around the "wood" and seem comfortable with it now anyway. So I guess that's my question for the thread.. the output nozzle is I think 20mm but all the PVC airline pipe is only 4mm. Is there a connector I can get that has a big 20mm end and a 4mm end? I don't know what to search for, but surely plumbing supplies must have something like that? Anyways, here's some pictures: The stump on the left is from my 30year old aquarium from 1991.  This is one of the bigger fry, it's colours starting to come in.  I love watching mystery snails: https://i.imgur.com/HXMRvt0.mp4 It's been really great setting this up and watching a biome be created. plus it's nice to focus on something other than the outside world for a change 
toggle fucked around with this message at 02:15 on Jun 7, 2022 |
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Jun 7, 2022 02:09
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Do mystery snails reproduce in tanks? I kinda want one or a rabbit snail.
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Jun 7, 2022 02:25
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Out of the water, apparently.
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Jun 7, 2022 02:32
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I'd love to have some snails for my 10G (darters are essentially murder machines for them in the 75G) but my wife really hates the look of little dots on things - so unfortunately things that lay eggs on surfaces are a no-go.
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Jun 7, 2022 04:35
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toggle posted:…. Only issue I have is that the pump that came with the tank has an output nozzle/valve that I imagine would be connected to an airstone, but has a constant strong flow. Really aerates the water which I like, but can be a bit much for such little fish. They hide out in the plants and around the "wood" and seem comfortable with it now anyway. It looks to me like you have a Venturi style fitting on the outlet of your pump. It’s a neat little arrangement where the shape of the fitting creates a little area of low pressure, so the flow of water itself is enough to draw air in through the 4mm air tube (or if you have no air tube connected it will just suck water in, if it is in water). The result is more bubbles in the output, and more aeration of the water. I think you might have a valve on the end of your air tube to control how much air is drawn in. You can’t really force that bubbly water through an air stone, although you could probably use a spray bar to distribute the water more evenly in a series of smaller more gentle jets of water. I guess my question is, where’s your filtration? All I’m seeing is a powerhead with a strainer on the inlet. You could be directing the flow out of that powerhead into a trickle filter that sits above your tank holding biological media, or pushing it in reverse through a sponge filter that sits in your tank. Putting a pre-filter sponge over that strainer will also protect fry and provide surface area for bacteria, while mechanically filtering and protecting your pump. Anything that gets a flow of water through a place with a lot of surface area for bacteria to grow is going to help. Or, unless, I’m misunderstanding you and you have a giant air pump that isn’t pictured, in which case you can get like a manifold splitter type of thing and put multiple airlines and multiple valves to control the flow (and have one airline venting the excess flow to the air). Having a couple of air driven sponge filters would be plenty for a fry tank and if the air pump is big enough you can run multiple tanks from it. I’ve been through the guppy population explosion too so I always try to point out this aspect of keeping guppies to newer fish keepers. You either have to have a lot of room for them, or have plans to control the population in some way. My current guppy population are in a 3 foot tank and I am probably going to move them to a 4 foot tank once the rosy barbs that are there are moved to the pond. Guppies aren’t cold tolerant enough to be outside all year around here whereas rosy barbs should be fine.
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Jun 7, 2022 05:44
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Aerofallosov posted:Do mystery snails reproduce in tanks? I kinda want one or a rabbit snail. They climb up out of the water to lay clutches of eggs in the air, somewhere humid. Then they climb down into the water when they hatch. If you lower the level a couple inches in your tank, they will usually lay on the side glass. Sometimes I'll find a clutch under the lid of my fluval flex. If you don't want a couple hundred babies, just let the outer surface harden for a day or so, then pick it off, and discard. About the size and look of a baby corn cob. Over the past year I've hatched out 2 clutches at separate times, and it's amazing how fast they grow. At first, they're hardly noticeable, but soon enough, they're eating as much food as you can dump in the tank, poop is piling up, they've consumed all your frogbit, salvinia, and have even taken care of the duckweed. You hate to do it, but you end up having to scoop out handfuls of snails, just to keep the environment livable. I've moved all but 5 out to the patio pond for the summer, and hope the 2 clutches that are laid on the side hatch out successfully. There's hopefully enough room out there for them to grow. I had the tub netted, and it was seeming to keep the raccoons out, but one night, they discovered that if they climbed on it, the net had enough stretch they could sink it down far enough to grab the snails. The planter next to the pond was full of broken shells, and wreckage, a pot I had sat on the bottom as a hide for the guppies was squashed right down into the substrate, but I managed to save a survivor that was closed up on the dirt. I've since raised the level, and tightened the net. I noticed a couple nights later, fresh clutches of eggs were laid, so there's still viable snails in there. Here's some pics  
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Jun 7, 2022 06:28
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Stoca Zola posted:It looks to me like you have a Venturi style fitting on the outlet of your pump. It’s a neat little arrangement where the shape of the fitting creates a little area of low pressure, so the flow of water itself is enough to draw air in through the 4mm air tube (or if you have no air tube connected it will just suck water in, if it is in water). The result is more bubbles in the output, and more aeration of the water. I think you might have a valve on the end of your air tube to control how much air is drawn in. You can’t really force that bubbly water through an air stone, although you could probably use a spray bar to distribute the water more evenly in a series of smaller more gentle jets of water. That's exactly how the output valve is, an air tube with with a control valve that dangles around the back. Filter wise, there is a drip filter in the lid, with the sponge/media filtering it all. I'll look at adding something over the strainer, at this stage most of the fish are too young to start pumpin out babies, but who knows. ...they are all siblings, which won't seem to stop them when the time comes.. Thanks for the suggestions!
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Jun 7, 2022 07:35
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Ah, those in-the-lid style filters can be pretty decent, there's usually room to add some porous ceramic media over/under the sponges to give you a bit of extra surface area, too. I always get fooled by the powerheads that have two outlets, the tanks available here usually put all the flow into the filter box and then there's a duckbill on the outlet to direct some lateral flow back into the tank, and I guess that lets them use smaller/cheaper powerheads. I had a vague memory of inbreeding in guppies not being as much of a problem as you'd expect and went looking for whatever I'd read and instead found this: https://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2014/05/07/3999279.htm TLDR - guppy males produce better quality sperm when breeding with siblings, but guppy females have adversarial chemistry towards sperm that originated from a sibling. There's a lot of really interesting stuff genetically and behaviourally going on with guppies (and probably other livebearers too!)
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Jun 7, 2022 10:24
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toggle posted:
 So I love my shrimp/fish/etc, but in a week of owning a rabbit snail, I've filled my phone with pictures and videos of him that I show to anyone and everyone  : do you want to watch a 6 minute video of my snail eating kale??? : uhh... : *shoves phone in face*
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Jun 7, 2022 11:53
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I love mystery snails but I have way too many in my tank right now. I'm thinking of putting some out in my seasonal pond - I'm glad to hear that mostly worked out (if I can keep them away from predators)
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Jun 7, 2022 19:17
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my mystery snail died and i found him today and he smelled real bad well, that's my mystery snail story
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Jun 10, 2022 00:22
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My wife caught a few of the silver dollars mating today while I was at work and snagged some video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqTIsPH64YA
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Jun 10, 2022 01:01
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Enos Cabell posted:My wife caught a few of the silver dollars mating today while I was at work and snagged some video. I love how the smaller one gets lost there and realizes "hey, you aren't my partner!"
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Jun 10, 2022 04:46
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After a week of matching temps and salinity, I moved my 20 gallon seastar tank (3 brittle stars and 1 unknown goby) to a 29. I drained nearly all the water from the 20 into the 29, moved all the rocks over, and hopefully things have settled. But am worried about my big green brittle star, my fave, because he is out and chilling on a rock right now, and usually he is hiding during the day unless I have food in. Might be stress, might be something else. And part of me worries if he dies, it's because of the move. I've only had the tank about a month; it came from a friend's family who I doubt did any maintenance on the tank (and I helped break it down, and man it was a mess) so it's possible his days were prenumbered already. But I don't want him to die. I did see one of the other brittles out, and I never see them save for a leg here or there, so hopefully this is okay. He did scuttle off when I flicked a light on.
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Jun 14, 2022 15:02
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Cowslips Warren posted:After a week of matching temps and salinity, I moved my 20 gallon seastar tank (3 brittle stars and 1 unknown goby) to a 29. I drained nearly all the water from the 20 into the 29, moved all the rocks over, and hopefully things have settled. I did a major move in my saltwater tank (20g to a 36g) and my very shy yellow watchman goby was out and about like I've never seen him. It's possible that it's stress, or it might be "whoa, this is so cool." Hopefully it's the latter. It's been a week since I moved the tanks and my watchman is still out a lot more than he used to be. I don't have stars, so I don't know about them, but they might just be adjusting to a new environment and want to explore.
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Jun 15, 2022 04:14
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Cowslips Warren posted:After a week of matching temps and salinity, I moved my 20 gallon seastar tank (3 brittle stars and 1 unknown goby) to a 29. I drained nearly all the water from the 20 into the 29, moved all the rocks over, and hopefully things have settled. I'm no expert, but I'd lean towards the latter. Probably a mix of exploring new places and having a bit more space to stretch out in.
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Jun 16, 2022 14:07
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He finally scuttled over to a new hiding place today, so I have my fingers crossed. I wonder if some small hermit crabs as scavengers would be a good idea to catch up any scraps of food he misses.
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Jun 16, 2022 15:41
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I've now added couple of albino catfish. Will need more I think 
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Jun 17, 2022 00:09
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My brittle star came out today all kinds of hungry, I wish I could have gotten a video of his triumphant arm grab on the pellet and how he lifted it up a good inch or two off the ground before shoving it into his stomach. The Gobi continues to be an amazing little clown zipping all over the surface when he thinks I'm going to feed him. The other two brittle stars are made mostly hidden but I do see them, or more accurately their limbs once in a while.
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Jun 17, 2022 03:34
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toggle posted:I've now added couple of albino catfish. Will need more I think He's gone to ludicrous speed!
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Jun 18, 2022 23:58
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