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Sand can be sharp! After all we have sandpaper not gravel paper. If the sand is tumbled river sand it’s likely to be safe, but I’ve definitely lost layers of skin trying to wash play sand which under microscopic examination was tiny shards of shell and broken coral. I think some sandblasting grit can have edges too depending on what it’s use case is.
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Oct 25, 2022 04:39
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I traded my dad a standard 5gal rimless tank for this nano all-in-one (it’s one of these: https://www.chewy.com/glofish-betta-fish-aquarium-kit-3-gal/dp/327968, maybe not the same exact package, and I think it was Marineland branded instead of glo-fish but it’s the exact same tank). Looks like total volume is about 3.3 gallons. Obviously the answer is to plant it, but it’s way too small for me to comfortably put a betta in there, or really any other fish. I briefly thought about trying a pico reef, and then I remembered that the total volume is 3.3 gallons. If I want animal livestock the obvious answer seems to be shrimp, but I’m afraid of the powerhead eating them or of them getting back behind the partition into the sump area. I suppose I could always rip the divider out and turn the tank into a basic glass box with a single chamber and then pop in a sponge filter but I was hoping to keep the all-in-one elements intact. Any thoughts or ideas? Seems overkill to have a running internal sump if it’s just going to be planted Dutch-style or whatever.
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Oct 25, 2022 17:48
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You could probably shrimp proof this the same way I did my OG fluval spec V, put a block of square foam behind the weir to the sump. Actually I think they still posted themselves between the sponge and the weir so I ended up clipping fine mesh to the outside of the weir. You lose the skimming effect either way, but it keeps them away from the pump impeller. At the moment I have my fluval spec pump sitting inlet down on a block of foam as a back up to keep juvenile crays out of it, they are a bit more forceful at going places they’re not supposed to go. If you can find a way to keep the sump I think it’s worth it just for how clean it looks having all equipment hidden at the back.
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Oct 25, 2022 18:55
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Stoca Zola posted:You could probably shrimp proof this the same way I did my OG fluval spec V, put a block of square foam behind the weir to the sump. Actually I think they still posted themselves between the sponge and the weir so I ended up clipping fine mesh to the outside of the weir. You lose the skimming effect either way, but it keeps them away from the pump impeller. At the moment I have my fluval spec pump sitting inlet down on a block of foam as a back up to keep juvenile crays out of it, they are a bit more forceful at going places they’re not supposed to go. If you can find a way to keep the sump I think it’s worth it just for how clean it looks having all equipment hidden at the back. Yeah, I already have foam behind the inlet but snails were still getting behind it when it was set up. I figured I might stick another block over the front as well and secure it somehow. I think I can shrimp-proof the pump itself relatively easily. Mostly don’t want any shrimp to end up stuck back behind the sump wall and possibly starve back there I suppose I could also open it up as some sort of ad-hoc cave. Maybe pull out the pump altogether and plumb a small sponge filter to the return nozzle.
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Oct 25, 2022 19:04
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It might be possible to use an airlift instead of a mechanical pump, the flow wasn’t really strong enough in the spec (long and narrow) when I tried it, but I think it would be fine in a cube. Shrimp are detrivores, sumps fill with detritus, in my experience shrimp do just fine in sumps as long as there are no moving parts to put them in danger or pinch points to trap them. And an airlift would be pretty shrimp safe I reckon. It’s pretty much just the tube centre of a sponge filter but with no holes so it’s only sucking from the bottom of the tube, and an angled piece on top to direct the flow. A shrimp could get a ride back into the main tank if the lift pipe was wide enough.
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Oct 25, 2022 19:37
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I'm doing my damnedest to keep the ludwigia alive. Some of the stems LOOKED fine but then started turning black in the middle so I'd cut off the good and shove it back into the substrate. Since it reproduces via cuttings, I only need one to survive to eventually get a forest of ludwigia in the back. Everything else seems to be fine except I need to retie the anubias to the driftwood. The egeria densa seems to have fluffed up, the pygmy chain sword is growing lots of roots and the java moss ball seems to be greener than when it came.
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Oct 25, 2022 20:30
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 New 10g planted. I hope this one doesn’t become a slime mess like my 4g…
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Oct 25, 2022 20:55
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Ok Comboomer posted:Yeah, I already have foam behind the inlet but snails were still getting behind it when it was set up. I figured I might stick another block over the front as well and secure it somehow. Or a single male guppy
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Oct 25, 2022 22:19
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Any ideas on how to limit the spray from the aeration bubbles?
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Oct 25, 2022 22:49
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Rated PG-34 posted:Any ideas on how to limit the spray from the aeration bubbles? make fewer bubbles
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Oct 25, 2022 23:03
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Are you using a co2 diffuser as an air stone? I’ve seen regular air stone splashing be reduced by using a small takeaway container clear plastic lid with a hole cut in the middle for the airline to go through, it floats at the surface and directs the bubbles outwards. However for the corner of the tank and that kind of flow, it’s a bit more awkward. But, also if that’s your co2 flow that’s too high!
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Oct 26, 2022 04:54
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Ok Comboomer posted:make fewer bubbles to clarify, I mean with like a flow control valve on your airline. Be mindful that all of them are pretty cheap but not all of them let you graduate the amount of flow. Many on the market are simple off/on valves.
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Oct 26, 2022 05:06
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Stoca Zola posted:Are you using a co2 diffuser as an air stone? I’ve seen regular air stone splashing be reduced by using a small takeaway container clear plastic lid with a hole cut in the middle for the airline to go through, it floats at the surface and directs the bubbles outwards. However for the corner of the tank and that kind of flow, it’s a bit more awkward. But, also if that’s your co2 flow that’s too high! no, it's the aquario air stone. bought it because it looks kinda neat, though I should've got a shorter one. I guess I could try to 3d print something.
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Oct 26, 2022 05:10
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It looks like a similar design as a diffuser and it’s doing its job well. I do think a lower flow could help, you’ve got a raging storm of bubbles going when for circulation all you need is enough to make the surface above air stone move. I bet that air stone would work great driving an airlift! DIY airlift if you don’t know what I mean: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0aV4GhUSN0
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Oct 26, 2022 05:37
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Stoca Zola posted:DIY airlift if you don’t know what I mean: Just gonna drop this right here https://www.youtube.com/c/davidpaganbutler
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Oct 27, 2022 05:14
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So I rebuilt my 40 gallon breeder and was hoping to get the plants in first, but the seller held them for two weeks, so I got the fish first instead. 4 koi angelfish and twelve kuhli loaches for now, along with a few rosy minnows from the prior setup. Right now it's just sand and driftwood in the tank, but the loaches are really active and any time I drop some algae wafers they all come out to gang up on them. There's a small hole in one of the wood chunks and they all pack in there, so it's kinda neat to watch them all wriggle out when it's feeding time
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Oct 27, 2022 15:30
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friendly reminder that your local Goodwill/Salvation Army is a good (albeit dubiously ethical, wrt supporting lovely orgs) place to score high quality, character-filled, often hardwood aquarium stands for pennies on the dollar. A lot of old nightstands/end tables/desks/dressers/entertainment units/sideboards/etc can be repurposed with some minor hardware or cosmetic modification at most
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Oct 27, 2022 18:26
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Sometimes you can find a steal of a deal on a 10gal there too.
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Oct 27, 2022 20:39
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B33rChiller posted:Sometimes you can find a steal of a deal on a 10gal there too. yeah, but 10gals are so cheap at such as Petco at this point that the savings are virtually nonexistent. Great if you manage to find any bigger tanks tho. and also lol if you don’t already have like five spare 10gals kicking around at literally all times
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Oct 27, 2022 22:09
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Got a TDS meter and some peat granules. I'm still fixing my cockups with the water but at least my tank is nice and cycled now. Plants are really going through those nitrates fast though. I did find out that I can get the RO water pH down pretty low if I put in an airstone for a couple of days. Without aeration, it takes forever to go down but with an airstone, I can get it to 6.6 in two days. I'm seeing growth on the egeria densa and a bit on the pygmy chain sword though I think it's mostly putting its energy into root growth. I THINK I see some growth on the two good ludwigia stems but I really have to squint. No real change with the anubias other than them readjusting their leaves to the light and the java moss is still just a ball of java moss. Update: I just noticed that even though the pygmy chain sword isn't growing much bigger, almost every bunch has put out a runner. I hope that means they are happy. I am more confident in the ludwigia too. I did adjust my airstones positioning and now all my densa are being dislodged from their shallow plantings in the gravel and floating up. Planting densa in the gravel sucks because I can't use the hemostat and jam it in because I kept on accidentally severing it when I tried, even with a light touch. Have to use my fingers instead. Lareine fucked around with this message at 06:00 on Nov 3, 2022 |
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Nov 2, 2022 07:56
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i broke down and got a blood parrot cichlid for my community tank even though everything says its a bad idea, so far he's only been a medium rear end in a top hat instead of the full fledged one i was afraid of. I really just wanted an orange fish to name Bingo to go with blue acara Bluey
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Nov 3, 2022 18:07
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I have a small mystery snail whose shell has a crack. Luckily none of the body is exposed and he can still close up just fine, but he has been very stagnant and just hangs half-out of the shell on the bottom. I moved him out of the Betta tank and in with the shrimp. I will move most of the assassin's out this evening and keep up with 30% daily water changes. I have been reading that it's possible to repair with an eggshell and super glue. Is it worthwhile to try to repair or should I leave it alone? https://imgur.com/gallery/1l4Ul5w
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Nov 3, 2022 19:24
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candystarlight posted:I have a small mystery snail whose shell has a crack. Luckily none of the body is exposed and he can still close up just fine, but he has been very stagnant and just hangs half-out of the shell on the bottom. you could feed him to somebody realtalk: it’s possibly hurt/in pain/dying in ways that you might not be able to see from just assessing the size of the crack at minimum I’d wonder if it has an infection from water getting into the crack
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Nov 3, 2022 21:20
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Ok Comboomer posted:you could feed him to somebody Honestly yeah, being in pain is my biggest concern. If it's something he can recover from I'll do whatever I can to help him along. No sign of infection that I can tell- no fuzzies, discoloration, or gross smells. Since being moved with the shrimp, he's poking his head out but that's it. While he's closed up, it doesn't look like the crack breaches the shell. I wonder if coming out stretches the crack and that's why he's been shut-in. I've not had this happen before and it's a little surprising! The water is so hard without additives to begin with, and I throw calcium tabs in weekly-ish to make sure they get big and strong.
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Nov 4, 2022 01:46
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I wonder if something like a "fish bandage" would work, I haven't actually seen the product locally but I remember reading online about some powder that you apply that sets over a wound and remains even underwater (becomes a gel? or it's a gel when it goes on?). It might be enough to stabilise the shell and keep nasties out and buy the snail time to heal? I tried putting some of my rosy barbs out in the pond last weekend, and they loved it, apart from that the skimmer ate all of them. No harm done, it's just a one way trip into the skimmer box with the door float set up the default way, it makes sense for floating debris but not so much for fish. I took them all out of the skimmer and put them back inside to give me a chance to work out a suitable modification, kind of glad I did because overnight/the next morning there were foul winds that dumped huge quantities of flowers and leaves into the pond and made the skimmer box a very inhospitable place for fish. I'm waiting for it to warm up more before I try the fish out there again but I think with the door flap removed and a piece of sponge wedged in the lower half of the skimmer opening the skimming effect still happens without impeding outward travel of any ingested fish. It got seriously cold though! from 30 (80ish) one day to 9 (50ish) the next, thanks to gusts of wind direct from Antarctica. I've found around 8 guppy fry that survived the quarantine failure guppy disease massacre, unfortunately a couple of them have kinked spines but there should be enough left that there are both male and female in good shape. I would really like to get some fresh genes in and then breed with the disease resistant survivors. I think there's definitely something of value in whatever helped them survive when every other fish died, and as fry I would have expected their immune systems to still be fairly weak, not stronger than everyone else. I was originally thinking that all of them died, I kept pulling dead fish out for 3 or 4 days until I couldn't see any more and I was kind of prepared to give up the guppy side of things completely. Maybe I still will, I haven't really decided and I don't have a lot of trust left in imported guppies. There are a couple of sellers that specify locally bred fish (ie in Australia not SE Asia fishfarm imports which are mass produced and cheap) so I might try those before giving up.
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Nov 4, 2022 15:13
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 FOR SALE: Innovative Marine NUVO 16 Nano, never filled. I prolly could’ve waited until a “blue tags half off” week but I didn’t want it to get sniped, and it had been there since at least Tuesday. $50 ain’t bad tho. Of all the tanks to find at a Goodwill. They also have a dirty but functional exo-terra 12x18 paludarium for $35 I might grab. But I’ll wait for that one to price-drop, I doubt it’ll go anywhere. I find the black plastic ugly enough to prefer a more premium or DIY option for display and something like a plastic tub if I’m not gonna display something like a crested gecko or whatever else you’d put in there. Maybe it’s good for dart frogs? Idk.
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Nov 4, 2022 17:20
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I picked up a hitchhiker on my latest trip to my LFS. I currently have a 29 (I posted in here back when I was initially planning to start setting it up), which is pretty heavily planted and was stocked with an unknown number of cherry shrimp (at least 16-20, probably a lot more), 14 neon tetras, some mystery snails, a nerite snail, and a pair of kuhli loaches. I picked up three more loaches, and, when I got home from the store, found a single harlequin rasbora in the bag, must have gotten scooped in there by accident. He's been in there for over a week and is currently schooling with the tetras just fine (they seem to have decided that this weird fish is probably a tetra), but would do better in a group of his own species, so I think I am going to pull the trigger on getting a second tank, probably a 20 long since I have a space that would fit a tank of that height well. Does anyone have any recommendations on tank mates for them in a tank that size? I was thinking about splitting my cherry shrimp population between the two tanks, but I'm not married to the idea, I may go with amano shrimp instead. I'm also considering a couple of honey gouramis but I am open to other suggestions.
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Nov 4, 2022 17:51
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You could have a school of panda, trilineatus or other even dwarf corydoras (pygmaeus, habrosus or hastatus) on the bottom of a harlequin rasbora tank, same water requirements and a 20 long would give them a lot of room. Hillstream loaches might work too, or dwarf barbs; I'm thinking you want something for the bottom half of the tank since rasboras are a very top zone fish. Glowlight tetras hang low in the tank too, or pristellas, if you want some more tetras but something different to neons. Hara jerdoni (asian stone catfish, tiny guys) could be cool too if you can get them. You might get a lot of enjoyment out of filter feeding shrimp, vampire shrimp or bamboo shrimp, if you have the means to give them small food and flow to filter from, I have riffle shrimp and have been feeding them gel powder food straight as powder and they are enjoying it. They're bigger than cherry shrimp and can be a bit shy to start but once they settle in or especially if you design your water flow to give them a spot to view them, you will see them out and feeding all the time. If you want a slow flow, more heavily planted tank, sparkling gourami might work as you could get a few and have them pair up and you might get to hear the males croaking at each other.
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Nov 4, 2022 18:50
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lol I got lunch then went back for the Exo-terra. There’s a bunch of tank scape materials and a couple of cheap thermometers and a hygrometer I can repurpose in there too. For $35 it’s pretty sweet.
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Nov 4, 2022 19:24
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Good finds! I was looking for a price comparison here, not really comparable since they're new prices but a aqua one horizon 65 is $200 for a 2 foot/15g ish tank, same for an exo Terra of about the size you describe. But, you just wouldn't find bargains like that here I think. Hope it cleans up nicely, maybe you could try making a mini water fall or something?
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Nov 4, 2022 19:48
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Hadlock posted:So during the pandemic I probably watched one too many serpadesign YouTube videos Ordered a 4000ml (4 liter) Erlenmeyer flask and I guess it arrived while my wife's friends were in town and was briefly turned into a flower vase. I think 4L is pretty close to 1 gallon which is on the lower end of humane for shrimp Has some pond water, since Java moss scraps in there, innoculated it with the water from my other Erlenmeyer flask . If things go ok I'll transplant more moss in there and start with a couple of ghost shrimp    Those whitish/bright red things are magnolia seeds. You'll never see them on the ground because squirrels vacuum them up pretty much instantly, but my pond is full of them as squirrels don't swim underwater
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Nov 5, 2022 03:45
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gently caress drained part of the zebra tank before I realized I had not unplugged the heater. Only the top was not submerged, none of the coils, so maybe it won't need replacing. This is why you don't do tank maintenance when you're loving tired.
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Nov 5, 2022 04:35
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Cowslips Warren posted:gently caress drained part of the zebra tank before I realized I had not unplugged the heater. Only the top was not submerged, none of the coils, so maybe it won't need replacing. I mean if it didn’t crack or visibly fry, it’s probably still good?
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Nov 5, 2022 04:48
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Yeah I've done that a few times, as long as it didn't crack open you should be fine. The one time I didn't catch it until it exploded was a HUGE mess though. Just glad it happened in a sump and not the display tank.
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Nov 5, 2022 13:36
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So when I first setup my pond I tossed two bags of plastic filter media and two bags of ceramic media, 3/4 gallon each? Anyways the flow on the pond pump was down so I took it apart to clean it Found a whole rear end earthworm, at least six inches long  worming his way through the ceramic filter media + mesh. Not some specialized pond worm, this is exactly the guy you found in the dirt as a kidI thought maybe he fell in and died but he was wriggling around like crazy. I had no idea that earthworms could survive under water but after additional googling apparently if there's adequate flow they can survive as they absorb oxygen through their skin. The bag he was in is directly in the outflow of a 660gph pump so oxygen probably isn't a problem for him. I guess he eats the goop off the filter media. I'm not gonna ruin a good thing so I left him in there No idea how an earthworm got in there, the lip of the pond is 2' off the ground 
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Nov 5, 2022 22:47
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I forgot what bastards angelfish could be. My shrimp population was lingering on a few adults left over from the crayfish. So I ordered more. The angels spent the night hunting every one of them down to try and eat them. If they didn't fit they just beat the shrimp to death. So now I have two of the new ones left that I can find and they're hiding behind the filter intake with the adults
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Nov 6, 2022 04:19
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Hadlock posted:So when I first setup my pond I tossed two bags of plastic filter media and two bags of ceramic media, 3/4 gallon each? delightful. I had a similar experience lifting up a piece of water lettuce, only to see a pill bug swimming amongst the roots. Just happy as could be. Oh yeah, they're actually land shrimp, and have gills. Neat!
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Nov 6, 2022 16:17
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Found a 500ml Erlenmeyer flask in the back of the cupboard, had some time to kill and collected a sample of creek water and soil from nearby my daughter's daycare. The nearby river is brackish especially this time of year so had to go way upstream to minimize salt content For the first time actually seeing crustaceans in the water. Looks like 2 or 3 seed shrimp and a handful of other stuff. Forgot to sample some aquatic plants so harvested a couple strands of java moss from another flask and dropped some dwarf water lettuce in there to hopefully chill out the chemical swings as it cycles; and also introduce beneficial bacteria useful for being in a windowsill, rather than at the bottom of a muddy creek bed Worm population in my 4000ml flask has exploded, went from two, to twenty or more. Harvested a handful of gross java and Christmas moss from the bottom of the pond and all sorts of deterius worms were living in there. I don't think I saw a planeria in there, yet. If I have earthworms in the pond who knows what else is in there Hadlock fucked around with this message at 07:10 on Nov 8, 2022 |
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Nov 8, 2022 07:06
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Got a fluval 307 external canister filter on a 55 gallon freshwater tank, in the last ten minutes it has started making a sound like it is going to take off (think PS4 running God of War), any ideas? Going to start with taking the canister apart but of course this happens an hour before bed time on a work night.
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Nov 8, 2022 21:51
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I'm having a hard time getting my cpds to spawn, and I think it's due to my going back to work in person and not being around to do small feedings all the time. Does anyone have a flake or pellet food that they like for small fish? I'm feeding live (microworms and Artemia) most of the time but they don't really work with an auto feeder.. I do crushed flakes occasionally, but they're just Tetra brand generic flakes and I'm sure I could do better.
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Nov 8, 2022 22:06
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