The Aquarium Thread: Get him an account he's ready for sea spam

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Neitherman: Sep 25, 2006; _{He will die without safety brief.}

Wow, excellent OP Synth! I just got back from a week long visit to New England and I'm pretty beat so I'll have to delve further into your plethora of information tomorrow, but I'm quite excited to see how thorough you were with it! Maybe I'll learn something new before getting back to the grand adventure that is fishkeeping tomorrow.

# ¿ Jun 17, 2013 06:58

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# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 13:26

Neitherman: Sep 25, 2006; _{He will die without safety brief.}

Good lord am I addicted. I just picked up two Siamese (at least I hope) algae eaters at a LFS called Aquatouch! On top of that, Petsmart was having a $1 sale on neon tetras so I decided I'd add 6 more to my school to make it an even 15. Pretty sure my bio load is at maximum at this point.

Apparently the guys I got could be one of the following:
Crossocheilus oblongus
Crossocheilus langei
Crossocheilus atrilimes
Crossocheilus citripinnis

And the internet says I should hope I picked up some langei but it's nearly impossible to tell... :ohdear:

Neitherman fucked around with this message at 15:55 on Jul 3, 2013

# ¿ Jul 3, 2013 04:08

Neitherman: Sep 25, 2006; _{He will die without safety brief.}

I swear the only way I ever get to see my upside down catfish is if I hold a flashlight to the tank after lights out. :sigh:

# ¿ Jul 17, 2013 15:44

Neitherman: Sep 25, 2006; _{He will die without safety brief.}

Have any of you fine ladies and gentlemen kept pea puffers? I really want to try my hand at keeping them but I wanted to see if there was a voice of experience I could consult before diving into anything. I've done a fair amount of research and the big takeaways I got were these:

The filtration rate has to be low as pea puffers are weak swimmers and can easily get stuck to a filter intake
They will not readily/ever accept flakes or pellets, live or frozen foods only
They are highly territorial, but with enough hiding places more than one can be kept in a 10 gallon enclosure (as long as they are introduced at the same time)
The tank should not contain objects with sharp edges as they can easily injure themselves on jagged decorations

With those considerations out of the way, I present to you my plan. First, procure a 10 gallon tank with an appropriately sized HOB filter and buffer the intake somehow (may need some suggestions for this part.) Get some smooth driftwood and rocks, and dump some Seachem Flourite in after creating a tasteful arrangement. Take some plants from my 29 gallon and re-purpose them as decor for the puffer tank. Dump a thin layer of play sand (or whatever sand-like material I can add that will not inhibit plant growth) on top of all of that to keep the puffers from directly impacting the substrate and harming themselves. Fill with water, cycle, and add tiny little pufferfish! Let me know if I missed anything!

Seriously, look at these cuties.

Neitherman fucked around with this message at 00:59 on Oct 1, 2013

# ¿ Oct 1, 2013 00:57

Neitherman: Sep 25, 2006; _{He will die without safety brief.}

Shakenbaker posted:

These have been on my nebulous and lengthy list of fish I want to keep for a while now. Watching them in the store is awesome, lots of personality in those little buggers. Put me in mind of tiny cichlids.

Live food's pretty easy, at least, since all you need is a snail infestation and your problem is solved! Or set up a little cherry shrimp tank if you want something attractive to look at. They're supposed to be pretty voracious, so they should put on a good show at least. And for the sand, look at pool filter sand. Less than $10 for a whole lot more than you'll need, plus it cleans easy.

Good luck with your little pufferbuddies!

When it comes to cultivating snail infestations, I'm set. I culled about 2 dozen on Sunday and I'm sure by the time I'm ready for fish I'll have 2 dozen more for snacking. I'll have to take a look at some pool filter sand I suppose. Is there any reason to use that over play sand? Granules are more coarse to allow for better plant growth perhaps?

# ¿ Oct 1, 2013 03:37

Neitherman: Sep 25, 2006; _{He will die without safety brief.}

Whale Cancer posted:

I kept a set of three in a 10 gallon partially planted partially silk plant tank for 3 years before I had to get rid of them. They are my favorite fish I have ever had.

I used an AC20 filter on my 10 gallon tank. Mine at ramshorn snails and bloodworms. I bought frozen bloodworms and a little basket that looks like a strainer with a suction cup. Put the worms in the basket and hang it near the surface and the puffs will come right up and eat. You can also feed them with tweezers and eventually by hand.

You need lots of breaks in the line of site or they might fight. If you are looking for tankmates get some oto cats. I had 6 and my puffs never once even looked at them. I also kept red cherry shrimp in the tank and my puffs never messed with them. The shrimp would actually steal bloodworms from the puffs but your mileage may vary.

Puffers do not have scales so the sharp edges thing is true. Once you first get them you need to treat them with an anti internal parasite because they are all wild caught. If you find one with a bumpy belly it has internal parasites. IF you are going to use sand I suggest pool filter sand. I had ecocomplete in this tank.

The only reason I mentioned topping the substrate with sand is because I'm paranoid about them hurting themselves on hard edges. If it's not necessary, I would rather not top the substrate as I'd likely get better plant growth without a topper. That being said, I'm super excited about this project now. I'm sorry you had to get rid of yours, it almost sounds like one can develop an emotional attachment to them!

# ¿ Oct 1, 2013 05:42

Neitherman: Sep 25, 2006; _{He will die without safety brief.}

Shakenbaker posted:

Got some more corkscrew vals that could go to a new home if anyone's interested. Just let me know and you too can have the long, manageable curls you've always dreamed of.

Mine were shipped on Monday and on the way to Phoenix. :smug:

Estimated to arrive on Thursday, so that gives you an idea of the shipping window, Ling.
I'll post a few pics of the lovelies once they arrive.

# ¿ Oct 8, 2013 09:02

Neitherman: Sep 25, 2006; _{He will die without safety brief.}

Nostalgia4Infinity posted:

I wish this guppy would drop the babies she's very obviously about to have.

I have a neon tetra that's looked like that for months now. When I first realized it I was excited to get some neon fry but soon realized it seems to be a permanent situation with my fish.

# ¿ Oct 14, 2013 22:55

Neitherman: Sep 25, 2006; _{He will die without safety brief.}

I was down in Tucson for the weekend and since Cowslip's Warren mentioned the presence of an awesome freshwater store there in the last thread I stopped in for a peek before we left. Turns out they had the most beautiful tank setups I had ever seen and the fabled pea puffers I have been trying to find for the past few weeks. I came home with three of the little guys and knowledge of another great aquarium store within driving distance.

# ¿ Nov 10, 2013 22:15

Neitherman: Sep 25, 2006; _{He will die without safety brief.}

I think my tanks may get some benefit from having a colony of Malaysian trumpet snails growing in each one. Where do you guys recommend I pick some up? I haven't seen them at any LFS in my area so I may be limited to an internet purchase.

# ¿ Apr 15, 2014 16:36

Neitherman: Sep 25, 2006; _{He will die without safety brief.}

Can I arrange to buy some MTS from a fellow goon? My planted tank is looking a little wilted and weary and I think it may be good to throw a batch in to churn up the soil a bit. Send a PM if you can help out.

# ¿ May 19, 2014 22:45

Neitherman: Sep 25, 2006; _{He will die without safety brief.}

Dudes, I've had a horrible green algae problem for weeks now:

I have tried cutting down on light, I have done massive water changes, I have tried cutting down on food, and it just will not go away. I'm thinking at this point I may just have to resort to chemicals. Someone, please let me know if there's anything else I can try before resorting to that drastic measure.

# ¿ Oct 6, 2014 17:06

Neitherman: Sep 25, 2006; _{He will die without safety brief.}

Shakenbaker posted:

What kind of lights do you have, and how old are they? If you're running fluorescent bulbs they need to be changed twice a year because they degrade into ranges that make algae go nuts. Or maybe toss a shitton of daphnia into the tank and see if they can put a dent in it

I've replaced my fluorescent with this Current LED fixture recently (within the last 6 months).

I assume the sarcasm about the Daphnia is due to the fact that my fish will very quickly eat up each and every last one as soon as they are introduced?

# ¿ Oct 7, 2014 16:30

Neitherman: Sep 25, 2006; _{He will die without safety brief.}

I finally decided that desperate times called for drastic measures. I transferred all my fish and plants to a 20g, emptied the tank and dumped the substrate, refilled the tank with Flourite and just added my fish back in today. The tank was previously built using the Walstad method, and while successful, I'm assuming it had something to do with the massive, uncontrollable algae outbreak. I've culled my flora considerably and the water is now as clear as it has ever been and the tank looks much nicer to boot. I'm going to make it a point to do testing on a weekly basis, no exceptions this time. I'm assuming that anything and everything I've added back in has the potential to cause the bloom to start again so here's hoping I don't oversaturate the water with phosphates again.

Neitherman fucked around with this message at 21:53 on Oct 13, 2014

# ¿ Oct 13, 2014 21:44

Neitherman: Sep 25, 2006; _{He will die without safety brief.}

KillHour posted:

So after much pleading from my niece, I broke down and got a fish.

We ended up going with a male Betta and a 10g tank. It's been in there for several weeks now, and seems to be doing okay. We have a Tetra Whisper 10i filter, which looks to be growing a nice amount of bacteria, and a bunch of gravel in the bottom. I'm looking to get some tankmates and plants to help it live a nice long happy life, and looking for advice on what to add.

Important: This is technically her fish, so she insists on feeding it. As a 5 year old, she is very much in the mindset of more is better, so food is slowly accumulating at the bottom. It would be nice to get some fish that could clean up after her without exploding in population uncontrollably, if possible.

I don't have a cover or a light, but I could get one if I need to.

If I were 5 I'd probably enjoy the idea of a few panda corys. They're small, have a whimsical name, and look pretty cute. I'm just not sure how compatible they'd be with a male betta, though I assume if you give them some hiding spots they would be just fine.

Then again, I've seen from people in this thread that they reproduce like crazy, so maybe not...

# ¿ Oct 15, 2014 20:06

Neitherman: Sep 25, 2006; _{He will die without safety brief.}

Guys. What the hell is this?

It's in all of my tanks and I don't think it's an algae, but it looks like poo poo and is super invasive. I can't find info about it anywhere on the internet. Does anyone know what it is and how to remove it once and for all?

# ¿ Jun 28, 2015 19:35

Neitherman: Sep 25, 2006; _{He will die without safety brief.}

Cowslips Warren posted:

Fewer things are more frustrating that arguing with someone that no, them keeping a redtail catfish in a 65 hex "just until he can get an upgrade one day" is a bad idea. Perhaps the people arguing back that "telling him to get the bigger tank first ISN'T what he asked, he asked what a good price was."

I really wish some fish weren't on the market.

Ooooh, I just joined that FB group like a week ago. There are some dumb people that want to raise fish in AZ.

I'm setting up a 55 gallon salt right now and I do not plan on getting a drat thing that will outgrow that tank. I'm okay with it being coral, some clowns, and maybe a goby or two. If it doesn't have a tank that can handle it at full size already set up, cycled, and waiting, it shouldn't come home from the store.

edit: I noticed he quit posting, maybe you actually made a difference. That or he got annoyed.

Neitherman fucked around with this message at 19:48 on Jun 28, 2015

# ¿ Jun 28, 2015 19:43

Neitherman: Sep 25, 2006; _{He will die without safety brief.}

Stoca Zola posted:

Utricularia, also called Bladderwort, is a carnivorous plant: the little cysts suck up passing infusoria. I had some but only have a tiny bit left, either my snails or my rosy barbs ate it. I never got to see it flowering. I'd heard it was invasive but it must also be delicious to someone. I don't recommend you get barbs or snails to get rid of your bladderwort though since they'll destroy any plant you hold dear.

I've got snails but I've never seen them touch it. Mine are just ordinary ramshorn snails though. Maybe something more exotic would be interested in chowing down.

# ¿ Jun 28, 2015 19:56

Neitherman: Sep 25, 2006; _{He will die without safety brief.}

Yeah, I generally just spin a toothbrush around it and pull it out when it gets too unruly. I'm just glad to hear it's not actually algae. I just wish I knew where it came from.

# ¿ Jun 29, 2015 15:41

Neitherman: Sep 25, 2006; _{He will die without safety brief.}

I just bought some Seachem Flourish and wantonly dumped half a cap into each of my 29 gallon tanks. There should be no adverse effects from doing that, right? Per the instructions that is the correct amount to dose each tank but I've been reading horror stories of people waking up to dead fish after the first dose.

Neitherman fucked around with this message at 07:05 on Aug 19, 2016

# ¿ Aug 19, 2016 06:40

Neitherman: Sep 25, 2006; _{He will die without safety brief.}

Cowslips Warren posted:

Pandas have been hit or miss for me for loving years. I get from farms, they die. From breeders, they last a little longer but die. Anywhere else, die sooner. I honestly think they, like so many awesome cats (looking at you C. perugiae), don't ship well and just aren't bred as strong as the aeneus cories. Or paleatus. gently caress I had wild caught elegans cories (awesome and they are dimorphic too!) that lasted through everything, including three different shipments and trials of pandas. Pandas are cute but pandas suck.

I got one panda cory from a LFS in 2012 that lived through about 5 different tank changes and didn't die until earlier this year due to (I assume) massive depression resulting in negligence to my tank. I guess they are hit or miss when it comes to hardiness. I want to get a bunch more now that I actually give a poo poo about fish-keeping and my hobbies in general again.

# ¿ Aug 19, 2016 07:04

Neitherman: Sep 25, 2006; _{He will die without safety brief.}

I just ordered one of these bad boys for my 29g planted tank:

Finnex Planted+ 24/7 CC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3r0YPSd_k0

Will I be the first person in the thread with this set of lights? Surely, that cannot be the case. I would love to hear any thoughts or reviews from current owners because everything I have unearthed has been overwhelmingly gushing.

# ¿ Aug 15, 2018 18:37

Neitherman: Sep 25, 2006; _{He will die without safety brief.}

Applebees Appetizer posted:

Just gonna leave this here because wow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuScdr53SM8

This is what I'd do with a million dollars.

# ¿ Aug 15, 2018 18:38

Neitherman: Sep 25, 2006; _{He will die without safety brief.}

I got my Finnex Planted+ 24/7 CC yesterday (god, they name these loving things like they're graphics cards). I'm loving it. I have a few anubias in my tank that are yellowing at the edges of the leaves and I'm hoping the massive upgrade in lighting is just what they need to get healthy once again.

# ¿ Aug 23, 2018 03:01

Neitherman: Sep 25, 2006; _{He will die without safety brief.}

r0ck0 posted:

Anubias don't need a ton of light, its more likely a nutrient/mineral deficiency. Do you have other plants, what are your water parameters, are you dosing ferts, weekly water changes? Could be iron, nitrate, or potassium or combination.

I have some corkscrew vals, some bacopa, two types of anubias, and Java moss. I noticed that leaves on some of the bacopa are also looking a bit yellow. I dose with Seachem Flourish at least twice a week and the substrate is Seachem Flourite. I do weekly water changes which average out to about 16% of the total water volume (in a 30 gallon tank).

Neitherman fucked around with this message at 06:23 on Aug 23, 2018

# ¿ Aug 23, 2018 06:20

Neitherman: Sep 25, 2006; _{He will die without safety brief.}

r0ck0 posted:

Seachem flourish supplies trace elements like iron but not the major fertilizers. Its not meant to supply nitrogen, phosphorous, or potassium. Do you test your gh/kh and nitrate levels? You will probably want to dose nitrate and phosphorus on opposite days as flourish to get the green back in your plants and prevent an algae bloom with the new light. And depending on your gh/kh you might need to dose something like seachem equilibrium to raise your ca/mg/k levels. You have to balance the light with the plants and ferts or you get algae. This calculator is good for figuring out how much to dose: http://rotalabutterfly.com/nutrient-calculator.php

edit:

here's a pic of my petsmart clown pleco. He never comes out of hiding.

Thanks for the advice! I use the API Freshwater Master Test Kit to test my water parameters. Unfortunately that does not come with a test for GH/KH so I don't test for those. I'll look around at a few LFS for the additional chemicals/tests because I'm sick of not being able to grow anubias.

Picture of tank for reference:

Neitherman fucked around with this message at 15:35 on Aug 27, 2018

# ¿ Aug 27, 2018 15:30

Neitherman: Sep 25, 2006; _{He will die without safety brief.}

Stoca Zola posted:

Very nice and clean looking setup! Is that anubias afzelii? I didn't have much luck with anubias to start with but it just takes time, LOTS of time. Once it gets a bit bigger and more established it speeds up a bit, or maybe that's just me losing track of time.

Thank you! I have anubias nana and anubias congensis and I would love if both the driftwood and rock were totally covered in those. I'm going get some API Leaf Zone and see if it'll help my plants reach that goal more quickly. If anyone has specific fert recommendations I'll take those into consideration as well.

# ¿ Aug 27, 2018 16:12

Neitherman: Sep 25, 2006; _{He will die without safety brief.}

Thanks again. I grabbed API Root Tabs and right now I'm putting together an order that includes that NPK kit because I couldn't find it at any LFS. I can also throw in a GH/KH testing kit. Any other recommendations? I'm not growing anything crazy here, just corkscrew vals, two types of anubias, and bacopa.

Edit: For further reference, here are some close-ups of my plants. You can clearly see the yellowing and leaf disintegration. I just found a LFS that sells that NPK kit so I'll probably grab that later today.

Neitherman fucked around with this message at 20:01 on Aug 27, 2018

# ¿ Aug 27, 2018 19:32

Neitherman: Sep 25, 2006; _{He will die without safety brief.}

Dr. Garbanzo posted:

So as promised some progress pics of the tank.
It's gone from this:

To this:

I'm pretty happy with it although I went for the wrong type of moss. I picked flame moss cause thats what they had at the time and it grows upwards and gets super dense to the point that trimming it ends up with moss all through the tank.

Awesome tank! I love the way the "tree" has grown in and completely shrouded the rocks at the base, also holy gently caress that is some fluffy moss.

# ¿ Aug 30, 2018 20:14

Neitherman: Sep 25, 2006; _{He will die without safety brief.}

Hello everyone! Can somebody please kindly explain what my assassin snails are up to in this video? Are they mating? Fighting? Trying to eat each other? I happened to notice shortly after I recorded this video that one of them also had excreted something looking like a trail of mucous. What the hell is going on? I hope they're makin' babies :huh:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qUSn5-xK_E

# ¿ Sep 7, 2018 16:26

Neitherman: Sep 25, 2006; _{He will die without safety brief.}

I finally pulled myself out of my funk and cleaned up my 29 gallon. I have a Siamese algae eater as big around as a cigar, a Synodontis nigriventris about 5 inches long, a bunch of ghost shrimp and a dozen tiger barbs. I really love the tiger barbs, they jostle and chase each other constantly and it's delightful.

Video of my jerk fish and tank cause why not:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bx_cOjyaPc

The plant situation is pitiful compared to past efforts in this tank but I am successfully growing red stuff this time and that makes me happy.

Edit: ADHD hyper-focus is guiding me to make more videos of the tank so why not (this one is much better than the previous one):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5coH6BJMA4

Neitherman fucked around with this message at 22:27 on Jan 30, 2023

# ¿ Jan 29, 2023 23:47

Neitherman: Sep 25, 2006; _{He will die without safety brief.}

Fingers McLongDong posted:

15 years ago, I kept a very large tank with live plants and really enjoyed it. I haven't done any aquariums since then, and forgot how to take care of all that stuff at this point. Someone gave me an old 1 gallon fishbowl to add to a "plant hospital" that some of us have made at work, it's basically just a big dedicated countertop space where we put a large full spectrum grow light and lots of plants. I'd like to make a live plant aquarium out of this otherwise useless 1 gallon tank, does anyone have recommendations for substrate/plant? Is the full spectrum light we use for the regular plants going to be adequate for this?

Also, I'm very well aware that 1 gallon is not anywhere near adequate for a fish, so I have no plans to add any. If the plant tank does well, is that enough space for something tiny, like a pair of ghost shrimp? I'd prefer to not have to use a filter or anything in the plant tank, so obviously it would need to be something with a low bio-waste production. If that's a terrible idea, I can live with that and stick to just plants. Just trying to keep things as simple and plug-free as possible given the space. I made a terrarium last year that housed an orchid mantis for it's lifespan and that was a big hit at the office, so now people dump things like this on me asking if I can do more similar projects.

Seems like a few neocardinia shrimp and maybe a nerite snail or two would be okay. If you were able to get a teeny sponge filter in there that would help with oxygenation for the inverts. The plants will help with nitrates but you may still want to do partial water changes. Talking about it makes me want to try this experiment for myself!

Edit: keep in mind the snails may climb out of the bowl so you'll have to keep track of them.

Neitherman fucked around with this message at 02:23 on Feb 4, 2023

# ¿ Feb 4, 2023 02:21

Neitherman: Sep 25, 2006; _{He will die without safety brief.}

I just picked up one of those CO2 reactor kits from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B095YXMFBS?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

It's basically a science fair volcano in a metal tube. I haven't run into any leaks with the cylinder or the air line and the diffuser seems to work well enough so I'm happy with it so far. I'm hoping it'll help with making my ludwigia repens more vibrant and maybe turn my cabomba a little bit purple. Gonna look into getting a CO2 drop checker today so I don't accidentally kill everything by dosing too much.

# ¿ Feb 18, 2023 20:48

Neitherman: Sep 25, 2006; _{He will die without safety brief.}

I decided to upgrade my tank from a 29 gallon to a 46 gallon bowfront:

I've been keeping a journal of my progress on it from start to present on the Aquarium Co-op forum cause it's better at handling attachments than the SA forums:
https://forum.aquariumcoop.com/topic/31514-new-46-gallon-bowfront-build/

# ¿ May 7, 2023 09:56

Neitherman: Sep 25, 2006; _{He will die without safety brief.}

Is there anyone living in the Phoenix area who would like a big clump of Java Fern, a chunk of Anubias Coffeefolia rhisome (complete with some Bucephalandra embedded in the roots!) or a clump of Java Moss? If so send me a PM and we can hammer out the details. I have too many plants but I don't want to just throw this stuff away.

Edit: A trade was made and I ended up with this big guy:

Neitherman fucked around with this message at 21:04 on Mar 31, 2024

# ¿ Mar 26, 2024 19:02

Neitherman: Sep 25, 2006; _{He will die without safety brief.}

I suggest the OP add Aquarium Co-op to the list of quality vendors. I have bought lights, live plants, an air pump, sponge filters, and more from them and it's all been top-notch quality. Plus the owner Corey is a huge fish nerd and makes YouTube videos all the time about his store and the other stores he visits.

Neitherman fucked around with this message at 22:15 on Mar 28, 2024

# ¿ Mar 28, 2024 22:06

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# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 13:26

Neitherman: Sep 25, 2006; _{He will die without safety brief.}

Bulky Bartokomous posted:

I've never had much luck with plants in aquariums. Sometimes they do okay for a while, but eventually they yellow/brown out. Anyone have a recommendation on a liquid fertilizer for really basic stuff like amazon swords, etc? I have zero desire to mess with CO2 or anything like that, just want to mix a few real plants in with my fake ones. My FW tank is my simple refuge from my reef tank.

I get this:

And this:

I dose Flourish once or twice a week and Flourish Excel a few times a week. I dump a cap full of potassium and phosphorus in weekly as well. My anubias started flowering and my java ferns about doubled in size after I started this routine. Made my buce more buff as well.

On top of this I use the API root tabs for my scarlet temple, amazon sword, and tropica crypt. This combo has been working pretty well for me in a 46 gallon tank since I set it up last March.

Neitherman fucked around with this message at 20:53 on Mar 30, 2024

# ¿ Mar 30, 2024 20:33

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Pet Island > The Aquarium Thread: Get him an account he's ready for sea spam