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cheese posted:So I got all of my plants for my container pond, only to realize the black plastic packing crate (for the emergent pots to sit on) is too large to fit. I also bought a pair of iron "organizer racks" from Homegoods that are covered in a coating of "platinum finish". They feel plastic-ey but are iron - is that ok to put in there or will the iron in there leech into the water? I didnt want to get bricks because I wanted to not loss the water volume - should I just get bricks and not risk it?
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Jun 23, 2013 12:54
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| # ¿ May 5, 2024 09:03 |
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I know there are some Chicago land folk in this thread, so I figured I'd mention it here - Jim's Pet World in Villa Park is doing a 50% off sale on driftwood, and they have a *ton* of pieces of all different sizes. And their original prices were good to start with by the look of it, so it's a great deal.
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Jun 23, 2013 23:47
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eggyolk posted:Recently MY GIRLFRIEND and I decided to try feeding our Red Eared Slider live food for once. He's about 3 years old and plenty big so we purchased a dollars worth of Rosy Red Minnows at the local pet store. Our turtle loves them after years of pellet and freeze dried shrimp.
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Jul 2, 2013 00:29
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kontona posted:i wanted to pick up a "shallow" tank that's similar to the ADA 60-F. i recall someone posting a link to a site that had one that was just perfect.
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Jul 15, 2013 01:32
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I've got a spare 10 gallon tank laying around, so I figured I'd get it up and running as a planted shrimp tank. My go-to filter has always been AquaClear, but I feel like that would be less a filter and more a shrimp blender in this case. Any recommendations?
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Jul 24, 2013 00:35
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dirtycajun posted:So two questions, how long am I going to be soaking this previously dry driftwood before it sinks (I only ever used rocks before, this poo poo is super buoyant!) and how long do I cycle a tank before thinking of adding the plant life?
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Jul 29, 2013 01:13
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Ok, now that the topic's been brought up, how does everyone feel about neon or cardinal tetras as tank mates for bettas? I have been considering it for a betta I've got, but I see real mixed claims on other forums about how well it works.
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Aug 10, 2013 04:27
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I can't unsee it. Especially that eye. It's uncanny
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Aug 16, 2013 04:08
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In my planted 20 long, I've got 4 green tiger barbs and a couple of otos. I assumed this would be an ideal setup for the tiger barbs, as it's heavily planted and they don't have any other species to fight with, but they have taken to just constantly hiding, refusing to move except at feeding time (When they get *very* active. Holy hell). While I'd love a little more activity in the tank, I'm ok with this behavior as long as it's not a sign of stress. My understanding of tiger barbs is that they should be tearing rear end around the tank, like my odessa barbs do in their 40 gallon. I have noticed, if this has any bearing on anything, that I've got two males and two females, and they seem to have paired up.
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Aug 20, 2013 02:06
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Speaking of non-natives in our water, anyone able to id this fish? Found it floating dead in a local pond while fishing, and while I'm admittedly bad at IDing what we pull out of the water, this doesn't feel native to Illinois. You can see the iridescent purple in the picture, but it was even more striking in person.
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Aug 24, 2013 03:53
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Huh, how about that. Every pumpkin seed we ever pulled up was the orange-ish variety. They really are a pretty fish
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Aug 24, 2013 04:56
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My parrot fish decided to give me a little heads up that she plans on laying more eggs soon, by biting me over and over while I gravel vac'ed today. The other fish are fortunately keeping their distance. What a bitch.
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Sep 15, 2013 21:01
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If the bulbs are reef lights, I would get rid of them all. Freshwater plants don't get anything out of reef lights, but algae will. Don't give algae any edge over your plants.
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Sep 18, 2013 23:19
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It certainly beats 500 dollars worth of equipment, but a 90 gallon would take a *lot* of bottles for a diy setup. 8 to 10? Maintenance would be a bit of a hassle, swapping out four or five bottles a week. Also, not drinking the bottle contents is a weekly struggle for me.... so curious about the taste. But so scared.
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Sep 19, 2013 22:59
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Yeah, meant the alcohol. Not looking to huff co2.
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Sep 20, 2013 00:00
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Oh absolutely, I was just referencing the setup he was thinking of buying.
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Sep 20, 2013 15:44
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The assassin snails in my planted tank have reproduced. Where once there were two, now there are... I dunno, 25 or so? They may not reproduce as frequently as other snails, but they do a good job when they finally get around to it. In a close examination of the tank though, while trying to count babies, I noticed what appears to be a nematode in the substrate (eco-complete). I've been letting the tank get a little 'mulm-y', and may have overdone it a bit. I did a gravel vac and water change, but otherwise I am not incredibly concerned about the presence of the worm(s) - Should I be?
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Sep 27, 2013 03:10
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Neitherman posted:First, procure a 10 gallon tank with an appropriately sized HOB filter and buffer the intake somehow (may need some suggestions for this part.)
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Oct 1, 2013 01:34
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I would suspect anyone having difficulty keeping rams is living in an area with hard water, such as myself. I have tried Bolivian and German rams, and my water is just too hard for the poor things. All other conditions being perfect, they just don't last more than a couple weeks. I tried Bolivians first, and then Germans because I was told they were hardier. No dice. Such pretty fish, but I don't have the patience to be constantly fighting water hardness.
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Oct 1, 2013 16:18
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I made a walstad tank. Not really. My girlfriend's planted tank is going sideways. Hard. Black brush algae as far as the eye can see. So we removed all the plants, did a bleach dip, and realized that it just wasn't going to be enough. She wanted to trash the plants and start over, I wanted to see if they were salvageable, so I cut off all the offending leaves, and threw them in an empty tank. No heater, no filter, no substrate. We'll see what happens. If they die, they were already written off, so it doesn't matter. If they live, they will eventually move back into the planted tank, which is currently a single baby anubias and a clump of microsword. I feel like they should move back in now, but it's her tank, and she is opposed. As for the planted tank, why hath god forsaken us? It's a 20 long, with 36w of T5 HO lighting (1.8 watts per gallon). The lighting is on 4 hours, off 4 hours, on 4 hours. I am dosing twice a week with flourish, and daily with excel. Co2 is in the form of a diy system, averaging a bubble every two seconds, dispersed through an airstone. No drop checker, but I am getting one soon. Substrate is eco-complete. Water changes are 25% every few weeks (We aren't as regular as we are with the other tanks, as the thought was the plants would like a little poop). Any thoughts? It's a bummer, because she loves the tank, but gets really discouraged with it, and I'd love to be able to get it back on track. Edit: Forgot to mention natural light - Should be pretty minimal. The tank is to the side of a window, southern elevation, and the window has vinyl blinds and curtains, both of which are always closed. Light colored blinds & curtains, but still. Slugworth fucked around with this message at 02:09 on Oct 10, 2013 |
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Oct 10, 2013 01:50
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Shakenbaker posted:What kind of bulbs are you running on the tank, and how new are they? Could be the source of some of your algae problems. Also, glad to see you are having success with your fugeray. That is the light I have on the tank I dumped the plants in. Haven't had a chance to see what it's made of yet (the tank is eventually going to be a moderately planted shrimp tank). Slugworth fucked around with this message at 15:24 on Oct 10, 2013 |
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Oct 10, 2013 15:19
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Real tempting to just switch over to an LED fixture for this tank too, probably a lot cheaper in the long run. For now though, I'm glad to have a course of action. Maybe after I've confirmed that the lights were the issue, I'll start looking at other options.
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Oct 11, 2013 04:16
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w00tmonger posted:I also know I'm supposed to switch out about 25% of the water once a week. Should I be holding off a few more days because it's a new tank, or should I do exactly that? There is debate about water changes during cycling, but I saw a pretty convincing experiment that ultimately concluded that water changes help keep ammonia levels low enough not to stress fish, but high enough not to slow down the cycling. I would say keep it up, and worst case scenario expect a slightly longer cycling period. A safer one though.
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Oct 22, 2013 18:47
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Alright, fun times. Was doing a little research and found some people saying baby tears grow best emersed, so I figured I would give it a shot. I went out to get some Eco Complete, but all I could find was Seachem Flourite Red. This is literally the worst substrate I have ever worked with. I absolutely cannot get it clean. I've cleaned gravel, eco complete, and sand, and they all worked out fine using the bucket + running water method. Not so much with the Flourite. It'll get to the point after about half an hour where it's running clean, but the slightest disturbance and the water turns to mud instantly. Over and over. I also found this in it: A rather sizable chunk of glass (Contact lens case for size comparison). And the more I sift through it, the more I realize there are a fair amount of small shards of glass throughout. Do plants just love shards of glass, or....? In any case, I gave up on rinsing it and will just fill the tank very slowly in a few months when it's time to. In the meantime, I planted my baby tears.  After planting the twentieth clump, you get pretty good with a pair of tweezers  After planting the fiftieth clump, you start bargaining with God, praying that he lets your experiment work.
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Nov 2, 2013 22:43
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I would think you'd be better off with the Fugeray. PAR above 50 is considered high light - I'm assuming you're using a 48" fixture, so the Ray 2 puts you at 56-73 PAR at a depth of 18", and the Fugeray puts you at 38-48. Those PAR values are through open air, so not sure what the real world values work out to, but I feel like the Ray 2 might end up giving you just a bit too much light for a low tech option. People are successfully growing baby tears with the Fugeray, so at the very least, it shouldn't be underpowered for your application.
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Nov 4, 2013 07:32
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Gourami are always listed as semi aggressive, but that has never been my experience fortunately. Keep an eye on it, and provide a lot of cover throughout the tank so everyone feels safe. I suggest more than your other fish however, buying the gourami from a reputable place. The dwarves are prone to an untreatable wasting disease, and it sucks to watch helplessly as they waste away. Good breeding helps avoid it.
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Nov 10, 2013 02:07
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Cyn Greythorne posted:I remember them as being rather messy, but that was with a 20g high tank. This time around, and several years later, I will be working with either a 40g or 50g breeder. I would prefer the 40g because I can reach into it better and for the greater light penetration for the plants. The new fluval accent tank has a drain valve just like you describe, if you are willing to drop down to 25 gallons. As for drilling your own tank, it is certainly possible and fairly routinely done. Just do your research and make sure not to purchase a tank with tempered glass.
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Nov 12, 2013 17:36
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Need some advice on a filtration issue. I've got a 165 gallon pre-formed pond liner that I am turning into an indoor pond. The issue is, it's going to be sitting directly on the concrete floor, and it's only 18" tall. This means that a canister filter would be sitting next to the pond rather than under it, and they would even be approximately the same height. The internet seems to be split 50/50 on whether or not a canister *needs* to be beneath a tank. So that is iffy. An HOB is not physically possible. Underwater aquarium filters seem underpowered (The Fluval U4 is the strongest I can find, and I would need at least two, preferably three) Underwater pond filters seem... I dunno, flakey. I'm gonna have a 18" softshell turtle bumping around the pond, and no pond filter I've looked at seems like it won't immediately break, as they all seem to be essentially a filter box with a thin pipe running up to the surface. I suppose I could just go without the pipe to the surface, and use an airstone for oxygenation purposes. (This is the style I am looking at - http://www.thatpetplace.com/pondmaster-1500-pond-pump-filter-kit ) What am I overlooking? Does anyone here run a canister filter at the same level as their tank? Building a stand for the whole thing so that I could safely use a canister would be unpleasant - It's a 6x4 pond, set in a 6x7 surrounding deck, all said and done probably 1500 lbs. Raising the whole setup off the ground would require a lot of lumber, which just makes moving it a couple years from now that much more of a nightmare.
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Nov 20, 2013 05:41
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Well, glad to hear a little more support for canisters. The 2262 is a bit pricier than I am aiming for, so I will probably go with the 2217 or an AquaTop CF500. The 2217 is a smidge underpowered, but worst case scenario I can always supplement it with a second one and still be under the price of the 2262.
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Nov 21, 2013 00:59
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dirtycajun posted:It isn't far it just more of a logistical nightmare. Like, do I bring the 45 gallons of water with me or what?
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Dec 8, 2013 02:42
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dirtycajun posted:The tank is only s few months old, maybe I vacuum the substrate while removing water? I mean, its a crap ton of that expensive good for plants iron substrate..
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Dec 8, 2013 03:43
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Bait and Swatch posted:Does this hold true for all Rams? I've been considering Bolivian Rams for a 120 I'll be setting up in a few months.
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Dec 29, 2013 15:28
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Big tank people - Tank placement. How big of a tank are you willing to put on a non-slab floor? My local LFS says they install up to 210s without worrying about reinforcement, but that seems outrageous to me. Internet wisdom suggests you start worrying at about 100 gallons. The more anecdotal evidence I can get, the better I will sleep at night.
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Jan 3, 2014 23:50
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I had an otherwise seemingly knowledgeable guy at the lfs tell me otos live 6 months on average, and it's more or less impossible to break a year. I just said 'huh, I didn't know that' and went home to my year and a half old otos.
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Jan 5, 2014 15:15
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SynthOrange posted:Have you done any tests on how durable the surface treatment is before you end up with exposed styrofoam?
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Jan 8, 2014 06:44
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SynthOrange posted:So in canisters, the impellers are after the filter media right? This is true of all canisters? SunSun is the off-label version of AquaTop which is itself not terribly expensive. I think demonr6 runs a SunSun and likes it. Marineland is supposedly also the same hardware, but they look pretty different to me.
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Jan 15, 2014 17:05
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Nichol posted:So... I was gifted a 6gal edge and have taken my time setting it up. got a cycle going, added some plants, tested water for a few weeks and finally put a tetra in there. And now... snails!!! I wanted a dwarf puffer from the get-go, but am a beginner and was worried about the difficulty of a brackish water setup. But now that I read more there seems to be differing opinions on whether dwarfs are brackish or freshwater fish? anyone have ideas? would anything else small enough for such a tiny tank take care of my burgeoning snail population?
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Jan 16, 2014 06:18
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My parents got a betta a few months back and I loaned them my bookshelf tank with filter and heater to keep them from just putting it in a vase like their last two. They thought I was crazy, because their other two survived about four years each, but acquiesced. So naturally the new betta has decided to start dying to confirm their stance. He is just laying on the bottom of the tank nonstop. Swims just fine when he wants to, so I am guessing its not SBD. No other symptoms or signs of disease. Water parameters are all good. I am guessing overfeeding, so I instructed them to not feed him this weekend and to reduce his normal intake. Betta, why couldn't you have outlived the vase bettas?
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Jan 17, 2014 17:13
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Bait and Swatch posted:Could there be too much water movement? Does it have plants to sleep/lay on?
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Jan 17, 2014 18:08
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| # ¿ May 5, 2024 09:03 |
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I just finished up a 3d background type thing for my softshell turtle. I'd post this in the reptile thread, but I'm looking for suggestions on plants.  The platform on the left is essentially a big bowl of sand for him to burrow in. The back and left sides of that bowl are 1" wide x 3" deep trenches. The idea is, I'd like to have a bit of greenery in the tank, but that doesn't work well when you've got a turtle the size of your palm that spends its entire day burying itself in the sand. That leaves me this narrow trench along the perimeter that he will hopefully not molest. So I'm looking for a plant that can survive partially emersed, with essentially 2" or so underwater, and growing at least 6" tall ideally.
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Jan 22, 2014 02:02
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