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I recall this being mentioned in the past month or so, but just wanted to show what a large aquarium with a mass of small fish could look like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZDexLMZFrU&t=1459s Note the ball of cardinals hanging out around the rocks in the center.
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Apr 25, 2014 04:05
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Well, it has been awhile since i last updated, and that is just me being lazy really (still being lazy honestly). I picked up a tds meter which shows me around 100-200 depending on a fresh water change or near the end before the next one. So I'll need to switch to my tap filter system again if nothing more than for top offs during the week. As for the shrimp issues, I think I figured it out but I haven't added any to truly verify till I have the rest of the system sorted. Basically, I cooked them. The tank was running around 80F. So oops on that. I've set my controller for now to handle keeping the temp under a more manageable level till I make the effort to pull the heaters out one by one and synced them to the proper temp. Now for the real big kicker news I learned while looking through my youtube subscriptions. ADG does not sell ADA products anymore other than aquasoil. If you need tank, pumps, glass lily, glass co2, you'll need to head over to AFA for it. Or I should say, AFA is now the sole distributor of ADA products here in the US. My one and only experience with adg was pretty bad, so I kind of ignored them and shopped afa anyway. ADG instead bought out NA. You euro people will probably recognize the brand. They are basically a knockoff of the ADA stuff. With it comes a name change to Aquavas. So if you start seeing that here in the states, you'll be aware of what it is. Launch is apparently happening may 1st. However, it is still ADG, so it may and probably will slip (and has done so before apparently).
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Apr 27, 2014 15:18
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So I picked up a new test kit just to make sure the old one wasn't making false info, and sure enough, it wasn't. 0 ppm ammonia 0 ppm nitrite 0 ppm nitrate  0 ppm copper I guess my shrimp problem was all just temp. TDS meter showing around 200-300 though. Local lfs place I checked, has his tank at around 30. That is the only thing on the water side left that could be the issue at this point. Also, I need more fish in general if my plants are keeping it at 0ppm nitrate.
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May 7, 2014 06:21
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Fusillade posted:For your nitrate test kit, make sure you are inverting the reagent bottles and shaking the everliving poo poo out of them before adding the drops - I'm talking borderline tennis elbow business here. They will give false negative readings with no or gentle shaking. Yup. Arm was tired by 30s in while the instructions said to shake for a whole minute minimum.
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May 8, 2014 19:44
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Well, I don't know if I want to continue this fish tank thing. Even though I enjoyed it. I just accidentally bleached my tank, so it is fishless again. Accidentally as in after 2 days soaking in water with the proper amount of seachem prime, my purge beads were apparently still packed full of bleach which helpfully gave back. I dunno where to go now. One option is to toss the tank as I have been having nothing but troubles most likely because of the rear pump design. On the other hand, I'm wondering about cutting out the false wall and set up an external filter like a proper person. The other thought is just put in storage for a while till I have a better idea on what I'm doing. Good thing I didn't get those shrimp I was thinking of buying last week. I am mostly mad at myself for not doing another soak with a chlorine check to make sure they were neutralized.
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May 14, 2014 06:01
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And so the project has started. I will be grabbing some goo gone to clean up the remaining adhesive. Stuff came off pretty easily which was both surprising and not. After draining the water from the main area, I noticed one filter area was dry while the other was still full of water. I guess it had sprung a leak anyway. As for filtering, I'm looking at an eheim 2071 with the flow turned to half setting. JuffoWup fucked around with this message at 07:37 on May 17, 2014 |
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May 17, 2014 07:35
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Hopefully, it was just mine, but be careful with dwarf gouramis. They have temperaments similar to bettas. I caught mine nipping at leaves and fish fins alike. Likewise, his nipping was most likely the cause for death of my two otos (their stomachs were caved in as if not eating even though there was algae all over for them to eat along with tabs when I started to notice). Schooling fish might be fine as cpds are not a tight schooling species akin to tetracycline. They lime company, but also each choose their own area individually to hang out in.
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Jun 5, 2014 17:22
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Or just do as suggested. Stop over feeding. Most likely, the mts hitched a ride on some plants and just didn't have enough food to make a noise.
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Jun 9, 2014 05:39
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SynthOrange posted:I am utterly stunned. I've kept my lights low for a few weeks to try combat a persistent algae problem on one of my anubias plants. The surface floating frogbit protested by completely dissolving. There's no trace of it left. Quick, market your new age technology as a $50 fix to killing frogbit! You'll make millions. "Just replace with this light, and your frogbit will be gone in no time!"
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Jun 12, 2014 05:53
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Angelic Panacea posted:This may sound like an odd question, but how does a power outage affect your tank setup? Are there wee little emergency generators, just in case? I have a ups hooked up to my computer. If the power stays off for more than a few minute, I turn the computer off and turn the ups off. After an hour or so, it is transfered over (they are in the same room) to the aquarium to power it till the battery dies or power is restored. I'll be adding a small ups eventually for the aquarium itself.
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Jun 12, 2014 17:30
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Welp, in restructuring my poor tank into something else, I hit a fun snag. So I'm switching to a classic old canister filter. I've got the hang of things now anyway as the fish were surviving in the last run. However, I had to tear it all down in fear of what all bleach was soaked into things obviously. As part of cleaning out the tank, I decided it was time to get the full 16 gallons back to work with and demolished the false wall in my nuvo 16. I posted a terrible phone pic of it a few weeks ago without the wall. Back to the canister filter though. I went with the eheim classic 2215 since everyone adores that line specifically, and that one worked well with the size lily pipes from gla (13mm and thus 12mm tubing). I got it in from drsfoster earlier this week and got around to unboxing it last night. It seemed kind of big, but didn't think anything of it. I was skipping the hosing as I planned to do clear anyway. Then I realized I still needed the shutoff connectors. There was two, but one was bigger than the other which was odd. Then I realized the tubing was as well. That is when I finally looked and realized that oops, I have a 2217. Half of me is exciting since it was $50 more and thus in my favor. On the other hand, half of me is thinking of asking for a replacement since I'm unsure how the effects of a tubing reducer (kind of, 13mm intake glass tube that'll hit a fitting to up the diameter to the 16mm of the filter intake) on the intake will do to the pump. And I'd rather not using the horrible green tube thing it comes with. Output was going to be reduced on the 2215 anyway, so I'm wondering if there will be any ill effects to this setup. Edit: oh, and if you have a few thousands to spend on a all in one tank setup, ADG (aquarium design group, who used to be one of two ADA distributors in the US) has finally opened the doors on their aquavas line. For those in europe, you'll recognize it from their previous name of Natural Aquario (NA). NA started life as basically a copycat of ADA, but from what I've read had matched ADA relatively closely in quality while still offering a lower price point. The real question will be how ADG handles taking over NA. http://www.aquavasaquarium.com/ Note that the smallest aquarium is a 30gal setup that includes tank, stand, light, and filter for 2.5k Including shipping for the US (alaska and hawaii being exempt as always). JuffoWup fucked around with this message at 04:42 on Jun 14, 2014 |
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Jun 13, 2014 18:56
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Slugworth posted:Is Eheim discontinuing their classic series, or have they always had supply issues? I have ordered a 2217 twice now from amazon, two different vendors. First one cancelled, second one just emailed me two days after I placed the order now claiming it will be in stock and shipped Monday. Did not expect to have difficulties finding an eheim. I'm not aware of any. I had no problems when I ordered from drsfosterandsmith.com a month ago. They also had it cheaper than amazon at the time.
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Jul 3, 2014 16:50
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Slugworth posted:Eheim's instructions are not great. Just got a 2217, and while I trust in my ability to figure it out myself, it's surprising to me how vague their directions are, considering the esteem the company holds. They make no mention for example, of how to connect the spray bar to the goose neck - I am assuming a short length of hose goes between them, but it seems like the type of thing worth mentioning in your manual. Similarly, no mention of cutting short lengths of hose to put between the filter and the taps. I get that there is some degree of adaptivity, but a basic setup description would be a good idea. I just rigged it up, unscrewed the lock tap for the output and then gave a quick suck to start the water flowing. The 2217 has enough capacity that you can pretty much put it back together and screw it all together pretty leisurely. As for putting it all together, yeah, the manual is pretty vague. They have always been that way apparently. Look on youtube and you can find people that made made instructional videos on putting them together. I'd say watch a couple just to make sure as I've seen some people get the wrong impression on which stuff goes with what or how. I can't comment on the spray bar though as I got some glassware from gla instead. I also swapped to some clear vinyl from the hardware store to finish the look.
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Jul 11, 2014 16:48
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Enos Cabell posted:Anyone looking for a project? Hmm, those fish choices. Won't the jack try to rearrange the aquarium? Good luck with keeping it like that.
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Jul 20, 2014 00:33
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demonR6 posted:Check the pic above. I drew it out, measured everything up and bought the wood at Lowe's. They were nice enough to cut everything to size for me. The rest was wood screws and Gorilla glue. I stained it making a bigger mess at that than anything else. Checking the pic, you avoided having your house burn down by doing it during a rainstorm.
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Sep 12, 2014 23:40
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GreyPowerVan posted:Yeah, I got a java fern, and two anubias in tubes and all three died a few days after I got them into the tank. I planted/tied them down as recommended for each species, but didn't work. The Amazon Sword is like twice as big after a week, though. You are a master at killing the green things sir. I assume by following instructions, you didn't bury the rhizome right?
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Sep 26, 2014 03:25
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demonR6 posted:Okay, let me try to put this into perspective for you.. live aquaria has been working fine for me as my local fish choices have been pretty poor. Something about petsmart and jack's aquarium completely killing the local fish shops. There is one left, and even they are are making an effort to abandon the fish side. Or at a minimum, get out of freshwater.
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Nov 6, 2014 07:04
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I know this is saltwater, but there are some things that do overlap. And here is one of those: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyx0jy4x4CQ Basically, you know those large chiclet sized eclipse gum packages? With the double lid that either opens the whole thing or just a pour spout. Anyway, use that to thaw your frozen food. It is sealed for shaking to break it up and also sealed to keep the odor levels down. Also, you get a pour spout. I love those things anyway and use them regularly at work, so I'll have to stock up on a few and use feed my fish some frozen brine once a week. Or any other frozen food really.
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Dec 12, 2014 16:43
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SkaAndScreenplays posted:I was thinking 7-11 Amazon Puffers Umm, cpds sound like a bad idea with the other fish there. They will be live food to the others. My other experience is that you will need 10+ for them not to be timid creatures. They also don't school like tetras. They need others to calm them, but they also kind of pick a spot and just hang out.
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Dec 24, 2014 05:37
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How much copies over from salt aquatics at times? I suspect a weaker flow version would still be too much, though it is pretty much what I've been seeing lately of people. IEputting spray bars the length or width of their aquarium and then having the intake either lower down on the same side, or at least on the oposite side. I've also seen lily pipes done that way as well. Anyway, it is a gyre pump. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GID4pFUNJts&t=167s Demonstration video showing it circulate around. Even on the lowest setting for that model, it would be too much for the typical 20-40gal tanks most freshwater people have. I could see them useful in larger 100+ tanks though. On the other hand, I can see shrimp getting mulched in it quickly.
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Jan 11, 2015 01:59
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Whale Cancer posted:Certain plants like a little bit of flow, others will get ripped apart. Some fish prefer stronger currents especially river fish. Spray bars are good to provide surface agitation and oxygen exchange. Yeah, the company is stating that there will be a lower gph version coming in q1 2015. Same with an even larger version. I figured the thing would be running in the 10-20% range anyway if the gph is low enough. Many of the videos I see of them have it slightly pointed at the surface causing the surface to really ripple about. I was thinking of river fish anyway. Otos I recall are used to faster streams than what is provided in tanks. Meanwhile, shrimp are obviously used to calm lakes. Same with CPDs. I think cories are streams as well. Anyway, thought I would share and ask thoughts on it. The typical small fresh water aquarium size would make them too large even at their lowest setting. When you get into 100gal tanks, the gyre might be kind of useful to help cover dead spots better. Especially with larger stream fish inhabiting the tank.
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Jan 12, 2015 06:42
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goomsnarr posted:My wife came home from shopping with a 65 litre/17 US gal tank (a "starter" kit with light, filter, heater and thermometer), 4 small bags of smooth gravel and a couple of plastic plants. If it is a hang on back filter, it will probably do enough surface agitation to not really need a bubbler. Undergravel filters have definitely gone out of vogue as today's filters can generally handle what is thrown at them. Also, poop just gets down under the plate to hang out and rot away.
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Feb 8, 2015 19:00
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Desert Bus posted:That's actually what I was leaning towards, so thanks for being able to back that up. CFLs were so easy, and now I just have no clue when it comes to lighting for planted. The best tip is to look up a par guide. That'll help you get an idea when it comes to led on how much you need. Slower growing plants don't need as much. The finnex may be too much light for the tank. Maybe. There are a couple of companies with finnex being one that actually has a par map so you know how much light you are getting at various depths. Back that up with some info on about how much par your plants need should answer it. That sounds like too much research for a "gotta have this in the next few days before plants die" so a finnex should work fine. I've been using a fugray myself and able to grow dwarf baby tears with it. Slugworth posted:I've bitched about this before, but I come seeking ethical advice now. I am trying to keep cherry shrimp. And failing. Hard. All water parameters are within recommended levels for shrimp, the tank is cycled, other things are living just fine in there (CPDs, otos, snails), copper and lead have both been tested for, and the shrimp just keep dying. I started off by buying a couple here and there, and replacing them when they died. Then I bought two dozen at a local fish show thinking "Maybe if I put a bunch in at once, there will be a little die off, but enough will survive to start a colony". 3 males survived. Those males however, have been alive for about 2 months now though, so I decided "Maybe the tank is safe now. Maybe there was something off-gassing in the tank that has now stopped, or maybe there was a virus/fungal outbreak killing them all that has passed now", so I bought two more a few days ago. One has already died. What are you keeping the water temp at? I was having a similar issue and realized I was running the water too hot. The otos and cpds in the tank didn't care, but apparently the shrimp did.
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Feb 13, 2015 01:33
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Fejsze posted:Does anyone have a recommendation for fertilizer for a planted tank? Should I go liquid or tabs? Starting to notice a lack of growth and think the stratum has been depleted. The suggestions I've seen are in 3 parts. Two in liquid form and the 3rd is root tabs. Most coverage is with the liquid ferts though. In the case of tabs, flourish tabs or ada's iron bottom would be the route to go. These both add nutrients for the roots to suckle on along with what is in the water column. There is a mixed view on the effectiveness of substrate ferts last time I looked though. One argues that water column ferts are another while others argue deep rooted plants don't really get to feed on water column nutrients due to the depth of their roots. For liquid, there is ADA's line, diy methods, and flourish (and/or excel). The two major diy methods you'll see talked about is: 1) Perpetual Preservation System or PPS-pro 2) Estimative Index or EI Both have their fans that will argue till they are blue in the face how they have the right one. EI's champion Tom Barr always seemed more on the offensive claiming scientific research and a biology degree against any other. The real answer usually lies in the middle which is what you'll see when reading up on either. On a personal note, I'm looking at the PPS-Pro method at least at start up because it looks to be more idiot proof than the EI where you do some judging on dosage based on plant growth and health of the tank. GLA sells a full PPS-Pro kit including the containers for mixing and dosing from. They also sell the ferts for EI as well, but you'll need to look up the calculations for mixing concentrations elsewhere on the internet. Tom Barr has it pretty documented though. GLA sells the same containers in the PPS kit separately as well. When I mean two part liquid, there are two types because they'll form a solid if mixed together.
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Mar 4, 2015 23:40
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Basic led will probably be of the wrong spectrum too. Can you get the brand/model on it? Lighting has been moving from a watts/gallon measurement to par because of the intensity provided by led fixtures.
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Mar 6, 2015 00:55
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MrConfusedTurkey posted:What should I use for quick med-high light growing plants like Amazon swords/compactas? The problem with higher lights is that the plants get more demanding as well. They start harvesting more out of the water and need active participation in fertilizers and co2 to keep them going. If you just go high lights without the nutrients to help them along, algae could take over as well. Then again, they may not due to the aforementioned nutrient deficiencies. Also, in my case, I found that fish don't often like the higher lightning. My cpds would pretty much hide near the bottom of the tank unless the lights were off. Then I would find them mid swimming. Too much light for the tank I'm guessing (24" fugeray for a 16gal aquarium).
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Mar 12, 2015 04:44
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Also, don't expect CPDs to school. They like the presence of others like a school would, but they don't actually school like tetras do. They are neat fish, but man are they skittish as if you have found out. I'm going to stick to something like cherry rasboras or neon/cardinal tetras for now on i think.
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Mar 19, 2015 19:24
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Stoca Zola posted:Wow thats a good action shot. I was hesitant to get a Riffle shrimp (Australatya Striolata but similar fan dealy boppers) because I wasn't sure if they would thrive without having suspended algae/etc to eat. The guy selling them claimed they'll just eat whatever off the bottom but people say that about catfish too and it isn't true then either. How big is he? His legs look a lot more robust than a dwarf shrimp. Yeah, the guy is wrong. From what I've read on filter feeding shrimp, if they are searching the bottom like a normal shrimp, you done hosed up. They do need suspended food to filter from. I assume like the info I read on bamboo applies to all concerning food. Specifically, they prefer a higher spot that gives them access to the flow. IE, they would prefer a perch in front of your filter output if it doesn't blow them away. I have figured they shouldn't be that hard to maintain with proper setup and just taking shrimp food and grinding it to a powder. But that is me and I have no idea the proper answer on feeding them is other than it needing to be suspended in the water.
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Aug 27, 2015 17:26
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Stoca Zola posted:After possibly busting the fin of one of my new cories getting him out of the bag I went looking for advice, the best idea I saw was to tip the water out of the bag into a nearby bucket, and then to tip the loose fish out of the bag into the tank, in theory no worse than the small amount of time they'd be out of the water while in a net while still avoiding getting bagwater into the tank and completely avoiding tangling in a net. I think maybe it sounds good on paper but might be a lot more awkward in reality. You can get very fine mesh nets such as are used for straining brine shrimp, and I do have one of those but the frame was too big to fit in the bag so I had to use my nasty wide hole net for fishscoopings. Maybe the fine mesh would have been snag free too. When I was transferring fish out of bags, I would just set the net on the edge of the bucket, and then pour into the net from the bag till I caught a fish. Basically strain the water. It also worked well at handling shrimp. Now, catching things once in the tank was another matter. CPDs are surprisingly quick for as mellow they usually are. However, they have almost no stamina and will start free floating and panting after a minute or so.
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Oct 29, 2015 20:12
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The only other option are rimless ones as offered by ADA, Mr Aqua, and Green Leaf Aquariums. They don't have lights or even lids on their own. I think lids are available for some, but not sure. Congratulations on your Multiple Aquarium Disease.
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Nov 3, 2015 16:11
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I start reading you talking of tubs and bulkheads and I got to remembering some interesting tank filtration designs I've seen. I can't find it on google right now though. Basically, the idea was that the top tank would receive the fresh water from the return pump. The next tank down would get the overflow from the top tank using a bulk head. The tank below that would overflow the opposite side from the tank above (creating a flow from one side to the other obviously) and be used for display again or as a sump filtration setup. Then you would have it all pump back to the top tank to start the circulation again. Be it a pump from the sump or an external canister filter. While searching, I did see this though which sounds like the direction you are going to eventually anyway  http://swordtailguppies.blogspot.com/2013/08/breeding-rack-systems-automation-for.html
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Nov 14, 2015 19:24
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SynthOrange posted:How's the bottom not covered in poop I'm surprised there isn't a small furball fight in there somewhere. No hiding places or line of sight breaks.
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Nov 16, 2015 12:32
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Be careful with the purigen recharge. I recommend after the treatment to let it soak in clean water and then test for chlorine after it soaks a bit.
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Nov 24, 2015 18:01
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Quality uv sterilizers actually have dwell time added to them. The basics is a bulb in the center with a clear tube coiled around it. On one side, water is taken in while the other side has it pumped out. As for them working on ich, I have no idea sadly.
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Dec 5, 2015 19:46
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Slugworth posted:You could get an automatic feeder - Eheim sells a good one. Or depending on the species of fish, toss a bunch of ghost shrimp in the tank before you leave. Or one of those weekender slow dissolve pyramid/brick things. That'll cover them till one gets back if only 4 days.
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Dec 19, 2015 03:59
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republicant posted:Not sure if anyone here has their lights on a timer but if someone does, have you ever had fluorescent or UV lights not work well with the timer? I'm on my third 160 watt combination UV/heat bulb within a span of maybe six months and they're supposed to last much longer than that. They work fine for months/weeks/days, then start flickering and turning off and on when the timer turns them on in the morning, and then they die and are replaced. This one began flickering to the point of being unusable so I took it out of the fixture and let it sit for a few days, then today I put it back in and switched the fixture on, and it flickered once and has now been on for a couple hours with no issues. I'm really not sure if the issue is the bulb, the timer, or the fixture (which is made for a 160 watt bulb so it's not being overloaded), but it's working now and the only variable that changed was the timer not turning it on so it might be that. But the thing is that I have the same type of bulb in a 100 watt version in another fixture, and it's been working perfectly going on and off every day with the timer for about eight months now. Hopefully I won't have to replace the fixture or stop using these 160 watt bulbs, but I just wanted to see if anyone has had issues with timers and fluorescent/UV bulbs to see if that's likely to be the case. Bad ballast perhaps? That would affect turning it on. I'm no electrician though, just seen that commonly at work where the lights just flicker or can't be turned on. The facility people would just go replace the ballast and all was good again.
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Jan 21, 2016 19:20
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Stoca Zola posted:I'm using Seachem Equilibrium http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/Equilibrium.html which contains calcium, magnesium and potassium; and Alkaline buffer http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/AlkalineBuffer.html which is phosphate free and plant safe. I don't mix acid buffer and alkaline buffer to set a specific pH as per the instructions but that is something that you can do if you need a pH less than 7. Stuff like Proper pH isn't plant safe. Huh, found this in the equilibrium page which answers slugworth's question to some extent: quote:HINTS: Do not use Equilibrium™ when replacing evaporated water.
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Jan 24, 2016 02:13
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Tactical Grace posted:No I don't think so, for reference they look like this (spots and all): hmm, I found the more classic pink salmon type so maybe that is it? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_rainbowfish
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Jan 30, 2016 23:08
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How do bettas hold up to snails? Would a 5gal with a betta and something like an Apple snail or nerite work together?
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Mar 16, 2016 16:55
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Sometimes my youtube stuff comes up with interesting things. Here is a fish room that currently has about 60 tanks in it. She got lucky in that the basement had an inlaw suite in it so she took over the kitchen/dinner room for the fish room: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PP-aTFlqtnk The other one is talking of dr tims fish food. Apparently you make your own gel food which you freeze. Kit comes with the food, baggy for the frozen cubes, and the cube tray. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYRR-Sj_8dQ
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Mar 20, 2016 03:00
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