FISH & INVERTS

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Desert Bus: May 9, 2004; Take 1 tablet by mouth daily.

This is the old OP, if you feel you can add something to it, LMK! Thanks!

Synthbuttrange posted:

Thanks to Desert Bus for getting the old thread started waaay back in 2008 (?!), and getting us started on a new thread. This OP is a collaborative and evolving thing, the work of Cowslips Warren, Fusillade, Desert Bus and myself, and hopefully it'll be updated with materials, corrections and FAQs that keep coming up.

Welcome to the Freshwater Aquarium Show and Tell thread!
This thread is for keepers of Freshwater fish, invertebrates, and plants. It doesn�t matter if you need advice, or just want to share some pictures, that�s what this is here for. In the almost five years since the creation of the original Aquarium Show and Tell thread many many people in here have gone from having no fish to being excellent aquarists. You can too.

First up, we have Pet Island's very own Saltwater thread, Saltwater pics and general discussion." If you need help with a saltwater tank, that's the thread you want!

Fish Forums::
Aquaria Central - Focuses mainly on smaller FW tanks and fish.
Monster Fish Keepers - Focuses mainly on larger fish and tanks.
The Planted Tank - Focuses on planted tanks.
PlanetCatfish - International and focuses on any and all catfish.
Cichlid Forum - Focuses on New and Old World Cichlids

Quality retailers::
Doctors Foster & Smith - Excellent for things such as Eco-Complete and other heavy items, as they charge a flat fee for shipping.
Big Al's Aquarium Supplies - Has a different selection of products than Foster & Smith and seems to be generally slightly cheaper.
AquariumPlants.com - Just as the name implies, lots of plants and plant related stuff.
Kens Fish - Sells fish food and supplies. The main advantage is that they sell food in bulk.

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Tank Setup and Filtration
WHOA look at all those beautiful tanks! Look at all those neat fish! This is really awesome! Ready to go? A little planning will help you and your fish further down the road. First off, what size tank do you want to get? Fish tanks are HEAVY -- water weighs about 8 pounds per gallon. Make sure your stand (and your flooring!) can handle the weight being applied to one spot in the room. The size of the tank you purchase will dictate what fish you can keep. Another way to look at this question is: do you have a fish, or a type of fish, that you want to keep? You will then need a tank that can support it. Or do you have a tank already, or can only keep a tank of a certain size due to budget/weight/volume concerns, and want to know what you can put in it?

Filtration is another factor that will affect the health of your livestock. Overfiltration is not possible in freshwater aquaria, other than in terms of unwanted electrical cost. When aquarists talk about "filtration," they�re mainly referring to biological filtration, bacterial processes that consume dangerous chemicals and excrete less dangerous ones, not so much literal filtration as you�d find in a car�s oil filter or the dust filter in your home�s air conditioner - this second kind is distinguished as mechanical filtration. There�s also chemical filtration, performed by active minerals and chemicals.

Biological filtration -
This is the bio part of filter brands like "bio-wheel" or "bio-ball." Such filters don�t do anything themselves but present water to the filter media,which is really just a high-surface-area matrix which makes a good home for beneficial bacteria. This is largely why a new tank needs to cycle in; these bacteria, either introduced along with "live gravel" or bacteria-in-a-can or else hitchhiking on fish and plants, need time to grow to a sufficient colony size to be able to process the excretions of the tank�s expected mass of fish. The bacteria themselves should appear as a dark discoloration or a slime layer on the matrix, whatever form it might take. Do not wash this! New fishkeepers often see their filter has become slimed with nasty muck and fastidiously scrub it all off in the sink, then wonder why their fish died. Without that slime the rest of the filter is basically useless.

Mechanical filtration -
Something with holes in it to let water go through and catch gunk. This Includes sponges (which second as Biological filtration), filter pads, and filter floss.

Chemical filtration -
Very messy fish like goldfish (and all the other cyprinids, who lack true stomachs and therefore have inefficient digestion), plecos, and carnivores will produce more waste, and require higher filtration turnover rates, upwards of 6-8 times the volume of the tank.

Aquadvisor is a website that estimates, based on the size of the tank and the filtration, how much of a load your stock represents on the tank. I�d aim for about 80%. This site works best for ESTABLISHED tanks (see the section below about cycling).

Whether it's an internal filter, a hang-on-back, a canister or other filter types, they all perform one or more of these filtration functions, depending on how their media is loaded.

Lighting
Do you want a fish only, or a tank with both fish and plants? That will affect the intensity (and cost!) of the lights you will be purchasing. The addition of thriving live plants is arguably the single best thing you can do for freshwater fish as they oxygenate the water and take up animal waste. Unless you mean to keep voracious herbivores (like goldfish) or you want to prevent livebearer young from surviving to keep their reproductive rate down, there is no good reason not to plant the tank at least somewhat.

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CYCLING and you
You�ve got everything set up, and now you�re ready to get this thing looking like an Amano tank!

But hold up!

Before you start cramming fish and plants into a tank, there�s a bit more work involved. This usually requires a week or two of running the tank without fish in it (or with a very, very small amount of fish relative to the water) to allow your tank to cycle. Cycling your tank is VERY important! It is possible to accelerate the cycling process by adding the bacteria directly from a bacteria-in-a-can product like Seachem�s "Stability," and if the volume of water is great enough relative to the size of the first fish or two, they may well survive the process. Overstocking the tank by adding too many fish too quickly will not end well. It is nearly impossible to keep alive the intended "finished product" animal population if you add it all at once to a tank you�ve just set up. The fish will tell you if there are too many -- by dying back to the number that that your current tank husbandry practices permit.

Let�s avoid fishy deaths as best we can! Please keep in mind that some lead time is needed for nitrogen waste (such as what comes from fish food and poop) to be introduced in sufficient quantity to establish healthy colonies of beneficial bacteria. The process proceeds from protein > ammonia > nitrite > nitrate > nitrogen gas released to the atmosphere. Most beneficial bacteria cannot process nitrates to nitrogen gas, requiring the presence of plants (which consume the nitrate, among other things) or water changes (which dilutes the nitrate, along with everything else) to make that final step.

Here is an excellent site about Fishless Cycling:
The Nitrogen Cycle

Maintenance
Keeping a tank running once you�ve got your tank cycled isnt that hard. For the majority of tanks, it�s just a matter of replacing 25% of the water and giving the filters a light rinse in the removed tankwater or in dechlorinated tapwater (so that you dont kill off the bacteria you�ve been working so hard to cultivate), to remove excess gunk and keep decent flow through your filtration system. The purpose is mainly to remove the stuff that cant be broken down any further by bacteria, i.e. nitrates, and keep them at levels that are healthy for the livestock in your tank.

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GOOD beginner fish:
Knowing is half the battle! Before you get a fish, any fish, be sure to do some research on it. Find out the max size of the animal, any specific dietary needs, requirements for temperature, if it needs more of its same species. Do not always trust what the store tag says.

Male Betta - these gorgeous and varied fish work great as a single centerpiece, but can also work in a sufficiently spacious community setting as long as there are no fish that nip fins, or fish that have long fins. Some male bettas, like the plakats, are bred to be fighters, so keep a good eye on them, or really any betta. The common pet store ones are veiltails, but other varieties are becoming available. As they�re usually kept in poor conditions in pet stores, ensure the fish you�re buying is responsive and active. Lids are essential for these jumpers.

Female Betta - works in a community setting as a single fish or in groups. Multiples will help spread the aggression. Three might be ok, but I'd try for a minimum of five.

Corydoras Catfish - I'd recommend a group of at least 6, but the more you have the happier they will be. They prefer schooling with other cories of their own color pattern. They require a softer substrate that won�t harm their whiskers/barbels, like sand or smoothed gravel.

Kuhli loaches - Look like little eels or shrunk down dojo/weather loaches. Scaleless fish that prefer sand to gravel. They will not go after snails, unlike most loaches. Will stay hidden most of the time unless there�s abundant cover to help them feel secure.

Bristlenose Pleco - Tops out at about 5", and eats algae its whole life. Will happily munch on other food if algae is low, and will also eat away at certain types of driftwood.

Danio (any type) - works best in groups, and there are multiple available species, including genetically modified UV reactive Zebra Danios. Avoid Giant Danios unless your tank is 30" long or more.

White Cloud Minnow - Schooling fish, so you need 7 or more for them to be really active and happy. Can handle colder water temperatures.

Guppy - the males can be extremely pretty, and the females give birth to live young. Guppies are often found in two types, the "fancy" guppy, which has a rippling iridescent caudal fin and is well-colored all over, and the "Endler�s Livebearer," a guppy-like fish which is very much smaller and silver with brilliant gem-like color spots on the adult males. Be careful of having too many males; they will fight each other, tear fins, and stress out the females. Fry will usually be eaten by any fish in the tank.
Note: for the common livebearers of the guppy, platy, molly, and swordtail, you want 1 male per every 3-4 females. The females can store sperm for up to three months from one breeding. The male will harass a single female to death, so multiple females is a way to spread out his stalker love.

Neon/glowlight/head-and-tail-light/cardinal/rummynose Tetra - All of these small and glimmering fish are broadly similar in behavior and needs. They school tightly in large numbers and are stressed otherwise. The cardinal looks almost exactly like the neon but grows much larger and its red line runs the full length of the body. Minimum school should be 6 fish, but more is better.

Gouramis - Gouramis are reasonably tough, colorful, appealing, and can sip air from the surface to make up for poor oxygenation (not that it�s good to have poor oxygenation, but it matters less to them than to most others). They are semi-aggressive and should be kept in small groups. One might be bored by itself, two may fight, three or four should be fine. They can keep up with barbs (such as cherry barbs but beware of tiger barbs or tinfoils) and usually don�t mind other nippy fish. Gold, opaline, and blue gouramis are common in chain stores, as are dwarf gouramis. Males are everywhere, females are usually harder to find.

Invertebrates
Ghost Shrimp - Very active. Excellent at cleaning up, but not so great at algae removal. They will eat anything, including the fins of long-finned fish, such as male bettas and guppies. Sold as feeders for the most part, bred in large ponds in Florida, so if your ghost shrimp ends up with longer �arms� you don�t have a ghost shrimp, but a larger species of macrobranchius that will eat your fish.

Flower Shrimp - Will find the best spot to filter feed and pretty much stay there. If it�s not successful in the tank, it will escape looking for greener pastures. Best in a well established planted tank with a lot of circulation.

Amano Shrimp - Great algae eaters. Not super active, but extremely useful. Do not successfully breed in freshwater but the females will carry eggs.

Cherry Shrimp - Great clean up crew and a very hardy shrimp, suitable for a beginner. Not a great algae eater. Will breed prolifically if given the chance.

Other Ornamental Shrimp - Some are similar to the Cherry Shrimp, some need more specific water parameters.

Snails - Some people love them, others hate them. The main problem with many snail species is that they will rapidly reproduce and can overrun a tank. Not feeding an excess of food and having fish species that do prey on snails, like loaches, can help control this issue. Some species dont have this problem like apple/mystery snails which are single sex, or nerites which require brackish water to reproduce. But in a tank with a food chain, they make great snacks for snail-eaters.

Clams - Freshwater Clams are a terrible idea for any aquarist. The first thing they do is bury themselves. This makes it very difficult to judge their health. They are filter feeders, so they work best in established aquariums. If they happen to die, be prepared for surprisingly large amounts of water fouling, and hope (since they�re buried and invisible) that you notice quickly. Not recommended. Also many are considered invasive species and their offspring larvae can pass through waterways.

TERRIBLE beginner fish
(by terrible, we mean �will meet an untimely end or cause another tankmate to meet an untimely end� or �gets fuckin� huge�)

Flowerhorns - Flowerhorns are brutes and during puberty and maturity will sometimes beat other fish to death just for something to do. Their provenance is sketchy, being a hybrid of several American cichlid species, making their behavior unpredictable. One individual might have negotiated a peaceful understanding with its tankmates but kill anything new added, another might kill only other cichlid competitors, another might defend a territory (of variable size) with deadly force but not seek trouble otherwise, another might kill for thrills.

Oscars - Oscars are the American cichlid most likely to be found in chain petstores, and the American cichlids are on a whole other level aggression-wise from community fish, even from nippy community fish like tiger barbs. They have great personality but are best for a single-specimen tank, and when a 55 is the bare minimum, they are usually overcrowded, leading to more aggression issues.

Misc African Cichlids - In many stores you will find a mishmash of General African Cichlids, which usually means hybrids of already aggressive fish. These fish cannot be kept with the standard community fish, and even among each other will wreck havoc.

Convict cichlids - Cichlids that reproduce faster than guppies, exhibit aggressive parental care to the point they will attack your arm, breed in anything that holds water, and have up to a hundred fry at a time? What�s not to love? Oh, and if you keep them in a tank with large cichlids like Oscars, they will maim and beat the Oscars to the other side of the tank, if not kill them for being a danger to their fry.

Common Plecostomus/Sailfin/Gibby Pleco - Often referred to as "algae eater fish." They do technically eat algae, but not all species are thorough about it, preferring things like vegetables and the slime coats of slow-moving fish. Even a pleco who does scrape your glass is not "cleaning the tank." He�s just turning the algae into poop. Also some pleco species grow to enormous size. Many other algae-eating fish are better, but if you must have a pleco, get the bristlenose species. Let�s put it simply: common plecos are sometimes food sources in their native environment. See your forearm? That is how big they will get, regardless of your tank size.

Other Plecos - sometimes you�ll find an awesome pleco that costs some good $$. It isn�t gray or black like the common or gibby pleco, perhaps it is green with stripes (like a royal pleco or royal panaque). Or it�s a fine green-yellow or even blue. Before you grab up the cool fish, ID it first: panaques grow to a thick 14 inches and need hard wood to chew on, and will destroy an acrylic tank. Green phantom plecos are feisty, blue phantoms need high oxygen in their water, and other plecos simply require softer water, or riptide-like current. Or, like the royal pleco, will reduce driftwood to sawdust poo poo in a matter of days. Yes, they will die without driftwood to demolish.

Rubbernose/Thomasi Pleco (Chaestostoma sp.) - You�ll see these quite commonly at PetsMarts and various other chain stores. They need lower temperatures than most other tropical fish and don�t do much good against most algae anyway. Males can be somewhat aggressive.

Redtail/Tiger Shovelnose/Lima/Gulper/Giraffe Catfish - These catfish will reach sizes the average fishkeeper can not handle. When buying a Catfish, DO YOUR RESEARCH! A lot of them can reach sizes of four to five feet, and will eat all your other fish along the way. There are a lot of Catfish choices out there, so do your research.

Chinese Algae Eater: Sold in brown and �gold� forms, these are not catfish at all, will not eat algae, you will destroy your tank trying to catch them, oh, and they get about a foot long and suck off the slime coat of every other fish you own. If you can�t find bristlenose plecos and still want an algae eater, go for a trio of otocinclus. Leave the CAE at the pet store.

Clown Loaches: Also called ich magnets, these high-stress fish max out at a thick and girthy foot long. Yes, they take time to grow, but they require pristine water and need to be in large groups, as they are very social fish.

Piranha - Yes, some pet stores sell these large tetras. They are related to pacu, but don�t grow as large. They are a very specialized fish and extreme care has to be used at all times when working in their tank. Not for beginners or even most advanced fishkeepers.

Pacu - Are you ready to take care of a 3-4� long fish weighing 50+ pounds? Do you enjoy making your own aquariums using 1" acrylic and plywood? Then Pacu are the fish for you! Also, they need a lot of buddies to be happy, so you�re looking at 10 or more!

Arowana - Let�s say a pacu isn�t enough for you. You want a fish that can get to four or five feet, is strong enough to knock the lid off your tank when it leaps out, and will eat almost anything you put into the tank with it? Sold! Also several species are CITES registered and can only be kept with a permit.

Dragon Goby - These long fish need brackish water and are sift feeders. jadebullet's posted more about them: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?noseen=0&threadid=3554965&perpage=40&pagenumber=1#post416548419

Green Spotted Puffers - Super cute, but love biting things. Will eventually die if not converted to brackish or saltwater as they get older. Excellent at destroying pest snails, but smaller loach and botia species are more appropriate for a community tank. Puffers do not inflate in captivity unless very ill or scared shitless, as in how a human might urinate in a state of mortal terror. Keep them for their appealing pertness and intelligence, and don�t expect the inflation trick to ever come up. There are a few fully freshwater puffer species, such as SA Dwarf species,Fahaka, and Mbu, but these are best left for more experienced fishkeepers.

Black Ghost Knife: You know how some guys get huge lifted trucks with spinner hubcaps to make up for micropenises? That�s what a BGK does for your tank. But unlike the truck, this fish stays hidden much of the time. But they still grow almost 2 feet in length, will usually only eat frozen or live foods, and if they can�t find food they like, will tear the fins or eyes off other tankmates.

Bala/Redtail "Sharks" - These cyprinids (the carp/minnows) will get upwards of a foot long, and are very energetic. Adults will injure themselves and destroy plants if not housed comfortably in a 100+ gallon tank. They need to be in groups, and a group of large bala sharks can easily damage your aquarium.

Iridescent "Shark" - Another catfish sold for very low prices at chain stores, that can get to four feet long. They are schooling fish, and are caught for food in their native waters. Pangasius cats should be avoided unless you have a swimming pool and plan on a fish BBQ in a year or two.

Tinfoil Barbs - Not actually related to smaller barbs. Another tank-buster. Very skittish, will grow at least 8 inches long and out-eat other community fish. Sold alongside things like tetras and have some similar behaviors, but grow to a hundred times the mass.

Goldfish - Goldfish are a tragedy and almost no one who keeps them should be allowed to. What most new hobbyists think of as a goldfish is only an infant. Goldfish are a foot long (at least) carp with a lifespan of fifteen to twenty years. In addition to their great size they are also one of the most demanding freshwater fish chemically because of their oxygen needs and waste production. They absolutely cannot be kept in a "goldfish bowl." They will quickly die. A good way to think of it is to imagine a scenario where almost no one knew that dogs were any bigger than a human hand, or lived longer than a few days, because so far as they knew the normal, traditional way to keep a dog was to seal it in a plastic bag as a puppy and leave the bag in the trunk of their car.

If you do want a goldfish, each one needs a minimum of a 20 gallon tank, with a heavy filter and daily or every other day water changes. They�ll devour almost every live plant, need cool water, and cannot be mixed with hardly any other fish.

Koi - These fish belong in ponds, not aquariums, unless you are growing out fry. Bred to be viewed from above, koi need large ponds or swimming pools to accommodate their high waste output and need for swimming space.

Eels - What is commonly sold as the �freshwater moray� needs brackish water. �Peacock eels� will get about 10 inches long and will eat any fish they can catch. All eels are great escape artists, and the crack at the back of your aquarium lid is perfect for them to squeeze out of.

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Food and Feeding
There are about as many commercial fish foods as there are goons, but the most important part of feeding your fish is limiting what they get. Feeding once a day for the standard community tank is plenty; many aquarists feed every other day, or six days a week, and fast the last day. Feeding depends on what you have in the tank; a tank full of guppy adults and fry will need more food than only adults, but keep in mind the more you feed, the more the fish will prove why you don�t drink aquarium water. In short, more feeding equals more poo poo, equals more water changes. A fish�s stomach is roughly the size of its eye.

But larger predatory fish (like that giraffe or shovelnose cat you didn�t research before you bought) will often eat one large meal and then need to fast for a few days. Breeding fish will require more food, and fry will require even more.

Types of Food

Flake: standard commercial blends good for a mixed community tank.

Pellets: better than flakes in that they pack more of a punch in a smaller size food. Come in a variety of sizes.

Wafers: algae wafers are the most common example and good for grazing fish, like plecos.

Frozen: ranging from beefheart to mosquito larvae, great treat and overall a good diet for almost any fish.

Freeze-dried: dried forms of frozen worms and shrimp. All right for treats, not for a steady diet.

Live: ranging from blackworms to shrimp (such as ghost shrimp) to goldfish. Used to condition fish to spawn.

A note about live feeders: goldfish are not the natural diet of any other fish, and feeder goldfish are ripe with disease and parasites; they are bred by the thousands in large vats and the fish are given the most base of care to move from the wholesaler to the pet store.

If you do have fish that are piscivorous, or you want to feed live fish to yours, small livebearer fry are fine, but the key is to know where they came from; if you have a tank of tiger barbs who love guppy snacks, keep a spare tank of breeding guppies, and that way you control how the feeders are fed and treated and the risk of parasites and disease spreading is low.

The same holds true for ghost shrimp; buy several and keep them in a QT tank, monitor their health, and ensure what you are feeding is getting good quality feeders.

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A little greenery for your tank
As touched on earlier, plants provide many benefits to a tank. They oxygenate the water, soak up waste products and turn them into more plants, provide cover for your fish to help them feel more comfortable and they�re just pleasing to look at and provide a great backdrop for your fish and other water-dwellers. Here�s a few beginner plants to start off with. These are easy to care for and grow in practically any fishtank as long as you have light.

Mosses (Java, Christmas Moss, Peacock moss, fissidens, many others):
Slow growing and tolerant of low light conditions. About exciting as watching paint dry but they�re hardy. Java moss has been reported growing back off dessicated driftwood after being stored for years! Tied to driftwood or rocks, they�ll grow slowly but surely and form dense bushy growths over time, perfect for foragers and fry.

Anubias
A slow growing leafy plant, comes in many sizes, shades and shapes. Another plant that does well in low light and neglect. Best grown anchored to rock or driftwood or loosely covered in substrate. Burying it will kill the rhizome. Hardly anything ever eats this plant due to its toughness.

Floaters (duckweed, frogbit, hornwort, water sprite, etc)
There are many types of floating plants, and all are very fast growing due to easy CO2 access at the surface of the water. They�ve all got great reputations for soaking up plant nutrients and out-competing algae.

Java Fern
Java ferns are another rhizome based plant, and should be treated much like anubiases. They come in many varieties from narrow leafed to broad or even lacy forms.

Cryptocorynes
These mid-sized bunch plants are great in the mid-ground of a tank. They require substrate of some sort to anchor their roots in.

Vallisneria
Another plant that requires substrate, these have long elegant leaves. Planted en-masse, they form stunning, wavy backdrops.

There are many other plants that can be grown in an aquarium, but they will require more effort and preparation, which may or may not include high level lighting, carbon dioxide systems, fertilizers, both liquid, solid and substrate based, root heaters, actual dirt, etc. The Planted Tank is probably one of the more comprehensive forums dedicated to the topic of fishtank based plants.

Links to Planted Tank's galleries thanks to demonR6:
Java Moss Christmas Moss Peacock Moss Fissidens Fontanus Taiwan Moss Willow Moss Anubias Lesser Duckweed Amazon Frogbit Tropical Hornwort Water Sprite Cryptocoryne (Crypt) Wendtii Vallisneria (Jungle Val) Java Fern

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The Rogues Gallery of Fish Disease
In short, the best way to avoid diseases is to quarantine, quarantine, quarantine. A basic QT tank can be as small as a 5 gallon, as long as you have a filter and heater. QT every fish you bring home, and if you bring home a few from different sources, in the ideal world, you QT them all separate. Quarantining your new fish in a 10 gallon tank for 2 weeks insures any disease can usually be found, and a 10 gallon is a lot easier to medicate than a 55 or 100 gallon tank.

But sometimes you bring home sick fish. It�s the way of the game.

Little opaque white spots:
"ICK!" you say! Well, you�re not too far off the mark. Ichthyophthirius multifiliis, also called ich, is one of the most common parasitic diseases encountered in the hobby. Here is an excellent article for identifying, treating, and preventing ich.

Hazy!/It�s fuzzy!
In most cases, this is a fungal infection, which usually arises as a secondary infection after an injury. However, this may also be an infection with Flexibacter columnaris (aka Flavobacterium columnare), a VERY aggressive bacterial infection that can wipe out entire tanks in a few days. The treatments for both are different, so choose wisely. This article helps you tell the difference between the two.

Injuries:
Is your fish knocking into poo poo? Is it getting shitbeat by one of its tankmates? It�s time to redecorate, get a bigger tank, or separate. Wounds can be topically treated by irrigation with household (3%) hydrogen peroxide, taking care to not let any get into gills and eyes. Add a water conditioner like Stresscoat. These will help your fish from getting attacked by secondary infections.

My fish is too skinny.
Internal gut parasites should be treated with medicated food. Isolating the fish so that it does get the food will help. Bullying by other fishes in the tank could also cause it to be feeding poorly, so observe your tank to make the right call.

My fish is too fat!
Quit overfeeding him! However if its being sluggish and unresponsive, the culprit may be constipation. The recommended course of action here is feeding it a fishy laxative, a mashed, boiled and shelled pea. Getting fish to eat these is much easier if they're exposed to them when they're healthy, rather than when they fall sick.

Ulcers
- On head and lateral line: Tiny little pinholes with red interior, possibly oozing white goo. This is an advanced, exterior manifestation of what is likely a systemic infection caused by parasitic diplomonads like Spironucleus or Hexamita that starts in the upper intestine. There�s some controversy if hole in the head disease and lateral line disease is caused by the exact same organism, but their treatment is the same. Requires advanced care and possible FORCE FEEDING HORRORS.
-On body: If you fish looks like it�s been shot, it�s probably an ulcer caused by some sort of gram-negative bacteria, most likely Aeromonas hydropilia or A. salmoncida. Here�s how to better diagnose and treat.

Clamped fins
Internal parasites and general discomfort. Treat with anti-parasitic medication.

Breathing hard
A sign that your fish is struggling for oxygen. Causes could be water parameters going off, water contamination, gill parasites, or decreased oxygen in your tank.Only the first can be easily assessed, the others will have to be arrived at through careful examination of your fish and routine. High ammonia and nitrites can very quickly be diagnosed with a test kit. Gill parasites can cause inflammation and redness in the fish�s gills, if you can examine them and should be treated with anti-parasitic medication. Low oxygen levels can be treated with increased aeration, with an airstone, aiming your filter�s outflow so that it breaks the surface or plants.

Setting up a Quarantine Tank:
Setting up a quarantine tank is highly recommended, and relatively easy if done right. A quarantine tank is a place to house new fish until you�re sure they�re disease free, or to house a diseased fish so you don�t have to medicate your entire tank.

At minimum you need a ten gallon tank or rubbermaid tub, a heater strong enough to raise the temperature to at least 90f, a thermometer, and a filter that will accept filter media from your main tank. Running an extra sponge filter in your main tank is a great way to always have a seeded filter for your quarantine.

Other tank issues
Help my tank is overrun with algae!
Algae is a sign of too many nutrients and lighting. You could keep cleaning it up manually, but ideally you'd also be reducing lighting and nutrients available to the algae. Try reducing your lighting hours, introducing a break in your light timing (the theory is that algae do not handle lighting changes as easily as plants), reducing nutrients by making sure you're not overfeeding and keeping up with your water changes. Excel is great at staving off algae, but this will depend on how well the rest of the tank tolerates it. Invertebrates and mosses will come off worst during high excel doses. If you're considering biological control, amano shrimp, nerite snails and various algae eating fish are available, but please do research before picking anything up, or you might end up with a 1 foot long pleco poopmonster in your tank eventually.

Help my tank is overrun with snails!
Like algae, snails are a sign of too many nutrients in your system. Nothing to do with lights though. Notorious hitchhikers, but they can be dealt with. Make sure you're feeding the right amount for your fish, remove uneaten food, clean your substrate and you should put a stop to snail population booms. Removing them is more of a chore. There are snail traps, from simply putting a lettuce leaf in and hauling it out along with the snails in the morning, to more expensive mechanical traps. Biological control is an option, with many species of loaches enjoying snail meat, as well as assassin snails being good options.

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# ? Apr 28, 2024 07:10

Cowslips Warren: Oct 29, 2005; What use had they for tricks and cunning, living in the enemy's warren and paying his price?; Grimey Drawer

I have mostly freshwater but was gifted a marine tank back in May; the awesome serpent star, Event Horizon, died this week, which sucks because he was my favorite. But I was gifted some asterina starfish today so now I can have a ton of little fuckers all over the place.

Also the live rock I bought from Petco (I had a gift card shut it) is covered with feather worms and now pineapple sponges. Kinda cool.

# ? Sep 11, 2022 22:20

Baronjutter: Dec 31, 2007; "Tiny Trains"

My pond goldfish are starting to finally change colour from dark brown to... something else. They've also started joining the adults in feeding time. Previous to this they always just did their own thing foraging for whatever naturally grows in the pond, but now they eating pellets with the big boys!

I also accidentally dropped an entire deviled egg into the pond and the fuckers attacked it like piranhas. Just a chaos of splashing and biting until the egg was nothing more than a few chunks floating in a cloud of mayonnaise.

# ? Sep 11, 2022 22:35

VelociBacon: Dec 8, 2009

This thread title is worse than the last one because it seemingly excludes inverts? If I was new to the hobby with a shrimp tank or something I'm not sure I would think to check a thread called 'fish'. Unless this is a joke thread?

e: sorry I guess it's a work in progress as per a comment in a different thread

VelociBacon fucked around with this message at 23:35 on Sep 11, 2022

# ? Sep 11, 2022 23:31

TTBF: Sep 14, 2005

So I'm in a bit of a pickle. My mom recently passed and left a betta behind. Her partner has been taking care of the fish and when I went down for the funeral I decided to meet the fish. However his fins look nothing like my betta's fins. I'm wondering if it's fin rot or if some bettas naturally have fins like this. My mom never sent many pictures (and I'm in no state to look through her past messages to me) so I'm not sure if this is normal or not for this fish.

We're hoping to give the betta to my brother as my nieces are really interested in it and my brother is best suited in the area to take care of fish. However we don't want to give it to them only for it to die immediately because of fin rot or something.

# ? Sep 12, 2022 15:31

Stoca Zola: Jun 28, 2008

Looks a lot like a crowntail betta to me, although even for a crowntail it does look a bit frayed, although it's hard to tell. Could be a water quality issue or could be that his fins are getting ragged from being in too much flow, or from mechanical damage from pushing past the plastic of the artificial plants. It could also be elderly, do you know how old he is? Probably a better indicator of his health is whether he's eating, whether he's swimming normally or hiding, and the fact that he's up at the glass giving you the eye looks to me like he feels fine.

I'm sorry for your loss.

# ? Sep 12, 2022 15:52

TTBF: Sep 14, 2005

My understanding is that my mom got the fish a month or two ago at a Petco so I'm not sure of the age. The plants are silk instead of plastic so they shouldn't be tearing at his fins. He's swimming, hiding, sleeping, and eating normally. I guess he's fine and it's just normal.

Thank you for the condolences.

# ? Sep 12, 2022 15:55

Hadlock: Nov 9, 2004

Tangentially related, but is there any reason to buy silk/plastic plants unless you have like, koi fish that will eat them?

Seems like silk plants are rough on fish, provide extra algae growing area, don't pull any nutrients out of the water, cost about the same price?

I guess real plants occasionally shed leaves and need more light?

# ? Sep 12, 2022 17:47

Stoca Zola: Jun 28, 2008

Pet stores tend to sell unsuitable but attractive looking plants, or emersed grown plants that are suitable but will lose all their leaves and take time to recover, or kits/tank sets with inadequate lighting, or maybe it�s just that the local water isn�t suitable or not knowing how to feed the plants that need it. It�s easy to buy a few plants, have them all die, feel like a failure then give up. Or to look at the cost and complexity of a CO2/high lighting set up and be overwhelmed or put off. Or sometimes it�s just the immediacy of �my fish needs cover, I can�t wait for this cutting to grow�. Personally I went through so many different plants until I found the few basic and obvious species that grow well for me and give me free plants forever, and I understand why not everyone has the money or patience for that.

It�s worth the effort though, I think live plants add so much to the stability of the tank through being an extra part of the biological filtration, adding surface area, and they�re probably doing something beneficial in the substrate too with their root systems.

# ? Sep 12, 2022 20:05

burning swine: May 26, 2004

My parents have a loach. My dad says he kinda looks like a spaceship.

That's all I got thanks for reading

# ? Sep 12, 2022 20:33

Aerofallosov: Oct 3, 2007; Friend to Fishes. Just keep swimming.

burning swine posted:

My parents have a loach. My dad says he kinda looks like a spaceship.

That's all I got thanks for reading

They really do! I hope to get some hillstream loaches and this time, I will do it right.

For now, I am gonna make sure I change water more often.

# ? Sep 12, 2022 21:50

Desert Bus: May 9, 2004; Take 1 tablet by mouth daily.

I have politely requested a thread title change and I 100% intend to update the OP soon, even if it is just a revamp of the old one.

# ? Sep 12, 2022 22:14

Lareine: Jul 22, 2007; KIIIRRRYYYUUUUU CHAAAANNNNNN

It's been ten years since my tank died of blue-green algae. I just didn't have the heart to try again. My tank and equipment has been languishing in a unused corner of the office ever since.

I'm going to try again.

# ? Sep 12, 2022 23:37

Wallet: Jun 19, 2006

My tank has grown in a lot over the seven months since I set it up. Some of the plants grew much bigger and faster than I was led to expect. There's a monster echinodorus along the left edge of the tank and some red Cryptocoryne affinis that got 'yuge real fast and I dunno why (on the right behind the wood). I lost a mat of Riccardia (chancy without CO2 so not a huge surprise), and I have a couple Bolbitis that never really took though they're still alive. Interestingly the java ferns that were making babies like mad in the old tank aren't growing nearly as fast in the new one. May just be that there's more competition for nutrients in the water column, I guess. I don't see the kuhli loaches nearly as often as I used to before everything grew in which is kind of a bummer, though the corydoras still come out to swim around now and then. Probably shouldn't have put the crypts in front, but I thought they were going to stay smaller. On the plus side I didn't put any moss or floating plants in this tank so pruning is pretty easy and nothing is trying to blob and swallow the whole tank.

I've still just got regular rear end GE grow bulbs on the tank. I guess it might look nicer with an actual aquarium light but they seem to be expensive as gently caress for no particular reason. The snails seem to easily keep up with the algae growth except on the lid, which I have to wipe off once a month or so. So far it's much lower maintenance than the ~13 gallon I had prior.

Stoca Zola posted:

Or to look at the cost and complexity of a CO2/high lighting set up and be overwhelmed or put off. Or sometimes it�s just the immediacy of �my fish needs cover, I can�t wait for this cutting to grow�. Personally I went through so many different plants until I found the few basic and obvious species that grow well for me and give me free plants forever, and I understand why not everyone has the money or patience for that.

Most places that sell aquatic plants seem to do a pretty good job of explaining if the plant really needs extra CO2 or not. Aquatic plants seem pretty chill as long as you have an appropriate substrate. Of course if you already have a tank with sand and no plants and you're just feeding plants into it one at a time and watching them die I imagine that's pretty disheartening. Also seems like it's probably a lot easier to balance things out if you start with a lot of plants instead of just one or two.

I will also say that I've only bought plants from two places (Buce and Aquarium Co-Op) and I've ended up with four different kinds of snails (in addition to the Nerites I put in on purpose) and god knows what else (pretty sure there's a small species of planaria in there though they don't seem to be bothering anything except the bladder snails). I like having them in there but I know some people really hate snails.

Wallet fucked around with this message at 00:15 on Sep 13, 2022

# ? Sep 13, 2022 00:10

Cowslips Warren: Oct 29, 2005; What use had they for tricks and cunning, living in the enemy's warren and paying his price?; Grimey Drawer

In terms of planted tanks, I might be able to have something besides duckweed since my rice fish have discovered that scuds are in fact edible. I have scuds in most of my tanks, and contrary to popular belief, they have in fact destroyed hornwort, Java fern, Java moss, and Anubias.

I suspect the only reason they have not decimated the duckweed is because it breeds faster than they do.

# ? Sep 13, 2022 00:31

burning swine: May 26, 2004

Cowslips Warren posted:

I suspect the only reason they have not decimated the duckweed is because it breeds faster than they do.

nothing breeds faster than duckweed

# ? Sep 13, 2022 02:59

Cowslips Warren: Oct 29, 2005; What use had they for tricks and cunning, living in the enemy's warren and paying his price?; Grimey Drawer

burning swine posted:

nothing breeds faster than duckweed

universe: challenge accepted.

Found 4-5 bristleworms in my marine tank. Let's go.

# ? Sep 13, 2022 03:33

DeadlyMuffin: Jul 3, 2007

Cowslips Warren posted:

universe: challenge accepted.

Found 4-5 bristleworms in my marine tank. Let's go.

PHUO: bristle worms aren't a bad thing to have around

# ? Sep 13, 2022 04:47

Hadlock: Nov 9, 2004

So in the pond now I have ~8 rosy reds, 12 killifish and 7 rice fish, I think the killifish and rice fish lay 20+ eggs a week, each, under normal pond conditions

And then I have 3x 3-4" goldfish

I just do not understand how fish survive in the wild. Two of the goldfish are pretty chill, but the fantail just wanders between the clumps of Java/Christmas moss I have glued down, presumably looking for ~~snacks~~ eggs?

How do any eggs manage to hatch in the wild? Is it just sheer number of eggs, that eventually one egg gets missed and not eaten, finally to hatch as a fry?

And then what? The fry needs to somehow survive hiding in the plants and roots long enough to get big enough to outswim it's predators? I should just accept that I'll never have any full grown fish as descendants of my original pond stock, unless I put them in a breeding tank?

# ? Sep 13, 2022 07:26

Stoca Zola: Jun 28, 2008

I�ve only seen fry �in the wild� once, and that was in very shallow water at the edge, among emerging plants. For egg scattering fish it�s a numbers game though, in good conditions they�re capable of producing so many eggs every single day. Penguin tetras in captivity for example are so fecund that it�s possible for the milt they produce in one spawning event to completely foul the tank. Egg laying fish ie ones that stick the eggs to a surface instead of pray and spray, tend to have strategies and preferred locations to lay their eggs, usually in thick plants or the underside of broad leaves, environments that provide cover for fry once they�ve hatched. And of course the other route to take is parental care, cichlids for example get extremely worked up to protect their fry.

Fish spawning in extremely shallow water:

https://youtu.be/vyAB3iNN6xI

# ? Sep 13, 2022 07:47

Lareine: Jul 22, 2007; KIIIRRRYYYUUUUU CHAAAANNNNNN

My tank has been sitting dry for 10 years and I'm getting conflicting information on whether or not to reseal. Am I going to have to reseal it or is it fine if it doesn't leak?

# ? Sep 13, 2022 10:23

Wallet: Jun 19, 2006

Lareine posted:

My tank has been sitting dry for 10 years and I'm getting conflicting information on whether or not to reseal. Am I going to have to reseal it or is it fine if it doesn't leak?

You may not have to but since the tank is currently empty it seems like it's probably worth it. Having the silicone sit dry is, as I understand it, going to reduce its lifespan. If it's nearing the end it's certainly going to be a lot less of a headache to just reseal it now than have it start leaking in two years when your tank is really getting good.

# ? Sep 13, 2022 13:43

RodShaft: Jul 31, 2003; Like an evil horny Santa Claus.

Alright the algae didn't just magically disappear, so I guess I should do something about it.

It came in on some plants I stole from a local pond a few weeks ago. What do I do to get it gone? My tank is pretty stocked or I'd just throw some algae eating fish at it. I have 7 Tetras, 2 ghost shrimp, a betta, a 1in mystery snail, ½in ramshorn snail, and maybe a dozen snails smaller than a pea. I'd call it "medium planted"and I do half water changes weekly.

Do I just scrape and what scraper do people like? I'm worried it might be bad for the snails shells or the shrimp if it gets too bad.

Edit: unrelated: my betta hangs out at the bottom of the tank or between the air tubes and the glass and not on the betta leaf hammock I bought him at all. Do I need one of them floating betta logs so he feels safe at the top of the tank? Or should I just take my Java fern tunnel and hang it on the side instead of the bottom?

RodShaft fucked around with this message at 15:29 on Sep 13, 2022

# ? Sep 13, 2022 15:26

Enos Cabell: Nov 3, 2004

Everybody scrapes the glass, there is no way around it unless you keep the tank in an unlit, windowless room 24/7.

Grab one of these and get to work! https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0072J7T2Y
Be careful not to scrape the silicone in the corners. Best to use a paper towel to wipe along those seams.

Talked to my boss today and got approval to bring a tank out to the office in my new job. I've got a low tech planted 29g set up at home with an angelfish, golden ram and siamese algae eater that I think I'll move out here. I've got easy access to a utility sink so should make water changes more bearable than last time I kept an office tank.

Enos Cabell fucked around with this message at 15:56 on Sep 13, 2022

# ? Sep 13, 2022 15:40

Cowslips Warren: Oct 29, 2005; What use had they for tricks and cunning, living in the enemy's warren and paying his price?; Grimey Drawer

What is the overall take on pencil urchins in small Marine tanks? Reviews online seem to vary between they will eat everything and knock all kinds of cred over in your tank, to those reports are exaggerated and they're pretty chill but can move Coral around because they will roll them with their spikes. Seeing as I don't have any coral, I'm not worried about that, but I am a little concerned it might damage my feather worms or the pineapple sponges that have started developing on one of the rocks.

# ? Sep 14, 2022 13:46

Stoca Zola: Jun 28, 2008

The weather warmed up so there's a box of fish in the mail with my name on it! I haven't had any new fish since I bought 20 kuhli loaches over 18 months ago. I'm getting some pristella tetras for my sister and some male guppies to split with her - she wants the longest fanciest tails and I just want some fresh genetics and extra males to help with my guppy colony's gender balance (almost all female after accidentally running the tank at a cooler temperature). I'm also getting a bunch of red fin danios for myself, I miss my zoomy zebras, I gave them away to a friend who has a bigger tank. There should be room for the new guys in the 4 foot tank with my rosy barbs. Lastly I am getting a half dozen ember tetras, as a trial. I found out one of my bigger tanks has been running with only a handful of shrimp and a single peacock gudgeon, so I've moved him in with the younger bunch in the grow out tank and he seems to love it there. I've been pulling shrimp from that tank to try to preserve whats left of that population because I think the gudgeons had been eating them. So I have a small tank in the kitchen that I think the ember tetras will suit, and if they do well I will get more of them and swap my rasboras from there into the bigger tank which is now virtually empty. The tank is due for an overhaul anyway, I've had that tank at almost floor level and I want to move it back up where I can see it and work on it more easily. I didn't realise my gudgeon population in there had shunk so much, I wonder if at some point a crayfish got in there and ate them?

# ? Sep 14, 2022 17:22

Lareine: Jul 22, 2007; KIIIRRRYYYUUUUU CHAAAANNNNNN

The good news. I found where most of the rest of the stuff was. The bad news. It was being stored outside (thanks, Mom.) Luckily, most of the things ruined were chemicals that probably expired anyway. The big ticket item, my Eheim quick vac, works fine. I also found two unopened bags of substrate. A bag of Caribsea Eco-Complete Red and a bag of Seachem Flourite Black Sand.

Things to get: aquarium-safe silicone, new filter media, new testing chemicals, root tabs, LED lighting.
Things to do: Reseal tank, clean filter and heater, move tank downstairs.

Question. Does Flourish and Flourish Iron expire? I'm reading that Flourish does degrade but Flourish Iron is just... iron, isn't it?

# ? Sep 15, 2022 04:06

Stoca Zola: Jun 28, 2008

I've seen mould grow on some of my old unused ferts but I figure the worst that iron could do is react and precipitate out of solution. I've got an iron based additive that I've had for years without getting through the bottle and it seems pretty stable.

No sign of box of fish yet, I think they missed the morning flight and are catching the afternoon plane. Hope the couriers don't get lazy and go home early or there could be a sad box of fish in a warehouse tonight.

# ? Sep 15, 2022 06:29

RodShaft: Jul 31, 2003; Like an evil horny Santa Claus.

Enos Cabell posted:

Everybody scrapes the glass, there is no way around it unless you keep the tank in an unlit, windowless room 24/7.

Grab one of these and get to work! https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0072J7T2Y
Be careful not to scrape the silicone in the corners. Best to use a paper towel to wipe along those seams.

That came in today and I used the sponge end to clean the glass right before I did my water change. I didn't bother with the seams. Was way easier than I expected. I just rinsed The sponge end out in the sink. Let me know if it needs more care than that.

# ? Sep 15, 2022 07:32

Enos Cabell: Nov 3, 2004

RodShaft posted:

That came in today and I used the sponge end to clean the glass right before I did my water change. I didn't bother with the seams. Was way easier than I expected. I just rinsed The sponge end out in the sink. Let me know if it needs more care than that.

Nope, that's all there is to it! Some people are super meticulous and do it every day almost, but I usually clean mine right before my weekly water changes.

# ? Sep 15, 2022 12:35

Lareine: Jul 22, 2007; KIIIRRRYYYUUUUU CHAAAANNNNNN

Things to get: ~~aquarium-safe silicone~~, ~~new filter media~~, new testing chemicals, root tabs, LED lighting.
Things to do: Reseal tank, clean filter and heater, move tank downstairs.

Local pet store didn't have any API master test kits but they did happen to have filter media. I am going to the Big City� on Saturday and I'll go to a real pet store and pick up a test kit and fertilizers and stuff. The big thing is the LED lighting and I honestly don't know where to start. I'm going for a moderate light tank for a 29 gallon. I think I'm going to try for the same plants as last time with a few substitutions.

Plant list

Myrio Red(I remember this being a real growslut)
Pygmy Chain Sword(sub for dwarf sag because I didn't like what the sag was doing)
Willow Hygro
Anubias Nana
Anubias Congensis
Some kind of sword, preferably red.

The anubias are low light, all the rest are moderate light. Thinking about trying a Finnex Planted + but I am pretty lost.

# ? Sep 15, 2022 20:31

Stoca Zola: Jun 28, 2008

Finnex have only a 6 month warranty if I�m not mistaken. Mine certainly died quicker than I expected (it was the power unit not the LEDs). I�ve seen some comparisons with Hygger full spectrum and the light appears fairly comparable. Not sure whether it�s better to go over-bright then leave the light on shorter, or under and leave it on longer.

# ? Sep 15, 2022 20:50

Enos Cabell: Nov 3, 2004

Lareine posted:

The anubias are low light, all the rest are moderate light. Thinking about trying a Finnex Planted + but I am pretty lost.

I've been super happy with my Fluval Plant 3.0 lights. Have a pair of them up and running on my 75g high tech tank for a little over a year now and getting great results. I had a Finnex Planted+ that died within a year, so I recommend against those, but some people love them.

(these are kinda old but I don't have more recent photos handy, tank is still doing great though)

https://imgur.com/DHa3r7x.mp4

# ? Sep 15, 2022 21:08

Lareine: Jul 22, 2007; KIIIRRRYYYUUUUU CHAAAANNNNNN

Enos Cabell posted:

I've been super happy with my Fluval Plant 3.0 lights. Have a pair of them up and running on my 75g high tech tank for a little over a year now and getting great results. I had a Finnex Planted+ that died within a year, so I recommend against those, but some people love them.

Everyone seems to like the Fluval Plant 3.0 but it's a bit pricier. It DOES come with a 3 year warranty though. And it does have an app instead of an overly-complicated remote.

Well, I've got something to think about while I'm resealing my tank tomorrow.

# ? Sep 15, 2022 21:20

JuffoWup: Mar 28, 2012

Also, I'm gonna sound odd to people, but the tetra test strips also work well instead of the master kit. I've found myself testing water more just because I'm not fiddling with every piece of a chemistry kit to learn my water's state.

# ? Sep 15, 2022 21:58

Enos Cabell: Nov 3, 2004

I'm really digging how my indoor stock tank is growing in. Plants are absolutely loving their fish water.

Here's a shot of my on-the-mend reef tank that sits next to it. Starting to bounce back, but I'm still pretty gutted over the losses.

# ? Sep 15, 2022 23:53

Lareine: Jul 22, 2007; KIIIRRRYYYUUUUU CHAAAANNNNNN

Heh. Been reading up a bit on my prospective plant picks and I find out the red myrio is banned in several states for being a noxious weed. I guess that explains why it always did so well. As for the sword, I wanted something that would be both red and small. Hadi Red Pearl seems to fit the bill, too bad it seems to be sold out in a lot of places. I don't need plants right now though. I need to get my supplies and gear first.

I think I want to get the Fluval Plant 3.0.

# ? Sep 16, 2022 03:17

Stoca Zola: Jun 28, 2008

Box of fish was a whole day late! And it was kind of cold overnight. Turns out none of the tetras or danios minded at all, but it hit the guppies pretty hard. The albino/gold snakeskin guppies fared worse, with 3 deaths, meanwhile the red pigmented and black pigmented guppies came good after warming up. My sister's kids absolutely love the new guppies, they have named them Hitler, Pingu, Flame, Bubbles, Bit and Bot (Hitler has a moustache marking and was bullying the other fish) and my sister's pristella tetras loved the boost to their school size.

My new ember tetras are bold and zoomy and having a great time with the rasboras, they like the flake food I tried but spat out the pellets. I'm not at all worried about feeding them now even though they're so tiny, and I don't really want to move the rasboras out of this tank now since they're all schooling together nicely. I think as the rasboras age out I will replace with more ember tetras, I've had some of these rasboras since 2015 and I'm not sure how long they're supposed to live.

The danios are kind of small and shy and extremely fast so I can't get pictures of them.

I have the one surviving guppy that my sister's kids didn't take, he's got a red tail, black tuxedo body, and white face/veil top fin. He kind of looks a bit like a swimming bird poop from the side, but his white is really striking from above (maybe they call that colour platinum?). He's far too busy chasing girls to pose for a picture.

# ? Sep 16, 2022 12:36

Lareine: Jul 22, 2007; KIIIRRRYYYUUUUU CHAAAANNNNNN

I wasn't able to finish sealing the tank today. It turns out to take significantly longer to remove the silicone when you only have a few loose razorblades. I got 7 out of 8 seams done. The index finger I was using to grip the blades STILL feels weird even hours later. And this is only cutting off most of it, I'm going to have to go back and scrape the glass and wipe it down with acetone. Super not fun, I can see why people are tempted to just buy new tanks.

# ? Sep 17, 2022 05:25

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# ? Apr 28, 2024 07:10

Hadlock: Nov 9, 2004

Should we kill this thread and wait until someone makes a thread with a proper OP

I'm in favor of periodically renewing megathreads, but it's extremely poor forums hygiene to have two competing megathreads with massively overlapping topics such as this

Several other people have complained and this has been going on for too long now

Please report this post, thanks. Preferably with a link to Rick astley:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ

# ? Sep 17, 2022 05:46

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Pet Island > FISH & INVERTS

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