Val's 29 Gallon

It's the truth though! Lol

Do you have any advice on how to identify a bn in a store?

Usually in my lfs, they'll have them labeled, but if you're doubtful, just check for bristles on the lip. Even if there's just bumps, that can be an indication. The normal color types will also have the yellowish dots all over their body, even at a young age, common's don't have that, bristlenose's are also a lighter color.

 

Usually in my lfs, they'll have them labeled, but if you're doubtful, just check for bristles on the lip. Even if there's just bumps, that can be an indication. The normal color types will also have the yellowish dots all over their body, even at a young age, common's don't have that, bristlenose's are also a lighter color.

Yeah my lfs are idiots. They would probably sell me a shrimp and tell me it was a snail if I didn't know better lol. Most of them are super super tiny, like an inch or under though so they don't really have bristles

 

Yeesh, that sucks I'm sorry. The plecos will still have the yellow dots, and will sometimes have a yellowish white stripe on the end of their tail fin.

 

The white tips on the tailfin are pretty significant I'd say.

 

Thanks guys, I'll go look today and see what I can find. I'm really hoping they have some bigger ones because I really want a female but I'm doubting there's any way to tell unless they're larger

 

Quitr.simple : Right fish = keeping your tank. Wrong fish = buying a big tank

Thanks guys, I'll go look today and see what I can find. I'm really hoping they have some bigger ones because I really want a female but I'm doubting there's any way to tell unless they're larger

 

Quitr.simple : Right fish = keeping your tank. Wrong fish = buying a big tank

If only it was that simple lol




Well, I did something I never thought I’d do. I got an albino. But he/she is super cute and I couldn’t pass him/her up. So I need a gender neutral name for him/her. Suggestions?

Sometime between tomorrow and Saturday I plan to add more cories, my fish store just got them in so I’m super excited for that.

Tomorrow, my order from Mcasella comes and I’m so excited! I got MTS, a blue mystery snail and some plants.

And just to voice my frustrations I HATE POND SNAILS! THEY’RE EVERYWHERE AND THEY’RE TAKING OVER MY LIFE!!!!

Okay, but seriously, I’ve pulled 10 out in the past two days and I have a tank of 20+ already. They just keep showing up. And I can see more in the 29 but I can’t get to them and it’s really bothering me.

 

Here he/she is in the tank. Really hoping it’s a girl so I can name her Morticia

 

View attachment 470189 View attachment 470190
Here he/she is in the tank. Really hoping it’s a girl so I can name her Morticia

Ahhhhh great addition to The Adams-family !!!

 

Ahhhhh great addition to The Adams-family !!!

If he/she turns out to be a guy, I'm deciding between Gomez and Lurch. Or I could just call he/she It or Thing nowompous: hmmmm. Thanks for inspiring the idea on another thread earlier DoubleDutch lol

 

If he/she turns out to be a guy, I'm deciding between Gomez and Lurch. Or I could just call he/she It or Thing nowompous: hmmmm. Thanks for inspiring the idea on another thread earlier DoubleDutch lol

Hahahaha, guy on the UK-forum called himself Lurch.

 

Hahahaha, guy on the UK-forum called himself Lurch.

I met him, & yes he was as tall as the name implied

 

I met him, & yes he was as tall as the name implied

Well as a long lost member of my family (he has to be) I guess this calls for a trip to the UK to meet him. Sorry work, got to go!

 

He was in lighting of festivals aso (all.over the world) so being tall gave him some adantage hahaha.
Nice guy !

I met him, & yes he was as tall as the name implied

 

Updated tank shot, the ludwigia has grown an inch or two in a little under two weeks without ferts. There are root tabs in there though. I’m really trying to get my nitrates as low as possible. The hornwort is melting so bad. I’m about to jus take it out because it looks horrible with only two pieces left.



The new member doesn’t seem to be shy at all! He/she has been out in the open today and seems to be doing good!


And here’s the 3 amigos all lined up. I’m hoping to get them more friends tomorrow, but if not then I’ll get them Saturday!

 

Got my order from Mcasella! I got this big boy/girl, two nerites, MTS and some java fern. Does anyone know how to sex mystery snails? Obviously I’ll know if he/she lays eggs but I really wanna know now lol

 

Any idea why the horwort is melting?

What´s maintenance like for this tank? Water changes? Lighting hours? (Btw what are your lights like-watt/kelvin/LED?)

Do you plan on dosing liquid fert/liquid carbon?

 

Any idea why the horwort is melting?

What´s maintenance like for this tank? Water changes? Lighting hours? (Btw what are your lights like-watt/kelvin/LED?)

Do you plan on dosing liquid fert/liquid carbon?

No idea why it’s melting, it was really only a few little pieces though. The two that are in there right now are fine.

As for water changes, I’ve only done 1 so far lol. I changed about 50%. I’m working on getting nitrates down because I have 20 ppm in my tap. So I have a lot of plants as well as Purigen and pothos in my filter. I’m going to do small water changes several times throughout the week though since I have high nitrates in my tap.

I have my lights on a timer and they run from 9 am to 9 pm. I have absolutely no idea what the watts/kelvin/LED ratings are. They are just the LEDs that came with the Walmart kit. But everything grows with them so that’s fine.

I was dosing excel but I stopped since I added more plants and am trying to lower nitrates. There are root tabs in there though

 

You have a beautiful tank Val! I'm glad you got another bn

 

Grrrrrr... all the fish I want are sold out everywhere. There's no panda cories or chilI rasboras to be found anywhere. I also don't want to add the honey's in before the others.

On another note, I got two nerites with my mystery snail. I put them in Saturday and they still haven't moved

 

Finding specific species could take weeks or months, especially if you're looking to buy locally. It took me over 4 months to find 6 healthy kuhlI loaches and over a month to find male Praecox rainbowfish.

Most LFS get shipments in Tue-Thurs for the weekend rush. I usually go to my LFS on Thurs or FrI for best selection.

 

I love your snail. I want a giant snail in my tank but I'm afraid I'll accidentally be given a mystery snail and he'll eat my plants lol

 

Finding specific species could take weeks or months, especially if you're looking to buy locally. It took me over 4 months to find 6 healthy kuhlI loaches and over a month to find male Praecox rainbowfish.

Most LFS get shipments in Tue-Thurs for the weekend rush. I usually go to my LFS on Thurs or FrI for best selection.

Thanks! My LFS is really great about ordering whatever I want whenever I want lol. But it's just that panda cories and chilI rasboras are out of stock everywhere lol. They can't order them because they're out of stock and I can't find them online at all either.

I love your snail. I want a giant snail in my tank but I'm afraid I'll accidentally be given a mystery snail and he'll eat my plants lol

Thanks, mine is a mystery snail! He hasn't touched any of my plants, as far as I know they don't eat plants unless they're starving and that's their last option

 

Will your lfs order for you? Or the weather is still mild most places if you ordered online?

 

Will your lfs order for you? Or the weather is still mild most places if you ordered online?

Yes, they do & have. The weather right now is around 50-60 at night and 70-80 during the day.

 

I love your snail. I want a giant snail in my tank but I'm afraid I'll accidentally be given a mystery snail and he'll eat my plants lol

So its the mystery snail that's been eating my plants!?!?

 

So its the mystery snail that's been eating my plants!?!?

That weird I have a mystery and he only eats my dead leaves. All my healthy leaves are left alone

 

That weird I have a mystery and he only eats my dead leaves. All my healthy leaves are left alone

Well, its either the Mystery snail, the BN pleco, or the ottos.

 

Quick update:

Still haven't found panda cories in stock. Aquatic Arts has chilI rasboras but I am really hesitant to order fish online

My nerites still haven't moved! Do you guys have any ideas on what to do? It seems that one of them has somewhat buried itself down in the sand some but other than that, no movement. I haven't checked them in a couple days because I don't want to stress them out.

Also, my mystery snail's shell seems to have started deteriorating, I have cuttle bone and all of my levels are fine. What do you think?

 

YESSSSSS! Just scored 18 ChilI rasboras from Aquatic Arts for 40% off. I am so excited! Really nervous about shipping but we will see!

 

YESSSSSS! Just scored 18 ChilI rasboras from Aquatic Arts for 40% off. I am so excited! Really nervous about shipping but we will see!

Wow!!!! Please post what they look like! I can't believe you got 40% off! They better be alive

 

I know! I'm so excited! I saved over $20. Basically I only payed $5 for the shipping with the discount and it's overnight shipping, so they will only be in transit for about 18 hours.

Also, my dwarf sag is putting out runners. Yay! I haven't even been dosing any ferts, just root tabs and my lights on for 12 hours.

 

Nice! I wish I had ordered my Snails during the 40% discount, but I was so impatient I had to order them before the sales started But can't wait to see the Rasboras!

 

Nice! I wish I had ordered my Snails during the 40% discount, but I was so impatient I had to order them before the sales started But can't wait to see the Rasboras!

I really thought about getting some nerites but I didn't. Kinda wish I did lol

 

I really thought about getting some nerites but I didn't. Kinda wish I did lol

Lol, they've got some really nice variations. I'm getting Mystery Snails and sulawesis, super exciting!

 

Pls update tank picture!!!! This sounds so successful!!

 

Pls update tank picture!!!! This sounds so successful!!

I will! I was going to last night but I forgot and watched The Office instead lol

 

Very nice tank Valerie! I love the set up. I'm not sure if you mentioned this already, are you doing a background for it? what color?

 

Very nice tank Valerie! I love the set up. I'm not sure if you mentioned this already, are you doing a background for it? what color?

Thank you! I probably won't do a background, just because the plants cover a lot of it and it would be really hard to do now that the tank is full and against a wall lol. But if I did, I would do black or one of those ones that looks natural

Updated pictures, as promised.
This was the first new dwarf sag that I spotted. And then you can see some more little ones that have sprouted up.



And a full tank shot. I got rid of the hornwort & got a java fern. Not 100% sold on it but we’ll see. I really just want this crypt to get big lol. It’s definitely growing and gets a lot of new leaves but I want it to its full potential like yesterday

 

I know! I'm so excited! I saved over $20. Basically I only payed $5 for the shipping with the discount and it's overnight shipping, so they will only be in transit for about 18 hours.

Nice! How much was your entire order?

 

Nice! How much was your entire order?

$62 something

 

Well, I came home yesterday and my bn pleco had passed away No idea why, he had some red on his side like he had been bruised or something but the day before he was perfectly fine, active and eating.

The cories are much more active since he's been gone though. I'm thinking they may have been afraid of him? Possibly because there's only 3 of them as well. I cannot wait until I can get more. I think I may give up on the idea of a pleco even though I like them, having two die on me is just disheartening.

 

Nooo. Soooo sorry to hear

 

Nooo. Soooo sorry to hear

Thank you. I just really wish I knew why. He was always active and eating. I checked on him and the cories daily, nothing ever seemed to be wrong. The water parameters were fine too. The cories are still fine, just more active.

 

Red sore sound like a bacterial issue.

 

Red sore sound like a bacterial issue.

I thought I took a picture but I guess I didn't. It was on his side and I had never noticed it before. Could it be something that could get to the cories?

 

Mmmm if they're active and looking good I wouldn't be too afraid about that.

I thought I took a picture but I guess I didn't. It was on his side and I had never noticed it before. Could it be something that could get to the cories?

 

A question for you all: When I get the 18 rasboras, would you put them all in at once or would you suggest I put some in QT and some in the main tank to avoid a minI cycle? They should be coming in this week, I'm thinking since the pleco and two nerites died, there might be enough bb established to add all of them? Not sure though.

 

Sorry to hear about your pleco.

How big is your QT? I would put them all in QT so you don't get anything foreign in your main tank if possible. You can avoid a mini-cycle by feeding them very small amounts to allow the BB to grow. Food>fish waste>ammonia>nitrite>nitrate. Less food in the tank, less nitrates.

I would also do a 30-50% water change in the main tank if possible. If your pleco died from a bacterial disease, you might want to treat your main tank. I found Melafix and Pimafix together helps clean up a tank with natural ingredients and won't affect your BB or your cories.

 

Sorry to hear about your pleco.

How big is your QT? I would put them all in QT so you don't get anything foreign in your main tank if possible. You can avoid a mini-cycle by feeding them very small amounts to allow the BB to grow. Food>fish waste>ammonia>nitrite>nitrate. Less food in the tank, less nitrates.

I would also do a 30-50% water change in the main tank if possible. If your pleco died from a bacterial disease, you might want to treat your main tank. I found Melafix and Pimafix together helps clean up a tank with natural ingredients and won't affect your BB or your cories.

10 gallons, I really don't want to put them all in QT because they're coming from Aquatic Arts and I just don't feel that they will have anything. Especially if I already am going to be treating the main tank.

I can't really do that large of a water change because it's been raining for weeks here and I have well water, which means my pH from the tap is around 6.4 and the tank is 7.2, though I can do several small ones throughout the rest of the week.

I honestly don't know what he died from, I will see if I can find a picture online to link here. I really thought I took pictures of him but I guess I didn't. I do have snails, will either of those meds affect them?

Edit: the plecos redness was inside of his body, it looked sort of like the red spots on the tops of albino males heads. But it was on the left side if that makes sense. The coloring was similar to the spot on his head though.