What are you doing to your tank today?
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Today I am starting a Cherry Barb only tank. 20G long. Bought all the Barbs the LPS had. Thought 4 males and 4 females, 1 female is turning red so 5 males and 3 females. Growing the fish out believe they are 3 months old, in about 2 months will select the best 2 males and remove the other males. If I can locate, would like to add another 3~4 females for a better final ratio (1 male to 2 or 3 females). With any luck will have a colony someday (move to a larger aquarium). Have some fast growing floating plants in tank, cleared out to allow 1/2 the lenght open for Barbs to swim in.
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After water changes i spent about 2 hours setting up a canister filter on the 100 with a host of issues. The filter was a netlea nv2 (both the netlea and ultramax bt are now using dc motors for more efficient operations) - and ran into a host of issues. First the bioballs which i never used created a lot of dust since they didn't bag them and this got into the gasket along the lid so it leaked and i had to fix that. Then the hose was a bit on the short side so i had to only run it mid tank (i like to place the in/out on opposite and and the aquarium is 48 inches long). Then i need to swap the in and out because while i can read just fine i sometime forget that out means out and not in. Also i purchased an eheim spray bar but it was too thick to fit between the wall and the rim so i have to re-work how i'll get it into the aquairum. Anyway the first 2 weeks i'm just priming it as i keep the original filtration in (matten filter) so in two weeks i'll fix the in/out/spray bar issue when i remove the matten filter. THe problem i have with the matten filter is clogging - not the sponge which seem perpetual but the uplift tubes keep clogging - sometime twice a week i have to clean the little holes out and sometime once every 2 weeks. But there are 4 aquariums with this issue for a total of 9 uplift tubs and if it takes 5 to 10 minutes to clean those holes on each one as often as twice a week - well it gets bloody annoying and if i don't the filtration stops. Now i have a new design to resolve that issue and that is to replace the uplift tubes with a small dc motor that sits behind the sponge and runs a tube to the opposite side under the gravel and up in the corner to a spray bar but i think i'll wait till i move to put that in since it will require tearing up the aquarium to add the tubing under the substrate.
After fixing the canister filter i turned around since the 600 is next to that aquarium and saw this new mess - so now i need a broom to clean it up:
After fixing the canister filter i turned around since the 600 is next to that aquarium and saw this new mess - so now i need a broom to clean it up:
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Those chocolates never seem to stop - do any fry survive? I have 6 little Guianacaras in the big tank that have somehow made it, they are easily small enough to fit in the mouths of the Geophagus and severum, but it seems that those fish are not too predatory. I think most of the fry probably get eaten by the silver tetras.
Today I was setting up a small tank for the new tiny fish I am getting next week. The tank was upstairs and still had water, plants and small snails in it, though it has had no heater, filter or light on for several months since I removed the baby Guianacaras that I raised in there, and I had never fed the snails! It was next to a window so the plants (Limnophila sessiliflora and Java moss and a bit of water lettuce) had all survived, but as I had previously pulled them up to catch the fish they were all floating in a tangled mat. Anyway I brought the tank downstairs, rinsed and added some more sand that I had removed months ago from another tank, and searched through my collection of wood pieces, most of which were too big and all of them dry. I found a couple of suitable pieces that are temporarily weighed down with a couple of small rocks. I tried to disentangle and plant the plants and found some fine roots in the river. Before getting the fish I will change the sponge filter for one that’s been running on another tank and add a piece of wood, some leaf litter and some plants from that tank, including plenty of water lettuce, so it should be ready to go without cycling. I keep saying the tank is 10 gallons, but I measured it today and it’s a bit more, just over 12 (49 x 30 x 32 cm).
And just to illustrate my post:
And the small tank so far:
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To my knowledge not yet but the parents are getting more aggressive at keeping all manners of pests away. Given their size i don't even bother to try to raise a few. They aren't popular enough to give away and they are too large to keep more then a few months. At least with the royal whips i can just stuff them in a container for several months and then move them to an aquarium if i want to keep a few:
(around day 28 from hatching)
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Yes I know what you mean, although I’m surprised the chocolates are not popular- although I suppose the majority of those who buy fish don’t have big enough tanks for them. I’m certainly not trying to raise any more Guinacaras now. I still have the original 7, one more in the angelfish tank and the 6 babies that I suppose I should really catch while they are still small enough to go in bottle traps, otherwise there’s no way I could catch them…but for the moment I quite like watching them.
How did you go about breeding the whiptails?
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Nothing special - i noticed a large amount of eggs on the glass side during a water change; stole a few 10? 15? eggs - after the water change the male returned to guarding them and fanning them. I know the others in the tank hatched and i saw a few the first day after they hatched but havent' seen them since - but that doesn't mean much - approx 40 gallon of the 90 or so gallon are invisible so there could be none or a lot left. As long as they stay high on the val leaves there isn't much that will predate on them it is just a question of finding enough food. If they spend a lot of time near the bottom things are more iffy.
In the container i dip fractured zuc in spirtunla powder and put it in their little container every day - in addition i throw in a few earth worm flakes and some val leaves (they love to eat the biofilm off the val leaves) - i worry i'm not giving them enough protein but they seem to be doing ok - oh and every afternoon i use a turkey blaster to clean out their little container. I'm going to stop fractuing the zuc because it makes a mess after 24 hour.
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Did water changes on 16 aquariums today - had a boo boo with a canister filter that took a bit of time to clean up - wasn't totally surprising but the problem been resolved - took pictures of two of the aquariums - 2 pictures each from front and top down:
Both aquarium use straight ro water and well plants grow as plants grow ....
Both aquarium use straight ro water and well plants grow as plants grow ....
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Yea she was baby sitting them in a cave for about 2 weeks before introducing them to myself. I can't tell you exactly when they hatched because she kept them in there but i knew they had spawned again from her behavior. She is really quite interesting in her behavior and when she wants to get more food for the frys she will bring them to the front for me to feed - wait till i've fed them and then take them to the back again.
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Today I wasted 2 hours trying to make my old Fluval 407 canister work because I wanted to use it as a vacuum cleaner to clean my sump.
I tried to make it work on my kitchen counter and fixed one thing after another before realizing gravity was working against me and it would ever work in my sump either as the filter would be almost even with the floor.
Oh well. Sump cleaning will happen another day. Now I’m wondering if I use my python, a return pump that spills into a bucket, install my Tunze internal filter in there, stir the water and let it work, or use another pump with a cartridge that I can hang.
Canister was such a good option as it would have returned all the clean water to the sump. My water is very clean and I don’t need a WC.
I tried to make it work on my kitchen counter and fixed one thing after another before realizing gravity was working against me and it would ever work in my sump either as the filter would be almost even with the floor.
Oh well. Sump cleaning will happen another day. Now I’m wondering if I use my python, a return pump that spills into a bucket, install my Tunze internal filter in there, stir the water and let it work, or use another pump with a cartridge that I can hang.
Canister was such a good option as it would have returned all the clean water to the sump. My water is very clean and I don’t need a WC.
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There are wet/dry vacs - at least in usa they are quite cheap though they are more expenisve now - about 1/2 to 1/4 the price of a fluval 407 but yes the 407 is one of those pests that require gravity for flow. There are pumps you can buy that don't require gravity that are not too expensive - $20 or so that might do what you want and there are dry pumps they are loud and more expensive but at least the one i found bloody messy but great for use on your sister.
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Which pump - a typical wet pump that take a hose:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DG2BFS32
There are 100's perhaps 1000's.
A dry pump (this one works but i don't really recommend it as i think there are better: It has in/out hose and it doesn't get wet but it is LOUD.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LZ8RP40
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DG2BFS32
There are 100's perhaps 1000's.
A dry pump (this one works but i don't really recommend it as i think there are better: It has in/out hose and it doesn't get wet but it is LOUD.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LZ8RP40
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I’m not sure if I’m understanding exactly what you need, but I have used small inexpensive pumps to drain a low down tank or bucket, like these, that come in various sizes and flow rates Jad Bomba Sumergible SP-1000 - Acuario Mitad del Mundo
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Then put one in the sump and run the hose to a pail or drain
Or is there an issue doing that ? The dry pump has the advantage that you can just move the hose around the sump for the in and the out to pail/drian though use long hose on the out side so it doesn't get yanked out. The other route with a submersed pump is more annoying since you have to move the pump around and it can clog.
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No, it’s just that I was trying to filter the water without having to take it out. Filtering in a closed circuit. I’ve decided to use my python and refill. That’s probably the easiest way to get to the crammed areas.Then put one in the sump and run the hose to a pail or drain
Or is there an issue doing that ? The dry pump has the advantage that you can just move the hose around the sump for the in and the out to pail/drian though use long hose on the out side so it doesn't get yanked out. The other route with a submersed pump is more annoying since you have to move the pump around and it can clog.
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Did usual thursday water change on discus aquarium and spotted one of my three L183:
While they are lovely fishes this is about the most i ever see of them..... I have 1 male and 2 females.
While they are lovely fishes this is about the most i ever see of them..... I have 1 male and 2 females.
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Yea - actually i usually see most of my L208 (and they are nice looking pleco); as well as the L397. The blue phantom are iffy - there is a huge one in the 500 that i will sometime see and one with the cupido that i sometime see but that one usually hides if i look at it. The ones in the 600 i almost never see which is a pity since they are the ones that are 'dark' blue and stayed small (around 3 inch). The ones in the 500 and 180 are almost green and both are very large at least 7 inches (i think - they stay near the back so there might be a magnification factor through the thick glass).
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Hello! Long time no read. lol
For the past week or so I've been working on restarting my journals. I have everything all planned with all the information about my tanks for the first post. I'm going to include tank recaps too, basically taking dozens of posts about my tanks updates before and condensing them into a small clear summary as a sentence or two.
Been taking inventory of everything in and being used for my tanks. Inhabitants, plants, drift wood, rocks, equipment.
Once I clean the glass I'll try taking good pictures and check water levels.
I want less unnecessary posts, updates when there's changes, and photos.
Anyone else ever feel like you wanted to start fresh with a new journal?
I get that way with notebooks too.
Just want to start fresh in a new one. =)
Anyway, I won't be starting all that right away. It will be awhile, but I am excited to begin.
For the past week or so I've been working on restarting my journals. I have everything all planned with all the information about my tanks for the first post. I'm going to include tank recaps too, basically taking dozens of posts about my tanks updates before and condensing them into a small clear summary as a sentence or two.
Been taking inventory of everything in and being used for my tanks. Inhabitants, plants, drift wood, rocks, equipment.
Once I clean the glass I'll try taking good pictures and check water levels.
I want less unnecessary posts, updates when there's changes, and photos.
Anyone else ever feel like you wanted to start fresh with a new journal?
I get that way with notebooks too.
Just want to start fresh in a new one. =)
Anyway, I won't be starting all that right away. It will be awhile, but I am excited to begin.
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All of these pictures are from one aquarium where i keep my a. sp Blutkehl which is 48x15x18 for which i was forced to do a water change upon it this morning:
In these pictures in addition to the bluketl you can see tucano, espei and maybe an otto or two.
One of these days i'll get a weed thingy and mow down some of that mess maybe - to think this aquarium once looked like this:
Oh well.... time is a blessing and a curse.
In these pictures in addition to the bluketl you can see tucano, espei and maybe an otto or two.
One of these days i'll get a weed thingy and mow down some of that mess maybe - to think this aquarium once looked like this:
Oh well.... time is a blessing and a curse.
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Today I am starting my second Cherry Shrimp colony. I am seeding this colony from my stock, shrimp keeping is a lot more fun when things are going right or at least better. Will be going into a 20G long tank with a ton of Algea and mulm....paradice for my shirmp.
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I was going to do something useful but instead after changing the water on the discus tank i just took a couple of pictures from my 10:
This is a wild caught krib but his colour don't quite match the catch location. Alas the female was about a year younger from him and while she is alive and well she is not quite mature yet - maybe another 6 months until young ones.
This is one of my favorite tetra - they are a bit fragile and probably require very soft acidic water but so lovely they are - it is from west africa - there is a south america tetra that is also green with red tail that is much more robust if you like the colour scheme but not quite as transparent. I have two groups of these 6 or 7 in a 10 (i hope the kribs don't kill them if they breed) and another 7 in a 29 (the ones in the 29 are always in motion so i can never get a still image of them).
This is a wild caught krib but his colour don't quite match the catch location. Alas the female was about a year younger from him and while she is alive and well she is not quite mature yet - maybe another 6 months until young ones.
This is one of my favorite tetra - they are a bit fragile and probably require very soft acidic water but so lovely they are - it is from west africa - there is a south america tetra that is also green with red tail that is much more robust if you like the colour scheme but not quite as transparent. I have two groups of these 6 or 7 in a 10 (i hope the kribs don't kill them if they breed) and another 7 in a 29 (the ones in the 29 are always in motion so i can never get a still image of them).
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Today as i was moving some of the s. sturisomatichthys aureus to a 65 i managed to take these two pictures:
Lovely fellow in the shadows. I've had him now for around 3 years - have several f1 in the 65 along with the female.
And this is the little fellow i moved (actually moved 3 of them):
The fish in the back by hte leaf - grown quite a bit since being an egg 69 days ago and that is a random wood-cat in front and to the right of him.
They are harmless until they bite you.
Lovely fellow in the shadows. I've had him now for around 3 years - have several f1 in the 65 along with the female.
And this is the little fellow i moved (actually moved 3 of them):
The fish in the back by hte leaf - grown quite a bit since being an egg 69 days ago and that is a random wood-cat in front and to the right of him.
They are harmless until they bite you.
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Did usual water changes today but ran out of ro water so will have to do the 40b on thursday with the discus aquarium.
Anyway this is one of my 29's that i setup back around oct 1st 2024 so approx 2 years ago - i had set it up for some apistogramma lineata a person said he could import but alas they never showed up - after waiting 6 months i moved in a male a. sp ladislao - very out going guy but when i moved him he never showed me his face again and i've seen him maybe 2 or 3 times in 18 months - originally did not move the female because she saw me catch the male and from that point on hid from me but 8 months later i tore down her aquarium and moved her. I see her maybe once a month - so i have two fishes in there i never see yea - so i was going to add some a. uauepsi but ended up with just a female (since these are wc from unknown location you cant' easily add another later on) so she is orphand and very recently i added 3 a. bitaeniata - there was a 4th that was a clear female but doa. I think i have 2 males and a female but not 100% sure on the female. Anyway this is about the plant growth over 2 years - when i first setp the aquarium it looked like this:
Most of the stuff in front didn't do well because leaves covered them but anyway here are some various pictures:
That is the back right corner and you can't even see the crypt balansae. This plant is a mystery to myself it is suppose to be a hardwater plant but grows just fine in my extremely soft water as you can see.
Next to it you see the BIG bear.... and it is one large bear...
On the back left side you see some moss on the matten filter:
This was added later - i had traded a guy some crypt nurii for randoms stuff and he included this - it took around 12 full months to adapt to my growing condition but now it is doing well.
This shows the full top during water change:
This might be a bit:
This shows a couple of anubias one on the left and one on the right - the larger one on the right has grown a lot the pinto is very slow growing - i have one that is at least 4 years old that has only put out a couple of leaves (another aquarium)
and
One nice thing about anubias is when a leaf falls on them they don't die - i've killed more then one plant by having it covered with leaves.
Anyway i think that is enough for today.
Anyway this is one of my 29's that i setup back around oct 1st 2024 so approx 2 years ago - i had set it up for some apistogramma lineata a person said he could import but alas they never showed up - after waiting 6 months i moved in a male a. sp ladislao - very out going guy but when i moved him he never showed me his face again and i've seen him maybe 2 or 3 times in 18 months - originally did not move the female because she saw me catch the male and from that point on hid from me but 8 months later i tore down her aquarium and moved her. I see her maybe once a month - so i have two fishes in there i never see yea - so i was going to add some a. uauepsi but ended up with just a female (since these are wc from unknown location you cant' easily add another later on) so she is orphand and very recently i added 3 a. bitaeniata - there was a 4th that was a clear female but doa. I think i have 2 males and a female but not 100% sure on the female. Anyway this is about the plant growth over 2 years - when i first setp the aquarium it looked like this:
Most of the stuff in front didn't do well because leaves covered them but anyway here are some various pictures:
That is the back right corner and you can't even see the crypt balansae. This plant is a mystery to myself it is suppose to be a hardwater plant but grows just fine in my extremely soft water as you can see.
Next to it you see the BIG bear.... and it is one large bear...
On the back left side you see some moss on the matten filter:
This was added later - i had traded a guy some crypt nurii for randoms stuff and he included this - it took around 12 full months to adapt to my growing condition but now it is doing well.
This shows the full top during water change:
This might be a bit:
This shows a couple of anubias one on the left and one on the right - the larger one on the right has grown a lot the pinto is very slow growing - i have one that is at least 4 years old that has only put out a couple of leaves (another aquarium)
and
One nice thing about anubias is when a leaf falls on them they don't die - i've killed more then one plant by having it covered with leaves.
Anyway i think that is enough for today.
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I did water changes this morning in my 180 (bedroom) but before i got to it i took this picture of an f1 krib. Now the odd thing is dorsal fin is a strong red and his parents are more orangeish. So in another 8 or 12 or 24 months i'll get to find out what it will truly look like:
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I did all the water changes today but got distracted doing something on the angelfish tank while filling the last one and didn’t realize until my feet got wet that the hosepipe had fallen out of the other tank, water all over the floor, I was annoyed as I had managed to do all the maintenance quite quickly and was looking forward to a coffee, but then had to spend another hour mopping up all the water. Luckily the floors are made of rustic brick
tiles so no damage was done (just a small corner of the carpet that is in the other end of the room got wet) but nearly all the water was on the brick floor, oh well it did need cleaning…
tiles so no damage was done (just a small corner of the carpet that is in the other end of the room got wet) but nearly all the water was on the brick floor, oh well it did need cleaning…
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Yesterday, we had a visit from the foster parents of a dog we’re adopting next week. We had a blast in the backyard as the adoptee Collie and our Collie played and spent hours together. My wife and I enjoyed meeting these Collie Rescue people and introducing our dog to the new one. This way, when we get him next week on Halloween, he will have been here, smelled our place and met our dog. He is just a tad younger than ours and is a big gentle teddy bear. We are SO blessed. Soon he’ll join our family…….can’t wait.
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