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Corte posted:For the bio-media would the pebbles I use for my substrate work? My feeling is they wouldn't be great since they aren't porous. My friend has a bag of smaller aquarium gravel they are willing to give me if it'll help. I'd pick up a media designed for aquarium filters. I like Seachem matrix, but there are lots of options
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Apr 17, 2020 20:18
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DeadlyMuffin posted:I'd pick up a media designed for aquarium filters. I like Seachem matrix, but there are lots of options I have a proper box filter coming but it's delayed due to being non-essential. I'm trying to put something together as a stopgap until it arrives with any materials I have lying around or can be picked up at a grocery store.
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Apr 17, 2020 20:42
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Corte posted:I have a proper box filter coming but it's delayed due to being non-essential. I'm trying to put something together as a stopgap until it arrives with any materials I have lying around or can be picked up at a grocery store. Got it. Then filter floss or sponge, if you've got it
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Apr 17, 2020 20:44
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Do people prefer the black Flourite substrate or ecocomplete? I actually found an abandoned 17(ish?) gallon in the garage that I am going to rehab.
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Apr 17, 2020 22:11
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You want to avoid cellulose sponge or anything dish oriented that might have soap in it, or anything that might have anti mould properties or fire retardant properties. Actually cellulose maybe isn't the worst, it just breaks down very quickly when submerged in water and I don't know if that has an effect on water chemistry. 100% polyester wadding/pillow stuffing is exactly the same as filter floss. I know of a guy who uses bunched up shade cloth offcuts. Nylon mesh scrubber might work too. Cotton has the same problem as cellulose, the plant based stuff breaks down when submerged over a long period of time. Lava rock or garden scoria would work as a kind of porous media, you can get that sometimes from garden departments. I've seen people use sliced up drinking straws even for a slightly different type of filter - air powered moving bed filter, a cheap version of this https://youtu.be/-SzApuFHSVA Aerofallosov - id go for fluorite I think, eco complete is kind of coarse and scratchy and I don't think it's real easy to plant things in. I have seen some youtubers swear by it, and others who always use fluorite, and the fluorite dudes seem to have nicer looking tanks and an easier time getting plants in when planting. Maybe in the long term eco complete lasts and collects and holds nutrients better, I think that's what it's supposed to be good at, but if I was choosing media again I wouldn't get eco complete just from how rough it is. Stoca Zola fucked around with this message at 23:45 on Apr 17, 2020 |
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Apr 17, 2020 23:38
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Corte posted:Frustrating to hear that my water test kit is still lacking in a number of ways but good to know, thanks! Do you mean to say that my test could be detecting ammonium and not ammonia? Considering both are toxic wouldn't the goal still be to have 0 of both or is it that you need to do something different to address one or the other? Should I test my tap water for everything or just ammonia?
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Apr 18, 2020 02:20
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Ahhh, that's news to me and might alleviate some stress. I had to very quickly replace a filter for the 350 litre three weeks ago and I'm at 0.5ppm for both ammonia and nitrite, so it feels like it's coming along, but the 120 litre had issues and did a mini cycle. It's back to 0 nitrites but ammonia has been reading somewhere between 0.5ppm and 1ppm for the past three days. I've been preparing to add an additional filter for more media, and I'll do that anyway, but it might not be as worrying as I think then? I should probably test my tap water too if that's the case though. It didn't even cross my mind to check the ammonia in it.
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Apr 18, 2020 03:24
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I know my area adds ammonia, because I got sort of curious and looked it up. But I went with the fluorite substrate. Also I am irritated the fish I really want is stupidly rare. I just wanna keep some gold neon dwarf gobies.  And yet, I can't find 'em in stock ever. I also miss aqadvisor because I'm also looking to get some cories, and snails. Maybe some chill tetras if there's room.
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Apr 18, 2020 05:12
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Got bored and took some fish pictures   The fry are getting so big!!! This guy isn't quite colored up yet, but he's close!
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Apr 18, 2020 05:35
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Stoca Zola posted:....Lava rock or garden scoria would work as a kind of porous media, you can get that sometimes from garden departments. I've seen people use sliced up drinking straws even for a slightly different type of filter - air powered moving bed filter, a cheap version of this https://youtu.be/-SzApuFHSVA Unfortunately I don't think my grocery store is going to carry those products but that's a great thought. I like that filter you linked, wish I could see closer up to get a better idea of how it works. Did they just insert an airline into the side of the bottle near the bottom and cut a hole in the cap? To confirm they used cut up plastic straws? Supplies I should have by tomorrow or Sunday: - drill - 1L bottle and other containers - pillow stuffing, possibly a small sheet of filter sponge - small aquarium gravel - air pump and accompanying accessories Would running the air stones alone help at all? Slugworth posted:Definitely do an ammonia test on your tap water as a control. I've never in my life seen an API ammonia test actually show zero, whether it's testing my tap water or a tank that's been established and healthy for years. If you Google it, you'll see it's a fairly common issue. Decided to just do em all so I have a baseline, here are the results for my tap water: pH - 7.6-8 Nitrite - 0ppm Nitrate - 10-20ppm Ammonia - 0.5-1ppm My initial tank test for reference: pH - 7.6-8 Nitrite - 0 Nitrate - 5-10ppm Ammonia - 0.25-0.50ppm Might be noteworthy that there's more ammonia and nitrate in my tap water than the tank? To be fair it's possible I didn't do the testing for the tank correctly. I decided to replace the specialty filter pad for addressing ammonia, I had misread the box and thought it needed replacing every 3-4 weeks but in fact it says 2-3 so it's likely overdue. I've marked in my calendar so I can follow up and be more precise going forward. Figure I'll give that a day and test again, if there are still issues I'll do a water change and swap out the filter cartridge. I have noticed algae starting to build up a bit more rapidly as someone had mentioned might happen. I have removed the decorative plants and small seashells that seemed to be prime breeding grounds but have left in the two rocks so it's not completely bare. Levin fucked around with this message at 06:40 on Apr 18, 2020 |
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Apr 18, 2020 06:32
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Aw no! Corte that's quite possible and quite annoying that your tap water has ammonia readings in it. It's maybe not just that you've got a big fish in a small tank if that's the case. Could be chloramine (a more stable way to chlorinate water than just chlorine gas) or it could be that agricultural runoff in your area has got into your water supply but not enough to be harmful for drinking. So your filter is doing it's best but struggling a bit. The moving media filter in that video I sent has a specialist kind of plastic that when covered with bacteria is neutrally buoyant. It's meant for larger situations like a sump or a big media chamber in a pond, the plastic bits are shaped like little tiny wagon wheels and the principle is that the inside of the plastic piece is a safe spot for bacteria to live, while the outside bumps and rubs on other pieces of plastic so only the most vigourous and healthy bacteria can live there. The bacteria continually grow and process the nitrogen wastes and the filter itself can't clog. The bubbles enter at the bottom and come out at the top and serve to keep the plastic pieces moving, and I think there would be a few holes in the bottle around the bottom edge to help draw new water into the filter. For the tank space it takes up it isn't anywhere near as much surface area as a sponge filter and chopped off bits of drinking straw, while cheaper, are even worse than the wagon wheel plastic bits, but it never needs cleaning as it cleans itself with the bumping motion. I moreso sent that video just for another idea of how to make a filter depending on what parts you have. You could use chopped up bits of sponge or bits of gravel or ceramic media in a bottle in the same way and get some kind of biological filtration effect even if the bits aren't moving. Biological filtration just comes down to surface area plus water flow => bacterial colonies. I should have mentioned before that your idea of cutting the end of your siphon hose and using that was fine, but if you didn't want to do that you can stick the tubing and air stone at the bottom of a bottle and the bottle itself acts as both the media chamber and the airlift tube. Last night I cleaned out one of my guppy tanks that I hadn't really done much maintenance on, usually I just water change I t, and found that what I had thought was just a layer of moss was actually a thick sheet of floating cladophora algae, which was colonised underneath by a layer of moss and had java fernlets embedded along the underside. It was choking the back part of the tank where I couldn't really see well what was going on and the fish seemed much happier with it gone. The sheets of algae and moss looked awesome though, I wonder if there's any way to tame them into a moss wall or similar.
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Apr 18, 2020 09:21
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I want to redo my yellow lab (african cichlid) tank. But plants are out (anubias is possible but I'd need a lot for a 55) and I don't want a bunch of heavy rockwork. I was thinking something like plastic, like printed stuff, large honeycomb shapes or something, but since I don't have a 3D printer, have no idea if the poo poo is even safe for fish.
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Apr 18, 2020 15:12
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3d printed stuff is big in the reef community, so I'm pretty sure most/all of the filament used is safe. Might end up being kinda pricey depending on how much you want to print though. I've seen some pretty cool 3d backgrounds with caves and lots of rockwork, but they never seemed worth shelling out hundreds of dollars to me. If you want a project, could try sculpting stuff out of styrofoam and coating with epoxy yourself. Enos Cabell fucked around with this message at 16:21 on Apr 18, 2020 |
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Apr 18, 2020 16:15
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Why not driftwood then? Probably will need to soak/boil for awhile for a cichlid tank but that seems like a nice lightweight alternative and isnt chunks of plastic.
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Apr 18, 2020 23:15
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I have decided to make my main fish some gobies/dwarf gobies with shrimps and snails. I wish AQ advisor wasn't dead, because I'd like some corydoras cats and maybe a chill nanofish for the top layer of the tank. Maybe some kuhli loach because those guys are cute noodles.
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Apr 19, 2020 01:12
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For gobies that like high flow, are you going to set up like a hillstream tank? There are probably species profiles or biotope info pages that can give you ideas about compatible fish even without aqadvisor. I'd think small rasboras or danios would work (or white clouds) but I've definitely read someone's write up that they think kuhli loaches might enjoy a hill stream set up too. It was titled something like "are we keeping kuhli loaches wrong?". I've come across some useful stuff from fish magazine websites as well as using seriously fish to learn more about habitat and fish from the same waters so that might help too. I can't remember which the good site is though - practical fishkeeping magazine? I think they've rebranded slightly as the site doesn't look quite right and neither does the font on the magazine cover but the articles seem to still be available.
Stoca Zola fucked around with this message at 05:25 on Apr 19, 2020 |
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Apr 19, 2020 05:15
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I was able to pick up some of the items mentioned and put together my first DIY container filter: https://imgur.com/a/gpHV7rF. I have another container so I might take a second stab at it. I drilled larger holes along the sides of the bottom and a some smaller holes on top and a large one for my air line. I used my pebble substrate as bio media then added a layer of polyester stuffing and a layer of carbon pad, fed air line through to the bottom. I think I should probably remove some pebbles and add more polyester stuffing. I am using this air pump to run it: https://www.amazon.ca/Pawfly-Adjust...7282049&sr=1-4. There's a second line I could use and it came with two air stones. Is there a max flow/pressure I should set the pump at? So far I don't notice any issue with the sound and fish seems to be doing well. edit: Couldn't help but tinker, I replaced the lid so the line can be closer to can edge so it's easier to feed through the back and I also added in more polyester stuffing at the same time. Seems to be working well, bubbles are coming through a few of the holes on the top, I have it set the lowest power setting. Levin fucked around with this message at 20:48 on Apr 19, 2020 |
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Apr 19, 2020 08:51
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Anyone have any recommendations for a Fe and K fertilizer? The one's I've found so far are stupidly expensive. Can you just use iron chelate and some potassium fertilizer from the garden store?
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Apr 19, 2020 09:09
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Corte posted:
OK so right now, where is the water drawn in to the filter? You need a strong flow of bubbles (maybe through a lift tube) to make sure suction is happening, I think if bubbles are coming out of one side of the filter it MIGHT suck water in from the other holes, but it also might not, without a solid upward path the water might just get pushed sideways instead of pulled up and out like we want. It's a good start though and almost all the way there I think.  Here's how to guarantee a decent water flow, I drew some arrows on so you can follow where the water goes. Just assume the bubbles go up, and that tube doesn't have to be anywhere near as wide as I drew it.
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Apr 19, 2020 14:11
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I'm not actually sure if my ammonia level is 0.25 or 0. In my test kit that's the difference between yellow and very slightly greenish yellow. I might try a side by side with tap water to see if I can see any difference. Since my last post one of my snails has been ill (I think - it keeps falling over, but it's hard to tell what's wrong with a snail). As I write I'm watching one of my guppies die. It's stuck on the bottom of the tank and doesn't seem to be able to lift itself. I don't have another tank to put it in, and even if I did, the aquarium shop is shut and I have no idea what sort of medication might help. At this rate the tank will probably be empty by the time the lockdown ends.
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Apr 19, 2020 14:14
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Decided to come back to the hobby after a series of awful tank catastrophes, i had 3 tanks full of healthy fish all just die out of nowhere, nothing on the tests, no waterchanges or anything. i simply added some plants to all of them and within a week my entire fish collection was dead. on the plus side i've got the 55 gallon set up with shramps. anyone got any ideas of tankmates that wont decimate the population? im thinking a few ottos and some pygmy cories but i kinda want something for the top chunk, maybe boraras maculata?
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Apr 19, 2020 14:34
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I admire your guts for coming back from a heartbreak like that  , that's my greatest fear - the invisible unmeasurable toxin. Some kind of algacide on the plants I guess? I have espei rasboras in with red cherrys and they are very top dwelling, a little larger than maculata but still pretty petite; my shrimp do reproduce a bit but not as much as they could, not sure between the kuhlis and the rasboras who is getting the shrimpy snacks. I think it's probably more likely to be the loaches. Rasboras seem very fixated on feeding from the surface moreso than picking at anything lower in the tank. I've had emerald eye rasboras too that are very top dwelling and I didn't see them eat from lower in the tank until they learned it from some rasbora paviana I had in with them temporarily. I think any of the dwarf corys would be reasonably safe, they aren't really hunters so the shrimp would have to swim into the cory's mouth for it to be a problem. They do hoover relentlessly though. Any of the small rasboras look amazing in a decent sized school and they are pretty easy care, adaptable and not fussy about food as long as its the right size. Clown killifish are another cool tiny top dwelling fish, I am pretty sure they are harder to feed than rasboras though. Any of these little top dwellers are likely to try and jump so you want a good lid on the tank. It is definitely possible to keep a population of shrimp going, as long as they have cover and safety from the fish in some form.
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Apr 19, 2020 17:36
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Stoca Zola posted:OK so right now, where is the water drawn in to the filter? You need a strong flow of bubbles (maybe through a lift tube) to make sure suction is happening, I think if bubbles are coming out of one side of the filter it MIGHT suck water in from the other holes, but it also might not, without a solid upward path the water might just get pushed sideways instead of pulled up and out like we want. It's a good start though and almost all the way there I think. Thanks again for everything Stoca! I know that traditionally a lift tube would be in the center and you'd feed the air line into it or at least pair them at the bottom. Unfortunately my tools on hand aren't great at creating a hole large enough for a lift tube or cutting grooves into the bottom of it, I have cut off a piece of my siphon tube which can serve this purpose though. Here is a better quality video that might give you a clear indication of how it is working: https://imgur.com/a/8Tp1O0e The water is drawn through the bottom and bubbles are consistently coming out the top of the container, very rarely a bubble might come from the bottom or edge of the lid. When I've tried to increase the power to the air line it doesn't seem to increase the amount of bubbles so it might be that I need more or larger holes on top to increase flow further. I basically did what is shown in this DIY video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRNeN1Ovfq0 Ideally I'd like something a bit taller and skinnier but it's working well I think. I'm considering cancelling my box filter order if it's still possible but not concerned if it isn't. Levin fucked around with this message at 21:38 on Apr 19, 2020 |
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Apr 19, 2020 21:17
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Ahh, bottom holes make sense too. Great! I love how happy the fish looks. No reason you can't run both the box filter and your home made one at the same time, you got a dual outlet pump if I recall, so that should be easy enough to do. You're miles ahead of a lot of beginner fish keepers at this point. I have constant arguments with my mum over the health of her goldfish. She has a pond which until recently was unfiltered. She just thought goldfish in black slimy water was normal because all the other times she kept pond goldfish they did "just fine" in black slimy water. She tops up with rainwater so the water is too soft for them, and never does actual water changes (but they survive because they're goldfish). Ended up buying her a pump and buying her a canister and eventually, when she was ready, she decided to try them out. The pond was extremely filthy and she thought it might be easier to run the filter than to manually clean. She uses folded up shade cloth pieces as mechanical filtration and for a while there was rinsing it out every day to unclog it. The fish's water is now crystal clear, you can see the goldfish grazing on algae and you can see the babies they've had in the clean water growing and changing colour. Instead of the pond just being an ornament to her, she is much more engaged with the lives and happiness of the fish now that she can see them. It helps that they recognise her as the source of food and come begging from her and hide from other people, kind of an ego boost for her I think. She STILL only runs the pump during the day but it's better than the initial no filter at all, or only turning it on if she felt like trying to clean the water a bit. There are plants in the pond which I think is the only way the fish survived as long as they did - they do seem a lot happier not being in 10+ inches of nonflowing filth with a narrow layer of cleaner water at the top.
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Apr 20, 2020 06:32
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Stoca Zola posted:...Instead of the pond just being an ornament to her, she is much more engaged with the lives and happiness of the fish now that she can see them. It helps that they recognise her as the source of food and come begging from her and hide from other people, kind of an ego boost for her I think. She STILL only runs the pump during the day but it's better than the initial no filter at all, or only turning it on if she felt like trying to clean the water a bit. Thanks for sharing that story, glad to hear your mum and her goldfish are both doing better. I'm sure you'll get that filter on 24/7 eventually! So I did a 50% water change yesterday and also replaced the filter cartridge which I now understand was not a good idea and should be done days apart. The DIY filter has been in for a day or so now but my understanding is it could take up to two weeks for the bacteria to grow enough for it to be truly effective. I plan to get a better bio media when I'm able. My girlfriend cut off a piece of a moss ball from her tropical tank and gave it to me, I rinsed it off and Cuno seems to dig it. Given how small my tank is I'm wondering if having the HoB, DIY and box filter all in it might be too much. I did a water test roughly 24hrs after the above changes and got these results: pH - 7.6+ High pH - 8.2 Nitrite - 0 Nitrate - 10-20ppm Ammonia - 0-0.25ppm So comparing to my last test 4 or 5 days ago nitrates have risen 5-15ppm, ammonia has decreased by 0.25-0.5ppm and pH has risen slightly to 8.2. Tap water's pH is 7.6-8 so I figure it's nothing to panic about and I should just test again in a few days to see if the pH settles down. My understanding is it's better to acclimate the fish to my tap water's pH than try to lower the pH in the tank. Levin fucked around with this message at 21:24 on Apr 20, 2020 |
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Apr 20, 2020 21:16
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That all looks good, if your nitrate is going up it means your filter is converting ammonia so that's exactly what you want to see. You're lucky in that goldfish are extremely adaptable and are fine in hard water so your parameters are okay. I think it's fine to water change and filter change at the same time since the bacteria are on the surfaces and not freeswimming in the water. Maybe not gravel vac at the same time that you're changing filter pads though as there will be some beneficial bacteria in the gravel. If the pH in your tank is climbing it can really only be from the rocks or gravel reacting to and dissolving in the water - and for goldfish this isn't really a bad thing. Don't worry too much, just measure periodically so you know what direction things are moving and decide from there if you need to change anything. You almost always have time to make gradual changes, unless your tank is too small, overcrowded, or there's no buffering in the water. In those situations things can swing from bad to worse quite quickly but you're nowhere near anything like that.
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Apr 20, 2020 22:25
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Stoca Zola posted:I think it's fine to water change and filter change at the same time since the bacteria are on the surfaces and not freeswimming in the water. Maybe not gravel vac at the same time that you're changing filter pads though as there will be some beneficial bacteria in the gravel. Ahhh, I think this is a distinction I hadn't caught before. So when I'm changing the water I'm also gravel vac'ing I think. What I am doing is running the siphon along the bottom, shaking up the substrate and trying to grab whatever comes loose. The pebbles sometimes will come a little up into the siphon tube but not much, I'm not sure if this is because the suction isn't powerful enough or the pebbles are too big. I only mention this because I've noticed in videos the gravel getting sucked up a lot further into the tube but that is with smaller stones and more advanced pumps generally. Could be I've been sucking up that beneficial bacteria I'm supposed to be cultivating! From what I've read I should only vac every 3-4 weeks and at a separate time from filter change or maintenance? Levin fucked around with this message at 23:26 on Apr 20, 2020 |
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Apr 20, 2020 22:55
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Corte posted:Ahhh, I think this is a distinction I hadn't caught before. So when I'm changing the water I'm also gravel vac'ing I think. What am I doing is running the siphon along the bottom, shaking up the substrate and trying to grab whatever comes loose. The pebbles sometimes will come a little up into the siphon tube but not much, I'm not sure if this is because the suction isn't powerful enough or the pebbles are too big. I only mention this because I've noticed in videos the gravel getting sucked up a lot further into the tube but that is with smaller stones. Could be I've been sucking up that beneficial bacteria I'm supposed to be cultivating! I mean, if your goal is to have clean gravel you’ll need to gravel vac. The trick is to cultivate beneficial bacteria in places where you won’t mind them getting to biofilm levels of population density, and where they won’t get bothered by you keeping a clean tank (and also where the population stability itself will keep outbreaks from showing up elsewhere). In an aquarium that is done by giving them lots of surface area and space to live in- inside of a filter, on a bio-wheel, in the crevices of bio balls or gravel, inside of a secondary tank/refugium, etc. Goldfish are particularly heavy waste generators and require a particularly strong filtration/beneficial bacteria counterpoint to keep water balanced and tanks looking spotless. If you go into big goldfish sites (there are goldfish-specific forums, btw. You should visit them) you’ll notice that people with big tanks are generally using big canister filters or sump/refugium builds as though they were running reef setups. They’re providing a home for all that bacteria. Hell, even something like a diy box filter or just running your water line through a sealed container filled with media would add a ton of biological filtration potential. If you’re feeling like a tinkerer and you’re working from home, you could try building a second tank into something like a sump. Better yet, try building a planted refugium. Maybe put some shrimp or like a crayfish or freshwater crab in there too......omg now I wanna live vicariously through you and loop a fish+deep gravel planted crayfish tank together.
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Apr 20, 2020 23:25
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Semi-edit: you could also build a nitrate filter by filling a container with fast growing algae/plants and hitting it with a light/sun. There’s a lot of ways to harvest the power of photosynthesis for your fishy needs Edit to the semi edit- you could also try sticking something like a pothos in your HOB filter (some ppl add them just for this) or tank. trilobite terror fucked around with this message at 23:53 on Apr 20, 2020 |
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Apr 20, 2020 23:46
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Ok Comboomer posted:I mean, if your goal is to have clean gravel you’ll need to gravel vac... Ok Comboomer posted:Semi-edit: you could also build a nitrate filter by filling a container with fast growing algae/plants and hitting it with a light/sun. There’s a lot of ways to harvest the power of photosynthesis for your fishy needs To clarify the pebbles looks pretty good and are relatively clean when I vacuum it each week, I just thought I should be thorough and get every last bit I could. I'm wondering if maybe I should be leaving it longer to allow more bacteria to grow. I feel pretty good about where I'm at with the tank: https://imgur.com/gkW57Y4 All your suggestions excite me too but I don't have the money or access to materials to execute them currently. I'm quite happy with my modest start to the hobby and am trying hard to stop myself from diving in too deep, as I've been known to do. I think when I do have the money and access necessary my next steps would likely be something like: 1. Pick up general and carbonate hardness test kits - purchase and use additive if necessary 2. Add snails and living plant(s) 3. Add to or change substrate? 4. Purchase or build a bigger tank and stand that can support a second fish for companionship, probably Fantail or Ryukin for greatest compatibility so 30g or greater. I figure I can use my 10g tank as a quarantine tank for the new fish and then maybe try something else in it that is more suited to the size.
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Apr 20, 2020 23:53
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Corte posted:To clarify the pebbles looks pretty good and are relatively clean when I vacuum it each week, I just thought I should be thorough and get every last bit I could. I'm wondering if maybe I should be leaving it longer to allow more bacteria to grow. I feel pretty good about where I'm at with the tank: https://imgur.com/gkW57Y4 You beat me as I was editing my last post. I would definitely try adding plants next. Pothos is a good choice, you can add it right in the enclosure or stick it in the filter if there’s space. If you’re gonna buy a bigger tank and turn your 10 gal into a quarantine tank, I’d rather just turn it into a planted refugium.
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Apr 20, 2020 23:57
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Stoca Zola posted:I admire your guts for coming back from a heartbreak like that The worst part is that i did everything by the book, quarantine tank and all
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Apr 21, 2020 09:58
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I may have made a mistake. I got some tetras to share my pea puffer tank and they're the most aggressive tetras I've ever seen. Like they're having none of the pea puffer fin nipping bullshit. What's worse, the tetras LOVE blood worms, so now they're out-competing for food. All fish love blood worms, but these REALLY like them. There are snails the puffers can nosh on at least.
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Apr 21, 2020 14:05
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Krispy Wafer posted:I may have made a mistake. I got some tetras to share my pea puffer tank and they're the most aggressive tetras I've ever seen. Like they're having none of the pea puffer fin nipping bullshit. What's worse, the tetras LOVE blood worms, so now they're out-competing for food. All fish love blood worms, but these REALLY like them.
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Apr 21, 2020 16:25
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w00tmonger posted:Puffer talk, I'm having a hell of a time maintaining my tank. Are there any tankmates that work at all to help with maintenance? I have a couple of mystery snails that are too large to be tangled with and a colony of Malaysian Trumpet snails that I think the puffers eat on occasion. They're nocturnal so I never see them. Also a bunch of ghost shrimp, which do a good job of eating any leftover blood worms. And 1 oto for algae. Tank is well planted and except for some higher than I like nitrate levels just requires 30% water changes weekly. I've never had a single drop of ammonia the whole time (not even while cycling). Tankmates are a real issue. Every time I see a fish I'd like I google it and nope - not compatible.
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Apr 21, 2020 18:02
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Did you buy too few tetras or something?
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Apr 21, 2020 18:21
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Resting Lich Face posted:Did you buy too few tetras or something? I've got 6 black widow tetras and 2 red fins at this point. The black tetras are much more aggressive so they seem to be doing alright. I've got some extra lovely puffers though. A male and female have paired off and I'm pretty sure killed another puffer and are mean bastards to the only other remaining male.
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Apr 21, 2020 18:40
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Corte posted:past results Decided to do a follow-up test for high pH and ammonia, both have stayed consistent at 8.2 and 0-0.25ppm. I figure I'll test a bit more regularly for the next week or so to see if this is just the baseline then reduce the frequency.
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Apr 23, 2020 01:28
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So I have decided on my fishies, but there's a few snags. 1) My heater is too long, but it's fully submersible. Can I turn it horizontally and not kill everything? 2) What are some good buddies to hang out with dwarf gobies? - It's a 20 gallon tank.
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Apr 23, 2020 19:56
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Aerofallosov posted:So I have decided on my fishies, but there's a few snags. Almost certainly. Which heater?
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Apr 24, 2020 04:34
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