Discuss anything aquarium related here, including inhabitants, decor and issues.
Google is your friend.
Feel free to ask questions but know that there are a lot of resources out there that could answer your question a lot faster and accurately than /an/.
Make sure to include these things in your post before asking because we can't help you if we don't have the full picture:
-tank size
-parameters
-any and all inhabitants + how long you've had them
Links:
>How to cycle your tank:
http://pastebin.com/x4WnB0Ah (embed)
>General aquarium care sheets - http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/
>Livestock and plants for sale - http://www.liveaquaria.com/
>FUCKING GOOGLE
>http://www.google.com
Old thread:
>>2002239
What's the usual dieoff rate for fish fry? I have some cory fry I've been trying to rear and I seem to lose one every two days or so. They just turn up dead even though the water's fine and I fed them.
It is my copper cory's first spawn, by the way.
What could be wrong with my Neon Tetra /aq/?
3 times now I've woken up to find 1 gasping for air near the surface. A few hours later it will be dead.
I don't think I have an aeration problem as it's only one fish gasping at a time. All the other fish are fine.
>>2008942
test ammonia and nitrates.
change some water no matter what the tests show.
also check your temps. You want to be 78-ish F.
>>2008943
Well I'm negative for everything (which is odd because I fertilize with Potassium Nitrates every other day)
Temp was 22c at some locations in tank so upped the thermostat on the heater.
Bad news: Some of my fish died due to old age I guess
Good news: I have room for more fish
Going to store today
So I enquired today at my lfs about their massive tank of what look like glass shrimp.
This time they're being called "river shrimp" and are being sold 10 for £1.
Again when I enquired I was told " oh those are only feeders they die quick and need salt water anyway" and I was quickly steered towards some expensive amano shrimps.
Are they trying to have me on?
How can a river shrimp need salt water
>feeling suicidal, know the feeling will pass so I decide to sleep it off
>all but one of my tetras commit suicide by filter by the time I wake up
>the lone survivor does the same the following night
It was a good 18 months, they never jumped despite there being no lid and they got along fine with the betta. Even got a bigger tank to put them all in, guess the Betta will get it all to herself.
>>2008982
They're Palaemonetes varians.
No-one imports or breeds true ghost shrimp because it's cheaper to farm varians.
RIP, I want some so bad.
>>2009006
I've seen them on ebay and it's like £9 for x4.
Seriously they need to fuck off, in the US you can get a massive bag of 20 for a dollar.
>>2009037
>buying animals over the internet
Anon, bls.
>Just bought 5 Zebra Danios
Dunno why I didn't pick some of these guys up earlier.
I was put off by the fact they're most peoples first fish and at £0.95 ea they're certainly at a pleb price.
But the little guys are zooming everywhere around my tank near the surface and middle. While my boring rosy and neon tetra just hang out at the bottom moving slowly.
Wish I had room for another 5.
>>2009049
Strange, the Danios zipping about seem to have encouraged the other fish to zip about more too.
Is that normal?
>>2009049
Schooling cyprinidae are much better fish than tetra.
I regret buying cardinals instead of more rasbora, rasbora school much more tightly and are much more active. My tetra don't even chase food or go to the surface for it, they just sit and wait for it to fall to them. Fucking meme fish.
>>2009054
Yeah.
Well I spent an arm and a leg on a Fluval external filter today.
There were some cheaper chink ones on ebay, but I was weary about noise. At least the Fluval one is silent.
>>2009069
ALso came with a free digital theremometer. But I doubt it's usefulness as, since it's on the outside, it's measuring the temp of the glass not water.
>See pictures of celestial peal danios
>Think they look good, go to local store to find some
>They're fucking tiny
>Think they must be fry
>Max side 2cm
What is the point of being a beautiful fish if you need a macro lens to see them?
So I came home from work today to find my bamboo shrimp dead next to an empty shrimp shell.
No idea what could have happened, he was lively this morning and I never noticed anything odd leading up to this.
Rest in piece, little guy.
>>2009163
Did you give him calcium and/or iodine supplements?
>>2009164
No, but I didn't think I'd need to. I've been keeping amano shrimp in the same tank and never had any issue with them.
Are bamboos extra sensitive? I might go buy a vampire shrimp in that case, I hear they're hardier.
>>2009171
Dunno, I've never owned bamboo shrimp. I've got vampire shrimp, but they've never had problems, and I never give them iodine.
If shrimp die from moulting, it's usually lack of calcium, iodine or they were attacked while still soft.
>>2009163
Might have been a natural death. Bamboos are usually wild caught, so there's not really any telling ow old they are.
Animal control brought in, I kid you not, 'stray' piranha fish the other day at the shelter. Story was they were left in a tank out in the street and somehow didn't freeze to death. But the DEC came, I guess the fish we had were illegal to own in 'murrica so they confiscated the animals. Does anyone know what breed they could have been, and why they would be illegal to possess? They had pink bellies, grey bodies and they were strictly vegetarian. Would the DEC just kill them or keep them as a nice office decoration?
>>2009177
I might be leaning towards this. He was very colourfill still though, so shouldn't his colours have faded if it was old age? Or am I anthropomorphising? He was very big when I bought him, so I guess he would have been an older shrimp. Definitely fully grown at least.
>>2009173
The thing is, my amanos molt all the time without dying. Same with the bamboo, until today. I guess I'll give it a few weeks and see if the amanos are alright, if they are I guess I'll give a vampire shrimp a try.
Saw something called "Red Crabs" at my LFS today.
They were in tanks with fish with no lad access so are they fully aquatic crabs? Those are rare aren't they?
How come I can't find a cheap inline heater, to be used with a cannister filter. Anywhere?
I only see one made by a company called Hydor and it costs loads.
>>2009179
Maybe a red-bellied pacu?
>>2009190
They're semi-aquatic crabs that need saltwater, they're sold to idiots who think they're real aquatic freshwater crabs for a quick buck, then die after a few weeks of no salt or land.
The only real fully aquatic crabs you can keep in a freshwater tank are the microcrab, which usually gets eaten and panther crab.
>>2008910
What's a good set up for an adult map turtle? I'm in an apartment so space is rather limited.
>>2009242
The guy I got it from said either I take it or he releases it out here. I'm in Colorado, and the little guy might freeze.
Is it just me or do filter ratings not seem very consistent across companies and even between ranges of the same company?
I have an external filter that is rated at "for a 100L tank". But it's about 3 times the size, with 3 times the media as the same companies internal filter for a 100L tank.
Surely the bigger filter should be able to fit a larger tank?
So I just got some more chili rasboras and they're schooling really well. I took a chance and introduced a betta to the tank and it's been going better than I thought. The only problems I've had so far is with one of my female RCS that keeps chasing the betta around.
>>2009313
Shouldn't it be the other way around?
>>2009318
Bettas are only particularly aggressive against fish that look like bettas.
They're pretty calm otherwise. And with those huge fins, the males are pretty vulnerable to nipping. Meme tetras can dominate a betta if you have even only one with a mean streak, since the rest will imitate the mean one.
>>2009313
>put RCS in tank with betta and plenty of moss
>betta tears through moss to rip apart all the RCS
Welp, guess intelligence does breed personality.
Can you really get rich as fuck by breeding Discus?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxUSXswR4mk
>>2008996
> Everything suicidal
Putting on my tinfoil hat, but are you haunted by evil ghosts or is it something in the water? It sure seems strange. On the bright side you can get new fish now!
>>2009228
Cannister filters are made to be high lower and very customizable for very tricky tanks like saltwater. This means more expensive parts and higher price. If you want cheap, use a Hang On Back filter like most other folks.
>>2009269
Filtration is based on water flow + media. Bigger filters don't always mean better filtration. Also many companies overstate their filter capacities as a "maximum rating" on the box so you'll never really get what's on the box anyway. Get twice the filtration your tank size needs (ex: 10 gallons, use a 20-gallon rated filtration) and you'll always be fine.
On a side note clothes are the same way only they make the sizes smaller to make you feel slimmer. It's funny.
>>2009344
Only if you can find a buyer and pay the insane startup costs of a breeding setup. Seriously, if it were that easy and fast you can bet the fish wouldn't be expensive or wouldn't sell.
So what exactly is the point of lily pipes? See them used all the time in aquascapes
>>2009397
A E S T H E T I C S
>>2009344
I bred a few hundred back in the late 90's.
I don't think I made enough to actually pay for my breeding stock. I imagine if you wanted to get rich doing it you'd need hundreds of tanks, maybe thousands.
They're difficult to sell, many fish stores don't want to mess with the expense and high death rate. Wholesale they go for about $7 each at dime size. They sell retail for about ten times that.
I guess if you could direct retail them you'd make some money, but then you get into the expense of shipping live and fairly delicate fish.
overall I'm pretty sure you'll make more money faster by hiring on as a fry cook at McDonalds. Breed discus if you like, but don't expect to get rich off it.
>>2009344
you also have to keep in mind that in the US at least, income from self-employment, such as selling fish, is taxed at about double the rate that a normal paycheck is.
so his $20k was probably closer to about $10k. If my business only made $10k per month I'd quit and go work for someone else. You don't go into business to make LESS money than the next guy.
>external filter claimed to be silent
>32 decibels
>32 times louder than silent.
I've heard that most crabs are less aggressive than crayfish or lobsters?
Any anons owned one of each and know the answer?
>>2009344
Did you watch the video? He tells you himself that he didn't actually make much profit.
I'm reading conflicting reports of crawfish.
They do need dry land
They don't need dry land
Do they or don't they?
Will old cow bones harm them as decorations? The bones were in the desert for months.
>>2009457
Hundreds of species of crayfish from different continents no one size fits all answer.
>>2009410
Someone doesn't know how logarithms work. 30 dB is the loudness of a whisper. 30 dB is 100 times louder than 10dB which is the rustle of leaves. In a normal home 30dB is silent.
>>2009478
That's what I figured. Plus hundreds of sub species. If one dies then ill try the dry land approach.
>>2009490
When in doubt mimic their home. River crays probably need some land and a decent current.
>>2009418
Crayfish are absolutely vicious. Drop one into a tank with fish and you'll eventually not have any fish.
Never had crabs, but they do have some at the LFS and they keep fish (meme tetras) in the same tank so I guess they're pretty calm.
My Cheap chinese LED lightbar arrived today.
Hopefully my carpet plants will stop mass dying in protest of not enough light now.
If anything it's TOO bright, hope my fish don't go mad.
So I noticed one of my Danios has freakishly large fins compared with the others. I didn't realise there was a longfin variety.
I got it my lfs and they weren't telling them as long fins and the rest of them have short fins.
Do you think it's just a freak?
>>2009612
i always thought longer fins=older specimen for danios
>>2009612
probably just a mixup and accidentally ended up there with the regular danios, longfin zebra danios are a thing
My stupid betta likes his floating log.
![20151202_133758[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/Qq3fLnQ.jpg "20151202_133758[1].jpg")
Just put a massive ball of Taiwan moss in my main tank I was growing by the windowsill.
Hope it doesn't get covered in shit. I don't seem to have much luck with moss in my tank.
It always gets covered in this grey hairy fluff stuff.
question: just got my first tank its like 4.5 gallons
what kinda fish would you guys recommend i put in it?
So I bought a "nutrafin basix turtle conditioner" block, which the LFS told me was the same thing as a cuttlebone.
However, when I dropped it into the tank, it started bubbling (small bubbles, like you'd get from one of those air blocks). I removed it.
What do you say, /aq/, is this block safe to use with fish? I'm trying to help my snails and shrimp get some stronger shells. The contents seem docile enough (natrium, magnesium, calcium).
>>2009654
Zebrafish are small, active, pretty and get along well. You could keep a single school together with a nerite snail or amano shrimp.
You'll also want to get a small but hardy plant, and some good lights, if it's your first tank. Also, get a filter that can handle about twice the volume your tank is, for optimum water quality. Heater is mandatory, keep it at 25 degrees Celsius or 77 Fahrenheit.
Are Yamato and Japonica shrimp the same as Amano shrimp?
I've been looking for Amano shrimp and I just bought some shrimp labeled "Yamato" shirmp.
But today my lfs has two separate tanks one said "Yamato" and the other "Japonica"
I've never seen them called Amano.
Do Amanos get lazy as they grow old or something?
I've got 2 I've had for a year and they've grown huge and almost stopped eating algae and just hide all day.
I added 4 new ones today and they have started eating algae right away.
>>2009077
You might need glasses, anon. I keep Chile Rasboras and can see them no problem.
So, my tank's been running for over a week now so I've decided to do my first water change, but I'm paranoid as fuck that the dechlorinator won't work and I'm gonna kill all of my fish. How do I make sure that its safe? I made sure to add the right amount of water dechlorinator, swished it around, and now I'm waiting 15 minutes like it says on the box. I know that there are test strips I can buy at petco, but the guide here says the paper ones are "useless." Is that really true? I can't find any liquid test kits for chlorine.
Common musk turtle - Not really grown for a few months now. Maybe two years old. Desent sized tank with plenty of light, water(perfect pH with quality filters) and some pots with a few plastic plants. Feed him/her two blocks of frozen food per day with some blood worms too. Should I move up to more food? Seems fine now though which is weird. Or will him/her always be quite small?
Appreciate advice though a lot.
>>2009772
To add, they aren't anywhere as near other common musk turtles I've seen either.
>>2009501
>>2009230
They were quite small; could have been baby Pacu. The bellies were a pink color, not at all a deep red but it could have been from malnutrition or age
Does the DEC kill them? I'll be a little upset if that was their fate, being that they were brought to a shelter to be saved, only to be placed back into the hands of death. Piranha are illegal to own in my state.
>tfw I stuck my hand in the tank after a co-worker tried putting meat in there
>>2009764
>Tanks been running a week now
>My fish
How come so many people with show tanks choose to use glass in-tank diffuses for CO2, dispute the fact they're using canister filters so can have an external CO2 reactor?
Even Takashi Amano does this?
>>2009764
Fish won't immediately die if there's some chlorine in their water, they'll have an easier time getting sick over time.
Try it and keep an eye on them. But dechlorinators work almost all the time. Don't worry too much.
>>2009786
>Even Takashi Amano does this?
Fix'd
>Even Takashi Amano did this?
May he rest in peace, July 18, 1954 to August 4, 2015
>>2009789
How did he get all those scalare to live together without killing each other?
>>2009764
Buy some bulk carbon, tie up a carbon teabag, swish the tap water in it, instant filtered water for cheaper, + you can also add it to your filtration for clearer water.
when and why did sponge filters and under gravel filtration fall out of style? I still use sponge filters all the time and have had a lot of success with them in non display tanks.
>>2009792
These are altums not scalare, and he broke their line of sight with that jungle.
>>2009792
It's probably a temporary display set up for a conference. Fish don't need to last long for temporary displays or demonstrations. I have mad respect for the guy, but his tanks were rarely sustainable for an average hobbyist.
>>2009799
It's one of his home tanks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xrjxg_8wmdg&spfreload=10
So now I have an external filter, I was thinking of making water changes super easy by T-ing into the return line with some kind of ball valve and fitting a pump and hose that I could simply place in a bucket of fresh water when I wanted to to a change.
Is there any reason that wouldn't work?
>>2009810
You'll get lots of fish poop dust if you don't maneuver the hose to get it.
>>2009803
I was not aware, I met him once in college and he was kind of a jerk IRL so I never followed his work, but he was truly a great aquarist
>>2009810
Like the other reply says, the reason we use gravel vacuums to do water changes is because that's how we retrieve the fish poop from the tank. If you let it stay in there, it will eventually degrade and release basically pure fertilizer into the water. Your fish might stay alive, but you'll get constant algae blooms.
>>2009822
I'll be using a vacuum to take water out, that's the easy part because gravity does the work.
I'm looking for an easy method of putting water back into the tank because at the moment I use a hang pump and it's tiring.
>>2009825
Sorry, I misunderstood.
Yeah, that should work. Turn off the filter while you're doing it, though.
>>2009810
>>2009828
Drew a picture
>>2009838
Yeah, I get it now.
I'm just saying turn off the flter while you're doing it, since the extra pressure could damage the filter pump. The bacteria inside will survive for the few minutes it might take you to pump the new water in.
>>2009838
Why don't you just attach some kind of plug to the inlet instead, and then use the filter pump to transfer the new water?
Wouldn't something like this be incredibly noisy and smelly?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WBo3u9arUo
>>2009844
I'm not sure how it is with other filters, but mine is gravity fed. The pump only returns the water it doesn't pull it out the tank.
>>2009848
There's a reason very few people keep complex aquariums in their bedrooms.
Yes, it would smell a bit, and there would be some noise. Not as much noise as you might think, because those sponge things would absorb most of the splashes, and it wouldn't necessarily stink if the boxes fit into each other and water constantly flows over it, since then the trickling water would "seal" the smell into the box.
>>2009848
It'd sound like trickling, and smell like swamp.
You could do an aquaponic grow-bed instead and get good filtration too with this general setup.
If you grew mint inside a setup like this, it'd smell nicer.
I just noticed one of my amanos has lost a leg.
I don't suppose shrimp can grow them back?
>>2010090
When they moult, it will begin to grow back.
>>2009838
tom barr hooks up a hose to his sink and uses a J shaped piece of PVC and hangs it on the edge. He puts a T on the end of the J with baskets to disperse the flow.
I am thinking about quitting my day job and starting a aquarium service, has anyone here done this or does anyone here have any tips?
>>2009077
The males have really beautiful coloration when they're nice and healthy. I have a little group of them.
>>2010103
I have a tip.
I own a service contracting business.
If you actually plan on clearing a profit you need to be charging about $125/hour in the US.
the average cost of running a small service contracting company is around $100 for every hour of work you do.
>>2010103
>>2010106
also of course you don't actually tell your clients your hourly rate.
just figure how many hours the job will take, multiply by your hourly rate and that's your offer. If people find out what you charge per hour they get pissed off, even though most of your charge WILL go to taxes, insurance and other pointless crap.
is it really worth all the hassle for saltwater shit? maybe with the exception of super hardy fish like damsels
Given the extra costs to have a decent looking live rock setup (forget corals! maybe except the hardy soft ones) I think it'd be cheaper to buy a yearly member card to the local aquarium
on the other hand of the spectrum, what do you guys think of coldwater setups? is it dumb to think it'd be cool to have like a section of a lake in your house?
>>2010142
>is it really worth all the hassle for saltwater shit?
no, of course not.
it's not at all fun or cool. The millions of people that do it are all masochists.
but seriously, if you're concerned about money then SW isn't for you.
>>2010142
Marine planted tanks look awesome and I like the look of live rock, but most of the fish don't hold my interest for some reason.
Coldwater tanks can be neat if you can keep native fish or are setting up a stream tank.
>>2010149
>most of the fish don't hold my interest for some reason.
most marine aquarists would probably agree with you.
fish aren't often the main focus or purpose of the tank.
>>2010149
>Coldwater tanks can be neat if you can keep native fish or are setting up a stream tank.
I actually did read a book about keeping north american coldwater fish in aquarium. it was interesting, though I guess you would have to buy fish from the lake stockers rather than petstores
>>2010158
Or you can get a fishing license and collect your own fish
>Come back home after leaving for 3-4 days
>Female Pearls are dead
>Male is hiding in his cave but comes out and begs for food while I retrieve the fenale bodies
I bet he did this, the fucking murderer
Water parameters are completely fine as well. No sign of parasites or disease. This shy asshole is a goddamn serial murderer gourami
/an/ I think I fucked up
I bought this gravel in anticipation of a crawfish but its too cold to catch em this time of year so instead I bought 15 Ghost shrimp...
And I can barely see them
When I clean the tank I'm going to switch to black gravel
On the plus side ghost shrimp are pretty cool
Ghooooost Shrimp
>>2010095
Oh, that's a relief. He seems to be getting on well without it, but I still felt sad for him.
>>2010165
Or you could go fishing without one.
>>2010228
>>2010370
if you can't see em now, after they get comfy and have a molt they'll basically unlock active camo in your tank!
>>2010417
I can't wait. Its kinda fun trying to pick them all out. I have a car ledge several hide in. But since they have long bodies I can see two floating eyes in the darkness.
These guys are just too cute.
>>2010423
they really are. i picked up a few just to test the temperament of my betta, man they are so fun to watch and such little cuties i have about 15 now. i stopped trying to count them cause i never could find them all in one go
>>2010426
Hehe well I wanted a crawdad but I think I like these guys better. Now I'm thinking about plants and goldfish. Its been probably 17-20 years since I last had a fish tank.
>>2010426
Fucking Christ, the worst mistake I've ever done involving a betta is believe that he'd be fine with shrimp.
If he wasn't picking the eyes off of male RCS so he could eventually get them entirely by surprise, he was being swarmed as the colony fucking ate him alive.
Shrimp are assholes.
Bettas are assholes.
Anyway, now that the RCS are breeding like crazy, I'm considering either selling them or checking their reputation as feeders by giving a male to the betta once a week.
>>2010427
Do yourself the favor and forego the goldfish.
>>2010427
>goldfish
Don't do goldfish, plecos,mollies, platies, swordtails or guppies. They all need MASSIVE tanks and very powerful filters. The goldfish and plecos get HUGE and the rest are livebearers that will swiftly overpopulate a tank. All of these fish create huge amounts of waste as well.
I suggest waiting at least two months for the excitement of new fish to die down. It's really easy to get swept up when you have cool new pets!
>>2010438
Can attest.
I have a bristlenose pleco that averages 4" due to serious underfeeding, and it is a little shit monster.
I can't imagine dealing with one a foot long.
Also, does anyone have tips for how one should go about restructuring their tank i.e. getting fish out, readjusting wood, taking gravel out?
>Always thought my plants were doing bad because they were dark brownish or pale and not lush green even though they seemed to be growing.
>Figure I don't have enough light and shell out for a lighting rig
>Now that I have something to compare it to I noticed that the lights that came with my tank are a horrid pale blue colour. And my plants are actually lush green under correct lighting.
Why the fuck would you produce tank lights that are the wrong spectrum and make all plants look like shit?
>>2010438
>guppies
ugh yeah, I thought I'd buy like 6 males just so there'd be something that isn't a dull colored bottom dwelling loach in my tank.
turns out one wasn't male.
>>2010485
>lights that came with my tank
Were they LEDs, by any chance?
Cheap LEDs are always a bit blue tinted, because of how difficult it is to make a LED produce a natural spectrum of light. It's why it took so long before LED lightbulbs became popular.
>>2010502
Yeah they are.
My new lighting rig is LED too but the light is much further to the warm end of the spectrum
I didn't realise how awfully blue they were till I compared them with my new lights.
>One of my new Zerba Danios is staying away from the others and hiding in some plants
Could this be the first time in the aquarium hobby that someone has managed to kill a Zebra Danio?
So my two "dwarf" gourami are now around 6" long each and are really too big for my 70L tank.
I think I got played.
Has anyone else never fed their bettas this shit? The ingredients are fish meal and wheat with some added vitamins. Who cares? My bettas get a variety of frozen foods that all make up the vitamins without this shitty pellet coated in wheat and yeast and soybean.
>>2010609
It's just "generic" high quality pellets marketed for bettas and their owners who think they need special betta food. Not any different than buying other Hikari pellet food desu
Why does the amount of Co2 that comes out of my system seem to have no bearint whatsoever on the how open my needle valve is?
I'll have to open it a fuck ton to get it going but when I want to shut it off I have to crank that shit closed with a spanner to stop the co2.
Ghost Shrimp guy again
Yeah y'all be right. I think ill just have shrimp tank for now. What're some good acquatic plants I can use with them?
>>2010642
Shrimpies like moss and memeballs
Anything else is up to you, any plants for them are good really. I would have some taller rooted/stem plants and floaters so you can see shrimp hanging out at all levels of the tank
>>2010645
Ok great. I'll do more research before deciding fully.
>>2010532
Might have been sickly or weak... or old. You never know. Make sure your water temps are good and see if it helps.
>>2010440
If you are not doing a ton, you can actually leaving the fish in. For example, moving the decorations around, planting plants, ect. If you're redoing it all you'll need a secondary "holding" tank.
You can actually get away with an uncycled temporary tank if it's just for a few hours. Just pour the water into a large plastic tub and add the fish. When done, add half new water (like a water change), half the old water and the fish.
>>2010642
Avoid hornwort, coonstail, water spangles (or other floating plants) and java moss as they will overtake the tank. Dwarf plants are fun with shrimp and they freaking love marimo.
>>2010609
I have, though it's not their only food. Great if you're lazy or allergic to bloodworms but can stop them up so make sure you feed them some fresh foods or at least spring peas a few times a week. This rule goes for all beta pellets as I've had this happen with several brands.
>>2010723
Marimo looks great. I think ill go with that. Thanks.
>>2010734
Another memeball convert
>>2010736
Well I'm pretty new at this and it looks like its an easy plant to keep in shrimp.
Are memeballs solid moss or are they attached to a rubber ball?
>>2010767
Memeballs are solid balls and they're not Moss.
There popularity has caused some places to try and sell "moss balls" which are just java moss covered balls though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNqerVSwDjQ
Should I start selling Assassin snails on ebay? They're going for like £3 ea on there and I have fucking tons of them that have all come from 3 which I originally bought a year ago.
I've just never tried selling on ebay before, and I've especially never tried selling live animals.
So my friend just got this tank, he's had one before and I'm just posting to see if you have any opinion on it. He's not one to use these chinese leather-staining sites.
It's 20 gallons long. 30x12x13.
2 Cherry barbs
5 black neon tetras
1 dwarf gourami
2 serpae tetra
Perhaps any recommendations for other fish that will play nice or any plants.
Got 2 more pictures to come. This one is before the tank cycled.
>>2010781
Sorry about that fucking huge resolution.
>>2010784
>>2010772
Live animals are allowed, however, they can be trickier to ship. List snails under "Aquatic invertebrates".
Anyway, as they are alive you'll want to put them in a solid plastic bag with some air at the top and sell more than one at a go just in case one dies. Some people do breather bags, but I don't think this is a good idea as it makes acclimation harder as you can't float the bag. Still, it might be a good idea if things are going a long way or the critter needs lots of oxygen. In colder weather add a hand heater. Pack it in a solid box with lots of packing materials and use the fastest shipping you can.
Good luck with your sales! Aquabid is another good place to sell snails and fish.
>>2010781
Remove Serpae Tetras
Add some more more Cherry Barbs or Black Neons, and remove the other
6x bottom dwellers (cory cats or kuhli loaches)
>>2010820
I love kuhli loaches
its like having eels except they dont want to devour everything alive in the tank
I've been looking for a replacement for my rapidly burning out 4 105w SHO CFL's for a while now.
I found a 6500 lumen, 5000k LED shop fixture for 30 bucks which I purchased and put over my tank just to see how it looked.
The tank looks just as bright to me as it did under the CFL's but everywhere I have looked says ~14 lumens/litre is way too low for growing plants; tank's 475 litres heavily planted what do you think? Power usage is less than 1/10th what it was previously so I'm tempted to go for it but I don't want to kill everything.
>guy I used to go to school with works at LFS
>gunna order me some CPO crayfish for next week
Noice m8.
>>2010423
I had some with blue specks in them.
>>2010899
>>2010899
>>2010902
Oh that's what he meant by first molting can't see em. Well mine have adjusted well. At least one moulted, see its shell in the tank. Got some ancient coral and old wind worn slab rock plus a chunk of sandstone with a couple medium sized sea snail shells. Big ones took the darkest places and little ones are in the shells. I filled the bottoms with gravel so they couldnt get too far back in em. They get a ride when they walk over the bubbler. They're also eating well so I'm happy. Cute little nuggets.
Thinking about a cherry shrimp but I hear yes the eat ghost and yes ghost eat them or no they get along. Guess it depends on the luck of the tank.
>>2010904
>chunk of sandstone
Keep a close eye on your water parameters.
http://www.fishlore.com/fishforum/aquarium-aquascaping/121282-why-cant-sandstone-used-aquarium.html
>>2010904
>RCS eat Ghosts
Doubt it.
>Ghosts eat RCS
Doubt it.
>Ghosts eat RCS shrimplets
Habeeb it.
>>2010905
Oh... Did not know that. Thanks. Guess that's getting replaced then.
>>2010910
I just want shrimp. They're fun to watch.
>>2010913
You are not alone.
I'll post a picture of my tank tomorrow.
Why not consider some wood and anubias?
Your tank would look nice as a "creek" with that gravel.
>>2010915
I'm thinking of it. Originally I was going to catch crawfish but too cold for em and I think I need to go to the store tomorrow for wood and plants.
>>2010927
Thanks for the tips and ideas
Is aquatic moss a meme?
From what I understand it doesn't actually do well in tropical temperatures. It wont attack itself to wood either and all the impressive moss on wood displays you see are done using constant tying and trimming.
Rate my tank, it's a 10 gallon with 3 goldfish and some ghost shrimps, I am running a sponge philter and I don't have a light so I won't have to worry about algae
>>2011042
lonely/10
>>2011042
>all around me are familiar faces...
Its... Ok if that's all you want. Golds poop a lot and ghosties need more hiding places. Algae is not that big of a problem if you have cherries.
>>2011063
>Why so lonely?
It just looks...bare
If it was me, I'd put lots more stuff in there for the fish to interact with.
>>2011065
but they can interact with the shrimp and each other, right?
>>2011042
You should add a light. It'll make everything in the tank look a lot better. Algae isn't a problem, particularly not when you have shrimp as they will eat it.
>>2011063
Not always
>>2008996
Maybe you have a tele-sympathetic bond with your fish
Anyone here have a hairgrass carpet?
So you keep trimming it even when it's not filled in?
I've had my hairgrass in my tank for 6 months but it doesn't want to fill in. Am dosing with ferts and Co2. Recently got more powerful lighting too.
I've seen trimming guides say to trim every 2 weeks, but that's when it's a full carpet.
I've not trimmed mine at all as the blades have tended to curl over so not grow high.
>>2011042
>10 gallon
>3 goldfish
Idiot
>>2011117
What's with the name calling, didn't anybody tell you it was rude?
>>2011143
That poster is calling you that because you have three shit machines inside of the equivalent of two household buckets. You'll need crazy filtration and frequent cleaning, not to mention the inevitable tank change when they can't move.
Just set up my first actually peaceful community. Some firebellied newts and a few swamp darters.
I wish I could have more than one fish in the 220 gal.
Ghost shrimp guy again. I'm an idiot, that chunk of sandstone was making things murky and I did not even realize. Took it out and replaced it with a bigger rock to take the current of the filter. Big far cave under it too that the shrimp love.
Bought a small anubias and the little shrimp love it. I want to get another and then some moss on the rocks would be great.
Shrimp are happy and moulting, I'm happy trying to find them.
Thanks to the anon that suggested creek bottom, couple more plants and another hiding place and it'll be finished.
And I forgot pic
I think ill just go strictly shrimp. Keep am eye out for wood but I like the current setup.
>>2009072
Because the glass is in direct contact with the water it should be the exact same temp as the water. Unless it's sitting on top of a heater or something, and even then it would still be the same temp as the water since it would heat up/chill the water via contact.
So don't worry about it's effectiveness.
>>2009611
Looks like they are small enough and there are leaves big enough that they can "chill out" in the shaded areas. So it should all be good.
>>2009648
Dude, that's mold. Clean your tank, yo.
>>2010642
Marimo moss is your friend, you can keep it in the ball shape and toss it in there, then simply rotate it on a regular basis so all sides get full light.
Or, you can sew it to some plastic/wire mesh with some biodegradable cotton string to make a cool little carpeted area. Once it's flat you won't have to rotate it.
Or, you can even shape the wire/plastic mesh into cool tunnels and caves and things like that, then attach a shit ton of marimo moss to it all. Your shrimp will go nuts for it. Heck, you can even make little carpets, but then attach them to some sticks/frames to make "moss mushrooms" or have the moss hanging down around the edges for Dr. Seuss style "moss trees" and have these at various heights in the tank so your shrimp have access to all levels.
You can do all of this with other mosses, but marimo moss is the least complicated, and over all easiest one to use. Mainly because it isn't a moss at all, but actually a type of very harmless freshwater algae. It grows so slowly there'd have to be something insanely wrong with your tank for it to be grow like crazy, or, it would have to be in your tank for close to two or three decades before you'd have to think about trimming it/removing it so it won't clog your filter or smother your other plants.
>>2011451
Marino it is. Almost bought some today buy petsmart charging 9 bucks a ball is a bit much. Shopping around for a better price.
>>2011501
LUFFY on amazon is where i got mine, pretty good price, and most with prime
>>2011503
>god damned typos
Thanks ill look. How would I get it to attach to rock?
>>2011501
>>2011503
This, you can buy it online, both from stores, or from aquarium forums where hobbyests sell/trade with each other. Heck, you can even try browsing your local craigslist or craigslist equivalent.
>>2011504
Attaching it is super easy, most people using fishing line or dental floss, but I would go with biodegradable cotton string. Mainly because you can find it in a green color that won't stand out in comparison to the moss itself.
Then it's simply a matter of slicing the moss ball open, flattening it out, then wrapping it around the object of your choice and tying it down with the string.
>>2011504
i found the text on their packaging very endearing
Guys, I'm conflicted. Should I return my killer male Pearl Gourami to the LFS and attempt to do another 1 male 2 female group? Will fate repeat itself with another dead 2 Pearls again?
I have to do another 3-4 week quarantine, and I'm not sure how long they'll last in the 29 gallon together. There's some floating water sprite and a bunch of plastic plants, but it didn't stop this guy from chasing the girls nonstop.
>>2011506
Excellent thank you. I think ill do that because my coral fossil would be perfect for some moss.
Also here is a pic of my memeshrimp on relatively new Spiky moss. So much fun watching them crawl in and out
>>2011517
Man that looks great. I'm having a ball watching my ghosties. Right now there's 15 of them. If I got more id need more spots for them so I'm thinking Marino on the coral and another anubias. As soon as I put my anubias in they immediately flocked to it.
Stop autocorrecting Marimo to Marino! I don't care about Dan Marino!.
On another note, what's the max amount of shrimp you should have for a 10 gallon?
>>2011519
Depends entirely on the shrimp.
One filter shrimp per fifteen gallons assuming heavily planted, so no filter shrimp.
Amano shrimp can supposedly do with a single gallon to themselves, so ten amano shrimp.
Smaller shrimp than that I'd just buy a bag of and let them breed up to the tank limit. Shrimp more or less stop breeding once they hit the tank limit.
![20151205_112727[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/Kp5Bdfs.jpg "20151205_112727[1].jpg")
My fucking taiwan moss is getting grey shit all over it after only a few days of being in my main tank when it was lush and green in my small shrimp tank.
It's getting Co2, high lighting and ferts + massive flow which it didn't have in my shrimp tank. WHAT THE FUCK DOES IT WANT???
Why wont moss fucking grow in my main tank without going all grey and fuzzy?
I'm getting pretty sick and tire of doing every conceivable thing to my main tank to make moss grow, while my fucking small meme tank on the windowsill that doesn't get anything not even water changes is growing huge clumps of moss like crazy.
>>2011542
Here's my fucking meme tank covered in lush moss as a comparison.
>Put black backing on aquairum
>From front it looks fine and black
>From the side it's created some kind of mirror effect
>>2011549
Well yes, of course. If one side of the glass is brighter than the other side, you'll see a reflection from the brighter side and normally from the dark side. Your black backing isn't reflecting light, so that side of the glass is automatically dark.
Get a white backing and you won't have that problem.
>>2011066
Sorry, but I find it very dull.
There's just no focal points, it just doesn't...pop.
Try to find some large rocks or driftwood and more plants.
You're probably going want more hiding places for your shrimp, goldfish will eat them eventually.
Look up Aquascaping pics for cool ideas.
>>2009423
It's because he's a retard and actually followed the Canadian law.
I haven't really looked into it but why not ask here. I had a striped raph and two upside down catfish. I wake up one day and I'm missing them both. One upside cat was stuck behind the filter and missing it's eyes. The striped raph was under a rock with a over bloated stomach. St this time I also had balloon Molly's. The other upside down cat is still alive today and he has a new partner and they're both doing well. I was surprised though. I had the upside down cats for around 8 months and one just up and died. I was also under the impression striped raph were pretty hardy fish because my second one died. Now I just have albino Cory, upside down cats, hill stream loach, and some guppies. Currently also have a 6 inch pleco and 3 large glo fish but those are going to a friend with a much larger tank. Anyway is it possible the striped Raphael killed my upside down cat? Also it seems my smallest albino Cory is missing his barbs but is eating and finding food fine. They've been missing for a few months. I'm guessing they'll never grow back?
Bichir guy from a previous thread. I got a new Polypterus palmas polli.
What exactly is the difference between a potted plant from my local store or some fancy "in-vitro tissue culture" plant?
>>2011763
The "cultured plant" is just a plant that was raised emmersed in that gel medium from clippings. There are no snails and no diseases on these plants which is good if you're trying hard to avoid both.
By the way, the tissue cultures usually have a lot of baby plants crammed together so count the stems and separate them carefully after purchase. Now compare prices to he potted plants. If you don't mind waiting for growth the tissue cultures can sometimes be cheaper and safer. I got 20 small Crypt Wendtii for $10 this way.
>>2011699
jesus man that thing is insanely cute
>>2009777
Pacu eat nuts that fall from trees into the river. They have human like teeth to crack the nuts.
There are many reports of the pacu biting down on male swimmer's nut sacs, thinking they are tree nuts.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/testicle-eating-fish-the-pacu-found-in-paris-with-fears-it-could-be-coming-to-the-uk-8798118.html
FUCK
PACU
BURN
THEM
ALL
For real though, all it takes is one asshole, and we have these in north american lakes and rivers >.>
>>2011944
Too late. Pacu Pacu have been found in the south and in the Mississippi
>>2011944
>Oresund
>pacu
>in the fucking sea
k m8
>>2011512
I returned Norman Bates and got just a pair this time. They're already less shy but just as skittish, especially the female who will randomly sperg all over the tank if I move faster than a sloth.
The male will also chase her slightly and "gently" nip her on the back, and she either reacts barely or only moves forward a little bit. Much better than aggressively darting all over the tank and getting chased by my previous male. I'll keep monitoring them though, I just really hope they don't kill each other or I'll be heartbroken. Just want a really pretty pair 'o gouramis as the centerpiece in my planted 40 breeder
>>2011983
I hope all goes well considering the last fiasco.
>>2011956
>the south and in the Mississippi
I though Mississippi was in the south?
It's pretty much us Europoors idea of the south, next to Texas and Florida as the more flattering examples.
>>2012032
he's prolly talking about the river, not the state.
The river does run through the south, but that's not where it starts.
>at lfs
>see they're selling dwarf hairgrass on bogwood
What? Does hairgrass not need it's roots buried? Also I've seen some videos of carpets where the entire sod is able to be pulled up as the runners are on the surface.
Am I growing my hairgrass wrong? I always push the roots into the substrate
>>2011904
I know, right? Big googly eyes, mouth that seems to be smiling and a plump body. Kawaii fish-chan!
Does anyone here use those shrimp petri dish things?
Do they actually help keep shit out of the gravel?
>>2012102
Probably, but I like waste food to get into my gravel. It acts as material to help growth of bacteria and biofilm.
>>2012133
Right, I figure my fish flakes and thier poop are going to do that anyway.
My shrimp have a tendency to tear algae wafers apart and spread them in a fine layer over a large area, I just want to contain that a bit.
Do fish hate co2 or something? Mine tend to all cluster together at the back of my tank and not move. They don't come out till I turn it off.
>>2012184
Wow anon, I really don't know why animals might not like co2. If only they would teach this kind of subject in school, then we would know how respiration works and why those weird fish would stray away from co2.
>>2012139
Oh, if you're feeding fish flakes too, it should be fine.
So I found out what's happening to my helferii.
Turns out my angelfish are eating them. I thought these fuckers were supposed to eat other fish and flies and shit.
im kinda new to the aquarium hobby and got a just today a betta with tank thats been cycling for a week or so and got a couple of questions
i got tetrarubin food flakes as the food is it nutriently sufficient or should i get something else?
also i currently only have one ornament in the tank
and have been considering adding sevrel plastic plants
will the betta like it or think its too crowded?
i.e. please tell me what i can do to make my betta the healthiest and happiest he could be
What the hell just happened?
I noticed that my angelfish were swimming sideways so I checked the water, the chlorine was way above 3mg/l, I had to dump a whole bottle of dechlorinator in there to get it down. Eight hours earlier the water was fine, the only thing I added was a JBL fertalizer and a new activated carbon filter to my already installed external filter.
All the fish are swimming perfectly ten minutes after I dumped it in.
>was winning an ebay auction with some shrimp and stuff
>amazingly priced orange sakuras and dwarf crayfish
>nigger bids ONE second before the auction closes
>tfw
>>2012496
>not being an eBay ninja
>>2008942
Not enough water movement.
>>2012472
>JBL fertalizer and a new activated carbon filter
1) Don't use fertilizer with a carbon filter. The carbon can remove it.
2) fertilizer in a tank with live fish... and you wondered why the fish were having problems.
>>2012691
The fish were and are fine, even with fertalizers.
It's just the chlorine reading that I'm curious about.
>>2012793
I'm more curious what your chlorine test kit actually measures, and why you think testing tank water for chlorine is necessary.
>>2012793
Shouldn't you be dechlorinating when you make a water change?
I use dechlorinator for every water change except for the occasional top-off due to evaporation (less than 10% of the total water volume)
>>2012470
Your betta should have enough room to swim, but he'll love having some leaves or decorations close to the surface, because bettas prefer being in the top layer of the tank and they enjoy resting on ornaments. With plastic plants, you need to make sure the edges are smooth. Sharp edges can scratch up his fins.
>>2012861
anubias is expensve but it's a really good live plant that takes forever to die, you could be torturing it for two or three years to kill it. (with light that grows brown algae)
Live plants tend to bring an entire microbial ecoststem in with them. Bettas like wood and oak/cattappa/beech leaves and they make them more resistant to disease, but they stain the water brown and some fish don't look as good au-natural.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbBOQkcnq30
stability is the key. Keeping aquariums, especially small ones should ideally be as predictable as the tides.
>>2012496
Yeah, snipers suck.
>>2008914
What are you feeding them?
It's normal to have a fairly high die off over time. My average is somewhere around 60%-80% per spawn. Most however die within the first week or two, so once they exit the larval stage you're usually more or less in the clear.
I suggest rearing them in a 5 or 10 gallon tank, bare bottom, though I like to add a small lid full of sand and and clump of Java moss for them to forage/hide. I feed mine fresh hatched Artemia nauplii 3 or 4 times a day. I would love to do microworms or vinegar eels but they're hard to get in canada.
They don't necessarily need and heater, but it helps to try to keep the tank at 23 degrees Celsius if you can. You can add a sponge filter if you like, but I prefer to just add a bubbler for water movement and perform a 50% water change daily.
Pic kinda related, it's it's a pic of my first two breeding Corydoras Aeneus and their first surviving offspring.
>>2009397
Partly >>2009406
I do think that's that's the reason a lot of people like them.
But they are also designed to divert water flow downwards, which helps to ensure even water movement across a tank. They're also good for carpeted tanks with plants that may die off if debris build up in them, as the lily pipe will wash water over the plant and help to free trapped particles.
>>2013035
I was feeding them cooked egg (smashed into yellow water-paste, no chunks) and cooked green peas (also smashed into green water-paste, no chunks). I kept only 20 eggs as I didn't want too many new fish around. They were kept in a bare bottom bowl with daily 100% water changes (using water from my cycled tank where the parents are) and they were kept at around 22-24 Celcius (variable with daily temps). I was planning on moving them into a net once they got big enough to not slide through the holes.
They all died within 2 weeks. I guess that's correct as I saw at least 100 eggs overall -I just didn't keep those.
>>2013152
Ah well, it can happen the first time around sadly.. but if your corys spawned once, they will again! I would recommend trying live foods though, it really seems to help them out in the first few days after their yolk sacs disappear. Baby brine shrimp probably being the easiest to start with.
Generally I start offering them prepared foods such as crushed shrimp pellets and veggie wafers after a week or so along with blended bloodworms and fly daphnia.
>>2012184
Buy a drop checker and and bubble counter. You're probably pumping way too much CO2. Ideally you only want to be testing at ~40ppm. And that's only really if you're trying trying to grow plants like Hemianthus Callitrichoides or Alternathera Reinekii.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00ZK2PI8M/ref=psd_mlt_nbc_B005C74ZCA_
>>2012070
You sure it's DHG?
>>2010630
You gotta be patient, once it closes it still releases CO2 for a minute because there is pressure in the tubing. CO2 running for a minute while your lights are off won't kill your fish.
>>2010629
>buys into the Hikari meme
Hikari is shit m9
Read the ingredients. It's literally the science diet of fish foods
>>2010440
Actually common ancistrus rarely grow larger than 4.5" yours yours is about average.
>>2013208
Can you name three better brands of fish food than Hikari?
>>2013208
And that's bad how?
>>2013289
because it's mainstream and anything that's mainstream is big corporations. Big corporations is the devil. Only small business is virtuous and pure, those saintly artisans producing small batches with love and care.
nevermind that all big businesses start off as small ones, or that "small" can mean corporations worth tens of millions of dollars or that most small business owners in the US are multimillionaires.
they're pure, uncorrupted by the evil of wealth.
>>2013183
I'll have to remember that for next time. I'm sure I can find some brine shrimp eggs around here somewhere if I hunt around. Thanks!
>>2009230
Panther crabs need land access. There's also vampire and red devil crabs, which have the same care as panther.
>>2009559
My lazy bitch marmorkrebs refuse to expend the effort to catch the feeder white clouds I put in there with them.
Eh, at least white clouds are nice fish.
>>2009660
Bubbles cling to the pits and ridges on the outside of the block, like when bubbles form on the sides of a glass of soda. Also, any air trapped inside of the block is going to squeeze its way out through tiny crevices and come out as bubbles.
>>2009794
Sponge filters give poor mechanical filtration, no chemical filtration, and are bulky and noisy. Under gravel filteest ditto for them filtration and they're a royal bitch to clean. They're also no cheaper than power filters once you factor in the cost of an air pump.
They are effective and very useful in certain situations, but they're inconvenient for the common aquarist.
Know what you really never see anymore? Box filters.
>>2013536
I'm fond of sponge filters. Super cheap (I buy them bulk on ebay). I keep one in my main tank at all times in case I set up a tank for fry or a hospital tank.
>>2009822
Not if you have enough plants in the tank.
>>2010438
Live bearers are easy as shit to sex after a five minute Google search, and male guppies don't get pregnant.
>>2010440
I just drain the tank halfway and leave the fish in.
>>2010608
>a store selling a fish under the wrong common name surely wouldn't sell it under the wrong scientific one
>>2010723
>Avoid hornwort, coonstail, water spangles and java moss as they will overtake the tank
Why do people act like it's so hard to yank out a handful of plant mass and toss it in the trash? Java moss doesn't even grow very quickly. And you managed to leave out the only actually awful invasive aquarium plant (duckweed).
>>2010781
Ditto >>2010820 and get nerite snails.
>>2013545
>a store selling a fish under the wrong common name surely wouldn't sell it under the wrong scientific one
They identify the common name by looking at the fish.
They identify the Latin name by looking at the Latin name on the list they get from their supplier.
>>2010858
LED's are only 20-40% more efficient than CFLs, so you need a fixture that's at least 250 watts (if it's good quality) before it's actually putting out the same amount of light available to the plants compared to the CFLs.
>>2010910
Ghost shrimp have pretty large claws relative to body size and voracious appetites. I do t think they'd be very effective at killing cherry shrimp, but I could see them out competing them for food.
>>2011332
It always makes me inexplicably happy when people get super excited over cheap, easy, "truly pleb tier" animals. Like a lady I met whose 3yo daughter was just over the damn moon to have some pet crickets.
>>2011519
50% of your tank's volume in biomass.
Kidding, but it's really difficult to overstock on just shrimp. The biggest problem you'll run into is the tank looking "crowded."
>>2011529
Ghost shrimp go through a larval stage, so it's usually difficult to get them to breed.
>>2013231
New Life Spectrum, Omega One, Marineland, TetraSmart (which seems to be repackaged Marineland), Fluval.
Maybe not all "better," but comparable. Hikari is above bargain brands, but still pretty average. It's not that difficult to feed your fish whole foods.
>>2013547
Couldn't they just as easily mistake the fish for an incorrect Latin name for some other kind of fish they sell? Unless the bags are labeled or something.
>My only berried RCS found dead this morning
I give up. Almost considering getting a shoal of Sparkling Gouramis now and letting them have their way with the RCS, since they keep dying anyways
>>2013649
You must be doing something wrong. Give them plenty of places to hide and stable water parameters, and they breed like rabbits.
What temp is the tank?
How long has the tank been set up?
How is it decorated?
Are there any other tankmates in the tank?
How often do you test the water and do water changes?
How is the tank filtered?
What do you feed them?
>>2013522
Really? Everyone care source I find says that they're fully aquatic.
