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
>General aquarium care sheets - http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/
>Livestock and plants for sale - http://www.liveaquaria.com/
http://www.aquabid.com
>FUCKING GOOGLE - http://www.google.com
Bumping in case someone makes a new thread at bump limit even though this was made before the bump limit. Though I wanted to fucking do it.
Continued from last thread.
Is RO water a meme?
Tap water is 150-200 TDS.
RO is 0 TDS
But 0 TDS is bad for fish so most people add a remineraliser that takes it back up to 200TDS
>Taking the dissolved solids out to put them back in again.
>>2044560
It's because all tap water is not created equal. Some has too many silicates, phosphates, other shit you may not want. Diatoms love that stuff.
>>2044568
This, and I would assume certain areas might have too much clorine and bleach as well.
>>2044569
>clorine and bleach
This is easily removed by dechlorinater
>>2044568
>phosphates
>shit you may not want
But Phosphates are good for plant growth, you literally add them to a tank as fertiliser.
>Take shit out to put it back in again
>>2044570
Why remove them? They are good for fish health. It kills any parasites and any sickness that may be ready to kill your fish.
>>2044572
Fish don't like chlorine.
>>2044573
But it kills the bad stuff in the tank
>>2044576
It also kills fish
>>2044571
Hence I used the word may.
You don't want ferts in your reef tank.
You don't want a bunch of minerals in a soft/acidic biotope.
I'd don't know of anything else common that recommends RO.
>>2044570
Ya, I would assume you need to clean any tap water you use before putting it in a tank, but I think it would just be easier to go get bottled water.
Hello fellow mongloids!
I have a cycled 30 gallon tank with sand and few low light plants. I want to do somewhat of a biotope. With 3 to 4 different types of fish. What part of the world do you recommend that would be easy to get the fish? I enjoy catfish. Then I'm getting a 55 gallon here soon with a nice canister filter. I would like some larger fish. A few 6-8 inch fish then some schooling fish that won't be eaten by the larger fish and maybe a school of bottom feeders. Things that are easy to keep and aren't to picky on food. any suggestions? How would you stock and plant your tank so I can take some ideas? Thank you.
>not running tap water thru brita filters
>not storing it in 10 gallon buckets with airstones bubbling and oxygenating the water
>not having it ready to go at all times for water changes
A lot of you aren't go to make it
git gud
>>2044586
You could get cories, a pleco, cardinal tetras and angelfish and make an Amazon River biotope. They'll get along well. Then make it a blackwater tank and throw in long, spindly driftwood pointing upward to mimic the roots angelfish live along. Black gravel substrate.
>>2044589
>Falling for the airstone meme
The bubbles aren't actually oxygenating the water you know?
>>2044591
They break surface tension when they pop and that increases gas exchange. But you get the same effect by just having your filter outlet a bit over the surface to create a "waterfall", or with big bubbles.
>>2044591
You don't want water sitting stagnate, air stones keep the water moving when you store it and in your tank and yeah the meme is also true.
I have water quality you can only dream of kid.
>>2044522
What fish is that?
How bad would it be to have a tank with only bottom feeders? I run a sort of a unwanted fish tank. My stunted goldfish had finally kicked the bucket and now I just have 2 pictus catfish. However I'm also taking my mother's horsefaced loach because I can't stand seeing a live fish being flushed. But, if possible, I wanted to also get 1 or 2 other horse loaches but I think I'm already hitting my limit for a 30g tank
>>2044601
red tail catfish, dont get one, they get huge
>>2044597
How much do you think an airstone would increase the current in the tank? I wanna put an airstone in but I read angelfish aren't very strong swimmers
>>2044624
I run a pair of foam filters in my tank, one in each back corner.
The angels I have in there don't seem to care about current.
>>2044605
Absolutely nothing wrong with a tank like that. One of my setups is just a bichir and catfish.
How profitable can a fish store be? I really want a career in fish. Better to have a large room and breed feed and sell them in large quantities, online, and craigslist?
>>2044661
Retail in general is ass.
your rent alone is going to be more than 10,000 customers will pay.
your only hope for profit is to buy the property you're selling from and then write off enough expenses to get it tax free in 30 years and then profit by selling it.
retail is essentially a real estate position.
if you don't understand this innately you'll never make it in business. It's a method of doing what you want while a building pays for itself. That's all.
>>2044664
Yeah I don't know shit about owning a business. I would really like to find a career in something fish related though. I like taking care of all my tanks and breeding.
>>2044667
You could breed a fish to detect underwater landmines and sell them to the navy?
>>2044667
well if you have the credit to buy a business property, and the down payment, and enough income to make the loan payments, you're in business.
the bank wants to see that you can afford this out of pocket. If that's the case you can do whatever you like with your business, including making an aquarium store that loses $150k a year. Or maybe breaks even. Or even turns a small profit. Anything is possible if you've the guts to try.
>>2044669
That could be possible. Just make replica of underwater mines and put food on them. Then when you release them they'll see one and think there is food on it and will boop and go boom.
>>2044661
Breed uncommon fish at home and sell on aquabid.
Weird question but anyone have any idea what species of fish walmart carries that looks like a sort of eel or snake I saw some recently and while interested I didn't really want to buy from walmart since they'd probably have some kind of disease with how bad they treat their fish.
>>2044753
Bichir I've seen
>>2044754
sort of similar but with a very large mouth, and front facing eyes.
>>2044766
Maybe a lung fish?
>>2044766
Violet goby, a brackish water fish that I believe scavenges and eats algae. They can get pretty large.
>>2044753
Could be a dragon goby
>day 30 and my tank is still not cycled
Floating around .25 ppm in ammonia. Was .50 today and I have no idea why..
Nitrite seems to be barely going down. Floating at around 3 ppm maybe. Is this normal?
>>2044833
>Is this normal?
yes.
6 weeks is normal.
>>2044833
It's because you fell for the fishless cycle meme.
My current tank consists of:
>Labidochromis caeruleus
>Metriaclima Callainos
>Pseudotropheus sp. "Acei" (Msuli) - Just introduced a few days ago.
They're all relatively peaceful fish with the exception of the cobalt blues, yet they haven't caused any deaths in the tank.
Looking to add another species of Mbuna to my tank. The problem is I'm looking for something with a bit of colour variation to what I already have, and I still want them to be relatively peaceful. Many years ago I had 4 Afras (Cynotilapia afra Cobue) which were aesthetically awesome. But they ended up killing each other eventually.
Any suggestions?
Pic related
i want to add corycats to my tank but i have eco complete gravel instead of sand. is it that much of a problem for them?
>>2044842
Ugh I can't stand African cichlids. Makes my autism flare.
Am I safe to put Seachem Flourish Potassium in my axolotl tank?
>>2044846
What is it about them that triggers you? I they're colourful and active. Entertaining to watch in comparison to some other fish that may as well be a picture on the wall.
>>2044848
I would say yes, but I don't really know why you're trying to fertilize in a caudate tank, especially since at the temperatures most caudates need plants wont grow that fast anyway.
>>2044850
I'm planning on growing some lucky bamboo in my tank. 65F will work fine
>>2044849
Because I want a large tank with large fish :(
>>2044852
Well ok. Check over at caudata just to be sure, since I don't fertilize in my newt tank so I can't really tell you for sure if its 100% safe.
Bought two bigger Tiger/Zebra Nerites from Petco, and holy shit they're already going to town on the diatoms much better than my Bumblebee Horned Nerites
I feel really bad for the snails in Petco tanks though, they just get tossed in and nobody bothers to turn them right side up so 2 out of 3 snails in the tank are dying or dead...
So I have fish that are supposed to be in RO water that is slightly acidic and soft but I put them in with tap water of unknown hardness. They're fine now but that probably wont last.
Is it ok for me to get some RO water and some discus remineraliser and just steadily replace the water in the tank with weekly 20% water changes? They're sensitive to big changes.
>>2044909
Wont it just go to town on your plants after?
>>2044926
Ok so I just looked up some info on this. Apparently the tap water in my country is good enough for fish keeping by laws that control it's purity so I don't need RO water.
But that doesn't mean the PH and Hardness will be right. So can I just add reminerliser to tap water?
I've heard people just buy plecos when they're small and when they get too big they just sell them back to their LFS for profit.
Is this a good idea?
>>2044933
Sure.
I used to buy Flying Foxes, and just sell them back for a few dollars and buy a small one when it outgrew my 130 liter. Loved them, it's a shame they grow so big.
Doing it for profit though? I dunno. I don't imagine the demand for large plecos is.. well, large. Maybe if you mean just trading it back in for the money for a new one?
>>2044933
You'll be losing money in the end.
So I just bought an API hardness test kit but it really makes no sense.
It says to count how many drops of each solution you add to water so it changes colour. So it took 6 drops of GH solution and 4 drops of KH solution.
But when refering to the results table it seems to combine GH and KH into one result and implies that it should have taken 4 drops or 6 drops to change both not two separate results.
>>2045004
Ok watched a video on youtube I got it now.
So my tap water is
PH=7
dKh = 4
Dh = 5
That seems quite good for tap water doesn't it? Sounds like RO water isn't really necessary for me.
I'm trying to keep Crystal red shrimp so I guess the only think I need to do is try and bring that DKh down to 0. I have an indian almond leaf that should lower the PH to 6.5 like they want.
>>2045009
So the KH of the water from my bathroom sink is even lower somehow.
It's 2 KH
Just went to my LFS and had a serious look at some of the marine stuff.
God fucking damn I thought that the expense of Marine came from the equipment but Jesus Christ some of the corals and livestock.
£14 for a shrimp?
£50 for a bit of coral?
Why so expensive?
>>2045028
Marine tanks are over rated anyway m8.
>>2045028
Not an answer on pricing but I LOVE marine shrimp. Always wanted to do a marine tank and have a few. So cool.
>>2045028
It's very difficult to captive breed for saltwater and a lot of corals grow very slowly. Add the equipment plus maintenance + demand of the things and your wallet feels it.
>>2044842
Neat looking aquarium, I really like those giant rocks.
If I wanted to keep just a single hermit crab, what kind of setup would I need?
Could, say, a three gallon betta tank with an internal filter be enough?
>>2045041
Here's your reply
>>2045042
Could I have a more explicit one?
>doing water change
>vacuum up something weird
>wtf, a worm
What do? Logic says leave him for gas exchange and lulz. Is there any reason to not throw this worm in the snow?
>>2045041
Research hermit crabs. It's a fucked up business and it will likely die. They don't do well in captivity.
>>2045076
Feed it you your fish.
>>2045084
Cardinal tetras, cherry shrimp and julii corys. No one is big enough. Also some otos...
>>2045086
Cut him up into smaller pieces.
>>2045080
Oh, alright then. My LFS sells a bunch of them in their saltwater part, and lots of saltwater tanks I see have a hermit crab or two. When I just googled "hermit crab aquarium" all I got was a bunch of "how to use your Walmart kit" stuff. Had to google "hermit crab aquarium bad" to get some info on why hermit crabs do poorly in captivity.
Most of this stuff seems to be about people keeping hermit crabs in tiny plastic terrariums though. My idea was to convert my old betta tank into a simple saltwater tank so I could keep a qt crab on my desk.
So, from the PETA list (apparently they write articles about crabs when they're not too busy killing cats)
>hermit crab pets are wild caught
As are most aquatic pets. Not really much you can do about that.
>hermit crabs need company
I constantly see them kept alone in various YouTube saltwater tanks and I know those guys are quite caring about their pets. Is this really true for the fully aquatic species?
>hermit crabs die quickly when kept in tupperware boxes
No shit. I would of course provide a heated, filtered proper aquarium for it. The size limit seems to be 2.5 gallons per crab, so one crab in a three gallon betta tank seems fine to me.
>crabs suffocate and dry out in Walmart tupperware boxes
The betta tank is filtered and has a built-in bubbler to agitate the surface. I'd also keep the crab fully aquatic.
>tap water poisons them
Good quality tap water + dechlorinator and aquatan.
>crabs need to burrow to molt
I was probably going to use pool sand for substrate.
>people in poor countries deprive wild crabs of shells because tourists like to buy shells
I fail to see what I'm supposed to do about that.
I think maybe you think I want to keep go out and grab a crab from a beach and keep it in one of those Walmart boxes? I was thinking more like pic related.
>>2045093
>Is this really true for the fully aquatic species?
Not really.
>I was thinking more like pic related.
Go for it, but make sure you stick with something like your pic or another dwarf species. Some common fully aquatic hermit species get massive and many others get too big for a 3gal.
Tiny crabs are cute, but remember they can still climb out. Nori sheets and occasional sinking pellets are about all you need for food. Be vigilant with your topoffs because just a little evaporation in a 3gal is a big swing in salinity.
>>2045099
Cool, okay. I'll look into getting the tank set up after I get my salary then. I used to keep shrimp in it, so I'm kind of used to crustaceans trying to get out.
I just wanted to make sure you can keep them on their own, without a reef and fish and all that. Electric Blue is the one my LFS carries that I like the most, so I'll probably go with that.
Is there a reliable way of lowering KH without diluting with RO water?
I don't want to use rainwater either as I live in the city and it's probably fully of heavy metals.
>>2045126
Also my only sauce of something which is like RO water for cheap is Deionised water from the local garage. Which you use to fill car radiators.
But the fact they carry a warning to not drink the water makes me think it would be unsafe for aquarium use.
>>2045128
Deionised water is awful to everything living, don't put it in your tank.
Be careful about putting it in your radiator too, with winter temperatures and all. It's only really for topping off old batteries.
>>2045132
Well RO water is dangerous to living things as well.
That's why you remineralize it.
>>2045093
you'll need a stable running saltwater tank for hermit crabs.
you'll best take live rock for filtration (1kg/10l tankvolume) and a strong pump (15-30 of tankvolume/hour) f.e. 300-600 l/h in a 20l tank.
you should take deionized water mixed with a good synthetic salt. Change 10% per week. Check salinity with an aerometer.
wait at least 2 months, check water for ammoinia and nitrate. If it is okay, set in the hermits.
The one on the picture (calcinus elegans) gets very big and aggressive; nothing for a small tank.
I recommend clibanarius tricolor; they are small and peaceful.
Calcinus can kill each other for houses.
I have one calcinus laevimanus in a 18l tank for almost a year now.
I've had a lot of hermits in my tank before and wasn't able to keep them longer than a few months, but i think most got killed by a big pistol shrimp i also had.
You will have to learn how to saltwater tank before you can provide a good home for marine hermits.
>>2045093
oh, and better not use dechlorinators and other additional chemicals. The livers of crustaceans are very sensitive.
And don't use poolsand. Use coral sand and wash it maybe 5 times.
You just need a height of 1cm of it for substrate; too much is bad.
going to convert an old pool into a pond, leaving the liner and all that shit in , i need to be pumping 1/2 to 2/3ds of the water through a pump for aeration per hour correct? and i would assume with such a large quantity of water i probably wont end up filtering it before rain etc i will drain some of it to get fresh water etc wil probably stock it with browns, rainbows, brookies and tiger trout and maybe will add some channel cats just for variety good idea or nah?
What is this fucking meme on here that hermit crabs are hard?
Fucking children keep them as pets in plastic boxes.
>>2045157
>Fucking children keep them as pets in plastic boxes
Yes, and they always kill them in less than a month.
The fact that children can own an animal doesn't mean that they're qualified to do it.
>>2045157
the ones that live on land maybe. Not the marine ones?
I cannot imagine a box with saltwater, sand and some freshwater filter to be a stable ecosystem.
You need aerobe and anaerobe bacteria in liverock for nitrification and denitrification processes.
Otherwise the water gets toxic for the crab and it dies.
Its not hard or expensive to set up a small reef tank.
>>2045160
That's what water changes are for. He'll need for do changes as if he had two crabs in the tank, but the crab should be fine.
So do you really need to use RO water in a reef tank? The water that comes out my tap is really good quality. Not a drop of nitrate and it's soft as fuck.
>>2045168
You'd have to change a lot of the water every few days. Actual seawater is very clean.
That would be more expensive than to invest in 2 or 3 pounds of live rock aside the time needed because the salt and RO water are expensive.
(coral sand 5usd, live rock 15usd, pump 10usd)
These rocks also contain a lot of animals and make the reeftank fascinating.
>>2045169
not that anon. Tap water might contain silicates which lead to a growth of diatom-algae.
>>2044623
That is not a redtail.
Hello niggers. I just gave away some fish I was holding for a friend who all of a sudden didn't want them. Now my tank is empty. It's 30 gallons with a 45 gallon HOB filter with a few plants and sand. What are some interesting fish I can stock that do well with each other? I know for a fact I want some corydoras
>>2045203
I didn't think so either until I reversed searched it.
>>2045209
Cory's, tetras an shrimp or corys rainbows an no shrimp.
>>2045203
Yes it is, it's a completely normal looking baby redtail.
>>2045209
>corydoras
How about 10 serpae tetra (or any tetra)
5+ cories
A pair of rams
5+ otos?
Are Black Bee shrimp easier to keep than Red Bee shrimp /aq/?
The Red Bee is a mutation of the Black Bee so wouldn't that mean all Red Bee's are inbred as fuck? The Black Bee looks like it does in the wild.
Is ADA equipment a meme?
Like the day I pay £150 for a light is the day I have brain damage.
Donald Bump
>>2045262
It's a veblin good, something middle class people buy to show they have extra money. Or a hobbyist might buy to show he's more dedicated than you.
>Like the day I pay £150 for a light is the day I have brain damage.
This may sound strange, but the company undoubtedly doesn't want your business.
>>2044842
Those rocks are the bees knees but I fucking hate Cichlids.
>>2045209
>Mono Sebae
>MONO SEBAE
>Mother
>Fucking
>Mono
>Sebae
>>2045459
>Minimum tank size 125 gallons
>>2045459
>all of the trouble and expense of a saltwater tank
>none of the beauty
brackish doesn't make sense to me.
In my 30 gallon aquarium that i started December 31st, my topfin 30 power filter died on me. before i purchase a new one tomorrow, would it be wise to do my first water change for this tank before i start the new filter? the water is currently looking a little brown in a cup so i figured i should before i get the new filter but i don't want to kill the beneficial bacteria that has been growing in there. my tank is live planted as well. any help would be much appreciated
>>2045522
Take the broken filter out, remove the sponge, weight the sponge down somehow without damaging it, sink it in the aquarium. Do water change. Get new filter, replace sponge in filter with sponge that has the beneficial bacteria.
Finito.
>>2045552
the thing is; i never had a sponge in the filter. the guy at the lfs told me i didn't need one and the carbon filter was good enough. after doing a lot of research i found out it was clearly way more beneficial to have the sponge. the problem was the filter didn't have a spot for the sponge otherwise i would have just put it in regardless
>>2045571
>their temperament
For me, yea. A friend of mine dropped off some fish. He didnt tell me he had convict ciclids. Those motherfuckers destroyed everything.
I personally like having little fish in a giant tank filled with green.
>>2045576
Well shit son, I have no idea what to do. Best of luck.
>little fish in a giant tank filled with green.
Mah nigga.
>>2045497
>none of the beauty
Subjective.
Filthy tank anon here, took out all the decaying catappa leaves and vacuumed the mulm as much as I could. Holy shit the tank was just so bad, and there's still a fine layer of stuff but it's much better now
I completely moved their hiding spots to the opposite side but they still hang out in their old area. Like this guy
>>2045613
What a cutie.
>>2045613
Are they really that tiny? Or do they get bigger when fully grown?
>>2045676
They get about 3" depending on the species and grow almost half as thick as a pencil.
My next setup is going to be
>150 gallon
>German blue Bolivian rams
>Khulii loaches
>Otocinclus Catfish
>Rio negro plecos
>probably 1 hillstream loach
>fully planted
Sound good?
>>2045691
Get more hillstream loaches and watch your temperature with the loaches and rams.
>>2045691
I don't see any marimo moss balls on that list.
>>2045700
GIANT GREEN FUZZY BALLS
>>2045691
>>2045692
Ditch the hillstream all together. The warmest the can handle is 72 anymore than that they'll be pretty uncomfy and possibly die. They like the colder side of waters. I have one though and it's long past his average life span and never had a tank heater and tank temp always fluctuated along with good water. But if you think you can handle it get one of those flow pumps so he will have a fun time in the flow and get good water circulation as well.
>>2045704
I might get these instead
along with the rams
>>2045704
Depending on the species they can handle upto 77F. What's more important is increasing oxygenation in the water via surface agitation. I keep my Sewellia lineolata at 74F.
Tell me if I'm fucked:
Just put water in my new 20 gallon, forgot to rinse the substrate beforehand though, so it looks like this. The substrate is fluval shrimp and plant, and my filter is an aquaclear 20. How long will it take to clear up?
>>2045717
should be good in 24 hours
>>2045709
I want two acara but they're 20 dollars at this chain store. Check out electric blue jack Dempsey. They get around 8 inches and are pretty uncommon though. My lfs sells them for 10 dollars but they're barely an inch long
>>2045719
I love ebjd and $10 is a good deal, most places ask way more.
They are really aggressive aren't they? I want to keep a somewhat peaceful community tank.
What could I build with two unused 20 long tanks and one 30 gallon? Would like a larger tank but would like build one for fun while waiting for tax returns.
I regret this decor so much
r8 my tank I think it looks lame.
>>2045721
Somewhat. My regular jd who's 3 inches was picking on my red Oscar who's 2 inches but didn't pick on anything else.
>>2045723
Take the decor out and throw it in a neighbors yard
>>2045725
I will
I'm going to keep the fake holey rock put in a fake coral centerpiece add some cichlid stones and anchor some silk plants in.
My ex broke into my apartment and threw random shit in my tank as revenge for leaving her. I'm not even going to post the cut in half Python and water dragon.
>>2045723
close up of my fry i need to get rid of
>>2045729
What fish are you stocked with and tank size?
>>2045730
1 male convict and the fry.
40 gallon
>>2045732
You should get some angel fish and corys m8 will make your tank interesting
>>2045733
My male convict cichlid would destroy anything i put in there, he already killed his breeding partner, wont harm the babies though.
>>2045737
Throw him and stomp him to death!!!!!
>>2045738
he dindu nuffin wrong
>>2045727
So fucked. Press charges.
>>2045746
She's already in prison on breaking and entering and animal abuse. She's looking at 10 years with no parole.
>>2045747
good
>>2045747
>things that didn't happen
that aquarium gravel says you've never had a relationship.
So I've been an aquarium hobbiest for the mojority of my life I've had everything from goldfish in a bowl to a 300 gallon reef tank I've been really interested in having a smaller tank say 55 gallons with an octopus... Thoughts?
>>2045748
good.
She actually cut them in half?
>>2045759
You want a bit more than 55 gallons for most octo species. It's doable though, just need really heavy filtration and make sure the lid is escape proof. Like, locked with zero holes level escape proof.
>>2045759
>Thoughts?
I think you have more experience and expertise on that subject than probably anyone on /an/, and while it's very generous of you to ask our opinion, it's also pointless.
do it.
they don't cost much.
>>2045761
As much as I'd like to have a tank with multiple species I know an octopus would probably eat everyone else in the tank...are there any possible tank mates so I don't just have a 125 gallon tank with a solitary octopus in it? Also where does one buy a healthy octopus preferably captive bred
>>2045758
I wasn't the one who added the gravel nigger.
>>2045763
I suppose so I just don't want to do it improperly and have the octopus die because of my ignorance
>>2045758
oh fuck one of the fedora lords
>>2045764
liveaquaria sells octopuses. I don't know of anyone breeding them.
I'm a little worried if you don't know this already though. Specially since it's listed in the OP. What other basic and obvious knowledge are you lacking?
>>2045766
If it dies you can eat it
>>2045764
Ask tonmo, but as far as I know if you want a captive bred octo you're gonna have severe difficulty finding one. Tankmates are pretty much out of the question unless you feel like seeing what the octo won't decide to eat, but supposedly echinoderms get left alone.
>>2045766
they only live three years at best and may be a third of the way there by the time you get one.
>>2045771
Thats the huge species, the ones that turn up in pet stores (depending on species) live 6 months, to a year and a half. Don't get adults, because for all you know it's already old.
>>2045768
I know that most octopuses are wild caught but I figured I'd ask...honestly I've never really had any interest in keeping an octopus until very recently when my 5 year old son asked if we could get one after we went to an aquarium and I thought well why the hell not look into it
>>2045773
Actually, according to tonmo bimacs can hit 2-3 years if you chill the hell out of the water and dont feed a shitload.
>>2045774
it's not the octopus specifically that surprises me. I just don't recall ever running into a reefkeeper that isn't familiar with liveaquaria.
I guess 4chan isn't just the US though. From the looks of it it's all Australia now.
>>2045773
Yeah I'm not looking to get a 33 pound Pacific octopus just something that my kids and I can enjoy watching and isn't going to give my wife a heart attack if it finds a way to break out I'd rather wrestle something back into the tank with a head the size of my fist then a head the size of my dog
>>2045723
Throw a shit ton of live plants around in there.
>>2045727
I'm not sure I believe you, I saw this exact same pic a couple threads ago.
Complete with those two perfectly healthy happy fish that wouldn't be healthy or happy if all those chemicals had been dumped into the water.
>>2045747
>breaking and entering and animal abuse. She's looking at 10 years with no parole.
Ha ha not in the modern world with revolving door prisons m8.
People can do 2 years for killing someone.
>>2045812
That only happens if they can afford a damn good lawyer, but if she's a nobody then she can't afford shit and will be thrown in the slammer.
Can somebody tell me the name of this plant?
>>2045826
Anubias barteri var. nana
>>2045829
Thanks.
So I am making a several hundred gallon system of tanks hooked together with water bridges. Each tank will be home to one species of newt/siren with an uninhabited one full of filter material and etc.
It'll be setup so the newts are contained to their respective tanks, but the fish can pass freely between setups. Hopefully they'll end up breeding and etc in the filtration tank as well.
Can anyone suggest what to stock the tank with? Water will be from like 65-68 or so. The fish also need to be small so they can pass through the bridges. So far all I have is a school of rosies and a few gambusia. Thinking maybe some snails of some sort, but im open to anything that won't pick on the newts.
Also what species of plant would do well in a setup like this? Preferably fast growing and something that doesn't need substrate.
>>2045836
100 White could minnows.
>>2045822
The judge is in charge of sentencing lad. And with today's liberal judges people don't get any time at all.
A drunken guy kingpunched an off duty policeman in my city a few years ago. His head hit the ground and he died.
Guy got 2 years in prison for literally killing a police officer.
Someone else got 2 years in prison for throwing bacon at a mosque.
I'm beginning a freshwater "experimental" 3 gallon tank, as well a 3 gallon reef tank. Found a shop here that charges dirt cheap for these little "360" glass tanks w/hoods.
I'm trying to test whether the fish can live comfortably in perfect conditioned water albeit in a extremely small place. I'll be taking note on whether or not they show signs of stress, erratic behavior, etc., etc., over the coarse of the year.
Freshwater will include...
>2 Golden Dojo Loaches
>2 Tiger Barbs
Reef...
>2 onyx clown fish
>Less than a pound of live rock
>Assortment of small soft corals
>pic related
It's an example of what the tanks look like...
Also, does anyone have any experience with Coralife Biocubes? Are they worth it? I'm thinking about picking one up to transfer my 20 gallon reef tank into.
>>2045850
>2 onyx clown fish
>Less than a pound of live rock
>Assortment of small soft corals
I lol'd a bit.
that's some seriously fucking small space for two fish though. Like you're going to be changing water daily if you expect those corals to survive that kind of pollution.
>>2045852
I know right?
It's going to be tough, considering I have to juggle that in between work and classes.
I just need the results to complete an "anthology on aquatic life" paper/project.
>>2045854
the fish should be fine, but the pinch of food you drop in for them every day is enough phosphates and nitrates to kill most corals.
should be an interesting esperiment.
I've read good things about biocubes here over the years. People seem to like them. I've never tried one myself.
>>2045854
your project is to monitor their stress behavior?
will they have a host anemone?
will you use a skimmer?
>>2045857
not him but the fish probably won't display any stress behaviors.
clownfish normally keep pretty small territories and are particularly hardy when it comes to poor water conditions.
Thoughts?
>>2045850
Thats incredibly shitty to jam those fish in that small a space. Especially the dojos, they are big very very active fish.
>>2045863
Thats a fish
A very pretty fish
Not the same guy but what is like the minimum you need for 2 clownfish?
Do you need to have an anemone for them to sit in?
Has anyone ever done a marine tank that didn't look like vomit?
>>2045870
You can see people having success with clown fish down to 2 gallons and up, but just because they have success with these "nano" tanks does not mean that it's right... and no, they don't need an anemone to host. They'll do just fine with out one.
A counter argument or justification people can make for confining them to such small places is that in nature they hardly ever leave their anemones, only ever to search for food.
>>2045870
Then ca live without anemone. The bigger the tank the easier it is to fill it with rocks.
If you can maintain the currents, and they will benefit from them, and add enough lighting, then you could keep an anemone and clowns in a 30 gallon setup. but 50 if you are in any way lazy.
>>2045870
there is a debate about the minimum space ongoing for years now.
Some say 16 gal are min., others say 30 or 50 gallons.
It depends on the fish's character, the anemona situation and other fish compadres/enemies.
Some swim a lot while others almost never leave their anemone.
>>2045871
no. I haven't. It has become an inhomogenous, unaesthetic mixture of red and brown, mostly brown coral over the years. It was beautiful and colorful once.
>>2045836
Newts are gonna eat each other.
You're gonna spread disease between them.
>>2045871
depends what you mean.
I regularly do my tanks to look like near-shore environments including stuff like concrete, rebar, wood, glass trash, chunks of cinder blocks, etc.
I try to copy places I've actually swam and saw reef fish in the wild. And by "wild" I mean things like Nassau harbor in the Bahamas or next to some shitty hotel in Hawaii.
they don't look like normal reef tanks, they just look good to me. They remind me of places I've been and fish I've seen.
by most accounts my tanks are ugly boxes of shit and trash.
>>2045881
The different species of newt won't be able to get at each other.
Does anyone ever have an issue with shrimp not seeming to want to eat anything?
I put a piece of expensive shrimp food on a piece of slate, to keep it from going everywhere, and they seem more content to pick at the piece of slate than actually go for the food.
>>2045812
You are a special kind of retarded aren't you?
>>2045796
>two fish
Nigger I can see four with a quick look
>>2045885
that is an interesting approach.
I would like to see some pictures.
>>2045727
https://desustorage.org/an/thread/2026437/#2029023
Very good try faggot.
>>2045896
Same thing happened when I first bought my shrimp. They started eating about 4 days later. I think they just need some time to adapt to their new tank.
I was given one of these aquafarm tanks by a friend, but I don't have the pump that is supposed to come with it. Can you buy those at Petco or is there a cheap alternative I can use? I am assuming it needs a special pump since it's supposed to water the plants on top or something like that. I'm also missing the plant stones, but that is less important to me.
>>2045950
nice overpriced torture device
>>2045685
What is it?
Can I get a plant ID? I love this shit it grows so fast
>>2045957
Elodea. It grows very quickly. It also has to float. Burying any part of it will kill that part.
>>2045951
Can't those be used for shrimp if you throw in some moss balls and a sponge filter?
>>2045958
I have them all wrapped around various fixtures in my tank. It's neat shit
>>2045957
Looks more like hornwort. Can get pretty messy when it dies
>>2045950
The plants are supposed to be the filter.
Throw that thing away, it's just an expensive way to kill Bettas because
1. Bettas don't eat plant roots
2. The plants won't remove enough shit from the water
3. They're too small for a Betta.
>>2045850
>I'm trying to test whether the fish can live comfortably in perfect conditioned water albeit in a extremely small place
It's already been tested, they'll get stressed and die.
You can use invertebrates though.
>>2045855
How's the salamander doing?
>>2045927
Me too.
>>2045958
wut? I planted this all the time in my tank and it grew very well. Would also trim it and replant it. Maybe I had something similar but not quite this? Even though it looks the same..
>>2045942
Nice b8 m8
I really want a couple small rams for my 10 gallon planted, /aq/. are they really that hard to care for? everybody seems to be divided on the matter.
I have quite a small tank and the water evaporates very quickly.
I have to top it up about once a week with few pints of water.
As its such a small amount I'm putting in, should I just put in 1 drop of conditioner before adding it?
>>2045985
If you normally use ten drops for ten pints, one pint means one drop, and so on.
>>2045986
I think his question is whether or not its worth bothering to put some in if he's adding such a small amount. not him but also curious
What's the proper way of switching out gravel with sand?
>>2045987
I probably wouldn't bother. It is a very small amount, and the frequent water changes you do in such a small tank means that the fish aren't even necessarily exposed to it long enough to do any damage,even if it were a larger amount.
>>2045988
>remove fish
>remove gravel
>wash out sand
>wait for the dust to settle
>be prepared to cycle the tank again (whether you do it fish in or follow the meme and do it fish out is irrelevant)
>put fish back in
>>2045995
Thanks.
I didn't know if adding conditioner so regularly would have and negative affects.
>>2045997
*any
>>2045985
Honestly I wouldn't bother with the water conditioner unless you feel like you're adding a significant amount of water. I do top-offs with tap-water all the time to no ill effect.
That said, you can cut down on the evap rate by adding a lid. (If you didn't already know.)
>>2046038
(By "significant" I mean approaching like 15-25% of the total tank volume.)
>>2045996
Can I switch it out slowly so the tank doesn't cycle?
Maybe like 10-15% at a time?
>>2045777
He knew.
>>2046073
I don't care if daughter ever marries a black guy, but if she shows up at my doorstep a half austfailian baby I'm killig both of them
>>2046040
That's not good advice for every body. I live in socal and our water is hard as fuck and has chlorine in it.
>>2045906
No thats true.
New Orleans is a scary place. Nigs can kill one another and the jails so full they can't even hold them for trial so they let they guy go.
I'm not trolling. Google it.
>>2045723
You need live plants if any aquarium is gonna look good.
>>2046079
>Live in SoCal and Central Valley
>Ph 8.0 and high kh/gh wherever I go
>Sometimes Nitrate readings out of tap are like 10ppm
I'll never be able to keep fish that need soft low ph water, unless I want to invest in ADA memesoil and RO filters
Kinda sad, I would like to keep and maybe breed these guys one day
![IMG_0127[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/q1qzuZw.jpg "IMG_0127[1].jpg")
R8 my shrimp tank. It's a NPT (Walstad) 4g Nuvo AIO equipped with a 150w (yes, 150w) Metal Halide, passive Co2 Fert, and stocked with hundreds of pond snails, around 100 RCS, an oto, and a dwarf puffer, to keep the RCS and snail populations in check.
>>2046116
Note: the tank is still very immature. It cycled for a month, and has only had occupants for two weeks, most of the plants were put in last week, with exception to the floating plants and cabomba
>>2046044
That would probably be more tedious than having the tank cycle again.
You could keep your cycle alive if you leave the filter running (feed the fish half their normal diet for a few days until your bacteria reestablish in the substrate), but you should be prepared for sand and dust to clog it up.
>>2044522
Just noticed small green tufts growing in my tank. Dark green, smaller than a pinky nail, looks like some kind of a fungus? I found it on some driftwood and a little on the new plants I put in like a week ago.
>>2046116
What do you have floating in there?
![IMG_0128[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/zDPbcLS.jpg "IMG_0128[1].jpg")
>>2046133
Couple pieces of water lettuce, and a bunch of some beautiful purple azolla ferns. The azolla ferns are virtually impossible to keep unless you use an insane amount of light like I do.
>>2046079
As far as hardness, water conditioner isn't going to affect that one way or the other, as far as I know. ?
The biggest threat chlorinated water poses is killing off your beneficial bacteria and causing your tank to cycle. I posit that it takes a shit ton of chlorinated water to do this.
But this is just based on my experience. I mean anon can add dechlorinator if he wants, I feel like it's more trouble than it's worth.
The back of Seachem Prime says, what, a capful (which is roughly 5mL) for every 50 gallons or something like that? If you're topping off, like, 1 gallon of water, then you'd want to measure like 0.1mL of Prime. I wouldn't worry about it at that point unless you're dealing with like a 5 gallon tank.
>>2046143
>I posit that it takes a shit ton of chlorinated water to do this.
it depends on how high your municipal chlorine is and how much tank water you change.
Most cities add chlorine well in excess of what's necessary to kill bacteria. So if, for example, your city adds three times as much chlorine as needed to kill bacteria, and you change 1/3 of your tank water, you're going to wipe out your biofilter in a matter of seconds.
this is just an example though. Cities often add 10-20 times more chlorine than necessary, because it evaporates out of the water as it travels through the system. Likewise the amount of chlorine added varies at different times, and for different places.
the upshot is it's possible to nuke your tank with city chlorine when doing water changes. But then this is just one more reason why serious aquarists use RO/DI exclusively.
What is all of this on my wood? I've had the wood in there for about three weeks. It's fuzzy. Do I wipe it off?
>>2046170
>What is all of this on my wood?
probably fungus but it could instead be bacteria, algae, cyanobacteria. Hard to say without a microscope.
I wouldn't bother wiping it off, it'll just grow back. Let it do its thing and eventually it'll run out of food and go away.
>>2046142
oh okay, I thought they were fairy ferns but wasn't sure. I wanted some but I read they're tricky in an indoor aquarium.
>>2046177
I always heard that too. I started with only one little piece that came as a hitchhiker on the water lettuce, and it's just blown up. I'm trying to get it to completely cover so that my bottom dwelling plants and poor rcs stop getting bombarded by my 150w halide. From my experience the light level needed to keep them alive is pretty ridiculous, and that's what mostly holds them back from being kept commonly.
>>2046177
Any comments/critiques on the tank?
>Come home from work
>1 fire shrimp and 2 RCS dead
>Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0, PH 7, Temp 22c
This is what I fucking hate about aquariums compared to other pets. When your cat dies it dies for a reason and shows it's ill.
These shrimp just died for no reason whatsoever. £9 flushed down the toilet.
>>2046232
Also it's always my fucking expensive shrimp and my big females I lose.
Why can't some of my fucking low grade males die. They're my most worthless shrimp and they're fucking unkillable.
This lady shrimp killed and ate two of my other shrimp and most likely ate her babies too. What should this murderers name be?
>>2045836
True columbian ramshorn snails won't eat your plants, so I would use those. Don't go for any fancy colors like pink or whatever, usually those are actually a completely different species, and some look-alikes I hear do eat plants. They're supposed to breed out of control but I haven't had that problem. Once in a while I chuck a couple in my catfish tank but I haven't had to actually manage any populations yet.
>>2046243
Bad Ass Motha 4000
>twice as fast as your ass
>Dad gave me a free 180L tank with no stand
>Been searching high and low for a stand
>Brand new the stand is £130
>Don't want to pay that because I can get a 180L tank AND a stand second hand for £100
>Don't want to buy a tank and a stand used because then I'll have a useless second tank
Ree why can't I buy a fucking used stand of someone for £40 or something? I've been searching for months.
>>2046282
Build a stand using 2x4s. Ez pz
>>2046243
That's a ghost shrimp, right? They don't breed in freshwater. I tried for 6 months in vain, in effort for feed my knife fish. Also, the females can definitely be aggressive and killers. Get rcs, I promise it'll be much more rewarding
>>2046301
American ghost shrimp breed fine in freshwater
European ones need salt water
>>2046297
When you factor in the price of tools it's not worth it.
A miter saw will be £60
>>2046310
fuck you're useless.
have you heard of a hand saw?
borrowing tools from a friend?
>inb4 you don't have friends
renting tools?
>>2046310
Find a local DIY or hardware store that will make the cuts for you. Literally every such store in the US will make your cuts for a small fee. Then all you need is a drill, which you can surely borrow or rent.
>>2046327
I went down this route before ans designed a stand. But I don't know how to convert this into a blueprint they could use to make the right cuts.
>>2046332
all you need is the length, width and height you want, then the dimensions of the lumber you're using.
length and width are determined by the dimensions of your tank. Height is whatever you prefer.
if you're in the US and building with 2x4s the lumber is 1.5" by 3.5".
so you just go around your drawing and find the length of each cut of board by figuring the overall measurement of the stand and subtracting any dimensions of wood to the outside of it.
so if your stand is 2' by 4', your top front length would be a full 4' long, but the top short side would be 1'9". (2' length minus two widths of 1.5", i.e. 24 inches minus 3 inches.)
just figure up the length of each board.
