Aquarium General
>fucking up the format
Discarded.
>>2123632
Eh who cares. It's 4chan.
Anyway what are those fish?
Im still on the hunt for nice aquarium decorations
been looking at glass dragons on Ebay but all of them are garbage
Maybe I'll just fill the tank with Marimo and be done with it all
>>2123635
Paddlefish you pleb, i imagine the American species
>ywn be able to order in arapima or paddlefish for your shop :(
>>2123642
I'm making a pond with a underground viewing window for arapaima
>>2123638
Get some nice dirt substrate(Ada aquasoil) and try some lava rock
Gives it a nice nature look
>>2123638
>very nice
>>2123662
I'm sure they're volcanic igneous rock harvested from mountains
You can get ALOT really cheap at a
(And by Alot I mean like 20 lbs of big rocks you could break up )
hardware store like home depot
They use it to barbeque
It's also a good biofiltration media so you could put some in your filter/canister
>>2123662
It's best to try and identify the rock
If it's basalt it has a high chance of containing copper
Which is deadly to inverts
>>2123625
What's the point of making a new thread if you're gonna half ass it so much?
Will a beta fish attack full grown amano shrimp?
I have a pretty heavily planted 5 gallon with 5 amanos and 2 snails and wanted to add a single fish as a sort of centerpiece of the tank. If a beta won't work I'm up for suggestions though,
thanks guys
>>2123736
Probably
>>2123736
There are plenty of gorgeous killis that could do well in a 5 gallon tank, even in pairs. I think the Aphyosemion species are common in nano tanks.
>>2123736
Fuck betta. Any person with a betta in their tank is degenerate social retard. God damn that fish is ugly. Get rasboras or tetras.
>>2123772
>owning fish that aren't predatory
Top fucking kek
>>2123653
Never seen lava rock look this good. What plants do you have in there?
>>2123772
>he likes meme tetras
here's your reply
>>2123736
my betta is in a 10gal with 4 ghost shrimp
he bullies them sometimes (will bat them off of plants and the marimo with his tail so he can lay against it) but never attacks them
your amano should be fine unless I have a particularly docile betta
>>2123554
What's going on with the tank on the right?
>>2123851
Not him, but I can see needle leaf java fern, Xmas moss, flame moss, Anubias nana petite, and Bolbitis.
>>2123764
>Aphyosemion
I was going to suggest Fundulopanchax, (or a school of Epiplatys annulatus, but that's not really a "centerpiece").
Are Aphyosemion annual?
>>2123992
Oh that's actually an empty 10 gallon
With a spare 5 gallon inside
Which is where I throw my excess floaters got a lot of frog bit and water lettuce
The jars have Azolla and water meal
Other mini floaters I like to keep
>>2123662
Here's what a little lava rock can do
I plan to fully cover the bottom with Ada aquasoil and have clusters of rocks here and there
im thinking of getting into this hobby and spending like 1.5k on ADA stuff
im wondering...
ADA stuff is obviously overpriced, but just how badly is it overpriced?
is there anything you wish someone had told you when you were first getting into this?
>>2124064
>is there anything you wish someone had told you when you were first getting into this?
don't do it for what other people think.
chances are if you're the sort that keeps fish tanks you'll never have anyone over to look at them.
>>2124064
ADA is mostly overpriced. I wouldn't invest into expensive aquascaping stuff, when you starting out. That's like a marine aquarist starting out with SPS.
>>2124064
read as much as possible beforehand and be sure what you wanna keep beforehand.
rather focus on one tank than 10.
start with an easy shrimp species or fish species.
Don't dump too much money into equipment when you have no experience. Rather by used equipment and tanks on craigslist.
If you wanna get some aquascaping ideas, try the green machine (findley's way of explaining is also very soothing and akin to bob ross)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COsbWPtDEI0
If you wanna build most of your stuff yourself for cheap, try King of DIY:
https://www.youtube.com/user/uarujoey
>>2123642
>tfw there is a quarry hole that is used for scuba diving that has 2 paddle fish at least 6ft long in it, less than a mile from me right now.
Yo, my fish died last January and haven't used the tank since. Finally got the urge to get another and serviced the tank. When I was testing stuff out, the filter was making this really weird constant clicking noise coming from the motor/intake. Any clues on what could be wrong?
>>2123648
>mfw arapaima
also linking my old (new, didn't see new thread) aq post >>2124124
if anyone is interested in DIY lighting, pink light guy is working on some shit
>>2124064
>is there anything you wish someone had told you when you were first getting into this?
When my dad brought home a baby dried up western painted turtle I had flashes of giant aquarium expenses and maintenance hours. My mind riddled with terror, I could only think to throw that stupid turtle as far into the neighboring pond as I could.... but I kept it and now have two 55 gal. I would say if you are getting into planted tanks, 55 gal is not the place to start. I donated my old 20gal to my brother and it is looking much more savvy than my current planted.
>>2124065
>chances are if you're the sort that keeps fish tanks you'll never have anyone over to look at them.
This
>>2124065
>tfw no one cares about my tank but me, so I openly fish for compliments
Not even the pun can make me feel better.
So I started cycling a biocube about a week ago and want to speed up the cycling a bit more. Right now it has 5 lbs of dry rock, 20 lbs of supposedly live sand, and 11 tiny fucking hermit crabs. I was going to get some crushed coral or coral rubble from my LFS to put in the back compartment where the bioballs were. I'm also thinking of getting some Caulerpa and maybe a clown goby.
I'm wondering if the Caulerpa needs to be anchored to a rock or if it can just be jammed down into the substrate and be fine.
I'm also worried about the clown goby if it lives through the cycling. I'm planning on adding a pistol shrimp and shrimp goby and don't want them to butt heads with the clown goby. How can I avoid possible territorial disputes? Should I just wait and add the shrimp and goby first to let them establish themselves?
>>2124123
gunk in the impeller, just take it out and clean it.
>>2123920
>How hard would it be to raise a lobster
What kind? Crayfish are almost the same thing and they're easy peasy.
>>2124131
>I would say if you are getting into planted tanks, 55 gal is not the place to start.
Agree. I think 20 to 29 gallons is the best starting point for a community tank.
10 gallons is good if you're on a budget and just want small inverts or a beta or something.
>>2123653
>>2123651
>going through all the trouble of getting an aquarium
>filling said aquarium full of massive rocks that effectively cut the water amount in half
Why the fuck would you do that? What's the point of having a ten gallon aquarium if it only holds five gallons of water when you are done filling it in?
>>2124028
>Are Aphyosemion annual?
Don't think so.
>>2124260
aesthetics breh
>>2124202
the guide on some aquarium subreddit with thousands of subs I read said to always start out with at least 50 gallons because larger tanks are easier to manage
>>2124264
Enjoy your aesthetics when your fish all die from their gills being burnt out by the ammonia in their own shit and piss.
You can have an entire fish pond, but if you fill it full of rocks then it's no different than keeping a goldfish in a bowl.
>>2124267
This is true, the smaller the tank the larger the effects if anything goes wrong. It's like a dominoes effect. Knock over one, and they all come tumbling down. The larger the tank, the more water to diffuse any problems, so the more "space" between each domino, which means if one gets knocked down, the rest will stay up.
But you don't need to go so far as to get a full fledged 50 gallon for your first tank. 10 is a good starting point, but better yet a 15 or 20.
>>2124124
>shit is that common?
I've had it happen 3 times so far. I don't know if I would consider it "common" or "normal" I might just be a shit shrimp keeper.
From what I've experienced RCS are only hardy in the way that they can adapt to a range of water conditions. But if that condition changes slightly once they are adapted to it, you will have mass die off.
They also seem to tolerate less ammonia in the water than the most delicate fish.
Why would you make a DIY lighting setup that isn't LED in this day and age?
I'm going to make one using these when I get paid
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-5-10-pc-3W-High-Power-LED-with-PCB-Grow-lights-aquarium-LED-Full-Spectrum/401084148191?_trksid=p2045573.c100505.m3226&_trkparms=aid%3D555014%26algo%3DPL.DEFAULT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20151005190540%26meid%3De6265f7696bf4947bfa9ba9cb2e3fed8%26pid%3D100505%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26
>>2124332
I've just found out there's some stronger LEDs that are 10w, still cheap and put out 1000 lumens each.
Maybe I should use those instead.
>>2124277
Maybe you should put your trip back on ila.
>>2124267
Are you sure they weren't talking about saltwater?
Why does it seem that most nano aquarium equipment is from China?
Are nano tanks a Chinese meme?
>>2124277
>Enjoy your aesthetics
We will
>>2124344
They are a trend in general, allthough biotope aquariums are also a current trend - afaik ornamental shrimp keeping made nano tanks a big thing. It all started in taiwan iirc.
>>2124344
Isn't most of everything made in China these days? Or are you talking about the fancy nano aquascapes, most of which are Japanese?
Just watched this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgXQ6mBvhK8
The guy basically says nutrient rich substrate isn't needed as all aquatic plants can feed from the water column.
He shows an experiment between one side of the tank which was given nutrient rich and the other inert. With both getting water column doses they both look exactly the same.
>>2124326
really because i found the opposite they where some of the few things that survived hurricane sandy.
>>2124356
There's always SOME that survive.
muh tanks
>Used to think marine tanks looked like some kid had eaten paint then thrown up inside a tank
>Now kinda like the and want a nano reef.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIxihsusoyc
>>2124103
They're skittish as fuck they'd want nothing to do with you man
>>2124028
Gardneri are nice. My fav Kili at mo are these guys (pic related). Easy to care for, minimum water changes, rad colours if they feel safe.
>>2124364
The shrimp tank is gorgeous.
Anyone recommend small, red schooling fish? I like bloodfin tetras, but they're a little big
>>2124464
ruby red rasbora
>>2124364
I beet those shrimp are happy in that nice ass tank
>>2124464
Ember tetra
>>2124464
Chili rasbora.
>>2124326
Yeah, I just upgraded my shrimp tank and lost the entire stock because "muh water conditions". My rasboras are fine but it was shit losing 40 orange sakuras.
Time to start over.
>>2124353
>The guy basically says nutrient rich substrate isn't needed as all aquatic plants can feed from the water column.
This varies wildly by plant species, and also by nutrient. Phosphorous, for example, is absorbed much more efficiently from substrate through roots, whereas potassium is taken from the water column. Walstad talks about this in her book and explain why a nutrient-rich substrate is preferable, but I seem to have lost my .epub of her book. If you're interested, find "The Ecology of the Planted Tank" by Diana Walstad.
Does anyone else like to sit and drink in front of the tank for hours? It would be different if I had kids but I even have plans to build benches for my tanks.....to sit and view (drink) at.
>>2124527
No, I dislike alcohol. But fuck man, if I had weed right now.
does anyone know what this plant is
inb4 java moss
its not java or fire or willow moss
My readings are 0.25-0.50/0/5.0
Where are my Nitrites? My ammonia doesn't look like it's going down...
>>2124550
have you treated for chloramine in the source water? Chloramine can read as ammonia iirc.
If not then your tank probably hasn't cycled is all. Nitrate is pretty common in tap water. Cycling takes a month or two.
>>2124548
Who cares? Just toss it in your tank or in a bowl in the windowsill. Once you have enough of it, use it to carpet.
Finally was able to get a scarlet badis
("Dario Dario")
Anyone else like nano species?
Putting some OC in this thread to compensate for how shitty the OP is
>>2124559
Just set this up after moving into my new apartment
Suggestions?
>>2124554
its too tall to carpet
and i like to know whats in my tanks
>>2124552
tap water reads 0/0/0, i haven't done a water change for awhile now
any clue where my nitrites went?
>>2124557
bettas are big by my standards
i have a breeding colony of
Danio margaritatus
im looking to get a bunch of
Nannostomus mortenthaleri
>>2124563
Those are absolutely beautiful
>Nannostomus mortenthaleri
>>2124566
but to get them that color you need a low ph and feeding them red food like baby cherry shrimp would not hurt either
>>2124562
they went to nitrates, apparently.
either your tank cycled and then something killed it or it cycled fine and the biofilter just isn't keeping up with an ammonia spike.
only way to know is to keep testing it.
I simply just felt like shitposting a pic of my new setup in my 75g. Just finished it 2 days ago and got the fish in today. Hopefuly the dwarf hair grass grows quick and fills in all the black area
>>2124560
It's fucking gorgeous mate, the only thing I could think of to add is either a round rock (or wire/plastic mesh) covered in java moss. Or a marimo moss ball. Tuck that in somewhere so it's half hidden.
You've already got the icing on that delicious fish cake. Now all you need is the cherry on top.
>>2124561
>too tall
That's why you trim it back, doofus, and then tie the trimmings into little clumps that eventually grow larger so you can trim them too.
Do you not know how to moss?
>>2124611
That big rock in the center? Smother it with java moss.
>>2124611
is that at your saudi restaurant or your imam's house?
So I have like a 90 gallon tank home to an 8" adult turtle, about 2/3rds filled with water. I tried to keep two small comet goldfish but she ended up eating them, which honestly I didn't know what I expected, but they were feeders anyway. I was kinda looking up potential tankmates (besides another turtle) and saw an Oscar is potentially one. Hypothetically, is it possible to keep them together if the Oscar is a similar size to the turt?
It's probably a shit idea but I kinda wanna know how shit of a idea it is.
>>2124668
>he fell for the turtle meme
how do i trust dwarf crayfish when my ghost shrimp sized cray just caught a guppy
You guys ever dose fertz? Might try with this new scape.
>>2124557
they're fun fish and a lot of personality, I have a pair right now in a 7.5 gallon with a school of micro rasboras (mostly brigittae) and a colony of blue/black neos and micro crabs.
I also keep groups of Heterandria formosa, CPD's, pygmy corries and red cherry shrimp in the sump of my polypterus tank.
>>2124620
not the person your replying to but dude some people don't like dealing with mystery mosses and actually like to know what type of plants thay are keeping.
>>2124777
used to do the E.I. method when i did high light CO2. with that one you can sort of tailor it to your needs you just need to keep up with those weekly water changes to balance out nutrients.
>>2124777
nice scape btw
>>2124780
Oh man you're living my dream
I wish I had what you have.
How do you feed your micro crabs?
And pygmy cories
>>2124611
Aren't the tetra's gonna be sucked up by your pump?
It's happening guys!
My killifish eggs are looking developed
Wish me luck I'll try to update through the process
>>2124695
say what you will, but I love the shit out of it, had it for 11 years already
>>2124832
i feed the micro crab just like the shrimp so any sinking or left over food will work, i just feed specifically at night for those guys as that is when they are most active (i do see them during the day but not as often). the corries also aren't that hard and will go after any sinking food i find.
Can anybody recommend any beginner, low-light corals that my clownfish can settle in?
My lighting is LED but isn't ultra high-powered (2415 lumens, 19w, 12v, with 8000k white + 460nm actinic blue, and a setting to put on just blue). This is on a 1ft deep tank. Here's my tank in daylight at the moment.
Is it possible or do I need much better lighting for even basic corals?
Literally just looking for something that my clownfish can play in and that is (even faintly) colourful.
>>2123736
I have A betta in with mine
a bit overstocked
- 1 betta
- 5 kuhli loaches
- 5 amano shrimp
If you are heavily stocking your tank then you have to do weekly water changes
never introduce fish into a bettas tank , always put betta into an established community
when you introduce them monitor him for a good hour
I suggest buying a breeding box and isolate him for a while in your tank
>>2123772
>>2124777
Are those dwarf baby tears?
You will need to dose AND use co2
>>2124894
>My lighting is LED but isn't ultra high-powered
>2415 lumens
I grow plants in a tank that size with 500 lumens
>>2124945
reef = different light intensity
>>2124945
The unit I bought said this particular model was only for fish-only tanks and to buy the 3800 lumen 39W variant for coral aquariums. Granted maybe it was making that advice for deeper tanks than 1ft.
I really have no frame of reference or conception when it comes to light intensities though. So you think my light is good enough for coral after all?
I did some poking around and Xenia's look the best bet if my lights are good enough.
>>2124945
For the model I bought, it stated in the description it was for fish only and that for coral I would need the unit with 3600 lumens, so I assumed mine wasn't up to the task.
I'm looking at pulsing Xenia now after a bit of research. Are these generally okay for lower-spec lights?
>>2124955
>>2124991
>refreshed 4chan refreshed whole page, >>2124955 didn't appear at all even after an hour, post question again, both suddenly appear
>>2123625
woah that some spooky fish
>>2124991
Not a marine expert but the only real way to know if your lighting is ok is using a par-meter and measuring the par on all the spots you wanna put corals. Lumen can be deceiving depending on tank height and coverage of a certain spot.
Since you don't wanna buy a par meter for 350 $ maybe check craigslist or ask a fellow marine tank hobbyist in your city if he would lend you such a meter if he has it. A friend of mine set up an sps tank and asked his LFS for a par meter he could borrow.
>>2124550
Are you using strips or a liquid test?
>>2124668
Pretty shit. The turtle could bite at the fins of the fish or just tear it to pieces (see the video of a turtle eating a mouse, or don't). Also, Oscars have a reputation for laying on the ground and sulking when they're upset.
>>2124200
Like, an actual lobster. One you could but at a grocer. They can live up to 100, right?
>>2125007
I've pretty much figured.
Though I've read and saw some videos of aggressive cichilids and oscars bullying turtles, even as far as eating their eyes and biting their feet. Seen some people make it work in larger environments too
I was just curious, Oscars seemed pretty chill as fish go on their own so I don't plan on stressing two animals out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTYft03oAwU
can someone explain to me why this video has so many dislikes? is it because he said he kept two oscars in that tank?
>>2125027
Because people are generally against live feeding.
>>2124784
Slate tile and cat litter?
If I use this light for night time lighting, will it bother my fish? Will my plants think it's the sun?
http://smile.amazon.com/Feit-Electric-ESL13T-Fluorescent-Incandescent/dp/B000LWIQ08?ie=UTF8&keywords=red%20light&qid=1463618285&ref_=sr_1_3&sr=8-3
>>2125038
>What do?
can't answer that without knowing wtf you're doing in the first place.
is this a new tank you're cycling?
are there fish in it?
were the fish expensive?
if it's a new tank then changing water will just slow down the cycle.
but if you have fish in there that you really like you should probably do some water changes.
waiting a few days isn't going to do anything, it takes weeks or months for a tank to cycle.
>>2125027
>can someone explain to me why this video has so many dislikes?
>WARNING!! TIGER OSCAR INSANE!!! FEEDING!
>This tiger oscar is really aggressive and loves eating minnows
>He is really mean and killed another oscar almost his size in the tank
Probably because it was uploaded by king fuckboy.
>tfw you get one of these from your lfs
>>2125173
reminds me of the way snake collectors hunt morphs or goldfish breeders are always looking for the next bizarre strain.
I don't mind if you're into it, but honestly I got into saltwater to get away from people like that. I kinda liked it when everything you could keep in your tank came directly from the ocean and most of it was the same boring color.
>>2125161
slate tile and onyx sand
>>2125177
If it makes you feel any better it looks like a literal pile of shit without blue light.
>>2125189
that does help.
but then I think all the new clownfish morphs look like diseased shit too. But to each their own. Personally I think you should get a deep discount for taking those freaks off of people's hands. Instead they jack the prices to the sky.
>>2125166
>new tank
Yes
>are there fish in it
Yes
>are the fish important to me?
No.
>it'll take weeks or months for a tank to cycle
So just lay on my ass and feed food? I've been worrying for nothing.
>>2125198
>just lay on my ass and feed food?
pretty much.
when ammonia hits 0 and nitrate is climbing steadily you're done. After that you start doing water changes to export nitrate, unless you've got a ton of plants.
>>2125195
I actually got it for 10$ less than the standard price. I agree with you on the clownfish morphs. I absolutely hate clownfish in the first place and then they get the line breeders doin stuff like bp breeders do.
>>2125012
I think they'd be temperate, right? Also they get 18-24 inches. You'd need a chiller and a 4 foot by 2 foot tank (120 gallons).
>They can live up to 100, right?
There was some report that suggested that certain lobsters never die of old age, just disease or injury.
I have a donated 30 gallon long tank and a spare 5 gallon (10"x13"x9"). I am thinking about turning the 5 gallon into a fw sump for the 30, has anyone had experience building a sump from an old tank or is it just easier to go buy a premade one?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUYrZ1dbqwk
>niggers
>>2125241
Jeez, how interesting. Mankind needs to study them to learn about their long-lasting ways.
Instead of just eating them.
Anybody have good literature on planting?
>>2125256
You can buy HOB overflow boxes
Most glass cutting places around me aren't liable if they break the aquarium when drilling
>>2125288
I was certainly considering getting a HOB overflow. I was just wondering the price/practicality of building a sump from a small tank.
>>2125307
Nothing expensive or difficult about it
Do you have specific questions?
>>2124781
thanks
with out knowing its light requirements or anything else its annoying
and yes i could trim it back but and force it to carpet but its an upright plant that appears to like strong current
>>2125256
you can do it one of two ways, I've done both:
1. silicone some Plexiglas dividers in to make compartments for different media.
2. Just stuff all your equipment in the tank randomly and let each unit do its own thing.
the second one is by far the easier to build and maintain. Everyone invariably starts off with the first method because it's so neat and organized, but something inevitably clogs your beautiful flow and you pump the contents of the sump into your stand and onto the floor.
Now I just start off with the second approach. It's modular, it's easy to change, and it doesn't flood your house.
>>2125376
How easy is it to set up a sump if you've never done it before anyway?
I've been thinking of setting up a freshwater one for my Oscar because he is a messy shit.
>>2125270
Fucking hate niggers so much, every fucking time one would come into the petstore I used to work at and
>"HEY MAN LEMME GET A FEW OF DEM OSCARS BRUH, YEAH THE ONES I HAD BEFORE ALL KILLED EACH OTHER HAHA"
>10 gallon tank
OSCARS DON'T DESERVE THIS YOU SUBHUMANS
>>2125440
You're describing men in general.
>>2125444
To be quite honest with you anon, I thought about your comment and realized the large majority of people buying fish were usually women. The only men who'd buy them were usually dads buying them for their kids or someone buying it with their wife for their living room. At least thats how it was at my job.
>>2125439
>How easy is it to set up a sump if you've never done it before anyway?
It's pretty easy if you have basic knowledge of plumbing, pumps and siphons.
there's a couple tricks to making sure you don't flood your house, but none of them are difficult to understand. Mostly you want your water levels set so neither tank overflows if the power goes out of if your overflow gets clogged. You also want to punch little holes in your return pump tubing right above the water line so if the return pump stops working the plumbing won't siphon water into the sump from the display tank.
>>2125440
go choke on a bag of dicks.
>>2125449
no u
>>2125449
>>>/Reddit/
>>>/tumblr/
Is it possible for a pair of Bolivian Rams to break up? The pair had a really bad spawn, lost eggs to fungus and protected them for maybe three days. Now the male doesn't follow the female around at all and doesn't defend a territory. She just swims around the tank in a different males territory, that male presents to her, does the head shakes and tail whipping. She is also clearly full of eggs.
>>2125521
a bad breakup for chiclids is one killing the other
>>2125444
In my years at a fish store women were a very large percentage of dead fish returns. My boss did a little secret tally of women bringing in dead fish and at the end of the year 72% of people bringing dead fish in were women because of negligence
>>2125532
But how many women bought fish? 50%? 72%?
>>2125446
>>2125532
Wow, that's actually a lot less buttblasted than I expected. Good job.
I meant that buying fish like Oscars and other cichlids specifically because of "muh aggressive pet" meme is mostly a man thing. See >>2125027 and >>2125169. There's a lot of masculine buzzwords just in that one video description.
It's true that women aren't necessarily any better at keeping fish, but women tend to be much, much less interested in the personality of the fish and more interested in how they look. For example, a woman might put African cichlids with a pearl gourami because "they're both so pretty," whereas a man would get the African cichlids just because "they're real mean and like to fuck shit up."
Both approaches are wrong, but for different reasons. I didn't actually watch the video in >>2125270, but judging from >>2125440's response, the issue in that particular case has a lot more to do with masculinity than race.
>>2125521
Ram cichlids don't always "get it right the first time." Sometimes they go through a couple mates before settling on a lifetime bond. That's why if you're breeding them it's recommended to get six or more juveniles and let them form their own pairs.
>>2125554
It was actually 51%
>>2125580
Yeah but they have been reasonably successful prior to this. They have spawned quite a number of times getting each time to the point of having a cloud of fry and roaming the tank but always end up losing fry and eventually giving up. There is a group of 5 that have been together about 9 months though there is only one female so I guess now she is trying different options.
So I have these fancy guppies in my turtle aquarium, and I've noticed since yesterday that one female is like autistically INSISTING upon trying her best to swim directly into the flow of the filter. Like she's over there constantly, even so I type this, swimming against the flow of the spillage from the filter. And it's definitely the same female, too. There are plenty of places to swim around and hide in, but this one female insists upon this wild and wacky behavior while the other guppies swim around and explore.
It's not even like the turtle is scaring her to swim there, she's been on her basking dock for like 30 minutes now.
I just installed a 20g sponge filter on the opposite side of the filter with the guppy swimming toward it just to get a little extra filtration in there (it's a 30 gallon tank, the turtle is just a tiny baby). Could the sponge filter be scaring her to the other side, where she insists upon swimming directly into the current? It doesn't bother any of the other guppies, they're actually exploring around it right now.
What's going on with this gupster?
I'm thinking of starting a small aquarium in a couple of months. Any tips for newcomers? I was thinking of getting a few neon tetras because I like how they look
>>2125636
>What's going on with this gupster?
Fish aren't all necessarily smart, I've had zebra danios swim into my turtle's mouth.
>>2125640
>tips for newcomers
Get a 20 gallon, then think.
Do you want a Planted Tank? Simplistic Tank? Just rocks? How much are you willing to invest in this hobby?
Research on your tankmates, 9/10 /aq/ has a definite answer
Avoid buying chemical additives to change parameters(pH, ammonia remover), ammonia detoxifiers and bacterial additives are fine depending on the product, expiration date, etc.
I can list those at the top of my head for now.
What is this /aq/? Marine tank. Is it corraline? It is growing slowly to s
Uffocate the algae also growing on the rock. It looks like a membrane.
>>2125747
That looks like red cyanobacteria.
>>2125758
Okay. Half is red, half purple. I think there is coralline growing elsewhere, you can see it faintly on the white rock in the background which wasn't there a few weeks ago. But as long as I know what this membranr stuff is I can take action.
>>2125769
In my experience when something grows in a mat like that it's some kind of cyano. That shit is a pain to get rid of in fresh water. Have no idea how bad it is in saltwater.
I really want to take a sledgehammer and bash open one of these big and nice aquariums.
>>2125789
Satisfyingly savage.
I'd do it but I'd feel sorry for all the fishe
What's a plant that's easy to carpet without much lighting?
>>2125376
>all dat mold
Jesus fucking Christ
>>2125636
Maybe she genuinely enjoys it? I've seen other anons here talk about how certain individual fish spend a lot of time swimming against the current.
Something similar happens with shrimp. I've seen a few anons talk about how they randomly find shrimp living inside of their filters when they clean it.
>>2125823
Java moss, marimo moss, pretty much any kind of moss.
Just buy a shit ton of it, and then cut out some plastic mesh to fit around your larger decorations. Then use cotton string to tie the moss to the mesh.
>>2125830
salt
>>2125376
god the salt creep please just clean it.
>>2125823
>easy to carpet
>without much lighting
None, there's no possible plant that can do that.
>>2124139
what are your water parameters? Without that no one could tell you anything useful about adding fish. Generally it takes longer than a week for a cycle, the cycle in my biocube with live sand, 35lbs of live rock and live sea water took about a month. adding too much too soon will disrupt the cycle and cause you lots of problems down the road. Also, 5lbs of rock is pretty light, the general rule is half a pound to a pound and a half per gallon, since that's where most of your filtration comes from.
Since goby's are territorial, I wouldn't add more than one in a tank that size. As for the Macro algae I have the in tank media basket and fuge basket, they go into the middle chamber mine is full of chaeto and some LR rubble. I just stuck an LED onto the back of the tank and it seems to be working fine growing pods for me.
>>2125823
Marsilea Hirsuta. carpets at medium light (below 30 lumen per liter) compared to HC which takes 50 lumen per liter, roughly.
Also has less need for co2
>>2125899
I measure age by creep.
this tank is older than your tank.
a time will come when it's a pinecone of salty frost, then it will be mature.
you still won't be mature.
you clean your tanks, they're always new.
>>2125924
eeeh depends, crypt parva is a good lower light carpeting plant but it takes forever to fill in and usually it needs more light than other crypts
>>2126108
you are weird also that salt creep cant not be good for the equipment
are these twinstar algae inhibitor things just a meme or do they actually work?
>>2126161
Sounds like a meme in my book. Never heard of that. What does it even do by which method?
>>2126241
some electric thing so algae can't grow
>>2123736
Might sound cliche, but either get them young or get them with a good temperment. I acclimated my betta to having tankmates by slowly introducing one cory cat at a time. After I had a 20gal long and four corys, I introduced ten ghost shrimp. The betta could clearly see them but wouldn't attack them. I miss that little bastard.
should I buy this stuff?
>>2126284
If spending $900 on your aquarium equipment isn't a no-go for you, of course you should buy it. Maybe not the weird algae inhibitor, but everything else seems to be quality equipment. Could you get the same results for less? Sure. But if your budget isn't a concern, buy it.
>>2126284
skip the algae think and instead get a better CO2 regulator set up if you willing to spend that money.
>>2126284
also might look into up aqua sand as an alternative to the ADA if you don't want that initial ammonia spike you tend to get with aqua soil
>>2123638
try petsmart or get creative
>>2126284
And how much of that powder stuff would I need to get enough coverage in a 17 gallon? I need to figure out what plants I want and see if I need a different light but I'll skip the algae thing and get the 2213 and hydor
>>2126338
wish i could help but been out of the hobby for like 3 year and LED have come a surprising long way already. that being said i just googled it and it looks like people have mixed feelings about it so you might look into an alternative to be safe.
>>2126338
I assume their product descriptions would give some insight there. If not, e-mail their customer service and I'm sure they can help you out, since they make both the tank and the substrate.
I don't have ac, and sometimes it can get up to 85f/30c in my room. Would it be possible for me to have an aquarium?
>>2126140
>that salt creep cant not be good for the equipment
the equipment that's submerged in saltwater 24/7?
I think it'll be fine.
>>2126361
should be fine.
your tank will usually be several degrees colder than the room because of evaporation anyways.
>>2126284
Hopefully you haven't bought this just yet. here's some advice from someone who's been there.
As mentioned, get rid of the twinstar, it doesn't get rid of any difficult algae, just stock up on amanos, cherries and otos and keep your CO2 and lights properly adjusted.
Regarding your lights, I would never spend money on an LED system that didn't offer some level of dimming or other controllability. I've got no experience with Archaea stuff but make sure you can use something to dim them with. This is one of the main benefits of LED (apart from the potentially longer lifespan), so it's worth getting your money's worth.
Upgrade to an eheim 2115 as an absolute minimum if you want to inject CO2 in that tank, running half to 1/3rd full with media (one coarse sponge and some substrat pro is good to reduce internal baffling) - I have two 60-Ps one with a 2115 and one with a 2113. The 2113 I bought originally and found a little puny but that tank is running as a low-tech so it's not too bad. For high tech tanks there's no point getting an underpowered filter when you need the flow to deliver CO2 to the substrate layer.
For heaters, I've been using a hydor 200 external heater with great results. Really unclutters your scape.
Lastly, I find San-sui is a hit and miss stone, it can be a really wonderful feature, but also there are a lot of very sad sad pieces for the price ADA and retailers ask for it. Hopefully the people picking out your stuff will be kind on you but spending that amount of money on hard scape online will always be a crap-shoot. If you can, I'd pick it out personally.
Pic related: my ADA 60-P san-sui scape. Not the best photo but hopefully you get what I mean. I probably have close to 12 to 15 kg which I was fortunate enough to be able to dig in and choose what I wanted. Probably slightly oversized for the tank as well - but the good feature stones tend to be quite large and angular, it's going to be something you'll have to work with.
Does anyone here have a DIY CO2 system? I want to put one on my 2.5 gallon tank when I get the money to set it up. I just want to know what I would need to get it working and how much it would cost.
>>2126338
>>2126507
Here,
1 9l bag should be enough, but I wouldn't use powder type on it's own. It's okay for effect in the foreground or sprinkled on the top and you could use a 3 litre bag of powder for that, but If you can, get a 9 l bag of the normal stuff to make up the main body of your planting media. You want the larger grain because it gets better water flow around the root systems which oxygenates and keeps everything healthy, otherwise the powder type will just clog your power-sand and make it essentially redundant. Personally I've seen lots of 100% standard ADA aquasoil scapes which work a treat, but it's up to you.
What is the cutest fish?
Would you fuck it?
Just took some readings for the first time in a while:
55 gallons, holding 30 currently
Marineland canister filter
Bioload: 2.5" painted turtle, 7 zebra danios, 3 cory cats, 6" pleco, and 3 balas (yes I know, I know, I wasn't aware when I bought them)
pH - 6.4 (???)
NH3 - 0.25ppm
NO2 - 0ppm
NO3 - 160ppm ++++ I fucking maxed it out
Holy shit I have been in and out of town for work so I just topped the water off every week when I'd drop in. Is this why the pH is so low as well? Obviously it's cycling well but holy shit is my water trashed? I have another 50gal "planted" I can donate water from and pull out as much as possible right now. I can also move everything to that tank for the time being and overhaul the other tank. I also have some cabomba that is struggling in the other tank if that will help with the nitrate levels.
>>2126593
My other 50 gal is at
pH: 8
NH3: 0.25
NO2: 0
NO3: 0
Only plants and a couple shrimp in there. Would swapping water help cycle this tank? Obviously bacteria added didn't work. It has been going for a few months.
>>2126593
Don't do a massive water change at once. You really need to do 10% or so water changes every day until you get the nitrate down, otherwise you might end up shocking your livestock and losing some. Adding plants might be good but they might also be shocked by the difference in water parameters, and melt off to start with, simply adding to the waste in the tank. Can't help but try though, just make sure you take out anything that looks like it's rotting.
If you want to help buffer your tank from future shocks you should try adding some emergent plants (i.e. leaves in the air and roots in the water) for biofiltration. Golden pothos, umbrella papyrus, anthuriums and peace lillies are all good choices. They'll utilise the nitrates much more efficiently than purely aquatic plants because they're not limited by dissolved CO2 levels. There are guides out there for this sort of thing.
>>2126601
>>2126593
I removed 6 gallons and added 12 fresh gallons.
There is a shit ton of debris floating around the tank now. I think it's time to clean out the canister and overhaul the gravel due to my laziness. What's the best way to retain bacteria? Keep the bio balls and replace the mesh?
Going to recheck levels in an hour.
>>2126608
thanks, water change regulated the pH and brought nitrates down to ~50ppm. High end of the spectrum is iffy on this kit, but it looks like it did the trick for now.
Pothos are a good idea. I have 5 bamboo in there that grow like crazy. Any floating plant would probably be a good addition.
>>2126593
You mean turtle and his eventual food
>>2126637
pretty much, he tries to mate with the pleco
>>2125177
It's an legitimate autism thing.
I used to have a 75 gallon tank with fancy goldfish the size of baseballs.
But It'd was too much effort to maintain and I lost interest after one of my coolest looking feesh died for seemingly no reason after having it for 4 years.
Sold the other feesh and took the tank apart.
I've been reading more and more and it seems special substrate like eco complete or ADA is pure meme and you can grow every plant well in inert substrate as long as you dosing is good. All plants can absorb nutrients through their leaves, even "root feeders".
If you bathe your plants in an unatural amount of ferts so they're a non limiting factor, plants just stop using their roots.
Now if you're trying to prepare quickly for a show there is no doubt that good substrate speeds things up but is not needed.
>ADA AQUASKY is £200
>just a heat sink with some leds glued to it
Why would anyone buy one of these instead of making one diy?
>tfw enjoy my Oscar more than any pet I've ever had
I love this fucking guy
>>2126108
>muh dirt-covered truck has more character than your clean truck
>>2126701
Inert substrates don't buffer the water, nor do they have any Cation exchange capacity. Hi tech tanks with inert substrates and EI dosing work fine, but they're more fragile as all of your water parameters are entirely dependent on what you're putting into the tank yourself. When plants rely on water column dosing alone they become more sensitive to those changes - increasing the risk of melting. Those active clay substrates like ADA give you a lot of leeway because they'll build up and store nutrients, and then release them as PH drops (hence buffering) or as plants sequester them.
A way of doing this without breaking the bank, and is often the better option than just using straight sand or gravel is to put a base layer of topsoil underneath. It costs a fraction of the price of the ADA substrate system and does a comparable if not better job. A lot of people also add powdered natural red terracotta clay to increase the CEC capacity to the soil layer of tanks to good effect.
>>2126705
ADA aquasky is like 10 years out of date at this point, even their new MOON models just double the brightness with no added functionality. The most annoying thing about them is that they are 1. Rigid and cannot be height adjusted to change PAR for different situations and 2. have no dimming or controller functions and are too high voltage for most third party in-line dimmer switches so you can't even dim them reliably. Their only job is to look sharp. I hear that ADA are going to be releasing a new LED pendant light at some stage this or next year, maybe they're going to address their stupid mistakes with that one. Not looking forward to the price announcement though.
>>2126507
>>2126513
Want to just tell me what to get for lighting?
I'll go for the 2115 and read more about the substrate. The idea for using entirely powder came from this video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lD7k6MRsTz8#t=3m52s
What they said about the powder granules creating a greater sense of scale in a small tank sounded good but I can see what you mean about using a larger grain under the powder.
When I was researching about using only powder someone had said in their experience with using the powder as a cover over normal grain that the powder would eventually sift into the gaps of normal grain and look bad, so i dunno I'll have to look into it more.
I'm thinking of getting some yamaya stones along with the san-sui now so I'll have more to work with, maybe use all the smaller stones of each and a big chunk so san-sui as a sort of center piece.
>>2126320
Whats wrong with the regulator?
I caught some mysid shrimp from a local lake as bycatch for a research experiment thing. Pretty cute little things. Tenagomysis chiltoni. There isn't much public information about them.
They like to eat each other.
>>2125444
I bet you are a filthy feminist chick.
>>2126770
LED lighting ain't simple anon, I can't give you a magic bullet for it.
What's your budget for lights? The Archaea one might be fine. If it's between 9-24v you can get one of these to sit in-line between the power supply and light to dim them.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-2A-DC-9-24V-LED-Strip-Light-Manual-Controller-Inline-Dimmer-Switch-Black-/151620583763?hash=item234d4a8153:g:HagAAOSwBLlVBdE6
That and a plug timer might be all you need for your tank.
If you want more control, the light I have over my ADA 60-P is a Giesemann Pulzar HO (freshwater). It has a bluetooth controller which connects to my PC. This cost about £400 all together. It's got a nice visual interface and individual channels for colour mixing over a 24 hour lighting period and intensity can be modified in 0.5% intervals.
Other good choices are Ecotech radion XR15w Freshwater, similar features to the Geisemann, but light is from a central cluster. I wouldn't go for an ADA aquasky because of >>2126739 reasons. There are lots of other simple light bars from finnex, Dennerle, Fluval, Arcadia, Up Aqua, TMC etc. etc. etc. I dunno how to rank all of these because they're so similar. Go by Warranty, light colour and feel (aesthetics is more important than actual breakdown of colour range, all visual light is photosynthetic light) and control for value.
Alternatively if you have a way of hanging lights either from the ceiling or from an arm fixture, then you can change lighting intensity by raising or lowering the lights, so you don't have to buy a controller and opens up Halide or a T5 luminaire instead. Hanging high may cause light bleed, that's an aesthetic choice you'll have to decide on. I prefer pendant lights to bars that rest on the top simply because you get better access to the tank and it makes the thing feel taller and roomier.
>>2126770
Yeah, the ADA standard will work it's way up if you fuck about with the substrate a lot, you have to be careful with it. Mixing them doesn't look bad though, it gives it a fairly natural graduation of size. It's up to you, powder is easier to plant in, but it's also much softer and can easily be turned to dust as well as the other problems with it.
As for stones, Yamaya is just black slate really. I'm never quite sure about mixing them as the sansui will look very different to the yamaya under water. I think Koke might be a better alternative for using with sansui as it's another black volcanic rock similar to sansui, the texture is slightly different with more of a closed texture in comparison to Sansui's more open and rough texture but it's difficult to differentiate them without paying close attention. Koke are typically smaller stones with a more rounded shape to them as well, if you're wanting to do something like your image.
>>2126770
personal preference for I've found all the cheaper CO2 rigs have crappy needle valve that have the potential drift over time. this combined with the fact it is a "dual gauge" not "dual stage" also mean it is more likely to get an end of tank dump form your CO2 tank. I'm also not sold on this, "It features an innovative "Tool-Free" self locking mechanism, which utilizes the CO2 pressure to screw lock the regulator on the Standard CO2 cylinder". just feels to good to be true and i can think of a couple way it would go wrong.
O and you should defiantly pick up a drop check or PH controller to monitor CO2 level in tank.
My dad's goldfish tank.
>inb4 too many fish
I told him. He didn't listen.
>>2126949
>pic
>>2126797
I like the pulzar but I can't find a place to order one online and the only store I'm finding that might carry them is too far away.
I'll probably a get finnex because they're all over Amazon.
That XRW thing looks really goofy to me.
>>2126806
yes koke makes much more sense, i'll probably layer the two substrates
now im reading that you should have have your co2 defused into a powerhead so your not wasting it, or make a reactor or do a million other things
i just want to grow underwater plants
>>2126994
eeh how people disperse CO2 is personal preference. I know a lot of people just use a glass and ceramic diffuser in tank placed under the outtake of the filter and it works fine. other people use power heads or in tank reactors. my personal preference and the one i think is the most efficient are in line reactors as they are easy to build and if you want a decent quality premade one you can find them fairly easily too.
>back when i still had my tank I could never, ever, ever, ever get rid of fucking flatworms that would come out and gather on the glass
Are they just a natural aprt of a tank ecosystem? Cause fuck those things. Fuckers would find whichever parts of my tank had the least amount of water flowing past them, like corners, and right at the very top of the tank, and gather all over the glass. It looked fucking gross and I hated them.
>>2123625
My goldfish lived for 8 years
Is that a good life span for one? Poor thing loved headbutting this little plastic beach ball i had
>>2127132
no, my parents had a gold fish that lived in horrible conditions for 13 years so I cant imagine what your conditions were like that only let it live for 8.
>The Green Machine
Watched like every fucking video on this channel.
Imagine being able to do aquascaping for a living...
>>2127136
It had it pretty good. Big clean tank and food
all my fish die after 3 days, no exceptions.
wat do?
nitrates are fine always, tank is cycled for a week, used conditioner + bacteria, have water tested it's ok. THEN EVERYTHING DIES.
>>2127201
parameters faggot, use numbers
>>2127210
yes let me get my slide-rule to calculate the molarity using my $5000 colorimetric device for a $50 tank on a test strip that uses 2 colors for a variance of a 100-fold increase in concentration.
good one.
>>2127201
What kind of fucking fish are you buying?
>>2127173
>tfw they're tearing down their gallery to become an online-only ADA exclusive retailer.
Sad but that's the way things are going I guess. I'm lucky that I live reasonably close by so I could see the tanks in person. They were good aquascapes but to be honest they drank the ADA koolaid way too badly on the business side of things. I think they're still going to do aquascaping videos though.
I had an extra power filter so I'm running it on a new planted tank that's doing mediocre. Do I need to filter this tank? I just thought it'd help to keep water flowing and stuff off te top if the water
Suggestions on substrate look? I'm adding stones and planting only HC so it'll look something like https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Iwagumi+rocks&view=detailv2&&id=04F9D4C699AB25A1E415F61C648D1A856DA40B2A&selectedIndex=14&ccid=0rOjpDO6&simid=607997813394243712&thid=OIP.Md2b3a3a433ba04693890a84478b4e679o0&ajaxhist=0
>>2127217
>might be
>might
>>2127227
1 kissing gourami
a few tetras
one dalmation molly
1 buenos aires tetra
that's when i got depressed and gave up
cycling water doesn't help.
changing it every few days doesn't help.
they seem fine for the first few days, then they get panicky and seem to stay in a corner near the filter, stop eating, and die. every instance is near exactly 72 hours.
maybe it's because they are from petsco idk : /
>>2127423
First of all, you need to tell us your exact water parameters. Not this "nitrates are fine" and "tank has cycled for a week" stuff, and tanks usually take much longer than that to cycle (even with bacteria starters)
Sorry about your fish, but if you want to stop the deaths after 3 days you need to pull your britches up and do some hard investigating
>>2127201
>tank is cycled for a week,
no.
cycling takes months.
your fish are dying because your tank is not cycled.
>>2127264
This really breaks my heart. Before the green machine I just used to do 'functional' layouts without any sense of aesthetic and composition. I really hope the best for Findley and his crew - to me he always was like a Bob Ross of the aquascaping scene that encouraged you to create something beautiful no matter if you are a pro or a beginner.
>>2127264
I live an hour and a half away. Is it worth taking a drive down there still? Or have they closed down everything?
>>2127423
Uhhh...anon are you actually even dechlorinating the water?
>>2127347
How. Every girl I mention it to thinks it's creepy.
How the fuck is keeping a fish tank creepy? It's not even shitty fishes like goldfish either, it's cichlid's.
>>2127458
Me too. A year ago before watching his videos I was making tanks like on the right. Now my tanks are on the left.
Why do a lot of top aquascapers chooser to use ceramic diffusors for Co2 instead of inline diffusors?
inline diffusors diffuse the Co2 100% into the water.
>>2127509
efficiency is a concern of poor people.
>>2127505
I feel you. It was the same with me.
How is the HC going btw? Any signs of it carpeting?
My dwarf hairgrass is starting to send off runners. Wonder how many months it will take for a full carpet.
>>2127526
ooppps forgot pic
>>2127523
There is sideways growth but a lot of upwards growth too.
I'll be building a DIY LED light bar when i get paid for more light.
>>2127505
we all were like that at some point don't worry and don't be afraid to take risk and experiment with tanks lay out.
>>2127442
Meanwhile I can put fish into tanks early without issue by using seachem stability and seachem prime. No fish have died. It's been two years and it's still going great. I didn't even have to finish using the bottle of stability because tank finished its natural cycle with the help of the product. You old fashioned fags who go "muh weeks and months of cycling" don't know shit. Just use a good product and fish can be added quickly.
So I have 2 female guppies and one male, both are pregnant and about to give birth. I don't have a 2nd tank or one of those breeders nets. Is there an easy diy way to save the fry or should I just let the strongest survive?
>>2127540
do you keep plants?
