/aq/-aquarium general
- FOR THE EMPRAH! Edition -
Continued from >>2141702
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.petsolutions.com/ http://www.aquabid.com
>FUCKING GOOGLE
We all make mistakes, so don't put anyone down - rather be helpful.
Chances are, you made a similiar mistake when you were starting out.
>Useful & Extensive database for aquatic plants and their parameters:
Flowgrow
http://www.flowgrow.de/db/aquaticplants
>Cool Youtube Channels:
>Aquascaping -
James Findley/The Green Machine
https://www.youtube.com/user/TheGreenMachineLtd
Dennis Wong
https://www.youtube.com/user/xiaozhuangw
Filipe Oliveira
https://www.youtube.com/user/FaaoStudio
Oliver Knott
https://www.youtube.com/user/amanoshrimp
>Building your own shit/ Fish&Plant talk
King of DIY
https://www.youtube.com/user/uarujoey
Dustin's Fish Tanks
https://www.youtube.com/user/Dustinsfishtanks
Wayne's Fish World
https://www.youtube.com/user/samuelwaynefoleyjr
Aquarium related documentaries (German & English)
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtkQ-oVBStx0EYRcwz3bHSA
If you got any suggestions, especially related to cool saltwater channels, feel free to post them - I will add them with the next OP if I have the chance
>>2145065
Sorry if I lumped you in with the rest. Like I said, I've seen that anon post before, and he seems to genuinely care about his fish, and is seeking solid advice. But (before now) every time he has posted he just gets shit on.
It's not like he went out and impulse bought a shit ton of fish. He simply had a kneejerk reaction to seeing a fish about to get flushed down the toilet. Would any of us have responded differently if we were in his shoes?
Considering how he randomly ended up with several pets that he had no clue how to take care of when he saved them, he has actually done a pretty decent job. He even bought live plants for them.
>>2145091
The best advice he can get is the advice he's been getting: remove the goldfish. Some are ruder than others, sure, but it comes from a good-ish place. No one wants to see his fish suffer, ir disappear as the goldfish grow.
He could probably get a cheap 30-50 gal on Craigslist for the goldfish.
Removed flag fish as soon as I saw my badis had a nipped fin
I've decided to restock the tank at this point. I'll only keep the badis.
Any ideas for suitable fish? 6 gallon spec
>>2145103
Good that you found a new home for your flag fish and intend to rehouse the rest aswell.
In general, since badis are very shy, you could try some dwarf cories like hastatus, habrosus or pygmaeus and/or some otos/amanoshrimp for algae control.
If you want non-ground level schoolers, you could try some small boraras like brigittae but those might scare your badis a bid. You should first introduce some ground dwellers and see how he behaves.
Also you might wanna get some more hardscape like rocks and moss on that so he feels more secure.
Post you are tanks
>>2145132
This was before I cut back most plants and rescaped. Sadly my phone camera is a piece of shit and can't handle too much light.
It's a 60l wir blue dream shrimp, amanos, ember tetras,dwarf cories and otos.
Maybe I can get a pic of the new look, when I'm back from work.
>>2144117
I made a short video of my mudskipper. I don't think my computer could handle a webm converter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Qh0_thlu7Y
>>2145148
Cool fish. How hard is the maintenance for him?
>>2145156
Very little surprisingly. Although I don't recommend it, you can skimp out on water changes for even a couple weeks at a time. They are considered to ammonia tolerant because of how naturally toxic the water is in their habitat.
Feeding also is more reptilian. You don't feed him everyday. A good meal of frozen bloodworms and spirulina is the best diet a mudskipper can have. Given that you have a juicy cricket, mealworm, ant as a treat for him every now and then.
They need about 1.013 salt levels because they are a brackish species. However, different species require different salt levels.
>>2145158
That sounds manageable, was expecting them to be much harder to care for.
Post tanks that give you cancer
Fuck Pinterest.
>>2145173
I was looking into vases as a little tank so I could put a few shrimp into them and ran into so many of these.
>>2145173
Why would anyone ever fucking want this
>>2145179
What the fuck!
>>2145183
>not even an artistic statement
>this is a real fucking thing that people buy
>>2145185
How else do you expect to walk your fish? That looks much easier than trying to get that leash around thier little necks
Hey /aq/, what's the difference between bona-fide silk "aquarium plants" and silk decorative plants like pic related? They're a heck of a lot cheaper and they look the same to me. I just want to give my betta some good, thick cover, but I don't have access to any real plants, or a very good light source for them anyways. If I rinse these silk decorations out, or boil them or something, could I use them?
>>2145203
My assumption would be for those that are made for aquariums, it is assured they dont release any harmful chemicals into the water, while the purely decorative ones are not checked for that matter.
even if you have shitty light, you could try plants like java fern, anubias or an elodea species. I have seen Anubias grow just via some daylight or normal lightbulbs.
>>2145207
Thanks! I've admittedly never tried to do plants. How many would I need for, say, a 5 gallon? And how can I tell if I'm buying healthy plants that aren't carrying any parasites or something?
>>2145210
real plants are no rocket science. If I were you; I'd hit up craigslist and look for local fishkeepers that sell their plants. you can get a much better deal there, compared to buying in store.
Only real "parasites" you can get are either snails or planaria. For snails you can check the leaves for egg clutches (just google ramshorn egg clutch) but even if they happen to get in your tank, they won't do nothing, unless you overfeed and are even beneficial for cleaning up the bottom and surfaces
planaria are harder to spot, but even if you happen to get them, they would only be an issue if you wanted to start breeding shrimp, cuz they go after baby shrimplets.
For lighting, they plants I mentioned really would be fine with any light. You can also get some floating plants like duckweed or water lettuce to provide cover for your betta. These floaters also drain all the nitrates, same as elodea and other fast growing stem plants.
>>2145210
>>2145214
Bettas thrive in heavy planted tanks, since you got 5 gallons, its hard to judge "how many" but If you bay 2 bundles of elodea, 1 hand full of swimming plants and a medium sized anubias and even some cheap java moss or marimos moss balls in conjunction with almond leaf litter, your betta will be golden
>>2145179
>>2145185
So what is the quickest way of growing plants? I wanna know what to get on my next petsmart trip.
I have 4 amazon swords and 5 stalks of wisteria planted in regular gravel and two clumps of java fern tied to driftwood in a 20 gal.
>>2145218
I dont think dwarf cories like the species mentioned should be a problem, considering they mostly reach the size of like 2, 5-3, 5cm
>>2145139
Here's some pics. I tried my best not to get them overexposed. The one blank area behind my wood has more althernanthera growing which will show up after they grown big enough and make that background red.
>>2145225
Uhh, Amazon swords are okay. But tend to melt after awhile. I'd recommend fast growing stalk plants like ludwigia. Also if you can find a place to get some, try to get pearlweed. It grows insanely fast once you getvit started and it carpets well if you keep up on it.
>>2145229
Left side detail. Need to prune those althernanthera a bit and remove old leaves.
>>2145231
Right side detail. Its hard to capture the colour of my ludwigia repens rubin, but it really turns bright red and enjoys the higher light. Sadly looks overexposed.
As a general note, I am getting rid of the dwarf anubias and replace it with bucephalandra lamandau metallic blue this weak. My anubias doesnt really like the higher light.
>>2145225
Any fast growing stem plant, hygrophila, ludwigia, rotala, etc. Althernanthera if you got good light - for carpenting you could try the one >>2145230 mentioned, or marsilea hirsuta, just beware that it might be hard to grow on gravel, compared to smaller substrate and could be iffy, when your lught is not at least in the medium level of brightness.
My tank is feeling a little empty since I rescaped it
What would be good to add to my 30 gallon with:
2 Bolivian Rams
7 Neon Tetras
5 Amano Shrimp
Also looking for tips on maybe making it less symmetrical... and adding background plants. I'm tentatively working on adding better lighting too.
How good is this deal, /an/?
He just asked me what I can offer, so he's willing to negotiate I guess because he really needs to sell.
>>2145245
All included with the fish, rock, lighting (led even) 400 sounds like a good deal. If you would buy all that in retail you would end up with at least double the price. Of course inspect everything thouroughly before buying.
>>2145249
I honestly don't have the money to spend on it which is the sad part.
>>2145241
I'd add some rockwork, like dragonstone is cheap and has a nice structure/colour. For the Background you could go with cabomba/hygrophila if you feel cheap/are not sure if your lighting is good enough. Otherwise Ludwigia repens would be nice.
Structuring wise, I get most inspiration from other aquascapers, like james findley/thegreenmachine on youtube. Just watching his placement and listening to his explanations gives a great insight.
Also, if that's an anubias buried there in your tank, try to bind it to the would instead of burying the rhyzome in substrate. It might foul up and release toxins.
Moss is also always a great addition.
>>2145251
You often find great bargains on craigslist - what's the maximum you could spend? If he really needs to sell, maybe you could agree on 300-350 or ask if he would be ok with you paying 200 the first month and 100 per month for the next 2 months.
>>2145132
>dat dank moss ball
I jelly, anon.
>>2145225
Go on eBay and get some Osmocote+ root tabs, since gravel doesn't have any nutrients for the plants' roots.
Is PetSmart the only place you can get plants from? As far as stuff they carry, anacharis, wisteria, and rotala grow pretty quickly and aren't too hard to take care of. A little more difficult would be things like Alternantherina reineckii cardinalis (or whatever they call it), Limnophylla heterophylla (purple mudwort?), and Staurogyne repens. I don't know how well those would do with plain gravel, though.
You could also look into liquid carbon supplements (Seachem Flourish Excel or API CO2 booster) and liquid fertilizers (Seachem Flourish Comprehensive) to speed up plant growth.
>>2145210
All you have to do is get a couple good sized buckets, get some aquarium salt, measure out a full dose of salt for the amount of water in one of the buckets. (make sure that the water is completely dechlorinated beforehand in both buckets.)
Then give each plant you have a very thorough swishing around in the salted water, before giving them a thorough rinse in the non salted bucket.
>>2145227
I wouldn't, personally. They're small, but they like to swim around a lot and do best if you have a fairly large group. I had some in a 10 gallon and they were always buzzing around. If anon wants something moving around near the bottom of the tank, some larger Amano shrimp might be a better fit.
Would it be cruel to keep a three spot gourami in a 20g long aquarium?
>>2145286
I used co2 for a while but it lowered my ph. Haven't been dosing this week at all
>>2145289
That's true, maybe I havent considered that, since I also got them in a 60l which should be 10gal converted.
>>2145241
Bump up the neon school to 12-15 and get something for the bottom, like corydoras, khuli loaches, or otos. If you're interested in having a larger centerpiece fish, you could look into a medium sized, peaceful gourami like a pearl, moonlight, or leopard.
Doing a fishless cycle here, can I add plants now?
4ppm ammonia and 0 nitrates and nitrites.
Ammonia doesn't bother plants at all, right?
Yes, unless you were super diligent about water changes and had a nice filtration set up.
>>2145290
Seriously fish says 3 spot gouramis require at least 36x12x12 aquariums. There are smaller gouramis that will be perfect for a 20 long, like Thick Lipped, Banded, and Dwarf that are still relatively big
>>2145339
go ahead and add plants. plants prefer ammonia
can i feed my tetras betta pellets?
are vanilla lobsters and white ghost lobsters the same thing?
saw a vanilla for sale at petco and I kinda wanna nab him, but is he's gonna grow a foot long there's no way my 36 gallon will be big enough for him
>>2145371
Sure, if you want your tetras to turn into bettas.
>>2145348
I had my heart set on a three spot gourami.
I'll have to wait until I get the space for a larger tank then.
>>2145383
Just look at it as a crawfish/crayfish
They get roughly 6-8 inches usually no more than 5 inches though. They cant live with anything, they will eat any fish that are too close or any that cant get away. 36 galons should be adequate if you present it with lots if hides and possibly some hardy plants.
>accidentally a whole pea into my betta tank
>dammit I didnt get to shell or crush it, better fish it ou-
>three girls nip it at the same time
>pea goes flying in a random direction
>betta give chase
>one grabs and shakes the pea like a dog before letting go
>another grabs onto it and carries it to the bottom of the tank
>another knocks it out of their mouth and shakes it violently
>pea skin finally tears, pea guts everywhere
>bettas go in for the kill
>pea chunks and gravel kicked up everywhere
>looks like a blender was turned on under my plants
>pea guts completely disappear
>only sign that anything happened is the empty peaskin floating at the bottom and 4 plump bellies
Huh
>>2145424
So I have this nasty bacterial bloom on the mopani wood that I keep in my baby painted turtle's 30 gallon tank. I heard fish will eat this, so do you guys think I could get away with keeping a rubbernose or bristlenose pleco in there with the turtle? I already have it massively overfiltered, with a 60 gallon filter on one side and a 20 gallon sponge filter on the other.
Would this be okay? Besides the turtle possibly trying to eat the fish, would there be any issues from this? Again, it's just a baby turtle, only about 2-2.5 inches shell diameter
>>2145537
should be fine
>>2145537
The only other issue I can think of is there's some stories of ballsy plecos latching on a turtle's shell and boring a hole through it but probably more common with larger plecos
They should be fine and provide the fish cover if you wanna help it survive , and just keep an eye if the pleco harasses the turtle excessively (they can clear the algae that grows on the turtle's shell though)
>>2145537
That turtle is most definitely gonna eat that fish. If I were you I would put the fish in and watch it for about 30minutes if the turtle doesn't eat it. Then it should be fine. But just remember there is a chance your fish won't be there.
Will a low light vase with 4-5 ghost shrimp, marimo, and a little driftwood work unfiltered? I've set up two so far with conditioned water but nothing inside yet.
Pic related, pretty much what I want.
Suggestions for low light plants that will do well?
Suggestions for substrate, etc are more than welcome.
>>2145424
My male betta does this to an algae wafer all by himself and eventually gives up.
To all the people who have tanks like >>2145229
How the fuck do you clean that? I just have a basic 20 gallon with gravel and a few peices of drift wood and the amount of shit i siphon out every week is astonishing.
How would you even go about siphoning a tank like that? Is there another way to clean it?
>>2145595
You don't clean it, all you do are water changes.
>>2145595
To keep a tank clean like that what I do is keep snails in it. They breed like crazy eat the waste. They also are great because my fish wont eat them. ( He's a largemouth bass)
>>2145608
Must be a pretty big tank, those bastards get to almost 3 feet!
>>2145618
Im talking about snails they get like half an inch long.
Would this be alright to use to start my red cherry shrimp tank?
>>2145653
As long as it's just shrimp then why the hell not.
The box says five gallons, I'm just curious, but would four to five white/gold cloud mountain minnows fit in a five gallon? If they are the ONLY fish in it?
If yes, would it be possible to have more in the school than that if it was a heavily planted walstad tank with a shit load of filtration?
Would mosquito rasboras make a nice tank-mate for a single male betta in a 20 gallon walstad tank?
>>2145595
What others tell you, I dont clean the substrate. My trumpet snails, ramshorn snails, cories and shrimp keep it clean for me. My plants and their roots also absorb a lot.
I think small grain substrate is also less prone to becoming dirty, conpared to coarse gravel.
Never had any nitrate issues with it. All pristine.
>>2145383
>See Vanilla Lobster at Petco
>Go back a few days later
>He is kill
>>2145753
i have question for you /aq/,
where were you when vanilla lobster was kill?
i was on /gif/ masturbating like a furious to GILFs
>>2145575
Bristlenose are better known for scraping on wood.
>>2145587
Get some kind of emersed/floating plant in there, since they'll do a much better job of cleaning the water versus submerged plants. I have java moss, java fern, hornwort, marimo, and salvinia in my windowsill tank. Other good ones would be Anubias, Bucephalandra, or Cryptocoryne. For floating/emersed plants, frogbit, giant duckweed, water lettuce, peace lily, pothos, wandering Jew, or lucky bamboo are good.
>>2145679
Kind of cramped for white clouds. Microrasboras or CPDs would be better. If you want something that doesn't need a heater, 2 or 3 endlers would work.
>>2145595
The whole point of having live plants is that they turn the animal waste in the water and on the bottom of the tank into fertilizer.
I will never understand why some anons use ferts and root tabs to keep their plants alive. All you have to do is get the right kind of substrate and it all decomposes into dirt as the plants absorb it.
You don't even need shrimp/snails/bottom dwelling fish to "keep it clean" although it does speed up the over all process quite well.
The real reason why you want those kinds of tank mates is because they help aerate the soil.
>>2145745
Mosquito rasboras and betta are a pretty popular combination. Should be fine.
>>2145780
No offense but all of those fish look butt ugly to me. I think I am getting the same vibe from the pictures of endlers on google that many freshwater enthusiasts get when they see saltwater aquariums under those neon lights.
The reason why I like cloud minnows is that they are simple but still beautiful. Plus, the golden variety is great for when you like the look of goldfish, but obviously don't want to be that shit that keeps one locked in a tiny ass tank it's whole miserably short life.
What about tetras? Aren't there a breed of tetra that looks pretty much exactly like white cloud mountain minnows, complete with the little bit of red on the fins and head?
>>2145790
There are ember tetras (see pic) if you like, but I'd rather put them in a 10 gal, despite them only being 2-3cm
Otherwise, there are species of tetras that resemble Mountain Minnows more closely, like Aphyocharax anisitsi, but they get way too big for 5 gallon, since they grow to be 5-6cm.
>>2145790
Sounds like bloodfin or rummynose, which aren't suitable.
There are different colorations of endlers you could look into (lime green, Japanese blue, chili) if you dislike the wild coloration, but those could be hard to find.
Boraras and Microdevario spp. are pretty simple looking, or you could do a pair of sparkling pygmy gourami (Trichopsis pumila). Any of those are going to need to be kept in the 76-80°F range.
What should one do if one fish appears very ill and another seems perfectly fine and you don't have a "quarantine tank" of any sort?
Also, any idea why a fish would be lethargic and bottom-sitting with almost no outward symptoms besides these?
I was thinking air bladder/ constipation issues but I've no clue really.
>>2145857
get a bucket with your aquarium water and an airstone. and use that to monitor and medicate
>Find Ohko Dragon Stone at a LFS
>5.99USD per pound
>Just 10-15lbs woukd be 60 to 90 bucks
What did I expect for an aesthetically pleasing hardscape in high demand? Guess I'll stick with river rock
used to have a fish tank, with 20-ish fish.
till I started to kill them all, my parent never knew why they were dissapearing, to the point there were only 3 left, and they sold the aquarium stuffs.
to this day I regret it, and feel like shit, I guess I was just a dumb kid with a murderous streak.
Rate my fish
>>2146005
Wet/10
>>2145968
http://www.ebay.com/itm/152025454523
>>2146005
270/360
What do /an/
>>2146089
Charge your phone, then get the fish.
>>2146089
Do you have a big enough tank for an arowana?
HOW THE FUCK are you meant to thread co2 tubing onto glass check valves?????
The check valve is about double the size of the co2 tubing, I've tried heating it and stretching but nothing works
>>2146093
Not yet, just a 20 long. But it's occupied
>>2146105
How big you plan to get? That's a big ole fishy.
My betta is 3 and pretty clearly near the end of his life. I had him in a 10 gallon and did weekly water changes, keeping track of ammonia levels. Is it because he's a pet store bred fish or did I really fuck up? I've heard of bettas living in shitty bowls for like 5 years.
>>2146105
More pics of the salamander, Please?
Other than my display and breeder tanks, i got this guy too. The species is near extinction.
How do i into a red cherry shrimp colony. Can someone link me to some good guides.
>>2146123
That's probably what it was, his gills probably took so much ammonia damage that it permanently shortened his life.
It's unfortunate, but I hope you learned not to buy fish from a place that neglects them.
>>2146164
http://www.theshrimpfarm.com/articles/cherry_shrimp_breeding.php
Pretty spot on and concise. Wanna sell them for profit or just have many shrimps? If you wanna make money, you should look into grading and selecting them.
>>2146180
What would you class my breeder male at?
>>2146192
Heres a better picture. The males tend to to stay further from the edges so its hard to use ny macro lense on them.
>>2146160
It's an axolatol but yes. His names Alex... Alex the axolatol.
>>2146192
Looks high to me, but I'm not an rcs expert, maybe the graphic helps,
You need multiple good ones like 20-30ish if you want to work from a 10gal tank semi commercially and have a somewhat stable gene pool. Always be ready to reintroduce fresh high grade genes and sell off low grades every 2-3 months.
One anon here scouted high grades from pet stores and private breeders from his area iirc, so If you wanna save money and dont wanna blow 15$ per shrimp, look for 'mislabeled' or unlabeled red shrimp.
>>2146246
That guy is so cool. So its a "mexican salamander"? Thats what comes up at least when i look up axolotl. It looks like a tiger salamander from its coloration and head size.
>>2146246
Don't wanna come off as a know-it-all, but afaik, they called axolotl.
But looks great and healthy. I always wanted to have some, but heard they don't like higher temps, which might occur with me living under the roof of my appartment-building in central europe during summer.
Do you cool your tank when it gets too hot? I heard of people keeping axolotls way above their recommended temperatures without them being affected.
>>2146258
>It looks like a tiger salamander
they're the same genus.
they used to be considered the same species, but DNA evidence switched that around some.
>>2146253
Oh i know, i bred these shrimp from 5 low-mid grades. I just haven't seen or heard of people having males look almost "painted".
This is my video of my display shrimp that i will use to add genetic diversity my breeders are much nicer than these.
https://youtu.be/6lz09ZGV_WI
>>2146264
Those legs look really almost painted, indeed. You may have some great pool at hand for breeding.
I'm currently working on breeding blue dream shrimp, since breeders in my area don't provide them and pet shops ask for 10 $ after conversion here so I might be able to provide the pet shop with some blue dreams at a more reasonable price and get a steady and good income there while selling low grades off to private buyers.
I got 50ish higher graded ones from another breeder that gave up his breeding operation so I got a great bargain there.
>>2146263 >>2146246
Im thinking you may have mixed up your identification on that critter. It resembles a "mudpuppy" a fully aquatic salamander alot more than it resembles a axolotl/mexican walking fish/mexican salamander.
Looks like this:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necturus
Not this: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axolotl
>>2146264
get a tripod and keep your fucking camera stable. Fuck!
>>2146326
Sorry working on editing
>>2146323
Are you high? It's clearly a wild type axolotl. It doesn't have the head shape, gill shape or eye placement of a mudpuppy
I was thinking of building a 30 gallon tank (30'' long, 15'' wide, 20'' tall) since there's a place in my new house that would look dank with an aquarium cabinet.
And I want a bunch of neon tetra, because they're cool and I've always wanted some since I was a kid.
I haven't kept fish before tho so hopefully they won't all die, though I've read that they get stressed easily so some dying is to be expected. Also hope the aquarium won't explode into a billion pieces because I was a dumbass and used tempered glass.
>>2146353
This hobby rewards patience. Set up a nice planted tank for them, let it cycle as long as possible , maybe even longer than a month and add your fish.
Always do your reseaech beforehand and never buy on impulse, especially fish.
If you do it like that and maybe ask people that have sufficient experience, you and your future fish should be fine.
>three huge as fuck horseflies currently drowning in my platy tank
>platies wont eat them
>cant feed my bettas again until tomorrow
damn
So how dumb would it be to leave still water sitting out for the sole purpose of harvesting mosquito larvae to feed to my fish?
>>2146500
Not dumb at all, I've done it, just make sure you check it every 8 hours or so, don't want to give the skeeters enough time to mature.
Does anyone know a cheap way to set up aquarium plant lights? I'm almost done setting up my diy paint ball co2 system and am gonna need good lights for all the new plants in getting. I tried Dustin's fish tanks but the video he posted was useless. The king of diy is currently doing a planted build but that's gonna take a few months for him to finish so I'm looking for ideas.
>>2145069
I'm having an issue in my aquarium. It appears I am getting bubbles all over the sand and rocks in my aquarium. I don't have anything but plants in the aquarium right now. Anyone know what is causing this?
>>2146524
Did you just Start it? Using co2? Any other things you could be using?
>>2146527
I've had the tank for about a month. It's a ten gallon aquarium with a sponge filter and some live plants. I don't use any CO2, I leave it mostly untouched except for water changes.
>>2146534
That happens to my tank when the water heats up more than normal. It got up to 86F and there were tiny bubbles everywhere. It goes away in a day or two.
>>2146534
This happens during cycling sometimes, your sand and rocks are probably just expelling some built up gasses in them. If you're truly worried you could do a water test, but I'd wait it out.
>>2146524
When you use tap water sometimes it travels miles in the pipes and gets compressed, then when you freshen up your tank water with it, it decompresses when you pour it into your tank causing bubbles to form and stick to anything that has a large surfacearea. Everytime i do a water change it does the same thing when i get lots of bubbles like my plants are "pearling" everywhere including the glass. Its nothing bad, just means your tap water comes out a bit compressed. If you really want it to stop just leave the bucket out for about 2-24 hours prior to filling the tank.
>>2146105
For an a rowan a I hope your planning on at least 125 gallons, all for himself. They get big and will eat any smaller fish.
Is it true that having a ton of plants and some wood in the aquarium will soften the water? I have fairly hard water and I want to keep tropical fish that do best in 2-10 dH.
>>2146558
Not that I know of or can find, the only thing I know of is filtering with Peat moss can remove some of the hardness from water, but unless you never do water changes it shouldn't be a problem.
>>2146523
Tom Barr just uses T8 shop lights.
>>2146558
Wood softens the water - plants harden it.
>>2146601
Plants harden the water? How in the world does that work?
>>2146558
Driftwood (especially Malaysian and Mopani, it seems) will release tannic acid into the water, which softens it, but also stains the water yellow/brown. Peat and oak/catappa leaves work in the same way. I've not really heard of plants doing something similar except that some, like vals, can bind calcium and reduce the amount in the water.
If you want to soften the water without staining it the only really effective way is to cut it with RO/DI or distilled water.
Most tropical fish are pretty adaptable, though, so unless your water is really hard, it probably isn't necessary as long as you acclimate them slowly.
>>2146603
they don't really.
they do tend to increase pH by consuming carbonic acid (CO2), and hardening water also raises pH, but the reverse isn't necessarily true.
i.e., hardening water raises pH but raising pH doesn't necessarily harden water.
>>2146606
I actually would prefer the tannin stain in my aquarium it would look more realistic that way. I have some malaysian driftwood on the way but I don't think it'll do much to affect the water.
My tap has a dH of 18, so it's definitely hard. The pH is 8.0, again, not the best pH for most tropical fish.
>>2146523
In general you can get away with a T8 shop light from Home Depot. Get a bulb with 5000K+, preferably 6500K, and run it on a timer 12-14 hours per day.
>angelfish in overgrown jungle tank acting weird
>look closer
>what are those little spots on the Amazon sword?
>clearly angelfish eggs, you dolt
>hundreds of eggs
>many, many hundreds of eggs
>I didn't ask for this
Time to buy a few growout tanks.
>>2146658
What kind of temperatures do Angelfish typically enjoy being in? They're lovely fish.
>>2146680
Mine spawned at 78, but were kept at 74 for a long time and were growing just fine. I think 78-82 is a pretty good number.
Is there any way to tell the gender of a Bristle-nosed pleco when it's still young
Mine is still tiny at about 1.5" what should I be looking for?
>>2145679
5 gallons is too small for a school of anything but microrasbora.
Genuine concern here, one of my Amano shrimps have died, however, my parameters are 0/0/0. Nitrates are zero because my plants are nitrate sponges, though I'm not sure why it died, I assume it's from old age but the rest of my amano shrimps aren't active at all.
Has anyone ever built their own tank here? If so, would you recommend it?
fish food flake brand?
>>2146724
I've built a few.
my first one was a leaking 55g that I took apart and rebuilt. I'd had it for 12 years and the seals were shot. I had sealed over them a couple times but they were still leaking so I eventually took it down and rebuilt it.
After that I rebuilt old leaking tanks that people gave me since I knew how. I got several good tanks that way. One of them I've had running for 15 years now, it's doing good.
the last tank I built was a 700g that survived almost a decade before the bottom glass cracked because the stand warped. I'm working on stripping that one and resealing it atm. Actually I haven't done much work on it in a while, but I usually don't fuck around with tanks much in the summer. I'd rather be outside.
Would I recommend it? Only if you want a very large or odd shaped tank, otherwise it's cheaper to just buy one. I think the break-even point is somewhere around 100g. If you want something bigger than that you might look into building your own. Otherwise you can't beat the price of Petsmart or Petco.
>>2146778
Thanks for the input, considering a 125G long in the future and was wondering if it'd be worth it to DIY.
Knowing me I'd probably fuck it up, and a literal ton of water would destroy everything.
>>2146762
I give my tropical fish Tetra brand food, they seem to enjoy it. I supplement it with mosquito larvae and daphnia though.
>>2146724
same anon again...
regarding difficulty, it's several hours of prep followed by 15 minutes of gluing as fast as you can. Not difficult, but if you plan on doing it alone you'll need to build a jig out of wood to hold the sides in place. I have a pic of one of mine here somewhere.
you have to work fast and extremely clean when you start gluing though. It all has to go together just right and you don't have a lot of time to do it.
>>2146781
I'd probably just buy at that size.
though you can build a 1000g for about as much as a 125 costs. So if you want bigger then building is the way to go.
>>2146786
1000G? Fuck that's huge. Would it even be possible to build a stand for that?
https://www.amazon.com/LUFFY-Giant-Marimo-Moss-Balls/dp/B00LVRRROS/ref=cm_cr_dp_asin_lnk
why so cheap?
>>2146788
lol
I'd say yes, but the stand is what broke my 700g tank. The stand held 1000g+ of water, but over time it got water under the tank and the wood swelled and cracked the bottom.
It's easy enough to build a stand strong enough to hold 1000g, but building it so it won't warp or settle over time seems to be a different thing entirely.
>>2146791
Yeah, I can imagine, I'm not even sure my house's foundation could handle a 1000G aquarium on it.
>>2146788
Also the stand was the cheap part. I think mine was about $250 worth of lumber and plywood. Perhaps I should've spent a bit more on it in retrospect.
>>2146796
Yeah, I reinforced that too.
How do I raise my alkalinity? Salt/baking soda
>>2146818
What for you wanna raise it? The fish you currently got dont need high ph. In general, dont use chemicals for that. You could use certain substrate, but again, you don't need it, even if you would wanna do it for the guppies you keep. They are adjusted to tapwater and bred there.
>>2146326
Don't be such a douche canoe, you jerk.
>>2146447
Fish them out and plop them in the fridge over night.
Tell me about Fish, why do they need the water?!
>>2146835
Well because water has readily available compounds suitable for life dissolved right in it. Compounds such as calcium carbonate, O2, magnesium carbonate and water itself, H20.
>>2146837
If I take them out, will they die?!
>>2146839
yes, but they will also die if you leave them in.
if you take them out you will die too.
just probably not at the same time they do.
>>2146844
You're a nice guy
Microdevario kubotai
Why are these little fucks so expensive? I see prices like $6 a fish.
They're tiny and supposedly very easy to breed.
>>2146713
Are you doing CO2? What's your KH?
>>2145241
That looks like shit, you should just dump it out and start over.
15gal tank
2 Lyretail mollies and 1 molly fry (still can't determine which one actually had the baby tho)
3 Neon tetras
1 albino cory
3 Amano shrimp
2 Cherry shrimp which are tiny as fuck
4 snails
>>2146896
Holy shit, get that gore off this board asap.
>>2146883
same reason why galaxy rasbora are so overpriced. They are trending and people are willing to pay for them.
>>2146905
You SICK motherfucking puppy
[spoiler]Also if those are real plants on the left and right, make sure their rhizomes aren't buried or else they'll rot and die[/spoiler]
>>2146798
room looks comfy senpai
>>2145132 here, I'm gonna be tearing my tank down soon and rescaping. Was wondering for some suggestions on more plants to add, specifically fast growing tall plants. Unfortunately, my favorite online place is out of Italian Vals. These are the other plants I'll be adding (after taking out my moss)
>>2145278
Too dank man, shit needs to be trimmed way too much and it gets everywhere
>>2146896
>only 3 neons
>only 1 cory cat
Do you like watching fish suffer? Is that what gets you off, you sick fuck?
Melodrama aside, you really should get them some friends to minimize stress.
>>2146887
No CO2, and can't measure my kH at the moment. I guess my amano bro had to reach the light one day.
Sup senpai, just bought a 10 gallon tank. What fishies should I put in it?
>>2146246
I fucking love axolotls. What a qt
Is Java Moss the best carpeting plant? Or should I try something else.
>>2147097
take it to the vet
>>2146658
Crisis averted! They ate the eggs.
>>2146995
Rotala rotundifolia is probably my favorite plant. Give it high light and CO2 please. It's too pretty not to.
>>2147097
A honey gourami and a school of pygmy corydoras.
>Have to move within 2 weeks or so, no exact date when
>Having to move a full 40 breeder full of substrate, hardscape, plants, livestock, equipment, and stand
>Having to move an additional 29g quarantine tank with equipment and stand
>May have to move again within 6 months
I should really just downgrade to a 10-20g tank at this point if I want to keep fish wherever I go. Wonder where I can sell the tanks and equipment here in Central/Southern California, maybe craigslist?
>>2147158
craigslist might be your best bet, decent amount of people want fish tanks depending on your area
>>2147109
Moss carpets are dumb. Get a real carpeting plant.
>>2147158
Moving live fish/plants/filters isn't necessarily going to be easier in a small tank. The actual tank itself is going to be inconvenient either way, so my suggestion is to keep the 40 and 29.
>>2147158
Nah, keep your existing tanks, a 40G and 29 is easy to move, but a fully stocked 120G is very painful to move. Takes an hour just to drain that shit.
>>2147117
Typical fish, eating their own offspring like that.
>>2147344
Fucking fish man, how have they survived all this time?
>>2147352
Probably by spamming eggs everywhere and forgetting to eat them all.
>>2147265
>>2147340
Moving a 29g and 40b at once, with their stands, and all the contents inside the tank isn't something I can necessarily do by myself now and in the future. It's such a pain in the ass, that I'm seriously contemplating downgrading to just a single 20g high
Waterchanges weekly on my 40b since the summer has started is a pain in the ass too, it would be nice to just have a smaller tank in the kitchen countertop to reduce the work
>>2147369
A full 20g high is gonna weigh 200 pounds, you're gonna have to deconstruct it anyways. If you're gonna be moving frequently I'd suggest selling the fish and equipment.
speaking of fish eating their young, what's a good way to catch near invisible platy fry? I noticed a few in my big tank and would like to catch and move them to a smaller tank were they wont be eaten by all the adults
>>2147383
With a net, at this point since they're fry you're better off moving the other fish.
>>2147383
If you're breeding fish, always remove the parents not the fry. Not only is it much easier, but the baby fish are much more sensitive to changes in the water.
My 20 gal tank came with a hood that says 25watts max, does that mean per bulb or in total?
Cuz I just read this today and I've had two 15watt bulbs on it for a couple of months now.
Also, any cheap/convenient ways to increase wattage for plants to grow?
>>2145069
Starting a freshwater 90g, what should I stock it with?
Been thinking about a river/stream scape, and maybe using some kind of powerhead setup to put some current, and then use hardscape to create some low/no flow zones.
Either that or a really dense jungle, kind of a bargain basement version of pic related.
>>2147404
Add some daylight CFL bulbs to your lighting setup, cheap as fuck.
Or you can swap the fluorescent tubes with high output LED "fluorescent" tubes.
>>2147411
Fill it with male Bettas and let the blood of weaklings color the hardscape.
>"Do a Walstad method, the plants will out-compete all of the algae!"
>k m8
>do Walstad method
>brown algae fucking everywhere while my plants are dying off
Ah yes, quality advice.
>>2147451
Diatoms are natural in every tank setup ever, get a Tiger Nerite from Petco/Petsmart and they'll scrub out your tank in a week
>>2147451
Did you read her book, or just do what the internet calls "Walstad?" She doesn't say you'll never have algae.
Second amano died, saw a single molt, last amano is idling by.
Test:
neon yellow/0/0
>>2147466
How's their food supply?
>>2147414
My hood is for tube lights and it says 25wats maximum :/
I don't wanna buy another hood, is there a way to keep the wattage low but the light high or does that sound retarded? Forgive me, this is not my forte in life.
>>2147378
A 20 would be easier to move simply by being small enough that anon could get their arms around the thing. Anything over three gallons should be at least partially drained to move safely.
>>2147404
25 watts per bulb, but if you're growing plants, you'll need to use CFLs, and a 25 watt CFL isn't going to fit in a hood like that. Two of the typical 13-15 watt daylight or cool white CFLs is enough to grow low-medium light plants.
>>2147513
>Is there a way to keep wattage low but the light high?
Yes, LED tubes are more efficient so they require less watts but provide more light.
Give me a sec and I'll link an example of what I mean.
Anyone have any recommendations for moving fish? I have a 29 gallon with 1 red tail shark, 2 gold gourmari, 7 black skirt teras, 2 cory cats, 1 some sort of not common pleco, and a 38 cent goldfish who is apparently impervious to everything. Also some ghost and amano shrimp I have not see for 2 weeks. Move is about a half hour or so away.
Also will increasing my tetra school size prevent bullying from the redtail shark or do i need to find him a new home?
>>2145069
One of my mystery snails died suddenly. When I cleaned out the shell I noticed this black rough patch stuck on the interior that wouldn't wash off. What is this? Could it be responsible for his death, or perhaps it's a symptom of what killed him?
>>2147513
https://www.amazon.com/Fulight%C2%AE-Easy-Installing-Clear-Tube-Light/dp/B00WL7YW2M/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1466132137&sr=8-10&keywords=daylight+led+tube
LED lighting disguised as a fluorescent tube. Takes less power than a fluorescent but makes more light.
How to get rid of green algae on a planted tank?
>>2147352
By not living in aquariums naturally.
>>2147526
Adjust CO2, fertilizer or lighting until fixed.
Or get snails.
>>2147530
I have plenty of lighting and fertilizer but no CO2 which I plan to start this week.
Would adding regular CO2 to a planted tank without any help?
May have to reduce lighting time.
>>2147531
Probably, too much fertilizer and lighting will lead to algae, gotta balance it out with some CO2.
>>2147531
Cut back on fertilizer and lighting, also move it out of direct sunlight if your plants near a window. Increasing water flow helps to. Other than that its just removing the shit yourself. Co2 could help but it's all about balance.
That feeling...
>>2147558
When you trim you plants, and realize you're throwing away nearly $120+ in plants.
>>2147560
Thought this was really upside down for a second, wonder if it could be done?
also why not sell/donate the trimmings?
>>2147566
Upside down plants? Sure you'd just need to pump water from the tank to the planted material up top and some how either have it come back through or use a replacement system. It's entirely possible just not practical.
>>2147566
I am planning to start selling them soon, just need my business license.
That would be interesting to have an upside-down aquascape.
>>2147574
but dont plants grow toward their lightsource? You'd have to have your lights like... under the tank
>>2147575
Cut holes in the top of the tankstand and use the bottom glass panel to shine the light through?
my 75 gal tank is cycled.
going to stock it with plants. Guppies, platy, corys. ghost shrimp and id like some cardinal tetra, but they are hard to find here ive never seen them where i live, but ill get neon tetra in place.
Going to be a nice set up, ive had tank all my life. i havent had fish in 4 years so im pumped.
Tank is painted black in the background. I like doing a sand and plant sub.
Ill get picks once fish are inside.
nothing to look at but a few plants right now.
>>2147582
Never heard of a "Australian tetra". Also poisonous?
What you see are just normal neon tetras and black neon tetras. Also don't mind my angel fish, he had damage done to his eye when i recived him from someone that couldn't care for him properly. Im hop8ng it heals up and hope he doesn't lose much sight out of the eye.
>>2147594
name the angel fish SCAR
>>2147594
>even the Angelfish are battlescarred in Australia
>>2147593
why ghost shrimp? I'd advise amano shrimps. You can find them fairly cheap at most shops. Also neons are better anyways they school alot better in high numbers. I actually need to add more to my tank. just the place i go to, won't have their dollar a neon sale.
>>2147597
>>2147604
He's kind if two faced though. Look how photogenic he is on his "good" side.
>>2147605
Not him but ghost shrimp are 33 cents a piece so it's hard to feel bad if they die.
>>2147607
>Hello i'll be your rapist tonight
my molly gave birth!!! Again!!! I now have 9 fry :o
>>2147608
Yeah, i guess. If you plan to kill alot of your stock off then yeah go cheap. But If you have patience your chances of success go higher. Which lets you have much better quality critters.
Also, just remember every shrimp has its own 1001 ways to be killed.
>>2146912
>using spoilers
You're from /co/, aren't you?
Can someone please explain what makes driftwood different from normal wood? What makes it different from a piece of tree debris.
>>2147682
It's had most of the toxic turpenoids leached out of it and it's often been submerged in water long enough that the cells have ruptured and it no longer floats.
>>2147683
I like your explanation, very concise. Time to do some research on turpenoids.
Thanks.
>>2147685
np.
I spelt it wrong though.
Terpenoids.
>>2147687
I got one more question for you, since you seem pretty knowledgeable.
How does the process of leaching out terpenoids/terpenes work?
>>2147690
they're lighter than water so if you soak a bit of wood long enough they'll just float out of the thing.
it takes a long time and it requires the wood to decompose some. But over time all the toxins wash out.
>>2147694
Cool stuff, plants are amazing.
A long time as in 6-12 months?
>>2147668
good guess, but I'm from /r9k/
>>2147704
do you buy fish with neetbux?
>>2147705
Nope, with GBP. I didn't get tendies for a week, but it was worth it!
Hey /aq/ one of my guppies jumped out my tank, I have now put the glass lid on but it really seems to be effecting my light. Is there anything I can do to stop my plants from dying?
>>2147524
>>2147515
This what I have to work with is the problem :\ do I need to just buy another hood? Or is there a bulb I can fit in here? LED's seem too long and they wouldn't connect. Pic related is what petsmart thought would be ok, but I now realize it's not nearly enough for 20gals.
>>2147715
Oh jeez, those are incandescent bulbs. You'll definitely need a new hood with all new lights.
>>2147715
I'd advise you to get an Eheim-Power LED appropriate for your tank volume/plant needs.You can get them used for under 100$, depending on size.
>>2147715
What you can do is get the strips of LED lights. You'll need some reflective tape or aluminum tape to like the inside if the hood, then if you can remove the old lighting fixture out of the hood. Then line the inside of the hood with your LED strips, silicone the connector points to hel against water damage. Then let it cure, and poof you got a new led light setup for like 60 bucks.
Does anybody know good ways to grow duckweed for me it just seems to disappear.
>>2147817
You have goldfish, thats their favorite food. So goodluck growing alot with them in the tank.
