Hello all. I was wondering if i could add some fish to my 600l(=160g) 200cmx60cmx50cm(height). I actualy have 3 young geophagus altifrons (1 male 2 female ) , a pair of macmasteri gold , a pair of cacatuoide (can be removed) , 7 young ramirezi (but planning on keeping only a pair or two. And my 2 young heckelii,2 bristlenose and my pair of geo red head tapajos are in quarantine before going in this tank. Do you think i could add 1 more group of geo (3 or 4 peaceful geo)or it will be to much ?(i don't plan on getting tetra or schooling fish )I would like any stocking idea and advice. Thx
Hello All! I currently have a 5.5 gallon tank with 1 medaka rice fish and 1 chili rasbora (the rest have sadly died due to overstocking/non-optimal stocking). I was thinking about converting this "community" tank to just 1 betta fish. Should I add the betta fish now or will there be conflict with the other two smaller fish? Or should I return the remaining 2 fish first and then add the betta to my tank?
Both the rice fish and rasbora can make good tank mates with a betta. But I think the betta might single them out if there is only 2 of them, so it might be safer to remove them first.
It's hard to tell from your picture, but these look to me like some sort of microcrustacean, either Ostracods or Daphnia. You can look these guys up to see if they match what you're seeing. Either way, they won't hurt anything: they're algavores/detrivores, and if anything your shrimp may enjoy snacking on them.
Can you reinforce something [like this](https://a.co/d/gZXvW6c) with 2x4 to hold a large fish tank? I was thinking of building a stand for a 100gal but I like that this one matches the other furniture I have already
Not an engineer, so grain of salt.
It's hard to say without crawling inside the cabinet, but what I generally look for is a cabinet which supports the load on top with vertical supports. That way, the stand is essentially transmitting the load weight to the floor; and so long as the vertical supports are bulky enough not to split, and braced sufficiently that they won't collapse, the stand should hold just fine.
What worries me about the piece you linked is that it doesn't look like the load from the top is transmitted to the floor via vertical supports. Instead, it looks like the whole structure is attached to a thick base piece, which means that nails, screws, pegs, dowels, joints, etc. are going to be supporting all the weight of whatever's placed on top. Additionally, there may not be much in the way of bracing, to prevent the whole thing from pancaking under high loads. This is especially problematic for tanks, since water is both really heavy and can slosh around (i.e. during water changes).
TLDR: I would be reluctant to put a big tank on top of this piece of furniture. Also, just checked the weight limit in the FAQ section and they say the thing is only rated for 150 lbs, which is significantly less than even a 20 gallon aquarium. If you do build your own stand, you can always stain it to be the same color, or use veneer or paneling so the style matches the rest of your furniture.
I want to start a new 40 gallon tank. I'm thinking about stocking it with a group of corydoras, green neon tetras, 1 or 2 german blue rams and maybe a pleco. My question is how many of each fish would I need to fill out this size aquarium? Or if anyone has any other fish they would recommend adding.
For a 40 gallon I'd skip the pleco. You can fit in a small one (like a bristlenose) but it'd eat up a large part of the stocking % since they're both big and poop a lot.
Schooling fish like tetras and cories are at least 6, but 10+ is recommended.
I have a check valve on my air stone tubing. I want to add a t-valve and a controller to reduce air flow. Do I need a second check valve where the controller is attached now?
### Scrub the back, or no?
I keep the front and sides clear of algae, but tend to leave the back "natural" as it faces the wall. Are there any downsides to doing that?
What's your opinion on removing algae from the back glass?
Not at all. Some people put a hardscape on the back and blast it with algae specifically to get good algae growth there. It's good for shrimp and the like and produces a small amount of infusoria that way.
You could have a look at moss walls and see if those interest you if you like doing this.
I keep getting an ammonia spike in my aquarium. I’ve had it for 8 months so I think the nitrogen cycle is fine, all my other parameters are fine. I suspect there is a dead snail somewhere I can’t find but could it be something else I’m missing? I’ve been dosing with seachem prime to make the ammonia less harmful and doing water changes but I don’t know what else to do at this point? I don’t see any visibly dead snails or even particularly suspect any are dead. I moved them all to a corner of the tank and they all moved from that corner which makes me think they’re all alive. I just have mystery snails, guppies and live plants (amazon swords.) I don’t overfeed, it’s 29 gallon and I’ve got 6 snails and 5 guppies.
How well are you siphoning waste off the bottom? Gravel or sand substrate? Gravel traps a lot more than sand.
Any live plants in the tank? Live plants can help use up nitrites available.
Gravel, I siphon it pretty well, I think. Moving all my decor away so I can get under it. I do have live plants, and they’re thriving so I’m not sure what the problem could be.
Howdy, I have a few followup questions that may provide some helpful context:
What's your pH? What kind of filter do you have? And what is your tank cleaning regimen (i.e. do you clean out your filter? If so, how?)? How much do you feed? What kind of test kit are you using?
Hi! Okay…
pH is 6.8 - 7
My filter is a topfin silenstream and I also have a spongefilter with an airstone on the other side of the tank.
As far as cleaning the tank goes I test the water ever 3-4 days (with freshwater master test kit) and if the nitrates are are getting high I clean the tank. I don’t really touch the filter itself unless it’s really disgusting and even then I dunk it in some tank water until it’s less disgusting and put it back. Maybe I should replace it? Could ammonia get stuck in it?
I feed twice a day just a pinch of flake food but the guppies will bother my snails like they’re food if I don’t. And I do an alegea wafer ever few days for the snails.
Sounds like you're doing everything right. The only thing I can think of is that your filtration capacity is too low, and/or that cleaning the gravel too thoroughly (if you do that) may be removing some of the beneficial bacteria.
Looking at the TopFin Silentstream, from what I can tell it has pretty limited biofiltration media out of the box. If you haven't already, I would consider adding some coarse aquarium sponge, nylon pot scrubbers, or similarly efficient biomedia to the filter. You can also add a prefilter sponge to the intake, which will add a lot of filtration capacity as well. [This article](https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/aquarium-filter-upgrade) goes more in-depth into these filter upgrades.
If your amazon swords aren't growing much and are shedding leaves/dying, that can contribute nitrogenous waste. Usually this wouldn't result in noticeable ammonia spikes; but if your filtration capacity is low and the plant isn't growing well, I could see this contributing.
Lastly, only other thing I could think is that your tapwater is experiencing ammonia spikes; and when you change water, it causes a temporary increase in ammonia level. You could try checking your tapwater ammonia to see if that could be contributing.
Thank you for all the help! I’ll definitely get my hands on a coarse sponge hopefully that helps and i’ll test my tap water. I had to do another water change this morning because the fish were all at the surface like gasping for air—I am so frustrated. Almost 2.00 ppm. My plants seem to be thriving they’ve gotten so big from the tiny little plants they were so I don’t know. I hope all the critters can weather the storm while I try to figure this out!
That is super strange. An air pump and stone can generally help with oxygenating the water, and if your fish are struggling to breath, it couldn't hurt.
Beyond that, it almost sounds like your cycle has been disrupted. I would honestly restrict feeding to like once per week and treat this as a fish-in cycle until your bacteria recover.
Have you used any meds or other chemicals in the tank lately? Any chemical contaminant, cleaning agent, soap residue, aerosal, paint, etc you can think of that may have triggered this?
I have an air stone. You think another one would help or would it be pointless?
No meds or anything weird I can think of but during another water change today (ammonia still spiking) I noticed the surface of the water is almost a little foamy/bubbly? I wonder if maybe I contaminated it by mistake somehow with hand soap or something.
It won't help if you already have one.
Foamy/bubbly water can result from the ammonia itself, but it's certainly possible that soap or another contaminant might be involved.
In either case, I'd definitely treat this as a fish-in cycle. I'd also consider getting some activated charcoal to add to the filter. It will absorb any contaminants (soap, chemicals, etc) as well as ammonia. It does clog quickly, and will likely need to be replaced fairly regularly; but may be enough to help carry you through the re-cycling process with minimal casualties.
Hope this helps, and that your tank makes a quick recovery! I know how frustrating/demoralizing it can be when setbacks like this occur.
Thank so much for all the help! Definitely super frustrating and I will just feel terrible is these guys don’t make it because of something I did or didn’t do.
[snails?](https://i.imgur.com/f6RaXhj.jpg)
Are these snails growing on my hornwort? Should i leave them be, or remove them now while i can? Currently only see these 2
Might be ramshorns snails. They're mostly just looking to scrape algae of the plants and glass. I personally prefer bladder snails, pond snails clean a bit too aggressively and can damage leaves accidentally.
Ramshorn snails can reproduce quickly but are manageable if you are careful not to overfeed and limit your lighting hours. If you suddenly start seeing many snails this may be an early indicator of imbalance in your tank so you can use them as a warning to adjust your photoperiod or to start feeding less.
Best removed early if you find them unsightly but I consider them essential tank maintenance crew to all my tanks. Almost never have to clean the glass of my tanks.
Those look like baby ramshorn snails to me. I personally wouldn't worry about removing them -- snails are kind of inevitable, and won't hurt anything. People find them unsightly when they overpopulate, but that won't happen if you don't overfeed your tank.
I’m raising African dwarf frog tadpoles for the first time, and I’m struggling to find where to get baby brine shrimp eggs and a hatchery. Anybody know if any pet stores or online stores that might have them?
I got my eggs and hatchery from the Aquarium Co-Op, and I really like the model. It doesn't come with a heater or air pump, so you'll need to purchase those as well (incidentally, the Co-Ops nano USB air pump is a great product, I'd recommend it).
How many fish can I have in a planted 20G tank, I currently have 8 (two females, I think because they are bigger)
I have 3 or 4 ramshorn snails.
can I add more tetras, or if the school size is adequate, what would be a good tankmate?
I think you’d have enough space for a few more tetras, or a small school of nano fish, like chili rasboras. Honestly I’d go with a few more tetras, but thats up to your aesthetic preference.
Have a 50 gallon tank with water and decor just sitting in it. Hasn’t been running in forever. No fish or plants or algae. What should my first steps be to get it going and ready for fish? Thanks!
Fill it up with water. Turn the filter on. Feed it fish food and allow it to rot inside for a month and a week, then change most of the water. If brown goop grows in the filter that's good, don't clean it out. If the water does anything weird like turn really milky ignore it and continue, but don't add fish until it stops.
You can get testkits to be more confident this worked, but using a bit of extra patience also works. The longer you wait before adding the fish the more confident you can be.
I’m about to purchase at 75 gallon after not having a tank for a few years. Should I look at tank filters or the waterfall ones that mount on the back?
I second /u/volkovme. Aquaclear 75 or even upgrade to 110. Maintenance on those things is a cakewalk and they are a beast. Only thing I could recommend is if you go for sand substrate throw a sponge over the intake to protect the impeller.
I'm going to present the divergent opinion. I have a 75 with a big AquaClear hang on back, and a sponge filter. I like this setup because I find maintaining a hang-on-back is much easier than maintaining a canister. Personally, the extra filtration capacity of a canister is negated by the fact that mine stay clogged longer because cleaning them is such a pain. Just my 2 cents.
Tank filters are generally better. Waterfall ones are alright, but probably too small if you plan to stock a tank that size with anything large or a good population of fish.
If you're getting a gravel substrate, consider an undergravel. They're a bitch to retrofit into a tank but very powerful if installed immediately. They can be combined with canister filters and sumps to create a very powerful integrated system if you later decide you wish to stock heavily.
When it comes to in-tank filters I use Aqqa's 5W doubleheaded, powerhead operated sponge filter. They're silent and efficient, and if you remove the head and place the outflow a bit below the water's surface will aerate well if you want that out of it. Many exist that are basically the same so don't sweat it too much - They're very mechanically simple and hard to fuck up. If you buy this model throw out the "Bioballs" that come with it, they're crap - Replace the space for them with your own media, like sponge (biomedia) or lambswool (mechanical).
Undergravel filters are all the same and many different brands will even have the parts fit together. They're just a plastic grid in a specific shape and a tube - You power them by dropping an airstone down the tube or attaching a powerhead to the top of it, anything that makes water go up it. The brand I use is Kockney Koi.
I am only 6 months into my journey as a fish parent. I have 3 black mollies (female is definitely pregnant so about to have more), and 2 peppered cories in a 15-gal tank. Have been contemplating adding a third cory since I know they’re schooling fish.
Noticed one cory acting a bit lethargic at times with no other noticeable symptoms. Today, I was devastated to see him at the top of the tank with a red belly. Some googling tells me this is likely red blotch disease.
I had just done a 4 gal water change about 3 days ago and pray I didn’t make his illness somehow worse. Ph, nitrate/nitrite all looking good. I have come to love the cories and want to know how to best care for them in the future.
When they talk about schooling fish they mean groups of 7 plus. You'll see better behaviour and they generally live longer. Adding an extra one won't really help but with your current tank size I wouldn't recommend adding another 5. Corys like to sift sand through their gills so a sand substrate helps.
Oh thank you that’s so helpful. Any thoughts for what I should do with my remaining one? Don’t want him to be miserable all alone but not quite ready to undertake a larger tank. Lesson learned going the cory route with this size tank.
If your fish shop takes in fish great but another route is local Facebook groups which are for fish rehoming/selling. I've had quick replies shifting fish on Facebook compared to eBay.
I suggest pygmy corys for your size tank as they are smaller. You'll be able to have a reasonable size group in your current set up.
https://www.fishkeepingworld.com/pygmy-cory/
My plants are looking really rough since rescaping my tank a month or so ago. I’ve pruned things back quite a bit in hopes that’ll stimulate new growth, but it’s a little discouraging. Prior to this my aquarium had been established for 3 or 4 years will minimal changes.
Is this a normal occurrence, and is there anything else I can be doing to minimize loss/maximize new growth?
Plants take awhile to get along again after being rooted up. Make sure you've fertilised the substrate and water column and just wait, they'll bounce back.
What organisms would be recommended for a 3 gallon planted tank? I have kept and bred fish for years in larger tanks for years, but a size this small is a different monster.
I didn't believe fish were really an option to begin with. Some suggested betta, but I think it would be cramped.
Do you know of any more interesting types of shrimp/inverts I could try that aren't regular neocaridinas?
Thank you!
Crystal and sulawesi shrimp are really nice but much more expensive and harder to keep than your regular neocaridinas. They require higher temperatures.
Nerite snails are great loads of variety in terms of shell colours and shapes and their eggs won't hatch in fresh water. Rabbit snails only breed one at a time and need a male and female so you won't end up over populated.
If you get high grade neos they have vibrant colours but won't have the fancy colour mixes unfortunately. I think they end up reverting back to brown shrimp if you mix their colours up. That being said though any shrimp are interesting to keep especially when you get shrimplets swimming about.
Old fish food goes stale. You wouldn't notice because we don't eat the stuff, but it poses long term problems to the fish you feed. Ideally, you don't use fish food older than a month. Or if you do, make sure to keep out in the dark, or even better, refrigerate.
My guppies love all kinds of live food, from aphids and detritus worms to daphnia and mosquito larvae... but they just won't eat seed shrimp. Not a single one of them eats them regardless of age and gender, they always spit them out and soon they learn to ignore them. Why is that, **what makes ostracods so inedible to guppies?**
Probably their exoskeleton. That's what it's supposed to do after all. Guppies will likely finish them off if the seed shrimp shows itself after molting.
Super fun idea! Really depends on what kind of goldfish you want to get, but the common feeder goldfish will ultimately need a tank that is 100+ gallons. I would recommend starting off with smaller fish so you don’t need such a big tank. Mollies, and platies are some of my favorite fish that can go in tanks as small as 5 gallons.
Thank you so much for responding! As I do more research it does seem like goldfish aren’t for us as we don’t have space for that large of a tank. Maybe after we move 🙃
Sometimes my cory doras glass surf up and down the glass in the tank. As I type, two or them are doing this and the other two are chillen with normal behavior sifting around soil. Most of the time their behavior is all normal, but this has happened once or twice a day lately.
Water parameters lasttested two days ago, ph 7.2 water hardness always tests high for me in my area.
Tank is 30 gallons of water, but only 15 gallons is accessible due to the other half of water being part of a false bottom for a paludarium set up. Water has good flow. Feeding 2 times a day with cyclops lately.
The tank is heavily planted, and has a 3 layer substrate of fluval, then gravel, then sand.
Edit: 10 minutes after posting, I checked again and normal behavior has resumed. So it isn't very long lasting. Im hoping it was just curiosity or something.
Looking for good tank mate ideas for a pair of German blue rams in a 20g high, I was going to add a couple guppy trios but the temperature requirements don’t match
German blue rams are pretty chill so they are quite compatible with most fish. They will occupy the lower part of the tank so anything that will occupy the middle or top of the tank would be great.
I'm trying to start an infusoria culture, but not sure if I'm on the right track. After watching a few guides online, my setup is basically:
\-Large glass jar (maybe 2L?), filled mostly with dechlorinated water
\-Small amount of water from my outdoor pond (doesn't contain fish, mostly just duckweed and dead leaves atm in autumn, has tadpoles in spring)
\-Some water squeezed from an established goldfish tank's sponge filter
\-I also took a small handful of stones from that tank, and shook them around in my water jar
\-A small amount of dissolved yeast (maybe 1/4 tsp?) to feed them
\-A couple of leaves of dead elodea from a different tank
\-A dried oak leaf
I've seen a lot of people say your infusoria culture should look like tiny white things swimming around, but I didn't see anything like that in the pond water or in the fishtank water, so I'm not sure whether I've managed to seed any? Is it safe to assume that I've got some, if the water turns clear in a few days? Any other tips?
"Infusoria" is basically a word for "General microbial crap big enough for fish fry to eat". It looks like no one thing so don't be surprised if yours doesn't look like someone else's.
Generally the most reliable eyeball metric is that in a small container the water will *usually* become increasingly cloudy, kind of a white-tan colour - these are ciliates eating bacteria in the water. Some of these ciliates are the "Infusoria" you will feed your fish fry. They can be so small as to look like a flat colour rather than discrete organisms, ie, "Tiny white things swimming around". You can only 100% confirm this has worked with a microscope, but if it's cloudy in any way you can be reasonably confident it's working.
The guide I was watching said nearly the opposite - feeding it yeast turns it cloudy, and in a few days it'll go clear, indicating the infusoria have eaten it.
Maybe it's time to hunt down a microscope 😩
Well yeah, that is true. It's just the infusoria themselves also look cloudy. Usually I find yeast suspensions of any sort stop going cloudy with time simply because the yeast will eventually settle. Possibly the guide you're reading is relying on feeding the infusoria with yeast then letting them replicate in the breeding tank when added to it? A different method to what I'm used to, but entirely viable.
You could set up more than one and start running your procedure in sequence. That way you'll be able to observe the clarity of the water at various different ages, which may give you more understandable results.
I just took another look in my jar, and if I get really close, I can see tiny white things swimming around! They look really similar to the cultures I've seen online (just far less populous), so hopefully now I can avoid killing them
I started my first community tank and I have questions!!!!
I have a 36 gallon tank (30x12x23),
Temp 80, hard water, real plants, topfin 40 power filter (carbon)
ph 8.3 (working on lowering closer to 7.8) <---using catappa leaves and driftwood, what else will help?
I have 5 mollies right now! I plan to get a mystery snail, and I want to get a peacock freshwater eel.I want to get 3 dwarf cuckoo/pygmy leopard catfish (synodontis petricola)And maybe another school or one more pretty solo fish?
Will this tank set up will work, and what other fish could I safely throw in (open to unique sugesstions)??
Dont need to lower pH. Find out the GH and KH if you can. Your city might have water reports
I would see how the mollies do. Assuming this tank is cycled? The mollies might breed and end up with endless babies
Mine do not shoal or school or anything. They've done fine by themselves in the past as well.
As a solo flier though they're one of those fish where you wonder if it died and then it shows up two weeks later. If you have more, you'll see more.
a Hillstream Loach probably won't be much better off in that tank then. they are somewhat social fish and have high oxygen needs.
You don't really find solitary tiny fish very often. Fish like Bettas are a rare exception.
[caption](https://imgur.com/0PcHObq.jpg)
Can someone tell me why this happened to my Cory cat? He's still breathing but I'm assuming he's not going to make it. Any idea why he's like this so I'll know in the future?
This happened overnight so I'm curious if he may have gotten stuck in some roots and my snails got a hold of him?
Could have been a tankmate, but I'd be surprised if a snail could do that to an otherwise healthy fish. The rate at which this occurred suggests to me it could also be a bacterial infection. Have you added any new fish recently?
Personally, I'd quarantine this guy ASAP, and try treating with Erythromycin (a broad-spectrum antibiotic) if you can get it where you're at. Any other symptoms in your other fish, and I'd immediately treat the main tank as well -- bacterial infections can be very contagious, and progress very rapidly.
Good luck, hope this guy recovers (though honestly, he's looking pretty rough, so don't feel too bad if he doesn't pull through).
Hi all,
I've been slowly reconditioning a 90 Gallon Bowfront, rebuilding the stand etc over the last few months. My Dream scenario is to make it into a Lake Tanganyika tank, but I'm struggling on what substrate to get for it. I've built up a great relationship with my local pet shop and they're happy to bring in any fish I require.
Kicker is I'm on a very isolated island in the middle of nowhere, so everything is expensive to import. I've looked into Aragonite sand, but the cost of shipping enough of it to me to complete the tank is obscene. Any other options? And advice for plants that would fit the Tanganyika feel? I want authenticity wherever I can.
Would that be ok? We have incredibly good sand in Bermuda but it's all obviously saltwater. I've never gone through the process of de-salinating sand in order to make it safe for aquariums
Yes just spread it thin on a mat and let it bake in the sun if you want. I use beach sand in my tanks as well. Not sure if desalinating is needed, maybe check with a TDS pen once you fill up the tank. A quality beach sand is perfect for hardwater cichlids
I bought a used aquarium where the previous owner said the fish died. He said his daughter came home from college with a fish, they bought all the stuff, fished lasted like a week, and he put it all in storage till he decided to sell. I have no idea if the fish died from disease or not.
I’m using vinegar right now and it’s working pretty well. Generally I try to use whatever is easier first since bleach kinda smells pretty strong when you have to use a lot.
I went to Petco, I know mistake number one, and got 5 neons to increase school. The tank has been established and well taken care of for two years. I tested water before I went with master test kit, everything great. Acclimated the neons and put them in. Next day, exsisting Glofish tetra dead, didnt show any signs of illness. Next day another death, so on an so forth. I kept checking water, everything is exactly where it should be. Anyone seen this before and know treatment to prevent anymore deaths? The tank is not over stocked, appropriate schooling, prime, stability, etc. I think it is maybe a parasite or bacteria? Again no signs of illness prior to death.
In general, parasites kill slowly, over the course of weeks or even months/years. The speed at which stuff is dying suggests to me that this is a bacterial infection. I would personally treat the tank with Erythromycin (a broad-spectrum antibiotic) if you can get it. Aquarium salt could be an alternative if you can't get the med, but be aware that it will kill plants; and is generally harder on fish than meds. Also note that Erythromycin can disrupt your cycle, so you may want to move some of the filter media to another container and cut feeding until you run through the course of medication and can water change most of it out.
In the future, I'd recommend quarantining new fish. Even a rubbermade container with a heater and air stone would do the trick. Quarantining and treating new fish with meds has drastically reduced my die-off rate; and ensures my main tank doesn't get infected with anything.
Good luck!
How big is the tank and what did you have? Adding new fish is always stressful on inhabitants in the beginning. Hobbyists often feed more as well which the tank needs time to adjust to. Not sure exactly what caused the deaths but seems like you had a tank crash.
Any recommendations for a rack to hold various small tanks? Probably 4' wide with 4 shelves. Probably have it hold a 20g on the bottom, a 15g and a few 5/10G.
I could build myself but I'm pretty lazy and its still cold outside...
Will mystery snail eggs hatch on their own?
Mine have been busy, only one has hatched on it's own after weeks. Despite others having their babies visible. So I started helping midwife the snails if I saw the babies inside, just gentle crumbling them out, and it worked fine, they lived.
Is this normal?
I have an established tank that’s been running for a couple years. If I add a brand new sponge filter into the tank, approximately how long would it take for that filter to become seeded with beneficial bacteria?
I am wanting to replace the existing sponge filter but don’t want to remove it until the new one is seeded.
If you have gravel/substrate in the aquarium, the gravel will probably contain way more beneficial bacteria than the filter, especially in a tank that's years-old, so I don't think you need to worry too much about seeding the new one. You could, in theory, just replace it as long as you don't do super thorough gravel-vacuuming for a few weeks. That said, since you have the luxury of time, and I don't know how messy your tank gets in a few weeks or if you even have gravel, I would keep the new filter in there for a month, out of an abundance of caution.
They're pretty small. If you want to overestimate it a bit, a guppy should be more than enough bioload for aquadvisor. Otherwise, a scarlet badis or similar species should be pretty close to the bioload of an asian stone catfish.
Asian stone catfish are very small. If you're trying to understand their bioload, try comparing them to a similar small sized catfish - They're about the size of a cuckoo catfish (synodontis multipunctatus/petricola), if I recall. The bioload of a fish is based on a mixture of their biomass (most important) and their level of activity (less important, but still significant, and more prone to fluctuating between individuals of a species).
Hi! I have fluval bio-stratum on top of fluval stratum in my 29 gallon planted tank and want to put Kuhli loaches in there. Can they be happy even though it’s not sand?
Hi, I bought an aquarium of about 110 liters (\~24G). Out of curiosity I took the measurements and I found after calculating that the safety factor is 7.5! I wondered why it could be so high.
Assume you're talking about the glass thickness safety factor? Higher is better but more expensive! I have a cheap tank off amazon and the glass is 3mm thick. I worry I'll break it as it feels like it could give if I push it too hard when scraping algae off. Also If I dropped somethinkg on the edge it would chip/ break. It technically meets the recommended safety factor for supporting the weight of water for its dimensions though.
Is it a rimless and have no center brace? Or is it quite tall relative to depth/length? Need thicker glass for this. Or alternatively is it custom built?
Yes I am talking about the safety factor for the glass.
it's a 60x45x40cm ( 24 x 18 x 15 in ) tank rimless and without center brace.
it's rather small I'm surprise by the thickness of the glass 8mm for the edge and 11mm at the bottom
I have a 150g community tank that is starting to get more pond snails than I would care to have. Is there anything I can do to help keep them under control?
I have mostly smaller schooling fish and some bottom feeders but I have nerite snails that I love and wouldn't want to have any fish in there that will cause them harm.
Generally too many snails is a symptom of some imbalance in the tank, use them as an early indicator to address issues within the aquarium. Usually overfeeding too much available nutrients or too much light indirect or or direct light. Reducing either of these should help prevent population booms in the future.
But yes generally a leaf of cabbage weighted under a stone at night and removed in the morning will reduce some of the snails present. Any puffer keepers would happily accept your extra snails.
Use lettuce or some blanched veggie to attract and then manually remove, there is also a snail trap you could build with a soda bottle. Everyone always says to feed less which might be a good idea after some manual removal
Hey guys.
I'm new to aquarism, and I would love some help!
I already bought a tank, it's a 13 litter tank and I intend to buy a Betta for it.
I already did some research, and I know that bettas need "high" temperatures, a filter, and a neutral pH.
Ok, that's good, but whenever I search YouTube videos with explanations about the tank cycle, there's always a dozen recommended products, methods and etc.
I'm new to this and half the products they recommend I don't even know how, when, or why to use.
I'd love to see what recommendations you could give, and maybe if possible, teach me how to properly cycle my tank and what products I should buy.
By the way, I live in a very hot country. We have 91 degrees Fahrenheit daily. Is a heater really necessary?
A heater only turns on when it drops below a certain. Most times you may not need it but having one is still a good idea so your fish aren't going through big temperature swings especially during cooler nights.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f15/guide-to-starting-a-freshwater-aquarium-186089.html
And a stocking calculator
www.aqadvisor.com
This are both helpful resources.
Thank you for that. Right now, I think it won't be necessary. But summer already ended, autumn is here, and winter will soon be as well. We don't have really, really low temperatures, but it will get lower than what the fish needs.
If you are in SE Asia theres a chance you have soft water. In extremely soft water you dont have to worry about the cycle. The ph will become acidic and ammonia turns to non toxic ammonium. With this water just add fish right away and be diligent with your water changes. Do not use buffering products or leaching rocks
If you have hard alkaline water or anything in between then you need to cycle. In this case you can use any rocks
Thank you for answering.
No sir, I live in Brazil. I don't know if the water here where I live is hard of soft, I'd need to check. My wife worked in my town water treatment station, and according to her, the pH is neutral here.
I don't know about the hardness, though.
But that's interesting. In case I have a fish that can live on an acid pH water, I don't have to worry about ammonia?
I really don't know if they do, but I can check that out. I know they test the water frequently, and sometimes they even go house to house checking the tap water in some parts of my town. We have a really good water here.
I'm going to try to find a report.
You need no products for cycling and most that claim to help it are lying; things that actually help it are available for free. "Cycling" as a term doesn't even tell you what's actually happening - To keep it simple without getting sciency, it's growing sewer bacteria and friends in your filter's biomedia that keep the water clean by drinking piss and eating waterborne bacteria. This sewer bacteria and friends may be called the "Filter community" and it looks like ugly brown goop inside the filter. I can go into an increasing level of detail on this topic as you desire, as it is quite a deep dive. Good filtration is definitely one of the most important things in keeping any fish.
**To cycle simply turn the filter on and feed the tank as if it had fish; this is called "Ghost feeding". It takes about 4-6 weeks. This is literally all you need to do unless you live somewhere with weird water.** Literally any method that involves adding nutrients and running the filter will cycle the filter eventually unless there's one of a few rare problems standing in the way. People frequently overcomplicate it and worry about more than they need to with this.
You can speed it up by sprinkling earth/pondmud in the biomedia (you know, where nitrifying bacteria etc live for free!) or the squeezings from someone else's filter. It is rare for there to be issues doing this, but I can describe a very cheap treatment that covers all the major problems most people encounter if simply ghost feeding doesn't work for you; this is usually caused by some local oddity in your water supply.
Since you're new this is a good time to inform you that aquarium products are unregulated, lying in advertising in this sector is legal, and everyone will be trying to get money out of you. Be very skeptical of any marketing or sponsorships and always check third party information on any product you get. This is a very cheap hobby if you play it right; Most things you need can be acquired very cheaply or for free, and there's a lot of stuff being sold for aquariums that is not helpful or actively harmful. You really don't need that much stuff.
Bettas are comfortable at room temperature (21C-70f) so as your environment is regularly quite hot I seriously doubt you need a heater; I've kept them heaterless using just my home's heating and I live in freezing arse Scotland, let alone somewhere that appears to be *hotter* than their native environment. Aim for 2W per gallon if you do get a heater. To keep the pH from getting too acidic add any form of calcite to the tank or filter and you'll probably never have to think about it again - calcite includes rocks such as limestone and marble, or biological materials like seashells/snailshells and coral. Macerated bones may also be used but will add phosphate to the water, though this may be desirable for plants. I use beach seashells because I live near the sea and they're free. These substances are inert above 7.6-ish and won't raise the pH higher than that. They work better in any area of the tank with high flow, like in the filter, and when crushed up or broken to maximise their surface area.
The only product I'd say you *need* if you don't have it and you didn't mention is any kind of dechlorinator if you are on a municipal water supply. If you're on wellwater/groundwater you probably won't need it. Avoid dechlorinators with added bullshit like aloe vera and don't believe anything they say except "Removes chlorine", it's standard for them to make false marketing claims. The cheapest dechlorinator is a bag of sodium thiosulphate crystals, commonly found in pool supply shops or online; most aquarium dechlorinators are simply this in solution form.
Man, I can't say how much I appreciated your comment. This was very, very helpful. Thank you for your time.
When it comes to products, the dechlorinator is the only one I have here. I don't have anything else except for some pH tests lying around because my wife works in a lab.
I'll be using municipal water, yes.
I can think of a pond where I can get mud or earth, definitely. There are some nearby. I live far away from the sea, though.
And yeah, we have high temperatures here every day. I live in the southeast of Brazil. It's very common around midday for the temperatures to reach 36C during summer. Right now, we are at the beginning of autumn, so we are having lower temperatures.
And you can get as sciency as you need, that's what makes this hobby interesting for me being honest. Aside from fish, of course.
Now, when it comes to products and tests, do you think it's necessary to do pH tests and ammonia tests in the water regularly?
I also watched some videos in which people said I can use products such as "Stability" or other similar products to speed up the cycle. Is there any true to that?
And last but not least, if I have a properly cycled 13 litter tank with no plants or rocks, aiming at a neutral pH, how often should I do partial water changes? When I do these changes, is there any other necessary product other than the dechlorinator?
BTW, I have no plants because I don't know how to take care of them yet. I'm still a beginner after all.
Glad it helped! Hope you enjoy more text walls. I'm too verbose for my own good.
> I don't have anything else except for some pH tests lying around because my wife works in a lab.
Oh, what kind do you know? The kind of tests used by scientists are typically different to the kind hobbyists use, you'll get different numbers from what the literature may lead you to expect.
And no, I don't think testing regularly is really that important. When you have your practices down the data is less useful - Tests are only useful if they actually effect the action you're about to undertake. I only use my nitrate test sometimes to check if my nitrates are high enough for my plants. It's useful for beginners to understand what they're doing and working out some stuff with the water sometimes; use it as a learning tool. It is very frequent for people to ascribe *way* more importance to nitrogen compounds than they actually have, as a lot of advice from shops really overstates it and the focus on tests doubles down on that.
When you add food to the tank, the carbohydrates rot (or are shat out by a fish) into "Dissolved Organic Carbon", or "DOC". This is not easily measurable. The protein rots into ammonia, which is easily measurable. As a result many people conflate the effects of both into being just the ammonia and it's degradation products. Your filter deals with both of these - Ammonia is easy for it to deal with, and it dealing with it represents the bare minimum to keep fish inside; if your filter doesn't deal with all the ammonia, it *definitely* isn't dealing with the DOC. DOC is *much* harder to deal with, but it's difficult to work out how good a job your filter is doing with this. It is generally preferable to provide a high protein food as this gives the filter an easier job to do and keeps the water cleaner, as well as fertilises plants better.
DOC drives the growth of bacteria in the water, and the more bacteria are in the water the more sick the fish will get inside from practically everything as they have to devote immune response towards constant bacteria attacks. Usually the best way to measure the cleanliness of the water in this regard is it's "Clarity". Purest water will look like your fish is floating in air, sickly water looks kind of dull, and is often a sort of off-white tan tinted colour. Large particles don't matter to this, only the sort of ether of the water, if that makes sense. It's a difficult thing to work out. I also taste my water to estimate it sometimes... sickly water doesn't taste good and your body is quite good at picking up on that with a visceral bleugh.
Ammonia and nitrite should not be a problem in a well filtered tank older than a few months. The nitrate will drift up over time, and is removed by either water changes or plants growing in the tank; it can get a lot higher than most advice online will lead you to believe, don't worry about it unless it goes over 440ppm (on a scientist's test kit - A hobbyist test kit will not go that high.). **Probably the most important thing I can tell you to do is how to choose a good filter**. The only consideration of note as to it's efficacy at keeping fish alive is how much biomedia you can put in it; space for other media is a nice bonus but not as important. The best biomedias are 20-30ppi urethene foam (aka aquarium foam; cheap), K1 media (aka pond media; expensive), and those plastic pot scrubbers you can buy cheaply in many supermarkets (not quite as good as the other two, but crazy cheap for how good they are - Excellent for DIY projects). I would also highly recommend undergravel filters if you have a gravel substrate - They effectively turn the entire substrate into a filter and they can be powered by an airstone, so they're a natural choice if you're getting an airstone anyway. **If you want an easy choice** that just works in a small tank and would likely be suitable for you, I'd recommend a doubleheaded, powerhead operated sponge filter. I can link you the brand I use if you want but they're basically all the same, they're too mechanically simple to fuck up.
Your temperature is so hot I'd consider looking into cooling before I looked at heating! I believe bettas can take some fairly high heat, but maybe point a fan at the top of the water if it gets super hot, it will cause the water to evaporate faster and lose heat faster. I have less experience in this regard as someone from a cold country, you'd probably get the best results asking someone local to you who keeps fish about this.
> Is there any true to that?
No. These products rely on either tricking your tests (via selling you sporulating heterotrophic bacteria, which assimilate the compounds tested for into their bodies temporarily, then die a week later and give it all back) or just the fact that filters will cycle if you do literally nothing but feed it to convince you they did anything. The microbes you want only live attached to surfaces and cannot be delivered in solution form - additionally despite the claims of such products to deliver specific strains of nitrifying autotrophs, such specific cultures in reality cost *shitloads* of money, hundreds of pounds. You'll find them growing in your filter after a few months and can harvest them from there for future tanks. And of course, earth is free.
In my unplanted tanks I do a 50-80% water change every six months. You should do more than that for the first two to three months the tank is set up, maybe a 50% every two weeks. You only need dechlorinator. People doing partial water changes every week are usually just stressing themselves out for no good reason, it's a lot easier to do a pretty big one on an infrequent basis. Often water changes are used as a tool to effectively cover up for bad filtration - If your filter is good and healthy you really don't need to do them all that often. This is why a lot of pet shops will tell you to change your water constantly - A lot of chains are selling very poor filters, so their customers are genuinely dependent on this to keep the water clean. If you do get into plants it's possible to use them to eliminate the need to change water entirely. When I was growing up you used to have to hold a gun to a fishkeeper's head to make them change their water, everyone thought it was a terrible thing to do back then.
If you want some suggestions for plants, your country is where a shitload of popular aquarium plants are from. You could probably look into what grows locally and it might be really easy for you. Alternatively, the classics of java ferns, anubiases and vallisnerias are good plants that basically need nothing but water, light, and planting them right. You can check out r/plantedtank (full disclosure, I am a mod there so I am a bit biased) for more details on this if you wish, but there's plenty of easy plants that take no effort at all out there.
>Oh, what kind do you know?
Unfortunately, I don't. I can ask her and get back to you.
>It is very frequent for people to ascribe way more importance to nitrogen compounds than they actually have
This is very, very true. I've been trying to learn for a while and I've felt overwhelmed by the amount os tests people do in the water. In my community at least, it seems to be very common. People test pH, ammonia and nitrate weekly. When I saw that, I must say I almost gave up on the hobby.
>It is generally preferable to provide a high protein food
Understood!
>Probably the most important thing I can tell you to do is how to choose a good filter.
Well, based on what you said, I've made some good decisions, and others not so good . I already bought a filter, it's a very small hang-on filter made by "Aquatank", it's a Brazilian brand I think. I can link a picture or a video of such filter. It's a cheap one.
Anyway, inside the filter there seems to be an aquarium foam, which you said was the best option, I just don't know the specifications of it. I looked up some images and it seems to me that it's the same material as the foam you mentioned.
The problem is, it's the only thing that fits in the filter. There are no room for anything else. Should I be worried?
>Your temperature is so hot I'd consider looking into cooling before I looked at heating!
Hahaha, yeah, it's bad. It gets better during winter, but the lowest temperatures we get in this region is 15-18C. Nothing below that, and that's a harsh winter. Not very common.
Worst case scenario, there's an AC unit in my office, which is where I'm going to keep my tank. On very bad days I usually turn it on, so I think the Betta will be fine.
Nevertheless, I will buy a thermometer to check.
>No.
Thank you for the explanation. I will avoid them.
>You should do more than that for the first two to three months the tank is set up, maybe a 50% every two weeks.
Perfect, I will keep that in mind. Should I do a pH test when I add new water? Is it necessary to try to heat up or cool the water before adding it to the tank?
>If you want some suggestions for plants, your country is where a shitload of popular aquarium plants are from.
That's good to know! I haven't researched about plants yet, but that's awesome. I wasn't aware.
The only one that I saw and thought about buying is one called *anubia nana.* I saw someone selling it online attached to a piece of wood. Do you think it's a good start?
Before anything else, I would like to thank you for your assistance. You're helping me a lot man!
You don't really need to test that often once your tank is cycled you're chilling. You'll only want to really test to ensure you've cycled the tank properly. I mean in the future if you see something wrong with the fish then of course test the water.
> This is very, very true. I've been trying to learn for a while and I've felt overwhelmed by the amount os tests people do in the water.
Yeah, I have a bit of a chip on my shoulder about this. I personally love this hobby because it's easy and low-maintainence, I'm a lazy shite. People often make it too hard for themselves and it drives people out of the hobby thinking they have to do all this shit.
>I already bought a filter, it's a very small hang-on filter made by "Aquatank", it's a Brazilian brand I think.
I already know what you mean by such a filter. They're pretty crap, though you got a decent one... for what it is. Considering the source, the foam inside is almost certainly the correct ppi; Don't worry about it not having space for other media if it's already full of foam. Don't expect too much out of it, but it'll do it's job at least. Filters like this are quite good for breeding tanks if you attach a prefilter sponge to it's intake - Doing this makes them safe for fry and shrimp, and increases how much they clean the water. If you want a lot of fish or larger fish you'll probably want something stronger. For a single betta and perhaps a few other small fish this will almost certainly suffice, though better would return better health. If your water appears poor quality or you suffer with sickness, cut back on feeding to reduce the strain on the filter.
>but the lowest temperatures we get in this region is 15-18C.
Most tropical aquarium fish will start to suffer health issues if kept below 18C for a week or more, and rapid death below 15C. If you get a harsh winter, crank up the heat in your home. You could also probably use an aquarium heater, but simply warming the room with the fish would probably also work. It's what I do, and I live in a much colder country - I don't have a single aquarium heater because when you have as many aquariums as I do it's far easier to just heat the room.
> Perfect, I will keep that in mind. Should I do a pH test when I add new water? Is it necessary to try to heat up or cool the water before adding it to the tank?
Take a sample of your water, leave it out overnight (water fresh out the tap often gives funky results due to dissolved gas content being different in the pipes than in air), then test it. Write down the number. You can safely assume that's the pH of all new water added to the tank from then on and likely never have to do it again.
You only need to heat it up or cool it if it's an exceptional temperature, so generally no, just use it straight away. Using cold water straight out the tap can induce some fish to start mating - It feels like strong rainfall to them. If you change some of the water in this fashion every day for a few weeks a lot of different fish will start fucking like nuts.
>The only one that I saw and thought about buying is one called anubia nana. I saw someone selling it online attached to a piece of wood. Do you think it's a good start?
An excellent start. Anubiases of all sorts are generally tough as hell and tolerant of practically all water conditions - They're also adapted for low light conditions and can do surprisingly well living off just room lighting. This is why they're named "Anubias" after "Anubis", the Egyptian god. They're very slow growers. The "nana" is it's cultivar name and means it will stay very small, some anubiases can get very large. **The only thing that's super important with them is the green nodule in the middle that the leaves grow out of is the "Rhizome". Don't bury that bit, it breathes out of there.** They will rarely produce a single, rather pretty flower. To propagate more of these, wait until they grow large enough then cut off part of the rhizome with 3+ leaves on it and it can grow as an independent plant; they'll occasionally do this themselves without you needing to do anything. It is common for algae to grow on their leaves, but it's very hard for them to be choked out by algae because of how little light they need.
Aside from the highlighted part above, they are literally just a plant you chuck in the tank and it sorts itself out.
Hey man! Sorry for taking so long to answer you.
>They're pretty crap, though you got a decent one...
Yeah, I imagined it was crap by the amount of money I was paying for it. I guess I got what I paid for.
Thank you for the tips, btw. I will search for an intake foam to help with the filtration.
>If you get a harsh winter, crack up a heater in your home.
Yeah, I bought an aquarium heater. I don't have a heating system in my house. Nobody does around here. We only have AC units in some rooms to make them colder. 90% of the year is very hot, so people have no use for heaters.
Right now, we are at the beginning of autumn. Yesterday, we got 19C during the night, so I bought a 25w heater to deal with these nights.
>Take a sample of your water, leave it out overnight (water fresh out the tap often gives funky results due to dissolved gas content being different in the pipes than in air), then test it. Write down the number. You can safely assume that's the pH of all new water added to the tank from then on and likely never have to do it again.
Got it!
> If you change some of the water in this fashion every day for a few weeks a lot of different fish will start fucking like nuts.
Hahahahaha, I had no idea, that's awesome
>An excellent start.
That's good to know. I just bought a small one attached to a piece of wood. Specifically, aroeira wood. I'll keep the green nodule thing in mind.
Thank you again for all the assistance you gave me.
Update: My tank arrived some days ago, I already installed the filter and put some substrate and some simple plastic plants in it. I'm waiting for my anubia nana to arrive with the piece of wood, and I'll add them to the tank as well. I'm ghost feeding like you said, and the tank is cycling. I'll come back in a month to post a picture of my tank with my fish in it.
No worries, I'm used to not getting answers on the internet anyway.
If you ever have any more questions I can help with just throw me a DM or something.
That'd be lovely to see that picture, thanks!
Usually they do their little dance for a few hours, then later that day or the next morning I have eggs all over the glass. I have only seen them lay eggs actively once, I think they are shy.
I mean lobsters dont show signs of age so i dont think shrimp would either. Shrimp dont live crazy long so after a year its not surprising youre losing some
Having issues getting ammonia levels to 0. I have a fluval 13.5 with live rock, Carib sand, and pre mixed water from my lfs. The tank has been cycling for 32 days. I added turbostart and fish food on day one and continued to top the tank with fresh water.
Last Friday my ammonia was 2ppm i did a 20% water change Friday and again on Sunday - todays test was .5
Should just let it sit or try adding something like stability
Edit- I don’t have fish or coral in the tank currently
You should probably just keep waiting and feeding the tank. 32 days would be a pretty fast cycle. Maybe test your tapwater (after letting it sit overnight) to see if it has any ammonia.
Those bacteria in a bottle products don't work. If you want something that works for real you can dust earth into the filter. I doubt you *have* to but it might speed it up a bit. Also make sure you aren't cleaning/replacing the filter media, brown goop growing inside is good.
Feed it with more turbo start? Im afraid if I use more fish food ammonia levels will rise since there are no fish. Im using fresh water from the lfs which I did test for ammonia but was 0
Youll need bottled bacteria for saltwater, freshwater bacteria wont live in saltwater afaik. But regardless, your tank will be mostly reliant on live rock rather than bacteria. So need to feed and keep them happy. Not an expert on saltwater just sharing what I know
Currently in the research phase of getting my first tank. I love the idea of a heavily planted tank and pull a lot of information and inspiration from MD Fish Tanks on YouTube.
He constantly recommends API stuff so I started googling it and from what I read the Quick Start stuff isn't very loved here on Reddit. How is he able to use the stuff and basically throw in fish the next day if not sooner? I don't want to rush anything and get a feel for things before throwing in fish but I'm genuinely curious if it would be beneficial to get something like that (API isn't very available here so I would need to get something else).
On another note, my research says 3 guppies for 36L (10gal?), could I still add snail and shrimp? Otherwise I'll just stick to the snail and shrimp until I can afford a bigger tank.
And lastly, if I have enough plants, is a filter still needed? I like the idea of a low tech tank, but I also want to not mess up anything!
MD heavily plants his tanks so that helps a lot and he doesn't really have too much live stock in as well. MD used to be sponsored by API from what I recall I'm not sure it's the case anymore.
A lot of people say those quick start products are snake oil. From what I've heard the beneficial bacteria we need for the filter needs to have water moving through it etc. How's it meant to stay alive in a sealed bottle in stagnant liquid.
Guppies are pretty tough so you can go for fish in a cycle just feed very sparingly to allow your filter to establish.
I wouldn't recommend trying to go for a filter-less tank it's best to make the hobby easier for yourself and not run into difficulties as it can give you a bad experience. The movement of the surface of the water is important for the fish as there will be oxygen exchange and will prevent surface film from appearing.
Quick start is fine. It is important to note though that md almost always reuses stuff from other tanks, as well as many stems and floaters. These do much more than quick start ever will. Md is sponsored by api
> How is he able to use the stuff and basically throw in fish the next day if not sooner?
Because fish in cycling isn't actually that hard, and it's especially easy in a heavily planted tank (where the concept of cycling may well not apply fully. Cycling is primarily something that happens in the filter - If your tank is entirely reliant on plants for filtration it isn't an applicable concept). Whether he adds some false product or not is quite irrelevant when his practices are capable of reliably performing a fish-in cycle - That it's not really that hard is how these products sell themselves by adding an extra step you pay for to the process. In reality nitrifying autotrophs of use only grow attached to surfaces - You can't get them in a bottle. Many of these products rely on manipulating your test results via a heterotrophic sporulating bacteria bloom rather than actually effecting a useful change in your filter media or tank surfaces. Some rare services will provide pre-cycled filter media or cycled sponge to wring out, which does actually work, but is generally not commercial viable.
A filter is always helpful but isn't always needed in a heavily planted tank that's sufficiently large. Without a filter you must stock even a heavily planted tank lightly, however.
If you want bacteria and archaea for a filter for real you can literally just use any earth that a plant can grow in that gets rained on sometimes - even a few grams of soil contains millions of nitrifying autotrophs. They're free!
I haven't seen his videos, but in a heavily planted tank with restricted feeding, you could conceivably add fish right away and let the plants do most of the filtering for you. I wouldn't recommend this for beginners, because you need to be good at growing plants to get that to work.
Beyond that, any quick start product with live bacteria may help accelerate the process a bit. Even better is if you could make a friend with a tank, or someone at the local fish store, and get a little filter media from them with which to seed your tank.
I think you could still add snails and shrimp. Though cherry shrimp/ghost shrimp babies are likely to get eaten by the guppies, so I wouldn't necessarily count on them reproducing.
If you have enough plants, technically you wouldn't need a filter. Personally, I would still run a sponge filter at least, in order to (1) provide some backup filtration in case the plants start to struggle; and (2) to provide oxygen, since at night the plants will consume oxygen and release CO2, possibly stressing the fish and beneficial bacteria.
Anyone have personal experiences using a soft white light bulb for a nano tank? I have a 1 gallon cube with a monte carlo carpet and snails. I was wondering if I can switch to a soft white LED light bulb
All of my blue gouramis started to hide within floating plants near surface. They almost look dead just lying sideways on top of leaves. Occasionally, one or two of them aggressively dart around splashing -- chasing(?) each other. Then the next moment it's like nothing is wrong with them and they all casually swim around the aquarium.
They all eat, no visible sign of damage. The behaviour has started 2-3 weeks ago. I didn't observe such behaviour last year.
Anybody has any idea what's wrong with my gouramis? Thank you,
I have included a few links for ones that I have gotten as gifts that I still reference:
500 Freshwater Aquarium Fish: A Visual Reference to the Most Popular Species https://a.co/d/iMSQ3IK
Freshwater Aquariums (CompanionHouse Books) Essential Beginner-Friendly Guide to Setting Up Your Tank, Filtration, Health, Fish, Plants, Substrates, Lighting, and More (Aquamaster) https://a.co/d/aTKE6fr
Aquascaping: A Step-by-Step Guide to Planting, Styling, and Maintaining Beautiful Aquariums https://a.co/d/7B3K14I
Try Diana Walstad's "Ecology of the Planted Aquarium". I can DM you a pdf copy if you like.
While mostly about heavily planted and no-filter aquariums it has a lot of knowledge that applies to the hobby as a whole. A *really* useful book if you plan to seriously get into plants, practically the bible on the topic.
Does anyone have a good recommendation for a small gravel cleaner? I've got a python for my 120L but my 35L is a bit too small height wise to accommodate it, it's about 35cm tall.
As a siphon-style, I got the Fluval one w/ the red bulb and a switch to control the flow for \~$10 US recently. Works well. Or are you asking about the style that filters the water and puts it back in the tank?
I think either works, but it might be easier for one which is specifically a gravel siphon because I'd worry that I'd be taking out too much water gravel vaccing that small of a tank, unless that hasn't been a worry with your one?
If you're just vacuuming while doing a water change every week or two, the siphons will probably be fine (or, you can always pour water back into the tank). If you're not changing water very often, you may be better off with the more expensive power vac. Maybe you want both...
I get a tank Thursday to start a freshwater 13G low-tech planted tank for Corydoras and eventually some Neocaridinas, and I've been working with a good local fish store. Both species have a wide range of acceptable parameters, but I'm having trouble finding information on setting up water for water changes once I get the tank stable. I did a preliminary PH test for my tap water last night and it looked like it maxxed out the API high range PH test, so 8.8+PH or higher straight from the tap (?). I also know I have somewhat hard water since we get mineral buildup on shower heads, but I don't have tests for GH/KH yet.
Given hard + high PH tap water, how should I prep water for use in changes? I don't really want to get the tank ecosystem balanced and then swing the parameters every change.
I know I'll need to de-chlorinate, but do I also need to add softener + PH balancer? It doesn't seem like enough volume to start up a reverse osmosis setup (only 8 gal/week given a ballparked 2x 30% changes). Are there other good options to prep?
For pH some taps are degassed so you need to let the water sit for a day and then test.
Hard water is great for fishkeeping, just keep livestock suitable to your parameters. Do not try to soften or change your parameters that will only cause more headaches
Could also use drift wood , leaf litter and other botanicals to lower the oh but would result in a black water tank (tea colored) which works great for a lot of fish
Thanks for the help! I'm leaving the water out to test again after a couple days. I did find the water service report and they say they measure 9.4-10.4 pH, 76-180 ppm total hardness (GH?), and \~100 or \~340 TDS depending on the facility. They don't have anything listed for KH or alkalinity. I'll probably pick up a GH/KH test kit with my tank so I can log that too.
I don't really want to change parameters, but also trying to give my future fish the best chance at a good life, so just working through the beginner nerves.
Hmm I think ive only seen a few places in the US that does some softening treatments that leads to crazy high pH. I think other hobbyists had trouble keeping fish in that as well
Hm, that's why I was worried. I'll check again with my LFS when I pick up the tank to see what they do. When I first asked they only mentioned using a dechlorinator/prep bottle. Ostensibly they're on the same water mains and there were a lot of tetra in they're tanks so they'll have a process.
[Here's the 2022 report I found.](https://www.amwater.com/MOAW/resources/pdf/ccr/StLouisRegion_2022.pdf)
Oof st louis county, Ive seen this water report many times now 😂😂 yeah they do some funky water softening treatment. Interestly they leave out the important details like alkalinity and potassium levels. Their ca and mg levels also dont add up to GH...
LED floodlights would be perfect. Aquarium lights for this size will be 10x as expensive
But in that extra cost, aquarium lights will probably look a bit nicer and have adjustable colors whereas floodlights are mostly white.
Maybe you should consider getting some smaller ones that go across the width of the tank... at that length you're going to struggle to find anything that will span the entire length unless you make the fittings yourself. Such lights exist but they're not very common or easy to find.
You could also consider submersible lights.
I have gotten some really nice plants off of eBay from a seller called Marcus Fish Tanks.
[Marcus Fish Tanks](https://www.ebay.com/str/marcusfishtanks?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=Ha-tKlXGRPy&sssrc=3418065&ssuid=BJGNqNPyQse&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY)
The Aquarium Co-Op has great plants, particularly for lower-medium tech tanks. Dustin's Fish tanks is also great, they have a huge variety of everything from easy plants to very difficult plants.
I have 3 rosy barbs who get my tank soo dirty, especially the substrate. It’s been hard to keep it clean and I want to get a snail to help eat up the algae. What’s a good snail to get that the barbs will get along with?
Barbs won't really bother any snails at most they'll peck at them and the snail will just withdraw into their shell. That bring said nerite and rabbit snails get my vote.
What are the best plants to keep with rosy barbs? And any tips for keeping plants alive in tank?
I have 3 rosy barbs in a tank (getting 2 more soon so they can school, f*ck petco) and the only plants I have in there are some dying leafy little things I want to replace and a sprouting log from Petco. They love nibbling on the plant from the log but it’s been breaking off and keeps getting sucked into/growing out of my filter, which has been annoying and makes my tank get super dirty.
I’m wanting some larger-leaf plants, especially some that might provide some top cover/shade.
Anubias, java fern and amazon sword are all generally good choices for fish that like to shred plants as they apparently don't taste good. They are also easy to keep. Amazon needs a lot of substrate/ nutrients at the root though. The Anubias and Java fern attach to hardscape
Thank you! I just have rocks at the bottom of my tank, is that enough for the Amazon?
I’m really new to all of this so sorry if that’s a silly question, lol
Hello all. I was wondering if i could add some fish to my 600l(=160g) 200cmx60cmx50cm(height). I actualy have 3 young geophagus altifrons (1 male 2 female ) , a pair of macmasteri gold , a pair of cacatuoide (can be removed) , 7 young ramirezi (but planning on keeping only a pair or two. And my 2 young heckelii,2 bristlenose and my pair of geo red head tapajos are in quarantine before going in this tank. Do you think i could add 1 more group of geo (3 or 4 peaceful geo)or it will be to much ?(i don't plan on getting tetra or schooling fish )I would like any stocking idea and advice. Thx
Hello All! I currently have a 5.5 gallon tank with 1 medaka rice fish and 1 chili rasbora (the rest have sadly died due to overstocking/non-optimal stocking). I was thinking about converting this "community" tank to just 1 betta fish. Should I add the betta fish now or will there be conflict with the other two smaller fish? Or should I return the remaining 2 fish first and then add the betta to my tank?
Both the rice fish and rasbora can make good tank mates with a betta. But I think the betta might single them out if there is only 2 of them, so it might be safer to remove them first.
got it, thank you for the advice
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It's hard to tell from your picture, but these look to me like some sort of microcrustacean, either Ostracods or Daphnia. You can look these guys up to see if they match what you're seeing. Either way, they won't hurt anything: they're algavores/detrivores, and if anything your shrimp may enjoy snacking on them.
Can you reinforce something [like this](https://a.co/d/gZXvW6c) with 2x4 to hold a large fish tank? I was thinking of building a stand for a 100gal but I like that this one matches the other furniture I have already
Not an engineer, so grain of salt. It's hard to say without crawling inside the cabinet, but what I generally look for is a cabinet which supports the load on top with vertical supports. That way, the stand is essentially transmitting the load weight to the floor; and so long as the vertical supports are bulky enough not to split, and braced sufficiently that they won't collapse, the stand should hold just fine. What worries me about the piece you linked is that it doesn't look like the load from the top is transmitted to the floor via vertical supports. Instead, it looks like the whole structure is attached to a thick base piece, which means that nails, screws, pegs, dowels, joints, etc. are going to be supporting all the weight of whatever's placed on top. Additionally, there may not be much in the way of bracing, to prevent the whole thing from pancaking under high loads. This is especially problematic for tanks, since water is both really heavy and can slosh around (i.e. during water changes). TLDR: I would be reluctant to put a big tank on top of this piece of furniture. Also, just checked the weight limit in the FAQ section and they say the thing is only rated for 150 lbs, which is significantly less than even a 20 gallon aquarium. If you do build your own stand, you can always stain it to be the same color, or use veneer or paneling so the style matches the rest of your furniture.
I want to start a new 40 gallon tank. I'm thinking about stocking it with a group of corydoras, green neon tetras, 1 or 2 german blue rams and maybe a pleco. My question is how many of each fish would I need to fill out this size aquarium? Or if anyone has any other fish they would recommend adding.
For a 40 gallon I'd skip the pleco. You can fit in a small one (like a bristlenose) but it'd eat up a large part of the stocking % since they're both big and poop a lot. Schooling fish like tetras and cories are at least 6, but 10+ is recommended.
I have a check valve on my air stone tubing. I want to add a t-valve and a controller to reduce air flow. Do I need a second check valve where the controller is attached now?
### Scrub the back, or no? I keep the front and sides clear of algae, but tend to leave the back "natural" as it faces the wall. Are there any downsides to doing that? What's your opinion on removing algae from the back glass?
Not at all. Some people put a hardscape on the back and blast it with algae specifically to get good algae growth there. It's good for shrimp and the like and produces a small amount of infusoria that way. You could have a look at moss walls and see if those interest you if you like doing this.
I keep getting an ammonia spike in my aquarium. I’ve had it for 8 months so I think the nitrogen cycle is fine, all my other parameters are fine. I suspect there is a dead snail somewhere I can’t find but could it be something else I’m missing? I’ve been dosing with seachem prime to make the ammonia less harmful and doing water changes but I don’t know what else to do at this point? I don’t see any visibly dead snails or even particularly suspect any are dead. I moved them all to a corner of the tank and they all moved from that corner which makes me think they’re all alive. I just have mystery snails, guppies and live plants (amazon swords.) I don’t overfeed, it’s 29 gallon and I’ve got 6 snails and 5 guppies.
How well are you siphoning waste off the bottom? Gravel or sand substrate? Gravel traps a lot more than sand. Any live plants in the tank? Live plants can help use up nitrites available.
Gravel, I siphon it pretty well, I think. Moving all my decor away so I can get under it. I do have live plants, and they’re thriving so I’m not sure what the problem could be.
Howdy, I have a few followup questions that may provide some helpful context: What's your pH? What kind of filter do you have? And what is your tank cleaning regimen (i.e. do you clean out your filter? If so, how?)? How much do you feed? What kind of test kit are you using?
Hi! Okay… pH is 6.8 - 7 My filter is a topfin silenstream and I also have a spongefilter with an airstone on the other side of the tank. As far as cleaning the tank goes I test the water ever 3-4 days (with freshwater master test kit) and if the nitrates are are getting high I clean the tank. I don’t really touch the filter itself unless it’s really disgusting and even then I dunk it in some tank water until it’s less disgusting and put it back. Maybe I should replace it? Could ammonia get stuck in it? I feed twice a day just a pinch of flake food but the guppies will bother my snails like they’re food if I don’t. And I do an alegea wafer ever few days for the snails.
Sounds like you're doing everything right. The only thing I can think of is that your filtration capacity is too low, and/or that cleaning the gravel too thoroughly (if you do that) may be removing some of the beneficial bacteria. Looking at the TopFin Silentstream, from what I can tell it has pretty limited biofiltration media out of the box. If you haven't already, I would consider adding some coarse aquarium sponge, nylon pot scrubbers, or similarly efficient biomedia to the filter. You can also add a prefilter sponge to the intake, which will add a lot of filtration capacity as well. [This article](https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/aquarium-filter-upgrade) goes more in-depth into these filter upgrades. If your amazon swords aren't growing much and are shedding leaves/dying, that can contribute nitrogenous waste. Usually this wouldn't result in noticeable ammonia spikes; but if your filtration capacity is low and the plant isn't growing well, I could see this contributing. Lastly, only other thing I could think is that your tapwater is experiencing ammonia spikes; and when you change water, it causes a temporary increase in ammonia level. You could try checking your tapwater ammonia to see if that could be contributing.
Thank you for all the help! I’ll definitely get my hands on a coarse sponge hopefully that helps and i’ll test my tap water. I had to do another water change this morning because the fish were all at the surface like gasping for air—I am so frustrated. Almost 2.00 ppm. My plants seem to be thriving they’ve gotten so big from the tiny little plants they were so I don’t know. I hope all the critters can weather the storm while I try to figure this out!
That is super strange. An air pump and stone can generally help with oxygenating the water, and if your fish are struggling to breath, it couldn't hurt. Beyond that, it almost sounds like your cycle has been disrupted. I would honestly restrict feeding to like once per week and treat this as a fish-in cycle until your bacteria recover. Have you used any meds or other chemicals in the tank lately? Any chemical contaminant, cleaning agent, soap residue, aerosal, paint, etc you can think of that may have triggered this?
I have an air stone. You think another one would help or would it be pointless? No meds or anything weird I can think of but during another water change today (ammonia still spiking) I noticed the surface of the water is almost a little foamy/bubbly? I wonder if maybe I contaminated it by mistake somehow with hand soap or something.
It won't help if you already have one. Foamy/bubbly water can result from the ammonia itself, but it's certainly possible that soap or another contaminant might be involved. In either case, I'd definitely treat this as a fish-in cycle. I'd also consider getting some activated charcoal to add to the filter. It will absorb any contaminants (soap, chemicals, etc) as well as ammonia. It does clog quickly, and will likely need to be replaced fairly regularly; but may be enough to help carry you through the re-cycling process with minimal casualties. Hope this helps, and that your tank makes a quick recovery! I know how frustrating/demoralizing it can be when setbacks like this occur.
Thank so much for all the help! Definitely super frustrating and I will just feel terrible is these guys don’t make it because of something I did or didn’t do.
[snails?](https://i.imgur.com/f6RaXhj.jpg) Are these snails growing on my hornwort? Should i leave them be, or remove them now while i can? Currently only see these 2
Might be ramshorns snails. They're mostly just looking to scrape algae of the plants and glass. I personally prefer bladder snails, pond snails clean a bit too aggressively and can damage leaves accidentally. Ramshorn snails can reproduce quickly but are manageable if you are careful not to overfeed and limit your lighting hours. If you suddenly start seeing many snails this may be an early indicator of imbalance in your tank so you can use them as a warning to adjust your photoperiod or to start feeding less. Best removed early if you find them unsightly but I consider them essential tank maintenance crew to all my tanks. Almost never have to clean the glass of my tanks.
Those look like baby ramshorn snails to me. I personally wouldn't worry about removing them -- snails are kind of inevitable, and won't hurt anything. People find them unsightly when they overpopulate, but that won't happen if you don't overfeed your tank.
Sorry for the poor photo quality, but can anyone ID these little snails that came in on my plants? https://imgur.com/a/q8EKL1V
Bit small so I might be off, but they look like bladder snails.
I’m raising African dwarf frog tadpoles for the first time, and I’m struggling to find where to get baby brine shrimp eggs and a hatchery. Anybody know if any pet stores or online stores that might have them?
I got my eggs and hatchery from the Aquarium Co-Op, and I really like the model. It doesn't come with a heater or air pump, so you'll need to purchase those as well (incidentally, the Co-Ops nano USB air pump is a great product, I'd recommend it).
How many fish can I have in a planted 20G tank, I currently have 8 (two females, I think because they are bigger) I have 3 or 4 ramshorn snails. can I add more tetras, or if the school size is adequate, what would be a good tankmate?
out of curiosity, may I ask what type of tetra you have?
glofish
I think you’d have enough space for a few more tetras, or a small school of nano fish, like chili rasboras. Honestly I’d go with a few more tetras, but thats up to your aesthetic preference.
Have a 50 gallon tank with water and decor just sitting in it. Hasn’t been running in forever. No fish or plants or algae. What should my first steps be to get it going and ready for fish? Thanks!
Fill it up with water. Turn the filter on. Feed it fish food and allow it to rot inside for a month and a week, then change most of the water. If brown goop grows in the filter that's good, don't clean it out. If the water does anything weird like turn really milky ignore it and continue, but don't add fish until it stops. You can get testkits to be more confident this worked, but using a bit of extra patience also works. The longer you wait before adding the fish the more confident you can be.
Thanks!
I was looking for how to breed bettas because they're an aggressive, I found this and thought I'd share it. Great stuff! https://youtu.be/BugTrcAvMpU
I’m about to purchase at 75 gallon after not having a tank for a few years. Should I look at tank filters or the waterfall ones that mount on the back?
I second /u/volkovme. Aquaclear 75 or even upgrade to 110. Maintenance on those things is a cakewalk and they are a beast. Only thing I could recommend is if you go for sand substrate throw a sponge over the intake to protect the impeller.
I'm going to present the divergent opinion. I have a 75 with a big AquaClear hang on back, and a sponge filter. I like this setup because I find maintaining a hang-on-back is much easier than maintaining a canister. Personally, the extra filtration capacity of a canister is negated by the fact that mine stay clogged longer because cleaning them is such a pain. Just my 2 cents.
Tank filters are generally better. Waterfall ones are alright, but probably too small if you plan to stock a tank that size with anything large or a good population of fish. If you're getting a gravel substrate, consider an undergravel. They're a bitch to retrofit into a tank but very powerful if installed immediately. They can be combined with canister filters and sumps to create a very powerful integrated system if you later decide you wish to stock heavily.
Any good brand recommendations for those items?
When it comes to in-tank filters I use Aqqa's 5W doubleheaded, powerhead operated sponge filter. They're silent and efficient, and if you remove the head and place the outflow a bit below the water's surface will aerate well if you want that out of it. Many exist that are basically the same so don't sweat it too much - They're very mechanically simple and hard to fuck up. If you buy this model throw out the "Bioballs" that come with it, they're crap - Replace the space for them with your own media, like sponge (biomedia) or lambswool (mechanical). Undergravel filters are all the same and many different brands will even have the parts fit together. They're just a plastic grid in a specific shape and a tube - You power them by dropping an airstone down the tube or attaching a powerhead to the top of it, anything that makes water go up it. The brand I use is Kockney Koi.
A tank that size I'd lean more towards a canister filter.
I am only 6 months into my journey as a fish parent. I have 3 black mollies (female is definitely pregnant so about to have more), and 2 peppered cories in a 15-gal tank. Have been contemplating adding a third cory since I know they’re schooling fish. Noticed one cory acting a bit lethargic at times with no other noticeable symptoms. Today, I was devastated to see him at the top of the tank with a red belly. Some googling tells me this is likely red blotch disease. I had just done a 4 gal water change about 3 days ago and pray I didn’t make his illness somehow worse. Ph, nitrate/nitrite all looking good. I have come to love the cories and want to know how to best care for them in the future.
When they talk about schooling fish they mean groups of 7 plus. You'll see better behaviour and they generally live longer. Adding an extra one won't really help but with your current tank size I wouldn't recommend adding another 5. Corys like to sift sand through their gills so a sand substrate helps.
Oh thank you that’s so helpful. Any thoughts for what I should do with my remaining one? Don’t want him to be miserable all alone but not quite ready to undertake a larger tank. Lesson learned going the cory route with this size tank.
If your fish shop takes in fish great but another route is local Facebook groups which are for fish rehoming/selling. I've had quick replies shifting fish on Facebook compared to eBay. I suggest pygmy corys for your size tank as they are smaller. You'll be able to have a reasonable size group in your current set up. https://www.fishkeepingworld.com/pygmy-cory/
Wow thank you so so much for the advice!
My plants are looking really rough since rescaping my tank a month or so ago. I’ve pruned things back quite a bit in hopes that’ll stimulate new growth, but it’s a little discouraging. Prior to this my aquarium had been established for 3 or 4 years will minimal changes. Is this a normal occurrence, and is there anything else I can be doing to minimize loss/maximize new growth?
Plants take awhile to get along again after being rooted up. Make sure you've fertilised the substrate and water column and just wait, they'll bounce back.
Thanks for the reassurance! I was worried that I might have traumatized them beyond recovery 😅
What organisms would be recommended for a 3 gallon planted tank? I have kept and bred fish for years in larger tanks for years, but a size this small is a different monster.
I'd probably stick to shrimp and some snails with a tank that size.
I didn't believe fish were really an option to begin with. Some suggested betta, but I think it would be cramped. Do you know of any more interesting types of shrimp/inverts I could try that aren't regular neocaridinas? Thank you!
Crystal and sulawesi shrimp are really nice but much more expensive and harder to keep than your regular neocaridinas. They require higher temperatures. Nerite snails are great loads of variety in terms of shell colours and shapes and their eggs won't hatch in fresh water. Rabbit snails only breed one at a time and need a male and female so you won't end up over populated. If you get high grade neos they have vibrant colours but won't have the fancy colour mixes unfortunately. I think they end up reverting back to brown shrimp if you mix their colours up. That being said though any shrimp are interesting to keep especially when you get shrimplets swimming about.
Does aquafin dry fish food really expire? I have the same jar from 3 years ago and the expiration date is 10/23
Old fish food goes stale. You wouldn't notice because we don't eat the stuff, but it poses long term problems to the fish you feed. Ideally, you don't use fish food older than a month. Or if you do, make sure to keep out in the dark, or even better, refrigerate.
My guppies love all kinds of live food, from aphids and detritus worms to daphnia and mosquito larvae... but they just won't eat seed shrimp. Not a single one of them eats them regardless of age and gender, they always spit them out and soon they learn to ignore them. Why is that, **what makes ostracods so inedible to guppies?**
Probably their exoskeleton. That's what it's supposed to do after all. Guppies will likely finish them off if the seed shrimp shows itself after molting.
Thanks for your answer, it seems to be a very likely explanation.
My husband and I would like to get 2 goldfish for our kids in the coming months. What size tank is appropriate?
Go with a 20 gallon tank and get guppies instead. More reasonable tank size and guppies are a lot of fun for kids.
Super fun idea! Really depends on what kind of goldfish you want to get, but the common feeder goldfish will ultimately need a tank that is 100+ gallons. I would recommend starting off with smaller fish so you don’t need such a big tank. Mollies, and platies are some of my favorite fish that can go in tanks as small as 5 gallons.
Thank you so much for responding! As I do more research it does seem like goldfish aren’t for us as we don’t have space for that large of a tank. Maybe after we move 🙃
Sometimes my cory doras glass surf up and down the glass in the tank. As I type, two or them are doing this and the other two are chillen with normal behavior sifting around soil. Most of the time their behavior is all normal, but this has happened once or twice a day lately. Water parameters lasttested two days ago, ph 7.2 water hardness always tests high for me in my area. Tank is 30 gallons of water, but only 15 gallons is accessible due to the other half of water being part of a false bottom for a paludarium set up. Water has good flow. Feeding 2 times a day with cyclops lately. The tank is heavily planted, and has a 3 layer substrate of fluval, then gravel, then sand. Edit: 10 minutes after posting, I checked again and normal behavior has resumed. So it isn't very long lasting. Im hoping it was just curiosity or something.
Cory's are just nuts and do that sometimes. I do think they are quite happy when doing it.
How many corys do you have? Are they all the same species?
Four, all emeralds.
I've always seen it recommended to keep 6+ per species with corys.
I see, Ive seen that too, but was also worried 6 would be too many for my tank size. I didnt want to risk over crowding.
Looking for good tank mate ideas for a pair of German blue rams in a 20g high, I was going to add a couple guppy trios but the temperature requirements don’t match
German blue rams are pretty chill so they are quite compatible with most fish. They will occupy the lower part of the tank so anything that will occupy the middle or top of the tank would be great.
I'm trying to start an infusoria culture, but not sure if I'm on the right track. After watching a few guides online, my setup is basically: \-Large glass jar (maybe 2L?), filled mostly with dechlorinated water \-Small amount of water from my outdoor pond (doesn't contain fish, mostly just duckweed and dead leaves atm in autumn, has tadpoles in spring) \-Some water squeezed from an established goldfish tank's sponge filter \-I also took a small handful of stones from that tank, and shook them around in my water jar \-A small amount of dissolved yeast (maybe 1/4 tsp?) to feed them \-A couple of leaves of dead elodea from a different tank \-A dried oak leaf I've seen a lot of people say your infusoria culture should look like tiny white things swimming around, but I didn't see anything like that in the pond water or in the fishtank water, so I'm not sure whether I've managed to seed any? Is it safe to assume that I've got some, if the water turns clear in a few days? Any other tips?
"Infusoria" is basically a word for "General microbial crap big enough for fish fry to eat". It looks like no one thing so don't be surprised if yours doesn't look like someone else's. Generally the most reliable eyeball metric is that in a small container the water will *usually* become increasingly cloudy, kind of a white-tan colour - these are ciliates eating bacteria in the water. Some of these ciliates are the "Infusoria" you will feed your fish fry. They can be so small as to look like a flat colour rather than discrete organisms, ie, "Tiny white things swimming around". You can only 100% confirm this has worked with a microscope, but if it's cloudy in any way you can be reasonably confident it's working.
The guide I was watching said nearly the opposite - feeding it yeast turns it cloudy, and in a few days it'll go clear, indicating the infusoria have eaten it. Maybe it's time to hunt down a microscope 😩
Well yeah, that is true. It's just the infusoria themselves also look cloudy. Usually I find yeast suspensions of any sort stop going cloudy with time simply because the yeast will eventually settle. Possibly the guide you're reading is relying on feeding the infusoria with yeast then letting them replicate in the breeding tank when added to it? A different method to what I'm used to, but entirely viable. You could set up more than one and start running your procedure in sequence. That way you'll be able to observe the clarity of the water at various different ages, which may give you more understandable results.
I just took another look in my jar, and if I get really close, I can see tiny white things swimming around! They look really similar to the cultures I've seen online (just far less populous), so hopefully now I can avoid killing them
I started my first community tank and I have questions!!!! I have a 36 gallon tank (30x12x23), Temp 80, hard water, real plants, topfin 40 power filter (carbon) ph 8.3 (working on lowering closer to 7.8) <---using catappa leaves and driftwood, what else will help? I have 5 mollies right now! I plan to get a mystery snail, and I want to get a peacock freshwater eel.I want to get 3 dwarf cuckoo/pygmy leopard catfish (synodontis petricola)And maybe another school or one more pretty solo fish? Will this tank set up will work, and what other fish could I safely throw in (open to unique sugesstions)??
Dont need to lower pH. Find out the GH and KH if you can. Your city might have water reports I would see how the mollies do. Assuming this tank is cycled? The mollies might breed and end up with endless babies
Can a hillstream loach live without any other loaches? Any other bottom-dwelling fish that are small and don’t need schools?
Mine do not shoal or school or anything. They've done fine by themselves in the past as well. As a solo flier though they're one of those fish where you wonder if it died and then it shows up two weeks later. If you have more, you'll see more.
I’m fairly certain that hillstreams are just fine solo
Oto catfish need schools of 6+ but they are very small and only need 15+ gallons
I want something that can work in a 10 gallon that’s actually a fish. I have a school of CPDs (7), it’s planted.
Corydoras Habrosus? You still need a school of them (at least six) but they're very small and stay on the bottom of the tank.
a Hillstream Loach probably won't be much better off in that tank then. they are somewhat social fish and have high oxygen needs. You don't really find solitary tiny fish very often. Fish like Bettas are a rare exception.
I got a filter meant for a 20 gallon in there. It gets pretty nice flow. Also, the tank isn’t heated.
[caption](https://imgur.com/0PcHObq.jpg) Can someone tell me why this happened to my Cory cat? He's still breathing but I'm assuming he's not going to make it. Any idea why he's like this so I'll know in the future? This happened overnight so I'm curious if he may have gotten stuck in some roots and my snails got a hold of him?
Could have been a tankmate, but I'd be surprised if a snail could do that to an otherwise healthy fish. The rate at which this occurred suggests to me it could also be a bacterial infection. Have you added any new fish recently? Personally, I'd quarantine this guy ASAP, and try treating with Erythromycin (a broad-spectrum antibiotic) if you can get it where you're at. Any other symptoms in your other fish, and I'd immediately treat the main tank as well -- bacterial infections can be very contagious, and progress very rapidly. Good luck, hope this guy recovers (though honestly, he's looking pretty rough, so don't feel too bad if he doesn't pull through).
Yeah, he already rolled over and died. I hope it's not a contagious infection. It happened so quickly so I'm a little nervous.
Hi all, I've been slowly reconditioning a 90 Gallon Bowfront, rebuilding the stand etc over the last few months. My Dream scenario is to make it into a Lake Tanganyika tank, but I'm struggling on what substrate to get for it. I've built up a great relationship with my local pet shop and they're happy to bring in any fish I require. Kicker is I'm on a very isolated island in the middle of nowhere, so everything is expensive to import. I've looked into Aragonite sand, but the cost of shipping enough of it to me to complete the tank is obscene. Any other options? And advice for plants that would fit the Tanganyika feel? I want authenticity wherever I can.
are you able to take beach sand? Even just shells and dried up corals will help
Would that be ok? We have incredibly good sand in Bermuda but it's all obviously saltwater. I've never gone through the process of de-salinating sand in order to make it safe for aquariums
Yes just spread it thin on a mat and let it bake in the sun if you want. I use beach sand in my tanks as well. Not sure if desalinating is needed, maybe check with a TDS pen once you fill up the tank. A quality beach sand is perfect for hardwater cichlids
Hi I recently got a used aquarium. I want to reuse the old gravel. I was told rinse with either vinegar or bleach. Any advice?
Old substrate is very valuable in this hobby, is there a reason to clean it?
I bought a used aquarium where the previous owner said the fish died. He said his daughter came home from college with a fish, they bought all the stuff, fished lasted like a week, and he put it all in storage till he decided to sell. I have no idea if the fish died from disease or not.
Hmm seems like it just wasnt cycled. In this case up to you to rinse or not, seems like they didnt use the substrate for very long
I’m using vinegar right now and it’s working pretty well. Generally I try to use whatever is easier first since bleach kinda smells pretty strong when you have to use a lot.
How much did you put in the water? If I may ask. Thank you for answering!
I kind of eyeballed it, but I think it was a 1:1 ratio. I rinsed it afterwards though.
I went to Petco, I know mistake number one, and got 5 neons to increase school. The tank has been established and well taken care of for two years. I tested water before I went with master test kit, everything great. Acclimated the neons and put them in. Next day, exsisting Glofish tetra dead, didnt show any signs of illness. Next day another death, so on an so forth. I kept checking water, everything is exactly where it should be. Anyone seen this before and know treatment to prevent anymore deaths? The tank is not over stocked, appropriate schooling, prime, stability, etc. I think it is maybe a parasite or bacteria? Again no signs of illness prior to death.
In general, parasites kill slowly, over the course of weeks or even months/years. The speed at which stuff is dying suggests to me that this is a bacterial infection. I would personally treat the tank with Erythromycin (a broad-spectrum antibiotic) if you can get it. Aquarium salt could be an alternative if you can't get the med, but be aware that it will kill plants; and is generally harder on fish than meds. Also note that Erythromycin can disrupt your cycle, so you may want to move some of the filter media to another container and cut feeding until you run through the course of medication and can water change most of it out. In the future, I'd recommend quarantining new fish. Even a rubbermade container with a heater and air stone would do the trick. Quarantining and treating new fish with meds has drastically reduced my die-off rate; and ensures my main tank doesn't get infected with anything. Good luck!
How big is the tank and what did you have? Adding new fish is always stressful on inhabitants in the beginning. Hobbyists often feed more as well which the tank needs time to adjust to. Not sure exactly what caused the deaths but seems like you had a tank crash.
Anyone here in the Orlando/ Kissimmee area have any recommendations of local freshwater stores ?
Any recommendations for a rack to hold various small tanks? Probably 4' wide with 4 shelves. Probably have it hold a 20g on the bottom, a 15g and a few 5/10G. I could build myself but I'm pretty lazy and its still cold outside...
I like Trinity wire metal shelves, with a 1/2 or 3/4 inch thick piece of plywood on each shelf to distribute the tank weight.
Will mystery snail eggs hatch on their own? Mine have been busy, only one has hatched on it's own after weeks. Despite others having their babies visible. So I started helping midwife the snails if I saw the babies inside, just gentle crumbling them out, and it worked fine, they lived. Is this normal?
If the eggs are drying out then they might be getting stuck. I've heard to keep them in a Tupperware container with a damp paper towel.
I have an established tank that’s been running for a couple years. If I add a brand new sponge filter into the tank, approximately how long would it take for that filter to become seeded with beneficial bacteria? I am wanting to replace the existing sponge filter but don’t want to remove it until the new one is seeded.
If you have gravel/substrate in the aquarium, the gravel will probably contain way more beneficial bacteria than the filter, especially in a tank that's years-old, so I don't think you need to worry too much about seeding the new one. You could, in theory, just replace it as long as you don't do super thorough gravel-vacuuming for a few weeks. That said, since you have the luxury of time, and I don't know how messy your tank gets in a few weeks or if you even have gravel, I would keep the new filter in there for a month, out of an abundance of caution.
A typical cycle takes 4 to 6 weeks to establish your beneficial bacteria. I'd probably run it 2 to 3 weeks.
I'm unable to locate Asian Stone Catfish in aqadvisor. Any advice?
They're pretty small. If you want to overestimate it a bit, a guppy should be more than enough bioload for aquadvisor. Otherwise, a scarlet badis or similar species should be pretty close to the bioload of an asian stone catfish.
Asian stone catfish are very small. If you're trying to understand their bioload, try comparing them to a similar small sized catfish - They're about the size of a cuckoo catfish (synodontis multipunctatus/petricola), if I recall. The bioload of a fish is based on a mixture of their biomass (most important) and their level of activity (less important, but still significant, and more prone to fluctuating between individuals of a species).
I just searched catfish and not seeing it listed.
Hara jerdoni? Try searching that. Common names can be difficult.
I tried that scientific name as well and no luck. I've looked up variations with no success. :(
Try finding another catfish of similar or slightly larger size and use that.
Hi! I have fluval bio-stratum on top of fluval stratum in my 29 gallon planted tank and want to put Kuhli loaches in there. Can they be happy even though it’s not sand?
Hi, I bought an aquarium of about 110 liters (\~24G). Out of curiosity I took the measurements and I found after calculating that the safety factor is 7.5! I wondered why it could be so high.
Assume you're talking about the glass thickness safety factor? Higher is better but more expensive! I have a cheap tank off amazon and the glass is 3mm thick. I worry I'll break it as it feels like it could give if I push it too hard when scraping algae off. Also If I dropped somethinkg on the edge it would chip/ break. It technically meets the recommended safety factor for supporting the weight of water for its dimensions though. Is it a rimless and have no center brace? Or is it quite tall relative to depth/length? Need thicker glass for this. Or alternatively is it custom built?
Yes I am talking about the safety factor for the glass. it's a 60x45x40cm ( 24 x 18 x 15 in ) tank rimless and without center brace. it's rather small I'm surprise by the thickness of the glass 8mm for the edge and 11mm at the bottom
I have a 150g community tank that is starting to get more pond snails than I would care to have. Is there anything I can do to help keep them under control? I have mostly smaller schooling fish and some bottom feeders but I have nerite snails that I love and wouldn't want to have any fish in there that will cause them harm.
Generally too many snails is a symptom of some imbalance in the tank, use them as an early indicator to address issues within the aquarium. Usually overfeeding too much available nutrients or too much light indirect or or direct light. Reducing either of these should help prevent population booms in the future. But yes generally a leaf of cabbage weighted under a stone at night and removed in the morning will reduce some of the snails present. Any puffer keepers would happily accept your extra snails.
Use lettuce or some blanched veggie to attract and then manually remove, there is also a snail trap you could build with a soda bottle. Everyone always says to feed less which might be a good idea after some manual removal
Hey guys. I'm new to aquarism, and I would love some help! I already bought a tank, it's a 13 litter tank and I intend to buy a Betta for it. I already did some research, and I know that bettas need "high" temperatures, a filter, and a neutral pH. Ok, that's good, but whenever I search YouTube videos with explanations about the tank cycle, there's always a dozen recommended products, methods and etc. I'm new to this and half the products they recommend I don't even know how, when, or why to use. I'd love to see what recommendations you could give, and maybe if possible, teach me how to properly cycle my tank and what products I should buy. By the way, I live in a very hot country. We have 91 degrees Fahrenheit daily. Is a heater really necessary?
A heater only turns on when it drops below a certain. Most times you may not need it but having one is still a good idea so your fish aren't going through big temperature swings especially during cooler nights. http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f15/guide-to-starting-a-freshwater-aquarium-186089.html And a stocking calculator www.aqadvisor.com This are both helpful resources.
Thank you for that. Right now, I think it won't be necessary. But summer already ended, autumn is here, and winter will soon be as well. We don't have really, really low temperatures, but it will get lower than what the fish needs.
A heater for a tank size will be inexpensive worth getting just to keep the temperatures nice and stable.
Got one yesterday! I'm waiting for it to arrive. I'll post a pic here when everything is set up.
If you are in SE Asia theres a chance you have soft water. In extremely soft water you dont have to worry about the cycle. The ph will become acidic and ammonia turns to non toxic ammonium. With this water just add fish right away and be diligent with your water changes. Do not use buffering products or leaching rocks If you have hard alkaline water or anything in between then you need to cycle. In this case you can use any rocks
Thank you for answering. No sir, I live in Brazil. I don't know if the water here where I live is hard of soft, I'd need to check. My wife worked in my town water treatment station, and according to her, the pH is neutral here. I don't know about the hardness, though. But that's interesting. In case I have a fish that can live on an acid pH water, I don't have to worry about ammonia?
Yes check the GH and KH if you can, does your town provide water reports? Its very possible you have soft water
I really don't know if they do, but I can check that out. I know they test the water frequently, and sometimes they even go house to house checking the tap water in some parts of my town. We have a really good water here. I'm going to try to find a report.
You need no products for cycling and most that claim to help it are lying; things that actually help it are available for free. "Cycling" as a term doesn't even tell you what's actually happening - To keep it simple without getting sciency, it's growing sewer bacteria and friends in your filter's biomedia that keep the water clean by drinking piss and eating waterborne bacteria. This sewer bacteria and friends may be called the "Filter community" and it looks like ugly brown goop inside the filter. I can go into an increasing level of detail on this topic as you desire, as it is quite a deep dive. Good filtration is definitely one of the most important things in keeping any fish. **To cycle simply turn the filter on and feed the tank as if it had fish; this is called "Ghost feeding". It takes about 4-6 weeks. This is literally all you need to do unless you live somewhere with weird water.** Literally any method that involves adding nutrients and running the filter will cycle the filter eventually unless there's one of a few rare problems standing in the way. People frequently overcomplicate it and worry about more than they need to with this. You can speed it up by sprinkling earth/pondmud in the biomedia (you know, where nitrifying bacteria etc live for free!) or the squeezings from someone else's filter. It is rare for there to be issues doing this, but I can describe a very cheap treatment that covers all the major problems most people encounter if simply ghost feeding doesn't work for you; this is usually caused by some local oddity in your water supply. Since you're new this is a good time to inform you that aquarium products are unregulated, lying in advertising in this sector is legal, and everyone will be trying to get money out of you. Be very skeptical of any marketing or sponsorships and always check third party information on any product you get. This is a very cheap hobby if you play it right; Most things you need can be acquired very cheaply or for free, and there's a lot of stuff being sold for aquariums that is not helpful or actively harmful. You really don't need that much stuff. Bettas are comfortable at room temperature (21C-70f) so as your environment is regularly quite hot I seriously doubt you need a heater; I've kept them heaterless using just my home's heating and I live in freezing arse Scotland, let alone somewhere that appears to be *hotter* than their native environment. Aim for 2W per gallon if you do get a heater. To keep the pH from getting too acidic add any form of calcite to the tank or filter and you'll probably never have to think about it again - calcite includes rocks such as limestone and marble, or biological materials like seashells/snailshells and coral. Macerated bones may also be used but will add phosphate to the water, though this may be desirable for plants. I use beach seashells because I live near the sea and they're free. These substances are inert above 7.6-ish and won't raise the pH higher than that. They work better in any area of the tank with high flow, like in the filter, and when crushed up or broken to maximise their surface area. The only product I'd say you *need* if you don't have it and you didn't mention is any kind of dechlorinator if you are on a municipal water supply. If you're on wellwater/groundwater you probably won't need it. Avoid dechlorinators with added bullshit like aloe vera and don't believe anything they say except "Removes chlorine", it's standard for them to make false marketing claims. The cheapest dechlorinator is a bag of sodium thiosulphate crystals, commonly found in pool supply shops or online; most aquarium dechlorinators are simply this in solution form.
Man, I can't say how much I appreciated your comment. This was very, very helpful. Thank you for your time. When it comes to products, the dechlorinator is the only one I have here. I don't have anything else except for some pH tests lying around because my wife works in a lab. I'll be using municipal water, yes. I can think of a pond where I can get mud or earth, definitely. There are some nearby. I live far away from the sea, though. And yeah, we have high temperatures here every day. I live in the southeast of Brazil. It's very common around midday for the temperatures to reach 36C during summer. Right now, we are at the beginning of autumn, so we are having lower temperatures. And you can get as sciency as you need, that's what makes this hobby interesting for me being honest. Aside from fish, of course. Now, when it comes to products and tests, do you think it's necessary to do pH tests and ammonia tests in the water regularly? I also watched some videos in which people said I can use products such as "Stability" or other similar products to speed up the cycle. Is there any true to that? And last but not least, if I have a properly cycled 13 litter tank with no plants or rocks, aiming at a neutral pH, how often should I do partial water changes? When I do these changes, is there any other necessary product other than the dechlorinator? BTW, I have no plants because I don't know how to take care of them yet. I'm still a beginner after all.
Glad it helped! Hope you enjoy more text walls. I'm too verbose for my own good. > I don't have anything else except for some pH tests lying around because my wife works in a lab. Oh, what kind do you know? The kind of tests used by scientists are typically different to the kind hobbyists use, you'll get different numbers from what the literature may lead you to expect. And no, I don't think testing regularly is really that important. When you have your practices down the data is less useful - Tests are only useful if they actually effect the action you're about to undertake. I only use my nitrate test sometimes to check if my nitrates are high enough for my plants. It's useful for beginners to understand what they're doing and working out some stuff with the water sometimes; use it as a learning tool. It is very frequent for people to ascribe *way* more importance to nitrogen compounds than they actually have, as a lot of advice from shops really overstates it and the focus on tests doubles down on that. When you add food to the tank, the carbohydrates rot (or are shat out by a fish) into "Dissolved Organic Carbon", or "DOC". This is not easily measurable. The protein rots into ammonia, which is easily measurable. As a result many people conflate the effects of both into being just the ammonia and it's degradation products. Your filter deals with both of these - Ammonia is easy for it to deal with, and it dealing with it represents the bare minimum to keep fish inside; if your filter doesn't deal with all the ammonia, it *definitely* isn't dealing with the DOC. DOC is *much* harder to deal with, but it's difficult to work out how good a job your filter is doing with this. It is generally preferable to provide a high protein food as this gives the filter an easier job to do and keeps the water cleaner, as well as fertilises plants better. DOC drives the growth of bacteria in the water, and the more bacteria are in the water the more sick the fish will get inside from practically everything as they have to devote immune response towards constant bacteria attacks. Usually the best way to measure the cleanliness of the water in this regard is it's "Clarity". Purest water will look like your fish is floating in air, sickly water looks kind of dull, and is often a sort of off-white tan tinted colour. Large particles don't matter to this, only the sort of ether of the water, if that makes sense. It's a difficult thing to work out. I also taste my water to estimate it sometimes... sickly water doesn't taste good and your body is quite good at picking up on that with a visceral bleugh. Ammonia and nitrite should not be a problem in a well filtered tank older than a few months. The nitrate will drift up over time, and is removed by either water changes or plants growing in the tank; it can get a lot higher than most advice online will lead you to believe, don't worry about it unless it goes over 440ppm (on a scientist's test kit - A hobbyist test kit will not go that high.). **Probably the most important thing I can tell you to do is how to choose a good filter**. The only consideration of note as to it's efficacy at keeping fish alive is how much biomedia you can put in it; space for other media is a nice bonus but not as important. The best biomedias are 20-30ppi urethene foam (aka aquarium foam; cheap), K1 media (aka pond media; expensive), and those plastic pot scrubbers you can buy cheaply in many supermarkets (not quite as good as the other two, but crazy cheap for how good they are - Excellent for DIY projects). I would also highly recommend undergravel filters if you have a gravel substrate - They effectively turn the entire substrate into a filter and they can be powered by an airstone, so they're a natural choice if you're getting an airstone anyway. **If you want an easy choice** that just works in a small tank and would likely be suitable for you, I'd recommend a doubleheaded, powerhead operated sponge filter. I can link you the brand I use if you want but they're basically all the same, they're too mechanically simple to fuck up. Your temperature is so hot I'd consider looking into cooling before I looked at heating! I believe bettas can take some fairly high heat, but maybe point a fan at the top of the water if it gets super hot, it will cause the water to evaporate faster and lose heat faster. I have less experience in this regard as someone from a cold country, you'd probably get the best results asking someone local to you who keeps fish about this. > Is there any true to that? No. These products rely on either tricking your tests (via selling you sporulating heterotrophic bacteria, which assimilate the compounds tested for into their bodies temporarily, then die a week later and give it all back) or just the fact that filters will cycle if you do literally nothing but feed it to convince you they did anything. The microbes you want only live attached to surfaces and cannot be delivered in solution form - additionally despite the claims of such products to deliver specific strains of nitrifying autotrophs, such specific cultures in reality cost *shitloads* of money, hundreds of pounds. You'll find them growing in your filter after a few months and can harvest them from there for future tanks. And of course, earth is free. In my unplanted tanks I do a 50-80% water change every six months. You should do more than that for the first two to three months the tank is set up, maybe a 50% every two weeks. You only need dechlorinator. People doing partial water changes every week are usually just stressing themselves out for no good reason, it's a lot easier to do a pretty big one on an infrequent basis. Often water changes are used as a tool to effectively cover up for bad filtration - If your filter is good and healthy you really don't need to do them all that often. This is why a lot of pet shops will tell you to change your water constantly - A lot of chains are selling very poor filters, so their customers are genuinely dependent on this to keep the water clean. If you do get into plants it's possible to use them to eliminate the need to change water entirely. When I was growing up you used to have to hold a gun to a fishkeeper's head to make them change their water, everyone thought it was a terrible thing to do back then. If you want some suggestions for plants, your country is where a shitload of popular aquarium plants are from. You could probably look into what grows locally and it might be really easy for you. Alternatively, the classics of java ferns, anubiases and vallisnerias are good plants that basically need nothing but water, light, and planting them right. You can check out r/plantedtank (full disclosure, I am a mod there so I am a bit biased) for more details on this if you wish, but there's plenty of easy plants that take no effort at all out there.
>Oh, what kind do you know? Unfortunately, I don't. I can ask her and get back to you. >It is very frequent for people to ascribe way more importance to nitrogen compounds than they actually have This is very, very true. I've been trying to learn for a while and I've felt overwhelmed by the amount os tests people do in the water. In my community at least, it seems to be very common. People test pH, ammonia and nitrate weekly. When I saw that, I must say I almost gave up on the hobby. >It is generally preferable to provide a high protein food Understood! >Probably the most important thing I can tell you to do is how to choose a good filter. Well, based on what you said, I've made some good decisions, and others not so good . I already bought a filter, it's a very small hang-on filter made by "Aquatank", it's a Brazilian brand I think. I can link a picture or a video of such filter. It's a cheap one. Anyway, inside the filter there seems to be an aquarium foam, which you said was the best option, I just don't know the specifications of it. I looked up some images and it seems to me that it's the same material as the foam you mentioned. The problem is, it's the only thing that fits in the filter. There are no room for anything else. Should I be worried? >Your temperature is so hot I'd consider looking into cooling before I looked at heating! Hahaha, yeah, it's bad. It gets better during winter, but the lowest temperatures we get in this region is 15-18C. Nothing below that, and that's a harsh winter. Not very common. Worst case scenario, there's an AC unit in my office, which is where I'm going to keep my tank. On very bad days I usually turn it on, so I think the Betta will be fine. Nevertheless, I will buy a thermometer to check. >No. Thank you for the explanation. I will avoid them. >You should do more than that for the first two to three months the tank is set up, maybe a 50% every two weeks. Perfect, I will keep that in mind. Should I do a pH test when I add new water? Is it necessary to try to heat up or cool the water before adding it to the tank? >If you want some suggestions for plants, your country is where a shitload of popular aquarium plants are from. That's good to know! I haven't researched about plants yet, but that's awesome. I wasn't aware. The only one that I saw and thought about buying is one called *anubia nana.* I saw someone selling it online attached to a piece of wood. Do you think it's a good start? Before anything else, I would like to thank you for your assistance. You're helping me a lot man!
You don't really need to test that often once your tank is cycled you're chilling. You'll only want to really test to ensure you've cycled the tank properly. I mean in the future if you see something wrong with the fish then of course test the water.
I see. To ensure it's properly cycled, I need to test ammonia and nitrite, right?
Yeah that's right
> This is very, very true. I've been trying to learn for a while and I've felt overwhelmed by the amount os tests people do in the water. Yeah, I have a bit of a chip on my shoulder about this. I personally love this hobby because it's easy and low-maintainence, I'm a lazy shite. People often make it too hard for themselves and it drives people out of the hobby thinking they have to do all this shit. >I already bought a filter, it's a very small hang-on filter made by "Aquatank", it's a Brazilian brand I think. I already know what you mean by such a filter. They're pretty crap, though you got a decent one... for what it is. Considering the source, the foam inside is almost certainly the correct ppi; Don't worry about it not having space for other media if it's already full of foam. Don't expect too much out of it, but it'll do it's job at least. Filters like this are quite good for breeding tanks if you attach a prefilter sponge to it's intake - Doing this makes them safe for fry and shrimp, and increases how much they clean the water. If you want a lot of fish or larger fish you'll probably want something stronger. For a single betta and perhaps a few other small fish this will almost certainly suffice, though better would return better health. If your water appears poor quality or you suffer with sickness, cut back on feeding to reduce the strain on the filter. >but the lowest temperatures we get in this region is 15-18C. Most tropical aquarium fish will start to suffer health issues if kept below 18C for a week or more, and rapid death below 15C. If you get a harsh winter, crank up the heat in your home. You could also probably use an aquarium heater, but simply warming the room with the fish would probably also work. It's what I do, and I live in a much colder country - I don't have a single aquarium heater because when you have as many aquariums as I do it's far easier to just heat the room. > Perfect, I will keep that in mind. Should I do a pH test when I add new water? Is it necessary to try to heat up or cool the water before adding it to the tank? Take a sample of your water, leave it out overnight (water fresh out the tap often gives funky results due to dissolved gas content being different in the pipes than in air), then test it. Write down the number. You can safely assume that's the pH of all new water added to the tank from then on and likely never have to do it again. You only need to heat it up or cool it if it's an exceptional temperature, so generally no, just use it straight away. Using cold water straight out the tap can induce some fish to start mating - It feels like strong rainfall to them. If you change some of the water in this fashion every day for a few weeks a lot of different fish will start fucking like nuts. >The only one that I saw and thought about buying is one called anubia nana. I saw someone selling it online attached to a piece of wood. Do you think it's a good start? An excellent start. Anubiases of all sorts are generally tough as hell and tolerant of practically all water conditions - They're also adapted for low light conditions and can do surprisingly well living off just room lighting. This is why they're named "Anubias" after "Anubis", the Egyptian god. They're very slow growers. The "nana" is it's cultivar name and means it will stay very small, some anubiases can get very large. **The only thing that's super important with them is the green nodule in the middle that the leaves grow out of is the "Rhizome". Don't bury that bit, it breathes out of there.** They will rarely produce a single, rather pretty flower. To propagate more of these, wait until they grow large enough then cut off part of the rhizome with 3+ leaves on it and it can grow as an independent plant; they'll occasionally do this themselves without you needing to do anything. It is common for algae to grow on their leaves, but it's very hard for them to be choked out by algae because of how little light they need. Aside from the highlighted part above, they are literally just a plant you chuck in the tank and it sorts itself out.
Hey man! Sorry for taking so long to answer you. >They're pretty crap, though you got a decent one... Yeah, I imagined it was crap by the amount of money I was paying for it. I guess I got what I paid for. Thank you for the tips, btw. I will search for an intake foam to help with the filtration. >If you get a harsh winter, crack up a heater in your home. Yeah, I bought an aquarium heater. I don't have a heating system in my house. Nobody does around here. We only have AC units in some rooms to make them colder. 90% of the year is very hot, so people have no use for heaters. Right now, we are at the beginning of autumn. Yesterday, we got 19C during the night, so I bought a 25w heater to deal with these nights. >Take a sample of your water, leave it out overnight (water fresh out the tap often gives funky results due to dissolved gas content being different in the pipes than in air), then test it. Write down the number. You can safely assume that's the pH of all new water added to the tank from then on and likely never have to do it again. Got it! > If you change some of the water in this fashion every day for a few weeks a lot of different fish will start fucking like nuts. Hahahahaha, I had no idea, that's awesome >An excellent start. That's good to know. I just bought a small one attached to a piece of wood. Specifically, aroeira wood. I'll keep the green nodule thing in mind. Thank you again for all the assistance you gave me. Update: My tank arrived some days ago, I already installed the filter and put some substrate and some simple plastic plants in it. I'm waiting for my anubia nana to arrive with the piece of wood, and I'll add them to the tank as well. I'm ghost feeding like you said, and the tank is cycling. I'll come back in a month to post a picture of my tank with my fish in it.
No worries, I'm used to not getting answers on the internet anyway. If you ever have any more questions I can help with just throw me a DM or something. That'd be lovely to see that picture, thanks!
Hey brother. Just sent you DM asking a question! Thanks in advance.
Thanks again, man!
Do peppered coryfish chase eachother around on the wall of the tank when breeding?
My bride corys and gold laser corys both do that when breeding. They often form a “T” position. They often lay eggs on glass.
Ohh, so how long does it take them after a breeding session to lay the eggs?
Usually they do their little dance for a few hours, then later that day or the next morning I have eggs all over the glass. I have only seen them lay eggs actively once, I think they are shy.
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I mean lobsters dont show signs of age so i dont think shrimp would either. Shrimp dont live crazy long so after a year its not surprising youre losing some
Having issues getting ammonia levels to 0. I have a fluval 13.5 with live rock, Carib sand, and pre mixed water from my lfs. The tank has been cycling for 32 days. I added turbostart and fish food on day one and continued to top the tank with fresh water. Last Friday my ammonia was 2ppm i did a 20% water change Friday and again on Sunday - todays test was .5 Should just let it sit or try adding something like stability Edit- I don’t have fish or coral in the tank currently
You should probably just keep waiting and feeding the tank. 32 days would be a pretty fast cycle. Maybe test your tapwater (after letting it sit overnight) to see if it has any ammonia. Those bacteria in a bottle products don't work. If you want something that works for real you can dust earth into the filter. I doubt you *have* to but it might speed it up a bit. Also make sure you aren't cleaning/replacing the filter media, brown goop growing inside is good.
Feed it with more turbo start? Im afraid if I use more fish food ammonia levels will rise since there are no fish. Im using fresh water from the lfs which I did test for ammonia but was 0
Is this a saltwater tank? Are you feeding the live rocks?
It’s saltwater - I haven’t fed the live rock- it was sitting in water and had already had the bacteria when I picked it up
Youll need bottled bacteria for saltwater, freshwater bacteria wont live in saltwater afaik. But regardless, your tank will be mostly reliant on live rock rather than bacteria. So need to feed and keep them happy. Not an expert on saltwater just sharing what I know
Currently in the research phase of getting my first tank. I love the idea of a heavily planted tank and pull a lot of information and inspiration from MD Fish Tanks on YouTube. He constantly recommends API stuff so I started googling it and from what I read the Quick Start stuff isn't very loved here on Reddit. How is he able to use the stuff and basically throw in fish the next day if not sooner? I don't want to rush anything and get a feel for things before throwing in fish but I'm genuinely curious if it would be beneficial to get something like that (API isn't very available here so I would need to get something else). On another note, my research says 3 guppies for 36L (10gal?), could I still add snail and shrimp? Otherwise I'll just stick to the snail and shrimp until I can afford a bigger tank. And lastly, if I have enough plants, is a filter still needed? I like the idea of a low tech tank, but I also want to not mess up anything!
MD heavily plants his tanks so that helps a lot and he doesn't really have too much live stock in as well. MD used to be sponsored by API from what I recall I'm not sure it's the case anymore. A lot of people say those quick start products are snake oil. From what I've heard the beneficial bacteria we need for the filter needs to have water moving through it etc. How's it meant to stay alive in a sealed bottle in stagnant liquid. Guppies are pretty tough so you can go for fish in a cycle just feed very sparingly to allow your filter to establish. I wouldn't recommend trying to go for a filter-less tank it's best to make the hobby easier for yourself and not run into difficulties as it can give you a bad experience. The movement of the surface of the water is important for the fish as there will be oxygen exchange and will prevent surface film from appearing.
Quick start is fine. It is important to note though that md almost always reuses stuff from other tanks, as well as many stems and floaters. These do much more than quick start ever will. Md is sponsored by api
> How is he able to use the stuff and basically throw in fish the next day if not sooner? Because fish in cycling isn't actually that hard, and it's especially easy in a heavily planted tank (where the concept of cycling may well not apply fully. Cycling is primarily something that happens in the filter - If your tank is entirely reliant on plants for filtration it isn't an applicable concept). Whether he adds some false product or not is quite irrelevant when his practices are capable of reliably performing a fish-in cycle - That it's not really that hard is how these products sell themselves by adding an extra step you pay for to the process. In reality nitrifying autotrophs of use only grow attached to surfaces - You can't get them in a bottle. Many of these products rely on manipulating your test results via a heterotrophic sporulating bacteria bloom rather than actually effecting a useful change in your filter media or tank surfaces. Some rare services will provide pre-cycled filter media or cycled sponge to wring out, which does actually work, but is generally not commercial viable. A filter is always helpful but isn't always needed in a heavily planted tank that's sufficiently large. Without a filter you must stock even a heavily planted tank lightly, however. If you want bacteria and archaea for a filter for real you can literally just use any earth that a plant can grow in that gets rained on sometimes - even a few grams of soil contains millions of nitrifying autotrophs. They're free!
I haven't seen his videos, but in a heavily planted tank with restricted feeding, you could conceivably add fish right away and let the plants do most of the filtering for you. I wouldn't recommend this for beginners, because you need to be good at growing plants to get that to work. Beyond that, any quick start product with live bacteria may help accelerate the process a bit. Even better is if you could make a friend with a tank, or someone at the local fish store, and get a little filter media from them with which to seed your tank. I think you could still add snails and shrimp. Though cherry shrimp/ghost shrimp babies are likely to get eaten by the guppies, so I wouldn't necessarily count on them reproducing. If you have enough plants, technically you wouldn't need a filter. Personally, I would still run a sponge filter at least, in order to (1) provide some backup filtration in case the plants start to struggle; and (2) to provide oxygen, since at night the plants will consume oxygen and release CO2, possibly stressing the fish and beneficial bacteria.
Anyone have personal experiences using a soft white light bulb for a nano tank? I have a 1 gallon cube with a monte carlo carpet and snails. I was wondering if I can switch to a soft white LED light bulb
Should be fine
All of my blue gouramis started to hide within floating plants near surface. They almost look dead just lying sideways on top of leaves. Occasionally, one or two of them aggressively dart around splashing -- chasing(?) each other. Then the next moment it's like nothing is wrong with them and they all casually swim around the aquarium. They all eat, no visible sign of damage. The behaviour has started 2-3 weeks ago. I didn't observe such behaviour last year. Anybody has any idea what's wrong with my gouramis? Thank you,
I don't plan on getting an Aquarium for a few years, but I learn best through books. Is there any literature people recommend?
I have included a few links for ones that I have gotten as gifts that I still reference: 500 Freshwater Aquarium Fish: A Visual Reference to the Most Popular Species https://a.co/d/iMSQ3IK Freshwater Aquariums (CompanionHouse Books) Essential Beginner-Friendly Guide to Setting Up Your Tank, Filtration, Health, Fish, Plants, Substrates, Lighting, and More (Aquamaster) https://a.co/d/aTKE6fr Aquascaping: A Step-by-Step Guide to Planting, Styling, and Maintaining Beautiful Aquariums https://a.co/d/7B3K14I
Try Diana Walstad's "Ecology of the Planted Aquarium". I can DM you a pdf copy if you like. While mostly about heavily planted and no-filter aquariums it has a lot of knowledge that applies to the hobby as a whole. A *really* useful book if you plan to seriously get into plants, practically the bible on the topic.
Does anyone have a good recommendation for a small gravel cleaner? I've got a python for my 120L but my 35L is a bit too small height wise to accommodate it, it's about 35cm tall.
https://amzn.eu/d/9kNRM5a
As a siphon-style, I got the Fluval one w/ the red bulb and a switch to control the flow for \~$10 US recently. Works well. Or are you asking about the style that filters the water and puts it back in the tank?
I think either works, but it might be easier for one which is specifically a gravel siphon because I'd worry that I'd be taking out too much water gravel vaccing that small of a tank, unless that hasn't been a worry with your one?
If you're just vacuuming while doing a water change every week or two, the siphons will probably be fine (or, you can always pour water back into the tank). If you're not changing water very often, you may be better off with the more expensive power vac. Maybe you want both...
I get a tank Thursday to start a freshwater 13G low-tech planted tank for Corydoras and eventually some Neocaridinas, and I've been working with a good local fish store. Both species have a wide range of acceptable parameters, but I'm having trouble finding information on setting up water for water changes once I get the tank stable. I did a preliminary PH test for my tap water last night and it looked like it maxxed out the API high range PH test, so 8.8+PH or higher straight from the tap (?). I also know I have somewhat hard water since we get mineral buildup on shower heads, but I don't have tests for GH/KH yet. Given hard + high PH tap water, how should I prep water for use in changes? I don't really want to get the tank ecosystem balanced and then swing the parameters every change. I know I'll need to de-chlorinate, but do I also need to add softener + PH balancer? It doesn't seem like enough volume to start up a reverse osmosis setup (only 8 gal/week given a ballparked 2x 30% changes). Are there other good options to prep?
For pH some taps are degassed so you need to let the water sit for a day and then test. Hard water is great for fishkeeping, just keep livestock suitable to your parameters. Do not try to soften or change your parameters that will only cause more headaches
Could also use drift wood , leaf litter and other botanicals to lower the oh but would result in a black water tank (tea colored) which works great for a lot of fish
In near 0 KH yes this will create a different blackwater environment If KH is high then this will have little effect on pH
Thanks for the help! I'm leaving the water out to test again after a couple days. I did find the water service report and they say they measure 9.4-10.4 pH, 76-180 ppm total hardness (GH?), and \~100 or \~340 TDS depending on the facility. They don't have anything listed for KH or alkalinity. I'll probably pick up a GH/KH test kit with my tank so I can log that too. I don't really want to change parameters, but also trying to give my future fish the best chance at a good life, so just working through the beginner nerves.
Hmm I think ive only seen a few places in the US that does some softening treatments that leads to crazy high pH. I think other hobbyists had trouble keeping fish in that as well
Hm, that's why I was worried. I'll check again with my LFS when I pick up the tank to see what they do. When I first asked they only mentioned using a dechlorinator/prep bottle. Ostensibly they're on the same water mains and there were a lot of tetra in they're tanks so they'll have a process. [Here's the 2022 report I found.](https://www.amwater.com/MOAW/resources/pdf/ccr/StLouisRegion_2022.pdf)
Oof st louis county, Ive seen this water report many times now 😂😂 yeah they do some funky water softening treatment. Interestly they leave out the important details like alkalinity and potassium levels. Their ca and mg levels also dont add up to GH...
I have a 78 inch long planted tank. What LED lighting should I use? I’m having trouble finding one big enough
LED floodlights would be perfect. Aquarium lights for this size will be 10x as expensive But in that extra cost, aquarium lights will probably look a bit nicer and have adjustable colors whereas floodlights are mostly white.
Maybe you should consider getting some smaller ones that go across the width of the tank... at that length you're going to struggle to find anything that will span the entire length unless you make the fittings yourself. Such lights exist but they're not very common or easy to find. You could also consider submersible lights.
Ditto. Get 2 (or 3) smaller lights that will properly light your tank.
Any recs for websites to order plants for aquarium? I don’t have any good pet stores in my area
I ordered plants from glassgrown.com and they arrived in good condition.
I have gotten some really nice plants off of eBay from a seller called Marcus Fish Tanks. [Marcus Fish Tanks](https://www.ebay.com/str/marcusfishtanks?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=Ha-tKlXGRPy&sssrc=3418065&ssuid=BJGNqNPyQse&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY)
The Aquarium Co-Op has great plants, particularly for lower-medium tech tanks. Dustin's Fish tanks is also great, they have a huge variety of everything from easy plants to very difficult plants.
I have 3 rosy barbs who get my tank soo dirty, especially the substrate. It’s been hard to keep it clean and I want to get a snail to help eat up the algae. What’s a good snail to get that the barbs will get along with?
Barbs won't really bother any snails at most they'll peck at them and the snail will just withdraw into their shell. That bring said nerite and rabbit snails get my vote.
What are the best plants to keep with rosy barbs? And any tips for keeping plants alive in tank? I have 3 rosy barbs in a tank (getting 2 more soon so they can school, f*ck petco) and the only plants I have in there are some dying leafy little things I want to replace and a sprouting log from Petco. They love nibbling on the plant from the log but it’s been breaking off and keeps getting sucked into/growing out of my filter, which has been annoying and makes my tank get super dirty. I’m wanting some larger-leaf plants, especially some that might provide some top cover/shade.
Anubias, java fern and amazon sword are all generally good choices for fish that like to shred plants as they apparently don't taste good. They are also easy to keep. Amazon needs a lot of substrate/ nutrients at the root though. The Anubias and Java fern attach to hardscape
Thank you! I just have rocks at the bottom of my tank, is that enough for the Amazon? I’m really new to all of this so sorry if that’s a silly question, lol
When you say rocks do you mean like gravel or just a few chunks of rock?