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Hi all,
I'm using a Hanna 98129. The pH probe has a cap with a well that holds a few drops of storage solution, and I store it upright. However, if left longer than a week or so, the storage solution will wick up along the device and dry out. I can see the salt forming at the edge of the cap...
Hi, all. Ever since I got grain mites in my grindal worm culture, the worms continue to produce, but they only eat food from the bottom if I lay it on the substrate. They don't crawl across the top of the food, which means I can't harvest them by resting a piece of plastic on top. Anyone else...
Hi all,
I seem to notice a correlation between the darkness of the tint in my tank water and the appearance of pale, small, or dying leaves in my Salvinia natans (surface floater). No intended difference in light output at the top, and same water source. In my most recent case, I have some new...
Hi all,
I'm in the midst of several blackwater tank builds, and thought I'd share some of my findings with you. Though they aren't being designed for cichlids, the same principles apply to the water chemistry.
My target pH is 4.5 and my target conductivity is below 50 us/cm. Starting with...
For those in the States, check out the "Apistogramma & Dwarf Cichlid Buy/Sell/Trade" group on Band. There's a seller there (not me) who's clearing out his Nannostomus mortenthaleri to make room for the new species. He's got a lot of them, and he's selling for $5 each (!) 20 minimum.
Hi all,
I'm interested in working with fish that I can only obtain from an importer or transshipper. For those who have done this, do you treat the quarantine process any differently than you would buying from a local breeder or LFS? For example, I've never medicated my fish in quarantine, but...
Hi all,
Thanks for your help on my question about RO and chloramines. I have questions about what configurations are sensible to reduce waste water.
I see two ways to reduce the amount of wastewater produced by the RO unit:
Using a booster pump. This is purported to reduce the waste ratio to...
Hi all,
I'm in the market for an RO unit, and my tap water is very soft, but contains chloramines and NaOH. According the literature, most carbon blocks do not efficiently remove chloramine, and the vendors recommend a 5 or 6 stage RO/DI to effectively remove chloramine. My question: Is it...
Hi all,
Are white worms suitable for small fish like clown killies (especially subadults) and juvenile apistos? I like the size of grindal worms better, but my house is too cold to culture those without finding a way to heat them.
Thanks
Hi all,
One of my N. marginatus females has looked heavy with eggs for well over a month. Very thick toward the anterior, slightly faded colors. For about the last week, she's definitely less aggressive about eating. Do pencil fish tend to reabsorb the eggs if they do not spawn, or is she...
Hi all,
I've lost a handful of Nannostomus marginatus over the last year, all from what appears to be the same ailment. Usually the first symptom I see is droopiness or dark coloration in the body at the tail. The fish becomes more shy, and as the illness progresses, I start to see buoyancy...
No question at the moment, just wanted to share a picture. Given the price of the wilds, I didn't think I'd be able to get this fish. Fortunate to get an F1 pair. Here is the male, in his first full day of quarantine.
Hi,
I'm planning to receive a pair of Apistogramma sp. Alto Tapiche next week, and am rearranging my tanks to accommodate. In what is currently my 10g quarantine tank, I have 8 Nannostomus marginatus. I can move them to another tank. Do you recommend keeping 1 or 2 of them in the quarantine...
Hello, plant people. I now have a number of different floating plants across my tanks, and have some basic questions about maintenance. My main question concerns the (few) plants that linger just below the surface and do not stay dry. Is it crucial to remove these so that they do not increase...
Hello plant people,
I’m in the middle of clearing out the duckweed from my tank, and am intending to go with a floater that’s larger, has longer roots and is easier to trim away dead leaves. Considering both Amazon frogbit and salvinia minima, with a slight preference for the longer roots of...
Hi all,
I've reading some advice that appears to be conflicting.
1. Stephen Tanner's article on biofiltration implies that one should rarely, if ever, clean a filter. This tracks with the design of the Mattenfilter, which looks damn near impossible to clean without disassembling the tank...
OK, while I'm stuck in the house, I'm spending part of my time dreaming on tanks. I have one tank and can probably manage to scale out to 3 small tanks without too much marital strife. :)
I'm spec'ing out both a 10-gallon hospital/QT tank and a 15 gallon backup tank that can accept fish from...
Hi, I'm feeding my fry BBS 3 times a day. I can see them eating it, but as these have only been free swimming for a few days now, they aren't very efficient at getting it all. Therefore, I spot feed them repeatedly to make sure they get enough. However, a lot of the BBS is getting lost in the...
Hi all,
I had a community tank, and removed the predatory occupants to make it a breeding tank. I’d like to know how much capacity I need to leave in my tank if I want some of my apisto fry to grow out to juveniles, at which point my LFS is happy to take them. I’m not trying to scale or make...
Hi all,
Following up on my first post <linked>, looks like I have some as-yet unidentified resticulosa-complex fish. Can you please give me some guidance on the ideal TDS to breed?
My params:
Tap water GH3, KH3, pH 8+, TDS 138
Peat-filtered tap: TDS 104, pH 6
50/50 tap + peat-filtered tap: TDS...