Snails are your friends edition.

Discuss anything aquarium related here, including MD fishtanks, tanks, bowls, inhabitants, bettas, shrimp, decor, plants, duckweed and issues. Before asking questions in this thread, make sure you give us at least some details when asking a question, such as:

>Tank size (include dimensions, not just volume)
>Unusual Parameters (nitrate, pH, GH, KH)
>Any inhabitants + how long you've had them
>Age of the tank
>Pictures are always helpful

Tank Cycling:
>www.modestfish.com/how-to-cycle-your-aquarium/

Stocking and Water Change Calculator:
>www.aqadvisor.com/AqAdvisor.php
>www.hamzasreef.com/Contents/Calculators/EffectiveWaterChange.php

Articles and Care Guides:
>www.seriouslyfish.com/knowledge-base/
>www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/
>www.aquariumcoop.com/
>www.theaquariumwiki.com/wiki/

Aquatic Plant Database:
>www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/plantfinder/all.php
>www.flowgrow.de/db/aquaticplants

previous >>4979239

I just got a 60 gallon breeder tank (48" x 18.5" x 18.5"). Is it worth getting a canister filter, or will a HOB do the same thing?

Also any ideas for stocking would be welcome. Right now I'm thinking about about catching a pumpkinseed for it, then adding a couple goldfish and crawdads - is this retarded?

second tank ever, 20-gal long. Before I proceed any further with aquascaping…wtf do I put in it?

Thinking 9-15 kuhli loaches and a couple honey gourami but I don’t know, bamboo shrimp are kinda cool too. So are most saltwater things but I don’t know if Im brave nor experienced nor wealthy enough for a saltwater tank.

>>4989368
soil and sand

Velvet?
Bought it fully grown a two days ago, his one eye was already cloudy. Thought it was an injury and guessed it'll be fine, now I am waiting fir it to finally eat something but it doesn't.

>>4989509
if it is velvet this could be relevant
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8paakulov0Q

>>4989512
Thanks, anon! I have seen something similar ob BrsTV for marine fish. As an euro I don't have that stuff in my home and stores are closed on sunday. Ima try and dip him tomorrow if I can find it.

>>4989102 (OP)
>Snails are your friends
ew, anon. hope you're not serious about that.
asian girls will get the ick if they see snails in your tank.

>>4989368
>wealthy enough for a saltwater tank
20gal should be cheap enough if you get soft corals from fb marketplace and some hermit crabs by the dozen (since they're social animals, you'll have a ton of fun watching them interact). you can get extra shells for the crabs from amazon for only a few dollars.
for fish, just have one single damsel in there, or something like a tail-spot blenny. don't get the typical two clownfish, they suck, especially since one of them will turn into a female and will start bullying the smaller male.

>>4989517
hydrogen peroxide is the most basic shit for desinfection, it is sold in every pharmacy for cheap.

>>4989529
Dont I need a bunch of expensive pumps for saltwater though? Hermit crabs do sound neat though.

>>4989587
A powerhead, life rock and patience is required. If you want to go for corals you need a somewhat expensive lamp. Oh and a heater of course!

If you want to go nano tank with hermit crabs that's probably the easiest you can go, like 54 liters and a bunch of hermits is gonna work easily IMO
>>4989578
I'll defo get some of that then tomorrow, it's the first time in five years of reefing I enxounter a sickness. Kind of annoying

>>4989262
Canisters are quieter and offer better water flow in addition to wave makers than just a HOB, and are a good solution if a sump isn't an option for you.

>>4989466
did I do it right??

>>4989901
don't go into saltwater.

>>4989587
>>4989529
>>4989368
Saltwater CAN be cheap. Is it? Extremely unlikely.
If you really want to keep it cheap, don't get coral, at all. Period. It's a slippery slope. Even "cheap" or free coral will add to you costs. You'll want to upgrade your light, then wavemakers, then you're going to start looking into dosing, then you're going to want more coral, etc.
My first saltwater tank just had some live rock and clownfish, and the tank, heater, and filter were just spares I had laying around. But I didn't plan to keep it that way and no one I've ever heard of has been satisfied with such a minimalist setup. There are certainly ways to make it cheaper, but it's not going to be cheap.
>>4989509
Hard to say with that pic, but possibly. If it is, you likely don't have any time left to treat it.

>>4989909
Not going to. Just discovered my minnows in the small tank have been breeding so I'm probably moving them into the bigger tank before I have 20 fish in a 5 gallon. Might get some kuhli loaches too since they look like delightful fellas.

Two seconds after I took the photo it swam into the filter outflow current and got blasted. But good signs.

>>4989909
Don't listen to this loser.
>>4989925
>It's a slippery slope
Or this ESL fudge packer.
The only expensive thing for a 20gal would be the lights - and there are plenty of budget options if you're keeping easy corals.
For such a small tank you can get away with two wavemakers or one wavemaker and a surface skimmer. And both of those are pretty cheap. Same for a small heater.

Looking to get a <10g tank for shrimp and a snail or two, is the meta still a sponge filter? Probably gonna run red rooted floaters and idk what else, probably some moss

>>4990050
You can also use a hob, just secure the intake with a mesh or pantyhose.

>>4989901
No, soil goes below the sand. Soil exposed to the water will release hella organics into your water column and also make it constantly slightly murky. Not to mention the ball aquasoil just looks ugly.

>>4990108
planning on covering said soil with monte carlo, do I need to cover it with sand still?

>>4990188
If it's aquasoil, no it's fine. If it's soil you'd use for plants, absolutely.

>>4990190
It's aquasoil yeah. Got root tabs in the spots I'm putting bigger plants but thats about it. Wanna have it mostly full of fast growing stuff I can clip and put into new tanks, with the sandy parts left as empty lanes for negative space and for the loaches to sift sand through.

Any recommendations for macro algae sellers?

>>4990268
Well the two will quickly get mixed by the loaches unless you have a rock barrier to prevent it. And fast growing plants will spread over them, too.

>>4989993
>absolute moron
>Yeah it's totally cheap except you need new lights, two wavemakers, a surface skimmer, but it's totally cheap!
Let's see your budget build's receipts.
>inb4 poor
I run Ecotech Radions with supplemental AI Blades, among other stuff. However I'm not a complete retard and realize that saltwater is definitely, undeniably more expensive than freshwater, and that it is not for everyone. You can debate it until you're blue in the face, but you will literally be alone in this fight, autist.
>>4990282
I'm sure you've checked out Algaebarn and have seen that they're out of stock on everything all the time. Protip: they restock on Fridays. They're pretty stingy on non-chaeto portions in addition to just being pricey, so they're not exactly my favorite. They are a safe bet though, if you have low risk tolerance.
If you're willing to risk ebay sellers, I've ordered from pickyouraddiction a few times and it always turned out well. There's quite a few ebay sellers now with a wide variety but I just haven't had a need to order macro in years (as all the original starters are still going strong) so I haven't tried others.

>>4990414
Yeah I've seen algaebarn. It's the one and only anyone ever recommends and they did have have their "ultimate" pack up for sale still was just feeling sketch about buying from them still without knowing my options.
That and being in commiefornia doesn't help with the risk of 90-100f days and risking it sitting in a hot place for hours.

I found my old 2000s era hexagonal tank. It's the Aqua Tech Hex 5. The filter and light were shit so I removed the lid and ordered a better ones on Amazon. These are its dimensions:

Height: ~12 inches (30.5 cm)
Width (flat side to flat side): ~11.2 inches (28.5 cm)
Width (point to point across the widest diagonal): ~12.75 inches (32.4 cm)
Width of each face: ~6 inches (15.2 cm)

Since its too small for any schooling fish, I decided to turn it into a dedicated planted shrimp tank with a couple of Amanos and tons of Orange Neocaridinas.

>Substrate
I bought some inert black sand

>Filter
NICREW Slim Aquarium Filter. I'll customize the filter media with a 30 PPI sponge and filter floss.

>Light
NICREW Clip on Aquarium Light with Red, Blue, and White LEDs

>Heater
YukiHalu Small Submersible Aquarium Heater 50 Watts

>Plants
I'm thinking to just use Pearl Weed and Moss

>Aquascape
I'll use a decently sized piece of lava rock in the center, and have some branching driftwood surround it from the top


Thoughts?

>>4990526
Take the bucepill

Experiences on stocking Bettas with tetras or guppies?

New Cory just showed up out of nowhere, only about 1.25" long and all the rest of my albino corys have been in the tank for over a year so are much larger. I'd have expected to see it sometime between birth and now, so I'm kinda shocked. Guess it just has been hiding in the various hardscape and plants all this time?

Meanwhile, no platy or swordtail babies surviving beyond edible size in at least 9 months. I blame the danios.

Tank Pic mostly unrelated.

>>4990414
>new lights, two wavemakers, a surface skimmer
i said either two wavemakers, or one wavemaker and a surface skimmer. pathetic, as always; ESL who can't read. pathetic! PA-THE-TIC!
as for "lights", you only need one - it's a nano tank. the whole setup should cost you between $150-$200
>I run Ecotech Radions
nobody cares, get a blog and pay the domain name. spoiler alert: you won't, because you're poor

>>4990665
>monte carlo
That's a cool tank

>>4990663
My first Betta would murder neon tetras (and snails, and shrimp, and everything else) one by one.
Currently I have a crowntail Betta in a 20gal with neons and cardinals, and he's pretty chill. No nipping, either (long finned Bettas sometimes get their fins nipped by small fish). Just make sure you have plenty of plants that can be used as hiding spots, that way each fish can take a timeout.

I put a big cucumber in my tank for my bladder snails to eat. Now the water is green and smells like cucumber.

>>4990663
Entirely fish dependent. My betta was kept alongside other fish at the LFS without issue so I never had any problems when I brought him home, but most bettas are kept individually in stores so you can't really gauge their personality.

I'm going to the Aquarium shop tomorrow to buy some stuff I can't get back home for my planted tank.
What should I nab? Any cool mosses or carpeting plants I should look for?

She looks about ready. No idea what kind of fry she’s going to have. Place your bets, anons.

>>4990907

Massive pond snail vs regular sized pond snail. Anyone know the species?

>>4990961
Pond vs Bladder snail, maybe? Can't see them both well enough to confirm but the shells seems to swirl opposite directions.

>>4990856
>>4990531

>>4990975
It's some kind of pond snail for sure but dunno what
Lymnaeidae sp. definitely not Lymnaea stagnalis

I have a goofy one for you guys. I had set up a new tank about 6 months ago, I got as far as soil/rocks/driftwood before I had to stop due to a family emergency and the tank has just sat there ever since. One of the pieces of driftwood, about 18 inches long and 4 inches thick, would not sink no matter what I did, so I ended up piling some medium sized rocks on top of it to keep it submerged. Well since I kind of forgot about that and couldn't really do anything with the tank for months on end, it's just sat in the water like that for half a year.

I recently went back and emptied most of the water and started working on it again, and out of curiosity took the rocks off and that damned thing floated right up to the top, after six months of being at the bottom of a 40 gallon breeder tank! I'm now planning on letting it dry out, drilling some holes in it, and supergluing some of the same rocks to it, then putting it back in since I did really like the way that it looked. Is this a terrible idea? Do you think there's something wrong with the wood for it to not become waterlogged after that long? I've never superglued stuff together in an aquarium though I know it's safe for the water table, but am I taking a big risk of for whatever reason this stuff becomes unglued and the buoyant wood shoots to the top into the hood? I would boil it but it's too awkward of a size and I don't want to ruin a nice cooking pot with this gross thing.

Is inert black sand a good substrate good for shrimp?

>>4991167
Sure. Throw some crypts, buce, anubias, and moss in there, they'll be happy and reproduce. Inert is better than KH absorbing substrates because it doesn't eventually max out and crash, so you can set up the right water routines from the start.

>>4991055
>Is this a terrible idea?
No, it's a great idea. I've bought really nice arrangements of wood and also made a few myself that had a piece of slate rock secured to the wood as the base. However I used zip ties, not superglue. Superglue can snap off accidentally, even if you use a ton. The zip ties aren't visible because they're under substrate, and even if it wasn't, there's generally ways to do it so it's not very prominent. Be aware though that you're going to want a masonry or diamond drill bit, especially if you're also going to use slate.
What kind of driftwood is it, btw?

Discovered this silly little guy in my tank, between the glass and a breeding box. What is it? Did my plecos have babies without me knowing? There are a few hides where they could have laid eggs without me being able to see the eggs. Does anyone have any idea?

>>4989980

>>4991323
Definitely a baby fish. What else is in there? Most Plecos are pretty easy to breed, so I wouldn't be surprised if that's what it is.

>>4989509
I dosed some herbal meds in the tank and now he is more active, started digging my sandbed to shit and some of the white shit on him has been gone.

This night when I woke up I checked on him and he was strolling around the tank, even seemed interested in food.

>>4991364
this is great news

>>4991370
Yeah, I am carefully optimistic! Forgot to add, I gave the tank a 30% water change and raised the temp 2°C
The meds I am using is Microbe Lift Herbtana, I also give some ground ginger and crushed garlic here and there with the food.

>>4991364
I hope he gets better

Did any of you ever lose a fish that you were really attached to
how long did it take to get over it

>>4991457
my first ever betta fish who died from some kind of internal inflamation from bad bloodworms

took a few weeks to grieve

>>4991362
2 plecos, 7 cardinal tetras, 3 amano shrimp, 2 male guppies and 5 females but it’s definitely not a guppy because guppy fry looks different. It must be a pleco but I’m not sure.

>>4991362
Also, my plecos are still small, about an 1.5 inch long so I figured they weren’t old enough to breed yet. Didn’t even know I had a male and female lmao. Will post a picture when the light turns on tomorrow. The bigger one (I assume male) seems to be hiding a lot so he must have been guarding the eggs.

>>4991513
>>4991514
Probably a cardinal tetra fry, then. Definitely not guppy, and Plecos don't usually breed that small. Larger fish are usually the female, btw.

>>4991516
Another angle of the bugger. I’m a bit new to the hobby and don’t want to make a plebbit account

>>4991546
aw he's adorable

>>4991562
He is pretty cute! Wonder what he will turn out to be

>>4991203
I don't know what kind of driftwood it is unfortunately. Thank you so much for the advice though, I have masonry drill bit somewhere I'll use that.

>>4991055
>18 inches long and 4 inches thick
post log. now.

>>4991516
>>4991546
>>4991323
Update: he died.

>>4991793
NOOOOOOOOO

>>4991867
I guess we’ll never find out what it could have been. At least one of my guppies had 40+ fry today.

>>4991880
That's good at least

>>4991880
Livebearer contrast.
>egg scatterers somehow gets a single live one to fry stage in a community tank
>the precious chosen one
>livebearers pound out another 50 in the background
>and they'll all live no problem

>>4989102 (OP)
I got a 45liter aquarium with like a dozen guppy
they have no plants, only plastic decoration, the water temp is kept at around 21C and there is a cascade aeration filter always running.
are water changes (2/3 of total) every 30 days too much? they have been like this for a few months, they look healthy and even keep birthing new fishe, so I know they can survive but I wonder if they're suffering/uncomfortable like this.
its not my aquarium, I clean that shit because otherwise they'd go without water changes/cleaning until the glass can't be seen through from the algae growth. I'd rather don't keep fish but I guess I can't leave them die either. Still doing water changes every week is a pain in the dick

how much caffine do you disolve in your set up

>>4992477
Water change neccesity is based entirely on your ammonia level, which with no real plants is likely to be kinda high.

>>4992520
N-none... What are you doing, anon?

>>4992523
how often should I do partial water changes then?
not gonna buy a water testing quit tho

>>4992520
my fish like sugar syrup in their coffee every morning. i have told them i disapprove of this but they do not care.

Comfy nano cube reporting.

>>4992477
>they'd go without water changes/cleaning until the glass can't be seen through from the algae growth
>>4992531
you should never... under any circumstances... attempt to develop habits... or behaviors... that cannot be found... in nay-ture...
what you should do... is find a lake... or a creek... or a pond... and see for yourself... how mother nay-ture... takes care... of things... because nay-ture... knows... best...
so i tell the nay-sayers... stop... changing... your...wuhturr... because you have asked yourself that... how often... to change it... and you have also... answered... your own... question... you did... by saying... that algae... will grow... until it covers... the glaaaass...
in reality... everything is in balance... and if it is not... then it will become... balanced... and that is what you should be... aiming for... a balanced a-qua-ri-um...
unless you are dosing... and you should not... be doing so... but unless you are dosing... your nutrient levels... simply will not get... as high as it will matter...
the guppies are not afraid... so why should you be afraid... why live your life in fear... when your little fish... cannot wait... for you to bring... nay-ture... into your a-qua-ri-um...
that's all for now... bye, now... love you all...

>>4992525
I put a small caffine tablet in my water and I've noticed it makes the fish more active and fun to watch but I havent really been meassureing it

>>4992563
they're going to demand cocaine soon, anon. you gave them the gateway drug.

>>4992551
kek

>>4992551
he says nay-chur

>>4990526
>orange neocardninias
I like you, anon.

>>4990526
Update:

I read that adult Amanos could be predatory towards baby Neocaridinas, therefore I've opted to replace the Amanos with Pinocchio Shrimp. Pearl weed is being replaced with Limnophila Sessiliflora as a background plant. As for my aquascaping, I'll try to find a piece of driftwood that resembles a small tree, which I could either place directly on the sand or have it on top of the aforementioned lava rock. The tree's 'leaves' will be moss, as well as the foreground of the tank.

Thoughts?

>>4992857
I don't doubt that amanos would eat shrimplets but it wouldn't be in any significant quantities and predatory is really the wrong word more like opportunistically they're not going to search for them in the same way micropredator fish do. It's not a reason for not keeping them together, lots of people do without issues and probably all shrimp would do the same.

>>4992857
Sand, soil or gravel?

I forgot to mention, I may keep a small group of Thai Micro Crabs.
>>4992920
I'll take this into account.
>>4992986
Inert black sand. Gonna put about an inch or two. Should I put some root tabs near the back where the Limnophila Sessiliflora will be?

>>4993031
Root tabs would be a waste and probably cause other issues, especially since you're not doing CO2. You just want to lean dose some liquid fertilizer.

Working on my largest tank yet, a 29 gallon. It's been running a little over a week now. The plants (mostly crypts, with some vals and other blade lead plants) are loving the fluval light. Today I finally got a good harvest of microfauna from a hike. Looking forward to plants growing in more, a microfauna population boom, and eventually getting shrimp in there!

Fish-wise, I'm looking to get a decent school of ember tetras, black neon tetras (and normal neon tetras), and some other tetra. Dwarf corys would be cool, but I don't want them to mess with the shrimp population too much. Same goes for a flagship fish like a dwark gourami - I'm sure it could work, but I mildly fret how much damage they'd do to the shrimpies. Recently added a big clump of subwassertung, so maybe I don't have anything to really worry about?

Anyways thanks for reading my blog.

>>4993105
pic of the microfauna bag getting acclimated

i'm considering building my very first paludarium for some frogs. I'll make the decor with foam, but then i'm not sure how to coat it. is Sikatop alone OK?

Male or female?

>>4993282

>20 gallon long, unheated
>gold white cloud minnows + cherry shrimp

anything else that would be good with this tank?

>>4993304
corys

Hypothetically speaking, if you found a cute girl with her own cherry shrimp colony on a dating app, how would you not completely blow it?
Assume you only have four saltwater shrimp of your own, so you're already at a disadvantage.

>>4993386
Ask her when she's planning on molting next so you can come over and experience her pheremones.

>>4993304
How cold does it get, when unheated? Are you using some power heads to give it a lot of flow?

Bronze or peppered corys should be fine if it doesn't drop below high 60s. Not a lot of other options unless you're hella planted and filtered, at which point another school would work. You could also do some platys or least killis but >livebearers

>>4993386
Send her a picture of Willem Defoe's dick

>>4993304
The next time I do something like this I'm not going to get a second species and just get a huge shoal of one kind I think.

>>4993445
Absolutely the way to go but WCMM are boring as shit solo. Or really in general, they just sorta float there like neons do once comfortable. Danios or any type of barb are superior.

>>4993386
Do nothing because a shrimp hobby does not magically fix an asocial man.

How do people do zoomed in photography? My shitty phone camera isn't up to the task. Do you have to spend a lot of money on a lens thing?

>>4993728
Yes you need an actual camera. There are specialty lenses specific for taking very close up shots of very small things (macro lens) but that often isn't necessary for aquarium stuff. You can do a lot with the lens that comes as a pack in with an average DSLR. That'll normally be an 18mm-55mm zoom.

>>4992520
You youngsters and your chemicals

im planning a low tech macro algae tank
what should i get aside from sand, rocks and the macro algae?

>>4993282
Bumping :(

God please, the aiptasia are taking over. I can't keep doing this. Theres absolutely no locals who sell berghia and I don't trust peppermint shrimp to only eat the aiptasia.
the aiptasia x and f-aiptasia only do so much.
Do I really need to pay $200+ for some fucking slugs?

>>4993386
Ask about her shrimp, if it triggers the autism, let her ramble and ask questions about shrimp care and her favorite shrimp individuals in her colony. If it doesn't then she's a fucking casual.

>>4993945
post a picture of the situation

>>4993913
Hermit crabs, and maybe some nerite snails.

>>4993945
I'll give you the same answer I gave >>4993913: get some hermit snails. They also eat aiptasia.
As for peppermint shrimp, they work - trust them, anon!

>>4993913
Trust the Peppermint Shrimp, however, make sure it's the *Lysmata boggessi* variety, and not *Lysmata wurdemanni*. Boggessi are know to be aiptasia destroyers.

https://www.algaebarn.com/blog/invertebrates/captive-bred-inverts/peppermint-shrimp/

>>4994047
Picrelated are the different types of Peppermint Shrimp that look similar, as you can see it's not easy to tell them apart, and very easy to get scammed if you think you're buying the right type.

>>4994047
>>4994051
Fuck, these we meant for >>4993945

>>4994006
I've got maybe...50 or so that are so small I can't get a pic of them. But heres a pic of a big one from my containment tank that I keep aiptasia in for fun. I dont have any this big in the display.

>>4994047
LFS got some in recently but I'm not 100% sure they're the right species. But yeah I'm tempted to just go for it anyway at this rate.

>>4994016
I have 4 hermit crabs, but whats a hermit snail? googles not giving me anything helpful.

>>4993945
Whatever you do don't get a filefish, they will eat every coral in your tank.

>>4994110
>whats a hermit snail?
That's me being retarded, I meant hermit crabs.

>>4994184
Ah. Well if my crabs are eating on it, theyre being lazy. Which, yeah thats pretty on point for them.

>>4993945
>>4994047
>>4994051
https://humble.fish/community/threads/peppermint-shrimp-identification.3974/
This post seems to indicate the opposite. I've never relied on them to take out aptasia so I have no ancedotal evidence either way.
>>4994110
Damn that's looking pretty chonky.
From what I've read, the size really matters, so if your display only has small ones, you might be able to get away with fewer berghia as they won't need as large a group to take them down, then they will hopefully breed and take care of your problem permanently (barring reinfection from a new rock/plug/etc after the berghia die out).

>>4994216
Since I run a second tank filled with aiptasia on purpose, im hoping that I can at least keep a few alive even if that means culling them/giving them away frequently. Theyre vicious eaters so I'm unsure if this'll work out, but worth trying. Otherwise, it looks like currently I'll be buying some lil sluggy bois to help out. If I'm really lucky maybe I'll find a local seller st the spot im vacationing to.
As for size, im gonna use the last of my f aiptasia to take out the big ones before I leave.

>>4994223
Some people near me also breed them (DC/MD/VA area). There is ALWAYS demand. Could be pretty lucrative. Good luck.

What happens to the Berghia after they clean up your tank of aiptasia?

>>4994244
They die. Nudibranchs have extremely specific diets.

>>4994244
IF you can keep a steady supply of aiptasia on hand. You can breed them very easily. But a lot of the breeding Ive seen uses a constantly rotating stock of aiptasia grown in 50 gallon sterilite bins at a minimum, because the more food the more babies.

>>4993948
Fellas, I might really get a genuine shrimp gf.
Her tank looks really well maintained as well, although I can't really share photos for obvious reasons.

>>4994324
>posting the convo on 4chan
You just confirmed you are in fact an wierdo :^)

>>4994349
This.

>>4994324
> ESL girlfriend
Probably not fat, and will not get fat.
And she will never pronounce "anemone" like "anenemy". Nice, anon, go get her.

I'm DIYing a (marine) plywood acrylic tank since I have some left over from another project, but I'd like to know if there is any specific glue I should be using to securely seal the wood-acrylic joints.
I have some E6000 and Liquid Rubber... I think that should work but if anyone knows any best-practice I'd appreciate the heads up.

Current plan is to cut a dado in the wood and slide the acrylic into that with E6000 in the channel to lock it in place.

The boom and bust is interesting. I spotted one hydra, then a week later a whole bunch even though I couldn't see any microfauna they might be consuming. A week after that there were even more hydra and I could finally see some really tiny things (couldn't even make out what they were, smaller than normal daphnia) in the water column. A few weeks on now and there's no hydra or water bugs around. Probably an issue with slight overfeeding or something.

Current tank. It's a little sparse because I just upgraded from a 20g (and added a 2nd goldfish)

Size:
>40 gallon breeder

Lights
>Hygger 36w LED
>aqueon optibright 20ish W LED

Filter
>Aquaclear 70

Fish
>2 ryukin goldfish
>8 zebra danio
>8 neon tetra
>1 glass catfish (not replacing school)
>1 clown pleco (hides all damn day)

I want to add 2 honey gourami and a bristlenose pleco. All my fish turned into bottom swimmers. I think the current might be too strong. Even the danios stay mostly mid to bottom. I think thr filter is too strong for the neon's. They just huddle in one corner now.

Specific General for Cyprinid Enjoyers.
>>4994696

>>4994683
Be wary of the Ryukins, are known bullies!

>>4994699
I've already noticed lol. The orange one clears everyone away when he comes through. The Danios are too fast and don't seem to care.

>>4994683
They are bottom swimming because there's no cover. Tall plants or floaters or float some stems.

>>4994739
Thanks. Would floating plants interfere with the light coming down to the plants in the substrate?

>>4991364
He eats and all the gunk seems to have been gone. Did a 10 day treatment. He prefers dining in the dark but it seems he's back on track!
>>4993945
I have 3 instances where I used Berghias
1: 10 tiny animals for 10€ each, had lots of green, mossy macroalgae around my powerheads that seemed to protect them from the Shred. Worked like charm, gave like 40 to my lfs after it was done
2: another run of 10 tiny animals, they never made it...
3: 5 grown up slugs, worked again, thankfully

>>4994764
Yes

I let my pseudo blackwater tank clear up over the course of a couple months. I don't like this. It's way too bright and green. I'm returning the tannins back in.

They didn't care at all about spinach but they love cucumber. Would rather they liked some veg that was better nutritionally.

>>4995046

>>4995046
did you boil the spinach? my cherries love that shit and also basil and parsley when i boil the greens and make it soft.
tried giving them nettle and mulberry leaves but i didn't boil them long enough so they couldn't tear them.

>>4995069
Yeah, I tried boiling it fresh then putting it in cold water for a bit then into the tank, and then freezing first before boiling. Two methods I saw online, didn't take either time.

>>4995046
What is your.tank set up?

>>4995085
60L "cube", cheap clip on light, small canister filter, no co2, 23c temp, aquasoil + lean dosing aio ferts. Inhabitants are 6 pygmy cories, 4 amanos and 10 cherry shrimp plus at least 10 shrimplets. Also a ton of ramshorns and a few bladdersnail hitchhikers. It's fairly understocked but it's fine for now, not sure what else I want to put in it.

This is the first time I'm keeping live plants so I just went for a bunch of easy stuff I wanted to try, Anubias Nana, Crypt wendtii green, buce kedang, montecarlo, marsileas (hirsuta is doing okay, crenata I think needs co2 and is struggling), pearlweed, bacopa caroliniana, java and christmas moss, ludwigia palustris, tiger Vallisneria (a few strands are currently twice as long as the tank is tall, big mistake), hydrocotyle tripartita and frogbit and red root floaters on the surface.

Pretty bog standard shrimp tank set up, I've had basically no issues of any kind after just under 3 months thanks to help from the thread. Barely any algae because of the shrimp and snails and letting the floaters get out of control. Water is fairly hard, 15GH, 13KH, probably over 300tds with ferts and pH around 7.5 but it hasn't stopped the shrimp from breeding.

Whats wrong with one of my Bettas eyes guys? :(

>>4995190
google betta popeye, common bacterial thing will survive if you do stuff quickly.

>>4995190
My betta had this, but much worse. I used anti bacterial medicine and he fully recovered in about a week.

Konga line???

>>4995105
That's an awesome set up. Mine is mostly anubias and Amazon sword with a bunch of Java fern bunches attached to stuff. I've got pennywort and hornwort coming. I'm going to try floating them.

I want a heavily planted invert tank like that. Plotting now.

>>4994588
>lmao thinking /aq/ is actually any good at building things
King of DIY is unironically a really good resource for this info.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FDUfglurns&list=PLcWeEm9w62maZdaDEwodQB7s2rxxGgzPs
I believe he has also done plywood with acrylic viewing panels but I don't have the playlist handy. One was 300G and the other is his new 16 ft tank I think.

>>4995298
It's surprisingly easy, like I said I've had no issues at all and I don't have great tap water or anything. The best advice I got was "you can never have too many plants", just load up on "easy" stuff from tropica and use a little bit of ferts. I want to keep discus eventually but I thought it would be good to do this as a starter tank first.

>>4995194
>>4995192
Thank you guys
Im off to buy antibiotics today
Hope my little guy will heal

>>4995241
group snex

>>4995190
>Fish goes blind because shit water quality
Many such cases.

>>4995435
B-but the father fish poster told me it's not natural to change water!

>>4995437
You ever seen someone waterchange a river? HUH?

'Get a microscope', they said.

>>4995462
Infusoria?

>>4995322
We got Joey shills on this board now? That manlet needs a step stool to kiss my ass.

>>4995435
>>4995437
You can have good water quality without changing your water, stop samefagging

>>4995464
Red ciliates.

>>4995470
If you're the bettafag then post your params.

>>4995473
The problem with just looking at normal parameters is that issues with bacterial problems might not even show up as an ammonia spike. Things like oxygen levels are really important and can't realistically be measured at home.

>>4995494
Truth. All my parameters were golden and my cherry shrimp kept dying after molt so I had to tear the whole tank down. I stil don't know what's wrong.

>>4995473
I'm not that guy but I do have a Betta in a 40gal.
picrel
>inb4 post params
0 nitrates, 0 nitrites, 0 ammonia

>>4995548
You need low levels of nitrates for plants. Are you dumping prime or some other shit into the water?

>>4995551
>You need low levels of nitrates for plants
No you don't. 0 nitrates means your tank has achieved balance between the level of fish waste and the rate growth of plants.

Achieving balance between consumption and demand when my car runs out of fuel on the way home.

>>4995622
totally valid analogy there, einstein. do you add fuel to the car's tank twice a day, too?
go back, and stay there

>>4995633
I would if it ran out twice a day I think

>>4989102 (OP)
Monstera roots don't seem to be handling the move well. I moved my tank last week and the roots seem to be rotting. Any tips to help it recover? I'm betting light overexposure also played a role in this. The timer broke during the move so I've just been turning it off when I get home so it's been staying on later than usual.

Didn't lose a single fish though, fortunately.

How bad of an idea is a 2.5 gallon planted betta tank? Its either that or a 6.5 gallon cube. I like the size of the 2.5 long but in worried that cycling it and maintaining water quality will be way more difficult than with the 6.5 gallon cube. At least with the 6.5 I could add more stock... but I'm so taken with the size of the 2.5 gallon long rimless tanks. I think they look nice.
Is a 2.5 gallon going to be a headache compared to a 6.5?

Retard here but are aquairums more low effort compared to dogs/cats right?

>>4995723
Majority of the work is all at the beginner. Learning how everything works, shopping for supplies in a way that you actually keep and use everything you bought (this isn't trivial), getting your water suitable for plants and fish, getting the plants and fish established. After that it's very little work aside from occasional maintenance; filter cleaning, water changes*, glass cleaning.

* frequency of water changes depends on the kind of tank and what you're trying to do. A heavily planted tank requires very rare water changes or zero (this is somewhat up for debate). An overstocked cichlid tank with no live plants = frequent and large water changes.

>>4995733
>all at the beginner
beginning

>>4995694
>2.5 gallon planted betta tank
too small
>6.5 gallon
also too small

>>4995733
>shopping for supplies in a way that you actually keep and use everything you bought (this isn't trivial)
Yep. I bought a filter that I don't use now and some chemicals that I also don't need as it turned out. Trial and error.

>>4995781
>chemicals that I also don't need
Absolutely not your fault, the amount of snake oil available is fucking ridiculous

are these macro algae alive

>>4995848
Barely. What lights are you using?

>>4995848
nice hair algae reactor you have there, anon!

>>4995572
It depends. 0 nitrates means perfect filtration, but it probably also means slow growth. That's fine as long as you have enough light and CO2. When I'm growing out new plants I let the water get a little saturated with nitrate and phosphate. They don't bother the fish. Then when they've rooted enough I cut back.

>>4995846
How many chemicals are people using? Aside from fertilizers, I only use carbonate, stress coat, and pristine. I'll use bottled bacteria on a new tank.

>>4995693
The rot was way worse than I thought, like 80% of the root system had to be removed. There's still a branch of firm, white, healthy roots left, but this is really not looking good for the monstera plant, I don't know if just that bit of root is enough to support it until it recovers. There is also still a shit ton of debris left at the bottom to vac out. I already basically did a 30% water change getting out what I can, so I have to wait to get out more until it settles to not shock the fish. I'm really worried I might have just botched the whole tank.

>>4995890
My experience with monstera is that they recover from root pruning really well and you can actually do it to stimulate more growth when potting on. But hydroponics make things weird. You can only wait and see if it starts dropping leaves.

>>4989527
Can confirm, my asian wife does not like snails.

>>4995996
what about your non-asian wife?

>>4995887
0 nitrates means balance. I'm not going to start dosing only to remove more duckweed or to do water changes. That's literally lunatic, GirlTalksFish-tier behavior.
>inb4 she needs a way to make weekly content out of 3 fish tanks
Get a job!

>>4996006
I wouldn't know. I go to her place

Is pic rel true?
I'm looking for cheap bulk but also highly porous bio media for my hob filters
Also, should I bother with activated carbon?

>>4996128
Forgot to mention, this is for a 55 gallon tote with 5-6 goldfish (mini indoor pond).
also should I bother getting these multi layer sponges? There's so much weird cheap chink stuff online these days.

>>4996128
Maybe it does have more surface area, but it's not really important. Generally you're not going to be limited by surface area in your filter but by oxygen availability. Ironically many people would have better biological filtration if they removed some media to improve flow. Don't bother with this sort of thing and just use coarse foam. For big systems like you see in fish shops and farms, surface area does become a factor and that's why they use that plastic media stuff which is great at avoiding being clogged, but they also couple it with the moving bed to increase gas exchange.

>Carbon
Only use it to absorb meds after treatment and then take it out after 24 hours, leaving it in the tank long term does nothing as it eventually will leech stuff back into the water. One of those boomer memes that hasn't gone away with time.

My cherry shrimp molted and dropped her damn berries. If I don't see a saddle on her does that mean the male already knocked her up?

>>4995880
some light i bought for my previous freshwater tank kek. do i need a different one?
>>4995882
wat

can I get some recommendations for cheap chink stuff for aquariums? Anything in general really. Local fish stores are insanely overpriced

>>4996370
>Things can you can cheap out on:
-air pump
-sponge filter
-filter sponge and media in general
-diy decor, wood and rocks
>Things you can cheap out on but there are risks
-used tanks
-Chinese LED lights
-hob filters. The risk is leaks and impeller motor burn out. Some cheap hobs are designed in such a way that they can spill water all over the place if they clog up.
>Things you should never cheap out on
-heater
-canister filters

>>4996464
This reminds me I should put my betta's heater on the empty controller I have, just in case.

>fellow sharks, if we don't allow orcas in the reef we'll surely starve

Can Ikea furniture support aquarium weight? Picrel if what I have. I was at my local pet store when I saw a 10 gallon tank for cheap, and was about to buy it until I remember my furniture. If I put the tank on the far left side of the desk, will it be able to support the weight?

>>4996530
It most likely could. A 10 gallon tank with 3 inches of gravel and full of water weighs about 100 pounds or so. Climb on the desk. If it doesn't crumble then you're golden.

In case anyone else cares, I was calculating weights on my own in case I build a DIY rack.

20 Gallon High with 4 inches of gravel
>196 Pounds

>29 Gallon with 4 inches of gravel
>281 LB

That's assuming 25 in^3/lb for gravel and 1 G being 8.35/lb and 231 in^3

>>4996530
The answer to this is always "probably", but I don't see why you'd risk it on probably. Shit ikea stuff is in danger of absorbing any spills of water and disintegrating over time. I'm surprised it's even stable enough to consider putting a tank on those things tend to wobble badly

>>4996530
I'm positive that desk can support a 10g on the drawer side without issue.

>>4996530
Look at the weight rating, most ikea furniture will have a specific weight rating listed that is fairly accurate/conservative. Assume 10lb per gallon freshwater, a little more saltwater. If you can't find a rating my rule of thumb is if I don't feel comfortable standing on a piece of furniture, I wouldn't put a tank above 5g on it.

What are these seed like things on my snail' shell?

>>4996854
Do you have other small snails like bladder snails in the tank? maybe they laid their eggs on it.

Or possibly a thin layer of its shell peeling off and air bubbles being trapped underneath? can't really tell from this image

>>4996530
The only issue with Ikea stuff is that it might bow. Not sure what the dimensions of your table are, but if it starts bowing, then the four corners of your aquarium will support all the weight, and if three corners are near the edge and one near the middle, you're gonna have a bad time.
Get some thick plywood from Home Depot and make sure it goes from edge to edge - that's gonna solve your problem.

>>4996464
>>Things you should never cheap out on
>-canister filters
Correct. You should skip the canister filter entirely. Those things are not designed for straight guys.

>>4996166
>One of those boomer memes that hasn't gone away with time.
I would say it's more of the longest running marketing scam of our hobby rather than a boomer meme.
>>4996251
>some light i bought for my previous freshwater tank kek. do i need a different one?
Not really. I use really old terrestrial plant glow lights (some cheapo Chinese stuff that's mostly red LEDs). However since this looks to be in your display rather than in a 'fuge, you probably want to prioritize aesthetics more, but otherwise most common macro will grow in a wide variety of spectrums. You just need adequate intensity. There are some that are likely more sensitive to spectrum but they'd be the more expensive, harder to keep ornamental macro.

>>4996909
I have an aquaclear 3 stage. The middle stage is a carbon filter. Can I just remove it then? I'd like to replace it with a bag of crushed coral that I use for my soft water.

>>4996854
looks like freshwater limpets to me but if they don't move then dunno

>>4996530
why ask here instead of checking the weight limit at ikeas website?

>Just bought some cherry shrimp a week ago
>10 of them
>8 have disappeared
>Wonder wtf happened to them
>Corys couldn't have done it
>Neon tetra wouldn't
>Look up about my Red tail shark
>They'll eat shrimp

Well shit.

Handed in one of my two male cherry barbs because they were being very aggressive with the females and I think they might’ve been what killed the smallest of them. Now my one remains male has died from no apparent cause and I’m left with four females.

Should I add a new male or will they be fine with an all-girl school? I have a few non-barbs to keep them from being bored and I’d rather not have to quarantine anybody to treat bites from the guys, but this is the lowest barb count I’ve had at once. Got the space for something new now, but I’d rather my existing fishies stay healthy first.

>>4997342
There's no fish that won't eat your shrimp, only fish who can't

>>4996922
Of course. Practically 100% of here in /aq/ remove carbon inserts, and aquaclears are the most popular HOB brand here by a long shot so we'd know by now if removing that insert in particular causes problems. I just put extra bio media.

what the actual fuck is going on with fish tank prices right now? I bought two 10 gallons for 20 bucks a year ago during the 50% off sale at petco.
Now that same sale and same tanks are $70 total after the 50% off!

I bought a tote from a local hardware store to use as a fish tank.
Only issue is that after I filled it up, it started bowing.
Would duct taping it around the sides prevent it from bowing?

>>4997934
https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/imagitarium-10-gallon-open-glass-aquarium-tank
$18.50 x 2 = $37.
Look at your tanks. There is a tag on the bottom of their cheapo stuff (Aqueon, Imaginarium) that says where it's made. Most, last I checked, are made in Mexico, meaning you're getting Trump's new 25% tariff on it, minimum.

>>4997956
>tariffs
welp that sucks.
>Imagitarium
Never seen this brand before. Is it better/worse than the usual aqueon tanks?

still winning

Does Anon cry when a fish dies? Are your fish family?

>>4997975
Not realy cry but a big heartsink.

>>4997934
"aquascaping" over covid seems to have led to a lot of crazy markups.

>>4997976
Do you get depressed when insects die too? If you accidentally stepped on an ant would you be in tears?

I think fich are no smarter than insects.

>>4997934
>for 20 bucks a year ago
>>4997977
>covid
covid19 was six years ago. have you been drinking your fish tank water?

>>4997978
I feel a bit bad but not much, but if it's something I am personally attached to like a little shrimp I get sad.

>>4997980
I throw shrimps on the barbie.

>>4997979
>six years ago
anon....I...it doesn't feel like that to me...

Bought a TDS meter and it shows my tank at 624ppm. That seems really high but my shrimp and fish seem to do fine. Should I try to lower this?

rate tank

>>4998013
Post water parameters

>>4998013
how big is this tank?

>>4997849
>Practically 100% of here in /aq/ remove carbon inserts
i don't, because my tanks are no-filter

>>4998013
where is Simon?
10/10 tank, btw

>>4998013
Isn't this overstocked?

>>4997637
You aren't wrong but you aren't right either.

Neon Tetra and corys wouldn't bother grown shrimp but they will eat freshly hatched offspring. The red tailed shark will absolutely fuck up grown shrimp though.

>>4994683
Quick update, I added a bristlenose pleco I got from a local petco. Fucking thing spread a plague through my tanks. Killed 4 neons and my clown pleco. One of thr goldfish pulled through, the other doesn't look like he's going to.

Do you guys do quarantine tanks? Inused.to not care but now that I have a bigger set up I think I need to.

>>4998282
>bristlenose pleco I got from a local petco
>from a local Petco
>Do you guys do quarantine tanks?
Imagine anyone taking that bait.

>>4998353
Lol I wish it was bait. I always had 20 gallon community tanks so I never gave a shit if they all got sick. $30 to restock. Lesson learned. I will do quarantine tanks from now on.

It's definitely ick. I turned the temp up last night, white dots on the goldfish and the pleco. By this afternoon the white dots were off the goldfish. I'm aggressively water changing and salting now.

There's shrimp in the tank so I don't want to medicate.

>>4998119
You removed the carbon by removing the entire filter. Devious.
>>4998122
Is that what that dude's name was? lmao
>>4998060
>>4998063
>>4998201
See pic

>>4997970
It's Petco's in-house brand (they are transitioning away from Aqueon). Both Imagitarium and Aqueon I believe were once owned by the same parent company so the supply chain and manufacturing of their tanks are likely extremely similar.

>>4998447
Explain how it's good to have that many fish in that tank then

Week 3
How do I soak up some of the tannins, will dangling a bag of carbon over a sponge filter work?

>>4998586
>Explain
No
>that many fish
Cope and seethe

I remember a video of some predator, that hides in the substrate or plants, killing all the fish. Fish disappearing, I think it was a creature that looks like a tiny praying mantis.

Any idea what video it was? Or any other videos like that..

>>4998839
must be dragonfly larvae

A 10 wk old guppy juvenile just disappeared in my tank. I think it was because I went away for the weekend to a wedding so it didn't get fed for roughly 3 days but I'm surprised that was long enough for it to die, since it's an old tank with plenty of biofilm. There's plenty of other fry now but this one was a white koi colored one so I'm a little bummed.

So it goes, I suppose.

>>4998611
Water change will remove some. How long that lasts depends on how much is actively being released by your wood etc.

>>4998586
Hello newfren welcome to /aqg/ enjoy your stay

>>4998013
only just noticed the loaches lol

>own 2 platy breeds
>the first, the one i have the most of, is fine
>no deaths in the past year
>babies are healthy, 1 retard born ever

>the second population had one die within 2 weeks (died in labour of her second clutch)
>another died recently (vanished, eaten by snails)
>multiple babies born deformed, unviable, or become tumour ridden

im guessing no. 2 are doing so poor because they are low quality genetic stock, but it still makes me feel guilty. especially the since i wasnt able to recover the fish and autopsy the second death. am i wrong and dumb or should i cut their lineage off at generation 2?

>had a lot of issue with shrimp tank, shrimps kept losing their antennae and dying after molts
>all inverts dissapeared, snails sluggish, some die
>fast forward to a reset, water changes and a few weeks
>the last 2 shrimps are healthy and active, and everything is swarming with copepods, ramshorn snails growing and moving rapidly

I don't understand this murder mistery hobby.

>>4998201
fish are love and you can never have too much love

this fish looks fat. am i feeding him too much?

What's the point of this, is it a symptom of mental illness? The fish are not happy, it doesn't look good, the poor fern appears to be dying, it's overstocked beyond comprehension.

Why not just sell the excess platty? I always see interest in local aquarist groups for fish,

>>4998611
Carbon works well but it will probably leech some ugly looking carbon dust into the water.

>>4999217
>tfw low quality genetic stock bred from a combination of different categories of low quality genetic stock
>powers combined to create something even worse than either parent
I didn't ask for this you know. To be born and all.

Cory from aquarium co op here I'm going to plant explosives all around my store and collect insurance money on all the Chinese products I rebrand

I'm happy to pay for rebranded chinesium, it's like a middleman fee for someone to buy all the shit off temu and figure out what's not going to leak or kill everything in your tank.

>>4999342
Aw, I love puffers. I'm currently setting up my own 29 gallon for 15-20 Pea Puffers

>>4998586
I am neither >>4998795 or >>4999135. However they're right. You are super new here so I'll have some pity on you. There was a guy who was both not knowledgeable and unwilling to admit fault with his clown car of a tank. He asked for advice but he didn't like the answers so he doubled down on his shitty husbandry, as is the case with tons of pet keepers. He kept this up with constant picture spamming for several months, to the point where the trolls harassing him became just as big a problem as he was.
He eventually went away obviously. I don't check this board super consistently so someone else will have to fill you in on any drama about his disappearance.
No serious poster here recommends overstocking that much. It requires ridiculous maintenance and it looks like absolute shit. Unfortunately after that incident, meme posting promoting bad fish husbandry went up like 1000% and hasn't gone away since because autists will never give up their rituals.

>>4999283
>>4998201
See my post >>4999644

>>4999340
Wonder how he's doing with the TACO tariff rollercoaster. Probably pretty stressed considering they just moved to a larger location.

>>4999645
Yeah I kinda figured after this >>4998447 post that it's a local meme.

>>4999461
>he thinks the middle man does quality control

>>5000084
Flanders is more than a meme. He's a Legend!

>big ramshorn hasn't moved for two days
>pull it out
>remember reading somewhere you can tell for certain if they're dead by sniffing them because they start smelling bad real quickly
>give it a sniff
>vomit a little, retching for several minutes
what the absolute fuck, what is in them?

>>5000476
Rotting tissue tends to smell bad

>>5000535
It's nothing like that at all, I've obviously had dead fish before.

Good news, I'm going on a date with shrimp-girl. She wants to meet up and have coffee then find something to do together. Pretty sure that's a date.
I have no idea what to do though. I suggested an escape room and she politely joked about it not being the best idea. There isn't much to do in London. She talked about the themed animal cafes she has where she's from, but there's nothing like that here. She mentioned wanted to go to London Aquarium at some point when it isn't busy and doesn't have big lines, so that's a 100%, but not something I can suggest right now.
I've never actually been on a real date before (pretty bad, since I'm around 30).
I like this girl, she's cute and knows her shrimp. She likes aquatic life in general, if that's useful.
Should I bring flowers?

Video somewhat related, it's my shrimp.

>>5000547
you go for coffee and then you walk around by the river or something. do not attempt to some fancy song and dance for a date, that's not the point of the exercise.
>Should I bring flowers?
not on first date. Good luck. That's a nice shrimp. I had a small contingent of shrimp at one point but then I added six juvenile cherry barbs to that same tank. This was alright until the cherry barbs reached adulthood. Now I don't have shrimp.

>>5000547
Are there shops near the coffee place? You could walk through a few of those while chatting, if they're not all top end clothing boutiques - antique stores or random tchotki bullshit stores are best for that.

It's not explicitly a test, but being able to come up with some random time waste to do together is something most people (particularly women) look for in someone they're dating. It shows you're "fun".

Also don't bring up total anything death or JQ.

>>5000547
>There isn't much to do in London
Bit of a silly comment. Are you central or coming in from somewhere? I went on a date to the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibit at the Natural History museum recently which was good, if you're both into that sort of thing was like £15 a ticket.

>>5000547
First meeting a literal coffee or tea date is good enough, just have a no pressure pleasant day.

Good morning /aq/ bros,
Thinking of getting a 13.5g/52L marine aquarium, specifically a FluvalSEA Evo, and I was wondering if a 10 or 20% water change each week would be better for this size of tank.
That, and I also wonder about stocking; I was thinking I might get a pair of Bangaii Cardinals and a Porcelain Crab and/or a Redline Cleaner Shrimp in there, along with a Tuxedo Urchin (maybe). As for corals, I was thinking mostly GSPs, but also wanted a single fat Hammer in there alongside some Mushrooms and Zoanthids.
Very much still open to suggestions.

I need a filter setup for a 55 gallon corner tank I bought from a coworker. I don't have much experience with indoor tanks, as I spend most of my time working with an outdoor koi pond. Are the fluval hob filters decent enough to keep some plants and shrimp going? Trying to keep costs low as I spend most of my quiche on the koi pond.

>>5000693
>13.5g/52L marine aquarium
>a pair of Bangaii Cardinals
kinda small for that, why don't you just do the basic bitch pair of clowns in there? or maybe something like a tailspot blenny, or a goby+pistol shrimp combo.
can't answer the water change question, that depends on too many params.

>>5000837
>keep some plants and shrimp
you don't need a filter for that.

>>5000837
It really depends on what you are putting in. 55 gallons is a massive overkill for a shrimp tank. They will hide most of the time because of the open water above them. But if you just want that, any decent powered HOB will be more than sufficient. You might actually need a baffle if you have floating plants. Fluval is like the mass market high end brand. The strength is more important than the brand. One cheap option, buy a half dozen guppies. Then you'll have a tank full in a couple months.

55 gallon is enough for 4 fancy goldfish and a couple dozen dither fish like danios or rasboras plus all the shrimp your goldfish can eat.

>>5000865
Noted. I will probably branch out into other fish or take some koi fry home until they are big enough to go back in the pond.
>>5000867
Makes sense. I do like the idea of some shubunkins, but if they are half as messy as the koi I care for at work then they will need all the help they can get. The AC110 overkill for my size tank?

>>5000997
AC110 would be good if you are putting goldfish in there. You will see just how much they poop in a tank. I scoop once or twice a day. I've mastered the wrist flick to get the poop in the net. I only vacuum twice a week. The goldfish are pretty thorough and don't leave much food behind. The tank is heavily planted.

>>4989102 (OP)
Can anybody tell me what might be wrong with my fish? Appears to be emaciated, very lethargic, tends to swim by flapping the pectoral fins rather than with the tail. Tail droops when it’s not actively swimming. I don’t think it’s paralyzed, as it’s capable of swimming short bursts just fine. Hasn’t been eating as far as I can tell.
Water parameters: 72 F(unheated), 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, trace nitrates, 40-60% water changes weekly. Very hard water but the other 5 fish seem to be doing ok with it.

I'm the anon with the 5 gallon Hex. There's been a change of plans. Acrylic is a pain to work with, especially in the shape of a hexagon. I went a bought a 5.5 gallon rectangular glass tank to keep my shrimp in. As for the Hex, I'll use it as a snail nursery so my future Pea Puffers can have a good source of food.

Lambchop rasboras or black neons? Why?

>>5001325
black neons are pretty good. substantial heft to them. not fussy about food so long as you crush it small enough. they nibble and spit food you'd think they could easily swallow whole. instead they like sniping a hundred tiny little specks of food dust in the water column.

My ugly shrimp

>>5001056
Too hard to tell, as is often the case. But since no one has given you any answers, I'll lob something out there. Maybe wasting disease? That is a totally wild ass guess though. Regardless, it's probably going to be difficult to save.

>>5001471
they look fine to me

>>5001471
i set up amano shrimp tank a month ago.
those colored shrimps looks good to me. what are they?

>>5001639
>>5001733
the shrimp appreciate it.
they are "rili" type neocardinias

I fell for the Walstad meme and my 5 gallon tank is always always hazy/cloudy
Does it cease to be a Walstad tank if I add some kind of circulation? I wonder if even just a small power head to keep the water moving might help.
It used to have a large piece of mopani wood but I removed it because perhaps the wood was just rotting in the still water and causing the cloudiness.

Thoughts on Dr Tim's solution for an ammonia source? I want to get my 5.5 gallon tank to have an initial ammonia concentration of 2 ppm before I add bottled bacteria.

>>5002049
if your local water is treated with chloramine you might get ammonia "for free" once you neutralize it

Tannins have seemed to take care of themselves nicely without a water change. Ordering shrimp now. There's a bit of hydra on the glass but I'm hoping the snails will quell their numbers

>>5002049
Don't add ammonia, don't give the snake oil companies money for meme products like bottled bacteria. Add plants and wait.

I spotted these strange red dots on my driftwood when I was looking at my amano. They're stationary and tiny, less than 1mm across. Any ideas? Maybe some kind of strange rot or fungus?

>>5002206
Only other tank inhabitants are shrimp, ramshorn and bladder snails and pygmy cories so I don't think they're eggs.

>>5002206
>>5002207
Red water mites maybe?

>>5002206
do you have snails in your tank?

>>5002207
>>5002218
Yes, but these definitely aren't eggs.

>>5002211
I saw that as a possibility online but they're definitely stationary. I think it might be some kind of weird mould.

>>5002230
You can try to collect them off and see if they regrow if they are stationary. Is the tank running for long?

>>5002247
About 3 months, I think some of the outer layer of the wood has disintegrated which might have prompted it.

>>5002195
Well I already bought the bottled bacteria for a very good price, so it isn't a huge loss. I'm already planning to add heavy nitrate absorbing plants like RRF and Water Wisteria.

>>5002257
Other anon is correct. Snake oil filter starter bullshit is worthless. Plants aren't valuable just because of their own metabolism, they also harbour all the bacterial colonies you could want. It makes zero sense to use bottled bacteria, which are probably already all dead, when you could simply throw a few plants in there.

>>5002257
Just don't add it because you have it, just let your plants settle and once you see new growth you can start lightly stocking.

>>5002262
>>5002290
Good points. Others have also told me that the best way to seed a tank is to add media from an already established tank.

>he keeps snails

>>5002295
I don't want any part of a girl who can't in to snails.

>>5002253
My bet is that it will go away on it's own. Such a fresh aquarium has all kinds of weird algae and fungi going around that will die out once it's more stable.

I miss my hydroids

If I had to choose one or two GlasGarten shrimp food products, which ones would be best for Neocaridina Shrimp health? After some research, I'm thinking to go with Bacter AE and Mineral Junkie Bites. Thoughts?

>>5002291
It's a complicated topic, but I think the issue is that when you add a large amount of ammonia into the tank the microbes you get aren't actually what exist in a mature filter. You get stuff that thrives in an environment with higher ammonia and eventually they get outcompeted and die off as you get to normal levels and your tank remains unstable while this happens. God knows what's actually in the bottled bacteria products but you know that if you're using existing media it's going to be the right microbes which is why it's the best method. Ironically high ammonia can inhibit the growth of what you actually want as well. Sometimes you need to do this for tanks where you're not keeping plants but in all other cases just throw in floaters and stems and you can take them out later if you don't like them. A lot of cycling knowledge is very outdated, you see the 2ppm method everywhere including our own OP.

>>5002049
>>5002291
If the tank is empty and you have the shit already bought just dose it and ghist feed a bit. It won't nuke your tank and probably add a few nutrients you wanted to add with the ammonia anyways. Dosing ammonia also is a bit ballsy, it's much easier to overdose than it would be with ghost feeding. The dead bacteria(if they are dead) will also be more or less ghost feeding + you have the sollition of nutrients meant to keep the bacteria alive.

I agree with the other anons that it's pretty much BS, especially if you look at the recommendations on the bottle it almost always tells you "To keep your tank healthy, dose this twice per week for the rest of your life lol" so you keep buying it.

>>5002304
You don't need bacterAE or other similar biofilmy products unless you're a for profit breeder or you're intentionally trying to keep a ridiculous number of shrimp. You're not going to lose shrimplets to starvation in any planted tank and you can feed adults foods that don't make a mess of the rest of the tank. I haven't used the other stuff but it's probably fine, other than the fact it looks too expensive. Shrimp will eat literally anything, I just use cheap sinking waters, some algae wafers and some ones with protein.

>>5002304

I agree with this anon here >>5002309 if you want your shrimp to stay healthy just add some leaves. The tannins help and the fuckers eat the leaves as well when they deteriorate.

>>5002042
slap a filter on it. it won't hurt.

>>5002309
I'll consider your advice. I do want a huge number of Orange Neocaridina Shrimp kek
>>5002314
How would I give them their minerals?

>>5002309
>sinking waters
did you mean the Hikari Sinking Wafers?

>>5002333
Pretty sure shrimp can get away without dietary minerals as long as your water is hard enough but I don't know exactly how it works. The molting problem is massively overstated, as long as you're feeding them some "proper" food occasionally (veg or other fish food) and have naturally hard or remineralized water it'll be fine. These kind of nutrient added foods are just a scam, if you don't have enough water hardness it won't save them.

>>5002335
There are hundreds of brands of sinking wafers and pellets, hikari will be fine.

>>5002333
I can only speak for myself. I give boiled spinach/kale/zucchini for Ca and parsley leaves/basil for Mg. My shrimps and snails fucking love spinach and parsley. Nothing stays uneaten. Other than that I give them cheap wafers and pellets which are more protein heavy (around 50%) and sometimes a bit of bee pollen. My water is supposedly hard so that probably helps too. So far had no bad molts and just recently got the first batch of shrimplets.

>>5002344
How long do you boil your veggies for?

>>5002348
About 10-15 mins. I pour small amount of water so I could test with a fork how soft the greens are. I mostly test softness, timer is secondary. Tried blanching but it does nothing and the greens stay too hard for cherries to tear. Amanos probably would have no problems with blanched stuff.

How is your tub looking this year?

>>5002042
How long have you had it? Usually white cloudy water is a bacterial bloom, and it's normal for a new tank; it has nothing to do with it being a Walstad tank.

Probably going to add some nerite snails to my 20g. This seems like the correct course to take. The community is black neons, cherry barbs and corys. Once upon a time it had Colombian giant ramshorns but those fuckers were far more efficient at plant eating than anticipated, and they laid their eggs deep in the water column instead of courteously at the surface like mystery snails.

>>5001471
I got a job at a pet store and took this one home to live with them

>>5002119
What kind of snail eat hydra?

>>5002401
I've had it a year unfortunately, and the water has always been cloudy. Despite that, the shrimp who live in there are thriving, although a lot of my MTS died off, which is surprising because I thought they were indestructible. I'm wondering if it has to do with low oxygen levels in the water. It has organic potting soil as the substrate and lots of grass that was sold to me as dwarf sag but is anything but "dwarf".
>>5002330
I want to avoid this if I can because I thought it was supposed to be possible to go completely filterless, kind of feels like the water will be very stagnant, though.

>>5002639
sounds like your sand cap isn't deep enough all over and too much shit is leaking out, post full pic

>>5002722
the total substrate depth is probably 1.5", with maybe the top third of that being sand. Do you think I need a lot more?
Usually the tank is illuminated by a single 5 W LED, the extra strip lights here are just for the photo. The grass, whatever it is, has extended roots and runners throughout more or less the whole tank.

>>5002727
Small hob filter, put some cotton batting in as floss. That should clear it up in about a week.

>>5002733
No way to avoid having a filter? The only occupants are shrimp and snails and it's right next to my desk, so I'd prefer not to have the noise of a filter or air stone.
If I really do need some kind of water circulation, I planned to use a fountain/water feature pump to have the water flow over some fast-draining rocky substrate that I'd put some houseplants in, I think that's what I've seen people refer to as an aquaponic setup

>>5002741
You don't NEED a filter but if you want to clear up your haze that's the fastest and most effective way to do it.

>>5002741
Most valuable aspect of a filter is water movement. True for pretty much all systems apart from high density aquaculture where they really push the limits of biofiltration. A small internal pump is something Walstad herself promotes. Ones that can use an air powered filter as a prefilter will clear the fine sediment/organics in the water column very quickly, or you can add bamboo shrimp or freshwater clams that will love the flow and break it down organically, albeit at a slower pace.

>>5002727
These photos are too shit I can't see what's going on but this is probably the issue it doesn't look right. The cap is very important there's a reason why no one uses pure soil as a substrate.

>Least killi tank of 4 females 1 male
>Added the 2 larger females back in April
>Everything fine for a while
>Fast forward to now
>Those same 2 females are looking emaciated now and are extremely aggressive toward the rest and each other
>The original 3 look the same as they always did
Are those females going through menopause or something? I've never seen fish become both emaciated and aggressive. I don't see any other signs of disease on them so I can only guess they're using up all their energy fighting.

>>5002820
I also suspect them for killing the 2 babies that the original females spawned, because I used to see them chasing them all the time before the babies disappeared

>>5002727
>>5002803
I opened it on my computer and still can't really see, but if the red is the soil and the blue the sand and it's this uneven all over then it's 100% not having enough capping.

>>5002832
you're looking at the photo correctly. Maybe I'll add a bit more sand, then, thanks

Is elena's bhk the worst normal in the game?

There's a heat wave here in the UK, it's a balmy 27 degrees. My tank says it's at 26 right now and it's been like this for a few days. I wasn't concerned at first but my amanos are all spazzing out glass surfing, but my cherries are seemingly fine. 26 shouldn't be a problem right, it says that's in their range online anyway.

>>5003123
Yes they're fine. As long as it doesn't happen suddenly, most aquarium fish, neos, and amano shrimp are OK at least short term up to 28 or 29C

You can get a fan to blow at the surface and trade evaporation for decreased temp. Turn off your light when it's really hot, too, as that adds some heat (a decent amount when it's close to the surface).

>>5003123
Yeah, their metabolism is increasing so they are moving faster. Breeders keep the tanks at like 84 (28c) year round. The biggest problem is oxygen, but inverts do fine. Fast moving river fish are the ones that are susceptible.

On another note, if you have your own house, get a heat pump. I live in New England, so slightly cooler,and it keeps my house a cozy 66 (19c) in winter and 75 (24c) in summer, even during a heatwave.

>>5002820
You should have four hundred babies at this point. Sounds like it could be parasites - which also could cause the babies to "failure to thrive" and die.

Remove big snails and hit it with levimasole and prazipranquil, both of which are easy to source (Expel-p and Prazipro).

>>5003129
It must be a different problem then, it's not just acting faster it's definitely glass surfing.

New thread is up

>>5003192