Previous thread: >>2074342→ Discuss anything aquari

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>>2075761
The clam I was trying to save was a tridacna clam. Specifically a giant gigas clam. Don't confuse them with those burrowing labeled as "filter" clams that your think of. These guys need lots of strong lighting (no such thing as too much) and have the same requirements as SPS corals.

I only have one (a crocoe) in my tank so far (behind the corals if you look hard enough) Been with me since the begining the unmovable bastard he is. He literally squirted me more then twice during moves.

>>2076189
That big sps is in the way -_-.. lol, what is that, joe the coral?

>>2076178
Oooo tacky. Love it!

>>2076206
I thought it was a nice change of pace.

I've got a betta with a stagnant case of fin rot, he doesn't seem to be getting worse or better. I already read up on the subject multiple times, and right now I'm treating him with medicine. I bought him ignorant of things like tank size requirements and tank cycling. Right now he's in a 1.5 gallon tank by himself with a moss ball (I know they're pretty useless) and two anubias. Some gravel. The tank has a filter, a heater and light. I keep the tank in semi direct sunlight. I've already treated him before. I also do near daily water changes (small tank bullshit).

So what I'm thinking is, that I need to upgrade to a 5-10 gallon tank and properly cycle and stock it with plants. Then move him over to that one. I'm hoping that would reduce his stress and help with the rot. What do you anons think?

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>>2076280
> I bought him ignorant of things like tank size requirements and tank cycling
wait... what?

>>2076280
>I also do near daily water changes (small tank bullshit).

don't do this. in a small tank it removes too much of your beneficial bacteria and leads to fin rot etc.

i learned about bettas the hard way. the most important thing is to never discard/rinse your filter etc, if you kill your bacterial filter bettas will ALWAYS die.

>>2076288
> if you kill your bacterial filter bettas will ALWAYS die.
Nigga what? Most of you beneficial bacteria isn't in your filter pad, but on every surface of your tank. If your having micro-cycles in your tank when you take out media, you don't have enough surface area in your tank for the beneficial bacteria in the first place. A good course substrate will work. Hell, I've seen breeders use a 2 inch layer of marbles, because it gives massive surface area for beneficial bacteria, and a place for fry to hide.

>>2076288
Also, bettas are one of the few species of fish that are able to breathe atmospheric oxygen, which means the ammonia burn on the gills that fish normally experience, would have less of a detrimental effect on bettas, although it could still possibly injure them, they would be much more immune to it then other species.

>>2076283
While a betta can live in a cup, the smallest size tank you should house them in is five gallons. I also never owned fish before now so I didn't know about tank cycling ie letting the tank sit for a week to three weeks to build up good bacteria and to get it all set up right for the fish.
>>2076288
If I let the tank go for more then a day without a water change the water gets bad and makes him incredibly lethargic, and actually makes the fin rot dramatically increase.
>>2076295
I've got an inch and a half of tank gravel in there, does that help?

Also I know a bigger tank will be better obviously, but I'm asking if it'll help finish off the fin rot for awhile?

>>2076299
Basically, do exactly what you said needs to be done
>So what I'm thinking is, that I need to upgrade to a 5-10 gallon tank and properly cycle and stock it with plants.
So get a 5 gallon tank, fill it with some fine sand, or better yet, planted tank substrate, and get some plants going. Ger something that grows nice and quick like cabomba, dwarf baby tears, ludwigia, anacharis, or similars and your water quality will be not as much of an issue, especially if you have a decent light, and do a simple and cheap DIY Co2 rig.

>forgets the title

good job

>>2076299
>If I let the tank go for more then a day without a water change the water gets bad and makes him incredibly lethargic

No it doesn't. There is simply no mechanism for this to happen. Your betta cannot produce enough waste in a day to make a 1.5g uncomfortable for himself you even said it's filtered.

the issue is that the betta is in an uncycled tank

>>2076312
....shit.... I'm really stoned

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On the topic of betas and small tanks, I am the anon with the 100+ mystery snails and a beta in a 10 gallon tank.

My bf's mom was at the lfs and decided the beta needed some friends and brought 6 harlequin rasboras over and plopped them into the tank.
When I got home and my bf told me, I went over to the tank looking for 6 dead fish and, to my surprise, they were all alive and getting along with the betta.
My question is this: Assuming the betta and rasboras continue to get along, is there anything wrong with keeping 6 of them with the betta? I was chilling/smoking with the bf's mom and she convinced me fish can get lonely too :(

Is 10 gallons too small for harlequins? I have a 22 gallon long that has been cycling with ghost shrimp in it for a month now, originally planning on chili rasboras and german blue rams, but if keeping the 6 harlies in the 10 gallon is wrong I could just move the harlies over into the 22 and skip the chilis. Is 22 gallons too little to mexicangirl.jpg both types of rasboras in the same tank? Also, the snail tank is a treated tap water (Arizona liquid rock) tank (7.2 ph + hard) and the 22 gallon is R/O water ph + ph down to a 6.4 ph. Not sure if moving the rasboras from one tank to the other is possible at this point. These are babby's first two aquariums so any advice is welcome. Pic is a low quality shot of the 10 gallon, sorry, best my crappy kindle and shaky hands could do :/

The general rule of thumb is a gallon per inch of fish. So for now you should be fine, but your fish are going to outgrow the 10 gallon eventually.

>>2076342
I think they'll be OK in that 10g for now, but you'll want to plop them in the 22L later. Maybe even boost their numbers a bit too, so they'd be more comfortable schooling.

Your BF's mom has good taste btw, Harley Quinn Raspberries are a good alternative to meme tetras according to some anons here. I'm thinking of getting 10-12 Espei Lambchop Rasboras myself since my tank will remain fairly lightly stocked. I'm just worried for my other fish though, since they're not really aggressive feeders but my tank could use some ditherfish to bring out my gouramis

>>2076342
>and she convinced me fish can get lonely too
I'd like to hear her hot arguments for this one

>>2076342
buy a better filter, it's worth it.
move the rasboas and get 6 more of them, unlike a betta they do get lonely.

>>2076295
Bruh you don't know what you're talking about.
Nitrifying bacteria can't grow in anaerobic conditons, aka the substrate.
They grow almost exclusively in the filter due to the constant flow, which gives a high oxygen content, i.e aeorobic conditions.

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>>2075824
So I figured out where the 3 missing Kuhlis were.

Turns out they were hiding inside the actual heater where the electrical cord goes inside the unit. Yes, all 3 of them. I only happened to catch one sticking its head out for a brief moment, looking behind the heater and being puzzled why I couldn't find it, and then figured it out. Had to literally unplug the heater and turn it upside down to shake them out

Stupid Kuhli loaches.

>>2076481
I have had fish and ship hidE and live in the most inacessable places. I have a colony of ghost shrimp in my left overflow and they get bigger every time.

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>>2076426
>all substrates are anaerobic
>nitrifying bacteria don't grow in the substrate

>>2076481
We have the same heater.

>>2076587
Try getting even 2 inches of decent substrate to be aerobic, you won't.

The very small area that is aerobic has such a limited surface area either way, you'd basically get the same amount of bacteria from a small sponge vs your entire substrate.

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Ain't no party like a shrimp party

>>2076642
The amount of surface area definitely adds up. Especially if you have rock work/plants/decorations. I always replace my entire filter pad on my reef, never had a problem.

>>2076642
You can with an undergravel filter.

>>2076645
bought 3 cherries on Thursday

I saw one yesterday, but I'm not confident if they survived. I have a painted turtle so everything in my tank is pending expiration. The 3 cory cats, 7 danio, and 3 bala sharks have all held up really well though. any time i go over 7 danios one gets picked off. I also have a 7 pleco that gets into it a little bit with the turtle. All in a 55 gal so that helps with the extra room

large aquarium owners (150gal+)

did you have to reinforce your floors? if so, how did you do it?

Will rcs breed at 78 degrees?

got a 10 watt heater for my 5.5g and realized that it only came with one temperature setting after I brought it home.

I did google it but got mixed results so I was wondering if any of you had experience

>>2076691
you don't have to reinforce most floors for any size tank.

I did for my 1000g though. I put crossbraces between the joists so they don't flip, then I stacked cinder blocks and wood under the joists halfway between the footers.

It didn't seem to make any difference since my floor didn't sag at all. The joists weren't quite touching the props before I built the tank, and they still weren't touching them with full weight on it for a year.

>>2076692
They should. Mine have bred from 72 to 80.

where is a good place to find out what's compatible with what and how big a tank, etc they need? ive seen some piss poor charts out there...

>>2076683
0/10 bait

So whats your favorite way to aerate your substrate, do you stir it or use something like worms?

>>2076695
>1000g
Prove it

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>>2076364
I told her I though she did a great job too (minus the minor lack in communication)
I have noticed they kinda bully the betta out of food just because of how fast they move. For just being 1/2 a dozen tiny fish they get their frenzy on compared to the rather chill betta. Assuming I was to move the rasboras over now,
how would I go about bridging the 1+ ph gap. Put them in a bucket and do 10% water change with new water every half hour for a few hours?
>>2076393
Intoxicated appeals to emotion and personification. The betta was even frowning when we checked D: Honestly I know the argument is junk, just wanted to see how long I could get away with keeping the new guys in the 10 gallon.
>>2076395
I downgraded from a really old and loud "Whisper something 60G" that was given to me. It turned over water so fast that I had to clog the intake with sponge just to stop the snails from getting caught in an underwater vortex. I just bought this crappy one to tide me over. Do you mean better as in size or better as in a better type of filter? (canister etc)

Pic is the 22 long, not decorated or planted yet, ordering plants this payday :D

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>>2076789
>every time

it's empty atm.
what kind of proof would you like?

>>2076807
My LFS has one of those exact tanks. They keep freshwater stingrays in it.

>>2076789
He's posted it several times.

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>>2076809
I built this one. Then I broke it. I had a chance to get an acrylic one for free when a fish store in my state closed down, but I would've had to cut a wall down to get it in the house.

it's easier to just build one. Cheaper too.

>>2076779
MTS.

>>2076811
I see. Still, it looks exactly like my LFS stingray tank. It may be a bit higher, now that I look again.

>>2076814
maybe. I think the side glass is 3 and a half feet tall, and I think the glass rim without frame is about 6 feet off the ground.

It's just a square box though. A pretty popular design I think.

>>2076206
>>2076245
Wat how is that tacky

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Red Congo puffer. Stressed so his color isn't there. Divided my 55 till he goes in his own sandy bottom tank tomorrow or the next day.

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this happens without fail every time I do a water change. what the fuck is it?

>>2076886

Why the long face?

>>2076890
That's fuckin' weird m8. Is there something funky in your tap water? What's stocked in the aquarium?

>>2076890
Looks like a mix between hair and staghorn algae. I had the same thing in my 7.5 gallon. It went away after a week with manual removal and less feeding.

>>2076895
nm just some rcs.
its boston tap water.

>>2076896
i been doing manual removal for a while now with no help

>>2076890
Stop cumming in the tank.

I have in today and bought red cherry shrimp. They're babies but they're in my 5 gallon that's been cycled and sitting. So cute.

>>2076898
>i been doing manual removal for a while now with no help

It's worth mentioning that my tank was newly setup at this time. Adding a lot more plants also seemed to help get rid of it.

Also I doubt it's a nutrient problem, as I wasn't dosing anything at the time.

>>2076892
Because I didn't let him eat my Cory. Cory slipped past as I put the divider in and the asshole had his bottom half in luckily and spit him out no damage.

>>2076899
>not giving your tank protein supplements, little sperm swimming is natural and efficient food for ALL species. it also stimulates their prey drive
-
>>2076900
i dont dose anything either, ill try add more plants to see if it helps.

>>2076707
it's not bait friendo, going to start breeding them in my planter tank when I get it up and running.

>>2076915
>bala sharks

>>2076915
but why

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Any reason none of my plants are putting down any real roots? I've got the proper substrate and nitrite/nitrate levels, and the lighting is good, but other than the anarachis there's almost no growth from my plants.

I've had the tank setup for about 5 months now, never an issue with algae or fungus or anything

>>2076927
elodea likes to be floating.
HC needs high light and co2
you have mondo grass.


That should cover it.

>>2076927
so glad you got rid of the blue gravel.

>>2076933
I never had any blue gravel, you confusing me with someone else?

>>2076935
someone with the same decoration then.

>>2076691
I work on aquariums large enough you need to scuba dive in them to clean and maintain in the 10k-20 Gallon public aquaria type range and unless your getting to that point there isn't really much you need to do other then proper placement.

I will say this I am by no means a structural engineer but it super rare and almost unheard of of tanks crashing through floors. However tanks getting stressed from uneven sagging floors isn't and eventually what tank will fail or even in worst case scenarios tip over. For that reason you should place your tank ideally against a load bearing wall. If your floors are concrete then there isn't much to worry about.

>>2076938
I think so. I like my super tacky decoration but don't like blue gravel.

>>2076915
what's wrong with the bala's? The painted turtle is only 2" so he can't catch anything. Chasing fish gives him exercise. Live shrimp are a lot healthier than pellets, so why not breed shrimp in a planter tank and supplement his diet with plants and shrimp I grow on the side? Am I missing an /an/ meme or something?

>>2076966 meant for
>>2076925
>>2076919

>>2076966
they're probably talking about the size.
they grow huge.

>>2076966
Just advice. They get huge and need a school which will put them at 300 gallon tank because all the space they need. They're nervous fish and great jumpers.

>>2076973
bought them knowing I'll upgrade as the turtle grows larger. He can only live with fish that are larger than he is unless armored like the cats, balas are fast enough to evade him. The turtle is the priority here but for now they coexist and keep the tank entertaining. If I see any damage I will move them to my other 55gal. They swim right by him though and he never gets aggressive. I also keep the water at 75% so jumping up and out would be harder. Haven't had any problems yet.

Don't own a tank, might,
is there a way to clean the syphon or do I need to put a hose with dry fish water in my mouth each time?

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Enjoying Mr. Chunky. He just shit the biggest turd. Can't wait to have his sand tank up and watch him burrow.

>>2076982
Fish water is a delicacy in my country

>>2076982
most of us buy a gravel vacuum thingy that has a one-way siphon valve.

you stick the tube in the water and bounce it up and down and it pumps water into the siphon without you having to suck salty hose like a thai hooker.

>>2076982
other thing you can do is dunk your hose in the tank so it's full of water and then cap the end tight with your thumb while you snake it out to your bucket. Then when it's in place just let it go and you've got a siphon running.

you can suck-start your siphon if you want, but it's not necessary or anything.

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I can't seem to find anything on this anywhere but, my anubias flowered recently and I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do with it now. Do I remove the flower/stem part of it or just leave it in?

Pic kinda related.

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>>2076792
Is that owl in the tank or behind it?

>>2076986
>>2076988
Thanks mate. I can now get a c: face'd lizard frog fish and not have to ingest it's slimey shit.

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Day 2, and the gouramis are becoming much less shy now. They almost never let me get this close to snap pics in quarantine, and now they're also curious enough to check me out whenever I slowly approach the tank. Being in a real planted tank with lots of cover and baby shrimplets to hunt has boosted their confidence, I'm happy for them

I thought I would be satisfied with just kuhlis and gouramis, but now I'm itching to throw in a shoaling/schooling fish too since it wouldn't add a significant bioload. My ph is at a rock hard 8.4, but could I make Lambchop Rasboras work? Thinking of buying some tank raised ones online, and my current "soft-water" stock is doing quite well in liquid rock

>>2077038
pH mostly affects eggs when breeding, or wild caught animals.

Most fish can handle hard water up to about 9 without problems. Tank-raised fish are extremely hardy in a wide range of pH's as long as the pH doesn't change suddenly or often.

I'd say go for it. I've kept discus in pH 8+ tap water before. The didn't spawn successfully in that water, but it certainly didn't hurt them. They lived in it for years before I got RO to breed them.

>>2076342
Ten gallons is fine for Harlequin rasboras. 10 is usually the recommended minimum size for them iirc. If you want to put them in the 22 gallon and get some more, they'll be better off, but they won't suffer in the smaller tank. Just keep an eye on your nitrate levels on account of all those snails.

Can i keep a hoplias malabaricus in a 30 gallon for life?

>>2077048
yes, it just won't be a very long life.

>>2076996
I left mine alone until it started looking a bit withered, then cut it out.

>>2076178
I'm trying to breed two crown tail bettas, they are mature and when I exposed them to each other the glass tube way, she was very interested. She was showing her breeding stripes and blowing bubbles. He was super into her too, made a huge nest,flareing, swimming back and forth from her to the nest.
Do the few minutes together but sperate thing for about two weeks before introducing them briefly
They swim, she bows, everything looks great. Theyre getting along fine at first.. then She tries to swim toward him with her head down. I'm thinking, awww yiss get that fish pussy... then he CHARGES and starts trying to tear her to pieces OUTTA NOWHERE and I rescued her right away.

He seemed so into her, wtf happened?? I know bettas can be picky but he seemed to pull a 180 as soon as she was ready. What do? Is there anyway to do the whole peekaboo dating thing again with better results? I did everything by the book but he just HATES her as soon as she's in the tank with him.
Id really prefer these two breed.. she's a gorgeous deep blue female and he's equally blue but he has crazy sky blue 'lipstick' and I'd like to see if I can get more blue lipstick bettas.

They eat great, no ick or health issues and are both mature enough to breed. Female was not hurt durring the fight but was stress striped for the next two days..
If there's no hope I'll just have accept it , I don't want to Overstress her ..
She's a very VERY docile, sweet little female.she will even eat from my finger.
He is mildly agressive (flareing ) when he sees me,cuz food time, but Is otherwise very calm. Skittish somtimes, he hides durring busy day hours.
Tank was perfect for breeding, I have the breeding and grow out tanks ectect everything
I broke my back for these little fuckers and this is how I am repayed..

>>2077056
He's some wizard level virgin

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Anyone here have redbelly piranha's? I'm thinking about getting 3 baby pirs for a 180liters aquarium. And upgrading to a bigger aquarium in about 8-12 months when i'm moving to another house.

>>2077071
Just know ahead of time they are incredibly nervous skittish fish.

>>2077071
>>2077071
My mom had some growing up. She would feed them live gold fish, no heater, no substrate, no decor, 10 gallon with filter and they forgot about them so they ultimately ate each other. One half eaten still trying to swim and the other one missing the head portion.

Any other Australians on here? i just found out about this:
>http://piaa.net.au/why-many-of-your-pet-fish-will-cost-up-to-four-times-more-after-march-2015/
And i'm fucking livid.
>testing for a disease that no other country is concerned for
>ONE outbreak years ago because of some fucktard feeding gourami's to murry cod (illegal)
>researchers could only replicate outbreak by deliberately stressing out fish
>importing any rare/wild caught fish now costs thousands
>you have to buy 10 fish minimum so they can KILL 9 OF THEM to test.

I only heard about this today from my lfs, a great store with a row of beautiful purebred discus and angels, the stores main income, and now they cant import anymore. These changes just came into affect this month after years of legal battles.

Sorry for the rant but this is so fucking wrong. The exotic fish industry in Australia is pretty much dead because of this

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I still have a bit more to do, but I want to thank /aq/ for the progress I've made. In two or three years, I've gone from a messy baby-tier 10 gallon guppy tank to a relatively clean 40 gallon tall angel/shark tank. I feel like I've upped my game a lot. Gotten a lot of inspo and advice from these threads. Hoping that I continue making progress so that in another year or two, I have a tank as nice as some of the ones posted here.

>>2077086
Didn't stop the increase in robberies after banning guns. Don't worry anon.

>>2077086
You have to kill 9 fish to get tested to keep one fish? What am I reading?

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My tank is to' up from the flo' up.

I wanted to start moving fish to my 20long in the basement, since the tank in pic related is going to become a dwarf gourami trio + microrasboras instead of the intercontinental hodgepodge that it is now.

I had five bronze cories. I figured I'd get them because they're probably the hardiest, and because they'd help settle the sand in my tank. They were elusive as fuck. I was literally so mad at them by the time I caught all five of them, my inner rage wanted me to strangle them in my hands. (Disclaimer: I've never murdered an animal like this.)

I basically had to uproot a ton of shit, because the cories would just hide in the bushes where my net wouldn't go. It took me a solid hour to get them all.

Now all that's left are a bunch of black/neon tetras and a couple of otos. I could have done everything at once, but I didn't want the bioload in their new tank to go from 0 to 11 overnight, especially since said tank has very few plants as of right now.

Pic related is going to eventually be dirted and rescaped anyway. Will also give me a chance to pull the stand away from the wall, and cover the wallpaper with the black contact paper I got. Because having to see that striped wallpaper through my tank is immersion-breaking.

I do have one concern. It would seem practically impossible to net every last red cherry shrimp to fully tear down the tank -- particularly babies, which can be difficult to see and too small to net. I should just accept that some will die, should I not?

>>2076683
>I have a painted turtle so everything in my tank is pending expiration.
What does this mean?

>>2077130
Some shrimp will die. What I would do, is not feed them for like a week, then put a few algae wafers in, wait 20 minutes, then siphon out all the ones that congregate around the food.
And basically he means he bought all the fish knowing they may end up being turtle food

>>2076927
Elodea will put down roots, they're like these long white strings that come off the plants. Mine did it fast in a dirted tank, if that's just gravel it may take longer. Elodea grows out of control, melts and is generally a shit plant tho.

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Is my tank overstocked?

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I made a little actinic filter for my Iphone today, allowed to me take pictures under actinics that actually look like what I see with my naked eye. Enjoy all the trippy colors. Excuse the blurriness, the lense I made wasn't super clear

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Better quality >>2077176

>>2076178
A E S T H E T I C

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>>2077179
last one, with full spectrum lights on

>>2077180
I have to much green :( I've been trying to cut down on it. Kinda need to sell my green star polyps (big green blob in bottom left)

>>2077175
I think you could fit a few more

>>2077205
>I think you could fit in a few thousand more
Fixed.

>>2077175
I've seen that image on eBay. You can probably find it as well if you look up angel fish for sale

Finally got meme shrimp after refusing for so long. They're much more interesting than ghost shrimp.

>>2077071
I used to have one. Had him for years. Really cool fish but it was expensive buying hundreds of feeders a month.

I started off with six. In less than a month I had one. There can be only one.

>>2077241
That's only if you don't take proper care which is easy.

What are some good youtube channels about aquariumkeeping?

>>2077243
Solidgold

>>2077242
One of us has tried it anyways.

I got a 20 gallon with 6 wcmm's 6 neons some ghost shrimp and a mystery snail, am I fully stocked or is there anything I can put in there?

>>2077181
That doesn't look real

>>2077181
>Having failed to cuck his sworn enemy's father, Luthor attempts to turn the very seas against the Man of Steel.

>>2077265
Obscure super man reference?

>>2077243
The King of DIY, Dustin's Fish Tanks, Ted Judy, Rachel O'Leary. There are others, but you can follow the links from the>>2077243
ppl I listed.

>>2077241
How big was your tank?
And did you feed them enough?

>>2077130
>>I have a painted turtle so everything in my tank is pending expiration.
>What does this mean?
I stock my tank knowing that he very well could eat something. So far it has been fine.

>>2077275
55g. I kept at least 20 feeder guppies in there a day, and fed flakes and bloodworms twice a day.

I bought them at dime size. By the time the last victim got eaten they were over quarter size.

I bought a couple more and tried to introduce them a few months later when they were half-dollar size. The two I bought were from the same hatching at the original six. They were dead in a day.

>>2077016
Rubberlip plecos and peppered cories are okay down to 65 degrees.

>>2077053
Will do, thank you.

How do I grow this Java moss more better in my 10 gallon breeder?

Very low ammonia, zero nitrites and low nitrates.

I have flourish and flourish excel but I don't know how much is enough and how much is too much.

Also. Do pond snails eat eggs?

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>>2077344
Oops lost pic

>>2077344
>>2077344
I believe pond snails will eat eggs, yes.

Java moss grows under any conditions, but it grows better with nitrates and more light. It also seems to benefit from moderate flow.

>>2077348
In that case, water movement will keep detritus from piling up on top of it. Is anything stocked in there? If not, you could dose low amounts of ammonia. Most plants uptake ammonia much better than nitrates anyway.

>>2077348
>That image

Holy fucking christ, stop dosing regular Flourish right away. If your moss is turning yellow/brown, throw it away asap b/c it's dying or dead

Fluff up the moss once or twice a week, keep the temperatures low (77f or lower), dial down the light intensity and duration, and increase flow circulation of the tank. These are all recipes for most easy mosses to thrive

You may also want to get some shrimp to help keep all the shit from building up on your moss, a few Amanos will do the trick or a large colony of meme shrimp

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I went to an auction Saturday night and they had a bunch of Synodontis petricola. I am so muthafuckin excited about these guys!

>>2077386
>Synodontis petricola
That's an awesome catch man! Never seen one of those in a store. What tank ya got for them? Locally bred?

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Rate my 75 South American Cichlid tank?

Just threw my neon tetras into my puffer tank and the others in my cichlids tank. Now I have a nice shrimp tank. Excited to breed shrimp for my puffer.

>>2077395
Needs more blue.

>>2077386
Synodontis cats are awesome. I wish I still kept them.

>>2077056
Is the tank you're trying to breed them in the same tank the male betta lives in permanently? If yes, try getting them to breed in a different tank. and once the business is finished, remove both the male and female to separate tanks to let the eggs hatch and the fry to grow.

If not, then try making the current male bettas tank the breeding tank. Introduce the female to it and once they are both finished transfer the female betta back to her tank, and transfer the male betta to a different tank permanently.

>>2077395
What's in there?

>>2077418
2 Oscars, 2 Green Terrors, and a Jack. They are only a few inches each but have been together since Christmas

>>2077420
Can you sex the oscars and/or terrors yet? I'd imagine that tank would get real interesting if either species starts spawning.

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>>2077392
They're going in a planted 40 breeder. I might shift some stocking around if I need to. I have Bolivian rams, african butterfly fish, and pygmy cories in there right now. My main concern is if they try to eat the pygmy cories when they get bigger, but from what I've read it doesn't sound like it'll actually be an issue.
They were given to the aquarium club by californiacichlids.com. They have them on their website for $4 each. I imagine they must be captive bred, but probably in a farm and not by a hobbyist.

>>2077403
They're quickly becoming my favorite genus. I have some nigriventris going in a 20 long as well.

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What shrimp is this?

>>2077420

Oh boy dat bioload. Both oscars are going to be 10-12 inches in no time along with the jack Dempsey and the rivulatus are slow growers. That's lots of bumping and fighting. Just be be mindfulb and keep an eye out. Once they get older they'll have a personality change but everything can work. Keep water clean and you're golden.

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What is this? They appear sometime in my 5 gallon tank. Only a few plants and mossball.

>>2076980
i work at a fish store. we had someone bring in a 10 or 12" bala once to give away, so we put it in a big corner tank that usually has koi but was empty at the time, with the water level about 10" below the top. one day he disappeared and we thought someone took him. turns out he jumped, and we found him the next day under the shelf about 3' from the tank. harder doesn't mean impossible

>>2077480
I had a rope fish get out of a tank. I thought I was picking up a slim Jim and thought huh when did slim Jim make fish flavor and realized and puked immediately

Hello????

>>2077484
Hi

>>2077455
Looks like it could be an amano, but I'm not positive. Does it have fans on it's front legs?

>>2077489
I can't tell. It's maybe an half inch possibly less

>>2076178
You forgot to name the thread you newfag poorfag

Hey /aq/, RCS question for you:

How much do I need to feed the lil' bastards? I've got five in a 2.5 gallon tank, fairly thick with java moss. Also includes driftwood and fluval shrimp/plant substrate. I've been tossing in a single piece of Crab cuisine every couple of days, cut up into multiple pieces. They don't jump for it immediately, but will gobble the bits up once they scavenge across them.
I don't want to overfeed, and would like some feedback.

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>>2077512

So I'm trying to find a neat fish to add to my 14-gallon. Preferably something that does fine on its own or in very small groups. I currently have a small school of dwarf corys and a few otocinclus.

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>>2077522
who /perfect water here/?

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>>2077525
I still got too many tannins.
My water is clear, but looks like piss...
Clear piss.

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>>2077525
They fuck a brine shrimp cube in about 20 seconds
they really love them.

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>>2077527
*fuck up

>>2077526
Yeah it's gonna be like that for a while

>>2077530
Yup, just started another carbon run.

>>2077517
Th-th-thanks?

>>2077517
>When it's time to dose Excel before lights go on but you don't want to get out of bed

>>2077051
You're lying, the pet store clerk told me I could keep it if I do lots of water changes every week.

Dles anyone recomend a good Buffer/water conditioner for freshwater tanks when using RO/DI water?

I deal with alot of freshwater clients but I carry mostly alot of DI water which is too soft and pure to use in water changes.

I could just use baking soda but I rather charge to the client a proper water conditioner/profiler.

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My reef

>>2077568
I'd be flat out amazed if any fw aquarist here used RO/DI.

I used to use a brand name phosphate buffer for discus that you could buy in 5g buckets. That stuff was unsuitable for the average fw tank though. Probably just commercial water softener.

>>2077563
I stand corrected.
If you're up for 100% water changes multiple times a day you should be able to keep that sucker going for years.

don't make any vacation plans.

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Raided my yard for rocks and finally redid my 40.

>>2077525
I really don't mind the slight tint. I barely even notice it.

>>2077579
9/10- is that three different species of clown?
>>2077600
another solid tank, 8+/10
I love the rocks and branches. And that mysterious jungle corner.

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Hey aq, first ever aquarium, a simple 5 gal I bought at a garage sale. The yabby's name is Pringles and his behaviour seems to resemble a dog. I was hoping anyone could shed some insight into having a realistic substrate? He seems to enjoy moving the rocks around a lot so I thought a soil or sand based substrate might be appropriate?

>>2077497
Doesn't look like an Amano, more like a Neocaridina.

>>2077600

Holy fuck, that looks amazing

Too bad my tank is all mostly crypts and new carpeting plants, they won't appreciate being moved around. What are those floating plants you have at the surface?

First time rcs owner. Bought babies a few days ago and now they're showing color

>>2077234
More like from my local fish keeping fb group, there was a swap recently where that guy bought 2 tanks worth like that

>>2077601
Danke danke, Freund.

>>2077654
>What are those floating plants you have at the surface?
Water lettuce in the back center, Salvinia on the right and left, and a tiny bit of red root floater.

>>2077667
Weird. Bought from the dude on eBay. Had the same image up. Maybe same guy?

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>>2077620
My first aquarium was also a cray, named Simon the digger (who I later found out was female). Sand is awesome for them. Cheap playground sand from the home improvement store works really well, but it's very dusty and tends to grow brown algae. I also had some largeish seashells in there at one point that I would hide food pellets in for kicks.
Non-dwarf crays will outgrow a five gallon, and he might murder you mystery snail someday. Ideally you should upgrade him to a 15 gallon long or a 20 gallon tank eventually.

>>2077676
Will a dwarf cray demolish my red cherry shrimp? I'd love to add one to my puffer/shrimp picotope. Was going to add another micro predator like a scarlet badis, but my male puffer has seemed to of matured, and has gotten much more territorial, but still leaves the shrimp alone.
Never owned a cray. I'd imagine they could catch and eat rcs though, right?

>>2077600
I like it.

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>>2077600
Very nice.

>>2077579
Very nice! What type of lighting do you have over that thing?

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Now that my carpet and pogostemon have grown in, I want to work on the background. Any recommendations?

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Finally did some research today into what species of zoanthids I keep, and found that this gold colony I have is known as 'Gold Mauls' and sell for $35-50 per polyp online. I bought a frag of 3 for $5 at the LFS, and now I have 22 polyps of it. I've been giving these out to people right and left for free (at least 4 frags of two polyps each), now it's time to sell some of these!

The more you know.

>>2077692
The 4 gallon? I'd think you'd be wary of upsetting the balance you have in there by adding something else.

You'll get different stories from different people re: dwarf crays and shrimp. Some say they're completely fine together and others say the cray ate all their shrimp. I didn't keep my dwarf cray with small shrimp (just an amano). From what I saw with mine, I think they'd eat any shrimp they could catch, but they're kind of dopey and bad hunters, and shrimp are pretty quick, so I doubt they'd really mow down shrimp at a very quick pace.
Cajun blue dwarf crayfish (Cambarellus shufeldtii) are supposed to be much more docile than the Mexican orange dwarf crayfish (Cambarellus patzcuarensis), for what that's worth.

>>2077757
Is that Stauogyne repens? What kind of light and ferts/CO2 are you using to get it to carpet so nicely?

For background maybe some tall java fern and corkscrew val. I'd suggest jungle val, but the tank looks too small for it.

>>2077769
Not him but yes, it's styrogyne repens. To my knowledge they need co2 or they'll just melt. Also ferts.

I use ADA step 1 and brighty lights and are able to keep them

>>2077768
I think I probably just wont... I'm sure I could take the bioload and all, but a four gallon is close quarters for a cray and a bunch of shrimp. The cray wouldn't hardly have to hunt, the shrimp would just walk right in front of him.

Are there any small species of octopus that can be kept in like a 30-40 gallon tank?

>>2077785
Yes, a few. The most common one you'll find however is likely to be the blue ring octopus, but even they are hard to come across. They might look extremely cool and pretty, but they carry one of the most venomous and deadly bites in the animal kingdom, and tend to be aggressive. There is no antidote for the venom, and the octopus is a camouflage master, so likely you wouldn't even see it in your tank, get to close, and it'll lunge and get ya. It's a relatively quick death though, but still very painful.
O. mercatoris though, you could keep in a 30-40 gallon tank. You could actually have a few. They aren't very active though, and are pretty much strictly nocturnal, and during the day will just be in a tiny crevice somewhere camoflaged to look exactly like the rock, so you won't ever see them during the day.
If I were you I would keep one of the medium size octos, which can be kept in a 40 gallon (at a stretch), but preferably 55 gallons.

Be ready for frequent water changes, spending a bunch on seafood to feed it, an escape artist, and finally an amazing pet with an incredible short lifespan (usually less than a year)

Most difficult thing will be octo proofing the tank. You'll need a super secure lid with weights on it (many keepers use bricks or cinder blocks, Yes Octo's are that strong), and to reinforce and putty all of your rock work together. Octo's have a tendency to get bored and move rocks around, which could cause a rockslide to either break your tank, or kill your octo, or both.

>>2077785
there's dwarf octopus for sale on liveaquaria.

they're probably suitable.

>>2077798
Way to give information, man. >>2077791 already wrote a small book on it.

>>2077791
>>2077798
Thanks

>>2077803
If I were you, I would just setup a 55g tank ready for an octo, then go to a few of your locals asian markets, they always have octopus, and sometimes you can even get it alive. I'd just get one of these, they are cheap, and good experience. And you don't have to feel like shit if you fail quickly and the octo dies. It was meant to be eaten anyways, and you gave it a second chance. Here's a link
https://www.tonmo . com/threads/asian-food-market-octos-take-2.17077/
Take out the spaces before and after the . in .com

Puffers getting fat and eating my angelfish left and right.

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I've been running this Eheim 600 in my 75G planted tank. I've been having some algae problems to i did a 90% water change and did some cleaning. I opened up the canister filter and I replaced the buffing pad with a new one. I put every thing back together and the Filter makes a different noise and isn't pumping the water all the way back to the tank. What do?

>>2077834
Prime it again. Probably have air stuck in it. Rock it side to side then back in forth repeatedly and not fast.

Can someone give me a real reply to this?
>>2077512

Three of the shrimp molted last night, which I'm taking as a good sign.

>>2077872
Give them as much as they eat in an hour each day. Use a shrimp tray to remove leftovers, or they'll decompose in the substrate.

>>2077791
>Octo's are that strong

>attacked by a giant octopus
>ripped apart by its tentacles

>>2077863
Yeah, I emptied it out again and hooked everything up, sucked on the intake tube a bit and let gravity due the rest. It's up and running now.

>>2077800
sorry, I didn't read past blue ring octopus

I haven't seen one of those for sale since the 90's, I figure the rest of what he wrote may very well be equally outdated.

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I got myself 11 tiger barbs today for my 30 gal, I already love them.

They look kind of weird, their lines are green, almost as if they're a mix between the green and regular species, pic releated.

What's your experience with tiger barbs, /aq/?

>>2077890
My LFS just had one come in on liverock, killed it immediately. A lot of unscrupulous stores sell they're hitchhikers, which is normally fine, except when it's blue ring. But no, importers don't bring them in anymore that I know of.

Thanks for trying to call me out though, ya prick.

>>2077890
Blue rings were never imported to my knowledge. They would come in on live rock, usually indonesian live rock, and that's how they would get introduced at a store for sale. Indonesian live rock is no longer imported, thus fewer blue rings are found. Most other live rock gets scrubbed to hard for a lot of organisms to make it all the way through the curing process and into the tank, for them to be found. They do still pop up from time to time. About as common as any other octopus hitchhiker.

>>2077898
They're just green not tigers

>>2077932
The thing is, their lines aren't exactly like the picture, they're like regular tiger barb lines.

>>2077935
Got a green barb, called her green tiger barb -lil wayne

>>2077911
>Thanks for trying to call me out though, ya prick
in case you didn't notice, your name is the same as mine. I can't call you out. I am indistinguishable from you.

anyways, anon said you're most likely to encounter blue rings for sale.

since we agree that's bullshit I don't have anything else to say except what I already said:

liveaquaria has dwarfs for sale cheap and always in stock.

>>2077458
I have one GT male. Cannot tell with the other yet. I am gonna remove the females to a separate tank once identified. I was hoping to at least have 1 of the Oscars with a GT in the tank once they get big. As far as the Bio I am doing 15 gallon changes every 3-4 days and also vacuuming the sand.

Is over filtration a bad thing?
I hear Oscars need very clean water, so I was thinking of going for a 75 gallon tank and a filter that can handle 160. Good idea?

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I've seen a lot of guides on how much to feed a betta. Some say to feed them only 3 pellets once or twice a day, some say to feed them until you can see their bellies increase in size, on food packages they say to feed them as much as possible in two minutes.

My question is, how much should I actually feed my betta? I have no idea who's telling the truth and who's spewing out their own asshole. I'm new to fish.

I've been feeding him 5 pellets twice a day, but I don't know if that's too much, too little or good. He seems to be healthy and active, but I'm still worried.

Pic related, he also has a 3 gallon tank, if that matters.

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Would a DSB survive/thrive in a tank like this? I plan on having the DSB and just live rock and maybe some cheap/hardy corals Probably zoas

>>2077969
The size of their stomach is about the size of their eye, that's how much you should feed it. I had betta pellets that were the size of its eye and I fed it twice a day and he did fine for a very long time

>>2077976
DSB? Only term i know like that in reefing is deep sand bed. Zoas will definitely be fine though, don't even need a strong light. The one pictured would probably be fine

>>2077969
[PERSONALLY] I feed my betta 2 or 3 pellets in the morning when im just kind of rolling around trying to avoid getting up, and 2 or 3 pellets right after work when i go to plug in my phone. and i do not feed on weekends.

Some days i forget, and i switch between omega betta buffet and the LFS betta food.

seriously though a betta will beg for food non-stop every time you're in the room so dont worry about it being hungry, instead worry about more plants or more space. can never have enough.

>>2077966
>Is over filtration a bad thing?
no, it's never really a bad thing except in some very specific cases such as reefs that can't tolerate high nitrates.
>>2077976
A DSB adapts to its conditions. Whatever can survive in your tank will. The rest won't. That said, the size of the tank doesn't really matter, and the organisms in your sand and rock change all the time because things will die out unless you keep adding more.

>>2078013
Yeah, that's one of the things that I read.
Thanks for confirming it though.

>>2078018
I used to feed it only 3 pellets, but I was worried that wasn't enough. And yeah, my betta goes apeshit at the surface of the water whenever I'm near the tank, which was one of the reasons I thought he might still be hungry. It's good to hear that's just normal behaviour though.

Pic unrelated, I just think this thread needs more pictures.

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>>2078020
>Pic unrelated
hehe, whoops

>>2078020
my new phones pictures are "too high quality" to upload here.
>first world problems eh?

is it normal for my betta to just randomly start lounging if he hasn't done it before? he used to never do it but now I see him lying around on basically anything in my tank. otherwise everything seems normal

>>2078021
That's a strange marine tank. Those look like just stones in the back too, not even live rock

>>2078031
He's depressed. Get him another male betta to play with

>>2078024
Yeah, I know what you mean. I have to scale down my pictures to post them.

>>2078032
It's from the Georgia Aquarium, if you're curious.

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Any advice to deal with an overly aggressive rainbow shark? I'm relatively new to freshwater tanks.
I took this 20 gallon tank (pic related) from my friend back in January and set it up in my apartment. Currently in the tank there's about 3-4 guppies, 2 black mollies, only 1 swordtail, a black khuli loach, a small bumble bee cat and finally the rainbow shark who's only about an inch long. My last freshwater tank I had a rainbow shark for a very long time in a similar communal setup who was fine, no issues. I've had this current rainbow shark for a few weeks now and he's started to chase all the fish (except the bumble cat and the khuli loach) excessively and even nip at the mollies a bit. We tried moving the house he's "claimed" to the left side of the tank to minimize it a bit but it doesn't seem to have worked.
I'm willing to buy a smaller tank and move just the shark into it to keep the rest of the fish safe but if I don't have to that be best. I don't have the money for a larger tank.
Is there anything I can do? The shark is a nice eyepiece in the tank but he's an asshole.

>>2078032
it's a coldwater tank.

the rock and corals and shtuff you're used to are all tropical. Cold shores aren't nearly as colorful or diversely encrusted.

>>2078038
this is bound to happen in any community tank. Fish establish pecking orders and the ones at the top will torture and kill the ones below.

you can take the shark back to the store and trade him for a different shark. Sometimes it's a matter of personality. Or you can buy an even bigger fish to bully him, but that fish will still bully the others.

otherwise you can flush him or give him away or make a new tank just for him. He's not likely to stop doing what rainbow sharks do.

>>2077588
You're wrong. Have you kept hoplias before? They're are often found in puddles.

>>2077588
100% water change multiple times a day would wipe out the beneficial bacteria. Terrible advice,

>>2078046
>he thinks the bacteria are in the water

>>2078033
I already have three in there, dont think I can fit any more in the cup

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>>2078047
>>2078048

>>2078050
>>2078047
They're not. It's seeded in substrate and filter media. But if you're doing 100% water changes multiple times a day - yes, it would be wiped out.

>>2078053
some people really don't know what they're talking about, but they want to "troll" you anyway ;)

>>2077048
Hoplias malabaricus are sedentary species. They don't need as much room as say Hoplias curupira or Hoplias aimara by activity level alone. The size difference here is another issue. H. malabaricus do get rather sizeable, I've had a few over the years and they seem to top out at the 12-14" mark. Too bad once they got larger they didn't play nice, so they had to go one after another. If you can dedicate a tank per fish, you could probably get away with a 120G, but a 72" tank would be much more ideal. You could even try some ditcher fish in there and it would look nice. They really don't move much though. For the record I kept mine in 180G and 300G community tanks.

>>2078060
I've noticed.

>>2078053
>it would be wiped out.
maybe if you use chlorinated tapwater.

otherwise no.
sorry
you're wrong.
if fresh new water killed bacteria there wouldn't be any alive anywhere.

>>2078053
... unless you mean they'd starve to death from lack of ammonia and nitrite.

which is also pretty unlikely when you're keeping a 33 inch fish in a 24 inch aquarium.

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Decided to play around with some new phone apps that let me take pictures that aren't pure blue. The quality seems to drop when I transfer the photos unfortunately.

>>2078062
so I'm the troll for saying clean water doesn't kill bacteria but this guy ISN'T trolling when he asks if he can keep a fish in a 30g that you recommend a 300g for?

set the pipe down and take a minute to straighten your head, friend. Your troll detector is broken.

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Hey so I finished a that city cave with the java moss. I know its not pretty but I'm hoping that the moss will grow quickly and make a real cave soon

>>2078114
>city
*cory

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>>2078087
>33 inch fish in a 24 inch aquarium

>>2078088
I used a cut up medicine bottle to make a quick filter. Works pretty well. The orange is the perfect color

>>2078086
Well maybe you don't understand how significant 100% water changes are. Have you actually looked into it or are you talking about your ass here? Go try it if you think it would be harmless and tell me how that goes. But really, don't do it if you value your livestock. Your tank will experience a crash.

>>2078087
Hoplias malabaricus does not get 33" in length. You may be thinking of Hoplias aimara. 30G tanks may be 36", but I still would not recommend it. 100% water changes multiple times a day will prove to be stressful to the fish. AIf you think water changes only lowers ammonia + nitrite yet nothing else, you're only thinking in black and white there. Water chemistry needs stability.

>>2078089
I never recommended 300G, but it is what I kept it in a community setting along with other fish. Relax and let's take a breather there. You're firing off all cylinders over piddling stuff and it's not losing your cool over this.

>>2078152
>water changes kill your biofilter
ok, gotcha. Makes perfect sense.

>>2078155
>Makes perfect sense.
It would if you knew your head from your ass, but by all means do continue to prove yourself a numpty.

I just bought my first home. Husband wants a 250 gallon (or more) saltwater setup. Willing to drop around 20k USD into it. I've never done anything larger than a 40 gallon freshwater, and never salt. I just want to figure out a few preliminary things before I give him the okay to start investing his life and a large sum of money into this shit.

How do you effectively do water changes in such a big tank? This is a 2nd floor condo, and I'm told that the weight of the tank shouldn't be an issue. Due to the 2nd floor nature of the thing, we can't just run a hose to the outside or anything, but we could potentially have some sort of drainage pipes installed if that's a workable solution. Also, is the budget I've set for this project reasonable?

He wants to keep a single small shark, probably an Epaulette shark or similar, though I told him that we'll have to keep the tank running and stable for a long while before we could consider that and he's in no rush. Would it be possible to keep one of these suckers with anything else? My husband very much enjoys watching very small schooling fish such as sardines.

>>2078164
Look man, if your tank water is so different from your source water that changing water crashes your tank, YOU AREN'T CHANGING YOUR WATER ENOUGH.

Your water doesn't magically become safer the longer it's in your tank.

what it does becomes is poisonous so when you change it your livestock dies from the shock.

Changing all your water daily won't kill your fish or your bacteria. Changing all your water once every year will.

Let me know if this is going over your head, I can try to make it simpler.

>>2078170
300 gallons looks like it'd be a better fit for the room, so plan around that actually.

>>2078164
Let me try to simplify-

as long as you don't change water, the shit in the tank makes the water more and more acidic.

so if you go a year without changing your water it's extremely acidic and your fish are used to that.
You change all the water at once the pH swings from 5 all the way to 8 instantly and all your fish die.

If you're changing all your water daily this won't ever happen.

and again, if you think water kills aquatic bacteria you're just ignorant.

>>2078170
Oh, yeah, he also wants to know how you keep the entire condo from being horribly humid with such a big tank in it. We have central air, but will that be enough or is there some sort of solution we could get?

>>2078170
Usually what we end up doing is plumbing a drain line directly into the sewer. I mean you're probably going to end up installing a new electrical circuit on its own breakers anyways. Might as well run plumbing while you're at it. If possible it doesn't hurt to have a utility sink hidden right near the tank too, so you can run your RO unit for water changes and topoff right there.

If you have to you can do water changes with buckets but I can tell you that's a serious pain in the ass with a large tank.

Price is probably about right. $20k should set you up with tank, equipment and rock. Maybe some livestock if you go simple.

shark tanks are way different from reef tanks. Less rockwork, and a lot of sharks will eat their tankmates. That's more a matter of the individual fish than the species. Some individuals tolerate tankmates, most can't be trusted with anything that fits in their mouths.

Sharks are among the most difficult and expensive saltwater animals to keep. I strongly recommend reading and posting on reefcentral as you get into this project.

>>2078176
dehumidifiers, but ultimately it's going to depend on local climate. Mold is a constant battle. You can't have that much water in the room and expect things to stay dry.

>>2078176
also covering the tank and sump, keeping the water temp low and the room temp high will help. It's still going to get into the air though.

also be aware saltwater vapor is corrosive. It condenses on cold metal and fucks it up. Just part of the cost of keeping an ocean in the house.

>>2078170
A little more detail on changing water:

we mix up the RO/DI water and salt mix in a 55gal plastic trash can usually. Inside the can is a heater and also a pump that can be set to either pump water in circles to mix the water, or with a flip of the valve will pump via a hose or pipe to the tank or sump.

so you either siphon out the water you want to change and get it dumped down the drain, or more easily you open a drain valve on the overflow plumbing to drain water directly to the sewer line.

Once you're done draining from the tank you just turn the valve on the mix bucket so the pump now delivers the newly mixed water to the tank. And that's it. Should be easy and mostly dry.

if you have an automatic topoff system (and trust me, you will) you just shut that off when changing water so it doesn't fill the tank with freshwater while you're trying to do your chores.

>>2078177
This was the kind of response I was hoping for. Thank you very much.

>>2078178
I'll invest in a good one if we're going to do this. I'm pretty allergic to mold, so I don't want that to be a problem if it's avoidable.

>>2078181
Good to know.

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>>2078183
You're quite welcome.
and again, reefcentral is really a great resource every step of the way. Lots of us there have done exactly what you're planning.

>>2078171
>>2078173
>You change all the water at once the pH swings from 5 all the way to 8 instantly and all your fish die.

The advice given was 100% water changes multiple times a day as noted >>2077588 here.

Thanks for proving my point.

>>2078184
I will have him sign up there and read every guide there is before buying anything. This is very much a long term project, but one we've both wanted to do for a long time. We don't have or want children and he is at home full time, and with our house purchase it's finally time to start realizing it. Thanks again.

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>>2078185
Like I said, that only happens if you do a 100% water change once a year.

not a problem if you change water daily.

>Thanks for proving my point
that you can't read?
my pleasure.

>>2078189
Whether the 100% water change is performed once a year or every day, it would kill the livestock. Fascinating, as anyone who's kept aquariums would understand the importance of maintaining ideal and stable water parameters.

>>2078194
he's always here acting like this and we ignore him
anyone could google 100 percent water change and see how wrong it is for themselves

>>2078195
One of "those" types huh. Perhaps the most unfortunate thing about the Internet is, anybody can say anything. This includes the spread of misinformation for the sake of one's frail pride dying for its breath. Cheers my friend.

>>2078194
>Fascinating, as anyone who's kept aquariums would understand the importance of maintaining ideal and stable water parameters.

yep, and changing your water daily will keep it more stable than changing it weekly or monthly.

or maybe the water coming out of your faucet is poisonous and changes in chemistry every day?

>>2078197
You're confusing consistency for stability again. If you still think the water coming out of your faucet and the one in your fish tank are the same in its quality and parameters, you should try drinking some from the tank. Fascinating, how eagerly a person wants to be right but obviously has no idea. But we all start somewhere so welcome to the aquarium hobby!

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My shrimps are breeding. Like a lot after I turned up the water temperature to 27C. Absolutely nothing happened when it was on 23C. This is my first time experiencing this. Goddamn

>>2078164
>>2078152
I do 75% water changes on my puffer tank every three days or so. It's totally fine

I only know basic tank keeping, how easy would it be to keep shrimp/crabs/hermit crabs?

I don't have a pond nor do I even want one but what other fish could survive colder areas in the winter aside from koi/goldfish that would be pond-savvy? Without bringing them in for the winter or decking it with heaters. I'm just curious because I've never known anyone to have anything but carp and I'm mostly chalking it up to winter.

>>2078283
Bass, bluegill, croppie, alligator gar, sturgeons, and carp

>>2078280
You need to mix seawater for them. You need clean(not copper/lead tap water) water for them to drink and mix seawater.

They need a decent heatpad, put on the side of the enclosure, to keep the temp up. They also need a mostly sealed enclosure, like what a tarantula keeper likes. They need tiny amounts of food, some of it MUST come from the sea. They need ample space and lots of digging and climbing terrain. Or else they'll eat each other.

It's not hard to keep them if they have what they need. It's just changing a couple dishes each day.

They don't really mind handling, but they would prefer it to be in your bathroom. They need the humidity kept up or they die, They also need some airflow, but with humidified air.

If you live in a place with real winter, then you really must plan out their enclosure. If you live in Florida, you can keep em year round under a shady tree and just change their seawater and like drop an apple or tiny piece of crab every few days or so.

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>>2078170
>just bought my first home. Husband wants a 250 gallon (or more) saltwater setup. Willing to drop around 20k USD into it.

YOU THE REAL MVP SHIT

>>2078251
That's not the same thing as 100% water changes multiple times a day.

>>2078170
>Willing to drop around 20k USD into it.
The fuck

>>2078177
>Price is probably about right.
What

How do I step my disposable income game up

>>2078251
I have a large puffer and he gets 50-75% a week unless he gets real messy but mines a piscivore.

>>2078366
Price is more than adequate. I could set something up in that size for 3-4 thousand dollars. Unless your lfs is over priced by a lot.

>>2078366
>How do I step my disposable income game up
buy a house, pay into it, borrow against your equity.
>>2078372
>I could set something up in that size for 3-4 thousand dollars
kek

I bet it would look great, run great, and be easy to maintain. You get what you pay for. Why would someone WANT to go cheap?

>>2078198
>You're confusing consistency for stability again.
so explain to me what you think the difference is.

no really, what's the fucking difference between consistency and stability? And which one does your drinking water lack?

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>>2078400
stability can be affected, consistency cannot or it wouldn't be consistent.

I guess stability is a present tense, consistency is more of a long recording of that.

either way I don't give a fuck.

>>2078407
the anon thinks water takes on some magical property of "stability" once you take it from your faucet and put it in a fish tank.

apparently "stability" has something to do with whether or not he'd drink it. (consistent water is potable, but he won't drink "stable" water). So I'm guessing "stability" means "containing fish waste." And that's somehow beneficial.

Unfortunately he's just trolling so I don't really get to find out how retards think.

>>2078410
if that actually happened it would be impossible to cycle a tank.

if you drink aquarium water you're sick regardless of the quality.

>>2078412
He's pretending the water cycles, not the filter.

which is funny I guess. Like when my cousin Eric used to act retarded in P.E. class.

>>2078418
how's the water stable if it's cycling though?

>>2078422
it's not.

we weren't talking about a tank that's cycling though. Well, he was, but he's saying changing your water causes the tank to cycle each time I think.

>>2078426
it doesn't matter whether it's a tank or not, even if it's water in a bottle it's still 'cycling'

I guess he's going to die of dehydration because consistent water does not exist.

>>2078427
Hello you aren't welcome in these threads. Also trip isn't needed unless you're op or extremely autistic.

>>2078398
>cheap
No. If you are spending 20,000 go ahead and get fucked out of your money. Maybe you're just retarded. Also welcome to the hobby. You'll learn a bit here.

>>2078398
Aka how to be in debt and never be able to retire

>>2078407
>either way I don't give a fuck.
Good. Neither dose anyone else.

>>2078412
Fuck

>>2078422
Off

>>2078427
the bottle is cycling, not the water.

nitrifying bacteria live on solid substrates, not in the water column. So when we say your tank cycles we mean the filter and perhaps other surfaces, not the water.

>>2078449
>If you are spending 20,000 go ahead and get fucked out of your money
>I'm going to buy something cheap that looks expensive, that'll fool them!
>>2078450
the concept is that inflation will destroy the value of the money you pay back. If I take out a 30 year loan I'm going to pay double what I borrowed, but by the end of that 30 years the real value of the money I'm repaying will be pennies on the dollar.

Saving dollars for retirement produces the opposite effect. By the time I retire my saved money will be worthless. It's far better to keep it in equity, which is best done by borrowing against real property.

>>2078467
I don't think you understand the concept of cheap and expensive. 3-4K saltwater tank is anything but cheap to 89% of Americans. You can pretend to be whatever you want on 4chan though.

>>2078478
true, cheap is a relative thing.

Most people that are keeping a 300g plus reef tank aren't going to consider $10-20k to be expensive though. Just because they usually own a home that's worth at least ten times that amount. Which is sort of what being a middle-class adult is all about.

Personally I don't spend that much on a fish tank, I much prefer to spend it on travel. But to each their own, and "cheap" is very much a relative concept. If you can afford something nice there's not much point in listening to someone that says you can have something less nice for much less money. Who cares? If they can comfortably afford $20k why spend $3k for something that's way more work?

>>2078479
I just don't see how you are going to blow 20k on a 250- 300 gallon tank, it is a standard sized tank and the equipment is all pretty common place. 5k maybe.

>>2078481
>it is a standard sized tank and the equipment is all pretty common place.
I think it's a custom tank and stand?
though that wasn't what I was imagining the money being spent on.

Electrical work and plumbing would take several thousand. Live rock for the thing is probably over $10k after delivery. Reef lighting is easily several thousand. Most people will go with automated topoffs and battery stacks/generator backup- another few thousand. Salt mix and an RO unit that can handle that volume would be over a grand.

you could easily spend $20k before you even bought livestock or standard equipment such as heaters and skimmers.

>>2078481
yeah, just a quick search online all I'm seeing in 300g tanks is custom builds.

not that it matters, even if 300g was a standard size it'd still be cheaper to custom build one than to ship it built. Also you'd have a hell of a time getting a 300g tank up your stairs and through your door.

it costs about $1500 for a cheap custom built 300g with no stand. A top of the line installation with stand will probably cost closer to $10k.

Haven't done a water change in 10 days, and water is 120 ppm GH. Why does this keep happening? I tested my rocks and they don't have bicarbonate in them. GH goes down a negligible amount after 50% water change

>>2078506
What else is in the tank?

>>2078479
Middle class can't even afford that

>>2078509
middle class has this thing called credit.

it's what lets them buy a $250k house and a couple $60k trucks and take $10k Disney vacations every year.

If they had to pay for it out of pocket, almost nobody would afford that stuff.

>>2076481
aqueon pro brahhhh

>>2078510
>buying things on credit
You're an idiot if you buy things on credit. If you can't afford to pay for it in cash, you shouldn't have it. The exception is taking out a loan for a house.
No, you're not even allowed to buy a car on credit. If you can't afford the car new you buy a used one.

>>2078491
I think the 6 foot 265 is a standard footprint

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>>2078491
$20k is a huge amount of money for a 300 gallon salt water tank but if that is your budget you can certainly get a lot of equipment and dam solid acrylic tank and stand.

Then again this is coming from some one who deal with tanks in 10k public aquarium range. But ironically a pool sized tank tends to not be as expensive in the same manner as smaller say 300g because you get efficiency of scale. For example a skimmer for a 300 gallon tank might be anywhere from $300- $900 depending on features and quality. A skimmer like an R2k skimmer for a 7000 gallon tank might be like $3,000 or $5,000 dollars but that's still cheaper then if you scaled up the cost of a 300g skimmer to a 7000 gallon one linearly.

Speaking of add on equipment who here uses the APEX controllers for their aquariums. Me? I use mine to control nearly every aspect of my 110gallon reef. I put in more alarms then necessary, just because.

I just bought a 60 gallon tank and I want to plant it heavily.

What do I use for substrate?

I also have a peacock eel that like to burrow so I'd like to accommodate it.

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>>2078170
I don't have anything against reef central but I find their forums have a lot of shitposting and terrible and often grossly incorrect information.

>>2078184
Just to add again $20k is a great starting budget but that's honestly way over budget unless you are really going for a full day 1 packed reef with Ecotec Radion LEDS and corals galore. That being said I have the perfect plan for you tank if your just keep sharks and rays. You can set up your tank plumbing with a closed loop for circulation and on the same loop you can have a small pool type sand filter with a Jandy type valve that will allow you to backwash the filter (running the filter in reverse to flush out crud at the top of it and do a water change) to pipe that will lead to a sewer drain, that is how you will do your water changes. You can still have a sump with skimmer and all that other stuff it would just be a separate pump from the closed loop

Now I don't know how your condo is layed out space wise but it would be ultra convenient to have a dedicated room or closest space for the pumps and saltwater mixing vat. I would get two 50 or 100 gallon (as much space and you can fit) PVC tanks. One tank for mixing salt water and one tank for RO/DI water. You can run a pump on a loop in the salt water tank to aid in mixing salt and a lot you can put a valve to line that goes straight to your closed loop. That way you don't ever have to carry buckets or move big plastic garbage cans to do a water change, its just a matter of turning off a pump and turning a valve and the pumps back on.

I do this for a living but mostly with tanks so large you have scuba dive to clean (my background was fixing pools and I had scuba Certs hence why I do this). I can't empathize how important it is to set up a tank correctly.
Feel free to ask me any questions on your tank plan or what I do.

>>2078529
Seachem Flourite

to the people arguing about water changes and pH its always important to take regular water tests for your tank and source water

you can be a fish tank aquarium master but if you do not check the water you will not know and can only speculate

things DO change, its important to check even if it can be tedious or if you are very familiar and know your tanks well

its always good to change the water 50% as well. IMO anyone who says otherwise is forgetting the most important thing marine/aquarium health and longevity. the systems people keep are CLOSED systems this must be remembered

doing the 50% amount you know half the old goes out and half the new goes in. this way the water and conditions will be always be regulated somewhat by your actions through maintenance and not just the natural balance in the aquarium itself.

with 50% things will be consistent to the half of whatever is going on in your aquarium, good or bad. if you check and the tank water is still 'the same' as the source water CHANGE it still its not FRESH

if you do a lesser percentage w/c buffering capabilities and other water parameters get complicated and harder to track and need to be monitored more often to discover the sources of changes in the aquarium

if small water changes are done on a stretched schedule things are not getting completely diluted/replaced while other things are becoming concentrated from evaporation

even if nothing is evident at first there is still an opportunity for changes in the long haul!! regular and frequent testing is a must

50% change ensures a complete water turn over every two water changes and keeps things regular

>>2078546
You need to study math and public water systems.

>>2078546
>I agree on testing before doing anything but your stability wont change that dramatically if you don't do a large or frequent water change. It's also heavily dependent on your tank volume and the amount of live stock in it.

its better to do smaller water (and most importantly clean/siphon out dirt/detritus) then to do huge water changes that rapidly throw things out of wack. Even better is to get in the habit of testing and doing changes/additives when parameters begin to stray. i.e if nitrates begin to rise that's a cue to do a water change.

>>2078546
>50% change ensures a complete water turn over every two water changes and keeps things regular
.....what? That's not how it works...
When I've had contaminated water before, from having a cubicus boxfish die in my reef, I did 75% water changes three consecutive days, and even then, I know that a small portion (maybe like 1-3%) of the water was from the original water 4 days prior. It was just diluted enough that the insane amount of carbon I threw in took care of it easily.

>>2078560
>huge water changes that rapidly throw things out of wack.
>implying clean water throws things out of wack

look man, if putting new water in disrupts your tank you're either using a terrible water source or you've let your tank water go to shit.

things shouldn't die when you put in fresh clean water. Doubly so in your case with a reef. The best water those animals will ever see is new water.

>>2078560

it dependent on whats going on in your tank/source water

doing a water change if your source water matches your aquarium water the 'big' water change wont toss stuff 'out of whack'

say if you top up, top up, top up evaporate as opposed to siphon out

salts/minerals/debris remain in the tank and water. things will creep up as water is only added to system and never removed, the remaining water is concentrate not dilute

>>2078575
thats just it even doing 75% in three days you have done complete turn over of water volume but there will always be residual water from the previous change... its closed system lol we only dilute with W/C its not 'changed out' like a vehicle part or something the past remains unless we start new

if you dilute consistently and the same volume each time things will be remain in a stable state...again check source water and what tank water is being diluted with for the resulted water mix afterwards

i had ich outbreak introduced into a freshwater tank and added salts/heat + daily gravel vac with small water changes to clear it. The process of adding and then finally diluting the salts was gradual, doing it at once would have throw things 'out of whack' (low gh to high gh). it took many small changes + time to lower and finally re-stablize gh level. The same could be done in a few big changes to remove all salted water but would shock the system/plants/recovering fish

in a healthy system that isnt being treated for something..... if you maintained on a schedule (say 50% each W/C) the larger water changes would be safe and beneficial. half the old remains each time

same can be done with small W/C as with big depends on tank, situations, water properties

>>2078631

fresh water has potential to do so!!!

>>2078644
yes, like I said-
if your source water is shit or you let your tank water go to hell then water changes are a problem.

otherwise no.
fresh clean water is the best possible water.

>>2078031
It's not normal but it could be a bunch of different things. How old is your betta? How is your water condition? Is there plenty of places to hide? Worst case scenario is he's sick?

>>2078631
>ngs shouldn't die when you put in fresh clean water. Doubly so in your case with a reef. The best water those animals will ever see is new water.

In an ideal world you only be doing a water change to replace trace elements and remove excess organic matter.

Also "clean" water isn't a good indicator for water that is good for your tank. Water that is "dirty" in the sense of having high dissolved organic matter might actually be better in the sense of being able to clean and support biofilters. Water that is super sterile might even be detrimental because even though it may be clean and at the right parameters the organisms in the tank will have to adapt to it quicker if you did a large lets say a 50% water change. As I said you're not going to cause a crash by doing large water changes but it's unnecessary and it *can* cause unneeded stress.

The only way to really measure "clean" water is go by ORP which is really not a good way to tell if it's entirely safe or not. The higher the orp the higher the ability of the water for it to oxidize or "burn" away organics before it can decay. The target for a reef tank if you actually measure ORP would be something like 380mv, if you're using ozone that can be like 450mv which is the range you want to be in. As for another example chlorinated pool water is something like 700mv which would be too high to support life (that's the point).
Belive it or not when you do a water change the clean water actually has a lower ORP then the tank water and can be something as low as 290mv.

>>2078919

yes this agree with! I still do my big water changes though

This is what i am getting at you need to be cautious and aware frequent test and understanding your mixes.... i still do half tho lol

>>2078531
beautiful coral, is that pocillopora? I've been trying to find more blue corals and cut out some of my greens. My shop doesn't get blue things in often though :/ Or they are super pricy

Dicks

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>>2076178
he finally had his first molt!

>>2077620
bro regardless he will dig thats what they love to do

>>2079921
aaaaaaand nightmares....

>>2077692
>Will a dwarf cray demolish my red cherry shrimp?
They'll kill em if they can catch em.
I've lost a couple ghost shrimp already. Thankfully, I moved my cherries to their own 5gal.

>>2078283

Trout.

Hey, I thought ancistrus were supposed to be peaceful? Mine chases away any other fish that swims near the substrate,including the angelfish twice his size.