/Aq/ - Aquarium General

animals are GAY

I really like tetras.

>>2364213
>>2364213

>>2364226
Tetras test strips are actually pretty accurate. There's videos comparing them to API test kit. I did a test myself and was pleasantly surprised. Though a 25 dollar test kit will last longer than the strips.

>>2364160
>>2364160

>>2364231
I think the test kit is worth it cashwise if you pick them up on Amazon. My aquarium was an impulse buy, so I ended up buying a kit for 34 at PetSmart. It's like twelve dollars cheaper online.

>>2364226
Kits aren't expensive. That is your answer.

You could easily spend double the amount of a kit on blue shrimp and have them all die within a month due to shitty water quality.

You should test your tap water BEFORE you decide on your fish. If your water parameters are way off of the fish you want to keep, pick new fish. Constantly fighting with your water parameters is a great way to lose fish, money, and time rapidly if you are not an experienced aquarist.

>>2364234
>Amazon

well shit

>>2364245
I have a gist already but im talking 10/10 accuracy. My ph is a bit high (desert california) but I wouldn't go so far as to lose my shit and scrap all shrimp plans because of it.

No dissent on my suggestion so I guess ill e fine with cholla wood

>>2364249
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7U5QI4YHZhA

Damn, in the comments of this video, it's saying you can get more bang for your buck with the Tetra strips by cutting them vertically. Is there anyway I could sample a few? I've got a good system for reading the colors on API.

>>2364257
>Damn, in the comments of this video, it's saying you can get more bang for your buck with the Tetra strips by cutting them vertically

well that just made buying them a LOT cheaper holy shit. I'll prob swing by the store in a bit and see how it works then

>what's your pH?

>The GBR shouldn't care much unless your pH is really high

>You can use Acid buffer to lower it, and probably other things but that's what I'd use, but it will also lower your pH

In response to anon about my high KH (12) and housing GBRs.

I keep my pH low 7 or high 6's. I have CO2 being injected for the plants so that what causes a +/- in pH.

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>>2364260
That's pretty much what you want it to be at as far as I know if you want to keep your CO2 around 20-30ppm. If you drop your KH you'll also need to drop your pH to maintain that concentration, at least according to this chart from the PPS-Pro site.

>>2364257
Yeah, from my experience, any Petco/Petsmart will use those exact strips for their free water testing services.

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Instead of a horrible blurry picture of my tank, I've decided to take an even more horribly blurry video of my tank

My 12 Glowlight Danios are quite happy. Looks like they're trying to spawn and find eggs in a lone crypt plant in the center. Honey Gouramis are shy as usual, but sometimes one will pop its head out and explore the tank

Now to order some Eyespot Rasboras and Kuhlis, and I'll have a nice Southeast Asian themed tank (just pretend the Sword and Alternanthera is from there too).

I'm trying to make my aquarium into sorta of a natural asian theme if anyone knows what I mean. I already have tiger barbs in and some vallisneria and another similar looking plant. Does anyone have any suggestions for an "Asian" theme?

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Anyone have experience with Glofish? I think they're cool as shit. We learned about how they're created in genetic engineering class and I just had to get some glow danios.

They only lived 1-2 years though. Not sure if it was a bad lineage or if I was doing something wrong.

>>2364407
Any specific parts of Asia?
I'd recommend some gudgeons if I knew the tank size

>>2364377
Dank 9/10

>>2364440
The danios and BSTs are cool. I think the tiger barbs look retarded.

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>Want marine aquarium
>Shit is stupid expensive and requires lots of maintenance

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Are enough of my roots sticking out or should uncover more?

>>2364523
Move to the coast. Everything is now as cheap as a fishing license and muscles needed to tote water.

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Hello folks.

Pretty new fish keeping anon here. A little photo of what I've slowly been setting up.

That's a cycled 20L tank with eight tetras and somewhere in there are there amano shrimp.

I'd like some advice about the usual stuff.

Stocking: I don't think I'm going any higher than what's in there nor do I want to overload. I'd love to add a betta but I don't think he'd fit.

Background: I have been thinking it might be nicer and more relaxing for the fish if I covered the back with something.

Plants: I love the greenery in there and so do the little guys, I would love to hear what anon thinks about rearranging the tank for better sight lines - the tetras either hang out in the foreground or dissapear off round the back of the tank which is nice for them to have cover.

Also please let me know if you see anything wrong/bad.

Water levels all reading nicely and doing a 1/8th (treated) change every Sunday.

>>2364545
I hadn't realised just how fucking terrible that photo was (and indeed how much is reflected but I can't get a decent one in daylight so it seems.

Additional question. The light has three settings.

1. Bedtime (dark and subdued blue/green sleepy time)
2. Bright pink tinged light (what's on in the photo)
3. Blue light like a saltwater tank.

What's best for the fish? I can never decide between 2 or 3.

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>>2364550
Now with photo which is actually even worse and with far too much anon in it. Sorry - but I am wearing trousers!

This is the blue light.

>>2364545
Do NOT add a betta. It will kill your fish and even if it doesn't it won't thrive in a tank so small with so many inhabitants already.

I assume you have a filter. I think you're still changing way too little water. The standard is 1/3. Make sure you vacuum the gravel too.

>>2364560
Thanks anon.

I'll increase the water change amount. I've got a gravel vac - sorry didn't mention that. There's a filter, heater and air pump all tucked away off to one side behind the bigger plant.

I won't be adding a betta - didn't think there was room for him anyway.

I'd not mind adding something else but I don't think there's room for something solitary anyway.

>>2364440
I have one random Blue Danio in a school of regular danios, it's shorter than the rest but doing alright

Do you need a filter for a moderately stocked freshwater aquarium? I would assume that given enough water circulation and surface area for nitrifying bacteria to colonize you wouldn't need one.

>>2364461
Tank is 60 gallons and not really any specific part as long as it's warm tropical

>>2364407
Are you talking about fish found in Asia or just Asian 'looking' fish?

Panda corys come to mind as well as koi swordtails/tri-color swords. I haven't kept tiger barbs before so I am unsure if they will nip and bully these to death or not though.

As for plants I am unsure. Temple compacta might be what youre looking? Not sure why but when I think Asian aquarium I think of greens, reds, and orangish-browns.

Maybe look at Iwagumi style aquascaping and see if thats up your alley.

Perhaps I missed the mark though.

Are German blue rams actually hard to keep? Or is it just aimed at people who go to a pet store, buy an aquarium, filter, gravel, and the fish, go home and throw everything in.

I have a tank that has been established almost a year now and I keep my parameters as stable as I can without testing everyday. I do water changes weekly (25-40% depending on what I need to do), keep my pH locked with CO2, and watch for changes in the tank daily.

Are these fish really that sensitive where I will find a dead fish/pair unless I have a few more years under my belt?

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Can anyone tell me what this is?

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>>2364777

>>2364777
try asking the discord server

>>2364777
>>2364778
Looks like mold to me.

http://pets.thenest.com/clean-mold-fish-tank-4229.html
I've heard people saying that you don't really need to replace the water and just a deep clean of everything should be enough. But I never had this issue so I don't really know.

>>2364777
>>2364778
White hair algae

>>2364533
Does anyone here actually do this? I live on the coast in Florida and my interest has been piqued.

>>2364872
Not me but my uncle. He's maintained a saltwater tank for years stocked only with creatures he collected himself. He also changes the tank's theme when he feels like it.

For instance he had a coldwater rock pool tank (small schooling fish, gobies, blennies eels, crabs). After about a year he grew tired of it, released all the creatures where he found them, and made an angelfish tank.

He also raised and rehabilitated several baby turtles in that tank. He's pretty cool.

>>2364888
Butterflyfish, not angelfish, sorry

>>2364888
If he truly cared he wouldn't have released them back into the wild. It's illegal and even if your tank is clean there's still possibilities of releasing disease that would wipe out many fish.

>>2364530
Uncover the rhizome or it will slowly rot away.

>>2364925
Not illegal where I live.

Also if all his fish and everything in his tank, down to every grain of sand and every decoration, came from the wild, then how will the fish bring new diseases into the wild? Diseases don't just come out of nowhere. If they're sick it would be wild-type diseases.

>>2364523
Just buy tanks on craigslist or something. and use an LED grow light for a chaetomorpha refugium as a primary means of filtering. Fuck protein skimmers. It can be really cheap. One of my tanks is an 8g macroalgae tank, and it just has one of those Par38 leds and some chaeto, and it rides smoothly. You truly dont need the expensive reactors/controllers/testing equip.

>>2364930
It happens all the time. Fish have in the past gotten fucked by marine ich. There's been many studies and talks about this at conventions. It doesn't matter. Things do appear if conditions are right. Where is he from? Also was he illegally taking salt water turtles?

>>2364944
South Africa.

No, he didn't take them illegally. Him and I found 22 turtles washed up on the beach. We contacted animal rescue and they only took the 20, but because they know him, they said he can rehabilitate the other 2 himself.

But I legit didn't know about the disease thing. I'll try find some scientific literature on the subject.

>>2364930
>Diseases don't just come out of nowhere. If they're sick it would be wild-type diseases.

>huuuuuuuuuurrr what is genetic divergence from a reproductively isolated population?

Neither you nor your uncle should be allowed to own fish

>>2364952
>reproductively isolated

What? He never once bred a fish.
I'm telling you, these are fish that were taken out of the wild for under a year and then released back in. What do you think aquariums do with sharks and other large fish? The exact same thing.

>>2364955
>subject is about DISEASES
>talks about macrobiota reproducing

Is this the South African education system? Do kids in South Africa really not know about fucking germs, viruses, parasites?

>>2364959
No need to be such a cunt. Your post came across as implying the fish were reproducing.

Show me some peer-reviewed scientific articles on the topic, Mr >tfw to intelligent. I'll gladly believe you once you do.

>discuss anything aquarium related here
>discuss
I read it as discus every time :/

>>2364962
>he thinks reproductive isolation only applies to macrobiota
>he needs muh google scholar'd abstracts to tell him that bacteria populations rapidly diverge from wild type strains when placed in a fucking tub

This is grade school level biology. It's not even bio 101. Are you pretending to be obtuse, or are you just this arrogant about your family's shitty habits?

http://www.drtimsaquatics.com/wp-content/files/scientificpapers/Hovanec_DelongAEM_Aug96.pdf

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3435374/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20027306

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24629900

>>2364968
No I don't think that. I think you're the one being intentionally obtuse by missing my point multiple times. All these articles refer to ornamental fish, meaning fish that have been bred in captivity for multiple generations. You do understand the difference between 50 years and 1 year, don't you? Give me evidence that enough genetic variance can arise in bacteria over the course of 1 year to completely decimate a different fish population. If that's the case, then why can I go to the pet store, buy two goldfish from two separate tanks, put them in one tank, and have no problems?

I'm honest to God trying to find out the truth here and you're just hurling abuse at me.

>>2364804
"deep clean"?

>>2364978
>These peer reviewed articles showing rapid genetic divergence and pathogens in a closed environment mean NOTHING because the men in white coats haven't explored my extraordinarily specific IRL scenario in a lab yet

Just this arrogant about your family's shitty habits then. Science isn't a game of proving you wrong moron, learn to extrapolate from data.

>>2364987
Not anon, but this isn't a closed environment we're talking about. It sounds like a semi-open system. Same as many public aquariums use.

>>2364950
Oh South Africa. Just assumed the USA.

>>2364440
Glofish live for up to three years, a bit shorter than normal danios.

They are less hearty than danios.

I have some but the problem with them (aside from being not as robust as many other species) is that they don't really go well with any other fish.. or plant for that matter, thematically. Either you have a glofish tank or you don't.

They just kind of have this unnatural hue to their colors that makes them not really go well with other stuff.

But if you dedicate a tank to them, they're pretty cool.

>>2364709
>Are German blue rams actually hard to keep
In the world of cichlids, no.

In the world of microfish (e.g. danios and tetras and guppies), yes.

You'll be fine.

>>2364655
Uh what? What is circulating your water? What do you think your bacteria is colonizing on?

Serious questions.

The surfaces regular tank stuff is not nearly enough, in general, unless you somehow got all your substrate to colonize (i.e. an undergravel filter).

If you have any doubt whatsoever, just get a real filter. If money is a problem, get a sponge filter. There's a reason why a lot of pros use sponge filters; they're widely regarded as the best solution for small aquariums, and they happen to be cheap as shit.

I have a 20gal high. What are some stocking ideas that aren't your everyday norm? I love corys so I would like to have a school of them at the very least.

>>2364985
Extensive/thorough/complete cleaning. As in washing and scrubbing everything with hot water and letting it dry before reinserting it in the aquarium.

Perhaps I used an incorrect expression? Sorry, ESL here.

>>2364407
There are plenty of Asian biotopes, from clearwater streams and rivers to blackwater marshes. Google "Monga Bay biotopes" or "Biotope Tank Contest", they'll give you some ideas to work with

For a biotope, you want to start with the fish first, and then start building a tank replicating their natural habitat. Since you have tiger barbs, maybe a clearwater forest stream from Sumatra?

>>2365092
Depends on what your LFS carries. Maybe Emperor Tetras? Sparkling/Croaking Gouramis?

>>2365092
Since you have a high tank, maybe look into making use of the height by having three very distinct layers.

For instance hatchet fish at the top and kuhli loaches at the bottom and some type of schooling fish in the middle.

It also gives you a bit more space to play with in terms of square footage per fish as the loaches would never encroach upon the hatchets.

>>2364930
>I'm stupid!

>>2364655
Well...not necessarily a mechanical filter, but yes, you do need something to filter the water. Like plants.

A fuck ton of them.

And not more waste than they can take in on a daily basis.

So like if you had one betta in a heavily planted ten gallon with just a bubbler, you could probably get away with it so long as you aren't over feeding and you are keeping up on the water changes (at least once a week).

You mostly have to think about how messy the fish will be and how much those plants can eat, and if the amount you do in a water change will be enough to keep that waste down and from ruining the water.

Is 'Punk' a stupid name for a black crown tail betta?

>>2364440
Mine were so much fun, always having the zebra danio personality or behaviour

Does anyone have any experience keeping GBlue and Golden Rams? I can only find mixed advice between "No", and "have a masive tank for territories".

>>2365299
You've been asking about this for quite some time now. Just fucking do it. It's not like it's a huge risk. They're some of the cheapest cichlids around.

>>2365309
Honestly wasn't me m8. My parents got some Golden Rams and they look really nice under a good lamp but I already have GBRs at home.

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I brought some anacharis from my LPS and a few days later I saw these guys.. what kind of snails are these ? Are they ramshorn ? Are they more Bad or good ? So far I count 3 or 4 of them ? Should I Exterminate ? The anacharis seems to be melting away as well. In my tank I have Java ferns, Anubis ,apongenton ball and moss ball.

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Recommendations for fish I can have with pinto shrimp?

At the moment I'm thinking japanese ricefish or normans lampeye.

>>2364545
Use aqadvisor for stocking info but dont take it as gosbel
Its harder to maintain temperature in round tanks so be carful
>>2364689
Well the good news is you're not exactly starved for choice
Red tailed black shark / rainbow shark, Danios, Rasboras, Labryth fish (If you already have barbs then get one of the larger semi aggresives, gouramis for instance)
Glass, Midnight and indian catfish, Rainbowfish, and various loaches are all asian and can be found at most pet stores
For some more specific / harder to find species
>Freshwater gobys
>archerfish

>>2365276
>naming fish
Do people really do this?

>>2365397
I name every single one in my school of tiget barbs. Theres terry, berry, larry, mary, harry, pary, Carrie, and joe

>>2365410
Fuck, there goes my coffee. Right down the front.

Has anyone here actually kept roseline sharks in cold water? Everything I've read says they will be ok in my 68 degree tank, but people always seem to keep them at tropical temperatures. I want friends for my weather loaches.

Does anyone have experience with SR Aquaristik regulators? Can't really find anything about them but they have a dual stage regulator for 160 on ebay

So I found a few things saying they were harmless, but I just wanted to check.

I found one tiny white worm on the bottom of my betta tank and vacuumed it out.

Are they actually harmless or should I do anything to treat the water?

>>2365866
If by tank you actually mean a tank with a filter and everything and not a bowl I'd say it's probably fine.

If you have gravel in the tank you could take it out and wash it but I'd probably not worry about it.

>>2365883
5 gallon bare bottom currently.

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>>2365911
And of coirse I fogot the picture.

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>>2365912
Wow I'm on a roll today.

He noticed his reflection, so since he's all flared up, I managed to get a good picture.

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>>2365916
i have one of these too

>>2365924
His colors are awesome! That tummy looks like it hurts though.

>>2365916
I love the fact that he can study the map of the pacific northwest of the USA!

>>2365971
Yea...I was too lazy to take that down. Plus it's really old and I'm scared of tearing it.

If he starts to scheme some evil genious plans in his darkle little corner, I may have to take it away

>>2364965
same lol

>>2366061
>>2366061
>>2366061

for good measure

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I'm curious about fruits and veg for tiny fish like neons.

I was going to go fish a couple of shelled defrosted (and microwaved, then cooled) peas.

>>2366219
*go for.

Fuck phoneposting.

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>have to flip on the light in bedroomto find work clothes, eventhough I know it's going to wake my fish

>sure enough, he gets up off his top level plant and swims around

>watch him for a minute

>he swims to the bottom levelwhere it's shaded and dark and lays down

I'm sorry T_T

>>2366219
They would enjoy small insects much more.

>>2365866
Usually get them from over feeding. But probably nematodes. I have some swimming in my shrimp tank and they're harmless and look stupid as shit.

>>2365397
I see people name fish if they have a single one, or a specific one in a community of other types of fish; even more so if they're long living.

I have a bunch of breeding guppies just called The Swarm and a school of danios called The Collective. But there's also a single blue Glofish danio I took in from someone in the school whose named Jett Blue

>>2366219
I tried to give my mollies corn and cucumber but I just couldn't chop it small enough

they would carry it around for a bit and hit it over and over but never managed to swallow most of the pieces. easier to just toss them some bloodworms

>>2366219
Just buy algae flakes.

>>2366219

Try making gelatin foods made out of veggie purees and stuff, it's soft enough that even fry can pick off of it

>>2366323
>Usually get them from overfeeding

How? Are they something in the water or in the fish? If it's in the fish, doesn't that mean it's a parasite? That confused me lol

>>2366683
If it's in the fish, it's a parasite.
If it's from the substrate, it's just a detritus worm or casual nematode. A common sign of overfeeding, or excess nutrients not being quickly dealt with. How do they get there? There's honestly a multitude of ways, sometimes they just appear, however, they will die out if the excess is gone.

my java ferns are developing some black marks, kind of like damaged banana peels

are they dying or is this more or less normal? I've had them for a month and they've each grown 3-5 new leaves and sent out more rhizomes so I thought they were doing fine

>>2366920
Black marks on the leaves? Sounds like they're reproducing.

>>2366790
Huh...well I guess I'm just confused cause I don't overfeed and the tank is bare bottom. So maybe they were in that sand and moving it around jostled one up. As long as it's not hurting the fish then I'm not worried, but that was the only new thing I had was the fish itself.

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>>2366924
wat

here are the spots on one of them, I guess it's probably algae too because it's popping up on the rocks in similar patterns. the algae on the rocks is brown though

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>Doing a water change while sick with head cold

>Unplug the bubbler to make things easier and to not toss my betta around anymore while I'm cleaning

>Finish water change and pass the fuck out

>Get up, go to work, proceed to forget about tank till about two hours before I'm off

>Realise I left the bubbler off

>And the lid

>Nothings circulating the water

>No one's home to call and check on tank

>Chomping at the bits for the last two hours of work until I finally got off

>Rush home with nightmare thoughts of a dried out betta on the floor and a tankful of dead shrimp

>NOPE, EVERYTHINGS FINE

Thank christ. Either 22 hours isn't enough to take the oxygen out of the water, the plants oxygenated it for me, or the load is just small enough, but holy fuck that scared me so fucking bad.

>>2366944
Algae 100%.

>>2366946
People tend to waaaay underestimate the hardiness of a truly stable aquarium. Oxygen exchange from the surface area of the tank is actually pretty significant, and a good colony of bacteria in a biofilter isn't a delicate snowflake.

For instance pople think that mere tap water will destroy it; it won't. You don't disinfect your countertop by wiping it down with mere tap water. Likewise you can't disinfect your biomedia with the minuscule amounts of chlorine from a quick rinse.

But yeah, if all you have are shrimp and a betta, that's not a big bioload.

Also, in my experience, a betta won't jump unless the environment is not to his liking. The whole reason why wild betta jump in the first place is to reach new, better bodies of water during dry seasons (e.g. when a lake/river becomes a collection of puddles). So if he likes where he is, most likely he's not going to jump ever.

It's unlikely your plants are really helping out too much unless you have a really heavily planted aquarium or you're using something hardcore like a significant amount of Pothos. It takes a shitload of plants.

Unlike something like an Asian arowana, those fuckers will jump just because.

>>2366970
No filter actually, just the plants. I ended up taking the filter out because it's such a small load and because I do about a 50 % change once a week.

There's about six plants, but I only know the java moss. I don't know the names of the rest.

>>2366985
You must have a very small load indeed. Nice.

I'm considering a similar setup of just a betta and shrimp for an Iwagumi style tank I'm setting up. We'll see how it goes.

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>>2366999
My only regret is the sand.

When I'm not being completely lazy one of these weekends, I'll tear it down and get some actual soil for the plants.

Does anyone else feed their bichir eels a little bit of frozen shrimp? I cut off tiny pieces for him on occasion as a treat, but I sometimes worry it may introduce unwanted bacteria or parasites. I normally just feed him carnivore pellets. What else should I use to vary his diet?

>>2367026
Freezing should kill off most of the parasites but if you want to be sure to remove both parasites and harmful bacteria you could bake or boil the shrimp. A good dose of heat will kill anything in it. Its what I do when making homemade fish food and haven't had a problem yet.

>bought 20 ghost shrimp
>6 die after one day

am i retarded or something? tank is cycled and at the right temperature, ph of 7.6, little bit of nitrite but nothing bad

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>>2364220
I'm looking to get an octopus as a pet, I really like the look of the dumbo octopus but I haven't seen any for sale. Anyone here have any experience with owning octopi? Can you actually play with them?

>>2367075
Did you get them from a breeder or from the feeder tanks at the local pet store? I've noticed feeders tend to have issues, both genetically as well as illnesses from poor nutrition due to their fate of being food.

>>2367161
Why do you always ask? You always get told no and they die quickly.

>>2367026
It's fine
>>2367040
You'll be cooking the shrimp which isn't very good for the fish.
>>2367075
They're treated like shit and kept in shit conditions. It happens sometimes.

>>2367161
They are very intelligent and are known escape artist. They need a large tank and most cannot have tankmates: they may eat them or become stressed by them. Doing water changes after they ink is terrible. Cute as fuck though.

>>2367181
The frozen shrimp will lose some nutrients and some fish may be picky when it comes to cooked meats but I haven't heard of any fish dieing from them. Only issues I've seen heard of is them getting overfed and scraps sitting in the tank, or people feeding them only shrimp and not a balanced diet.

>>2367179
This is the first time I've asked. It's sad they die so quickly though.
>>2367182
I found how intelligent they are to be very interesting, I watched a video of one in a research station where it snuck out of the large tank into another, ate one of the other test subjects and sunk back in. Although if they die very quickly I'm not to sure, unless I find them at a reasonable price

>>2367191
Main reason they die quickly is that all their needs often cannot be met by an aquariumist. Various species live in conditions that can't be met by the average person such as appropriate water pressure, needing near perfect water conditions, ect. They need a tank that can replicate the ocean itself and an owner that can supply every need. Since even experienced aquariumists can barely do this, it drastically lowers thier quality of life as well as their lifespans. There are very few species that are hardy enough for tank-life, but the maintainence is often too much for any person.
Whenever I need my octopi fix I take a weekend trip to one of the saltwater aquariums/centers.

>>2367178
>>2367181
Feeder tank. I suppose this is normal then... thanks guys. I will look into hardier shrimp.

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>>2366999
Betta and Iwagumi style is not an ideal combination imho. No plants to hide or lean on and the high lighting needed for growing the carpet plants for the Iwagumi style are things your Betta will propably hate.

>>2367202
Idk where you live, but you may want to look into buying Ghost Shrimp from Petco/Petsmart as they're not usually kept as feeder stock. Or look into keeping the Cherry variety instead, if you give up on Ghosties

They look better and are probably much more hardier once a colony is established in your tank. I've had mine survive in unheated buckets and muddy water for a couple of days, no problems

>>2364220
R.I.P. Dottie

>>2364231
test strips always show dramatically different readings than my liquid kit (liquid kit is not expired and i do shake the bottles vigorously for several minutes). idk what one to believe but people say the liquid is more accurate.

>>2365333
looks like a pond snail to me.
They'll explode in population if you don't watch em. Get rid of them now while you can, if you don't want more.

Is your anach planted or floating?

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Coworker just gave me an old 28 gallon tank, but the corner of the bottom frame is smashed pretty good.
I'm leak testing it now. If it doesn't leak, could I get away with just removing the whole bottom frame?
Or what about making a wooden frame to replace it?

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One of these is not like the others...

Guys I'm a bit worried. One of my neons has got a very lumpy belly and is having trouble swimming downward.

Nothing has changed in my water and feeding isn't excessive. Poor thing just looks unhappy.

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>>2367431
It is really difficult to get a decent photo of a fish like a neon in a school.

>>2367435
The one lower than top right.

>>2367435
>>2367431
If his scales are raised, it's dropsy and he's fucked.

If not, isolate and provide him with really awesome water quality. It is way better than jumping to medication. Try feeding blanched peas.

>>2367297
No, the trim in glass aquariums is there for structural reasons.

>>2367204
It won't be strict iwagumi style, but yes it will be tricky. It will have contrasting sides of light and dark as the theme. I'm assuming my Betta won't be a dumbass and will find the dark side.

I'm more concerned with finding the right rocks and my ability to make the image in my head a reality.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdScmZtRVHM

I cried

That was awesome

I picked up a Mystery Snail for my 5 gallon a few days ago. So far it seems to like jumping off the cliff I have in the tank. Do these guys usually do weird things like that?

I wamt to try making a moss tree and I already have a bunch of java moss, but will that look ok? Everyone seems to use Christmas moss.

>>2366944
Had java fern before, black spots eventually grow ribosomes. Wouldn't falsely claim it as algae though.

>>2367075
>little bit of nitrite
please don't assume you're cycled if you have any ammonia/nitrite above .25 ppm, thanks.

>>2367586
mystery snails are the most silliest things around, i guess they're eating stuff and falling down, or maybe it's some sort of amusement for them.

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Is my shark aquarium big enough?

>>2367541
I am super excited to see this complete.

The dude has personally saved me quite a bit of money with his tutorials as well.

>>2367586
Mystery Snails are weird as shit. Some of the things it does will eventually creep you out.

>>2367275
What liquid kit? If it's API, make sure you test against the booklet's white background. Yes it seems harder to get a color match but that is the correct way.

>>2367536
I don't think it's dropsy. He doesn't have that pine cone looking. He just seems like he's painfully stuffed.

I'll try blanched peas in the morning

>>2367536
Forgot to say thanks anon as well.

>>2367604
>>2367608
Hope it works out. It's "just" a neon tetra but I still hate losing them.

FYI the pea thing helps with many ailments from indigestion to swim bladder stuff to blocked digestive tracks. SOme people even try shelled peas with a bit of garlic juice. Garlic has some weird recovery boosting properties or some shit.

Just make sure it's a pea that doesn't have preservatives.

>>2367594
>>2367598
Seems like the snail also hates Jungle Vals. The two I had have been uprooted, and any pieces that stuck the the walls were taken down by the Mystery Snail. The Anubias is fine though.

>>2367586
they're weirdos for sure

I had a snail that would get weird when I turned on the aquarium light in the morning. He'd stop whatever he was doing, extend out of shell as far as he could while straining upward. Occasionally he'd overextend and knock himself backwards, still fully extended

Looked exactly like he was trying to be taken by the rapture or worshiping the light. I named him Solaire.

>>2367536
>No, the trim in glass aquariums is there for structural reasons.
So couldn't I just make a wooden frame to replace it?

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>>2367740
>PRAISE THE SUN

I wonder if that snail is a dark souls fan?

>>2367622
Just checked in on the little guys. Still the same number of neons but no fat neon. Poor little dude must be feeling a bit relieved - he's still swimming a bit squint but is much thinner.

I think a day or so of no food might be good for them.

>>2367835
* no food except blanched peas

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Update for my tank
The platy fish I have are borrowed from another tank, just to let the fish shit help my plants grow.

I'm thinking about putting them back now, and buying some shrimp + fish. What do you guys suggest?
Right now I'm thinking a small school of rummy nose tetras and some cherry red shrimps

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I took a picture of my water wiggles

I've had this tank running about 2 months it's my first and I'm quite proud that only 2 things in it have died since I started.

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Please don't shoot me for asking this, but what fish other than bettas can live in a 5gal tank, at least until maturity?

(I have a 50gal tank at home that I can potentially transfer them to when they get larger. The 5gal was given to me by a friend and I want to put it in my office where I spend the majority of my time).

I was thinking danios or tetras. Is it feasible?

>>2368148
Baby guppies maybe, but they breed like crazy.

If you can find any, a small schoold of green tetra (false tetra) might work.

>>2368181
I had guppies before in a 5gal but they kept being aggressive to each other and it was extremely offputting so I don't know if I should get them again.

And neon tetras?

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Who /intelligent/ here?

I decided to see what would happen if I turned off the filter every time I fed my goldfish and only fed him in one specific corner of the tank. Sure enough, every time I turn off the filter, he immediately swims to that corner.

>>2368231
Nonono, not full grown guppies, that's just cruel. I meant babies. But they breed like crazy so they are propably more of a pain in the ass.

And no, not neons. Green, or 'false' tetra. They only grow to about an inch long, that's why I suggested them. However, even then, I wouldn't push anymore than 6.

>>2368245
FAT

>>2368148
try female bettas

I don't even like the look of the males

>>2367596
looks like shit my dude

>>2368278
I vowed not to get any more bettas because all the local pet stores keep them in those godawful plastic cups where they're infested with fungus and on their last legs when they're being sold. A while back I wanted to rescue and bought several consecutive bettas only to have them die on me within days. After 3 I told myself I had to stop.

>>2368290
at all my stores, including the petco and petsmart, the females are treated infinitely better and go in the same 10-40 gal tanks as all the other stock so I don't feel bad about supporting that practice with my money

>>2368299
Why do you dislike male bettas so much though?

>>2368148
Chili rasboras?

>>2367297
There's many tanks that don't have any trim. People even remove the trim. It just needs corner support. I forgot what they're called I'm falling asleep but can be bought on eBay for cheap.

>>2367275
I don't know what test strips you're using but I compared tetra to the api test kit and there wasn't a dramatic difference and was always almost spot on. Good for a quick test.

>>2368290
Oh shit man...The walmart near me takes ok care of their bettas actually. Granted, they are in those terrible little cups, but they are always in clean water, and they all look and act healthy if you come up and inspect them if they haven't gone crazy from all the kids tapping on them.

All three of my current bettas are from there and they are pretty damn healthy so far.

Maybe try a different store? And look for the bettas that respond to you the most?

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Hi /aq/ does anyone know what plant this is?

I've had these for a few years and they grow fast like weeds and are really hardy but don't know the name of them. They grow tendrils and can grow without being planted in the substrate if that helps.

>>2368517
Hygrophila difformis

>>2368520
Thanks! Also what are some other good plants to grow? I just have two sword plants and the hygrophila so maybe something for ground cover would be cool.

why do fags in the hobby keep repeating that otos are hard to keep alive? you just suck

>>2368362
Thanks! I've looked into them and they look like a really good bet.

How many would you suggest for the 5gal? I saw people on aquarium forums saying 12 but that seems far too many.

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>>2367895
Get some Erithromicron or Margaritatus Danios. They're perfect for small aquascapes. Alternatively, you could also get some Chilli or Axelrod Rasboras

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>>2368573
Speaking of Dwarf Emerald Rasboras, I have a small 5 gallon tank with a decent amount of plants. Enough for fish to regularly feel comfortable after a few days of acclimation.
My 6 rasboras are so shy that they will usually hide whenever I'm around. I would rarely see my fish out in the open, so I thought that getting some rosy loaches would help. Now the 5 rosy loaches that I have also hide in the same spot the rasboras are in 90% of the time.

Pic unrelated

>>2368580
You have 6 rasboras and 5 rosy loaches? Are they ok together in such a small tank?

>>2368552
I'd probably do no more than 6-7 honestly. It will depend on what the shape of the tank is too.

>>2368580
I had a school of emeralds in my small 10g tank but they were very skittish fish and took a long time for them to come out from hiding. Eventually I moved them into a larger 20g tank with some other fish and I see them a bit more. But they're still a lot shyer than anything I've had. I see my stiphodon more often than them.

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>>2368581
Yup, considering how tiny they both are at full size, it's totally fine. To determine overstocking, a lot of people forget that size of the fish should come into play as well as number of fish (since not everyone's planning on keeping goldfish, betta or even the common tetras like neons).
There are many 5~10g aquascapes with decent sized schools of microrasboras.

>>2368588
Yeah, if I had a bigger tank I would definitely introduce some more fish in it, cause as of right now I'm already kind of pushing it. Will probably rescape my tank so that I can plant more stuff in it without looking like a complete clusterfuck. Hopefully that'll work

>>2368588
Tank is almost a square but is just a bit longer than it is wide. Would 6 still be ok?

Does anyone know why my nitrites are not going down? They've been at 5ppm for about 2 weeks without changing, and ive been cycling in total for a month. Ammonia is at 0ppm, Nitrate at ~2ppm, ph of 7.6.

>>2368628
I should mention that I've also done a 20% water change recently and that didnt seem to have any effect.

>>2368596
I have the same tank, or similar

Wish I could find a 10 or 20 gal with the same seamless/frameless construction. Just looks so much better

>>2364930
Well it's about where your uncle lives, not where you do. I got an educational marine collectors permit in Florida, and he only time it's legal to release an animal is within two weeks of it being captured. Otherwise it's possible for diseases to morph in an aquarium, creating a new plague for the ecosystem they get released into.

I kind of want to build some kind of aquarium (or other *-ium) but I'm a poorfag. Going to maybe pick up an aquarium in a bit, a sale nearby for 50¢/gallon (for under 50 gallon tanks), what kind of fish could I keep in which sizes? Ideally going for a 45 gallon or so.

Anyway point is, being poor and fish and such being expensive, how good of an idea or feasible is making a 'local' tank? Like make it like a local pond/wetland and grab some local little minnows or frogs or some shit? I used to keep various little turtles and toads and such I'd find as a kid, but only on a temporary basis of a week or two at a time then let them go again.

Wtf man

Are barebottom tanks suppose to take longer to cycle? I know it's not the sponge filter because I have the same brand in a cycling planted tank and it's about 2/3 of the way done.

These BB's have been stuck at 3~4ppm for like 2 weeks now.

>>2368843
if there's no substrate, what are you expecting bacteria to cling to? Just the filter media?

>>2368974
Yes..

>>2368974
I also thought that's what grows the bacteria. Everyone always says you can't cycle a tank without the filter because that's what the bacteria grows in.

If it could be done without, then hell, I could have just bought an airstone for my betta tank and some gravel and called it good.

>>2368985
The bacteria lives in every corner of your tank. The filter just provides a porous medium for the bacteria to concentrate in.

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Why are you so camera-shy? You're beautiful!

>>2368983
is it really a surprise then?
>>2368985
it's mostly in your media but it's all over the tank. More surface area gives bacteria a stronger foothold and there's a lot of coverable surface in gravel-covered tank

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>>2368985
also
>I could have just bought an airstone

please dont do that to your betta when you can get a spongefilter to greater and more comfortable effect

>>2369006
Why does the filter matter if you are doing a large water change every week?

>>2369003
What? Dude, like 95% of your bacteria population is going to be in the filter because all your water runs through it + it's a highly oxygenated environment.

>>2369010
because nitryfying bacteria live in filters

>>2369010
because your filter aerates your tank through surface agitation

without it, your bacteria isnt getting as much air as they could be and have a harder time gaining their foothold. You CAN do things with just a bubbler but it isnt as efficient and gives you nothing to filter carbon through

>>2369034
as well as irritating the shit out of a fish that has a hard enough time moving around without a bubbler knocking it around from below

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This anon needs koi help and might be new or lost

thought I'd link his/her thread here for you smarties

>>2369001

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Earlier this morning I noticed a white lump on my orange koi's left side, but none of the other koi have anything similar. Could this be a fungus or a tumor? How can I heal this fish? Thank you for your help!

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Any other reef keepers out there?

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>have a 10gal with a betta in it
>peaceful betta, usually chases new fish but has lived with neons and celestial pearl danios before
>buy some CPDs
>one is about half the size of the others, pretty small
>eh he'll be fine
>put in the tank
>betta immediately chases the tiny one down and catches it since it's stressed and confused
>try to get a net and scare the betta into dropping it
>betta swallows it whole

well shit.

>>2369102
The picture is not really clear. Could you provide a better one?
Have you closely checked the fish? Sounds like fungus or maybe a cyst to me.

>>2369166
Yea...

I am going to test any betta I get with a shrimp first. If it doesn't chase down the shrimp, then I'll try single juvenile tetra or something.

>>2369166
offtopic, but a good filename for your pic would be socket wreeeeeeeeeeeeeeench

>>2369239
Maybe if it were a wrench and not a wheel dropout

>>2369166
>>2369232
My betta was chill with all the aquarium inhabitants for six months. Nothing has changed but now he's an asshole to two of them specifically. Betta can be weird sometimes.

>>2369161
I got a reef started almost two months now. It's interesting and fun to learn something new since I've been keeping planted tanks for years. My favorite coral I have is my chalice.

What's the zoas you have on the bottom right?

>>2369246
Maybe those two kept waking him up at night.

What's a good way to adequately filter an 125 gallon long tank meant for breeding RCS?

>>2369260
Live plants and maybe two filters, one on each end?

They don't create a huge bioload, so I imagine the plants would be plenty, and the filters to help provide oxygenation.

>>2369262
lots of plants I can see but only 2 filters would work? Because I mean this tank is 72.5 inches long

>>2369264
Well I don't know, I'm just guessing mostly here. He should be emailing an actual breeder with these questions, or watching vids on youtube.

Any plecofags here? Getting into breeding. I got 6 WC L340s (mega clowns). Their profile says their omnivorous with a preference for "meaty" insect-based foods. It seems to be the case so far as they're ignoring green beans and just going for bloodworms and larvae-based pellets. They're very skinny still and I want to fatten them up. I'm thinking of making a 1/3 veggie baby food + squashed blood worm gelatin mix. Are plecos more about eyesight or smell? Should I just suspend the bloodworms in the gelatin instead of squishing them?

Whats a good way to increase sand temperature?, my hermit crabs have been avoiding the sand in my tank and I noticed it became quite cool checked around local shops and none of them have a separate under tank heater.

>>2369305
If you're having trouble feeding them, you could maybe try Repashy fish food? You could probably mix their insectivore and carnivore gel powders to make a meaty diet. The bloodworm gelatin might be easier for them to eat, though I'm not sure about how good their senses are. Or try pieces of fish and shrimp.

>>2369362
http://www.4chan.org/rules
>11. Advertising (all forms) is not welcome—this includes any type of referral linking, "offers", soliciting, begging, stream threads, etc.

There's 21 videos but only 4 are pretty bad DIYs (he "makes" a heater by submerging a working light bulb). The rest is vlogging or unrelated.

Looks like my tank is having a slight blue-green algae problem. What's the best way to quickly prevent a huge outbreak?

1. Less food
2. Less light
3. 20% water changes

Is there anything else I'm missing? Is there something I can buy as a final resort just in case?

>>2369415
https://www.thespruce.com/cyanobacteria-blue-green-algae-1378628
What you said plus:
>Physical removal
>Cleaning everything
>200 mg erythromycin phosphate/10 gallons water

How much light do I need for a 15 gallon aquarium (roughly 12x12x24 inches)?

Are household CFL bulbs sufficient, or do I need like T5 lighting?
With the CFLs how many would be necessary (assuming 23W 6500k bulbs), 2, 3, 4?

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Why do my plants look like this? I have root tabs, CO2, and mid/high light. Should I be dosing liquid ferts too as well as micros or what should I do to make these look better?

I've seen somewhere on this board an easy to keep aquarium cleaning simple organisms that I cant find any information on now, does anyone have an idea what Im blabbering about?

>>2369246
i'm still pretty damn sad over the CPD he ate and I think he ate another one overnight since one more is mysteriously missing. It's not like he's starving or anything, I feel him bloodworms and mysis shrimp every other day... i didn't even think he could fit the CPDs in his mouth.

>>2369648
pH problem?

I have a dream /aq/.

I want to make a custom aquarium strictly for betta.

My plan is to have it be about a foot wide, and maybe two feet tall, BUT, to reach from one side of the room to the other. So basically lining a full wall of one room in my house.

But I want it to wrap not just one wall, but three. Then I want to plant actual rice in it, and put 3 or 4 betta in it and let them stake out their own territores. Maybe even put a small sority of three females in there.

This is my dream /aq/.

>>2369861
>males fight to the death
>3 females worth of spawn
>all dead because there's no food/accomodations for fry
>that mosquito farm just waiting to happen

sounds like a nightmare to be honest

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>>2366920
I've had W ferns for years now, their leaves die off when they reproduce and the new plants will grow right on the leaves. You can leave them all on the plant to grow new plants or you can remove the leaves and let more sprout. Honestly though, the more damage you do to the plant the more it will grow, it is practically a weed. I started off with just one java fern and then this happened after I removed offshoots and planted them. If you plan on doing that though wait until they get to around 3 inches long with their leaves, I've removed them too early before and they didn't live.

>>2369873
I'll have to make sure it's 'big' enough that they feel like they can chase off the invading male, and they don't fight to the death, but just fight and one runs away. I want to do it both for the entertainment of having it, but also to study them and see just how much space they need in order to feel like they don't have to have a full on death match.

>3 females worth of spawn

I'll probably wait on the females until I've studied them enough or feel like they won't kill each other, and when I do try the females, I'll probably do it in an even bigger area. But I would hope they do eat the babies because I don't want more bettas then what I put in. If they do breed, I would probably end up culling the babies.

As for mosquitos, that would just be betta food. But If I am taking care of the water and have filters running, I don't think they could really populate.

>>2367202
Amano shrimp have the look of ghost shrimps but are excellent algae eaters. I had a diatom problem and got these guys praying that they would take care of it and within a week the diatoms were gone. Arguably the best clean up crew.

>>2369880
>it's 'big' enough that they feel like they can chase off the invading male, and they don't fight to the death, but just fight and one runs away

I dont think you quite appreciate how tenacious betta can be. You're eventually going to have 2 dead males at the LEAST in terms of casualties. Even if you find a betta or two that's willing to 'run' it won't do so forever so I hope you're ready for blinded, finless bettas. Not even mentioning that females may fight too

as for fry, betta have a LOT of fry. That many dying at once isnt going to be good for ammonia levels.

>>2369892
>>2369873
>>2369880
>>2369861
Plenty of people have done multiple male betta tanks (no dividers) that are much smaller than a room-sized tank.

For instance:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZvw_ShtJN0

Two males in a 300 gallon.

A tank of what is being described would be well over a thousand gallons, and more importantly the square footage would be insane.

The fry wouldn't just be dying, they would get eaten, so the bioload would not be any different than if those fish that ate the fry had a good meal that day.


As for the mosquito farm... enough community fish would eat the shit out of any larvae.

>>2369903
Well that's awesome.

Do any of you guys propagate aquatic plants and resell? I have a bunch of java moss that I want to get rid of and started thinking about that.

>>2370025
It's not very profitable around my area. Shit goes cheap. Especially java moss. Not worth considering the maintenance.

There are a few species that could sell well. Crinum calamistratum for instance is pretty pricey here and not easy to find. But as far as I know it's not exactly the fastest or easiest thing to grow.

However, you want to get rid of it, so sell away. Better it go to someone who actually wants it and you get a couple bucks rather than dumping it, which is not a good idea anyway as aquatic plants can really fuck up municipal water systems.

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>>2364220
So I put together a mini aquarium with some shrimp and a leech I found at a nearby man made lake. I've been feeding them brine shrimp, I'm still trying to ID them though.

>>2370025
I want to start selling frogbit. No clue how well it sells

Ive actually been thinking of reselling glosso seeds for a nice markup

>>2370089
Probably not that great. I got my colony of frogbit started from freebies I got from a few stems I bought from a guy.

Again, in general, if it's easy, it's likely not going to be very profitable, however it's way better than just throwing it out if you're wanting to get rid of some anyway.

You can try craigslist, that's where I've gotten a lot of my cheap plants. Or local aquarist organizations. The former is kind of a mixed back of weirdness. The latter will definitely not pay top dollar since they know their shit and likely have a million other sources.

The expensive plants in stores are expensive for a reason: they're hard as shit to propagate, even with CO2 injection, ferts, high PAR lighting.

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I put some pygmy cories in my tank and one swam up on top of my crayfish's hut and sat perfectly perched on top of it.

>>2370100
That's adorable.

Are you worried about the cray eating them? He looks so huge compared to them!

>>2370119
A bit, but I keep the cray well fed and the cories are pretty fast. Hopefully they'll be okay. If not they'll at least have a much nicer rest of their days in my clean, planted tank as opposed to the shitty pet store tank they were in.

>>2370133
How big will your cray get?

>>2370141
I'm not sure what species that one is, but based on how tiny the pincers are someone here thought it was a marbled cray, which doesn't get much bigger than that.

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65 gallon tropical freshwater.

Almost done cycling.

Recommend me my first tenants.

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I've got one of these betta aquafarms, but no plants or pump. I just have one betta, java fern, and a tiny bit of dwarf hairgrass. Are there good flowering plants I could grow in it once i get a pump?

>>2370157
Are you going to put a background on? Fish that will contrast well with the tank will be good. Eg: my tank is dark with a blue background, so i put a lot of bright orange fish in it which complement the blue, and contrast with the dark.

Also depends if you want a lot of fish, like a couple of schools, or if you want fewer bigger fish.

>>2370025
Down in New Zealand plants like java moss and java fern sell for A LOT of money. Some people try to sell java fern for 20 dollars for each small plant. A ball of java moss can sell for 15 dollars.

Just try it. No harm in putting up an online listing right? Why ask the internet?

>>2370180
what the fuck is this shit

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>>2370180
PLEASE BE BAIT

I have experience with aquaponics. Doing it on such a small scale is a total meme and CANNOT be viable. Your betta is going to die a horrible death and there's nothing you can do about it unless you take it out of that fucking fish torture chamber.

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I just got some of the reagent from my ammonia test kit on my hands and in my mouth and now my mouth tastes bitter and my tongue is numb. Am I going to die bros?

>>2369232
When you get the tetras (one just seems fucked because schooling fish), you can take the betta out of the main tank, rearrange the decor, and acclimate him back in after the tetras.

The biggest issue i have with the betta and other fish is his tendency to eat their food. Dis nigga was picky for a week and then went after snail jello like there's no tomorrow. I've been separating him to the cup he came in while my snail eats for an hour.

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5gal tank guy here again. I'm set on chili rasboras or celestial pearl danios.

However I just went to the pet store and they had panda corydoras which I fell in love with. Would it be possible to keep a few panda corys with the rasboras, since they live at different levels in the tank?

I also went on a few forums which said that cherry barbs are ideal for a 5gal. Is that true?

>>2370233
Uh anon, call your local poison control center.

>>2370180
Another betta Auschwitz torture chamber.

Come back to this board when you actually care about animals son

>>2370305
If you want to do daily water changes you could get away with the pandas or you could just get 3 pandas. Cory's are excellent fish and move around a lot and are really personable.

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>>2370157

Who's going to be the king of that castle?

>>2370342

Oh shut up

I think its a nice little tank. I might get one myself.

The world needs purged of anons that think every snail and squid is a Free Willy animal liberation story. The fucking things live in mud puddles ffs.

>>2370344
I don't think I can do that so I might either ditch the pandas or only get them. Pandas can't be kept alone, right? I would have loved to have a few other fish with one panda hoovering up the algae but I'm told it's a bad idea.

What about the barbs though? I was thinking 3 cherry barbs if I can't find chili rasboras.

>>2370381
Bettas don't live in puddles. Do your research.

It's not about muh animal liberation, it's about the fact that the betta is without doubt going to die in such a setup. Are you happy with investing time and money into a fish that will be dead in weeks?

>>2370401
Corys dont eat algae. You might be thinking of otos. I love my panda corys they are great. Active little buggers that spend most of their time at the bottom but. Often swim up.

>>2370411
Oh shit you're right, I'm confused.

So 3 pandas would be ok in a 5gal?

>>2370415
I dunno. I think you typically want 5+ for corys. I originally bought 5, two didn't make it past the first few days and one I added 5 more they have become much more active and happy.

Corys need floor space too and im not sure 5gal is enough. Maybe look at pygmy corys?

>>2370424
Ok I'll toss out the cory idea unless I find pygmies. Thanks anon.

>>2370485
5gal is indeed too small for the typical cory. they can get about 2 inches long and like big groups, and are pretty active. even a 10gal is not really enough for regular cories.

but pygmy cories and salt-and-pepper cories would be okay in a 5g because they are very tiny. see >>2370100

>>2370506
Cool thanks man. I'll see if I can find any but the biggest local pet shop only had pandas.

Do you know anything about cherry barbs?

Moved all my albino Cory fry I raised to the main tank, it's Def overstocked now, and will get rid of the corys soon

>>2370547
yes, unfortunately they also get 2in or more. i would say no less than 10g for them.

are there any local fish stores near you who have a nano section? or you can ask for those sorts of fish to be ordered? there's tons of interesting and colorful nanofish that stay under an inch and can go in a 5gal.

>>2370622
Ah shit I see.

Rasboras for me then. I did ask at the pet store but the guy working there said that 5 neon tetras would fit in my tank which I doubt since I read tetras need lots of space to move.

>>2370381
Anon, they SURVIVE in puddles for short periods during the worst times of the year, and this is also why they jump. I'm not trying to be an ass because I want you to actually listen.

Even in the wild, they will jump from one puddle to another to find better pools of water. It is also why they developed a labyrinth organ to take oxygen directly from the air, so that they could survive when the water conditions got very shitty.

They are very hardy little fish, but they won't show their best behaviour when put into such a small set-up. Even if you get it a heater and do water changes, it won't be thriving. It will just act lethargic and maybe get excited when you come to feed it.

There are still small tanks (2.5 to 5 gallons) that you can spruce up and provide entertainment for a betta. Doing something as simple as taking out and adding new sticks/stones/caves to it's tank once every week or two will keep it entertained, and the higher amount of water will make it the aquarium more stable and easy to keep clean.

>>2370415
Some one who bred and raised fish for a number of years observed that salt and pepper cories are more independent of each other and very tiny, usually topping out at about 1.5 inches. Why not try 3 of those?

>>2370699
Not the person you're talking to but you seem to know a lot about bettas so I will ask. I've had 3 consecutive bettas in a 5gal and all of them died within a week of severe fungal infection. Any idea why it could've happened? I had a filter but no heater.

>>2370702
I literally googled everything, so I would say google it first. And do some obvious maintenance like tear your tank down and clean everything with vinegar and hot water. Maybe test the water you are using, because if it's tap water then their might be something your city is using that a water conditioner can't fix.

Or the place you got your bettas could just have really shitty stalk.

>>2370707
My tap water is excellent quality. I have a 30gal tank that's thriving so it's definitely not that. I was wondering if perhaps the lack of heater killed them.

Maybe it's just bad stock.

>>2370709
>Lack of heater

Yeaaa...that will probably do it, though they usually get lethargic if it isn't warm enough.

How warm is your water usually? They need between 76-82 F, with like...72 be an absolute, won't kill them in a couple days, minimum.

I mean, I'm sure they could survive 70 degrees, but they won't be able to move as much, and their body will get rekt and not be able to digest stuff right or fight off any infections.

Also, what other kind of fish do you have in the tank? Most aquarium fish need heaters unless it's something like goldfish or white clouds that need cold water.

>>2370709
>>2370702
Wait, which one are you keeping the bettas in? The five or the thirty gallon? The five will have an easier time staying at room temperature, but they still like it warmer.

>>2370743
The five. The 30 gallon one is just proof that my tap water is fine (with conditioning of course)

>>2370741
OK then I know where I went wrong. Thanks man. The tank was betta only by the way. I'd never kept warm water fish before that (only goldfish) and the guy at the pet store told me bettas don't need heating.

>>2370752
Often times pet stores will get all their betta stock from one breeder and if the breeder gets an issue that isn't detectable until later on (like a fungal infection) then all his fish likely have it from the close conditions and using the same water. I bought my dumbo salamander half moon from petco and it had fin rot, which is easily treatable. Honestly it is better to assume bettas have diseases because of the poor conditions, that's why it's so popular to put salt in betta tanks. I just used melafix but had to dose it for two weeks it was so bad. Finally starting to regrow now though.

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Why are ember tetras so based? Just got a bunch from a LFS and they aren't acting stressed or freaked out at all, just chilling and interacting with each other/the tank/trying to eat random shit.

I always stayed away from tetras in general because they seemed like fragile, timid little shit but these ones aren't at all.

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HAHA

'BETA BOWL'

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>>2370800

What's a good way to keep cut-up bloodworms and such frozen? I have been cutting up the worms and shrimp for my nanos and just putting them on wrapped-up tinfoil but I'm wondering if there's a better way to store them. Frozen water with the cut food inside?

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>>2370801
>>2370801
And now he's back to ignoring me.

Little punk.

I got some room in my 55gal tank and I don't know what to stock it with
currently have
>2 orange barbs
>3 long finned black tetras
>1 blushing tetra
>about 5 cory catfish
>3 giant dainos
>2 plecos
>1 loach who is never seen besides the night or tank cleaning
I recently lost a Golden Groumai that I've had for around 2 years now. Would prefer a school.

>>2370780
My black neon tetras are hearty little fuckers, they've traveled with me for an hour when I moved and were eating within the hour of getting home. Unbelievable. Neon tetras (not black neon tetras but the red and green ones) are infamous for being delicate and sensitive due to a lot of inbreeding making them weaker when the aquarium hobby first started out. I've heard a lot of older people getting neon tetras for their kids and they all die within a day. Sad stuff, beautiful fish, but my black neons are bigger and prettier imo.

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>>2370861
reference to that

>>2370861
You could bump up your school numbers.

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Do you guys like pygmy pals?

>>2370933
So fucking cute!

New tenants in the nano

Addicted to planting but I'm running out of real estate quick

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fuck

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nCXVArAFPg

just ordered this bad boy. He'll be arriving on Thursday-ish

Rate

>>2371016
He looks exactly like mine almost. Good colors/10

"Feathertail" seems like a very nice way of saying "mild fin rot" though. It's extremely common in male bettas with big fins though and hard to avoid.

>>2371016
I saw one like that in walmart the other day and I was tempted to get it, but I didn't want to buy another set-up.

>>2371018
>"Feathertail" seems like a very nice way of saying "mild fin rot" though

yeah and it's notoriously difficult to take care. Almost got a plakat instead of but i'll manage. Hopefully he doesnt choose to remove the fins himself though

>>2371021
you must have very nice bettas in your walmart. All of my rescues stayed muddy colors even after recovery. Ah well

>but I didn't want to buy another set-up
I'm down to one spare tank as is unless I divide this 10 gallon. Really dont need yet another tank sitting around though, don't have enough wall sockets left to add more filters

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>>2371022
>All of my rescues stayed muddy colors even after recovery.

What do you feed them?

Here is the color transformation of a betta I saved from Petco, after a 3-year diet of bloodworms and mysis shrimp exclusively. Final pic is him as an old man hence the raggedyness.

>>2371051
hikari and bloodworms. Never did mysis but i'll try it on my next impulse

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>>2371022

I KNOW THIS FEEL

I am going to have to get a couple outlets just to free up room for my other electronics, or custom make a huge tank so I don't have to have seperate heaters.


>you must have very nice bettas in your walmart

They get some beauties. And they got smart and hired someone that does a bit of research and takes care of the fish while they are there. I hardly ever see any dead floaters, and the bettas water is always clean and no stupid dye in them.

I was going to order a black betta online for almost $30, but when I went in to get another heater they had two of them.

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>>2371060
The other one. He's mostly grey, white, and black, but he has just a little sheen of blue-green near his face.

>looking at bettas for sale online
>all these thai sellers with transshippers
>NONE of them list the transhipper shipping rate

What the fuck? How much do transshippers typically charge? Some of these fucks don't even include a contact

>>2371143
Probably because they'd rather zip them into sheets of blisters and toss them on the walmart plane

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>>2370699
>>2370342
>>2370404
>bettas will die in in weeks
He's been alive for well over a year. It's a 3 gallon tank. You guys might be overreacting a little bit.

>>2371230
it's bigger than it looks. 3 gallons is still kind of small though. It's like being locked in a public bathroom your entire life but you dont die because the plumbing works and some rando tosses you army rations daily

what's a good floating plant that wouldn't get pushed around endlessly off the top level by a strong filter? anything?

>suspect my tank must have some ammonia in it
>use liquid API kit
>0, as always
>use bottle 2
>0
>dump pure ammonium chloride into the test tubes just to be sure the kit isn't wrong
>still reads 0

uh... do I have a faulty kit? it's read everything else fine

include updated server invite in OP
https://discord.gg/berMVSz

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>>2369165
>>2369161
Nice mystic monti and red digi colonies. This tank is about 2 years old. about to finally graduate out of this tank and into a larger reef. I need the space. This shots a little old too

>>2371340
Every plant is going to move around. There's literally nothing for it to hold onto if it's floating. If you want, you can make a ring of plastic or foam and put the plant in it, then fix the ring to the side of your tank. You could even use some string and come up with a simple rig to have it stay put in the middle of your tank somewhere. Experiment with different materials. Foam ring of some kind or a ring made from a cut up soda bottle and fishing line won't be so noticeable.

QUICK before the thread gets nuked, how do i get frozen vegetables to sink on their own, I've seen people on youtube do it.
I was thinking about taking all my prepped veggies (yellow squash, Zucchini, Cucumber, peas) and blending it up into a slurry and freezing them in cubes, would that work?

>>2371430
https://youtu.be/gfIoNFvJ0K0

>>2371430
Regarding the frozen slurry cubes, they'll sink if there's no air in them. So just make sure to shake it before freezing to avoid bubbles, I guess.

>>2371230
Ok man then it's fine. It's just that I've seen so much cruelty towards bettas and setups like that are often sold with a half gallon tank as well as the implication that you never have to clean or feed the betta.

>>2371473
>>2371474
Thanks

>>2371383
One day I want to have a really awesome saltwater tank, once I have a more permanent home (not my college apartment) I will be able to get tanks that are bigger than 20 gal because that size is feasable to move. I really want to start out with either a 100 or 150 gallon saltwater tank but I honestly don't even know where to start researching it.

>>2371430
Shelled peas will sink on their own

>>2371361
IDK about testing ammonium chloride but some water conditioners can alter test results.

>>2367288
They are floating, There are new green stems growing out of them, but the older ones are brownish, I am using Seachem Flourish and Excel. Water conditions are hard and PH levels are very alkaline. water tempt is 74.