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Post by kagome on Dec 21, 2018 14:48:04 GMT -5
Oh nice. None of the LFS here will take fish back, much less buy them back.
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Post by kagome on Dec 21, 2018 14:43:47 GMT -5
Just remember, you don't want to make big swings all at once. It's better to change the KH by about 1 dKH (17.887 ppm) in 24 hours. Same goes for GH. Fish can acclimate to a lot over time but big swings mean big stress.
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Post by kagome on Dec 20, 2018 20:59:27 GMT -5
And then the two outlets on the bigger models!
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Post by kagome on Dec 20, 2018 9:16:13 GMT -5
I wish there was a way to sex them before they start breeding. Then you could have a single-sex tank and not have to worry about some pairing off and attacking the rest of them. I love angels but have only ever kept them in pairs because I was worried they would grow up and destroy all the other angels in the tank. But, since you have another tank for them to go into, you can have the best of both worlds.
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Post by kagome on Dec 19, 2018 16:48:10 GMT -5
I like the MillionAir pump so much that I ordered two more. I can't believe how loud the other pumps are in comparison!
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Post by kagome on Dec 19, 2018 16:43:09 GMT -5
It always seems to me that stain or oil-based paints kind of soak into the skin, even when I've really cleaned my hands. I would give them a good sniff test. If you can still smell it at all then I would go with Devon's suggestion and wear gloves when you put your hands in the tank.
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Post by kagome on Dec 18, 2018 22:12:27 GMT -5
SWEET!!! I will definitely take a look. I know I want ludwigia repens. I think the red will look awesome in the tank. So my husband helped me get the MillionAir pump set up. I have to say, that is the quietest air pump ever. As other pumps die around the house I will definitely be ordering more. With the dual outputs I've now got airstones running on both ends of the tank. There is so much more flow in the tank now. So here's my planted tank, now with BUBBLES!! Untitled by Katherine Morgan, on Flickr Here's Norman the catfish posing for you guys. Untitled by Katherine Morgan, on Flickr Untitled by Katherine Morgan, on Flickr Also, Harvey the Rainbow Shark now likes to hang out in the dragon's mouth. So it looks like he got chomped and it's so funny. Untitled by Katherine Morgan, on Flickr
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Post by kagome on Dec 17, 2018 15:04:27 GMT -5
I just got my new air pump, which I probably don't have to time to play with until tomorrow. *whine
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Post by kagome on Dec 17, 2018 10:32:19 GMT -5
So I picked up 4 Boesemani yesterday. I'm really surprised at how colorful they already are given that they're so young. They're already eating like little piggies. Yesterday the Rainbow Shark didn't know what to make of them but now he is back to letting everyone know he is the boss of the tank. Untitled by Katherine Morgan, on Flickr Untitled by Katherine Morgan, on Flickr Untitled by Katherine Morgan, on Flickr I was hoping to pick up some new plants but they were completely sold out. I think I'll have to order what I want.
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Post by kagome on Dec 15, 2018 20:08:49 GMT -5
GORGEOUS TANKS!!!
Your angels are such beauties!!
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Post by kagome on Dec 15, 2018 20:05:40 GMT -5
My Dad's 55 gallon has a sand bed. We use a siphon with a REALLY long lift tube that goes almost to the top of the tank. We kink the hose to slow down the flow. If sand makes it halfway up the tube we just lift it so that it falls back down. We also stir the sand up as much as possible with the lift tube as we're going. That tank is pretty heavily stocked. There's a BIG Synspilum Cichlid (I've eaten fish HALF the size of Pinky) in there so the substrate has to be kept really clean.
I would definitely recommend getting a gravel vac with a long tube to make things easier.
It could be that the "unknown" sand is made of aragonite and this is what it increasing GH/KH.
Guppy fry do seem to love taking a ride in the gravel vacuum. Guppies seem to have a death wish. They have absolutely no sense of "this thing is huge and could hurt me." Instead, they seem to go, "I see movement of some kind. Let's see if that big thing will feed me!"
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Post by kagome on Dec 15, 2018 19:48:37 GMT -5
So, my early Christmas present is coming tomorrow. I'm going into Pensacola and picking up some Boesemani Rainbow Fish for my planted tank. I moved the Tiger Barbs from that tank in with the other barbs in my son's tank.
I did a big water change on all the tanks today so everything is good to go tomorrow.
I'm so excited!! I love this species and have always wanted to have them again. I called ahead to the LFS to make sure they have them in stock. They're 2-3 inch juveniles.
I also ordered a new MillionAir pump from Carl today. It's the 600 so I'll have two outputs. I'm going to have an airstone at each end of the tank.
I have to admit, I feel like a little kid on Christmas Eve. I can't wait to go get them!! I also promised to pick up a Rainbow Shark for my son's tank.
Pictures coming soon.
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Post by kagome on Dec 14, 2018 19:26:15 GMT -5
OK so I knew that you could build a plywood aquarium, but I didn't know how. I stumbled across this series of videos and got sucked in. Then my husband noticed what I was watching and he got sucked in. My husband watched most of them with me, then he turns to me and says, "I could totally build that, but where would we fit it?" I had to laugh because I know it's true, he can build just about anything.
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Post by kagome on Dec 14, 2018 9:33:11 GMT -5
Thanks for all the good information. I’m definitely going to be more careful acclimating fish from now on between my own tanks. I’ve never paid a lot of attention to GH and KH before but I guess I better start. Time to stop worrying about what happened and work on not letting it happen again. I don’t think it came from the sand though because I just added the sand to the gravel before I added the barbs. So how much is too much sand? And how long would it take for that gas to build up? Thanks again What kind of sand is it?
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Post by kagome on Dec 14, 2018 9:29:50 GMT -5
I would agree that he does need to point out that dropsy is a symptom and not a disease. He did in a roundabout way, sort of, but I agree this should be made very clear that it's a symptom. I think a really good point to take from this is that if it really is dropsy ALL the scales will be sticking out, not just the ones over the swelling. This video actually made me feel better about something. When my beloved Green Sevrum, Pretty Girl, died, I thought that I had caused it by not taking care of her properly and causing her to come down with dropsy. But now I'm fairly sure that she was egg bound. She was due to lay another clutch when she suddenly started to swell up in her lower abdomen. Her belly would turn white right before she laid eggs so she was showing all the signs of being ready to lay. I kept checking the tank for eggs but none appeared. Then she just started to swell and her ovipositor was distended. Only the scales over the swelling stuck out so I don't think she was taking on a bunch of water. I did my best to save her but to no avail. It still really sucks that she died but at least I don't have to beat myself up about it.
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Post by kagome on Dec 12, 2018 19:36:12 GMT -5
I found this really cool video made by a vet about dropsy. I thought ya'll would find it interesting.
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Post by kagome on Dec 12, 2018 16:05:48 GMT -5
What kind of sand is it?
My Dad's 55 has aragonite substrate and his GH and KH are much higher even though we use the same tap water. The aragonite is calcium carbonate so it leaches these into his water.
Because of the higher KH, pH in his tank is just above 8 while mine is around 7.2
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Post by kagome on Dec 12, 2018 13:35:01 GMT -5
When I read this, I had the same thought as Carl about possible hydrogen sulfide. Deep sand beds can start to develop pockets of anaerobic bacteria that put off hydrogen sulfide gas. It builds up in the substrate and when the gas pockets burst they release the hydrogen sulfide into the water. I'm not saying that's what's happened in this case, but you mentioning adding sand to the tank made me think of it. Why it would affect only the barbs and not the other fish, I'm not sure. Be sure to mix up your sand bed so that it gets exposed to oxygen and cuts down on the possibility of hydrogen sulfide. Here's a simple breakdown of GH and KH. GH (general hardness) is the measure of how much calcium and magnesium is dissolved in the water. It's important for a few reasons: - Osmotic pressure - water is always trying to balance itself, it's very zen that way. If there are a lot of minerals on one side of a membrane, and not a lot on the other, water naturally pushes more towards the side that has the higher mineral content. So if there's way more minerals inside a fish's body than there is in the water they're swimming in, this increases osmotic pressure. Freshwater fish constantly absorb the water they're swimming in. If the osmotic pressure is higher because their water has a low mineral content, their bodies absorb more water. Then their bodies have to work harder to push the water back out as urine. The more effort their bodies have to put into pushing out the urine, the less energy they have to allocate to things like growth or their immune systems. And, going from water that has a high osmotic pressure to a low osmotic pressure (or vice versa) very quickly, doesn't give the fish's body a chance to adjust and acclimate. So this can cause osmotic shock, this can stress and kill fish, and it might even take a few days for it to happen.
- Electrolytes - just like humans, fish need calcium and magnesium to help their bodies function. We get most of our electrolytes from food but fish actually get them from the water they swim in. As freshwater fish push out water as urine, some calcium and magnesium goes with it. If there's little to no calcium/magnesium in the water, the fish don't have a way to replenish these very important trace minerals.
KH (carbonate hardness) is the measure of how much carbonate and bicarbonate is dissolved in the water. This is also known as the water's alkalinity. This measures how much acid the water can neutralize without the pH changing. Aquariums constantly produce acids. The biggest is from nitrate (NO 3-). Since nitrate is a biproduct of the beneficial bacteria colonies in the tank, it's almost always present, even when you take really good care of your tank. If the water has a high KH, no big deal. The KH just neutralizes the acid and you're good to go. You also mentioned that you have driftwood. Driftwood leaches tannins (tannic acid) that will also need to be neutralized by the KH. The higher your KH is, the higher and more stable your pH will be. Low KH can mean your pH can drop rapidly and then swing back and forth every time you do a water change. No bueno. You might want to consider adding Wonder Shells for GH and either Malawi or Alkaline buffer to keep a more stable KH.
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Hello
Dec 12, 2018 12:52:53 GMT -5
Carl likes this
Post by kagome on Dec 12, 2018 12:52:53 GMT -5
Welcome!
This is an awesome place to ask questions and learn.
Happy Holidays!
Kagome
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Post by kagome on Dec 5, 2018 19:59:30 GMT -5
You know what's weird? The green color on the Buddha was just a reflection of the green leaves from the pennywort! Now that the pennywort isn't there to shade it, the Buddha actually has more algae on it than when I took that picture!
I'm not worried about it though, between the clown pleco and how fast that pennywort grows, the algae doesn't stand a chance.
I've also noticed that my rainbow shark is munching on algae on the glass the way juvenile Siamese algae eaters do. I would have thought he was just going over missed bits of food but he does it on the glass, too. He'll probably outgrow it like SAE do, but it's neat for now.
I want to add some ludwigia repens to this tank and possibly some African water fern. Maybe one of the dwarf swords. OK I admit, I totally can't make up my mind. I want EVERYTHING!! I've done really well with this low tech plant set up. I just dose Flourish once a week after water changes.
If I get some of those, I'll probably move the more massive clumps of Java fern to my son's tank to make room. I love that about Java fern, you can just grab it and stick it anywhere. I can't believe that all of it I have came from two spindly little clumps I bought a few years ago!
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