Aquarium Homies Thread

[PRONG HORN 3167]

5 minutes ago, El Diablo said:

Haha, well if homemade gag greeting cards are the standard by which we're being measured then I'm in the lead here. 

 

I don't mean fancy aquascaper stuff.  How about a biotope inspired look?  Sticks and leaves do lots of the work.  Ugly is king and a pretty look is not the goal.  It seems perfect for the guy that made that card.  

 

 

[El Diablo 4232]

Those make me think maybe I should go back to the original blue and white gravel that I started with. A sort of Dallas Cowboys biotope. 

[BabaBooey 131]

So I'm close to the end of my tank cycle. Ammonia 0ppm/Nitrites .5ppm/Nitrates 40ppm. Got a good sized diatom bloom going on now, so I will hopefully be dropping in some sky blue velvet shrimps and a mix of tiger/zebra/horned nerite snails to chow down by next weekend if the parameters look good. I'll get some pics up once the critters are in and the tank doesn't look like a bomb went off. 

[El Diablo 4232]

13 hours ago, BabaBooey said:

So I'm close to the end of my tank cycle. Ammonia 0ppm/Nitrites .5ppm/Nitrates 40ppm. Got a good sized diatom bloom going on now, so I will hopefully be dropping in some sky blue velvet shrimps and a mix of tiger/zebra/horned nerite snails to chow down by next weekend if the parameters look good. I'll get some pics up once the critters are in and the tank doesn't look like a bomb went off. 

What level of ammonia were you dosing it to? I did mine at around 4ppm and with the water from my tap it took right at 5 weeks to fully cycle. But when it was done it was so ready. No issues whatsoever. I'm ready to see some skrimps. I've had a number of Nerites and like a lot of aquatic life you never know how long they'll live. Some have lasted quite a long time, well over a year. And others have done well for months but then suddenly died off. I think with the Nerites all being wild caught you really don't know where they are in their life cycle if they're of a mature size when you get them, other than they're adults. 

I'm looking at moving in the next few months, I've been here for 7 years now, and I'm already starting to plan and dread. Mostly dread. I may take it as an opportunity to completely downsize to just the 55. I consolidated 6 tanks into 2 and still find that a bit much on busy weekends. We'll see. I have plenty of filtration and everything is compatible so not really too concerned about overstocking or aggression issues but it will definitely be a full house if I go that route.

[BabaBooey 131]

I'm not sure what the level was. I used a bottle from the LFS to quick start the cycle. I was averaging about 8ppm those first few weeks and yesterday was my first 0ppm. I've been using RO/DI water and remineralizing with equilibrium and alkaline buffer since I need the water soft and slightly acidic. My tap water is too hard to run what I'm wanting to do. Yeah, moving when you have tanks is a bummer. That's the main reason why I closed up shop on my nano reef years ago. It becomes problematic when you've got sensitive coral or certain species. Once I'm in my final home I'm thinking of doing a large sw tank. 

[El Diablo 4232]

On 12/9/2020 at 12:20 PM, BabaBooey said:

I'm not sure what the level was. I used a bottle from the LFS to quick start the cycle. I was averaging about 8ppm those first few weeks and yesterday was my first 0ppm. I've been using RO/DI water and remineralizing with equilibrium and alkaline buffer since I need the water soft and slightly acidic. My tap water is too hard to run what I'm wanting to do. Yeah, moving when you have tanks is a bummer. That's the main reason why I closed up shop on my nano reef years ago. It becomes problematic when you've got sensitive coral or certain species. Once I'm in my final home I'm thinking of doing a large sw tank. 

If your bacteria are eating up 8ppm you're in fine shape. I would dose to roughly 4-5ppm and then check daily until it went to 0. Rinse and repeat until they were eating up that dose in less than a day. Plenty safe at that point to start adding livestock. I've probably got 40 or so of the tiny Endler's guppies in that 20 long now counting fry, juvies and adults. It's pretty chaotic, they are not relaxing to watch haha. 

[BabaBooey 131]

Just did another water test today and it's looking good to add the CUC. Ammonia 0 ppm/Nitrites 0ppm Nitrates 5ppm. Diatoms are growing like weeds right now. I'll probably do a 25% water change today and tidy up a bit before adding the shrimps and snails. 

[thunderlounge 8053]

I gotta change my water in the morning too. Oh, wait. Wrong thread, this ain’t “High”. Ha ha ha!

 

Seriously though, y’all keep it up. Keep the pics coming through as you can for those of us living vicariously though you for the time being. 

[fuggled 576]

My algae explosion from November seems to be getting under control now.  Thanks to @El Diablo and @PRONG HORN for the advice.  I have the light dialed back to a few hours a day.  None of the nasty black algae has come back and the green stuff is very slowly disappearing.  Last week I started to measure nitrates (just 5 ppm) for the first time in a month, so I took that as a sign the algae has slowed enough to not eat up everything in the tank.  I'll probably give the snails and oto cats a little longer to work on the algae before I start trying to remove much of it.

 

I picked up some anacharis to float and start shading/competing with the algae.  You can see it floating at the top left.  My wife doesn't like it floating there so I started looking at options.  Now, I'm pretty sure it was mislabeled at the store because it looks like hornwort.  Are there varieties of anacharis that look like this?  Here's a close up below.  Anyway, not sure what to do with it, so just experimenting.

[thunderlounge 8053]

Much improved!

[El Diablo 4232]

On 12/18/2020 at 2:31 PM, fuggled said:

My algae explosion from November seems to be getting under control now.  Thanks to @El Diablo and @PRONG HORN for the advice.  I have the light dialed back to a few hours a day.  None of the nasty black algae has come back and the green stuff is very slowly disappearing.  Last week I started to measure nitrates (just 5 ppm) for the first time in a month, so I took that as a sign the algae has slowed enough to not eat up everything in the tank.  I'll probably give the snails and oto cats a little longer to work on the algae before I start trying to remove much of it.

 

I picked up some anacharis to float and start shading/competing with the algae.  You can see it floating at the top left.  My wife doesn't like it floating there so I started looking at options.  Now, I'm pretty sure it was mislabeled at the store because it looks like hornwort.  Are there varieties of anacharis that look like this?  Here's a close up below.  Anyway, not sure what to do with it, so just experimenting.

Man, when it comes to aquatic plants there's about a million varieties of everything. My water did not like anacharis it would just languish and then wither then fade away. I discovered Brazilian pennywort and that has become my floater of choice. It does well in my particular water with no additional work and that's the kind of plants I like. The only ferts I use are Thrive all in one and I amend my water with Equilibrium, mostly for the livebearers but the plants like it too.

Just stick with your light schedule and keep the power down. It'll clear up eventually. Maybe not ever completely but it'll be under control at least. I still have a persistent coarse hair algae. There would be no actually ever getting rid of it without starting over and I'm not going to do that. My tank is pretty "natural" I guess in that way. Places where fish live usually have some algae so I'm okay with it to a point. 

[BabaBooey 131]

So here's a 42 day update on the tank after a horrible bout with diatoms that never seemed to subside. If you see in the main tank pic I still have some cleaning to do on the inlet pipe in the back but my pipe cleaner couldn't reach and make the turn to get it. May end up taking that skimmer inlet out and swapping it with a non skimmer type.  Decided to re-scape the middle section due to not really feeling the la plata sand and planted more HC Cuba along with acicularis mini, so hopefully those carpet together nicely with each other. I know they said HC Cuba was a pretty hard carpeting plant to grow compared to the more popular Monte Carlo but mine seem to have taken off once they established in the substrate. The java moss on the tip of the rocks got consumed by the diatoms and had to rip that out unfortunately. New plants I added for different textures were alternanthera reineckli mini, marasilea hirsuta and anubias mini. For the livestock I have 4 Oto catfish, 3 zebra nerites, 4 cherry red shrimp, 4 amano shrimp and 2 pinto shrimp. Hoping to see some babies soon from them. I'll probably let the tank run for another month before adding my last school of fish which I'm thinking will be some type of tetra.  

[El Diablo 4232]

That's how it is with plants, at least in my experience. You try something and for whatever reason, pH, Kh, whatever... some plants just don't do well together so you stick with what works and try to find something compatible for your particular chemistry. 
 whacked my ginormous sword plant down to nothing yesterday. Mostly out of boredom. I kind of like all the open space now and may do a minor rearrangement soon. 

[thunderlounge 8053]

Well, I may be fucked. I got the bug again, and don’t think I can shake it this time. 
 

I see rimless is still the thing. 
 

Not even sure where or what to look for. Shit has changed so damn much that it blows the mind. 
 

Waterbox? RedSea? 
 

I thought I would look at species I would want to keep, which puts me in the 125-160 gal range, but cuts back to 75-90 if I give up my tang(s). 
 

Give up a little more and I’m in the 30-55 range. Not sure I want to do the second step down, or even the first. I could manage with the first, but barely. Tangs are my jam, along with clams.

 

Where should I start? Piece shit together myself, or look at the package deals like waterbox/redsea offer?

 

I thought about a 32gal biocube or fluval to get going, but then I’m pretty sure I end up getting something bigger anyway.

 

Anyway... school me and catch me up. 

 

 

[El Diablo 4232]

I'm too new to the hobby to be of much use but my feeling is to go large and if you're experienced then piece it together. Good luck! 

[thunderlounge 8053]

Paging @Mother mopar. Mother mopar to the white courtesy phone.

[PRONG HORN 3167]

2 hours ago, thunderlounge said:

Paging @Mother mopar. Mother mopar to the white courtesy phone.

when was you last reef?

[thunderlounge 8053]

12 hours ago, PRONG HORN said:

when was you last reef?

I took my last one down in ‘08.

Power compacts were a thing. Sump with wet/dry, skimmer, cheato, little bit of lr. 
 

The practice I think I’m good with, but with all the crazy shit that’s came out I’m not sure which route to go. Like what led’s and other pieces are good, would a package like a waterbox or red sea (without lights) be better, etc.  

[thunderlounge 8053]

Still can’t get my shit together and figure this out. 
 

Right now my biggest hurdle is where I can put it and still enjoy viewing it, and not putting it in a low traffic space and it ends up an after thought.

May have to pump the brakes and hoard the cash for the time being until I get it settled. 

[El Diablo 4232]

Going to be moving in the next month and that means tearing down the 55. It's a freshwater planted tank. Any suggestions on how best to do this? I think my biggest problems are going to be getting the substrate out (thinking I should get it out ahead of time and go bare bottom for a short while) and then also rounding up all of the critters. Lots of little fishes - Endler's guppies galore. I've been consolidating the 20 gallon tank into this one because I don't feel like having two active tanks to move when it does happen. 

[thunderlounge 8053]

I moved fish, substrate, and live rock halfway across the country in coolers with bubble boxes and light bulbs (when stopped for the night.)

It worked, and didn’t lose a fish. Granted they were hardy breeds. 

[El Diablo 4232]

On 5/13/2021 at 9:03 AM, thunderlounge said:

I moved fish, substrate, and live rock halfway across the country in coolers with bubble boxes and light bulbs (when stopped for the night.)

It worked, and didn’t lose a fish. Granted they were hardy breeds. 

Did you take the substrate out before attempting to round up the livestock? I'm thinking having a bare bottom might make that task easier. 

[thunderlounge 8053]

3 hours ago, El Diablo said:

Did you take the substrate out before attempting to round up the livestock? I'm thinking having a bare bottom might make that task easier. 

I did. I took the live rock and substrate out and put in one cooler, fish in another. I did use a little bit of LR to make a temporary filter in the fish cooler, but that sounds like more than you’ll need. 

[El Diablo 4232]

11 minutes ago, thunderlounge said:

I did. I took the live rock and substrate out and put in one cooler, fish in another. I did use a little bit of LR to make a temporary filter in the fish cooler, but that sounds like more than you’ll need. 

Yeah, it's FW, community tank, bunch of livebearers mostly. Just trying to decide now if I want to attempt to keep the substrate "alive" or not. Seems like it would die pretty quickly and I think I'm probably going to start removing it pretty soon. Just hate killing off all that bacteria. Tank is plenty filtered though and that's really the only thing I'm concerned about keeping alive, the bacteria in the canister filter. 

[thunderlounge 8053]

Put the filter media and substrate in a small cooler with a couple bubble boxes running.

Well air stones anyway. When you can plug an air pump in you would obviously use that over a battery powered one.

 

[PRONG HORN 3167]

On 5/13/2021 at 7:04 AM, El Diablo said:

Going to be moving in the next month and that means tearing down the 55. It's a freshwater planted tank. Any suggestions on how best to do this? I think my biggest problems are going to be getting the substrate out (thinking I should get it out ahead of time and go bare bottom for a short while) and then also rounding up all of the critters. Lots of little fishes - Endler's guppies galore. I've been consolidating the 20 gallon tank into this one because I don't feel like having two active tanks to move when it does happen. 

 

How far is the move?  When you move, tanks are the last to go.  Probably not even done on the same day as the house stuff move.  Don't take the substrate out not even the plants.  Catch fish, drain, move, fill, add fish.  Drive to the new house so that the gravel doesn't move around.  I think you complicated this with the 20 gal consolidation.  When you move a twenty it's so easy.  If the fish are small, and you can drive to keep it from moving around too much, you can literally leave the guppies in an inch of water in the tank while you go across town.  It's most important that your canister media have access to oxygen during the move so if it's in an open top cooler you wouldn't really need an air-stone.  It wouldn't hurt, but if it's a short drive it's going to be back up and running asap right?  You need a couple buckets of dechlorinated water to do any rinsing of bio media.  Don't use tap water on your bacteria in other words.  

[PRONG HORN 3167]

7 hours ago, El Diablo said:

Yeah, it's FW, community tank, bunch of livebearers mostly. Just trying to decide now if I want to attempt to keep the substrate "alive" or not. Seems like it would die pretty quickly and I think I'm probably going to start removing it pretty soon. Just hate killing off all that bacteria. Tank is plenty filtered though and that's really the only thing I'm concerned about keeping alive, the bacteria in the canister filter. 

 

Don't remove substrate if it's for the purposes of catching fish.  Unless there is a very specific need for it.  If you want to keep the bacteria alive and it's a short drive just keep it in an open top cooler with water to cover the top of the gravel.  

[fuggled 576]

I guess this is a good spot to post this. 

I randomly stumbled across these videos of Goliad Farms and their recovery from the February storm.  Owner is a Longhorn (seems like he should be on Surly).  I hadn't heard of them before but looks like they got absolutely crushed by the storm (their well froze over, could find heaters, had to abandon a greenhouse).  They have a ton of videos on their YouTube channel showing all the damage and their recovery efforts.  I'll post a couple more here.

 

[fuggled 576]

 

[fuggled 576]

 

[fuggled 576]

 

[JoseMedinaDeJesus 207]

Reef people?

My little 14 gallon innovative marine peninsula and a couple macros.

 

stock 

Black and white clown

bluespot goby

pistol shrimp

cleaner shrimp

bubblegum digitata

mind trick monti

staghorn 

stylo

tricolor valida

frammer

hammer

lourde acan candy cane 

a couple

chphestrea 

and a few zoas that are moving with the Duncan to a pico once it’s ready

 

AI prime hd -I should switch this out for something better but everything is acclimated to it.  
Jebao SLW-10 wave maker

diy acrylic reef glass skimmer, 

InkBird WiFi for temperature control

Sicce 1.0 return 

50 watt cobalt neotherm

cooler master sickle flow 120 mm fan for cooling

[thunderlounge 8053]

FTS?

[PRONG HORN 3167]

That light is about as good as it gets for a 14.  Are you going to stuff it with SPS?  If not, no need for anything else.  That’s a great light.

 

I want to know more about the skimmer

[El Diablo 4232]

On 6/3/2021 at 12:40 PM, fuggled said:

I guess this is a good spot to post this. 

I randomly stumbled across these videos of Goliad Farms and their recovery from the February storm.  Owner is a Longhorn (seems like he should be on Surly).  I hadn't heard of them before but looks like they got absolutely crushed by the storm (their well froze over, could find heaters, had to abandon a greenhouse).  They have a ton of videos on their YouTube channel showing all the damage and their recovery efforts.  I'll post a couple more here.

 

I've kept up with them since before the hurricane nearly killed their business. Turrble bad luck they've had. Read a lot of Charles' blog posts and exchanged messages with his wife on FB a few times. Hope they can eventually rebound, he was doing good things for the hobby in general.

I got moved. Did remove the substrate, didn't want to stress the seams on my tank and it was an opportunity to deep clean the gravel. Move went fairly well. I saved the aquarium for the last and reserved an entire day for the cross town move. Had water ready and waiting at the new place and I think I only lost one little fish, found one belly up in the tank the next day. Tank was running on life support for a couple of weeks - no substrate, no plants, just a bare glass box with filtration and heaters. Gravel, rocks, wood, plants are all back in and now (of course) making a few minor changes.  I'll post a pic in a week or two once I'm done.

Narrator - He's never done.

[thunderlounge 8053]

8 hours ago, El Diablo said:

Narrator - He's never done.

Truer words never spoken. 
 

and why I’m still just kicking tires. 

[BabaBooey 131]

Haven't posted pics in awhile but I ended up having to tear down my scaped 20gal due to getting the VID back at the end of February in to March. Had a nice little weeks hospital stay with COVID pneumonia which lead to the decline of my tank trying to get back to 100%. Ended up moving to a new house in June and got the itch to start it up in our office. Decided on a different layout this time and go for a spider wood river bed theme. Probably stick with easy to moderate plants like anubius, bucephalandra and mosses this time. I've still got some playing around to do but, I'm digging this layout more than the other. 

[JSB 677]

Ok guys, my kiddo wants an aquarium for his birthday, so I’m jumping into this hobby. Don’t really know shit, but from what I can tell the kits they sell at petsmart don’t have great equipment. I’ve got a great spot for a 20g tank, but what all do I need to put on my shopping list? I know he will want LED lights to change the color, but other than that, what all do I need to get?

[PRONG HORN 3167]

What’s your budget? 
That’s how you start a hobby because it will tell you what equipment you can get.  How old is the kid and what’s your budget?

[JSB 677]

The kid is turning 10. He is really into science and animals. Budget is probably around $300, but could go higher if need be. My thought is, even if he doesn't really like it after a while, this is something I can see myself getting into. 

Edited September 1, 2021 by JSB

[JSB 677]

Ok, went to a local mom and pop pet shop Odyssey Pets in Dallas, and talked with a really knowledgeable guy. I'm starting with this https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/aqueon-led-20-gallon-aquarium-kit

Now I need to pick out the substrate, decorations, and maybe a color changing light. Also need to decide if I want to try and tackle live plants or plastic.

[PRONG HORN 3167]

6 hours ago, JSB said:

Ok, went to a local mom and pop pet shop Odyssey Pets in Dallas, and talked with a really knowledgeable guy. I'm starting with this https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/aqueon-led-20-gallon-aquarium-kit

Now I need to pick out the substrate, decorations, and maybe a color changing light. Also need to decide if I want to try and tackle live plants or plastic.

 

That thing has a built in light.  I wouldn't worry about plants before you know what the nitrogen cycle is.

[Sam Lin 3567]

Honestly, go back and keep following the local knowlegeable guy's recommendations. Having a local resource makes this so much more enjoyable.

Avoid live plants as a beginner.

[El Diablo 4232]

Only thing I'll add is, if you have the patience to do it I recommend cycling your tank before ever adding any livestock. I've done it both ways and yes, it is boring as hell but 1) It does teach you water chemistry and 2)Fish won't die, generally speaking. 

[JSB 677]

16 hours ago, El Diablo said:

Only thing I'll add is, if you have the patience to do it I recommend cycling your tank before ever adding any livestock. I've done it both ways and yes, it is boring as hell but 1) It does teach you water chemistry and 2)Fish won't die, generally speaking. 

Yep, I plan on doing this. My fish guy is going to test my water for me, and tell me when to add some fish, and teach me how to test it myself once it is ready. 

[thunderlounge 8053]

Sounds like the local guy is at least going to get you started on solid ground. 
 

 

[El Diablo 4232]

8 hours ago, JSB said:

Yep, I plan on doing this. My fish guy is going to test my water for me, and tell me when to add some fish, and teach me how to test it myself once it is ready. 

That's good. I used Dr Tim's, I think it's ammonium nitrate, along with a starter bottle of bacteria. I'd dose and test daily. It took a while to get going and your local water supply will have some bearing on how long it takes to cycle. It is somewhat dependent on the pH and perhaps even the hardness of the water. Mine took right at 5 weeks but when it was done it was DONE. There were a few times early on when I thought "Can it be? Done already??". You'll get some funky readings because you might catch the bacteria feeding heavily but then they'll kind of go dormant. But at the end I could does the hell out of it and they'd burn thru 4ppm overnight and there was absolutely no doubt at all that it was ready. 

Oh, and a word of caution maybe? This may just be my own poorly informed opinion but when it comes to water conditioner there is a very popular brand, Seachem "Prime", and it's good stuff normally but you do NOT want to use it when you're doing a fishless cycle on a tank. Mainly because it will bind to ammonia, nitrates and nitrites and give wacky readings and retard the process. It does this in case you want to do "fish-in" cycling, it does what it does to protect the fish. But when you're intentionally introducing ammonia you don't want something binding it up. For that I use API Tap Water Conditioner. It just locks up the chlorine and chloramines in your tap water and nothing else. Somebody can correct me if I'm lying here, I'm far from a seasoned veteran of the aquarium game. 

[JoseMedinaDeJesus 207]

On 7/28/2021 at 3:54 AM, PRONG HORN said:

That light is about as good as it gets for a 14.  Are you going to stuff it with SPS?  If not, no need for anything else.  That’s a great light.

 

I want to know more about the skimmer

I’m gonna break it down and put it all in to a 25 lagoon I think. I have some sps in there. In fact it’s a pretty even mix. But in another 9 months or so it’s gonna be pretty crowded.  But the sps growth could be much faster. The little prime just doesn’t pound everything with light like I want. 200 par max up high in the center is all I get.  Thats why I want to move it into the 25 lagoon. I have a reefbreeders photon 24 v2+ That will do great on the slightly larger tank. 
 

 

As to the skimmer.  It’s a 12” piece of clear acrylic tube with a 2 hole rubber beaker stopper. One hole using a rigid airline and a lime wood air stone on a small air pump. The other joke has to be drilled out to snugly fit a 3/8 or larger piece of tubing that runs to a remotely located collection cup (a Gatorade bottle with a hole in the lid). It works fantastic. 
 

I only replaced the skimmer because I built a new stand and needed the extra space extra in the back chamber so I bought a Mame skimmer. It’s the same concept as the air drive diy that I used. Just a smaller foot print and  the body is made with hand blown Pyrex glass.  
 

I am currently nursing a hang over but when I get up I’ll post a couple pictures that will help make sense of the description. 

[El Diablo 4232]

I noticed over the last couple of days that the temperature I was seeing on the display of the heater controller was continually going up. Normal range is +/- 1.5 deg with a 77.7 set point. It was at 81.5 on Friday and then last night I noticed it was at 85.6. That's when I decided to look into it. The "on" light that indicates when it's sending power to the heaters wasn't on and checking the water temp with a thermometer showed the water temp to actually be 77.1 so all good there. Of course my biggest fear was I was boiling my critters.  I tried to recalibrate the controller to the temp in the tank and the lowest temp I could set it at was 80.1. Crazy. Luckily the temp is actually fine and I've ordered a new controller and a new temp probe, just because. I'll have to keep an eye on the water for the next few days and might need to hook one of the 150w heaters up direct to wall power. Guess I'll also check the heaters out soon also, the whole rig is right at 3 and a half years old so even though it's mostly solid state gear I guess there's always a potential failure somewhere.

tl;dr - Can't trust shit.

[El Diablo 4232]

Controller still hasn't made it but the probe did and that fixed it. Guess I'm the proud owner of a spare controller now. Can't imagine what the hell could malfunction on a freshwater probe. wtf?