Tropical stocking, continuous update

[absolutangel04]

I, personally, cannot tell you exactly when to change the cartridge. There are too many variables. I have heard it suggested to change the cartridge every couple of months. How long has your been running? Yes, it would help if you transplanted a piece of the old one into the new one. Maybe somebody else can shed more light on that for you. LIke I said, I do not change mine very often, I do rinse them out in tank water on a regular basis though to ensure that water is flowing through properly.
Platy fry look like mini adults. they are pretty tiny, so there is a chance that a couple are hanging out in some plants or something, but if you don't see any within a day or 2, it is probably safe to assume they were all eaten. Fish love to eat fry. Even the platy parents will eat the fry. Angels LOVE platy fry. My BST also views fry as a delicacy. But, sometimes i am surprised at how well the little buggers hide!

 

[Puffymcstuff]

I, personally, cannot tell you exactly when to change the cartridge. There are too many variables. I have heard it suggested to change the cartridge every couple of months. How long has your been running? Yes, it would help if you transplanted a piece of the old one into the new one. Maybe somebody else can shed more light on that for you. LIke I said, I do not change mine very often, I do rinse them out in tank water on a regular basis though to ensure that water is flowing through properly.
Platy fry look like mini adults. they are pretty tiny, so there is a chance that a couple are hanging out in some plants or something, but if you don't see any within a day or 2, it is probably safe to assume they were all eaten. Fish love to eat fry. Even the platy parents will eat the fry. Angels LOVE platy fry. My BST also views fry as a delicacy. But, sometimes i am surprised at how well the little buggers hide!

Thank on the advice on the platys, and it has been at least a few months. The cartridge is practically disintegrating... Haha it's even foaming above where the water enters and exits... I just don't want to remove it it and put a new one in the there and throw off the bacteria and restate from square one... :/

 

[absolutangel04]

Thank on the advice on the platys, and it has been at least a few months. The cartridge is practically disintegrating... Haha it's even foaming above where the water enters and exits... I just don't want to remove it it and put a new one in the there and throw off the bacteria and restate from square one... :/

I see. It does seem like it is time to change it in that case! If you can seed a second cartridge, start that immediately. If you can't, its not necessarily the end of the world of you start over with a new one. The BB lives in the gravel too as well as in the goop that builds up on the filter itself. While it is not ideal, I have had to replace a cartridge with a brand new one once or twice and nothing bad happened. Just keep an eye on the water params if you do that.

 

[Puffymcstuff]

Ok, sounds good... I think after I finish my water change, going on right now.... Hahah... I'm going to get a new cartridge set up and put a piece of the old filter in with it,... I have biobags so I think I'll wait to put the carbon in and just put the floss bag in the filter with the cruddy one for a day before I prepare it fully.....(time lapse)............ Ok.. So the dots back there symbolize an hour, Hahah I put my iPod down so I could focus on the aquarium... But anyways, I'm feeding bloodworms tonite and praying tht everyone does ok,,, especially the gourami!

Wish me luck!!

 

[Puffymcstuff]

Hi!
After the four is all died I got two angels and just recently one passed away and I got another along with three sunburst platys.

I'm thinking about adding zebra danios and/or glofish and breeding them... I also want to aid my platys in breeding...
I know next to nothing about anything related to breeding other than tht with the zebras I can put them in a container with marbles in the bottom... Thts it... So please post as much as u can even if only with a tidbit of knowledge, opinions ARE. needed. Please post AS. MUCH. As u can!



New Baby angel

New sunburst platy

Old angel

Male and female blue platy

 

[Puffymcstuff]

It's the curse of the missing angel!!!
The baby angel has disappeared without a trace, there's no body or even remains left in the tank!!! It's really weird! Any suggestions a to what happened?

 

[absolutangel04]

Sorry about your angels. They can be finicky when they are small. Do you have a test kit to test the water parameters?
Your guess about the missing angel is a as good as mine. Eiether it died and was eaten overnight, or else the body is caught up in a plant somewhere or something. Or else it is hiding really well.
The platys should really breed without assistance, but the fry are unlikely to survive unless you remove them asap or put moms in a breeding tank to drop their fry away from everybody else.

 

[Puffymcstuff]

Ya Thts Wat I was thinking too, but I don't want to put the platys in there too soon (not pregnant) or too late (not pregnant anymore)... And still...

Can anyone provide tips on zebra fish or other small tetra breeding?