What Did You do With Your Tank Today?

[Autumnsky]

So much to add here...

But had to post this pic of a few of the little Pygmy Cories too. There are 10 in the Thai Betta and the male Guppies.

This shrimp is recently from the store and ruby / bright cherry red, but it didn't come through the pic transfer.

The sand and particles on the leaf are from my container, I didn't notice until I dumped the water in when I came back to brush it off the Shrimp was already picking at it all...then I dropped in one of the Carnivore pellets from Hikari and every creature loves them. In about 3 seconds it was on top of it! Then, I got the pic.

So, I will start and go backwards.

Today I got the most awesome DW for a new water pet. And bought a new small AC filter for the 20G QT I resurrected. Curse the mini auction at the aquarium meet up.

Because last night I bought a shopping bag load of Guppies and Endlers and .........drum roll, I have 5 Yoyo Loaches look like a full grown size. Now I really need to get the 80G moving!

The new set 20G QT has a AC new filter with cycled media and ammonia remover pouch.

There are the 5 Yoyos (~$12) and probably 30-40 assorted sizes of Endler - Bags were labeled Endlers Colony. Maybe $22 for the 2 bags. Forgot my receipt and can't remember.

The Endlers were likely their culls, and unusual pattern with some having a vertical bar on the body. They were in cool water and stressed being in big ole bags and being handled and looked at, before the the auction.

Very interesting looking pattern - reminded me of some kind I have seen before but can't recall, so I was intrigued. Took a chance.

And 3 male Lightning green Endlers. Pretty awesome!!! $4.00

2 bags of Panda Endlers mixed females, I think there were 9 total. A couple pregnant. $3 and $4

And a bag with 6 male fancy Guppies 5 red and one yellow. $5

I thought I bought a bag of plants but they were not in my stuff when I got home.

And if that wasn't enough, there were teeny tiny baby Guppy or Endler fish in my 30G Waterbox Guppy grow out.

Tomorrow will be big water change day, and good weather means I can try the start up of the 80G (or Monday) - probably!

 

[Autumnsky]

Oh and 3 tiny Ivory Mystery snails and
3 Golden almost full grown MS
AND 10 dark Pink Ramshorns!

 

[Autumnsky]

The grapevine DW was making a mucky fungal film all over the place and fouling up the water of the QT 20G long tank.

Did a 95% water change, then did a 50% pwc on the other tank, since I was doing it in the other tank. Didn't seem to be any lost lives in the tanks.

Started a cutting of Tradescantia Blushing Bride spiderwort which got a surprising amount of roots going in a short amount of time imho. I pinched off another to see if it could get going as well. Might do a couple more to stick into a filter space for a tank.

 

[TMaier]

I rehomed my 20g last week. Then finally finished the tear down on the 29g and the same guy wanted it! He started with a 5g nano and has the bug real bad now. I included HOB’s and pumps with the tanks, but told him how I prefer canister filters. I gave him a number of plant starts and some shrimp (for his mature nano). Some MTS and ramshorn to seed his 2 new/my used tanks. He’s really a noob. I suggested he join some forums to start getting more info on low tech tanks. He couldn’t believe it was possible to grow things without CO2 or Excel and high lights. Now he’s seen it first hand.

I had rehomed 2 Biorbs last month and I have one Biorb left to clean up and sell. My Hubble is keeping the Biube, he has plans to build something with the acrylic cylinder.

 

[Autumnsky]

Nice TMaier, passing the mts fever around!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Last weekend I got the water into the 80G BUT...

The Cypress knees is floating like a giant cork, even all this week it has absorbed more water but not even close to righting itself and sitting down. Water is the color of coffee (not my coffee which is much darker, but most coffee ).

Still mulling over the way to run the filtering.

So far fish all look good in QT.

All the Neons which moved to the Wine Glass are alive, I finally got a glimpse where they were just hanging out together and counted them. Yay!

On the other hand, I found a dead Pencilfish (in the 12G Edge). There were 9 but now 8 :'( The culprit I would fear is the little Rainbow shark) He was put in temporarily, and I was going to move him but the 80G isn't ready for the big fish switcheroo.

The Pencilfish have been here for a long time now, it is possible old age. But after checking, they could live appx. 5 years, probably not. There have been 3 babies which I am so sad I lost one.

Planning on capturing the shark and moving him Saturday. In the daylight he seems very nice.

 

[Autumnsky]

The good and the bad

Had an ammonia spike .50 in the Endlers QT. It has always been treated with Prime, so unlikely any damage, but that is what the API test indicates of total ammonia ammonium.

Did a guessing 95% pwc, basically leaving them 2 inches of water in the 20G long.

Replaced water and checked again and it was the almost bright yellow color. Planning to reduce feeding and maybe buy a bigger filter.


Had ordered a 2L of Prime water conditioner online a few weeks ago but it isn't shipping until the 24th. So I had to run into grab a bottle at the lfs last night after work. I would have done the water change the day before but had just a little bit left. Worse build up because I missed my pwc time.

The Panda mixed Endlers got a water change yesterday about 50%. Today I have about 5-7 babies, but it looks like the momma died in delivery. Very disappointing.

There are still 5 mommas remaining. Checked their water and it was 0 ammonia an Nitrites. My pH test is not with the master test kit, need to figure out which cabinet it is hiding in.

One other momma is getting close to birthing.

 

[Autumnsky]

Pwc on the 30G ~8G

Pwc on the 12G Edge 2G

Added floss to the those tanks filters to help catch debris I kicked up to help clean the tanks.

Got a few pics

Group pic

Pretty snails!

Gorgeous blue body on this guy

This is a little guy which grew up and is quite handsome

This is the mass of Hornwort taking over the tank. Fry like it

 

[libertybelle]

The hornwort looks very healthy! An odd thing to focus on I know, but I was recently very confused because I had hornwort going nuts. I was taking stuffed gallon ziplocks of the stuff to my lfs every couple weeks for MONTHS. And then over a couple weeks with no obvious changes to routine it all melted and died back and it’s all gone now.

Bizarre.

Hornwort is a funny plant. When it grown it GROWS when it doesn’t .... what a mess.

I decided not to replace it because the mess associated with a massive hornwort melt is just unbelievable

 

[Autumnsky]

The hornwort looks very healthy! An odd thing to focus on I know, but I was recently very confused because I had hornwort going nuts. I was taking stuffed gallon ziplocks of the stuff to my lfs every couple weeks for MONTHS. And then over a couple weeks with no obvious changes to routine it all melted and died back and it’s all gone now.

Bizarre.

Hornwort is a funny plant. When it grown it GROWS when it doesn’t .... what a mess.

I decided not to replace it because the mess associated with a massive hornwort melt is just unbelievable

Up until this batch, I could not grow it either, always died. When everyone else claims it is a weed.

Likewise, causing a horrible mess, and and in one case a long time ago with faulty test strips (which jar had just before that time been double tested with a liquid test kit - maybe a month before) killed a tank of fish.

So no test strip use for me if it involves the lives of aqua critters. Which is depressing because test strips are the bomb fast!

I had it melt hugely not long ago in the 5G Spec V and had to completely change everything and rinse the sand also.

It seems to do well in low temp, med. temp warmer temp - if it wants to... same goes with various lighting. But do not change it at all, miss a day of lighting, change the tank water, move it.

It is imo too a double edged sword I should not rely on.

Earlier in the week I gave away a piece that was 3 feet long and branched and snipped 3 other pieces each branched and over a foot long and were all the way across the front of the tank, you can't even tell I took any out, lol.

Tried to get water weed / Anacharis which had done pretty well in the past for me, but couldn't find it around here lately.

Also hoped that the Val in the back would take off. Hard now for it to since it is completely smothered.

The little Guppy /Endler babies are everywhere. It seems at least 4 different sizes! There are more every day, I will need as much waste help so relying on the Hornwort for now. I swear if it starts turning color I will yank it out right away

I will be upping water changes for that tank anyway for the health of the babies now that they are popping out everywhere. Maybe 5G every other day. Will need to test the water to make sure it is enough.

Although once in awhile there might have been a mixed bag of plants I got from the local auction with Hornwort, never had any take off.

 

[emeraldking]

Well, I've done some water changes today and cleaned out 1 other tank.


And what was more important today was to cull the young guppy males from the young females from one tank. All males haven't developed their gonopodium yet. But I do recognize young males and females quite easy. In this specific tank I've crossed a male tuxedo endler (aka black flame endler) to a female platinum koi guppy. They already had two batches of fry. A number of the daughters will be crossed back to the father. I'm creating tuxedo koi endlers. In this case a hybrid strain which will look phenotypically like endlers.
All F1 males don't look like the father. The only charateristics that the father has passed on to the sons are the red chest and some black markings (which I knew that would happen in the F1). The red on the rest of the body of the F1 males and the round tail came from the koi line (from the mother). They're just missing out on the red nose. All daughters have a dark body.
All F1 males are put in a tank with my montezumae swordtails. Not sure what I'm gonna do with those males.

Here some links which show the F1 males.
https://youtu.be/8SAW0GgzzlM
https://youtu.be/prnPWzqxejM

 

[Autumnsky]

Well, I've done some water changes today and cleaned out 1 other tank.


And what was more important today was to cull the young guppy males from the young females from one tank. All males haven't developed their gonopodium yet. But I do recognize young males and females quite easy. In this specific tank I've crossed a male tuxedo endler (aka black flame endler) to a female platinum koi guppy. They already had two batches of fry. A number of the daughters will be crossed back to the father. I'm creating tuxedo koi endlers. In this case a hybrid strain which will look phenotypically like endlers.
All F1 males don't look like the father. The only charateristics that the father has passed on to the sons are the red chest and some black markings (which I knew that would happen in the F1). The red on the rest of the body of the F1 males and the round tail came from the koi line (from the mother). They're just missing out on the red nose. All daughters have a dark body.
All F1 males are put in a tank with my montezumae swordtails. Not sure what I'm gonna do with those males.

Here some links which show the F1 males.
https://youtu.be/8SAW0GgzzlM
https://youtu.be/prnPWzqxejM

Doing maintenance as well here. Some filters clean outs and pwc.

Moving the fish around some.

Fish which have passed QT are the Yoyo Loaches and Endlers colony. Too bad I do not have the tank for them ready quite yet.

Might feel adventurous enough to empty and refill the 80G build in progress, and even though I don't have the substrate completely figured out I can add the sand and stones I have so far in the front. Not doing anything else more pressing...

 

[1midniterider]

50% pwc today. Seems like this is only time the Neon Tetras come out of hiding. Still recovering from a pH spike. Lost a Dwarf Gourami... I plan on another pwc tomorrow morning. Finally started using a pump to speed up the drain portion. Gravity draining a 125G tank takes awhile...

 

[1midniterider]

Amid all of this pandemic still gotta tend to the aquatic denizens. Today performed another 50% pwc. I'll check chems in a couple of hours, after the water has had a chance to mix. Clarity is fantastic. I also ordered nitrate filtering padding, should be here in a few days.

A few pics...

 

[1midniterider]

More pics...

 

[Autumnsky]

More pics...

View attachment 315729View attachment 315730View attachment 315731

Wow, everything is looking bright and fun. They look healthy and happy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Didn't get the tank work done yesterday, but today the sun is out and it is very nice. Doing an integration of the Loaches to the 72G.

The Endler Colony will need their Space without other Guppies or varieties of Endlers so they do not mix. I really think a easy solution is adding them the 80G River tank. I just keep coming back to that option.

Unfortunately it seems I'll need to put a sand bag on the Cypress knees. It is still floating half out of the water.

The water looks like black coffee

The overflow safety grills will keep out almost all but the tiniest newborn Endler fry. A small amount of concern but even if they end up in the back overflow, they shouldn't get sucked up. I can check for them periodically.

The Congo Tetras will possibly eat a few small ones and the mass of 30-40 Endlers won't end up as a population explosion. Will take over load if there is some, to the monthly Aquarium Society meetings. Or give some to friends.

``````````````````````

Panda Endlers - saw at least 3 maybe 4 of the babies I had just thought only one left. Looks like this next week will be another momma dropping babies.

 

[1midniterider]

Today completed third day of 50% pwc. pH and High Range pH ~7.4 and nitrates 0. All denizens are active, except the Albino Cory Cats, which are resting. The Amano shrimp were running around the tank.

Now to just observe and return to regular routine pwc.

 

[Autumnsky]

Yesterday did 95% pwc on the Endler QT. Left them with 1 inch of water to scoot around in for a few min. Added all the water back in and today still nice and clean looking.

Moved the Yoyo Loaches to the 72 and they disappeared pretty fast. Since it is full of hiding places - rocks, DW and plants I am sure they were having a great time exploring overnight.

I had wanted to add them to the Waterbox Endler /Guppy grow out, but no top so I figured there would be jumpers with their hyper active reputation. When I tear every thing apart I will move some Cories to the Guppy tank.

Waterbox got a near 10G water change again, the 2 Rabbit snails started moving around while kicking up the water.

Second week of scooping out the duckweed during water changing, Nearly gone.

Snipped 3 big pieces of Hornwort and added them to the 12G Edge, the Pencilfish really like the floating plants. Today did a 1G pwc.

A bunch of mulm was settled in the left corner of the Waterbox 30G and I vac'ed it out 2x and the tank looks so much better now. The poops were just getting stuck in the moss and plants, and have been working on rinsing them out last week and this week.

In a different thread about leaves and similar tank additives, reminded me to get some leaves out.

Took my biggest bag of dried Oak leaves and took out the stems and little branches so that only leaves are left.

Added leaves to my tanks and the crunched up pieces of leaves to the Powder Orange Isopods containers and jar.

Fed all of the Isopods and Springtails containers. Placed a local ad to have some for sale. I have too many and really just need one culture.

Going to mix some more Isopod substrate for the tanks and hopefully new owners since I have some good leaves to mix in now. Probably making a 1G Anchor-Hocking Heritage jar so it can be on top of the counter instead of on the shelf. Just found the container while looking for something else.

Hoping to do the 72G 50% pwc this afternoon!

Maybe rinse a 60lb bag of sand I have and use it in the 80G River build. At least for the bottom layer to build up some height. I need to save money somewhere in this build.

And will load and post the pics later, but the tiny tissue culture Hydrocotyle Tripartita "Japan" from the 2" cup to the next cup to the jar to the other jar was outgrown. I had purchased a larger/taller jar and made the switch to it and found lots and lots of tiny little flowers on it!

Repotted to a new jar and added brand new Fluval plant and shrimp stratum to the bottom. It liked the initial use of Amazonia apparently as it grew well!

Fish tank and plant and Isopods fun!

 

[Autumnsky]

Got half finished on the to do list.

Here are a couple pics

New one gallon Jar for the Isopods! Looking good. I set them out on the patio table to get a little sunshine for a bit and they were scurrying all around checking out their new home! It turned cold and they burrowed in to the warm "soil".

New "soil" substrate mix turned out very nice!

And the such a cute fish - Yoyo Loaches already know how to dance around the front of the tank to get attention! Must have been previously trained on the practice.

Flowers on the hydrocotyle tripartita 'Japan' Jar

The Rabbit Snail out for a snack!

Who doesn't love some pics!

Also adding a thread about flowering plants with pics. Will add a link - in a min when I can get the pics loaded.

 

[Autumnsky]

Flowering plants
https://www.aquariumadvice.com/foru...-aquariums-bowls-dish-372014.html#post3538566

 

[earhtmother]

AUTUMNSKY
Do you find loaches NEED a sand substrate or just prefer one? My OCD makes cleaning a sand substrate just too labour intensive so its gravel in all the tanks except the bare bottom fry & quarantine