My actual cleaners are bn pleco that get a little wafer about once a week. My Chubby pleco are more of a hobby so I feed nightly.
What did you do with your tank(s) today?
- Thread starter DMD123
- Start date
Got home a bit early yesterday and noticed a bit of algae growth on the 300 at the substrate line, so I did a little 'extra' cleaning and it is looking much better now. For mr fall and winter are great for my tank maintenance. I have less chores in the yard and outdoors due to the weather so tanks get a lot more time.
Stopped by Aquarium Paradise on the way home to pick up a section of back strip for the glass top on my 46g bowfront. Have decided to swap out the Aquaclear 110 for a 70 instead. The big filter is way overkill on such a small tank and its too much current for the small community fishes. My ‘back up’ filter (70) now goes in service and I have an extra 110 as an extra emergency replacement filter.
BPSabelhaus
Well-Known Member
Put heaters on the breeding tanks, sorted floaters including 3 tanks for duckweed and various snails. Which will be blanched then blended / hand ground then dried in dehydrator. My microfauna have been doing well. Moved a couple cultures indoors.
One culture with a female plain type that is pregnant and was in my blue tail pink body males tank. Small enough to not eat the larger daphnia. Once drops a couple fry, she's out. Then they can grow out a bit until colors.
One culture with a female plain type that is pregnant and was in my blue tail pink body males tank. Small enough to not eat the larger daphnia. Once drops a couple fry, she's out. Then they can grow out a bit until colors.
Deeper cleaning on tanks this weekend. Pulling decor and plants giving things a good algae removal and scrubbing. Still a few more things to tackle but things looking really nice and clean.
Finally dealt with the red wolf tank and removed pretty much everything that could cause it to damage its eyes and will see if things clear up.
Finally dealt with the red wolf tank and removed pretty much everything that could cause it to damage its eyes and will see if things clear up.
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I accidentally over fed the silver dollars last night and did a little extra cleaning to make up for it. Cleaned one of the Aquaclear on the tank and gravel vac’d the tank.
For fun, I also cleaned another Aquaclear on the red wolf tank to see how it has been holding up since last cleaning. It was looking pretty good but its even cleaner now, lol. Then I treated with melafix to see if its eye issues clear up.
For fun, I also cleaned another Aquaclear on the red wolf tank to see how it has been holding up since last cleaning. It was looking pretty good but its even cleaner now, lol. Then I treated with melafix to see if its eye issues clear up.
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BPSabelhaus
Well-Known Member
Swordtail babies, 5 total. Been waiting a bit for these. At first they were in a tank with Endlers and never even tried. Now they're in their own tank, behavior is different. First time with swordtails and the mating behavior is a bit different than I'm used to with Endlers. The Endlers come flying up like some coked up guy wanting to dance. The Swordtails are more physical with little nips, kisses and body rubs.
Fun to observe the different behaviors.
Yesterday was a day off work so I could run around and check out stores. Actually only made it to Sierra. Just got tired of all the traffic and running around so even though I was so close to Eurofish, I never made it there. Was hoping to do a wet Spot trip today but just woke up tired so nixed those plans. I ended up cleaning/water changes on all my garage tanks and cleaned 2 Aquaclear filters.
Be careful with these… I found them to be nippy toward other fish and the first time I had them, I bought one to go with some peacock bass I picked up. The leaporinus actually ate the eyeballs out of 3 of the 4 pbass and I rehomed it and had to cull the pbass.
BPSabelhaus
Well-Known Member
Not today, but Sunday the kiddos Betta swam out when he went to feed him. Swam up, did a lap then laid down on his side on the gravel 
He started having swimming issues after getting stuck in his log a few weeks ago. Removed that and put in a small reptile cave with java ferns. He has been eating and just swimming with a bit of a limp so to speak. Scooped him out, no gill movement. Just moved his eye a bit. Put him in some clove oil to be safe, but he was gone before I prepared it I'm sure.
He was a prize (after 2 years of begging) for finishing his therapy. Really attached to him. Buried him in the front garden right outside his bedroom window and the tank. Going to plant some blue, purple, red and white showy perennials there for him.
Going to visit Eurofish, Midway and Sierra this weekend to find a worthy successor with him.
He was a good Betta. Used to accept Endler fry as treats when he was younger. But started protecting them like a shepherd. Steering them to food and such lol So he lived with my magenta colony. He'd just cut off fry and force them over to the food corner lol
In happier news, tiny markings on my swordtails It's a new thing for me. I'm used to color at maybe twice that size if not three times lol
He started having swimming issues after getting stuck in his log a few weeks ago. Removed that and put in a small reptile cave with java ferns. He has been eating and just swimming with a bit of a limp so to speak. Scooped him out, no gill movement. Just moved his eye a bit. Put him in some clove oil to be safe, but he was gone before I prepared it I'm sure.He was a prize (after 2 years of begging) for finishing his therapy. Really attached to him. Buried him in the front garden right outside his bedroom window and the tank. Going to plant some blue, purple, red and white showy perennials there for him.
Going to visit Eurofish, Midway and Sierra this weekend to find a worthy successor with him.
He was a good Betta. Used to accept Endler fry as treats when he was younger. But started protecting them like a shepherd. Steering them to food and such lol So he lived with my magenta colony. He'd just cut off fry and force them over to the food corner lol
In happier news, tiny markings on my swordtails
It's a new thing for me. I'm used to color at maybe twice that size if not three times lol
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These are not supposed to be very aggressive like the banded leporinus that are known killers. I will watch them to make sure, but so far no issues. If they become an issue I will house them with my puffer, lol.
Have been happy with my bottomless pit silver dollars because they have been eating all my surplus foods that other fish have outgrown. Just need to feed a little at a time on the sinking pellets but I m happy its not going to waste. Had been sitting on some flake food and just had success with it on the new leporinus. They absolutely love it and it is easier on them than the small pellets I have.
Lame Black Friday sales this year but I wanted a new heater so I ordered a new Finnex from Aquacave.com for my 46g bowfront. No special discounts but was on sale so it was worth it. Since I had day off work I also got a little time to get an extra bit of tank cleaning in this morning and worked on touching up garage tanks.
John58Ford
Well-Known Member
I haven't really done much so I haven't been posting in this thread. The only real planting work I've done since I decided the roots were good and killed off the algae has been slowly spreading ludwigia. The hair and staghorn hasn't come back at all, there was a week where my nitrogen was off after the hydrogen bomb but everything has taken off well. Here's a shot of my favorite corner featuring about half of the rummynose, it's about 1/3 of the tank and finally looks close to as I had intended when I planted it all back in May.
Then the next closest section, I'm having "issues" with the Male BNP tearing through here as he lives on the perpetual egg pile behind the centerpiece dragon stone. Nothing gets to stay unless its a deep rooster line the crypt and sword; the micro swords I want to have carpeting the tank are struggling here. I haven't done anything to help the micro swords in the back row, most of the runner is floating a few inches of the substrate table tangled in the other plants, but it's growing faster than the front row so I'm waiting on nature.
The dead center is hard to keep planted, so hopefully the lily and smaller Anubias do well there and carry the load. The far left is the worst though, catfish, cories and the SAE turn it into the rumble cube whenever I feed and nothing but the crypt are genuinely doing well. It's kind of a dead spot for the lighting too so I'm going to have to get creative with my solution.
I have 2x 36" aquasky units lighting the middle point of the tank as hard as they can 11 hours a day, additionally a serious nicrew 4' unit cooking the back edge about 10 hours daily to bring the reds out in my ludwigia and encourage height. All of it works together to make sunrise and sunset well worth the watch but I think I need 2 more aquasky units on the front edge.
Then the next closest section, I'm having "issues" with the Male BNP tearing through here as he lives on the perpetual egg pile behind the centerpiece dragon stone. Nothing gets to stay unless its a deep rooster line the crypt and sword; the micro swords I want to have carpeting the tank are struggling here. I haven't done anything to help the micro swords in the back row, most of the runner is floating a few inches of the substrate table tangled in the other plants, but it's growing faster than the front row so I'm waiting on nature.
The dead center is hard to keep planted, so hopefully the lily and smaller Anubias do well there and carry the load. The far left is the worst though, catfish, cories and the SAE turn it into the rumble cube whenever I feed and nothing but the crypt are genuinely doing well. It's kind of a dead spot for the lighting too so I'm going to have to get creative with my solution.
I have 2x 36" aquasky units lighting the middle point of the tank as hard as they can 11 hours a day, additionally a serious nicrew 4' unit cooking the back edge about 10 hours daily to bring the reds out in my ludwigia and encourage height. All of it works together to make sunrise and sunset well worth the watch but I think I need 2 more aquasky units on the front edge.
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BPSabelhaus
Well-Known Member
Didn't make it Eurofish today. Google is convinced I405 is I5 and you just make a right turn from I-5 onto I-5. So after nearly getting sideswiped by somebody trying to cross 3 lanes at once I just went to Midway. Kiddos new Betta, Blaze
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clownie
Well-Known Member
I love how algae free all your planted tanks are! I struggle with that.
John58Ford
Well-Known Member
Thanks, it's a point of pride for me to balance it well to reduce algae maintenance while not starving the plants out at the same time.. I run allot of lights and balance macro nutrients to run phosphorous limited, trying to keep a total nitrogen to phosphorus ratio 20:1 or more in favor of the nitrogen. I have found through experimentation that I agree with the studies that have shown the range of 10n:1p to 16n:1p to be the best combination to grow simple organisms like algae and some bacterias. If I have soluble iron gluconate/total iron available greater than 1Fe:2p it makes it come in even faster, especially the green spot, which is what I typically do fight with even after my tanks are established.
I only really have hair or staghorn present when I'm establishing a tank but I try to intentionally plant it in my sponge filter systems, probably just luck but I feel like in a nice established tank if you give it a home, it keeps to itself, and if nitrogen or phosphate have a balance issue it's easy to remove as biomass in the form of fast growing simple hair algae vs slowly in complex plants. After a tank is rooted and established, and only once in it's life typically I do a hydrogen peroxide treatment in the roots of rhyzome plants where it tends to tangle and anywhere else and never see it again other than the chunk I save and stick to the sponge.
I do have green spot on the tank glass, usually below the usual water change water line, I think I scrape/buff it about once every 2-3 months as from a distance it makes viewing look a little cloudy.
BPSabelhaus
Well-Known Member
One of my tanks has it flowing out of the outflow. Fry seem to like it, as does the shrimp. I trim it when it gets long.