New ranchu import arrived
Six months of quarantine paperwork but the calico sidewinders are finally here. These bloodlines haven't been available stateside in years.
Feed
Alk swings killed more coral than hurricanes
If your alk moves more than 0.5 dKH a day, fix that before you buy another frag. Stability > numbers.
CO2 or no CO2?
Hot take: 80% of 'I can't grow plants' posts are light problems, not CO2 problems. Fix your photoperiod before buying a regulator.
Discus myths that need to die
1. They don't need blackwater. 2. They won't die if the temp drops to 27 for an hour. 3. Beefheart isn't mandatory. Stability beats everything.
Culling day results
Pulled 200 bloody marys out of the rack today. The depth of red this generation is unreal, F6 from the original line. Keeping the top 30 for breeders.
PSA: dip your frags
Got a batch in from a wholesaler with flatworm eggs on the plugs. Doesn't matter who you buy from, dip, scrape the plug, dip again. Your tank will thank you.
Spawn log: vermilion butterfly F4
Male wrapped this morning, ~200 eggs in the nest. This is the fourth generation chasing a clean white band. Fingers crossed the marble gene stays quiet.
Rotala colorata finally colored up
Dropped nitrates to 5ppm and cranked the light for 3 weeks. Pink tops all over. Photos don't do it justice.
Discus water change routine
People ask how I do 50% daily on 8 tanks, automatic drip + drain, 30 minutes of actual work a week. Setup thread coming this weekend.
Fry update, week 3
The vermilion butterfly spawn hit the three week mark. About 140 made it past the critical stage, already seeing fin branching on the biggest ones. Culling starts next week.
Dip everything: a case study
Got flatworm eggs on a plug from a very reputable source last month. Nobody's clean 100% of the time. Bayer dip + plug scrub, every time, no exceptions.
Cory eggs everywhere
Cool water change before the storm and the sterbai went nuts. 300+ eggs on the glass. Anyone need proven breeders after this batch?
Friday frag rack tour
T5 hybrid growout is at capacity again. Zoas hit different under blurple, but they GROW under T5. Fight me.
Conditioning pairs on live food
Two weeks of daphnia and grindal worms before every spawn attempt. Egg counts nearly doubled since I started.
Buce flowering underwater again
Third spike this year. People say it's stress, I say it's showing off. Kept at 22°C, lean dosing, and it just keeps going.