Pic below of the two week old sterbai fry in a bare bottom tub with a sponge filter and some leaf litter. They're eating crushed flake and microworms fine. Do you keep them bare until they're an inch or do you add sand sooner? Worried about barbels but also about how much waste builds up on bare glass.
Overfed a tub once while I was rushing and now the glass and every leaf is covered in tiny bladder snails. Pic below of the wall this morning. Is it worth running an assassin snail or two, or do you just stop feeding and let the shrimp keep them in check? Not sure if it's worth a full tank breakdown.
I run sword and anubias in my grow-out tank and the plants seem to keep nitrate lower than my bare tanks, but I still do big daily changes. Wondering if anyone with planted discus tanks has dropped to fewer changes without the fish sulking. Temp is 29C and I feed three times a day. Pic below of the fish room shelf where the air runs from, in case anyone wants to see the setup.
Tied a golf ball of moss onto a small piece of spiderwood yesterday evening with cotton thread and by morning half of it had drifted loose in the flow. Using a hang-on filter on this 10 gallon so there's a fair bit of surface movement. Do you tie tighter, use gel super glue, or just stuff it in crevices and wait it out? Pic below of the setup I have it sitting in while I figure it out.
Prepping the mother swords for the auction box and a couple have long runners with baby plants already putting out roots. Pic below of a jungle tank I run for reference, same plants in the back. Do you snip the runners once the babies have 3 or 4 leaves, or leave them attached until the plant is settled in its new home? Worried the mother looks bare if I cut too early.
Not mine, a friend's. They had a torch that went down to a bare skeleton with one little patch of tissue left and kept it in a jar for months. Eventually it came back. Curious what the longest comeback story is here, or if most of you cut your losses way sooner.
Got a trade package today after about 36 hours in transit. Heat pack was still warm and everything was dipped, but about half the polyps are shut tight and a couple look a little stretched. Pic below of the rack where they're sitting at low flow. I'm planning to leave them alone under dim light overnight. Anyone do anything different after a long box?
Running a 20 long on a single LED, no CO2, root tabs only. Colorata stays green and leggy at the top instead of going pink. Pic below of the jar tank on my windowsill, which is where my spare cuttings are sitting and they're actually colouring better than the main tank. Does that point to light being the issue or should I start dosing iron?
Got a mixed box from a hobbyist today, anubias, java fern and crypts, pic below on the kitchen counter. Everything looks decent but a few crypt leaves are limp. Do you plant right away or let them sit in a bowl of tank water for a bit first? I usually rinse and plant but I've had crypts melt on me before.
Been buying gel food for my ranchu and oranda tubs but the cost adds up fast. I want to switch to making my own batches. Right now I'm thinking spirulina, spinach, shrimp meal and plain unflavored gelatin, cut into cubes and frozen. Does anyone have a ratio that holds together in the water without clouding the tub? Mine fell apart on the last test.
Had a pair in the rack hatch a clutch on slate a few days ago and the wrigglers are still stuck on the slate tails twitching. Parents are fanning and moving them around. Pic below of a bubble nest from my betta shelf since that's what I had on hand, not the angels. Do you pull the slate to a tub or let the pair raise them till free swimming?
Bought a few emersed buce a while back and the moment I dropped them in the tank the old leaves went translucent at the edges. Water is soft, light is moderate, no CO2 on this one. Is that the normal emersed to submerged melt or should I be worried? Trying not to trim anything yet.
She finally dropped this afternoon in the planted tub, 37 fry and they're all hiding in the floaters. Pic below of mom a few hours before. I raise for hobby prices so I don't want to cull too hard, but I only have so many tubs. Do you keep everything for the first month and sort later, or sort early?
Switched my 20 long from tap to RO with a shrimp mineral mix last week and the TDS is sitting at 220 where I aimed for 170. Neos have been fine so far, a couple berried females still carrying. Do I dilute down slowly or just leave it since they seem happy? Don't want to cause another molt crisis.
Attached my newest divisions to wood about ten days ago and the old leaves are starting to show that blue shimmer under moderate light. No new leaf yet though. From your experience, how long until a fresh leaf pushes after a move like this? Pic below of the wood setup is not up, I'll add one once something sprouts.
