Spent most of tonight on a dry start layout with seiryu stone and a couple of branches. Pic below of where I'm at. I keep moving the main stone two inches left and then back again. Do you commit on day one or live with it dry for a few days first? Tank is going to be a low tech slope toward the left.
Finandfry's black lace auction got me thinking about my own angels. I have a young pair that keeps pairing up and then sulking, no eggs yet. Currently on flake and frozen bloodworm every other day. Do you push more live or frozen foods to get them going, or is it mostly tank size and water temp? Running 28C in a 55 with a couple of slate pieces.
Did a big cool water change on the panda tank this morning and by lunch there were eggs everywhere on the glass. Pic below of the cluster. Parents have eaten clutches before when I left them, so I'm leaning toward picking them off into a tub with a drop of methylene blue. How do you all handle it, any trick for getting them off the glass without squishing them?
Wigglers are fully free swimming now and cleaning up the spirulina paste fine, but I keep seeing them nip at the edge of a flake crumb. Is there any point switching to crushed flake yet or do I stay on spirulina and blanched veg another couple weeks? Not trying to foul the tub.
Tested the tap like everyone suggested. Reads about 0.5 ppm, not as bad as riverina's but not zero. Tubs are in a bright window so the algae shows up quick. Pic below of the test vial next to the tub. Do I just cut the light period, or is it worth mixing some RO in to dilute?
Thinking about adding a few plants to my grow-out room tubs but everything I read says 28 to 30C cooks most stems. Right now I only have anubias on wood and one amazon sword that doesn't seem to care. Anyone running discus warm with plants that actually last? Pic below of the java fern and anubias wood I'm thinking of expanding on.
I've always grown my moss in straight tap water and it does fine, but a friend swears RO remineralized gives tighter growth. Pic below of two tubs side by side, same light and same trim date. Honestly I can't see much difference yet but it's only been ten days. Anyone actually run a comparison?
Picked up a pack from a local swap yesterday, dipped and acclimated slow. About half the polyps are still shut after 24 hours, the rest are open a little. Flow is low and light is turned down to 30 percent. Waiting it out or should I do something?
After the temp swing talk in my bare bottom thread I bought a three dollar stick thermometer and checked the refill bucket. It was 4 degrees off from the tank. Flashing stopped the next day once I matched it. What small cheap tools do you actually use every week? Mine so far is the thermometer, a turkey baster and a headlamp for checking tubs at night. Pic of my cabinet setup below.
Pulling a few swords out of my 120 during a rescape and replanting some of the smaller ones in sand. Last time I buried the crown and half the leaves melted. Pic below of the trim pile from the rescape. Do you leave the crown just above the substrate and let roots do the work?
Following up on my tea colored tub. Juvies are eating hard and the males are starting to show tail color. Ammonia and nitrite still zero. Pic below of the culls bucket from today's sort, not too bad this round.
Got some new buce locales in from a trade and they came with a bit of algae on the rhizomes. Pic below of the pieces. I usually rinse in tank water and tie them on, but wondering if anyone does a short soak first. Don't want to carry hitchhikers into the shrimp tank.
Outdoor guppy tub has hornwort, frogbit and a bit of oak leaf litter. Water is clear but dark tea brown, fish look great and eat well. Is the tannin a problem for juvies or just cosmetic? Ammonia and nitrite both read zero.
Not my own bundle, I picked up some stems from a local swap. Most of the cut ends went mushy and brown within a few days of planting. Tops look fine so far. Should I re-trim above the rot or just toss the worst ones? Pic below of the tank.
Quick update from the split. Tub A (19) is picking at wafer harder and a couple look visibly fatter than the B group. Both tubs tested zero ammonia this morning like finandfry said. Pic below of the shelf. Is a size difference this early normal or should I be moving the big ones out?
