@brackishbabe · 📍 New Orleans, LA · joined Feb 2026 · Level 3
Weird water enjoyer. Puffers, gobies and the occasional crab.
Did the flashlight peek after lights out like finandfry said. Counted at least a dozen fry grazing on the zucchini, bellies look round and a little orange. Pic below of the wafer I dropped in near the cave. Should I add more algae wafer now or keep it light so the 40 breeder doesn't foul? Still in with the parents so I'm wary of overdoing it.
First time a super red bristlenose has spawned for me. Wrigglers absorbed the yolk about a week ago and they're now tiny dark commas stuck to the side of a cave in the 40 breeder. I only see them at lights out. Is that normal or should I be worried about them eating enough? Feeding crushed zucchini and a bit of algae wafer.
Dropped a new piece of driftwood into the 40 breeder four days ago and it's wearing a thick white fuzz now. Pic below. The shrimp are grazing it like it's a buffet, which is the only reason I haven't pulled it. Is this just biofilm that burns off by itself or should I scrub it in the sink first? Nothing else in the tank looks off.
Update on the stubborn dwarf pea puffer. Day 5 without live snails and he finally ate frozen brine shrimp off the tweezers, then took two bloodworms right after. Pic below of the culture jar I'm now ignoring. Keeping a few snails around for treats only, otherwise he'll go right back to being picky.
Pic below of my little guy stalking a bloodworm and then ignoring it. He's had live snails since I got him and now the frozen stuff gets stared at and left on the sand. I've tried wiggling it with tweezers and it works about one time in four. Anyone actually converted a stubborn one, or do you just keep a snail culture going forever?
Thinking of putting one of my young bristlenose in with a plakat male in a 20 long, planted with a lot of cover. Everything I read says pleco slime coat and bettas are fine unless the betta is a fin nipper, but I'd like to hear from people who've tried it. Is it worth the risk or should I keep them separate?
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.
Most of the tub is free swimming and picking at spirulina wafer now. I crushed some flake between two spoons and it looks like dust, but I'm never sure if I'm overfeeding the tub. Pic below of the fry room shelf with the labels so I don't lose track of the batches. How much do you offer per feeding?
Moved the fry tub onto a gentle sponge filter yesterday after reading around here. Pic below of how it's set up, bubbles on low so the wigglers don't get blown around. Anyone else run them like this or do you prefer a bare tub with daily changes?
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.
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?
Still 37, all pink and picking at zucchini and crushed wafer now. The tub is getting a little crowded for the size of it, though water stays clear with the daily small change. Pic below of the shelf setup. Is it too early to split them into two tubs, or do I wait until they are a couple weeks old?
Most of the 37 are off the cave floor now and doing laps, yolk sacs are tiny. Tried a pinch of crushed spirulina wafer in a drop of tank water this evening and a few of them went straight for it. Pic below of the tub. Going to pipette out whatever is left in an hour like shrimplord said. Still 37, no more pale ones.
One of the bristlenose babies let go of the clump and is doing laps around the tub. Yolk sac is about half gone. Still 37 total, all pink. Is it too early to try a tiny bit of spirulina or do I wait until they're all up off the floor? pic below of the tub.
cave is in the 10 gallon tub with a sponge filter, wigglers are all clustered on the cave floor with their yolk sacs, pic below of the clump. I count roughly 40 so far. Is some loss in the first week just normal, and do I do water changes at all while they're on yolk or leave them completely alone?
quick update on the cave from the other day. eggs have gone a darker orange and the male hasn't left once, i've seen him eat nothing. is it normal for him to fast the whole time? i dropped a wafer by the cave opening but he ignores it. pic below of the cluster.
Woke up this morning and one of my bristlenose males is sitting in the PVC cave with a cluster of orange eggs stuck to the ceiling behind him. Pic below. He's in my 40 breeder with the other bristlenose and some tetras. Do I leave him to it or pull the eggs? Never had a pleco spawn before.
Six clown loaches in my 75, they spend most of the day stacked together under one big piece of driftwood and only come out when I feed. Pic below. Water is fine, ammonia and nitrite zero, nitrate around 10. Is this just loach behavior or should I be doing something different with hiding spots or lighting?
I have a jar setup with a clear divider between a male and a female I'm thinking of pairing eventually. She flares constantly, he mostly ignores her. Is this just normal courtship or should I be looking at something else before I try a spawn? Not rushing, just want to read the signs right.
My super red bristlenose pair finally spawned in the cave and about a week after wriggling I found a dozen fry stuck on the sponge prefilter. Rescued most of them. Do you cover the intake with finer foam or just move the spawn to a grow out? Looking for what actually works for you.
Spent four hours arranging and rearranging seiryu. My wife says it looks the same as attempt one. She is wrong and I will die on this hill. Planting next weekend.
Surreal moment seeing shrimp I bred in someone else's store display. Small win but it means the world.
They show up in every seasoned tank. They eat what you overfeed. If you see a lot of them, the message is about your feeding, not the worms.
Chlorine nukes your nitrifiers. Squeeze the sponge in tank water during a water change and your cycle never blinks. That concludes the PSA.
Went full brackish paludarium, SG 1.005, mangrove props, oyster shell substrate. The little guy hunts snails like a tiny shark.
