Fish Folk

Just got a haul of new plants for my NANF 45 gal…

@Ninjoma wow!!! Those are breathtaking shots. Thanks for the inspiration!

Heya NERMS! We all take too many pictures of our fish and tanks. I’d like to see your favorite seven photos you’ve taken of your fish / tanks from this seventh month of 2023. Here’s my July 2023 reel… 1. Spawning Rainbow Shiners 2. Blue Dwarf Congo Cichlid pair 3. Rainbow Shiners & Redbelly Dace 4. New Discus trio 5. Adult Discus tank 6. Lowland Shiners 7. Fireyblack Shiner & Greenheads

@Vicki that looks very nice! More plants . . . more plants . . . more plants 🪴 🌿 🌱

@Vicki how large is this aquarium? So sorry if I'm just missing that info from what's above. Water changes can help. Bacteria will multiply on hardscape. I'd personally add an extra air-stone because the colonies of bacteria you want to multiply are aerobic. Air helps! Also, as @MattyM suggests, I also like using FritzZyme 7. I think it puts bacteria in som sort of cycles form into the aquarium to kick start colonies.

Did you get your wood from just outside somewhere? I’ve seen this when wood is brought in from outdoors without being properly prepared. It’s a bacterial growth buildup. I agree ☝️ Does your tap water have ammonia in? Sounds like the tank is beginning to cycle.

If you can afford it, I highly recommend Caribsea Eco-Complete Cichlid Substrate to start up a new Mbuna tank. Problem is . . . you'll be hundreds of dollars in before it will be enough to get your desired affect...

I assume Zinc Magnesium Alloy. Should be just fine. You just do not want to obstruct the rhizome.

I suppose that depends on what the weight are composed of, and how free the Java Fern rhizomes are to grow, send out new growth, roots, etc. An photos? If your plant weights are inert (e.g. Zinc Magnesium Alloy, Resin, Stone, etc) you're fine. I typically use smooth river stones to hold vermin plants in place if they cannot be buried into deep substrate.

absolutely. you just want it air-tight so that it floats. It locks floating plant surface area into corrals so that light non-penetration is not pervasive.

I'd ditch the duckweed entirely, or clean it all out weekly. I use this kind of a tool (search "aquascaping net" With desirable floaters, you might consider building a floating ring out of airline, and putting your red-root floaters all _inside_ the ring. I'm guessing your Anubias is struggling with getting enough light with the surface covered over. I might be wrong. Just a theory.

Doesn't look too bad to me. You might be dealing with an excess of available nutrients leading to a slight diatom algae bloom. Maybe trim the feedings back to once a week. Remember that Anubias is a S. L. O. W. growing plant compared to stem plants. "Feeding" it heavily with ferts will not make it grow much faster.

This is interesting. Was it greenish? Or powdery? Hard to say if this was Cyanobacteria or something else. What are you running for filtration? How long was your vacation? Is there direct sunlight on the tank at all? The way cycling works is that your aquarium needs to establish two colonies of aerobic bacteria, one to transition ammonia into nitrite, and another to convert nitrite into nitrate. Plants absorb nitrate. A densely-planted tank really cares for itself as far as the nitrogen cycle goes -- provided that it is not over-stocked. If you see nitrite, are there zero nitrates yet? That would confirm an unestablished colony nitrite-oxidizing bacteria. If, however, you are also seeing high nitrate readings, something else is going on. How long as your tank been going? So sorry if I'm asking questions you've already answered.

Finally got enough Red Swordtail fry in our minipond for BAP… Not a get-rich scheme, but definitely proof that Swordtails can multiply outdoors in a tub!

It might die back, but then reset. I just moved mine. Definitely not happy, but not dead yet either 😂

I sold the Melon and three Pidgeon Bloods awhile ago. I just wasn't getting breeding pairs. Now I keep these just for fun. I've had to come to terms with the reality that unless I'm willing to run R.O. system, dedicate hundreds of gallons to breeding and grow-out, I'll never be breeding Discus. Lots of drama . . . I just keep them for fun now. Some people keep goldfish (very pretty!) but I prefer Discus as sort of "wet-pets."

@Twood @Shadow Took a few shots of my Discus tank after a WC this eve. Just keeping 4x in this 55 gal. now with Rams & BNPs. They have really grown over time! I guess the blue-theme runs strong in this group. I do miss the red ones though …

Welcome aboard! Lovely aquariums. Thanks for sharing photos.

El Classico Americano, 07/29/2023. A wonderful night in Arlington, Texas for FC Barcelona fans… Pedri pass to Dembele on 1st goal ❤️ Frenkie de Jong with bench-clearing tackle 1st half 👊 Some new guy for Barça deciding to open his account with a bang 💥⚽️ Vini Jr. giving Sergino Dest a night to forget 😂

I have not noticed major issues with varied colors. Ram groups are touch-and-go.

Understandable. We respect Los Blancos. Moderic especially…

SCOTS WHA HAE!!! Amazing!! I shall don a ManU kit just for you. My son plays midfield. No delusions of grandeur here, but he has good taste in midfielders IMHO. My personal favorite, now retired, is Andres Iniesta. My eldest son loves Pedri. My middle boy… he likes forwards… talks most about Robert Lewendowski probably.

Awesome 😎 I think there might be drama between GBRs and EBAs. If they all grow up together from young, maybe Ok. Cichlids of all species tend to establish a pecking order in a tank. Eventually there will be a “tank boss” who keeps the peace. But con-specific species (cichlids that look enough alike) will fight it out, sometimes fatally.

No, I had EBAs + Discus then GBRs + Discus. I haven’t kept EBAs with GBRs. But I keep them all in the same parameters. We bred a LOT of EBAs…

I just order small ones from my LFS. Some of mine were 50-cent-piece sized. Other times, my LFS manager would give me a deal. Bear in mind that I spend plenty of money there. I live in northern Appalachia. No one wants to spend money on fish here. Hard to sell Discus at all. Out in D.C. I’ve seen Discus go for $300-$500 / ea. At fish club auction I’ve sold mine for $100+ / ea. I’ve kept mine with Electric Blue Acaras… And at other times bred Rams in the Discus tank…