Search results

After picking up a nice looking chunk of lace rock about the size of a car battery, I since have read it may raise pH. This is a new, uncycled 75g tank with a few small live plants and some fairly large pieces of driftwood that are still floating at this point. My pH is naturally around 6.8 to...

X2 for the AquaClear, and I'd add the Aqueon filters are rather flimsy and have an annoying LED light to tell you when it's time to clean the filter. This flashes all the time on many models, regardless of filter cleanliness.

I did visit what has to be the world's smallest Petco and bought two plants in the little tubes. They did indeed have a tank with more options and I'd have preferred that but they were pretty snail-infested and I'm not looking for that right now. My wife was not involved.

Petco tries to be all things to all pet owners/keepers and this is clearly not possible, but in the opinion of forum members, can one expect to find decent live plants there? With another 45 minutes of driving (each way), there's a good store with many more options, but I'm just looking for...

Other loaches like yoyo and tiger will likely be the way I steer our tanks in the future. I’ve not owned these but I from what I’ve read they’re somewhat similar in personality.

eggs

In the '80s and '90s I kept 4 clown loaches in a 55g, they seemed like the happiest fish in the tank. I had no idea how large they'd eventually get, and my LFS then wasn't terribly knowledgeable either. The loaches grew from 1" to about 5" but that took years and I enjoyed them until selling...

camouflage

We’ll need to know more about your water chemistry.

Not a particularly harrowing tale but, my daughter's favorite fish (in her very first tank) are three lovable clown loaches which came with a free case of ICH from Petco - the store probably received them that way to be fair, and it was hardly noticeable at first, I think one spread to the other...

Cool setups you have there. Condolences on the loss of Brutus.

There are no Walmarts in Seattle, where I live. Partly due to the high cost of real estate. You can find many in suburbs but I've never set foot in one. But the fact they sell fake service dog vests and IDs I had not heard. Ugh, there are so many "emotional support animals" on buses, planes...

galactic

Jeez, it sounds like you got sent to the hole, in prison terms. I wish you strength in this crappy time. I know nothing of your situation but you clearly have better-than encyclopedic, real-world knowledge of our hobby. The fact that you give so much thought in your responses to others here...

You could fail more, it’s only January.

bunny

I'm in talks with Makita presently

That Vanilla Ice song was indeed a sampled rip-off of the Bowie w/Queen song Under Pressure. Next word: Cooker

Your thread makes me wonder why is there no battery-operated heater in the event of power outages? I understand they'd draw far more power than an air pump, but with the advances in lithium batteries in some heavy duty power tools, I would think this would be possible, at least for the short term.

Petco secretly hates pets

I’ll just chuck it into the trash bin.

Yeah - may as well add some spikes while they’re at it.

I guess it serves me right not to have inspected the little torture chamber while at the store. Lesson learned!

cube

My daughter's castle: a fun little hideout it appeared. But inside: shards of sharp plastic to torture and maim! (And also trap.)

contrast

I envy the big blank canvas you have to work with. Very nice.

That led to some crazy alternatives

That definitely beats the full-sized taco ornament at Petco. Hardshell corn tortilla and all the toppings (sans sour cream). They’re not messing around when it comes to what makes fish feel at home in a tank.

Petco and Petsmart aren’t necessarily evil (or are they?) but they definitely cater to the novice and the kids. I mean, they have a lot of “pet” ground to cover, I get it, but her original tank came cracked and with a crappy fixed temp heater, which dropped 6-8° one day, then remained there...

Oh Petco is all over the Sponge Bob decor. Her tank almost went that direction until I managed to break her spirit.

No worries on overstepping... my daughter is not prone to princessy things but yes the cheesy fake castle and the ubiquitous treasure chest. The rest is lava rock and driftwood and mostly tolerable. I did make it a lesson in what we think looks cool may not be good for the fish. Yes a young...

What got me back into fish keeping is my youngest daughter's interest. Because she's a 10 year old kid, I let her pick out some rather cringe-worthy decorations and lo and behold a clown loach got stuck in one. I know it happens but... why, oh why do companies producing this stuff have such...

Thanks for the detailed answers. It’s been only flakes and pellets here thus far, maybe time to branch out to frozen shrimp and bloodworms.

Thanks for all that info, wow. So far I’m just dealing with my kids’ tank. Angels, clown loaches, a leopard cory. As they pinch bits of TetraMin in any given day, I wondered about lettuce, cucumber. Something in their own diet that they share with their fishes, etc. if that makes sense.

Thank you. And which ferry?

Hey all - I wonder, what foods in the fridge, pantry or garden might be well received in the freshwater fish world? I understand lettuce is mostly water and may not offer a damn thing nutrient-wise. But to mix things up from the flake/pellet world, I’d like to learn more about additional options.

I’ve only been a member for a few days but have been pleasantly surprised by page loading times here. I use Safari primarily and sometimes Firefox.

I’m just getting back into fish and am a total newb here but have you tested your water levels for ammonia, pH, nitrite/nitrate, hardness etc?

Thanks for the welcome. It’s been a difficult stretch here as a major bridge has been down and local fish selection is limited to Petco and the like. We picked up two clown loaches which came with ICH at no extra charge. ;-( It was very difficult to notice in its early stage to be fair.