Search results

Hmm... From what I can tell, cuttlebone works similarly to crushed coral and shells (it's all made of the same substance), but it seems to dissolve a lot slower, especially if you leave it whole. As long as your pH is under like 7.5, it'll dissolve and release calcium and carbonate ions.

Oh yeah. That's a perfect representation of Jesse's character, especially at the beginning. It's been ages since I watched Breaking Bad, but I should give it a rewatch at some point. Kudos to the directors and/or set designers for this artistic choice! It's really on point.

It's almost definitely some sort of mold or other fungus. No need to fret over it though. Basically all the different kinds of fungi that grow on wood are harmless to fish. Given that it's sticking out of the water, it means you have high humidity in the air space. What kind of lid or cover do...

I have to say, I've lost a lot of my chemistry skills since uni haha. I did well in my introductory chemistry courses, but haven't kept in practice, so to speak. Like you, I'm much stronger in biology. That said, carbonate chemistry is really interesting! And it's also relevant to my field since...

Not much of an update, but things are going pretty well. I finished the course of ich-x (5 doses over 5 days) back on thursday and haven't noticed any other spots throughout the process. All six neons are alive and well and I'm very pleased and somewhat proud that I haven't had any losses, which...

No, you were correct initially. It's just a matter of there being two different kinds of cooling systems. The cheap kind are just fans that blow across the surface of the water. They work through evaporative cooling since the air movement will increase evap rates and the process of evaporation...

You know, I think you could be onto something here! I'm honestly not sure if there's any research that looks into this, but it makes a lot of sense. The inconsistency and unevenness of the suspension could very well be contributing to an excitable/panicked response. Even if the differences in...

This is exactly correct, and well-said! Yes, maintaining a high internal body temperature like mammals do is wildly expensive, in terms of energy. It's why you need over 1,000kcal every day even if you don't move an inch all day. That's just the cost of maintaining your body temp! Fish really...

Yeah, that's the downside of pithing. It's a bit more advanced technique. I don't know exactly how to do it either, to be honest. I'm sure there are video tutorials out there if you can stomach watching them. I think I'd only attempt pithing if I didn't have clove oil on hand and my primary...

That's a perfectly acceptable method of euthanasia, although it'd still be recommended to sedate the fish with an anesthetic dose of clove oil first to make the process a little less stressful, and it would help with keeping the fish still so you can aim correctly with the knife. But yes...

@MuddyWaters @gwand What water hardness do you keep your dwarf crays at? A quick google search says they can be okay at 1deg KH and 3deg GH. My water parameters just barely meet those minimums, but I suspect they're probably similar to other shrimp and do better at higher hardness. I'd love to...

Lol, I think we've all been guilty of overfeeding at one point or another. Good luck with the cyanobacteria. In my experience, it doesn't grow all that quickly, so if it does come back, you don't have to worry about it taking over the tank overnight

Nah, no need. I was able to remove mine manually. I decreased the photoperiod on the tank and stuck to light feedings (I think the previous owner overfed quite a bit) and it hasn't come back. I think you should just be able to remove that rock, scrub off the cyanobacteria and replace it.

Hm. Looks like it could be cyanobacteria. When I got my 5gal, it was drenched in it, and the films looked very similar to what you have.

Given that there's some disagreement on this issue, I figured I'd do my own research on the matter and report back. This is the science section of the forum after all. I found one research paper and a couple protocol documents from universities with research labs. The euthanasia protocols are...

I disagree wholeheartedly. I made the transition from teen to adult not THAT long ago, and I have to say, everyone fearmongers about growing up and becoming an adult. Everyone fearmongers about aging these days. Life is what you make of it. I'm having plenty of fun in my adulthood. Of course...

Wow! Saltines and toilet paper.... I'm glad the custodial staff rescued those fish. First, check to see what restrictions your university has on tank size. You should be able to find it in the university housing contract. When I was in college living in dorms, our housing contract specified...

While this is obviously not true for my personal tanks, I do occasionally work with tanks (at a public aquarium) that have "automatic" water changes in that they're all on a flow-through system, where old water is constantly draining out and fresh, new seawater is constantly pumped in. And yet...

This could be a freshwater thing, since I know quite a few marine fishes make noise. I'm sure there are many other freshwater fishes that make noise, but I don't know as much about them. The drum is a notable one, as it's literally named after the sound it makes. They're found in both brackish...

Whoops, didn't see how spherical they were on first glance! Yes, definitely fish eggs.

Do you have a nerite? Looks like eggs to me

Hey Colin. I'm curious to know your sources on this. I was interested in learning more about microsporidians and found a number of articles from both research labs and aquaculturists and I see no mention of generalized muscle whitening as a symptom. One paper I found mentions localized...

Alright, I'm convinced peas are a magical substance. That neon that was having a bit of swim bladder trouble? Swimming almost completely normally now. When the fasting did nothing, I started to get worried. The bloating was gone, but the weird swimming behavior was still there. But I've fed them...

Cryptic species complexes are so interesting! I actually just spent a few months recently learning about molecular biology (DNA extraction and sequence analysis) and we talked a lot about cryptic species. It makes perfect sense for Pistia. Non-native species introductions are always an...

So, I'm not a professional aquascaper by a LONG shot, but I have done some reading and research on general tips. I think the biggest one that I've employed for my current tank and plans for future tanks is to have varying substrate depth. Instead of just having a flat layer, move it around or...

I looked it up and Canada has very similar carry-on restrictions as the US. I'd worry about getting through security with the fish, since they'll want you to pour the water out of the bottle. The only way I could see it working is if you bring a tiny little bottle of dechlorinator, rush through...

You need to be clear about what pH you're describing. As people have mentioned, we need an actual number. High acidity would imply a low pH, but in my mind, any time someone uses the word "high" in this context, it's referring to a high pH value, which would be alkaline. So you need to make sure...

You definitely do want some ammonia in the tank to keep the beneficial bacteria on the sponge alive. Depending on the bioload of the tank the sponge came from, the population is probably also a bit overloaded currently. The presence of nitrites is a hopeful sign, but you'll still want higher...

Nice! Love the plant selection, looks like they'll fill in really nicely. I'd actually say your nitrite reading is closer to 0.25ppm, considering a reading of zero is always a really strong greenish-aqua color. And I might go so far as to say your ammonia readings are actually somewhere between...

I'm actually also curious about this issue, because I've noticed one of my new neons swimming somewhat similarly to this the past couple days, with the back half sinking slightly when the fish is motionless. I'm pretty sure I only noticed it after the affected fish ate too much and got a bit...

I'm sorry to see that your little Juno isn't doing well :( You're probably already fully aware of this, but I have to say it just in case. The dosing for seachem prime is higher for water with chloramines in it. There should be instructions on the back that say how much to use in order to get...

Okay, I feel like I'm updating this journal a lot lately, but I swear, something's always getting thrown at me and I apparently don't deserve a moment's peace. Today's maintenance day and fasting day for the fish. All well and good. One of the littles was looking a bit bloated yesterday, I...

Found this old advertisement for Old Gold cigarettes from 1946. While I don't really understand the cultural context of the slogan (not quite sure what exactly a "fancy fish story" is...), it's fun to see some familiar faces! The tetras, rasboras, and angel are always nice to see. And the platy...

…Well, you aren’t wrong. Unfortunately. But hey, maybe I actually could get a little soy plant and grow it aquaponically. Not sure how feasible that would be, but it could be fun. And yes, I definitely figured I’d be better off safe than sorry with the water change. Even if it was unnecessary...

Man, that’s disappointing. Aren’t there animal welfare laws and guidelines for using animals in film in Canada? Seems like there are from a quick Google search. Although, this film could’ve been made before some of the more rigorous guidelines were put in place. Sadly, I think even today you’d...

Just did a somewhat emergency water change. To be honest, it might not have been necessary. But I had some candles lit and had left them burning while I went to a social gathering. They're short-burning candles, not supposed to be blown out, and I had them in a fire-safe setup, so no fire risk...

I have to say, it's been so delightful watching the neons together. My only experience with neons until now has been the singleton I adopted back in December. He's a good boy, but the group dynamics of the new neons are much more interesting. They'll group together, then split up to go explore...