Slimmed Down Fish Room Journal

[Boundava]

While since any updates on the basement aquarium menagerie. We are minus the 75 acrylic tank, have still to empty the gravel and haul the tank outside. Everyone is doing well; the majority went into the mostly empty but running 40 breeder withe the exception of an opaline gourami, a moonlight gourami and a couple plecos; but they are also doing well in their new homes.

The swiss monstera I am using to get the excess nutrients in the 125 are finally looking better. I have a bit of an issue with my corner Matten filter, it's in the need of a cleaning and pulling it out will release some mulm and make a mess of the substrate. I am trying to think of a way to slip something into the braces to close it off and keep any mulm in the corner and the substrate from filling the corner. My filter sponge is currently sitting on glass.

Oh and today is national Time to wake the box turtle day, so I have to go digging in the 180 to find Hippie our box turtle and wake her out of brumation.

 

[Boundava]

Finally got that video...

 

[Boundava]

So, the 125 has a corner Matten Filter that has the intake of the FX6 behind it, providing the suction to pull water through the sponge. Traditionally it's run with a water pump behind the sponge and that provides the flow and there is a PVC pipe that the water is pushed back on the other side of the filter, back into the tank.

I have had this set up since I started the tank and though I rinsed it out when we moved from once house to the other, I hadn't rinsed it out when I took the bamboo background off and changed the substrate/decor.

I do have several aufwuchs feeding plecos on the tank and they produce a lot of mulm which has clogged the sponge to the point where I was having drastic alterations in water levels from the tank and behind the filter.

As I mentioned in the video, I thought I would have till this weekend to deal with the issue.
Nope, I worked 8-4 today and Sis sent me a text about 9:40am telling me the area was dry and she poured about 5 gallons of water in the corner before going to work. So it became a today issue.

Fortunately when I got home there was still 40% water left, also I had been thinking about how to remove the sponge without 1) the cruddy mulm filled water back flowing into the tank, and 2) the substrate from the tank not filling the corner where the sponge needs to sit.

I had some corrugated plastic board leftover from the (failed) waterfall feature for my box turtle's enclosure. I cut a piece wide enough to span from one filter brace to the other and cut one side of the board while leaving the other side connected so it would bend around the corner filter, effectively making a shelf that would allow me to pull the sponge out but have a solid barrier.

TBH pulling the sponge out would have been a heck of a lot easier with someone holding the plastic board down but after about 15 minutes I was able to pull it out. It was extremely heavy and full of gunk.

It was also a bit dirty in the corner, so I was happy ot was contained.

I wound up taking it outside and turning on the water (it was maybe 40 degrees F) and hosing it down until I couldn't feel my fingers anymore. I figured it was clean enough and looked like a sponge again.

 

[Boundava]

It was ridiculously easy to slide back in behind the plastic board.

Filled the tank back up and the water level in the corner matches the tank. Faster and easier than I thought. Very glad it's done.

 

[Boundava]

So big changes happen today in the fish room well some of them happened last night too.

Last night when I got home from work I wound up taking down well not entirely taking down but removing the bettas from the four or five gallon fish tanks that I had. The last fish tank on the left had my newest common splendus edition his name was dandelion and he wound up going into the 40 breeder because when I put them in the 3 gallon tank with the shrimp he became a killer almost immediately and the shrimp knew it and were fleeing as fast as they could. Fortunately I got him out of the tank before he actually ate a shrimp and placed them in the 40 breeder instead so the 40 reader is his new home next to his tank second one from the left was the vertigala and they wound up getting rehomed to the 3 gallon tank in which they're kind of happy the 3 gallon is not as dark as the 5 gallons were so they're a little skittish about the light. I have some humic acid that I keep forgetting to bring downstairs from my 6 gallon tank upstairs that will help kind of make the water a little tannin colored, however my sister suggested that I use Roobis tea instead because it will color the water without changing the pH.
The third tank in from the left had my api api Jade Betta. There should have been three in the tank but they're wand up only being two, and those two went upstairs in my 6 gallon rimless tank. The tank all the way to the right had my beta Hendra, these were the only bettas who actually bred for me and although we thought there were four offspring we only could find three. Those are the three that we brought over to fish Planet. However when I took the tank down I found two last night which were moved into my 20 long pangio loach tank.

I already had a beta in this tank which I bought with Dandelion. This beta is very unique silver coloration and I named him Geralt (does dandelion make sense now?)

So I had to move him out of the 20 long in order for the hendra to go in there. Having had no other tank to move him to, I moved him over to the 10 gallon that was set up with the tiger baddis pair. So the only fish that I wound up rehoming two fish planet were the baddis, lol.

I also have to break down the 10 gallon brackish tank that was a grow up tank for the tiniest bumblebee goby that I've got that was supposed to be a group of gobies however they all were DOA. He was supposed to grow up in that tank and he did double in size but he was still about the length of my fingernail. Unfortunately I didn't have any other choice but to put him in the brackish tank with the other bumblebee goby and the goblin leaf fish which are a relative to the scorpion fish and our carnivores. They wound up eating all of my fork tails that I had placed in there even though they were adult size. The little gobies name was Mr Big, I'm hoping his name is still Mr Big and he's alive in this tank but I won't know until feeding time tomorrow.

Anyway I did wind up setting up a UNS 12 gallon rimless bookshelf tank for my new rainbow fish; Pseudomugil cyanodorsalis.
Although they were sold as brackish fish they can be kept in full salinity, so I made this another salt water tank. As I mentioned in the video I am going to be adding only corals to this tank as well as the rainbow fish. Rainbow fish do not have long lives, usually 2 years. So the goal of this tank is to breed them and I don't want them to be distracted with other inhabitants like porcelain crabs or sea urchins or macroalgae. I have the left side of the tank open because there is a live rock with a beautiful coral on it that I will be purchasing next week and I will be purchasing another coral possibly two more corals but I have two of them on hold to definitely purchase next week.

Love this substrate, it's a combo of Carib-Sea Fiji pink live sand and topped with Marine something ocean sand, its full of shells and is super interesting. I got the Fuji at Petco and the other substrate as well as the love wet and dry rock at Beyond the Reef in Schaumburg. Their store is chock full of supplies for both, cyanodorsalis fresh and saltwater and worth the drive.

Hey Matt, remember the gentleman from the other forum who had the pool-pond conversion and got a job at Imperial Tropics? (Cannot remember his name and the old forum seems to be gone, RIP my old journals/photos)
My sister's friend also works there and helped with the 50/50 M/F ratio which will hopefully help with future generations, lol.


So I forgot to post this yesterday. Today is Sunday (I've been so busy Friday night and Saturday that I had to actually look on the phone when I woke up to see what day it was because I thought it was Monday and I was late to work!) and I did a whole bunch of stuff in the fish room today as well.

 

[Slaphppy7]

So big changes happen today in the fish room well some of them happened last night too.

Last night when I got home from work I wound up taking down well not entirely taking down but removing the bettas from the four or five gallon fish tanks that I had. The last fish tank on the left had my newest common splendus edition his name was dandelion and he wound up going into the 40 breeder because when I put them in the 3 gallon tank with the shrimp he became a killer almost immediately and the shrimp knew it and were fleeing as fast as they could. Fortunately I got him out of the tank before he actually ate a shrimp and placed them in the 40 breeder instead so the 40 reader is his new home next to his tank second one from the left was the vertigala and they wound up getting rehomed to the 3 gallon tank in which they're kind of happy the 3 gallon is not as dark as the 5 gallons were so they're a little skittish about the light. I have some humic acid that I keep forgetting to bring downstairs from my 6 gallon tank upstairs that will help kind of make the water a little tannin colored, however my sister suggested that I use Roobis tea instead because it will color the water without changing the pH.
The third tank in from the left had my api api Jade Betta. There should have been three in the tank but they're wand up only being two, and those two went upstairs in my 6 gallon rimless tank. The tank all the way to the right had my beta Hendra, these were the only bettas who actually bred for me and although we thought there were four offspring we only could find three. Those are the three that we brought over to fish Planet. However when I took the tank down I found two last night which were moved into my 20 long pangio loach tank.

I already had a beta in this tank which I bought with Dandelion. This beta is very unique silver coloration and I named him Geralt (does dandelion make sense now?)

So I had to move him out of the 20 long in order for the hendra to go in there. Having had no other tank to move him to, I moved him over to the 10 gallon that was set up with the tiger baddis pair. So the only fish that I wound up rehoming two fish planet were the baddis, lol.

I also have to break down the 10 gallon brackish tank that was a grow up tank for the tiniest bumblebee goby that I've got that was supposed to be a group of gobies however they all were DOA. He was supposed to grow up in that tank and he did double in size but he was still about the length of my fingernail. Unfortunately I didn't have any other choice but to put him in the brackish tank with the other bumblebee goby and the goblin leaf fish which are a relative to the scorpion fish and our carnivores. They wound up eating all of my fork tails that I had placed in there even though they were adult size. The little gobies name was Mr Big, I'm hoping his name is still Mr Big and he's alive in this tank but I won't know until feeding time tomorrow.

Anyway I did wind up setting up a UNS 12 gallon rimless bookshelf tank for my new rainbow fish; Pseudomugil cyanodorsalis.
Although they were sold as brackish fish they can be kept in full salinity, so I made this another salt water tank. As I mentioned in the video I am going to be adding only corals to this tank as well as the rainbow fish. Rainbow fish do not have long lives, usually 2 years. So the goal of this tank is to breed them and I don't want them to be distracted with other inhabitants like porcelain crabs or sea urchins or macroalgae. I have the left side of the tank open because there is a live rock with a beautiful coral on it that I will be purchasing next week and I will be purchasing another coral possibly two more corals but I have two of them on hold to definitely purchase next week.

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Love this substrate, it's a combo of Carib-Sea Fiji pink live sand and topped with Marine something ocean sand, its full of shells and is super interesting. I got the Fuji at Petco and the other substrate as well as the love wet and dry rock at Beyond the Reef in Schaumburg. Their store is chock full of supplies for both, cyanodorsalis fresh and saltwater and worth the drive.

Hey Matt, remember the gentleman from the other forum who had the pool-pond conversion and got a job at Imperial Tropics? (Cannot remember his name and the old forum seems to be gone, RIP my old journals/photos)
My sister's friend also works there and helped with the 50/50 M/F ratio which will hopefully help with future generations, lol.


So I forgot to post this yesterday. Today is Sunday (I've been so busy Friday night and Saturday that I had to actually look on the phone when I woke up to see what day it was because I thought it was Monday and I was late to work!) and I did a whole bunch of stuff in the fish room today as well.

Hmmm...trying to remember that guy's name, as well...seems like ages ago that "the old forum" even existed

Sounds like the fish room is keeping you & sis busy, hope you guys are doing well

 

[Boundava]

Hmmm...trying to remember that guy's name, as well...seems like ages ago that "the old forum" even existed

Sounds like the fish room is keeping you & sis busy, hope you guys are doing well

Yeah, I can't put a name to the pool/pond, lol.

Sis and I are doing well, keeping busy with the fresh and saltwater tanks.
We were thinking on maybe going to Daytona in December for Aquasella, but not 100% on that.

Hope you and your family are also doing well.

 

[Boundava]

Just a little update on my newest additions

 

[Boundava]

Well the tiny pseudomugil actually spawned on the rocks yesterday, didn't have my phone and had to run to work so no pics. Sis bought spawning mops yesterday...yes they are easy to DIY but 1) no time to get yarn, and 2) what do we do with all the extra yarn...?

 

[Boundava]

So I don't know if any of you remember about the 120 gallon and the broken brace? Well my sister went downstairs to feed the fish this morning and found water on the floor. Possibly 10 to 20 gallons of water slowly making its way to our floor drain. It was coming from that 120 gallon tank.
So the stress of the broken brace seems to have led to some kind of either crack or pop of the silicone seal on the bottom of the tank and it was leaking from the bottom of the tank. that tank had the Peruvian wolf fish and the wild blue acara in it. So we had to quickly decide as to where these two fish we're going as number one; the wolfish will eat anything that will fit in its mouth, and number two; the acara is a jerk and he will kill anything that he doesn't like... which is everything, lol. The only option that I had was to take everything out of my 120 gallon acrylic tank, the cold water tank. This tank had over a dozen mascara barbs and over a dozen gold barbs and about 6 dojo and weather loaches in it. So for an hour and a half we were draining tanks and catching fish and transferring fish and we finally got everyone in their new homes and the 120 mostly empty. I put a tub underneath it so that whatever bit of water, just probably another 10 or 20 gallons that's left in the gravel, has somewhere to go other than ruining the floor even more. The funniest thing is that my sister and I were talking about condensing a couple tanks and taking possibly two tanks smaller down, the 40 and the 75, well the popping of this tank went ahead and fix that problem of taking down two smaller tanks since we had to pull the bigger tank down.

 

[Boundava]

To clarify, the barbs went into the 125, the Dojo and weather loaches went into the 75 which has the Pavo and Borneo eels (as well as a common pleco, a royal pleco, a black paradise fish and some danios), and I had an opaline gourami with a superiority complex that we put in the 40 breeder with the hopes that she plays nice with the Betta, blue rainbow fish and two honey gourami. If not we'll take Stilton to Fish Planet though I would prefer not to.

 

[Boundava]

Here's a bit of a long winded video...

...and a quick Hippie update

I have to take a magic eraser to the inside of her tank. The mister uses RODI water but still leaves water spots...

 

[Boundava]

So the 75 gallon has been emptied of all fish. We had to take the Pavos to Fish Planet so the tank still has the couple plants that survived the plecos and water in it. Took the plants and decor out of the 20 L that was the pangio loach tank. There maybe some anchor cats in the tank but I didn't get a chance to pull the leaf litter out and look. Didn't want the eels sitting on the bucket too long.
Hoping to finish the 20 tomorrow and work on the other 20. That is the one with the ninjas and the Betta splendens, which I already moved out into the 125. The plan for the ninjas is to go into the 120 with the corry and tetra. The 125 now has a smidge too many loaches and I should also get the other FX4 on it ASAP.

 

[Boundava]

Got the one 20L emptied yesterday. So sad the only thing in there was one purple pangio loach. I know the loaches were declining though water quality was always good. Unsure why my hendra wild Betta also died, mysteries of the tank world.

I managed to catch my little betta, Dandelion, from the 40 breeder. Little guy came up and said "hi" and I scooped him up. Greralt-the Betta that was in the 10 gallon passed and after a water change and filter cleaning I added Dandelion to the 10 with some plants from the 20 and 75.

Also emptied the 75 of water. Still have to remove the substrate from both tanks and clean them out. I will be listing the 75 with lid and the Marineland filter for $$$ once it's cleaned up, but have to get it out of the basement first.

The 20L will be converted into a shrimp tank and an Egyptian lotus/red rooted floater group tank.

Once I empty the other 20L it will be an upgrade tank for my 10 gallon saltwater. Not happening this week though as I will try to devote this week off to studying for my certification exam in October. If study goes well may move the test date up if availability allows.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

What is your certification exam for? I think you already told me but I can't remember.