Great questions/observations. I'll run the tests again tomorrow. These are new meters, so part of the experiment is testing them as well as the water.
-Shane
Search found 3913 matches
- Sun Jan 17, 2021 12:13 am
- Forum: Tank Talk
- Topic: Making Blackwater
- Replies: 10
- Views: 659
- Sat Jan 16, 2021 5:14 pm
- Forum: Tank Talk
- Topic: Making Blackwater
- Replies: 10
- Views: 659
Re: Making Blackwater
Picked up a new pH meter and a new TDS meter and ran some tests. Pure rain water from rain barrel pH 7.0 2ppm GH Blackwater (rain water/ oak leaves 5 days) pH 7.0 7ppm GH. Straight tap water pH 7.14 162ppm GH 50/50 tap/blackwater pH 6.94 110ppm GH Some thoughts... I now see how the tetra fry lived i...
- Fri Jan 15, 2021 9:35 pm
- Forum: What is my catfish?
- Topic: Blue Phantom (L128)
- Replies: 2
- Views: 111
Re: Blue Phantom (L128)
I have had males develop strong odontode growth at 4.5-5 inches standard length. I would suspect they were 3 or more years in age.
-Shane
-Shane
- Fri Jan 15, 2021 9:30 pm
- Forum: Tank Talk
- Topic: Water Hardness US
- Replies: 1
- Views: 96
Water Hardness US
The link below is to a great interactive map of the US that provides average water hardness for your zip code. For my area it lists 127 ppm and my tap water is currently 140 ppm. That said, in spring as the Potomac takes on rain and snow melt my hardness will drop to 115 ppm, so 127 ppm is likely a ...
- Tue Jan 12, 2021 2:30 am
- Forum: Speak Easy
- Topic: Full Circle
- Replies: 3
- Views: 157
Full Circle
In 2003 I was putting together an expedition from Bogota to Leticia to collect fish. I recruited two Navy SEALS from the Embassy (as I knew they would not be afraid of the water) and my sister Amber who was 21 and staying with us in Bogota (she had no choice). A guy I worked with in the Embassy aske...
- Sun Jan 10, 2021 11:15 pm
- Forum: Tank Talk
- Topic: Making Blackwater
- Replies: 10
- Views: 659
Re: Making Blackwater
Upgraded from a 10 to a 20 long blackwater maker. The look of that amber water makes me happy. The fibers on the left are palm fibers from a tree in my backyard in Nigeria. I saved a bag of them to bring back.
-Shane
-Shane
- Sun Jan 10, 2021 10:59 pm
- Forum: Tank Talk
- Topic: Spontaneus fry generation?
- Replies: 4
- Views: 230
Re: Spontaneus fry generation?
On the tetras, shared siphon tube, net or bucket when cleaning out Per Occam's Razor, this would be the most likely answer. Sites say a big black skirt female can lay 1,000 eggs. My small females may be each laying several dozen that end up in the bottom of the bucket and are transferred when I use...
- Sun Jan 10, 2021 7:23 pm
- Forum: Tank Talk
- Topic: Spontaneus fry generation?
- Replies: 4
- Views: 230
Re: Spontaneus fry generation?
Last night I discovered another two tetra fry in the (what I thought was empty) 10 gallon I spawned the C. sterbai in. They are larger and are clearly black skirt fry. Your thoughts on black skirts handling low temps makes sense given their origins in the far south. Now how in the heck did I spread ...
- Sun Jan 10, 2021 6:52 pm
- Forum: South American Catfishes (Everything else)
- Topic: New group of 6 Microglanis iheringi... or are they?
- Replies: 65
- Views: 6303
Re: New group of 6 Microglanis iheringi... or are they?
Keep the info coming Eric. I am betting you now have the largest collection of this genus outside the wild!
-Shane
-Shane
- Sat Jan 09, 2021 4:54 pm
- Forum: South American Catfishes (Loricariidae - Plecos et al)
- Topic: Otocinclus arnoldi - Spawning
- Replies: 9
- Views: 378
Re: Otocinclus arnoldi - Spawning
Fantastic write up and documentation! Well done.
-Shane
-Shane
- Fri Jan 08, 2021 4:23 pm
- Forum: Tank Talk
- Topic: Spontaneus fry generation?
- Replies: 4
- Views: 230
Spontaneus fry generation?
About two weeks ago I went to check on my C. sterbai fry. They are in a 10 gallon tank and were placed there as eggs. As the lights were out, I used a flashlight and immediately noticed three tetra fry swimming about! Strange, but maybe I transferred some Java moss with tetra eggs to the grow out ta...
- Fri Jan 08, 2021 4:07 pm
- Forum: What is my catfish?
- Topic: 187b with nose tentacles
- Replies: 5
- Views: 289
Re: 187b with nose tentacles
@Jools jinx!
-Shane
-Shane
- Fri Jan 08, 2021 4:07 pm
- Forum: What is my catfish?
- Topic: 187b with nose tentacles
- Replies: 5
- Views: 289
- Tue Jan 05, 2021 10:27 pm
- Forum: All Resolved Issues
- Topic: Is it just me? or is PCF swiping... err, flipping... all pics right?
- Replies: 11
- Views: 489
Re: Is it just me? or is PCF swiping... err, flipping... all pics right?
@Jools look at the Aquarium Rack thread. Some photos sideways, some upside down, but when you click on them to make them larger they are correct.
-Shane
-Shane
- Tue Jan 05, 2021 9:32 pm
- Forum: Tank Talk
- Topic: Aquarium rack
- Replies: 9
- Views: 296
Re: Aquarium rack
Cleo, This is two 72" x 36" x 18" commercial metal stands. Each shelving unit is well under $100. Your cost would be slightly more as your tanks are larger. I like the clean look and they maximize space for tanks and storage. I removed the panel over the three 10s so you can see "...
- Tue Jan 05, 2021 9:10 pm
- Forum: South American Catfishes (Loricariidae - Plecos et al)
- Topic: L104 Clown Pleco - 120 litre (29g US)
- Replies: 51
- Views: 6322
Re: L104 Clown Pleco - 120 litre (29g US)
I am not a fan. Check out this link http://help.bioworldusa.com/kb/algae-treatment/is-copper-sulfate-toxic-to-fish Additionally a sudden massive die off of snails can pollute a tank very quickly (even if the fish survive the treatment, which is known to be particularly hard on scaleless fishes). Hav...
- Tue Jan 05, 2021 6:51 pm
- Forum: South American Catfishes (Loricariidae - Plecos et al)
- Topic: Ancistrus cf. cirrhosus spawn
- Replies: 30
- Views: 4864
Re: Ancistrus cf. cirrhosus spawn
Also great for Repashy are icemaking trays designed to make small ice cubes. You can freeze several months worth over a couple days and zip lock bag the cubes in the freezer.
-Shane
-Shane
- Tue Jan 05, 2021 1:31 pm
- Forum: South American Catfishes (Loricariidae - Plecos et al)
- Topic: L204 white growth on back
- Replies: 6
- Views: 265
Re: L204 white growth on back
I have cured this before, but it is not fun. You will need meth blue and a QTip. Soak one end of the QTip with meth blue. Capture the fish and dab each infected area directly with meth blue. Direct treatment in this manner is far more effective than medicating the tank itself. Provided the hospital ...
- Tue Jan 05, 2021 12:52 pm
- Forum: South American Catfishes (Callichthyidae - Corys et al)
- Topic: Spawning Sterbai
- Replies: 3
- Views: 295
Re: Spawning Sterbai
Congrats. I am also spawning sterbai now and wish I could get that kind of egg production. My reverse trio seems to be happy laying a handful of eggs every 3-4 days. Unfortunately this has me raising several small batches of fry of different ages.
-Shane
-Shane
- Tue Jan 05, 2021 12:37 pm
- Forum: Tank Talk
- Topic: Aquarium rack
- Replies: 9
- Views: 296
Re: Aquarium rack
Take a look at some of the available heavy duty shelving. Home Depot has Gladiator brand shelves 60" x 72" x 18" 2,000 lbs per shelf units for $199 (can't link it for some reason). Not to dissuade you from building your own, but it will probably cost more than $200 in materials. Anoth...