Search found 191 matches

by Lycosid
31 Mar 2022, 01:41
Forum: What is my catfish?
Topic: sold as P. gracilis but I cannot be! Who am I?
Replies: 19
Views: 9943

Re: sold as P. gracilis but I cannot be! Who am I?

What is wrong with a fish species having lots of names? Technically there is something "wrong" with having a lot of synonyms. A species should only ever have one scientific name, and in this case this species has been given a LOT of scientific names which have had to be reconciled. This i...
by Lycosid
27 Mar 2021, 22:26
Forum: Asian Catfishes
Topic: Mysterious behavior in Kryptopterus macrocephalus
Replies: 5
Views: 10728

Re: Mysterious behavior in Kryptopterus macrocephalus

Now you know what happened, and how to prevent this from happening again, I think the chamber can be used again for your research. Yes, I think we have a good strategy for preventing the pressure build-up now. I suspect that we didn't have issues with K. vitreolus because we had the bubble release ...
by Lycosid
25 Mar 2021, 22:54
Forum: Asian Catfishes
Topic: Mysterious behavior in Kryptopterus macrocephalus
Replies: 5
Views: 10728

Re: Mysterious behavior in Kryptopterus macrocephalus

I'm going to update this since I think the mystery is solved. The catfish died the next day. Symptoms appeared consistent with a damaged swim bladder. This made me suspect that the fish had been exposed to high pressure in the chamber. Sure enough, my RA and I played around with the larger chamber (...
by Lycosid
22 Mar 2021, 21:18
Forum: Asian Catfishes
Topic: Mysterious behavior in Kryptopterus macrocephalus
Replies: 5
Views: 10728

Mysterious behavior in Kryptopterus macrocephalus

In lab we have a respirometer for fish. The fish goes in a clear tube (the chamber) with a sponge-covered intake on one side and a sponge-covered outlet on the other. The respirometer pushes water through the chamber, measuring the oxygen levels coming out, and switches between circulating the old w...
by Lycosid
26 Dec 2020, 15:47
Forum: Tank Talk
Topic: busted heater
Replies: 15
Views: 6925

Re: busted heater

Are there any heaters that "fail-to-off"? I know that the standard bimetallic strip thermostats are set up so that they are permanently on when they fail, but are there heaters that go off when the thermostat fails? Given that cold is less immediately lethal to many fish than heat that see...
by Lycosid
08 Dec 2020, 01:22
Forum: Speak Easy
Topic: Dumb things we have done
Replies: 12
Views: 4775

Re: Dumb things we have done

The heater needed to be at 78 degrees (F, obviously). I'm looking at the low-contrast numbers etched in the thermostat control on the heater and carefully set it for the one that ends in 8. A month later I have my arm in the tank and it's a lot warmer than the tank next to it, which is supposedly at...
by Lycosid
21 Nov 2020, 00:17
Forum: South American Catfishes (Callichthyidae - Corys et al)
Topic: Bad incident, take some caution
Replies: 31
Views: 12011

Re: Bad incident, take some caution

It also makes me think the interaction of that unknown chemical and a fish organism must drastically differ in the mechanism and/or intensity versus human organism; otherwise, this would have been noted long ago and adjusted but as is, it doesn't present danger to humans. Well, for us it's on our s...
by Lycosid
07 Sep 2020, 00:37
Forum: South American Catfishes (Loricariidae - Plecos et al)
Topic: Getting L204s back into conditions
Replies: 3
Views: 2127

Getting L204s back into conditions

I just got 3 L204 ( Panaqolus albivermis ) but they're definitely semi-starved. (The place I got them doesn't ever feed plecos correctly, and they were supposed to call me when they came in, but they called the wrong number and so the plecos sat in their care for a while.) I have them in a 55 gallon...
by Lycosid
03 Aug 2020, 20:33
Forum: Tank Talk
Topic: About filtration
Replies: 81
Views: 64849

Re: About filtration

I have Walstads book on its way in the mail but I have not read it. However I have suspicions that she is attributing too much to the plants and too little to microbes. I have Walstad's book. I thought it was very good. Disclaimer: I also know Diane Walstad (although not well). Disclaimer to the di...
by Lycosid
02 Aug 2020, 16:38
Forum: Tank Talk
Topic: About filtration
Replies: 81
Views: 64849

Re: About filtration

It seems like Mankysanke is claiming that the center is more negative (and, obviously, the outside is full of positive ions) which causes the ammonia to "switch partners" constantly, moving inwards each time. This sort of behavior is possible for ionic bonds, which are not bonds between t...
by Lycosid
01 Aug 2020, 00:32
Forum: Tank Talk
Topic: About filtration
Replies: 81
Views: 64849

Re: About filtration

Reading "Mankysanke's" explanation it seems reasonable but for one thing and that is that the negative charge of the clay particles constantly draws the positive ammonia toward the center. Why doesn't the ammonia stick to the first negative ion exchange surface it hits? If I am right and ...
by Lycosid
29 Jul 2020, 14:38
Forum: Asian Catfishes
Topic: Krytopterus vitreolus constitution
Replies: 8
Views: 12300

Re: Krytopterus vitreolus constitution

One interesting thing of note: the fish in the left of the picture has lots of black pigment all throughout its body, on the bone the notochord, the skull, eyes, etc,. It was the last of a batch separate from the others. I'm guessing its a wild caught fish. Opinions? Well, to the best of my knowled...
by Lycosid
19 Jul 2020, 21:20
Forum: Tank Talk
Topic: My Public Aquarium: exhibit blues - how to make them?
Replies: 1360
Views: 431241

Re: My Public Aquarium: exhibit blues - how to make them?

That seems a novel, innovative thought to me :) Thank you so much for it. Gotta think how to offer ourselves to potential clientele. How is this done? Through personal connections or is there a web-based service that connects educational institutions with the "people out in the field and the e...
by Lycosid
19 Jul 2020, 17:22
Forum: Tank Talk
Topic: My Public Aquarium: exhibit blues - how to make them?
Replies: 1360
Views: 431241

Re: My Public Aquarium: exhibit blues - how to make them?

***I am not open yet, don't have the Certificate of Occupancy, and this activity would then be probably of some unlawful kind. So I know you're in Florida, where the official position on coronavirus is that if we don't talk about it it can't get us, but for lots of parts of the country people are w...
by Lycosid
10 Jul 2020, 17:20
Forum: Other Catfishes
Topic: Are Columbian sharks ok with full saltwater?
Replies: 19
Views: 19860

Re: Are Columbian sharks ok with full saltwater?

Someone said on another forum that they acclimated their fish straight from freshwater to marine the fish were fine in a reef tank for a short while then died, so no I’m stuck, did the salinity kill them or the reef environment. The salinity change, probably. You might be able to survive in very wa...
by Lycosid
20 Jun 2020, 18:15
Forum: Other Catfishes
Topic: Are Columbian sharks ok with full saltwater?
Replies: 19
Views: 19860

Re: Are Columbian sharks ok with full saltwater?

Ok I increased the salinity of the aquarium from 1.005/1006 to 1.007 and this appeared small lumps across the fishes sides I have a picture I will attached then the columbian shark keeper I was talking to advised me it maybe parasites and more salt will kill the parasites so I increased the salinit...
by Lycosid
13 Jun 2020, 00:02
Forum: South American Catfishes (Loricariidae - Plecos et al)
Topic: Creating ideal conditions for L260
Replies: 8
Views: 3465

Re: Creating ideal conditions for L260

If the goal is more oxygen and not actually more current then why not just use airstones? The argument I generally hear against airstones is that very little oxygen actually exits the bubbles into the water. This is probably true. However, the reason powerheads oxygenate water is that they "sti...
by Lycosid
21 May 2020, 15:20
Forum: Other Catfishes
Topic: Need more help with my columbian sharks please
Replies: 33
Views: 32055

Re: Need more help with my columbian sharks please

As for the big deal over using reverse osmosis trying to say I’m not right if it’s so abnormal why do so many fish stores use it? Why are aquarium reverse osmosis units made? Huh? Why does the aquarium salt companies suggest using it? YouTube is full of videos of people using it, and plenty of prod...
by Lycosid
20 May 2020, 21:31
Forum: Other Catfishes
Topic: Need more help with my columbian sharks please
Replies: 33
Views: 32055

Re: Need more help with my columbian sharks please

There is no stress or issue with the cycling as there’s no free ammonia thanks to prime and stability my ammonia alert confirms this as does API test kit, eventually the tank will cycle until then the ammonia and nitries are being bound and not toxic. There's always stress in moving fish. Can't be ...
by Lycosid
19 May 2020, 22:17
Forum: Other Catfishes
Topic: Need more help with my columbian sharks please
Replies: 33
Views: 32055

Re: Need more help with my columbian sharks please

UV sanitizer would be an overkill in my humble opinion but many people, especially who own very rare and expensive fish, opt to have one. I have one, but I've only ever used it to try to control a mycobacterium outbreak. I don't leave it running in any tank normally. Let's review the problems: 1) T...
by Lycosid
26 Apr 2020, 23:55
Forum: Tank Talk
Topic: Marc's fish room build
Replies: 288
Views: 225125

Re: Marc's fish room build

Apparently I've missed some updates here. Quick comments: I've also had fish swim through uplift tubes into the space behind Mattenfilters. For glass catfish I've jammed a slice of plastic into the tube, splitting it into two halves which are each small enough that the catfish doesn't want to go thr...
by Lycosid
31 Mar 2020, 17:46
Forum: Tank Talk
Topic: About filtration
Replies: 81
Views: 64849

Re: About filtration

I am a huge fan of Mattens. I have 3 tanks which rely primarily on them. Almost as much, I like the Poret foam cubes. This is a brand and I am sure there are other brands as good, I just ended up using this one. I'll second this. I have a whole aquatics lab running off Mattenfilters, and we never h...
by Lycosid
29 Mar 2020, 17:47
Forum: South American Catfishes (Callichthyidae - Corys et al)
Topic: What is actually causing the mass death of Corydoras fry during the first few weeks of life?
Replies: 9
Views: 9073

Re: What is actually causing the mass death of Corydoras fry during the first few weeks of life?

For marine fish there is some research saying that some fry are actually born too small to eat properly. Your experience with some fry surviving in the waste tank suggests that the mechanism may be genetic - some fry will die, some fry will survive, and if you throw a survivor in the waste tank it w...
by Lycosid
27 Mar 2020, 02:02
Forum: South American Catfishes (Loricariidae - Plecos et al)
Topic: How many ottos for a 55Gal tank
Replies: 11
Views: 3887

Re: How many ottos for a 55Gal tank

I only have planted tanks, but my understanding is that Otocinclus spp. are much more difficult to keep without plants. In terms off the lack of success in growing plants, it is unlikely to be too much light or too long a light period. cheers Darrel I've had good luck with otos in a heavily planted...
by Lycosid
09 Feb 2020, 04:57
Forum: What is my catfish?
Topic: Which Bumblebee Catfish?
Replies: 3
Views: 1922

Re: Which Bumblebee Catfish?

Edit: my tentative ID is South American bumblebee but even then I’m not sure if multiple species have that common name Normally that means Microglanis iheringi . Seems like a reasonable ID, especially because that's all I ever see at the Petsmart/Petco style stores. The size I normally see them at ...
by Lycosid
14 Jan 2020, 21:59
Forum: Speak Easy
Topic: 13 spawns in 6 weeks: It doesn't get much better than this (for me, anyway... oh wait, it does-61 spawns in 23 weeks
Replies: 62
Views: 49271

Re: 13 spawns in 6 weeks: It doesn't get much better than this

Storms can have fast changes in air pressure - changes fish are able to detect, although I wonder how. After all, the difference between half a ppi, that is some 50 cm water pressure, is something quite a few fish meet without consequence a day just going for a breath. But some do detect such a cha...
by Lycosid
07 Jan 2020, 00:38
Forum: Speak Easy
Topic: RO water
Replies: 11
Views: 3737

Re: RO water

Hi guys hope everyone is doing well in the new year. I have been having issues of eggs hatching prematurely and was suggested by a friend that I drop my ph. So im going to start doing water changes with RO water is it needed to remineralize it before adding it? So normally RO drops the pH because i...
by Lycosid
28 Sep 2019, 01:47
Forum: South American Catfishes (Loricariidae - Plecos et al)
Topic: New to Otocinclus
Replies: 24
Views: 4634

Re: New to Otocinclus

Hi guys! The water is great, but I’m changing it every 3 days to make sure. Also I’’ happy to inform that my otos are alive eating and FAT. They go thru a piece of zucchini a day and I am very, very happy. Thanks for all your help and advice. Excellent! They can live a while if you take good care o...
by Lycosid
22 Sep 2019, 22:12
Forum: South American Catfishes (Loricariidae - Plecos et al)
Topic: New to Otocinclus
Replies: 24
Views: 4634

Re: New to Otocinclus

Yes. Or briefly microwaved. Something to make it softer. I generally use the microwave because it's fast. How long? How many seconds? Also They have already discovered it. Generally no more than 15 for a single leaf. It will get quite hot and spit as the cells rupture and fluid explodes out of them...
by Lycosid
22 Sep 2019, 02:48
Forum: South American Catfishes (Loricariidae - Plecos et al)
Topic: New to Otocinclus
Replies: 24
Views: 4634

Re: New to Otocinclus

Reindas wrote: 21 Sep 2019, 19:30 Should the kale be blanched too?
Yes. Or briefly microwaved. Something to make it softer. I generally use the microwave because it's fast.

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