Shadow's 16G Disaster. Fumigation Poisoned the Tank and Crashed It.

[Angel<3Nanos]

Mann. All this freshwater talk is making me want to set one up. But i am a complete newb with FW. And i want a planted lol.

[Tamberav]

Mann. All this freshwater talk is making me want to set one up. But i am a complete newb with FW. And i want a planted lol.

 

Dooo it... I know like zero about FW fish. Pretty sad but I had to make an account on a betta forum and ask for help cuz I didn't know if I needed a filter or not. LOL

 

I've found that low light plants + low light + 1-2 nerites = zero algae with a low fish load = WC every 6 months.

 

Who knows about CO2 though.

[Angel<3Nanos]

Dooo it... I know like zero about FW fish. Pretty sad but I had to make an account on a betta forum and ask for help cuz I didn't know if I needed a filter or not. LOL

 

I've found that low light plants + low light + 1-2 nerites = zero algae with a low fish load = WC every 6 months.

 

Who knows about CO2 though.

I want a small tank under 20gals with a few small fish and plants. I have a Par38 from spare i can probably use. I just dont know what to use as substrate or if i need some kind of rock or wood lol and what kind of filter ill need. Do they require powerheads? Lol

[Snow_Phoenix]

My sister just had to turn away from saltwater. They're having twins next Tues (I'll be an Auntie for the first time- double!!!) and so they just switched their 190g saltwater to fresh planted- they have a friend across the street or something that's been doing planted for years so they have a great resource. You just gotta do whatya gotta do. I always loved neons and they got a bunch of those. helpful for her she gets a discount for being a manager over Petsmart so she probably just had to order her own fish. I love some of those sites w/ those contest winners in dramatic scapes that look like desert or canyons, rivers, etc, you know the ones. That are probably like impossible to create.

 

Oh, congrats! That sounds wonderful! Wish you and your family - especially your sis - all the best with the new twins! Do upload some pics of them when you can.

 

Dooo it... I know like zero about FW fish. Pretty sad but I had to make an account on a betta forum and ask for help cuz I didn't know if I needed a filter or not. LOL

 

I've found that low light plants + low light + 1-2 nerites = zero algae with a low fish load = WC every 6 months.

 

Who knows about CO2 though.

 

Lol, Tam - you always make me laugh. CO2 is unnecessary if you ask me. This is of course unless you intend to have one of those fancy greenland scapes that you see in display tanks. I prefer low tech/low lighting/low maintenance plants like Java ferns, Java moss, Swordferns, Christmas moss, Cabomba sp,, Hydrilla sp. etc. The easy-to-keep ones. :3

 

I want a small tank under 20gals with a few small fish and plants. I have a Par38 from spare i can probably use. I just dont know what to use as substrate or if i need some kind of rock or wood lol and what kind of filter ill need. Do they require powerheads? Lol

 

Angel, don't overdo the light - in FW, over-lighting can lead to some extremely nasty algae that makes SW problems look like peanuts. As for substrate, it all depends on the kind of fish you intend to keep. Use ADA Amazonia soil if you need soft, acidic water for cichlids, shrimp etc. but use coarser substrate like fine gravel if you wish to have harder water. I generally use live beach sand as a substrate - used ADA before this, but clean-up was murder. Also, using a HOB filter will be adequate - you just need some good ol' filter floss, small pouch of activated carbon and maybe a bit of crushed coral stones if you're chasing after harder water. Limestone, flat pebbles and regular driftwood will make good decorations (make sure you soak the driftwood overnight in a bucket of warm water to get most of the tannins out or else you'll be stuck with yellow-colored FW in your tank). I've kept FW tanks for 20+ years, so if you have any questions regarding setting up, just shoot me a PM.

[Snow_Phoenix]

Also, I have some bad news, good news and normal news. Bad news is that today morning I received a call from my LFS and all four of my clowns were dead - both my Nescafes, my Percula and my Occy. I holed myself up in my bedroom and cried like a small stupid kid - to the point that I earned myself a massive migraine in the process, and my parents became very concerned. So my dad apparently spoke to my mum, and they both decided to take me to my LFS to pull back all my corals. As we were leaving the house, some derp was behaving rather suspiciously down our road and lingering too close to our gate (considering we were nearly robbed yesterday, this raised the alarm bells), so my dad opted to stay back and guard the house. My mum in the end ended up driving me to the LFS, and here comes the good news:

 

They found Cosmo my YCG in one of the filters! He lost a small chunk of flesh on his left, but he was otherwise discovered hanging around the coral display tank and busy perching one one of the shrooms. They netted him and gave him back to me. Also, Athena my True Percula was still alive! She was barely breathing, but I took her back regardless. The other three clowns didn't make it however. Since I was close to tears and I did speak to the manager directly, who clarified the whole situation with his worker in front of me, they gave me a small tiny baby Nescafe clown as a replacement for all the fish I lost. Ordinarily, this fish would cost RM 50, but I only purchased him for RM 10 (U$D 3.00). I also managed to turn in 7kg worth of LR for cash (which would be collected tomorrow or the day after), so all was not lost. I have since re-acclimated all 3 fish to my 15G, and Athena made a miraculous recovery within several hours. She's back to normal, and even nibbling on pellets a little.

 

As for normal news, I managed to acquire some more cichlids for my 30G FW display, and even several plants. Purchased three bags full of shrimp and already half of them were scarfed down by the larger fish. Also, my Ornate Bichir, Wolf, took down a full grown guppy the size of his throat, and made a fascinating study today. Thus, it was not a terribly bad day overall.

[FlowerMama]

oh no, so horrible to hear of those clowns but I'm glad they were able to help you out some. I'd react the same, everybody gets so attached and no doubt you had a major headache after that. It doesn't take me but a minute of serious sobbing to get a major headache from the tension involved in crying. Not to mention (and I don't know how this happens) dry eyes at the same time you're crying. ??? like I' put refresher drops and it doesn't help.

[Snow_Phoenix]

oh no, so horrible to hear of those clowns but I'm glad they were able to help you out some. I'd react the same, everybody gets so attached and no doubt you had a major headache after that. It doesn't take me but a minute of serious sobbing to get a major headache from the tension involved in crying. Not to mention (and I don't know how this happens) dry eyes at the same time you're crying. ??? like I' put refresher drops and it doesn't help.

 

Well, I have some terrible news - both clowns didn't make it through the night. They both died in QT. I am mostly saddened over Athena's passing - she was over a year old, and a good 3". I raised her from 0.5". I'm right now waiting for the next shipment of cultured Occys and Perculas. I can't imagine a tank without clowns for some reason.

 

Good news is that Cosmo my YCG and Michael my Mandy are still very healthy and active though. I pulled back all my remaining corals and duster worms.

[Snow_Phoenix]

 

 

 

FTS on 21/6/2014. Removed one large shelf piece since it was obstructing the flow of the tank and also taking up too much room.

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Current stocking:

 

1 YCG

1 Spotted Mandarin

2 XL Feather Duster Worms

2 Crocea Clams

1 Blood Fire Shrimp

1 Cleaner Skunk Shrimp

1 Green Brittle Star

2 Brown Legged Hermit Crabs

1 Electric Blue Hermit Crabs

2 Astrea Snails

30+ Nassarius Snails

1 Red Tuxedo Sea Urchin

Multiple Zoa/Paly frags and colonies

1 Red Bali Brain

1 Red Lobo Brain

1 Purple Goniopora

Multiple mushrooms

1 Toadstool Leather

1 Galaxea

1 Green Pagoda Cup Coral

1 Green Mini Maxi Carpet Nem

 

Future stocking plans:

1 Pom pom crab

2 White Spotted Anemone Shrimp

1 Porcelain Crab

2 True Perculas/1 True Percula x 1 Occy/ 2 Occys

2 Pictus Blenny (mated pair)

1 Hi-Fin Banded Goby/Candycane Pistol Shrimp pair

 

WCs will be once a week - about 25%. Dosing will be 3 drops a day of Kent's Marine kH buffer. Salt will be RSCP all the way. I don't think I'll add anymore corals unless they're shrooms. No more Euphyllias for sure.

 

Basic filtration setup - LR for bio-filtration, HOB refugium full of Chaeto, Bioshepere, Red Grape, LR pebbles and a small pouch of activated carbon. Rock is a mixture of Indo-Bali LR pulled from mature 8-month-old tank and dry rock from local shores. Will go very minimal reef on this. Will not be upgrading until I get my own place, and a stable income.

 

Whole system is 15G - welcome to my whimsical wonderland - reborn from the ashes.

[Snow_Phoenix]

Here's a non-marine related update!

 

Just wanted to show a few fish of mine that are endemic to my country/SE Asian region:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Singapore Flower Shrimp.

 

 

 

And who could forget this derp lol:

 

 

 

And here's my non-endemic Ornate Bichir, Wolf, wolfing down his breakfast:

 

 

 

And here's the current status of my 30G. It's now mostly a Cichlid-Bichir tank. Only exceptions are the oddball Upside Down Catfish pair, a common Pleco, a Red Tail Shark, a Hillstream Loach and 2 Opaline Gourami adults.

 

 

 

I'm currently scouting around for a baby Delhezi Bichir. I found one at a store, but couldn't afford it at the present since I just settled my medical bills for the month. So I shall bide my time and be patient. Rope fish and Fire eels also caught my interest, but I feel the tank's too small to hold anymore slippery fishies. Once I draw a stable income, which hopefully will start some time this Sept. or Oct., I'll work on saving up for a 120G or 180G reef and a 120G planted tank(s). Well, one step at a time.

 

Fish-keeping gives me a lot of peace. When I'm with my fish, I forget all my pains, all my sorrows and all my shortcomings. I don't focus on the negative aspects of my situation, but I truly feel joy and happiness for once. It's actually made me consider seriously opening up my very own tropical/reef store in the far future. Right now, I'm still peddling along the learning curve. But I'm enjoying every moment of it.

 

Thanks for all of you who looked by this thread - even the silent watchers! Oh, and Hypo, if you're reading this - I found some Vampire Crabs for sale! Couldn't afford them for now, but they were fascinating to watch. If I can convert my terrapin tank into a vivarium someday, I'd totally get the crab. They're amazing and beautiful creatures.

 

~Shadow

[FlowerMama]

Looks wonderful. This hobby does bring calm and joy to me too. Sometimes I wake up in the morning and I just wanna stay home and be w my fish and my dog and not go to work, and then I really look forward to going home. I'm making water here right now. Need to do a water change on my breeder tank. I'm behind already on my daly.

[Snow_Phoenix]

Looks wonderful. This hobby does bring calm and joy to me too. Sometimes I wake up in the morning and I just wanna stay home and be w my fish and my dog and not go to work, and then I really look forward to going home. I'm making water here right now. Need to do a water change on my breeder tank. I'm behind already on my daly.

 

I know exactly what you mean!

 

Which reminds me, I'll have to do a WC for the 30G as well. I've already done a WC on the 15G SW and 12G FW, but I still need to siphon out excess fish poop and debri from the 30G.

[FlowerMama]

I told myself if I walked on the treadmill for 20 mins then as a reward I could watch Star Trek Into Darkness so I did it. Now I just have to increase that time slowly to 50-60 and or just do two 25 or 30 min segments each evening. I need to get in shape. I don't think as clearly as I should/could so I know it's due to lack of activity- and I"m good at making every excuse in the book.

 

I told myself you waste easy more than 20 mins a day and try to remind myself when I said back when that if I had one at home there wouldn't be an excuse because the time spent driving to or from a gym I could already be on the dang thing.

[Snow_Phoenix]

I told myself if I walked on the treadmill for 20 mins then as a reward I could watch Star Trek Into Darkness so I did it. Now I just have to increase that time slowly to 50-60 and or just do two 25 or 30 min segments each evening. I need to get in shape. I don't think as clearly as I should/could so I know it's due to lack of activity- and I"m good at making every excuse in the book.

 

I told myself you waste easy more than 20 mins a day and try to remind myself when I said back when that if I had one at home there wouldn't be an excuse because the time spent driving to or from a gym I could already be on the dang thing.

 

Well, I struck a deal with my neurologist during my last hospital visit and she did tell me to reduce several kgs by my next visit. So I've been taking long walks around the park - right now most of my muscle has been downgraded to fat, and any form of prolonged exercise is putting me out of breath (yes, I am that unfit) - and if all goes well, I should be able to start jogging again soon. I used to weigh 41kg, but the variety of meds made me put on an insane amount of weight. I'm currently up to 68kg and am very uncomfortable in my own skin. Which is partly why I am committed to WCs even on warm days - anything to break out into a sweat seems to do some form of good. Hopefully I'll knock back into shape within the next 6 months. Otherwise I'll have three doctors (dad included) at my throat.

[FlowerMama]

Exercising is my least likely thing to do. If I'm going to run, there better be something chasing me. While I like walks w/ my dog and I can take a couple different routes w/ my dog, I get bored easy, already been this way, been that way the 2nd day, and there another. But then you see yourself in a picture and you're like "hm, I don't like the way I look".

[Tamberav]

Just work yourself slowly into it to avoid injury. Your body will adjust and everything will get easier and easier. There are a lot of free apps for smart phones for walking or jogging. I find they help me stay motivated.

 

I was looking for a shrimp/crab for my 0.5g experiment and flipping through the lists. Saw the saron shrimp and remembered you had one so I decided to try one of those boogers since I don't know of anyone having one but you.

[FlowerMama]

Just work yourself slowly into it to avoid injury. Your body will adjust and everything will get easier and easier. There are a lot of free apps for smart phones for walking or jogging. I find they help me stay motivated.

 

I was looking for a shrimp/crab for my 0.5g experiment and flipping through the lists. Saw the saron shrimp and remembered you had one so I decided to try one of those boogers since I don't know of anyone having one but you.

 

That's a good idea about the app, so maybe when I get a new phone next month I can find something like that.

[Snow_Phoenix]

Exercising is my least likely thing to do. If I'm going to run, there better be something chasing me. While I like walks w/ my dog and I can take a couple different routes w/ my dog, I get bored easy, already been this way, been that way the 2nd day, and there another. But then you see yourself in a picture and you're like "hm, I don't like the way I look".

 

 

Just work yourself slowly into it to avoid injury. Your body will adjust and everything will get easier and easier. There are a lot of free apps for smart phones for walking or jogging. I find they help me stay motivated.

 

I was looking for a shrimp/crab for my 0.5g experiment and flipping through the lists. Saw the saron shrimp and remembered you had one so I decided to try one of those boogers since I don't know of anyone having one but you.

 

The app sounds like a good idea - I'll take a look at it ASAP. Thanks for the suggestion. I used to walk my older therapy dog everyday, Snow, until she passed away from cancer. My puppy lives indoors and my parents are strict about letting her outdoors (so I don't walk her at all), but I do occasionally carry her to the park and sit on one of the benches during cool evenings. Have to be careful though because some people do steal dogs over here and re-sell/breed them. Mine's already spayed, but I still don't want her to wind up in someone else's hands.

 

Tam, I lost my Saron (as in he went completely AWOL) during the tank move. I searched everywhere - sump, rocks, filter sock, media basket, fuge, behind cupboards - but never found his body. He was huge though - around 3.5" and still molting every biweekly. He was also over a year old. I think a Saron will be unsuitable for a 0.5G in the long term, but have you considered getting a White Spotted Anemone Shrimp? Not Sexies, but this:

 

 

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=497+525+700&pcatid=700

 

Lost mine to a bad molt, but she was lovely. She also hosts mini maxi carpet nems and gonis. Had mine for over a year before she died, and she never exceeded 1".

[Tamberav]

I saw those. Love them, but they are kinda spendy and they only live 1+ years. Sound like yours lived to a ripe age. I was feeling cheap. Didn't know Saron's could get so big. Guess I may have to trade him for a Peterson shrimp at some point.

[Snow_Phoenix]

On 6/24/2014 at 4:52 PM, Tamberav said:

I saw those. Love them, but they are kinda spendy and they only live 1+ years. Sound like yours lived to a ripe age. I was feeling cheap. Didn't know Saron's could get so big. Guess I may have to trade him for a Peterson shrimp at some point.

 

Oh, so mine died out of old age then? I honestly didn't know - thought it was a really bad molt all this while. She almost hit 1.5 years. I think the Saron should be fine for the moment, but they're quite broad and bulky - also super-fast if you spook them, so make sure you have a lid on at all times. You'll see them more at night, either in weird hues of green, purple or red. The males have tufted cirri along their backs whilst the females don't. I'd personally choose a male since they express camo colors better.

 

Also, Tam - here's an update specially for you:

 

 

 

 

[Tamberav]

lol Have you seen him "tenting" yet? I'm waiting for it!

 

 

Well they didn't have saron shrimp I guess so I won't have to worry about it getting to big. :/

[Snow_Phoenix]

lol Have you seen him "tenting" yet? I'm waiting for it!

 

 

Well they didn't have saron shrimp I guess so I won't have to worry about it getting to big. :/

 

Oh yes, when he tried to eat a small hitchiker crab back when the 30G was up. It was the coolest thing I've ever seen.

 

Aw...Maybe some other small shrimp species? A trio of sexies then?

[Tamberav]

Oh yes, when he tried to eat a small hitchiker crab back when the 30G was up. It was the coolest thing I've ever seen.

 

Aw...Maybe some other small shrimp species? A trio of sexies then?

 

 

I got sexy's in the 40B. I think I'll do a pom pom crab for now then. Maybe add a peterson's shrimp someday if the tank goes okay. It is mostly an experiment.

[Angel<3Nanos]

I have a pom pom. Love that thing. And since I just found his hiding spot, I can watch him any day any time

[Tamberav]

I have a pom pom. Love that thing. And since I just found his hiding spot, I can watch him any day any time

 

I tried them in bigger tanks and I see them like... once every few months lol... lets see how well he can hide from me in a betta tank!