Posts by Avery

Quote from Gilbert

Algae eaters (those Chinese Algae Eaters). They love algae when young but turn into little devils when they grow up and mature sadly.

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I think that they always get a bad reputation since they do eat algae when young, but if they don’t get enough protein then that is when they try to suck the slime coat off of others (same how Plecos will even do the same). I have them in a few community tanks, and as long as they get fed protein every other day they don’t attack other fish and still eat algae on the tank to this day.

What was your first invertebrate that you added to your saltwater or brackish tank and what made you pick that specific species over the others?

What type of filter do you use on your tanks and why? Do you find one easier to clean than the others, or do you use different ones based on the tank size and what the fish contains?

I’d probably recommend to start with probably fire belly roads (they are the easiest by far), followed by newts, and then possibly red slider turtles since they are the most forgiving. From there you can expand our to others such as different type of turtles, or other types of frogs.

Quote from Gilbert

I LOVE that DIY basking area made from driftwood - do you by chance know if the specific type of screws that you used? Also how difficult was it in order to make the pieces stay together, and do they sway back and forth at all?

I can’t wait to see more photos of either any upgrades or changes you make!

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Hey Gilbert,

Yes! I added a new photo to the gallery album on which specific type of screws that I used. I only went with those that are stainless, and designed for a deck (wood specific), plus these have a lifetime warranty so nothing can really go wrong there in my eyes.

The platform does sway if you put your hand and try to move it on the top, but it’s nothing major. I’m sure once I move tanks (when this turtle is way bigger) and add more driftwood pieces, this will eliminate it (since it sways since it only has 2 support pieces that are somewhat in the middle but kinda not weight wise).

It wasn’t too hard in order to screw then together, when the wood got wet I did have to tighten it more since it got loss as the wood expanded outward - but everything was overall easy to make. Just make sure if you do try to copy this, that you use wood that is already waterlogged or pretty heavy otherwise this may try to float (as some types of driftwood does).

I also added in a photo of how I did the submersible lights (since they aren’t under water at all - but hidden if you view it from the front or sides somewhat). Let me know if you want to see anything else specific and I’ll take a photo!

Good question, with a somewhat good answer on how to tell if they are just bloated or if they are pregnant with some photo examples.

If they are pregnant, you should be able to notice that they may appear bloated (tummy will be expanded out). Dependent on the coloration of the fish, if they are see-through you should be able to see a dark spot through them which will be the fry’s eyes (or their bodies dependent on the pregnant length). For those that are not see through, they will appear to be boxed out (when they are a week away from giving birth) and also may be breathing slightly heavier than normal.

If they are bloated, they will just appear super round overall. If you stopped feeding for a day or two for example then the bloat should disappear (compared to a pregnant one, will not).

It takes a good eye on telling they are pregnant or not, but in the photo examples these are both pregnant (which can be confusing since the platy looks bloated - but the boxed appeared is a key sign for it being pregnant).

Interesting. I’m reaching back out to the development team to see if they can get a new plugin added with these fixed since the hotfix appears to not work (possibly just for this version).

I’ve made the required changes to the files to disable the react functions (and prevent them from showing up) in Tapatalk. Cleared the system cache (and maybe your device’s cache) should resolve this so that they are now visible and can be read/replied to in the meantime

Please let me know if you run into any other issues! If the device cache doesn’t work, try to reinstall Tapatalk since it needs to clear out previous saved data for the threads so that they fully reload vs. using system cache.

Interesting, I didn’t really change much to the code but I believe a cache and other updates possibly fixed the problem with the content not displaying inside of Tapatalk.

Once I make the code change it will disable the “Like/Thanks” options on Tapatalk, which will be able to render posts with them shown since it will ignore those fields completely.

Throughout the day and night, the water parameters can sometimes adjust just ever so slightly. By testing all of your water parameters on a periodic check, you can make sure that everything is still inline, and if not, do a water change to adjust the water chemistry back to where they belong. Since every tank is different (you would hopefully want to test a nano tank more than a 150 gallon for example), the water parameter checks can be done differently for everyone. What is your water parameter check schedule, and do you do it more frequently if you notice a fish is not up to it's normal self?

With all of the various aquarium companies out there, either that are sold locally in your shops, or that can be bought online and shipped overseas - do you stick to more name brands (Aqueon, Tetra, etc.), buy off-brands that may have a relation to a name brand (Aqua Culture to Tetra, some Top Fin canister filters to Eheim), or do you by completely off brand equipment (SunSun for example)?

Out of all of the different options that are on the market for lighting freshwater tanks, which one do you use and why? Is there a specific reason that you use the given light (was it apart of a lighting set that came with your aquarium, was it discounted, etc.)?

I personally tend to go towards LED light fixtures more than I go with bulbs or T5 bulbs these days. Not only are LED fixtures super cheap, but the lighting tends to be brighter and more reliable over time than it is with bulbs. I've grown plants successfully with LEDs, or if I don't want to grow any plants, normally a low end LED fixture can be bright enough to allow for everyone to see the fish inside, but not be bright enough to grow any algae.

The most common type of algae in a newly setup aquarium, hands down, has to be the infamous brown diatoms. When you first setup your aquarium, did you ever have a bad break out of this brown algae? If not, what did you do so differently to prevent this?

I never really experienced this outbreak due to my first few tanks being heavily planted (and thus taking any excess nutrients in the water column and using it as food for the plants). A few other tanks I setup that weren't using real plants never had such outbreaks due to them either not having a good lighting period (used a dim LED light, didn't have the lights on for an excess period, etc.) or due to me making sure that I never overfed any of my fish or shrimp (and therefore the tank not having any excess waste in to feed the algae with).

The only time that I had a horrible outbreak of brown diatoms, is when I was breeding African Dwarf Frogs in a 20 gallon long aquarium. I'm not sure if it was due this also being the first time that I had used Fluorite as a substrate (the tank was mildly planted), or if it was due to the waste that African Dwarf Frogs produce when they can't find food directly in front of them (used to put it on a plate in the tank), or when they shed their skin. The tadpoles used to love eating some of the brown diatoms that would stick to the floating aquarium plants I had, although I had to have a small cleanup crew of snails to make sure that it never got out of hand (once I cleaned the aquarium out from the outbreak I got and added way more plants).

Quote from jxvtypbt

I do have to say, I visited here once before when I saw someone post a helpful link on Reddit - but I love how you guys changed everything around. Definitely makes navigation easier since before there wasn't a direct way to like go view the difference between diseases from freshwater or saltwater, or even to really drill down just to diseases.

All that you guys need next is a new logo since on the mobile view it shows the software's default logo that you guys are using.

Thank you! We’re still working on adjusting all of our content previously created over to this new software.

We also are still trying to find a logo developer who can create a logo based on some of our criteria (we’ve made a few requests, but the ones we get back aren’t really unique enough or are common images with text added on besides it).

I read and errors and found out that it is currently a problem with the newest version of the software we are using (specifically due to the fact that Tapatalk only supports Likes whereas this supports unlimited types of Like related reactions).

I’m awaiting for them to reply back to my support ticket regarding any timeline on when the newer version of the plugin will be released that will have this fixed in - but until then I may try to do a manual edit that someone mentioned to disable Tapatalk’s Likes and allow for everything else to run correctly (and for users to be able to read and reply to topics/posts).

I’ll keep you updated once the manual changes are done, or if they reply back to my support ticket on a new ETA for this to be fully resolved. Thanks!

With the rise in new, more detailed, and highly accurate information regarding breeding being shared - it’s easier than ever to learn how to bred out some of the fish inside of your aquarium. Have you had any luck with randomly (or purposely trying to) get your fish to breed, and what were the results like at the end?

Out of the two major different types of hard corals that are out there, which one do you prefer to mainly be housed in your reef tank and why?

For those who may not know;

LPS corals are essentially large calcareous corals that have large fleshy polyps that have a large hard base, compared to the SPS corals that have small polyps that are on an extremely hard skeleton like base. A big difference between the two is that SPS corals have flower like looking dots that may cover the coral completely.

There are always HUGE differences when it comes to care (specifically with lighting and water current passing around them) and aggression (LPS corals will tend to attack those around them if they are in reach with a stinging like capability that they have).

With the ever growing list of supplies being exposed online (through social media, videos appearing on common websites, and more), do you ever think if the marine life you are purchasing were harvested through conservatively?

If you don’t, what would make you want to lean towards making sure that the supplier is not just harvesting fish that they find in the open ocean vs. trying to study them or breed them in breeding tanks (if possible)?

If you do, what methods do you check to make sure that the supplier(s) you use do use such methods? Have you ever found some that say that they are, but really aren’t after further research?

Sometimes, you can't just leave an aquarium against a wall, window, or being able to show all of the equipment tubing, cords, etc. hanging from the back. Although some tanks do this, and use plants or other types of decorations to hide such elements, it isn't always easy for everyone to do that in a community tank. With the ever so growing trend of either using paint, plastic-dip, or even those plastic/vinyl aquarium wallpapers you apply to the background of your tank, do you have any of your aquariums with a background? If so, what type of background is it, and what is the design on it if there is one?

Since no one has simply started a successful planted setup without adding some plants, what was the first plant that you added to your aquarium? Is it still alive today, or did it not make it through some of the trial and error learning?

In my situation, it was a few years ago, the very first set of plants that I added to my 5.5 gallon was java fern and some Anubias (I can't recall the variety sadly). I remember watching them grow and thinking that it was the coolest thing ever, plus my Betta and a few other fish LOVED these plants and at night I would see the Betta resting on the leaves (or inside of the plant hiding away peacefully). It's kind of crazy how adding something so simple can not only change the fish tank in terms of looks, but it can add a ton of benefits (water quality gets improved, fish can have somewhere else to hide, etc.) to your aquarium without that much care.

Ever since that moment, I've always kept various plants inside of my setups ranging from Amazon Swords, Corkscrew and Jungle Vallisneria, different types of mosses, Banana Plant, and more. If you have never tried keeping plants inside of your aquarium, I HIGHLY recommend trying a few low light plants out - you'll never go back!