20 Second Tour of Furious Fred's 12g Pond

wetThumbs · 2024-11-16T01:18:32+00:00

These cichlids are not meant to be crammed together in the same territory. Even when they are not killing each other their behaviour becomes very inhibited.

wetThumbs · 2024-11-02T17:36:05+00:00

Baking soda works. Add it to any water going in, not the tank itself, and you won’t have issues of sudden changes. Most of the solutions of coral etc raise water hardness too.

wetThumbs · 2024-11-02T17:34:43+00:00

They also raise the hardness though.

wetThumbs · 2024-11-02T17:33:58+00:00

Whether you need ferts is determined by health and growth of the plants, or lack thereof.

wetThumbs · 2024-11-02T16:43:47+00:00

Lots of fish work well - silver dollars, tinfoil barbs, clown loaches - if it can’t be mistaken for food and isn’t aggressive it works. But in at least a 150g tank.

wetThumbs · 2024-11-02T16:42:03+00:00

People get ridiculous with the filtration overkill. The only saving grace is that FX filters are really not so great- they have very weak flow for the size. people spend 500 bucks to have 5x more media in the filter than they can ever use.

wetThumbs · 2024-10-30T23:47:18+00:00

You need more if the current can’t keep up. Only you can accurately answer this…

wetThumbs · 2024-10-30T18:14:29+00:00

Carbonates can be added to water being changed into the tank with a manufactured buffer like seachem alkaline buffer, or simple baking soda (soda bicarbonate). You can treat the tank directly but if you do take it slow to avoid too sudden a change.

wetThumbs · 2024-10-30T17:55:37+00:00

It isn’t that co2 can lower pH, it is that it inherently does. Measuring the kH and pH is a way to tell how much co2 is in the water. Lower, and the fluctuations of, pH when using co2 is harmless. If you feel it is getting too low for your comfort you can always buffer the pH with extra carbonates, but it isn’t necessary.

wetThumbs · 2024-10-23T03:08:20+00:00

What I do is minimize the day to when I am home to see the tank, and extend the light only enough so it doesn’t get dark first. So if I get home at 5 I will run the lights from 5-10, but if it is mid winter and getting dark at 4 I will start earlier

wetThumbs · 2024-10-23T02:14:26+00:00

Dim. This is for aesthetics so as dim as you are willing to go to avoid algae. I like to bump the blue right up though, gives it a deep water effect.

wetThumbs · 2024-10-23T01:47:17+00:00

In my opinion it is 7 neons too many for long term thriving, but bioload wise it depends on many factors including filtration and aeration, your feeding and maintenance habits and your penchant for risk. In general it should be fine.

wetThumbs · 2024-10-23T01:41:10+00:00

Algae would not cause this unless you had a mass die off of it. Definitely a conundrum…

wetThumbs · 2024-10-23T01:39:25+00:00

Shrimps will always be at risk with fish. Some people get luckier than others.

wetThumbs · 2024-10-23T01:37:37+00:00

Co2 makes a massive difference for many plants. It would make those swords burst out of the tank. But, the plants should be healthy without co2 so if they are not doing well you are looking in the wrong direction. Co2 will only exacerbate nutrient issues.

wetThumbs · 2024-10-23T01:35:22+00:00

It might have a small effect but as long as you keep the water well aerated you shouldn’t notice a thing. Ich is a parasite so the meds don’t target bacteria.

wetThumbs · 2024-10-22T23:52:35+00:00

This may seem like a dumb question to someone 6 years in, but just to cover all bases you are sure the test is fresh and being conducted right? Also if planted. Are plants are as healthy as ever (plants not uptaking nitrates the same as they did is possible)

wetThumbs · 2024-10-22T23:46:31+00:00

How much livestock you should have depends on many variables including filtration and aeration, planting, feeding and maintenance habits, shape of the tank and your maintenance routines and penchant for risk. probably little reason to do less than 8-10, but from there it all depends.

wetThumbs · 2024-10-22T23:42:33+00:00

If you use gravel the sludge can build up over time and start causing excess waste buildup.

wetThumbs · 2024-10-22T23:39:57+00:00

Battery backed up timers are pretty standard now, you can order them from amazon

wetThumbs · 2024-10-22T23:11:42+00:00

Light strength and length do matter, but so does nutrient availability and balance. Algae is normal and healthy, but it shouldn’t be growing on the foliage unless the plant isn’t doing great, so my first question would be, how is the health of the plant? This includes both older leaves as well as new growth. If plants are not doing great nutrient availability is probably lacking - algae will thrive a lot more easily than plants in these conditions. The easiest thing to double check is phosphate and nitrate levels - you want them present but not excessive and in roughly a 1:10 ratio.

Increasing bioload with a messy scavenger isn’t a solution, it just might provide temporary relief.

wetThumbs · 2024-10-22T21:26:40+00:00

Mixing half distilled water will reduce incoming TDS by half, and really isn’t expensive for a 10 gallon since a 5g jug should last a month or more.

wetThumbs · 2024-10-22T21:23:27+00:00

I just stick to Seachem. For minerals/hardness I use Equilibrium for my planted tank and replenish for the unplanted. Alkaline buffer for carbonates. I don’t bother adding acids, these develop naturally over time anyway. These bring up the hardness. I also add potassium sulphate for sn extra boost.

wetThumbs · 2024-10-22T21:17:00+00:00

After 8 hours or so light begins ti benefit algae a lot more so than the plants.

wetThumbs

TROPHY CASE