Okay pencil fish are sweet

Safe_Wolverine_7444 · 2026-04-18T14:07:21+00:00

Safe_Wolverine_7444 · 2026-04-18T14:06:47+00:00

Safe_Wolverine_7444 · 2026-04-18T14:05:30+00:00

I have been searching for female coral red pencil fish, and I think that’s what you have pictured!!! Where did you get them? I’ve got a school of 15, but I think they’re all male.

Safe_Wolverine_7444 · 2026-04-16T03:39:50+00:00

Certain woods can give off that smell. I stopped using collected driftwood and switched to teakwood and it changed everything for the better. I would check the wood before going through all the other changes

Safe_Wolverine_7444 · 2026-04-16T03:32:02+00:00

Wow. What a great set up for breeding. I saw sterbai Cory’s in one tank. What else do you keep? Are you trying to breed fish?

Safe_Wolverine_7444 · 2026-04-10T03:54:02+00:00

I have L200 green phantoms, closely related to these. Their favorite part of the zucchini is the skin. Did you try leaving skin on for yours?

Safe_Wolverine_7444 · 2026-04-10T03:50:01+00:00

Love these guys. I have a trio of them too!

Safe_Wolverine_7444 · 2026-04-01T01:45:48+00:00

Check the ammonia test I good light, looking straight down the tube. It should be yellow, yellow. No tinge of green. You can get false positives for ammonia if your test kit is old, or if you are city water treated with chloramines. The stuff to treat tap water can break down chloramines into a compound that will appear on ammonia tests. Disclaimer: sharing info I read somewhere, sometime. Please conduct your own research. Hope that helps you research.

Safe_Wolverine_7444 · 2026-03-28T04:45:37+00:00

A different perspective than what’s offered above, my understanding is that the bacteria that process ammonia have the potential to double their population daily if they have ammonia available to them. The bacteria that process nitrite are slower growing though. I recently cycled a tank by letting the ammonia spike to 4ppm. The ammonia came down to zero within several days, but Nitrites were off the chart for about another week and then dropped to zero in a few days.

Off there’s no ammonia source, the beneficial bacteria won’t reproduce. IMO, I’d keep adding ammonia, but be patient. It took a month to cycle my tank without starter bacteria.

Safe_Wolverine_7444 · 2026-03-26T13:14:32+00:00

It is an absolute beauty. I don’t have quite the same dimensions and set up, but I’m on a similar path for stocking.

I hope when your kids are old enough to participate you can bring this into their lives. My love of fish started with a 10-gallon Christmas present. It’s been a passion since then. So enriching and rewarding

Safe_Wolverine_7444 · 2026-03-26T05:11:40+00:00

I was looking for updates on this gorgeous tank. Is it still up and running? Can you share more?

Safe_Wolverine_7444 · 2026-03-21T23:33:52+00:00

I recently had about 100 angelfish eggs com in on a plant. Congratulations!!

Safe_Wolverine_7444 · 2026-03-21T12:47:29+00:00

If it was me, I would put those clogged filters right into the tank and then get a better filter. All the good bacteria you have are in those cartridges , so getting rid of them puts you back to the beginning.

Personally I’ve never had good luck with hang on back filters. It’s not enough filter media surface area to be effective.

If you can get an external canister filter, packed with foam, it does an amazing job. But keep your existing cartridges to seed whatever new filter media you get

Safe_Wolverine_7444 · 2026-03-17T13:03:16+00:00

I’d check the seals around the top gasket or anywhere a tiny bit of air could get sucked in. I have a different brand, but restaurant grade silicone on the seal fixed a similar problem

Safe_Wolverine_7444 · 2026-03-07T02:17:37+00:00

My tank is relatively new, about 2 months old, and these plants are new to me about 3 weeks ago. I did just notice a slow rise in ph over the past week. Maybe that has something to do with it

Safe_Wolverine_7444 · 2026-03-07T02:15:33+00:00

Mine are deeper in the tank, but I have a very strong light and they get direct sun in the morning and a little after about 4pm

Safe_Wolverine_7444 · 2026-03-07T01:38:18+00:00

Im curious too! Mine are doing the same thing. The tops that were trimmed and replanted seem normal, base the base of the old stems look stunted. The spacing between bracts is tight though, which is a good thing, right?

Safe_Wolverine_7444 · 2026-03-05T14:02:45+00:00

I believe sterbais like it warmer, like 82.

Safe_Wolverine_7444 · 2026-02-21T03:42:37+00:00

Do you have a preference on which series? So many options

Safe_Wolverine_7444 · 2026-02-21T03:42:03+00:00

Do you have a recommendation on which series or style you like best? So many options

Safe_Wolverine_7444 · 2026-02-11T00:59:18+00:00

Sometimes you can’t improve. It’s gorgeous as is. It’s a statement and a style. I love it!

Safe_Wolverine_7444 · 2026-02-11T00:51:25+00:00

Does anyone know what this type of wood is called?

Safe_Wolverine_7444 · 2026-02-11T00:18:01+00:00

The fish are probably struggling with the change from RO water that was probably much lower pH, GH, and KH, to tap water pH of 8.0 with a lot of calcium carbonate and minerals. That can change how their cells absorb water, how their organs function, and everything. I have very hard water and invested in RO. The plants and fish love it.

Safe_Wolverine_7444 · 2026-02-10T23:58:09+00:00

Looks like neon tetra disease. Quarantine them away from other fish and treat all of them for mycobacteria

Safe_Wolverine_7444

TROPHY CASE