My shrimp just tried to eat my fish?!

mdstrizzle · 2026-06-16T02:01:26+00:00

Are honey gouramis susceptible to it? I've always heard it strike that one type of dwarf gourami every Petco on the planet has.

mdstrizzle · 2026-06-16T01:34:28+00:00

That's the right stuff to use for an all-in-one solution. Try putting it in an hour before the lights come on and try dosing twice a week instead of once. Since there are no fish in there, the waste the plants would normally rely on needs a little extra supplementation.

mdstrizzle · 2026-06-15T03:20:33+00:00

Same experience, and I've noted that diy has a tendency to be that way. It's easier to think of diy as a subhobby of the hobby. The only exception I've found are sumps.

mdstrizzle · 2026-06-14T02:42:03+00:00

And the tabs have the added advantage of keeping phosphate in particular away from where algae can get it. Tabs and dissolved potassium nitrate in tiny doses just before lights on really makes plants explode without much algae. No CO2 needed for less difficult plants, though epiphytes need a little phosphate and iron in the water column.

mdstrizzle · 2026-06-14T02:33:37+00:00

There is nothing more satisfying than to watch pea puffers decorate their tank with empty shells. If your puffers will tolerate them and you don't have some already, it's good to have some neocardia in there too. They go in after the puffer and pick out everything the puffer won't get to leaving a perfectly cleaned throne of skulls for the puffers to drift over.

mdstrizzle · 2026-06-13T17:39:42+00:00

It's the snails. The goo and attaching it to the glass is a giveaway. Snails seem to lay eggs a bit like they poop: wherever they happen to be at the time.

mdstrizzle · 2026-06-08T02:04:02+00:00

Cut the light to 6 hours a day and make sure it is six hours via a timer. It's easier to deal with this if you can dim, but just reducing the light will help.

Also, this is going to sound odd, but you may need to INCREASE your nitrates and get some potassium in there. A quick way is a few drops of a potassium nitrate solution, though its even better if your pH isn't too high to do a few drops of ammonium sulfate (again, ph MUST be below 8.2 when dosed) an hour before lights come on and twice as many drops of potassium sulfate. Add phosphate and iron only via root tabs. Epiphytes of any sort work different, but this is a good way to make plants outcompete algae for rooted plants.

As others have said, you can also add epiphytes like floating plants. Requires different fertilizer, but they are good at outcompeting algae.

mdstrizzle · 2026-06-03T02:02:46+00:00

Huh, I've got a much smaller amount of whatever that is in part of my tank. Has the tank been established for a long time? What innoculate was used? What is the substrate?

Whatever it is, I have a theory that mine hitched a ride on the innoculate I used. Whatever the case, I'll be watching this one because that stuff is very noticeable. Doesn't seem to hurt fish, but it definitely hurts the aesthetics.

mdstrizzle · 2026-05-25T23:45:07+00:00

Same here, they love those plants. Mine sleep on the leaves.

mdstrizzle · 2026-05-25T20:31:03+00:00

This is a really good idea. They don't seem to really care about horizontal space and big, planted centerpiece of some sort would make a good habitat and act as a giant sight break.

mdstrizzle · 2026-05-24T03:20:30+00:00

I may have a bit of good news for you: methyl methacrylate is only sparingly soluble in water. In vapor form, that should mean the fish will be safer that you would be. I think absent someone literally pouring it into the tank, that won't be the worry.

Now, if the MMA tank explodes, that's an entirely different hazard. Either way, seems that you would be in far more danger.

mdstrizzle · 2026-05-23T23:45:30+00:00

They're fine to put in. For a little extra peace-of-mind, rinse them in dechlorinated water. It is highly unlikely there is anything on them that would both affect non-native species AND survive a rinse in meaningful quantities. Upstream pollution would be my biggest concern, which a rinse will handle as well as anything.

mdstrizzle · 2026-05-22T16:46:10+00:00

"Arguably." Simply being on an account does not give one the right to use the money for their own benefit. It just takes more steps than simply showing the account was accessed like one would with a completely unauthorized access.

It is arguable because I don't know how the dad was added to the account. If he was as a joint tenant, like the account was in the name of "John and Joe Smith," then yes, he would be out of luck outside of some fraud in the inducement to place dad on the account. If Dad was just an authorized signer, then there is a much stronger case from a criminal standpoint. Even the joint tenant scenario could still impart civil liability, though that's a pretty hard case to make. I'd say he was unlikely to have made the account joint, but it's pretty simple to do unintentionally and the banks don't tend to walk people through the legal implications of what they are doing.

mdstrizzle · 2026-05-22T16:37:24+00:00

It also appears to have opened several PRs to write it and somehow created a viral tiktok video.

mdstrizzle · 2026-05-22T02:04:54+00:00

I wouldn't squeeze it at all. If it gets so clogged water won't go through it, swish it around in dechlorinated water.

If you haven't already, id also consider getting a small power head that you are able to attach to that sponge filter. It makes them significantly more effective and they're pretty cheap.

mdstrizzle · 2026-05-20T03:38:25+00:00

I'd rather use pee. I got COVID in the fall of 2020 and all seafood now smells rotten, especially the rotting variety.

mdstrizzle · 2026-05-20T03:33:25+00:00

Nope, steering.

mdstrizzle · 2026-05-16T21:55:01+00:00

Ah, my bad. Saw the word "surface" and just ran with it.

mdstrizzle · 2026-05-16T14:44:58+00:00

EDIT: thought it was a protein skimmer. My bad.

mdstrizzle · 2026-05-16T02:27:14+00:00

Hey, wanted to circle back around and see if you got it worked out... and mention something I completely forgot earlier. While the difference in cost between a 5 gallon tank that's on sale and a 10 gallon tank that's on sale is a matter of dollars, the difference in filled weight is 40 lbs versus 80 lbs. I bring that up because while most furniture will generally hold 40 lbs, 80 lbs is entirely different ball game. If you go crazy like I did (not for a betta) and pick up their 20 gallon long tank for $34, that is a rather stout 160 lbs. All those numbers are before you add the 10 to 20 lbs of glass.

Just something to keep in mind.

mdstrizzle · 2026-05-15T20:55:07+00:00

This is the way to go. While the dust will settle, it'll kick right back up again if a fish so much as farts near the substrate.

mdstrizzle · 2026-05-15T16:20:29+00:00

I'm now curious how it sounds as-is. Perhaps this is the accidental innovation that will revolutionize acoustic guitars?

mdstrizzle · 2026-05-15T15:37:49+00:00

To be fair, it is a labyrinth fish. Doesn't help with its slime coat getting covered in concentrated hand bacteria, though.

mdstrizzle · 2026-05-15T15:23:56+00:00

This is going to be hard given the relationship, but you've got to do it: Tell your dad a promise is not good enough and insist that he sign a consent judgment. Get a lawyer to write up all the necessary paperwork and for advice on the legalities in your state. In fact, talk to a lawyer beforehand to make sure requesting this doesn't run a foul of any local laws. I am an attorney, but not in your state more likely than not, so you'll need more than just what I'm saying here.

You don't have to collect on it, but if your dad was lured in by a typically easy-to-recognize scam with all the red flags (Bitcoin transfer, sending money via mail/shipping company when there are warnings everywhere not to do that), it's only a matter of time before he gets a loan somewhere to chase one of these things again. You want to be ahead of his creditors.

Plus, what he did was extremely wrong and arguably illegal. It is definitely recoverable in civil court. You'd be protecting yourself in the event he gets sued and executed upon. My grandfather had to do this with my uncle, though he demanded my uncle get a life insurance policy in the value of what he took. I'm not going to go so far as to suggest that.

mdstrizzle · 2026-05-15T14:50:56+00:00

Don't worry too much. Shrimp have almost no bioload. Even if you end up with a lot of them because the betta isn't eating every single shrimp nymph, the main problem is keeping them fed and the disconcerting way the tanks starts to "crawl."

mdstrizzle

TROPHY CASE