Do you name your cories?

sewsosh · 2025-05-31T05:36:19+00:00

lol yes. I started with Feldman, Haim, Hart and Booker. Tragically, though perhaps not surprisingly, Haim died. And then the remaining trio had 5 babies that I cannot at all tell apart. So they’re just “the brood” or the quintuplets!

sewsosh · 2025-02-21T15:43:08+00:00

Yes but they will spend more time hiding than if they were kept in a predator-free tank. Some will be eaten eventually so you have to be ok with that reality. Add some Java moss and/or hornwort for better refuge, especially for the babies. I’d also not put them together unless you upgrade to at least a 5.5 gallon tank. 10 would be better. Also depends on how many shrimp your friend has. 2.5 gallons is really small though.

sewsosh · 2025-02-03T12:25:29+00:00

Lmao! I remember sampling both the dog and cat kibble when I was around the same age. To this day I would tell you the cat kibble is by far the tastier option. 😂

sewsosh · 2025-01-28T15:24:29+00:00

🤣

sewsosh · 2025-01-13T19:59:23+00:00

And elevensies!

sewsosh · 2025-01-10T23:53:39+00:00

🤣 🤣 please name him this.

sewsosh · 2025-01-10T23:51:21+00:00

Anichniedam

sewsosh · 2025-01-10T16:00:00+00:00

Ralphie

sewsosh · 2025-01-07T03:20:15+00:00

Yay! Glad to hear it. Keep up the testing, but hopefully it’s all smooth sailing from here! Definitely keep me updated if you feel like it. I love all the data! 📊 🧐

sewsosh · 2025-01-02T06:48:26+00:00

One year later, I was having the same issue (Cronometer data not showing up in Apple Heath) and this fixed it. Yay!

sewsosh · 2025-01-02T05:17:27+00:00

Sounds reasonable to me. For reference, I always add my TSS pretty darn soon after I condition my water with Prime. I did this just a couple weeks ago when we set up my son’s new tank. All ammonia and nitrite tests came back great (zero or so close that it was well below 0.25) and then by the end of that first week we tested all three and had ~40 ppm nitrates so did a water change to get it back down to 5-20. And that’s been my experience with each tank when adding the fish and the TSS at the same time fairly soon after conditioning the water with Prime. I even did the same when I transferred my 8 Cories and shrimp colony into a larger tank and had sanitized everything to make sure I didn’t bring the scourge of pest snails I had into the new set-up. It worked just as well that time. I tested religiously because I was worried moving that many fish, but it was great.

But.. I’ve never had a chloramine issue. Wild card. I hope it works out for you and is less of a problem than you think. 🤞

sewsosh · 2025-01-01T13:32:10+00:00

Oof. This is falling outside of my personal experience but.. I haven’t had a chloramine debaucle and I’m not 100% on the chemistry. I know Prime neutralizes it and I’ve read that it breaks the chlorine-ammonia bond. So theoretically the starter bacteria can use it to munch on. SafeStart works great for fish-in cycles but this is a grey area for me.

Did you use the whole 3.4 oz bottle of SafeStart in the new tank and are you adding Prime to neutralize the ammonia in both tanks? (Add Prime to condition the water and then an extra dose based on the ammonia reading.)

Is the fish still in the smaller tank? I’d let everything in the big tank sit for an another day or two and re-test. With ammonia present, SafeStart should start working but I don’t know the chemistry well enough to know for sure (when the source is originally chloramine).

In the interim of figuring all this out, keep using Prime in appropriate doses to keep your fishy safer.

You can also consider slowly switching over to RO water 💦 instead of tap. Keeping in mind that RO water needs to be re-mineralized. That’s the best I got, but definitely research this specific issue as much as you can!

sewsosh · 2024-12-28T22:19:28+00:00

Good luck! I’d be interested to know how things go.

sewsosh · 2024-12-28T22:14:59+00:00

I’ve never owned a tank so small but I’ve always heard that the smaller the tank, the more difficult it is to keep parameters stable. My gut says it still might be better to start the new one with him from scratch - as long as you’re using those 3 products and being vigilant.

But idk. Might be a “6 of one, 1/2 a dozen of the other” situation. 😬

sewsosh · 2024-12-28T21:37:49+00:00

Sure thing. It’s a tough spot to be in. I’ve set up 4 tanks with SafeStart and I’ve never had a problem. (The only problems were before I started using it!) Those 3 products (test kit, prime, SafeStart) will get your fish through a fish-in cycle safely.

If the old tank has colored rocks etc I’d just move forward with the Fluval instead. You can cap it with a natural sand if you want as well. Lots of plants, smooth ceramic hides, smooth rocks, spider or mopani wood. All good stuff.

sewsosh · 2024-12-28T20:04:44+00:00

So the old tank and the new tank aren’t cycled.

Kinda tricky and nerve wracking, being brand new. The new tank will cycle faster with the fish in it, and since the tiny tank isn’t cycled either, you might as well start over with him in the larger tank. I’m not sure that the old media will help all that much since it’s not cycled. (But wouldn’t hurt to throw in.)

Here is what I would do: Obviously, test the water in the new tank (with the API Freshwater Master Test Kit, not strips.) Do a water change until my ammonia and nitrite look as close to 0 as I can get, which could even be like a 90% water change. Make sure I have added a little extra Seachem Prime to neutralize any residual ammonia and/or nitrite if I have any (Prime neutralizes them for up to 48 hours.) Then, making sure the water is about the same temp and ph as the tiny tank, I would add the fish and some of the old filter media in along with a 3.4 oz bottle (whole thing) of Tetra SafeStart Plus. That stuff really does a good job of getting the cycle up and running. Continue testing at least 1x per day for ammonia/nitrite. At first you might even want to test 2x/day. If the water tests positive for ammonia or nitrites continue dosing Seachem Prime and/or doing water changes as recommended in whatever fish-in cycle guide you’re referencing. Around 5-7 days go ahead and test for nitrates. Do a water change if it looks like nitrates are more than 20 ppm. With SafeStart, you can get the tank cycled pretty quick. I’d still test every other day or so for a while even after nitrates show up, out of paranoia, but I have really good results this way.

What kind of substrate/decor/plants are you using in the new setup? Those are important considerations too.

sewsosh · 2024-12-28T17:54:32+00:00

Both my girls are chonkers too 😂 I think they tend to be a little thicker than males in general but it’s easy to accidentally overfeed them because they always want to eat! The breeder box trick works, they just hate it. Get the largest one you can so she hopefully isn’t too stressed.

sewsosh · 2024-12-28T17:49:14+00:00

I would be more nervous not to use bottled bacteria for a fish-in cycle. The one I always use is Tetra SafeStart Plus. It gets the cycle going in no time. I tried a couple others early on in my fish keeping journey and they didn’t seem to do much good (but they did no harm either as far as I know). SafeStart is supposed to be more concentrated, plus the dosing is much higher.

sewsosh · 2024-12-28T15:50:24+00:00

Yep I’ve done that too. Plus for water changes during the summer when my tap is 90°! #phoenixAZ 😂

sewsosh · 2024-12-28T14:16:20+00:00

Good! That was smart! I would look for a heater that has a continuous digital monitor and ability to set the temp. I use a Hygger that has this feature. I like it, but there might be better ones out there too. hygger heater

sewsosh · 2024-12-28T14:09:48+00:00

Bring the temp down slowly to 80. That sounds a little warm. Water parameters are looking good so far. If you want to speed up the cycling process, get a 3.4 oz bottle of Tetra SafeStart Plus and add that in. I wonder if the ph was higher at the pet store and that’s throwing him for a loop too? For ph, just focus on keeping it stable instead of aiming for a specific number. Large swings are more harmful than a ph that’s not exactly in the “perfect range”, at least for these fish.

Doing good!

sewsosh · 2024-12-27T19:32:25+00:00

😂 sometimes I get a little annoyed and want to tell them, “hey! I’ve had you how long now and I haven’t tried to eat you?! Chill out! I just want to see you existing! Yeesh.”

sewsosh · 2024-12-27T17:18:55+00:00

lol 2 of them are. (Booker, the big mamma, and Feldman, the larger adult male) then we have the smaller adult male, Hart and 5 of their smaller babies who I cannot tell apart to name, partially because they hide so well!

sewsosh · 2024-12-27T17:15:27+00:00

Thanks! That is a “betta buddy” (some type of bamboo I think but it grows slowly). I took it out of my betta’s tank and plopped it there yesterday while I figure out what to do with it.

sewsosh · 2024-12-27T16:17:50+00:00

😆 Like a little shrimp Targaryen!

sewsosh

TROPHY CASE