Mag-Float

By far one of the coolest yet simplest tools in the aquarium hobby...magnets.  Yes magnets, more specificly the Mag-Float. It comes in many sizes depending on your tank and sports a soft outer side and a course inner side. this helps to scrub away algae while buffing the outside of your tank all together without getting your hands wet.

I love this thing. I helps in the maintenance of my tank. The magnets are strong enough also to release the inside one then move it around corners using the other end. And here's a 28 sec video to demonstrate.

Fin Nippers Pt 2

It has been 2 weeks now since I brought home my Serpae Tetras. Reports says they are fin nippers. The first few days with them in my tank, my Zebra Danios had bites take out of their tail fins. It was of course easy to blame the Tetras but I have not actually seen them interact with the Danios. The Danios seemed to be more aggressive towards each other though. So it made me think but still have not figured out who the real culprit is.

Best pic I could get to make a point on both above and below paragraphs. Shooting fish is hard.

But now... a pleasant turn of events seems to have taken place. the fish have learned to live together. Still no obvious interaction between the two kinds that much hasn't changed. The difference now is my Danios tails are healing and looking like normal.

So in conclusion I am going to say that fin nipping does take place but with the right tank mates will stop in time

Splurged

I have been for a while now wanting to upgrade my tank. I admit a 10 gal isn't enough soon after I started. Not that there is anything wrong with my 10 gal but being my first tank I realized things I wanted to do but couldn't because of space. 10 gal tank is totally a gateway drug! Great for beginners as a learning tool but you soon realized you want more. So the time came for a new tank. Money wise not so much but then that is there reason for this post.

I cruise Craigslist to see what people have for sale and pet store websites for bargains. Then I got an email for Petsmart with a four days only sale. 29 gal Top Fin starter kit reg $129.99 was $20 off. Not great but decent for a kit. I look at the tanks every time I go in my local Petsmart. Checking prices and getting ideas. A 20 gal Top Fin tank is somewhere around $60 and a 29 gal is about $90. So $109.00 for the starter kit again was decent compared to buying the extra gear.

Luckily it is was pay week so I went in this morning to look at the sale items. There it was the Top Fin starter on sale with you pet perks card. I'm looking at the details and checking the box for any damage. Just trying to be consumer savvy. Low and Behold on the self below was a Marineland 29 gal kit for $90. Boy Howdy! Pretty much the same stuff: hood w/ fluorescent light, power filter bio-wheel(been curious about those), 200 watt heater, a net and plenty of sample packs for food and water conditioner. The box does say a digital thermometer was included but sadly it was one of those cheap thermo strips.

I just got home with it, while riding the bus (ugh, cumbersome), inspected it, started this blog and now unfortunately have to get ready for work. I will start another blog of this new tank and unlike my 10 gal, try and keep up the blog as the setup progresses. Plus I need to clean up a bit and rearrange my room. But I am Excited! My fishies will have a new home soon.

Super Clear Water

I just wanted to post today saying how amazed I am at the clarity of my tank's water. I was just staring at my fish and realized how vibrant the colors are. No cheesy neon decor either. Just various browns from beige to chocolate from the gravel to the driftwood. The green of the plants in contrast to the blue background. Mix in the fluid movements of my Zebra Danios at the top level on my tank to the reds of the Serpae Tetras at the lower levels.

These pics don't do it justice (I'm terrible at aquarium photos)

all fish included in this shot

All the credit goes to my AquaClear filter. So glad I decided to get it.

And as promised, a couple pics of my Tetras.

Fin Nippers

Ok, it seems Serpae Tetra are definitely fin nippers.  But the thing is I don't actually witness it. I have to presume  they nip at night while the other fish are sleeping. My Pleco is fine but it is hiding most the time or playing in the bubble stream of my airstone. My Danios are longfin so the bites are obvious. The male Danio swims close to the bottom around a foreground crypt and doesn't seem to be bothered by the Tetras.

My fish seem fine though. Still active and playing. When I watch I don't see any signs of aggression among my fish. Just the visible evidence of nipped fins. Maybe it's because the Danios steal all the food. I have been feeding in two places in the tank. One side to gather the Danios and on the other side for my Tetras. Mostly flakes is what I feed them. I tried bloodworms (freeze dried) but they don't sink so the Serpae don't get many. If the worms should float to the side of the tank then maybe because the Danios failed to see them.

pictures soon, work getting in way, blah

New fish in tank (pictures soon)

Ok, I said I wouldn't add 3 fish at once again. Well I did, they are small though and with regular maintenance I believe the tank will be fine. That is key...Regular maintenance. Just be observant of your tank to catch any problems when it happens, not after.

Now on to the fish. I brought home this afternoon 3 Serpae Tetras. At my LFS I was asking what would go well with Zebra Danios. I was told almost any barbs and tetras. I also wanted with a different body shape from Danios as a bit of contrast and Serpae Tetras, which I happened to be looking at, was recommended.

There are accounts that these guys are fin nippers and some say they are not. Most common case of fin nipping seems to be around feeding time. Some websites report that they can go into a feeding frenzy, much like a Piranha,  and nip fins of other fish. Actually it seems that this Tetra, not only come from the same region of the world as Piranhas, but are related to Piranhas. Piranhas are just big Tetras. Much like another fish I found named Pacu that people think are Piranhas but eat like bananas and stuff. Anyway(starting to go off on a tangent)...

Another reason I chose this fish is that the Serpae Tetra swims in the mid to lower level of the tank. My Danios are top swimmers so I needed lower swimming fish with a slightly different body shape. I think they be a nice addition to my tank. These fish will be the last for now. After this, if all goes well, I plan on getting a 20 gal long tank and move my Danios and Tetras into that.

As for possible future plans for my 10 gal planted, I was thinking of leaving in my Pleco and adding a Betta and an African Dwarf Frog.

Bacterial Bloom

My first real crisis with my aquarium was what appeared to be a bacterial bloom in the water. At the time I just recently added 3 fish to my tank. I was pushing it a bit introducing that many to a small tank. I won't do that again.

I kept a watchful eye on my 2 new Danios to make sure they got along with the established 3 I already had. Plus I added a bushynose pleco to the mix because my tank was showing sign of algae. In my opinion a sign of a healthy tank. In case there wasn't sufficient algae I bought some algae wafers. To make sure my new fish got something to eat because the older Danios are quick and eat all the food, I began feeding a small dose at night also. Being new to the hobby I was reading some posts saying feed a couple times a day in small amounts and some saying once a day is fine. I so did a little of both. It has come to my opinion that the once a day is far better. I will explain why later in the blog.

I took my normal water readings and did my normal water changes. But I started to notice my water was getting cloudy. I didn't think too much of it since most things I read online just says it normal. So to help it along I bought  Seachem Clarity. I used as directed but had no effect. After a couple more days my water got cloudier. Then I noticed on of my older Danios had a white spot on each forward fin and top of the tail. I researched Ich because that tends to be the most common problem with aquarium fish. The signs did seem to point to Ich although it looked like it. I also checked my filter. Of all the things I kept my eye on I forgot of the filter. The water was backing up over the reservoir past the actual filter. I changed it out and the cartridge was caked with gunk. So at this point it was time to buy medication for my fish and I made my way to Petsmart.

cloudy water

The times I go into Petsmart and look around for ideas for my tank I listen to the sales guy. He really seems to know his stuff and isn't trying to just up sale the customers on more than they need. A lot of what he says coincides with what I read online. But he wasn't there the day I needed to fish fixer uppers. The person on duty in the section did suggest API Melafix and Pimafix. i only had  few buck on me so I got the 4oz melafix. A couple days later, after getting paid, I bought the Pimafix and API Aquarium Salt. The guy I listen to talk to customers was there and he saw what I had and asked,"Sick fish?" I said "yea" explain what I was doing. Then he added that I should raise the temp on my heat just a little also. 

I did what I set out to do. I added a teaspoon of both Melafix and Pimafix and I added a tablespoon of the aquarium salt. After a day or two the white spot on my fish's fins looked smaller. Sign that it was working but the water was still cloudy. I researched some more and came to the conclusion that it might be this bacterial Bloom and maybe I was over feeding which adds to this condition. Plus the algae wafers I was providing my pleco didn't seem to be touch. So I am sure that was a factor. If the wafers weren't touched then maybe there was sufficient algae on the decor. Note: I still drop in a wafer every now and then but I break them into quarters and try to remember to remove them after an hour.

So, now that I was convinced i had a bacterial bloom happening I modified my tasks on my Nanoplanner. For a while I changed water ever 3 instead of 5 days. Also I check water chemistry every 3 days. But after a another week nothing seemed to happen. Well, expect for my fish no longer had those fungal spots. I changed out my filter cartridge every week too because the water was still bypassing the cartridge. About a week or so ago I looked into new filters. I decided on the AquaClear 20 that I mention in my other posts. Within a couple days my water looked much better.  I tried the Seachem Clarity again and this time is worked within a couple hours. Now it is practically clear again.

Notice Pleco on bottom of banana plant lily at top of pic