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Hastings Warmbloods said:
Trying this again -_- HEE logged me out the first time. All right I'll just get right to it since HEE doesn't like it when I write long posts apparently. I have been given permission from Eve to post this. It is only fair that I mention I've been doing research for years and after many..Too many headaches and long nights I am confident enough to say that my advise comes from personal experience, I used to own several betta fish but they all unfortunately passed away, The only aquatic pet I currently have is my female bristlenose pleco, But that's not why I'm here. Warning before we proceed, In this post I will be teaching you how to get your fish (Fresh and Saltwater) to eat medicated food. First you will need a small sterile container, Add one table spoon or pinch of your fishes food (Floating pellets work the best, Flakes tend to make a disgusting mess) Now add One LEVELED scoop of Seachem Metroplex and Five LEVELED scoops of Seachem Focus, Carefully stir or gently shake contents until the medication is on the bottom, Last step, (This will depend on the size of your aquarium and how many fish you have) Add one capful of Seachem Garlic Guard (Add two capfuls if your aquarium is 40 gallons and up) Finally feed your medicated food to your fish, Continue this process until you start noticing a change. This is for internal parasites and will do nothing for external ones, I'll cover that in another post, Tomorrow or in the next few days, Also I suggest continuing the medicated food for two weeks, If the internal parasites haven't cleared up keep feeding for a whole month. This process also works on quarantined fish as well, I will go on record to say, If your fish has been sickly before, he or she might not respond to treatment of any kind. Anyway I hope this helped some of you, Thank you for reading my ridiculously long post. I will post about more helpful things, I've got all kinds of juicy tips and more fun science-y stuff to share, I'll share more in two to three day gaps to prevent myself from writing a full on novel lol
alternatively, if you have a weirdo fish like i do, put the medication in the water and she'll fucking eat the powder |
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Savs Raccoon Empire said:
Hastings Warmbloods said:
Trying this again -_- HEE logged me out the first time. All right I'll just get right to it since HEE doesn't like it when I write long posts apparently. I have been given permission from Eve to post this. It is only fair that I mention I've been doing research for years and after many..Too many headaches and long nights I am confident enough to say that my advise comes from personal experience, I used to own several betta fish but they all unfortunately passed away, The only aquatic pet I currently have is my female bristlenose pleco, But that's not why I'm here. Warning before we proceed, In this post I will be teaching you how to get your fish (Fresh and Saltwater) to eat medicated food. First you will need a small sterile container, Add one table spoon or pinch of your fishes food (Floating pellets work the best, Flakes tend to make a disgusting mess) Now add One LEVELED scoop of Seachem Metroplex and Five LEVELED scoops of Seachem Focus, Carefully stir or gently shake contents until the medication is on the bottom, Last step, (This will depend on the size of your aquarium and how many fish you have) Add one capful of Seachem Garlic Guard (Add two capfuls if your aquarium is 40 gallons and up) Finally feed your medicated food to your fish, Continue this process until you start noticing a change. This is for internal parasites and will do nothing for external ones, I'll cover that in another post, Tomorrow or in the next few days, Also I suggest continuing the medicated food for two weeks, If the internal parasites haven't cleared up keep feeding for a whole month. This process also works on quarantined fish as well, I will go on record to say, If your fish has been sickly before, he or she might not respond to treatment of any kind. Anyway I hope this helped some of you, Thank you for reading my ridiculously long post. I will post about more helpful things, I've got all kinds of juicy tips and more fun science-y stuff to share, I'll share more in two to three day gaps to prevent myself from writing a full on novel lol
alternatively, if you have a weirdo fish like i do, put the medication in the water and she'll fucking eat the powder
O.0 That is..fucked up XDD I had to edit my post, please go back and re-read it, Next time I'll load up on coffee. |
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I'm back again! and I'm testing out the center alignment. Let's debunk some common myths about the aquarium hobby. Store person: ''Fish only grow to the size of your aquarium'' -Does her best Maury impression.- That was a lie, Aquarium fish will grow to their full size regardless of the aquarium. Store person again: ''Fish can live in bowls and don't require a heater or filter.'' -Does her terrible Maury impression again.- That was also a lie, They need adequatte space, and a heater. Say if you own a Betta fish, they like it on the warmer side, between 76 and 77 degrees fahtrnheit. Now before you go and just toss a heater into your aquarium, First off pick a spot for it, Stick it to the glass but don't plug it in just yet, Wait 15 minutes and then plug it in. Why? Well you could just plug it in, but, Doing so could cause the heater to explode and usually if one thing explodes everything explodes, Meaning your aquarium might be apart of that explosion. Filters and why they are so important: They help by keeping your water clear, Free of odors (If you are using activated carbon) and most importantly they filter out the good, the bad and the deadly, however, Filters are a double edged sword, Once they have done their job now you have to do your job. What might that be? You need to change the carbon, media or floss, If you don't eventually the filter will leech out everything it cleaned/cleared out back into the aquarium, it could even poison the water and your fish. Now back to carbon, Remember when I said it keeps odors away? What odors are they? Fish waste, yes I mean feces, and inorganic ammonia, That clear stuff that comes out of the gills while they eat, is what I am referring too, The more you put off a water change the more devastating the overall results will be, Once the inorganic ammonia separates from the feces it is often to late, Ammonia is the main reason fish die, it can also cause people to get fed up and quit the hobby all together. The best way to know exactly what is going on in your aquarium is by getting the API (api) master test kit, I should say, the contents in the bottles are NOT to be placed directly inside the aquarium, Follow the instructions which should be included. Fill your chosen vial with aquarium water until the water comes up to the 5ml line, Add x amount of drops to the vial and place the clear plastic cap back onto the vial and shake. After shaking it, set it down and wait 5 minutes, if the water changes colour pick up the vial and compare the colour to the provided colour chart, this will tell you if something is wrong or not. Next time I will discuss lights, I know I said once every 2-3 days buuut this was knocking around in my head and it needed to be brought up, I think it is fair to say, staff at pet stores do not give a damn about the fish and their care, all they care about is making a sale, So don't be afraid to go over their head..just don't pull a Karen or a Kevin and don't break the law. |
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Today we are going to discuss lights. Let's first start with the dreaded...flurescent light, they are the light included/attached to the hood of every aquarium hood from those aquarium kits found in pretty much every pet store or LFS (Local Fish Store) they aren't that bright because their cheap and honestly should just be tossed in the trash. Fluorescent lights do nothing for live plants, in fact they are pretty much guaranteed to kill your plants, These lights are fine if you do not plan to own or get into live plants, in a nutshell they're perfect for budgets, unless you have to replace the bulb which can be frustrating. LED lights: LEDs are what you need if you plan on owning lightly or extremely heavily planted aquariums, Now this is going to get long, as some LEDs mimic the sun in terms of plant growth and health. All aquarium plants require light, but not excessively, they need a six to eight hour daytime setting, so for example, 'Daytime' starts at 8AM and 'Nighttime' (Lights out) begins at 4PM do not do the whole 'Night light' thing otherwise your plants might die off slowly or even begin melting. LEDs meant for live plants can become quite expensive, The other day I was looking at a few and one of them came too 325$ and it wasn't a Fluval light either. Speaking of Fluval they have some good lights which can even be controlled by Bluetooth, I have the Aquasky light and I will admit that it is fun to play with, I keep it on the white light setting. Measuring your aquarium for a light: This is going to be tricky to explain but I'll do my best, measure like you are making a cross, Length and Width, For width take an inch or so off if you are using a canister filter, you can also use this method to measure for a glass canopy. LED light colour. If you already know this it's okay to ignore what I'm about to tell you. Blue, White and Red, yes you read that right,picking and chosing the density of these colours is important for your plants, Too bright and any Java Ferns you have will die, they like the shade, plants like, Echinodorus Amazonicus AKA Amazon Sword plant prefers high light, How do you get the best of both worlds? Use the other plants as shade for the foreground or plants like Java Ferns, Your light will determine wether or not you have a planted tank like George Farmer and Tropica Plants, Though they use things in their aquariums (Vitamins, Minerals and Fertilizers you might not be able to find locally, ordering it is probably your best if not your only option) What happened to talking about lights? Lights and plants and soil, Oh my! They go hand in hand so I figured that I should include it too, If your plants aren't getting enough light, try cleaning your glass canopy BEFORE you go out and buy a new light, If say you don't like the lights that sit on top or attach to the back of your aquarium you can always go the stupidly expensive route and purchase those fancy lights that hang from your ceiling, This option is not for those whom might be renting unless you get permission. All in all, Fish need light, much like how humans need light. If any living thing is subjected to darkness for an unnatural amount of time eventually any and all sense of a night/day cycle will be lost, In addition to that loss comes another loss, Blindness, irreversible blindness, unless your fish live in deep freshwater caves or in the deep sea where the light does not penetrate, Fish need light it is not just for our benefit, So the next time someone tells you that fish don't need light, You can sneer and walk away because you know better. (Yes I know George Farmer works for/with Tropica Plants and I wish he would aquascape my new tanks when I get them, A girl can dream lol) Tomorrow I think I will discuss diet and supplements, I have a lot to say on that and it might surprise you, oh and I will try and touch on aquarium soil tomorrow as well. What's your favorite cichlid if any? Mine are Angelfish I LOVE angelfish @.@ Especially the black lace, Double black, and smokey blue pinoy angelfish. I wasn't going to share this but I may as well. Does anyone remember Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom? Well when I saw the Indoraptor this is what I said. ''You don't raise something in total darkness, you contain it in a large area outdoors and study it in it's natural enviroment, locking it away, putting it in darkness and teaching it to be a weapon, That's not science, it is greed, unethical and inane.'' Oh wow..I rambled, crap, Sorry! I'll be back tomorrow. |
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Like I said yesterday, We will be learning how to add supplements to your fishes food. We'll just dive right in. First start with a sterile plastic or glass container. Next add one spoonful (Both table or tea spoon works depending on the size of your tank and how many fish you have) of Northfin floating pellets or flakes. Add one capful of Seachem Vitality. (This contains what all fish food lacks, Vitamin C, Vitamin C is stripped during the process in which all fish food goes through at whatever factory.) Next add between 5 and 10 drops of Vitachem by Boyd Enterprises (Depending again on the size of your tank and the number of fish you have, 1 or 2 drops should suffice for 10 gallon tanks, add 3 at the most, Make sure you are using either the freshwater or saltwater version, Read before you buy.) For the final supplement. Add one capful of Seachem Zoo-Plankton. Make sure that you also added Northfin Veggies and Northfin Krill, Add before the last supplement. Last few steps. Mix either by gently sloshing it around or with a spoon. You're almost done. Now let it sit for 20-30 minutes. *Bell noise* Times up, now all you have to do is serve it to your fish. Remember you don't have to use the foods I listed above but they are easier to find, Also if you are using flakes you might need a fork to scrape the food out of the container and into the aquarium. How do I know if it worked? It should have an orange-y tint to it, Heads up though, it's going to look like a soupy orange-y vomit-y mess but at least your fish will come out healthier for it, it even promotes fin regeneration and regrowth (Note any severed fins or fins that the fish was not born with will NOT regrow, Nipped or torn fins might begin to improve over time.) And when I say vomit-y, almost all of the liquid should be gone and the pellets or flakes should look all mushy and soft. Next time I'll discuss how to treat external parasites but the method I will be bringing up is not for an established aquarium, quarantine and hospital tanks only unless you have no other choice. Until next time! |
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Here we go again, Today we will be discussing external parasites and how to (hopefully) get rid of them. Like I said before, these chemicals should only be deployed in hospital and quarantine tanks, and by that I mean, Bare bottoms, no substrate, live plants etc. Seachem ParaGuard treats a slew of parasites and diseases, add 1 capful per 10 gallons, larger aquariums might require a double dose, removing creatures like snails, shrimp anything with a shell or exoskeleton must be done before adding this chemical to the aquarium, depending on your setup removing chemical filteration is for the better, Continue this treatment for approximately 2 weeks to 30 days (1 month) Always do water changes they will be benefical throughout the process, Add ParaGuard even if you don't see anything wrong, it never hurts to add it to your aquarium just in case. How do I get rid of Ich? (ich) Ahh Ich the one parasite that keeps all hobbyists up at night. Ich is an aggressive parasite, first it attaches to the fish by their scales, or armored plates, then it falls off, reproduces in the substrate and finally it reattaches itself to your fish, it even infects your plants, the glass, pretty much everything, if left untreated Ich will become lethal, Fortunately I know how to get rid of it. First, remove all sick fish and move them into your hospital tank and begin treating with Ich-X, next turn up the heater in your hospital tank to 83 to 84 degrees fahrenheit depending on your fish you might be able to crank it up even higher. Now for your established tank, Turn up the heat to 86 degrees fahrenheit Ich cannot survive in those temperatures, This next step goes for both aquariums, Add Ich-X everyday and DO NOT skip a single dose, Next preform daily water changes between 75% and 80% Next, dose the filter and media, changing it every week, remember you need to be aggressive otherwise it will come back 20x worse than before. Can I use Seachem ParaGuard and Ich-X in my planted tank? Yes you can, they are perfectly safe to use in planted tanks, Though if you have Ich you may have to replace your plants, substrate, heater and filter, Call me paranoid but Ich is not worth taking any risks with. For other external issues: Seachem KanaPlex it is a fungal and bacterial powder, you'll want to combine it with MetroPlex for that extra omph, they can both be used directly into the aquarium, treat as long as necessary, Add between 1 and 2 leveled scoops of each, add more if you think your fish aren't improving, KanaPlex and MetroPlex should not harm your bio-load but just like with all medications, you will still need to do your water changes, Fair warning though, KanaPlex can be harsher on your fish so if you don't feel comfortable giving the full leveled dose you can half it, Think of it like this, if we can under or over dose on antibiotics so can our fish, Though over dosing our fish is pretty rare, I forgot to add, MetroPlex and KanaPlex should be mixed but only if you are feeding it through food, If you do not see results from KanaPlex in a week desist and add a new carbon cartridge and do a 40% water change. Just remember to always read and follow the instructions on any and all products, and if you're not sure I'm here and I'll help you to the best of my ability, just don't waste my time by asking obvious questions like 'Why do fish live in the water?' If you do you'll simply be ignored. Moving on: Fritz Maracyn Oxy, to use this product, peel back the label and follow the instructions, Once again this product treats a list of problems, external parasites, diseases, fungal, bacterial, and even wounds. (Excludes Ich, it won't work on Ich) There was one other product by Seachem but I'm going to skip over it since it contains high contcentrates of Copper which if used incorrectly or incompetently will poison and kill everything in your tank and there will be no stopping it, Maybe in the future I will cover it but right now I just don't think it would be wise. Next time we will be dicussing the nitrogen cycle along with good algae and bad algae, See you next time! This is the last thing I will be adding too this post. Don't forget to remove all carbon while medicating fish for external parasites, Skip this step if you are medicating for internal parasites. |
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Good evening everyone, on this fine evening I will be talking about the Nitrogen cycle, I will also touch on good algae vs bad algae, Let's dive in. I've been there, you've been there, The excitement of getting a new tank or even your first tank, and I know what you're thinking, you wanna add fish today! But slow down, you can't just set up an aquarium, add water, chemicals, and fish. No no no, just no. First off, before you do anything, you need to place your aquarium on its stand, next remove the lighting/lid, now take a wet cloth and wipe down the inside, front, sides bottom and the back, add your chosen substrate AFTER you have thoroughly washed it, next add it to your aquarium, use a metal algae scraper to level the substrate instead of using your hands. Next aquascape or hardscape to your liking, afterwards begin adding water to your aquarium make sure that each added bucket full is dechlorinated, never just add tap water to an aquarium, by doing so you are asking for disaster. Is your aquarium full, filter on? Good, Now begins the cycle. Add 1 capful of Nutrafin Cycle, remember to do this everyday for two months. It's been a week! Now can I add fish!? No. Do not add any fish until the Nitrogen cycle has fully completed. During this time you should not do a water change for at least 3 weeks, you do however need to monitor everything, your, GH, KH, PH, NO2 and NO3. What do those mean? I'm glad you asked. We'll start with this one. GH, General Hardness in a Freshwater aquarium your GH (Depending on your fish) should be between 30 and 60, 120 is not bad but 180 is the danger zone, it means that your water is too hard and corrections need to be made as soon as possible. KH Stands for, Carbonate Hardness or as it is typically referred to as (CO3) and (HCO3) Well, I call it that, This like everything else is important. What does it do? Delightful question. Here is what it does. Carbonate Hardness is like a titan holding a shield and protecting your PH while your aquarium creates acids (If I go into that I'll be here all night) They devour your KH instead of gobbling up your PH, This is not a permanent thing, once the 'shield' is gone your PH will bounce around freely again and it will. Where should my KH be? That depends, as KH is not easy to predict, I think it should be within 80 to 120, though 40 is probably where it might end up landing. PH What is that? PH is vital to any aquarium without it everything stops, even your fish will begin to decline if the PH is too high or to low. During the cycle your PH will be unstable, This is normal and you don't need to do anything except write down and log all of your water tests for the day. How will I know when my PH is stable? You won't, not until the cycle has fully completed. Using API (api) 5 in 1 test strips if you don't already have the master test kit, is a great way to keep up with what is going on. Like I said during the cycle expect dangerously high readings, I know they are scary but as long as you don't add any fish everything should be just fine. What is a safe PH? This will depend on many factors, one of them being how warm or cold it is in your tank, a PH should sit between, 6.0 ,6.5 , 7.0 and 7.5, although 7.5 is rare and pretty acidic so I wouldn't go over 7.0. NO2 What the heck is that? This is one of the fish and plant killers out there. NO2 or as you might know it by, Nitrite, If this spikes after the cycle is over and you do nothing to correct it, Guess what? You're fucked, if it reaches above 0, so make sure you are changing the media in your filter ASAP and on time, NO2 is toxic, it's like that kid who never left you alone in class, you wanted to kill him but no one would let you, yeah think of NO2 as that. NO3 What does this one do? NO3 is your friend if you are keeping track of everything and doing water changes, writing down when you added new media to your filter and when to change it, Forget to do any of the above and NO3 becomes your worst enemy, NO3 aka, Nitrate, Nitrate is in every water source even drinking water, however in aquariums, it should be kept or at least monitored at 20ppm and no higher, if it goes to 80ppm or even 200ppm you might not be able to correct it, water changes of 100% daily might be enough to stabilize it again. Now can I add fish? No, It takes 2 full months for any aquarium to successfully complete the cycle. If I add beneficial bacteria will that make it go faster? No you will only delay if not stop the entire process. The person at the pet store said I can cycle my tank with fish in it. That is not something a beginner should be doing, Like I said before, staff at any LFS don't care they just want to make money and will tell you what you wanna hear, I call it fluff. What was that about good algea? Ah yes, Good algea, you need it during the Nitrogen cycle, you will notice it in various parts of your aquarium, Leave it alone, it being there means that your tank is thriving and sustaining life, It is slowly becoming stable, if left undisturbed it will go away on its own, Another good sign, Let us not forget that we are quite literally making an underwater ecosystem, though making one and keeping healthy all depends on you. Keeping a bubbler, and powerhead (Make sure the powerhead is positioned correctly) is the best way to keep oxygen (air) constantly flowing throughout your aquarium, plus doing so comes with its own benefits, mainly surface tension (You can pm me or look it up) There's bad algae? Yes there is, Too name a few, Hair algae, Black algae, String algae, and the list goes on and on. How do I get rid of it? Algae has a source, find it and kill it at the roots. I can in confidence say that Fritz Algae Clean Out is just the chemical for the job, however, this should not be used during your Nitrogen cycle, Use it when simply scraping the algae off is not working AFTER the Nitrogen cycle completes. Remove anything with a shell or exoskeleton otherwise it will die, if the algae is in your filter, add 10 drops for 10 gallons, add 18 drops for 30 gallons and 5ml or 1 capful for 60 gallons, increase if your tank is greater than 60 gallons. Oookay I think that's enough for one night. I'll be back on Sunday and we'll discuss the things you should not do just because you saw it on YouTube -_- The internet is going to be the death of this hobby..Well until next time! |
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Well I guess here we go, Let's dive in. ''My favorite YouTuber stuck his hands in the aquarium and 'petted' his fish, that must be okay, I'm gonna do it too!' No you're not, YouTubers are all about themselves, they will do literally anything for views, comments, likes and subs, it is a power grab, a whim, the more the video gets linked and passed around the more attention they get from it, and the more YOU encourage them to do it. ''Hasty why are you such a buzz-kill?'' Fuck you, that's why, Now sit down. By touching 'petting' or 'putting/picking up' a fish in your hand you are doing more harm than good, Human hands are disgusting, think about where your hands have been over the past six months, sure, you wash your hands, but that's the problem, you wash your hands. Hand soap, dish soap, and bleach along with a slew of house-hold products are dangerous if not lethal too fish, also by following the lead of a mindless YouTuber you are ripping off the slime coat of your fish. ''Can..fish feel pain?'' Yes they can feel pain, like all sentient beings, fish can feel pain, when you touch them you cause them a great deal of pain, Having their slime coat ripped off, hurts, That'd be like me removing all 5 of your fingernails from the quick, Ouch right? So suffice it to say touching your fish is the worst thing you can do for them. ''What if I wet my hands and then touch them?'' No, you're still hurting them, Hands off no exceptions. ''But they must be experts!'' They aren't, not if they are telling you to handle your fish with your bare hands, No expert in their right mind would lead you on and convince you that doing so is right, when it isn't. ''The video was funny!'' Sure YOU found it funny when an electric catfish defended itself against it's owner, Yeah pinnacle of comedy, it is amusing until said owner drops dead, See the human heart is a fickle organ, Our hands fingers and arms play a vital role for our hearts, All it takes is one wrong move, and poof, you're dead, Is that still funny or amusing to you now? I would hope not. Let's use common sense here, okay? I'm not trying to be your enemy, the bad guy..err girl, I'm not saying you're bad for the hobby and to stop but..you might want to re-think a few things. Back to those..YouTubers. I hate to repeat myself here, They don't care if what 'works' for them 'worked' for you, YouTubers all want the same thing in the hobby. Clout, there it is the 'C' word I hate that word more than seeing it snow outside, and I hate winter, can't stand it, kills my tomatos, strawberries etc, Speaking of killing, YouTubers more often than naught are the reason your fish are dying, because instead of doing your research you blindly did everything 'exactly' the way they did it, but your fish still died. ''How do I know when advice is bad?'' If what you are seeing and hearing or reading in a video sounds to good too be true, that's because it is. ''Something is wrong with my aquarium and none of the videos are working, help!'' Ever hear about the one where the boy cried wolf? He cried wolf so much that when he was being savagely mauled and consumed no one came to his aid because they thought he was, well, crying wolf, What does that have to do with my aquarium!? Everything actually, See you CHOSE to do it and as a result you killed every living micro-organism, Congrats by the way. ''Okay..I'm ready to listen, how I do fix or undo what I did wrong?'' Simple, Begin again, remove your fish into a hospital tank, next gut your entire tank, filter just everything, Now you need to replace everything which depending on your set up could end up costing you thousands of dollars, Still think those YouTubers and TikTok-ers care? They really really don't, I'm not going to help you everytime you follow their lead though, I don't condone stupidity, Stupidity isn't how I got on the A+ honor roll throughout my entire education, I attended 2 high schools along with (For the way more advanced stuff) a college I got extra credit more than what I needed, but that's not why I am here, I will say this, YouTube and TikTok and Twitter will not take you to a higher place within the aquarium hobby, you will fall and it might even be an endless fall. I will admit that I used YouTube but I did not follow the lead of some rando, I think too analytically, logically, and I'm always watching and waiting for them to say something that will not or does not make any sense whatsoever. Notice how most of these 'helpful videos' are vague? Here's why. Their vague because they are literally googling these things and using terms that sound 'cool' and spoon feeding them back to you. Is that what you want? Being given fluff instead of a logically explained video. What's the moral of this post? Don't go to YouTube and other social media for 'tips,tricks and advice' Yes use it as a rough draft for YOUR own research, Think before you do, and never follow someone blindly. Yes I know that might've come off as ranty but I don't care, as I stated before I am trying to help you, hopefully, before you do something completely and utterly stupid. ''Anything else?'' Yes. I do not believe I was clear about something when I was discussing the Nitrogen Cycle, I'll say it here, Add Nutrafin Cycle every day for two months without skipping a single dose. We're not done yet. (Just to clear the air) I am part Irish, meaning that I swear way more than a sailor, I could probably make Deadpool blush, so if you are a snowflake then maybe I am not the scientist for you, and if I am then I look forward to seeing you in my lab again. Now that, that's out of the way, let's move on. If you are still with me and have kept up thus far, Great. ''Why don't you make videos instead of posting here?'' I will not go down that rabbit hole, Unlike those..ilk, I do not seek to gain profit or clout, fans, likes and whatever, All I want is to educate you properly in this hobby so that you have a positive outlook on it, Some of my future topics will not be for the faint of heart but they are important. All right that's enough for today, I will be back again on Tuesday and we will discuss the one thing I wasn't sure if I should talk about but, it like everything else is helpful, What is that topic you ask? Reproduction and the behaviors associated with it, including cross breeding and hybridization. If I came off as kinda angry in this post, it's because I have 0 tolerance for people who enjoy misleading others for fun and personal gain, It grates on my nerves. |
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Tonight we have a lot to discuss, Let's dive in. Courtship behavior: ''Wtf! Why are my fish chasing each other!?'' Now before you step in to 'save the day' what your seeing might not be aggression, nope, your fish might be trying to pair up, if that is indeed the case don't get involved. If no scales, fins or tails or injuries are visible then it is likely your fish are not fighting at all, if you are not seeing any obvious signs of stress then you might want to check your fish room and prepare your extra tanks for fry. Eggs: Do you have the room and resources to house fry until they are old enough to be sold? Some fish can lay anywhere from 50 to 150 eggs other more larger fish can lay all the way up to 1,000 eggs, that's a thousand fry, a thousand mouths to feed, and if you're not prepared you might be in a bind, a big one. When can I sell my fry? Depending on the breed of fish between 3 and 5 or 6 months of age, if they can be sexed, remove males and females to avoid inbreeding, fish are not immune to it, genetic and various defects will be the overall result, if not right away then eventually. Hybridization: That's a big word eh? Do you know what it means? Well in this case, hybridization is not something that can be easily achieved, compatibility is one of the major factors though it is often overlooked due to greed or arrogance, don't worry I'll clear some things up. Can I crossbreed my mollies to my guppies? No, they are two different species, with one thing in common, they are both livebearers, but that is all they have in common, despite what google and whatnot say, any offspring born from the two will die soon after or immediately after, if the mother (s) become too stressed from your attempt at making a 'new hybrid' she could die and you might end up losing your entire strain. Can I make a super cichlid? No, In terms of breeding cichlids they should only be paired to their species, cichlids are genetically wired to be aggressive and territorial, gender regardless they will not hesitate to rip each other apart, literally, this goes for saltwater fish as well. Reproduction: How do I know if my fish is pregnant? Sometimes she will inflate like a balloon but some famales don't make it that obvious especially if you have some seriously chonky fish then you won't know until the eggs are laid or until the fry are born. Behavior: How do I when my fish have paired? They literally won't leave each other alone, and that I mean, if one swims to other side of the tank the other will likely follow, Fish afterall are rarely friends and if they are they're probably the same gender (Oops) You'll spot the difference and should clue in that something has changed in your tank. Diet: What do I feed fry? Well you can't feed them like they're parents, No, you'll need to feed them live daphnia, live cultures of micro worms, and vinegar eels (Those smell terrible) How long should I feed them live food? Until they are not transparent (Until you cannot see their internal organs) anymore. Can I make money selling my fry? Yes you can, though if you plan to sell to pet stores, you'll be disappointed, they don't wanna pay money but they will happily offer up a few cents regardless of how rare your fry and the strain might be, The best way to profit from them is to go solo, For example, $10 for 10 fry, yeah that doesn't sound like a lot, but Rome wasn't built in a day, eventually that $10 is going to add up, build on that slowly, FB groups are probably the best way to go about it. Culling: I won't tell you how to do it, I know how but I'm sparing you the images, ask an expert breeder if you must know, Culling should only be done if the fry are born with bone, body deformities etc, it is uncommon, as long as your fish are on a healthy diet, living in healthy conditions and don't come from hugely inbred parents you shouldn't need to cull any of them. The obvious: Now just because your fish have paired up does not always mean you'll have fry for days, some pairs never spawn or do so but rarely, it really depends on them, We can't speak fish so we as their owners simply don't know the if or when or how many, all we can do is wait and hope for the best. The last thing: My fish is laying eggs but not all of them are hatching, wtf? Don't panic this happens a lot more often than you think, some eggs are fertile and hatch but others are infertile and as a result do not hatch, If you own larger fish feed the still born or infertile eggs/fry to them they'll enjoy the snack, I know that sounds terrible but it's true, in the wild about 30% or less of eggs and fry survive they are typically picked off by larger fish and predators, You might even end up losing fry and eggs to your filter unless you are prepared and took the necessary steps to avoid that from happening. And I think that will be all for tonight, I will update if I feel I forgot or left something out, I had a busy day today. Next time we will discuss, New tank syndrome, You put what in your filter!? and how to help with fish aggression (if any) you might be surprised by my findings, Until next time! |
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Okay we're going to dive right in. New Tank Syndrome. What is it? Think of NTS like this, The fish at the fish store have x amount of room plus the tank they're in are usually over crowded, the next thing they know they are being scooped up and placed into a bag, blah blah, now they're home and you've begun to float the bag, Stop! You need to turn the tank lights off and leave them off until the next day, your fish is already stressed from the bag, traveling to your home, being floated in your tank before being dumped into a net over a bucket and finally placed into the aquarium, Yeah that's pretty stressful, He also has to get used to his new home and used to you. ''My fish is scared of me?'' Yes, and he or she will be for a while until he or she decides that you are not a danger to and have no intention of eating him or her, I can't say when your fish will be fully adjusted but you'll know. Is NTS deadly? Yes it can be, offering food on the first day is a no no, In a nutshell, just leave your fish alone until the next day. You put what in your filter!? Crushed coral? Bio-home Ultimate? Purigen? Slow you're roll, Crushed coral needs to be buffered. Bio-home Ultimate, that shit is expensive! But it is best suited for pretty much all canister filters (Wash well before placing into your canister filter) Seachem Purigen. Do I have to reactivate it with bleach? Uhm..No, Why the fuck would you use bleach!? First off bleach is deadly to your fish death is 100% guaranteed, Get Seachem Purigen in the mesh bag, Doesn't or didn't come with a bag? You can probably find (Five star rated) white mesh filter bags for cheap on Amazon or Ebay, Soak the empty bag over night in a bucket and preform every water test under the sun BEFORE adding it to your filter. Fish aggression: ''Omg for the love of Satan STOP fighting!'' Try this, Re-decorate the tank (Move stuff around or switch they're original places) This should help curb aggression but you're fish might be fighting for another reason. They're both young males. They're both young females. Dominance. Food. Space. Or, they just can't stand each other, if that is in fact the case, you'll want to move one of them into a different tank. Bonus: How do I clean the sand in my tank? There are two ways that I know of. Use a syphon to very gently create a 'breeze' above the debris this is a slow process but it beats using a net. The second method is using a powerhead to push the debris into your filter (Which usually doesn't work) Okay that's enough for now, Next time I'll talk about MTS (Multiple Tank Syndrome) MTS is not a real disease or mental illness, we hobbyists use it to justify having many many tanks and we're NOT sorry! I'll also bring up cycling a tank with fish if you CHOOSE to deploy this method I cannot be held accountable for whatever the outcome, And tank backgrounds vs painting the back of your tank, Bye for now! |
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Evening Thunderstorms, Hail Possible
