Aquariums and Fish Keeping

I picked up one of these fluval 13.5 gallon aquariums, and it has a little chamber for filtration on the back. SOMEONE ripped up the default foam block that fits in there, and it got me wondering if I could use some of that modular foam that comes in pelican cases? Or should I just buy the replacement?

This fish has been getting worse over a longer period of time. It does not seem to be related to swim bladder issues, but more neurological. I suspect that it has gotten an aneurysm or brain damage some how.

When the bombs fall, I want to be sure they get into a GOOD vault.

Hi friends!

I have a question about one of our dwarf pea puffers. We've recently noticed a pair of nubs beneath their mouth. No other signs of distress that I can see -- still social, active and eating. The tank has two other dwarf puffers and a Florida flag that aren't exhibiting any similar symptoms.

What's really curious is that the bumps appear to be symmetrical; one on either side of the chin, and nowhere else on the body.

Might this be early lymphocystis?

Last month I tried making some food for my goldfish. It turned out quite well so I thought id share it with you guys

I'm not on other social media b t if you sill are you are more than welcome to share it with others

150gr mixed shellfish or shrimp
100gr cod fish
150gr peas
1 garlic clove
½ squash
½ carrot
1 teaspoon Kelp 
1 teaspoon Spirulina

(You can replace the algae powders with crushed multivitamins but it is not reccomended) 1½ teaspoon Agar (ideally more)

EDIT: I have since experimented some more with this, and found out that agar works best when it is boiled. Simply boil it in some water, before adding to the blend. Also use more Agar than described here

This was sold to me as an amano shrimp. When I first got a closer look at it I thought it was a low grade neocaridina as it had a few patches of darker pigment, but now it is pretty much all darker cryptic colored. I noticed these vibrating things next to its face while it's eating that my other shrimp don't have - is this some other kind of caridina shrimp maybe? Or is it a parasite at work?

I have been banned from Fishlore, and the worst part is, that I was actually enjoying my time there! Now, even if they lifted the ban, I wouldn't feel like it would be the right place to be.

After leaving Reddit due to Spez, and also Facebook/Instagram due to their subscription trick back in November, I have been pretty isolated when it comes to my hobbies. So I have been looking into forums that I already missed when they came out of fashion in the early 00s.

Anyway. I was enjoying my time on Fishlore, and got to get and share advice so everything was fine. At some point, I offered to help content creators (I assumed there were fish- youtubers, streamers, tiktokkers, facebookers) that may need help with logos, graphics, videos etc. A way of giving back to the community, with something that I was good at. I specifically mentioned that this was on a pay what you can basis, and free was also an option if any were struggling. I have previsouly done this with other hobbies that i have been involved in, and people have enjoyed plenty of free work. I even spend two days making examples of fish-logos and a fishlore promo video to show and inspire any who may have been intersted

This must have registered as spam, because I recieved an email stating that I had been banned due to breaking the rules. No warning, no details. I can see that i have 2 unread messages in the forum, that i can't read because i am banned. I get no replies to the emails i sent them and even their Privacy Policy mail is either ignoring me or not being checked.

Anyway - I just needed to get this off my chest. Thank for listening!

Back when I set up my 720 liter tank, I gradually came up with a DIY filter, based on sewage piles filled with filter materials. It worked really well, and although it had kind of a Super Mario feel to it, it didn't look quite as good as I'd like it to. I decided therefore, to take the experience I had from that, and built something that worked as well, but also looked good (or at least better). This is the original setup, with sewage pipes, stacked onto clay bricks:

As the tank is currently empty, while I am treating the fish for flukes in a smaller tank (a half filled 530L/140gal), I decided to plan this out a but better, and also take pictures while I was making it. I am not at all very handy, but it seems to be getting along pretty well. I must have spend more time making this video/illustration/render, than I have spend making the actual filter..

https://imgur.com/6o7zaqM

As explained, I am not very handy, so in order to mount the acrylic plates (ordered precut to measure) I had to freestyle a template using some bricks, wood and a little bit of paper.. If it works it works. Silicone dries fairly fast so I was able to complete this within a couple of hours. I am building two of these, and each will have two power heads that move 1000L/hour.

At the moment, I am waiting for the silicone to dry completely and for my order with filter mats and ceramic filter media (and filter bags) to arrive. I am also very excited to try out a phosphate remover that I ordered, as I was having issues with black beard algae and brown algae from too much silicate in our tap water.

Hey all! Hoping somebody can help me; I bought some shrimp earlier today and a couple of these fellas snuck into the bag without anybody noticing. Anyone know what they are? I want to make sure I take care of them :) thanks for any help!

I got half a dozen dwarf chain loaches to compliment my 6ft community tank... And the stupid things have spent more time in the weir and the sump than they have in the tank.

I literally just fished three of them out of the sump, and the second I put them back in the tank one went directly to the overflow and straight in to the weir again. At some point it'll reappear in the sump.

I don't even think they'll grow big enough to stop being able to squeeze through the weir guard so I guess they live in the sump now.

I started setting up this tank December 15 2023. It was my quarantine tank but I decided to do a new setup to cull male guppies. My main tank has 100s of them now so I'm trying to separate them and get ready to giving them away or something.

After adding in the rocks I got busy with the holiday season and redecorating the whole room. The tank sat with a single snail in it until today (Jan 22)

May have impulse purchased a group of these Hara jerdoni aka anchor catfish. They only get about an inch and could not resist! Just wanted to share because they are cool little fish.

Looking for more plants to keep a lid on hair algae! I do water changes, but I think more plants would help.

I have a concern with some of my fancy goldfish that seek the surface after being fed. They sit there gulping air in and I am concerned that they may get swim bladder issues from it.

Why do they do this? I have plenty aeration (2 Airstones and a lot of surface agitation). Also it is only 4 of them that do it. The rest just swim as regularly.

The tank is slightly overcrowded. They are in a 140 gal while I reorganize their 190 gal. but nothing extreme. Also they did the same when they were in the large tank so I don't expect it to be down to overstocking.

It doesn't look like a particularly high-quality aquarium set, but all the necessary parts seem to be there. Even before getting this thing, I've thought about keeping dwarf frogs. Would a 5-gal. tank be big enough for two or three of them? If not, what would you suggest? I've kept aquariums before, but it's been a very long time and I know myself well enough to know that I need something relatively low-maintenance.

This is a pretty niche issue so I'm looking for advice from people who preferably have experience with fancy goldfish. They are usually highly inbred and do often not adhere to regular fishkeeping practices

I have more and more fish that seem to get issues with mostly positive buoyancy (one with negative buoyancy).

I only feed with sinking pellets and always presoaked. I have tried raising the temperature, starving them for 3 days and feeding descale boiled peas.

I have also tried adding salt. Nothing has any long lasting effect.

I am now considering using yellow powder (funox) as I suspect bacteria to be the cause of it.

Out of 18 fish only a few swim with the belly up periodically. Many og the rest seem to be struggling with boyancy nonetheless.

Parameters seem ok. Ammonia and nitrite are always 0. Nitrate is maximum 20. I do weekly water changes of 50%-70% The water is pretty hard and PH is high but I think keeping it like this is better than trying to lower it and maybe exposing them to fluctuating parameters.

The only other issue I can suspect is that I use tapwater and not old water. There is not chlorine in our tap water so I feel it is safe.

What are your thoughts about my situation? Is my considered next step, of treating for bacteria valid? What would you do? I do not have access to aquatic vets and no access to microscope.

Was it super challenging? Surprisingly easy? What was your tank like?

My free plecostomus I got a year or so ago. He wasn't specifically free... we just bought a tiny 15L fish tank to put some shrimp in, and when we filled it with water he appeared 😳

I'm guessing he was suckered on to the piece of driftwood and had enough moisture to survive the 48 hours or so between the seller emptying the tank, and us refilling it after buying.

Dudes fair bristly. A heck of a lot bigger now than he was when he appeared in the tank, not all that much bigger than the neo shrimp that were his tank mates.

I need it to be pretty small, and quiet since the tank is in my small apartment.

They came as eggs with plants I bought months ago. I honestly don't have a problem with them but over the week their population EXPLODED. They are everywhere and covering almost the entire floor. I understand I may need to get rid of them but they are still are live beings and I dont want to be inhuman. How do I get rid of them?

https://imgur.com/gallery/mtIyOSJ

Cleaned up a fish shop 60L tank and did my first aquascape with river rocks, wood and plants.