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Thread: Return to the life

  1. #31
    Registered Member farebox's Avatar
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    Roland E. Wilson

    Default Re: Return to the life

    Please take the advise offered here in the forum, you're like me and kinda of rushed things and have paid dearly with this discus hobby. Rush things will spell alot of problems down the line, more monies being spent on meds, etc. I would not add anymore new fish to the tank and wait until you can get discus all at once. Good luck and you will have an understanding setup going on.....

  2. #32
    Registered Member karpomatic's Avatar
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    Default Re: Return to the life

    Quote Originally Posted by farebox View Post
    Please take the advise offered here in the forum, you're like me and kinda of rushed things and have paid dearly with this discus hobby. Rush things will spell alot of problems down the line, more monies being spent on meds, etc. I would not add anymore new fish to the tank and wait until you can get discus all at once. Good luck and you will have an understanding setup going on.....
    I would not be here if I were not looking for advice. I'm done with the stocking for now. I'm planning on 4 to 6 discus and will get them all at once. I will be moving the Hill Stream Loaches out of the tank before the discus arrive since the Discus temp is too high for them. However, they are thriving for now. One has already gotten a bit bigger since I got them. He is a voracious eater.
    Last edited by karpomatic; 06-21-2017 at 07:19 AM.

  3. #33
    Registered Member karpomatic's Avatar
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    Default Decor

    No new fish but I added some plants and another piece of driftwood.

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  4. #34
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    Default Re: Return to the life

    LFS never a problem, pretty funny stuff.
    Nothing against the LFS stores.

  5. #35
    Registered Member karpomatic's Avatar
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    Default Re: Return to the life

    Quote Originally Posted by Davidzil View Post
    LFS never a problem, pretty funny stuff.
    Nothing against the LFS stores.
    Don't get me wrong, I've had issues but not with this particular LFS. Also, there are very few of them left around.

  6. #36
    Registered Member karpomatic's Avatar
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    Default Re: Return to the life

    These Hill Stream Loaches are very active. They glide all over everything and chase each other around. This one has doubled in size since I got it. The Bushy nose Pleco was waiting for me to drop in a slice of cucumber.

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  7. #37
    Registered Member Phillydubs's Avatar
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    Default Re: Return to the life

    I must say they are cool looking those loaches... are you trying to mesh them and make it work? Or will they crap out at the higher heat...

    Those rocks that look to be dangling on that wood in the middle? What is up with that? Are those secure in some way. Just my 2 cents but it seems like an accident waiting to happen right there...

  8. #38
    Registered Member karpomatic's Avatar
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    Default Re: Return to the life

    Quote Originally Posted by Phillydubs View Post
    I must say they are cool looking those loaches... are you trying to mesh them and make it work? Or will they crap out at the higher heat...

    Those rocks that look to be dangling on that wood in the middle? What is up with that? Are those secure in some way. Just my 2 cents but it seems like an accident waiting to happen right there...
    I didn't realize the different requirements for the loaches until after I got them but, they're both doing great. They are constantly on the move and love the cucumber I drop in. If I notice distress then i will move them to a tank with a lower temperature but I'm leaving them for now.

    The concrete blocks were for holding the driftwood down. They're gone now.

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    Last edited by karpomatic; 06-30-2017 at 07:45 AM.

  9. #39
    Registered Member Phillydubs's Avatar
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    Default Re: Return to the life

    Nice!

    Is it me or the pics or the light? The tank almost seems cloudy or hazy in a way?

    Also, is the scape staying as is? Any plans for more wood or anything or keeping it and gonna let the plants fill in?

    Glad to hear those rocks were temp. I envisioned an issue with them if they were planned to stay like that...

  10. #40
    Registered Member karpomatic's Avatar
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    Default Re: Return to the life

    It's my phone but those Beamworks LED lights are very bright. I actually just had a huge algae bloom yesterday. I have been running the lights full on from 6am till 10pm. I need to get a timer for them badly. I have one but it doesn't work with a plug that has a ground. I'm gonna throw some cotton floss in my sump and do a massive water change tonight. I've got some purigen ordered that should be arriving today. I also finally broke down and ordered a Python and it will be here on Monday.

    During the maintenance tonight I'm going to move the sword plants to my 46 bow front community tank. They don't seem to be handling the 84 deg water too well. I will add more plants to replace the swords soon. I have some Pennywort floating on top. I'm hoping that will cut down on the direct light a bit. I may try using the day light mode on one LED strip and the blue night mode on the other.

  11. #41
    Registered Member karpomatic's Avatar
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    Default Re: Return to the life

    Before Purigen
    Before.jpg

    After Purigen
    After.jpg

  12. #42
    Registered Member karpomatic's Avatar
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    Default Re: Return to the life

    A little photo update taken this morning. Maintenance was completed on Sunday morning.

    He's got a great apatite
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    this little ******* showed up out of nowhere.
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    Group shot
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    Some floating plants calms the fish
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  13. #43
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    Default Re: Return to the life

    You will love the python for wc! Were u bucketing?? I've used python for years and recently switched to an aging barrel with a pump, which for me was just as awesome (and time/effort-saving) as the original switch from bucketing to python. Only thing I'll mention is the thickness of the substrate. I see u r planning to have plants and that's Ok but in areas without plants ur tank might benefit from a thinner layer of substrate? I've switched to BB so I'm biased, but I had substrate in the past and it was impossible to keep clean, even the thin layer of sand I tried could not compare to the BB.

  14. #44
    Registered Member karpomatic's Avatar
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    Default Re: Return to the life

    Quote Originally Posted by Kyla View Post
    You will love the python for wc! Were u bucketing?? I've used python for years and recently switched to an aging barrel with a pump, which for me was just as awesome (and time/effort-saving) as the original switch from bucketing to python. Only thing I'll mention is the thickness of the substrate. I see u r planning to have plants and that's Ok but in areas without plants ur tank might benefit from a thinner layer of substrate? I've switched to BB so I'm biased, but I had substrate in the past and it was impossible to keep clean, even the thin layer of sand I tried could not compare to the BB.
    I was bucketing, yes. Luckily the bathroom is only around the corner. The Python helps my back a ton. I'm vacuuming to the bottom of the tank in the open parts of sand and only lightly around the plants. The Royal is already a little poop monster.

    I had a bit of a mishap on Saturday night. I came home from work to find my pump not running. I open the bottom and the pan that my sump sits in is full of water. A seal on my sump sprang a leak and was filling the pan. Unfortunately, the AC adapter for my pump was laying in the tray behind the sump and also filled with water, shorting it out. I've resealed the area with the leak and hooked up my emergency 500 gph pump for now till the replacement AC adapter arrives. Vacuum breaks are a very good thing.

  15. #45
    Registered Member karpomatic's Avatar
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    Default Update

    So here's a little update. My sump sprung a leak while I was at work one day a few weeks ago. I have the sump sitting in a pan just for this occasion but, I didn't realize that the AC adapter for my DC pump was sitting in the pan behind the sump. It filled with water and shorted out. Upon this discovery, I hooked up my measly backup 500gph pump, fixed the leak, and ordered a new adapter. I got the adapter in a week and got everything going. By that time the tank was a light shade of Mountain Dew. It took a few water changes over many days to get it back to crystal clear. All was fine on the mechanical end. It was the wildlife that was giving me issues.

    The two of my four Apistogramma Macmasteri began to bully everything that moved. First they killed the weaker female. Then I caught the one pair beating up on the remaining male. I quickly saved him and he now very happy and lives in my 46 bow front community tank. It all seemed good for a few days then I saw the dominate male take a chuck out of the back of my 4" Butterfly Pleco. I tried but he died a few days later. I had had enough. I spoke to my LFS who agreed to take them back and issue credit with no trouble at all. I replaced the Apistos with two Flagtail Prochilodus and two Geophagus Winemilleri. They school together quite often and the Geophagus are keeping my sand nice and clean. I also added 3 L104 Clown Plecos. I've also noted that I see my L235 flying Pleco much more often now that the Apistos are gone.

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