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  1. Ben Rhau

    pH probe keeps drying out

    Hi all, I'm using a Hanna 98129. The pH probe has a cap with a well that holds a few drops of storage solution, and I store it upright. However, if left longer than a week or so, the storage solution will wick up along the device and dry out. I can see the salt forming at the edge of the cap...
  2. Ben Rhau

    grindal worms not crawling on top of food

    Hi, all. Ever since I got grain mites in my grindal worm culture, the worms continue to produce, but they only eat food from the bottom if I lay it on the substrate. They don't crawl across the top of the food, which means I can't harvest them by resting a piece of plastic on top. Anyone else...
  3. Ben Rhau

    tannins, apparent effect on floating plants

    Hi all, I seem to notice a correlation between the darkness of the tint in my tank water and the appearance of pale, small, or dying leaves in my Salvinia natans (surface floater). No intended difference in light output at the top, and same water source. In my most recent case, I have some new...
  4. Ben Rhau

    Maintaining a low pH in blackwater aquariums

    Hi all, I'm in the midst of several blackwater tank builds, and thought I'd share some of my findings with you. Though they aren't being designed for cichlids, the same principles apply to the water chemistry. My target pH is 4.5 and my target conductivity is below 50 us/cm. Starting with...
  5. Ben Rhau

    Nannostomus mortenthaleri

    For those in the States, check out the "Apistogramma & Dwarf Cichlid Buy/Sell/Trade" group on Band. There's a seller there (not me) who's clearing out his Nannostomus mortenthaleri to make room for the new species. He's got a lot of them, and he's selling for $5 each (!) 20 minimum.
  6. Ben Rhau

    Quarantining process for import fish

    Hi all, I'm interested in working with fish that I can only obtain from an importer or transshipper. For those who have done this, do you treat the quarantine process any differently than you would buying from a local breeder or LFS? For example, I've never medicated my fish in quarantine, but...
  7. Ben Rhau

    Reducing RO waste

    Hi all, Thanks for your help on my question about RO and chloramines. I have questions about what configurations are sensible to reduce waste water. I see two ways to reduce the amount of wastewater produced by the RO unit: Using a booster pump. This is purported to reduce the waste ratio to...
  8. Ben Rhau

    RO unit for water with chloramines

    Hi all, I'm in the market for an RO unit, and my tap water is very soft, but contains chloramines and NaOH. According the literature, most carbon blocks do not efficiently remove chloramine, and the vendors recommend a 5 or 6 stage RO/DI to effectively remove chloramine. My question: Is it...
  9. Ben Rhau

    are white worms OK for very small fish?

    Hi all, Are white worms suitable for small fish like clown killies (especially subadults) and juvenile apistos? I like the size of grindal worms better, but my house is too cold to culture those without finding a way to heat them. Thanks
  10. Ben Rhau

    Eggbound pencil fish?

    Hi all, One of my N. marginatus females has looked heavy with eggs for well over a month. Very thick toward the anterior, slightly faded colors. For about the last week, she's definitely less aggressive about eating. Do pencil fish tend to reabsorb the eggs if they do not spawn, or is she...
  11. Ben Rhau

    Pencil fish illness

    Hi all, I've lost a handful of Nannostomus marginatus over the last year, all from what appears to be the same ailment. Usually the first symptom I see is droopiness or dark coloration in the body at the tail. The fish becomes more shy, and as the illness progresses, I start to see buoyancy...
  12. Ben Rhau

    A. sp. Alto Tapiche

    No question at the moment, just wanted to share a picture. Given the price of the wilds, I didn't think I'd be able to get this fish. Fortunate to get an F1 pair. Here is the male, in his first full day of quarantine.
  13. Ben Rhau

    Dither fish with quarantining pair?

    Hi, I'm planning to receive a pair of Apistogramma sp. Alto Tapiche next week, and am rearranging my tanks to accommodate. In what is currently my 10g quarantine tank, I have 8 Nannostomus marginatus. I can move them to another tank. Do you recommend keeping 1 or 2 of them in the quarantine...
  14. Ben Rhau

    Floating plants: Do I need to remove the submerged ones?

    Hello, plant people. I now have a number of different floating plants across my tanks, and have some basic questions about maintenance. My main question concerns the (few) plants that linger just below the surface and do not stay dry. Is it crucial to remove these so that they do not increase...
  15. Ben Rhau

    questions about floaters (mostly about frogbit)

    Hello plant people, I’m in the middle of clearing out the duckweed from my tank, and am intending to go with a floater that’s larger, has longer roots and is easier to trim away dead leaves. Considering both Amazon frogbit and salvinia minima, with a slight preference for the longer roots of...
  16. Ben Rhau

    should i ever clean a sponge filter?

    Hi all, I've reading some advice that appears to be conflicting. 1. Stephen Tanner's article on biofiltration implies that one should rarely, if ever, clean a filter. This tracks with the design of the Mattenfilter, which looks damn near impossible to clean without disassembling the tank...
  17. Ben Rhau

    Stocking a backup tank

    OK, while I'm stuck in the house, I'm spending part of my time dreaming on tanks. I have one tank and can probably manage to scale out to 3 small tanks without too much marital strife. :) I'm spec'ing out both a 10-gallon hospital/QT tank and a 15 gallon backup tank that can accept fish from...
  18. Ben Rhau

    How much BBS is too much for fry?

    Hi, I'm feeding my fry BBS 3 times a day. I can see them eating it, but as these have only been free swimming for a few days now, they aren't very efficient at getting it all. Therefore, I spot feed them repeatedly to make sure they get enough. However, a lot of the BBS is getting lost in the...
  19. Ben Rhau

    Stocking question with intended fry growout

    Hi all, I had a community tank, and removed the predatory occupants to make it a breeding tank. I’d like to know how much capacity I need to leave in my tank if I want some of my apisto fry to grow out to juveniles, at which point my LFS is happy to take them. I’m not trying to scale or make...
  20. Ben Rhau

    water parameters for resticulosa-complex?

    Hi all, Following up on my first post <linked>, looks like I have some as-yet unidentified resticulosa-complex fish. Can you please give me some guidance on the ideal TDS to breed? My params: Tap water GH3, KH3, pH 8+, TDS 138 Peat-filtered tap: TDS 104, pH 6 50/50 tap + peat-filtered tap: TDS...
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