Lessons Learned Board?

[TINNGG]

I didn't leave the room. I was netting angels out of my q/t tank just a few feet away.

[Thanks]

dont mix male and female guppies. + ...............

............ (the forum wouldnt let me put 10,000 fishies on)

[RoseHawke]

When deciding how your AHS lighting kit is going to be arranged, take into consideration that if you've got two ballasts and four lights you MIGHT at some point want to run the lights separately in two banks. In a front and back formation. And not a left and right formation .

I just spent a couple of hours yesterday re-arranging wires in my hood so that I could run half the lighting if I need/want to and barely had the wires long enough to do it like I wanted. Still not happy with it, it's not "pretty" ... but at least it works!

[New 2 fish]

Platties do like to jump, esp. after water changes!
When buying an adapter to go from your kitchen sink faucet to a garden hose, get the metal one- not plastic.
Never buy 30 sagittaria for a 30g tank!!!!

[GTApuffgal]

If you aren't getting much from your DIY yeast concoction, make sure the yeast is still good! I went out and bought a fresh jar of yeast a few days before I mixed up my first batch. Mixed er up and waited. Gave er a few shakes and got a few sad little bubbles. But I found myself going back and shaking and shaking... THEN I realized I had not indeed used the brand new yeast, but rather a jar that has probably been sitting in my pantry for around 3 years.

Take two! Mixed a fresh batch, switched out the bottles and within an hour, LOTS of activity. As of this morning I am at 30 ppm! Fresh yeast is your friend!!!

Kathy

[ThatOneFish]

First Post, I'll make this short:
Use correct equipment, don't try to cut the nub off a 2 prong extension cord, to fit your 3 prong plug, you may just slip and end up with 3 stitches in your hand.
When using a Python, make sure nothing is clogging the drain (drinking glass), for you may find a kitchen full of water.

[jhoetzl]

If you are drilling a round pipe (e.g. making a spraybar or adding to one), ensure that said round pipe is secured in something other than your hand. No further comment...

[GTApuffgal]

Even if your very teensiest Oto is too big to get sucked into the intake of your AC150 this does not preclude his ability to wedge his tiny head up in there.

(5 hours later - sharing zucchini with Spot, the Clown Pleco... and admiring the ugly slice of sponge over the intake...)

[Stu]

Originally Posted by GTApuffgal

Even if your very teensiest Oto is too big to get sucked into the intake of your AC150 this does not preclude his ability to wedge his tiny head up in there.

That reminds me of an experience...

Expect the unexpected;
Even if it would seem unlikely for an African Dwarf Frog to be able to fit (and get stuck) an Oto's head entirely in it's mouth, it doesn't mean it's impossible!

[GTApuffgal]

Originally Posted by Stu

That reminds me of an experience...

Expect the unexpected;
Even if it would seem unlikely for an African Dwarf Frog to be able to fit (and get stuck) an Oto's head entirely in it's mouth, it doesn't mean it's impossible!

OMG Stu - you're going to HAVE to share more on this one! What did you DO???

[Stu]

This was when I had my only Otocinclus with my frogs in their 25 litre tank (Oto now happy as a sandbag in my planted 80 litre!).

I woke up one morning to find the largest female ADF (she always tried to eat anything that moves) at the top of the tank with the entire Oto's head in her mouth!
I started gently moving the pair to see if they would free themselves, but because of the Oto's rough, spiny head, it had actually got stuck, and more importantly, I couldn't simply pull on the Oto's tail to remove it from the frog.
In the end I had to carefully prise open the frog's mouth, at which point the Oto quickly swam away. Both were fine after the incident, and I thought they would learn from this freak occurence.

How wrong could I be!!
A couple of days later, the exact same frog had done exactly the same thing again!
After that, I decided to move the Oto into my other tank.

Everyone I've told can't (or wont) believe that a frog could actually end up like that, and many others easily keep ADF's with Oto's.

I also saw the Oto sucking on a frog's back on more than one occasion.... something else not often seen.

I might try another Oto in their tank at some point, as I have seen bigger species available around here recently, so I might be posting some more "observations" at some point!

[darby504]

Greetings from Wyoming. Great thread!

I finally learned to check the lot number of any test kit I might buy at the LFS. For Aquarium Pharmaceuticals tests kits, the last four digits of the lot number represent the month and year of manufacture.

Therefore, the "substantial amount of dust" on the box at the LFS that jake mentioned also could mean your brand-new test kit was manufactured 5 (five!) years ago. Aquarium Pharmaceuticals emailed me the shelf life for their various kits if anyone's interested (but maybe I'm the only slow learner here ).