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105g Craigslist find! 11-26 Video of baby Guppies, 11-26 updates!!

24K views 205 replies 25 participants last post by  tonytrout2001@hotmail.com 
#1 · (Edited)
Well, I traded my 55g and 10g setup for a 105g :):flick::biggrin::icon_lol::hihi::bounce:

It's dimensions are: 4'L x 2'D x 21"H. Came with LOTS of things, one thing being 2 Coralife 10,000K x 175w metal halides (1 of which blew the second I turned it on) hung horizontally 31" above the substrate. It turned out to be the transformer/ballast, so I replaced that side with a 23 watt 6,500K CFL hung horizontally 31" above the substrate. Also has some 46" blue Actinics, but switched one for a 46" 28watt T5 Flourescent lamp measuring 3,500K also hung horizontally 31" above the substrate. My lights are on a timer and run for 12hrs on, 12 hrs off. All the lights run at the same time, but am looking into running the actinic set differently using a Coralife timed powerstrip I got with the setup.

Also came with an 11g ALSS sump pumped by a Rio 2500 submersible pump. The water free falls down an in-tank overflow box and is cleaned by simple bio-balls and filter floss. The sump also houses my WON Pro 350w heater, which I keep set at 81*f.

My flora is: LOTS of apogenoton bulbs from Wally World: Aponogeton Crispus, Aponogeton ulvaceus, and Aponogeton undulatus. Also Italian Vals, Vals Gigantae, rotala rotundifolia, rotala colorata, rotala nanjenshan, ludwigia glandulosa, Hygrophila polysperma var. Rosanervig, cryptocoryne walkeri 'lutea', heteranthera zosterifolia 'Stargrass, Pennywort, Parrot Feather, and Limnophila Sessiliflora. My floaters are: Salvinia auriculata 'Eared Watermoss', Hydrocharis morsus-ranae 'Frogbit, Pistia Stratiotes L.'Water Lettuce, and Azolla caroliniana 'fairy moss:)
 
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#172 · (Edited)
Yes, they are self-cloning and do not need to breed. I got 1 off of her before under the impression that it was an electric blue cray, but turns out it's a self-cloning cray due to the fact that it was in a tank by herself with NO possibility of breeding with anything else.

I did not get any pics, but wish I had before I put her into the tank. She has dug a VERY large hole in my substrate between a rock and my wood, and will rarely be seen until the babies are mostly on their own. Yes, they are a nice blue color, and will likely blue up even more than she is now with age. The good thing is that the offspring will be exactly like mom and will be a nice blue color as well. I will get some pics the first chance I get.

Since I put her in she has been building a den and hiding, so I have not got any pics of her in my tank yet, but I have some from where she came from taken the day before I got her.



 
#173 ·
I had to perform an emergency c-section on my very pregnant Guppy last night. She looked like she was herniated from being so big. I waited until she wasn't wiggling anymore, and tried to save the babies she had in her. Sadly, none of the babies survived, they weren't even formed all the way for some reason. Maybe she just had too many in there, IDK. It sucked cuz that was the last female I had that was ready to breed. I do have some of the babies left, but they wont be having any babies soon.

On a lighter note, my spawning Angels are seperated in their own tank, and I have some Zebra Danios seperated, so will hopefully be getting some babies from them soon. I got to clean out another tank, but soon I'll be able to seperate some Tiger Barbs and hopefully start breeding them too.

Also have some Apons that is sending off shoots of baby plants. Soon, my tank will be overrun with them, so it's about time to start getting rid of some of them. I already see some more that are getting ready to start sending shoots.

I am finally starting to filter out my abundance of Apple's, I had WAY too many:) I had around 250 or more, and I think I'm down to about 100. Most of what I have I am keeping to breed, especially the purple and pink ones which are my favorite. I am keeping all whites in my main tank, but the others will go into other tanks to breed as I get the tanks ready. Other than that, not much else is happening right now. Still haven't seen the cray for a few days, but I figured I wouldn't. Hopefully I start seeing babies soon.
 
#175 ·
I know, it wasn't something I preferred to do, but it had to be done. It just sucked that I didn't even get the chance to save one of them:( I just used a razor blade. I flipped her upside down, then I started at her anus and cut straight up her belly until the sac came out. Then I grabbed a piece of the sac and rolled it between my fingers, which helped to release the babies.
 
#177 ·
Thanks, buddy, I appreciate that. I hope they reach maturity soon, there are people that want them. I think I will have about 5 males and 4 or 5 females when they do, so they hopefully will start upping my population of Guppies in the tank.

I finally seen my cray last night. It made a huge den in the gravel under a rock, and with babies, she hasn't come out where I could see her since she went in. Well, my lights went out last night, but the bottom light isn't on a timer so it stayed on. When I walked by the tank I noticed a spot of light could be seen through the tank. I got to looking down there, and I could see the cray down there with babies attached to her tail:biggrin: Definitely made me happy.
 
#179 ·
Watch out in your angel breeder.

Eggs=Meals for snails.

Just a thought,

-Gordon
You know, I never thought of that, thanks Gordon. That's why I love this site and will be working on the gold membership after the first of the year:) This site is the best of it's kind that I've found, so I have to do it. I guess I need to set up another tank. I just put a Tiger Barb in the breeder net, so will need one anyway.
 
#185 ·
I got some test strips today. Here are my results:
Main tank
No2 0
gh 150
kh 35
ph 7.8
no3 80

Angel breeder
No2 5.0
gh 150
kh 35
ph-pink but the colors ran from orange to red, so not sure how I got a pink result. Faulty strip maybe?
No3 40

Tap
No2 0
gh 75
kh 35
ph-Again, pink. Has to be in the neutral range somewhere, as with the other.
No3 0
I hate the stupid strips, the results are too varied with them cuz I know some of the reading were in between the listed results. Some results show a couple problems that I need to address slightly, so that is a plus.
 
#186 ·
I use the Mardel 5 in 1 strips and like them, the only thing I have a problem with is pH, but the directions tell you to wait 30 seconds before taking a reading but I find if you do it between 5 to 10 seconds they are very accurate or accurate enough for what I need.

I mostly like to see how hard the water is, ppm on C02 via pH & kH, and my nitrates. I limit the use to 1 per week unless there is a problem and get them on Amazon, a 100 ct bottle for $27 makes them fairly cheap when reading 5 parameters for $0.27.
 
#187 ·
I strongly recommend liquid test kits, they may be expensive, but they last awhile and produce really accurate results. I bought a freshwater kit and then a water hardness kit separate, and it ran me maybe around $40 bucks, but its lasted a year so far, with bi-weekly sometimes just monthly testing and I'm sure there is still plenty left. Its never stirred me wrong.

First time I posted on here I think, I've been following for quite awhile though.
 
#188 ·
Yea Tony, unless you don't require super accurate results you should always go liquid test kits or you're always eyeballing the number. The sad part is, everyone on this forum tells you to get the liquid test kit. But then you go into like Petco and they recommend the test strips for ease of use and how they are "just as accurate".
 
#189 ·
Well, I never test my water. I occasionally test ph, but that's about it. I have the liquid ph test, so I will probably break that out tomorrow and test that since these test strips resulted in colors that weren't even on the chart. The only reason I tested now is due to mdixon giving me some Jungle 5-in-1 salt/fresh test strips. I usually just watch my tanks closely, and smell them for funk frequently. If I notice fish acting funny, or the tank smelling really bad, I just do a partial wc. It's seemed to be working for me for many years, and I've never lost fish due to water quality. Maybe one day when I get to selling fish and stuff good, I will be able to buy me a nice test kit.

Been looking at alot of different Guppy pics, and I'm thinking I have half-black reds. They are the closest to what mine look like, and I have looked at hundreds of pics. The majority of the sites I have found them on they are listed as show-quality fancy, so I'm happy about that. I cannot wait to see what the babies turn out to be. They are finally starting to get some color in them now, so I should know relatively soon what they are going to be.

Cable, if you think you got a zoo, tell me what you think of my kids' early Christmas present.... a potbelly pig:hihi: She is black, has her nose pierced, and is cool as s*#t. Plus my kids just LOVE the idea that they have a pig that lives with them in the house. This is in addition to my tank inhabitants, 4 dogs, and also 2 cats. My kids are animal lovers, and so is the wife, so we rescue alot of animals and find them homes, so it's hard telling what we'll have next:) I want a big bird, a hedge hog, a couple kinds of lizards, and whatever else I might think of later. I'm gonna have to get some pics of them all soon.

Welcome to my pet habitat Salmon:) Nice to have you, thanks for reading and replying, and thanks for following along. I am originally from Ohio, Sidney to be exact:( Born and raised and I hate the place. I made a good decision to move out of there. I do go visit on occasion, but it looks so bare there after coming from Tn and will likely never move back. My kids are hillbilly's now, and I'm happy with that.

Well, starting to fall asleep writing, so I'm off here. Till tomorrow, nite all.
 
#190 ·
Lol. The fiancee wants a pig and a dog, but the father-in-law won't let that happen. So we will have to wait till we move or until we inherit the house. What kind of lizards are you looking at? If you need a couple places for good info on that, let me know. I am on, like, 7 reptile forums.:hihi: As for a zoo, I think we may be about even. 5 lizards, 3 snakes, 6 fish tanks, 2 cats, a rat, I have a 5 year old and the fiancee and I have one on the way. It is going to get really interesting around here soon. Lol. That pig is an awesome Christmas present though.
 
#194 ·
We actually have three here, a miniature, but it is my niece's horse. She loves her little Peanut. I don't ride horses much. My horse, she is my baby and I have had her since she was 4 months old, isn't trained to ride and probably will never be.

I planned on looking for a tank for a little while. I am hoping for about a minimum of a 125 gallon. But bigger would be better.

Okay, most people do. A friend of mine is terrified of bugs. Crested Geckos make a great first lizard, if you have never kept lizard. I also have a mealworm culture. I haven't opened the containers in a while. :hihi:

P.S. I wish I could find a nice tank like yours. But everyone on CL here has saltwater tanks for sale.
My tank was a saltwater tank. It took me 3 days to clean all the salt out of it. By the end of it I had blisters on my fingers, and a pretty awesome tank that I was turning into freshwater. I've even used all the equipment, minus the powerheads and things. They had way too much circulation than what I needed, and would actually make pits in the gravel and blow the dirt all over my tank. Took me a couple days to figure out what it was. First I thought it was just an overabundance of detritus, but got to looking in the back of the tank behind my wood piece, and that's when I noticed the crater behind there.
 
#195 ·
My tank was a saltwater tank. It took me 3 days to clean all the salt out of it. By the end of it I had blisters on my fingers, and a pretty awesome tank that I was turning into freshwater. I've even used all the equipment, minus the powerheads and things. They had way too much circulation than what I needed, and would actually make pits in the gravel and blow the dirt all over my tank. Took me a couple days to figure out what it was. First I thought it was just an overabundance of detritus, but got to looking in the back of the tank behind my wood piece, and that's when I noticed the crater behind there.
Was it an old saltwater tank that was empty for a while? Here they are selling fully set up Saltwater with corals with fish.
 
#203 ·
Sorry I didn't get to the updates last night, I forgot to edit the pics so I've been busy doing that to get them ready. I'm here now though, so on to the updates:

I'll start with a FTS on 1-19 after we got back. This is after having DIY Co2 for a couple weeks, but more on that later:) After doing some cleaning:

Left side:

Right:

Crypt Walkeri 'lutea with lots of new growth and red outlines:

Sunset Hygro in suspended animation since moving it to this new tank. Not sure on the other:

Queen Marble Sword. Would probably be pretty sweet if I could keep it planted:

Crypt Wendtii Red growing good, and an Apon at the top:

For some reason, rosette plants are growing really well, but NONE of my stems will grow. They are either stunted, or they rot right out of the sub, so not real sure what's going on there. Any ideas?
Now for The DIY Co2/wine generator. Yes, I do make wine in there:hihi: You can almost see my reactor I built and put in the sump. I did have a pic of it, but couldn't find it right now. I just used a 20oz pop bottle, drilled a hole in the bottom and ran my powerhead in there, ran my Co2 into the lid through airline, and packed LOTS of filter-floss in it. I drilled little holes in the bottom for the outlet, which makes the water and Co2 mix before passing through the filter-floss and back out the bottom.

Here are some pretty cool pics of the cray, as well as some of her babies. Momma:

Babies:



And finally, my pair of Green marble Angels:

Surprise!! Male doin EXACTLY what he's supposed to be doin:

Nothing survived this time, but it was only their first time and I didn't expect anything to. Atleast I know I will eventually be stocked to the gills with Angels in the near future:)

I will be taking pictures pretty regularly to judge the growth I will hopefully be getting from the added Co2, so stay tuned and thanks for looking.
 
#206 ·
Thanks, buddy. Don't worry, I have no plans to give up on anything. If anything, I want to push forward and grow, not stop:)

Cool stuff Tony. You got shrimps? or just crayfish?
Thanks, though I'm still not done. I still lack some Java fern for around the entrance to my tunnel, and would love to get some more colorful plants in there as well. I've also been on the lookout for a couple more pieces of wood to put with the one in there. It will hopefully look ok when I'm done :proud:

No, no shrimp. I had plans on getting some Bee shrimp, and have thought about some cherries from Treetom, but things just didn't turn out the way I wanted them to this month. Right now, just the crays. It's cool for now though, since I didn't get the tanks I planned on having. The lady set up a place to meet so I could get some tanks, and then she ended up driving around after she realized the place she set wasn't actually there:angryfire Emailed me later and said, "Oh, we probably passed each other on the highway (after I drove all that way with 3 kids by myself, about 30m 1-way), but could we set something else up to meet again?" Well, no, not after all that bs! Can you tell it's a sore subject? And you only know half of it:mad:

I do have a couple more pics of some baby crays, but I think they're still on the camera. I'll get them on here after I get the cam back out. The ones I'm missing were the best ones I got, and showed the little ladies really good.


I do have an empty 10g I could set up, and probably will so I can start breeding some of them Tiger Barbs. Did you all see some of the fat ones in the pics? I also need a place to keep some snails, as I found out the Apples will eat fish eggs. I'm pretty sure that's where the majority of the Angel eggs got off to, cuz I'm relatively sure the crays didn't eat them and they were totally gone one day. I thought about making a DIY in-tank breeder from a big jar and sponge filter, but feek it might be too hard to feed the babies like that. IDK, I'll get it figured out.
 
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