Just this morning, my Congo tetras were frantically glass surfing until I checked the Ph. It was over the roof! The reason: my usually acidic tap water suddenly became vary alkaline. Always test your tap water. The cities might be switching the supply source unexpevtedly.
EX: When I wake up in the middle of the night going to the bathroom. Boom, your light goes off, then you're blinded, and eyes have to adjust due to shock 😆
Good observation. I found with my Cories the food size mattered. I thought the wafers they were getting took a long time to consume. Trying a couple of easier to consume products led to the gluts getting it all. Also, a Ram and a Gorumie were not getting enough grazing time. So, back to the wafers. It is easier for them all to work at it.
My blue tail goodeids go absolutely nuts like they are being attacked even jumping if they are completely dark and the lights instantly flip on. I like having a window to let light in before the lights come on and that fixes it.
I've tried multiple types of fish foods for my chili rasboras, from crushed flake, crushed pellets, to repashy powder/gel. However, they do not go after any of it nearly as excited like they do for frozen foods such as cyclops, daphnia, and baby brine shrimp. The prepared foods either don't stay suspended long enough for them or they don't sink at all, when compared to frozen food. I find also that both my pygmy and habrosus corydoras have much more interesting behavior with frozen food. They are much more excited, sifting EVERYWHERE, and they body slam the substrate to knock more of it into the water column. I think that it provides that much more enrichment for everyone in my tank resulting in much better coloring and activity unlike when I was feeding prepared foods. Now balancing flow for them all on the other hand... I am still trying to figure that out 😅
You nailed it !!! Like a Hubert H Humphrey Metrodome homer from Ben Oglivy !!! I think when you have a topic like this you have a lot of good things to come ⚾
My fish would freak out when the lights came on with my T5's so I bought the Fluval LED with sunrise / sunset and it not only helped with the fish stress levels but also looks cool af
Very good content. Watch your fish. Thank you! One question: Do you think Boesemani rainbow fish need lots of floating plant cushions on the surface to feel comfortable? I realized they preferably search them for breeding in the morning hours, and now I wonder, if they will "miss" them, after I took the floating plants out for other reasons. I saw they are now using plant cushions in the bottom area, but maybe more as "second best"... Note: I am not breeding rainbow fish. My question is only, if they need the floating plant cushions to really feel good...
@@aquaenthusiast9185 in my experience, I haven't found that they need floating plants. I think they just might be accustomed to him in your tank, but without them they'll get used to it too
4:42 I wouldn't always go by the standard internet answer particularly for things like temperature. For most fish bred in farms its more the farm temp now and most are pretty much the same. But for more obscure species the information may be at the very least misleading. Ex. my Ataenuobius Toweri (blue tail goodeids) from Mexico are claimed to be cold water fish and everyone keeps them at lower temps bc the idea is that they are at a higher elevation so The water temperature would be lower, but if you look at the 1 research paper from that area it states the water is over. 80° f in March and that the water comes from the ground and that's why it's a lot warmer. People can't get them to have over a dozen fry or get much color. But put them in 81° water and they will get deep blues all the way up their bodies and can have a couple dozen fry a couple times a year. Do real research my friends.
I have been in the hobby for 40 + years and I was trying to explain to a guy who does aquascaping (he does these really pretty artsy looking tanks), why I don’t approach scaling my tanks like he does. He starts with an idea from nature and like a forest and then builds a scape around that concept. I told him I start with the fish, and read about where they come from and their environment and scape my tank around the fish that will inhabit that tank. As a result all my tanks look more like a river/pond/lake environment and not some artsy looking tank. He argued with me about a light I was using. I told him that light allowed me to get the right brightness for my fish. He was insistent that I should have chosen a Chihiros because it would have lit up my scape better. That wasn’t what I wanted. I wanted something that could grow the plants and would give me the lighting for my fish. I don’t think he ever got what I was saying. I like aquascaping, but I find so many of the scapes built are not necessarily the best environment for the inhabitants. Thank you for a great discussion. You were right on the money.
Part of the problem is that sometimes we are fed false information. Until fairly recently we were told repeatedly that Hillstream Loaches needed cooler water, high oxygen content and as much flow as we could muster. They need big water changes with cooler water as often as we could manage. This was considered the gospel truth because it was repeated so often it simply had to be true. Lucas Bretz then kept them at normal aquarium temperatures and not only did he not have very fact flow he had no flow at all, the tank didn't even have a filter. They thrived and bred for him totally contrary to what we had all been told.
I have a question for ya Bentley. What do you do when your fish are too happy and comfortable? I had setup a 90 gal tank, in that tank among a bunch of other fish I had two Hillstream Loaches and there were two Panda Corys. The two pandas are now 12 and I have no clue exactly how many hillstreams there are. The Pandas and the Hillstream **** like rabbits. Trying to get them out would be difficult task to say the least the tank is very heavily planted and has hard scape. I was thinking of getting a couple more of each of those to make up schools, not doing that now lol. They say hillstream loaches are hard to bread, I would beg to differ. My lighting on the tank is set for the plants and temp at constant 77 degrees. I gotta say though it is awesome when you notice fry in your tanks for the first time. I thought the other fish would eat all the fry and the eggs, I was apparently wrong about that. P.S. Oh and by the way Bentley your low and slow Texas BBQ method for Co2 works off the charts well. Running a 90 gal and only running Co2 at literally one bubble per sec and over past six to 8 months the results have been amazing. Plants not growing to fast or too slow. One of the very best pieces of advice I have ever gotten in this hobby. Thanx fort that one bud! When it comes to this hobby you are indeed a wealth of information.
@@kosys5338 so eventually a tank is going to get to a point of where either not enough food is coming in and they'll stop breeding as often, or you'll have some babies unable to get enough food and they just won't survive. Of course the goal would be to get some out and maybe sell them to a local fish store or relocate them to other tanks or friends. But I totally understand where it's difficult to get certain fish out of a tank. But you're doing something right? If you've got fish breeding constantly and you're always getting babies, you've got a great environment!
@@BentleyPascoe I was wondering about the feeding. I feed the tank once every other day and thought I might be pushing it to long but fish have always seemed perfectly fine so I never changed that. My local fish store has said they would give me 12 bucks each for the Hillstream loaches, I just haven't been enthusiastic enough to go after them lol. Thanks again Bentley much of my success has definitely come from your channel and I would encourage others to hear what you have to say in regards to this hobby. Thanx again!
@@lloyd011721 most rainbow fish come from areas where there are no submerged plants. Most of the foliage is around their water structures. Yet what a majority of rainbow fish keepers will tell you from their own experience. Is that rainbows? Absolutely love planted tanks! So there are lessons we can learn just by observing our fish in these contained environments.
@@BentleyPascoe interesting. have you ever made a tank that has no underwater plants, but some overhanging plants that obscure their view of "the sky" ? your rainbows certainly do seem extremely comfortable, possibly due to extremely frequent close proximity since your setup seems to be right next to them.
Assumptions can get you hurt lol. Naturally they are adapted for certain conditions but that doesn't necessarily mean that those are the conditions that they do the best in overall.
Just this morning, my Congo tetras were frantically glass surfing until I checked the Ph. It was over the roof! The reason: my usually acidic tap water suddenly became vary alkaline. Always test your tap water. The cities might be switching the supply source unexpevtedly.
EX: When I wake up in the middle of the night going to the bathroom. Boom, your light goes off, then you're blinded, and eyes have to adjust due to shock 😆
Good observation.
I found with my Cories the food size mattered. I thought the wafers they were getting took a long time to consume. Trying a couple of easier to consume products led to the gluts getting it all. Also, a Ram and a Gorumie were not getting enough grazing time. So, back to the wafers. It is easier for them all to work at it.
My blue tail goodeids go absolutely nuts like they are being attacked even jumping if they are completely dark and the lights instantly flip on. I like having a window to let light in before the lights come on and that fixes it.
I've tried multiple types of fish foods for my chili rasboras, from crushed flake, crushed pellets, to repashy powder/gel. However, they do not go after any of it nearly as excited like they do for frozen foods such as cyclops, daphnia, and baby brine shrimp. The prepared foods either don't stay suspended long enough for them or they don't sink at all, when compared to frozen food. I find also that both my pygmy and habrosus corydoras have much more interesting behavior with frozen food. They are much more excited, sifting EVERYWHERE, and they body slam the substrate to knock more of it into the water column. I think that it provides that much more enrichment for everyone in my tank resulting in much better coloring and activity unlike when I was feeding prepared foods.
Now balancing flow for them all on the other hand... I am still trying to figure that out 😅
You nailed it !!! Like a Hubert H Humphrey Metrodome homer from Ben Oglivy !!! I think when you have a topic like this you have a lot of good things to come ⚾
Thanks Bentley. Good video, food for thought.
My fish would freak out when the lights came on with my T5's so I bought the Fluval LED with sunrise / sunset and it not only helped with the fish stress levels but also looks cool af
Very good content. Watch your fish. Thank you! One question: Do you think Boesemani rainbow fish need lots of floating plant cushions on the surface to feel comfortable? I realized they preferably search them for breeding in the morning hours, and now I wonder, if they will "miss" them, after I took the floating plants out for other reasons. I saw they are now using plant cushions in the bottom area, but maybe more as "second best"... Note: I am not breeding rainbow fish. My question is only, if they need the floating plant cushions to really feel good...
@@aquaenthusiast9185 in my experience, I haven't found that they need floating plants. I think they just might be accustomed to him in your tank, but without them they'll get used to it too
Thank you!
4:42 I wouldn't always go by the standard internet answer particularly for things like temperature. For most fish bred in farms its more the farm temp now and most are pretty much the same. But for more obscure species the information may be at the very least misleading. Ex. my Ataenuobius Toweri (blue tail goodeids) from Mexico are claimed to be cold water fish and everyone keeps them at lower temps bc the idea is that they are at a higher elevation so The water temperature would be lower, but if you look at the 1 research paper from that area it states the water is over. 80° f in March and that the water comes from the ground and that's why it's a lot warmer. People can't get them to have over a dozen fry or get much color. But put them in 81° water and they will get deep blues all the way up their bodies and can have a couple dozen fry a couple times a year. Do real research my friends.
None of my Angelfish will eat Aqueon stick-on cubes and the cubes do not stick on the tank like @supercichlids cubes do!
@@dixsigns1717 got have a few drops of Crazy glue l9l
I have been in the hobby for 40 + years and I was trying to explain to a guy who does aquascaping (he does these really pretty artsy looking tanks), why I don’t approach scaling my tanks like he does. He starts with an idea from nature and like a forest and then builds a scape around that concept. I told him I start with the fish, and read about where they come from and their environment and scape my tank around the fish that will inhabit that tank. As a result all my tanks look more like a river/pond/lake environment and not some artsy looking tank. He argued with me about a light I was using. I told him that light allowed me to get the right brightness for my fish. He was insistent that I should have chosen a Chihiros because it would have lit up my scape better. That wasn’t what I wanted. I wanted something that could grow the plants and would give me the lighting for my fish. I don’t think he ever got what I was saying. I like aquascaping, but I find so many of the scapes built are not necessarily the best environment for the inhabitants. Thank you for a great discussion. You were right on the money.
Part of the problem is that sometimes we are fed false information. Until fairly recently we were told repeatedly that Hillstream Loaches needed cooler water, high oxygen content and as much flow as we could muster. They need big water changes with cooler water as often as we could manage. This was considered the gospel truth because it was repeated so often it simply had to be true. Lucas Bretz then kept them at normal aquarium temperatures and not only did he not have very fact flow he had no flow at all, the tank didn't even have a filter. They thrived and bred for him totally contrary to what we had all been told.
Great topic! Observation is such a powerful tool.
That was a brilliant and very interesting video Bentley..🙏
Nice
I have a question for ya Bentley. What do you do when your fish are too happy and comfortable? I had setup a 90 gal tank, in that tank among a bunch of other fish I had two Hillstream Loaches and there were two Panda Corys. The two pandas are now 12 and I have no clue exactly how many hillstreams there are. The Pandas and the Hillstream **** like rabbits. Trying to get them out would be difficult task to say the least the tank is very heavily planted and has hard scape. I was thinking of getting a couple more of each of those to make up schools, not doing that now lol. They say hillstream loaches are hard to bread, I would beg to differ. My lighting on the tank is set for the plants and temp at constant 77 degrees. I gotta say though it is awesome when you notice fry in your tanks for the first time. I thought the other fish would eat all the fry and the eggs, I was apparently wrong about that.
P.S. Oh and by the way Bentley your low and slow Texas BBQ method for Co2 works off the charts well. Running a 90 gal and only running Co2 at literally one bubble per sec and over past six to 8 months the results have been amazing. Plants not growing to fast or too slow. One of the very best pieces of advice I have ever gotten in this hobby. Thanx fort that one bud! When it comes to this hobby you are indeed a wealth of information.
@@kosys5338 so eventually a tank is going to get to a point of where either not enough food is coming in and they'll stop breeding as often, or you'll have some babies unable to get enough food and they just won't survive. Of course the goal would be to get some out and maybe sell them to a local fish store or relocate them to other tanks or friends. But I totally understand where it's difficult to get certain fish out of a tank. But you're doing something right? If you've got fish breeding constantly and you're always getting babies, you've got a great environment!
@@BentleyPascoe
I was wondering about the feeding. I feed the tank once every other day and thought I might be pushing it to long but fish have always seemed perfectly fine so I never changed that. My local fish store has said they would give me 12 bucks each for the Hillstream loaches, I just haven't been enthusiastic enough to go after them lol. Thanks again Bentley much of my success has definitely come from your channel and I would encourage others to hear what you have to say in regards to this hobby. Thanx again!
@@kosys5338 I would say if you're continuously seeing breeding then the fish are getting the amount of food they need
@@BentleyPascoe
Good to know, puts that thought to rest lol. Cheers!
i would assume that a fish would prefer whatever emulates actual nature the most accurately...
@@lloyd011721 most rainbow fish come from areas where there are no submerged plants. Most of the foliage is around their water structures. Yet what a majority of rainbow fish keepers will tell you from their own experience. Is that rainbows? Absolutely love planted tanks! So there are lessons we can learn just by observing our fish in these contained environments.
@@BentleyPascoe interesting. have you ever made a tank that has no underwater plants, but some overhanging plants that obscure their view of "the sky" ? your rainbows certainly do seem extremely comfortable, possibly due to extremely frequent close proximity since your setup seems to be right next to them.
Assumptions can get you hurt lol. Naturally they are adapted for certain conditions but that doesn't necessarily mean that those are the conditions that they do the best in overall.
How do we know? Because there are millions of pages written about it? Like it’s not rocket science