My Marina Cubus Setup

It's not often that I share an entire tank setup however, I had so much fun putting this adorable tiny tank together that I wanted to share it and also share my new pet Betta that I have named Moto!

What I used...
Marina Cubus Glass Betta Kit (0.9L)
White Aquarium Gravel (5LB Bag, used about a cup of gravel)
Blue Male Veiltail Betta
Red Sea Deco Art Nano Filter
RockGarden Tufa Rock Aquarium Plant (Small, I believe all these look different)
Reversible Aquarium Background in Blue/Amazon Waters (Used the blue side and cut it to fit)
Marimo Ball

My Tap Water Additives...
Kordon AmQuel Plus Ammonia Detoxifier
Kordon Fish Protector

P.S. Moto loves napping on the soft Marimo Ball, so cute!

3 Million Dollar Aquarium *Laughable*

I recently saw this article about a 3 million dollar aquarium.

3 Million Dollar Aquarium

Why I find it humorous, because these people wanted a unique aquarium, only to basically end up with one that to me...looks like a regular wall aquarium. Who could tell that this was made of real gold, t-rex, etc?

Not to mention, Oh REALLY...a "dual filtration system, heater, air pump, lighting, CO2 generator, and automatic feeder", LOL...I think these people got ripped off and should have went to PetSmart for that stuff. For that price...it should atleast have a dolphin living in it! hah.

Questions and Answers

You've asked Guppy-Guide your questions, so here are your answers!

Q: How much do I feed my goldfish?
It is about 2cm high 3 1/2cm long (not including tail), I have been giving it a 'large pinch' of the food every night & I've had it since like halfway through last year (so I know i'm not starving it), but the thing is.. I was reading the back of the food thing last night and it said "just enough for your fish to consume in 5 minutes" & my fish eats all the food i give him in like 1minute.

A: Most fish food states however much your fish can consume in 2-3 minutes. Overfeeding a fish can shorten its lifespan overtime. If your fish has been surviving for this long then it is probably getting enough food. Sometimes fish have eyes bigger than their bellies, so if you find your tank water getting dirty rapidly or food particles sinking to the bottom then it is probably too much food (also look and see if you have food stuck in your filtration system). You could try giving it 2 small pinches throughout the day rather than 1 large one once a day to insure all its food does get consumed and it isn't going to starve to death.
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Q: Is the Top-Fin 10 good for my 10 gallon tank?

A: According to PetSmart.com these have a rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars. Here's a list of things you may want to check for to insure it is a good enough filtration system for your tank...

-Is your tank 10gal or smaller?
-Is your tank overstocked with fish?
-How is the water quality with the filtration system?
-Does the filter catch a significant amount of tank debry?
-Do you find the filter to be loud and disturb you?

Me personally I currently like the Aqueon Aquarium Power Filters.
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Q: My fish is dying, please help?
I've had him for a while now along with 4 others, hes a small oranda and all the others are tiny goldfish. They are in an 80l tank. However he got like red streaks in his tail one day so imedielty took him out and put him in a tempary tank of about 20l with a small filter. I got some fin rot medication and they said it should clear in 5 days, however its getting WORSE its been a week now and his tails horribly all white and stringly and its going onto his body now he is like giving up every so often he stops swimming then floats to the top and goes upside down after a couple of seconds he swims back down to the bottom again. is it the end? or is there something i can do? btw how do you check ph levels?

A: I recently purchased an oranda with fin rot, yours sounds like a similar fungal infection. Unfortunately nothing worked, including Melafix, PimaFix, Aquarium Salt, Clear Water, Water Changes all were among the most recommended remedies I found online (check my blog here if you want to read the story of Maguro).

You can check pH levels using something like Jungle Quick Dip Aquarium Test Strips (I prefer these over the API test strips) from Petco. However, there are many different methods for testing the water which you can probably find at your local petstore.
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Q: Help I need a betta expert!
One of my bettas has pop eye, I have put API aquarium salt to help with treatment(not marine salt) and I am currently using Melafix 1. Is pop eye bacterial or fungal? I need to know how long it should be before I see improvement and if I don't see improvement by then what should I do? I have the API fungal treatment if that helps, I can use that later or I can buy the bacterial treatment in the next day or so. The tank is a 5 gal tank with heater and small 5 gal filter, the tank is shared by 2 bettas separated by a divider, please don't say its too small just tell me what to do, should I take out my other betta if I start fungal/bacterial treatment? thanks.

A: Here's a good link on the subject, hope it helps!

Source(s):
http://www.aquariumlife.net/articles/fish-diseases/pop-eye-fish-disease/165.asp

Questioners Comment: Thanks that helped a whole lot, I think my fish is getting better after about 3 days by the maracyn stuff, its a new tank so there really isnt much good bacteria yet, thanks so much hopefully my fish will get well.
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Q: Is my guppy going to give birth soon?
Ok, i brought my Guppy 2weeks ago at the pet store. week later i kepted checking up on her, and she was heavly pregnant, and the males where chaseing her day in and day out, then i buyed a Fry keeper (protects fry from getting eat) and put her in there and now ive kepted close eye on her for 1week now, And she moves very slowly, and stops in the cornr of tank, breathing heavly and then goes to planted area and back out and continues doing same thing, she isnt eating she only pokes the flake food and stops, her gravid spot is black, and goes abit pinky, i can also see all the fry inside her it looks very impacked.

Today, she pooped out a seethrew long thing what is this?
Also heres somepictures of my guppie.

http://i55.tinypic.com/arztt.jpg
http://i53.tinypic.com/5md8qw.jpg
http://i51.tinypic.com/2cz8yv6.jpg

I KNOW THEY EAT THERE BABIES!

A: You might be better off putting her in a separate tank with decor for fry to hide in once born, at least 5 gallons with a filtration system that won't suck up any fry being born. She is stressed because for one thing you have isolated her (they are community fish after all) and she is in a small area with little swimming room, hence the white poop. Instead of giving her flake food you should try some freeze-dried brine shrimp (like the Hikari brand) as brine are good to give guppies to induce mating and such. Also a guppy that is near giving birth usually will start isolating herself from other fish and will hang around the bottom of the tank, all you can do is wait at this point. Once she gives birth, you can then remove her from the 5gal tank and the fry will be able to grow adequately without being eaten. I wouldn't worry too much if she does eat any fry because before you know it you will have more guppies then you know what to do with and with adequate fry hiding places she more than likely won't eat them all if any.

Marineland Penguin Bio-Wheel Filter - Review

Marineland Penguin Bio-Wheel Filter this was one of the first filtration systems I ever owned so I figured I'd give my review on it since I used it for many years.

The filter itself was decent, it collected a good amount of debris although at times it wasn't enough for my 10gal tank, but with an added air-pump going it definitely helped clear up the water. Buying replacement filters was horrible though because they were bad quality, the carbon was coming out of the cartridge which in turn can be harmful to fish if consumed or perhaps I just bought a bad batch of replacement filters (it was part of the reason I opted to start looking for a new filtration system). Aside from some basic carbon and blue floss I wish it was perhaps more complex and beneficial to the tank however, you can cut the top of the cartridge and replace the old carbon (use a rubber-band to secure it back in place if needed).

The first noticeable glitch I had started with the fan system that intakes the water into the box, the fan wasn't staying where it was supposed to and it was catching inside. To fix the fan I had to remove the tube from the box and press down hard on it to keep it from going out of place, simple fix.

As the filter came of age it was running more slowly than my newer filtration systems. The most useless part of this system is the actual bio-wheel itself, it works at first or sometimes, but generally not at all. Basically the water would run around the bio-wheel and the wheel would sit motionless... I would really just throw that part in the trash to be honest. The bio-wheel is only good if you want to try and keep frogs and crayfish types from crawling into the box (my blue lobster did this once without it on!).

When the system was new it did run a bit more loudly I believe, but it definitely got quieter over time in my opinion as the water had basically become a steady trickling stream rather than a waterfall. You may also notice that as your cartridge gets full of debris the water almost bubbles up through the vent in the filtration lid, which is good if you need an indicator, but bad if you let it go unchanged/cleaned perhaps.

Also the box sometimes needs a jump start when first placed onto the tank, so scoop a couple of cups of water into the box before turning it on. Also, the power at my house is always going off and sometimes the system would not start up on its own and I'd come home to a loud buzzing/grinding noise from the lack of water left in the box for it to start filtering the water out again.

Overall I'd give this system a 3.2 out of 5 since it cleaned better than a lot of other similar filtration systems I have tried but this system could spare some improvement which should've been obvious mistakes to a designer that might've actually used this product before putting it on the market.

Reduce Nitrate (in a new tank)

This will show you how I managed to reduce my nitrate to 0 in clean unestablished tap well-water. Generally my tap-water stats are as stated...

NO3 (Nitrate): 20-40
NO2 (Nitrite): 0

pH: 7.2

I had successfully reduced my nitrate from my fresh tap-water using Jungle Plant Care Solutions Fertilizer and Water Conditioner (Ingredients: Derived from potassium chloride and ferric EDTA. Also contains nonplant food ingredients: 0.1% allantoin) and my stats were as stated (over 12hrs later)...

NO3 (Nitrate): 0

NO2 (Nitrite): 0
pH: 7.8

However, my pH did seem to creep up a bit on me. I also tested this product to see if it had any effect on more established aquarium water which had various chemicals already in it. The stats were as follows...

NO3 (Nitrate): 20-40
NO2 (Nitrite): 0
pH: 7.8

The Jungle product did not seem to alter it at all. So, this test shows that it worked best (for myself at least) during the start of a new setup rather than an already established tank setup. However, results could possibly vary for other people.

Maguro's Life Story

I purchased an adorable redcap oranda from PETCO and although it is cute and spunky when I bought it...I did notice it is not in perfect health.

Hello my name's Maguro...yes, it does mean tuna in Japanese.

My cute little friend here seems to have a yucky case of fin rot. Not only are its fins tattered, but it seems to have some black fungus covering the edges. If I can't get the fins to improve within two weeks it may get returned to PETCO because when fins continue to rot and lose more and more growth...eventually the fish will not have a tail and will more than likely not survive. It also appears to not have perfect looking scales, not sure if these were removed or something else, but hopefully it can build up a better slime coat by using the proper water conditioner.

My owner took me to a sushi restaurant during our first day together...she thinks I look like maguro nigiri, hence my name Maguro.

Also, I have never owned a goldfish like this (comet's yes, oranda's no) and I am beginning to wonder if it has a heart condition or this is normal behavior... I will see its gills move in and out, it swims about a bit and then it decides to stop...its gills stop moving and it remains motionless at the bottom (still right-side up of course). Its gills then start moving again and it swims about after seconds of being motionless (which feels like minutes at times)...or could it be sleep apnea?

I will keep this post updated with an "after" photo within two weeks time (or less).

Click image to enlarge

Day 1- Added my tap water with Maguro's petstore water (added random chemicals to test how fish would respond). Maguro had eaten a little flake food but did not seem to be a fan of brine shrimp.

Day 2- Changed out all Maguro's water with my tap water (added random chemicals to test how fish would respond). Maguro did not eat any food.

Day 3- Soaked Maguro in clean tap water with Jungle Clear Water (active ingredient: potassium permanganate) for 30 minutes. Solution: 5cups Water mixed with 1/4tsp Jungle Clear Water. However, after doing the soak for the first time I'd only recommend to leave the fish in the solutuion no longer then 15-20 minutes, then remove the fish from this soak and move onto the next step here (during the soak was the most active I had seen Maguro since I got him). Next I mixed together 1/8tsp MelaFix, 1/8tsp PimaFix, 1/4tsp Tetra AquaSafe and 9cups of clean tap water (I will do this treatment again tomorrow for its water change). I crushed up a little flake food and Maguro ate a bit of that, Maguro did not seem to care much for algae wafers.

Day 4- Today Maguro was his most active-self thus far, he was eatting and swimming around more, even after the water change today. I did notice a few white flecs (looked similar to dust really) on Maguro's wen yesterday, was wondering if it might have been a bit of white spot but I couldn't really see it today so it may have cleared from the treatment already. I do think Maguro may have some constipation so I will probably feed it a grain of epsom salt during its water change tomorrow. I also purchased some Aqueon Color Enhancing Goldfish Granules today along with Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Aquarium Salt which is said to help clear numerous ailments for goldfish (1/2TSP of API Aquarium Salt per 1 Gallon of Water for Goldfish).

Click image to enlarge

Day 5- I actually caught Maguro going to the surface of the water this afternoon, several times in fact, since he had only been staying at the bottom of the bowl. He does not seem to stop breathing anymore like before. Maguro is also eatting EVERYTHING (Algae Wafers, Flakes and Granules)...including his own poop (disgusting I know), so I decided to give him a bit more food then I had been. I made a gallon of water with 1/2tsp of aquarium salt and a 1/2tsp AquaSafe, I then added 5cups of the mix to a bowl with 3/4tsp of Jungle Clear Water and left Maguro in there for 15minutes. However, the salt in this mix seems to absorb the Jungle Clear Water and turns it tea colored instead of purple colored like before so I do not think the salt is an effective combination this time. I then placed Maguro with 10cups of clean Aquarium Salt mix with 1/8tsp MilaFix and PimaFix.

Click image to enlarge

I also fed Maguro a tiny grain of epsom salt today, which was a little challenge all its own. First I had to lift Maguro out of the water, next I had to cover one of its eyes with my finger (everytime my hand moved in to place the salt into his mouth he'd close his mouth). So once the eye was covered I brought my hand around and was able to wiggle the salt into his mouth and dropped in a few drops of water to make sure the salt went down (as it'd stick to his lips and come back out).

Day 8- Maguro was seeming to get better until today, for some reason all he wanted to do was float around and do the back stroke while blowing bubbles at the waters surface. The black fungus on his tail has maybe gotten a little less dark due to all the Aquarium Salt water changes which I have been doing over the past few days regularly, but it's really hard to tell though to be honest. I personally think Maguro has gained a little weight and his wen seems bigger to me. I do think his tattered fins have been mending a bit and becoming less jagged and more rounded. Although I fear something internally is harming him today and I am not even sure he may live past today or the next few days. He is currently undergoing a Marcyn Two water treatment for today.

Day 9- Maguro is still alive! Apparently I may have fed him a bit too much flakes and brine shrimp yesterday and he took in too much air thus causing him to float upside down a bit while blowing out bubbles. He was well and normal this morning. However, I am concerned about the black fungus because it seems to have gone onto the tip of his dorsal now, even though it doesn't seem to have spread elsewhere on him. At this rate I am beginning to think to just move him into a tank by himself rather than the 10cup bowl I have been quarantining him in, perhaps less stress of daily water changes and chemicals may be more effective then what I have been doing to treat the black fin rot fungus.

I also did more research on the fungus which says...
In general, fin rot occurs when the fish is stressed. The most common cause is...

-Poor water quality (which couldn't be the cause for it getting worse since I change it everyday)
-Overfeeding
-Overcrowded environment
-Handling of your fish

To help prevent fin rot, make sure you...
-Do water changes every week (have been doing daily)
-Test the water (to make sure all is ok) (water is fine)
-Try not to over feed
-A little bit of stress coat should help keep out bacteria and allow electrolites from being lost (Instead of a treatment type med)

If there are red streaks or fuzz growing on the affected areas, then you can treat for baterial or fungal infection. Otherwise, just keep nitrates low. Sometimes these things may have permanent damage so if the slits don't fuse back, but don't become infected then don't worry.

So this means that I need to monitor his food intake, use stress coat rather than treatments, provide it with more swimming room and less handling of my fish. So yes as I stated before Mag's will be moved into a 10gal aquarium to see if he makes any progress. For more tips and advice on treatments checkout the link, I will also try raising the water temp in the new tank environment.

Perhaps an inner parasitic infection causing the sunk-in appearance and red spots.

Day 10- No Maguro isn't dead, this is just one of his recent tricks...err problems. Second time that I have cleaned his water that he decides to turn sideways or upside down but later on he goes back to normal. Not to mention he hasn't seemed to have eatten in the last few days. I think the black fin rot doesn't seem as dark as it was although it is still present as you can see. He also has some other black fungus on his wen now along with ick yet again.

Day 11- Marguro seems practically dead today, he has been laying on his side again since this morning on top the water, all limp bodied and barely if at all breathing and hasn't ate in days. At this point I don't think there is much else to do accept say goodbye to Mags, return him back to the store and hopefully get a refund. R.I.P. lil fishy.