Smokey

Ahhhhh - that's the problem.... it's green. I seem to have a natural ability to kill anything green. :P I have given up on the plants. Algae just does not grow in my tanks, let along anything else green. Too soft water, black water, bare bottom's, too fine filteration, too low light, too much w/c's. Geeessss, I must be something wrong. lol... On day I will take the touble and set up a fully planted tank; yah right!!. Smokey [beat my head against a wall.]

Yes. Garlic can be a permanent ingredient of a fish's food. Garlic does not harm a fish. Rather, garlic is a natural de-worming food. Depending how much other ingredients are used, I migh suggest only a few pieces [ segments]. from a clove. Too start with. what is a segment from a clove called, anyway ?? I have made up batches with small amounts of garlic - to let the fish get used to the "NEW FOOD" ingredient. It may take a bit for the fish to accept the new food. Once totally used to garlic, I have used 2 - 3 whole cloves, to five pounds of beef heart; along with the other ingredients.. Experiment ... Smokey

Great to hear Michael ... discus , discus, discus ...../. love 'em. If you need any help/advice just ask. Personally - I am totally involved with them. Smokey

Good words of wisdom. Oxquo. quote - Oxquo - try less food at more intervals with young fish, this will let them eat and digest what they eat,. -Feeding every two or three hours is/can be the "norm" for fry. the young fry can only fill their belly's with so much food. and like any animal[ human kids included] - they always seem hungry. -adults - bigger stomachs; full, fat and happy!.. [personally speaking after a great full course supper.] :P Food in; poop out ... the need to keep the water, filters and tank clean. Sorry for getting way off topic. "Hydra in the tank". I will pass your method along. There are a number of proficient plant growers, down my way. Sounds like a winner!! and so easy. Smokey [personally - I can not grow algea].

I used the gelatin method once - same results - yuck --- messy tanks Oxquo quote-[The purpose towards making a great wholesome and complete diet is to advoid sickness ]] ... I totally agree. Some : off-the-shelf-foods have been process to death, survival foods - MPO! or as I refer to them - Corn Flake food. If you have read the ingrecients on the back of the containers - You get an idea of what is used. I go out and find the individual ingredients. Well, we know brine shrimp is gobblied up by most fish; so when I have extra shrimp hatches [ more than I can feed before the shrimp get too old and develop their hard shell] - I just freeze the surplus. Another food - if you can locate them - fresh fish eggs. Worm cultures - when then are young and tastey,, Summer time - great for compost worms, lavie, fresh veggies..insects, ant eggs, etc. There are a lot of choices. Smokey.

The garlic is mixed into the food; homemade - mixed well - through a grinder. I have added Green Peppers, Yellow peppers, brine shrimp, spirulina, beefheart, bloodworms all together. When I receive new fish, I feed the garlic mix to them ; just in case. It seems the natural oils, from garlic, have a de-worming effect. Kills them Just like in humans. [A Jack Wattley receipt ingreident]. The fish kinda give me a look of ; what -the -heck-is -this-now-kinda-look <_< <_< It has worked very well for me. Ginger - I have never tryed it. Interesting. One perosn was adding "TURNIP" to his food. He said it increased breeding activitly. Personally, It never worked for me... all I did was pass gas... Smokey

Howdy, thanks for the feedback Oxquo. Because of my heavy feeding method [ spirulina & bloodworms & beefheart; fed each feeding; 3x daily - regualr feeding routine] occassional I find planarians in the tank. My little axlerodi cory is doing a fine job keeping them under control. And like you mentioned, keeping the tank clean is always a problem. The tank is a 27 inch tall x 48 x 18: wide 100 gallon unit. Stuffed with 27 discus - 6 months to 2 years old, 5 huge 10 month old gold angels, a black ghost, and of course the cory. It is bare bottom, two powerheads - 400 & 750 gph - feeding the two large overhead Bio-Towers. Unless I change the mechanical filter foams daily, I notice the planarians develop. "My fault and laziness" ...lol.... Smokey

Howdy Val... I finely found ya. My msn is down and the mail program crashed .... Have to have my machine rebuilt..again. :P I found this board a couple of day s ago and I hope to spend some time here, Goood to see you again Smokey

Howdy Albert; We may have met before - Jason [ Pincher Creek] intoduced me to Dennis, his wife and the rest of yu'all. I'm impressed with your store .. and stock. Good to find someone from the store, so I can keep up with what you have instock. Smokey

The great problem with canister filters ... air lock!!! The "bulb" method works well and they are inexpensive. What I do - [even when I have shut off the valves - air still seems to collect in the impeller -] I just hook up a powerhead to the output side of the canister and "blow"/flush all the air out . or - when I refill the tank [ w/c], and have cleaned the media in the canister; I pump the fresh water back through the output line. This way I do not have to fill the canister before reassembling. hth. Smokey

Not sure you have tried this: Raw whole Garlic cloves. [ put through your grinder]. The natural oils in garlic are wonderful. Natural dewormer. Good stuff. Makes everything smell like an Itialian kitchen. Smokey

Great idea - I did not know that. Thanks for the tip. Do you use a wet cell battery [ motorcycle ??]. or dry cell. Murphy's Law - anything is possible. I am always concerned with anything entering my tanks --- w/c's are a norm!! Lets just say - for the sake of conversation - and interest - battery acid did enter a tank:[ small amount] -could it affect the bio-logical bacteria[??]. my first concern -could it have an affect on any fish [ short/long term ??] my second concern How long would you have the wires in a tank to eliminate hydra. Would this method work on - say white worms?? a few questions that leap to mind. Smokey

lovely fish Michael. I have a 1/2 dozen in my tank. Growing nicely.!! Pour the food to them - worms, heart ... and lots of fresh water.[ aka w/c,w/c,w/c,w/c'ssssssssssss]. My receipe - ph@6.8; KH@45 to 75ppm - black water; and NO3's@ 1-5ppm. AB - discus are not complicated - they just require more work. ...lol.... Once they get past their first year - they are very tough fish. mpe. Smokey

I have been making food for my fish for a very long time. Here are a few suggestions/discoverys I have expierenced: Determine the size of the finished food particles. Too fine - a fish may have trouble finding it [ sort of like a dust ]. Too coarse - a fish may have trouble digesting it. [ large pieces / small mouth ]. 1st - when using beefheart, [ which I use a lot of]; I keep it cold - around 40 - 45'F. Meat is easier to work on when it is cold, and less messy. Remove all fat and muscle. Cut into large sasuage size pieces. Freeze! If I feed just the raw beefheart - I use a cheese grater [large opening side ] to "grate" the froozen beefheart [ to a thin/small size]. mouth size pieces. Throw the frozen pieces into the tank and watch the fish go wild. If I mix beefheart with veggies and other foods [ flakes, worms, vitiams, etc.] - I use an electric grinder - the type that has a coarse roating drum style grater. Same surface openings as a flat cheese grater. I cut everything - to a size that can fit into the grinders opening. Garlic, lettice, zuccie, etc. Insects, etc...... THEN FREEZE EVERHTHING. I then take the seperate froozen ingredients and put them through the grinder. MIX everything together in a large bowl - mix well. I try and keep everhthing as cold as possible, froozen ingredients grind much easier and seem to create less of a mess!! I then put all the cold/froozen mixed ingredients through the coarse grinding drum again. [ note = some ingredients are small enough - with only a single pass - in this case I just mix everything together.] A second pass cuts/shreds everything to a slightly smaller size; and mixes everhthing very well. For fry, I use the fine sized grating drum [ the machince usually comes with two sizes of grating drums]. Experiment. I then place the finished/mixed ingredients onto a cookie sheet and freeze. If you have a Frost-Free style freezer - excess moisture will be "evaporated" [ Almost like a poor-mans freeze-dry process.]. OR - I place the finished ingredients into baggies and freeze! When I feed - I break off a piece. come feeding time _ I throw the frozen pieces into the tanks and step back.... hth. Smokey