I think you've convinced me to start using the test strips. I've always been one of those elitists who complained they weren't good enough and have always used the liquid tests. But the liquid is a huge PITA and takes a long time to deal with when testing multiple tanks!
+Rich's Fishes yeah exactlu, when something is a pain in the butt, I tens not to do that. Clearly that is worse than testing with a steip that is in my opinion just as acurate.
Its one of those things that was drilled into me (from too much internet research when I re-joined the hobby) so I simply took it as fact without any real life experience. Now I've come to find that I rarely, if ever, actually test my water anymore anyway. I'm unwilling to attempt altering my water to meet some specific parameter, I (you, anyone) should really never see ammonia unless we somehow cause/induce a bacterial crash and similarly should never see nitrite. Nitrate readings can be useful (as you've shown) for gauging water change schedules and for determining how much fertilizer you might need to add to a planted tank. I also like the digital TDS meters as a gauge for water change schedules (although again, not something I typically bother with anymore!)
ARGH!!!! Well now I know what he's getting for Christmas...tupperware and more measuring cups. Yes more.....I've bought him multiples. I swear he has 5 sets of measuring cups and at least a hundred scissors in that fish room....somewhere.
every single time you post your story its an inspiration to so many people out here and I can't thank you enough for allowing us to be part of your journey through this life
I'm glad you made this video, changing water just for the sake of changing water has always seemed asinine and counter-intuitive. Also, the tip on those test strips is such a good idea!
I just slapped myself in the head,i use test strips and never thought of cutting them so thanks for the tip 😁 love your daily dose and look forward to watching them so please keep doing them,always find your content very interesting so keep doing what u do and thanks for making them
Omg I bet I know exactly what that repashy smells like. I volunteer at a zoo in australia and we make a mix almost exactly like that repashy for the echidnas (exept it comes out as a paste). also great work on trying to reduce unneeded water usage cory.
I remember watching your videos you made with Lamont & I would think to myself why does he only have 1,200 subscribers & now you're over 20,000.. congratulations Cory, I always enjoy your content 👍
I'm 13 and went into a tackle and koi food store and I chatted to the owner and around April he's going to switch to a pet store and an hour went by and he offers me a job when it starts on Saturdays... YAYYY!!! I know lots about birds, fish and mammals which he will have!
Cut the test strips in half... That's an awesome tip that my LFS would never tell their customers. I love how Cory's videos are geared towards creating and developing hobbyists. There's only 1 LFS store in my area(besides the chain pet stores) and it feels like they don't want to share any information, and would rather their customers be totally dependent on them. If I had a LFS near me with a staff half as passionate as Aquarium Co-Op, I'd feel so lucky.
Can't believe it's been 3 weeks of Daily Dose already. I was a little on the fence on whether to buy some Repashy, since I don't see it much in the UK but this made my mind up. Another great video, Cory.
Our Betta, Corydoras Julii’s, and black skirt Tetras also LOVE our Snell-O (obviously for snails) fortified with cuttlebone, frozen blood worms, algae wafers, and regular flakes. Never lasts longer than a few hours at most👍🏻
Ordered some strips, thanks for the cut in half tip! I have the API test kit but the nitrate one has stopped working no matter how hard the 2nd bottle is shaken.
I know this is an old video by now, but couldn't help commenting! I am simultaneously disappointed by the missed opportunity of Taconess, while also drooling over the falafel. Two of my favorite foods! Americans really don't appreciate falafel (yet?), so it always cheers me up to see people eating it in unexpected places! Bon appetite for whatever you guys are eating today!
The Repashy Soilent Green is popular in all of my tanks and pond (Endlers, guppies, zebra/leopard danios, snails, neocaridina shrimp, neon tetras, yoyo loaches, red zebra African cichlids, etc). I keep it stocked and feed once a day, usually. I'm also enjoying Aquarium Co-op's newer test strips. Thanks!
Hi Cory! New subscriber and fish enthusiast here. A bit of a long message incoming, and the reason is the struggle to find someone with in-depth knowledge about fish keeping, who doesn't have the intention of selling equipment for your aquarium. I am only looking for honest and professional advice with the well-being of the fish in mind, thus I reach out to you. Firstly, a bit about my aquarium setup: Four days ago I finished setting up a new 180 liter (47-48 g) bare-bottom tank for my future fancy goldfish. The tank is now without fish, other than plenty of live plants (six medium sized plants plus three moss balls). I am adding bacteria every week to boost the cycling process (Bacterial Combi System, Filter Starter, from EASY-LIFE), have the water temperature on around 27 deg.C (81 deg.F), and have lights on for approximately half a day for the sake of the plants. I don't use a heating element since goldfish don't need that, and I will manually lower the temperature of the tank to around 23 deg.C (74 deg.F) before I pick up the fish. The end goal is to have a total of three fancy goldfish in the aquarium, if possible, so I use two sponge filters (350 l capacity on each), and an air stone for filtration, plus I placed one bag of ceramic bio rings on top of each sponge filter. The air pump is the EHEIM Air 400 (duo outlet with a total of 400 l/h capacity). Will the airpump handle the setup or did I go overboard with the filtration? Does this setup help the growth of the beneficial bacteria? The bacteria additive promises that the aquarium is done cycling in only two to tree weeks, but is that usually the case? The first fish I've reserved is a high quality one year old, male short tail oranda lionhead, so he's quite a big fellow already. I am worried that my filtration and it's cycle can't handle a possible ammonia spike or imbalance in the nitrogen cycle when adding a first fish of that size. Do I have reason to worry? Secondly, I need to pick a type of food, and deciding if I should use fine sand as substrate or keep the bottom bare. I have heard goldfish love to filter through sand, but what are your thoughts on that? When it comes to the food of choice for goldfish, I get mixed signals. Store managers only use flake food. On the Internet, however, a lot of people who work with goldfish, including you, love the gel food. In case gel food is the best way to go, which one is best suited for fancy goldfish? I rarely see anyone actually using the Repashy Super Gold for Goldfish, but instead use the Repashy Soilent green. Or should I rather make my own gel food? I have no clue what to do, I just know that I want the fish to have all its needs covered. Final quick questions: I threw in a bit of sinking fish food sticks to help the nitrogen cycle with more ammonia. One day later the fish food is covered with a slimy, semi-transparent layer. Is this fine? Should I just leave it there to further break down or do I take it out and add new food? Your channel is great, by the way. I've learned a whole lot from you and I really appreciate that. Keep up the good work, and thank you!
I steal all the scissors in the house between my art projects and tank stuff, lol! They get tossed in a drawer, in a box or on some random surface and then I can't find them. Then I do deep cleaning and organizing and find 20 pairs all at once. Hehehe.
Where I used to live we had two meters, one on water going in and one on sewer line going out and was billed for each separately. The going out sewage bill was a lot more so I'd save some on my bill by when doing water changes not putting it down drain but rather ran it out into yard.
You were well on form today, brilliant video. Love the tip on cutting test kits and really interested in the food you fed. Going to research if they Dona food for marines.
I really like these Daily Dose videos. Perfect length and they're out every day! Also, I spent about an hour today YouTubing puffers eating clams... thanks alot Cory! lol
Cory, thank you for your wonderful videos and doing your best to share education with fish keepers. Today my heart is broken I lost all the fish in my tank. I am a new fish keeper and I’ve tried very hard to educate myself and do all the right things. It was my nitrite that I could not stabilize I tried many many things and it’s just wouldn’t go down I am at the point now that I don’t know if I should just give up.? I just got my 20 gallon fish tank for Christmas as a present from my husband because I asked for an aquarium for Christmas 2019. Here it is only the middle of January and on my fish are dead all except for to cool the lunches that are still hanging in there. I only had one beta fish and three white tipped her trailers and five kolaches I don’t think that is overloading the tank. I didn’t put them in until my tank had good ratings after three weeks. But now here we are and they have died. I even ordered plants from you and fish food from you and fertilizer from you. By the way the service and quality were excellent! My nitrates were out of whack before I place that order I hoped some of those things would help to put things in balance. Unfortunately everything died the day or two after. It was just too late to save them. What is it that causes nitrates to not want to go down? I’ve looked but can’t quite find the answer? I don’t want to make the same mistake again... I am so sad. 😢 Especially about my beta. I had had a betta, Freddy Mercury, in a 2 1/2 gallon tank for over six months and thought I would be doing him a favor putting him in a larger tank with other fish. I killed him😢
You likely cycled your tank, and then it crashed from feeding more than the bacteria could handle. Most people think they aren’t over feeding the fish. This isn’t what you watch, it’s if you are over feeding the bacteria and plants. I’d focus on growing plants in the tank and keeping things stable for a month to 6 weeks before adding say 1 single fish back in. Then waiting another month etc. Slow is the key to aquariums.
Give the Discus a try with Repashy - I've tried it with mine and they go for it. Had to introduce it alongside their regular food but now they go for it.
Hi Cory, thank for the information in this video. I really appreciate the tip on how to save money on the water testing strips and how testing the water first should be used as a basis to come up with a water changing plan. I have two HOB filters in a 10 gallon tank. My HOBs uses two different sponge materials, one for mechanical filtering and another for biological filtering. I also added to pre-stage filters on the intake tube after seeing one of your videos. How often should the pre-stage filters be cleaned? Also how often should the mechanical sponge filter be cleaned? I planned on cleaning the mechanical and biological filter sponge inside the HOB once a month. Should I clean the mechanical sponge more often within a month?
Cory!!! You are absolutely hilarious!!!! You just said that was a real time time lapse talking about test strips🤣🤣🤣 you always make me laugh man you are great! Thank you so much for everything you do bro you are a true saint
Hi Cory, May i know if its best to 1) Air about 10 gallons of water overnight for water change for a 55 gallon tank? 2) Add dechlorinator before adding water to the tank straight from the tap? Also, for a discus tank(5 discus in a 55gallon), is water change 1-2 times week enough? They will be fed about twice a day. Thanks!!!
I have an Extremely heavy planted aquarium, and my Nitrates and Nitrites are at or near 0 on a constant basis. I have done a partial water change once since I bought the tanks from my son (about 9 months ago), just to see how much of a pain in the butt it would be. However, I keep seeing on most every site, you have to do water changes, water changes, water changes......... What is the point if I have no Nitrogen/Ammonia problems, and the fish seem happy and healthy? They have a day for everything else, might as well have one for tacos. Love the test strip tip. I figured the tabs would fall off.
Well there are lots of parameters we as hobbyists don't test for. Like hormones, copper, zinc, etc. In high levels all can be deadly. In your case, you don't have to worry about the main fish killers which are fish waste. I'd say a water change once a month while servicing filters etc would be enough. Enough water to clean the media etc is all that would probably be needed depending on type of fish etc.
Aquarium Co-Op Where I am in Australia, we recently had 10 years of drought conditions and water restrictions. Using water sustainably can be a big part of fishkeeping for some people. Thanks for the video Cory, you are both informative and fun. Top work buddy.
I hadn't thought of dropping Rapashy in as cubes. I'll have to try it on my Mbuna tank, and the community tanks. I chop it up for my goldfish and oscars. Oscars are rotten 😊 and finicky. Thanks for the videos.
Hey, just curious...when cutting test strips in half(preferably the best Aquarium Co-op brand), Is it best to hold your pinky out...? Or just with knives...? Keep up your awesomeness...!
I have heard that a sudden reduction of nitrates can stress fish and that if they are high then they should be reduced gradually. Is this true? If you perfectly matched all six parameters could you do a water change of any size and if not what is the highest you would go,,as a general rule? Would you recommend asking the pet shop to let you test the water in the tank you will get your fish from and match the levels before getting the fish? I know you cannot release them right away in any circumstance because you must equalize temperatures. Many questions,,I know. :)
Harbor freight free scissors, cutting test strips, getting tacos, I wanna hang out someday ;) I know this is an older vid but I’ve had tanks most of my life - 50yrs- been watching for Cory about a year
Hi Cory thanks for helping me get started in this hobby. I feed flake food now but am thinking of mixing it up would I feed the Repashy once a day like the flake? 40 gallon breeder community tank. Also I am ordering the strips again thanks for all the info delivered in a entertaining way.
Cory, this is a great video. It was the topic of an argument a while back. You have said many times that changing water too frequently can be counter productive. There have been times though that you seem to state the opposite and I know I am missing the point. I have a question about water hardness, I know it is hard to answer everyone but I will leave it there with no expectations. If I want to soften water by adding, peat, tea, Cattapa and then I use carbon to remove the brown stain am I removing the Material that is softening my water or can I do that anyhow? Thank you! Love your work!
Any thoughts on which Repashi food blends to use? I would think the Community has meat as well as veggies. When would you use a straight plant based diet?
Yeo bro! I am a skater who is just getting srarted in this hobby! Anyway I heard you mention Braille skateboardings channel! I have geeked out on them as well... now I am definitely geeking out on aquarium co-op... I have in a month went from 5 to 10 gallon tank! Now I am already a collector with 2 tanks... hahaha anyway, Thank you kindly for all your hard work! I love your passion!!!
Love your idea on cutting strips in half. I only use the Tetra brand. However my new strips I bought on Chewy (100 for under 18.00 dollars) now state to wait 60 sec instead of 30. Not sure why Tetra changed it.
Hi cory, When you say nitrogen do you mean nitrates. Also my rasbora maculata are only eating my Hikari first bites and I tried feeding frozen brine shrimp and daphnia but they didn't go for it, is it too big for them? They never seem to go for food on the gravel either unlike my guppies in another tank!
"eat a Taco and we'll see ya tomorrow!" should totally be your new tag line! Thanks for the awesome videos and great products... I should do an order soon and help support your taco addiction... =)
Hi I use Era Strips but do the same as you cut them in half. I also in my two main tanks have Seachem Ammonia Alerts and Ph Alert in Tropheus tank as water is 8.8
OK So seeing you use test strips reminded me of a question. Are test strips good enough to use for aquariums, or do we need the liquid test kit (API Master Kit)? I have seen people on some forums tell members never to use the test strips, and claim they are useless compared to the liquid kit.
I haven't skateboarded since I was young, and even then I was really bad. But I enjoy their content and it's a nice break from fish 24/7 :) Doug is my favorite.
Bahahaha... I was also thinking it'd be awesome if Cory went over water changes and/or over filtration. And I sent the previous message earlier about food. I could have just watched the daily dose... hehe good times
Awesome video, Cory! Quick question for you. Would a 300 watt heater be too much for a 20H? I bought one for my 40B, but I'm going to do a 20 instead, and don't really want to return it. Could I use it?
I am weary watching your video as I have just had issues with test strips. your video came up in my research. The strips were showing low or zero nitrates, but i found problems with my fish and algea. I do a api liquid test and nitrates are off the charts! I think it is the storage of the strips. makes them lose their chemicals. almost no one talks about this. and i worry you were testing all tanks with damaged strips. did you ever find this? i know this is an old video. but have you tried testing with strips and liquid test kit?
I recently found braille skateboarding too. Pretty cool channel. Do you skate? I got a longboard last week, it was my first time skating in about 20 years, had a great time at it, really fun. Thanks for making quality videos!
Which blend do you think Blood parrots would eat best? I'm switching my African cichlid tank over to blood parrot cichlids. Making sure I have everything I need to be successful!
Hello Corey, I find your videos to be very informative. Thank you for sharing your knowledge. My question regarding this video is about the shrimp tanks that also have fish in them. It seems that the general opinion is not to put fish in with your shrimp since they will be eating them if the can fit them in their mouth. I noticed that you had fish in each shrimp tank and you said they were breeding well and there were plenty of baby shrimp in the tanks. How do you keep the fish from eating the tiny shrimp that are in the same tanks? I realize that the fish are small but the little shrimp can still fit in the mouths of the fish. Please help me understand how you are successful at doing that. Thank you.
Buy these tetra 6 in 1 test strips from our Amazon Affiliate link here: amzn.to/2ydgT1r
I think you've convinced me to start using the test strips. I've always been one of those elitists who complained they weren't good enough and have always used the liquid tests. But the liquid is a huge PITA and takes a long time to deal with when testing multiple tanks!
+Rich's Fishes yeah exactlu, when something is a pain in the butt, I tens not to do that. Clearly that is worse than testing with a steip that is in my opinion just as acurate.
Its one of those things that was drilled into me (from too much internet research when I re-joined the hobby) so I simply took it as fact without any real life experience. Now I've come to find that I rarely, if ever, actually test my water anymore anyway. I'm unwilling to attempt altering my water to meet some specific parameter, I (you, anyone) should really never see ammonia unless we somehow cause/induce a bacterial crash and similarly should never see nitrite. Nitrate readings can be useful (as you've shown) for gauging water change schedules and for determining how much fertilizer you might need to add to a planted tank. I also like the digital TDS meters as a gauge for water change schedules (although again, not something I typically bother with anymore!)
Okay. Cutting the test strips in half is brilliant. Thanks for that tip.
Works awesome :)
That test trip tip blew my mind!
ARGH!!!! Well now I know what he's getting for Christmas...tupperware and more measuring cups. Yes more.....I've bought him multiples. I swear he has 5 sets of measuring cups and at least a hundred scissors in that fish room....somewhere.
every single time you post your story its an inspiration to so many people out here and I can't thank you enough for allowing us to be part of your journey through this life
I'm glad you made this video, changing water just for the sake of changing water has always seemed asinine and counter-intuitive. Also, the tip on those test strips is such a good idea!
I just slapped myself in the head,i use test strips and never thought of cutting them so thanks for the tip 😁 love your daily dose and look forward to watching them so please keep doing them,always find your content very interesting so keep doing what u do and thanks for making them
(Watches Corey cut test strip in half) ......o..m..g..
Simple little life changing moment for me.
Thanks Corey!!!
No problem! Changing lives one person at a time!
A Beginner like myself really benefits from your advice and recommendations - keep up the good work!
Are you still keeping fish?
Omg I bet I know exactly what that repashy smells like. I volunteer at a zoo in australia and we make a mix almost exactly like that repashy for the echidnas (exept it comes out as a paste). also great work on trying to reduce unneeded water usage cory.
I remember watching your videos you made with Lamont & I would think to myself why does he only have 1,200 subscribers & now you're over 20,000.. congratulations Cory, I always enjoy your content 👍
Thanks, Hopefully you'll be thinking the same thing in a year and it's over 100k :P
Awesome cutting the strips in half, you just saved me money, thanks Cory!
I'm 13 and went into a tackle and koi food store and I chatted to the owner and around April he's going to switch to a pet store and an hour went by and he offers me a job when it starts on Saturdays... YAYYY!!! I know lots about birds, fish and mammals which he will have!
What city bud?
Lyle Chipperson it won't be in a city just a small town in England.
Congrats chap
Homerun Chippa
That's awesome bro!
Cut the test strips in half... That's an awesome tip that my LFS would never tell their customers. I love how Cory's videos are geared towards creating and developing hobbyists. There's only 1 LFS store in my area(besides the chain pet stores) and it feels like they don't want to share any information, and would rather their customers be totally dependent on them. If I had a LFS near me with a staff half as passionate as Aquarium Co-Op, I'd feel so lucky.
Thanks for the info Cory!
You inspired me too keep fish!
+Danny's Aquariums awesome!
Can't believe it's been 3 weeks of Daily Dose already. I was a little on the fence on whether to buy some Repashy, since I don't see it much in the UK but this made my mind up. Another great video, Cory.
+ish thanks for watchin!
Had never heard of Repashy before this video! Another food to put into my aquarium tool box! You rock man!
Our Betta, Corydoras Julii’s, and black skirt Tetras also LOVE our Snell-O (obviously for snails) fortified with cuttlebone, frozen blood worms, algae wafers, and regular flakes.
Never lasts longer than a few hours at most👍🏻
Ordered some strips, thanks for the cut in half tip! I have the API test kit but the nitrate one has stopped working no matter how hard the 2nd bottle is shaken.
+Will Deasy awesome i think youll like em.
I know this is an old video by now, but couldn't help commenting! I am simultaneously disappointed by the missed opportunity of Taconess, while also drooling over the falafel. Two of my favorite foods! Americans really don't appreciate falafel (yet?), so it always cheers me up to see people eating it in unexpected places! Bon appetite for whatever you guys are eating today!
Smiling so big seeing you cut the test strip in half. Brilliant.
The Repashy Soilent Green is popular in all of my tanks and pond (Endlers, guppies, zebra/leopard danios, snails, neocaridina shrimp, neon tetras, yoyo loaches, red zebra African cichlids, etc). I keep it stocked and feed once a day, usually.
I'm also enjoying Aquarium Co-op's newer test strips. Thanks!
Fishkeeping goals! I wish my basement was set up like this. But my husband's train sets were there first! HA!
Thanks for the daily dose today Cory, getting me through my school day 👌
+Moogoo Najieullah awesome!
Agreed I like your content. You have such a cool profession
+Yunghalfcut Shawty thanks.
Hi Cory!
New subscriber and fish enthusiast here. A bit of a long message incoming, and the reason is the struggle to find someone with in-depth knowledge about fish keeping, who doesn't have the intention of selling equipment for your aquarium. I am only looking for honest and professional advice with the well-being of the fish in mind, thus I reach out to you.
Firstly, a bit about my aquarium setup: Four days ago I finished setting up a new 180 liter (47-48 g) bare-bottom tank for my future fancy goldfish. The tank is now without fish, other than plenty of live plants (six medium sized plants plus three moss balls). I am adding bacteria every week to boost the cycling process (Bacterial Combi System, Filter Starter, from EASY-LIFE), have the water temperature on around 27 deg.C (81 deg.F), and have lights on for approximately half a day for the sake of the plants. I don't use a heating element since goldfish don't need that, and I will manually lower the temperature of the tank to around 23 deg.C (74 deg.F) before I pick up the fish. The end goal is to have a total of three fancy goldfish in the aquarium, if possible, so I use two sponge filters (350 l capacity on each), and an air stone for filtration, plus I placed one bag of ceramic bio rings on top of each sponge filter. The air pump is the EHEIM Air 400 (duo outlet with a total of 400 l/h capacity). Will the airpump handle the setup or did I go overboard with the filtration? Does this setup help the growth of the beneficial bacteria? The bacteria additive promises that the aquarium is done cycling in only two to tree weeks, but is that usually the case? The first fish I've reserved is a high quality one year old, male short tail oranda lionhead, so he's quite a big fellow already. I am worried that my filtration and it's cycle can't handle a possible ammonia spike or imbalance in the nitrogen cycle when adding a first fish of that size. Do I have reason to worry?
Secondly, I need to pick a type of food, and deciding if I should use fine sand as substrate or keep the bottom bare. I have heard goldfish love to filter through sand, but what are your thoughts on that? When it comes to the food of choice for goldfish, I get mixed signals. Store managers only use flake food. On the Internet, however, a lot of people who work with goldfish, including you, love the gel food. In case gel food is the best way to go, which one is best suited for fancy goldfish? I rarely see anyone actually using the Repashy Super Gold for Goldfish, but instead use the Repashy Soilent green. Or should I rather make my own gel food? I have no clue what to do, I just know that I want the fish to have all its needs covered.
Final quick questions: I threw in a bit of sinking fish food sticks to help the nitrogen cycle with more ammonia. One day later the fish food is covered with a slimy, semi-transparent layer. Is this fine? Should I just leave it there to further break down or do I take it out and add new food?
Your channel is great, by the way. I've learned a whole lot from you and I really appreciate that. Keep up the good work, and thank you!
HE STEALS ALL THE SCISSORS! ALL THE TIME. ARRRRGGGHHHH!
I steal my wife's as well😀
I steal all the scissors in the house between my art projects and tank stuff, lol! They get tossed in a drawer, in a box or on some random surface and then I can't find them. Then I do deep cleaning and organizing and find 20 pairs all at once. Hehehe.
Savanna The Aqua Llama same here lol. I do the same with the 3 tweezers we have & drive the bf crazy lol
😂
Test strip genius....
I watched one of your videos
Where I used to live we had two meters, one on water going in and one on sewer line going out and was billed for each separately. The going out sewage bill was a lot more so I'd save some on my bill by when doing water changes not putting it down drain but rather ran it out into yard.
+Andy Henson yeah, I do that as much as possible, but the sewagw is flat rate here.
Aquarium Co-Op
Where did you get your yellow and blue fancy guppies?
watching the fish eat was a delight! I'd love to see it more often, maybe with different types of food?
+Erin Concepcio maybe so, we shall see.
You were well on form today, brilliant video. Love the tip on cutting test kits and really interested in the food you fed. Going to research if they Dona food for marines.
I really like these Daily Dose videos. Perfect length and they're out every day! Also, I spent about an hour today YouTubing puffers eating clams... thanks alot Cory! lol
Been there, done that :P
Gore, he still does that. lol
Cory, thank you for your wonderful videos and doing your best to share education with fish keepers. Today my heart is broken I lost all the fish in my tank. I am a new fish keeper and I’ve tried very hard to educate myself and do all the right things. It was my nitrite that I could not stabilize I tried many many things and it’s just wouldn’t go down I am at the point now that I don’t know if I should just give up.? I just got my 20 gallon fish tank for Christmas as a present from my husband because I asked for an aquarium for Christmas 2019. Here it is only the middle of January and on my fish are dead all except for to cool the lunches that are still hanging in there. I only had one beta fish and three white tipped her trailers and five kolaches I don’t think that is overloading the tank. I didn’t put them in until my tank had good ratings after three weeks. But now here we are and they have died. I even ordered plants from you and fish food from you and fertilizer from you. By the way the service and quality were excellent! My nitrates were out of whack before I place that order I hoped some of those things would help to put things in balance. Unfortunately everything died the day or two after. It was just too late to save them. What is it that causes nitrates to not want to go down? I’ve looked but can’t quite find the answer? I don’t want to make the same mistake again... I am so sad. 😢 Especially about my beta. I had had a betta, Freddy Mercury, in a 2 1/2 gallon tank for over six months and thought I would be doing him a favor putting him in a larger tank with other fish. I killed him😢
You likely cycled your tank, and then it crashed from feeding more than the bacteria could handle. Most people think they aren’t over feeding the fish. This isn’t what you watch, it’s if you are over feeding the bacteria and plants. I’d focus on growing plants in the tank and keeping things stable for a month to 6 weeks before adding say 1 single fish back in. Then waiting another month etc. Slow is the key to aquariums.
"One day I'm just going to trip and die on a pile of scissors..." that was dark for you, Corey. 😆
Great tips, Cory. Love these info vids! Keep doing them, please. 👍😃🍄
Give the Discus a try with Repashy - I've tried it with mine and they go for it. Had to introduce it alongside their regular food but now they go for it.
+Discus Newbie yeah, Ive had them eat it sometimes, but not reliably enough to recommend it on video. Depends on the group of discus.
This is a Cory humor video... Love it...
#timelapse @ 9:13
Love the test trip tip!! I’ve learned so much from you in the last two weeks!Thank you
great tip on cutting the strips.
Pinky out.... Moe, Larry & Curly have taught you well!
Hi Cory, thank for the information in this video. I really appreciate the tip on how to save money on the water testing strips and how testing the water first should be used as a basis to come up with a water changing plan.
I have two HOB filters in a 10 gallon tank. My HOBs uses two different sponge materials, one for mechanical filtering and another for biological filtering. I also added to pre-stage filters on the intake tube after seeing one of your videos.
How often should the pre-stage filters be cleaned? Also how often should the mechanical sponge filter be cleaned? I planned on cleaning the mechanical and biological filter sponge inside the HOB once a month. Should I clean the mechanical sponge more often within a month?
Great information man! These test kits are the best in my opinion
I really like watching your fish eat!
Cory!!! You are absolutely hilarious!!!! You just said that was a real time time lapse talking about test strips🤣🤣🤣 you always make me laugh man you are great! Thank you so much for everything you do bro you are a true saint
This is my favorite daily dose episode by far 😊 the tip for the test strips is just amazing!
Glad you got value out of it :)
Amazing video as always. You're the man, sir!
hi cory what a good nitrate to keep your plant tank at and fish only tanks awesome videos like the daily dose lots
Hi Cory, May i know if its best to
1) Air about 10 gallons of water overnight for water change for a 55 gallon tank?
2) Add dechlorinator before adding water to the tank straight from the tap?
Also, for a discus tank(5 discus in a 55gallon), is water change 1-2 times week enough? They will be fed about twice a day.
Thanks!!!
I have an Extremely heavy planted aquarium, and my Nitrates and Nitrites are at or near 0 on a constant basis. I have done a partial water change once since I bought the tanks from my son (about 9 months ago), just to see how much of a pain in the butt it would be. However, I keep seeing on most every site, you have to do water changes, water changes, water changes......... What is the point if I have no Nitrogen/Ammonia problems, and the fish seem happy and healthy?
They have a day for everything else, might as well have one for tacos.
Love the test strip tip. I figured the tabs would fall off.
Well there are lots of parameters we as hobbyists don't test for. Like hormones, copper, zinc, etc. In high levels all can be deadly. In your case, you don't have to worry about the main fish killers which are fish waste. I'd say a water change once a month while servicing filters etc would be enough. Enough water to clean the media etc is all that would probably be needed depending on type of fish etc.
Cory...lol...I am a huge quilter; and touching my scissors is a big NO NO :) You have an awesome wife :)))) Great tip on the strips!!
I love your videos! I'm so fascinated by fish and different marine life! You teach me a lot! Thanks✌️❤️👅
Plus, what video editor do you use?
+Gracie Kay Kay final cut pro x
Metered water and water conservation restrictions, makes water change schedules much more interesting and important to manage.
Yeah, I'm considering playing with some sustaining systems. Goliad Farms run by Charles Clapsaddle doesn't do any water changes.
Aquarium Co-Op Where I am in Australia, we recently had 10 years of drought conditions and water restrictions. Using water sustainably can be a big part of fishkeeping for some people. Thanks for the video Cory, you are both informative and fun. Top work buddy.
We like to use the Rapashy for getting parasite meds into new fish. Great Product...
+Backyard Aquatics yep, useful for that as well.
I hadn't thought of dropping Rapashy in as cubes. I'll have to try it on my Mbuna tank, and the community tanks. I chop it up for my goldfish and oscars. Oscars are rotten 😊 and finicky. Thanks for the videos.
+David Wangerow glad I coukd show ya somethin a bit different.
Great job Cory. Greatly appreciated!
Hey, just curious...when cutting test strips in half(preferably the best Aquarium Co-op brand), Is it best to hold your pinky out...? Or just with knives...? Keep up your awesomeness...!
I have heard that a sudden reduction of nitrates can stress fish and that if they are high then they should be reduced gradually. Is this true?
If you perfectly matched all six parameters could you do a water change of any size and if not what is the highest you would go,,as a general rule?
Would you recommend asking the pet shop to let you test the water in the tank you will get your fish from and match the levels before getting the fish? I know you cannot release them right away in any circumstance because you must equalize temperatures.
Many questions,,I know. :)
Harbor freight free scissors, cutting test strips, getting tacos, I wanna hang out someday ;) I know this is an older vid but I’ve had tanks most of my life - 50yrs- been watching for Cory about a year
Hi Cory thanks for helping me get started in this hobby. I feed flake food now but am thinking of mixing it up would I feed the Repashy once a day like the flake? 40 gallon breeder community tank. Also I am ordering the strips again thanks for all the info delivered in a entertaining way.
You could feed it once a day. Yep
Wow. Yeah! Awesome tip on the test strip.
Glad to help :)
Cory did I just hear you say that you had just watched Braille Skateboarding. That I have to see. LOL
Indeed. I love Vinny bahn, Doug and fetty
I love braille skateboarding.. I don't even skate, but i love watching their videos.
Cory, this is a great video. It was the topic of an argument a while back.
You have said many times that changing water too frequently can be counter productive. There have been times though that you seem to state the opposite and I know I am missing the point. I have a question about water hardness, I know it is hard to answer everyone but I will leave it there with no expectations.
If I want to soften water by adding, peat, tea, Cattapa and then I use carbon to remove the brown stain am I removing the Material that is softening my water or can I do that anyhow? Thank you! Love your work!
Love the Daily Dose videos - I watch them every day after work. I think you should keep that silvery goldfish cos you really seem to like him!! :)
+bronwenism he is awesome. He reminds me of a koi I have.
Just ordered Repashy from your website. Thank you!
steenfotts camera did not do justice to the pearl danios, they look good.
You'll be glad to know, he bought a new camera after I made him :P
I love that you mentioned fat, lovable goldfish!!!! They are so underrated. . . !
Any thoughts on which Repashi food blends to use? I would think the Community has meat as well as veggies. When would you use a straight plant based diet?
thank you for all your help
Yeo bro! I am a skater who is just getting srarted in this hobby! Anyway I heard you mention Braille skateboardings channel! I have geeked out on them as well... now I am definitely geeking out on aquarium co-op... I have in a month went from 5 to 10 gallon tank! Now I am already a collector with 2 tanks... hahaha anyway, Thank you kindly for all your hard work! I love your passion!!!
good stuff! can't start my day without my daily dose! 😃
Great tip on the test strips
What’s the difference between KH, total alkalinity and carbonate?
Love your idea on cutting strips in half. I only use the Tetra brand. However my new strips I bought on Chewy (100 for under 18.00 dollars) now state to wait 60 sec instead of 30. Not sure why Tetra changed it.
Great video Cory, I'm going to have to try that food out on my geos.
Hi cory,
When you say nitrogen do you mean nitrates. Also my rasbora maculata are only eating my Hikari first bites and I tried feeding frozen brine shrimp and daphnia but they didn't go for it, is it too big for them? They never seem to go for food on the gravel either unlike my guppies in another tank!
All I can picture is Corey on a board now 😂😂
"eat a Taco and we'll see ya tomorrow!" should totally be your new tag line! Thanks for the awesome videos and great products... I should do an order soon and help support your taco addiction... =)
+Cullen Kawano Ill look for that order ;)
just a small one this time round but I had to pick up that food so I can experience the smell... and you did a great job selling it.
What strips are you using? Agree water changes when not needed bad for fish.
I use the tetra 6 in1 strips www.aquariumcoop.com/products/tetra-6-in-1-test-strips
Hi I use Era Strips but do the same as you cut them in half. I also in my two main tanks have Seachem Ammonia Alerts and Ph Alert in Tropheus tank as water is 8.8
OK So seeing you use test strips reminded me of a question. Are test strips good enough to use for aquariums, or do we need the liquid test kit (API Master Kit)?
I have seen people on some forums tell members never to use the test strips, and claim they are useless compared to the liquid kit.
Now I feel guilty because I rarely do water changes thanks for giving me this important info Cory love your video
Yup. Now i need Repashy in my fish life.
That hack is the best!! thankyou
Wow i watch Braille Skateboarding every day :) Glad to hear you like em!
I haven't skateboarded since I was young, and even then I was really bad. But I enjoy their content and it's a nice break from fish 24/7 :) Doug is my favorite.
Ha same here, used to skateboard up till highschool. Doug is awesome! Jason is my favorite, fettypotter xD
Fetty is amazing too. I feel like Doug and Fetty have insane skills that don't get shown off enough on the videos.
Bahahaha... I was also thinking it'd be awesome if Cory went over water changes and/or over filtration. And I sent the previous message earlier about food. I could have just watched the daily dose... hehe good times
It's a real time timelapse, i died of laughter omg Cory so funny
I just got the food from the CooP today, made the cubes and so far my CoryAdoras just look at it, but I know what you meant about smellovision.....lol
cory u should make a comparison between the strip and the drop ammonia / nitrate test
Maybe some day I will.
Axolotls love rapashi to. I have a bunch, I wonder if my shrimp would like it.
Awesome video, Cory! Quick question for you. Would a 300 watt heater be too much for a 20H? I bought one for my 40B, but I'm going to do a 20 instead, and don't really want to return it. Could I use it?
+Josh's Aquatics & Railroad Videos yeah you can use it.
Aquarium Co-Op Okay, thanks!
I just ordered solient green from you and my goldfish love it!
+Thomas keider glad to hear it.
This is awesome, I’m ordering this from the CooP with my next order.
I am weary watching your video as I have just had issues with test strips. your video came up in my research.
The strips were showing low or zero nitrates, but i found problems with my fish and algea.
I do a api liquid test and nitrates are off the charts!
I think it is the storage of the strips. makes them lose their chemicals.
almost no one talks about this. and i worry you were testing all tanks with damaged strips.
did you ever find this? i know this is an old video.
but have you tried testing with strips and liquid test kit?
I recently found braille skateboarding too. Pretty cool channel. Do you skate? I got a longboard last week, it was my first time skating in about 20 years, had a great time at it, really fun. Thanks for making quality videos!
+boogiemanspud i havent skated in probably 20 years, don't instend to start back up if it looks like so much fun.
Watched this today. amazing idea.
Which blend do you think Blood parrots would eat best? I'm switching my African cichlid tank over to blood parrot cichlids. Making sure I have everything I need to be successful!
+Kristi Carr small floating pellets generally.
Hi Corey. I'm wondering what do you do to make the Angels breed? Btw I live in Australia and I love the content.
hey aussie aussie were you from i am from melbourne
ramming_robbo Aussies in the house I am from Brisbane
I live in Brisbane.
wow lots of brisbanites in the comments. wouldnt want it any other way
ramming_robbo MELBOURNE!!! Me too
Yay! Braille skateboarding! Aaron Kyro! FIRST TRY!!!
Hello Corey, I find your videos to be very informative. Thank you for sharing your knowledge. My question regarding this video is about the shrimp tanks that also have fish in them. It seems that the general opinion is not to put fish in with your shrimp since they will be eating them if the can fit them in their mouth. I noticed that you had fish in each shrimp tank and you said they were breeding well and there were plenty of baby shrimp in the tanks. How do you keep the fish from eating the tiny shrimp that are in the same tanks? I realize that the fish are small but the little shrimp can still fit in the mouths of the fish. Please help me understand how you are successful at doing that. Thank you.
Lots of plants and food. They breed faster than they are eaten