# Blue Bolts!



## woopderson (Feb 12, 2014)

I have started to stock my fluval flora. I was having a tough time deciding what to do, but after seeing Blue Bolts, I knew what I had to do! 

I have 5 BBs in the tank, and 1 mischling. My goal is to work the tank towards a more solid blue. But these ones sure are good lookin!


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## randy (Jan 29, 2012)

Two thumbs up !


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## edjonaso (Dec 1, 2012)

looking good john!


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## woopderson (Feb 12, 2014)

They have acclimated fairly well, no issues thus far! The mischling was going a bit nutty for 24 hours, but normal activity has resumed


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## woopderson (Feb 12, 2014)

Sad news today 

Over the weekend the tank got too hot, and one of them died. I have a fan blowing on the surface to cool the tank, which seems to have helped keep the temps down. The others are still mostly inactive, but are alive. Their colours have also faded a fair bit due to stress. I am worried that damage may have been done to them, and they too, are on their way out.

My mistake was having a light too close to the surface, while having too many floaters. The heat got trapped underneath all the Frogbit, and acted as a little oven. I feel so bad for the little guys in there....a hard lesson for me indeed.

If they do pass on I may have to reassess where the tank is what I keep in it/ cooling options.


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## randy (Jan 29, 2012)

That's sad to hear....temperature is always an issue in the summer. My tanks on my third floor (where it gets much hotter than rest of the house) are still okay, even the PRL and TB tanks there are okay. I use a timer to control computer fans and it can keep the temp under 24 no problem. It will work too with clip-on fans, blow directly to the surface for best cooling effect, use timer to set the interval (the warmer outside, the more frequency). For today (29 outside), mine runs about 50% of the time between noon to 7pm, then about 30% between 7pm to 11pm, between 11pm and noon the next day, probably 15 minutes every two hours. Temp is pretty steady at 23-24, once in a while it goes up to 25-26 but that shouldn't be an issue.

And I find having Sulawesi tanks there is just perfect !


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## woopderson (Feb 12, 2014)

Yeah the temp is stable now at 23-24'. Finally got my TDS pen today. Tested at 103. What do you keep your BBs in? 

Mine are still hiding out a bit, aside from the mischling. All my other parameters are fine according to my api tests. Also did a small wc to help in case it was a contaminant (tank is open top).


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## randy (Jan 29, 2012)

My tanks are mostly at Tds 140-150, but you should aim for gh 5 instead of tds. If you use salty Shrimp gh up then 100 is about right.


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## woopderson (Feb 12, 2014)

Yeah I use fluval stuff at the moment, will purchase the salty soon.


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## randy (Jan 29, 2012)

If you use fluval then you gh is probably too low. Do you have been gh kit?


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## woopderson (Feb 12, 2014)

Yeah, GH is 4


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## randy (Jan 29, 2012)

Oh, that's not too bad then. Anywhere between 4 and 6 is okay. I have kept bkk at 2 and no issue.


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## woopderson (Feb 12, 2014)

Good to know, thanks!

Yeah all are back to being pretty still. Only other thing I could do is more wcs. Suggestions?


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## randy (Jan 29, 2012)

If you can , add an airstone to increase oxygen level and stop feeding for three days, or until they become more.active again.


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## woopderson (Feb 12, 2014)

Ahhh good call, will do. I think that might actually do it, seeing as I only have a sponge right now. Thanks!

edit: and by sponge i meant sponge over hob intake.


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## woopderson (Feb 12, 2014)

I ran out on my lunch break and picked up a pump/air stone. Installed it, and will now monitor. Here's hoping! 

In other news my two dual sponge filters have arrived from China. Will hook one up to replace the air stone.


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## woopderson (Feb 12, 2014)

After about half a day of running the stone/sponge filter things seem to extremely slowly improving. Will test the water again today to see how things go. They were feeding but taking breaks to rest, which makes me think that they aren't 100% recovered yet. I was lucky enough to snap a video of one feeding, check it out!


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## randy (Jan 29, 2012)

If they still aren't very interested in feeding, I would just remove the food and try again in 2 - 3 days.


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## woopderson (Feb 12, 2014)

Thanks, Randy! 

Just a pinch of snow flake is in there at the moment. They seem to be more interested in grazing on the biofilm.

As long as they are eating something and their health is being restored. *wipes sweat off brow*


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## woopderson (Feb 12, 2014)

Came home to some very happy Blue Bolts today.


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

Just curious, does this tank have a cover ? I can't remember from the ones I have seen if it's got a glass cover or not. The reason I ask is that even if it does, a fan can do wonders so long as there is air space on two sides of it. I have a frog tank with sliding glass covers, mainly to keep crickets from escaping but also, the frog needs high humidity in the air above its water. It also provides spawning area for mystery snails living in the frog tank. 

So I have a fan running on one side, aimed at a crack that's between a quarter and half inch wide. The opposite side is open about the same amount and the resulting air current over the water keeps the temp down to tolerable levels most days. Fortunately we haven't had too many really hot days this summer but my room is west facing, so it tends to get pretty warm in the afternoon regardless. One day I hope to have computer fans, as they use less power, but for now, a six or eight inch desk/clip on fan does the trick. I have some of them on timers, others I just adjust for speed based on the heat of the day. Only on these recent cooler days have I been able to shut the fans off at night.


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## woopderson (Feb 12, 2014)

This is an open top tank, since that issue occurred I put a fan angled at the surface. It is keeping the temps down perfectly! The remaining 5 shrimp are happy and feeding. Colour is still faded, but hopefully that will return soon. My other issue was aeration, after adding the sponge filter all is well.


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

Good to hear. 

I have a pair of smaller internal type filters running in the frog tank, because it keeps the water movement less than it would be with a larger single filter. It's not really just a frog tank, of course. Fish, snails and shrimp live it in too. Makes for a lively scene. 

Froggie isn't into heavy water movement, nor are the snails, shrimp or Daisy Rice fish. Only the pygmy cories enjoy the water current. So I keep one filter so the water falls into the tank, which keeps it well aerated and provides some current for the cories. Froggie wouldn't be too thrilled with an airstone either, though she could get away from the bubbles, the way it is now seems to suit all the inhabitants pretty well. A sponge filter would take up too much real estate, sadly. Shrimp get to pick on moss, rocks and wood instead.


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## woopderson (Feb 12, 2014)

Sponges are definitely a bit of a trade-off for real estate. Luckily my aquascaping is simple, and has been kept relatively open. I also have one of the smaller dual sponge filters, so it isn't too imposing.

Would love to see some pics of the frog tank, do you have a thread somewhere?


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

No thread on the frog tank, but I will try to get some pics of it when I get it replanted.. unfortunately I just had to tear it down. 
I wanted the darn mystery snails in it to breed, because it's pretty easy to sell them, so I started feeding them quite a bit more than I ordinarily do. It seems to have worked, [ more than 20 egg cases in the past month ! ] but I was feeding too much.

I have a lot of snails in this tank. Some are pretty large, there are several different species, and I had thought, between them all, that they were consuming all the food. But there was enough going uneaten that I ended up with some swamp gas problems in the substrate. Sigh.. I should have known better.

I cut back on their food substantially after I cleaned up the substrate and while it's all nice 'n clean again, the plantings still need to be redone. Oh well, a change is not always a bad thing . It did afford an opportunity to tidy up and trim the water poppy properly, which badly needed it. Because the water's a bit too shallow for the poppy to grow straight up, the stems are more vulnerable to becoming kinked, breaking and die back.


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## woopderson (Feb 12, 2014)

Right on, pics soon! 

One of my BBs is now darker than when I got it


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## woopderson (Feb 12, 2014)

I picked up a few more BBs, and the shrimp are now more confident in wandering about the tank. First pic is of one of the survivors of the great heat wave.


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## raym (Aug 18, 2014)

They look happy.


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## woopderson (Feb 12, 2014)

Taken yesterday:


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## Tamtep (Jun 20, 2013)

Very nice BBs dude! They look pretty active and in very good condition


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## woopderson (Feb 12, 2014)

Thanks!

They are definitely challenging and I have made a few mistakes along the way. Things are much better now


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## woopderson (Feb 12, 2014)

More pics! Have caught some mating attempts, but no berries yet
One female keeps getting darker and darker. Caught in the act in the last pic!


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## bettaforu (Sep 6, 2009)

Nice! I LOVE blue bolts.


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## woopderson (Feb 12, 2014)

Time for some more!


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## raym (Aug 18, 2014)

Great pictures. Nice to see you're having great success now.


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## woopderson (Feb 12, 2014)

Thanks! It is most definitely a relief. The colour is getting better and better.


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## jimmyjam (Nov 6, 2007)

What beauts man.. I miss my bolts already.


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