New vase for Cutteri

[Hawkman2000]

So I picked up a glazed flower pot for my Cutteri repair from Home Depot over a year ago, and I guess it's too small for them because they never use it. So I've been on the hunt for a better hidey hole for them and found this at Hobby Lobby. Thought it was perfect, until found out that paint on it comes right off when I was cleaning the sticky stuff off with some rubbing alcohol from where the price tag and the little rubber pads were.



Luckily I have some of this in the closet.



My concerns are -

With the alcohol in the pond armor mix mess up the paint?

Will the pond armor even stick to it properly.

 

[jonclark96]

You can probably roughen the surface with some heavy grit sand paper to get the pond shield to stick better.

 

[CSnyder00]

Do a light sanding with some finer grit sand paper, trying to make the color of the vase uniform. Then clean well with water and let it dry completely. Then use the sealant. The alcohol may change the paint appearance a little, but if you make your brush strokes uniform and use a light coat, you should be good. I don't know how you plan on doing the inside, but I would pour some in and then use gravity to swirl it around until you got a good coat. It will be tricky, but doable. Dipping would be the easiest and most surefire way not to mess up the paint, but that would take a lot of sealant for one piece.

 

[Hawkman2000]

Already did first coat. I didnt want to sand or clean ot to much. I like the rustic look of the paint that it has. First coat didnt mess it up at all.

I will say that working with this product is interesting.

Right now it is tacky and is like rubber. I hope it hardens more.

Going to do a second coat after I get another moxing cup from hodo.

 

[toddnbecka]

I had several pairs of cutteri spawning in a 75, they never bothered with caves. Very fast-growing buggers too, the fry would be mature enough to pair off in about 5-6 months. I found that keeping them at room temp (low 70's) was great to keep them from pairing up and breeding, but didn't seem to affect their appetite or growth rate.

 

[Hawkman2000]

These have tried and failed twice in 3 years. Maybe its just not meant to be. :-(

 

[toddnbecka]

What temp are you keeping them at? Tank size and setup/tankmates?

 

[dogofwar]

The main thing that keeps cutteri (and similar) from spawning is females having too much stress / not enough food from overzealous males. I sometimes put a divider or net breeder in place to isolate and fatten up a female.

 

[Hawkman2000]

They are in a 37g tall, modified filter + diy sponge filter, Current sat + pro LED, Cobalt neotherm set at 76. I would turn the temp up, but I dont think the plants would like it.

The male has always been very aggressive, but they female seemed to always eat her fill.

 

[Hawkman2000]