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Rarely do thermometers contain mercury nowadays. If the liquid inside your thermometer was red/reddish color then is probably either petroleum or Alcohol (most likely alcohol) and is in such a small amount that it will not harm your fish. I did find this…

I need to get pictures off my quite old camera (phone pics aren’t that exciting). Will post up once done if they’re any good. It’s not a fancy camera so don’t expect too much! It was very different at totality than even seconds before or seconds after. There was barely any difference than what would happen with light cloud cover immediately before and after. I did have intermittent light to moderate cloud cover throughout partial and some light but very transient cover during totality. Here’s my best shots of totality along with a shot with a crescent shaped sun dog during partial. My phone couldn’t even show a partial since it was so bright it overwhelmed the light sensor and camera. My only good partials with the camera were with light cloud cover to help the camera light sensor to cope.

I have breed bettas many times and finally I’m onto it again. I’m pairing a mustard gas male with a koi female, can’t wait to see if they spawn!

@Guppysnail I finally was able to find something that would work on Etsy. I used the 2in version for my older All Glass Aquarium tank, and the 1.5in on my newer Aqueon tank. I could have used the 1.5 on both tanks, but I'm glad I got the larger one for more adjustments. 2in Adapter 1.5in Adapter

I think @nabokovfan87 is on to something. He does look like his spine may be a bit bent. And the idea of a bonk is very valid. Could have gotten startled and run into a side or the lid, etc. I would add very low dose salt which is safe enough for nearly all plants and snails. The aim is just to get some electrolytes into the water. I use 1 tablespoon per 10 gallons for this dose. Most can also go up to 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons. If you can do the Epsom salt soaks once or twice daily with minimal stress it might help a bit. But mostly for these guys I do supportive care which means leaving them in an internal breeder box to help keep the temp steadier but an external one is fine if it recirculates quick enough or if your fish room is warm enough. It will also help to make sure they’re eating OK and not outcompeted by other fish. It also helps by keeping them closer to the surface for better oxygenation and I often add an air stone, too. It may takes weeks or months but some do recover, some don’t. Only time will tell on that one. I had one badly bent pea puffer (was fine at the store then was bent in the bag from a 10 minute drive 🤦🏻‍♀️) recover well enough I couldn’t tell him apart from the others until he got much older and his bend started to show again.

I'll be honest, my ADHD is bad right now so I didn't read all of the responses. I do agree with changing the setup if you introduce fish AFTER the betta. I also suggest ember tetras. They not only are small but very inactive thus making them require less space.

For me? Yeah it’s that time of year again! but this year I’m going bigger - 300g. Adding a fountain and a cute chubby gater ‘cause, Louisiana! Moving fancy goldfish in at the end of month.

For those of you with planted tanks. How long did it take for your tanks to balance out. I'm doing a 150 gallon planted tank and recently added a ton more high light plants due to my new lighting setup. It produces about 30k lumens at 2 watts a gallon. I fertilize every other day with easy green. I use root tabs upon planting and that's it. I also have co2 injection running 8bps. My parameters are 20 to 40 ppm of nitrate, 0 nitrite, ph of 6.8, water temp of 84 for discus. Zero ammonia, kh of 40 ppm, and a gh running on the high side up at almost 300(tap water issues there). I still have algea growing on certain plants like the Java fern so I've since removed them since I know not all plants will work in every setup. Any thoughts or advice is greatly appreciated.

I would assume the driftwood is responsible for the tannins. Water changes and/or carbon will reduce tannins. Personally, I love tannins and have a couple blackwater tanks. I know they’re not for everyone, though.

made a couple tweaked a couple things. Can’t have a pond without a gater and a pelican. Hope to finish the bricks at the front. Can’t wait to add the goldfish at the end of month.

Only time I ever had this happen is when I changed foods and had an ammonia spike. That detritus took my entire aquarium over. I gravel vacuumed and changed the water every 2 days untill I got it back under control. It was so bad it blocked my filters and made a horrible mess of the entire tank.

ok ill just monitor my ammonia just in case and ill also be running my other filter for a day or to as well

Thank you, yes! It looked just like that one! I'll clear out all of the balls but will otherwise confidently move the new puffer into this tank.

Ignore the high-range Ph test. It's only applicable if your Ph is above the level that's readable by the regular Ph test. The high-range test is more applicable to African cichlid or reef/saltwater aquariums. On your water it's just giving bogus readings cause your Ph is not super alkaline. Looking at your readings, I'd take an educated guess that your Ph drops over time as a result of buffers being eaten up by botanicals, or whatever you have in there that acidifies the water (fish waste itself can have this effect too). Try the fluval pellets and see if they can help lessen the impact of your water changes. Let us know how it goes. If you stage your water in a bucket, you can mix in some Seachem acid buffer to eat up some of the available Kh and reduce the overall Ph before adding it to the tank. (A few drops of muriatic also works, but you'd have to do a little bit of testing and tweaking to get the dosage right).

I had a thermometer like that break in one of my tanks, but it broke at the top and I found it submerged on the bottom of the tank. Your guess is as good as anyone else’s I would say!

Yup that's the stuff.

He doesn’t look too bad and does seem less stressed than when he was in the breeder box. I would add the lowest dose of aquarium salt and just monitor for now.

I had released him yesterday. His symptoms are mild. I took a video (he is not the first fish shown). He enters the shot from the left. Has a sort of rocking horse movement but he seems to be ok. He was stressed in the breeder box. I will try the salt.

I get your point but I did edit my post to say I enjoy black/brown algaes as well as green algaes. green is prefered but I do still find all algae very attractive. maybe I'm odd. I also did say I would like it to cover my glass & substrate. perhaps we just have different perspectives on aquascaping & the extent in which nature can be present. but that is okay! 🙂 I appreciate your opinion a lot! I just disagree to an extent. Being such a nerd I love all plants, even ugly ones like some algaes LMAO 😂 I've been trying to discourage my mystery snail to leave any algae alone (he is mildly receptive, but he does like to graze!) by spot feeding him. again I love how algae looks and I have a lotttt of free time. If it starts to take over I am more than willing and able to manually remove some of it, much like I have had to do with my rotala & pearlweed. I would actually really enjoy that. Perhaps for clarity I will say this: your knowledge was much appreciated! And helpful! Now I will take that knowledge and apply it in a way that I see fit, yes? /nm I appreciate you a lot!! Thank you so much.

Plants require PAR to grow. If you don’t have enough PAR it doesn’t matter how long you have the lights on. There are plenty of affordable lights that can grow most plants like Hygger and nicrew.

Looking forward to photos of new fishes.

The small bottle is for nano tanks, hence the dose recommendation measured in drops. For a 40 gallon you'll probably blow through that bottle pretty fast!

Thank you all for your help. @Cinnebuns Temperature is at 78. I tried touching the shell and they seemed to be the same thickness as of rest of the shell. I did a water change yesterday and hoping the crushed coral would raise the Ph as you mentioned.

It all comes down to goals. If you want to line breed the highest quality fish then yes 8-10 tanks is needed. If you want to still do high quality but you don't care to make thm as perfect as possible, then 4 is completely fine. I did 4 tanks when I was breeding guppies. You can still do some selection in your breeding with 4 but you may run into issues in later generations because you aren't able to cross as much. That's not a major issue though if you aren't expecting perfection. It's all about expectations and goals.

Wanted to update to say the little gal is swimming completely normally today, and is eating great too. Still have her in the small tank on daily water changes, but I caught her playing in the sponge filter. No more spinning in circles or backflips, and the meds and salt should be nearly all out of the water due to water changes now.

Basically you want to make sure it doesn't turn into secondary infection, redness turns into more normal pinkish color.

Does the ph out of your tap go closer to your tank water if it’s just left in a bucket in other words does it off gas if so you can’t buffer against it co2 will change ph regardless of kh of any amount of acid you add the ph change is also normally harmless

I couldn't help but think "Super Secret Spy Decoder Ring and Xray Laser Glasses".

I've used both regular peat from a garden store and Fluval's peat pellets. I prefer the Fluval pellets over regular peat because they take zero preparation and don't stain the water. I'm not against the 'blackwater' look at all, but when I used regular peat, the water turned so dark I could not see the fish in it. I guess I needed to soak and rinse the peat more or something, which is why I went back to Fluval's product, because they have done all the hard work for you. In the instances where I have used it, I was using it in straight RO water with no Kh present. In your case, I'm curious if peat will react fast enough against the addition of buffers to counteract the sudden presence of Kh. In my experience, water will react to the presence of Kh much faster (driving Ph up) than it does to presence of botanicals (which gradually drives Ph down). Do you know how much does a water change swing your Ph? It might not be enough to be of any concern at all.

You don't want algae to build up to the point that it's competing with the plants. That being said, lots of algae growth is usually a sign that there's too much light, or your water chemistry is off. It might be best if you want a specific looking green rock, ask around to see if someone else has one like that. That way you're not growing random algae in your tank. You could also experiment in a separate spare tank or tub. Partially fill with water and rocks add light and try to get algae to grow on it ... that way you're not messing with your established aquarium chemistry.

Plecos are surprisingly more aggressive/defensive than you might expect. I know I normally view them as extremely peaceful (and they really are). But their caves are not to be messed with. There's a discus keeping friend of mine who was missing an electric blue acara that had slipped into a pleco cave (trying to get eggs probably) and the male pinned the EBA in the cave and killed it. Just try removing a male who is on eggs/fry from his cave. 😄 I haven't been successful yet!

Well, the fascinating thing about this hobby is that you can set up 5 of the same size tanks in the same house using the same lights, filters, water and similar or same substrate, decor and STILL have differences in each tank.

I don't think I'll be planting it, mostly based on the fish selection, but also makes lighting and maintenance that much easier too. I didn't leave myself a huge gap above the tank, since I'm hoping to squeeze in a lowboy tank of sorts on the very top.

I also make sure to squeeze the air out of my cheap off brand sponge filters when I place them in the aquarium. With the sponge filter’s weighted base they’ll sink without being squeezed but it seems like a sponge filter should be full of water so I want to get the air out. Squeezing the air out of them also obviously makes them less buoyant.

Possible mean, gas exchange occurs on the water surface. A large sponge filter floating will reduce the surface area thus reducing gas exchange. Gotta give them a D for that one, no explanation?

😂 never underestimate the ignorance others

I witnessed totality in Cleveland OH. It is truly an incredible experience. The darkness and cold air of totality, the 360° sunset, amazing. The ring of fire during totality is incredible. I stared every second I could without glasses, over 4 minutes. I was able to get some pictures with a small Telescope and solar filter. If you're ever close to one it is absolutely worth the trip

I am currently dosing my tank with Fritz Expel P (levamisole) for camallanus worms. I treated it yesterday so could be that, although when I dosed last week they weren’t doing this. I also have an air stone in the tank, so really the o2 levels should be low.

Wanted to add that I grow out corys on bare bottoms and don't see any issues at all with them.

Harlequins are only shy until you get more than 10 of them. I will say that they are greedy little piggies and they give my platys as good as they get when it comes to feeding time. Harlequins won't seem very interesting or active until you get a bunch of them. After that you can't get them to chill out 😂 I've found my harlequins won't eat food off the substrate so I won't think they'd be a problem with any bottom feeding species. Unlike the platys they really only hit the food when it's falling and won't hunt for it on the bottom at all.

I genuinely appreciate this advice so so so much. All of you are so helpful, I am just a beginner so receiving advice like this is so valuable as I start out... research can only go so far, and often time experience helps a lot in this hobby (which I am lacking.) Thank you so much for this.

Ive just seen this part. I wanted to mention it as in my experience they loved to school randomly but not constantly. however, first, I would encourage to find tankbred ones if you want otos. Secondly, be careful, if they constantly eat pygmys food, as they shouldnt be consuming high animal protein diet. It can be problematic. Third, otos need a school themself, but they need constant grazing. So it can be hard to fulfill their schooling needs and provide constant natural growth in the tank so people gotta limit their numbers to not make them starve. I wouldnt recommend to get only one tho. I think otos are very cute, but not great fish to keep in home tanks unless it is a very big tank. Personal opinion

Looks like corydoras sodalis in some pictures on planet catfish

Algae is just another way of planting your aquarium. And, frankly, it is the one that I'm most successful at growing.

60 gallon cube tank with 2x 24" Easy Plant LEDs, both running at 100%, for 12 hours per day

Hi everyone, I'm hoping someone can provide some insight into the care of hillstream loaches 🙂 I've of course read up a ton on them on the internet, so I know their parameters and stuff like that, but the main question I have is how to feed them and the maturity level of the tank they require. I've read conflicting information online about the amount of algae/biofilm they need. The tank in question is a 60 gallon goldfish tank with 3 fancy goldfish of varying sizes, 8 white cloud minnows, 6 zebra danios and 6 nerite snails. I feed this tank veggie lover's garlic flakes from my LFS regurlary, with algae wafers, Repashy Super Green, and frozen tubifex worms mixed in there. It has been running for 2 months now, and is finally starting to mature with the algae and biofilm production. That's why I'm thinking about adding some hillstream loaches, but I have been very nervous because they are a bit pricey and some sources online say that feeding-wise they can be as delicate as otocinculus. Does anyone have any advice for me about maybe getting some? Thanks in advance 🙂

FWIW, I've never experienced any ammonia spikes that I connected with snails. Yes, snails produce waste, but most people aren't feeding their "pest" snails specifically anyway - they're just eating algae, bacteria, and left over food in the tank. So, yes, the algae and bacteria that they ate will contribute to ammonia/dissolved waste a bit, but I can't imagine it's by very much. I'd only expect it to be a problem in the absolute worst of infestations, and in those situations, I'd completely expect there to be a husbandry and/or feeding problem that's a much bigger problem than the snails themselves.

Snails eat, poop, and breathe, so yep, they'll raise the ammonia level in a tank.

@Guppysnail actually going through and collecting the best specimens this week and putting them in a 10 gallon so they can breed then getting a couple assassin snails for the main as a reset button on the snail plague. Gotta evacuate the essential personnel before dropping nukes in the zombie infected city.

If it helps, I have noticed much less predation with Dwarf Guppies and Endlers than regular sized Guppies. If the shrimp are happy and the tank is planted well, they will multiply regardless of predation.