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It can take a year or longer for a betta to fully develop and be sellable, so you're typically buying a middle-aged or older fish when you buy one in a store. The vast majority of tropical freshwater fish sold are sold young, but bettas are the exception. They take time to develop before they're sold. A betta's lifespan is typically two to three years (sometimes four), so if you get one that's already 18 months old when you buy it, you'll be lucky to get another eighteen months from it. They're not a long-lived fish.

So I'm potentially missing pieces, got it. Even if those pieces were to fix all the issues with the lid, why change the design? The original worked well enough. It's a lid. It doesn't necessarily get better by getting more complicated. Or maybe I'm just a grumpy person who doesn't like change. Lol

I've personally always loved they sell aqueon tanks and top fin lids. I ended up buying the matching aqueon elsewhere for my 5 and 10. I don't really regard top fin making very good products.

Let me pose a question, do you want to see multie fry? Or you just want to keep the individuals you have happy? Danios could work but they are so zippy you’ll probably see a lot of dashing into shells. I wouldn’t add Tiger barbs to anything but a species only. It seems cruel to house a nippy fish basically hovering on top of each of their homes, jmo.

Looks like a ballon molly? Also a liverbearer and drops live fry.

Agreed. The instruction manual had illustrations with the same smaller back piece, so I do think this was the intended product.

The one on the right looks female going off the rounded fins and pinkish hue on the belly. one on the left not sure.

I don’t know much about sexing gold rams from their appearance, but a good indicator for a potential pair In my experience is if they aren’t being very aggressive to each other, and especially if they occasionally stay parallel to each other. This may only apply to Bolivian rams, as ive mostly kept them, but if you do see any of these, it could be a good sign.

Thank you, so Sarah or Olivia? I will think about it! Yes I did name it Ozzie, not knowing if it was a male or female. Thank you guys! @Yoshi. @Guupy42!

I think water changes should clear it. It still may be soap contamination but seeming more likely that it’s just from the high tannins from the wood. I don’t like to see any hint of oily film on the surface of a tank because that can definitely inhibit gas exchange. For sure, do more water changes. It might slow down the settling in process in the tank but far better to be rid of any surface film. Those blobs could be eggs but could also be bits of food that are rotting. They don’t have anything that looks like viable embryos in their centers so random bits of food seems more likely. I would probably remove them just to be safe since they don’t have centers that look like anything living.

Not much going on with the tanks. Just wanted to share a few pictures I took. Beautiful Honey Gouarmi: Corydora Fry: Shrimp cleaning live Cory:

Ordering from a reputable breeder can also give you a better chance for the age range. Someone like Dan's Fish room getting from a hobbyist might know the age versus getting from Petco.

Ive kept 11 bettas to this day. You are right, they dont live too long sadly. Genetics are totally messed up. We also buy many fish at juvenile size in stores, but it is hard to know the age of a betta you buy until you have a clear info on that If you want hardier bettas you can lean towards wild species that are tankbred

i see in your first pic what appears to be green water. green water is an algae bloom of sorts, most commonly but not always caused by a lot of direct sun light hitting a tank.

I’ve been busy in so many ways. It’s good and bad happy and sad but it’s what it is. On to the aquaria! @Patrick_Gand I connected on this forum years back. When my family and I came to the greater Seattle area he was kind and generous with information and even visited as I set up my fish room here. He then commiserated with me as I had setback after setback. We’re both GSAS members so we attend talks and auctions which has always been a highlight for me as f this experience. Well he’s been in a lull with his aquarists journey of late and so we set off on a journey through our local scene. Bridges Pets in Snohomish, Moonlight Aquatics in Mill Creek, The Fish Store in Lake City, Aquarium Zen in the Roosevelt section of Seattle and Aquarium Coop in Edmonds. My family was away in Bend so I had nothing to distract from our epic journey. From my point of view we saw so many fish and at times some real surprises. Bridges probably had more killifish than anyone. They have so much stock that at times it was evident carcasses some fish with ice but also loads of NFS signs. I’m actually proud that I saw them at all the stores really. Species wise the diversity is astounding. Each shop does their thing and does it relatively well. Some critters & fish I’ve been thinking about: Cory’s more habrosus; Angels leopoldi if possible; blue Platys - I inherited a blue calico male whose either a dwarf or just underfed and I wanted to get him some lady friends; barbs - I’ve had a hankering for another group for my 45 soon to be 65 g; big amanos. Bridges had what I was looking for 2 tanks had blue Platys and calico at that. The fish store in Lake City is as interesting as it gets. Older aquaria are on display with an assortment of barbs, cichlids, rainbows and pea puffers. The plants big and beautiful I got some crypts and Homalomena Sekadau. They had 2 tanks of gorgeous Angels- nothing fancy just beautiful solid black stripes, beautiful finnage and they just exuded health. The price was criminal as he had 2 tanks and they needed to be sold. Here’s the 7 I’m now growing out in a 40 breeder. We then went to Aquarium Zen. Steve the proprietor has had a vision for the store. I visited years ago when I was in Seattle for a conference. Then when I moved here he was as away for some time and the staff were exceptionally knowledgeable but it did not have the same level of curation. Now it’s impeccable the diversity and quality is amazing. I got 7 red panda barbs and unfortunately I still have not gotten great video or photos but they’ve been beautiful and skittish and are starting to become part of the pack of dwarf chain loaches ever bolder and visible. We finished at the coop and I’m looking forward to the expansion and what the new store manager has planned. I bought my Xenotoca lyonsi there months ago and I’ve not regretted it. What a great fish?! @Patrick_G commented on the babies and I’ve just kept noticing how steady the production has been. I hope we’re all having fun and it was my great pleasure to go on this great journey with my fellow Nerm and GSAS member @Patrick_G.hopefully we’ll all get to see what he’s unleashed to with plants, fish, animals he got on our journey.

So true faced this when my tank was originally setting up. I was so annoyed 🤣 Eventually everything balanced out

I’ll follow up with those details tomorrow. Thanks for the insightful reply!

Algae isn’t bad. It can just be unsightly. All algae really means is that your tank is not in balance. I would also say that some algae is completely normal and typically beneficial. Most tanks have at least a little bit of algae. It’s when you let it get out of control that it, well, gets out of control. Could be that the light is at 100%, which is probably way too high. Could be that your lighting period is way too long. Could be that there are excess nutrients in the tank. Could be all of those things combined. What light do you have? What size tank? How long is the light on everyday? If you have the ability to dim the light, have you dimmed it at all? Is the light on a timer? How often and at what volume do you change water? Were you adding fertilizer for the plants? If so, what fertilizer and at what volume? All of these questions would be super helpful in trying to figure out why the algae is so rampant, and how to help fight it off in the future.

I would be grumpy too.😆

I just put one onto a 20g. It’s actually more stable than it looks. Once you get the side pieces stretched out to max and the back pieces to max. But, I did drop it in 3 times getting it right. Once it’s on for a while, the plastic pieces become harder to move and less unstable. It’s not completely horrible after a while. unfortunately, this isn’t a design flaw, or misdesigned. The led was made to fit most 20 gallon tanks, which means it fits none as well as you’d like. Smaller pieces on back. Small plastic pieces on side. Stretched out to fit. Bigger plastic piece on the back. This forms a basic triangle for stability. The front lid sits at a different level. Which is what threw me.

I have a colony of 10 L134 that I'm raising up for a breeding project. I see no issue in adding one to your aquarium.

Man that is a really nice piece of driftwood. I dig it!

Lower temperature to 75 if that fine for all species of fish in your tank and go ahead and treat with ick X and maracyn2

Need I say more?

Sponge filters in opposite corners because it’s a wide tank.

Interesting! Let’s see what @Colu says. Idk if it is true or not. Never tried that! @Charestv

Just from research I've done online whatever it is seems to thrive in warmer water. But before I just went and did it. I wanted some actual confirmation that that was a thing. Instead of just trusting the internet lol.

They seemed to start getting better on there own. However all The stuff I need for the food came in today. I'll make it tonight and start to feed it tomorrow. I have been trying to catch the 3 to put them in quarantine however I still am unable to catch them. So I guess I will just need to dose the whole tank in ich x. Should I also lower the temp in the tank to like 75? It should help right?

yw! If you have any questions about their care, I can try my best to help you. I love these guys, and still keeping some and also bred them in the past. Also whiptails are not very popular. It is refreshing to keep and witness their behavior and look in a tank environment compared to very classic other fish we used to see on a daily basis. If you want similar colors, then super red bristlenose would be your best bet, but again, your amazon swords would be likely gone in such scenario. There are more brownish looking ones. Make sure you are actually buying the red ones and not those brownish ones (which some people say hybrids and easier to breed)

Hello, The tank is pretty and two sponge filters would be good enough, but a pleco would feel so exposed in such setup due to not having much hiding spots and the amount of light everywhere gets in the tank. Also, although I love plecos, I have to say they are hard to see unlike ancistrus. They mostly just hide until it is pitch dark in the tank, and you cant see them anyway. My L199 doesn't use caves and only utilitise gaps created by the wood or work pieces as her home. Bristlenose plecos are mainly out and you can see them very commonly. But, I guess you have a.swords and some people report theirs destroy the amazon swords, so may not be the best choice. If I were you, I would keep red lizard whiptails. I love these guys. They would love those temp ranges and ph. A group of 4-5 sounds good in a 29g.

Makes sense I have a colony in a 20 high but there was to many so I'm upgrading ill just do species only Ty. But any idea for filter for the tank?

I am very sorry to here this. I would maybe order them if you have not done that yet. Big box store(especially guppies)fish are not usually very healthy. But you never know. Again I am sorry. 🙁

Lots of waterborne critters like the rotifer like the brine shrimp

Totally could, but I’m not sure my lady will appreciate the Tupperware of worms around the house, lol. She’s already let me fill all the flat surfaces with tanks. I’m also looking forward to the potential challenge of the Brine Shrimp. Seems fun.

I really cant comment on most of what you wrote, but the fact the testing results are so diferent, someties the age of the test also plays a role, the results are hard to interpret, test brands play a role,... That is why I stopped testing. Why go through the meticulus labor and then not be sure if what you meassured is correct For example, my water company says my pH is 7,9, but when I test with a drop test, I get 7, maybe 7,2 some tanks even lower. Is the test wrong? the water company?

You can name your snail whatever you want, but I usually name my organisms something that fits with their behavior or appearance. Olivia might be a good name, because from the pictures, she looks kind of like an Olive Nerite Snail, or at least, Olive colored. Also, it isn't too far from the original name that you gave it, Ozzie, if I remember correctly. Again, it's up to you what you want to name it. Sarah the snail is also a pretty good name.

For sure. It is always crazy cool when I get to see my little guy out and about. One thing I have noticed is that his coloration is definitely affected by the lighting in the tank, when he is in the shade his coloration is very washed out, but out in the open you get colors like in the photo. I'm not much of a gouarmi expert, but at this point I'm assuming this guy is a male just based upon his stunning coloration. However if anyone here knows more about gouarmis, i'm happy to be corrected.

Emergent regrowth and new submerged leaves as well. It does need a bit of a siphoning but it usually gets kicked to the back burner so I can tend to the tanks and the housework between work shifts.

Stunning 😍

Raise a different live food like any of the worms or rotifer?

This is the first time I ever saw it they usually graze from surface to surface.

Man, ever since the fair my regular journal keeping has been all out of whack. Not that it’s a big deal, but I’m a giant “creature of habit” and it just feels weird to be out of that routine. All good, though. Like they say, better late than never. This week was just some water changes. Water out, and then back in. I don’t think I squeezed and filters or messed with anything. Just listened to some podcasts and some music and did my thing. This week I did turn up the pressure on the sink with the Python by just a bit to speed up all the big tanks. Wasn’t a giant game changer, and most of the time I have some small additional maintenance to do on at least one of the tanks, so I actually don’t mind having it take a bit longer. I can take my time, do the things I need to do, and not worry about overfilling the tanks. I actually watched the latest live stream, or at least most of it. Usually I just listen while I drive between all the restaurants I oversee. I’m hype I watched it this time though as we got a shout out for the airline tubing connected to the air collar and a syringe to clean them out!! I say we as it wasn’t my original idea to put the airline tubing to the syringe, but once I tried it I’ve pushed it hard here on the forum. Feels good to see a little DIY tool I’ve helped “design” and use regularly be pushed to the masses via the man himself. Also doesn’t feel bad to hear that it was a “genius idea” that he didn’t think of. In all fairness, he pushed a “genius idea” on me that was a total “why didn’t I think of that”. I have my canister filter, internal filter, and wavemaker from 3 different tanks all plugged into the same Kasa timer. I turn it off when I feed, and turn it back on 15 minutes later. However, there have been a couple of times that I forgot to turn it back on, leaving the filtration off for 24 hours. It has never been an issue, but I can’t help but feel like an idiot the couple of times I’ve done it. To ensure it never happens again, I set an “on” time for 9:30pm 7 days per week. So now, if I ever forget to turn them back on, they will automatically turn on at 9:30pm, meaning that the filter will be off for a max of about 2 hours instead of a full day. Feels good to trade “genius ideas” with other people who simply love their aquariums. I have a current empty QT tank, and the tank next to it can be emptied at any time. I’ve been thinking about what to do with that empty tank as I currently have no fish I’m bringing in and I don’t plan to hatch any eggs soon, and I think I’m going to try to hatch baby brine shrimp, and then grow them out and culture them. I think it will be a fun project, and I think I’ll learn a lot in the process. Also doesn’t hurt to have a culture of live food that I can harvest from several times per week for the fish. I think there will be a couple of hurdles and things I’ll have to figure out, but I’m looking forward to playing with something new. On the personal side of things, we booked a trip to Mexico and I’m HYPE. I can’t wait to get away, lay on the beach, read a book, swim in the ocean, lay by the pool, eat a bunch of bomb food, enjoy all the tequila that one can handle at sea level (mile high over here where I’m at), enjoy the 24 hour room service, and last, but certainly not least, lounge in the massive jacuzzi in the middle of our room. I’ve worked insanely hard over the past 4 years and have saved a ton of money, so it feels good to reward myself by using a small piece of it to just get away and relax to the max. Is it September yet? I snapped a couple pictures that I wanted to share: I caught this CPO chilling on a piece of cholla wood near the front of the tank, and I think the pic turned out epic. The CPO is super orange and shiny, and I think it makes the red of the wood and the green of the Anubias behind it pop. I noticed my Panda Angels picking at the slate, and then noticed their breeding tubes were down. We have the giant male in the first picture, and then the female in the second. I knew these guys would start breeding at any moment. I grabbed my big jar of Krill Flake and my small jar of Spirulina Flake to refill my in-use jar. I went back probably 3 minutes later, and sure enough they were spawning. Speaking of fish foods, my Spirulina is now gone, and my Krill is almost empty too. Which means it’s time to re up on fish food! I’ll definitely be ordering more Krill and Spirulina, and I remember Cory saying he brought in some new foods. Has anybody tried the Xtreme black soldier fly flake yet? Definitely interested in trying that one out, and I’d also love to hear your opinion if you’ve tried it already. Edit: I went ahead and placed and order. I got Krill, Spirula, Xtreme Wrigglers, and Xtreme So-Fly Flake. I’m excited to try the new foods! In addition, I picked up some new plants. Dwarf Chain Sword, Crypt Wendtii Green, and both Buce tissue cultures. It’s been forever since I picked up some new plants! I tried some Crypts when I was brand new to the hobby and they never took hold. I’m hoping that now having super established tanks can maybe solve that problem. Also looking forward to the chain sword, and the Buce’s too! If I’m lucky, some of them will actually adapt and do well for me. Finally, I ordered the Easy Potassium. Some of my Anubias definitely have holes in them, and Java Ferns have always struggled for me. If I remember correctly, Irene said in some videos a long time ago that she experienced similar issues, and Potassium was the answer. We live in the same state, about an hour apart, so it makes sense to me that my tanks could probably use a little boost. I won’t be using it on all the tanks, but there’s a few where I believe it would be beneficial. Stoked to play with all the new stuff! As I was typing this a summer storm rolled in. Out of nowhere it got super windy, we had a 1 second power surge where everything turned off and immediately came back on, and now it pouring rain and hail and windy af over here. I’m going around and checking the tanks, but it looks like we’re all good. Gotta connect to the single Fluval light I have to turn that back on, but other than that everything seems to not have skipped a beat. I’ll spend more time resetting the stove light and reconnecting to the strip lights in our bedroom, but it’s still annoying that the Fluval light has to reconnect. Cheers, homies. Thanks for sticking with me!

That looks like saprolegniasis it's not a true fungus it's a water mold the most effective treatment is malachite green active ingredient in ick X saprolegniasis does have a high mortality rate even with treatment so I would start treating with ick X or another medication containing malachite green and aquarium salt 1 table spoon for 2 gallons straight away@Firestonepines

I suggest place new fish in the empty 10 gallon observe and treat if necessary.

I suggest separate and treat with a med for fungus or salt asap. Also keep water in pristine condition while platy is being treated.

SERA is the only "complete" test kit as well as stuff from JBL. In the US those are far and few between. We tend to have to buy things one test at a time or piecemeal in kits of 2-4 tests. As far as what you actually need.... Phosphate GH KH Total Ammonia/Chloramines (strips work well here) Nitrite (strips work well here) Nitrate (strips work well here) (any other test kits you might want to test for regarding specific plant health) If you are doing pressurized CO2, then you also want a PH high/low kit.

Congrats on the cories hatching and the endler fry!

I’ve wanted to hatch live baby brine for a while now, so that is my project for this holiday weekend. I wanted to use supplies on hand and only bought the eggs and salt. This old glass drink dispenser seemed perfect for a hatchery. I used a nail and hammer to perforate the metal lid, punched the hole out, then hammered the edges to smooth it out a bit. I added a little over 1.5 gallons warm tap water, 1/3 cup marine salt, and half a teaspoon of eggs. I installed the heater and air stone, then put the dispenser on a hot pad to help retain heat. Initial thoughts: The edges of the hole on the lid could be smoother, and I wonder if I should be covering it to help with heat. I am also concerned there is not enough air; it’s sharing a USB nano air pump with the tank to the left. I do have an extra pump, but I’ll wait and see what things look like tomorrow. 😛

Indeed. Circulation continues to be a problem, even with the increased air. I have a few ideas that I’ll be trying out this weekend: - ring shaped air stone - no air stone, but add pin holes to the airline tubing and snake it around the bottom

We have baby brine! The bad news is the majority of the eggs didn’t hatch. A lot of them settled on one side of the bottom, confirming that there likely wasn’t enough air. ALSO, I did my math wrong and totally miscalculated the water volume. It’s only three quarts of water so there may have been way too much salt. 🙈 At least I had enough brine to feed two tanks! I started a new batch tonight with only three tablespoons of salt and 1/4 teaspoon eggs. Added another USB air pump so hopefully the circulation is better.