NOLANANO

I have a friend that I got into the hobby and while he is getting better about it, he liked to buy stuff with zero research in the beginning. You just have to educate where you can, try to be more forceful when disaster is immanent (him wanting a puffer fish), but let them make mistakes and learn. Be there to help them fix issues that arise and introduce them to forums and youtube channels that can help them figure out their own issues.

There is also the Hillstream loach which has a few aliases so look for any of these names at your LFS: Borneo Loach, Butterfly loach, Hillstream loach, or Borneo Sucker. I have 3 in my 75G planted tank and they are awesome little fish, Kind of look like little stingrays and they are constantly on the move.

I agree with this take. You wouldn't get any other pet with the intention of getting rid of it when it becomes an adult, so I tend to think we shouldn't do that with fish either. Thats not to say that its wrong to trade in fish at all. I have a planted tank and one of my Plecos started rasping at the plants so he got traded in. I also used to have Amazon Puffers but they started nipping and harassing my other fish so they got traded in. But with both of those situations, I intended to keep those fish for the entirety of their lives, it just didn't work out. I am not here to get on a soap box and say you are a bad person if you get fish you know will eventually outgrow your situation, but I do caution against it. Its hard to find someone to take the fish and LFS don't always have room for bigger fish. So if you do get the clown loaches, I'd suggest figuring out what you are going to do with them prior. Either get the LFS to agree to take them back when they get too big or find a friend with a bigger tank that will agree to take them.

IDK if its a guppy but its definitely not a black bar endler. Maybe could be a blue star Endler but the tail looks too fanned to be an Endler.

Sorry if my sarcasm didn't come through text. I was just joking as if the big guy was new. 😂

We're only allowed to talk about Dan's Fish and Aquahuna per the guidelines...

To add to this, I use black diamond blasting sand in my tank. A 50 pound bag was $20 from Tractor Supply.

I totally get what you are saying but I think grabbing things from outside seems daunting to newer fish keepers because you don't know exactly what you are putting in the tank and you aren't sure if its clean. Getting it from a petstore or LFS at least provides the assurance that it is safe to put in the tank. I'd also urge people to check out local stone wholesalers to get cheaper rocks and gravel. I'd add my worst purchase was a cheap heater. About six months into my 75G planted tank I noticed that all my fish were hugging the bottom and were not very active at all. I eventually came across a post on one of the fish boards of a heater frying someone's fish so I decided to see what happened if I unplugged my heater. almost instantly all the fish were swimming normally again. I am fairly certain that the heater was heating normally but it was also sending a small amount of electricity into my tank and electrocuting my fish.

I have never bought from Amazon but I don't see much of a difference between Amazon and Petsmart. Both are big corporations that hurt the mom and pop. But if thats the only option then sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

I only touched her because she looked dead. I will leave her for the time being and see what happens.

I have a CPO that is laying on its back looking dead but when i go to grab it, it kicks its feet and is very much alive. I put her right side up but she managed to flip onto her back within a few minutes and remains motionless unless I try to touch her. I assume she is dying but was wondering if anyone had any idea what is happening so that I might save my other CPO from the same fate? Or maybe I can even save her. I have Neocardina in the tank and they are molting just fine so I'd be shocked if it were a molting issue. Parameters: temp:78-80 F PH: 7.5 Amonnia and Nitrite: 0 Nitrate: 15 ppm GH/KH: both fairly high but not sure of a number.

I bring it to the fish store when I think I am going to buy fish so that if a bag leaks it'll be contained to the liner.

I actually just rescaped my tank. I also didn’t know much about the Bluefin Notho killi fish either but I saw it in the store and did some research. When I went back, they had more so I bought a pair. There isn’t a ton of info online other than they are more of an annual species that live about a year. Which means you’ll be lucky to get 6-8 months in the tank.

I just bought this Bluefin Notho Killi and it’s strikingly beautiful but has been fairly shy my hope is that he will get bolder with time. His girlfriend is out and about without issue but she is kind of drab looking.

If all 3 were blanks slates I would do an African community, a South American community, and an Asian community. since you say you have multis and a community already, I would do peacocks and haps in the last one.

If tank mates are new, there is a chance that he grow bored of them and eventually leaves them alone. There is also a chance that he doesn't. Its also possible that he sees shrimp as food but would ignore a Khuli loach or some other fish.

Imo the issue is your betta more than the size of the shrimp. Even if you get bigger Amano (the ones you have will grow eventually), your betta will most likely still chase them and make them hide. Every betta has a personality, you got one that likes to chase shrimp.

This is what I have and your summary pretty much nails it. Relatively cheap, reliable, but settings get messed up if you lose power or if your 4 year old daughter thinks shes being helpful...

The question is why are the fish at the surface? I have never had forktails but I have been researching because I might get some and it is recommended that they are in schools of at least 6. Maybe they are hugging the surface because they are scared? I don't think the Hydrogen Peroxide has anything to do with it. It breaks down too quickly to cause any issue.

Yeah every time I go down the Betta Sorority road, I see stories about how they don't really work long term. The only real potential success story I have seen is a guy that had 20 wild type bettas in a tank. His theory is that the colors bred into them make them more likely to catch each others eye and be aggressive. He thought that wild types were more likely to ignore each other. Given that my draw to the Betta sorority is the colors, that solution doesn't work for me. I bought a few shrimp a few months ago and thought they were all eaten by my Apistos (RIP) but since the Apistos are gone, they have resurfaced in the last couple of weeks. I definitely have a small population of around 10 and saw at least one female with eggs. Given this revelation, I think am going to stick to smaller fish and see how it goes. I am looking at getting schools Furcata Rainbows and/or Celebese Rainbows. Maybe a Killi Fish or 2 if I can find some that I like. Boost my number of Panda Cories. Maybe some Khuli Loaches and/or some Hillstream Loaches. Just go for peaceful fish that I think look nice.

They are all compatible and leave each other alone? Do I need to get multiple bush fish or butterfly fish? Do they eat flake and/or pellets? I was leaning more toward getting some rainbows but I am definitely interested in the African tank. Maybe I can do both and use Madagascar Rainbow fish as my schoolers.

Doing a little research and what are thoughts on these 4 inhabitants: African Butterfly Fish Leopard Bush Fish Rope Fish Kribensis If I feel like I need a schooler I will either go with the Congo Tetra or I will go outside Africa and do Tiger Barbs. I can't find a ton of info on all of these fish so someone let me know if this will be a disaster of a combo. Edit: I am no making any purchases in the near future, just trying to figure out what I want to do next. Other Ideas: Betta Sorority, African Cichlid Tank, Rainbow tank. The Rainbow tank is looking interesting because my LFS has a ton of them and I never realized their were slimmer bodied schooling Rainbows. Do all Rainbows school? Meaning do I need multiple of every kind I get or can I get one Bosmani, One Madagascar, etc?

My LFS has Leopard Bushfish in and they look amazing. I was wondering if anyone on the board knows of some suitable tankmates for this fish? Preferably other African fish as I'd like to keep things somewhat "Biotope-y". Maybe Kribensis? Are there any more affordable African schooling fish than Congo Tetra? This will be in a 75G planted tank.

I think my issue with my shrimp was not changing the water for so long. They had issues molting. If you do regular water changes, I think you'd be fine.

I don't really know all the answers but one time I put leaf litter in my 75G and then didn't do a water change for a few months and my PH dropped to like 6.0 from about 7.5 out of the tap. The water was also much softer and all my shrimp died. I was experimenting with a no water change idea but it was an epic failure.