NOLANANO

Hey Guys, I used to have a pair of Pearl Gourami that I loved and I came across some at my LFS but they were all so young that its difficult to sex them. I got these 2 as they both had a little orange on their belly but I feel that they are both female. If it does turn out that both are female, would I be able to introduce a juvenile male to the tank at a later date (3-6 months or so) or would these 2 females pick on him? Also I have noticed that one of the Pearls slightly chases the other around sometimes, nothing to aggressive, I was just wondering if that might be a sign that one is a male and one a female? or do females chase each other too?

I recently upgraded from a 29G to a 75G. I was fortunate that I could keep both tanks running for a couple of weeks while I slowly moved fish over to the new tank. If you have to take down the 55 to install the 75, I would suggest getting as big of a container as possible (like a big storage bin), fill it with tank water, put your sponge filter in it (and a heater too if you have one), and place all the fish in there. If you have extra wood/decorations, they can go in the container to provide some shelter for stressed fish. You can also store your plants in that container with the fish until you are ready for them in your 75G. I think the key is to block off enough time to get the new tank set up and scaped ina single day. This way your fish don't spend too much time in the container. Once the fish are in the new tank, just do daily water changes until you have no ammonia or nitrite.

That is great to hear as I don't have CO2 either. How long have you had it in your tank? Do you feel like it is slowing your other plants from growing?

I'd go with either more Harlequin Rasporas or maybe some Cardinal Tetras. In my experience, Rummynose tetras look better over light substrate and/or light background. I feel like their body color turns darker to a grey color when the background and/or substrate is black and they don't pop as much. They also do laps back and forth all day so I am not sure that a 46 bow front provides them with enough distance to properly do their laps.

Hello everyone, I recently bought a red tiger lotus from my LFS because I wanted something red for my 75G planted community tank. I made the age old mistake of purchasing a plant (or fish) without doing the proper research prior. Getting home, I did some research and discovered that this plant is a nutrient hog but worst of all has a MASSIVE root system that can strangle out other plants. I also read that it grows at an astonishing speed once it gets going. While it does seems like a pain and I am considering removing it from my tank, I was wondering if anyone has had any success containing this plant by uprooting it and trimming the roots every so often? I just added it to my tank a few days ago so it hasn't had time to settle in and grow yet but my plan is to uproot it and trim the roots every time it gets growing super fast. My theory is that it will keep the roots in check and it will slow its growth rate down if it has to readjust and regrow roots from time to time. Any more experienced scapers out there know if this plan will work? Should I just cut my losses and pull the plant now?