NOLANANO

If this a rule of thumb (I have only kept a few Apistos so I am not sure), Then Borelli are the way to go. Mine bred and had wigglers but never harmed any other tankmates.

I have 6 Vitelli in my 75G and they are as peaceful as cichlids get. They battle amongst themselves but never do any damage and do tolerate each other’s presence for the most part. love these fish.

I’ve never had hongsloi but from the pics they are really pretty fish. I currently have 6 borelli and I love them. I’m not sure how aggressive hongsloi are but you may need to get more female if he chases her incessantly. When I had a trifaciata I needed multiple females cuz that boy was a predator.

He is correct but get a bunch of them because they will bote chunks out of one another if they can't spread their aggression around properly. Really fun fish to watch though. This would also give your student and easily recognizable tank occupant that they can name.

I can't speak on the acara but my gudgeon never touched adult shrimp. I'm sure they got babies though. My shrimp population was able to stay steady around 30-40 shrimp for over a year in a 29G with gudgeon. I did however see a decline in population when I added Apistos. My Macmasteri that I had for about a year tore shrimp up.

FYI: I looked at your profile and your tank shocked me. Its the first time I have ever seen blue gravel look good in a tank. Thats like turning fast food into a 5 star meal. Props to you lol

I also live in Metairie! My never bred. I definitely had 1 male and I think 2 females but it could have been 2 males and a female. I would suggest getting more than 3 though because 2 of them paired and then chased the 3rd a good bit. Nothing too crazy but they definitely let the 3rd know that he/she was not wanted. Even though they "paired", I never saw any babies.

I had 3 in a 29G without issue. They were interesting little fish.

Its a sad day, its a bad day. I lost my favorite puffer, His name was Trucky and he was always at the front of the glass waiting for me. He was the only one that I could easily identify because he was skinnier than the rest and a picky eater. I always felt like he was gonna die because of his skinniness. He just never looked fully healthy like the other 3. He was very personable and would follow my finger but he wasn't long for this world. The other 3 are as healthy as can be and eat anything I put in the tank including flake food. I think I will have these 3 for a long while. I also think that maybe they could sense that Trucky was sick because they are now exploring the tank more that he is gone. Before the 3 of them would stay in one corner glass surfing while Trucky hung out in the front. Don't get me wrong, they still glass surf in their desired corner but I do find that they explore much more than when Trucky was in the tank. I am monitoring to see if any fish start to act weird or seem sick and if they do I will treat the tank but I honestly think Trucky was a poor specimen more than he had a parasite or something. Poor one out for the little guy. You will always be remembered as the one fish my wife cared about.

As for fish, I would stock with 6 Panda Cories, 6 Neon Tetra, 10-20 Neocardina shrimp, and a dwarf gourami or a nice Plakat Betta as a center piece fish. Could also do another schooling fish and bump those numbers up to 8 each if you don't want a centerpiece.

In Louisiana we have this Tanks for Teachers program where everything gets donated and the teacher essentially agrees to be the steward of the tank. I wonder if something like this exists in your state. Tanks for Teachers – Southeast Louisiana Aquarium Society (selas.us)

Thats awesome that they do those checks. I worked from home for 2 years and while the freedom was great, it was isolating. I often felt out of touch with the company and found myself doing the bare minimum. I have since found a job that works in an office and its much better for my motivation and mental health. Props to those that have the self motivation to work from home successfully.

I thought that as well but the other HOB doesn't have a baffle so I thought maybe it was a different reason.

curious what the thought/purpose of the rocks on the HOB filter outlet is? Just aesthetic or another purpose? And why so much filtration? 3 filters seems like overkill. You seeding them for other tanks? Not saying anything you are doing is wrong, just curious in case you are thinking of something I am not.

I don't have much advice but one time in 2021 a hurricane knocked out my power for 2 weeks and I didn't lose any fish. I did plug an airstone into a portable battery but that only gave aeration for a day or so. My plants took it worse that the fish. Most of the plants survived too btw. Not saying you will have the same luck but trying to point out that 4 days is doable and all hope is not lost. Good Luck!

I didn't see the numbers at first. Let me add and answer them: 1)Probably my Amazon Puffers. Not the rarest by any means but I have never seen anyone else with them and have only run into one other poster on here with experience with them. 2) I was bored with my tank and didn't know what direction I wanted to go in. I only have one tank and its planted and having a community tank is a must for me so my options felt limited. When researching fish that could fill this niche I came across the amazon puffer which was a fully freshwater puffer that only grows to 4-5 inches at most and can be kept in communities. I found a vendor online and began my research and preparation. A few months later I made the plunge and have had 4 Amazon puffers ever since. 3) I would recommend them but with a caveat. I would tell the person that they do glass surf quite a bit. Not frantically but its definitely a constant behavior. It makes me feel bad for them at times because it feels like they just want to be on the move and the tank isn't big enough for them. BUT the flip side is that they are super cool fish. When they aren't glass surfing they are exploring and hunting, looking for something to eat and its fun to watch them explore. They will also follow your finger on the glass if you can get their attention. They work for me because I have other fish in the tank but if it were a puffer only tank, I think they would get boring. 4) I do still keep them and despite my minor complaints, I love them.

IDK if its weird but I plop and drop when acclimating and almost never lose a fish upon release. Just float the bag for 15-30 minutes and then pour them in a net and put them in a tank. Theory being that the stress of being in the bag is worse for them than the stress of slightly different water parameters. I have also read that once the bag is opened then their waste is converted to ammonia and so you get fish sitting in ammonia while you drip acclimate or however you choose to acclimate. I'm not a scientist so IDK if the ammonia thing is true but I can say that I get incredible results from plop and drop.

I really don't have a solution for you other than to say that the snail traps I used were worthless. I guess my suggestion would be to get a fish that eats snails but that might be hard to find one that can also live with cichlids. You could get assassin snails but I found that I was just trading one pest for another when I did that.

Clean water leads to a healthy tank but a truly healthy tank needs some mulm to support microorganisms that truly help keep parameters stable. As for planted tanks, I'd say definitely leave the majority of the mulm because it will work its way into the substrate and feed your plants. Now when I say leave the mulm, I do get that you don't want the tank to look unsightly so you can suck up the obvious build ups but I rarely gravel vac.

Those are fine or chili rasbora. Rocket (aka clown) Killis would also be a good option.

3 Month Update: Sorry no pics, these guys are constantly on the move and its difficult to get a clear picture. I still have 4 puffers in my tank and 3 of them are fat little balls that eat everything and one (named Trucky) is a picky eater that will only eat frozen or live foods. The rest will eat pretty much anything I put in the tank. They are really cool fish and I like watching them "hunt" for food but I do think they glass surf way more than I would like. When I come to the tank, at least 2 will greet me and if I present food, all of then will come and eat but it feels like they glass surf the rest of the time. Occasionally one or 2 will go hunting for food but then go back to glass surfing. The glass surfing doesn't seem frantic and the fish don't seem stressed. they just enjoy going up and down the glass in my highest flow area. I hope they grow out of this but it feels like this will be a life long habit of theirs. As long as they seem happy and continue to come eat, I will leave them be. If they become obsessed with glass surfing and refuse to eat then I may have to figure something out. Amazon Puffers as tank mates: I would give them a 7 out of 10 as far as being good community fish. Like I said, they glass surf most of the time and pretty much ignore the other fish. Since getting them my neon tetra school went from 11 down to 7 and my Rummynose school went from 9 down to 6 but both of these schools are over 2 years old so I think its just natural deaths. I have never seen any of my puffers go after either schooling fish but who knows, maybe they attack at night. The other thing that knocks them as tank mates is the occasional fin nipping. I believe all of the fin nipping can be attributed to my little problem child Trucky. He's the picky eater and I think he fin nips when he gets really hungry but its not a constant and I've never witnessed him fin nip per se. I just see what looks like little chunks missing from a Dorsal fin every now and then. The first victim was a couple of Panda Cories, the second was a Julii Cory, and the latest victim is one of my 3 Apisto Borelli. At least for the Borelli, I can't rule out one of the other males since they constantly "battle" for supremacy and the best spots in the tank. Because Trucky refuses anything that isn't frozen or live, he tends to not eat on days when I feed Repashy, Algae wafers, or cichlid gold. On these days, especially if they are back to back, I see Trucky hunting for food all around the plants and structure. On occasion I have seen him chase other fish for a little bit but its never for long and honestly seems to be fun for him rather than aggressive or territorial and I have never seen him actually get a chunk of fin from any fish. But because I know he has sharp teeth and he's the only one that I have seen even notice other fish, I am pretty sure he is the culprit. Don't take this as a Trucky bashing segment because he is actually my favorite puffer I have. Because he is smallest, he is the most easily recognizable and because he eats less, he shows hunting behavior more than the others. He is also always at the front of the tank and is first to greet me every time I walk up. Tankmates for Amazon Puffers: It seems like most anything can go with these puffers but like I said, its possible that the tetras are slowly being killed off. I really do think its old age but I can't really rule the puffers out. I'd say proceed with caution when it comes to tetra. The fish I was most worried about taking a beating is the Pearl Gourami but I have never seen any chunks missing from her. She is the largest fish in the tank so maybe she is too big to mess with. I think being able to fight back matters. My Apisto Borelli don't seem to be on the menu either. I did say that one of them has 2 fin nips that look like they could be from a puffer but they also could be from one of the other Apistos. These guys are a little bigger than the puffers and don't back down so the puffers give them space. Equally important, the Apistos don't view the puffers as a threat either. The only time I saw one nip at a puffer was when one of my females had babies. But she nipped at anything coming too close including my finger. At first the Panda cories did not like their new tankmates but after the puffers stopped being enamored by them everything calmed down and they seem pretty unbothered by them. The last fish in the tank is a bristlenose pleco and she's a beast that no one messes with. I would say one thing that is super important for puffer tankmates is having multiple caves for them to be able to hide in if a puffer like Trucky decides to chase them. For whatever reason, the puffers stay out in the open and don't go in caves. Overall, I am very pleased with my puffer journey thus far and can't wait to learn more about them as they grow. The only question I have, is there any larger South American schooling fish that I could get if my rummynose and neon tetra continue to dwindle whether from old age or puffer attack?

Luckily it started leaking during my water change so I was able to see it and get it switched out before any water damage took place. I haven't had a HOB filter in years and I would say the pros are its much quieter and seems to keep the water just as clear as my cannister did. The cons are that I am going to have to clean it much more often than I cleaned the cannister. Like a monthly cleaning rather than a bi-yearly cleaning. The most shocking part to me is that top fin makes a quality filter. Maybe I was wrong to have this bias but I always viewed top fin as a budget vendor with cheap stuff. This filter though, is quality.

Are we sure its the water and not the light? If you have a blue heavy light, it would make the water appear bluish. From that picture, it looks like normal water to me. Clarity is great.

I am being straight up educated like a 3rd grader in Science class in this thread. I have literally never seen or heard anyone mention anything other than the things we test for plus maybe some trace elements that plants need. But thinking about it logically, of course there is so much more in the water than we are aware of.

Maybe I am wrong but are the tall plants on either side stem plants with individual stalks? If so, you can separate them into individual stems and plant them about any inch (or even a little less) apart and it will give them some breathing room. When they are bunched together, the roots all have to anchor in the same spot. If you spread them, they will have more area to anchor themselves. If they aren't stem plants then ignore my suggestion.