FishRBeautiful

I’ve already lost him. I kept counting 5 Cory’s but figured it’s because they move so much I was just missing one but maybe he was sick and hiding. All my other fish are fine. Cory’s, tetras, Mollys, Kuhli… maybe that’s what happened. A sick one

I don’t know. I got two in February, two in March, and two on May 24. I can’t say if it’s one of the newest ones. The new ones seem to be younger and lighter in color until they grow a bit.

I fed my fish tonight and noticed this guy. I check my fish regularly so this must have happened overnight or he was hiding and I missed him before. Is he dying? I recently switched to Omega One sinking pellets because the store I went to didn’t carry Hikari. And I gave them cucumbers last night. Water Parameters all test normal. My other fish seem ok but now I’m worried. Now he’s upside down

I don’t know those types of cory’s great but my first thought was a 3 striped. From the big box stores, I think they just get fish from vendors and sell them as they’re told they are, even if they’re not pure fish breeds. Sometimes if you get them from the same location, you’ll get the same vendors with same species.

I’m planning to do a single tank with guppies only. You probably have to add new ones from time to time though I imagine. 4 tanks sounds sufficient to me. I wish I had the means to do that

That’s what i think more and more every time I watch them so thank you!!

Good to know. Thanks! I wonder why the pet store workers think they’re aggressive and say platys are peaceful. Who knows…

Thanks! I’ve been told by all the lfs workers to get platys because Mollys are mean. But I’ve had lots of aggressive platys and these “Mollys” are completely peaceful so far. I even have tetras and Cory’s and so far, no interference

That’s what I thought too. I thought Mollys were supposed to be aggressive. Is it normal for them to be peaceful?

Bought these from a tank of Mollys, Platys, and Guppies sold as platys but I have my doubts. Google has ways to tell Mollys and Platys apart but I get more from just having a “feel” after watching a lot. These are so much more peaceful than the crazy Platys I’ve had in the past so what are your thoughts? Excuse the dirty tank. You may have to scroll in if you can to see the fish (black).

Yep, always perfect. Nitrates are always low, like 10-15.

Ok, I’m using test strips, includes pH, hardness, ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, chlorine, maybe something else. I think it’s Tetra. My tests always show same results as when I take water to the lfs.

So you’re talking about the stuff you buy to create a nitrogen cycle? I always just put one hardy fish in and create a nitrogen cycle that way. I watched lots of videos on it before starting up. I was thinking that the leftover food and waste from a previous fish would keep the cycle going with no fish in it. I assumed that’s why my tests still show it cycled when there’s no fish in it. What I’m still wondering though is like someone said, did it get stagnant from not being cleaned during that time and does it just needs lots of water changes and fresh water. And maybe fish food to keep the cycle going? Or is it better to break it down and clean it out like someone said? I’m terrified of the bleach method. Can you use hydrogen peroxide as an alternative?

I use a gravel vacuum to change out the water. Because there’s no algae, I never scrub anything or take out plants and wash them. Should I? That makes sense. So could bad bacteria live on those surfaces also? You can add bacteria to a tank? Why would you do that? I’ve never done that in my 20g.

The floating thing is a carbon filter (the kind I use in my 20 gallon) that someone advised I add a few days ago. I probably should have mentioned I have two sponge filters in there (1 I got a few days ago and haven’t had time to hook up yet). The one that’s been running a few months has an air stone inside (like Girl Talks Fish explained to do). Your comment makes a lot of sense to me. Here’s what I’m thinking based on what you said. I’ve had the tank running in between fish, sometimes days, a couple times, probably a whole month or two. I don’t always clean it after a fish dies before adding new ones. I also don’t clean the tank as often as my 20 gallon since I keep it low stocked and nitrates are low. I thought I was keeping the cycle alive but maybe I’m just creating stagnant water. Could there be build up bacteria in the surfaces of the tank, rocks, decor etc or even in the water? Would an antibiotic kill it or would I need to take the tank down and bleach that? I’ve never used bleach in a tank so it totally scares me. And the minnows that survived were in this tank, not my 20 gallon. Or could I just do a series of water changes for a while?