Tony s

I would hire a care service. And I would have very specific directions for your tank laid out. How much of what food, how to add water and dechlorinator. I wouldn’t necessarily have them do water changes per se. But, if they’re feeding minimally, you should be okay if you pull your nitrates way down before you leave. And unfortunately, leave them directions for passed animals. you could even go so far as to leave preportioned food in pill containers by the day. or if you have a family or a trusted friend, train them really well and still do the detailed instructions.

depends on the look and feel of the silicone. as @johnnyxxl if it feels dried out and non-flexible it needs work. but probably just needs the corner seems re-sealed. I'd do as much to save it as I could. It's probably higher grade glass and thicker than what you can get now. unless you can get a custom tank. and for sure, leak test that thing before setting it up

Or maybe just a bigger tank so they can be apart from each other I understand completely. When that bug bites, it bites hard🤣

Well, you could get a duplicate tank and set them up side by side. That way they could always be close enough to glare each other. And you’d have another project to do…

I would, it just seems more aesthetically pleasing to not see the water seem as it were. and the tank looks really good

where mine are from. made it to indiana in great shape in 24 hrs

That’s exactly what we did. Betta on top, khuli’s on the bottom. She likes the squiggle noodles. But the betta has passed. Tumor on the back. She wants platinum mollies, she’s probably getting fancy guppies. If I can find a good source.

Mine were supposed to be aytinjo. From a good Florida breeder. They look like the photo above

Probably daily for now. Until it gets fully cycled. Then weekly or twice weekly should be fine. When ammonia stays at zero and you have nitrates, you should be cycled Well, and nitrites are also zero

One of my favorites. But I’d need a couple of those tanks. Just to add in uaru. Electric blue acara. Rainbow cichlids. Chocolate cichlids. Omg. There’s just too many……🤣

I think you can go ahead and add him after a water change. Get the ammonia down to 0.25 and keep checking. Add bacteria, it won’t cause any problems to add extra. Use prime to dechlorinate and you’ll be good. Testing and changing water, that’s the whole key now.

I think for you, find out what your daughter really likes and what your passion is. There’s really no right way to do this. You have almost every possibility imaginable. So make it very personal between you and your daughter. Any fish would be great, but the bonding potential here, and teaching potential is not replaceable.

Actually second the parameters, but at your tap. That way we don’t recommend something you’d struggle with. but for me, in a tank that big, I’d have a planted tank with geophagus, diamond tetras, black phantom tetras, and lots of corys on the bottom.

I’m actually baffled by where your ammonia is coming from after all of this time. You really should be at the point of zero by now. Have you tested your tap? Are you aging your water in a bucket or taking it straight from the tap. In any case, I’d wait it out for a bit more. I know that’s tough to do after all the waiting, but it would be best for your Corys. I know you’re wanting them really badly, and hopefully this clears up soon.

Corys will do great unless they're wild caught. then maybe. neon tetras are difficult to keep alive anywhere right now. better would be green or black neons.

Oh, and a trip to PetSmart/co will give you a very good idea what fish are going to be the hardiest in your water. They’re not going to carry things in your local store that won’t grow there

There are exceptions of course. The is a member that raises discus in Iowa and a member that breeds beautiful German rams in Pennsylvania. Both in hard water. I think sometimes it’s more about keeping your water clean for those fish. And let’s not forget. All livebearers will love your water. Guppies, platys, mollies, swordtails, limias. As will snails and neocaradina shrimp.

Okay, so that means you have hard water with a high ph. So does 85% of the US. It”s fine. Not good or bad. Still tons of fish you can keep. Lots of very cool ones. The best thing you can do is find a local fish store or local breeder. The fish they keep, you can keep. The only fish I’d be concerned with are sensitive wild caught South American ones. Fish that are tank raised are probably going to do fine for you. They are accustomed to water that looks nothing like the water where the wild ones come from. More like your water. If you want to soften your water a bit, you can use ro water in a mix with your water. Until you get the numbers where you want them. But your water will work just fine for most fish. However, I would stay away from discus, Apistogramma, and German rams. They will grow for you, they won’t breed in your water, and they tend to fade over time. You can alter your water, but that can make for inconsistent water which makes things harder over time. And what your fish really need is consistency

You have perfectly normal water for the majority of the US. The soft water is only found on the east coast, Pacific Northwest, and gulf coast. It only covers about 15% of the country. So, your water quality was probably always good. That’s why it’s more important to know what the parameters of the fish breeder than the suggested parameters ranges of the wild fish. Unless you want the wild fish. Matching your parameters is best, that’s why finding a good local fish store is important.

If your water quality is good, feel free to stretch it out as long as you want. Especially because life gets in the way. As long as you can keep the nitrates around 20 to 30, you’re very good.

One of the key indicators of when it’s absolutely time to refresh your tank. If you keep and eye on your ph an kh and know where they usually are. When they both start to drop, you’re entering into what’s called old tank syndrome. Now, this excludes soft water tanks which have low ph and almost no kh in normal circumstances. But , I doubt you’ll ever get close to that, as I believe you’re mostly kidding about putting off water changes for extended periods anyway. But an every other week schedule is very doable, if your nitrates haven’t climbed beyond 20 ppm.

You also have the option to get some of the lesser known species. Hemichromus. Benitochromus. Anamolochromus. Some of the rare kribensis. I have thought about getting a colony of jeweled cichlids. Or yellow kribs.

Okay. I gotta ask. Which ones are the looney ones? Sounds like my kinda fish, and I don’t think I can get that info elsewhere 🤣

They make a pothos clip that holds onto the stem and let’s the roots stay submerged for houseplants

Absolutely not, you’re a very attentive fish keeper, which is great. John Hudson, kgtropicals, says his Oscars will go to the bottom of the tank and lay down sideways after water changes. Just pouting. He also tells about spawning African cichlids after water changes because it’s kind of like a rain storm. New, fresh, slightly cooler water. As is done in nature. Most times I’ve heard this helps spawning tremendously. Especially Corys.