Tony s

I wouldn’t worry about the betta being too aggressive to other fish. Bettas are mostly aggressive to bettas. But you do have the other tank just in case. I don’t think it’s an issue though. Fish we have kept bettas with. Harlequin and espei Rasbora s, platys (we have one currently who thinks she’s a platy) neons, otos, all kinds of Corys, snails (did have 1 out of 20 go for them, but only in a small tank with just those 2 by themselves). kuhli loaches and other bottom dwellers. there are fish I wouldn’t keep with them. Skirt tetras, lemon tetras, zebra danios. These are by far too nippy for bettas. we currently keep 6 bettas in community tank. Really don’t see aggression from them. Them in tank first or last. Not an issue from what we see.

Will second that. Depending on species. My skunks and peppered don’t. My pandas do. My albino greens used to. They now too old and tired🤣

That sounds like a great plan. And in your water you could do the crystal red shrimp. Caradina. Neocaradina would like more hardness again. but good on you. Taking care of something you didn’t really want

Sometimes snails just hap🤣pen I like my snails. But they’re getting old now. Have to breed some gold or purple mystery ones next

yes, nbd. I only used the common name to make it easier. there's three very close species here. only differ by a bit of coloring and size. so close in fact the local petsmart has them in the same tank and just label them as trigonostigma rasbora.

I like my harlequins. very tough fish. almost nothing bothers them. They live with one of our bettas. very peaceful. they do more of a shoal instead of a school. swim mid to upper level, so substrate is a non-issue. about an 11\2 long deep copper and black. they have a related fish. the lambchop rasbora, slightly smaller, slenderer bodied. but behavior is close. haven't done chilis yet

@Colu got any thoughts here

Yeah. Unfortunately that’s how they go. And not knowing the age or prior tank conditions. This might be the end. Especially if she has tank mates that are unaffected 😪 If anyone else starts showing symptoms. Definitely would treat with maracyn2 or even erythromycin at this point

My first question is do you know how old she is. Doesn’t sound like a water issue. If she’s the alpha. She may just be aging. I lost one of my oldest males last week. He clamped up. Nobody else did. There’s 30 in with him. All ages. He was over 2 I believe. So maybe nothing can be done. That said. If you want. You could try a treatment of maracyn2. Maybe there is something there.

They’re relatively easy to collect. We used some screen wire between 2 small poasts. Then went into the riffle areas of a nearby river. And started kicking up stones. Not sure how long they’d last in captivity. They need a lot of moving water. You can also use the screen method to find other things near the shore, if you have a bit of a drop off. We found a huge megaloptera larvae. Which was very cool.

If you really have bga, a week of maracyn will take care of it. Or the api brand of erythromycin. It takes a good antibiotic to get rid of it. Whether it comes back or not???

More than likely, those are going to mix. From top to bottom. Fish may dig, if you vac, you could mix, moving decor could mix. i think @knee has the answer.

that's a possibility. If you can stick a timer on it. only run the light for less than 8 hours. you pick the time, the fish don't need the light. the light is for you to enjoy your fish. so pick a time when you're going to be around. I'd also keep the nitrates around 20 or less. algae uses nitrates as fertilizer

Bettas are not usually aggressive to other fish. mostly just other bettas. that said, most fish will see shrimp as being very tasty. unless they're too small to eat them. at the very least shrimplettes are going to go missing. depending on the size of your shrimp colony, that may not make a difference. If it's a new colony, they may not have enough time to get established.

The big thing here. figuring out what you would love to keep. if it's snails and guppies. that's great. if it's german rams and Apistogramma, also great. Once you know, there's a strategy for that but, for now, with the snails, crushed coral in a bag would be good.

sorry reading error. kh should go up some with the crushed coral. but you'd have to used it for a while to see how much. and it's the gh the snails would be after anyways. so a lower kh would be fine

yeah, it's all in what you really want to keep. and really most fish are adaptable anyway. and you can always change your mind. I think easiest is best. most people do best when it's easy. mostly that's using your own tap. nothing wrong with a higher kh. if that's what you're asking. kh will help to stabilize your ph. it buffers your water

well, you're most of the way there. put some in what they call a media bag. perforated to let water flow through but keeping the coral in one spot. gh of 150 is a good start, you may need closer to 200 with the snails

I think adding the crushed coral might be easiest. either mixing with the substrate or adding to your filter. what kind of filter?

the next question is how much work you want to do. you can use chemical additives that allow you to target a certain gh kh ph (i do this). you have to be very consistent doing this. or you can use a few products that you add and just monitor. they will dissolve on their own. and raise your gh. crushed coral or wondershells for those. they disappear as they're being used, and you just watch. those are probably the safest (not the cheapest) crushed oystershell or eggshell can work. cuttlebone can work. cuttlebone can go off if it's not prepared properly.

what's coming out of your tap? ph gh kh. then we can work from that

I honestly did not know that was a thing. my understanding of guppies is they were a hardwater species and the ranges didn't overlap much. but you have to figure, most of the animals we keep are of the prey variety. and the colors are usually predator responses or mating strategies. and honestly, I'm impressed about your reading journal articles. I think I'm getting to old to process them anymore

@Twoshaytx the question becomes. if you handle it, is it soft and slimy and stinks. Cyanobacteria. or does it feel harder and stringy. hair algae. or is it just on the surfaces. green or brown. either green spot or brown algae. we can help with some remedies

OMG. yes this! I once did research with cucumber beetles for a semester. no reactions to start. by the end I was breaking out in large hives. 🤣 So, some allergies come on strong and quick