Tony s

If you’re looking for just one focus fish, you could do a dwarf gourami. Same parameters as your wcmm. A bit on the larger side for a 10. Slow swimmer , so would be okay in an 10g. Available at the big box stores. Or if you want smaller. A honey gourami. Very peaceful. I’d say another betta, but they like warmer tanks. if you’re looking for another small school, cpd’s would be great as jw says, could do 5 green neons or 6-7 chili rasboras which can take the cool temperatures.

I believe the issue with that was lack of oxygen and dead bacteria on arrival. Ha, yeah, after 12-14 hour work days I can’t. And I’m not sure most people have enough work ethic to actually get that done. That seems to be one of our biggest challenges. Especially finding young people who want to work. Even extra pay doesn’t solve that problem. That’s why I’m mostly good teaching fishless. It gets done without dead fish. And try to get them testing daily just to get them used to testing. Only way I know to solve problems.

All the above are very valid ways to do a cycle. And you could add in ghost feed as well. I think it’s personal choice on this. Seeding the tank with old media and adding some bacteria seem to get the fastest results. There are even people who claim seeding and adding fritz7 with prime gets an instant cycle. Not sure I’d buy that. But then it just converts to fish in. Which works as well as long as it’s monitored closely.

Third option. Do a water change before you go, leave them in quarantine for 5 days. And don’t feed them. They’ll be just fine. And the lack of food should help keep your ammonia low. This is what I’m planning on doing the next time I leave town. I have had inexperienced people try and help. That was a mistake on my part. Tanks were a complete mess when I got back. For the most part, fish will be fine for a week without food.

If it’s only the two neons. You may not have a large issue. Neons are becoming notoriously hard to keep alive. But usually if they make it a few months. They’re good for long while. Neon tetra disease is not very common. Although it is definitely out there. You may have had a short term ammonia spike. Sometimes that happens unexpectedly. The thing to do after a loss is check parameters immediately to make sure nothing else is going on.

Right, Cory from coop always recommends an extra air stone in most aquariums. I’m quickly coming to that conclusion. And it could keep your tank alive if the filter ever crashes

Actually, I like it. It’s cute. I think most people start like this. With the plastic decor and plast plants. I still use pieces like that in some spots The plants from Petco/PetSmart are not that bad. very sturdy beginner plants. You can get different substrates from there. From sand to aqua soil. Or you can get plants directly from coop. Coop gives you more selection. And higher quality. For decor like rocks and driftwood. Local fish shops are good. Or something like Amazon. I like to browse at different lfs because it lets me actually handle the item and get a feel for it. For different types, use google to search for types of aquarium driftwood or aquarium stone. This can give you an idea of what’s available. You could even go to rock shops and take a look, see if there’s anything you like. Driftwood is a bit trickier to get from nature. You want hard wood that won’t rot quickly. And it must be chemical and pesticide free. I usually advise against collecting driftwood if you don’t know it’s origin. and there’s really nothing wrong with what you have. You could take and create a “lost” castle or ship by glueing anubias to it and create a jungle behind it. And a few really low grower in front and to the sides. the thing to watch. With a hex like that you’re kind of stuck light wise. I have one I was going to put a bright light on, doesn’t work so good. You’ll have to use mostly low light or medium light plants. Which is fine as long as you keep that in mind

Yeah it should just be a protein film. Airstone should break that up Protein film is usually caused by a bit of over feeding. I get them too

Well that’s mostly good news then. Little bitty things can cause a whole world of problems doing this. Stuff you wouldn’t even think about. But hopefully you got it figured out now, and your colony can rebuild 😀

Have they stabilized after you pulled it, hopefully?

That’s a big possibility. But I have no idea what rooting hormone would actually do. But it’s probably not good. Did you end up pulling it out?

First we need information on the tank. What size. How long has it been going. What are your water parameters

Yeah, those are the kinds of trips you make once. And then enjoy them forever. 😀

Yeah me too. Primetime is my only membership. I think I’m going to have to surprise my daughter and go say high to Jason this summer. Only about a two hour drive up there. All I ever here, dad are you listening to Jason again?🤣

Blend of kgtropicals and primetime aquatics

For anyone that would be interested. Two of my favorite channels have gotten together and created a new podcast. this episode is on selling fish for profit. especially for new keepers and start-ups. cause i believe everybody in our hobby thinks about it

and a lid to keep things out. dust primarily. but you never know. yeah I was thinking about 2 100g with a 2-3" connection drilled in between. I'm trying to figure out how to get a garden house outlet upstairs in my house. without the wife having issues with it. I'd do a complete room in the basement, but then i'd be by myself most of the time. Not at all appealing to me. I do much better with somebody around

Good site. Although I stopped doing the heavy maths thing 30 years ago. Was research trained at one point Yeah, I so need to set up a system. Doing 260 gallons of water changes takes me all week with the 30 gallon can.

See, that extra 55g was excellent advice 🤣

Nothing wrong with those. But I’d quarantine things from them for sure. And the plants are fine there. But you can only get the air breathing variety there. So everything needs converted to underwater growth. Which is fine. i still rescue their bettas, whenever I have the space Well, nuts, I’m too reactive today. Can’t put any more likes down🤣. But good luck. And @Whitecloud09 good advice 😀

That’s great!

Unfortunately, in a Molly, platy, swordtail, guppy tank that’s going to be a common occurrence. Nothing can be done really. Even when using a breeding box, some get eaten. You’ll still end up with a ton of fry. I have a platy only tank. When I started getting too many fry, I tried separating the males and females. That didn’t work as the females can continue to have fry for months. Now they’re back together. And the age ranges from 2yr olds to 2 day olds. The population has become stable. And I just let them live out their platy lives in peace. I run my water into a 30 gallon Brute trash can and let it come up to temperature. Then have a small sump pump connected to a garden hose to move the water. For a 30g, 3 five gallon buckets of room temperature water would be fine. And cheap

2 things. If you’re letting your water come up to room temperature. That will work until you get some sensitive species. I let all my water come up by aging it. I’ve never had a problem with shocking fish. It will mix in quickly. You’ll only drop the temperature by a few degrees. while you’re doing a fish less cycle, I wouldn’t worry about changing water. Plants will consume all form of your nitrogen. Whether it’s ammonia or nitrites, or nitrates. They’ll do just fine with any of those. So it’s just a waiting game really. Now, when you have the fish in there. Absolutely change water at any sign of ammonia or nitrite. If you can keep your nitrates under 30 that’s where you would want to keep it with fish. But for now, in fishless, patience is the hard part. See if you can get some hornwort. Float it in your tank. It grows really quickly and provides good cover for fry. Possibly have to get it at your lfs

Yes, it should. Or canned green beans. Mine just preferred the zucchini

Yeah, they never get big enough to do anything,really. That’s one of the reasons they’re pest snails, not much value. For algae control you’ll want either mystery snails or nerite snails. They both get much bigger