Tony s

Yes , you could absolutely add otocinclus. But I’d probably do around 5 or so, they tend to be social animals. They will go after any surface algae. They’re so good at it, it doesn’t take them much time to eliminate it. In which case you’re going to have to feed them regularly. They can take algae wafers. But prefer veggies. You can cut zucchini rounds, blanch them in microwave for a bit. Then stab with a fork and drop in. Healthy otos should have a pudgy belly. If not they actually starving. Watch for this when purchasing as well

welcome to the forum! No, I think you're way understocked. to give you an idea of what you could go up to. Try playing with aqadvisor.com. this will give you a basic understanding of where you're at. and it's a bit on the conservative side

for a 30g, no. If anything, that's way understocked. But it's also a good place to start. In a 30g Id start with the gourami. and i think I'd give him maybe 2 more gourami friends. they like to be a bit social. and then wait a couple of weeks to add your pygmies. that way you don't overload your cycle. Id absolutely play with aqadvisor.com for now or just be looking a honey gourami tank mates on google. or pygmy tank mates for that matter. you have a ton of time. and sometimes waiting and planning and anticipating is the most fun of all.

I have a crippling amount of that, except, apparently not by keyboard. It mostly seems like a very safe space here. so, feel free to speak up and ask questions. Most people are friendly and helpful here. and people that are rude generally will get an earful by members. and welcome!

I Think there less flimsy than they appear. as long as basic care is maintained. Most are heavily impregnated with polymer resin. but solid wood would be better. I'm not sure we could afford them though. being as they're incredibly expensive as is.

I'm guessing lack of oxygen, as these chemical deplete oxygen anyway. and when the night comes, plants slip into dark respiration. which also depletes oxygen.

That may be fine as it's a different species. just keep an eye out. I'd also keep an eye out between your red eyes. Jason is usually very good on his info. Oh and you now have 2 fish that could use a new home. doesn't that call for a new 55g home?🤣 at least that's what I'm trying to convince my wife🤣

Side kick (Joanna, his wife) is usually watching the chat, so it doesn't get away from them. One of my favorite channels. only one I'm a member of. lots of basic information there. and valid info as he's a microbiology professor with certification in fish health

Yeah, been there more times than I care to count. Usually on simple stupid things. I was fixing a water line in one of my hog buildings once. It was late and i forgot to turn it back on. I missed it the next day while checking. Next day I had pigs on the ground paddling from spinal pressure due to salt buildup in the brainstem. treated all of them with dexamethasone and water trickling into their mouths. most recovered. I lost probably 65 head. and all on me. so, yeah, i absolutely get it. In some ways it's way worse in your situation as those were your pets and companions. so yeah, my absolute condolences. give it time, it gets better

My lfs has an iron test. I haven’t picked it up yet. But I should. I believe it’s made by Sera

I am going to guess cap full. 2 cups would be 2/3 of the big bottle. so, no...

@RichNJ the question is . Do you think you have high iron in your well. They can test for that. or you can get a test for that. My water will coat anything it touches. turning it into a rust-colored mess. it's been known to discolor leaves of grass if water hose has been left on too long. on top of that we have iron bacteria in our well. so the water can be in a bucket and still be rusting. (I actually need to get a testing kit and measure it myself). in order to fight that inside the house we did a softener, but we also added a hydrogen peroxide system to kill bacteria. apparently, it also kills beneficial bacteria. Which is why I do RO. trust me, I wouldn't if I felt I didn't have to. If I'm not wrong (i can be), doesn't shrimp have an intolerance to high iron levels? Maybe it's worth a test for you to find out for sure. or maybe your water softener company has that number already?

red eye tetra is kind of like buenos Aires tetra. "There can be only one". in that they tend to pick off the weakest fish until there's only one last survivor. very tiger barb like. there is no guarantee they wouldnt turn around and find another to pick off. even if you didn't put that one back. try after the 15 minute mark

It may help to try it at night in pitch black. That’s when the fish are least active. But I’d want to be able to keep an eye on them. During the night a couple of times. And for sure early in the morning.

For top off you would do straight RO. As the calcium and magnesium don’t evaporate. So you don’t want to add more. For water changes you would do your mix. This would be the same procedure if you would do the salty shrimp. It wouldn’t evaporate either.

All depends on the size of the tetras. But you can’t go too big, or your cpd’s become fish food.

What are your current water parameters.

For neocaridina. Gh 7-9. Kh 3-4. Ph neutral to 7.5 tds 200-250. Which can be done with a 50/50 mixture of tap and RO. Without spending $ on a supplement constantly.

you can use egg shell, oyster shell, wonder shell, all the shells. you can also use crushed coral, cuttle bone, aragonite in the substrate, and even chicken grit. all a matter of what you find easy to use. cause once you start, you need to be consistent with it. The egg shell thing has me a bit concerned. have not yet heard a process for processing it. leaving the membrane in and egg white remnants. seems to be a bad plan. unless you can get it from a commercial source

yeah. I don't think anybody gets away with no water changes. even the systems that claim no water changes have to eventually. Daphnia and ostracods shouldn't be harmful to your shrimp. but maybe you could find a couple of nano fish that could snack on them. something really small. like chili rasboras. you could possibly get away with 5 or 6 temporarily Yeah, but I'm also thinking that it's normal for adult cherry shrimp to do that. the next generations should be good

remembering to still dechlorinate of coarse. half the water would still be tap

If you really prefer to switch to RO. I think I'd get just a couple 3 liquid containers. fill one with RO, fill another with tap water. then mix into the third one in equal proportions. that would give you a 50/50 mix and you really wouldn't need to remineralize anything at all. your gh and kh would roughly be half. which is excellent for almost anything. as far how much at one time. i don't think id change more than 20% every 3-4 days. gives them a chance to get used to it.

if this all comes from your tap. you should be very good just using tap. red cherry shrimp (neocaridina) actually prefer harder water. crystal red shrimp (caridina), not so much. Your shrimp may be adjusting to their new environment. It's not uncommon for adult shrimp to die when getting used to a new tank. now the babies usually do very well. as long as you get some babies started. you should be fine. It may not look like it. shrimp are very good at hiding. but I'm betting it won't take long and you'll have a huge colony.

That is much better. before he was reflecting light in inconvenient locations. so, yeah, follow colu's advice on the ich cure. and if you can't save him, you gave him the best shot he was going to get. so good luck!

And they don’t take anywhere near the amount of work as large animals do. The fish work I use to relax after 12 hour days. We do pigs here. my daughter would love the goats and horses. I think she’s going to get bunnies for 4h. Never raised bunnies before. but, anyway, I understand how traumatic this can be. Especially not knowing what the heck happened. I’m used to animal deaths, doing what I do. But it’s never easy, nor should it be. But it does get better. God bless.