Tony s

Looks like it should be fine. The corner posts are made of metal, so weight bearing should be no problem. Actually looks like the entire end is made of metal. If the connections between the ends is made of metal, you should be good to go

Good for you. But at that point, what do you do, really. Haven’t had that with aquariums yet. But have had million dollar farm buildings burn down and last year tornadoes took out 2. But you either give up or have to pick up and try again. @ktk4beees so sorry for your loss. It’s what people say for funerals, but it really does work in this situation. It’s maybe not as traumatic, but it’s still your animals and your history. It’ll get better, but may take a bit..😪😭

Yeah, the lemon color is really throwing me off. I was hoping you had a better idea of what to look for. I can see spots, but I’m not all that familiar with what a bristlenose is supposed to look like. And I’ve seen your babies, beautiful btw, so was hoping you’d know. Are the dark spots along the sides normal? Maybe if @Colu could look at the last picture. Much better for diagnosis

I am going to get a second opinion here as to whether that's ich or not. @Guppysnail does that look like ich on that bristlenose?

Ich can be a slow moving disease. (parasitic infection). Salt can help with that. Aquarium salt only. 1tbsp per 3 gallons. Heat is also needed. it speeds up the lifecycle of the parasite. so, heat up to 84-86 works best. plants won't like that but should survive. Plants also won't like the salt either. the thing with the salt. it doesn't evaporate, so any water changes that are needed. only add salt to the water you replace at the specific dose. if you add 3 gallon water, only add 1 tbsp salt. I'm not honestly sure if I'd use ich-x at all. plecos can be sensitive to it. i think just the heat and salt. probably for a week or more, then maintain regular quarantine for another month. I'm hoping your fish friend is strong enough. ich is a parasite, but most fish won't have problems with it if they live in a healthy tank. which you know he didn't you can use your quarantine tank. just keep an eye out for any ammonia. when you see it do a water change. then use prime to dechlorinate the water. wouldn't hurt to add some more bacteria in as well

it's mostly just annoying. not structural. i had a stone get between my magnetic scrapers before. now i have to look at it every time. 😒

Pictures are often helpful. there are other things that can look like ich. and posting water parameter values helps in determining if anything is off. for ich you need multiple approaches. first, turn your heater up to 84. this speeds up the life cycle of the ich parasite. the salt like you have done. then ich-x is often useful. You can try without the ich-x for a while and see how that goes. but you need the increased temp for the salt- salt doesn't evaporate so it becomes helpful to measure the water volume you're removing and add salt only to the volume of the water you're adding

possibly some type of cotton filler? wool sprang to mind, but i don't think it will maintain any porosity. possibly natural sponge? and, yes, you could keep using polyfill, and rewashing several times. at least washing slows down it's use yeah, i understand where you're coming from. I'm not sure we're to the point we have replacements for things. unfortunately

honestly, the only thing i see out of order is that bag. I know somebody suggested you need it. But I really can't see a purpose for it. you could switch the whole sank to a hang on back and use carbon in that. That would work for carbon bags. or the cartridge usually has carbon in it anyway. but switching is just personal preference. I also think, id try adding so API quickstart (better would be fritzyme7, dr tims, or seachem stability) with the next fish. and get some prime. then test your water daily, cause more than likely you're going to do a fish in cycle at this point. test daily and when your ammonia or nitrite has a positive reading. it's time for a water change. probably by half. the use the prime to dechlorinate afterwards. so what i would do. 50 % water change with gravel vacuuming remove the bag. convert to a hang on back if desired (not necessary, but if it makes you feel better) go ahead and try adding a few fish with the addition of a bacterial source keep testing daily. water change when you see any ammonia or nitrites (both are poisonous). remember to dechlorinate new water feed fish sparingly for a while. just a pinch. all food should be gone in a couple of minutes I'm hoping this clears your tanks up. really, i have tanks that look exactly like this one. mine are 10g instead of 5. and I am beginning to add some live plants to them. but this looks exactly like the tanks i started with. my problem is i didn't know how to stop adding tanks. now i have 14 of all sizes🤣

The question is, what do you want your tank to focus on. If its your cpd school, by all means add more. large schools of little fish are always impressive. and you still have plenty of room. so 25 cpd's doesn't seem out of order

good. and the numbers are fine? 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, ph usually above 6.5, as high as 8 wouldn't bother me. nitrates between 10 to 50 (50 is on the higher end, but not an issue). hardness is also not an issue.

You can, but it you'll be starting from scratch at that point. a whole new cycle. Cycles usually take about a month to complete. I honestly wouldn't break it down at this point. just a matter of finding out what's going on. Really shouldn't have stagnant water. if the airstone and sponge filter is running. the clear tube on the sponge creates water flow. even air stone bubbles cause water flow. and both pump air directly into the tank so it's oxygenated water. not stagnant. What are you using to test your water parameters.

And I wouldn't worry about not knowing lot of the aquarium stuff. I started with knowing absolutely nothing. had to learn everything by myself. mostly on websites, then found youtube. never had a use for youtube until then. but seeing things done is easier than having to do things yourself. and you're here. so that's way ahead of where i was. Ask question, lots of very smart people here who like to help

for basic info on cycling, this is good

isn't that always the case🤣

Okay now we’re getting somewhere. Yes, absolutely have to add a source of bacteria. That’s what maintains your nitrogen cycle. and, unless you’re tearing down a tank, never clean anything by soap, or bleach. That’s an automatic way to kill your cycle. try this video, then ask more questions

and, really, if the bag doesn’t have water flowing through it, it isn’t doing anything at all. Carbon doesn’t do anything at all by osmosis. It traps particles because it has very fine micro pores. That grab hold of what goes through it. That’s why you pull it when adding medication. It grabs hold of the medicine. Keeping it out of the water. It doesn’t even add a source of carbon to the tank. It’s basically inert. But it could hold a lot of nasty stuff in it without flowering water. I’m wondering if you pull it and smell it what you’ll find.

Okay, well that’s something anyway. how are you cleaning the tank in between fish? Please describe your process There most definitely is, that’s where your beneficial bacteria live. The ones that bring the tank to life. Speaking of, what type of bacteria are you adding to your tank. What brand do you use

I don’t think you’ll have any trouble with the stand. It’s probably heavily embedded with plastic polymer at the surface. As long as you keep cleaning up water spills you should be good. If the stand was truly subpar, I don’t think they’d offer it for sale, potentially too many lawsuits.Fluval has an excellent reputation for their products. Lots of expensive, but excellent functions. honestly, this looks like an amazing setup

I think the first thing I’d do is to turn the sponge in the center back on . That will provide enough air and water flow to keep it from getting stagnant. Lid or no lid. The second thing is I’d remove the bag of carbon. It’s not doing much for you right now and may be harboring bacteria since there’s no water flow through it. the decor and gravel should be fine. I have a dark glow fish tank with mostly the same stuff. Only glow in the dark. the lack of light is fine. Fish don’t need it. Room light is sufficient for them sorry, still thinking. This tank is fully cycled? It may not be any longer if it was. Inconsistent ammonia at this point. You may need to add some bacteria back when adding fish. How are you cleaning this tank. You shouldn’t need to do much more than some gravel siphoning and water changes . You say minnows are living for months? In this tank or the 20g? the rotten smell still bothers me. Really, the only thing I can see, is that bag. The rest really looks fine. I have a 36g that looks mostly like it. Mine came with a hob but I added an air stone as well. Fake plants, fake gravel. Not having any issues with it.

The thing with bettas, they are designed to live in mostly stagnant mud puddles. Very small pools is where they come from. Especially in the dry season. That’s why they have a labyrinth organ. So even stagnant water shouldn’t be an issue.

I’m not sure that’s doing anything for you. Carbon filters work by having water flowing through them. Where they can trap fine particles that go through. And they are a bit controversial anyway. Lots of people don’t/ won’t use carbon. I do. But I run mostly hob’s. Several with airstones or sponge filters as well.

The hardness of the water is perfectly fine. 85% of the US has the same water. So, no big deal. What is the thing floating on the right side of the tank? That’s the carbon filter? Just a big bag of carbon floating?

The sponge filter is running? If it is there should be enough air getting in by that. And there should be enough water flow to keep it from getting stagnant. Air stone behind the heater? Even that should provide enough air into the water.

If you want to add an eba I’d just add 1 to prevent pairs. Although eba’s are not really aggressive. But somewhere I’ve heard tapejos do better with 5 or more. Spreads the same species aggression out better. You could easily do rainbows as well. Small group of boesemani or praecox would be good. Or like @Tlindsey says larger tetras. Possibly congos. Would make an interesting tank.