[Breeding for platy colors]

It is pretty but to me that looks like a combination of post processing and lighting--I don't think the irridescent blue is "there" the way it would be on a neon tetra for instance. Kind one of those bluish over lays that take special lighting to see.

[Need to go out of town]

This is tough, because I know what you mean about trust. Will the house be empty, or will you have someone on site who can at least notice a major catastrophe?

In cases like this, if I have no one, I tend to choose a non-pet person, who will follow directions exactly and have them check in once or twice a week. With pre-measured portions, and no inclination to get creative (hide the rest of the food so they can't over feed because the "poor things look hungry") they can't do too much damage.

[Care to bet on the color of my platy fry?]

So, I see 5 or 6 fry that seem to have made it, they are all wags, and they are all varying shades of orange, gold, rust. I don't know what to make of that. The dad I have is true red-orange, the mom is orange with light irridescence. They are super cute and just beginning to get their platy chunkiness.

[Do blue shrimp, crabs, Snails and glow tetras mix?]

I am not very familiar with crabs, I think it might matter which sort you are interested in. Some are more agressive than others. If you add the shrimp first and let them start to breed, and provide them lots of crab proof cover (like rock piles) the crabs would likely not be able to dent the population even if they eat a few. 

[Damselfly Nymphs!]

The best solution is to move all your new plants to a quarantine tank and watch for further out breaks. The nymphs can't reproduce in the water, so there is no chance of your old plants having eggs. Simply reducing the number of plants and running the hardscape under scalding water is likely enough to make all your hitchhikers visible. I would try to leave well rooted plants and just comb through them with your fingers.

[Best Place for Thai Oranda]

Hmm, well we are not really allowed to discuss other sellers here with the exception of ebay and aquabid, nor am I really up on any great places to buy orandas. But I do think that goldfish fry change their appearance quite a bit, so getting good quality breeders might be easier to do by getting adults.

[I have a bunch of copepods in my QT. How can I move them?]

Hmm, siphon to a bucket, and run that thru a brine shrimp seive?

[Whose eggs are these?]

I think ramshorn... nerites are hard, white, single dots

[Fry After Vacation]

Is this like the old adage "a watched fish never breeds"?

[Pink Flamingo or as I like to call them Pink Flaming O]

Hey those are great, mine staggered a minute, and I got worried I would lose it, but it seems to be recovering with new growth coming on. Yours are much more lush!

[125 gallon overstocked?]

3 hours ago, Mistacliff said:

Okay 😞 I’ll have to give up on the green terror.

how many would constitute a huge school?

I really really would.

But if you wanted to try your original plan, I would grow everything to its max adult size then add a small half grown terror and see if he will accept that everything can kick his butt. And have a strong plan B with a fully cycled tank if it goes south.

[Good fish for the dining room]

I would go for low maintenance, big fish. I have a tank in my bathroom, it is tiny, as it has to be, and it has tiny fish. I don't spend enough time in there to really pay them enough attention. So I vote the angels in the val jungle, or a fancy goldfish or something...

[SZ Discus and Aquariums]

What are your water parameters right NOW.  temp, ph, ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, GH/KH? Do you have a hospital tank, or will you need to treat the full 75gallons? Also, are they in the 75 now, didn't you buy that a week ago? Is it fully cycled?

[How do you raise your aquarium lights?]

I have seen fishing line strung from the ceiling for flat LED lights--this is the cleanest looking thing I have ever seen.

[Carpeting Plants with Corys, Plecos, and Loaches]

I am interested to hear how that works for you. I have dwarf sag, and in my tanks it is very very tall, reaching the water surface. I have heard lighting can infulence that but in my hands, dim or bright, it acts the same.

[Platy Quantity Recommendations]

I have kept a pair in a 10 gallon with some random guppies. I have 5+ fry right now. The male did not seem to be overly pesty, but he had lots of distraction from all the guppy activity...Which I suspect is why I only have 5 fry.

[Cory, Cannot thank you enough]

I think there are many, many forum members on here that can relate. Cory put this together just at the perfect time, and it has eased a lot of the isolation many of us have felt this past year. Welcome Nini! I am glad you found us.

[SZ Discus and Aquariums]

maybe you can add a picture.

[SZ Discus and Aquariums]

raising them. You already have them, it costs less, and you will learn a ton as they grow.

[Tank Leak Anxiety]

Pretty sure you could overengineer a tank with acrylic. I had sailboat drop-in boards (like a door for a sailboat) that were 1/2" thick acrylic, and deck hatches are often made of the same. The stuff will scratch, but it will buff out, and it was strong enough that I am not afraid of climbing on, standing on, jumping on, hitting it with hardware, etc.

[What irks you the most?]

duckweed. that is all.

[Blue dream turning brown?]

You should separate if you don't want that color. I suspect it was either a hitchiker as @Fish Folk says, or it is a cross breed. That color is sometimes sold as "chocolate" I think. On one of the charts, I remember that being the ancestor of a particular line of blues, he might be a throwback. You could rehome him if you like, but I wouldn't let him (her?) breed with the blues.

[40 gallon tanks!]

@Isaac M I really like the spotlight effect of the floodlights. They cast clear shadows. It looks really cool.

[40 gallon tanks!]

Pardon my 40 breeder algae farm. It is slowly coming under control. It actually will look cool once the log is cleaned up... Hard to photograph in this state, but the ugly duckling stage is a thing.

[SZ Discus and Aquariums]

Yes, I understand that question. I have seen several people give their answer to that question, but ultimately these are opinions. There are as many ways to keep fish as there are fishkeepers. Starting new threads all over the forum is not a solution--people will answer you more effectively if you stick to one thread, because they can see what other people have said and they can better understand what you want to know, and give you new ideas.

If I were doing this I would get a few young discus, wait for a pair to develop, and rehome the other fish, as sexing these fish is hard. So the answer I would give is that first I would have 4 young discus, but then I would only keep 2 adults if they became territorial. If that is not something you want to do, an option would be to buy an established breeding pair, but that may be much more expensive. Alternatively you could just start with 2 young discus, and if they end up not breeding you can just enjoy them and not worry about it at all. If you start with 4 young discus and they end up being all the same sex, they may not have trouble co-existing at all, and you can keep and enjoy all 4. You would just need to watch for signs of aggression. Hopefully this makes sense. 

If you have more questions about stocking a discus tank, why don't you just ask them on this thread? As I have said, it helps us stay more organized, and will get you better answers.
 

 Thanks!