MichelleN

I'll second the honey gourami suggestion. This random lady saw us looking at the drawf gourami and recommended we go look at the honeys in another aisle because she loved hers. We're so glad she did. We ended up getting both. 2 dwarfs (we didn't yet know female drawfs are rarely sold) , and two pair honey gourami. The smaller honeys are much sweeter and more timid than our drawfs (which we also love but had to separate). But the sweet little honey's have plenty personality, especially when breeding, and their yellow brightens the tank.

Multiple Tank Syndrome, ours hit us the first week in. 🙂

We didn't see the differences when we picked him up, he was all alone in a tank by himself in the corner, as were two others, so we foolishly "rescued" all three. And when we got him home and got a real good look, we didn't think he'd make it through the night. He seemed smudged and his eyes were sunk in! But he did, then a week, then a month, and more. He's doing well with our other "rescued" false jullii now regrowing their barbels in a quarantine tank. He's active, but not as strong yet, and has remained smaller. Anyone know what he is? I've looked at pictures online of different corydoras but haven't yet found something that seems to match all three of his "racoon" mask, the large bluish dots near the tail fin along with his dark dorsal. And that's ignoring his odd little eyes. Someday we'd like him to have his own kind to swim with, if we knew what to look for. Much appreciated if anyone has suggestions.

Update: look someone is growing new whiskers! 😄

Last Matacyn dose was Wednesday. Cory's looking much improved. I need to keep taking photos to track but I believe we are seeing barbel growth on all but the little guy who had none, and that ones mouth looks better. Daily water changes continue. They seem to flash a bit after each change so we've most recently added addition floating plants and a cycled sponge filter from the main tank in hopes we can either move to smaller daily changes or every other day changes while we hold them in unmedicated quarantine a couple more weeks close observation before moving them back to the big tank. Waters a bit messy in photos because I just scaped the glass.

Ouch 😥

Sorry, I am sorry I can't answer either question. I've only had my a short time, and they were already colored nicely at purchase. The males colors didn't change but intensified when they started building nests. But I hope someone more experienced can answer.

😕 the Popeyes are no more, but now one of the little guys is showing swim bladder issues, gets itself righted but its breaking my heart. Two more days treatment to go. My distraction from Covid-19 is at the moment distressing me also. Two months in when I'm delighted by a new shrimp or sporting my too shy pygmies I'm feeling evil for trying to keep living creatures in an artificial environment in which an idiot (me) is in poor control. All to like the outside world to be a comfort. 😢

😀 every three days! Well, now I know to take once a month with a grain of salt. We brought two pair less than a month ago. The first boys nest caught us completely off guard. So when the second gathered his up a few days later my hubby grabbed them and placed in the QT I was cycling. (Good thing tanks are on $/gallon sale at Petco right now, had to get another for the QT) They just used up the yolk sacks and I see HD daddy #1 has built another nest! We're going to try to raise this first bunch for the experience, and I'm sure it won't be last we interfere with. However, if they breed this easily, for the most part they'll be on their own.

@Allison AmayaThanks so much for your reply. I did start Maracyn yesterday. In the smaller tank it was easier to watch behavior and see the ones I was most worried about were less active. The Popeyes one tended most to isolate. I also added cattapella leaves and anacharis to the QT tank, thought it might make the water more comfortable. I'm feeling better about the whole QT today. All five are active this morning and hanging together again. The one's eyes are looking much improved. Still redness under those fins. I was much relieved to have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and while nitrates are still between 20-30 at least its no higher. I pulled a gallon out and added a gallon new water with the meds.

We added 6 oto to our 29 so we could keep a close eye on them for several weeks and make sure they live and accept supplemental food before moving into our larger 75 gallon. Turns out my ultra shy pygmy corydoras really like them and come out to play more often now.

I need help with my corydoras, moved to a quarantine tank. Added post under diseases. 🥺

We purchased our 6 corydoras in groups of 4, (3 died first night), 3 and 2 from different stores over the last three weeks. They are the only ones we'd seen and our purchases may not have been wise. Only one has a full set of barbels, and it's the lone survivor from the first group. We hoped in our larger tank, with weekly water changes they'd recover. We think now we may not be doing enough for them. On the smallest which came home with no barbels, the mouth seems more swollen now, I think, and one of the most recent ones now has red under a fin and gill and popped out eyes, and I don't recall that much red or the eyes like that earlier this week, but, its hard to be sure. Uodated: We just moved the 5 that hang together into a new 10 gallon for quarantine. The 6th we suspect is a different variety, and a special case, so we didn't want to chase him down. If we get an easy chance we'll move him too. Advice on quarantine please: 1 or 2 a day water changes for a week observation before trying a med or salt? Or half or full dose of Maracyn right away? If salt how much for corydoras? I see so much conflicting information on corys and salt. Some other med instead? Parameters in the 75 since we cycled tend to be 74 degrees, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, 20 nitrates. But we struggle with reading those nitrates. So I added pictures of two tests from tonight, with API master kit and a strip test. My recorded parameters over the last month and pics of the two we are most alarmed about. All other fish in tank, 8 larger and 8 smaller black neon tetra, 4 white cloud minnows, 1 red drawf, 1 blue dwarf and 4 honey Gourami appear fine and the Honey Gourami have been making nests. We just had to buy a 2nd 10 gallon for this quarantine because we have just hatched fry in the one we had been setting up. So I really hope the 75 tank is ok, and I really want to heal these Corydoras and provide a good home for them.

How do you keep your fish alive on such a long drive home? I'm guessing a much larger bag and oxygen dose than with my quick 10-15 minute drives. Look for the low-light easy plants (use the filters) from the Co-op and you'll do fine with plants. The ones I ordered were gorgeous on arrival and doing well.

Wow that's stunning

The 29 gallon was my way of dealing with the ongoing covid-19 working from home isolation made worse when our outdoor stomping grounds went up in flames the first week of September. So, I thought if I can't escape into nature, I'd bring some inside. Its haphazardly put together I suppose. I wanted plants so it has aquarium soil under the beach gravel we'd hung onto for 20 years since we last had an aquarium. The large piece of bored-out scoria in which I've planted three cryptos was from that same aquarium. A large piece of obsidian creates a retaining wall for the deaper soil section in which I planted what I thought was a nice tall green sword. Its a red melon sword, and its new leaves are red and lovely but still short. The plants in this tank are mostly from LFS because I hadn't found Aquarium Co-op yet when setting it up. Once the tank cycled I added 11 pygmy corydoras and 6 glowlight tetras. Later I took out gravel on one side to give the Cory's sand and added 6 cherry shrimp. Had so much fun watching the pygmies the first month or so. Then I got my fluval light and added 8 black neon tetras and the pygmies went into hiding. I've since relocated the black neons, in case they were just too much for the cory's and reset the new light to less intensity and hours, but the pygmies continue to hide as soon as they detect our feet on the floorboards. The snails come in with the plants, and hopefully they'll find their balance soon and level off. Scooter the butterfly loach is settling in nicely, and the shrimp have molted and doubled in size. The 75 gallon is about a month behind, originally it was supposed to house fancy goldfish but somehow it didn't work out that way. It has three stories, again with plant soil under gravel which is layered over small scoria in bags behind the retaining walls. The gravel is larger because we planned on goldfish, but it's nicely rounded and we also have sand on the lowest level, which we feed over. The majority of the plants in the big tank are from Aquarium Coop. Water Sprite, windelov java fern, drawf sag, various cyptos, a annubias and some Val that still needs to settle in. I've added floating lettuce and anacharis locally. My husband made the lid with tubes for pathos roots and we have three Co-op sponge filters, one in each corner. Its home now to 4 golden white cloud minnows. They were purchased as a group of 7 and were very small, 3 did not make it past the first 48 hours, but the remaining four have grown and colored up and we'll add a few more when we have the opportunity. The 8 relocated black neon are here, and I've added 8 more today for a nice size school in this larger tank. We are now up to 6 false jullii. They've been gathered up in pairs and with various states of abused barbels which we hope will regrow with plenty of water changes and a nice variety of food. For flair we have 2 pair honey gourami and two unpaired drawf gourami. One of the honey gourami already tried to raise himself a family in one of the pathos tubes. We hope to add some as yet undetermined algae eaters and shrimp to this tank, but its starting to feel about right, the plants are a bit bigger now than in the picture. I'm having a harder time with the 29 tall nano tank. The top of the tank needs something, pencil fish maybe, that will stay at top better than the black neons did. But we haven't found any top swimmers yet. And I've increased the driftwood cover for the pygmies, but they responded by moving in and staying in rather than gaining confidence and coming out. Since I already have eleven, I'm not sure if adding additional pygmy corydoras would coax them out again, or just result in a well stocked while apparently empty tank. 😞 Water in both runs 72-76 degrees, 7.4 Ph, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, nitrates unfortunately never seem to test out below 20 (we have 8 already from the tap) but we do at least 10% weekly water changes and I test the water twice a week and do a second partial change if nitrates look closer to 40 on either test. Which is a more likely occurrence in the smaller tank. Still trying to find that just right amount of food. I recently spoted a very small assassin snail in the 29. Bit of a shock actually, so I don't know if that means we have just that one snuck in on a plant with the pond snails, or more. I guess we'll find out in a while.

Question: When stacking sponge filters is the air stone placed in lower or upper sponge?